Chapter 28: Nature vs Nurture
The sight that awaited Emma, Narcissa, and Sirius was a grim one. The church had been mostly leveled down. A crowd had gathered around the debris that was still on fire. Firefighters were working hard, but with so much wood inside the structure, it had flamed up quickly. The inferno was so hot that the heat could be felt from across the street. Narcissa discreetly altered Sirius' robe to make it more muggle-like.
"Emma!" an old woman beckoned her over with tearful eyes.
"Mrs. Figg!" Emma hugged the distressed woman. "What happened?"
"They are saying it was a gas leak…" the woman said in a suspicious tone; then, she nodded at Sirius and Narcissa, who nodded back. To both of them, she seemed oddly familiar.
"They are saying?"
"You and I know there was no gas in that church, dear," the old woman frowned. "I am just glad Father Shaw wasn't there. I do miss him. Have you heard from him, dear?"
"Not for a while," Emma lied. She did not know whom she could trust. She moved over close to a firefighter next to the truck and quickly said, "Hello, I am a doctor. Doctor Emma Granger. Was anyone injured? Can I help?"
"No, ma'am. Luckily the church was empty," the man said with a sigh while moving some valves.
"I heard it was a gas leak, but the church did not have any gas. The building was ancient. The heating was electric. Could this have been arson?"
"We aren't ruling out anything at this point. I have to go back. They need me," the firefighter put on his helmet and pulled another hose towards the structure.
Emma went back to her friends. She discreetly shook her head and held on to Sirius' free arm. They walked towards her former home. The builders had left. She took out her keys and was about to go in when Narcissa pulled her back, and Sirius went in first. Emma frowned but said nothing. The electrical wiring hadn't been completed yet, and the house was dark. Sirius had his wand at the ready.
Narcissa quietly muttered "Homenum Revelio," and waved her wand. Nothing happened. Sirius did a series of basic protective spells and silencing charms.
"There are no signs of struggle," Sirius said, looking around.
"Whatever signs of struggle would be inside Martin's office," Emma countered. An idea struck her. "Mr. Whitaker!"
"Who?"
"A neighbor. He lives across the street from the church and is a security nut! He has cameras everywhere! Can you work your magic to convince him?" Emma asked Sirius, who nodded and followed her with Narcissa trailing a few meters behind.
Narcissa quickly took out a vial she had summoned before they left the manor and dabbed it on her pulse points. In a couple of seconds, Sirius' head turned around so fast she jumped. His pupils dilated, he smelled the air rapidly.
"What is that?" Sirius asked, shaking his head. His inner dog wanted… that. He wanted that badly. And he was in love with Remus... And Narcissa was his cousin! Ew! Emma turned around in confusion. They were at Mr. Whitaker's driveway.
"What is that?"
"Double dose of concentrated pheromones," Narcissa shrugged. "Control yourself, cousin. We. Don't. Do. Inbreeding!"
Sirius looked positively insulted and sickened by the comment. "You use my biology against me and then insult me!"
"Is that perfume? Or you just happen to have pheromones on you at all times?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.
"I'll explain later. I developed this… because I needed to…" Narcissa whispered quickly with a blush. "We need to convince him, right?"
"Give me some!" Emma nodded, extended her hand, took the vial, and applied a few dabs.
"You women are killing me! This is so weird!" Sirius looked away. His dog nose was jumping for joy like it did when as a dog and smelled a female in heat. It was mortifying and made him feel like a perv. Narcissa quickly threw a spell his way to clog his nose. His response was a very nasal, "Thank you."
Emma knocked.
Mr. Whitaker was a sixty-something widower. Ten minutes after they got to his house, they were sitting down for tea. The man seemed to keen to please his guests. A few wand motions and flirty touches later, Emma had signaled Narcissa to entertain her neighbor. She asked for the bathroom and went to the office, which is where she could see the camera recordings. It shook her to see her unconscious, bleeding husband being hauled onto a black SUV. She wrote down the license plate on the back of her hand and rushed to the living room.
