The talk around the table stopped instantly as Albus entered the kitchen, all heads turned expectantly towards him.
Lily was the first to break the silence, –Albus, please sit. May I get you something? A cup of tea?â€
–That would be lovely, my dear,†he answered.
Sirius entered quietly and took his seat next to Abby. At her questioning glance, he just shook his head.
When Lily had placed a cup of tea in front of Albus and resumed her seat, Albus glanced around the table. –I know all of you, well, most of you are wondering why I asked you to come here tonight. I only ask you to hold you questions until I finish. What I am going to tell you is only rumours, but since I was informed of these last night, I have done some checking of my own.†His glance shifted briefly to Remus, a move that was not lost on Sirius.
–I can tell you that from what I have discovered, there seems to be some truth to behind these rumours. Now, I am going to stress the fact that we need to form a plan before we rush to act on these rumours.†This time, there was no mistake in where his glance went, he turned his head and looked directly at Sirius.
–Albus,†Abby began, –I think you should just begin.†She could feel the tension running through Sirius and knew he was barely restraining his need for answers.
–Yes, my dear, I think you are quite right,†Albus said. –Last night, Remus came to see me and told me he had managed, through some of his contacts, to piece together some of the last known places Regulus was seen.â€
–What do you mean? When was this? When was he last seen?†Sirius asked quickly.
–Sirius, please, give Albus a chance to explain,†Abby said as she placed a restraining hand on Sirius to keep him in his seat.
Sirius looked as if he was going to argue, but he took a deep breath and then just gestured for Albus to continue.
–To answer your question, this was shortly before your brother’s disappearance. It seems that for some reason Voldemort had your brother bring your House-elf to him. Shortly after that, Regulus began acting very strange. While he had been a favourite of Voldemort, he was often missing from meetings and, though none of the Death Eaters thought it strange, Voldemort wasn’t pleased by his absence.
–As of right now, we are unsure where he went during those times he was missing from the meetings. What Voldemort needed with a House-elf, even I have no idea and I cannot think of any way of finding out as, whatever it was, I would bet that the House-elf has been sworn to secrecy on it.â€
–So another dead-end,†said Sirius, his voice flat and despondent.
–No, it isn’t,†Remus spoke for the first time. All heads turned towards him. –I’m leaving tonight to go undercover and find out everything I can about where Regulus was and where he went. If there is something to find out, I will find it, I promise.†He looked at Sirius. –I’ll do whatever it takes to help you to find out what happened to him.â€
–Why?†Sirius asked. –He isn’t your brother. He’s just another Death Eater whose gone missing. As far as the Order is concerned, good riddance.â€
Remus stood and pulled slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Slipping it off, he set it over the back of the chair as stepped back and turned slowly around. Clearly visible on his chest, back and arms were recently healed over scratches as well as scars from older bites and scratches. When he completed his turn, he picked up his shirt and put it back on. As he buttoned it, he walked slowly around the table to stand next to Sirius.
Stooping down, he looked directly into Sirius’ eyes, –A long-time ago, a very scared eleven year old boy laid in a bed and listened as his dorm mates talked around him about how wonderful it was going to be now that they were finally at Hogwarts. The only thing he knew was that in three days, there was going to be a full moon and he was going to turn, again, into a monster.
–He wanted nothing more than to join in their fun but he couldn’t. He could never get close to them. He couldn’t risk them finding out what he was.†Remus chuckled. –Well, that little scared boy hadn’t counted on the three of you.†Remus glanced up and looked briefly at James and Peter before once again looking into Sirius’ eyes. –Not only did the three of you find out my secret, you waited months, months before you even told me you knew. Then, then you go and become Animagus so you can keep me company, never once worrying about your own safety while teaching yourself how to do it, or the fact that I could have still killed you, even when you were in your Animagi forms.â€
–Hell, you could have eaten Peter in one bite,†James joked, which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Lily.
–Not once did any of you ever turn your back on me, not once did I ever have cause to doubt your friendship or loyalty to me. So, you ask why I am going to do this for you? Because, Padfoot, you may not be my brother by blood, but you are my brother.â€
The room was completely silent. Out of the corner of her eye, Abby saw Lily stand and go over to the cabinet. When she realized what she was doing, she went to help her. She helped her pull enough glasses out of the cabinet for everyone as Lily began pouring Firewhisky into each. Then they began placing them in front of everyone. Still no one spoke as Remus and Sirius still did not break eye contact.
Finally, Sirius picked up one of the glasses of Firewhisky and handed it to Remus then picked up his own. Without a word, he touched his glass to Remus’ and nodded to him; both of them smiled and downed the drink at the same time. Then they both slammed the glassed back onto the table upside down so hard the glasses shattered.
–Ooops,†they said in unison and then began laughing.
–That move got you both in hot water with Madam Rosmerta more than once,†said James as he too joined in their laughter. –Neither of you ever learned to do it correctly. Shall we show them how it is done, Wormy?†asked James.
Smiling, Peter lifted his glass. Touching the edge of it against James’, they downed the contents and then both repeated the same move Remus and Sirius did of turning the glass upside down and slamming it on the table. Theirs didn’t shatter.
–How’d you do that?†asked a stunned Sirius.
–Talent, my boy, talent,†said James.
–Oh, please,†said Abby, –talent my backside. Lily?†At Lily’s nod, they both repeated James and Peter’s exact movements with the same results.
–Okay, what’s going on?†Sirius asked, –There has to be some trick or something. You hexed our glasses, right?â€
Abby patted Sirius’ arm. –No dear, no hexes, no tricks. It’s all in the wrist. I’ll explain it later. I think we should get back to the topic at hand, so to speak.†She stood and began clearing up the mess of broken glass. Unfortunately, as she was doing this, she managed to slice her the palm of her hand open. She realized she did this as soon as she did it, but no one else did. She moved quickly to deposit the broken glass into the bin and went to the sink to run her hand under the water to see just how bad the cut was.
