‘It did not matter about bringing them back, for he was about to join them... he was not really fetching them: they were fetching him.’
-JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Remus wandered aimlessly among the bodies that still littered the lawn in front of the castle. He was no longer afraid of them, seeing as he was one himself, lying cold and pale in the Great Hall. He was not sad for the fallen either; he knew that if he cared about them he would see them soon and, if not, he hoped that they were at peace, wherever they were.
He did not really know what to do with himself. He knew that he still had something to do, some task that needed completing before he went on, so to speak, but he did not know what it would be, or indeed when he would be required. He was sure that an opportunity would present itself at the right time, though.
He watched as Oliver and Neville returned from the castle, and bent down over another body. This one was tiny, he thought as they lifted it carefully between them, surely it was one of a student. He took a few steps closer and the lights from the castle windows fell on the small face. Remus had been right; the boy’s name was Creevey. He remembered him from his year as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. The boy was only a year younger than Harry, he remembered, so might have been of age, but he looked so young. Remus’ heart went out to the boy’s poor parents. Now that he was, or at least had been, a father, he could imagine the pain of losing a child.
His thoughts drifted to his son. The boy who now had no parents, just as Creevey’s parents now had no son. Teddy was an orphan, just as Harry was. Would he grow up, like Harry had, yearning for the love of his parents, wishing above anything that there had somehow been a mistake, and that, someday, they’d come back for him? Would Teddy be angry that they’d abandoned him like this? For the first time, Remus felt a flicker of doubt. Had he done the right thing? Should he have stayed at home to care for his son? He sighed. It was an impossible question with no answer. He had done what he deemed right. He had fought so that his son might grow up in a world free from the tyranny of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Hopefully Teddy would come to understand this, in time. And it was not like he had been left alone and unloved, like poor Harry had been; Teddy had a loving grandmother in Andromeda, who would surely care for him as well as she had done for the daughter she had just lost. Plus, it wasn’t like he would never see his son again. He would watch him growing up from afar, and be ready to greet him when his son finally passed away. It was strange how he just seemed to know that this would happen, how he knew that they’d meet again, and Remus couldn’t have said how he knew. Just as he knew comfort was good and pain was bad, he knew that they’d meet again, one day, hopefully after Teddy had lived a long and happy life.
‘Remus!’
His thoughts were disrupted by a voice, a voice that he had not heard for nearly two years now, and he smiled in delight. Prickling with anticipation, he turned to face the owner of the voice, only to be greeted with a pleasanter sight than he could have ever hoped for.
‘Prongs!’ he exclaimed in delight as he saw one of the three figures walking towards him. ‘Lily! Sirius!’
‘Remus, what the hell is going on here?’ Sirius said in a tired, exasperated voice.
Remus noticed all three looked confused and worried. Vaguely he wondered why that was. There wasn’t anything they could do to help.
‘Hogwarts is making her stand,’ Remus said.
‘Against Voldemort?’ James asked. Remus noticed he kept fiddling with his wand, gripping it tight one moment and letting it hang loose by his side the next, as if he couldn’t make up his mind whether to use it or not.
‘Yes,’ he replied.
‘Look,’ James said, running his hands through his hair, a strained look on his face, ‘Something really weird is going on. Last night Voldemort turned up at the house. Today Lily and I wake up with the house practically destroyed and Harry gone. We tried to find Dumbledore, but he wasn’t at Headquarters, so we turn up here to find parts of the castle in ruins, bodies everywhere and Padfoot telling us we’re dead!’
‘We are dead,’ Remus told him. ‘Why else are we all here?’
‘I’m not dead! You’re not dead!’ Sirius said. ‘Prongs and Lily are, and Merlin knows how they’re here and how we can see them, but I can’t be dead! I remember everything, and none of that involves me dying! We were at the Ministry duelling the Death Eaters.’
‘That was nearly two years ago, Sirius,’ Remus said. ‘You died in that fight. You fell through that veil on the dais. I died in this battle, I saw my body on the floor in the Great Hall. Lily, Prongs, I’m afraid Sirius is right. You died seventeen years ago. Harry survived.’
He didn’t think telling Sirius the exact identity of his murderer would be a good thing to do at this moment in time.
‘Wait a second!’ Sirius said. ‘Dying is a pretty big event; you think I’d remember something of it! This can’t be true! How can I have just died two years ago and not remember anything? You’re lying, Moony! I can’t be dead! And neither can you be! What do you mean you’ve seen your body? This is all insane.’
‘Padfoot,’ Lily said in a gentle voice. ‘We didn’t remember anything, either. We just woke up in the house to find it rotting away.’
Sirius blanched. ‘There was no one there,’ he said quietly. ‘Nobody could see me...’
Remus looked at him, filled with pity. He realised just how lucky he was to have caught sight of his body immediately. How long had the three of them been running around believing themselves to be simply the victim of some strange curse? He couldn’t imagine the turmoil they were going through now, especially Lily and James, who had believed their son to be missing, perhaps dead, perhaps in the clutches of Voldemort.
‘I’m dead,’ Sirius said eventually in the same small voice. It was heartbreaking. ‘What happened to everyone else? What happened to Harry? How- how come you’re dead too?’
‘Everyone was okay. Harry was pretty distraught, but nobody was injured much. How much do you know?’ he added to Lily and James. He decided against going into his own death; it wasn’t the most important thing on the agenda right now. Lily and James needed to know about their son. The son, up until now, they were convinced was only a year old and had been kidnapped.
