Wolf and Wings - Remus and Narcissa

Chapter 16

AN: This chapter is all new!

A quaffle came flying at Remus's head as he stepped into his dorm room in Gryffindor Tower. He was lucky it wasn't a hex. He was creeping into the lads' room just before dawn, hoping to get a little sleep. Sirius's senses must have still been on high alarm from their escape from Malfoy Manor. He had awakened and was hurling things at the door before it even finished opening.

Remus didn't raise a hand to catch the quaffle, but ducked out of the way, as he always did. He'd learned long ago that it was best not to draw attention to his reflexes.

"What are you doing back here?" Peter squawked, rubbing his eyes. "I thought you had leave to spend the night with your - your Narcissa at the shack."

"I thought so too," Remus said, falling onto his bed. "But then her sister showed up and demanded a word with her in the privacy of Dumbledore's office."

"What, Bellatrix Lestrange is here?" Peter said, bleary eyes bulging.

"No, obviously," Sirius croaked. "Nothing's on fire so it must be Andromeda. The older sister, the bossy one from the Order of the Phoenix meeting. You remember, Pete. You nearly got into an argument with her."

Peter blinked. "I did?"

"Two older sisters," Remus groaned into his pillow. "It's like I've got three mothers-in-law. One of them thinks I want to eat her little daughter, and the other is actively trying to murder me."

Sirius laughed, a loud rather vindictive sound. "Come on, Remus. It could be worse. Three mothers-in-law and only one is a genocidal maniac."

Peter shrugged. "Yeah, and that kind of murder, it's - well it's not personal."

Sirius summoned the quaffle just to slam it into Peter's stomach. "Pete, honestly. I worry about you sometimes."

Remus faked a sob, but said, "I'm not really complaining, just exhausted. I spent most of the day sleeping in Malfoy's cellar but," he yawned, "I could use some rest, after all that's happened. Not that it isn't worth it. I mean - this is Narcissa Black. I'd take five mothers-in-law for her, or twenty, seventy-five thousand - "

"Right, okay," Sirius said.

"You should have seen her tonight, Pete," Remus went on. "Did they tell you what she was like?"

"Went all Veela on you. Throwing fire and sprouting wings," Peter said.

"Yeah, a shining, winged Veela done up in a wedding dress," Sirius drawled, fluffing his pillow without any daintiness. "It was like a Halloween costume wearing a Halloween costume."

Remus hummed and smiled, remembering.

"I always miss the good stuff," Peter grumbled. "If you're sleeping here, where's she going? They can't toss her back into that viper pit of a Slytherin dormitory."

"They really can't," Remus agreed. "It's worse down there than we thought." He pushed himself to sitting as he explained about the soul-hardening potions meant for Narcissa but accidentally eaten by Snape and Regulus.

Sirius was sitting by the time he finished, leaning forward at the edge of his bed, as if he was about to be sick. "Reg knew something dark was working on him," he said. "You heard him say it too, Pete. It was yesterday at Bathilda's house. He told us what we all knew, that about two years ago, something changed in him. Abruptly, radically."

Remus's head drooped. "Cissa didn't mean to do it. She's heartbroken - "

"Yes, of course she is," Sirius said. "It's down to Riddle and Bellatrix. And even with the potion, Regulus - he managed to see through it eventually and desert them." It was then his turn to explain, letting Remus know Regulus had abandoned the Death Eaters but refused to beg for admission into the Order.