Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Note: The last chapter! *Sniff*

Goodbye

"Albus has asked you to alert Arthur, Molly, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora about the Order, Lupin." Snape greeted Remus with when he walked into his quarters while Remus and Sirius were eating breakfast.

"Good morning to you to Severus." Remus answered back and Sirius sniggered at the two of them.

"Black." Snape greeted and Sirius grinned at his old enemy.

"Did you hear the news Snape?" Sirius asked. "My trial was yesterday and I am now a free man! Plus I got compensation and everyone keeps apologising to me. Don't start Remus." Sirius halted his friend who had opened his mouth to apologise again. "Even Dumbledore apologised."

"Congratulations." Snape said dryly. "Is that the right sentiment?"

"And I've got custody of Harry! In the next two weeks we can sort out Grimmauld Place for him so he can stay there." Sirius said optimistically, not paying any attention to his surroundings.

"Good luck with that." Snape said, his nose wrinkling. The one time he had gone to Grimmauld Place he had noticed how the damp house had just simply oozed evil.

"It does seem a bit of a tall order." Remus agreed. "But Sirius is confident with a few scouring charms that it will suitable for human habitation."

"I am right here you know." Sirius reminded the two men. "So any reason you have come down here? I mean the whole thing with the Order could have waited for a few hours until Dumbledore next saw Remus."

"Have you told Nymphadora yet?" Snape asked, answering Sirius in a roundabout way, and Remus froze for a split second before carrying on as normal.

"I'm actually looking at the prices of the Wolfsbane in Diagon Alley." He answered calmly causing Snape to stop and look at him in frustration.

"Tell me Black." He turned to Sirius, who looked thoroughly confused due to Remus not having time, nor the inclination, to fill him in. "Is Lupin always this irrational when a perfectly sensible answer is suggested?"

"If it's about his furry little problem then yes. All the time. We tried to beat it out of him but it didn't work. And what's this about the Wolfsbane?" Sirius piped up.

"Severus, due to his Order duties and his spying as well as his teaching will not have time next year to brew the Wolfsbane as well, so he volunteered to find another brewer for me. It was Nymphadora." Remus finished heavily and Sirius smiled as he understood.

"I didn't know little Nymphie could brew." Sirius said in wonder.

"What you don't know could fill a book Sirius." A feminine voice came from the doorway where one Nymphadora Tonks stood. All three of them jumped.

"Nymphadora. I thought you were supposed to be in the Hospital Wing." Remus said pleasantly, offering one of the chairs to her.

"Madam Pomfrey was driving me mad, I'm perfectly fine but she wouldn't let me out of bed." Tonks said exasperated, flopping down into the offered chair. "Then I heard my name and got curious. Why are you talking about me?"

"I was telling them about your Potions skills, which strangely improved drastically in O.W.L and N.E.W.T years." Snape eyed Tonks who laughed.

"Well just doing the actual potion got boring after a while so I decided to improvise a little bit. Of course most of these improvs turned out badly but it was much more fun. But of course for exams I did the right Potions." She confided in the three of them.

"I knew that someone couldn't mess up that much on purpose. Well, maybe Neville Longbottom." Snape said thoughtfully and Tonks wagged her finger at him.

"Now Severus I heard about your tendency to bully poor Neville. Shame on you."

"He's a menace to himself and everyone around him." Snape retorted flatly.

"He would probably do better if you didn't stand over him all the time." Tonks reminded him.

"How do you know if I do that or not? After all you're not in my class." Sirius and Remus' heads swivelled as if they were watching a tennis match.

"I was and you did the same thing to Charlie except he was way too calm and just ignored you the whole time." Tonks replied, helping herself to some of Sirius' breakfast. "Why are you not down in the Great Hall?"

"Too much attention, Sirius is still a very sensationalist figure at the moment." Remus answered.

"Still the centre of attention." Sirius boasted and the other three rolled their eyes.

"That reminds me, Mum wants to see you. Do the whole apologise, cry and hug thing." Tonks said, stealing a piece of bacon from Remus' plate.

"How does Sirius being the centre of attention remind you of that?" Remus asked confused but Sirius cut the answer off.

"She really needs to stop that, she did the right thing." Sirius answered and Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Still doesn't believe that." She answered, attempting to go for Remus' food again but he lifted his plate away. "Anyway why are you here Sevvie?"

"For second cousins you two are very alike." Snape commented.

"Thanks." Tonks smiled and Snape snapped,

"That wasn't a compliment!" He shut his eyes as if trying to calm himself down. "Anyway I came here to tell Lupin that he has to talk to you. About your potions skills and a task of Dumbledore's." He abruptly stood up, ignoring Remus' horrified look. "Come on Black I have to show you a potion for our task later today." Realization made Sirius' eyes widened and he snagged a piece of toast before hurrying out the door.

"No Sirius!" Remus said desperately but Sirius just gave him a 'carry on' gesture before shutting the door behind him. His best friend sighed and put his head in his hands.

