Note: So here we are at the final curtain! I would like to say thank you ever so much to everybody who has been kind enough to review this story, you really do make me smile! I have decided that yes, I will be writing a sequel, and I shall probably be putting up a poll to help me decide upon it's title (and plot). I did plan to do so straight away, but I don't have the time to think it through quite yet, so...keep an eye out for that if you would like to have your say!

I am aware that this ending may result in a few sad faces...but I have had it planned for such a long time that I'm afraid I won't be changing it now!

I would also like to say thank you to Kuroida for engaging in such an enthusiastic update war, not to mention the more recent cliffhanger battle! I have really enjoyed myself! As for the rest of you, I would like to point out that Kuroida is just as responsible for my evil cliffhangers as I am – she PROVOKED ME! So, show your fury by going to read her wonderful fics and leaving her as great reviews as you have for me! XD

This is the longest note EVER. But then again that is rather fitting, isn't it? Since this is the longest chapter ever too!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing.

19: Aftermath

When Juliette Elizabeth Downton had been fifteen years old, the world as she had known it had changed beyond recognition. And ever since then, Juliette had refused to recognise it. She was an only child, and before that terrible day some week after her fifteenth birthday, she had been an awfully spoilt child. Her father, a highly successful architect, had treated her like a princess, buying her everything that she could possibly ask for, and Juliette had lived a life of luxury. But for many years she was blissfully unaware that her father's business was slowly failing, until on that fateful day her father had admitted that the business was bankrupt. The constant gifts and pocket money had come to an abrupt end, replaced by lectures about money and just how spoilt she was. For a time Juliette had had not much at all, but slowly the family began to recover, her father got a job at a new firm and the money began to slowly return to the bank. Come the time she turned eighteen, Juliette's parents had gone back to their indulgent ways, they bought their daughter anything and everything that they could afford for her. But the trouble was, they simply couldn't quite afford what they had done before.

Which was why Juliette was so charmed by Richard.

She had met him in town some six months ago, having stormed out of her house in a rage because her father had refused to buy her a new pair of shoes that she had spotted on the Internet. Bored and with nowhere to go, she had wandered to the high street, where a group of young men a couple or so years her senior had been gathered outside the newsagents. One of them, a short, tubby looking man with sleek brown hair and a distinctly dirty smile, had called out a lewd comment to her as she walked past them, and Juliette had been utterly revolted by both him and his friends' subsequent laughter. She had heard one of them running after her, and had been prepared to turn around and give whoever it was a good slap around the face, only to find when she did spin around around look that a blonde haired, handsome young man was there, his expression not jeering in the slightest. He had apologized profusely for his friend's disgraceful behavior, but claimed that if she did insist on being so beautiful then such incidents were bound to occur every now and again, and then he had asked if she might like to join him for a cup of coffee.

And Juliette had said yes without much hesitation at all. She had never regretted her decision for even a second, for it turned out that Richard Avery was not only dashingly handsome, but also the sort of young man who made it his business to treat his girlfriend as though she was royalty. He showered her with gifts and romantic gestures, and it was not long before Juliette found herself falling hopelessly in love with him. She was thoroughly enjoying being spoilt rotten again.

But that evening, as she sat upon the garden wall waiting for Richard to return with what he promised would be the most wonderful surprise she had ever seen, Juliette had absolutely no idea that she was about to experience what was quite possibly the more bizarre and horrible series of surprises that she had ever known.

It started with a scream. A horrible, pained sound that disturbed Juliette's contemplation of the shade of fake tan that she had smeared herself in the day beforehand.

The muggle glanced up at the sound of the noise, frowning deeply as she wondered who on earth would be making such a terrible noise, only to jump at the sound of a child screaming:

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"

Juliette jumped up from her perch upon the wall and dashed up the street towards the source of the noise, wobbling precariously in her high heeled shoes. As she neared the source of the sound, she could hear a muffled, shuddering sobbing sound, and when she caught sight of the scene upon the Winters' driveway she came to an abrupt halt, eyes widening in shock.

"Oh. My. GOD!" she shrieked, hand coming to cover her mouth as she stared at the scene.

