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Resistance	By : danniperson Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Snape Views: 44506 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: I did not create the Harry Potter stories or universe and I do not make any money from this

Chapter List
- 15
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

There had never before been so much tension in an Order meeting. Only Dumbledore, at the head of the table, seemed perfectly at ease, blue eyes twinkling merrily as always. Everyone had to wonder if the man was even aware of the drama that had been cooking up since their last meeting.

While she normally sat beside her husband and his friends, Lily Potter was now sitting beside Severus. She was still highly upset with her son for several reasons. Between Harry going behind her back to bond with Severus, giving her no information about the night he didn't come home, and his recent request from his father, she had never been more disappointed in her son. Then there was James who encouraged all of his nonsense! James defended Harry whenever their son dropped even the tiniest hints of wanting to throw himself into this war. Lily had also been alerted to James and Sirius's little 'visit' to Severus the day they discovered that he had bonded with Harry. Even the little insults James muttered under his breath about her best friend weren't reason enough to abandon her usual seat. The action that really set things in motion was James agreeing to sign off on charmed bands for Harry and Hermione that would protect them from their soul mates.

The bands were gray in color and elastic. This particular brand was designed to ward the wearer against a particular person while there was a black one that warded against people in general. The black ones tended to cause many problems, were highly expensive and, therefore, only used in extreme cases. The ones Harry and Hermione had been given would protect them from one to three different people. Then only against physical contact and minor spells. Most magic cast by the person would still get through. They were given mainly to people who were being stalked or the Aurors had reason to believe a person could be under attack. Since they didn't ward against magic, they weren't very often requested. There were even people who joked about people who wore them fearing to be clobbered by Muggles. When the person the band was warded against was nearby, it would glow blue, and if they were too close, it would become red.

Knowing about these items, Hermione had suggested that she and Harry get them. Both feared the physical intimacy their bonds inspired. These bands could very well protect them from its call. It may not ward off their own hunger but it would at least keep them from doing anything stupid. That was at least the theory, though neither was willing to go near their soul mates without reason to find out. Hermione had been devastated by the loss of her virginity to Draco Malfoy while Harry was disturbed by the strength of his desire for Severus Snape. They didn't have to give James many details, as the Auror understood well why they might fear Malfoy or Snape harming them.

Lily thought it was a stupid thing to fear so she had spent a lot of time defending Draco and Severus.

Severus looked far too smug with the new seating arrangements, now and then shooting pleased looks to James who would grit his teeth and refused to look their direction.

Sirius and Remus also seemed to be having troubles. After the after party for the bond, Remus had yelled at Sirius for sleeping with Lucius Malfoy. It was a huge fight that almost turned physical, and, luckily, Tonks, Lily, James, Harry, Hermione, and Grace had been around to get between them. Sirius told Remus that it was none of his business where he stuck his knob while Remus thought it was a shitty thing of Sirius to do, screwing a married man in the house where he lived with his wife. Especially considering the wife was Sirius's own cousin. Remus had now taken a new seat beside Tonks while Sirius remained on the other side of James. They, also, refused to look in each other's direction.

Cedric had joined the Order because of Neville and now both wizards were sitting rather uncomfortably by each other, their whole friendship, if that's what it was, rather awkward with the knowledge that they were soul mates and Neville's obvious feelings for Cedric. Ron was being pressured by Tim Abbott to marry Hannah, if he was going to bond with her. His parents hated the thought of him marrying and bonding so young. Aside from all of that, he was dealing with irritation and jealousy over Hermione's bonding to Draco. Moody was upset over welcoming Death Eaters with open arms, Tonks seemed nervous about something, the new members didn't seem to know what to expect, and even those without their own personal issues seemed to find themselves caught up in everyone else's drama.

"So, what is first on the agenda?" Dumbledore asked.

"I would tell you about recent Death Eater arrests but, since we're becoming the best of buddies with these criminals, it probably doesn't matter," Moody grunted.

"Here we go again," Kingsley sighed.

