Piece By Piece

Chapter Twenty: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

      Despite the fact that he couldn't really go anywhere, Remus found that he had very little time for self-reflection. Since the moment he'd stepped foot inside the Headquarters of the Joint Forces his days were filled with meals, meetings, catching up with James, Sirius, and Teddy (though much to Remus' dismay toddlers were not as coherent as he thought they'd be), and trying to prevent his two friends from blowing up their lab whilst designing for them the very objects that they were using to do it. And though he thought his nights would provide some much needed time for thought, he found himself constantly exhausted; he would fall into a deep sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. 

      This was why, while James, Sirius, and Regulus happily chatted away as they sat in the Common Area during a break, Remus found himself quietly lost in thought as Teddy played with a small stuffed dragon on his lap. The first thoughts that come to his mind were about his son. He's so small, Remus thought, and yet he's grown so much since I last saw him. Remus remembered the unbridled joy he felt when Teddy had somehow recognized both him and Dora when they reunited. Harry had explained that he kept pictures lying around, but Remus secretly thought, or rather hoped, that it was some form of child's intuition; the small part of everyone's brain that allows them to pick their parents out of a crowd no matter the circumstances. The same part of the brain that, though it's nurture, not nature, allowed Harry and Teddy to pick up behaviors from their parents without being around them for all that long. Remus could see it in the way that Teddy stumbled over everything like his mother, and how Harry carried himself like both of his parents; confident and ready to use a snappy one-liner (from what Remus could only assume was a well stocked arsenal), to shut down anyone that challenged him. 

      Remus' thoughts drifted to the future of the Joint Forces, but they were interrupted by an excited yelp from James. He turned just in time to see his friend jump off of the couch he'd been sitting on and run to Harry and Lily, who had just entered the Common Area. Remus smiled as James excitedly smothered them both in a hug and planted a kiss on the top of Lily's head. 

      "You guys done learning how to punch my cousins for the day?" Regulus called out to them.

      Harry laughed as he separated from his parents and took the empty seat directly across from Remus. As he sat down he waved at Teddy, who in return giggled and waved back. "No punching today," He said. "Just tackling."

      "Oh just," Regulus poked. "You mean like how you got mowed over back at the Manor?"

      "You little-" Harry folded his arms across his chest and shot Regulus a look of mock hurt. "-I let him tackle me! You saw how I was able to pin him down."

      "And yet you still got a concussion," Regulus fired back, his tone signaling that this was all play.

      Harry smiled. "Mild Concussion."

      It was obvious to Remus that Harry and Regulus had become good friends since the latter had arrived weeks ago. They shared equally firey spirits and both seemed like the type of people to throw themselves headfirst at danger without a second thought. 

      Harry and Regulus continued to banter as Sirius and James settled back into the conversation they'd been having before. Lily put her head on James' shoulder and looked like she was drifting off into a nap. Remus admired the Aurors for what they did; but seeing them get tired after one session told Remus that with his Lycanthropy, he'd never... SHIT.

      Amidst everything that was going on Remus had somehow almost completely forgotten about the next full moon! He struggled to remember when the next one was supposed to happen, but after a minute or two he remembered the next one would be on September 30th. But what day is today?