Moonsnatcher
"Why aren't you telling me what this is about?' Remus asked as they waited for Narcissa to arrive.
“I want to tell you, but Narcissa needs to be here too.” Regulus answered sympathetically. He knew that Remus was impatient and he didn't want him to wait any longer than neccessary, but Narcissa was taking her sweet time.
"Ugh I HATE waiting" Reus groaned and in that moment the door swung open and Narcissa walked in, looking as if her expectations were high, as if she was too good to be there.
"What so urgently needed my attention?"
Regulus was just smiling at Remus, but stopped once Narcissa walked in.
“Well, there’s a lot we need to catch up on actually, Cissa.” Regulus commented.
“Sit, please.” he gesturedat the chair across from him and Remus. Narcissa sat down, surprisingly.
“So, I’ve ran into Sirius on my nightly escapades, and I have decided to leave with him. I wanted to check with you two to see if you’re okay with that, because Cissa, that means that I’m going to need you to keep Bella off the throne if you can. And Remus, that means you’ll lose access to the wolfsbane potion.”
Her eyes just got wider and wider, while Remus just smiled more and more "Have you lost all your braincells, child?!"
At the same time, Remus excitedly said "So we would stay with Fenrir?!"
“It is very plausible that I’ve lost my mind, yes. And yes, Remus. We would stay with Fenrir and all of the pack” he looked back at Narcissa. “I would love for you and Alice to come with us too but I want to leave that up to you. I will come back to France eventually because I’m not going to leave my country and people to my parents.”
"I don't care about the stupid potion anyways and I would do what I could to live with the you and also the pack...You got me on your side" Remus smiled, seemingly entirely convinced.
"You're crazy...Absolutely mindless...hell...I'm in" Narcissa chuckled, the reaction kind of unexpected.
“Good, I’m glad. I need to tell Barty, Evan, Pandora, Poppy, and Minnie. I need someone to stay here and keep me updated, at least. I hate to leave anyone here.” He says solemnly.
"And all of them were in on this?!"
"Yes, they were all in on it. Sirius sends his regards by the way. I appreciate you, Cissy. If you feel like Alice would benefit from being somewhere, send her our way.”
"She is doing well at home, she would probably be safer there than...out in the wild..."
Regulus had to take a deep breath to not blow up at his cousin.
“Cissa, I know that you have internalized shit from our parents because I do too, but do NOT imply what you just did in front of Remus. That was rude. I don’t care that you’re my cousin, do not talk to or about him or other werewolves again.”
"Well they are dangerous, Regulus. Not always, but even you can not deny that."
“So what? Humans are fucking dangerous too, Narcissa. Not all of them, but you can’t deny that either. Everyone is capable of being dangerous. Even me.” He said with a very icy glare. How dare she speak like that about Remus, speak as if she knew what she was talking about.
"Oh come on Regulus, you know what I mean" Narcissa groaned.
"I don't know what you mean, actually. You sound as bigoted as our parents."
"I am worried for you, Regulus. Sometimes the things we don't know can come around to hurt us."
Regulus laughed, likely having a crazy look in his eyes.
“You’re worried for me? That’s hilarious. I thought you didn’t mind Remus? You saying these things makes him hurt which means it makes ME hurt. Remus would never hurt me, even in his wolf form because I’m smart. I can’t forgive you for this unless you apologize and genuinely mean it.”
"Smart doesn't solve everything, Regulus. Doesn't solve...who you are." Narcissa sighed, leaving the room immeidatly after.
--------------
Come on, you don't need to listen to this, get out, now
It was the first time that Moony had spoken to Remus instead of just complaining about him at all time.
“Oh my gods, Remus, are you okay?” Pandora asked. She sat down on the ground next to him as he tried to keep himself from crying.
Remus shook his head, trying not to cry. What Narcissa had implied...it was bad. He was doing his best to keep it together, but when he noticed Regulus kneel down next to him, all the could do was to lean against him.
"Remus, I'm so sorry that she said that. I didn't know she'd react like that, she is usually way more reasonable."
"It's alright" Remus said through tears, clearly not alright "Let's just finish up what we need to and then go" he mumbled.
Pandora looked up at Regulus "What is he talking about? What did you three talk about? And finish What?'