"Wow do I have a disease or something?" Tonks asked sarcastically but Remus managed to catch the tinge of hurt behind her tone.

"It's not that Tonks. There are just some things about me that I rather not tell you and they want me to tell you so by doing this they are hoping to force me into acting." Remus explained and Tonks nodded.

"Is this about you being a werewolf?" She asked and Remus' brain shuddered to a complete stop.

"W-What?" He stuttered, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Dumbledore came to talk to me, the conversation went to you being DADA teacher, it turned to the fact that you were resigning, I asked why, he replied. In a very roundabout way, said you felt guilty for the threat of harm that could have happened to Harry, Hermione and Ron as well as me and last night was a full moon, I put the pieces together. And you just confirmed it." She explained in a matter-of-fact way.

"You've got to be kidding me." Remus said, his thought processes still recovering.

"What's this about my potions skills?" Tonks asked, swerving onto a different subject.

"Well Severus is going to be busy with other duties and he was going to ask you to brew the Wolfsbane potion for me." When there was silence, Remus carried on, "All the ingredients will be provided of course, it's just the brewing charge is very steep, but if you don't have the time its fine." Remus took a deep breath, more to stop himself babbling than anything else.

"I'll do it Remus." Tonks said, amusement clear in her voice.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"Because you're my friend and if I can help you in some way, I will. Now what's this about a task of Dumbledore's?" She prompted and Remus shook himself.

"Well there is a sort of vigilante group called the Order of the Phoenix that battles Voldemort and the Death Eaters run by Dumbledore. He wanted to know if you wanted to join."

"I would, but does he really think he will come back so soon?" Tonks asked, her brow creasing in worry.

"With Pettigrew probably on his way back to him already, it won't be long." Remus answered gravely.

"What would I be required to do?" She asked.

"With you working in the Ministry, just keeping your ear out for the gossip and sometimes some missions, following known Death Eaters, stuff like that." Remus explained.

"Kinda sounds like the stuff I do in the Aurors at the moment." Tonks commented. "So who else is in this Order at the moment?"

"Well I'm not quite sure, Dumbledore asked me to invite certain people, Kingsley Shacklebolt is on the list, do you know him?" Remus asked, interested and Tonks perked up.

"Yeah I do, he's my partner. So at least I'll know someone else there apart you three." She looked relieved and Sirius stuck his head around the door.

"Moony they're getting on the train now. We've gotta go." He hissed and Remus nodded before standing up.

"Excuse me Nymphadora, I have some business to attend to." Tonks watched amused as he hurried out the door.

"I'm sure I'll get the story later." She muttered to herself, stirring herself to go and visit Madam Pomfrey.

In Little Whinging, three wizards apparated with quiet cracks, sounding unnaturally loud in the still summer air.

"Remember to lay down the wards first." Snape muttered as they strode along the street to Number Four, Privet Drive.

"I know, I know Snape." Sirius snapped, his muscles tensing as they prepared for the confrontation that was imminent.

"And as soon as Sirius lays down the wards, we'll let the Dursleys know we're there. Here's the place." Remus said calmly, staring up at a house that was no different from the house next to it, or indeed any of the houses on the street.

"Creepy." Sirius muttered and Snape glared at him. "Alright I'm doing it." He knelt down and using the cover of the bushes he drew his wand and did the movements required for casting a ward where magic within it would not be detected by the Ministry, an old Black secret. A few muttered words and it was set.

"Ready." Remus said, causing Snape to rap sharply on the door. A smiling blonde woman opened the door, her smile quickly fading as she saw Snape.

"You!" She hissed and Snape smiled, a grim animal-like smile.

"Hello Tuney. So glad you recognise me. Do you mind if we come in?" Petunia looked like she was about to refuse until she saw the curtain across the street twitch, as if someone was trying to look without being seen.

"Come in quickly." She gestured as if that would get them in quicker. When she had shut the door behind Sirius, she turned to them with a frown on her face. "What do you want?"

"Harry treated nicely." Sirius answered promptly.

"World peace." Snape answered dully.

"A miracle cure." Remus added. "But as the last two you can't help us with, we're going to have to focus on the first one."

"The boy is treated fine. He gets enough to eat and clothes to wear." Petunia snapped, wrapping her arms around her torso defensively.

"I've seen his clothes, little more than rags obviously meant for someone much bigger than him." Sirius retorted.

"And that's not counting the emotional abuse." Remus added evenly.

"His bedroom was a cupboard under the stairs." Sirius hissed, stepping up so he invaded Petunia's personal space. "My godson said that he slept in that until he got his Hogwarts letter at which point you only moved him because you were scared that someone would find out. Not out of the goodness of your heart." Petunia gasped as she recognised him, the haircut and shave had done a lot to disguise Sirius.

