FIC: Once in a Blue Moon - Ch 74 (WIP)
Start of the story, including full ratings, warnings, pairings etc. Here
Summary for the new readers watching my journal: An AU Remus/Sirius story set in a world where an eleven year old werewolf named Remus Lupin never got his Hogwarts invitation, and where Sirius Black was not accepted by the rest of the Gryffindors. The two outcasts form a friendship despite overwhelming odds, but will their friendship survive when Sirius finds himself falling in love with his best friend...his friend who wants nothing more than to be 'normal', despite the passion he feels for the heir to the Noble House of Black.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise. J K Rowling retains all copyright.
I Need You Now, Like I Needed You Then (PG15)
Sirius turned to see the owner of the voice and came face to face with a fearsome and official looking woman whose name badge proclaimed her to be Warden O’Brien. Behind her a young man was grinning widely, clearly one of the other werewolves had raised the alarm, and was taking a great deal of joy from it, too.
“If you’ll all follow me,” the warden said, her voice making sure that the politely phrased request was perceived as the order it was. “Not you, Higgs,” she added as she passed the grinning werewolf. “Go get dressed and join the others for breakfast.”
Higgs looked disappointed, but he did as he was told.
Sirius sighed and helped Remus to follow after the warden. Even though Remus seemed to be recovering his strength a little, he could tell that he was shaking. Only Rita looked unconcerned at their apprehension, she merely looked disappointed that her plan to smuggle Remus out of the compound was never going to be carried out to its conclusion.
Once the party was gathered in the warden’s office she looked at each of them in turn, her glare seeming to dare one or another of them into talking. “I suppose I don’t need to inform you that breaking any prisoner out of a dangerous creatures camp is punishable by a minimum sentence of six months in Azkaban?”
Sirius felt his stomach lurching again and he risked a glance at Romulus. He wasn’t surprised to see the other man had lost what little colour he’d managed to gain since his release from the dark confines of the prison.
“Aaron didn’t have anything to do with it,” Remus said, his words confirmed by the others.
O’Brien looked at Aaron and nodded firmly. “You may go and join the others,” she finally said, and Aaron ducked out of the door, shooting a sympathetic glance at Remus as he went. “As for the rest of you…” she continued.
“It’s not like we didn’t try official channels,” Romulus pointed out. “I applied for supervision of Remus.”
O’Brien looked at the papers in the folder lying on her desk. “Your application was rejected, yes?”
“Because of my criminal record,” Romulus replied shortly.
“Which you decided to add to today,” O’Brien muttered. “And the rest of you?” She looked round the group, focusing on each of them in turn, finally resting her gaze on Rita.
“Oh, I’m just here to cover the story; I’ve been promised the exclusive.”
“I beg your pardon?” O’Brien said, her harsh glare turning to an expression of frank disbelief.
“Mr Black promised me the exclusive story of his tender reunion with Mr Lupin, if I were prepared to…” Her voice trailed off as she realised she was incriminating herself with her own words.
O’Brien gave Rita one last suspicious look before turning to Sirius. “And Mr Black?”
“You think I could just leave him to suffer through the full moon?” Sirius asked. “I had to get him out of here.”
“You could have applied for supervision of Lupin at his hearing last year,” O’Brien commented as she flicked through the papers. “Why didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know anything about the hearing,” Sirius replied.
“According to evidence given, you did know about it, and were unwilling to attend.”
“That’s a lie!”
“This was the evidence given by your own father. Are you calling him a liar?”
“Damn right, I am!”
“Well, that still doesn’t alter the fact that you cannot simply waltz in here, collect Lupin, and ignore the proper procedures.”
“Can Sirius go through the proper procedures now?” Remus asked quietly.
“I can have an application brought before the Ministry later today,” O’Brien confirmed. “If I send it in now, it should be heard this afternoon. Mr Black is not a blood relation, is he?”
“No,” Remus replied. “He’s-”
“They were lovers,” Rita chimed in. “Perhaps you read my story in the Daily Prophet about a year ago?”
“Never read that trashy rag,” O’Brien snapped.
“It’s the most popular wizard newspaper in the country!” Rita exclaimed.
“And prints whatever the Ministry of Magic tell them to,” O’Brien countered sharply. “However the integrity, or lack thereof, of the news industry is hardly the issue here.”
“But…”
“Rita, shut up,” Sirius, Romulus and Remus asked in tired unison. Thankfully, she did.
Sirius turned to O’Brien. “I’m Remus’s husband,” he said, rolling up his sleeve to show the evidence of their bonding.
O’Brien didn’t look that impressed and continued to glare at him. “You may, if you wish, apply for supervision of Lupin on his release on the grounds of being, effectively, his spouse. I should warn you however, whilst there have been several successful husband/wife applications, I’ve never come across one where the applicant and the resident are of the same sex.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Remus pointed out, and Sirius was pleased to see that Remus was recovering from his transformation with every passing minute.
O’Brien turned back to Sirius and gave him a sharp look. “Applications should not be taken lightly. I suggest you take the time to consider this thoroughly. By applying for supervision of a resident from a Dangerous Creatures’ Camp, you are saying that you will be responsible for that person, for their security at dangerous times, in Lupin’s case during the full moon. You would be expected to live with him and, should the relationship fall apart, return him to this or another camp immediately. If you have any doubts at all, then I suggest you consider long and hard about whether you wish to make the application.”
Sirius nodded. “I don’t have any doubts. Please put the application in right away.” He felt Remus reaching out to grab his hand at his words and he turned to face him with a smile. “None at all.”
O’Brien stood up looked at Paul, who had remained silent during the entire meeting. “I’ll deal with you later,” she told him. “In the meantime, kindly escort our guests off of the premises. I’ll ensure that Lupin gets back to his rooms, without any detours.”
“I’d like to stay with him,” Sirius asked.
“This isn’t a hotel,” O’Brien snapped. “You can’t just decide to check in at your convenience.”
“Remus and I, we need to talk,” Sirius explained quietly. “A lot’s happened and…” His voice trailed off; he was reluctant to admit to the hard looking woman in front of him that he simply didn’t want to leave Remus’s presence again. He knew it would sound clingy and pathetic, but he couldn’t help it.