Upon the gravel lay the woman she had seen dashing past her some short while earlier, curled up into herself, her arms hugging her stomach as she buried her face in the folds of her cardigan, sobbing somewhat hysterically to herself.

Hadn't her hair been pink before? Juliette had been sure it had been, not the dull shade of brown that it was now. Perhaps it had been a trick of the light...

Crouched over the woman was a young girl of around twelve, she was dressed in pale pink pyjamas and her hair looked distinctly greasy and unwashed, she was gripping the woman's arm and babbling in a distinctly panicked fashion under her breath. Juliette took a few uncertain steps towards the scene, causing the girl to turn around to look at her.

"Is she alright?" Juliette asked, and the girl's face crumpled miserably as she complained:

"I...I don't know...what to...to do...!"

"Should I phone for an ambulance?" Juliette asked, mind beginning to get over the shock a little. She hurried to the girl's side and was just reaching into her pocket to draw out her mobile phone when she heard footsteps at the entrance of the house and she looked up to see who was approaching.

"Oh my god!" she said again, freezing mid-reach, the phone immediately forgotten.

The doorway of the house in front of her appeared to be missing a door entirely. And, perhaps more strange than that, in the gap itself was stood a tall, bedraggled looking man, a large box tucked under one arm and in his other hand...

A sword.

An enormous, shiny, distinctly sharp looking sword.

As the man seemingly froze in the doorway, staring at the trio upon the drive with increasingly agitated eyes, Juliette stared right back at him.

"Is that...is that a SWORD?" she cried, just in case this was just another, be it far more elaborate, trick of the light.

The sound of her voice seemed to knock the man out of a daze and he immediately made a dash towards the woman upon the floor, coming to another stunned halt as he stared down at the sorry scene.

"What on earth is going on?" Juliette asked him, and he glanced up at her briefly and mumbled:

"Burglary...the um...the house was...was being burgled..."

"What so...so you decided to go in there with a...a SWORD?" Juliette cried in bewilderment as the man glanced at the young girl, who seemed to find his gaze deeply upsetting, she burst into tears. "I mean...where did you even get it from? That's like...an illegal offensive weapon or...or something!"

"Actually," the man told her, sounding distinctly irritated by her questioning. "I was rescuing it. It's a priceless antique."

And with that, he threw both the box and the priceless antique to the ground and dropped to his knees. Juliette watched, lips pursed worriedly as he gathered the sobbing heap of woman up into his arms, hugging her tightly as he murmured:

"It's alright, it's alright darling, I've got you...where does it hurt?"

The girl reached to bury her head in her hands, clutching strands of chestnut hair in agitation as the woman merely whimpered something unintelligible.

"Look at me, Dora." Juliette heard the man whisper, reaching to prise the woman's face away from her arms with one hand so that she would stare at him through watery, puffy eyes. "Look at me. Where does it hurt?"

The mousy haired woman merely glanced down at herself and as the man glanced down too, Juliette followed his gaze.

"Oh my god..." the blonde haired teen muttered yet again at the sight of glistening blood staining the front of the woman's dark jeans.

"No, no, no..." the man whispered as the woman buried her face into his shoulder, crying harder than ever. "It's...it's alright. Let's...let's not panic..."

"I...I've...I've killed her!" Juliette heard the woman choke, and both the man and child flinched.

"Shhh! Shhh, don't...don't say that..."

"B..but I have! I have!"

"Shhhh..." the man tightened his grip upon the woman and as he looked up, Juliette thought he looked suddenly pale.

"Is there anything I can do?" the teen asked, glancing down to realise that she still had one hand in her pocket, clasped around her phone. "Should I...should I call an ambulance?"

"A what?" the man asked, clearly dazed before he gave himself a little shake and hurriedly mumbled: "Oh...no. No thank you. I...I think..." he paused, drawing in a deep, calming breath before he turned to look at the quietly crying child. "Carrie, you get the...the hat and the sword..."

Juliette watched, biting a nail as the child stumbled over to retrieve the enormous, ruby encrusted blade, struggling to fit the large box under her arm.

"Do you want me to take that?" she asked the child, but the man immediately said:

"She's fine, thank you."

Juliette turned back to him with a frown, watching as he struggled to his feet, dragging the reluctant woman up after him.

