Chapter 5
11 December 1981
Sirius
He really, truly, could not thank his cousin enough. Andi had pulled Remus right out of his funk as only a Healer could. The Wolfsbane doses seemed to imbue him with newfound hope in the run-up to the full moon, instead of his typical despair. Sirius fed off his positivity.
The Tonks family arrived promptly on Friday at 10 am, by cab from a nearby Apparition Point in town. Dora obligingly kept her appearance in “Muggle mode.” They admired Whychcote out of the gate, “ooh”ing and “ahh”ing appropriately, Andi especially once they got inside.
The mishmash of timelines and styles drew her and Remus into one of their “scholarly discussions” with words like “restoration efforts” and “diversified collection.” Meanwhile, Sirius and Harry gave Ted and Dora their own private, kid-friendly tour, top-to-bottom and out the tunnel into the back garden, with surreptitious Warming Charms.
Sirius and Ted chatted happily and supervised Dora helping Harry explore the warded area. No doubt inside Whychcote, Andi was beginning her examination of Remus in private, accumulating more information for her “anonymised case study.” She wouldn’t even be using “Moony” as a nom de plume.
Or, for all Sirius knew, they could be chatting about Lunar Wards and Runes right now. Who could tell with two consummate bookworms?
The sun arced high past its zenith and Ted scampered inside to bring out a hot picnic lunch, with steaming thermoses of cocoa. Sirius cradled the warm beverage in his hands, smiling at Harry’s wonderment over its sweetness, hoping Remus got a taste wherever he was. The chocolate would soothe his aching soul.
Sure enough, Remus wandered out the door minutes later, mug in hand. Sirius pretended to remove colourful woollen blankets from a storage bench that previously contained only mouldy cushions, which he Transfigured with his wand up his sleeve. One blanket went around Remus, another around Sirius, and two more were used as capes by the children. Ted soon followed suit with his own, yellow and black “found” blanket.
Andi joined them shortly thereafter, “finding” her own stylish Slytherin green-and-grey tartan. They now had a full rainbow running and sitting around the garden. All houses were represented; Sirius was still convinced Remus’s Sorting had been a mistake and had draped him in Ravenclaw blue and bronze.
Sirius, of course, wore the maroon and gold.
Harry toddled around in orange with white polka-dots, Dora chased him with her purple and pink cape tripping her up, and the whole family looked on with indulgent smiles.
Remus
The final dose of Wolfsbane tasted just as horrible as the first six. He told Andi as much. It was at the top of each day’s notes: “Tastes and smells like someone pissed on rotting fruit then shat on it and ate the lot only to vomit into this flask,” and variations thereupon.
She appreciated his thoroughness, cursing notwithstanding. He had a week’s worth of notes for her on the differences between this cycle and all the others. She’d gotten previews through their Owl correspondence during the week. They were now completing the final entry together in his office over tea and biscuits.
“I’d like you to change as little as possible about your behaviour during tonight’s moon,” said Andi. “Run with Padfoot, let Moony hunt, but listen to your human instincts as well. We’ll see tomorrow whether it’s possible to extract memories.”
Remus nodded. They’d already made note of the fact that his physical symptoms thus far seemed relatively unchanged, but mentally, Moony’s instincts didn’t appear to be overtaking the man's. He was still in pain and oversensitive, but the call of the Wolf wasn’t as strong. It was wonderful.
For the first full moon in his memory, he hadn’t felt like a monster all day. He could hear and smell and taste just as acutely as ever, but the desire to bite wasn’t there. He felt like… himself.
They gathered in the informal dining room for a delicious dinner prepared by Ted. Remus was able to appreciate the beach-worthy seafood dish without craving bloody red meat. He was tired, and sore, but still Remus. He had his mind.
As the sun set, he and Padfoot moved to the now vacated back garden. They’d agreed it was the best compromise between security and comfort for their first night. If needed, Padfoot could herd Moony into the warded cage through the tunnel to the cellar.
He was lucid enough to check the wards and cast Warming Charms before he undressed and secured his wand and clothes. Padfoot gambolled around happily, yipping and panting with a doggy grin, his breath fogging the air. Remus laid out on the lawn with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he began his stretches and breathing exercises.
The pain was still intense. That was to be expected. But after the pain followed… clarity.
12 December 1981
Remus
“It was amazing!” Remus told Andi over brunch, after his first – abbreviated – nap of the day. “I was– present, the whole time, aware, in control. I could hear the wolf, choose to follow Moony’s instincts, but my own voice was stronger. We took a nap!” That was the best part for him. The Wolf never wanted to spend a second of the full moon sleeping.