“This is highly irregular.”
“Please?”
“Visitors for werewolves are only allowed in the camp between the hours of 1pm and 5pm, Monday through Saturday.”
“Please?” Remus asked. “I need him here. I need him with me.”
“I’m sure you can manage to go a few hours without each other’s company. I’m afraid that I believe that it is highly likely you would simply try to leave together if I allowed any of your guests to stay.”
“Then lock me in with him,” Sirius demanded.
“We only lock up the residents during their dangerous times.”
“So, what makes you think Remus won’t just follow after us as soon as you leave him?”
“Because he’s not stupid enough to believe he’d get away with it. We administer a potion to all residents through their meals, one that enables us to trace any and all inmates at any time. It remains in the bloodstream for forty eight hours.”
“Oh.” Sirius shot a glance at Remus, before glancing back at Paul. He wondered why neither of them had mentioned that little piece of information. Then he realised that Paul was simply trying not to lose his job, and that for Remus it would have made little difference; there would always be magical means to track them down, and their life on the run would always have been difficult.
“Yes, oh,” O’Brien echoed with another glare. “You might have considered doing a little research before trying to break your partner out.”
“I won’t mind being locked in,” Remus interrupted. “Sirius will give up his wand until the time of the hearing, won’t you?”
Sirius nodded and placed his wand on the desk.
O’Brien looked annoyed, but finally gave an abrupt nod. She repeated her instructions for Paul to escort the others out of the camp and then pointed Sirius and Remus towards the door.
She grumbled considerably along the way, but didn’t hesitate to secure the two of them in Remus’s rooms.
Sirius felt a shiver run down his spine as the door locked behind him.
He looked around the room and saw that it was very much Remus’s. Messy and disorganised, with Quidditch posters on the walls and dog-eared paperbacks on every surface, he had made the confined space his own. There was a single bed, unmade, of course, a wooden desk, and a couple of comfy chairs.
Someone had placed a tray of food on the desk, and Remus grabbed at a roll of bread, gesturing for Sirius to take something, too.
They ate in silence, neither knowing quite what to say. Sirius alternated between glancing round the room and shooting worried looks at Remus.
“It’s a bit of a mess,” Remus said with a grimace when he spotted Sirius looking at the clothes scattered on the floor.
Sirius smiled at him. “Of course it’s a mess; your rooms always are.”
Remus chuckled and let Sirius tug him towards the bed. Sirius caught the wince of pain Remus made as he sat down and cursed their families under his breath.
“Come on, you need to sit down.”
“I should get cleaned up,” Remus said, looking at the bloodstains on his brother’s robes.
“Did we miss any?” Sirius asked, looking him over and cursing the fact that he had given up his wand.
“I’m okay,” Remus insisted. “The bathroom’s through there. I’ll just wash up a bit.”
Sirius sat awkwardly on the bed. Normally, he would have been going into the bathroom with Remus, washing away the remnants of the transformation and massaging away the aches and pains of the night. Now though, he wasn’t sure whether Remus wanted him in there or not.
“Do you want me to live with you again?” Remus asked quietly. “Like it was before?”
Sirius looked at Remus’s nervous expression and fidgeting hands and smiled softly. “I’ve never wanted anything else,” he replied. “Or anything more badly than I want this.”
“Knowing that I’m going to clutter up your flat with all my junk?” Remus added.
“Well, I’m the one that leaves motorcycle parts on the kitchen table.”
“Knowing that I’ll turn into a monster once a month?” Remus grinned.
“Knowing that you won’t?” Sirius grinned back.
Remus blinked in confusion. “Huh?”
“Do you remember that wizard in Yorkshire I was writing to about potions?” Sirius asked, barely able to contain his excitement. “Belby, who spoke out at your trial?”
“The one whose sister was a werewolf who died?”
Sirius nodded. “We did it,” he whispered.
“A cure?” Remus looked stunned.
“Not quite,” Sirius smiled. “But it’s the first real step to a proper one.”
“What is?”
“The Wolfsbane potion.”
“Wolfsbane?”
“It’s a potion that’ll let you keep your mind during the full moon,” Sirius explained. “You’ll still be a wolf, but you’ll not be dangerous.”
Remus was speechless for several minutes, silently taking in the news.
“It’s not available in the shops yet, but I can brew it for you every month.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Bloody hell, Remus! How many times do I have to tell you? I’d do anything for you.” The last sentence was barely more than a whisper and no sooner had he finished speaking then he was enveloped in an almost suffocating hug.
“Thank you,” Remus whispered over and over.
Finally, Sirius pulled back so that he could look Remus in the eye. “I can’t believe you’re alive?”
“You can’t get rid of us Lupins as easy as that,” Remus replied with a grin. “My return from the dead is nothing compared to Rom’s.”
“You’re telling me,” Sirius replied. “I was still in shock from getting my sight back, not to mention finding out you were alive, and then to see him, too… I thought I was hallucinating.”
“You’re sight?”
“I lost it in the accident, I only got it back this morning… thanks to Rita in fact.”
“I have missed a lot, haven’t I?” Remus sighed. Then he grinned before adding. “And trust me to miss the once in a lifetime experience of Rita Skeeter actually being helpful.”
“We’ll have plenty of time to catch up later,” Sirius promised. “If the application’s successful.”
“It will be.”
“You sound pretty sure about that.”
“Well, that’s because you’re Sirius Black,” Remus told him with a grin. “And you always get what you want.”
Sirius laughed. “And do you know what I want right now?”
“I could take a wild guess,” Remus replied, settling down in his lap and rubbing his nose playfully against Sirius’s own.
Remus cast a mischievous glance towards the bed, and Sirius drew in a sharp breath.
“I really should get cleaned up,” Remus said with a chuckle. “You used to help me.” He cast his eyes over towards the bathroom. “There’s a nice big bathtub in there, too.”
“Is it big enough for two?” Sirius asked with a grin.
“How about we check it out?” Remus climbed off Sirius’s lap and pulled him towards the bathroom door.