"Scrimgeour ordered us to arrest Stanley Stunpike Tuesday," James said, rubbing his hands over his face. "Sort of hard to go against the man's orders since it's our job. We figured it didn't hurt to look into it, just in case it was true, but we were so busy trying to haul him off, we missed an opportunity at Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange. We're also getting the necessary paperwork to do another investigation of Malfoy Manor, which should go through by Monday."

"Should we be collecting Dark objects while we're at it?" Moody snapped. His irritation over providing security for the Malfoys as well as missing an opportunity to apprehend real Death Eaters had left him in a worse mood than usual.

"Alastor," Dumbledore said warningly.

The rest of the meeting went by relatively smoothly. Moody's comments kept to muttering under his breath where everyone else ignored him. They weren't making much progress on capturing any Death Eaters. Voldemort was still trying to work his way to power over the Ministry. The werewolves all seemed to be pledging their allegiance to Voldemort. There wasn't very much news to offer. Voldemort may have been angry over his lack of progress but the Order didn't seem to be getting very much done, either. Information was harder and harder to come by.

"And where are we on the subject of soul mates?" Dumbledore asked with a small smile once everyone had finished giving their reports. "Molly?"

Molly Weasley stood up, beaming. "As you know, Arthur and I bonded last night." She paused and just smiled as various people called out their congratulations. "Charlie is back in Romania for another month but he did discover that Daphne Greengrass is his soul mate. They'll discuss more about bonding when he visits again. Percy couldn't be here because he is in another meeting, though he did want me to tell you that Oliver Wood is his soul mate and he will discuss bonding with him later. Hmmm…Let's see, what else...Oh, yes, Ginny is still thinking about whether or not she wants to bond with Blaise Zabini. Arthur and I aren't very sure if we want her to bond at all, if you'll understand, but we are talking about it."

"Very good," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Ron?"

"Err…Hannah and I are still…talking about it…with her dad," Ron muttered, looking pale at the thought of having to marry Hannah. Hermione, well aware of his dilemma because of Ginny, snorted. Ron shot her a glare that Hermione pretended to not notice.

Dumbledore nodded. "James? Lily?"

Lily reluctantly glanced at her husband who offered her a small smile. Severus made a noise of disgust as Lily couldn't help but smile back at him. "Ahem," James said. "Well…Lils and I have been practicing. We weren't really sure what we were looking for, at first, but we started noticing a difference in things."

"Such as?"

"The first thing I noticed," Lily said, "was that I don't become as exhausted as quickly whenever we're casting a lot of magic. Some of the spells we used were a bit stronger. Jamie brought me to the Auror training office for some of our practices. We disarmed a few dummies and they smashed clear through a wall!"

"We're still working on how to not go so overboard all the time," James added with a grin.

"We also noticed that the things we each excel in, the other isn't so good at," Lily added.

"Oh really?" Dumbledore said with a knowing smile.

"Mhm," Lily said. "We're both rather good at Defense so we didn't notice it at first. But James is such a good flier and I don't really need to be on a broom if I can help it. The same can be said for potions. I'm very good with them but I wouldn't let Jamie near a cauldron if my life depended on it."

Severus mouthed the name "Jamie" and shook his head.

"So we've found we do much better in those areas as well," Lily said. "James has always been great on a broom, but…I've never seen him fly so well in my life!"

"And I'm starting to think Lils can give Sni—Snape a run for his money in the potions department," James added. "If you ever need a new potions master or, rather, mistress, I guess, you know who to call."

"Oh, hush, James," Lily said with a smile. "I'm perfectly happy with my shop, thank you very much."

The shop was a small building in Godric's Hollow that Lily worked at with her old friend, Mary Macdonald. The two had always talked about keeping such a shop when they were in Hogwarts, and when Lily and James went missing, and were believed to be dead, Mary opened the shop in honor of her friend. When Lily came back, and was mentally stable enough to be out in society, Mary happily offered her a job there. It was a charm shop where they created and sold charmed objects and even did specialty orders for people. In the past couple of years, they had expanded the business to include other things, such as warding people's homes with protective charms. It was a subject that Lily had excelled in and the business had been booming since she joined. It was fun work for Lily and she couldn't imagine a better job. She was lucky to have found work doing something she enjoyed doing so much. As well as she did with potions, she didn't want Severus's job.

