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Author: Author by Night Story: Beholders Rating: Teens Setting: DH-interview Status: Completed Reviews: 2 Words: 20,690
Spring 1997 It occurred to Bill that it had been a while since they’d actually had fun together as a group outside of Order meetings and obligations. So he announced that they were to meet at the Leaky Cauldron one night, and did not make it optional. He also invited two old friends from Hogwarts, Adam and Deidre. It didn’t take long for there to be lots of laughs, although Bill noticed after a while that Deirdre hadn’t shown up. He was beginning to worry when she stumbled in. “Sorry I’m late,” Deirdre said absently. She was still in her green Healer uniform, and she looked exhausted, as though she’d just got off a twenty-four hour shift. (Had she?) Deirdre grabbed the Firewhisky Fleur had been handing Bill and drank from it without batting an eye. “Deedee? Are you okay?” Bill asked. “No,” Deirdre said. “I’m not.” “What happened?” “A little boy was attacked by Fenrir Greyback,” Deirdre said. “You know, the werewolf who attacks children.” Bill exchanged an alarmed look with Fleur and Hestia. Tonks tensed and stared at Deirdre. “What?” Adam exclaimed. “Is he okay?” Deirdre pulled back her dark hair, and her voice cracked as she spoke. “No. I tried everything. We all did. His parents are a mess; his mum had apparently been told to do something for the Death Eaters, but refused. I guess they sent Greyback—” “—and we’re sure it was just Greyback?” Tonks interrupted. “Tonks, I know you’re an Auror, but not now, all right? I already gave a statement to Dawlish from the Auror Department, so did — so did the Montgomerys.” Deirdre shuddered. “Are they the family?” Hestia asked gently. “Yeah. He looked so horrible — trust me, you don’t want details. No one should ever have to see a child in that shape. We gave him every potion we had, cast every spell we could think of, I held his hand and told him it would be okay… but we couldn’t save him. I couldn’t save him.” Fleur swore in French. “Deirdre, I am so sorry.” Deirdre gulped down the rest of Bill’s Firewhisky. “I hate Greyback. How could he hurt a little boy?” “It’s been done before,” Tonks said darkly. Her eyes were darting sideways anxiously; she was clearly waiting for Remus to walk in and assure her that he was okay… “He has brothers and sisters — they’re a big family like yours, Bill. Six kids have just lost a little brother. I can’t make heads of it.” “Zere’s nothing to make heads of,” Fleur told her. “Zee way to think about it eez…” “It’s not for the best because at least he wouldn’t have been cursed,” Deidre snapped. “Who the hell said that?” Tonks demanded; she was so loud that several people looked over at them. “Two of the Healers. I thought Augustus Pye was going to kill them on the spot.” “Well, they can shut their traps before I do it for them. How can anyone sleep at night with filthy thoughts like that? A five-year-old boy, better off dead?” “Zat’s not remotely close to what I was going to zay, I want zat to be clear,” Fleur interjected. “One of my good friends eez a werewolf.” Deirdre looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Fleur. If you’d been there… the way they were talking…” Tonks reached across the table and squeezed Deirdre’s hand. “Greyback hurt someone I care about, so he’s a bit of a sore subject.” Deirdre searched her face. “You’re worried about this person, aren’t you?” Tonks didn’t answer. “Right. Auror secrets.” “Something like that.” Deirdre hesitated, then added, “If this friend is trying to do anything to stop Greyback or find him, or anything else, he or she needs to be very careful. If Greyback’s done all this to a family he’s never met, I can only imagine what he’d do to someone who crossed him.” “I see.” Tonks’s voice was calm, but Bill knew better. Apparently, so did Deirdre. “If you want to find this friend, you can,” she said. “I’m fine.” “I don’t think I should leave you right now. Not like this.” “Go warn your friend. No one else should see what I've seen.” Tonks dashed out the door without another word.