Disclaimer(s): The boys and Lily don't belong to me. They are JK Rowling's playthings. I take responsibility only for Rowan Myfanwy. She, unfortunately is entirely a product of my disturbed imagination. The responsibility for this outtake lies in the hands of Liz and Durayan. Durayan inspired the second flashback with her Monty-Python-and-the-Holy-Grail-esque rabid plot bunny! And Liz is the one that blackmailed . . . um talked me into writing this.
Rated PG for prodigious use of firewhiskey. (kids, please do not try this at home. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are quite insane and it was the 70's. 'nuff said.)
Black Knight
It was nearing midnight when Remus heard the insistent scratching on his door. Smiling, Remus levered himself out of his tatty armchair and pulled out his wand. He'd had an owl from Dumbledore a week before about the imminent arrival of a stray. The scratching sounded distinctly canine.
A few passes with his wand undid the locking charms set on the heavy oak door. Remus hauled it open to reveal a pitiful-looking pair of scruffy strays. "That is hardly unremarkable, Padfoot," Remus pointed out wryly, gesturing at the lead rope clutched in the massive dog's mouth. Padfoot growled softly at the werewolf.
"Well, come in then," Remus invited with a grin, standing aside to let the massive dog enter, tugging the lead rope of an even larger hippogriff. Padfoot limped across the threshold, his matted coat shedding dust and twigs across Remus's neatly swept floor. Buckbeak's feathers were significantly cleaner, due, Remus supposed, to his preening in order to say flight-worthy.
"Sorry about the dirt, Moony," Sirius rasped, transforming back into his gaunt human self. "Not many inns cater to hippogriffs and escaped convicts."
"Fewer cater to werewolves," Remus smiled diplomatically. "Are you up to a hot bath tonight, brother? Or just dinner and a bed? Dumbledore owled and told me you were coming a week ago, so your room is ready."
"I haven't been properly clean in . . . too long," Sirius admitted, pulling a bit on the sleeve of his grimy robes.
"Let's get you into the tub, brother," Remus nodded. "You can wear a pair of my robes, of course. Will Buckbeak be all right in front of the fire for a while?"
Sirius nodded tiredly, settled the hippogriff, then allowed him self to be lead further into the house and into a spartan bathroom. A wave of Remus's wand started a flow of steaming water into a deep copper tub, followed by a procession of bottles and a bar of soap.
Remus checked the water temperature before waving off the faucet and turning to pat Sirius on the shoulder.
"I'm glad you've come, Padfoot."
Sirius grinned. "I am too, Moony. Being on the lam is a lonely business." Remus's smile turned slightly sad and Sirius cuffed him on the shoulder. "Now out, man, and let me bathe in peace!"
~*~
Sirius sank gratefully into the almost-scalding water, revelling in its warmth for several long minutes before reaching up and grabbing a bar of soap to scrub at the worst of the grime caking his body.
Two hours, half a bottle of shampoo, and a bar of soap later Sirius climbed from the cooling water and wrapped a towel around himself. Just outside the door, Sirius found a mildly threadbare pair of pyjamas and a soft pair of slippers waiting for him.
The bath had both relaxed and refreshed Sirius, and now he set out to find Moony and take him up on the earlier promise of food. He found Remus waiting in the sitting room, reading a thick book, with Buckbeak lying nearby, happily munching on a plate of raw meat.
Remus looked up from his book, and smiled at Sirius. "Feel better?" Sirius nodded wordlessly then glanced over at Buckbeak, then turned back to Remus, licking his lips.
"You mentioned food?" Sirius prompted hopefully, his voice raspy from misuse. Remus nodded and waved to a small, covered tray sitting nearby. Sirius hungrily ripped off the covering and selected a biscuit to bite into.
"It's not much," Remus apologised. "I've not gone grocery shopping yet this week."
"I'm not picky," Sirius chuckled weakly, carefully tasting a steaming bowl of soup.
Remus watched his friend eat for several minutes, attempting to think of some way to break the, uncomfortable for him, silence. Sirius seemed quite intent on devouring every last edible crumb on the tray. He'd filled out somewhat since Remus had last seen him, though he was still thin, bordering on skeletal from his long incarceration and two years on the run.
Once sated, Sirius leaned back in his armchair and started nodding off. Now clean, warm and fed, Sirius felt his earlier exhaustion begin to take hold again and he struggled to keep his eyes open. Buckbeak had no such compunctions and had long since finished eating and stretched out before the fireplace like a great, feathered rug.
