Prompt Twenty-Six: Harry Potter and the Miracle Man
Title: Harry Potter and the Miracle Man
Author:
gijane7702
Format & Word Count: Fic//2340
Rating: PG13
Warning(s): Deathly Hallows spoilers; AU; humour; with a slight dose of angst; cursing
Prompt: #26: cross-over
Summary: Not wanting to believe Lupin and Tonks dead, Harry, with the assistance of Ron and Hermione, seeks a ‘miracle’.
Author’s Notes: I can’t believe I’m posting this… I AM BURNING IN HELL FOR THIS!!
Plotbunny is actually from my best friend, not me. And, yes, I am slightly ignoring canon here regarding Fred…sorry.
Script is here
Harry Potter stood staring in shock at the two bodies lying in front of him. Reaching out, he brushed a stray piece of pink hair out of Tonks’ face, and then briefly squeezed Lupin’s hand, which was still holding his wife’s.
He couldn’t believe they were actually dead. It wasn’t fair! They had just found happiness. They had been married less than a year and had a two-month-old baby waiting for them at home.
Harry jumped to his feet, wand drawn, as the classroom door burst open. “Don’t you have any respect for the dead!” he bellowed before he realised it was his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
“I told you not to go storming in,” Ron said to Hermione, who had the good grace to blush. “Sorry, Harry.”
“I’m sorry, Harry,” Hermione told him. “But as Ron and I were…ah…”
“Snogging,” Harry supplied and she turned beet red. So did Ron. “Honestly, you two, it’s quite all right! I’m happy for you both…really I am. As you were snogging, you were saying Hermione,” he prompted her.
“Oh, yes! Right! I thought of something I read years ago!” she paused as Ron muttered something under his breath that Harry only caught some of, causing him to grin. “Ron! Anyway. Remus and Tonks didn’t die from Dark Curses, correct?”
“No,” said Harry, perplexed. “They were both down, but not out, so Bellatrix and Dolohov dropped half of the Astronomy Tower on them. So, technically, they didn’t die from Curses.”
“Excellent!” Hermione squealed and Harry took a step back, appalled. “Oh! No! No! I’m horrified that they are dead. But there’s a way to bring them back!”
“Nothing can bring back the dead, Hermione. Dumbledore told me that!” Harry said automatically.
“That’s what I told her, mate,” Ron piped up, quieting once more as Hermione shot him a look.
Turning back to Harry, she said, “There’s a man…he’s far away…that performs miracles. Like bringing people back from the dead. And no,” Hermione cut across Harry before he could say it, “it’s not Dark Magic. It’s a miracle.”
“How?” Harry and Ron asked together.
“Well,” she said. “I don’t know quite how it works…herbs and stuff…but you have many layers of being dead. Since Remus and Tonks only died a few hours ago, they’re only mostly dead. And, according to Miracle Max’s book, mostly dead is slightly alive!”
“Huh?” Harry and Ron said together.
“Never mind!” Hermione huffed. “Just take their bodies and follow me!”
“Hermione,” Harry exclaimed as Ron began to lift Tonks’ body onto his shoulders. “We can’t take them anywhere! Mrs Tonks is on her way to Hogwarts; with their son I might add, to claim their bodies.”
“What if we can give her a live daughter and son-in-law instead of dead ones?” Hermione shot back.
Harry paused. It was worth a shot, he supposed. And he did owe Hermione several times over for saving his arse more than once this past year. “All right,” he consented.
Hermione beamed. “Take Remus, Harry. Ron has Tonks already.”
Harry bent down, muttered, “Sorry,” to his former professor’s body, and then slung him over his shoulders. He grunted. Lupin was heavier than he looked. To his friends Harry asked, “How do we get out of the castle? It’s full to the brim with people!”
In response Hermione tapped each of them with her wand. “Disillusionment Charm,” she told each of them serenely. “Let’s go. Time is of an essence!” Hermione wrapped herself in Harry’s Invisibility Cloak.