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Bill assured her one day as they sat in the kitchen of The Burrow. No one else was there, for once. “He can’t just Floo, you know?” “I do know.” Tonks heaved a shaky sigh. “What must be going through his mind, though? And how can anyone possibly hide their disgust at something so heinous?” “You’d be surprised.” “Have you met my family? I really wouldn’t. Which frightens me even more.” Bill hated seeing Tonks like this; while she’d managed one pink streak, her hair was still mousy, and could he blame her? He was worried, too. Ginny had innocently asked if he’d spoken to Professor Lupin in a letter, unaware of Remus’s mission, and Bill hadn’t known what to tell her. “I ‘ave word!” Fleur was running into the kitchen; she leaned onto the table in an attempt to catch her breath. “What?” Tonks stared at her. “Did you find him?” “No. Maman did. Sort of. She learned from some Veela where zhey were — zhey are sometimes in close quarters — and got word zat ‘e is okay. Shaken, but okay. Apparently Greyback ‘urt zee boy alone… ‘e likes having meals to ‘imself.” Fleur grimaced. “Remus will be in touch as soon as possible.” Tonks nodded, and Bill exhaled. It wasn’t great news, but it wasn’t the worst news either. “I don’t know how to thank you,” Tonks was saying. “No 'thanks' necessary. I did it because I love both of you.” Tonks pushed her chair back so quickly it flew across the kitchen and gave Fleur a tight hug.
Bill would never be sure what happened; apparently that was between Remus and Dumbledore. He was just glad several Order members happened to be at The Burrow when Remus turned up with bruises all over his face. He fainted as soon as he stepped into the doorway. “Remus!” Tonks ran to him. “Remus, wake up. Sit up...” “We have to get him to St. Mungo's,” Arthur said. “Deirdre's there,” Bill added. “She's got colleagues. If they work out where he's been, they'll tell the Ministry,” Tonks pointed out. “And Deirdre's not in the Order. Someone help me get Remus on the sofa.” Molly helped Tonks, though not before ordering everyone to get cloths and herbs. In the weeks that followed, Molly wouldn't let him leave. Nor would she let anyone help her mend him except for Arthur, and Madame Pomfrey, who managed to find time away from Hogwarts.“You know,” Molly told Bill one day, while they were alone, “sometimes I think about the things I taught you and your brothers, and Ginny. About people like Remus.” “You didn’t know any different, Mum.” “When the twins, Ron and Ginny came home that one year and told me their professor was a werewolf, I was horrified. I didn’t think it was wise of Dumbledore. I questioned everything about him, in fact, until finally arriving to the conclusion that maybe it was me who was wrong.” “Do you think you’re the only one?” Not that it made it right; Bill and Charlie had questioned her views on Dark Creatures since going to Hogwarts, in fact. But Bill knew how terrible his mother felt about them now. “My point is that even though Remus must realize I had my prejudices, he’s let me befriend him — but won’t let Tonks in when I don’t think she ever thought anything of it. It doesn’t make sense.” “Maybe it does,” Bill realized aloud. “How so?” “You became friends with him while trying to overcome your biases. Tonks, on the other hand, has always been a contrary person, always undaunted by social norms and standards. Remus knows that. I think he’s worried what she’ll do when she realizes the dark side of it all. Truthfully, she’s already begun to see it. Remus probably left before she let it get to her.” Molly looked stunned. “I’d never thought of it like that.” “Me, either,” Bill admitted. “And sometimes,” Molly continued, “there’s a point to be made, isn’t there? What happens when someone grows old, when they stop being handsome, when she realizes she could have someone with more money in the family…” “Tonks isn’t one to care about those things.” “Of course not. But some women do care.” Bill was about to ask his mother who she was talking about when Remus came into the kitchen. He was carrying a trunk. “Remus!” Molly placed her hands on her hips. “Don’t tell me you’re leaving!” “I do have my own place, Molly. A place of sorts, at least. More importantly, I was thinking about what you said last night. I’m going to visit my father.” “Oh. Does he know where you’ve been?” “Apparently Dor — Tonks filled him in while everyone was trying to find me. I suspect he’s begun to worry. I look better, so it shouldn’t upset him too much.” “Parents are supposed to be upset when their children get hurt, Remus.” Remus brushed off her comment. “Thank you for everything, Molly. I’ll see you at the next meeting.” “You must come for dinner tonight!” “I’m afraid I’ve already overstayed my welcome by far. You and Arthur have been very kind.” Molly watched him leave; as soon as he was gone, she said in a soft voice, “How could I have ever doubted he was a good person?”
