Equanimity

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Part One; Prologue

—Betrayal

Natalie Potter held the Daily Prophet in shaking hands, the paper crumpling under her tight grip. It wasn't true. Surely, it couldn't be true. There was no way one of her best friends would do this...but the proof was in her hands. Remus had been right all along and no one wanted to believe him. Oh, how Remus must be feeling as well!

The doorbell ringing stole her attention from the newspaper, which dropped unnoticed out of her hands and onto the floor as she stood, her face blank as she walked to the door in disbelief and shock. It seemed as soon as the door opened, she was barreled into by a rather disheveled man. Sandy hair was sticking up as though he had run his hand through it far too many times. The sight brought a choked sob to the brunette as her brother's messy black hair flashed through her mind.

"Remus," she whispered brokenly, tears rushing to her hazel eyes as the shock of the whole situation finally wore off. Her shaking hands gripped onto the shaggy-haired man's arms with surprising strength for their small size. "Tell me it's a lie. Please," she pleaded, sobbing into his shoulder.

"I can't," the man responded, his voice cracking under the strain.

"Then lie to me," she begged, pulling away to force herself to meet Remus's eyes.

Remus swore he had never seen a more broken person and he had often considered himself as broken as could be. A tear leaked out of his eyes as he stared down at the woman before him, doing his best to try and compose himself for the woman before him. "Sirius didn't do it. They're perfectly alright," he choked out, the words tasting far too bitter on his tongue as they left his mouth.

At those words, heart-wrenching sobs flew passed the shattered woman's lips along with curses at Sirius Black's name. Remus's arms were quickly wrapped around his friend's waist as she all but began to collapse to the ground. He knew she had it far worse then he did. It was her brother and her best friend she had lost, while he had lost his best friend and a close friend. Though he did consider James his brother, James really was Natalie's, her twin for Merlin's sake, and Remus knew that it was going to take a lot of time to heal the broken woman before him.

"Shh," Remus hushed the brunette, running a hand over her back and curly hair. "It will be alright. I'm here."

"Please don't leave," she pleaded softly, burying her face against his chest. "Please."

"I'm not going anywhere," Remus assured the sobbing woman. And he wouldn't. "I'll stay as long as you need me."

It took a long while, but the distraught women finally managed to calm down before a thought hit her. Where was Harry? He should've been brought to her by the ministry. She frowned and quickly moved to grab her coat and shoes, catching Remus's attention.

"Where are you going?" The man asked worriedly, concerned for his friend. Not only was he worried about her well-being, but he knew that James would murder him if he allowed Natalie to just vanish or drown herself in a bottle of firewhiskey.

"To get Harry," she responded as she tied her shoelaces with a flick of her wand. Her tone suggested that it should have been obvious what her actions were.

As soon as she placed a hand on the doorknob, a knock startled the pair and they quickly glanced at each other, drawing their wands. Despite everyone saying Voldemort was vanquished, the two were still cautious. She opened the door to reveal Dumbledore. Her back straightened and she felt Remus tense from beside her. "Professor?" she questioned in shock.

"I'm hardly your Professor anymore, Miss Potter," Professor Dumbledore greeted with a smile and looked at the two through his half-moon spectacles. "May I come in?"

She wordlessly stepped aside to allow the older wizard to make his way through the door. He moved towards the couch to take a seat and pulled a lemon drop from his pocket before popping it into his mouth.

"I'm assuming you were on your way to collect Harry?" Dumbledore questioned knowingly and sighed at the woman's nod. "Well, I'm afraid that won't be necessary."

"And why not?" she asked sharply, her hazel eyes flashing dangerously just the slightest. "I'm his godmother and both my brother and Maia made it clear in their will, that should something happen to them, Harry would fall into the custody of myself and Sir-" She cut herself off and closed her eyes tightly, grateful for the comforting hand Remus placed on her shoulder. "He is supposed to be in my custody."

"I am well aware of the Potter's will," Dumbledore admitted which only caused her frown to deepen. "The ministry and I agreed that it would be best that Harry is placed into the custody of the Dursleys."

"Are you bloody mad?" Natalie screeched angrily causing Remus to retract his hand quickly. She was well aware that she was all but screaming at probably the most powerful wizard in existence, but she frankly was too livid to care. "She's awful! Why not Danielle?"

"Because, Miss Potter," Dumbledore said calmly, clearly having had expected the reaction from the young woman, "while Mrs. Evans would have happily taken in Harry, she agreed that Harry growing up in a muggle household would serve as better protection. It was something the Potters, Lily, and herself had spoken of prior to Lily's death. Should Voldemort's followers still wish to track the boy down, they would first look to you and then to Mrs. Evans."

Natalie pursed her lips angrily as she stared the old wizard down. "You know I will fight tooth and nail to get Harry in my custody." She said it not as a question but as a fact.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his half-moon glasses and his lips curved up into a smile. "I would expect nothing less. Now," he abruptly stood and glanced to an odd looking watch that he drew from his pocket, "I must be off. I have a lot of things to sort out at Hogwarts."

He left without another word leaving the two friends in silence. There really wasn't much else to say, so they just sat together until the early hours of the morning when Natalie finally managed to fall asleep against the young man's side.

Remus sighed and gently lifted the woman into his arms. It wasn't hard to bring her to her room and place the sleeping woman into her bed. With a quick wave of his wand, the curtains closed and he closed the door behind him before situating himself on her couch. If he was correct, then there was no way Natalie would want to be alone when she woke. But, if he was being honest with himself, he didn't want to be alone either. With that thought, he pulled one of her spare blankets over his body and fell into a rather fitful sleep.