“Definitely big enough,” Sirius commented. The room was actually bigger than the bathroom in their own flat. “Though I’d put in a complaint about the pest problem…”
“What pest problem?” Remus asked.
Sirius pointed to the ledge of the window where a large black beetle was crawling along the sill. Remus laughed. “Wonder how that got in. Never had any beetles in here before.”
“Well, I don’t think we should let it worry us.” Sirius leaned over the bathtub and turned on the taps.
“Definitely not,” Remus replied as he unbuttoned the borrowed robes, a familiar glint in his eyes.
Sirius sat on the edge of the tub as Remus slowly eased his way out of his robes. He shifted slightly as the sight of his lover quickly aroused him.
“There’s really been no one else?” Remus asked. “Even though you thought I was dead?”
Sirius shook his head and smiled up at him. “If I recall correctly, then the last time I was with someone was in the loos of a muggle night club.”
“Was it good?”
“You tell me.”
“Well, it was for me,” Remus said, tapping his lips thoughtfully with his index finger. “I seem to recall I left my lover rather unsatisfied though. He wanted his creature comforts, I believe.”
“If I’d known we wouldn’t make it home, I’d have forgone those comforts,” Sirius muttered.
“Guess I have a lot of making up to do.” Remus sighed. “Keeping you waiting so long like that.”
“I’m the one who has to do the making up,” Sirius replied quietly. “I’m so sorry I didn’t do more to find out the truth.”
“Shhh,” Remus whispered as he took a step forward.
“But I…”
Remus shook his head and placed a finger over Sirius’s lips. “You’re here now and that’s all that matters.”
Sirius kissed the finger over his lips and pulled back. “Why aren’t you angry with me?”
“I was,” Remus admitted. “From the moment I realised you weren’t coming to get me right up until you held me in your arms as you healed my wounds.”
Sirius ran his finger along one of the newer scars, not from the previous night, but perhaps from the full moon of the month before. “So many scars I’ve given you.”
“You weren’t the one who gave me them,” Remus pointed out.
“I might as well have,” Sirius muttered harshly. “The full moons have been really bad in here, haven’t they?”
Remus didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Sirius could see the answer clearly on the exposed skin.
“I’m so sorry,” Sirius whispered again.
Remus sighed and leaned forward to rest his forehead against Sirius’s. “Do you still love me?” he asked quietly.
“Yes, of course.”
“And I love you more than I ever imagined I could love anyone. So let’s not waste any more time with regrets about things that can’t be changed.”
Sirius gave the tiniest of nods, and Remus lowered his lips to brush against his own.
Sirius eyes fluttered closed at the contact, and he sighed contentedly as Remus’s tongue brushed over his lower lip. He placed his hands on Remus’s hips, guiding him so that he was straddling his lap.
“We’re going to fall in the tub,” Remus murmured.
“I don’t care.” Sirius smiled back at him.
“You’re still dressed,” Remus pointed out.
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
Remus grinned and tugged the front of his robes open. “Why are you wearing green and silver?” he asked. “I thought you hated those colours?”
“I do. My mother picked out my clothes this morning,” Sirius mumbled sheepishly. “I should have known she’d be putting me in Slytherin colours while I couldn’t see what she was doing.”
“Better get you out of them then, hadn’t I?”
“As quickly as possible,” Sirius agreed, pushing Remus back slightly. “But, after you’re all cleaned up.”
Remus meanwhile reached over for the taps and turned them off. “I think we ran too much water.”
“One way to find out.” Sirius stepped aside and gestured for Remus to climb into the bathtub. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.”
Remus nodded and sank back into the hot water with a sigh of contentment. He gave Sirius a meaningful look, encouraging him to finish undressing and climb into the tub, too.
Sirius looked around and grabbed a flannel and a bar of soap. “Let’s get you cleaned up first,” he suggested.
Remus smiled up at him. “Quickly,” he said. “I want you in here with me.”
Sirius gave him a sweeping look. “I can see that,” he teased.
Remus snatched the flannel out of his hand and quickly began to scrub himself clean, wincing each time the soap hit one of the open wounds. “If I wait for you to do it, we’ll still be getting washed when we’re supposed to be before the Ministry.”
“Well, at least you’d be clean for the warlocks hearing the application,” Sirius teased. “That’s got to be one point for us. A clean werewolf is a good werewolf.”
Remus scowled at him. “Right now I care less about being clean and more about how long it’s been since I felt your touch.”
Sirius leaned over and eased Remus up into a sitting position. “Where does it hurt?” he asked.
“The joints,” Remus replied. “It’s always worse round the joints.”
Sirius nodded and began to massage his shoulder, eliciting soft groans of contentment from the tired and aching werewolf.
“That feels nice,” Remus murmured. “Don’t forget the other one.”
“Can’t reach it,” Sirius reminded him. “I’ll get that one later.”
Remus shook his head and scooted forward in the bathtub. “Come on,” he said. “We’ve shared a tub before.”
Sirius nodded and shucked off his robes, before climbing in behind him, causing the water to tip over the edge and onto the tiled floor. Remus settled back into Sirius’s arms with another sigh of contentment.
Sirius kissed the shoulder he had yet to massage, and rubbed it gently in a slow circular motion.
Remus groaned and sighed again. “I think I missed this most of all,” he said.
“What?” Sirius asked with a chuckle. “The aches and pains following your transformation.”
Remus snorted and slapped him lightly on the leg. “Idiot,” he muttered. “I meant you taking care of me. I don’t know why, but no matter how bad the full moons get, I always feel better when you’re taking care of me.”
“I like taking care of you,” Sirius told him. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Remus’s waist, holding the other man close. Remus wriggled slightly as he tried to get comfortable, making Sirius considerably less comfortable in the process.
“If you keep doing that, I’m not going to make it to the bed,” he warned. “I’ll last all of five seconds.”
“Who needs a bed?” Remus asked as he took one of Sirius’s hands in his own and guided it lower. He made a sound of surprise when Sirius didn’t immediately take what he was offering, instead pulling his hand back to place it on his stomach. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked.
