Just Around the Riverbend

jess
voracious reader(x2)
angeles
Josie
kellycat28
hairsprayX12
Labibliographe
HarryGinny4Eva
Serin Blackmoon
margaritama(x2)
Jennifer
shortyjh87
Alina - Pain pills always make everything better. Try taking an accidental double dose of liquid hydrocodone. Oh yeah, *raises hand* I did that. So many pretty colors, and then i woke up in a puddle of sweat. Not a good day...


Okay, kids. There will be AT LEAST a purging/revenge chapter left to do, plus a birthing chapter. I'm tying up some loose ends here, and blowing some lids off. Prepare to be amazed in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and....GO!

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Phelan and Daisy waded through the crowd and the reporters, trying to get past the anti-apparition points so that they could go back to Hogwarts. Daisy needed some alone time with her husband, and Phelan desperately wanted a scalding hot shower and some of that clove-scented shampoo Daisy and brewed him for Christmas. He actually knocked the camera out of the hands of a photographer that had popped up in his face and snapped off a shot.

“Get that shit out of my face!” he growled. Daisy smacked his arm.

“Don’t be so rude, Phelan.” She snapped. Phelan suddenly swooped forward and picked her up. He threw her over his shoulder and made a mad dash through any opening in the crowd he could find. Daisy could be heard screeching obscenities and threatening various appendages the entire way.

He Disapparated as soon as he hit the edge of the barrier, and he landed them just outside the Hogwarts gate.

“Phelan Greyback if you don’t put me down right now I’ll get Tom to find a huge snake and make it crawl in bed with you and lick your face!” she yelled, slapping his back. He put her down, and she huffed angrily and tried to straighten up her hair.

“It’ll be in bed with both of us then.” He said.

“What are you talking about? I’ll be putting it in your bed.” She snarled.

“There will be no more your bed or my bed, because as soon as we get back to the room I’m going to make the house-elves make it our bed.” He said ferociously. Daisy looked at him for a few moments, before a brilliant grin lit up her face.

“Really?” she whispered.

“Really.” He replied. She launched herself at him, sobbing and laughing at the same time.

“Oh Phelan!” she sniffled. She’d missed the warmth of his arms, and the soft beat of his heart against her ear if she was afraid.

“Come on, beautiful little wife-ling. Let’s go home.” He said, and took her hand.

~~

Tom sat at the Slytherin table, poking at his sausage with his fork.

If you aren’t going to eat it Master, at least put it out of its misery. I don’t think torturing it will make anyone feel better. Lucy teased, and flicked her tongue against the side of Tom’s face in an attempt to make him feel better. He didn’t appear to have paid any attention. She gave a serpentine sigh, and went back into his pocket to rest.

A chorus of hoots overhead let the students know that the morning edition of the Prophet was being brought it. Tom reached up and caught his without any real thought of what he was doing, and absent-mindedly put two knuts into the owl’s collection pouch. He picked up his goblet of orange juice and took a sip as he unfolded the paper, only to spew it out of his mouth as he read the headline.

Remus Lupin Found Alive – Testimony Frees Greyback!

They thought he’d been killed the night of the Final battle. Each side thought the other had taken the body, when in fact neither could have been further from the truth. Remus Lupin was in fact being held prisoner at Azkaban for the past three years. He was taken from the battle of Hogwarts by Erwin Titsling, a high-ranking Auror. He was illegally interrogated, and when he could not answer the loaded questions presented him, he was shipped off to a cell in Azkaban where he was starved down to a walking skeleton, beaten until he cringed at the slightest human contact, and then sexually assaulted as if he were a private plaything for the guards who are supposed to keep order at the prison.

His saving grace was, in fact, the son of the man who turned him. Phelan Greyback, arrested for biting Harry Potter (who, for the peace of mind of the readers, was not turned), was put into the same cell as Mr. Lupin. The reasons why are unknown. But this proved to be a very fortuitous happenstance for Mr. Lupin. When Mr. Greyback escaped from Azkaban, it was in fact to rescue Mr. Lupin. He escaped to German soil where he braved the wilderness to bring the innocent Remus Lupin to trustworthy Ministry official Arthur Weasley. Greyback then willingly turned himself in to await his trial.

