(Untitled)

[lpotter]

Who: Lily, Sirius, Harry, Teddy, Severus(?)
What: As Heather so brilliantly put it, the thread of panicky house
When: Tonight !  Late at night
Where: starting at the Lily/Sirius/Remus abode
Rating: With Sirius' potty mouth and Lily's fretting?  At least PG13 for language.

Comments

[a_jade_phoenix]

Teddy's body was dead weight as Harry maneuvered his limp limbs into his winter jacket. He grunted as he tugged Teddy off the bed and into his arms, holding him close to his chest. He didn't like what he was about to do any more than his mum did. If his mum had questioned where Remus was earlier...Then they'd have one more body out and looking.

He was nervous.

Harry really didn't like that. He hadn't been nervous about an investigation since his first year on the Auror force, and then he'd been untrained and unaware of what he might find in the field. He was relatively more secure in what he'd find now. He knew who had magic in town, he knew who was dangerous and not trustable without it

[lpotter]

Lily heard the distinct crack of Apparition as she was mid-pace. And she'd uttered the last curse she would for a while. Little ears were around.

At least...yes, that was Harry and Teddy. Not Remus. She normally would have been thrilled to see her son and Teddy. But right now, Lily was almost in complete panic mode. The I have to do something mode. And what was she going to do? Stay home with Teddy.

She only mildly resented that. Lily gave Harry a half-hearted worried smile.

[a_jade_phoenix]

Harry took one look at his mother's face and what very little amount of hope he'd clung to that someone would have seen Remus that night died in a burst. He settled Teddy down on the sofa, brushing a gentle hand through his soft teal hair. He was happy and unconcerned. At least one of them was.

"No one's said anything yet?" he asked in a whisper, straightening up and turning around.

[lpotter]

She shook her head slightly, her eyes unfocused. "Severus said that he and Remus never met up this afternoon like they were supposed to," she whispered. That had been her last hope. Shattered a while ago. Merlin, he'd better not be gone. Please let him be okay and not gone.

[a_jade_phoenix]

"Brilliant." Harry ran a hand over the back of his neck and bowed his head. "We're going to find him." Because the thought that he might of just...vanished again made him stomach sick.

"We will. Right?" He directed this last question at Sirius with a questioning stare.

[bloodydrapery]

"Of course we will," Sirius snapped gruffly, jumping up from the chair and pacing twice again before going to stand by Harry. "What are we bloody even still doing here?"

[a_jade_phoenix]

"Planning," Harry said shortly. He ruffled his hair in agitation as he began to pace to the sofa and then back again. "Neither of you have seriously seen him since this morning? He didn't tell either of you anything about going anywhere in the afternoon?"

[bloodydrapery]

"He was going to see your boyfriend!" Sirius answered, with far more exasperation than he'd meant to. But Gods, his heart was on the verge of exploding and he didn't feel he had full control over his speech or actions. "That's-- that's all I know. He wrote me on the computer that he was going to try out some potions for tonight. We-- we argued, but... I--" Sirius's eyes widened as he froze in place. "Merlin, this is my fault. I thought we'd settled it, but what if I was wrong? What if he went off to cool down because he was angry, and that's when something-- something happened..."

[lpotter]

Lily's hands were on her temples, stopping her incessant pacing and instead standing in place. This wasn't helping. Merlin, this wasn't helping. She shot an imploring look at Sirius. A Please Try to be a Tiny Bit Calm Please Look. "The last time I spoke with him, we made plans for tea on Friday and he told me that he'd be with Severus for the full moon. That's why I asked Severus first."

[a_jade_phoenix]

"You all live in the same house and don't talk to each other?" As if he were one to say anything on the subject, but at least he and Snape talked with one another daily, even if it wasn't about something amazingly painful. Usually, unless they were fleeing each other, they'd at least say something. A simple: I'm going to go out for a few hours. Sometimes they even said locations.

Shocking, he knew.

"Never mind. So we've got absolutely no clue where to begin to--" Harry's eyes widened, with the freshly fallen snow on the ground, he wasn't sure how well this would work, but he had to get them to try. "How good are you at tracking people as Padfoot?"

[lpotter]

Lily tightened her lips. "I talked to him this morning, Harry," she replied quietly, stalking to a chair and sitting there, arms crossed.

[bloodydrapery]

Raising his eyebrows at Harry's question, Sirius suddenly felt the need to throw himself into the wall due to his own stupidity. "Harry, that's... that's brilliant!" he exclaimed, grasping his godson's shoulder as, for the first time since realizing Remus was really missing, he felt a spark of hope. "I could do that! Padfoot knows Moony's scent better than anything else, and it's even stronger right after a moon."

[a_jade_phoenix]

As exasperated as he felt with both of them, Harry was grateful that Sirius was finally acting less like his head had been chopped off and more like a person who had been trained to do this.

"Then we've got a plan. Come on."

Harry started moving toward the front door and paused, doubled back, and planted a kiss to his mother's cheek. "I'm sorry."

[lpotter]

Lily gave Harry a tight hug. "Be careful," she said. It was some motherly compulsion. "Let me know as soon as something happens." There was nothing she could do. Padfoot would search for Moony's scent, Harry's auror training would help. And Lily would sit home with Teddy.

Merlin, if she ever found the person who did this...

[bloodydrapery]

As they went toward the door, Sirius took a deep breath again and tried to calm himself as best he could. A terrified Padfoot would not be a very helpful Padfoot. And he had to find Moony. There was no other choice.

"We'll be back soon," he said to Lily. "With Remus."

Then he blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, he was Padfoot.

[a_jade_phoenix]

Harry settled a hand in Padfoot's fur and took a deep breath in, letting it out in a slow hiss. He wasn't sure this would work. The night air was cold and brisk, snow swirling in a merry dance around them as they stepped onto the curb.

"Ready?"