“I just want to hold you for a minute,” Sirius whispered. “I want to remember how it feels to have you in my arms and…”
Remus leaned back further and tilted his head so that he could see Sirius’s face. “What else do you want to remember?” he prompted.
“The sounds you make,” Sirius answered with a soft smile. “My hearing’s got pretty sharp since the accident, making up for my lack of vision. But I can’t seem to remember all those little sounds you make when we’re together. I want to remember them all…”
“You will,” Remus told him with another small sigh of contentment. “We both will.”
Sirius smiled as he hugged Remus close. “I love you,” he whispered.
He waited for Remus to reply and eventually opened his eyes to see why he hadn’t. The answer was perfectly obvious when he saw that Remus, still exhausted from the full moon had fallen asleep in his arms.
Sirius chuckled and nudged the sleeping werewolf, but the only response from his lover was a soft snore.
“Come on, Remus,” Sirius urged. “You can’t sleep here. Let’s get you into bed.”
Another snore was the only reply he got.
Sirius sat up, splashing even more water onto the floor and soaking his robes that had been carelessly tossed on it. He swore, but Remus still didn’t wake up.
It took some time and some awkward manoeuvring, but eventually Sirius managed to get himself out of the bathtub without disturbing Remus, or accidentally drowning him.
“This would be so much easier if I had my wand with me,” he muttered as he lifted Remus into his arms, only realising now how much thinner the young werewolf was. The muscles he had developed playing Quidditch had all but wasted away, and he was a great deal lighter than Sirius had been expecting.
Even so, it took Sirius some time to get Remus dried off and tucked up in his bed.
“Come on, budge over,” he whispered, nudging Remus across the mattress and sliding in beside him. Remus sleepily complied with his prodding and moved aside only long enough for Sirius to lay down next to him. Then he turned in his sleep and snuggled up close to him.
He smiled to himself as he looked at the snoring werewolf. He promised himself that this was the last time that the full moon would take such a toll on Remus and that from now on nothing would stop him from taking care of his love.
-o-xXx-o-
Sirius woke to the sound of a very forced and very fake cough. He opened his eyes and looked straight at the source of the unwelcome sound.
“Remus, wake up,” he urged quietly.
“Don’t want to,” Remus murmured sleepily. “Nice and warm here.”
“Remus!” Sirius repeated, this time nudging Remus gently in the shoulder.
“It’s too early,” Remus argued, still not opening his eyes.
O’Brien coughed again, louder this time, before announcing that it was actually quite late, at least if they wanted to get to their hearing before the Ministry that afternoon.
The reminder about the application galvanised Remus into action and he clambered over Sirius, trying, not entirely successfully, to cover himself with the blanket.
“What happened in the bathroom, Lupin?” O’Brien asked, glaring through the door, first at the water still pooling on the floor, then at Sirius.
Remus ignored her question as he went into the bathroom and picked up his robes from the floor; he swore loudly when he realised that they were soaking wet. Sirius climbed out of bed, too, and looked through to where his own robes were languishing in an equally wet puddle, and groaned.
“Your wand, Mr Black,” O’Brien said, holding out the same for Sirius.
“Thanks,” Sirius replied, taking the wand and aiming it at the various puddles, and robes.
“We’ll be leaving from my office in ten minutes,” O’Brien stated. “I’ve heard from the Ministry. Your application is being heard at two o’clock precisely.”
Sirius smiled at Remus, who was now back in the bedroom and looking for one of his socks.
“Thanks for rushing this through so quickly,” Sirius said to O’Brien. “We know you didn’t have to do that for us.”
O’Brien blushed slightly at Sirius’s questioning look. “I wasn’t entirely truthful yesterday,” she admitted. “I did happen to see that reporter’s article in the Prophet. When Lupin… Remus, arrived here, I barely recognised him as the same man in the picture taken outside Gringotts. But I recognised him yesterday, after you arrived.”
“I am still here, you know,” Remus called out from where he was now half under the bed.
“I can see that,” O’Brien replied. “Now, my office, quick as you can. And Mr Black, I think you’ll find the Ministry will take your application far more seriously if you dress first.”
Remus burst out laughing the moment the door closed behind O’Brien.
“It wasn’t that funny,” Sirius huffed as he hurriedly dressed.
“I was just imagining the look on your father’s face if you showed up at the Ministry naked,” Remus explained.
“It would be horrible bad luck to end up with an unreasonable humourless git like my father on the…” Sirius’s voice trailed off and his breath caught in his throat.
“What is it?” Remus asked.
“My father!” Sirius felt a coldness settling in his stomach as he remembered what day it was.
“What’s the matter?”
“My father’s working today,” Sirius sighed. “He’ll be one of the wizards hearing the application.”
“Are you sure?”
“He rotates through departments,” Sirius explained. “He was dealing with underage magic last week, that means this week he’ll be dealing with dangerous creatures.”
“He said you didn’t want to speak for me when I was sent here,” Remus whispered.
“He lied.”
“I know that. I meant that he’ll not let your application through.”
“Doesn’t mean we’re not going to try,” Sirius declared as he took Remus’s hand. “We’ll sort the rest of it out later, but right now we’re getting you out of here.”
“We’d better get going,” Remus said as he squeezed Sirius’s hand back. “Or they’ll throw the application out on the grounds of us being late.”
“They probably could as well,” Sirius agreed as they left the room. “If we can’t get to the Ministry on time, they’ll never believe we can get you secured during a full moon on time.”
They hurried along the corridor, but hadn’t gone more than a few feet before the opening of the door of the room next door stopped them. Aaron stood in the doorway with a knowing smirk on his face. “You’re recovered from last night?” he asked.
Despite the fact that Remus had been too exhausted to do anything, Sirius felt his face reddening, but Remus just laughed. “Totally,” he said as he wrapped his arm around Sirius’s waist and carried on walking, towing Sirius along with him.
“Good luck!” Aaron called after them and Remus turned to wave his goodbyes.
Sirius looked sideways at Remus. “We’ll probably need all the luck we can get.”
Remus smiled grimly. They both knew that it was going to take a lot more than luck to win Remus’s freedom. It would take something of a miracle.