They skimmed along the surprisingly empty corridors, past the Great Hall, onto the grounds. They went quickly through the front entrance of the school since it was guarded by two Aurors that Harry saw were already wearing black armbands with their scarlet robes in honour of Tonks. The armbands strengthened his resolve and he marched on past Hermione.
At the Hog’s Head Inn, Aberforth Dumbledore stuck his head out. Arching an eyebrow at the trio, Harry knew he could see at least him and Ron. But the barkeep didn’t say a word and went back inside.
Before Harry could comment, Hermione took off the cloak and stuffed it in her beaded bag. Un-Disillusioning him and Ron, she grasped his and Ron’s arms and then Disapparated.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Where are we?” Harry asked immediately.
“Hermione!” Ron yelled at the same time.
They both gently placed Lupin and Tonks’ bodies down and ran to assist their friend, who was deathly pale. “Haven’t Apparated that far before,” she murmured softly to Ron, who had gathered her in his arms. “Give me a minute, I’ll be fine.”
“You’re sure you’re all right, Hermione,” he asked her anxiously.
“Yes. We need to get going. According to the book, we only have six hours and they’ve been mostly dead for at least five.”
Harry was relieved to see that she was gaining back her colour already. He rolled his eyes as Ron leaned over and murmured something quietly to Hermione that caused her to blush.
As Harry bent down to pick up Tonks, Ron called, “Oi! I’m carrying her!”
Harry said, “You carry Remus for a bit. He’s a lot heavier than he appears.” He grunted as he shifted Tonks onto his shoulders. She wasn’t a pixie either. “They’re both going on diets when we revive them,” Harry muttered.
Ron laughed as he picked up Lupin. “No kidding, huh? Looking at him you’d think he’d weighed practically nothing. I can’t wait to take the mickey!”
Hermione stood wobbly and then immediately shrieked.
Harry swung around, somehow managing to draw his wand and hold Tonks’ body at the same time. A Spaniard and a giant stood before them, holding up what appeared to be a half-dead man.
Ron awkwardly drew his wand, so the Spaniard drew his sword and asked, “May I ask either of you gentleman if you, by any chance, happen to have six fingers on your right hand?”
“No” said Ron and Harry in unison, showing him their hands.
“Gracias, sirs. I apologise, senora, for frightening you. Now, if you don’t mind, we have a castle to storm and a princess to save.”
“Of course not,” Ron said, looking impressed. “We’ve got to get going as well.”
“Yes,” grunted the giant. “You yourselves look rather busy.”
The other trio moved on, but Harry, for some reason called out to them, “You don’t know where the Miracle Man lives per chance, do you?”
“Miracle Max?” the Spaniard questioned. “Ah, yes, I see why.” He motioned to Lupin and Tonks’ bodies. “He lived there,” the Spaniard pointed to a small wooden house not to far in the distance. “Good luck in your quest, my friends.”
“Thank you and you as well,” Harry called to him, stowing his wand. He then turned to his friends and said, “Let’s get going!”
Upon arriving at the small wooden house, Hermione knocked on the door and they were greeted by a male voice with, “GO AWAY!”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged uneasy glances. However, before they could decide what to do next, the door was yanked open by a woman, “Ignore my husband, please. I do.” She looked the group on her doorstep up and down, noting Lupin and Tonks’ bodies slung over Harry and Ron’s shoulders. “I suppose you’re in need of a miracle. Or two.”
“Yes,” Ron grunted.
“He doesn’t look heavy,” the woman told him.
“Believe me, he is,” Harry told her.
A man appeared behind the woman. “What do they want?”
“What do you think they want? Why would anyone come here just to visit you!” the woman yelled at him.
“You got money?” the man asked.
“Are you Miracle Max?” Hermione demanded to know back. The man blinked, surprised, at her but the woman smiled.
“Yes, I am!” he told her gruffly. “This is Valerie. Sorry for your friends, but I only do one miracle a day.”