They’d wondered why Dumbledore wanted them on Order duty in the castle, but figured it was because of his absence. He was absent often, it seemed. Nonetheless, Bill walked the halls and grounds with Remus and Tonks. “I miss the lake,” Tonks said. “Remember how we’d always study there?” “Charlie used to try playing with the giant squid, at least when he was younger.” Tonks laughed. “Didn’t he even name it?” “Yes, he named it—” That was the last thing Bill would ever be able to recall, with the exception of flashes. Like Greyback’s face in his, Ginny and Tonks both screaming his name.... Tonks and Remus rushing to fight Greyback off, McGonagall holding Ginny back… being half-awake and realizing he was in the hospital wing with people he couldn’t make out, shouting out in pain, someone giving him a potion… When he woke up properly, his parents were there, along with Remus, Tonks, Fleur and Ginny. They carefully told him everything — Greyback attacked him, Dumbledore was gone, they were talking about closing the school… “How bad am I?” Bill asked after a minute. “You need to rest,” Fleur said a little too loudly. “Let him see,” Ginny told them firmly. Molly handed Bill a mirror, and Bill gaped. “Madame Pomfrey hopes her ointment will heal some of those bites,” Remus told him. Bill nodded weakly, knowing what Remus was trying to say. He didn’t even recognize himself. A mauled stranger was staring back at him.
Charlie didn’t come — not because he didn’t want to, but because Bill had told him not to. He knew Charlie would have the most anguished reaction next to Ginny and Fleur, and he wasn’t ready for it. Friends came, of course — the Order wasted no time in visiting, and Bill’s Hogwarts friends followed suit. Deirdre turned to Tonks as she left and said, “If you don’t find Greyback and kill him, I will.” Fleur kissed him before heading to Gringotts. Only Tonks and Remus were left. “Now that we have privacy,” Bill began, “what’s with my mum and Fleur? They like each other now?” Remus and Tonks exchanged a look. “When your mum saw how worried Fleur was, she was able to appreciate her love for you,” Tonks responded tactfully. “Ah.” Bill remembered what his mother had said several weeks before, but decided not to dwell on it. Whatever she’d thought of Fleur then — for he now knew who she meant — was in the past. “How are you feeling?” Remus asked. “Have you felt any more wolfish?” “No, so far it’s just the meat… Tonks! Your hair!” He’d only just realized it was pink again. “You like it?” Tonks grinned. “We — I woke up this morning and realized it was pink.” “Pinker than I’ve ever seen it,” Remus added, and he kissed the top of her head. “So you’re back together,” Bill said. Tonks looked at Remus lovingly. “I think so.” “I think so too,” Remus agreed. He looked unbelievably happy. Tonks bit her lip. “But I do owe you an apology.” “For what?” “We… might have made up… while you were here.” “That’s pretty obvious.” “No, I mean, in this room. Fleur was saying how much she loved you even though— I just couldn’t hold it in any longer.” Bill’s eyes widened. “Are you telling me that while Fleur was making an emotional declaration of eternal love at my bedside, you spun around and confronted Remus about mercy-dumping you?” Tonks nodded abashedly; Bill smiled. He was in pain, Dumbledore was gone, but one thing had been put right. His friends were back.
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