the gentle moon / george weasley

what about August?

Hogwarts was at a standstill. Everyone was waiting for her to walk through the door. They were waiting to turn a corner around one of the bookshelves in the library and see her hidden behind a stack of books, Pince talking her ear off about how someone ripped a page in one of the magical beast books again. The Slytherin boys, whom she usually saw early in the morning, were waiting to see her mid-bite when they got to the Great Hall for breakfast before everyone else. And honestly, as annoying as it was, Harry was waiting to walk down from his dorm to see her and George snogging in one of the corners of the common room. But she wasn't there.

When he looked back, even a month later, Harry found he had only scattered memories of those following days. Even if she was standing right in front of him, his thoughts always went back to the days following her attack. The recollections he did have were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with Jade and Remus that took place after the healers took August from the castle. McGonagall had just dragged him from Dumbledore's office and he saw George sobbing in a chair next to an empty bed, and soon enough Molly and Fred were running in just behind Harry and towards George. Harry had never seen the twins like this. Fred was trying so hard to be strong, but it didn't last long. Because once he saw the jersey August wore when she went into the maze, with 'O'KEEFE' stitched on the back, he completely broke down.

Harry was in so much pain, and not because of his leg. He couldn't even feel the pain in his leg because his body had gone completely numb when Jade engulfed him in a hug. They did not blame him for what had happened; on the contrary, both thanked him for returning August's body with him. Jade sobbed through most of their conversation. Remus' grief seemed to be beyond tears. Harry wanted to tell them all that she did not suffer during all of this, but he knew she did.

"You can't come home with us." Jade sobbed, "But you will not go back to that home."

Harry stared at her in disbelief. He figured they were going to send him to some orphanage.

"I will never let you go back to that family," Jade promised him, "You and Jet have to be out of the house, for the time being, we can't have you there when the ministry does their search. August's case is about to open, and they need to investigate our lives."

"Where will I go?" Harry asked, looking up at Remus. But Remus was absent. He was just a shell of a person now, there was nothing in his eyes. It was like looking in through the windows of an abandoned home. "Jets house is safe, and you will go straight there after you get to Kings Cross. My really good friend Emmeline will meet you there, and she knows where to go. No one must know where you are going, Harry. Not yet..." Jade looked him in the eyes, "You can't tell Ron or Hermione."

"What about August?"

What about August... That was the question that was just hanging in the air. What they knew now, was that she was alive. But she was not awake, not yet. The healers seemed very confident in themselves. There was a full moon in a few days, and they believed she would still be asleep, and they were hoping it would somehow wake her up. But Harry knew they were leaving things out about her trip to hospital because Jade could barely get the words out.

"When she is well enough, she'll come to stay with you two. Remus will then join you all later and after they are done with their investigation of the house, I will come." Jade tells him, "We will all be together, soon enough. I promise you, Harry. You'll see Jet next week."

Harry looked up at Jade, and his eyes softened. He has never told someone this, except for August. As much as a mother figure Molly was to him, Jade was his family now. She was like a mother to him, a natural, true mother.

"I love you, Jade," Harry said, swallowing hard. Jade's lips quivered into a small smile and she jumped off her chair and engulfed the boy in a hug. Harry felt like a little child again, the way he felt small in her arms even though he was just as tall as her, maybe even taller. She sobbed into his hair, caressing the back of his head.