He made to close the door, but Hermione stuck her foot in it, successfully blocking him. “Listen, I had a really bad night…a really bad year actually…and I want a miracle…two actually. Here!”
Harry hadn’t seen her pull out that beaded bag of hers again, but she had, and was holding out, slightly shaking, what sounded like a sack full of Galleons to Max and Valerie. Ron’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.
“Money?” Max asked interestedly.
“Even better…gold,” Hermione told him.
Max and Valerie exchanged glances, then Max to them, “Get inside.” Harry and Ron entered first and set Lupin and Tonks on the respective table they were told to put them on. “Bellows, woman,” Max said to Valerie.
Valerie glared at him, but handed him the bellows. Max opened Lupin’s mouth first, inserted the bellows, and pumped him full of air. As he did so, he asked Harry, “Does he have anything to live for?”
“His newborn son,” Harry told him quietly. “And his wife.”
Max nodded, then yelled at Lupin, “Hello in there! Time to get up! Your son is waiting! So is your wife and you know to never keep them waiting!” He ignored the look Valerie shot him.
Max pushed on Lupin’s chest and grinned when he moaned out, “Dora.”
“I sure hope she’s Dora,” Valerie said from the stove, where she was concocting some sort of pill, indicating Tonks.
“She is,” Harry told her, slightly smiling.
Max repeated the process on Tonks who groaned out, “Ted.”
“Her father?” Ron asked, perplexed.
“Her son!” Hermione hissed at him in an exasperated tone.
“Oh…yeah…sorry!” Ron’s ears were red.
“Excellent! Excellent!” Max said. Taking the two pills from his wife, he handed them to Hermione and said, “Give them these in fifteen minutes. It’ll take about an hour for them to gain full body motion back.”
Hermione nodded her understanding.
Ron hastened to pick up Tonks, this time holding her in his arms. Harry glared at him, and then slung Lupin back over his shoulders. “Arse,” he muttered at his best friend. “You weren’t so keen on touching her last year.”
Harry laughed as Ron apologetically looked at Hermione, who just rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s go. We need to get back to Hogwarts before Mrs Tonks arrives!”
“Hogwarts?” Max asked interestedly. “You’re wizards?”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all already outside, turn around and look at him through the open front door. “Yes,” Harry tells him warily, automatically flatting his fringe to cover his scar.
“Think you could fix the roof? It leaks?”
“We paid you already!” Ron bellowed.
“Ron!” Hermione said quietly. “They just gave us back Remus and Tonks!” She drew her wand, pointed it at the roof, and muttered, “Reparo!” The roof repaired itself, good as new.
“Ron, huh? Red hair….with a boy wearing glasses and messy black hair,” Max muttered aloud. “Travelling with a young lady.”
Valerie rolled her eyes. “What he’s trying to tell you in his way, Mr Potter, is that we’ve heard of you, even all the way here in Florin. I’m glad we could be of service. They are…” she indicated Lupin and Tonks.
“Friends,” said Harry tightly. “We have to be off. Goodbye and thank you.”
“Goodbye!” Max and Valerie called as they set off.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Getting home was easier since Harry and Ron Apparated themselves back to Hogsmeade.
“Where the HELL have you been?!” bellowed Aberforth the minute they appeared. “Get in here!” He dragged Hermione into his inn, the boys followed. “Do you know what sort of chaos is ensuing up at the school since their bodies,” he motioned to Lupin and Tonks, “are missing?!?”
Ron placed Tonks down on one of the tables and said, “We haven’t been gone that long!”
Harry placed Lupin next to her. “Has it been fifteen minutes?” he asked Hermione.
“Well, we can’t wait!” she replied. Turning to Aberforth, she said, “I suppose Mrs Tonks and Teddy arrived.”
“Yes!” he yelled. Aberforth paused for a moment, watching Hermione pop the chocolate covered pills down each throat, and then bellowed, “What are you doing?”
“Saving their lives,” she hissed at him.
