The Eye of the Storm

Love and Loss

The doors of the hospital wing burst open, making us all jump: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were striding up the ward, Fleur just behind them, her beautiful face terrified.

"Molly — Arthur —" said Professor McGonagall, jumping up and hurrying to greet them. "I am so sorry —"

"Bill," whispered Mrs. Weasley, darting past Professor McGonagall as she caught sight of Bill's mangled face. "Oh, Bill !"

Lupin and Tonks had got up hastily and retreated so that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley could get nearer to the bed. Mrs. Weasley bent over her son and pressed her lips to his bloody forehead.

"You said Greyback attacked him?" Mr. Weasley asked Professor McGonagall distractedly. "But he hadn't transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?"

"We don't yet know," said Professor McGonagall, looking helplessly at Lupin.

"There will probably be some contamination, Arthur," said Lupin. "It is an odd case, possibly unique. . . . We don't know what his behavior might be like when he awakens. . . ."

Mrs. Weasley took the nasty-smelling ointment from Madam Pomfrey and began dabbing at Bill's wounds.

"And Dumbledore . . ." said Mr. Weasley. "Minerva, is it true . . . Is he really . . . ?"

Fleur was gazing down at Bill with a frozen expression on her face.

"Dumbledore gone," whispered Mr. Weasley, but Mrs. Weasley had eyes only for her eldest son; she began to sob, tears falling onto Bill's mutilated face.

"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks. . . . It's not r-really important . . . but he was a very handsome little b-boy . . . always very handsome . . . and he was g-going to be married!"

"And what do you mean by zat?" said Fleur suddenly and loudly. "What do you mean, ' 'e was going to be married?' "

Mrs. Weasley raised her tear-stained face, looking startled. "Well — only that —"

"You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore?" demanded Fleur. "You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me?"

"No, that's not what I —"

"Because 'e will!" said Fleur, drawing herself up to her full height and throwing back her long mane of silver hair. "It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!"

"Well, yes, I'm sure," said Mrs. Weasley, "but I thought perhaps — given how — how he —"

"You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps, you hoped?" said Fleur, her nostrils flaring.
"What do I care how he looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!" she added fiercely, pushing Mrs. Weasley aside and snatching the ointment from her.

Mrs. Weasley fell back against her husband and watched Fleur mopping up Bill's wounds with a most curious expression upon her face. Nobody said anything.

I gazed at Fleur with admiration. I decided in that moment I would befriend her.

"Our Great-Auntie Muriel," said Mrs. Weasley after a long pause, "has a very beautiful tiara — goblin-made — which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, you know, and it would look lovely with your hair."

"Thank you," said Fleur stiffly. "I am sure zat will be lovely."

Then both women were crying and hugging each other. While everyone was confused, I looked on with happiness. They had both proved to each other how much they loved Bill.

"You see!" said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"

"It's different," said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely —"

"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front of Lupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times. . . ."

The happiness inside me grew. Tonks loves Lupin. When I needed it most he taught me how to be happy. He deserved the same.

"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes, staring at the floor, "that I am too old for you, too poor . . . too dangerous. . . ."

"I've said all along you're taking a ridiculous line on this, Remus," said Mrs. Weasley over Fleur's shoulder as she patted her on the back.

"I am not being ridiculous," said Lupin steadily.

"Tonks deserves somebody young and whole."

"But she wants you," said Mr. Weasley, with a small smile. "And after all, Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so."

He gestured sadly at his son, lying between them.

"This is . . . not the moment to discuss it," said Lupin, avoiding everybody's eyes as he looked around distractedly. "Dumbledore is dead. . . ."

"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world," said Grandma.

All lessons were suspended, all examinations postponed. Some students were hurried away from Hogwarts by their parents over the next couple of days — the Patil twins were gone before breakfast on the morning following Dumbledore's death, and Zacharias Smith was escorted from the castle by his haughty-looking father. Seamus Finnigan, on the other hand, refused point-blank to accompany his mother home; they had a shouting match in the entrance hall that was resolved when she agreed that he could remain behind for the funeral.

Dad had sent me a letter asking if I was alright, but he had said nothing about me leaving the school.

A few days after the battle, I got a phone call from Coulson.

"Hello? Is everything alright?" I asked in a rush.

"Hello, Kendra," said Coulson. There was something different about him. He sounded so at peace.

"It's good to hear from you," I said.

"I need to tell you something," said Coulson.

My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach. That phrase never led to anything good.

"What is it," I said.

"I'm dying."

I almost dropped the phone. "You don't be."

"It's it."

"How did this happen?" I said finally.

"My body is returning to the way it was before Tahiti."

The image of his cold bloody body flashed in my mind. Tears were selling up in my eyes.

"How long do you have?"

"A month at most."

"When can I see you?"

"Come see me when school ends."

"Okay," I croaked.

"I have to go."

"Bye," I said.

The call ended and I clicked the phone shut.

Malfoy was still at school. I had no idea why. It seemed that being an accomplice in murder was enough to get expelled.

I stopped visiting the bathroom. The night after the murder I had a nightmare. I didn't know what to do, so I just lay in bed and thought about all I had lost.

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Hey Everyone, I'm sorry Coulson dying is cannon in Agents of Shield.

Forever and Always,

Me.