Following the events of the same universe where Juliet Potter and Remus Lupin fell in love, the insouciance has faded into misery as all parties prepare for the war, willing to pull any card to win a war from which none will truly come out victoriou...
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TW: kind of a gore-ish description, blood
February 1978
The biggest secret had been revealed to those from whom it had been kept from. There was a Horcrux in the game, Juliet had it, and she was now nowhere to be found.
What brought the Marauders the greatest relief so far, had been the fact that Bellatrix Lestrange was not trotting and laughing hysterically, holding Juliet Potter's decapitated head by her long strands of hair.
Had the Death Eaters killed her, she would be on full display everywhere, to signal the tyrannized population that there was no hope left for them.
Now, something they did not quite know of who had been standing strong against the attacks reached out to them on the eleventh day after they've found out about Juliet's disappearance.
The Order of the Phoenix.
Albus Dumbledore reached out to Lily, and a meeting took place. All friends were secretly contacted and a place for the rendez-vous was given. They were extra careful, spells protecting all letters and radio communications, in order for no ambush to happen.
They were all on edge to be honest. All suspicious of everyone surrounding them, and being ashamed of it at times, because those were friends and family. Regulus was surprised he was let known of the meeting, but he was told that Dumbledore had written the names of all people he wished for their presence.
James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius and Regulus Black, Marlene McKinnon, Lily Evans, Frank Longbottom, Alice Fortescue, Amos Diggory, Dorcas Meadowes, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, Pandora Lestrange, and Juliet Potter.
Clearly, Albus Dumbledore had not heard of James' active search for his twin sister. Lily convinced him that it was a good sign, if he had heard of it, she was long gone.
Sure, Remus was in no great state ever since the very first disappearance of his beloved girlfriend. Smoking, drinking, barely sleeping, not even shaving. He looked depressed and he was. He realized when she left that she had been the single thing bringing him joy in the hardest of times.
But, James was close to madness. He had looked everywhere, he had barged into his friends' houses, looking for a cold corpse in their basements after night terrors.
The nightmares were horrible, all were about his twin. Juliet's body being so mutilated her organs were sticking out, her suffering under the Imperius and Cruciatus curses before being put out of her misery with the most abrupt death caused by the Killing Curse.
And the worse of them all, kind of ironic when compared to the horrifying sights he had envisioned in his dreams, was her, surviving the Cruciatus Curse but being so deeply damaged that she had turned mad and amnesic. Staring into her twin brother's face with nothing more but a blank expression, mumbling words that sounded like a whole other language, and randomly screaming at any moment.
Lily and Sirius slept countless nights in his room to calm him down the second he jolted awake, sobbing and screaming, his heart aching to the core.
It was bad, everyone in the house was clearly able to hear and they could not get used to the pain in those screams. What did they know about the pain you'd feel, seeing your twin in such a state, even if it's dreams.
Still, he went to the meeting. He thought Juliet would want him to. And he hated that he had already started thinking like she's dead. She wasn't, he would have felt it if she was, wouldn't he? He liked to believe he would. But he didn't know. Juliet and James had never been apart for more than ten days. Even when they argued, even when he left her to be with his friends.
~
Bloodshed. Drops slipping off the branches and staining the snow.
The view was incredible. Light and refreshing. A sky invaded with stars. The shivers that were the cause of the gust wind's touch off felt far from appeasing as one would immediately tremble, all uncovered parts turning red.
Many ways to describe it. A blanket of melancholy, a carpet of cotton batting. The trees were clothed with a glittering wedding dress.
And then there was that red stain. Not a romantic red we love to see adorn pleasant-smelling flowers. Not an erotic that seems to enchant one that physically shares their love.
It was violent. Savage and aggressive. Reflected a brutal act of monstrosity. It felt like the birth of a radge, a beast. And if you looked close enough, perhaps you would spot bits of flesh.
Birds flew away from that scene, other animals hurriedly leaped away. Even predators did not dare get near. They all knew that was the gruesome act of the most menacing and treacherous species.
And they did not want to be around to be next in case the one responsible for it, came back to contemplate their artwork.
* * *
no dialogue?
this is yet again, your sign not to go and spoil book 2 in book 1 if you've read this far along first :)) I'm deleting all the comments but I'd appreciate it if you made my work easier.