“How long do we have to-” Ron began leaning over them.
But he and Harry immediately took cover as both Lupin and Tonks’ eyes popped open and Tonks came up swinging as if she was casting a spell. She caught Ron in the ear.
“What happened?” Lupin asked, looking about. “Dora?”
“She’s here, Remus,” Hermione grunted, pushing Tonks back down.
“Sorry,” Tonks muttered thickly to Ron and Harry. She took Lupin’s hand that was reaching for her.
“No problem,” Ron told her, rubbing his ear.
“Bloody hell,” Aberforth muttered, staring at the now live Lupin and Tonks. “Bloody hell!”
“Listen,” Harry said. “I’m going to the castle to get Mrs Tonks and Teddy. You two stay here with them. Don’t let them move too much,” he added as Lupin made to get up. “You’ve been dead, Remus,” he addressed Lupin, who looked bewilderedly at him and lay back down. “We’ll explain all, but I’m going to get Mrs Tonks and Teddy right now.”
“Teddy?” Tonks said in a hopeful voice.
“He’ll be here soon, Tonks,” Harry told her, turning to leave the inn.
“I already sent word,” Aberforth told him. “Minerva’s on her way with Andromeda and the baby.” Harry glanced at Arianna’s portrait and noted that it was empty. “My sister’s gone to bring them back, Potter.”
“Harry…how?”” Lupin questioned him.
“It was a miracle, Remus,” Harry told him, grasping his shoulder. “We’ll explain in depth later…okay?”
“Okay,” Lupin told him groggily, playing with Tonks’ fingers. She rolled her head to the side and smiled lopsidedly at him.
Harry smiled as well. He’d deal with the repercussions that were sure to follow later. But, as he watched Lupin and Tonks, he decided it was worth it.
His resolve was positively reinforced when Andromeda Tonks rushed into the inn, holding her wailing grandson. Teddy was immediately snatched up by his mother who placed him on her husband’s chest and the two of them cooed at their baby, calming him. Harry smiled at the reunited family.
The war was over.
All was well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
FINIS
Author:
gijane7702
Format & Word Count: Fic//2340
Rating: PG13
Warning(s): Deathly Hallows spoilers; AU; humour; with a slight dose of angst; cursing
Prompt: #26: cross-over
Summary: Not wanting to believe Lupin and Tonks dead, Harry, with the assistance of Ron and Hermione, seeks a ‘miracle’.
Author’s Notes: I can’t believe I’m posting this… I AM BURNING IN HELL FOR THIS!!
Plotbunny is actually from my best friend, not me. And, yes, I am slightly ignoring canon here regarding Fred…sorry.
Script is here
Harry Potter stood staring in shock at the two bodies lying in front of him. Reaching out, he brushed a stray piece of pink hair out of Tonks’ face, and then briefly squeezed Lupin’s hand, which was still holding his wife’s.
He couldn’t believe they were actually dead. It wasn’t fair! They had just found happiness. They had been married less than a year and had a two-month-old baby waiting for them at home.
Harry jumped to his feet, wand drawn, as the classroom door burst open. “Don’t you have any respect for the dead!” he bellowed before he realised it was his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
“I told you not to go storming in,” Ron said to Hermione, who had the good grace to blush. “Sorry, Harry.”
“I’m sorry, Harry,” Hermione told him. “But as Ron and I were…ah…”
“Snogging,” Harry supplied and she turned beet red. So did Ron. “Honestly, you two, it’s quite all right! I’m happy for you both…really I am. As you were snogging, you were saying Hermione,” he prompted her.
“Oh, yes! Right! I thought of something I read years ago!” she paused as Ron muttered something under his breath that Harry only caught some of, causing him to grin. “Ron! Anyway. Remus and Tonks didn’t die from Dark Curses, correct?”
“No,” said Harry, perplexed. “They were both down, but not out, so Bellatrix and Dolohov dropped half of the Astronomy Tower on them. So, technically, they didn’t die from Curses.”