‘Sirius told us some things,’ James said. ‘But if it’s been a few years since... Well, we won’t be up to date.’
Remus nodded, casting a look at Sirius, who was looking small and forlorn, like a lost sheep. He wondered how he would begin to tell them that the son they died for had been hunted like a wild boar this past year, and the danger he was still in.
‘Well, he’s on the run now,’ Remus said finally. ‘Voldemort took over the Ministry, so he took that as cue to disappear. Dumbledore’s given him some sort of mission to do, I don’t know what it is; he wouldn’t tell me, but I think it’s important.’
‘What’s Dumbledore doing giving a dangerous mission to a teenager?’ James growled. ‘Why can’t he do it himself?’
‘Dumbledore’s dead, Prongs,’ Remus said. He watched as all three heads snapped towards him as they tried to digest this new, horrible, piece of information.
‘Dead?’ Lily repeated in horror. ‘How?’
For a second time, Remus hesitated, unsure of how to break the delicate news. He knew that Lily and Snape had been friendly at one time, and even though she had ended the friendship while they were still at school, she would probably not take the news that her former friend had murdered the founder of the Order well.
‘Snape,’ he said after a pause, glancing at Lily, whose eyes had widened in shock.
‘Snape?’Sirius exclaimed. ‘That filthy grease ball murdered Dumbledore?’
Remus nodded. ‘It was last year, here at Hogwarts. He was a spy. A secret Death Eater.’
‘A secret Death Eater?’ James interjected. ‘Him being a Death Eater was never a secret! He left Hogwarts one of them!’
‘He changed sides,’ Remus said heavily. ‘Just before you two died. I never knew why, or on what evidence, but Dumbledore seemed to think he had proof Snape was a changed man.’
‘The fool,’ Sirius spat. ‘Snape was always a traitorous bastard! What evidence could change that? I can’t believe we let that filth give Harry Occlumency lessons!’
‘You let that fiend at my son?’ James said, anger seething through his voice.
‘He’s a teacher here, Prongs,’ Remus said. ‘For years. None of us knew what he really was. We trusted him to help Harry close his mind against Voldemort. I trusted Dumbledore. Honestly Prongs, if I ever suspected him of anything I would never have agreed to it.’
‘Where’s Harry now?’ Lily interrupted.
‘He was here,’ Remus said. ‘Finishing that task Dumbledore gave him. I’m not sure where he is, but I’m sure he’s okay. We’d know if he came to any harm; Voldemort’s after him, that’s why he’s here. He’d take any opportunity to tell us Harry’d been killed.’
‘We have to do something!’ James shouted. ‘What the hell are we doing standing here while Voldemort tries to murder my son? We can’t do nothing!’
‘Prongs,’ Remus said soothingly as Lily put a hand on her husband’s shoulder. ‘There’s nothing we can do; we’re dead.’
‘But why are we all here?’ Lily asked pleadingly.
‘There’s something we have to do,’ Remus told her. ‘Can you not feel it?’
There was silence around the group as each person collected their thoughts, and allowed their senses to explore their surroundings, allowed them to wander from their bodies. They closed their eyes as they began to feel things, things that had been masked and shrouded by confusion, fear and pain. Things that they had not been able to feel before they realised they had already passed on, but now were back again. They felt a clarity coming over them, like morning mist lifting to reveal the shining sun.
They remembered things, or a place more specifically, a bright, sunny landscape, dotted with familiar landmarks, a white light illuminating everything it touched, and a feeling of great, contented happiness. Each of them remembered that they had met before in this beautiful place, and the reunion had been joyful and sweet, a reunion after many long years of separation, and sorrow for those left behind.
They remembered heaven.
And as they remembered this place, a sense of purpose descended on them, and they knew that they had been brought back here for a reason. The intention of their loved one had called them back, and they had responded. The transition had not been easy, but now a resolution had been achieved, they were allowed to remember; they had been granted clarity, and all they needed to do now was wait.
They looked around at each other, none of them speaking, none knowing quite what to say. At that moment, the heavy wooden doors of the castle entrance swung open, but they saw no visible person exiting. This was their cue. Their time had come.
And so they followed, trailing after the figure they could sense, but not see. Neither could he see them; they were separated from him still by a cloud of mist, a veil that kept them in the shadows. They simply followed.
Together, they headed towards the Forest, keeping their distance from him, longing to reach out and touch him, to comfort him, but they knew they could not. He had not yet summoned them, though his intentions were strong. They would soon have all eternity to spend together, uninterrupted, undisturbed.
They descended into the midst of the trees, steadily going deeper and deeper. They were close now; Harry was no longer invisible to them, though his outline was blurred by the charm on the Cloak. They watched as he gripped the Snitch tightly in his hand and brought it to his lips.
I am about to die.
They saw the Snitch crack open, revealing the ordinary-looking black stone, the pebble Death had taken from the bank of a river. Harry took it in his hand and closed his eyes.
They looked at each other, prickling with anticipation; their time had come. As they watched, Harry turned the stone three times in his hand, thinking of the people his subconscious had yearned for. Feeling the pull, the call, they stepped forward to greet him at last.
A Stone From the Riverbank by Sapphire at Dawn
Chapter Notes: So this is the final chapter. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this fic, and major thanks to all the betas I've had, including Alex/welshdevondrago, Dani/eyeofthetiger and Jenn/Kuri who looked over this chapter.
Chapter Endnotes: One last review? Please? Right down there in that little box...