Hope In Hiding (Book 2 of the Lost Potter Series)

A Decision

Within the next 45 minutes or so, Remus and Dumbledore collected a group consisting of Snape and Pomfrey- Snape to deal with the bodies and their respective families, and Pomfrey to administer to Olivia's undoubtedly fragile mental health.

The group walked to Hogsmeade somewhat solemnly, with few questions being asked after everyone was filled in. The apparition was done together, as only Dumbledore and Lupin had been to the home, much to the dismay of certain party members.

At the house, the atmosphere of silence carried through. After their brief conversation, Olivia and Sirius had fallen into a pit of silence that neither knew how to climb out of. When the group arrived at the scene, Sirius peered up at Remus first with a look of desperation.

"Liv, have you met Madam Pomfrey before?" Sirius asked her quietly as the group approached. Olivia nodded slightly but didn't respond, "She's here to make sure you're alright. Are you comfortable answering her questions right now?"

Olivia nodded again, picking her head up to assess the group. She looked alright but uncertain at everyone until her eyes met Snape's, where she instantly cowered back into Sirius, keeping her head down as she fought back even more traumatic images.

Sirius noticed this and jerked his head at Snape, motioning for him to hurry up and get out. Snape, while not looking thrilled with the idea, relented and moved quickly to move the corpses and himself into the front room for easier transportation. Once he and the evidence were out of sight, Olivia relaxed slightly and picked her head back up to talk to Pomfrey.

"Olivia, is it?" Pomfrey started first, kneeling with slight hesitation as Olivia nodded, "That's right, I remember you from your first day there. Do you remember who I am?"

Olivia spoke slowly and with a great hoarseness in her voice, "You're the matron at Hogwarts."

Pomfrey nodded, "Indeed I am. Can you explain to me what happened, Olivia? In as much detail as you can."

Olivia slowly but surely retold the events, only choking up at the retelling of the actual murder. Tears begun again at some point, but Olivia wasn't aware of that until she had finished. Images of the events passed through her thoughts as she told them, and she found herself unable to think of anything else. By the end of it, her voice could barely continue, which worked to mirror her mental fatigue as well.

The adults of the room watched in varying degrees of sympathy and protectiveness as Olivia told her tale, with Sirius being the most visibly impacted. He wanted to go out there and kill those death eaters a second time for what they'd done- not that he'd ever express that to Olivia.

Remus was the first to speak after the silence following Olivia, saying quietly to Dumbledore, "We can't let her stay here. They'll try again."

Dumbledore simply nodded and turned to Olivia, "Ms. Potter, I'm here to offer you a decision to try and bring you peace. Do you feel you are in the right state of mind to make such a choice?"

Olivia furrowed her brows, "Well that depends on the decision,"

"Poppy? Your assessment?" Dumbledore asked next, looking to the half-kneeling matron.

"She will struggle with this for a long while, but she isn't in an immediate state of shock right now." Pomfrey didn't give a definite answer, but left it open for Dumbledore to continue.

"Very well. Olivia, if you decide you want to, I can remove the memories of what has occurred this morning. You will not be able to recall anything about these events, and only I or someone much more powerful than I could unlock these memories again. By doing so, it may grant you peace, but it may not. There is no way of knowing until it is done."