Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 91 - The First of Many to Fall

When Remus and Selene had made it back to the sitting room, Harry accosted them almost immediately, looking pale. "Where have you been? Ron and Tonks just made it back –"

"Did they?" Selene asked, her voice a little hoarse. "Thank goodness. What about Bill and Fleur? Mad-Eye? Mundungus –?"

Her questions were seemingly answered by a commotion outside, which they ran to at once.

A thestral was landing; Bill and Fleur slid off its back, looking windswept and pale, but thankfully unhurt.

Molly rushed forward. "Bill! Thank God, thank God –"

Bill returned to her hug distractedly, his eyes on his father.

"Mad-Eye's dead."

Nobody responded. They didn't know how. Selene's legs trembled; she stumbled into her husband, who was prepared to catch her.

"We saw it," Bill said, and Fleur nodded from beside him, tears stains on her face. "It happened just after we broke out of the circle: Mad-Eye and Dung were close by us, they were heading north too. Voldemort – he can fly – went straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry out, Mad-Eye tried to  stop him, but he Disapparated. Voldemort's curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backward off his broom and – there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our own tail –"

Bill's voice faltered.

"Of course you couldn't have done anything," Remus said quietly. Always the first to console, always the first to jump in to help...

They all looked at each other, waiting in silence, but there was nothing to wait for; everyone who was coming had already come... and those who weren't...

Slowly, they all trickled inside, back to the sitting room, where the twins were waiting for them.

"What's wrong?" Fred said upon seeing all of their faces. "What's happened? Who's –?"

"Mad-Eye," Arthur said. "Dead."

The twins' eyes widened in shock. From beside Remus and Selene, Tonks was crying into a handkerchief; Selene extended a hand for her to hold on to.

Bill walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey and some glasses.

"Here," he said, waving his wand so that the glasses flew across the room to each of them, full of firewhiskey. Then he held his up in front of him. "To Mad-Eye."

"Mad-Eye," they echoed him, and everyone drank. Selene set hers onto the table next to her, supposing that drinking alcohol would do nothing to help her concussion.

"So Mundungus disappeared?" Remus asked, having drained his own in one go.

The air was tense. They were watching Remus, waiting for him to continue, but Remus was silent, his grip on Selene's hip painfully tight.

"I know what you're thinking," Bill said, "and I wondered that too, on the way back here, because they seemed to be expecting us, didn't they? But Mundungus can't have betrayed us. They didn't know there would be seven Harrys, that confused them the moment we  appeared, and in case you've forgotten, it was Mundungus who suggested that little bit of skullduggery. Why wouldn't he have told them the essential point? I think Dung panicked, it's as simple as that. He didn't want to come in the first place, but Mad-Eye made him, and You-Know-Who went straight for them. It was enough to make anyone panic."

"You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected him to," Tonks sniffed, squeezing Selene's hand. "Mad-Eye said he'd expect the real Harry to be with the toughest, most skilled Aurors. He chased Mad-Eye first, and when Mundungus gave them away he switched to Kingsley..."