Instead of answering, Regulus left his eyes firmly locked on Remus.
"It's not okay. I know that it really hurt you and I am sorry. I am the one who called her into my room to talk to her. You're not a monster, mon amour."
Remus nodded, wiping the tears away. Regulus' words were comforting, although Remus didn't fully believe them."We won't have to see her anymore soon at least" he mumbled, the thought of joining the pack becoming more and more of a lifeline.
"Okay I am with Pandora on this one: What?" Evan looked at Regulus, confused.
“When did you get here?” Regulus asks Evan incredulously.
"I was waiting for Barty, he didn't show up so I figured my best bet was looking here for him." he shrugged
“Oh, okay. Basically Narcissa said something very very rude about werewolves in front of Remus so we had a fight about it. Remus and I are leaving with Fenrir tonight, you guys can come with if you would like.” Regulus explained, with his hand on Remus’ back, wanting to comfort him, but being more comfortable doing so in private.
The three looked at each other, processing what they had just heard. "You want to...leave the court?" Barty asked . However, Pandora expressed that she would join them and the boys immediatly agreed to come with them.
Regulus nodded. “Pack up then. Remus and I need to go back into my room now. See you later.”
Back in the room, Remus seemed much more relaxed immediatly.
"What about Minerva and Poppy?" Remus asked as he sat down "We still have to talk to them"
“Yeah, we do. But they’re coming with us tonight. I just want to relax for now, is that okay mon amour?” Regulus responded.
Remus nodded "Of course" he cuddled closer to Regulus, relaxing against him. "I'm excited...and scared. But excited"
His head was resting on Regulus' chest, in a way that allowed him to hear the prince's heartbeat. It was a comforting, familiar sound that made Remus feel safe.
"I need to be honest with you, I am scared out of my mind to do this." Regulus laughed, holding Remus tighter.
"Once it's over we live with the people we care for." Remus smiled "It's worth it for that."
Regulus sighed "You're right as always, mon amour." Something in his voice made Remus look up with a soft expression.
"Hey, it's going to be alright, yes? No matter what."
-----
Sirius was awaiting them, standing outside the tavern, smoking. He grinned brightly at the small grou as they arrived, in a way as if he wasn't standing all too obvious on the streets of the city he once escaped, on the run from his own parents.
Regulus looked affronted but he couldn't help the smile on his face when he saw his brother.
"Sirius, we talked about you being careful. Get inside."
"Yes, sir" Sirius mocked, rolling his eyes with alaugh and walked inside.
Regulus pushed Sirius playfully, making Sirius push him even harder, causing Regulus to trip, catching himself only by grabbing Sirius' arm.
"Sorry." Sirius chuckled "You good? You seem a bit out of it today."
"I'm fine." Regulus made eye contact with Sirius "I made a decision, actually. I'm taking my friends and Remus with me and we're staying with you and the pack."
"Sorry, what?" Sirius shook his head like a confused dog "You mean it? You are staying?"
"No, I'm joking." Regulus groaned sarcastically "Obviously I am staying! I don't want to be seperated from you again and it is good for Remus to be around other wolves. It makes him happy." He looked over at Remus, who seemed to talk to Fenrir in such an excited manner that Regulus couldn't help but smile. He had barely seen Remus this excited before.
Sirius hugged Regulus, excited, almost squeezing him.
"OI PRONGS!" He yeeled to get James' attention, who got up from his place next to Marlene and walked over.
"They are staying, they really are staying!" He laughed euphorically, in a way that made Regulus question if Sirius maybe hadn't had a lot to be happy about those past years.
"REALLY?!" James threw his arms around the two brother and Regulus immediatly slithered out of their arms. Too much touching. Seeing people happy to have him around did make him smile though, absolutely.
James and Sirius continued to act like two excited toddlers and Regulus turned to look around the tavern.
Pandora, Sybill and Xeno were celebrating in their own little crazy way while Laslow stared at Xeno, chewing on a pen that was hanging out of his mouth.
Of to the side, Dorcas and Marlene stood with Barty and Evan, listening to Barty talk non stop once again.
Regulus' eyes stopped at Fenrir and Remus, who were getting up. Remus signaled that they were leaving and Regulus nodded, waving with a smile.
------
Remus only quickly greeted Sirius before squeezing past him. He had been excited to tell Fenrir the new since they had left the palace.