Narcissa was growing impatient. The widower seemed nice enough, but this situation reminded her of many disgusting nights at Malfoy Manor entertaining her ex-husbands'… guests. They all left soon after that. Emma had a cousin who was a police officer. She immediately called him and asked him to run the plates, no questions asked. Luckily he complied but demanded an explanation at a later date. Emma acquiesced. She needed to get to her husband quickly. The address her cousin gave her as to where the cameras found the plate was for a different church about twenty minutes away.
Emma pulled Sirius and Narcissa to a darkened street and explained the situation. They could not apparate, and if they drove, by the time they got to the church, it could be too late. Narcissa immediately called the Knight Bus. Emma could have had a stroke when a double-decker purple bus materialized right in front of them, a gust of wind pushed her hair off her face.
"Knight Bus at your service, emergency transport for stranded witches and wizards," an old man grumbled from behind the wheel.
Emma quickly told the man where they were going, and Sirius flicked some coins at the driver. Narcissa held on to her seat and took a deep breath. She hated that bus. Narcissa was about to warn Emma when the door was closed. However, Sirius was barely able to push Emma against a wall and put his arms around her while holding on to the security rails. The doctor screamed as the bus rushed through the city and did things that defied all the laws of physics. She felt squeezed, pulled, pushed, and pressured. If it had not been for Sirius' body pinning her in place, she would be bruised and sore by now. Emma did have to admit that they would have never gotten to the church this quickly otherwise. They got off on shaky legs, and Sirius disillusioned her and himself while Narcissa did the same. They walked in the shadows as fast as they could. Two guards were outside the doors. They were carrying guns.
Narcissa was glad to be wearing muggle clothes. She would help Emma's husband if it was the last thing she did. She would have a lot of time to feel dirty later. Narcissa put her hair up in a messy bun, opened two buttons of her shirt to show some cleavage, and gestured for Emma and Sirius to stay hidden. She had put on an amplifying spell to the fragrance and checked that her glamours were in place. Narcissa walked towards the front of the church. She was very aware that the men were staring. She walked seductively towards a bench. She smiled at the men and pretended to trip and fall. She moaned in pain, and the guards came to help her. Their eyes were dazed, and both men looked at her hungrily.
Before the man realized what happened, her swift, delicate wand-waving had them tied up and unconscious on the bench. She was suddenly glad for the disgusting friends of her husband who liked it rough. She couldn't fight much, but she could tie people up and knock them down pretty well. She motioned for her cousin and Emma to follow her towards the tall oak doors. They ran as quietly as they could. The church was eerily silent. There were bloody drag marks on a carpet that a scared old nun was scrubbing off on her knees. She did not even notice that the doors opened and closed. Sirius took long slow strides pulling Emma behind him. Daniel would kill him if something happened to her.
"Sister Erin," a priest whispered. "I told you to leave!"
"But, the blood father… it is a delicate carpet. I-It will stain, sir…"
"GET OUT!" the priest whisper shouted, "and lock the door behind you!"
The nun scampered away and did as she was told.
Sirius motioned for everyone to be quiet. His wand was out in front of him. Padfoot silencioed and opened the lock to the sacristy and pushed the door open about half an inch. The room was dark, and a strong smell of incense was coming through the door.
"We are honored to have you here, Father," the priest who sent the nun away said to a man who had his back towards the door.
"Who is this?" the man pointed at a bound and gagged Mr. Granger, who was tied up to a chair with his unconscious head hanging down.
"He was in Shaw's office picking up the mail."
"He is not Shaw, then," the man replied, not making any attempts to hide his disappointment.
"No, sir. However, he must know where Shaw is. Why would he be there otherwise?"
"And how are you suggesting we get that information when he is unconscious, thanks to all of you brutes!" the man snapped, and his cloak shook, but he did not turn. "I told you to be careful!"
"I can try to wake him up, father…" the priest suggested. Interpreting the man's silence as a positive response, he grabbed a bucket of water and unceremoniously turned it over Daniel's head. Dr. Granger's head snapped up, and he sputtered in confusion, then groaned in pain. His head was throbbing.
"Where am I?! Who are you?! Why am I here?!" Daniel yelled angrily at the priest.
"I see you are under the impression that you have some power here…" the man who had not spoken turned around slowly. Sirius felt a cold drop go down his spine. Something was oddly familiar about the man's eyes. "Allow me to disabuse you of that silly notion," the man pointed a long finger at Daniel and smirked.
