Blood of the Moon {Remus Lupin}

Chapter 104

I did NOT spend until 2am this morning drawing up blueprints for Beauxbatons and timetables and planning the French version of OWLs and NEWTs and drawing a map of the grounds, all for a fic I may or may not write that won't even be set in Beauxbatons, it's just from the pov of someone who went there. Nope. Not me. :)

"I want to see my Godson!" roared the voice of Sirius Black, echoing through the house. The body next to Auriga jolted awake (when she had been stirring gently) and sat up quickly, throwing Auriga off. She landed around halfway across the bed.

"Are you alright?" asked Remus as he began pulling on fresh robes.

"Yep," said Auriga, her head pounding from the moon, as she too climbed out of bed. "What time is it?" She yawned widely.

  Remus looked at his watch and sighed. "Noon," he said with a frown.

"I think we got quite lucky, actually," said Auriga quietly as the two darted from the room. "That's four hours...I thought we were going to have to tie him up if we wanted any hope of sleeping." Remus forced a small chuckle as they walked briskly into the downstairs living room.

It really was a sight to behold. Tonks was stood high on the windowsill, holding the pot of floo powder out of anyone's reach. It was taking the combined efforts of Lee, Fred, and George to restrain Sirius, who looked like he was just about ready to murder anyone who got between him and the floo powder. Arthur was watching, baffled, from where he stood next to Molly, who stepped over to them upon entry.

She handed Sirius's wand to Remus. Auriga raised her eyebrows, surprised that Molly had managed to disarm him. "I'll get you both some soup," she said, and Auriga smiled at her.

"Thank you, Molly," said Remus. He turned to Sirius, and in his best professor voice, said, "Sirius, what in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" Auriga briefly wondered what potion could cure a headache. She'd have to brew it in time for the next full moon.

Sirius stopped struggling, but no one let their guard down, least of all Tonks, who was cradling the floo powder like a baby. "You don't understand, Moony, I should've gone as soon as I heard! What if something else happened! And I don't know who put you in charge-" he pointed an accusing finger at Auriga, who knew she couldn't answer that either, "But I'm not certain we should have a Death Eater's daughter leading us."

"I think you're tired, Sirius," said Remus, a warning tone in his voice as he took a step forward. Auriga placed a gentle hand on his arm and he stood down.

"I thought you trusted me more than that, Sirius," said Auriga, trying to sound more disappointed than she actually was. He knew he was just a silly, angry Gryffindor. They got like this sometimes. It appeared her tone had worked, because his face went a light pink and he shuffled uneasily. "By all means, you can go as soon as we hear from Bill and Fleur."

"That's actually what set this off," said Arthur wearily as Molly returned with two steaming mugs of onion soup. Remus and Auriga began sipping at them straight away. "Lee heard back from them and Sirius wanted to go."

"Well," said Auriga, taking a seat on the sofa. Hesitantly, Arthur and Molly followed suit. "At least two of us should stay here as usual. I don't mind this time."

"We'll stay too," said Lee, looking to Tonks who nodded.

"The rest of you should go," said Auriga. "They're your families."

"I should stay too," said Remus, quietly.

"You don't want to see Harry?" Auriga asked with a frown, confused.

"He's not my Godson," said Remus, looking uncomfortable at the attention.

"You're coming, Moony," said Sirius, stepping over and pulling his friend to his feet. He held out his hand expectantly and Remus frowned at him before taking it and holding it. "My wand you idiot." Remus quickly let go and handed him his wand. Sirius grinned at him. "What time should we be back?" he added to Auriga.

She smiled at his feeble attempt at reconciliation. "Five at the latest. We'll come after you after that." They nodded, and one by one, the six of them stepped through the fireplace, each in turn calling for 'Shell Cottage'. Remus was last, and he quickly kissed Auriga before she pushed him through. She knew how desperate he'd been to see Harry these last few months.

*****

Auriga picked at the chip in the handle of her mug of tea, sat at the kitchen table. She could feel all the eyes in the room on her. The others had returned from Shell Cottage around ten minutes ago, and they were now sat in the kitchen updating Tonks, Lee, and Auriga, as Molly started on dinner.

"Did you hear what I said?" Sirius pushed, sounding overjoyed. "It was Draco that saved them!"

"I heard," said Auriga quietly. Draco had saved Harry's life. He hadn't ratted them out. Merlin knew what he was doing at home during term time...but that wasn't her key concern right now.

She knew he'd felt remorse. Knew he hadn't wanted to kill Dumbledore. Or maybe it was their father's death that had changed him. Or maybe looking into the eyes of the boy he'd once loved. Regardless, he'd done the right thing. After all her years of pushing...

And Auriga couldn't help but think, if she'd stopped him the night that Dumbledore had died...if she'd gone after him...he'd be here, now. He'd be safe.

What would be happening to him now then? If he had misidentified Harry Potter and his friends...he would surely be punished. As would her mother. And most likely her Aunt Bellatrix, but Auriga couldn't care less about her.

"It's not your fault," said Remus, eyeing her carefully. Everyone frowned at him, clearly wondering why he looked so grave when all they'd brought back was good news. "There's nothing you can do."

"I could go and get them," said Auriga, staring into her cooling tea, her voice dry.

"You'd die."

"We managed last time," she pointed out.

"There were more of us last time," Remus countered. "And security was worse. And it wasn't the day after the full moon."

"I'm not following," said Sirius, leaning forward. "Why aren't you happy? Draco's on our side."

"Draco's on our side, behind enemy lines," explained Auriga, unable to meet anyone's eyes except Tonks's. She smiled weakly at her. "They'll torture him so badly for that I'd be surprised if he doesn't end up like my father."

Remus walked swiftly round the table and enveloped Auriga in a hug, planting a kiss into her hair, and letting his head rest there. Molly put a hand to her mouth and moved away from the stove, where she was making a beef stew. "Fleur said the same thing," she said quietly. "She said Harry wanted to go back."

It took all Auriga's strength to smile weakly back.