He had more energy this morning than he could ever recall having so soon after a transformation. Andi was – successfully – extracting memories from him as he babbled and ate and called them to mind. Harry was bouncing in his lap, thrilled to see “Rem” so excited and basking in his joy.
The Healer repeated her thorough series of diagnostics with a smile as she listened to his narrative. Sirius chimed in occasionally with his observations and Padfoot's memories. Andi scrawled notes on the thick roll of parchment that recorded her readings. It was all fuel for the case study for her.
Andi frowned and looked between the two of them occasionally, but Remus was too caught up in his excitement to pay it much mind.
***
Remus was able to spend the day after December’s full moon sitting up in bed, snuggled with Sirius and Harry, reading a book to them. Ted and Andi took Dora to see the sea in the afternoon, leaving them to their cuddle-fest.
He nodded off with them for a few hours, all three waking to the smell of frying fish. They extracted themselves from the pile of limbs and headed downstairs to see what Ted was whipping up. The whole family enjoyed a dinner of fish and chips (and cheesy broccoli) courtesy of Mr Tonks’s Muggle upbringing.
Harry made a terrific mess and had to be given a bath, followed shortly by Dora's shower - she'd tripped into the leftover broccoli.
The kids were just settling down to sleep, and the adults had adjourned to the sitting room for a nightcap, when they heard a knock on the front door. The house channelled the sound through to them with perfect audibility.
“Who could that be?” Remus grinned as Sirius went to answer the door.
“Ten Galleons it’s Minnie,” he tossed over his shoulder with a matching smile.
It was. The stern Transfiguration Professor joined them for their nightcap, accepting a scotch on the rocks with decorum. Remus rolled his eyes and mouthed, "I'll pay you when I get a job, you wanker."
Minerva McGonagall sank into an overstuffed recliner by the fire. “I’m pleased to find you all well,” she told them all in her distinguished brogue.
“Pleased to see you again as well, Minnie,” Sirius winked. She frowned at the moniker; it was a fond expression after so many years, as his Head of House and later fellow Order member. Everyone else expressed their warm welcomes.
“I’m also very relieved to see you’ve found such imminently suitable accommodations for raising young Harry,” said Minerva. Remus knew her input at Privet Drive that first night had been something of a turning point for Sirius securing custody of Harry. She hadn’t approved of the Dursleys, but clearly approved of “young Misters Black and Lupin” raising the little orphan instead.
Talk turned to the house and its history and protections, a topic Remus had been studying diligently. He gave her a short tour, including the Wardstone in the cellar, and the slowly growing library in his office.
He had a lot of open research items on his lists these days, with Dumbledore happy to provide recommendations on seeking answers to his many questions. Most of these revolved around Harry.
- How did Harry survive the Killing Curse?
- Why did Voldemort fall after the events of Hallowe’en?
- Where are Voldemort and his followers now?
- How do we keep Harry safe from them?
These were the most important questions, with avenues of research branching off them in all directions. News reports, trial transcripts, historical records, journals, legends, myths; Bond Magic, Blood Magic, Deep Magic, Ancient Magic… It would take several lifetimes to learn everything there was to know, and every bit of it seemed to bore his partner to tears, but Remus was soaking up information like a sponge.
The handsome shelves in his office were steadily filling, wrapping the room in tomes, as he made shameless use of Sirius’s money in the name of protecting Harry. Owls came and went through a Privacy-Charmed window daily, delivering new titles and taking new orders.
Minerva McGonagall had a lot to say on his latest topics of interest, giving him a few other options and contacts to track down. He made oblique references to his lines of inquiry and she answered his questions equally discreetly. Andi was invested in the conversation, but Sirius and Ted had struck up their own.
Finally, it was time to turn in for the night. Minerva left through the front, surely shifting into a cat as soon as the door closed. Andi and Ted retired to the cottage flat, Sirius and Remus to their master suite.
***
Ægis (αἰγίς): a lasting shield formed by sacrificial love, living in the protected’s skin as a ward against the evil that forced its creation. Those shielded by an Ægis cannot be touched by that same evil without its inevitable destruction.
Differing from bonds, these permanent shields do not depend on the continued existence of a bonded entity. They are an example of deep magic, with little knowledge of them surviving over the millennia. It is not known how many Wixen have ever been protected by an Ægis.