Daniel felt a scorching pain he had never felt before. Sirius blanched, the cruciatus. Mr. Granger refused to cry out in pain. All he could think about was his family and how worried they must be. The doctor bit the inside of his cheeks, and tears prickled at the corners of his eyes.
"You are here to tell us about the location of Martin Shaw. Do not bother telling us any lies. I will know if you are untruthful, and the pain will… multiply."
"I will tell you nothing. I am ashamed to be part of a church that protects criminals like you and hunts down good priests like Martin!" Daniel grunted.
"Oh, dear. You will find out soon enough that pain can be quite a convincing element…" the man repeated his hand motion, and immediately Daniel writhed in pain.
"I don't know where Martin is. He asked me to forward his mail to a friend of his. I don't have his address!"
"You are close enough that he trusted you with his correspondence… and you expect me to think you don't know where he's staying. Give me his friend's address then," the man stood in front of Daniel, and with his long index finger, lifted the doctor's face to stare deep in his eyes. Daniel remembered Sirius telling him about mind magic and shut his eyes tightly.
"No! You cannot make me!"
"A muggle who knows about mind magic… Interesting. Which wizard taught you, and why are you helping Shaw?"
Sirius did a few silent spells to make sure the dark man in there was the only other unfriendly wizard. He was. Emma motioned for Sirius to do something. Hearing her husband in pain had made her ready her gun. She wanted to rush in and shoot whoever was hurting him. Narcissa pushed some thoughts into Sirius. We will create a distraction. Take him away. Sirius shook his head. He wouldn't leave them with that creepy wizard. He countered with a I distract him, you take the priest down, Emma frees Daniel and you apparate them away. Narcissa frowned but nodded. She pulled Emma next to her so they could hide. In that way, when the priest would come out, Narcissa could knock him down easily, and Sirius could bring the wizard out and distract him while they got to the doctor.
Sirius set a bench on fire. After a few seconds, the priest said he could smell burnt wood. The wizard sent the priest out. As soon as the door was closed behind him, Narcissa silencioed and accioed the priest. Emma punched him straight on the nose, which began bleeding profusely. Narcissa checked the man's pockets and found no weapons, so she tied him up by the ankles and hung him from a chandelier. Narcissa immediately ran with Emma behind the altar. Sirius was crouched down. He waved his wand, and the dark smoke from the bench began growing exponentially. The cryptic wizard came out of the sacristy. The hair on the back of Sirius' neck stood on its ends. He could feel the evil, and his animagus' form senses could smell the evil. It was familiar… and unwelcome.
[In the Sacristy]
Narcissa rushed into the sacristy and closed the door behind herself and Emma. She then did as many protective warding spells as she could to the room while Emma took a dagger from Narcissa's robes and began cutting the thick ropes off her husband.
"Who is there?" Daniel asked, looking down at the ties that seemed to be cut off by an invisible hand. He was looking around with squinted eyes. Suddenly, he felt hot and bothered. The pheromones hit his system. Narcissa canceled the disillusionment.
"Shhh!" Emma whispered to her husband, kissing him quickly. Daniel could finally breathe, and his questions could wait. Narcissa motioned for them to hurry. She began looking for anything that could tell her who the other wizard was.
Daniel grabbed a briefcase that was on a chair. It could have important documents. "Now what?" he whispered. He could smell burnt wood.
[In the church]
The other wizard sniffed the air deliberately, "Interesting… A Black. Your family has done great things for wizardkind." The priest was trying to get himself free, which was making the chandelier swing. The wizard pointedly ignored the man. "Come on out and introduce yourself. I know Blacks are not the friendliest of folks, but you are not cowards. Show yourself."
Sirius blanched. That could not be a coincidence. He double-checked that Narcissa had actually managed to close the door to the sacristy and decided to put on a Marauder's Approach to douchebags Volume One. Sirius used a Marauder's spell that would make his voice sound like it was coming from all directions.
"I would say I'm honored, but I think I would regret that."