-
Chapter 75
Summary for the new readers watching my journal: An AU Remus/Sirius story set in a world where an eleven year old werewolf named Remus Lupin never got his Hogwarts invitation, and where Sirius Black was not accepted by the rest of the Gryffindors. The two outcasts form a friendship despite overwhelming odds, but will their friendship survive when Sirius finds himself falling in love with his best friend...his friend who wants nothing more than to be 'normal', despite the passion he feels for the heir to the Noble House of Black.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise. J K Rowling retains all copyright.
I Need You Now, Like I Needed You Then (PG15)
Sirius turned to see the owner of the voice and came face to face with a fearsome and official looking woman whose name badge proclaimed her to be Warden O’Brien. Behind her a young man was grinning widely, clearly one of the other werewolves had raised the alarm, and was taking a great deal of joy from it, too.
“If you’ll all follow me,” the warden said, her voice making sure that the politely phrased request was perceived as the order it was. “Not you, Higgs,” she added as she passed the grinning werewolf. “Go get dressed and join the others for breakfast.”
Higgs looked disappointed, but he did as he was told.
Sirius sighed and helped Remus to follow after the warden. Even though Remus seemed to be recovering his strength a little, he could tell that he was shaking. Only Rita looked unconcerned at their apprehension, she merely looked disappointed that her plan to smuggle Remus out of the compound was never going to be carried out to its conclusion.
Once the party was gathered in the warden’s office she looked at each of them in turn, her glare seeming to dare one or another of them into talking. “I suppose I don’t need to inform you that breaking any prisoner out of a dangerous creatures camp is punishable by a minimum sentence of six months in Azkaban?”
Sirius felt his stomach lurching again and he risked a glance at Romulus. He wasn’t surprised to see the other man had lost what little colour he’d managed to gain since his release from the dark confines of the prison.
“Aaron didn’t have anything to do with it,” Remus said, his words confirmed by the others.
O’Brien looked at Aaron and nodded firmly. “You may go and join the others,” she finally said, and Aaron ducked out of the door, shooting a sympathetic glance at Remus as he went. “As for the rest of you…” she continued.
“It’s not like we didn’t try official channels,” Romulus pointed out. “I applied for supervision of Remus.”
O’Brien looked at the papers in the folder lying on her desk. “Your application was rejected, yes?”
“Because of my criminal record,” Romulus replied shortly.
“Which you decided to add to today,” O’Brien muttered. “And the rest of you?” She looked round the group, focusing on each of them in turn, finally resting her gaze on Rita.
“Oh, I’m just here to cover the story; I’ve been promised the exclusive.”
“I beg your pardon?” O’Brien said, her harsh glare turning to an expression of frank disbelief.
“Mr Black promised me the exclusive story of his tender reunion with Mr Lupin, if I were prepared to…” Her voice trailed off as she realised she was incriminating herself with her own words.
O’Brien gave Rita one last suspicious look before turning to Sirius. “And Mr Black?”
“You think I could just leave him to suffer through the full moon?” Sirius asked. “I had to get him out of here.”
“You could have applied for supervision of Lupin at his hearing last year,” O’Brien commented as she flicked through the papers. “Why didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know anything about the hearing,” Sirius replied.
“According to evidence given, you did know about it, and were unwilling to attend.”
“That’s a lie!”
“This was the evidence given by your own father. Are you calling him a liar?”
“Damn right, I am!”
“Well, that still doesn’t alter the fact that you cannot simply waltz in here, collect Lupin, and ignore the proper procedures.”
“Can Sirius go through the proper procedures now?” Remus asked quietly.
“I can have an application brought before the Ministry later today,” O’Brien confirmed. “If I send it in now, it should be heard this afternoon. Mr Black is not a blood relation, is he?”
“No,” Remus replied. “He’s-”
“They were lovers,” Rita chimed in. “Perhaps you read my story in the Daily Prophet about a year ago?”
“Never read that trashy rag,” O’Brien snapped.
“It’s the most popular wizard newspaper in the country!” Rita exclaimed.
“And prints whatever the Ministry of Magic tell them to,” O’Brien countered sharply. “However the integrity, or lack thereof, of the news industry is hardly the issue here.”
“But…”
“Rita, shut up,” Sirius, Romulus and Remus asked in tired unison. Thankfully, she did.
Sirius turned to O’Brien. “I’m Remus’s husband,” he said, rolling up his sleeve to show the evidence of their bonding.
O’Brien didn’t look that impressed and continued to glare at him. “You may, if you wish, apply for supervision of Lupin on his release on the grounds of being, effectively, his spouse. I should warn you however, whilst there have been several successful husband/wife applications, I’ve never come across one where the applicant and the resident are of the same sex.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Remus pointed out, and Sirius was pleased to see that Remus was recovering from his transformation with every passing minute.
O’Brien turned back to Sirius and gave him a sharp look. “Applications should not be taken lightly. I suggest you take the time to consider this thoroughly. By applying for supervision of a resident from a Dangerous Creatures’ Camp, you are saying that you will be responsible for that person, for their security at dangerous times, in Lupin’s case during the full moon. You would be expected to live with him and, should the relationship fall apart, return him to this or another camp immediately. If you have any doubts at all, then I suggest you consider long and hard about whether you wish to make the application.”
Sirius nodded. “I don’t have any doubts. Please put the application in right away.” He felt Remus reaching out to grab his hand at his words and he turned to face him with a smile. “None at all.”
O’Brien stood up looked at Paul, who had remained silent during the entire meeting. “I’ll deal with you later,” she told him. “In the meantime, kindly escort our guests off of the premises. I’ll ensure that Lupin gets back to his rooms, without any detours.”
“I’d like to stay with him,” Sirius asked.
“This isn’t a hotel,” O’Brien snapped. “You can’t just decide to check in at your convenience.”
“Remus and I, we need to talk,” Sirius explained quietly. “A lot’s happened and…” His voice trailed off; he was reluctant to admit to the hard looking woman in front of him that he simply didn’t want to leave Remus’s presence again. He knew it would sound clingy and pathetic, but he couldn’t help it.