"Dumbledore . . ." Sirius started.
Remus held up a hand. "Whatever your news, it will wait until morning."
Sirius started to protest, albeit weakly, but was firmly hauled to his feet by Remus and guided down the hall to a spare bedroom.
"Just sleep," Remus instructed, helping the exhausted wizard into the waiting bed. "We'll talk in the morning." Sirius nodded distantly, his eyes refusing to focus. By the time Remus closed the door softly behind himself, Sirius slept the dreamless sleep of exhaustion.
Remus started back to his own room, stopping by the parlour for his book. With the full moon in only a week, Remus was restless and Sirius's presence only made him more tense. Not that he didn't want his dearest friend there, but he feared for Sirius's safety in England.
He consoled himself with the knowledge that no one other than Dumbledore knew of Sirius's whereabouts and that if the old wizard had sent Sirius to hide away with Remus, he was quite sure they would both remain safe.
Actually, Remus reflected, he wasn't doing so badly. After the end of his Hogwarts teaching career, Dumbledore had asked Remus to look after a remotely located house he'd recently acquired. He even had a house-elf, courtesy of two of the more annoying females in his life.
Remus shook his head at the thought of those two and realised that he would do well to follow Padfoot's lead and sleep. The next morning would hold answers, and probably more questions than he wanted to deal with.
~*~
Sirius woke the next morning to the delightful smell of frying bacon and toasting bread.
Sitting up in the bed, Sirius found that his longish hair now fell down his back in a neatly constrained braid. Sirius didn't recall combing out the tangled mess the night before, let alone braiding it back. Truthfully, though, he didn't remember much of anything from last night after arriving.
Like the few other rooms he'd seen in the large house Remus now occupied, the room Sirius sat in looked as though it had been very grand at one time. Though spotlessly clean, the blue hangings and rugs, as well as the polished wood of the furniture looked sun-washed and faded. Someone had thoughtfully opened all the windows as well, letting in the remnant breeze of the summer night.
Finally, the promise of food drew Sirius from his room and down the hall to a small dining room set off the parlour. In the centre of the room stood a table bearing dishes of eggs, kippers, bacon, toast, a china tea service and two place settings. Sirius claimed a chair and poured himself a cup of tea, liberally dosed with both honey and milk, and laughed as he finally noticed the small stack of sugar quills sitting beside the tea service. He selected one of the sugar quills and used it to stir his tea. Though his memory was still a hodgepodge from the ravages of Azkaban, but there was something familiar and very warming about the presence of the sugar quills.
Sirius pulled out the sugar quill and sucked the droplets of tea out of it, trying to remember.
He'd developed mental defences against total insanity during his incarceration in Azkaban. Besides chanting his innocence as a mantra, Sirius had learned to block out any happy memories and to avoid any emotions that would call the dementors. However, Sirius found himself experiencing selective amnesia. Self-imposed walls are not walls easily taken down.
The key to the mystery of the sugar quills seemed buried in one of these areas. In one he'd not dared dwell too deeply on. The one containing the memories of the dark-haired girl he'd learned to love.
Remus wandered in a few moments later, folding a pair of spectacles and placing them in a pocket. Sirius's interrupted thoughts shattered like wisps of smoke.
"I don't remember you being able to cook so well, Moony," Sirius commented, taking a long draught of his tea, grimacing and adding a bit more honey.
"I can't," Remus admitted amicably, "but Perry can."
"Perry?" Sirius started, dropped his teacup with a sharp clatter and looked around for another person.
"Perry is a house-elf!" Remus quickly assured his twitchy pack-mate. "She came with the house!"
"Since when do you have a house-elf?" Sirius laughed, relaxing back into his chair and raising an eyebrow. He began spooning porridge into his bowl while Remus spoke.
"She's someone to talk to on occasion," Remus shrugged casually. I don't see much of society in general, and with Rowan off in Romania . . ." Remus suddenly checked himself, realising his blunder, and grimaced. "Padfoot, I'm sorry . . ."
Sirius stilled completely, spoon frozen midway to his mouth. His eyes hardened slightly as he looked up. "Romania?" Remus nodded carefully. Sirius took a deep breath and visibly steeled himself "Why?" he finally asked. 'With who?' hung invisibly in the air. Remus stirred his tea absently as he answered.
"She's developed a cure for lycanthropy. Spent the last thirteen years on it, and finally managed it eight years ago."
Sirius dropped his spoon with a loud clatter, chipping the bowl. "But just over a year ago you . . ."