"I'm just trying to offer my compliments to my beautiful wife," James said with his charming smile in place.

"I'm still mad at you," Lily grinned.

"You can be mad at me over here, you know," James said, scooting his chair back and patting his lap. Lily just grinned and shook her head at him while Dumbledore cleared his throat. James and Lily blushed, muttering apologies. Harry was a bit embarrassed by his parents' obvious adoration of each other in front of so many people. Severus was fuming.

"Ahem. Have you noticed anything else?" Dumbledore asked.

"Hmm…I don't think so," Lily replied. "I thought what we did accomplish was rather amazing."

"Yes, it is," Dumbledore said with a smile. "What you mentioned about disarming, though…Perhaps you can work on control with the spells that react the same way to see if you can control the strength of the spells you are using."

"We will," James promised.

"Now…Remus? Sirius?"

Neither man looked up, too worried about accidentally catching the other's eye. Remus, at least, spoke. "Ahem. We didn't quite have the same success as Lily and James. More of the opposite, really. We both attempted to cast the Patronus charm and it failed."

"It failed?" Dumbledore asked, eyebrows raised. Almost everyone in the Order knew how to cast a Patronus and, of everyone, Remus had been one of the best at producing one.

"Yes," Remus replied. "Errr…We managed to make something happen but it was non-corporeal and it never lasted very long."

"Hmmm," Dumbledore said quietly. "At the time, were there any problems between you and Sirius?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence in which several people in the room exchanged awkward glances. Others seemed confused by the tension. Not everyone knew about Sirius's hook up with Lucius Malfoy but, to those who did, it was the first thing on their minds. Only Remus and Sirius were aware that the incident involving the Patronuses took place before that day. They certainly hadn't spoken a word to each other since their fight afterwards, let alone be anywhere near each other to practice.

"At the time," Remus said, "no. Not that I can think of."

"Hmm," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "Perhaps try again soon. If you continue having issues, come see me and I'll see if I can figure out what the problem might be."

"Don't think that'll do much good, Albus," Sirius said, still staring at the wall. "Seeing as how there are issues between us now."

"Ahh…I take it that is why there was an emphasis on 'at the time' then," Dumbledore said with some amusement. "I'm sure it is nothing that can't be worked through."

Sirius snorted. "Doubt that very much."

"You shouldn't even have anything to say about it, seeing as how it's your fault," Remus muttered.

"My fault? How is this my fault?" Sirius snapped, turning to glare at his old friend.

"Oh brother," James muttered.

"Sirius! Remus! Shut up," Lily hissed.

"You know exactly how it's your fault! I still can't believe you'd do something like that!"

"Are we still on about that? It's over, Remus! Get over it! You're not my bloody wife!"

"Good thing too, seeing as how little respect you have for marriage!"

"It's not your marriage! Why are you so interested in it?"

"Because I thought you were a better man than that! Guess being around all of those rotten criminals in Azkaban rubbed off on you."

"Don't even go there, Remus. I've been out of there for years. This has nothing to do with that! If…certain people…don't care about their own marriage, that's their business! Not mine!"

"So if Lily wanted to screw around on James, you'd jump in on that opportunity?"

"Remus!" Lily exclaimed in shock.

"No! James is my best mate! I don't bloody care about the Malfoys!"

"Malfoy?" Moody snapped. "You're shagging Narcissa Malfoy?"

"Lucius Malfoy," Remus hissed.

"Merlin's balls," Ron whispered.

"Ronald!" Molly snapped.

Sirius's face was red. "Thank you for shouting out the particulars of my private life."

"You should have thought of that before asking me to cover for you while you buggered someone's husband!"

"Wait. Lucius Malfoy?" Harry asked, stunned.

"I don't know why so many of you are shocked. Most of you know how much of a slut Lucius is," Severus muttered.

"Oh, you've been there, have you?" Harry snorted.

"Yes, I have," Severus said with a smirk.

"Gross," Harry cringed.