“This is highly irregular.”
“Please?”
“Visitors for werewolves are only allowed in the camp between the hours of 1pm and 5pm, Monday through Saturday.”
“Please?” Remus asked. “I need him here. I need him with me.”
“I’m sure you can manage to go a few hours without each other’s company. I’m afraid that I believe that it is highly likely you would simply try to leave together if I allowed any of your guests to stay.”
“Then lock me in with him,” Sirius demanded.
“We only lock up the residents during their dangerous times.”
“So, what makes you think Remus won’t just follow after us as soon as you leave him?”
“Because he’s not stupid enough to believe he’d get away with it. We administer a potion to all residents through their meals, one that enables us to trace any and all inmates at any time. It remains in the bloodstream for forty eight hours.”
“Oh.” Sirius shot a glance at Remus, before glancing back at Paul. He wondered why neither of them had mentioned that little piece of information. Then he realised that Paul was simply trying not to lose his job, and that for Remus it would have made little difference; there would always be magical means to track them down, and their life on the run would always have been difficult.
“Yes, oh,” O’Brien echoed with another glare. “You might have considered doing a little research before trying to break your partner out.”
“I won’t mind being locked in,” Remus interrupted. “Sirius will give up his wand until the time of the hearing, won’t you?”
Sirius nodded and placed his wand on the desk.
O’Brien looked annoyed, but finally gave an abrupt nod. She repeated her instructions for Paul to escort the others out of the camp and then pointed Sirius and Remus towards the door.
She grumbled considerably along the way, but didn’t hesitate to secure the two of them in Remus’s rooms.
Sirius felt a shiver run down his spine as the door locked behind him.
He looked around the room and saw that it was very much Remus’s. Messy and disorganised, with Quidditch posters on the walls and dog-eared paperbacks on every surface, he had made the confined space his own. There was a single bed, unmade, of course, a wooden desk, and a couple of comfy chairs.
Someone had placed a tray of food on the desk, and Remus grabbed at a roll of bread, gesturing for Sirius to take something, too.
They ate in silence, neither knowing quite what to say. Sirius alternated between glancing round the room and shooting worried looks at Remus.
“It’s a bit of a mess,” Remus said with a grimace when he spotted Sirius looking at the clothes scattered on the floor.
Sirius smiled at him. “Of course it’s a mess; your rooms always are.”
Remus chuckled and let Sirius tug him towards the bed. Sirius caught the wince of pain Remus made as he sat down and cursed their families under his breath.
“Come on, you need to sit down.”
“I should get cleaned up,” Remus said, looking at the bloodstains on his brother’s robes.
“Did we miss any?” Sirius asked, looking him over and cursing the fact that he had given up his wand.
“I’m okay,” Remus insisted. “The bathroom’s through there. I’ll just wash up a bit.”
Sirius sat awkwardly on the bed. Normally, he would have been going into the bathroom with Remus, washing away the remnants of the transformation and massaging away the aches and pains of the night. Now though, he wasn’t sure whether Remus wanted him in there or not.
“Do you want me to live with you again?” Remus asked quietly. “Like it was before?”
Sirius looked at Remus’s nervous expression and fidgeting hands and smiled softly. “I’ve never wanted anything else,” he replied. “Or anything more badly than I want this.”
“Knowing that I’m going to clutter up your flat with all my junk?” Remus added.
“Well, I’m the one that leaves motorcycle parts on the kitchen table.”
“Knowing that I’ll turn into a monster once a month?” Remus grinned.
“Knowing that you won’t?” Sirius grinned back.
Remus blinked in confusion. “Huh?”
“Do you remember that wizard in Yorkshire I was writing to about potions?” Sirius asked, barely able to contain his excitement. “Belby, who spoke out at your trial?”
“The one whose sister was a werewolf who died?”
Sirius nodded. “We did it,” he whispered.
“A cure?” Remus looked stunned.
“Not quite,” Sirius smiled. “But it’s the first real step to a proper one.”
“What is?”
“The Wolfsbane potion.”
“Wolfsbane?”
“It’s a potion that’ll let you keep your mind during the full moon,” Sirius explained. “You’ll still be a wolf, but you’ll not be dangerous.”
Remus was speechless for several minutes, silently taking in the news.
“It’s not available in the shops yet, but I can brew it for you every month.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Bloody hell, Remus! How many times do I have to tell you? I’d do anything for you.” The last sentence was barely more than a whisper and no sooner had he finished speaking then he was enveloped in an almost suffocating hug.
“Thank you,” Remus whispered over and over.
Finally, Sirius pulled back so that he could look Remus in the eye. “I can’t believe you’re alive?”
“You can’t get rid of us Lupins as easy as that,” Remus replied with a grin. “My return from the dead is nothing compared to Rom’s.”
“You’re telling me,” Sirius replied. “I was still in shock from getting my sight back, not to mention finding out you were alive, and then to see him, too… I thought I was hallucinating.”
“You’re sight?”
“I lost it in the accident, I only got it back this morning… thanks to Rita in fact.”
“I have missed a lot, haven’t I?” Remus sighed. Then he grinned before adding. “And trust me to miss the once in a lifetime experience of Rita Skeeter actually being helpful.”
“We’ll have plenty of time to catch up later,” Sirius promised. “If the application’s successful.”
“It will be.”
“You sound pretty sure about that.”
“Well, that’s because you’re Sirius Black,” Remus told him with a grin. “And you always get what you want.”
Sirius laughed. “And do you know what I want right now?”
“I could take a wild guess,” Remus replied, settling down in his lap and rubbing his nose playfully against Sirius’s own.
Remus cast a mischievous glance towards the bed, and Sirius drew in a sharp breath.
“I really should get cleaned up,” Remus said with a chuckle. “You used to help me.” He cast his eyes over towards the bathroom. “There’s a nice big bathtub in there, too.”
“Is it big enough for two?” Sirius asked with a grin.
“How about we check it out?” Remus climbed off Sirius’s lap and pulled him towards the bathroom door.
