Remus sat at his dining table in the middle of the kitchen hunched over the photograph in front of him. His head was supported by his fists as his hair hung limply in front of his face, unwashed and graying faster than usual. The photograph replayed the scene of Hermione Granger, Parvarti Patil and Sophia Lupin smiling graciously before bursting out into laughter when Sophia sneezed silently in their Ball dresses. It was one of the only photographs that he had of his Daughter, the others being the one he sent into the Daily Prophet for them to use for her Missing segment and the ones Molly Weasley had that had been taken at Christmas at Grimmauld Place. He could never afford a camera so this was the only physical evidence he had of Sophia's existence.

The rickety old house sat silent around Remus, almost like it knew someone else should be there that wasn't. He had been trying to convince himself that Sophia was just away at school, but that little voice in the back of his head prevented him from staying in that fantasy. Tonks had been around frequently, giving him the smallest sense of comfort in his time of grief. She was understanding and knew when he needed to have some space. He had found himself liking Nymphadora regardless of the fact that she was quite a bit younger than him.

A small tap brought his attention from the moving picture up to the window, seeing a familiar brown owl that held a letter in its beak. The chair he sat in scraped backwards as he stood up and opened the window to the only owl he's ever really had. Taking the envelope from its clutches, the owl hopped down on to the kitchen counter and began to nibble at the small crumbs that were left from past meals that Remus hadn't bothered to clear. He sat back down at the kitchen table and read over the front of the envelope, his heart tweaking in the slightest at the name.

Miss S Lupin

The rickety house on the hill

Brighton

England

He flipped over the letter to see the official Hogwarts red seal keeping the envelope closed. Remus cracked the wax and pulled out the letter and immediately saw the title 'Ordinary Wizarding Levels' followed by Sophia's classes and grades from last year. He read over the entire letter, his mind in between the state of sorrow as well as pride.

Transfiguration: Exceeds Expectations

Potions: Exceeds Expectations

History of Magic: Outstanding

Herbology: Exceeds Expectations

Care for Magical Creatures: Outstanding

Astronomy: Outstanding

Charms: Outstanding

Arithmancy: Outstanding

Defence Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding

Divination: Exceeds Expectations

Her O.W.L results were amazing. He couldn't have really asked for better. Not that he ever would ask her to do better as everything she did was always to the best of her ability. The classes that she would need for her N.E.W.T's all corresponded to her career choice of Astronomy, meaning she would basically be on the path to be a fully fledged Astronomer. But that fact that he was the one reading her results made him remember the current situation and leave the letter to fall next to the photograph that continued to move on the table.

And for the first time since Hazel died, Remus cried alone in his kitchen.

At The Burrow, Molly stood at the sink in her chaotic kitchen washing the dishes by hand. Usually, she would just flick her wand and have the magic wash her pots, pans, plates and cups. But for some reason, Molly felt motivated and inspired to wash her own dishes tonight. She didn't know why, but she found herself enjoying the feeling of getting those stains out of the pans with her own hands and achievements. The sink was placed under the window that looked out into the field that surrounded The Burrow, allowing her to gaze out into the night that had the slightest of breeze to it that made the long grass sway.

The woman was scrubbing at a stain that was on one of her white plates, glancing up instinctively out the window and out onto the front of the house. As much as you can see at one fleeting glance, the fields seemed normal against the background of the starry night. But when she looked back down at the sink, she suddenly realised that something unusual was disturbing the long grass. Molly shot her head back up and looked out the window, to see a portion of the grass being disturbed and parted to make way for a small figure. Whoever it was, it mustn't be someone threatening as the enchantments that surrounded The Burrow only let specific people through the fields. The Order had decided to put these enchantments up once Grimmauld Place was deemed unsafe for meetings since Sirius's death.

None the less, Molly wasn't expecting anyone at the house tonight. She dropped the plate that was in her hand back into the water of the sink, panicking slightly as the figure stepped out of the fields and was slowly starting to make its way towards the house.

"Arthur!" Molly called while rushing from the kitchen and into the living room. The man was sitting on the sofa after his day at the Ministry with the Daily Prophet in his hands and looked up to his wife who entered with a wary yet slightly disheveled look.

"What is it?" he questioned as he placed the newspaper down next to him and stood up.

"Someone's outside. I don't know who it is. It can't be one of the boys can it?" she questioned. Once Arthur heard there was someone outside, he rushed towards the front door with his wand now in hand. Molly followed after him and the two went out on to the porch, Arthur pointing his wand out in front of him to the figure who was indeed making its way across the clearing between the field and the house. The darkness made it difficult to make out any features of the person and the only light that allowed the Weasleys' to see the figure, came from inside through the windows and door of The Burrow.