"Nifty little trick… If your magical power was less… or this was Hogwarts, it might fly," the wizard sent a strong spell a few inches above Sirius' head. Sirius was so surprised that his focus slipped and his disillusionment faded
"Who the fuck are you? What do you have against Shaw?" Sirius sent a strong piercing hex at the man who barely blinked and waved it away without a wand.
"Are you friendly with the priest? I do not wish to harm him… if that is your concern," the man seemed to glide on the floor, sending one dark, dangerous spell after the other. Sirius jumped, rolled down, hid behind sculptures, and ran around as he avoided getting hit.
"Right, because you were so kind to his friend in there…" Sirius sent five different strong hexes, and the man barely made an effort to counter them and push them back at him.
"Well, I can get impatient. I have been looking for Shaw for weeks. I need to support his cause," the wizard cut off the priest and lowered him down slowly with one hand while he animated benches to attack Sirius.
"What cause?"
"I want to help him shed light on magic and magical folk, for I have a vested interest in wizards leading society, as we should… given that we are the superior race."
Sirius shook his head. Another motherfucking blood supremacist?! Would they ever stop appearing?! It was like playing that muggle game of whack-a-mole. Black was distracted for a second, and his pant leg caught on fire. He rushed to extinguish it. That would probably leave a mark.
"I see. Another Voldemort, are you?" Sirius spat in a teasing tone while spell casting as fast as he could.
The man laughed a burst of cruel chilling laughter as he kept attacking Sirius, "That inhumane spineless worm? He wishes. He could never be like me. He is much too weak and stupid," the man said, making the benches explode in large splinters, many of which pierced through Sirius' skin. As the stake went through, he managed to cut the wizard's shoulder deeply. Sirius immediately transformed to minimize the damage and he could not help but wail loudly in pain. The wizard barely flinched but made no noise.
Dry lightning cracked across the sky, the church turned cold, and a loud, single, frightening howl was heard outside. This was so concerning that even the eerie, powerful wizard stopped moving entirely. The doors swung open after the chain holding them close was cut off violently by large claws; the chain rattled loudly as it fell. The tall wood doors creaked sharply as they opened. The darkened outline of a large, muscular, man-like something could be seen in the threshold. The creature sniffed the air in front of him. Nobody dared to move a muscle.
A ferocious Remus Lupin was at the door. His humanity fighting to keep the wolf from overtaking him entirely. This was extremely difficult because Moony could feel his pack was in danger. He smelled his mate's fear, and he could also smell blood. His expression was bloodthirsty and full of scorching rage. He seemed ready to shred whoever was threatening his mate to pieces. The werewolf was in the last days of his lockdown when he decided to floo call Potter Manor to ask after the Greengrass family and was hurriedly told what had happened by Snape. He apparated to the Granger's home and followed the scent of his mate, deducing the Knight Bus was his best hope. He felt his mate's howl before he saw Padfoot limping under a bench. Time seemed to stop. The scary wizard was frozen mid-motion. Padfoot had his tail between his legs, and his ears were down. He looked alarmed.
[Meanwhile in the sacristy...]
"I have no idea who that wizard is, but he is too strong, and I think he can overpower Sirius easily. He needs back up and-" Narcissa stopped as soon as she heard her cousin wailing in pain. She rushed to the door, but Emma held her back.
"Wait!" Emma whisper shouted. They could not just rush in. Narcissa was not a duelist; she had admitted to Emma that healing magic was her strongest suit. Her running into the fight could potentially be more risk than help to Sirius in the situation.
Before either could say anything else, they heard dry lightning and a loud howl outside the church. In pure instinct, Narcissa pushed both Grangers against the wall. Witches and wizards were trained, since their infancy, to run for their lives at the distant sound of werewolves. They were also taught that when you could hear them so loudly and so close to you, it was already too late to run.
"Is that… Remy!?" Emma asked with wide eyes.
Narcissa was breathing shakily. She nodded slowly with a mirrored terrified expression and began summoning silver from the room. She would rather not have to deal with her cousin's boyfriend, but if she had to, she would not go down without a fight. Remus adored Sirius, but if the wolf overpowered his human side, no one was safe.