"What's the...the point?" the woman complained into his shoulder, her legs limp as she made no effort to stand. "What's the bloody point?"

"Wait and see what the hea...doctors say." the man insisted through gritted teeth as he set about dragging her across the drive towards the house next door.

"I KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO BLOODY SAY!" his burden wailed, and with that she burst into fresh tears, complaining: "You're going to hate me!"

"Don't be ridiculous." he said as behind him the girl reached the neighboring house's doorstep and turned to watch the couple's slow progression with wide, mournful eyes. "Besides," the man said as he staggered a little on the uneven ground. "What happened to being optimistic?"

For somebody who was supposedly optimistic, Juliette thought he looked remarkable close to tears himself.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do?" she called after them as they joined the girl upon the front step, the man reaching awkwardly into his pocket, no doubt in search of his keys. He paused in his search to look back at her, deciding:

"Well...yes, I suppose there is. Carrie's mother will be home soon...I wonder, would you wait for her? Tell her, when she comes, that there was a break in? And tell her not to worry about Carrie, she's with us."

"Sure, 'course I will..." Juliette agreed as he went back to searching for his keys, seemingly finding them a moment later for the door swung open. "I um...I hope...I hope everything's alright..." she added rather uncertainly, and the man told her:

"You're very kind." And with that, he staggered inside, the girl dragging her feet miserably after him. The door swung shut and quite suddenly Juliette found herself alone, the street suddenly silent once again.

"Well..." she told the quiet world at large. "That was...unusual."

She hadn't expected any sort of response, but suddenly a voice to her right made her start so much that she almost tripped over in her heels.

"Jools!"

Juliette spun around to face the door-less doorway in surprise, and there, stood just as the man had been some minute earlier, was Richard.

"Rick!" she cried, making a beeline for her distinctly flustered looking boyfriend, as he stared at her with wide, distinctly irritated eyes. "Oh my god! Were you in there too? What went on in there? Did you help rescue that girl or something? Did you see the woman? Oh my god, there was so much blood, it was HORRIBLE!" As she reached him, throwing her arms tightly around his neck, Juliette was so busy babbling incessantly that she did not register the fury on his face. "I can't believe you went in there!" she exclaimed, leaning to press as kiss to his firmly pursed lips. "You're SO brave!"

Richard reached to grasp hold of her arms and pull them free from their stranglehold around his neck.

"Go home, Jools." he mumbled, pushing past her so that he could set off down the driveway, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. Juliette turned to stare after him with a deep frown.

"D'you think you might be in shock or something?" she asked, hopping off of the step and hurrying after him. "You didn't get hurt or anything, did you?"

"I'm fine." he grunted, and as she came to his side she reached to slip her hand through the crook of his arm. "I just...fell over...might've hit my head..."

"Oh my god!"

"It's fine. It's nothing."

"Well then, are you going to walk me home?"

"No."

"No...?" Juliette turned to offer him a hurt look when suddenly light flooded the drive and the two of them were forced to shuffle to the side to avoid the car that was turning into the drive.

"Oh god..." Juliette muttered as she watched the car come to a halt and Mrs. Winters and her two sons began to climb out of the car. "I'm going to have to tell them..." she trailed off into silence at the sound a series of alarmed exclamations as Mrs. Winters froze, midway through pushing her car door shut. The two boys halted in their squabbling to stare at their lack of a front door, Juliette could have sworn that she heard one of them mutter:

"Wow!"

"Excuse me!" Juliette called hurriedly, letting go of Richard's arm and hurrying over to the horror-stricken mother. "Excuse me, it's alright, you've been burgled!"

Mrs. Winters turned to stare at the blonde haired girl with wide, uncomprehending eyes.

"It's ALRIGHT?" she cried, throwing up her hands in agitation. "It's...ALRIGHT? Oh gosh...CARRIE!" She turned to make a dash for the house, only for Juliette to hurriedly amend:

"I mean you've been burgled but don't worry! Your neighbors are looking after your daughter! She went with them!" she pointed over towards the house next door, feeling relief herself when Mrs. Winters' panic faltered and she let out a huge sigh of relief. "They heard a commotion or something, you see." Juliette explained as one of the boys reached to put a comforting arm around his mother. "They went in to investigate, them and my boyfriend Richard here." She gestured over her shoulder to where Richard stood, scowling. "They got your daughter out. Oh, and the antique sword!"