"Only for the early stages," Remus qualified quickly. "Before the first full moon transformation. And even then it's not perfect."
Sirius sighed. "You can't be cured then?"
"I'm an advanced case, but heaven knows she's tried." Remus shook his head sadly, though he watched Sirius's reaction carefully as he added. "And is still trying. In fact it's taken up her life these last thirteen years. She's obsessed." He hesitated a moment before adding: "I told her." Sirius paled, he swallowed uncomfortably.
"You told her?" he demanded, torn between feeling relief, terror and anger. "How much?"
"Everything. I told her everything," Remus admitted, regretting the hurt that passed over Sirius's face. However, Remus glared at Sirius, daring him to question his decision. "She deserves to know."
"Deserved to know what, exactly, Remus?" Sirius finally ground out after a moment.
"That the man she still loves wasn't the murderer of her best friend!"
"She . . . she still . . ." Sirius looked stricken. He couldn't complete the thought. Remus nodded grimly.
"Yes, she loves you. You can't say Rowan hasn't been faithful."
Sirius stared into his bowl, not eating. "I'm sorry," he said at last, before lapsing back into silence. Remus simply nodded, taking what Sirius was offering as gracefully as he knew how. Sirius didn't apologise for his earlier reaction. He apologised for far more than that and Remus knew it. He knew what thoughts plagued his friend and pack-brother, mostly because they haunted him too.
~*~
Things were quickly becoming worse. Voldemort's darkness strangled the secretive world of magic, and now crept like an evil fog into the lives of the Muggles. Even Albus Dumbledore occasionally looked worried at the state of things, and that was enough to panic any sane witch or wizard.
The tiny group settled down, watching the fire dance and waiting nervously. Remus sat in the shadows, drowsy and tired from the full moon the night before, looking around at his tiny, soon-to-be-parted, circle of friends. Lily appeared calm and composed while she rocked Harry. James stood behind them, hands tensely gripping the stone mantle. Peter watched nervously out the window, his eyes darting back and forth between the front walk and the others. Sirius looked as if he wanted to be pacing but didn't dare move. Rowan curled up against him, exhausted and sleeping fitfully.
A quiet knock on the door startled us. Rowan woke, looking perfectly alert, and stood, allowing Sirius to stand as well. James' quick look froze Peter and Remus in their places. Sirius stationed himself in front of Lily and James moved toward the door. Wands appeared in every hand but Harry's. James took a deep breath and opened the door.
They relaxed slightly as Headmaster Dumbledore entered the room and smiled benevolently. Rowan, however, did not sheath her wand. Nor did Sirius. They kept close watch over the door and windows as Dumbledore told his news. He told them that it wasn't enough. Voldemort's minions were detecting the safe houses the friends had shuttled between for months now far too quickly. He didn't bring up the suspicion they'd discussed privately. It was obvious their perfect vessel had sprung a leak and it quickly became apparent that the only way Dumbledore saw to keep them alive was to keep them apart.
"Voldemort will not hesitate to kill you," Dumbledore concluded, ignoring the collective wince at the name. "And I have no doubt he will try again. Therefore, I propose that the Potters are placed under the Fidelius charm." He held up a hand to forestall any protest. "At least until Harry is somewhat older."
No one spoke as each pondered their own thoughts and the risks of Dumbledore's plan. They knew it only delayed the inevitable, just like they knew Voldemort wouldn't be stopped easily. We only hoped it wouldn't claim our lives or friendships in the process.
"I like the idea," Lily offered suddenly, stroking a fussy Harry's back to settle him. She looked up to her husband. "We're all tired of running."
"It's very dangerous, though, isn't it?" Peter asked carefully. "We wouldn't be able to stay together."
"We make too large a target this way anyway," Rowan commented practically, though she twirled her wand between her fingers in nervousness.
"It's up to James and Lily, Peter. They have the most at stake." Sirius added. Peter mumbled something that could have been agreement under his breath as we all turned expectantly to Prongs and his mate.
~*~
Remus shook his memories away and stood. He knew how this memory ended and he didn't want to think about it. Sirius looked like he could use a diversion. Remus knew he needed one.
"Come with me, I have something to show you," Remus pulled Sirius up from his chair and pushed the confused man toward the garden door. Sirius gave a startled yelp and transformed into Padfoot just before Remus propelled him out the door.
Padfoot barked reproachfully at the werewolf, but followed to the door of a small stone garden shed. "After you," Remus gestured, opening the weathered door. Padfoot sniffed cautiously at the air before stepping inside. Remus followed and they both blinked owlishly as their eyes adjusted to the dim light within.
