Shooting Star

Chapter Fifty-Nine

"Remus fancies Tonks." I smiled at Sirius.
"Yes! And, as I'm the matchmaker, I shall assist. I shall ascertain that they are paired together for every mission they go on." Sirius assured me.
"You're gonna push baby Remus out of the nest?" I asked.
"Pardon?" Remus asked, walking in.
"Nothing." Sirius said, all too casually.
Remus cocked an eyebrow at me and I shrugged, like this was one of Sirius' histrionics, so Remus let it go.
We were eating dinner when the doorbell rang.
I got up to get it, since Sirius was obviously too preoccupied with his food, and Remus wasn't feeling well.
"Professor--" I began with a smile, but paused when I saw who was with him. "Dumbledore." I continued, fixing my slipping smile. "Minister. How nice to see you both." I glanced at Dumbledore, and he gave me an almost imperceptible nod. So everything was okay, apparently, but I don't see how.
Shouldn't he be at Hogwarts, keeping Voldemort away from my children?
"Is Mr. Black here?" Dumbledore asked.
"Um." I said, kicking myself mentally for how suave I was not being. "Well."
"It's all right, Eliza. It's good news."
"Sirius! Remus!" I called into the house. "Please, come in." I added to Dumbledore and Fudge.
They followed me inside as Sirius and Remus were walking into the living room. Sirius backtracked, but he knew that it was too late.
"It's all right." Dumbledore said again.
"Hello, Mr. Black." Fudge said. "I've come bearing good news."
"And what would that be?" Sirius asked, pushing Remus and me to either side of him, since we were standing in front if him.
"Your name has been cleared."
Sirius narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Is that so?"
"Yes. Considering the appearance of You Know Who, and the knowledge that Peter Pettigrew is a Death Eater, the decision of the clearance of your name was unanimous. It shall come out in the papers tomorrow, and I've already informed the Muggle Prime Minister."
"Thank you." Sirius nodded, then turned to Professor Dumbledore. "Now may I finally pursue my dream of being professionally perfect?"
Dumbledore smiled briefly. "As you wish, but the Minister had a proposition."
"Your former job is open for you, if you want it. You also have your family fortune, if you wish to pursue a career of being, as you say, professionally perfect." The Minister said with a smile.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I'm sure not everybody will be pleased to have a deranged killer working as an Auror." Sirius said.
"They'll be all right. You working at the Ministry will show the people that we trust you."
I glanced over at Remus, both of us thinking the same thing: People know the Ministry is being corrupted.
"Thank you." I told the Minister. Remus nodded his thanks.
Sirius peeked out the window. "It's time for bed, isn't it?" He asked me.
"Yes. We'll be off." Dumbledore said. "Sorry to keep you up, but I figured you'd want to know."
"Of course. Thank you." Sirius said.
"Are you planning on working in the Ministry? I can go ahead and start making preparations, and you can start next week." Fudge said.
"I think I need to discuss that with my wife first. Can I get back to you?"
"Of course."
As soon as they were out the door, Sirius voiced his opinion. "I don't want to go there."
Harry was already at the Weasley's, so I was alone again for the full moon, but this time it was only for a short while.
Severus stumbled into the house, crying. I didn't move for a moment and just stared at him, taken aback by his sudden drop of composure. "I can't do this" was the first thing he said.
"What can't you do? Come on, come sit in the kitchen. I'll make you some tea, all right?" I rushed forward and put an arm around him, leading him to the kitchen.
I put some tea on while he sat at the table and cried.
I heard the front door open, and Sev jumped up. "Go back in the bedroom." I said quietly, and he rushed from the room.
"Mum?" Harry called.
Great.
I went out to meet him. "Hey, love. What's going on?"
"I just wanted to check in. I know Dad and Uncle Remus were gone." Harry said when I came out.
"Yeah, I'm all right." I smiled, worrying about Sev. "Are you having fun with the Weasleys?"
"Yeah, loads." He smiled. "Was there somebody else here?" He looked over my shoulder.
"No, I'm alone."
"Were you crying?"
"Yeah. I was reading a book. You know how that is." I smiled. I hated lying to him.
"Oh." He nodded. "Are you sure you're doing all right?"
"Yeah. Go have fun with your friends. And Ginny." I added with a smile.
"Mum." He rolled his eyes.
"Right. Sorry." I smiled.
When Harry finally left, I rushed to get Severus back out. He had calmed down by that time.
"I have to kill Dumbledore." He said.
"What?" I asked.
"Voldemort wanted Draco Malfoy to do it, but Narcissa Malfoy made me make an Unbreakable Vow that I would do it instead. But Dumbledore made me swear to do it. I... How..."
"Merlin, Sev..."
He didn't touch his tea, but ran his hands over his face. "How am I supposed to murder the only person who ever trusted me?"
I decided that now wasn't the time to point out that I trust him, and that Voldemort trusts him. "I'm sorry, Sev... Why'd Dumbledore make you promise?"
"He's.... He didn't want to hurt Malfoy. But what about me?"
"You are an adult, Sev. Draco's a child. You're probably the only person willing to do it anyways."
"I'm not willing!"
"I know, I didn't mean willing. I meant... Able."
"I'm not able." His voice cracked.
"But you're strong enough to." I reached over and squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry, Sev..."
"I wouldn't do it if Dumbledore hadn't told me to."
"You'd die for breaking the Vow--"
"I don't care. I wouldn't have done it."
"Yes you would have. You'd want to protect Draco. We all know you actually have a heart somewhere."
He smiled a bit. "Thanks."
"Sure." I smiled.
When Sev finally left, I started crying. Dumbledore can't die.