"Antique...sword?" said one of the boys, eyes widening in amazement as he turned to fix his mother with an expectant look. "Mum, you never told me we had one of those!"

Mrs. Winters ignored him.

"Well I don't know anything about that," she said, smiling over at Richard, who simply continued to scowl, "but I'm ever so grateful! Gosh, boys, we'll have to bake the Lupins the biggest cake imaginable! What on earth would we have done without them!"

"I thought they were on holiday." one of the boys pointed out as Juliette turned to hurry back over to Richard, who had turned to stare at the house next door with wide, panicked eyes.

"Well we must count ourselves lucky they came home when they did!" Mrs. Winters was saying as Juliette came to a halt before her boyfriend, lips pursed together worriedly.

"Are you alright?" she asked, reaching to lay a hand upon his arm. "You look...worried."

"Did...did she say Lupin, Jools?"

"Yeah, why, do you know them?"

"Shit...no, no! No, I don't...I...I have to go..."

"What?"

But before she could say another word, he had pulled his arm free of her and made to dash off down the street.

"Richard! Wait!" Juliette shouted after him, but he simply ran faster.

Carrie watched in dull silence as the witch before her finished scribbling on the clipboard that she was holding. Dropping the clipboard and quill pen down upon a little side table, the witch reached to straighten her lime green healer's robes as she concluded:

"Well, you're an extremely lucky girl, Caroline!"

Carrie stared down at the oversized pair of Teddy's trainers that Remus had flung in her direction when they had stumbled into the Lupins' house some hour earlier. She couldn't say that she felt terribly lucky.

"Few days rest, some good food and plenty of water, that's what you need." the healer was saying as she fussed with a shelf full of glass bottles containing an array of sickening looking substances. "That and a few generous doses of this!"

Carrie found one bottle thrust under her nose and when the smell of it gave her the urge to sneeze she recognised it as the same potion that Molly had made for Remus the day that Teddy had discovered the book of legends in Avery's cupboard. She accepted the bottle without a smile, sliding off of the chair that she had been perched on as the healer bustled over towards the door.

"Take you back to Mr. Lupin then, shall I?" the healer offered, and Carrie managed a feeble nod. She was not entirely keen on returning to the corridor in which she and Remus had been sat some while earlier. She and the healer had left him midway through scribbling a note to his mother-in-law on the back of a hospital leaflet warning against the dangers of a vast array of hideous diseases that Carrie had never heard of before. He had barely spoken a word to the girl since he had bundled both she and his wife into the floo and they had arrived at St. Mungo's. Once Tonks had been whisked away by a trio of serious faced healers, Remus and Carrie had been left to sit impatiently out in the corridor to wait for news. They had sat in agonizing silence, he so hunched in his chair that she could get no clear view of his face, and she sat swinging her legs nervously back and forth, eying him fretfully. After a short while a healer had appeared clutching a shallow bowl in which was set couple of tubs of a tar-like substance, a cloth and what seemed to be a never ending length of linen bandage. Carrie had watched in minor interest as she filled the basin with water that shot in a spray from her wand, before carefully washing the blood from the werewolf's head, smothering his blistered hand in the tar before swathing both his head and hand in bandages. As she had worked, she had attempted cheerful conversation, she'd commented on how nice the weather had been and how nice it always was this time of year, what with all the flowers being out and the birds always singing. Neither Remus or Carrie had made any attempt at polite conversation in return. Instead, he had simply stared blankly at the doors in front of him, and Carrie had continued to watch him, assuring herself that his eyes were only very slightly watery, and they were surely that way from the pain of the healer's probing fingers and nothing more.

When Carrie returned to the corridor, she found it so crammed full of people that she could not spot Remus amongst them at all. Seemingly one note from the werewolf had left the entire Potter-Weasley clan to descend upon St. Mungo's Hospital within the blink of an eye.

