บท 1199: Potter Tutelage Ⅵ

Gaining the courage to turn his gaze away from the starry night, James finds he can't argue nor counter Rowan's words, nor does he want to. He knew she spoke to the truth even if it did little to soothe his aching heart. Closing his eyes in a whispering voice, he tremblingly asks, "Does my son live?"

A barrage of emotions flickers through Rowan's midnight-indigo-colored eyes. She is unable to answer right away until she takes a moment to compose herself. "Yes, Harry lived."

"That's good," James sighed in sincere relief as moisture gathered in the depths of his hazel eyes. "Does he live a happy life?"

"Happy enough," Rowan openly affirmed. "He marries a girl whom he loves, and who equally returns his affections. They have three children together if that is any consolation."

"Good," James wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eye. "Thank you," he offered a watery smile in sincere gratitude, before clenching his free hand in a fist. "And Lily?" His voice croaked.

"You already know the answer to that, James."

James painfully clenches his eyes shut as old sorrow wracks his mind, body, and soul. He had known Lily was dead. His Lily would have never allowed anything to happen to their son even if it meant her death in the end.

With shoulders hunched and ragged breaths, James sits and grieves allowing everything out. The soft sob turns into sniffles as he senses the movement of a hand in front of him. He opens his watery hazel eyes only to see a pale elegant hand offering a silk handkerchief out to him. "Thank you," he gratefully whispered as he accepted the handkerchief and dried his tears.

They sit in silence as James recomposes himself. Though his emotions were raw in some manner it felt as though a terrible burden had been removed from his shoulders with the knowledge his son lived even though his Lily did not. A dreadful, but comforting truth.

Clenching a moist handkerchief in hand, James sniffed, "Thank you again, Rowan. I can't express how much of a solace your words bring my heart."

Rowan doesn't respond merely nodding her head at James. Allowing time to collect himself, time trickles by until James is ready to speak again. Leaning back against his seat, he says, "I have asked several questions in a row, I believe it is time to return the favor."

Contemplating how to format her question, Rowan finally responds, "James Potter, a seasoned Auror," she took a breath, before asking, "How are you here? And where is the James from this plane of existence?"

"I don't know," James slumped forward and rubbed a hand over his face. "The last thing I remember is shouting to Lily to run and take Harry. Suddenly, there was a flash of green light, and I knew no more."

"I should have had my wand," James mentally kicked himself. "Me, a trained Auror," he bitterly said, "yet I ran downstairs wandless." With heartache, he sighed and rubbed his face. "I wasn't thinking at the time, I know that. All I could think about at that time was getting to Lily and our son and saving them."

"I see," Rowan quietly murmurs turning to glance up at the moon gazing through the window. If there was a slight sheen in her eyes, it was because she was staring up at the light.

Closing her eyes, Rowan rests them for a moment, before opening them. "How good of an occlumens are you, James?"

"I was trained in occlumency by father," James added as an afterthought, "like all pureblood sons are. However, I will confess, I am not as proficient as I could be."

"I thought as much," Rowan immediately discarded a possible idea. "So, what was it that Dumbledore asked you to do?"

James's hazel eyes snap toward her only to meet the cool midnight-indigo-colored eyes of Rowan. "Whatever do you mean?" He straightened up and switched into Auror mode.

Rowan's eyes narrowed, but she remained calm. "As we have confirmed your identity, I cannot see you sitting idly by. Nor did I fail to notice the fact that despite your initial strong dislike of Severus and myself at the start of the school year, and yet despite your obvious dislike of us you still kept a close eye on us."

"Of course, I didn't remember either of you. I didn't know either of you," James subtly deflected without addressing the question.

Slightly impressed, Rowan decides to desist from pursuing that avenue. She had confirmed what she needed to know by the fact that James had deflected, so to speak. She would hazard to guess that James was even a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

Changing the subject, Rowan says, "I need to know if you have ever been alone with Mary MacDonald?" She needed to verify how compromised they were.

Remus for sure is safe since the lingering curse of Lycanthropy even in its cured form would offer a form of protection to him. Sirius possibly since he came from a pureblood household, they were trained to recognize oddities in their magic. The weakest link in the group is Peter, but he would be safe since he was no longer at Hogwarts. Well, safe as can be with an evil ancient, magical entity running about…

"Mary?" James blinks, rather bemused at the request. "Is this because of Remus? Because I assure you, I won't abandon him, but neither do I expect to stop being friends with her."

"It's not about Remus," Rowan gravelly responded. "Mary is dangerous."

James takes in Rowan's posture, before frowning. "You are being serious?"

"Naturally, moreover, Mary has been my friend since our first year," Rowan grimaced. "I wouldn't make a joke in such poor taste. If it's any consolation though, Remus is safe."

"May I know the reason as to why?"

"The less you know the better for all of us, James. My word will have to suffice for now."

Seeing that Rowan refuses to give a further explanation, James relents without putting up much of a fight. He understood the need for secrecy better than anyone as an Auror and a member of the Order of the Phoenix. It's what had kept them alive-.

"Alright, I will take your word for it. I will make sure that neither myself nor Sirius are ever alone with her." James paused. "But what about Lily and Willa, they are here dormmates?"

"Believe me, I am working on it," Rowan unhappily grumbled. She knew that Lily would be safe from Hydra, the blood of Salazar Slytherin would offer a form of protection to Lily. As for Willa, she could only hope that Mary was enough, and Hydra had no intentions of creating another Gryffindor vessel. However, that did not mean another vessel couldn't be converted at Hogwarts.