“Excellent!” Hermione squealed and Harry took a step back, appalled. “Oh! No! No! I’m horrified that they are dead. But there’s a way to bring them back!”
“Nothing can bring back the dead, Hermione. Dumbledore told me that!” Harry said automatically.
“That’s what I told her, mate,” Ron piped up, quieting once more as Hermione shot him a look.
Turning back to Harry, she said, “There’s a man…he’s far away…that performs miracles. Like bringing people back from the dead. And no,” Hermione cut across Harry before he could say it, “it’s not Dark Magic. It’s a miracle.”
“How?” Harry and Ron asked together.
“Well,” she said. “I don’t know quite how it works…herbs and stuff…but you have many layers of being dead. Since Remus and Tonks only died a few hours ago, they’re only mostly dead. And, according to Miracle Max’s book, mostly dead is slightly alive!”
“Huh?” Harry and Ron said together.
“Never mind!” Hermione huffed. “Just take their bodies and follow me!”
“Hermione,” Harry exclaimed as Ron began to lift Tonks’ body onto his shoulders. “We can’t take them anywhere! Mrs Tonks is on her way to Hogwarts; with their son I might add, to claim their bodies.”
“What if we can give her a live daughter and son-in-law instead of dead ones?” Hermione shot back.
Harry paused. It was worth a shot, he supposed. And he did owe Hermione several times over for saving his arse more than once this past year. “All right,” he consented.
Hermione beamed. “Take Remus, Harry. Ron has Tonks already.”
Harry bent down, muttered, “Sorry,” to his former professor’s body, and then slung him over his shoulders. He grunted. Lupin was heavier than he looked. To his friends Harry asked, “How do we get out of the castle? It’s full to the brim with people!”
In response Hermione tapped each of them with her wand. “Disillusionment Charm,” she told each of them serenely. “Let’s go. Time is of an essence!” Hermione wrapped herself in Harry’s Invisibility Cloak.
They skimmed along the surprisingly empty corridors, past the Great Hall, onto the grounds. They went quickly through the front entrance of the school since it was guarded by two Aurors that Harry saw were already wearing black armbands with their scarlet robes in honour of Tonks. The armbands strengthened his resolve and he marched on past Hermione.
At the Hog’s Head Inn, Aberforth Dumbledore stuck his head out. Arching an eyebrow at the trio, Harry knew he could see at least him and Ron. But the barkeep didn’t say a word and went back inside.
Before Harry could comment, Hermione took off the cloak and stuffed it in her beaded bag. Un-Disillusioning him and Ron, she grasped his and Ron’s arms and then Disapparated.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Where are we?” Harry asked immediately.
“Hermione!” Ron yelled at the same time.
They both gently placed Lupin and Tonks’ bodies down and ran to assist their friend, who was deathly pale. “Haven’t Apparated that far before,” she murmured softly to Ron, who had gathered her in his arms. “Give me a minute, I’ll be fine.”
“You’re sure you’re all right, Hermione,” he asked her anxiously.
“Yes. We need to get going. According to the book, we only have six hours and they’ve been mostly dead for at least five.”
Harry was relieved to see that she was gaining back her colour already. He rolled his eyes as Ron leaned over and murmured something quietly to Hermione that caused her to blush.
As Harry bent down to pick up Tonks, Ron called, “Oi! I’m carrying her!”
Harry said, “You carry Remus for a bit. He’s a lot heavier than he appears.” He grunted as he shifted Tonks onto his shoulders. She wasn’t a pixie either. “They’re both going on diets when we revive them,” Harry muttered.
Ron laughed as he picked up Lupin. “No kidding, huh? Looking at him you’d think he’d weighed practically nothing. I can’t wait to take the mickey!”
Hermione stood wobbly and then immediately shrieked.
Harry swung around, somehow managing to draw his wand and hold Tonks’ body at the same time. A Spaniard and a giant stood before them, holding up what appeared to be a half-dead man.