"Alright there, Carrie?" Ginny Potter murmured as Carrie came to a halt beside her, and the child found herself with an odd urge to laugh at such a mundane question that she could not begin to comprehend the answer to. She attempt a smile at the red-haired woman who was busy rocking her baby daughter back and forth in an attempt to make Lily fall asleep. James and Albus were sat upon plastic chairs behind her, for once silent, and beside them were Ron and Hermione Weasley, each with a child upon their knees. Carrie was just glancing around at the rest of the people who were crowded into the narrow space when it occurred to her that they all seemed to be staring at her. Except Harry, who didn't seem to be there at all, and, Carrie saw as she sidled past Arthur Weasley at the edge of the crowd, Molly who seemed much more preoccupied with somebody else.

"You don't need to worry about anything, dear!" the Weasley matriarch was telling an ashen-faced Remus as she stood at his side, one arm around his slumped shoulders. "Harry'll have it all sorted, he's gone to tell Mrs. Winters where you've taken Carrie, so you've no trouble there! And I'm sure there's no need to fret, Tonks has been in worse scrapes than this, hasn't she? I'm sure it's nothing more than a minor splinching, you say she only apparated outside of the house!"

Carrie's stomach twisted into knots when the Auror's husband merely reached to bury his face in his hands, and she was just attempting to fight away the sudden urge she felt to start crying again when a voice behind her exclaimed:

"DAD!"

Carrie spun around along with everybody else to find Teddy stood just up the corridor, Andromeda just behind him. Carrie shuffled back towards the wall as the boy reached to push his grandmother's hand from his shoulder and hurried past the crowd until he was stood before his father, his eyes wide in panic.

"What happened to you?" he asked his father's bowed head in a strained whisper, and as Andromeda strode to catch up with him, Remus at last looked up at the boy and smiled wearily.

"That's a very good question, Ted." he said as the boy instantly threw his arms around him. "I'm sure it's going to be a very cool bedtime story." He consented to giving the boy a firm yet brief hug, arms going limp when Teddy wanted to know:

"What about Mum?"

Remus' gaze returned to his shoes.

"Your mother is with the healers as we speak." he mumbled. "I...I'm sure she'll be perfectly okay."

Teddy drew breath to ask another question, only for his grandmother to put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Not now, Teddy." Carrie heard her whisper worriedly. "Just...leave your father be..."

"No...sit down, Ted." Remus decided, reaching to pat the vacant chair beside him, and Teddy dropped down onto the chair that Carrie had sat on previously, shooting his father a worried glance just as the girl had done.

"I think I've owled half of Wizarding Britain!" Andromeda announced with a nervous laugh. "That's why we took so long." She dropped down into a chair beside her grandson and reached to put an arm around his shoulders, and once again silence descended upon the corridor. Carrie thought of going to stand at Teddy's side, of trying to catch his eye in greeting, but she couldn't quite bear it. She could do nothing besides stare around at the silent crowd as guilt washed over her like icy water and by the time the door finally opened and another healer appeared, looking searchingly around the group until she spotted Remus, who straightened in his chair, Carrie was beginning to think that she might be drowning.

"Mr. Lupin?" All eyes were upon the healer as she came to a halt, her voice not much more than a murmur, but loud enough for the silent crowd to hear. "Your wife is stable." she informed the anxious man sat before her. "She's resting."

Whilst an audible sigh of relief resonated throughout the corridor, Carrie merely continued to wait with bated breath.

Remus' gaze did not wander to those around him as he cleared his throat, leaning forward ever so slightly as he asked:

"And...the baby?"

It was as if he had flicked some sort of switch, murmurs and whispers of surprise and confusion erupted through the gathered family and had she not been so focused upon what the healer was about to say, Carrie might have laughed at the dumbfounded expressions that Teddy and Andromeda turned to offer the side of Remus' head.

Remus seemed entirely unaware of the sudden commotion, however, his eyes fixed upon the green robed witch's face and Carrie stared too.

The healer slowly shook her head, and at the slight movement Remus' face became instantly buried once again in his hands.

"I'm very sorry." the healer told him softly. "The umbilical cord was splinched, there really was nothing we could do."

Carrie couldn't stand it. She reached to bite down upon her lip in an attempt not to cry.

