Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

27 July 1997 - Spies (III)

When Lavinia and Remus entered the house, they found that everyone had congregated in the living room as though by some unspoken agreement. Even as they walked in, glasses of firewhiskey were being passed around, each one filled with what Lavinia thought was perhaps a bit more alcohol than was strictly necessary. But she said nothing about it, instead just checking on Fred and making sure her spells had indeed done the trick before accepting her own glass and going to stand by the side of the room, keeping some measure of distance from the rest, half hoping she could just walk away and handle the quiet grief of this night on her own.

Not, she knew, that that was a particularly good idea. Especially since these days alone really did mean alone, a fact she was reminded of as she watched Remus head over to Tonks and offer her a handkerchief to dry her by now rather wet eyes, his gaze perhaps a bit gentler and his hands a bit steadier than they had been out in the garden. It was a heartwarming scene to watch and one Lavinia was glad to see after Remus's less than warm greeting of his wife earlier but it didn't change the soft twinge in her that reminded her that the house would be empty tonight. Just as it had been for the past several nights. And tonight, she had little doubt she would spend the wee hours of the morning staring into the silence and wishing it didn't remind her of too many empty, fearful times before this one.

She sighed then and pulled her gaze away from her old friend and onto Bill who was handing Arthur the last of the glasses even as he raised his own. "To Mad-Eye," he toasted, the name raw and filled with a grief that was reflected back at him in the answering murmur of "Mad-Eye" as the others raised their glasses.

Lavinia's own repeat of the name was barely a whisper and she didn't bother to drink from her cup. She didn't want to. She knew what happened next and she didn't want to be even slightly impaired for it lest she end up the target of suspicious gazes yet again. And she rather thought she would if she dared spread her mind because she knew where this was going. And she knew she probably wouldn't agree with half of what was said.

Indeed, Remus, who had drained his entire glass in one go, was the one who broke the silence with the words, "So. Mundungus disappeared, did he?"

Lavinia pursed her lips, watching her friend with something like disappointment in her face at the tightness of his tone, the finality. The implication the others had picked up on just as surely as Lavinia had. Remus, however, seemed to be avoiding her gaze, instead staring around at just about anyone and everyone else, seeming to dare them to come up with a better explanation than the one he had just implicitly proposed.

"I know what you're thinking," Bill said into the suddenly rather tense silence and Lavinia's gaze snapped to him, her nerves balancing on a knife's edge. "And I wondered that too. But it can't have been Mundungus. The Death Eaters didn't know there would be seven Harry's and, in case you've forgotten, that bit of trickery was Dung's idea. I bet he just panicked, plain and simple. He didn't want to come in the first place but Mad-Eye made him and You-Know-Who went straight for them. It would be enough to make anyone panic."

Lavinia nodded at this, watching Bill with a newfound appreciation as some of worry disappeared slightly at the thought that she might not be the only person here willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. It was a relieving idea, and a rather unexpected one as well because truth be told, she hadn't expected anyone to be so... understanding. Though, when she glanced around, this was clearly not a universally accepted forgiveness and several of the others, mostly the children, were frowning slightly at Bill's words.

"Yes and zat is all well and good," Fleur pitched in from beside her husband, flicking her hair impatiently behind a shoulder. "But it does not explain how they knew we were moving Harry today. Someone let slip 'ze date. It is ze only explanation."