-Simultaneously inside the church-
Remus growled dangerously and began walking towards the stranger. The unfriendly wizard began backing down towards the sacristy, all the while throwing spells at the werewolf. Most spells kept bouncing off Moony, but the wizard could not leave without Shaw's location. The magic that did not bounce was fought off by Remus' own spells.
"Who are you?" Remus said in a deep, menacing voice. Lupin could feel his wolf poison dripping from his teeth. It was bitter, and while it would make him feel sick at a different time, it tasted like liquid power right now.
"I'm nobody, man. I did not intend to hurt your um m-mate?. I will be leaving now. You have my sincere apologies," the wizard said quickly and without deceit lowering his head in a submissive stance that the werewolf could recognize.
"Apologies are not enough!" Remus' growls intensified. "Stay the hell away from my pack!"
The man fumbled with the door to the sacristy, and it would not budge. Magic. Fuck. Why didn't he notice more magicals? He would have to apparate away and track Shaw down a different way. His only concern now was not to be bitten. Anything else could wait. "I will just be going now, alright?" the man said, taking out a vial from his clothes. He showed it to the werewolf and said, "Strengthened dittany, for your mate," the wizard put the vial on the floor and rolled it towards Remus who frowned suspiciously but didn't pick it up.
"If I so much as catch a whiff of you anywhere near my pack, I will take a lot of pleasure in skinning you alive with my teeth!" Remus bared his wolf fangs with a scary scowl.
"There will be no need, I assure you," the man pulled his cloak around him with a flourish a la Dracula and apparated away. Remus howled triumphantly. Sirius transformed back with a pained yelp. If Remus could not cool off soon, he could get too aggressive for even Sirius to be able to calm him down.
Remus' expression softened a bit, and he rushed over to his boyfriend's side. Sirius was scared. While Remus was on wolfsbane, he was still part wolf, and blood clouded the human side in him, and it heightened his animal instincts significantly. He could very well want to bite Sirius to taste him and lose control from then on.
"Remy?" Sirius asked, trying to make the man focus.
"S-Sirius," Remus licked his lips slowly while inhaling profoundly and shakily. The blood smelled so heavenly. Lupin could hear the pumping of the blood through the man's body. He growled. His tongue was begging for him to taste the ruby liquid to satiate his thirst. No, bad wolf! This was Sirius Black. He was the love of his life. It was his blood. He couldn't. He wouldn't. Sirius began backing away in fear as Remus seemed to be struggling to contain his feral instincts.
The door to the sacristy opened, and Remus jumped towards it baring his teeth in a clear offensive territorial threat. A pale Narcissa held her wand in front of her. Daniel and Emma were behind her, pointing at Remus with silver candelabra and a gun. Remus' senses were confused as he looked at them tilting his head. They smelled like their pack, but there were too many pheromones in the air… Two healthy females that he could mark and add to his pack. The sweet scent of available mating possibilities distorted his senses. He didn't see the female's faces, they were distorted. The hormones were all he could sense. But there was a male with them. The male didn't seem like he could put much of a fight, but Moony did not like competition. He bared his teeth and moved to lunge forward.
"Moony, no!" Sirius yelled. At some point, he had managed to stand up and was holding on to Remus from behind, one of his arms was around his boyfriend's waist, and the other was around his neck. "Love, come back to me. Don't do this!"
"Narcissa! The pheromones!" Emma realized. The pheromones were the only explanation for the way Remus had looked at them like they were meat on a stick. He was not attracted to women at all. Narcissa gasped. She waved her wand and removed the offending scent and vanished the container in her clothes.
Remus growled and sniffed around, detecting the blood scent again, which had been overpowered by the now gone female hormones. The blood was closer now. Moony felt the bitter taste on his tongue again, it seemed more appealing now. He felt Sirius' arm around his neck. "Love, please focus on my voice. I am hurt. I need you. You do not want to bite me. We are all part of your pack. Push the wolf down. I trust you. You can do this. Push it down!"
Remus shook his head. Narcissa took a chance and quickly pointed her wand over both his nostrils, doing a strong spell to clog them shut. Remus squeezed his eyes closed tightly and began breathing through his mouth. He turned to Sirius with a more human expression, "How bad is it?"