It's all my fault, she found herself thinking as, still oblivious to the stare, Remus rose slowly to his feet and asked:

"Can I see her?"

Once he had gone, conversation out in the corridor seemed to become incredibly repetitive.

"Did you know?"

"No...did you?"

"No! Goodness, how long do you think they've had that under wraps for? Did you know about it?"

"No...oh how awful! I had no idea, did you?"

"No..."

But Carrie didn't hear any of it. She was much too busy wondering what on earth she was going to say, what she was going to do, how one made up for being so utterly foolish, for causing such terrible tragedy. After some minutes, whilst the repetitive conversation went on and on and Teddy resorted to burying his face in the front of his grandmother's robes, Carrie found herself gravitating towards the doors that Remus had disappeared through. She rose up on tip toes to peer through the glass window, only to find that the room within was mostly obscured by a curtain that had been drawn around the hospital bed.

"I guess Victoire was wrong then." a voice just behind her observed a few moments later when Carrie failed to spy any movement within, and Carrie spun around to find Teddy stood, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, hair today a rather alarming shade of green. "About the rabies, I mean..." he added when she simply stared at him with wide, nervous eyes.

"Oh...yes." Carrie wasn't quite sure whether or not to smile. "I suppose she was."

"Are you okay?" the young metamorphmagus asked, and she felt shy at his lack of anger.

"Aren't you supposed to...to hate me...or...or something?" she mumbled, cheeks flushed pink as she looked down at her borrowed shoes.

"Why on earth would I hate you?" Teddy wanted to know, frowning deeply, and Carrie shuffled her feet awkwardly.

"Well...I...I killed your baby brother or sister." She reached to hug her arms around herself self consciously.

Teddy gaped at her for a long moment before swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.

"No you didn't!" he exclaimed, at last over his astonishment, but Carrie shook her head.

"Yes I did, I...if I...if I hadn't been so...so stupid...then your mum...she wouldn't have...the baby wouldn't have...!"

"It's not your fault Avery's a psychotic nutcase, Carrie." Teddy pointed out, utterly bemused by her reasoning. "Besides, if you weren't such an idiot he might have gotten hold of the mirror, and Merlin knows what would have happened then..." he trailed off at the sound of a swell in conversation amongst the adults and both children turned to spot a new edition to the crowd.

"Where is she?" Harry Potter was saying as he reached to prise his youngest son's arms from their tight hold around one of his legs. "Ah, there you are, Carrie."

Once again, Carrie felt as though everybody was staring at her.

"Your mum wants you home for some dinner." Harry explained, the only one to smile in what seemed to Carrie like forever. "I'm to take you straight home...I'm sure she'll be impressed by your speedy recovery!"

Luckily for her mother's sake, Carrie spent the rest of the evening feeling distinctly off colour, it was wonderful what such guilt could do to one's appetite and appearance.

"You're still terribly pale, love." Mrs. Winters had observed as the girl stared blankly down at her portion of chicken and mushroom soup. "Perhaps you better get to bed..."

Carrie had wasted no time in agreeing to this suggestion and she escaped up to her bedroom a little too quickly for somebody who had been deathly ill for the past few days. But once she had reached the door to her room, slowly reaching to push it open a little so that she could peer inside, she suddenly found herself much too afraid to go inside.

From what she could see of the dim space beyond the door, her parents had swept up the remainder of the debris until the room looked almost normal. The window, which she distinctly remembered being shattered, looked as good as new. She strongly suspected that this was more likely to be Remus' doing than anybody else's.

Carrie pushed the door open a little further and took a cautious step forward, turning to squint over towards the bed. The duvet and sheets had been stripped from the bed and replaced with fresh ones. The singed photographs had been put in the little waste paper bin by the desk...

And that was when Carrie spotted a thin, splintered piece of wood protruding from the surrounding bits of tattered paper, and the sight of the remains of Mildred's mirror made her leap backwards and reach to slam the door firmly shut.

That night, she slept in her parents' bed instead.

The following morning she sat out in her back garden, sipping orange squash, continuously listening for signs of life in the house next door, and when she finally did over hear voices of some sort she immediately crept back inside, through the kitchen and into the hallway, careful not to disturb her mother in the study, or the twins in the living room. She slipped silently out of the front door and made a run for the Lupins' front step, reaching to knock upon their door without giving herself much time to think. She was sure that if she waited more than a few seconds she might think better of knocking, for she had absolutely no idea what she wanted to say to any of the Lupins just then. She just felt that she ought say...something.