"He begged me for it! Would have been rude to deny the man," Sirius spat. "Don't see why you care when you've got your own little fucktoy hanging all over you."

"Hey!" Tonks cried out, face burning bright pink while her hair turned an angry red.

"Don't talk about her like that. This doesn't even have anything to do with Tonks!"

"I just don't see how you're any better than I am, stringing the girl along that way! Everyone knows how obsessed she is with you, and you're just using her! You've already admitted you don't feel that way about her yet, there she is, still clinging to your arm like some lovesick fool! And you're just letting it happen! We all know why, don't we, Remus? Because you're scared! You're scared of being my soul mate and you think you need to date some girl so you don't look like you take it up the arse."

"But you were taking it from a Death Eater," Moody growled.

"Giving it, thank you very much," Sirius replied.

"My relationship with Tonks is none of your concern!"

"And my…arrangement…with Lucius is none of yours!"

"Oh, so it's an arrangement now?"

"What part of none of your business are you not understanding?"

"ENOUGH!"

The room fell completely silent as Dumbledore stood. The twinkle was gone from his blue eyes. They rarely saw him quite so serious. "I have said before," he said calmly, "that private matters should remain just that. Now, let's continue with this meeting. You're free to continue your argument when we are finished."

"Sorry, Albus," Remus said quietly.

"Sorry," Sirius said.

Dumbledore slowly sat back down and the meeting resumed. Bill and Fleur discussed their progress with their bond, having similar strengths as James and Lily had pointed out. In the end, announcing their pregnancy. Emmeline Vance announced that she discovered that her own soul mate was a German wizard who spoke no English and that she intended to find something that would work between them soon. Neville and Cedric declared that they had bonded only the day before, a announcement that left Neville's face red and a smile on Cedric's lips. Tonks revealed that she had found her soul mate, a boy named Bradley Hooper who was only six years old, to her embarrassment.

Quite a few members laughed though most had the decency to try to hide it. Sirius muttered under his breath, "Looks like Snape isn't the only pedophile around here." Luckily, only James, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Neville seemed to have heard him and of them. Only James, Harry, and Ron thought it was amusing enough to laugh hysterically over it. Everyone shot them odd looks and the three sucked in deep breaths, trying to calm themselves down.

"Harry and Severus?" Dumbledore finally said.

"We try to stay away from each other as much as possible," Harry muttered.

"Ah," said Dumbledore. "I know you do not get along very well but it is essential that you work on your bond."

"I don't think that is a good idea, Albus," Severus said.

"It is one of my better ideas, I believe, Severus," Dumbledore replied with a small smile. "I know you have issues at the moment but you must work through them. You chose to bond for a reason but you must know that the existence of the bond alone will not be enough. It could, in all reality, be detrimental if you do not attempt to be civil and work together."

"Forgive me, but I believe the only thing detrimental about this would be to force me to spend any more time with that brat than I have to," Severus snarled.

"Severus!" a shocked Lily said.

"I don't exactly want to work with that greasy git, either," Harry mumbled.

"Harry!" Lily snapped warningly.

"I don't want him alone with my son," James declared.

"I'll curse your prick off if you touch him, Snivellus," Sirius growled.

"Stop it, this instant! I've had enough of the remarkable immaturity you have all shown," Dumbledore said gravely. "I will tolerate no more of it. Harry, Severus, you will work together. I'm sure you can find reason to give Harry detention, Severus."

"I'm sure Mr. Potter will find a way to land in detention," Severus replied.

"Bastard," Harry muttered.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "You will meet at least once a week and report to me if you learn anything about the bond."

"Yes, sir," Harry and Severus reluctantly agreed.

"Hermione?" Dumbledore said.

"Errr…I haven't really…ahem…been around Draco much since our bonding," Hermione said.

"And you will change this, won't you?" Dumbledore asked seriously.

"I…Of course. Yes," Hermione said weakly.