Seeing the amount of blood pouring from her palm, she knew she could fix it, but she would need some Essence of Dittany and she didn’t know where Lily kept it. –Lily, can you come here a second?â€
As soon as Lily came over to the sink, she saw what the problem was. Being a smart witch, she knew better than to make a fuss. Reaching up, she opened the cabinet over the sink and pulled out the bottle labelled Essence of Dittany. Opening in, she waited until Abby pulled her hand from under the running water and then began placing it drop by drop on the open wound.
–Lily, I’m feeling a bit woozy,†Abby said. –I...â€
–James!†Lily yelled just as Abby began to fall. Luckily, James was quick and managed to catch Abby before she hit the ground. –Take her into the sitting room. Sirius, she’s fine. She just cut her hand and lost a bit of blood. Just let me finish dressing it. She’ll wake up in a minute and...well†Lily smiled as she realized she was talking to no one as Sirius was already had followed James into the living room. Shaking her head, she gathered up the bandages and followed behind the men.
***
By the time Lily finished bandaging Abby’s hand, Abby was already stirring. As she came awake, Lily wasn’t prepared for her to come awake swinging. Before Lily could react, she found herself on the floor with Abby sitting on her chest with hands around her throat. The glazed look in Abby’s eyes told Lily she was in a very dangerous situation.
–Abby,†Lily said, very softly, –you’re safe. It’s okay. You’re here in my sitting room.â€
It took a few more seconds for Abby’s eyes to start to clear, but slowly the pressure on Lily’s throat began to lessen and then finally Abby’s hands fell to her sides as she shook her head and looked down at her best friend. –Lily?â€
–Yep,†Lily said and she smiled. –Umm, do you think you could possibly get off me now? You’re not exactly a light-weight, you know.â€
Abby looked down and realised she was sitting on top of Lily and jumped up so fast that Lily burst out laughing. Lily was slower getting to her feet and sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to her.
Lily’s laughter brought Sirius running from the kitchen. –Abby, you’re awake! How are you feeling? Are you okay?†he asked in a rush of words.
–She’s fine, just give us a few more minutes for me to finish with her bandages and we’ll join you in the kitchen.†Lily didn’t want to discuss what had just happened with Sirius there. Sirius didn’t look happy, but he nodded and retreated to the kitchen.
–Now, before we go back into the kitchen, want to tell me what that was all about?†Lily asked gently.
–I’m not sure,†Abby began but then stopped herself. No, she thought, I know exactly what it was. –I’m so sorry, Lily. I didn’t hurt you did I?†At the shake of Lily’s head, Abby let out a breath she hadn’t even been aware she was holding.
–It was, I guess, what you would call a flashback. When I would get hurt when they were training me to be a Death Eater, you patched yourself up. The only thing is they saw injuries as weakness, and injuries that left you unconscious, they would patch you up; however, they saw it as the perfect time to attack.†At Lily’s gasp, Abby smiled grimly.
–I’m so sorry,†Abby repeated. –I don’t often have flashbacks anymore. I’m only glad I didn’t have my wand on me. I can’t even imagine, I don’t even want to imagine...†She let her voice trail off.
–Well, no harm done. So now, I think it is time to go back into the kitchen and reign in the plans that are probably running wild by now in there. I would imagine Sirius has already made plans to go off on his own search without waiting for more information.â€
Abby nodded. –Yes, I’m sure he has.â€
Standing, they started to walk towards the kitchen when Abby stopped abruptly. –Lily, the baby! I didn’t hurt the baby when I jumped on you did I?’
Lily smiled reassuringly. –No, the baby is fine. He is safe in his little nest, don’t worry.†Taking Abby’s hand in hers, the two women went into the kitchen to join in the discussion as to what was to be done next in the search to find out what happened to Regulus Black.
***
–Look, we can’t do anything until Remus finds out more information. Once he does, then we can decide what to do. If there are any leads, if Regulus was seen somewhere specific, we can go and check it out for clues as to what he may have been doing there,†Abby argued.
–Abigail is right, Sirius,†Albus said. –There is nothing concrete to go by in this information. There is no place to start looking. Even if you could get into Grimmauld Place by your own admission, your family’s House-elf isn’t going to give you any information, if he even could.â€
–Besides,†interrupted Lily, –next week is Christmas. I think it is time we started planning for that. I know finding out what happened to your brother is important, Sirius. But we can’t do anything until we have something more to go by. So, for now, let’s just concentrate on something we can do.†She turned to James. –James, we need a tree. Since Remus is leaving tonight, then I would suggest the four of you had better get your butts in gear and leave now to find us one.â€
–Yes, ma’am,†said James as he stood. He looked around at his best friends who just sat in their chairs. He looked back at Lily.
–Marauders, MOVE!†she said sternly.
Abby watched as each of the other three stood so quickly their chairs tipped over. Each bent quickly to right them and they scrambled into coats and the four of them rushed out the door. Within a second, the door opened and James and Sirius came back in. James walked over to Lily to give her a quick kiss as Sirius did the same to Abby and then they again rushed out the door.
Suddenly, Albus burst out laughing. –Now, why in Merlin’s name didn’t you have that power over them back in school?â€
–I have no idea,†she said as she too began laughing. Abby stared at the door for a few more seconds before she also joined in their laughter.
Love Beyond Forever by mudbloodproud
Chapter Notes: I wish to thank my wonderful beta, Maple_and_PheonixFeather.
I am not J.K. Rowling. Anything you recognise belongs to her. I am only thankful to be able to play in her world for a little while.
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