Entwined lives

Remus stayed at the Burrow for another two months and was able to witness firsthand the changes occuring to Harry's little circle of friends in between his monthly changes. He watched as Harry and Draco danced around each other. He watched as Ron felt the twinges of lust for Avril. And he watched as Avril settled into her knew role as a sister. But all in all the thing he watched the most were Avril's dodges. She didn't answer questions about her past and she was very good at changing the subject.

One sunday morning Harry, Draco and Ron lay warm in their seperate beds, sleeping the morning away. Remus, however, could sleep no longer, his ache for the warm comfort that Sirius's sleeping in his bed had brought taking over. He rose and dressed, mad ehis bed and went downstairs. His heightened seneses picked up on the faint smell of frying bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, beans and sausages from the outside of his bedroom door. His stomach growled louder and louder the closer he got to the kitchen.

"Good morning. Breakfast?" Avril said brightly, setting a plate down on the counter before him. He pulled up one of the stools they always kept in the kitchen and tucked in, keeping his mouth busy so he wouldn't say something that may destroy their fragile relationship. They filled the meal instead with idle, inconsequential conversation.

She turned to him at the end of the meal. "Is there something on your mind? Because we just spent the last twenty minutes talking about the garden."

"There is something but I'm not sure if I should bring it up."

"I'm not made of glass. I assure you that there are very few things that I can't handle talking about."

"Alright." He took a deep breath and began slowly. "I'm just wondering about how close you two were, you and Voldemort."

"Oh." She looked surprised at the question. "Well, when I began Durmstrang I was treated like some kind of royalty. And when he came and got me when I was 14, I was his proper little princess. I've always been small for my age so it was easy for him to treat me like a little girl still. We spent that summer travelling. I celebrated my 15th birthday in India. I grew up i the south of France with English nannies. We spent months travelling around Europe, Asia, England, America. I didn't do my fifth year at Durmstrang, he home schooled me. He thought Drey was cool, even let him stay with us in the summer before he went back for his sixth year. I had a huge sweet sixteen. Food, presents, alcohol, lots of poeple. And then he dropped the bomb. Drey went home to get ready to go back to Hogwarts. Three days before he was scheduled to get on the train Voldemort told me everything. Harry, my parents, what he'd done, all of it. Predictably I turned up at Malfoy manor at three in the morning. I told Drey everything, well, I left out the details of which family I actually belonged to. Just told him that I had been snatched as a child by my father and he had killed my birth parents. What Drey still doesn't know is that he's the reason I went back to him. Draco had had an argument with his father. I asked him why he stuck around, why he didn't move out, he was sixteen he could do it. He said that no matter what his parents did they were still his family and family was too important to turn your back on. So I went back."

"What part did you play in the final battle?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question!" He said, the answer suddenly the most important thing in the world to him.

"NO!" She yelled. He suddenly realised that she was louder than him for a reason: she was scared.

"What are you afraid of? Worried we won't want you here if we know the answer?" He was trying to manipulate her and she knew it.

"What is all the yelling?" Harry asked as he walked sleepily into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. Draco and Ron followed him. Avril looked at the scar on Harry's bare chest and even Harry could see she looked guilty.

"Just trying to decipher what your sister did during the final battle. Come on Avril." Remus said calmly.

Harry, Ron and Draco were all suddenly wide awake. Harry looked at Avril and realised he already knew all the answers to Remus's questions.

"Maybe Draco knows. After all he is your best friend." Said Remus turning to Draco.

Draco looked at Avril with an appology that he couldn't help her. "I stopped contact with Avy just after I told her I was gay. That was nearly nine months before tha final battle. I didn't start taling to her again until a year ago. I don't know what she did."

Avril lost her temper then, relising that she wasn't trusted by the man her brother, best friend and former bed partner had invited into this house as an Uncle. "FINE! You want to know what I did during the fial battle? I'm the one who gave Harry that scar! My job was to seperate Harry from the rest of the group so that he could kill him!" She turned to Harry. "You remember me telling you that there is only one kind of curse I can do? Well, it's the unforgivables. I used them on you. He knew I would never be able to kill you. He didn't want me too, wanted to do that himself. You were my test, to prove my loyalty. But you know Harry your friend wouldn't have been killed if she hadn't tried to stop him. He was watching me and he saw her try to stop me and she got in his way. He killed her because she cared about you. Over the last month in this house you have all said that I look familiar. Now you know why. I tried to kill you Ron, and you Remus. I put you all under the Crutacious curse because you got in my way. And Draco. I'm the reason you nearly lost a leg. I'm the one who used Avada Kedevera on you. I'm the reason you nearly had to have your right leg amputated and now have very little feeling below your right knee. There you go Remus. Now you know everything." She said. She turned on her heel and fled from the room and the accusing eyes.

Draco had moved closer to Harry and placed his hand on Harry's lower back. He put his hand on Harry's jawline and pulled his face so he had to look at Draco. "She had no choice. He would have killed her if she hadn't done it."

Harry looked into Draco's eyes and realised that she had already explained all of this to him. He lent down and kissed Draco slowly, taking his time and enjoying the kiss. He pulled away and ran his fingers through the back of Draco's hair. "I know. She told me. Three weeks ago." Harry whispered. Draco looked stunned at what Harry had just told him.

Remus turned to Harry as the two young men pulled away from each other. "I'm sorry Harry but I tried to tell you that your trust in her was too easily placed."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! You weren't listening to me the other night were you? I don't care what she did to me. I don't care. Had our roles been reversed do you really think I wouldn't have seperated her from the group too? So she worked for Voldemort, so she called him Dad. So she has a Dark Mark and can do the Unforgivable curses in her sleep, so what?! I don't give a flying fuck! Draco has a Dark Mark. Draco was sent to kill Dumbledore. Draco has tried to kill me before now. None of that stops you from trusting him does it?" Draco and Ron had moved out of the doorway in case one of the two decided to storm out. "Face it Remus you are a hypocrite! You trust Draco yet you won't trust her. Why?"

"Because Sirius spent the better part of your first year searching for her. After he got out of Azkaban he still went looking for her. He was completly convinced that she was still alive and needed him, that she was good, that she would never give in to him, she would never work for him. Look what happened."

"Sirius trusted her. How about you give his way of thinking a go huh?" Harry stormed out of the room and up the stairs after his sister. Ron and Draco followed him to the sobbing Avril, leaving Remus exactly the way he felt: Alone.