A Debt (Marvolo, Morana, Remus, James)

Morana Gaunt had done something for him that he would never truly be able to repay her for. She had brought his son to him, and he knew that it was not something that he could do for her. So, he decided that the next best thing was to bring the boy standing beside him home. Of course, he was not stupid enough to do so at his father's home, so he had requested that Morana meet him on the edge of the woods nearby the camp site alone. Looking at James, be smiled and said, "you ready, mate?" The boy smiled nervously in return and said, "you have no idea."

Morana couldn't deny she was quite surprised to hear from Bill. Of course they had bussiness to attend, but those meeting were quite regular and not just between the two of them. The crow or the raven as they called her landed in the forest before turning into a hooded figure of a woman who hid her face from everyone behind the mask. Stepping out of the shadows of the forest, she made sure the cold wind let Bill know she was there, when she spotted not one, but two figures in the darkness. Was this some kind of trap? She hoped that even after her little act of kindness, young Weasley did not think it would be so easy to beat her.

Bill grinned back at the young Lupin, as he caught the woman’s scent on the wind. He turned to face her, the smile dropping from his face as he took the boy's arm gently, guiding him as he approached Morana. "Gaunt," he greeted, neither icily or warmly, "you brought someone important to me back not so long ago." He paused a few metres away, not willing to go any closer as he gently nudged the boy forward. "He's been with us while he heals," Bill explained, "he was in quite a bad way when we found him."

Hearing his voice, Morana knew he meant no harm, yet she also knew he did not invite her for friendly evening tea. Stepping out of the darkness, she finally saw the othe person. She couldn't mistake the boy anywhere. "James," she said finally, when her mind processed, that yet another of Remus' lost children is back. She knew his children and in fact spent a lot of time with them before the curse took place. They were like her own even back then. But she was never really sure if they saw it the same way. After all, she wasn't saint Morgan. She was not their perfect mother.

Bill watched closely, not prepared to leave until he was sure James was safe. But he remained silent as the boy stared at the woman closely, examining her like he wasn't sure she was really there. "Morana?" After a few moments, relief flooded James, as he ran forward until he crashed into Morana's front, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. "You came for me," he mumbled against her clothes as Bill placed his hand at his waist, where his wand sat, unsure how the Gaunt would react to such a display.

Morana would lie if she said she expected such reaction. But she would also lie is if she denied how happy it made her. After a few unsure seconds, she wrapped her arms around the boy. "Of course I did. I would never leave family behind," she told him, holding him close. It was probably not usual display to see Morana showing such affection. But despite the rumors, she was a mother. And a loving one.

Having been away from his family for so long, it thrilled James to heard Morana say what she did. Not because he had ever not seen her as family, but because he had never been sure if she saw them the same way. To James, family was more than just blood.

Bill let the two have a few minutes, before he spoke again. "We found him unconscious as we left Hogwarts," he said, "it took him a long time to wake up, and even longer to remember who he was. We have a healer with us, who specialises in that kind of thing. We didn't know who he was until he was able to tell us himself. If we had left him for someone else to find, she said it may have been too late." He refused to admit that he was explaining himself to the woman, giving her a reason that the boy had been with them for so long. Alexis had told him that he would need to explain what had happened so that they could continue his care, and he told Morana that, just to be clear. "The healer said we had to tell you," he said, before chewing on his lip, "he'll need to continue seeing someone if he goes home with you.."

Morana was listening and silently nodding to his words before looking at the boy again. "I would like to speak with your healer. If I can determine what to do, it might be safer to keep him in Traveller fortress. We have a lot of medical options there. If not, I have no issue with checking in. All I care about is him being healthy and with his family. After all, there are many new things to come for him," she said, giving James encouraging smile. "Thank you. For bringing him home."

Bill hesitated before he answered, because he knew that Alexis was in a difficult position. She had betrayed her entire family to help he Order, and so he had to think a moment, but he knew that she would do it. When it came to helping a patient, she would be willing to risk it. "She is at the camp," he said, "I can bring her to our usual meeting place when it suits you. But it needs to stay quiet." Bill knew that James may need healer attention for the rest of his life, or it may only be a few more months. It depended entirely on how he got better. The man nodded, not being able to stop his smile as he saw how happy James was to be with Morana. He'd done the right thing. "You're welcome," he said, directing it at both the woman and the boy.

"William Weasley," Morana's lips crossed her typical cold smile for a moment. "If there is one thing I know better than anyone else in the World, it is how to be silent," she pointed out. "Your healer is safe, I can promise you that," she added.

Bill nodded, knowing that to be true. He knew enough of both of the Gaunt women that they could keep things to themselves. He also knew that they had a deal, and putting their healer at risk was a sure fire way of causing them harm. "Very well," he said, locking eyes with James for a moment, "be safe, James. I will leave you both now. Contact me when you wish to meet with her." He walked backwards a short way before disappearing.