Mr. Greyback was found innocent of his charges due to extenuating circumstances, and due to the positive testimony of Mr. Lupin. No immediate information is available on either Mr. Lupin or Mr. Greyback, as both refused interviews directly following the trial. On behalf of the Daily Prophet we wish to extend apologies to Mr. Lupin for his horrendous treatment, and we hope that the Ministry will clean up its act, and make right the atrocities done to Mr. Lupin.

Gertie Tsepa

He heard the exclamations of disgust and horror around the Great Hall. He even looked up at the Head Table and saw Professor McGonagall burying her face in her hands, her shoulders heaving.

“Merlin on a bicycle.” A fourth year a little further down the table said.

“You see?” Tom asked. A few people looked over at him. “You see what happens?” he asked louder. The Slytherin table began to get quiet. Tom stood from his seat. “Do you see what happens when we allow prejudice to take control of our lives?” The entire Great Hall had stopped commenting, and was looking over at the angry Third Year.

At the head table, Professor Tungsten was about to stand up to shush Tom, and Headmaster Denebola put a hand on the man’s shoulder, stilling him.

“We have let these prejudices go on too long! Prejudice has ruined the life of an innocent man. Prejudice almost ruined Phelan’s life as well. All either of them did was defend those they loved. All they did was the right thing, and they were punished because they change into a wolf every full moon. And why exactly do we hate them? It’s because we’re told to! This narrow-mindedness is taught to us from the cradle, and we do not question it.

But why should we? We are the future of this world, and if we do not question these things we will end up just like our parents. Another Dark Wizard will be born of hatred and bigotry, and once again we’ll cower before it.

Gryffindors!” he called, pointing to the table decked in red and gold. “Where is your bravery, Gryffindors? Where is the bravery to stand up for what is right? Where is the courage to change what we need to change? Surely you will not cower in the face of a challenge. Who fights for morality if not the house of Godric himself?

Hufflepuffs! Where is your loyalty? Every man, woman, and child that has ever been bitten has been a son, daughter, or friend to someone! Would you abandon one of your own if they were bitten? It’s happened once before! Phelan told me out of his own mouth that his father attended here, and was in fact in your House when he was bitten. He was turned aside and cast away, and look what happened! Hate turned Fenrir Greyback into a monster!

Ravenclaws! Surely you’re smarter than to listen and follow blindly? Where is that keen intellect that the hat brags on every year? Why do you allow yourself to be told who you can and cannot like? Why do you allow yourselves to be outsmarted by the likes of You Know Who? He spread hate like a savory condiment, and I see none of you thinking for yourselves on the matter.

And last, but not least….My Slytherins! My family! You better than most know the effects and the damage that injustice can bring. We are often cast as Dark as soon as the green and silver touches our robes. You’ve all had me pegged as the Heir of You Know Who because I’m a Slytherin and I speak to snakes. But I stand before you today to remind you that if nothing else, Slytherins can adapt! It is time to cast aside the hate that Salazar tried to instill in us. We are cunning and ambitious, but the blood that runs through our veins has naught to do with our abilities.

Hermione Granger should have taught us that. She graduated from this school with the highest grades in centuries, and she was of Muggle blood. I am a half-blood, and I am proud of it!

I challenge you: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. I challenge you to cast aside the bonds of a past of hatred. We are the future, and only we can make it better. Only we can keep things like this from ever happening again!” he snarled, and grabbed the Prophet in his hands, holding up the paper with the picture of an emaciated Remus Lupin. “So? Who’s with me?” he asked.

There was a few heart-stopping moments of silence when Tom thought no one would answer the call, but then a seventh year Gryffindor stood up. Travis Strong was the Head Boy, and well-liked by many students.

“Rowan’s right! If we don’t change things now they’ll only get worse! What we need to do is contact the Ministry. We are the ones that will be taking over those offices one day. We are the ones who will be inheriting the mess they call a government. We need to remind them that we also are eligible to vote when we come of Age.

I’m Muggleborn, chaps, and though the Muggle world isn’t perfect, it’s fair. We need to turn this archaic world on its ear. I’m not saying we have to forget Tradition and History, but it’s about time we updated a few practices.” Strong said. There were cheers from the Gryffindor table.

A fifth Year Ravenclaw girl stood up. She was the highest of her class, and even had older students asking her for tutoring sometimes. Robin Twills stood with her head up. “We are smarter than this. It’s time we put our intellect to a more pertinent use. We need to stop hypothesizing about our future, and grasp it firmly in our hands. Was it not Luna Lovegood, one of our brightest Ravens, that told us that ‘wit beyond measure, is man’s greatest treasure?’ Let us make use of our impressive intelligence, and start a Revolution that students will be speaking of for years to come!” Robin said, eliciting shouts and cheers from the Ravenclaws.

