Wolf and Wings - Remus and Narcissa

Chapter 5

Narcissa Black was never so vulgar as to be caught in a hurry - the way she spoke, the way she sauntered from place to place, the way she drifted down onto chairs like a silk scarf settling over them - hers was a deliberate, luxurious, unhurried pace.

But tonight, she was bolting up the Hogwarts main staircase, her cloak streaming out behind her as she took the steps two at a time. At the top, she crossed the corridor and ran to the bottom of the moving stairs, the ones that would probably not budge under her Slytherin feet to take her to Gryffindor Tower. She was right about that and stood halfway up them, pointed in the wrong direction but able to see to the portrait hole where Remus was waiting while Peter Pettigrew boosted himself inside.

"Lupin!" she called across the open space, unconcerned for once about the possibility of anyone else hearing her.

At the sound of her voice, his shoulder jerked toward his ear but he didn't turn around.

"Quit your sulking and finish talking to me," she called again.

It was Sirius who answered back, his hand on Remus's back, pushing him toward the tower entrance. "Go home, Narcissa. We've had a long day."

"Lupin!" she called again.

His foot was on the edge of the portrait hole, about to step up into it, about to go in for the night with his head full of images of Lucius Malfoy snogging her hand in the Entrance Hall just now. She wouldn't have it, and she called out one more time.

Only, there wasn't a sound - not in the usual way. She opened her mouth, air moved through her throat, but nothing echoed off the vaulted stone walls of the castle stairwell. At least, nothing simple humans could hear. But across the open space, Remus and Sirius both covered their ears and cried out, as if in pain.

"Bloody hell," Sirius said, spinning around to look incredulously at his cousin. "How did - "

"I told you she was part creature," Remus said. "Though I didn't know she could - "

"Stop standing there looking impressed," Sirius said. "Either go inside, or holler back at her to never use that ultrasonic tone with you again."

"Are you coming?" Narcissa called. "I wasn't finished speaking with you when I was interrupted."

Sirius patted Remus's shoulder as he took his place in the portrait hole. "You know what the Black family is like. Don't get too close to her. Don't go anywhere private. Be careful," he said. "I'll expect you up in our room in ten minutes."

Remus nodded, sighing and scuffing to the top of the stairwell, waiting as the stones sensed him there and turned toward him. They were moving, Narcissa holding their bannister and coming along with them. He walked down to where she stood.

"What?" he said.

"No, not in a high traffic area like this," she said. "We can't talk here. Come with me."

"Where?"

"Just over here," she said, pulling on his arm. "The Divination classroom. It's always empty on the weekend."

He followed, hanging back as if he was resisting as she led him by his sleeve. Dumbledore was looking for a new Divination teacher so the class lacked the territorial feel of belonging to any professor in particular. That's not to say it was sparsely decorated. It was full of lush trimmings from previous teachers, giving it a heavy, shadowy feel, lit even in its off hours with the faint blue glow of the crystal balls set on all the low tables. As always, there was nowhere to sit but on the cushions on the floor, so they stood.

Remus closed the door behind himself as she let go of his sleeve. "Alright," he began. "So tell me what else I said to Snape when I was drunk."

"Not a word, actually," she said.