James smiles after Bill, before turning back to Morana. "Is my dad.." he asked carefully, "is my dad okay?" Is my dad alive? was the real question being asked. He had lost his mother before they had been frozen, and he hoped that he would be able to be with his father again.

Morana only nodded watching Bill disappear before turning her attention back to James. "Yes, your dad is very well," she replied to him with a smile. "But many things changed while you were frozen James. The World is not the same anymore. And neither is your... our family," she said carefully chosing her words.

James grinned when he heard that his father was not only alive, but also well. He wanted to know of his siblings as well, but he would find out about them soon enough. He couldn't deal with too much information at once yet, so he would wait a few more minutes before he would ask. "I expected it to," he said quietly, "I didn't even remember my own name, or how to speak. I can imagine that I was not the only thing that changed." He remembered about the small bag that hung with his satchel and he handed it to Morana. "It's the potions that.. that Alexis gave me," he said, concluding that the woman would know of his healer soon enough anyway, "I can't remember when to take them. Some new, insignificant information doesn't sink in so well.. There is a note, so that you can give them to me." He knew that he needed to do it now, else he may forgot what they were for. His long term memory had mostly returned, but his short term was rather unstable.

Morana took the potions from him and read the note, nodding quietly to herself. It was not really complicated. One for the morning, one after lunch and two before he goes to sleep. As much as it pained Morana to know he was ill, it was better, than if he was not alive at all. "Let's find a portkey, James. It's time to bring you home," she smiled at him finally.

James tried not to be embarrassed, and instead focused on the idea of finally going home. It had been months, of course, excluding the curse, and he desperately wanted to see his father. “Yes, I want to go home now,” he agreed, wondering if it would be easy enough to find a portkey as such short notice. Then he remembered that this was Morana and she would be able to find anything without much of a problem. “Do we still live in the same house?” he asked with a tired smile, “are all of my things still there?”

Remus dueled with Romulus there blades clashing in the yard of the castle, after the tall blonde boy had returned he had taken up training with him immediately to make sure the curse had made him rusty. Hearing someone approach he called out "Morana? my love?" Rom rolled his eyes but stabbed his blade into the ground as Remus turned to await her arrival.

At James' question, Morana's usualy selfconfident smile grew uneasy. "Uhm... no. Your dad still owns the house, so I believe all your things are still there. But we live at my place now. It's much farther away, but it's big, so we all fit. And I believe you will like it. We will make sure all your things get there," she explained as they approached the portkey. "Ready?" she smiled before taking them back to the Grindelwald castle.

Hearing voice of her beloved, she smiled, but knew James couldn't hear his dad just yet since he did not posses vampire hearing and castle was huge, standing majesticaly in the darkness, under cloudy skies of Czechia. "Let's go," she whispered to James, using the wind so that Remus could not overhear. She did not want him to know about James until last moment. They walked through the hall straight into the gardens. "Hello darling," she greeted him. "Guess who I am bringing with me," she smiled widely, stepping aside to reveal James.

Remus smiled at his wife, someone walked with her, a famillar scent, "JAMES" he rushed over to the boy picking him up "My gods your alright" Romulus cheered and laughed he walked over hugging his little brother who was held in his dad's arms.

James nodded, not really blaming his dad for moving into Morana’s place. At least that way, he wasn’t trying to do everything alone. Not to mention, Morana’s place was huge. A castle, she had once told him. He was glad to know that his dad hadn’t been alone. “Thank you,” he said quietly, before nodding and placing his hand on the port key. When they landed, he stumbled a bit, but the twisting in his stomach wasn’t from the trip. He was nervous. He hadn’t seen his family in a very long time.

The boy stayed silent as he followed Morana through the house, and out into the garden. He stood a little behind the woman, and he smiled when he caught sight of his father. “Dad!” he said happily, throwing his arms around the man’s neck and hugging him tightly. It had only been a few months since he had awoken, but it had been hard not knowing what had happened to his family. He pulled his face away from Remus’ shoulder to hug his older brother as well. “I missed you guys,” he said, with a bright smile.

Remus squeezed his son tightly drinking in the scents of him "You were at the quidditch campground" he said recognizing the smells he found there. "I am so happy to have you my boy, my precious boy" Romulus stepped back and hugged Morana dropping a kiss onto the top of her head, the tall blonde boy said "thank you for bringing home my brother."

Morana smiled at Romulus. "You are my family now as well. I may not be a good person, but my family always comes first," she told him, watching her husband happy, having another child safely back at home. "He mentioned things from his room back in the old house. Care to help me out and get them, so that tonight, he can sleep in his own? I believe it would help him a lot," she added, asking Romulus for help.

James was so happy to see his dad and brother that he though he might burst. Things were obviously different, but he didn't care. To deal with the changed with his family was sure to make them easier to deal with. "Yes, I was," he replied, glancing over to Morana before looking back at his dad, "they were nice to me, but I was ready to come home."