Some cast them in the realm of legend or myth, rather than verifiable fact. Named for the mythical device carried by the Greek gods, the Ægis’s reliance on sacrifice could also cast it into the category of Dark Magic, were it not for the requirement of True Love between shielder and shielded. The Ægis is thus decidedly an example of Light Sacrificial Magic.
20 December 1981
Sirius
As Yule approached, the little family started to venture out of their haven for more than necessities, making themselves known around town. Cyrus Kettle and Remy Wulf made their debut with Harold “Harry” Kettle, who was, apparently, a chick magnet.
They started with a little coffee shop a short walk down the lane, and had everyone from young mothers to old biddies surrounding them in minutes. Sirius and Remus both fidgeted with the attention, but Harry lapped it up along with his cocoa. The ladies giggled and cooed when he tried to lick whipped cream off his nose with crossed eyes.
Sirius and Harry had spent an enjoyable Saturday at the local play park, his godson wobbling around with other children bundled warmly against the light snowfall. Remus had been ensconced nearby at the Portslade Library, of course, brushing up on his Muggle research skills.
Today, they were all three back in the play park, watching Harry try to run, no doubt skinning his knees and freezing his toes without care. His vocabulary was expanding rapidly, his babbles starting to sound more and more like sentences. Remus had a knack for picking words out of the random syllables.
“I might look into a part-time position at that library,” Remus said. They were sitting on a bench, maintaining a platonic distance in public. “Something to keep me busy. With this new treatment, I might not even need to call out much.”
Sirius hummed. “Good idea,” he said. “One of us should be gainfully employed.” He was more than happy to live off his trust from Uncle Alphard until dear Walburga popped her clogs and he could really live up to that “independently wealthy” lifestyle.
After all the time his parents spent teaching him to “manage the Black estate,” he couldn’t wait to get his hands on it and tear it to pieces . All the shady deals, all the biased bribes, all the questionable donations would dry up in days after his thrice-damned mother finally died.
They took Harry to the library an hour before it closed, letting him roam the children’s books while Remus chatted with a librarian and acquired an employment application. He also signed them all up for library cards, which Harry took with visible glee. He jabbered away as he picked out books based on their pretty covers.
Sirius selected a few introductory books on Muggle engineering and electronics to peruse at home. Remus had a much broader selection of advanced chemistry, biology, anatomy, and physics texts, with a few classic works of literature, and a couple of local guides tossed on top. They checked out a few minutes before closing, walking home in the gathering twilight with Harry holding their hands innocently.
The Tonkses had arrived in their absence, making themselves right at home in the cottage flat. Harry shrieked at “Dor,” showing her all his “bok” and telling her about “play” and “run.” She seemed to share Remus’s ability to fill in the words between, striking up a conversation with her cousin as she helped him bring his books upstairs.
“Happy Yule,” Ted greeted with a chuckle as he followed the kids. Sirius and Remus trailed Andi into the sitting room, where a fragrant fir now stood decorated in the corner. The spicy scent of a Yule Log burning merrily filled the air.
“We’re going to have to develop a reputation as Pagans,” Remus quipped as they took their seats with mugs of mulled cider. “There’s no way Pads can stop celebrating Yule and Beltane and all that with you, Andi. We need a cover.”
It was mostly accurate. Andi and Sirius enjoyed celebrating the Old Religion where it brought joy and happy memories. Ostara, Litha, Mabon, Yule; these were milestones to be cherished as much as birthdays and anniversaries. The Cross-Quarter days marked the in-between times, as the Quarters marked the Seasons.
Samhain would be hard from now on, though. It was too close to the anniversary they’d rather forget. Though it was also Harry's "Gotcha Day."
Ted rejoined them with an assurance that Dora was reading to Harry, with heavy monitoring charms on the room. They laughed and chatted around the fire, Remus sharing his aspiration to become a librarian, Sirius declaring his firm intention to live a life of leisure. Andi in turn shared her intent to apply for a transfer to the Dai Llewellyn Ward, “where the werewolves go.”
Remus looked uncomfortable with that, so Sirius smoothly guided the topic towards the books they’d checked out. That whiled away nearly an hour until Ted went to prepare supper, Remus following to assist. Sirius stayed in the sitting room to catch up with his cousin.
The kids joined them for the late meal with drooping eyes, retiring to their room shortly after with Andi and Sirius to tuck them in. Everyone settled gratefully back into the sitting room with deep sighs of relief.