The Werewolf's Child

One Winter Evening

Harry spent the next day feeling as if his feet didn't quite touch the ground, as if he was walking on a small cushion of air. The revelation, that Snape and Lupin had made the night before seemed to hardly touch his consciousness. His mind kept going back Ginny, to the feel of her arms around him, to the weight of her sleeping beside him, her hair shimmering in the firelight. His muscles felt loose and free. He felt buffered, as if nothing bad could touch him.

The rain continued all day in steady, cold sheets and by evening the back garden was a sodden, icy mess. Remus made a beef stew and an apple crisp for supper and they all gathered in the brightly lit kitchen. The mood was lighthearted as they ate, the chatter intense. Remus set aside a portion for Sev, hoping he might still arrive later in the evening. He assigned the washing up to Draco and Amanda, then stood at the kitchen door and looked out into the back garden. It was a cold, clear evening. The rain had stopped and the temperature had dropped back toward winter. The garden was coated in a treacherous sheet of ice. The moon was waxing again, close to full, riding high in a clear indigo sky. He was starting to feel it, the familiar tug in his joints, a restlessness in his blood, his skin turning twitchy and sensitive, the hairs on his arms standing up with any breeze or movement. Only a few more days, and Remus knew they would go fast. The moon always came. It was the guiding principle of his life. The sixth moon. At least he and the baby were getting through them. He stretched, popping his joints.

He joined the others in the parlour where Harry and Ron were teaching Dudley and Gavin how to play exploding snap. Hermione had discovered the library and was going through it with an appetite that rivaled Remus' own. She had been distracted at dinner, impatient, anxious to get back to the books. Remus could see her brown curls, poking up in a frizzy mass above the top of the burgundy armchair.

Remus built up the parlor fire, using his wand to transfer a few logs from the wood box to the fireplace. The woodbox was charmed to magically refill itself from the woodshed in the back garden. He settled by the fire with a contented sigh. The baby was moving about gently, a reassuring presence. He had let Gavin and Amanda put their hands on him earlier in the afternoon, and they had felt the baby moving. He had felt shy about having anyone other than Sev touch his swollen belly, but the children had been entranced.

He must have actually dozed off, his stomach full, lulled by the warm fire and the chatter in the room when a sharp knock on the front door startled him awake. He heaved himself out of the armchair, awkwardly, searching frantically for his wand. Remus was tall but he was normally slender and lithe, his whole style of fighting was based on moving quickly. Now, he felt off balance, his center of gravity shifted, his weight thrown forward by his pregnant belly. He felt slow and awkward, holding his wand in fighting stance. He would have to do the best he could. No other choice, really.

Harry already had his wand out, and Ron was right behind him. Draco appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, wand in hand and Hermione, likewise was at the door of the study, holding her wand, her frizzy hair catching the light of the lamp in the study behind her, giving her the appearance of having a shimmery aura.

Remus looked about the room, well pleased at their response. "No one make a move unless I say so," he said in a tight whisper. "Harry and Ron, cover the door. Draco and Hermione, cover me. Dudley, take Amanda and Gavin behind the sofa and get low."

He glanced at the silent sneakoscope set above the front door and wondered if it was still functioning. The foe glass, set in the place in the foyer where a mirror would normally be, was likewise empty. Remus moved cautiously to the foyer. The entrance area was dusty and neglected. They never used the front door. He peered through the peephole set above the curtained window and saw....Nymphadora Tonks, her hair in yellow spikes around her head.