Happy holidays, thrihyrne! -- A Creature Was Stirring [HP]
Title: A Creature Was Stirring
Author: cruisedirector
Recipient: thrihyrne
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters or Pairing: Remus Lupin/Bill Weasley
Rating: PG
Warnings: EWE, disregard for Rowling's version of werewolf lore
Summary: It's Christmas Eve and the moon is full.
Notes: My recipient requested nothing schmoopy or fluffy, so this is a pretty dark holiday story. Thanks to celandineb for beta.
The knock two hours before the full moon should not be a surprise, except that it's Christmas Eve, and Remus Lupin has started to wonder if he will be spending it locked in the cellar. He opens the door to Bill Weasley's smiling face.
"You should be with your family," he says, knowing already what Bill will say, stepping back to let Bill come inside as the cold air gusts around them.
"I am with my family." Bill puts chilly hands on Remus's face and kisses him, pushing the door closed behind him with one foot. They've had this conversation before, in other seasons, during other festivals. There was a time when Bill would have chided Remus about his own family -- they've argued about it, and once Bill let an entire month go by without speaking to Remus. But they both know that Teddy is happy and comfortable living with Andromeda, believing that both his parents died heroes. Bill may not understand, but he respects Remus's wish not to disrupt Teddy's life.
"Anyway, I couldn't wait to give you your present." The smile turns wry as Bill presses a vial into Remus's palm. This is, in truth, a gift from Percy, who has the Ministry connections to procure it -- a favor called in by Bill every month until Remus masters the potion, now that he receives money to purchase the ingredients. Strictly speaking, the money is not from Bill, either, but since Bill is in charge of the abandoned Death Eater vaults at Gringott's, no one else checks to see if a few galleons have gone missing.
"You always know just what to get me," Remus replies with a sad laugh. Since the end of the war, he has had Wolfsbane before every moon, and if he loved Bill for no other reason, that would be enough. They move together toward the fireplace, away from the chill and the darkening sky beyond the door. The house has no decorations for the winter, but it is warm and comfortable. Remus will be able to spend Christmas Eve happily curled on the cushions with another wolf, now that Bill has arrived.
Remus owns this house only because of Bill, registered under a false name on the papers Bill asked George to produce without asking questions. George never refuses his eldest brother anything, even when it's potions ingredients that must be procured illegally or duplicates of keys that Bill has no permissions to copy. George knows how most wizards treat werewolves and will do whatever is necessary to protect Bill. The three older Weasley boys -- men, now -- all know the truth about Bill, but to this day, Molly insists that it isn't necessary to tell the children. It's utterly ridiculous that she still considers Harry Potter a child, but Remus is in no position to question her wisdom.
Following Remus's eyes to the photos on the mantle, Bill huffs a sigh as if he can follow Remus's thoughts as well. "You were right -- I'm sure Hermione suspects," he says. "But I don't think she'll tell Ron."
"She'll believe you should be the one to tell him," Remus guesses, sitting on the sofa. The fabric has faded but the pillows are big and warm, resistant to claws and shedding fur.
"It's not just that. I think Hermione thinks that if Fleur doesn't ask questions, and my parents don't ask questions, then it's not her place to ask questions, either." Bill smiles again, putting his arms around Remus's waist, and Remus can't help smiling back.
Bill's had been the first face he had seen after he came back from the dead, like surfacing after a long nightmare, shaking and writhing in pain. In the nightmare he remembered suffocating, trapped in a coffin with no air or light, before two fellow wolves, Bill and Fenrir Greyback, had torn through the wood. Bill had persuaded Greyback -- who had never trusted Wolfsbane -- to take the potion so he could keep enough sense to see if the legends were true, if the wolf within had kept Remus alive. Bill had told Fenrir that if he didn't help, he would personally help the Ministry track Fenrir down, but Fenrir had sworn that he'd have come for Remus anyway. In some twisted way, the creature that made them considers Remus and Bill his children.
Now they know it's true: the Killing Curse doesn't work the same way on someone already cursed with lycanthropy. Remus might have died in human form, but when the full moon rose, so did he. It's ancient magic that few believe any longer, even at the Ministry, but it's why Fenrir is still alive, and probably Bill as well. Remus always knew that no matter what Madam Pomfrey claimed in front of the younger Weasleys, an attack like Fenrir's on Bill would wreak more havoc than scars and increased appetite. Without Wolfsbane, Bill would become a monster every month, same as Fenrir and Remus.
