A/N: Happy New Year! Here's to a year full of growth and joy for all of us! I'll have another two chapters for you on January 11th!
Remus:
He was going to kill James.
The man was too smart for his own good. Remus could still feel his pulse rise from the memory of waking up to James' note.
Just a quick jaunt over Knockturn to Privet so I can see what was going on, Rems. Shouldn't be more than a week, Rems. I took Sirius with me, Rems. You and Pete will be fine, Rems.
If they hadn't just thwarted a coup d'etat Remus would have sent the army after James.
But the week became nearly three before Remus received word from James and Sirius. That letter had been cryptic, but it also explained why Privet had stopped answering messages. Princess Lily was on the run, unbeknownst to her, with the King of Godric's Hollow.
It had been almost two months now, two months of Remus and Peter running interference. Remus was one of James' personal advisors and his Healer, so when he said the King was indisposed, the court bought it. But he was running out of excuses and they'd run out of James' pre-stamped and signed stationery.
Then this morning came a royal messenger. Ottery and Hogsmeade and Godric's Hollow had a method of communication for emergencies only. It was particularly dangerous and problematic because it was not well tested and had killed more than one of the messengers, but there were members of each kingdom trained to disappear and reappear in specific places. One of Arthur's men showed up at the palace gate, thankfully whole, with James' scratched out message telling them Remus needed to come to Enid immediately and save Sirius.
Remus angled his Griffin down as Enid came in sight.
A petite blonde woman waved her rapier up at him and Remus brought his Griffin to land next to her.
"Are you Remus?" She still held her rapier in hand and Remus felt he definitely didn't want to be on her wrong side.
"Yes, where's Sirius?"
"This way," she turned and moved him toward a large home that was heavily warded.
At least Remus could feel secure that he wouldn't be interrupted.
"I'm Marlene McKinnon, Princess Lily's guardian.
Remus blinked, apparently things had changed from the only letter he'd received.
"I'm Remus Lupin, his Majesty's advisor and Healer."
"I've been overseeing, Sirius' care, we've had to experiment a bit but I've managed to keep him breathing."
"If we can get him fully recovered I'll get you a medal." Remus wanted to scream in frustration. "Where is James?"
Marlene's blue eyes grew hard at the mention of James. "He's in the room we're keeping Sirius in."
Remus frowned but decided it wasn't worth digging into this woman's anger when he had a friend to save.
"What have you given Sirius?" He asked as they moved through the house.
Marlene began a detailed analysis of Sirius' wounds, what she and the owners of the home had done to stabilize him, and how they had managed to keep him breathing these past three days.
"Remus!" James jumped up as they entered the bedroom Sirius lay in.
"Don't Remus me," he glared at his King. "You've spent the last two months galavanting about the world while Peter and I try to keep a lid on your disappearance and now I find out you've almost killed Sirius in this mess too!"
"You didn't know he was leaving?" Marlene's mouth was agape and she looked back and forth between James and him.
Remus ran a tired hand over his face. He'd said too much in his anger, but a part of him didn't care.
"There'll be time for explanations later. Right now we need to worry about Sirius."
His friend looked like hell. But as Remus examined him, he was beyond impressed. Sirius should have been dead, but this small blonde woman had cheated Death out of his soul and Remus knew he could bring Sirius back now.
Just not here.
"There's nothing for it, I have to get him back to the palace." Remus moved as Marlene administered another dose of the potion.
"I figured as much," she sighed and handed James the empty cup.
Remus watched as James took the cup without argument and left to clean it.
"What injuries did the Princess sustain?" Remus gathered the few instruments he brought into his bag.
"None that your tools will heal," Marlene shook her head and gingerly brushed Sirius' hair from his face.
Remus frowned, "I assumed that since I hadn't seen her she was also wounded in the attack…"
"No," Marlene looked a bit longer at Sirius before turning to face him.
"We were not aware that James was the King of Godric's Hollow until this morning, nor did we know that he knew who we were. I'm sure you can understand that the Princess feels James' betrayal keenly."
Remus looked past Marlene to where Sirius lay. "Of course, I'll, I'll speak to James, I'm sure we can come up with something."
Marlene looked back at Sirius and Remus raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing.
"Thank you, Remus. Do you feel confident taking on James' safety until another guardian can be assigned? Sirius and I had compacted to share the responsibility on this trip. I am currently James' guardian."
Remus' felt like she'd pulled the air out of him. Sirius did not share the responsibility of protecting James, not with anyone.
"You're, er," he forced himself to breathe, "you're quite sure of that?"
Marlene turned toward him with a furrowed brow, "Of course I'm sure; if you'd like to test it throw a knife at your sovereign."
Remus cleared his throat, "No, I don't think I'll do that. I'll take you at your word. I," he swallowed, "what do I need to do?"
Marlene's face softened and she chuckled, "Don't worry, you won't be a guardian like Sirius or me. I'll still be held to the oath if something happens to him. I'm just asking you to be careful and get someone else assigned to him once you're home."
"So if someone were to kill James on this trip…"
"Then theoretically, I would perish as well." She looked back at Sirius. "Seems fair though, Sirius took the spell that hit him protecting Lily."
Remus blinked.
Guardians creeped him out sometimes. They willingly accepted their own death but fought tooth and nail to keep everyone else alive. He wondered if the magic of the oath they took scrambled their brains a bit.
"I'll get someone assigned to James the moment we get to the palace, Marlene, and I'll do my absolute best to keep him safe while we fly."
Then he paused, "Wait, Sirius took the spell protecting Lily?"
Marlene didn't look up at him, and her voice was barely a whisper. "I failed. He stepped in and saved her when I couldn't. He saved us both."
Remus couldn't make sense of what was going on. Sirius wouldn't ever share James. Sirius wouldn't sacrifice himself for anyone but James. And yet Sirius lay dying apparently having done both of those things.
"May I ask a favor, Remus?"
Marlene's voice pulled him back from his racing mind.
"Of course."
"Send me word, about Sirius," she stood and squeezed Sirius' hand once before stepping away.
"I promise," Remus looked at this small woman and wondered what she had done to win Sirius' trust, and how Sirius had won hers.