“Definitely big enough,” Sirius commented. The room was actually bigger than the bathroom in their own flat. “Though I’d put in a complaint about the pest problem…”
“What pest problem?” Remus asked.
Sirius pointed to the ledge of the window where a large black beetle was crawling along the sill. Remus laughed. “Wonder how that got in. Never had any beetles in here before.”
“Well, I don’t think we should let it worry us.” Sirius leaned over the bathtub and turned on the taps.
“Definitely not,” Remus replied as he unbuttoned the borrowed robes, a familiar glint in his eyes.
Sirius sat on the edge of the tub as Remus slowly eased his way out of his robes. He shifted slightly as the sight of his lover quickly aroused him.
“There’s really been no one else?” Remus asked. “Even though you thought I was dead?”
Sirius shook his head and smiled up at him. “If I recall correctly, then the last time I was with someone was in the loos of a muggle night club.”
“Was it good?”
“You tell me.”
“Well, it was for me,” Remus said, tapping his lips thoughtfully with his index finger. “I seem to recall I left my lover rather unsatisfied though. He wanted his creature comforts, I believe.”
“If I’d known we wouldn’t make it home, I’d have forgone those comforts,” Sirius muttered.
“Guess I have a lot of making up to do.” Remus sighed. “Keeping you waiting so long like that.”
“I’m the one who has to do the making up,” Sirius replied quietly. “I’m so sorry I didn’t do more to find out the truth.”
“Shhh,” Remus whispered as he took a step forward.
“But I…”
Remus shook his head and placed a finger over Sirius’s lips. “You’re here now and that’s all that matters.”
Sirius kissed the finger over his lips and pulled back. “Why aren’t you angry with me?”
“I was,” Remus admitted. “From the moment I realised you weren’t coming to get me right up until you held me in your arms as you healed my wounds.”
Sirius ran his finger along one of the newer scars, not from the previous night, but perhaps from the full moon of the month before. “So many scars I’ve given you.”
“You weren’t the one who gave me them,” Remus pointed out.
“I might as well have,” Sirius muttered harshly. “The full moons have been really bad in here, haven’t they?”
Remus didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Sirius could see the answer clearly on the exposed skin.
“I’m so sorry,” Sirius whispered again.
Remus sighed and leaned forward to rest his forehead against Sirius’s. “Do you still love me?” he asked quietly.
“Yes, of course.”
“And I love you more than I ever imagined I could love anyone. So let’s not waste any more time with regrets about things that can’t be changed.”
Sirius gave the tiniest of nods, and Remus lowered his lips to brush against his own.
Sirius eyes fluttered closed at the contact, and he sighed contentedly as Remus’s tongue brushed over his lower lip. He placed his hands on Remus’s hips, guiding him so that he was straddling his lap.
“We’re going to fall in the tub,” Remus murmured.
“I don’t care.” Sirius smiled back at him.
“You’re still dressed,” Remus pointed out.
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
Remus grinned and tugged the front of his robes open. “Why are you wearing green and silver?” he asked. “I thought you hated those colours?”
“I do. My mother picked out my clothes this morning,” Sirius mumbled sheepishly. “I should have known she’d be putting me in Slytherin colours while I couldn’t see what she was doing.”
“Better get you out of them then, hadn’t I?”
“As quickly as possible,” Sirius agreed, pushing Remus back slightly. “But, after you’re all cleaned up.”
Remus meanwhile reached over for the taps and turned them off. “I think we ran too much water.”
“One way to find out.” Sirius stepped aside and gestured for Remus to climb into the bathtub. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.”
Remus nodded and sank back into the hot water with a sigh of contentment. He gave Sirius a meaningful look, encouraging him to finish undressing and climb into the tub, too.
Sirius looked around and grabbed a flannel and a bar of soap. “Let’s get you cleaned up first,” he suggested.
Remus smiled up at him. “Quickly,” he said. “I want you in here with me.”
Sirius gave him a sweeping look. “I can see that,” he teased.
Remus snatched the flannel out of his hand and quickly began to scrub himself clean, wincing each time the soap hit one of the open wounds. “If I wait for you to do it, we’ll still be getting washed when we’re supposed to be before the Ministry.”
“Well, at least you’d be clean for the warlocks hearing the application,” Sirius teased. “That’s got to be one point for us. A clean werewolf is a good werewolf.”
Remus scowled at him. “Right now I care less about being clean and more about how long it’s been since I felt your touch.”
Sirius leaned over and eased Remus up into a sitting position. “Where does it hurt?” he asked.
“The joints,” Remus replied. “It’s always worse round the joints.”
Sirius nodded and began to massage his shoulder, eliciting soft groans of contentment from the tired and aching werewolf.
“That feels nice,” Remus murmured. “Don’t forget the other one.”
“Can’t reach it,” Sirius reminded him. “I’ll get that one later.”
Remus shook his head and scooted forward in the bathtub. “Come on,” he said. “We’ve shared a tub before.”
Sirius nodded and shucked off his robes, before climbing in behind him, causing the water to tip over the edge and onto the tiled floor. Remus settled back into Sirius’s arms with another sigh of contentment.
Sirius kissed the shoulder he had yet to massage, and rubbed it gently in a slow circular motion.
Remus groaned and sighed again. “I think I missed this most of all,” he said.
“What?” Sirius asked with a chuckle. “The aches and pains following your transformation.”
Remus snorted and slapped him lightly on the leg. “Idiot,” he muttered. “I meant you taking care of me. I don’t know why, but no matter how bad the full moons get, I always feel better when you’re taking care of me.”
“I like taking care of you,” Sirius told him. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Remus’s waist, holding the other man close. Remus wriggled slightly as he tried to get comfortable, making Sirius considerably less comfortable in the process.
“If you keep doing that, I’m not going to make it to the bed,” he warned. “I’ll last all of five seconds.”
“Who needs a bed?” Remus asked as he took one of Sirius’s hands in his own and guided it lower. He made a sound of surprise when Sirius didn’t immediately take what he was offering, instead pulling his hand back to place it on his stomach. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked.
