Here's the end of the story. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. I will be starting a new story next week called A Year and A Day, Magic marks couples when they are seventeen as to whom they will marry. Sirius Black wasn't marked. He's watched his friends marry, have children and move on in their lives. Juniper Meadows is the new Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts and is shocked on the morning of her 40th birthday when she awakes with Sirius' name over her heart. Can you find love later in life? Junie isn't sure, since she's known Sirius since she was eleven and she can't stand him. It will be over at FanFiction . net.
I wouldn't be as good of a writer without my beta extraordinaire, Arnel. She's amazing.
Thanks again for reading and reviewing. And now, the final chapter, MNF
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A Thought or Two | ||||||
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Category: Pre-OotP, Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama Warnings: Mental Abuse Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 87 Summary: Auror Spook Kitty Fawley thought the difficult part of her return to the UK would be getting Sirius out of prison and recovering Harry from his Muggle relatives. Turns out that was the easiest thing she would do. To help them, Kitty will delve into a mystery deeper than any she faced in the field. Hitcount: Story Total: 134248; Chapter Total: 2735 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: |
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Chapter 39: Two Minute Warning November 1, 1988 "You're a right bastard, hanging on this long," Kitty said to the small, dying mass that was Tom Riddle. The ring containing the Resurrection Stone was destroyed only days after the diadem, but Babymort had held on for nearly six more months. Kitty was notified when respirations and the heartbeat had dropped to near-fatal levels. "What was worth sticking around for?" She knew it couldn't answer, his speech had been impossible since the cup had been destroyed, but Kitty was watching his eyes. There was still something vital in them. "Were you waiting for that wretched Anniversary? Well, it's passed, so please leave this world and let us move on." Something angry flared in the darkness. "You're angry with me? I'm the one who argued that the Ministry couldn't kill you when you've just hung on, not really alive but clearly not dead either. I'm the one who has the right to be angry. You murdered two of my best friends for no reason other than they defied you and had a baby boy. More than half the world defied you seven years ago. We didn’t want your rule. We didn’t want to be subjugated and have our ability to think taken away. We didn’t want a ruler who cared more for his own comforts than for what was best as a nation. We didn’t want you.” Kitty paced the room, always maintaining eye contact. She would see when the light went out in those eyes and when his fragmented soul slipped from this existence into whatever was next. While not a Christian herself, she definitely believed in their definition of Hell and hoped that Tom Riddle would spend the remainder of eternity burning for all the murders that were on his hands. Sirius and Remus had argued with her when she was preparing to leave to come and sit vigil, saying there was no reason for her to be there; the medical team could document the death. They didn’t understand. As one last act of penance to Jamie and Lily, she needed to be here so that the last thing the creature was reminded of was the lives of her friends. Maybe then she could stop berating herself. Intellectually, Kitty knew that she’d more than made up for her absence seven years ago. She’d loved and cared for Harry in a way consistent with how they’d have raised him. He was a brilliant boy, full of magical talent, but also with an enormous heart filled with love and compassion. She and Sirius had reconciled, and she’d helped him put the ghosts of Azkaban behind him. Now their family had grown to include a brother and sister for Harry — John just over two and six-month-old Meissa. She'd done as Jamie had made her swear to and had helped Remus lead a productive life free from poverty and the stresses of his illness. He had finally proposed to Mae and would be married in the spring. In her head, she knew there was nothing to atone for. Her heart still harbored such ideas. “Close your eyes and just submit to the darkness,” Kitty crooned in a soft, almost musical voice. “I know it must be calling you by now.” The creature just stared. "Fine, be stubborn; I'm here for the duration. I even brought some knitting." Kitty sat down in the sole chair in the room and gazed on the small lump of what was once a human. For all the bluster and vibrato, he'd had a decade ago; now he was in a nappy, inside a magical crib with bars surrounding the thin mattress to keep him from falling out. If she could have felt anything besides contempt, Kitty might have considered how humiliating it was for the thing which was once called Lord Voldemort. However, she couldn’t and didn’t feel the need to. She lifted her needles and went to work on a sweater for Meissa for Christmas. She was making each of the boys’ similar ones, so they’d match for the annual family Christmas picture that went out with the cards. About an hour later, she was surprised when Kingsley and Amelia came in, carrying takeaway cups of tea and a sleeve of Kitty's favorite biscuits. They might be Muggle made, but when McVitties decided to make Chocolate Hobnobs the year before, Kitty fell in love. She felt quite spoilt now, with black tea, excellent biscuits, and friends to keep her company on her vigil. “Still alive?” Kingsley asked casually. "Yes, barely. He keeps trying to give me the evil eye, but it's hard to take it that way when he's emaciated and wearing the same brand of nappy my daughter wears. Really, the dancing elephants look cute on her but rather silly on him. He's what, like sixty years old and wearing baby nappies.” The sarcasm in her voice was thick. "Be nice," Amelia warned. "Someday, you might be emaciated and wearing nappies on your deathbed.” “True, but when that happens, I will have people I love