The last two people called upon were those who were willing to find their soul mate. Unfortunately, the results left a good number of people in tears. Elphias Doge's results came up with Dorcas Meadowes. She had died with her young son, who had been only a year older than Grace at the time, in the Death Eater prison Lily and James had spent years in. Those who had known her, which were most of the people in the room, looked pale. Marlene and Lily wiping tears from their eyes. Severus immediately pulled Lily into his arms when she buried her face in her hands. James looked too upset himself to care that Snape was touching his wife. Elphias squeaked out an apology while Dumbledore held out his hand and shook his head, wordlessly letting him know that such apologies were unneeded.

Marlene McKinnon went as soon as she dried her tears. To her horror, her results came back with the name of Gideon Prewett. Gideon had also died in the same prison on the night of the mass outbreak. Fabian, his brother, had come out alive but had been murdered mysteriously in Ottery St. Catchpole before he could reach the house that his sister and her family lived in. They had no links to the murderer though everyone knew it must have been one of the Death Eater guards. The reminder of her brother had Molly whimpering with her husband and sons coming all around her to comfort her. Marlene, another escapee of the prison, trembled horribly and had to be escorted out of the room by Elphias.

"G-Gideon woul-would have been s-so h-happy," Molly sobbed, wiping her eyes furiously. "Ahh…He did have a liking for Marlene."

"They would have been perfect together," agreed Lily, sniffling and wiping her eyes while Severus continued to stroke her back soothingly. She pulled away from him but he continued to offer his comforting touch, looking at her with concern. Harry glared at them, though neither seemed to notice. It irritated him that the stupid git was so obviously still in love with his mother. If only she knew what you had been up to with me, Harry thought, rolling his eyes. Lily wouldn't be so fond of him then.

"They were all very good people. It was a great loss to us that they are gone now," Dumbledore said quietly. "We must keep them in our minds and in our hearts as a reminder. They died for this cause and it would dishonor their memories not to give our all into it."

"So…umm…Mad-Eye," said Fred.

"Didn't you have something to say?" George asked.

Moody glared at the twins. "No."

"We couldn't help but overhear you the other day," Fred grinned.

"And we just so happened to find…" said George.

"Well, we were snooping, really."

"But we read your…results."

"You should share them."

"Sharing is caring, mate."

"Shut up, the both of you," Moody growled.

"Yes, Alastor, why don't you tell everyone your results," Severus encouraged with a smirk. He had been the one to help him with it, after all, as Dumbledore had been busy at the time.

"I know a few curses that'll send you crying to your mother!" Moody barked.

"MUM!" Fred and George screamed dramatically in unison. Arthur leaned back in his chair as Fred leaned across him to throw his arms around Molly's neck. Molly dabbed her eyes while George kissed one of her wet cheeks. Harry had a feeling they were trying to use humor to distract her and cheer her up. Or at least distract her from being so sad. He wasn't so sure how well they could cheer her up. "Save us!"

"He's going to curse us!"

"And make us cry!"

"And all we want to do is make him be honest with himself!"

"Like real friends."

"Because we really like Moody."

"Even if his soul mate is B—"

"QUIET!" Moody shouted, glaring at them.

Fred and George were silent for a moment. Everyone watched them as they remained frozen, only their eyes flickering all around the room, always coming back to look at each other then their mother before looking all around again.

"Bellatrix Lestrange!" they both said quickly.

"Not bloody likely. The whole system is broken," Moody muttered.

Everyone just stared at him.

"Bellatrix Lestrange?" Sirius finally said.

"At least I'm not sticking my prick near that crazy bint," Moody snapped.

"I didn't stick my knob anywhere near her, thank you," Sirius said, glaring at him.

"No, just other Death Eaters. Male ones are your preference, aren't they?"

Sirius looked ready to respond but glanced at Dumbledore and sat back in his seat, mumbling under his breath.

"Ahem. So…needless to say that won't be happening," Lily said.

"Damn right, it's not," Moody muttered. He then glared at the twins. "I'll be having a word with the both of you later."

"Sorry, can't do later," said Fred.

"We already have…"

"…the next several…"

"…years…"

"…planned out…"

"…but feel free…"

"…to make an appointment," they finished together with wide smiles.

Moody stared at them for a long moment. The twins just kept looking back at him, still wearing their big smiles. "I'll find you," Moody finally grunted.

