fox - r.lupin

- c h a p t e r - s e v e n t y-o n e -

edited.

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 Dumbledore had caught him at the worst moment.

Absolutely the worst moment.

Maybe fifteen minutes before the old wizard had arrived at the house in Godric's Hollow, Gemma had just found a little box under the couch while grabbing a block she had dropped.

She had brought it over to Remus because she had wanted the ribbon wrapped around it, but when he saw it–his stomach dropped.

The box was so similar to the one when Violet announced her pregnancy with Gemma that Remus knew precisely what it was when she passed it to him.

He mindlessly passed her the cream ribbon–making her shriek in delight as he held the box in his shaking hands.

It must have gotten blown off the table that night.

Remus swallowed thickly as he pulled the lid off. An abrupt sob fell from his lips before he could stop it with a hand over his mouth.

"Lottie..." He said through the muffling of his hands–tears rushing down his face.

Inside the box was a hand-drawn image of an ultrasound from a Muggle hospital.

And underneath in Violet's script was Baby Lupin No. 2 – soon to be here in April.

Remus felt sick. He felt so ill that he rushed to the sink and threw up what little he had eaten in the last five days.

Violet had been–She was...Oh Merlin...

And it was at that moment Dumbledore arrived with his impeccable timing.

If he noticed Remus's distress, he did not show it.

Instead, the professor literally avoided looking at Remus entirely but focused on playing blocks with Gemma for a few moments.

Remus still held the drawing in his hands when he finally snapped, "Dumbledore, why are you here?"

The wizard lifted his eyes from Gemma, his pale eyes emotionless as he said, "I mentioned that I needed to talk to you about something at the funeral."

"I recall that. Is that why you're here?"

"I fear it is..."

"Well, are we going to discuss, or are you going to avoid me like the plague?"

Remus's tone was sharp as Dumbledore hefted himself off the ground and sat on the sofa across from the armchair Remus was slumped in.

Remus didn't remember most of the conversation–completely having zoned out until the very last few sentences.

"...Lucius Malfoy has gotten out of charges after being questioned about his activities with the Dark Lord. He claimed to have been under the influence of the Imperius Curse. Which is why I have come here to tell you that you need to relocate Gemma–and I have decided that homing her with Mrs. Lupin's cousin is the best place for her right now..."

Remus blinked seven times at this before one word fell from his lips: "No."

The headmaster of Hogwarts stared at him through his half-moon spectacles, "Pardon?"

The Lupin man shook his head violently, "No! NO!" He stood up–waving a hand around wildly, "I will not ever leave my daughter with him! I've seen him! He's a drunk! He won't care about her! He won't love her like a family member would deserve! She is my daughter, and she will not leave my sight! No! I refuse!"