And Remus had intended to flee with Fenrir, to accept at last that he could never live safely among wizards, to leave them to their lives in peace. But Bill had begged him not to go. Having a father and brother who work at the Ministry provides many advantages -- Bill has always had access to Wolfsbane, and no one at Gringotts will ever know why the Minister so often requests the services of the bank's top curse breaker just before the full moon. But sympathy is not the same as understanding, as Remus knows all too well.
"I need you tonight," Bill murmurs, pressed close against him. "Before the change." His fingernails turn sharp on Remus's back, mouth brushing Remus's ear with just a hint of teeth.
The moon leaps in Remus's blood, sending desire like heat through his body. He can smell Fleur faintly on Bill. "Your wife knows where you are?" he asks, knowing the answer yet needing it confirmed, every time.
"My wife is a Veela, remember?" chuckles Bill. This isn't precisely true, but the Veela in Fleur's blood is stronger than she will ever admit to Bill's family. "She can no more be faithful to me than I can be to her. She probably got my mother to watch the children so she can go flying before the storms come."
Remus has no reason to doubt this, for Fleur finds it difficult to remain comfortably within four walls, and it delights her to have found a man who can accept this. Remus thinks she probably prefers Bill as a werewolf, for even if Fleur lacks her great-grandmother's ability to change her shape, the wildness in her cannot be contained.
Bill has encouraged Remus to find someone else as well -- to reclaim his life, his child -- but this quiet resurrection is all that Remus needs, much more than he ever hoped for himself. He will live to see his son safe and happy, and he will watch over Harry, without ever putting either of them in danger again. Like his parents and his friends, they will never truly understand. People like us have to stick together, Bill had said when he persuaded Remus to stay, forehead resting against Remus's cheek then as now, and Remus had known that he would never try to leave.
"I'm yours," he agrees. "Before the change and after."
He does not deserve the love on Bill's handsome, scarred face, but neither did he deserve to live when Nymphadora died, when Fred died, when Severus died, when Sirius died. "You know I'll always come for you," Bill growls, biting at Remus's earlobe, at his throat, and Remus knows there is no other Christmas present he will ever want.
Author: cruisedirector
Recipient: thrihyrne
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters or Pairing: Remus Lupin/Bill Weasley
Rating: PG
Warnings: EWE, disregard for Rowling's version of werewolf lore
Summary: It's Christmas Eve and the moon is full.
Notes: My recipient requested nothing schmoopy or fluffy, so this is a pretty dark holiday story. Thanks to celandineb for beta.
The knock two hours before the full moon should not be a surprise, except that it's Christmas Eve, and Remus Lupin has started to wonder if he will be spending it locked in the cellar. He opens the door to Bill Weasley's smiling face.
"You should be with your family," he says, knowing already what Bill will say, stepping back to let Bill come inside as the cold air gusts around them.
"I am with my family." Bill puts chilly hands on Remus's face and kisses him, pushing the door closed behind him with one foot. They've had this conversation before, in other seasons, during other festivals. There was a time when Bill would have chided Remus about his own family -- they've argued about it, and once Bill let an entire month go by without speaking to Remus. But they both know that Teddy is happy and comfortable living with Andromeda, believing that both his parents died heroes. Bill may not understand, but he respects Remus's wish not to disrupt Teddy's life.
"Anyway, I couldn't wait to give you your present." The smile turns wry as Bill presses a vial into Remus's palm. This is, in truth, a gift from Percy, who has the Ministry connections to procure it -- a favor called in by Bill every month until Remus masters the potion, now that he receives money to purchase the ingredients. Strictly speaking, the money is not from Bill, either, but since Bill is in charge of the abandoned Death Eater vaults at Gringott's, no one else checks to see if a few galleons have gone missing.
"You always know just what to get me," Remus replies with a sad laugh. Since the end of the war, he has had Wolfsbane before every moon, and if he loved Bill for no other reason, that would be enough. They move together toward the fireplace, away from the chill and the darkening sky beyond the door. The house has no decorations for the winter, but it is warm and comfortable. Remus will be able to spend Christmas Eve happily curled on the cushions with another wolf, now that Bill has arrived.