"Well, if that's going to be all for today…" Dumbledore said.

Cedric nudged Neville. The younger wizard looked stricken, but with an encouraging nod from his soul mate, Neville swallowed hard and sat up straight. "Erm…I actually had a…a question."

"Yes, Neville?" Dumbledore asked.

"Well…I was…I was just thinking," Neville said. "Cedric and I…We read that book a lot, that Hermione leant us. The one on bonds. And…Well…We've done a lot of research…It's just…They mentioned that umm…"

Neville didn't look ready to finish so Cedric rested a hand on his arm and smiled at him. "The chapter on Soul Bonds talks about the different levels of connection the bond will create, one being a mental level. Soul mates who are bonded can also…what was it? Help each other better than anyone else could. So Neville…and I…were thinking…We were wondering if it was possible that…Just…If we found his parents' soul mates…and they're not each other, but someone who could do it…If they would be able to help Frank and Alice."

Dumbledore blinked in surprise. Everyone else looked between Cedric, Neville, and Dumbledore curiously. No one dared to speak, waiting anxiously for the answer.

"I cannot be sure," Dumbledore finally said. "I would assume it only referred to things such as Legilimency or things related to that. As there has not been many recorded studies of mental links within the bond, it, it's something that would be worth trying. But I cannot promise you anything, Neville, I am sorry."

Neville nodded wordlessly while Cedric shot Dumbledore a grateful smile. "Thank you. We…Well, I think we'd like to try it, at least."

No one dared voice how hopeless it actually appeared, as Neville already seemed to be in a delicate mood over the touchy subject. There was too much working against it. What if Frank and Alice were soul mates? What if their actual soul mates were dead, Death Eaters, insane, children, or not even born? Even if their soul mates were sane, willing, adult wizards, what was to say they could even work with the mind in such a way as to be able to help? If such a thing was even possible?

Dumbledore nodded to the wizards and stood up. "If that is all, this meeting is finished. You may feel free to resume your squabbling."

The twins were the first ones out of the door and Moody was not far behind them. Everyone else slowly started standing up to leave, as well. Lily leaned in to give Severus one last hug before turning to join her husband. Severus watched her go, barely aware that he was being approached until Harry Potter was standing right in front of him. Hermione and Ron hovered nearby while everyone else left, watching the duo with concern.

"Yes, Potter?" Severus snapped.

Harry was surprised to hear the man's voice, even more so to learn that he had approached the man. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? "Err…So…What are we going to do?" he asked not wanting to have to deal with the awkwardness of telling Snape that he wasn't sure why he was here, and that he had a feeling the bond was still trying to draw them together.

"Go to our respective homes I would imagine," Severus drawled.

"Right," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "I mean about Hogwarts. We're not actually going to…to meet up or anything, are we?"

"I don't believe the headmaster left us with a choice."

"I just…It's pointless. We're never going to get along or anything," Harry said.

"Be that as it may, the headmaster insists that we make some…progress…with this bond. You needn't worry, Potter. You have your little band to protect you, don't you?" Severus reached out as if to touch the band but his hand failed to go any further. It glowed a vibrant red around Harry's wrist. He then raised his eyebrows at his student pointedly, as if he had just proven something.

"Okay then," Harry muttered. "Guess I'll see you at school then."

"Undoubtedly."

Harry walked over to his friends, mentally berating himself for not paying attention and letting the bond act up. It had to be the bond. Harry couldn't imagine any other reason why a person would choose to get close to the bastard. He was a bit surprised to realize that Hermione and Ron were waiting for him. It had been so long since he had seen them both together, even longer since they weren't glaring or snapping at each other. They weren't exactly playing nice but they did share a common concern for their friend.

"Alright, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine, Ron," Harry replied, nodding to the door then walking out of it with his best friends on either side of him.

"What was that about, mate?"

"Just wanted to know if Snape had any ideas for getting out of Dumbledore's idea of quality time," Harry mumbled.

"It's Professor Dumbledore, Harry," Hermione sighed miserably. "Otherwise, I would be glad to come up with a reason to stay as far from Dra-Malfoy as possible."