"You're Sirius Black!" She pointed a shaking finger at him and Sirius looked dumbfounded for a moment, wiping the look of rage off his face that had allowed Petunia to recognise him.

"Muggles were alerted that you had escaped." Remus informed Sirius quietly.

"I was that dangerous huh?" Sirius asked humourlessly. "Don't worry Petunia I was found innocent of all crimes. However I threatened the last person who tried to harm Harry and so help me I will do the same to you. Where's your husband?" Sirius asked rapidly changing subject and successfully confusing Petunia.

"He's in here." Petunia went through a door to the sitting room where the TV was blaring loudly. She switched it off.

"Mum!" Dudley whined and Vernon opened his mouth to complain until he saw the three men, all of which had their wands out.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He yelled and the three men started what they had planned for the Dursleys for the past few days.

"Well since we can't trust you to act like decent human beings around a teenage boy, we're laying some safeguards." Remus said amicably, flicking his wand slightly at the three Dursleys. "This spell means you can't call Harry anything rude or out of line otherwise for the next twenty four hours you will tell exactly what is on your minds at the most inconvenient moment." It was more like forty-eight hours but the Dursleys were not going to find out about that.

"The spell that Black is laying down at the moment is that if you ever hurt Potter in any way with your hand or weapon, you will receive the nose of a pig until you feel truly sorry for what you have done to Potter." Snape explained, in a slightly bored tone. "Of course with some of you there might not be a difference." He sneered at the male Dursleys, Vernon glared back while Dudley dropped his eyes to the floor. Sirius stowed his wand away and came up beside Snape.

"Snape here is a Potions Master and I'm sure that there are a few irritating potions he can feed you. You might want to watch what you eat." Sirius hinted and the blonde boy went pale. "That's only if you do anything to hurt Harry." He went for a slightly reassuring tone of voice which seemed to frighten the Dursleys even more.

"What really surprises me is how you can treat a child like this, especially one of your own blood." Remus asked, slightly cynically as if he already knew the answer.

"You can't pick your family." Petunia spoke up in a high, shrill voice.

"Otherwise I'm sure Lily would never have chosen you, someone who treat her son as if he had some sort of contagious disease." Snape retorted, utter disdain dripping from each word.

"She didn't chose you either! She chose that horrid Potter boy!" Petunia shouted triumphantly and Snape's lips thinned.

"Don't you insult James in front of us!" Sirius thundered, quietening Petunia once more. Seeing this confrontation getting rapidly out of control Remus started to close it up.

"Anyway Harry will be staying with you for the next two weeks, he shall be visited by one of us everyday to make sure he's doing okay."

"You can't do that!" Vernon blustered, standing up, and Sirius stepped up, towering over him.

"You hurt Harry, I'm allowed to do whatever the bloody hell I like." He answered bluntly and gave Vernon his most menacing escaped-convict look which caused the larger man to whimper and sit down again.

"In roughly five hours, Harry will come back on the train and arrive at King's Cross Station. You shall pick him up and welcome him home. Then over the next fortnight, you should play by the rule, 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all', believe me we shall know. On the 15th July we shall pick up Harry at which point you shall not see Harry until next summer. Is that simple enough or do you need smaller words?" Snape asked sarcastically and the two older Dursleys flushed, the younger one cowered into the sofa.

"Now this was deeply unpleasant for all of us, so don't force us to do this again." Remus said amicably, Sirius' threatening glower backing up the threat behind the words.

"You won't come out whole next time." Sirius bared his teeth at the Dursleys in a manic sort of grin that made them flinch before exiting the Dursley house, followed by Snape and Remus.

Five hours later Harry said goodbye to his friends and walked cautiously up to his uncle.

"There you are-" Vernon started before halting. "I mean welcome back." He said around gritted teeth and Harry looked up at him in horror. What had happened? Then he remembered what Sirius had said and thought that he might just go along with it for the moment. He waved one last goodbye to Ron before following Uncle Vernon to the car, strangely light-hearted at the thought that in a little over two weeks, he would be living with his godfather.

Harry day dreamed all the way to Privet Drive, barely noticing the black dog on the opposite of the street outside Mrs Figg's house, until it barked. He smiled at Sirius before going into the Dursleys house still grinning happily. For once summer might not be the worst time of the year.

This is the last ever chapter of Mercy, it's quite sad. Of course there might be a sequel but I have no ideas for it plus I'm stretched on time so it will be a while. I wanting to do the JK thing of ending the story when Harry goes home for the summer.

I hope the Dursleys' lesson was what you wanted, although hopefully not what you expected because I was trying to be slightly unique.

What has happened in my life since I last posted? Well the last two weeks has been exam, exam, uni interview, exam, uni interview. The first uni interview I had went horrible which was a pain because that was my first choice, but the next one went better so that was okay. But then I got an offer for my first choice uni so I'm really happy at the moment! Plus it's my birthday on Sunday so I'm looking forward to that.

Anyway review please!