He spotted Fenrir over by the bar, drink in hand, talking to Scabior, who was cleaning some glasses.
"Fenrir! I really really have to tell you something" Remus couldn't hold back, not with something so important, or else he would have waited for them to stop talking.
Fenrir turned around with a chuckled and nodded "Tell me then, little one"
"We're leaving the palace. Staying with you. Regulus' plan" he tried his best to keep the words as coherent ass possible.
"You are? Did Padfoot put that idea in your head? Well I am glad that you are staying, after all that he told me about the palace. And I will gladly accept you into the pack."
Remus beamed with happiness, barely containing his emotions.
Since when- why? Are you stupid? We got by just fine on our own!
Moony would occasionally pipe up with an opinion of his own in Remus' head and Remus just let him at this point. It was easier than trying to fight him. And maybe he would get bored eventually.
"So...are we still going to train today? Because Moony is still being a little shit but...well...managably so."
could have just told me that I bore you
"Yes, pup. We're training today, as planned. We can go now if you want." He placed the glass down as he got up and turned to Scabior "I'll be right back, Dragul Meu"
Fenrir was quick even when walking casually and so Remus tried to focus on keeping up, however, the closer that they got to the clearing, the more Moony started to annoy Remus, visibly so.
Fenrir laughed when he saw Remus' face.
"Is Moony causing you trouble?"
"A bit? He's just mouthy."
Oi, watch it!
Luckily, they arrived at the clearing they had visited before.
"Well, as annoying as it might be, it's a good sign that he is talking to you at all. Means the training is taking effect. Do you two get along or is it more like you are fighting"
"It's more like he passive-agressively comments on everything that happens and I do my best to ignore that." his mind went back to the situation with Narcissa earlier and how Moony had told him to leave. "But...he did try to help me, once, and then he went back to insulting me."
I don't care for you, I simply felt danger, so I stopped the pain. It's an instinct, an intuition, not an act of peace.
"It's good that he tried to help you, that means hr could be open to more, isn't that right, pup?" Fenrir now adressed Moony directly and Remus could feel Moony pushing forward so he let him do his thing this time, knowing that fighting wouldn't help either of them, only make Moony more angry.
"Its not really any help to me if he dies, is it?" Moony seemed dismissive, he refused to acknowledge any feelings past what could have been a pure survival instinct.
Fenrir smiled patiently. "That's true, pup. If he dies, you die"
To that, Moony just nodded. He didn't like the smile on Fenrir's face.
Fenrir titled his face, thinking, quiet for a moment.
"What, cat got your tongue?" Moony grumbled "Don't stare at me like that"
Fenrir laughed "You got spunk, pup"
Moony rolled his eyes and smirked up at Fenrir defiantly.
"Okay pup, we're gonna run today. And I am letting Snatcher out. You okay with that?" Something about Fenrir's tone was different and it made Moony almost worry. Yet, he only shrugged.
"Why wouldn't I be? He doesn't scare me."
He did. He really did. If the wolf was anything to Fenrir like Moony was to Remus, for a reason.
"We'll see about that, I guess. You ready? Just double checking."
Moony rolled his eyes, giving Fenrir a look that said get on with it already
Snatcher was different, Moony noticed immediatly. His grin was almost malicious and his whole body language was much more agressive than Fenrir's. He wouldn't be nice, Moony just knew it. He wouldn't let Snatcher see that though. Instead, he just stared back up into Snatcher's eyes, his expression almost bored as he did so.
I swear you are going to get us killed
"He isn't going to kill us" Moony smirked up at Snatcher
Figuratively
Surprisingly, Snatcher returned the smirk.
"Get up brat, we got stuff to do"
"And if I don't?" Moony chuckled and Remus would have loved to just slap the shit out of him. How hard could it be to just get up and do what he was told?
"I was hoping you would ask that." Snatcher grinned evily and Moony knew that he was in trouble. A sharp pain spread through his head as Snatcher simply grabbed him by his hair and yanked him up.
"You're gonna do what I say or you're not gonna have a good time. Let's. Go." he spat.