"Trouble in paradise already?" Ron snorted.

"Shouldn't you be out buying a ring for Hannah, Ronald?" Hermione retorted coldly.

"Can't you two get along for two seconds?" Harry mumbled.

"Sorry, mate," Ron said. "Err…Wanna go to your place and play Quidditch? Um…Hermione can keep score."

Uncertain blue eyes turned towards Hermione. Harry only glanced at her, noting her thoughtful, yet irritated, expression before looking away. He didn't want to pressure her. It wouldn't be fair to ask her and Ron to hang out again after everything they had been though, even though it was hard to have two best friends who were so against each other.

"I'll try," Hermione finally said as they walked into the living room where a few people were just flooing out.

"Great," Ron said with a grin. Harry couldn't help but feel as they approached the fireplace that Ron hadn't looked so happy since before he had ended things with Hermione. He also couldn't help but notice that Hermione hadn't looked so nervous since her bonding with Malfoy.

Just across the living room, Tonks was pulling Remus aside. "Remus, I need to tell you something."

"Are you okay?" Remus asked. "If it's about Sirius…"

"It's not," she said with a weak smile. "It's about us."

"Oh," Remus said. He wasn't sure what to expect. Part of him was hopeful that she was finally going to end things, while another part of him dreaded the thought. Sadly, it had more to do with petty reasons involving Sirius, though Remus wasn't entirely sure why he should care about Remus's relationship with Tonks. Or why he himself cared about Sirius's relationship with Malfoy Sr.

"I'm…I'm pregnant," Tonks finally said.

A nearby door slammed shut and Sirius leaned against the entranceway. To most people he looked calm but Remus noticed the way he tapped his foot, how the arms crossed over his chest tensed and relaxed as well as the fury burning in his gray eyes. Remus swallowed hard. It took Tonks tugging on his sleeve to drag his attention away from his soul mate.

"Remus?" Tonks said.

Remus glanced back up at Sirius, unable to help himself. Tonks sighed heavily and glared over her shoulder at him. "Do you mind? This is a personal conversation."

"This is my house," Sirius replied, the slightest of trembles in his otherwise smooth voice. He couldn't quite tear his eyes away from Remus, either.

Tonks shook her head and turned back to Remus. "So?"

"So?" Remus repeated, turning his eyes back to her. The words were still twirling around in his head, yet to settle in.

"I'm pregnant," Tonks repeated patiently. "Look, I don't expect anything from you. I know you're too honorable to just…ignore your child. But if you wanted to…Well, I wouldn't blame you. And I don't expect anything to become of us. I just…Thought you should know. I found out today and all."

"Right," Remus said.

"I'm pregnant," Tonks said again.

"Yes."

"Pregnant."

"Mhm."

"Having a child."

"A baby."

"Yes, your baby."

"Oh," Remus said, heart and stomach both sinking to the floor. "Wow."

"Yeah," Tonks said, laughing nervously.

"I…I really don't know what to say right now," Remus admitted. He didn't even know what to think right now.

"That's alright," Tonks said. "Just…Talk to me when you're ready."

"Yeah…I'll do that."

Tonks gave his arm a squeeze, a kiss to his cheek then turned to walk to the fireplace. She stumbled halfway there and caught herself on the back of the couch. Giggling at her clumsiness, she glanced over her shoulder at Remus to find that he was back to staring at Sirius. The smile on her face slowly faded. Remus was just upset. He didn't know what to think about this. Considering his talk with her about their relationship, she wouldn't be surprised if it was a tough bit of news to swallow. As much as she cared about him, she honestly had no intention of making him commit to her just because of a baby. She had her hopes but she would try not to dwell on them while she waited on Remus to get back to her. Sending a glare in Sirius's direction, hoping he wouldn't give Remus too much trouble, Tonks finally grabbed a bit of floo powder and went back home.

It was several minutes before Remus finally managed to tear his eyes away from his best friend, turning to go home as well. In the silence, Sirius watched him go.

Author's Note: Big thanks to Dani for being my amazingful beta!

Next chapter: It's back to Hogwarts!
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Resistance