The Marauders: Year Four

Decompressing

Decompressing

Remus woke up over a day later.

Ned Veigler had fallen asleep on the stool by his side, his head leaning against a small pillow he'd propped against the edge of the table. Remus stared at Veigler's sleeping face and felt a rush of gratitude toward the man. He'd never been so scared in all his life as he'd been back there at that cottage in the woods... He only vaguely remembered fleeing the little house and the run through the trees... what he remembered of it was Ned's grasp on him and the whispered promises that they would be okay if he'd just hang on...

Remus struggled to shifted his weight, but, with his back stiff and shoulder sore, it was a challenge to do it, and Ned woke at the feeling of the movement, looking up. "You're awake," Ned said thankfully.

Remus smiled weakly, "I'm awake," he said with a nod.

"Thank Merlin," murmured Ned, then he reached up and he helped Remus move gently, getting him sitting up and magicking loads of pillows behind him to lean against. "There we are," Veigler said as Remus sighed in relief.

A woman with short salt-and-pepper grey hair approached suddenly, someone Remus didn't recognize, since he'd slept through any introductions that may have been made. She carried a bowl of broth that Remus could smell was like a beef stew. "I'm Tina Scamander," she introduced herself as she stood beside the bed, stirring the broth with a spoon, "I'm Newt's wife." She dipped the spoon into the broth and brought it to Remus's mouth.

They told him how it was that he'd ended up here, and how Newt had stitched his shoulder back up, and how Dumbledore had decided that Remus should spend the summer with them to stay safely tucked away in the briefcase, where Fenrir Greyback couldn't find him. "You're safe here," Tina promised. "There's not a thing that can hurt you here." She gave him the mirror that Sirius and James had left behind. "Your friends told us to see to it that you got this," she said.

Remus stared at the glass, stared at the reflection in it of the room in the Shrieking Shack, and he waited everyday for the face of Sirius Black to appear within it.

WIZARDING WORLD OVERWHELMINGLY DEMANDS SUMMER ELECTION TO APPOINT NEW MINISTER FOR MAGIC
Following all of the attacks and subsequent happenings from the weekend, and most recently Tuesday's attacks in the chamber of the Ministry, the wizarding world has overwhelmingly demanded a summer election to appoint a new Minister for Magic. Madam Minister Eugenia Jeninks' poll numbers have exponentially dropped in the past year as the forces behind He Who Must Not Be Named has increasingly grown in strength, seemingly right beneath the Ministry's nose. Attacks have more than doubled in number in the last twelve months, the death tolls rising everyday, and arrests have dropped to a record low.
"We have to take action!" Harold Minchum announced Wednesday, announcing the rearrest of convicted murderer, Druella Black, who has been transported to Azkaban Prison, where she awaits the Dementor's Kiss for the mass murders conducted at the Ministry. "We must be ready for more strikes like this against the Ministry for Magic and the Wizarding World. We must stop V - - - - - - - - -." * (Editor's note: While Harold Minchum used the proper name for the one they call the Dark Lord, the Daily Prophet prefers to refer to him as He Who Must Not Be Named or else You Know Who.) Many prominent members of the wizarding community have already put forth names for the running parties.

Not surprisingly, the clear forerunner is our second-in-command auror Harold Minchum, who humbly denied being solely responsible for the arrest of Druella Black, citing efforts of young aurors, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, whose bravery was subsequently recognized by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. However, the magical community has already embraced Minchum, and pins reading Minchum for Minister have already begun surfacing at Diagon Alley. Minchum also holds a strong following among politically minded students at Hogwarts. Other names that have been put forward include: former Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore (who has already refused the nomination twice before), prominent school board governor Vanessa Bones, and the head foreign defensive delegations officer to the Egyptian Magical Congress of Sorcery (EMUS) Adom Tutman.
Official nominations will be announced in the coming week, with emergency elections held on Monday 4 August 1975.