Shooting Star

Chapter Sixty-Two

We sat quietly through Dumbledore's funeral. Even Sirius and Remus were a bit teary eyed. Severus left in the middle.
I needed to find Severus, I knew, but I also knew that Harry was hurting too. Sev was hurting far worse than Harry, but Harry was my child.
Harry pulled me aside and Sirius followed. "You lied to me! You fucking lied! You told me we could trust him! You told me he'd protect me! You lied!"
"Harry." Sirius said quietly.
"You don't like him either, Dad! Don't stand up for him! He killed him!"
"I don't like him, no, but I trust your mother. I--"
"No! You're wrong, Mum! He killed Dumbledore, and you're both--both--making excuses for him!"
"You're right, Harry." I said, remembering what Snape had said about Voldemort seeing everything in his mind. "He's a Death Eater. Don't trust him."
"Thank you." He said, taking a deep, calming breath.
"I'm sorry." I didn't hug him, since he was already mad at me.
"Hug your mother." Sirius said gruffly.
Harry stepped forward and hugged me tightly, dropping his head onto my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mum."
"Me too." I hugged him back tightly, so, so proud of all he's done. "I'm proud of you, Harry. I love you."
When he let me go, I told them that I was going to talk to Snape. "Maybe we should go with you." Harry said.
My throat burned as I shook my head. "No, I'm okay. Thank you though. He won't hurt me."
I snuck through the crowd. Umbridge practically radiated pink.
I snuck into Severus' office to see him sitting at his desk, his face in his hands. He stood up erectly when I came in, but relaxed when he saw it was me. "Bolt the door." He said softly, dropping back into his chair.
I bolted the door behind me and sat in a chair in front of his desk. "Sev..."
"Don't. I killed him."
"I know..."
"Harry told you."
"Yeah. Harry told me."
"At least Draco didn't do it." He cleared his throat and sat up. "I'm sorry if Harry's hurt. That wasn't my intention."
"He'll be all right. What about you?"
"Am I all right? No."
"What was wrong with Dumbledore's hand?"
"The fool put on a cursed ring."
"Oh."
"He would have died soon anyways. But..."
"Yeah." I nodded. "Sev....?"
"Harry can't know I associate with you. If Voldemort sees that, you and Black are both in danger. Especially you."
"What about you, Sev? You'd be in a hell of a lot of danger if he found out too."
"I don't care. I want to die."
"Sev..."
"I'm sorry." He stood up. "You should probably go back to your family now."
"You're family too." I said as I stood.
He took three strides around his desk and wrapped me in a hug. "You need to get away from here. Hogwarts is no longer safe."
"I love you, Sev. I'm sorry." I kissed his cheek.
"Yeah. You too." He said quietly, and watched me walk out the door.
"Eliza! I've been looking for you." Hermione called.
"Hey." I smiled a bit, wanting to sob but unable to. "Are you all right?"
She hugged me, crying. So I started crying too, but I had to force myself to not let it get too out of hand, or I wouldn't be able to stop. "It's all right." I whispered.
"Professor Snape is the Half-Blood Prince. He--"
"I know, Hermione."
"And he killed--"
"I know."
"Do you still believe him innocent?"
"No." I lied. "You guys were right."
"Harry hadn't wanted to tell you about the Horcruxes, but I felt it necessary. I know you're levelheaded and would understand." She said, wiping her eyes.
I would let them go, but I wouldn't be happy about it. Not in the least. "We'll talk about it when the three of you are at the house, okay?"
"Oh, God, it's Umbridge." She sighed and pulled me into the crowd.
"That bad?"
"Worse."
"Eliza." Remus said from behind me.
I turned around to see Tonks' arm linked through his and couldn't resist smiling.
"Hey." I smiled. He looked so much happier.... It hurt my heart. I wanted to cry. It made me so happy.
"Hey. I can't be here long--"
"Remus." I sighed.
Tonks pulled her arm from his and pushed him towards me. He wrapped his arms around me tightly. "You okay?"
"I'm good. I'm so proud of you, Remus. I'm glad you told her."
"Me too." I felt him smile.
"I've got to go. You and Sirius will be at the wedding?" He tried not to smile too widely--since we were at a funeral--as he pulled away.
"Of course!"
It wasn't hard to find Sirius. He and the people with him had quite a large circle around him. With him were Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys, Neville, and several other students. Kingsley Shacklebolt was with them as well.
"What about Dumbledore's Army? What will we do while you're gone?" Neville was asking quietly.
It took me a moment to realize he said 'Dumbledore's Army' and not 'Dumbledore'. Harry had told us about it when he was home for a break once.
"You'll teach. You, Luna, and Ginny." Harry told him.
"Hey, Sirius? We ought to go." I said.
"What? Yes, of course." He made his way through the students to me.
I waved at Neville as Harry came over to us. "Be careful, Harry." I said quietly.
"Always, Mum."
I hugged him tightly. God, my poor baby...
Sirius and I left, and I started bawling as soon as we got home. I started to tell him what Hermione had told me.
"We just won't let him go." Sirius interrupted.
"We have to, Sirius. Can't you see? Dumbledore left it for him to do. We have to."

Remus and Tonks didn't have a 'wedding', per say. They just signed papers. It was still exciting.
While Sirius talked to Remus, I hugged Tonks. "Congratulations!" I smiled.
"Thank you!" She said happily.
We watched the boys talk.
"I know it isn't my place, but..." I began.
"Is this the talk where you implore me not to hurt him?"
"Yep, pretty much." I smiled. "I love you to death, but Remus is...."
"Remus?"
"Yep, pretty much." I said again with a laugh.
"I'll try my best."
"And if he hurts you, I'll lay down the law. Don't worry." I assured her.
She laughed. "Thank you. You know, he's actually quite jealous of Sirius."
"Yeah." I nodded. "He told me."
She gave me a strange look.
"Well, he didn't tell me tell me, but he told me about that one conversation you guys had."
"Ohh."
"I'm so happy for you guys. He looks loads happier than I've ever seen him."
"You sound like you're his mother." She laughed.
"More or less." I grinned. "I'm gonna go sneak him away from Sirius. Good luck trying to have a conversation with him."
"Thanks, I'll need it."
I stood over there with Remus and Sirius until Sirius got the hint. "Yeah, well, congrats, Moony." He grinned and went to congratulate Tonks.
I smiled at Remus. "Told you you'd get married."
"Yeah, yeah. Remember that time you told me that if I talked to Sirius when he was being moody that you'd talk to my wife when she was?"
"Yeah."
"Not that I've ever seen Tonks that moody, but just in case, be prepared."
"I'll just keep a stash of chocolate icecream, no worries."
"Good." He smiled.
"I'm so happy for you. You look so happy..." I squeezed his hand.
"I am." He smiled at the floor.
"I was really worried for a while. I'm glad you're happy." I threw my arms around him.
"Thanks." He smiled.
"Congratulations, Remus." I smiled. "I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you." He kissed my cheek and put his arm around my shoulders, leading me over to Sirius and Tonks. "Well, this has been fun. You wanna go home, love?" He asked Tonks.
"First time for everything, right, Moony?" Sirius nudged him.
"Sirius." I elbowed him. "Let's go."
"But--"
"Come on, Sirius. See you guys later." I smiled at Remus and Tonks. They waved as we disapparated.