"Who are you?" Arthur called out. Molly stood in the door way looking over Arthur's shoulder, the figure saying nothing as it continued to walk forwards. The light from the house finally allowed the two to make out that the person was swaying in their step and limping heavily. The closer the person got, the more intelligible the heavy breathing became as they got closer and closer out of the darkness.

Arthur was the first one to notice the light brown hair that barely reached past their chin with skin and clothes caked in what could only be blood. He began to slowly lower his wand as his eyes enlarged to the size of dinner plates, recognizing the clothes that the person was last seen wearing. The wheezing that was heard sounded like something was lodged in the throat of the person and the sway in their step made them look as if they would topple over at any second.

"Who is it dear?" Molly squeaked out, noticing the lowering of her husband's wand. And as Sophia dropped to the ground after having her legs give out, Arthur rushed forward with yells aimed towards Molly to get help.

"Get the Order here now!" the man cried as he fell to his knees in front of the barely conscious girl. Molly didn't need to be told twice and rushed back into the house to start sending Patronuses to every member of the Order. Arthur picked up the limp figure of Sophia and ran back into The Burrow, giving Molly the first look of who she thought was a slaughtered animal at first.

"Oh my..." Molly didn't finish as she cupped her mouth with her hands, tears springing to her eyes as Arthur laid Sophia down on the sofa he was once sitting on. He threw the newspaper on to the coffee table that ironically displayed the missing photo of a once lively and healthy looking Sophia. But now, she was covered in a layer of blood that immediately began to stain the sofa. Her hair looked as if it had been forcibly cut short with a jagged knife, the tips only reaching the middle of her neck in an uneven line. Her clothes were torn and the same as the ones she was last seen in, undeniably proving she was the missing Sophia Lupin.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had been upstairs in Ron's bedroom. They were only playing a game of Exploding Snap when they heard the urgent shouts of Mr Weasley downstairs, making them slowly make their way down towards the living room. All confused and slightly scared, they made it to the bottom level of The Burrow and into the hallway that lead into the conjoined kitchen and living room. They first saw Molly who was opening the door to Bill and Fleur Delacour, the first members of the Order of the Phoenix to arrive.

The four Hogwarts students finally walked into the living room and spotted Mr Weasley first, who was crouching beside their brown sofa that sat against the wall. But nothing could have prepared them for what they saw laying on the sofa. Hermione audibly gasped at the sight of the mangled figure and hid her face in Ron's shoulder, who stood there with his jaw hanging open and wide eyes. Ginny took a hasty step backwards with her eyes swimming with tears just like her Mother had, not believing that someone could look like the Human definition of a blood bath. Harry was the worst. He had never seen so much blood at one time in his life. He had seen Cedric Diggory killed by the Killing curse, yet that never left any visible marks. This was new. This was something he never thought he would see even in his nightmares.

"T-That can't be her..." Harry mumbled with a shake of his head, clenching his teeth together to stop them grinding together forcefully. No one answered as they were too busy staring at the wheezing girl on the sofa.

"Wait don't touch her yet!" Bill cried as Molly went to press a damp rag to her skin. The woman stopped and looked at her eldest son who stood with Fleur close behind him. "She could be cursed!"

"I-I brought her in here though," Arthur added.

"Doesn't matter, she still could be carrying some sort of spell," Bill shook his head and knelt beside the sofa, bringing out his wand from his cloak pocket. He was a curse-breaker on objects for Gringotts bank, but Human can't be that much different when it came to curses and hexes. He tried his best to ignore the wheezing and heavy breaths that were coming out of Sophia's mouth and emitted a light blue sort of blanket from his wand, slowly laying it over her bleeding body. The people in the room held their breath as the blue hue laid over her before disappearing as if it melted into her body, making Bill stand up from his place and sigh in relief.

"She's good. No curses," he stood out of the way as Molly immediately took his place with the warm rag in her hand.

"I think Kingsley's here," Arthur stated as he saw another figure start to make its way up to the porch. The Weasley left the room to greet him outside while Molly began to gently wipe away at least some of the blood that caked Sophia's skin.

" What can I do to 'elp?" Fleur's heavy accent sounded as she knelt down beside Molly, eyes gazing worriedly over Sophia's body. She knew Sophia from her time at Beauxbatons but had never really talked to her. But seeing someone in such a state was enough to wrench at anyone's sympathy. Molly looked at the girl for a moment, contemplating whether she should let her help or not. The Weasley had never been too fond of Miss Delacour but she knew Bill liked her tremendously and it wasn't really the time to be having childish quarrels , making her swallow dryly and nod towards the kitchen.

"If you can fill up a bowl of warm water, that would be brilliant," Fleur immediately jumped up and did what she was told, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody suddenly walking through the front door with Arthur and Charlie Weasely in toe.

"Codswallop," Mad-Eye cursed as soon as he saw the bloody body on the sofa. "In all my years of being an Auror, never have I seen such a blood bath."