Padfoot's breathy bark shifted into Sirius's gasp as he transformed back into a man. "Where . . . how . . .?" Sirius stared in amazement at the glossy black machine illuminated by the morning sun. Running a hand through his hair, he looked up at Remus and found his voice. "You kept her all these years, Moony?"
Remus held up his hands. "Not me. I move around a lot, so a friend of mine took it in and kept it up."
"Her," Sirius corrected absently. "Did a good job of it too," he mumbled, running his hands over the chrome and kneeling down to check a few small hoses.
~*~
"Hi, are you here to meet a nice man, or will I do?" Sirius asked, sidling in next to the dark-haired girl engrossed in her steaming cup of tea.
"You'd better come up with something significantly better than that, you know," she commented idly, not looking up.
"Then I'll just up the ante, Rowan dear," Sirius grinned roguishly and dangled a shiny pair of Muggle keys between them.
Rowan's eyes widened. "You didn't! It works?"
Sirius nodded, a shock of dark hair fell over one eye. "James and I tried it out earlier."
"And it's incredible, Rowan!" James confirmed, bounding into the room and tossing Sirius a bottle of butterbeer. Peter and Remus, presumably, still remained in the kitchen, raiding the fridge no doubt.
"And no doubt you four have some escapade planned for tonight," she chuckled. "Need me to distract Lily, I suppose?"
"Rowan Myfanwy!" James gasped in mock-outrage. "How could you even consider that I would intentionally deceive my beloved wife?"
Rowan arched an eyebrow at his theatrics and waited. "Just distract her long enough to let us take a few runs on it, okay?" Sirius chuckled and glanced at James. "She's still not convinced the motorbike is safe."
Rowan laughed outright at this. "It's not the motorbike she's worried about, Sirius, it's you behind the controls!"
She eventually muffled her laughter and uncurled herself from her chair, leaving the teacup on its saucer.
"Thanks, love," Sirius kissed her cheek happily and he and James bolted out the door into the kitchen. Rowan followed at a more sedate pace and entered the kitchen to find Sirius bounding out the door. Remus followed just behind, licking the remnants of a chocolate frog off his fingers, and clutching what looked to be several sets of Muggle clothing.
"Oy! Wormtail! Let's go!" James called over his shoulder as he followed Sirius to the door.
"Um, James? I don't thing Peter's up to this jaunt," Rowan hazarded, pointing out Peter, who had passed out in a plate of treacle fudge.
"Poor thing," Rowan laughed, pulling out her wand. "I'd better put him in the guest room."
"But he'll miss out!" Sirius protested, poking his head back around the doorframe. Remus's face appeared right below his a moment later.
"Just figure he has a head start on you," Rowan commented wryly, guiding the unconscious wizard into the next room.
~
James brought along his broom so the one not riding the bike could still fly along, albeit more slowly than the sleek machine. Several hours found them wind-chapped and chilled through and sharing a cosy booth and a quick drink in the Leaky Cauldron with Sirius's motorbike and James' broom parked innocently just outside.
"To our most excellent Mr Padfoot!" James raised his glass of firewhiskey in Sirius's direction. "Because that bike is one bloody great achievement!" Remus agreed with a grin and Sirius bowed to them both before refilling their glasses with aplomb.
A quick drink turned into a full bottle of firewhiskey, drunken conversation and hazily formed ideas to try some of the more unusual Muggle customs they'd observed that night. To their credit, it was nothing Rowan or Lily would later kill them for.
~
A loud bang rattled the windows of the Potter household, startling Lily and Rowan to their feet. Peter, still asleep on the couch, snorted slightly and rolled over. The two girls glanced at each other, drew their wands and stalked silently toward the kitchen and the loudest source of noise.
They stepped cautiously into the blazing kitchen and blinked in confused unison. Remus, Sirius and James flopped over the table and each other, giggling like mad as a conductor in a bright purple uniform carried in a familiar broom. The conductor of the Knight Bus started slightly at the sudden appearance of the two females before tipping his hat and extending the broom.
"These are yours, I assume," he indicated the rather sloshed trio. Rowan nodded ruefully and the conductor grinned. "Right then! Your motorbike is just outside, safe and sound."
"Thank you Mr . . ." Lily accepted the broom with a questioning look.
"Higgens, Miss," the conductor tipped his had once more. "And don't fail to call on us again should you ever need assistance." Higgens quickly slipped out the kitchen door and another window-rattling bang sounded before silence descended.
