Dark Magic

Visiting...

By the time we had recollected our thoughts and ran after Remus, he had fled Grimmauld Place.

"Where could he have gone?" I asked, frantically running from my search in the kitchen to the living room. Sirius sighed, exasperatedly waving his arms in the air. "I've got a few ideas. Get dressed and we'll go after him."

Sirius began to exit the room but I grabbed his arm in protest, preventing him from taking a step further. "You can't. It's too dangerous. You'll get caught. We'll have to wait until nightfall. He wouldn't do anything stupid, would he?" I asked, my worried eyes finding his grey ones. Sirius gulped, but shook his head, "No. He's done this before. When we all found out." The man looked solemnly to the floor, looking as though he could have wept at the memory.

"He'll be fine, Emerald. I know he will."

The hours passed like days, if not months, as I tried to subdue my thoughts and Sirius', avoiding the worst possible situations from entering my mind. We waited. In silence, for the sun to set. Finally, it did; and we were able to leave Grimmauld Place.

"Take my arm." Sirius' hoarse voice instructed and I did so without hesitation, bracing myself for the horrible effects that came with apparition, cuddling my cardigan tight to my chest.

The earth was swept out underneath my feet as the familiar feeling of being pulled through a small tube overwhelmed me. Less than a moment passed, allowing me to register the feeling, before I was forcefully pushed onto the ground, once more. Forcing the urge to vomit back into my stomach, my watery eyes found those of Sirius', causing me to release my tight grip on his arm. Looking around, I began to scan my surroundings.

Something about the quaint, little village struck a realization within me. I knew I had been here before, from the dilapidated building that stood before me; the roof caved in as it had been on that night. In that memory. But I still did not know the name. "Where are we, Sirius?" I asked, a sudden shudder overcoming me as a slight breeze surpassed us both. Sirius watched the old, rickety cottage in front of us with hatred in his eyes. His gaze did not leave the ruins, but his lips spoke the words simply and devoid of any emotion, "Follow me, Emerald."

Finally prying his eyes from the home, he ascended down the small street, barely lit by a few oil lamps as though it were from another time, perhaps. He knew the roads, flowing from one street to another in search of his friend as though he had taken the path a hundred times before.

I hardly noticed when his footsteps came to a halt on a cobbled street, nearly bumping into the back of him as I fought to find my footing. Infront of him was an iron gate, the words, "Godrick's Hollow Cemetary" moulded into the black steel.

"This was the first place I came after checking on you and Harry, last August." Sirius breathed. Of course, it had been him following us that night, after we jinxed Aunt Marge. He had been watching over us from the beginning, especially Harry.

"I couldn't bring myself to set foot inside the gate." He paused, turning to face me as the light of the moon reflected off his leather jacket; his black hair covering his face slightly. Smiling sadly, I linked my arm with his and tried to force the tears from my eyes. I knew what was waiting for me inside. "We'll do it together." Sirius' tensed arm muscles relaxed at my notion as he nodded and opened the gate slightly wider than it already was.

As we stepped inside, I felt another wave of cold and discomfort, the air thickening as we made our way through the graveyard. We circled the church towards the back, finding a dark figure knelt beside a gravestone. As we neared it, we recognized the man curled in a ball, immediately. He was sobbing, whispering words that were hard to decipher in his strained voice. I knew he was apologising, saying that he was sorry over and over again; each apology coming out more pained than the last.

My gaze soon drifted to the grave he was talking to, my eyes scanning the words as slowly as they could; as though it would be the first and last time I would ever be able to read them.

James Potter                                                                          Lily Potter

Born 27 March 1960                                                     Born 30 January 1960

Died 31 October 1981                                                   Died 31 October 1981

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

I held back a sob, clutching Sirius' arm as though it was my lifeline. They died the night I was born. I wanted an explanation. I wanted to know how and why and what had happened that night that lead to me being born the night they were murdered by the most evil Wizard in history. I had never hated Voldemort as much as I did in that moment. Because of him, I had lost them. Because of him, I had grown up isolated, in an orphanage. Because of him, I didn't know about my brother for the first ten years of my life. Because of him, my life had been ruined from the moment I came into the world.

But that rage and hatred came to a short stop at the sound of Remus' cries. Because he blamed himself for all of it. As did the man beside me, who I knew was also forcing back his own emotions in fear of them consuming him, as they had for the past twelve years in Azkaban Prison.

"Remus." My voice spoke, too fearful for anything louder than a whisper at the thought of breaking, my hand placing itself on Remus' shoulder. His head dropped to the floor, causing me to kneel down beside him and release my grasp from Sirius' arm. Remus shook his head in protest, but he was too weak to push even a nearly-thirteen year old away. "I let them both down. I should have protected you. I almost killed you." The man's voice spoke weakly, causing me to wrap my arm around his shoulder.

"But, you didn't. That night at the Whomping Willow, I looked into your eyes and tried to calm you and you listened. You. Listened, Remus." My voice was stern and stronger than before now, a small nest of crows dispersing from their home at the sudden disturbance. His eyes parted from the grave to find my own, red from the tears that had fallen prior to our arrival and were still streaming down his cheeks in that moment.

"You would never hurt me. Mum and Dad knew that. That's why they asked you to be my Godfather." My voice broke at the mention of my parents, my eyes filling with tears at the thought of them being buried several feet beneath the ground I was leaning in front of. This was the closest I would ever be to them both.

"I. Hurt. You Emerald. I bit you." Remus' voice was growing sadder with each word, if that were even possible.

Shaking my head, I fought the tears once more, for a moment to remain strong for the man my arms were encased around. The damp ground was beginning to soak through my jeans. "And I survived it. My parents trusted you and Sirius more than anyone. If there's anytime they would have needed you to both me in mine and Harry's lives, it's now. Please, Remus..." I released my grip from his shoulders, extending a hand towards him, "Come home."

Remus' shoulders sunk a little at my words, his body needing a few minutes that felt like an eternity and a half before his cold hand finally accepted my own and I helped him from the floor. He had a few, new scratches across his face and I feared, for a moment, that they were not inflicted whilst he was in his Werewolf form. I could only hope and pray that this thoughts were not true...

Before I had a chance to question him on the matter, however, he pulled me into the tightest embrace I could have ever expected. "I won't leave you ever again." His voice spoke, muffled into the top of my head as I let out a sigh of relief, a small tear streaming down my cheek which I allowed, watching it fall onto the ground where my parents were buried.

How long we were standing in each other's arms, I was unsure. But eventually, we parted and I allowed myself one more read of the Grave Stone before turning to leave. Only our journey was caught short by Sirius, his eyes pooling with the same tears we all shared. He was fighting so hard to keep it all in. But I knew it was too unbearable for him. He needed some sort of relief. And as though Remus and I shared the same thought process, we pulled him into our arms, embracing him as he cried and mourned his best friend, James Potter...