Sirius sighed and kissed his boyfriend's forehead. "I will survive, love. Let's get out of here."
"Who the fuck was that?" Daniel asked, still in a daze as to the nature versus nurture fight he had just seen.
The sound of approaching sirens made them move quickly.
"Whoever it was, he was not our friend… let's get going," Narcissa had examined the vial of dittany from the stranger that was still on the ground. There was nothing dark about it, so she vanished the splinter and poured the dittany on Sirius' leg. Narcissa grabbed Emma and Daniel by the waist and apparated back to Potter Manor. Remus hugged his boyfriend and followed Narcissa.
In the Manor, Snape was making sure all the essential healing potions were ready. He regretted telling Lupin what was happening, but he knew Remus had a right to know. The elves were very efficient. Most of the basic potions were perfectly brewed, and they had quite a bit of stock. The children were eager to help to control their nerves, and having them work in the storage was a great alternative to them, asking when Sirius, Daniel, and Emma were coming back every five minutes. As he gave them instructions, he began teaching them a bit about potions. They all seemed eager to help. Severus felt for the first time in many years that he actually did enjoy teaching.
He hoped that Remus could control his animal side like he had promised. Severus couldn't have known, but since Remus thought he would be alone at home, he had decided to have a couple of glasses of scotch. This had decreased the effects of Wolfsbane. Remus wouldn't have gone after Sirius if he hadn't feared his boyfriend could be in danger. Snape was really concerned for Mr. Granger. The man had been nothing but kind to him. He didn't want to see the man hurt. The clock's tick-tack was the only noise in the room. It was maddening. Minutes went by slower than usual. Even Martin, who was quite a patient man, had decided to go outside to walk his concerns off. An owl flew in through the open door and dropped a small parcel and a letter in front of the man. It was from Gringotts, and it was addressed to him.
Mr. Snape,
Gringotts is pleased to announce that upon Lord Black's request, we managed to extract your mother safely from St. Mungo's without a hitch. She is at Gringotts, waiting for your floo connection to be opened so she can come in. The parcel sent with the letter contains some potions recommended by the healers at the hospital. I would not trust them or their potion-making. They didn't seem keen on letting her go. Tap your wand to the main fireplace and grant her permission to come through. That should be enough.
Sharptooth
Snape smiled brightly. He got up quickly, and his chair fell back. The sound got the children's attention.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, looking around.
"Nothing, my mom is coming!" Snape could have jumped for joy.
"When?" Harry asked with a smile.
"Right away. She's waiting in the fireplace…" Snape walked away quickly with all the kids trailing behind him. He did as Sharptooth requested, and his mother appeared in the fireplace, sitting in a wheelchair. She looked at him up and down slowly. Her eyes filled with tears. Eileen Prince had been through a lot. She was skinny and seemed weak. However, her face reflected all the joy of having her son in front of her again.
"My baby!" she said, pulling him down into a fierce hug. Snape knelt down in front of her and hugged her back. Tears ran down his cheeks. He would never leave his mother again. His heart felt almost too full.
"I am so glad you are finally here!" Severus kissed Eileen's forehead.
"As am I, darling… Who are all these beautiful kids?" Eileen asked, smiling at the three children.
"I'm Hermione Granger, this is Harry Potter, and he is Draco Malfoy," the girl smiled her toothiest smile. The boys behind her smiled and nodded.
"It is really nice to meet you all. Has my boy been good to you?" Eileen said, looking pointedly at Severus, who blushed.
"Mother, I am not a child!"
"Yes, you are. You will always be my child, honey," she patted his cheek and looked at his new appearance. "You look wonderful."
"He's really good to us," Harry said with an amused smile.
"Good. If Sev is ever bad to you, you let me know, and I will set him straight," Eileen winked. "Are we staying here?" Severus' mother looked around appreciatively. The famous Potter Manor did not disappoint. It was stunning.
"For the time being. We can find our own place soon, I hope," Severus smiled at his mother.
"Master Harry," Trippy popped in excited. "Should I bring refreshments for yous guest?"
Harry looked at Malfoy in confusion. The boy nodded slowly. "Yes, Trippy. Thank you. Is Neesy alright?"
