The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part Two

Who Is Harry?

"Sirius, let's go for a walk, mate, ey?" James called coming from the bedroom.

Sirius looked up. He was replacing Remus's tattoo bandage, having begged to have a peek at it. "A walk?"

"Yeah, a walk. C'mon."

Sirius looked at Remus, who shrugged, and finished at smoothing the taped bandage down himself as Sirius got up, kicked on his boots and followed after James, slinging his leather jacket on. The door closed behind them.

"You fancy a cuppa, Rey?" Lily called, heading for the kitchen.

Remus buttoned his shirt up, "Alright..." he followed her in as she flicked her wand to set water to boil and her rosebud patterned cups spun into existence on the table.

"What's going on?" Remus asked.

"Nothing," Lily answered. "Earl Grey or your aconite?"

"Aconite, definitely."

Lily reached for the little box on the window sill they kept an aconite plant growing in.

"So you and James suddenly needing to talk, immediately followed by him and Sirius going for a walk is nothing?"

Lily dropped the leaves into the tea cups. "Listen all the way through before you flare up, then, alright?"

"Flare up?"

"Regulus isn't dead."

"Lily --"

"Remus!" She snapped, "Listen!"

He shut his mouth, staring at her.

"He isn't dead. James went back to the Ministry last night with Frank Longbottom to confirm it."

"There's a dozen reasons why the body might be missing the Mark, Evans, and the jewelry is probably --"

"It was Maryrose Jenkins," Lily interrupted, "How's that for a reason?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Maryrose Jenkins."

Remus stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. "But she died -- months ago..."

"Frank saw the body, too..." Lily hesitated. "We, um. We obliviated the memory, though, of their trip to the Ministry. To protect Regulus."

Remus sat in one of the chairs rather hard, his brain struggling to wrap around what she was saying.

"We discussed not telling Sirius... also to protect Regulus, but -" she shook her head, "He's - he's too --"

"Yeah," Remus said, when she couldn't find an adjective for what Sirius was. "I know."

"That's what James and I were talking about just now."

"Keeping it from him would be a monumental mistake - I mean, if we're certain it wasn't Regulus..." Remus paused. "He's truly certain?"

"It was definitely Maryrose," Lily said firmly. If it hadn't of been, James wouldn't have known about Martin, she knew, so the proof was in the revelation of Maryrose's magic having faded off. Lily placed the tea cup with the aconite in it before him.

Remus stared into the tea cup. "All logic said it was him."

"I know."

"You knew," he said, remembering their fight.

"Speculated strongly," she said.

Remus frowned, "Sirius knew."

"He was right."

"I need to - to trust him better."

Lily stirred her cup of tea, watching the herbs dye the boiling water. "Perhaps we all do."