Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

27 July, 1997 - Safe

The next time the silence of the Burrow's lawn was broken, it was for the arrival of Arthur and Fred, both of whom wasted no time at all in running inside to check on George, their faces frantic from the moment Molly informed them of his condition. No one was stupid enough to get in their way - even Kingsley backed off on confirming Arthur's identity at the look in those usually calm eyes - though Harry, Ginny and Hermione all followed them inside, leaving Remus, Lavinia and Kingsley to stand on the front lawn and keep watching. Waiting. Hoping. All the while trying to keep themselves from hoping too much in case the worst should happen.

The silence was tight and palpable and the next half hour seemed to Lavinia to stretch for eons, the quiet of the night pounding on her eardrums as she forced herself not to read to much into the whispers of the wind in the grass or the crack of a branch from a passing wild animal or the occasional odd sound from the gnomes in the garden behind them.

She wasn't entirely sure how long it took but at some point, a speck in the sky started moving and a minute or so later, Tonks was skidding to a halt, barely pulling her broom to a stop before she hurried, half tripping, half running, into Remus's arms, clearly ecstatic to see him. Remus, however, seemed less enthused and though his arms were waiting and wrapped around his wife with no hesitation whatsoever, his face was tight, his jaw set and his skin pale, drained from a stress Lavinia knew all too well. It made her heart crack slightly to see that look in his eyes and know what he felt. Know the way his ribs were likely cracking and his head likely reeling and his heart half wishing he could just... stop loving people who were always in the middle of the fray. It was a feeling Lavinia had hated and yet now, with no one running into her arms and no one to wait for at home... she almost missed it. Even if the look on Remus's face was enough to make her heart twist from the memories of it.

Where Lavinia was all too aware of Remus's somewhat poorly hidden feelings, Tonks, on the other hand, seemed unaware of the tense set to Remus's shoulders. Or rather, if she did notice, she didn't seem to want to mention it in front of the others and instead launched right into explanations of why they'd been late. Lavinia could hardly blame her. It wasn't really the time for such a conversation with so many other eyes on them, each reflecting their own worries. Their own hells. So Lavinia turned her eyes away from her friend and onto his wife, listening to their story.

It had been a combination of problems apparently, not least of which was that the Weasleys' Aunt Muriel had fussed rather excessively and they'd missed the portkey. But the worst of it had been the unfortunately slow progress and roundabout route they'd had to take thanks to a rather dogged pursuit by Bellatrix Lestrange. The very name made Lavinia's jaw set and something in her core reverberated with the grim determination in Tonks's voice as the other woman said softly, "I owe Bellatrix." For a moment their eyes met and Lavinia rather thought a mutual understanding passed between them. Yes, they owed Bellatrix. The both of them did. Then again, Lavinia thought, looking away as Tonks continued her tale, a lot of people did. Her claim to that woman's punishment had no more bearing than anyone else's when it came down to it.

She sighed then and pulled herself back to the present with an effort. There was no sense in dwelling on either the past or the future right now. No sense in wishing for a punishment she had little right to give or reliving those awful moments of Sirius's death and remembering that laugh. No sense at all.

Not, Lavinia realized, that there was much of anything useful to dwell on at the moment either because all they could do now was wait more. Four people still weren't back. Four lives they still could not account for. Four. And Lavinia had to keep reminding herself as the minutes ticked by and Kingsley left and the others started trickling back inside to check on Fred once more, that she ought to be thankful for the ten lives they knew were safe. At least for the time being.