A very tense silence in which to rather put out witches glared balefully at a pair of wasted wizards and a tipsy werewolf.
"I hope you've got whatever it was out of your system," Lily growled. "Dare we ask what you've been doing for the past four hours?"
"Enjoying themselves immensely from the look of things," Rowan commented.
"Told you she was clever, Prongs!" Sirius grinned, cuffing James on the shoulder, and missing. James clumsily dodged out of the way and put a hand protectively over his left shoulder.
"Careful there, Padfoot! My shoulder still feels like a Bludger pummelled it!"
"I've healed up all ready," Remus informed them both smugly.
"Oh my stars, you didn't!" Rowan shook her head, carefully biting her lip to keep from laughing as she put the pieces together. She wasn't quite sure whether she wanted to smack Sirius for being a complete twit, or simply laugh at his spectacular bad judgement.
Lily gasped suddenly, a good sign that she'd also figured the situation out.
"Shirts off, you three," she ordered, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at them. Apparently, she wanted to see the damage for herself. Amazingly, they obeyed. Remus displayed a pale, lightly muscled chest and back criss-crossed with old and new scars, but no other suspicious markings. Sirius and James however . . .
"You tattooed your motorbike to your shoulder-blade?" Rowan demanded. Sirius grinned and tried to look over his shoulder to admire the black motorcycle that billowed dark smoke out of it's exhaust pipes and revved its wheels along the lower portion of his right shoulder-blade.
"It's an incredible likeness isn't it?" he smirked. Rowan wisely refrained from commenting.
"James Potter, you have a lion tattooed to your shoulder-blade!"
"Well, Sirius and I thought we ought to match," James explained calmly, as though matching tattoos was the most logical and normal thing in the world. "But I didn't want a motorbike."
"Lily could charm it so it really roars!" Sirius suggested happily, finally giving up on trying to see his own tattoo.
"I will do no such thing!" Lily gasped, eyes widening. However, a smile twitched at her lips. She shared a look with Rowan and they both looked away quickly before they burst into gales of laughter. "What gave you three the brilliant notion that this was a good idea?"
"The Muggles at the pub all had them!" Remus supplied. "You didn't want us to look weird did you? Secrecy and all that."
"What pub was this?" Lily demanded.
"I think the moving Gryffindor lion was a pretty good clue anyway, Sirius," Rowan pointed out, still hiding her eyes behind her hand. At that moment the little painted creature gave a silent roar.
Remus, Sirius and James looked at each other. "Wasn't it the first one? The one with the other motorbikes?" James asked. Sirius nodded.
"How did you manage the movement anyway?" Rowan asked curiously.
"And why doesn't Remus have any interesting . . . body art?" Lily added, though she sounded as though she wasn't quite sure she wanted to hear this answer.
"We charmed the ink they used. And Moony's is a masterpiece!" Sirius declared, sloppily draping an arm around his friend's shoulder. Lily winced.
"Dare we ask?"
"You can't properly appreciate it without seeing it," James assured them. "And, well, it just wouldn't be proper to show you!"
Remus and Sirius nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Proper?" Lily asked, disbelief colouring her tone. Rowan put a hand over her eyes.
"I don't want to know, really, I don't."
~*~
Sirius grinned reached around to feel he spot on his right shoulder blade that still bore the image of the bike siting before him.
He found this wasn't so difficult. He was slowly recapturing his good memories. Even remembering James, Lily and Rowan wasn't quite so painful. Of course, remembering the nineteen-year-old Rowan he'd known before Azkaban wasn't nearly so painful as considering the – he did some quick mental figuring – thirty-two-year-old of now.
"Do you think it still flies?" Remus asked curiously, breaking into Sirius's line of thought. Sirius nodded, not quite trusting his voice. Remus began to speak again, when a decrepit, grey owl swooped into the window with a dull thud. Remus winced. "Errol."
"Come again?" Sirius blinked. Remus unlatched the window and pulled in the most dilapidated owl Sirius had ever seen. He wondered if it was still alive, until it hooted feebly and stuck out a leg. Remus sat down on the shed's earth floor and carefully untied the letter from the owl's leg.
Remus read through the parchment quickly before extending it to Sirius. "It's from the Weasleys. They want us to be there for Harry's arrival in a few days."
Sirius took the letter, an idea creeping into his mind as he read. With a fond pat of his motorbike's saddle he grinned, the grin only broadening as Remus started looking worried. "Moony, I have an idea."
~Fin~