Ron awkwardly drew his wand, so the Spaniard drew his sword and asked, “May I ask either of you gentleman if you, by any chance, happen to have six fingers on your right hand?”
“No” said Ron and Harry in unison, showing him their hands.
“Gracias, sirs. I apologise, senora, for frightening you. Now, if you don’t mind, we have a castle to storm and a princess to save.”
“Of course not,” Ron said, looking impressed. “We’ve got to get going as well.”
“Yes,” grunted the giant. “You yourselves look rather busy.”
The other trio moved on, but Harry, for some reason called out to them, “You don’t know where the Miracle Man lives per chance, do you?”
“Miracle Max?” the Spaniard questioned. “Ah, yes, I see why.” He motioned to Lupin and Tonks’ bodies. “He lived there,” the Spaniard pointed to a small wooden house not to far in the distance. “Good luck in your quest, my friends.”
“Thank you and you as well,” Harry called to him, stowing his wand. He then turned to his friends and said, “Let’s get going!”
Upon arriving at the small wooden house, Hermione knocked on the door and they were greeted by a male voice with, “GO AWAY!”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged uneasy glances. However, before they could decide what to do next, the door was yanked open by a woman, “Ignore my husband, please. I do.” She looked the group on her doorstep up and down, noting Lupin and Tonks’ bodies slung over Harry and Ron’s shoulders. “I suppose you’re in need of a miracle. Or two.”
“Yes,” Ron grunted.
“He doesn’t look heavy,” the woman told him.
“Believe me, he is,” Harry told her.
A man appeared behind the woman. “What do they want?”
“What do you think they want? Why would anyone come here just to visit you!” the woman yelled at him.
“You got money?” the man asked.
“Are you Miracle Max?” Hermione demanded to know back. The man blinked, surprised, at her but the woman smiled.
“Yes, I am!” he told her gruffly. “This is Valerie. Sorry for your friends, but I only do one miracle a day.”
He made to close the door, but Hermione stuck her foot in it, successfully blocking him. “Listen, I had a really bad night…a really bad year actually…and I want a miracle…two actually. Here!”
Harry hadn’t seen her pull out that beaded bag of hers again, but she had, and was holding out, slightly shaking, what sounded like a sack full of Galleons to Max and Valerie. Ron’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.
“Money?” Max asked interestedly.
“Even better…gold,” Hermione told him.
Max and Valerie exchanged glances, then Max to them, “Get inside.” Harry and Ron entered first and set Lupin and Tonks on the respective table they were told to put them on. “Bellows, woman,” Max said to Valerie.
Valerie glared at him, but handed him the bellows. Max opened Lupin’s mouth first, inserted the bellows, and pumped him full of air. As he did so, he asked Harry, “Does he have anything to live for?”
“His newborn son,” Harry told him quietly. “And his wife.”
Max nodded, then yelled at Lupin, “Hello in there! Time to get up! Your son is waiting! So is your wife and you know to never keep them waiting!” He ignored the look Valerie shot him.
Max pushed on Lupin’s chest and grinned when he moaned out, “Dora.”
“I sure hope she’s Dora,” Valerie said from the stove, where she was concocting some sort of pill, indicating Tonks.
“She is,” Harry told her, slightly smiling.
Max repeated the process on Tonks who groaned out, “Ted.”
“Her father?” Ron asked, perplexed.
“Her son!” Hermione hissed at him in an exasperated tone.
“Oh…yeah…sorry!” Ron’s ears were red.
“Excellent! Excellent!” Max said. Taking the two pills from his wife, he handed them to Hermione and said, “Give them these in fifteen minutes. It’ll take about an hour for them to gain full body motion back.”
Hermione nodded her understanding.
Ron hastened to pick up Tonks, this time holding her in his arms. Harry glared at him, and then slung Lupin back over his shoulders. “Arse,” he muttered at his best friend. “You weren’t so keen on touching her last year.”
