rcmus:
The full moon was still a week away but already Remus found himself getting irritable.
Maybe it had nothing to do with the moon: maybe it had everything to do with the broadcast at the vigil, and the way everyone suddenly seemed ready to abandon ship and run out to Merlin knew where on the off chance that what they’d all heard Glenda say had been true, that there was a second safe place where all their lost loved ones were just waiting for them. How anyone could believe it was… well, not beyond comprehension, honestly. Hope was a hell of a drug, one that had kept him sedated more than he liked to believe. But it was one he’d run dry on, and this hadn’t changed that.
He hadn’t really spoken to Greta yet, more than in passing, since they’d shown up in Godric’s Hollow. But their presence there had unsettled him from the beginning. Nothing personal. It was just, as Secret Keeper, he didn’t like the idea that anyone he didn’t know had gotten so close to finding the place.
Still, when they called out, he came over, wondering what they wanted him to look it– and as he did and they continued the question, he instantly regretted it.
‘I’m probably the wrong person to ask,’ he said, as he drew near, holding his hands up in defeat. ‘I’m the one person here who doesn’t thing there is a second headquarters. You’d be better off asking–’ Sirius, he almost said, but the idea of a stranger leading Sirius off on some wild goose chase to get killed by Death Eaters made his hackles rise. ‘Alastor, or Frank, or… anyone else.’
“You don’t?” Greta asked with a small frown. They could understand having some doubts but not giving the idea of another hiding place at the very least a chance seemed a little ridiculous. At least for them. But perhaps it was because they had had faith in Glenda’s words in the past and it had lead them here, to Godric’s Hallow and the mysterious Order of the Phoenix. They couldn’t ask people who were already aware of the mystery to have faith in possibility. After all, how could they know how much the Order existing meant for those a drift?
“Well....” Greta continued, their frown disappearing, a soft smile taking it’s place. “A lot of people out there didn’t believe the Order existed at all. We are all doomed, they told me.” Greta leaned closer to the map, making a new scribble with a flicker of their wand. “Most people thought I was crazy for researching, trying to find a saviour that wasn’t there at all.” They turned to look at Remus, a sad look in their eyes. “I was close to believing it, you know? That I was chasing ghosts and that there was no escaping all the pain I had seen, there was no one left trying to do what was right, what was just.....” They sighed, looking away for a moment, remembering all their research, all the pain and death, all the victims of this cruel war.
Greta had come very close to giving up. They thought, for a moment, that Glenda had lied about the Order, that there was no revolution in the works, they the world had given up and that Voldemort would win because there was no one to oppose him, there was no one to save anyone. All you could do was run, run as fast as you could and hope for the best but then.....Then they decided to come to Godric’s Hollow, for every time they got some real information about the Order was where tragedy struck with more force.
“It’s a leap of faith.” They mumbled, looking back at Remus. “I know it sounds insane but Glenda brought me here. I thought I would have to run away forever and hide, that the Death Eaters would end up killing me and that Vol---You Know Who was bound to win for good.” They explained and smiled brightly. “But she was right. And here I am, here you are. The Order of the Phoenix...You were impossible. Ridiculous even but you are all real, so there could be more of you out there.” They explained, looking at the map. “You don’t have to believe, really. I’ll do the the believing, I just need someone who knows more to give me some clues but Alastor is quite busy and besides.....I don’t think he trusts me much.”