with me, not two Aurors and the DMLE head waiting to document it,” Kitty answered. The trio enjoyed their tea, then picked up a quiet conversation covering everything from Kitty's children to Kingsley's nieces and nephew and Amelia's niece. They moved on to Ministry politics and finally their individual holiday plans. Eventually, at seven-forty-three in the evening, the creature that had once been a dangerous Dark Lord and terror of wizarding Britain died with a shuddering breath. He never closed his eyes. The last thing he saw was the angry yet pitying look of Kitty Fawley-Black, Auror. Kitty silently bade the gods and goddesses to let his victims finally have a peaceful rest. September 1, 1991 “You’ve got everything, right?” Kitty asked. “Yes, Mum,” Harry answered, sounding more annoyed than he really was. He was pushing his trolley through the Muggle part of King’s Cross Station and was about to go through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾. His little brother, John, was riding on his trunk, holding the cage of Harry’s own owl, Hedwig. “You didn’t sneak your broom, right?” Sirius asked, Meissa on his hip. She was pouting at her oldest brother’s leaving. The two had a precious bond, and Harry read to her every morning after breakfast. She would be missing that most of all. "No, Dad, although Grandmummy Mimi says that she might let me play Seeker even though I'm a first-year." “You’ve got to remember not to call her that at school,” Kitty reminded him. “She’s Professor McGonagall.” "Yeah, yeah, Mum." Harry then walked through the barrier, followed by his parents. He'd see his Aunt and Uncle when he arrived at school because Remus had been hired as the Defense professor two years ago. Now that Voldemort was dead, the curse was gone, and he could work due to the Werewolf Protection Laws his father had helped get passed. Harry would also have a new cousin before the year was out. The Weasleys and the Longbottoms were already on the platform, and Harry immediately went to Ginny's side. Unlike his first father and mother, they were inseparable, probably wouldn't spend years arguing before they started dating. Both sets of parents saw it as a foregone conclusion they'd fall in love — or really grow in their love, since they already were deeply devoted to each other. "So, how will you feel to be an empty-nester, Molly?" Kitty asked. The other woman pulled out a tissue and dabbed at her eyes. “Not good at all,” Molly answered. "Dearest, you knew this day was coming," Arthur reminded her. "Consider all the things we're going to be able to do? Think of how little bickering there will be!" Ginny and Ron were almost always at each other's throats. For the entire school's sanity, Kitty silently hoped that Harry and Ginny might be sorted into Ravenclaw and Ron into Gryffindor, so there was some peace. The train whistle blew, marking the warning. “Better get those trunks onto the train,” Sirius said. He was feeling a bit nostalgic being here. Hogwarts had been his first true home. A gentle tug on his hair and a little voice whispering in his ear reminded him his home now was full of love, laughter, and sweetness. Arthur looked at the other man and smiled at how he was wearing pink glittering nail polish on three fingers. He’d done the same with Ginny when she was small. At her request, Meissa was sat down on the floor where she ran to Harry and held onto his legs. "Don't leave me," she begged, tears coming to her eyes. Harry picked up his little sister and gave her a big hug, which Ginny joined in on. "I will write to you every day if that makes you feel better, and you can send back lots of pictures with Hedwig. I'll come home, sometimes, for Sunday dinner too. Please don't cry," he said gently. “I love you, Harry.” “I love you too, my little Meissa, brightest star in the sky.” She gave him a rather wet kiss on the cheek before he set her down and ran back to her daddy. She was definitely a daddy’s girl. Harry then gave his little brother a high five before hugging his parents. “Let us know what house you’re sorted into,” Sirius said. “And remember we will be proud regardless of where you end up,” Kitty added. "But try not to be sorted into Slytherin," Sirius tagged on, and Kitty glared at him. Remus had told them the house rivalries were healthy but not as dangerous as when they were in school. Kitty stressed that the house didn't matter as much as maintaining his friendships with Neville, Draco, and Ron. Cissy and Draco sped through the entrance, nearly plowing into Sirius in their haste. “What happened? You were almost ready to leave when we talked an hour ago,” Kitty asked Cissy. “Someone couldn’t find his cat,” she answered, giving the black creature in its cage quite a bit of side-eye. “It wasn’t my fault she was frightened of the Doxy I found,” Draco answered. “Where was there a Doxy in that house? I removed all the nests.” Sirius prided himself on his ability to de-Doxy his homes. “It was in Regulus’ trunk, up in the attic. It had made a home in his old robes. Mum got it.” “Well, you’re here now, and it really is time for you all to get on the train,” Kitty said. The Weasley’s older sons had already boarded the train, leaving just the children who had studied together since they were preschoolers. “Remember, all of you are intelligent students who are going to know more than most of your counterparts. Be kind about it." Five bobbing heads answered her before final hugs and kisses were given, and they paraded off toward the front of the train. The parents watched as the train left, leaving them all feeling a tiny bit sad but still immensely proud. “I can only imagine what adventures he’ll have,” Sirius said wistfully. "I can only hope they aren't as interesting as yours were," Kitty replied, causing the adults to laugh. She then picked up John. "We are headed to the Muggle zoo. Would anyone like to join us?" Not surprisingly, Mrs. Longbottom begged off while the other three agreed, seeing as Arthur had taken the day off from work, and neither Cissy nor Molly had anything pressing. With waves of wands, the group wore appropriate Muggle outfits. They passed through the arch and made their way into London. |
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