Harry laughed as Ron apologetically looked at Hermione, who just rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s go. We need to get back to Hogwarts before Mrs Tonks arrives!”
“Hogwarts?” Max asked interestedly. “You’re wizards?”
Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all already outside, turn around and look at him through the open front door. “Yes,” Harry tells him warily, automatically flatting his fringe to cover his scar.
“Think you could fix the roof? It leaks?”
“We paid you already!” Ron bellowed.
“Ron!” Hermione said quietly. “They just gave us back Remus and Tonks!” She drew her wand, pointed it at the roof, and muttered, “Reparo!” The roof repaired itself, good as new.
“Ron, huh? Red hair….with a boy wearing glasses and messy black hair,” Max muttered aloud. “Travelling with a young lady.”
Valerie rolled her eyes. “What he’s trying to tell you in his way, Mr Potter, is that we’ve heard of you, even all the way here in Florin. I’m glad we could be of service. They are…” she indicated Lupin and Tonks.
“Friends,” said Harry tightly. “We have to be off. Goodbye and thank you.”
“Goodbye!” Max and Valerie called as they set off.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Getting home was easier since Harry and Ron Apparated themselves back to Hogsmeade.
“Where the HELL have you been?!” bellowed Aberforth the minute they appeared. “Get in here!” He dragged Hermione into his inn, the boys followed. “Do you know what sort of chaos is ensuing up at the school since their bodies,” he motioned to Lupin and Tonks, “are missing?!?”
Ron placed Tonks down on one of the tables and said, “We haven’t been gone that long!”
Harry placed Lupin next to her. “Has it been fifteen minutes?” he asked Hermione.
“Well, we can’t wait!” she replied. Turning to Aberforth, she said, “I suppose Mrs Tonks and Teddy arrived.”
“Yes!” he yelled. Aberforth paused for a moment, watching Hermione pop the chocolate covered pills down each throat, and then bellowed, “What are you doing?”
“Saving their lives,” she hissed at him.
“How long do we have to-” Ron began leaning over them.
But he and Harry immediately took cover as both Lupin and Tonks’ eyes popped open and Tonks came up swinging as if she was casting a spell. She caught Ron in the ear.
“What happened?” Lupin asked, looking about. “Dora?”
“She’s here, Remus,” Hermione grunted, pushing Tonks back down.
“Sorry,” Tonks muttered thickly to Ron and Harry. She took Lupin’s hand that was reaching for her.
“No problem,” Ron told her, rubbing his ear.
“Bloody hell,” Aberforth muttered, staring at the now live Lupin and Tonks. “Bloody hell!”
“Listen,” Harry said. “I’m going to the castle to get Mrs Tonks and Teddy. You two stay here with them. Don’t let them move too much,” he added as Lupin made to get up. “You’ve been dead, Remus,” he addressed Lupin, who looked bewilderedly at him and lay back down. “We’ll explain all, but I’m going to get Mrs Tonks and Teddy right now.”
“Teddy?” Tonks said in a hopeful voice.
“He’ll be here soon, Tonks,” Harry told her, turning to leave the inn.
“I already sent word,” Aberforth told him. “Minerva’s on her way with Andromeda and the baby.” Harry glanced at Arianna’s portrait and noted that it was empty. “My sister’s gone to bring them back, Potter.”
“Harry…how?”” Lupin questioned him.
“It was a miracle, Remus,” Harry told him, grasping his shoulder. “We’ll explain in depth later…okay?”
“Okay,” Lupin told him groggily, playing with Tonks’ fingers. She rolled her head to the side and smiled lopsidedly at him.
Harry smiled as well. He’d deal with the repercussions that were sure to follow later. But, as he watched Lupin and Tonks, he decided it was worth it.
His resolve was positively reinforced when Andromeda Tonks rushed into the inn, holding her wailing grandson. Teddy was immediately snatched up by his mother who placed him on her husband’s chest and the two of them cooed at their baby, calming him. Harry smiled at the reunited family.
The war was over.
All was well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
FINIS