“I just want to hold you for a minute,” Sirius whispered. “I want to remember how it feels to have you in my arms and…”
Remus leaned back further and tilted his head so that he could see Sirius’s face. “What else do you want to remember?” he prompted.
“The sounds you make,” Sirius answered with a soft smile. “My hearing’s got pretty sharp since the accident, making up for my lack of vision. But I can’t seem to remember all those little sounds you make when we’re together. I want to remember them all…”
“You will,” Remus told him with another small sigh of contentment. “We both will.”
Sirius smiled as he hugged Remus close. “I love you,” he whispered.
He waited for Remus to reply and eventually opened his eyes to see why he hadn’t. The answer was perfectly obvious when he saw that Remus, still exhausted from the full moon had fallen asleep in his arms.
Sirius chuckled and nudged the sleeping werewolf, but the only response from his lover was a soft snore.
“Come on, Remus,” Sirius urged. “You can’t sleep here. Let’s get you into bed.”
Another snore was the only reply he got.
Sirius sat up, splashing even more water onto the floor and soaking his robes that had been carelessly tossed on it. He swore, but Remus still didn’t wake up.
It took some time and some awkward manoeuvring, but eventually Sirius managed to get himself out of the bathtub without disturbing Remus, or accidentally drowning him.
“This would be so much easier if I had my wand with me,” he muttered as he lifted Remus into his arms, only realising now how much thinner the young werewolf was. The muscles he had developed playing Quidditch had all but wasted away, and he was a great deal lighter than Sirius had been expecting.
Even so, it took Sirius some time to get Remus dried off and tucked up in his bed.
“Come on, budge over,” he whispered, nudging Remus across the mattress and sliding in beside him. Remus sleepily complied with his prodding and moved aside only long enough for Sirius to lay down next to him. Then he turned in his sleep and snuggled up close to him.
He smiled to himself as he looked at the snoring werewolf. He promised himself that this was the last time that the full moon would take such a toll on Remus and that from now on nothing would stop him from taking care of his love.
-o-xXx-o-
Sirius woke to the sound of a very forced and very fake cough. He opened his eyes and looked straight at the source of the unwelcome sound.
“Remus, wake up,” he urged quietly.
“Don’t want to,” Remus murmured sleepily. “Nice and warm here.”
“Remus!” Sirius repeated, this time nudging Remus gently in the shoulder.
“It’s too early,” Remus argued, still not opening his eyes.
O’Brien coughed again, louder this time, before announcing that it was actually quite late, at least if they wanted to get to their hearing before the Ministry that afternoon.
The reminder about the application galvanised Remus into action and he clambered over Sirius, trying, not entirely successfully, to cover himself with the blanket.
“What happened in the bathroom, Lupin?” O’Brien asked, glaring through the door, first at the water still pooling on the floor, then at Sirius.
Remus ignored her question as he went into the bathroom and picked up his robes from the floor; he swore loudly when he realised that they were soaking wet. Sirius climbed out of bed, too, and looked through to where his own robes were languishing in an equally wet puddle, and groaned.
“Your wand, Mr Black,” O’Brien said, holding out the same for Sirius.
“Thanks,” Sirius replied, taking the wand and aiming it at the various puddles, and robes.
“We’ll be leaving from my office in ten minutes,” O’Brien stated. “I’ve heard from the Ministry. Your application is being heard at two o’clock precisely.”
Sirius smiled at Remus, who was now back in the bedroom and looking for one of his socks.
“Thanks for rushing this through so quickly,” Sirius said to O’Brien. “We know you didn’t have to do that for us.”
O’Brien blushed slightly at Sirius’s questioning look. “I wasn’t entirely truthful yesterday,” she admitted. “I did happen to see that reporter’s article in the Prophet. When Lupin… Remus, arrived here, I barely recognised him as the same man in the picture taken outside Gringotts. But I recognised him yesterday, after you arrived.”
“I am still here, you know,” Remus called out from where he was now half under the bed.
“I can see that,” O’Brien replied. “Now, my office, quick as you can. And Mr Black, I think you’ll find the Ministry will take your application far more seriously if you dress first.”
Remus burst out laughing the moment the door closed behind O’Brien.
“It wasn’t that funny,” Sirius huffed as he hurriedly dressed.
“I was just imagining the look on your father’s face if you showed up at the Ministry naked,” Remus explained.
“It would be horrible bad luck to end up with an unreasonable humourless git like my father on the…” Sirius’s voice trailed off and his breath caught in his throat.
“What is it?” Remus asked.
“My father!” Sirius felt a coldness settling in his stomach as he remembered what day it was.
“What’s the matter?”
“My father’s working today,” Sirius sighed. “He’ll be one of the wizards hearing the application.”
“Are you sure?”
“He rotates through departments,” Sirius explained. “He was dealing with underage magic last week, that means this week he’ll be dealing with dangerous creatures.”
“He said you didn’t want to speak for me when I was sent here,” Remus whispered.
“He lied.”
“I know that. I meant that he’ll not let your application through.”
“Doesn’t mean we’re not going to try,” Sirius declared as he took Remus’s hand. “We’ll sort the rest of it out later, but right now we’re getting you out of here.”
“We’d better get going,” Remus said as he squeezed Sirius’s hand back. “Or they’ll throw the application out on the grounds of us being late.”
“They probably could as well,” Sirius agreed as they left the room. “If we can’t get to the Ministry on time, they’ll never believe we can get you secured during a full moon on time.”
They hurried along the corridor, but hadn’t gone more than a few feet before the opening of the door of the room next door stopped them. Aaron stood in the doorway with a knowing smirk on his face. “You’re recovered from last night?” he asked.
Despite the fact that Remus had been too exhausted to do anything, Sirius felt his face reddening, but Remus just laughed. “Totally,” he said as he wrapped his arm around Sirius’s waist and carried on walking, towing Sirius along with him.
“Good luck!” Aaron called after them and Remus turned to wave his goodbyes.
Sirius looked sideways at Remus. “We’ll probably need all the luck we can get.”
Remus smiled grimly. They both knew that it was going to take a lot more than luck to win Remus’s freedom. It would take something of a miracle.
-
Chapter 75