"Soon" he promised. "But first we have some work to do, we need some allies and I think Dorea is planning for us all to check on the boys personally" he finished with a shake of his head.
(BREAK)
After exiting the hospital wing and leaving Peter in there for the night to recover, the rest of the group were sent back to their common rooms so that the Professors could conduct a thorough investigation into what had transpired and to bolster the security around the school. The teens spent a subdued evening in the Gryffindor common where very little talking took place.
After Professor McGonagall had informed them that eleven students had been killed during the attack a very disheartened and upset Gryffindor house headed to bed.
Harry had become accustomed to death throughout his years but he could see that most others were struggling to come to terms with what had happened.
"It will be much worse tomorrow" he sighed as he settled into bed to get some much needed rest.
He awoke early as he always did and found the rest of the marauders awake, all in their own state of silence deep thought.
"Remus" he called as he took a seat next to the very pale and trembling boy at the foot of his bed. The boy did not respond so Harry prodded him gently to garner his attention.
The werewolf was startled from his stupor and he yelped from the unexpected contact. "What's wrong?" Harry questioned the morose boy.
"I killed someone" Remus stated simply. Harry sighed and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder causing the other to look at him desperately.
"Why did you do it?" Harry questioned him seriously.
Remus swallowed deeply and shared a look with both James and Sirius who were looking equally forlorn.
"The wolf took over" he whispered sadly. Harry shook his head. "No Remus, we both know that the wolf cannot influence you that much, try again" he urged.
Again, Remus looked towards the other two boys and a look of disappointment etched itself on his face.
"Because they were trying to kill Bellatrix's sister" he admitted quietly.
"You saw someone innocent in a life threatening situation and you stepped up" Harry explained. "What do you think would have happened if you didn't?".
Remus frowned in thought before a look of realisation dawned.
"They would have killed her" he choked worriedly.
"They would have" Harry agreed. "You did what you had to do to stop that and you should be proud of yourself, all of you should" he added firmly glancing towards James and Sirius. "If you hadn't done what you did then things would have been much worse and more innocent people would have been killed".
The other three boys shared an uncertain look and Harry sighed once more.
"Those bastards attacked children and they attacked to kill" he ground out. "What would you do differently?" he asked the trio.
They were silent for a moment before James broke it, holding his head high and looking much more sure of himself.
"I'd do it again, as many times as I had to" he declared.
"So would I" Sirius agreed.
"Me too" Remus concurred, though a little more quietly.
Harry nodded. "You killed those men to protect, you didn't do it for enjoyment or in cold blood" he pointed out. "What you did was righteous and no one will hold that against you, but more importantly you shouldn't hold it against yourself" he explained. "Just be proud of what you did because very few would have done the same" he finished sincerely.
The three teens all stood a little straighter and smiled at the praise from their fellow marauder.
They shared some idle chat before they headed down to breakfast to wait and see what the day would bring. Harry had a gut feeling that the repercussions of the previous day had yet to felt so he began preparing himself mentally for anything that might go awry.
They entered the Great Hall to find it already full thought the atmosphere was very somber indeed. A large amount of whispering could be heard about them as they took their seats but the group managed to ignore it in favour of piling their plates with food.
Lily, Marlene and Alice joined them and simply sat, none of them feeling at all talkative.
Once the plates had been cleared, Dumbledore stood and the attention of the room was solely on the headmaster who was wearing a very grim expression.
He sighed deeply before talking in a melancholy tone.
"Today we find ourselves in mourning as eleven of our very own lost their lives in the attack on Hogsmeade yesterday" he began sadly. "As a result of the attack the staff and I are in agreement that future trips to the village are hereby cancelled until we can be sure of your safety" he explained. There was a small amount of whispering but no one protested loudly at the proclamation.
"Furthermore, due to the Dementors being at liberty we also have to cancel the rest of the years Quidditch matches and place a curfew on all students" he sighed.
This time there was a significant amount of protest from many of the students at the loss of the sport but Dumbledore simply held up his hands to silence them.
"We cannot ward against the Dementors so it is no longer safe to practice or play" he elaborated. "But we have decided that we will put other things in place, perhaps a ball and another event that will be revealed in due course" he finished promisingly.
Again there was whispering heard in the room and many people who had voiced their displeasure at Quidditch being cancelled were abated.
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