It was Remus who opened the door, and Carrie took a long moment to study his face as he peered down at her, smiling faintly. A night's recovery did not appear to have done much for his pale, rather lifeless face, the bandage still wrapped tightly around his head. Carrie suspected that he had been awake for most of the night, but he seemed far more alert and he managed to sound reasonably cheerful as he greeted her and stepped aside to let her inside.

"Ted's still asleep." he informed her as he turned to head for the living room. "I've called him several times, but he does seem intent on taking full advantage of his day off school. You're welcome to try and drag him out from under the blankets, though."

Carrie couldn't help but feel that this was not a mere suggestion, but despite this she wandered after the werewolf into the living room, coming to a halt just inside the door.

Tonks was sat upon the sofa, leant back against a mound of cushions, staring intently down at the small table in front of her, upon which was set a chess set, apparently midway through a game. Remus had barely lowered himself onto the floor opposite her, careful not to lean upon his heavily bandaged hand, when his wife informed him:

"Check mate."

The werewolf watched with a slight frown as his king was brutally beheaded by a white knight, before observing with a sigh:

"That makes it my turn to make the tea, then." He was about to get to his feet again when Tonks reached to grasp the arm of the chair, slowly easing herself up and onto her feet. Carrie couldn't help but think that the movement took significant effort and she felt her cheeks warming in shame once again.

"Nah, I'll do it." the Auror, whose hair was an uncharacteristically dull shade of black, decided as she carefully step out from behind the table. "You can do the washing up." she added as an afterthought as she headed stiffly for the door. Carrie fixed her gaze upon her shoes as Tonks passed her, only to jump a little to feel a hand upon her arm as the witch greeted:

"Morning, Carrie love."
Carrie watched in silence as the witch shuffled out into the hallway and towards the kitchen, before turning to find Remus staring after her too.

The werewolf offered her a rather uncertain smile.

"She's...frighteningly intent on keeping herself occupied." he explained quietly, gesturing to the sofa, and Carrie spotted a couple of books and a pack of Exploding Snap cards amongst a few discarded tissues.

"D'you want a cup, Carrie?" Tonks called from the kitchen, and Carrie found the normality of the question somewhat unnerving.

"Yes please!" she called back after a moment, remembering that it was indeed a question that required an answer.

"How are you feeling today?" Remus asked, glancing briefly at the girl before busying himself with packing away the chess set. "You look much better, I think."

"I feel...very Muggle." Carrie decided, leaning back against the wall and looking down at her shoes again.

"Oh?" Despite the somewhat grim atmosphere, Remus sounded amused. "And what is that like, I wonder?"

"Stupid." Carrie supplied flatly, one hand balling into a frustrated fist. "Stupid and silly and dumb and...and..." she scowled at the floor, struggling to think of a word scathing enough.

"Clever." Remus interrupted. Carrie wished that he wouldn't try to make her feel better. It only made it worse. "You're very clever. And focused." he told her as he slid the last pawn into place and reached to pick up the board. "Dora was saying, last night, that you'd make a fine Auror...if you were a witch, of course."

"How did she work that out?" Carrie asked dismally. "I can't imagine she has a good word to say about me, just now." She found the wizard's kind smile difficult to comprehend.

"Well you found the mirror, didn't you? That's no small accomplishment..."

"Ted and Cleo helped me."

"Perhaps, but teamwork is just as important as anything else. And then of course, you were alive when we found you..." his gaze seemed vaguely awed as he said: "Do you have any idea just how powerful a Horcrux is? It is the most...the most foul and evil of magics!" his thumb scuffed the bandage upon his hand meaningfully. "And yet...here you are..." he reached to pick up his wand from the little table and with a vague wave sent the chess set soaring across the room and into a waiting chest of drawers. "The willpower and focus required not to just...give in...well!" he nodded towards the open door, smile suddenly rather pained. "As you can see, it's a well regarded Auror trait."