"OUW BLOODY HELL WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!" Moony yelled, both in pain but much more out of shock and annoyance. How DARE he-
"You'll find that Fenrir is the nicer of the two of us, brat." Snatcher explained with a mocking smile "This can be easy for you, if you do what I tell you to do and you simply follow my lead....or I can make this so. much. worse...for you. I'll have my fun, either way."
Moony I swear if you don't shut up now I'll-
"I think you are just spewing a lot of nonsense. You can't hurt me, not badly at least because you'll also hurt Remus. Fenrir won't let you do that. What else do you want to do? Not many other options there, eh?"
Snatcher huffed "Nonsense? I'll show you nonsense. I'm not afraid of bruising you and the little one up a bit. That's how children learn. You're a child. A bratty one at that." With those words, Snatcher picked Moony up like a sack of potatoes, carrying him over his shoulder.
"If you don't want to come willingly, I'll make you."
Moony was kicking and scratching and biting as if he was fighting for his life while throwing insults at Snatcher. Meanwhile, Remus was trying to get Moony to calm down, really not in the mood for his bullshit. Snatcher was entirely unphased by anything Moony tried, not paying any attention to Moony picking a fight. He kept walking further and further from the clearing and eventually just dropped Moony onto his back, letting gravity take over.
He stood over Moony with a sweet smile, mocking and showing his power. For a good minute, all air had been knocked out of Moony's lungs, but when he could finally breath again, he propped himself up on his elbows, furious.
"What's your problem?! Do you want me to break my back?"
"I don't know, do I?" Snatcher crossed his arms in front of his chest with a grin.
"Alright" Moony scrambled up to his feet "then I'll break yours."
Snatcher looked at Moony with a flat face before starting to laugh.
"Really? You break my back? That's the best thing I've heard all day." he paused, regaining his composure "You're as thin as a stick, brat. You might be strong, but not stronger than me. And your bond with Remus is shit"
Moony growled and stared at Snatcher defiantly "Fight me, then, we'll see." his voice was as serious as possible in that moment.
Snatcher growled back, “You want me to fight you, brat? Alright. We can fight. But don’t expect me to feel sorry for you.”
"Likewise, old man. I think you really are overestimating yourself...or underestimating me" Moony smirked mischievously.
Moony...Moony I swear this is the stupidest thing you have ever done...Stop it...Gods I would kill you myself if I could
Moony was tall, yes, but not nearly as tall as Snatcher and he could use that to his advantage. It meant that he was strong, physically, but not as strong as Snatcher with his years upon life in the wilderness. But he was fast, faster than Snatcher could possibly be, right?
So Moony's strategy was tiring out Snatcher and sneak attacks, mostly. Direct fight would be stupid. Snatcher was crouched and growling, swiping at Moony's attempts to attack him.
You know, this would be easier if you didn't try to fight me
Moony was barely evading Snatcher's attacks, but he did surprisingly not do too bad.
It would be easier if you hadn't started this at all...
There was focused silence for a while, Moony trying to pay attention while Remus tried to push forward to stop.
Okay yes... I know what you mean... it's taking much more energy like this...Gods okay...just don't get anyone killed
THANK you...idiot
Now being able to fully focus, it felt much better and a little easier to stand against Snatcher. And in a way, even Remus thought that he had possibly underestimated him. When Moony landed a strike that caused a long scratched over Snatcher's eyebrow and face, he smirked
"What happened to thinking you were better than-" it came out something between us and me but Moony was ignoring that himself. It was fun to taunt Snatcher like that, especially knowing he could - so far - hold up with him
Snatcher ignored the blood that was dripping down his face, even though Moony very likely had messed with his eyesight like that.
"Not bad, brat." he spat out some blood "But I am going to stop holding back now"
"Bring it on" Moony smirked, overly confident.
Within seconds, Snatcher had Moony pressed to the ground, pinning him down and almost sitting on his chest.
"Can you escape?" he challenged with a smirk "I'm encouraging you to try"
Moony's first instinct was to trash around, trying to escape. He had been in this position so often, tied down or held down, back in Rome where he had been nothing but a monster.
But there was Remus voice, somewhere back where he had pushed him, and he allowed himself to listen.
Hey, it's alright. He won't put us in any danger like they did. He just wants to see what we are capable of doing
And somehow, that actually made Moony think and with a lot of effort - and mostly adrenaline - he managed to push Snatcher off.