“It won’t be easy!” Said a sixth year Hufflepuff. Jeremiah Frank was a round-faced fellow with an easy laugh and a sharp sense of humor. There probably wasn’t a single soul in Hogwarts that disliked him. “And that is where Helga would have wanted us to shine. We may not have the courage, or the cunning, or the cleverness, but we know hard work. We know how to earn what is ours. And we know loyalty. It hurts my heart to know that at one time Hufflepuff was not a place for one of our own to feel welcome. That shames everything Helga Hufflepuff stood for. For if they could not fit anywhere else, they always have a place here. Will the Badgers lend their strength to this cause?” Jeremiah asked. The Hufflepuffs cheered. The three standing students looked for an older Slytherin to take up the cause as well.

It came in an unexpected package. Alexander Kull stood to his feet. He was well on his way to becoming a Slytherin Prince, and all of the Slytherins respected his opinion. He was a seventh year, with decent grades and a wicked-fast wand hand.

“I am a bit tired of being judged for wearing green and silver. Ambition is not a sin, and cunning is nothing to be frowned upon. Our friend Tom is right. If nothing else Slytherins are taught to adapt. And if the world around us must change then we must change with it. Lions, Ravens, and Badgers, you have the support of the Snakes.” He said, and a great cacauphony of assent went up from Slytherin.

At the Head Table, Denebola smiled down on the students.

“I do believe we have just witnessed the birth of a Revolution that will rock the Wizarding World to its very core.”

~~

Remus stood at the door, shivering as if he were back in his cell at Azkaban. He’d never been so nervous in all of his life. He’d almost been afraid to ask Harry about little Teddy. He’d been afraid to hear that something bad had happened to him. He had finally scraped together enough Gryffindor courage to ask at dinner the night he’d went to Grimmauld Place.

Harry had seemed a bit surprised at the question.

“I suppose he’s doing well. I…haven’t really seen him in a while. I didn’t want him to see me in such a sorry state. Andromeda brought him over once while I was on a bender…Teddy couldn’t understand why the house smelled like, and I quote, ‘butt and pee-pee.’ Andromeda said I shouldn’t come near him again until I’d straightened myself out. It’s just as well, I suppose. I wouldn’t have wanted to hurt him when Moldywart was in my head.” Harry had told him. Remus had felt so bad about Harry’s condition after the war. But Harry had refused to let Remus wallow in pity, and had in fact sent him to Andromeda’s house to see Teddy.

And here he was. He’d been standing on the doorstep for twenty minutes, trying to gather the courage to knock. He took a deep breath, and trying to imagine how James would be taking the mickey out of him for his cowardice, he raised his hand to knock.

“Teddy Remus Lupin if you don’t give me my wand back this minute I will tan your arse!”

Remus’ sensitive ears twitched. He heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering, and then heard a child’s shrieking laughter. Well, it appeared the lad was alive and healthy… He tried the door, and found it unlocked. He opened it curiously, and poked his head inside. He heard the zap of an untrained spell, and saw a few pages explode from a nearby doorway.

He saw Andromeda run by the same doorway.

“Gotcha!”

She came out of the room, holding a turquoise-haired Teddy upside down in one arm, and her newly retrieved wand in the other hand.

“Got a handful?” Remus asked, and before he could do much more than blink a spell knocked him against the door. Andromeda had put Teddy down in a playpen and had rounded on him before he could recover from getting the wind knocked out of him. She grabbed him by the front of his overly large robes and slammed him into the door, her wand in his neck.

“And who the hell do you think you are?” she hissed. Remus was remembering a little too late that Andromeda didn’t just look like her sister Bellatrix, she could damn well hex like her too.

“When Nymphadora was pregnant, she craved Snickers bars and pistachio ice cream. Together.” Remus wheezed. Andromeda let him go as if she’d been burned, and Remus took a few steadying breaths.

“Remus?” she asked. “How….how?”

“Andromeda…I’m so sorry….I was in Azkaban. They took me from the battlefield. I didn’t want to leave him alone. Oh Merlin…I thought about him so much…but after awhile the depression started to get to me…I thought something might have happened to him…or you…and I…” by this time Remus was sobbing, tears clinging to his thin face. “I stopped thinking about him. I stopped hoping and wishing I could see his face again. Because it made it easier…I just got out…I was rescued by Fenrir Greyback’s son- extremely long story I’ll tell later over much alcohol- and I came here….it was in the Prophet…didn’t you read this Morning’s edition?” he asked, sniffling.