Remus owns this house only because of Bill, registered under a false name on the papers Bill asked George to produce without asking questions. George never refuses his eldest brother anything, even when it's potions ingredients that must be procured illegally or duplicates of keys that Bill has no permissions to copy. George knows how most wizards treat werewolves and will do whatever is necessary to protect Bill. The three older Weasley boys -- men, now -- all know the truth about Bill, but to this day, Molly insists that it isn't necessary to tell the children. It's utterly ridiculous that she still considers Harry Potter a child, but Remus is in no position to question her wisdom.
Following Remus's eyes to the photos on the mantle, Bill huffs a sigh as if he can follow Remus's thoughts as well. "You were right -- I'm sure Hermione suspects," he says. "But I don't think she'll tell Ron."
"She'll believe you should be the one to tell him," Remus guesses, sitting on the sofa. The fabric has faded but the pillows are big and warm, resistant to claws and shedding fur.
"It's not just that. I think Hermione thinks that if Fleur doesn't ask questions, and my parents don't ask questions, then it's not her place to ask questions, either." Bill smiles again, putting his arms around Remus's waist, and Remus can't help smiling back.
Bill's had been the first face he had seen after he came back from the dead, like surfacing after a long nightmare, shaking and writhing in pain. In the nightmare he remembered suffocating, trapped in a coffin with no air or light, before two fellow wolves, Bill and Fenrir Greyback, had torn through the wood. Bill had persuaded Greyback -- who had never trusted Wolfsbane -- to take the potion so he could keep enough sense to see if the legends were true, if the wolf within had kept Remus alive. Bill had told Fenrir that if he didn't help, he would personally help the Ministry track Fenrir down, but Fenrir had sworn that he'd have come for Remus anyway. In some twisted way, the creature that made them considers Remus and Bill his children.
Now they know it's true: the Killing Curse doesn't work the same way on someone already cursed with lycanthropy. Remus might have died in human form, but when the full moon rose, so did he. It's ancient magic that few believe any longer, even at the Ministry, but it's why Fenrir is still alive, and probably Bill as well. Remus always knew that no matter what Madam Pomfrey claimed in front of the younger Weasleys, an attack like Fenrir's on Bill would wreak more havoc than scars and increased appetite. Without Wolfsbane, Bill would become a monster every month, same as Fenrir and Remus.
And Remus had intended to flee with Fenrir, to accept at last that he could never live safely among wizards, to leave them to their lives in peace. But Bill had begged him not to go. Having a father and brother who work at the Ministry provides many advantages -- Bill has always had access to Wolfsbane, and no one at Gringotts will ever know why the Minister so often requests the services of the bank's top curse breaker just before the full moon. But sympathy is not the same as understanding, as Remus knows all too well.
"I need you tonight," Bill murmurs, pressed close against him. "Before the change." His fingernails turn sharp on Remus's back, mouth brushing Remus's ear with just a hint of teeth.
The moon leaps in Remus's blood, sending desire like heat through his body. He can smell Fleur faintly on Bill. "Your wife knows where you are?" he asks, knowing the answer yet needing it confirmed, every time.
"My wife is a Veela, remember?" chuckles Bill. This isn't precisely true, but the Veela in Fleur's blood is stronger than she will ever admit to Bill's family. "She can no more be faithful to me than I can be to her. She probably got my mother to watch the children so she can go flying before the storms come."
Remus has no reason to doubt this, for Fleur finds it difficult to remain comfortably within four walls, and it delights her to have found a man who can accept this. Remus thinks she probably prefers Bill as a werewolf, for even if Fleur lacks her great-grandmother's ability to change her shape, the wildness in her cannot be contained.
Bill has encouraged Remus to find someone else as well -- to reclaim his life, his child -- but this quiet resurrection is all that Remus needs, much more than he ever hoped for himself. He will live to see his son safe and happy, and he will watch over Harry, without ever putting either of them in danger again. Like his parents and his friends, they will never truly understand. People like us have to stick together, Bill had said when he persuaded Remus to stay, forehead resting against Remus's cheek then as now, and Remus had known that he would never try to leave.
"I'm yours," he agrees. "Before the change and after."
He does not deserve the love on Bill's handsome, scarred face, but neither did he deserve to live when Nymphadora died, when Fred died, when Severus died, when Sirius died. "You know I'll always come for you," Bill growls, biting at Remus's earlobe, at his throat, and Remus knows there is no other Christmas present he will ever want.