the last verse ; harry potter [2]

ten ; the werewolf's proposal

Number twelve, Grimmauld Place was a lonely house. Diana wasn't yet used to the silence of being runaways, the only sounds coming from themselves, the lonely existence of four who have become so acquainted they are no longer each themselves. Just the four of them, stitched in the silence for two days, two days in which they were entirely Kreacher-less and entirely progress-less. At night, they all slept in the drawing room atop blankets and moth-eaten pillows, the silence much too loud and the darkness much to heavy. They all listened to each others breathing until it was just Diana who was awake, listing to the soft drizzle of rain outside and the quiet snoring of Ron.  

The next morning, as they all idly swallowed their measly breakfast supplied by Hermione, they all sat in a comfortable silence they had grown used too. Half way through their breakfast, though, the heavy, loud clicking of the front locks urged them to pull their wands out, their eyes glued to the door as the knob turned. The light streamed in, silhouetting the figure until the door closed, and the weary face of Remus Lupin stared back at them.

They did not lower their wands.

"I am Remus John Lupin, werewolf, sometimes known as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder's Map, married to Nymphadora Tonks, and I taught you how to produce a Patronus, Harry, which takes the form of a stag."

"Oh, all right," muttered Harry as they lowered their wands. Harry grinned and they hugged, slapping each other's back with affection.

"What's going on? Is everyone okay?" said Diana as Lupin made the rounds, hugging Hermione, then Ron, then finally Diana.

"Yes," he said, and they all settled themselves at the table. Hermione served him a small helping of breakfast. "But we're all being watched. There are a couple of Death Eater's in the square outside---"

"We know," said Diana. "They've been watching the house, but we've been careful."

Lupin nodded. "I had to Apparate very precisely on the top step outside the front door to be sure that they would not see me. They can't know you're in here or I'm sure they'd have more people out there; they're staking out everywhere that's got any connection to you, and I want to know what happened after you left the Burrow."

Ron conjured them each a glass and filled it with butterbeer, and they all began to drink.

"I'd have been here three days ago but I needed to shake off the Death Eater's tailing me," he added. "So, you came straight here after the wedding?"

"No," said Harry, "only after we ran into a couple of Death Eaters in a cafe on Tottenham Court Road."

Lupin slopped a large portion of his butterbeer onto his jacket, his eyes widening.

"What?"

They all explained what had happened, of the Death Eaters and the destroyed cafe and wiping their memories. By the end, Lupin was aghast.

"But how did he find you so quickly? It's impossible to track anyone who Apparates, unless you grab hold of them as they disappear!"

"And it doesn't seem likely that they were just strolling down Tottenham Court Road at the time, does it?" added Harry, taking another sip.

"We wondered," said Hermione tentatively, "whether Harry could have the Trace on him still?"

"Impossible," said Lupin, echoing Diana's initial reaction from that night. "Apart from anything else, they'd know for sure Harry was here if he still had the Trace on him, wouldn't they? But I can't see how they could have tracked you to Tottenham Court Road, that's worrying, really worrying."