Andromeda colored slightly. “Uh…no…I was feeding Teddy breakfast and after he got down he decided to see how flammable the paper was. Tossed the whole thing in the fireplace. I figured any big news would be repeated in the evening edition…I guess I should have just re-ordered…”

Remus looked over at the playpen where Andromeda had put Teddy. He was standing at the side, looking over at Remus with electric blue hair and purple eyes.

“Creative…isn’t he?” Remus whispered. Teddy tilted his head, and suddenly his hair faded to shock white, just like Remus’.

“Play, Nana, play!” Teddy squealed, and began to jump restlessly at the side of the playpen. Andromeda went to his side, and picked the squirming three-year-old up.

“If I don’t keep him in the pen sometimes he ends up in the craziest places. One time I found him in the linen closet hiding under the towels.” She commented softly. She motioned Remus over to the sofa, and brought Teddy with her. She sat down, and settled the little boy on her lap.

“Do you know who this is, Teddy?” she asked, and pointed at Remus as he sat down. Teddy regarded Remus with considering eyes.

“Um…Eas’er Bunny?” Teddy asked. Andromeda snorted, and tickled her grandson.

“No! It’s your daddy!” she said. Teddy looked at Remus with his newly-white eyebrows furrowed.

“No. Daddy leave, ‘member? Daddy go away.” He said softly. Remus’ heart broke even more.

“Oh, my son. I…I came back. I missed you so much.” Remus said. Teddy wriggled himself out of Andromeda’s grasp, and went to where Remus was sitting. Tears flowed unchecked down Remus’ face as he looked down at his son.

“Daddy come back?” he asked. Remus nodded silently, the lump in his throat making it impossible to speak. Andromeda found herself a bit choked up as Teddy lifted his arms to his father. Remus picked the boy up with much difficulty and set him on a bony knee. “No go ‘way no more?” Teddy asked.

“No. I won’t go away any more. I’ll be here with you for a long, long time.” Remus promised. Teddy wrapped his arms around his father, and Remus hugged him in return. Remus’ shoulders heaved with sobs. After a few minutes, Teddy pulled back, and reached up and wiped the tears from his father’s face.

“Okay, daddy. Come play?” Teddy asked. Remus cleared his throat.

“Of course I’ll come play.”

~~

Hermione sat with one foot in a cool bucket of water, and the other propped up on Lucius’ lap as he rubbed her swollen, aching foot. Draco came into the room with a tall glass of ice water for her, and had even put a bendy straw in it.

“You’re so sweet, Draco.” Hermione said, and received the glass from him.

“Father threatened me if I didn’t help with you. He said you’re demanding.” Draco said. Hermione narrowed her eyes at Lucius, who was glaring at Draco.

“I did not…” Lucius laughed softly. “I merely suggested to Draco that it would be smiled upon for him to help you in your time of need.” He said smoothly. Hermione snorted, and took a sip of water.

“I’ll forgive you both this time, if only for the fact that I don’t have my wand with me, and even if I did, the most I can manage right now is a weak Lumos, and I doubt that I could even make your eyes hurt with that.” Hermione said.

She was miserable, and had been for weeks. Now that Phelan was safe and sound back at Hogwarts, and Remus was reunited with Teddy, and Sirius was taking care of Harry, she actually had time to slow down and be pregnant. She was due any day now, and was hoping she’d go soon. Her Healer said that the baby had dropped enough to break her water any time.

The surprise came at about three o’clock in the morning on May 2. Hermione had been having small contractions all day, and after speaking with her Healer and being assured that it was normal, she’d gone to bed early. She was awakened by a sensation not unlike wetting the bed. But she knew as soon as sleep was cleared from her mind that her water had broken. She reached over and shook Lucius.

“Lucius!” she whispered. He lifted his head slightly.

“Hmm?”

“Lucius…my water just broke.”

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Oooh!!!! CLIFFHANGER! Damn you, Dragonfyre, you F***KING A**HOLE!! $%#&!!

Did I give you chills? Are they multiplying? Are you losing control, from the power I'm supplying? It's electrifying!

*Must sleep now. Brain melted. No thoughts left*