Karina Potter, Aunt Marauder

Chapter 5

Christmas was coming, and everybody seemed to know it but Karina. And Remus wondered why she appeared to be ignoring her favourite holiday.

He finally confronted her about it when he caught her writing a letter to Mad-Eye.

"Yes, I will be able to attend work on the twenty fifth. I just have to find a babysitter for Harry." She said aloud as she wrote. Remus sighed, and came in, leaning against the desk.

"Rina, what's this?" She looked up at him, confused.

"What do you mean? Alastor asked me if I was able to work the twenty fifth and I said yes. Will you watch Harry for me?" Remus slid the letter away from her.

"This has gone a bit far, Karina. You never work on Christmas. Now what's going on?" Karina was silent for a moment, then she finally said,

"Its not Christmas without them, you know." She told Remus. "It won't be the same for anybody." Remus sighed, and sat on the desk.

"Come on, Rina. I know it won't be the same without everybody, but you've got to keep your head up. And, I think Molly's expecting us at the Burrow for Christmas. It'd be a shame not to show up." Karina leaned back in her chair, and sighed.

"Ugh, fine. But I'll only stay for a little bit. I'm not exactly in a Christmasy mood, you've got to understand." Remus nodded, holding up his hands in surrender.

"Hey, as long as you come. We miss you, all of us." Karina raised an eyebrow.

"You miss me? You come over every single day, Moony." Remus crossed his arms.

"I miss the Karina who didn't let things like stress get her down. She never stressed out as badly as you have lately." Karina set her hand on the desk, putting leaning her head in her hand.

"Well, what do you expect, Remus? My brother and two of my best friends are dead while my fiance is in Azkaban, leaving me to take care of a one year old when I have no experience with children. On top of it all, I'm trying to keep the story that Harry somehow defeated Voldemort quiet while maintaining a job of rounding up his followers. You know Barty Crouch is going to put his own son on trial for hanging around with a bunch of Death Eaters? And that's his way of showing his son love!" Remus's eyebrows rose.

"Really? Who accused him?"

"Igor Karkaroff." Karina told him. "That's how he got out of Azkaban. He named off loads of Death Eaters, including Evan Rosier, who was already dead, Augustus Rookwood, an Unspeakable accused of passing information from the Ministry itself to Voldemort, Snape and Barty Crouch Jr., who had been accused of using the Cruciatus Curse multiple times. He admitted it in front of a load of people. Barty, myself, Dumbledore, Moody, even Crouch Jr. himself. The boy tried to escape, but we caught him in time." 

"What'd you do with the accused?" 

"Well, we questioned them of course! Rookwood wouldn't admit it until we used Veritaserum on him, of course Snape had turned spy for us prior to Voldemort's fall, but Crouch, my goodness! He proudly admitted that he was a Death Eater, if you could believe it!" Remus's eyes went wide.

"Really? Mr. Crouch's own son, a Death Eater." Karina shrugged.

"I almost can't blame the boy. Crouch never really cared for his own son. He gave him food, a roof to live under, and a loving mother, that was about it. I would assume that the boy thought of it as revenge against his father for not really caring for him. You remember him, Remus? He was a couple years younger than us. A little Slytherin." Remus thought back, and remembered the sullen faced boy who got twelve O.W.Ls, full marks, and rarely misbehaved beyond normal Slytherin behavior. Then he nodded again.

"Yeah, I remember him. You weren't really ever very nice to him." Karina snorted.

"He wasn't very nice either, Remus, you must remember. A bit of a brat, that kid. Still, maybe if I had been nicer to him, he wouldn't be in the situation he is now." Remus nodded again. 

"Yeah..." Then he clapped his hands together, changing the subject back. "So, Molly's, Christmas, four o' clock, got it?" Karina chuckled and rubbed her forehead.

"Yeah, yeah, alright. Harry and I'll be there, but just for a little bit. I've got a ton of work to do before Crouch's trial. Goodness, I don't want to go." Remus chuckled, then they heard Harry crying. "Oh, I'll get him." Karina went to stand up, but Remus stopped her.

"You, get what you need to get done and then rest. I'll go check on Harry." Karina sank back down into her chair, looking relieved, and Remus went down the hall into Harry's room, where he was laying, clutching the pillow, his eyes screwed shut. He appeared to be crying in his sleep. 

Remus walked over, sat on the edge of his little toddler bed, and gently patted Harry's back. "Harry! Wake up, Harry!" The little boy sat up and dove into Remus's lap, his eyes still shut as he cried, but he was awake. Remus lifted the boy better into his lap and hugged him close, feeling Harry shake as he sobbed. "Sh, its okay. Did you have a nightmare?" Harry looked up at him and nodded. "What was it about?" Harry didn't say anything, but pointed under the bed. "There something under your bed?" Harry nodded, and Remus got an idea. "Hang on, let me check." Then he crawled under the bed, pretending to look for a monster. "I don't see anything, Mini Prongs. Come take a look!" Harry nervously looked under, only to see Remus down there, making a funny face. Harry laughed.

"Moony!" He squealed with laughter. Remus laughed with him, then came crawling back out from under the bed, grunting as he went, Harry giggling the whole time.

Once Remus had wiggled his way out from under the tiny bed, he sat back down on the edge, and Harry hugged him tight. "See? No monsters. Just me! Think you can go to sleep again?" Harry nodded, smiling. "Then here. I'll tuck you in." Harry lay down quickly, and Remus tucked him in, picking up the stuffed animals that were strewn all over the floor. A stag, a rat, a wolf, a puppy, and a fox. "And here. The Marauders will protect you." He told him, surrounding Harry with the toys. "Prongs, Wormtail, Moony, Padfoot, and Foxtrot." Harry grabbed the nearest toy, which happened to be the stag, and hugged it tight. Remus smiled, and patted Harry's head. "Goodnight, Harry."

Meanwhile, from her office, Karina could hear them, and had to smile. Remus would make a great dad, the way he took care of Harry like that. 

(So, I'm trying something that I used to do with my text. Does this make it easier to read the story? Let me know below! Until next slime!)