Carrie turned and, shuffling to the side a little, glanced down the hallway towards the kitchen, where Tonks was busy banging mugs around and generally making far more noise that was probably necessary. The child found herself with an odd urge to wander after the witch, and she crept softly out of the living room and along to the kitchen, coming to a halt beside the kitchen table.

She wanted to say something...something right. Something apologetic, but not upsetting...something...she wasn't quite sure...

"Let me guess," Tonks said, causing the child to jump at the sound of her voice. Carrie found that she had paused in her tea making to turn and regard the muggle with a carefully composed, closed expression. "You're sorry you killed the baby."

When Carrie merely stared at her in panicked horror, the Auror raised an eyebrow and turned back to the tea.

"My son tells me things." she said in simple explanation, reaching to splash milk into a trio of cups. "What he told me last night...well, it bothers me." Setting the milk bottle down, she turned back to regard Carrie with a surprisingly stern look. "It bothers me that you think all of this is your fault, like...like you think you've done something wicked."

Carrie pursed her lips together self consciously as the witch took a few steps forward, reaching to lay both hands upon her shoulders.

"We've enough wickedness in the world to be getting on with, Carrie love. There's no need to go looking for a bit more. Maybe there's something wicked in those bloody clumsy genes of mine, or maybe a fairy tale can drive a man to wicked things, but there's nothing wicked about asking your family for help." Tonks gave the child's shoulders a reassuring squeeze before turning back to the tea, and Carrie had thought it a simple slip of the tongue, but then the witch told her:

"We were going to call her Rae, if she were a girl. Aurelia...y'know...'cause of France..." she trailed off into silence and Carrie watched her shoulders rise and fall as she drew a deep, calming breath. "We were convinced it was a girl...I don't know why. Maybe just because we've already got a boy..." As she bowed her head, leaning forward against the counter top, for a terrible moment Carrie thought she might start crying, but then she straightened again and mused: "But then again, sometimes I reckon we've already as good as got ourselves a daughter, too..."

Carrie stared, mouth falling open ever so slightly in surprise, just as there came the distinct roar of flames as somebody exited the floo. Carrie turned to look back towards the living room as she heard murmured voices as Remus no doubt greeted the visitor, and then the werewolf stepped out into the hallway, followed by a man that Carrie had never seen before. He was a tall, bald black man dressed in distinctly expensive looking navy blue robes, and as he strode down the corridor the girl noticed that he had a newspaper tucked under one arm.

"Wotcher Kingsley." Tonks mumbled in greeting, and Carrie watched in surprise as the Minister for Magic strode silently across the room and reached to give the witch a brief yet firm hug. As he drew away, glancing sideways at Carrie and offering her a polite tip of the head, the wizard informed the Auror:

"I was just explaining to Remus that I'm putting you on compassionate leave for the next week at the very least."

"Oh..." Tonks did not sound entirely sure that she liked this revelation at all, and she frowned deeply and admitted: "Well...well actually, I'd like the distraction, I'm not sure I want to just..."

"It's either that," Kingsley interrupted, reaching to draw the newspaper out from under his arm and carefully unfolding it, "or I'm going to have to suspend you from work for the next month."

Carrie watched Tonks' eyes widen as that morning's edition of the Daily Prophet was tossed down onto the kitchen table for her inspection. The muggle tiptoed forwards to get a closer look.

DEATH EATER AUGUSTUS ROOKWOOD ARRESTED IN FRANCE, TWO MONTHS AFTER HIS REPORTED DEATH IN ARGENTINIA, the top headline read, whilst further down the page another bold title proclaimed: DEPUTY HEAD OF AURORS' FRANK CONFESSION: ARE BRITAIN'S STREETS AS SAFE AS THEY SEEM?

"Ah..." Tonks mumbled, reaching to scratch the back of her neck in a distinctly sheepish manner. "You...you've seen that, have you?"

"I certainly have." the Minister confirmed, as over by the door Remus visibly fought against a grin.

"Yeah...well, about that, Kingsley, I can explain." Tonks went on, drawing in a deep breath and finally managing to meet her employer's gaze with an innocent shrug. "I didn't think you'd find out about it. I had you down as more of a Quibbler man, myself..."

Finish.