He never got far away before having to fight him off again, much less did he get to his feet again, but he was free from the grip now.
It almost seemed as if Snatcher was hesitating from Moony's reaction, but eventually, he dragged him back down, pinning his arms.
Moony winced - literally winced - as panic spread through his body, his breath shallow. It was even evident in his eyes.
Remus wasn't able to stay much calmer either, trying to convince both of them that they were fine, but the memory of the chains too prominent, the pain of being pressed against cold stone too real.
"Stop" Moony barely whispered, still struggling, much less coordinated now.
Snather immediatly let go, a grin spreading across his face.
"So, you yield?"
In exactly that moment, Fenrir took over, worry evident on his face as he sat back a little, giving Moony space.
Meanwhile, Moony and Remus where unsure of who should take control. They were both shaken from the flashback that they had just experienced, their body shivering. But Moony knew that Remus could use the few more minutes so he took over, trying not to show how terrified he had been, trying to brush it off.
He wasn't weak.
"I should have reined Snatcher in earlier, my apologies, pup. I don't think you're weak for knowing you couldn't stay in taht position anymore. I've been in similar situations. Admitting defeat takes strength." Fenrir talked calmly.
"No it's fine- I'm fine it's just- Everything's alright" Moony almost rambled, not knowing if he was trying to convince himself or Fenrir of something that was obviously wrong. Too many times had Remus and Moony been restrained, hurt, tortured. And while they knew they were safe - Snatcher wouldn't have done that - it still...set something off.
“You’re not alright, Moony.” Fenrir sighed, “And it’s perfectly fine to not be okay. You are safe here, with us. We would never intentionally hurt you, even with as sadistic as Snatcher can be. You have been mistreated your whole life, pup. I’m here to help you learn and cope with yourself. Both of you.”
A thousand different emotions played over Moony's face as he processed what Fenrir had just said, trying to find out how to react. "I- I'm not weak. I'm not, really" he assured, still not fully believing that this wasn't a display of weakness, yet his voice was close to breaking and there were tears in his eyes that he quickly banished.
He finally looked up at Fenrir "You don't think I'm worthless, do you?" He asked with a sincerity in his voice that made it clear that that was what he was made to thinknof himself.
“No, I don’t.” Fenrir answered genuinely. “You’re worth a lot to a lot of people now.”
Finally, Moony let Remus take over again, who had a bit more trouble coming back to reality and reorientating himself.
“Welcome back, little one.” Fenrir says, “How are you holding up?”
"M okay" he mumbled, wiping away some tears "Not good but...it'll get better"
He looked up at Fenrir and frowned as he saw the blood "What about you?" He was genuinely concerned, seeing as Moony had definitely hit Fenrir's eye too.
Fenrir sighed, “Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing I can’t handle. Scabior will patch me up very quickly once we get back. We should go back home, pup.” he smiled softly, holding his hand out.
Remus took Fenrir's hand and let himself be helped up.
he's not...he's not bad
see, I told you we could trust him. He won't hurt us, really
I'm starting to think that, too
He was a bit unstable on his legs, exhausted and tired, but not necessarily in a bad way. Moony and him had someone gotten closer through it and they actually didn't make a bad team. They both had issues and weaknesses and maybe it was time to see that now.
At least Remus was willing to, and Moony slowly seemed to be okay with that, too.
They arrived back at the tavern after while, Remus really couldn't walk too fast. Regulus, Scabior and Sirius were standing outside.
"REMUS!" Regulus yelled while waving agressively. Remus immediatly fell into Regulus' arms, exhausted.
"I missed you, sweetheart" he mumbled, tired.
Scabior had wanted to speak up but he stopped when he noticed the wound on Fenrir's face. He frowned, cupping Fenrir's face in his hands and inspected the wound with a worried look.
"What happened to you?"
"No worries, Scabior. It was an incident with Snatcher and Moony. Do you think you could fix it up though?” Fenrir whispered, leaning into Scabior’s touch.
"Of course, pup. Come in first, though? You feel like a dead man."
Fenrir had noticed that Regulus smelled like blood so he looks between him, Sirius, and Scabior with a specific question all over his face.
"Our prince here takes after his brother." Scabior sighed, wrapping an arm around Fenrir as he guided him inside "Got a little blood drunk"