The Squib and the Werewolf (book 2)

29. The Second Coming

Raya didn't sleep that night.
Instead, she paced around the tent and watched over Jamie, to make sure that nothing bad happened to him.
Seeing the death eaters in their robes, after so long, had filled her with anger. But seeing the dark mark, hanging in the sky, had also scared her, more than she wanted to admit.
It brought back all of her painful memories from the first wizarding war, and all the suffering that had happened back then.
Raya and Jamie took an early Portkey home, the following morning, along with everyone else who was also trying to get home as soon as possible. No one wanted to linger around the campsite, in case something else went wrong.

When Raya and Jamie arrived at the Potter Manor, Remus was quick to greet them.
"Thank God you're alright. I've been so worried about you both" admitted Remus.
"We're fine" reassured Raya, as she dropped the tent bag on the floor, and took Sophia out of Remus's arms.
"When I saw the Prophet this morning, I was terrified that you'd been hurt" replied Remus.
"It was a rather eventful night, I'll admit. But no one got hurt"
"That's not what the papers said"
"We all know that the Daily Prophet, in particular Rita Skeeter, like to exaggerate things. No one was seriously injured, and the Muggles who were tormented had their memories wiped, so they won't remember the traumatic night".

"Are you sure you're O.K? It can't have been easy for you to come face to face with a bunch of death eaters again" Remus said quietly.
"I was hardly face to face with them, for they were at the other end of the field... But I did see their robes and their masks, which gave me flashbacks to the war" admitted Raya.
"And we saw the dark mark in the sky" added Jamie.
"Yes, we did. But luckily this time, it was not placed over any bodies. No one died last night" replied Raya.
"That's something to be grateful for then" sighed Remus.

"How was Sophia while we were away?" Asked Raya, as she held her daughter close to her chest.
"She was as good as gold, just like she normally is" answered Remus.
"Thanks for looking after her" replied Raya.
"Well, someone had to, since Sirius only bought two tickets to the world cup".
"Speaking of dad, he'll want to know about what happened last night" admitted Jamie.
"I don't want to worry him, but I'm sure he'll see it in the paper, no matter what country he is in, so we will have to write to him, to tell him that we are O.K" agreed Raya.
"I hope he doesn't feel guilty for getting us those tickets" replied Jamie.
"I bet he will, because he feels guilty about everything at the moment. But hopefully we can reassure him that we are fine, and there is no reason for him to worry about us".

"Let's hope he doesn't feel the need to come back to Britain to check on us" Jamie said, unable to hide the hopefulness in his voice, at the prospect of seeing his father again.
"That is something we can't let happen. Even though we all want him here, it is not safe for him to return to the country. Especially after what happened last night, because the Ministry are going to be on high alert. If we want to keep Sirius safe, we have to insist that he stays away" reminded Raya.
"Yeah. I know" mumbled Jamie sadly.
"Good. I know you want him to come home and live with us, but it just can't happen right now"
"I know!... I'm going to my room".

Once Jamie had headed upstairs, Raya and Remus made their way into the living room.
"Is he alright?" Asked Remus.
"He's fine. He just got his hopes up for a moment that Sirius might come back to see us" answered Raya, as she sat down on the sofa beside her brother.
"He wasn't too scared last night was he?" Questioned Remus.
"No. If I'm being honest, I was more scared than he was. When I saw the dark mark in the sky, I just froze".
Remus leant over to Raya, and squeezed her hand, "It's O.K to be frightened. That mark is associated with death and terror, so seeing it again can't have been easy. I would've panicked as well if I had seen it".

"I wish Jamie and Harry hadn't seen me like that, but never mind" sighed Raya.
"You saw Harry?" Quizzed Remus.
"Yes, he went with the Weasleys, and we bumped into each other on the campsite a few times... Amos Diggory tried to accuse Harry and his friends of summoning the dark mark, because they were caught near the scene of the crime. But everyone with more than one brain cell, could see that Harry Potter was not likely to conjure dark marks in his spare time, so Harry didn't get arrested" revealed Raya.

"I expect Amos was desperate to pin the blame on someone, so it would look like the Ministry was doing some useful for once" admitted Remus.
"Yes, but accusing Harry, a 14 year old boy, was a stupid think to do. No one that young would even know how to conjure the dark mark, as it's something only Voldemort's followers know how to do" replied Raya.
"The Prophet said that all Voldemort's followers fled when the mark appeared though"
"Yes, that's true. Whoever set off the mark, was not working with that group of death eaters, which is worrying".

"How so?" Frowned Remus.
"Because all these bad things keep happening, Remy. Even Sirius can sense it, and he's all the way in God knows where... Trelawney made another prophecy, and it won't be long before this one comes true as well. Peter will have found Voldemort by now, and the two of them will be on their way to planning a come back. And this time the war will be even worse" replied Raya.
"Not necessarily. It might take Peter ages to find Voldemort" Remus said hopefully.

"Look around you Remus, bad things are already beginning to happen, just like last time. Peter escaped and ran off to find Voldemort. Bertha Jorkins disappeared in the same place Voldemort was rumoured to have been hiding. Then Harry's scar starts hurting again, and he begins to get dreams of what Voldemort is up to. And then there's chaos at the Quidditch world cup final. Death eaters running amock, and the dark mark seen in the sky for the first time in nearly 13 years. It's only a matter of time before Voldemort makes an appearance and begins the second wizarding war" admitted Raya.

"This was bound to happen eventually, for we all knew that Voldemort was not killed properly last time. But things will be different this time around, I promise" reassured Remus.
"I didn't want my children to have to grow up in a war, just like we did. I wanted them to have a happy and safe life, just like children deserve to have" said Raya, as she tried to hold back the tears.
"At least this time Peter can't betray us all to Voldemort, because now we know who the traitor is... We just have to hope that this time Harry finishes off Voldemort for good, and all the death eaters end up in Azkaban where they belong" replied Remus.
"I hope you are right, for all our sakes".