Trippy looked absolutely thrilled to see his master cared about Neesy. "She be getting better, master."
A few seconds later, the living room smelled like freshly poured tea, coffee, blueberry muffins, and scones. Eileen needed some help eating, and Severus was happy to assist her. She noticed that the kids seemed concerned and were playing with their food. She asked her son, and he explained the situation to her swiftly. As he explained, Hermione's eyes filled with tears again.
"What if they are too late?" her lower lip quivered. Harry immediately wrapped his arms around her. Even Draco put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder in his first-ever demonstration of physical affection towards the girl.
A double crack of apparition made them all jump. Harry's eyes went wide at seeing Remus in his current state. He was much taller and more muscular. Hair covered most of the skin Harry could see. It was like a furrier, stronger version of his uncle Remy. He noticed that Moony seemed tense, and Sirius was limping. Mr. Granger seemed dirty and there was some dried blood in his scrubs. Mrs. Granger was a bit dirty but otherwise unharmed.
"Daddy!" Hermione ran to her father and hugged him with all her might.
"Princess!" Daniel made a pained face. His body was complaining at the contact. Harry rushed to hug the doctor too. Then he turned to his uncles.
"Uncle Moony! You're back! Are you okay, Sirius?" Harry exclaimed, hanging on to both men's necks. Sirius was so happy to be home that he didn't pull Harry away from his boyfriend as he intended to do.
The wolf instincts were too heightened. Apparition had unclogged the man werewolf's nose. Now, Remus could sense everything again. He felt the bitter power begin to drip down his teeth. He could hear the heartbeats that made Harry's jugular vein pulsate slowly. He could smell the tender flesh in Harry's neck. It would be so easy to bite the small head off his brittle neck… and then all that bright, young blood and tender meat would be a feast for him. His eyes began going dark.
Snape was very familiar with werewolves going on beast mode. He saw Remus' expression change in a matter of mere seconds, and he accioed the silver letter opener on the coffee table, jumping towards the man, "Lupin! No!" Severus exclaimed as the werewolf bared his teeth slowly.
Too many things happened at once. Sirius ripped Harry away from Remus and jumped away behind the sofa with his godson. Severus grabbed the letter opener on the table and stopped half an inch away from Lupin's neck. The skin there began reddening painfully. Narcissa accioed her son and pushed Emma and Daniel back, and Hermione fell down with them. Eileen grabbed the gun that Emma had put on the side table and was pointing it at Remus' head.
Harry landed with a pained grunt that was quickly echoed by Hermione, who felt his pain through the bond. As he fell, he scraped his elbow. Remus sniffed the air, looked at the letter opener pointed at him, and at the man holding it with hatred. He pushed Severus on his chest, making him fly across the room. As Severus was pushed, he did cut Remus superficially with the letter opener, but as it was silver, Moony began bleeding freely. Martin came rushing in, holding a silver tray and one of the swords from a suit of armor, which was to his surprise quite sharp. "Remus, please focus! We are all friends here!"
Remus growled dangerously. Werewolves really did not like priests. The cut on his forearm with the letter opener was still bleeding profusely, and his skin was burning. As Lupin advanced menacingly towards the cleric, every adult with a wand began casting spells to try to bound and gag the lycanthrope. Remus fought back. Martin hit Remus squarely on the jaw with all his might, and the werewolf barely moved back. The priest prayed in his mind, thinking that this was the day he died. There were several screams from different people all at once.
Harry was scared. His uncle seemed angry, frightened, and in pain. The boy knew that when wild animals feel cornered, they attack. This fight would only anger Moony more. Harry got up and ran to the center of the room, stopping directly in front of Remus. Emma screamed in horror, expecting Harry to be torn apart. All the elves in Potter Manor popped into the living room and began surrounding Remus.
Harry motioned for the elves not to move. He focused on his magic and pushed as much calming energy as he could muster towards his uncle. Tiny multicolored sparks began coming off Harry's body and swirling around Remus' head. Harry was trying so hard that the bond was even pulling on Hermione's energy without him noticing. The girl did notice and helped Harry push. Sirius watched in shock at the fact that what Harry was doing was actually working. Remus looked confused for a second then focused on the boy and growled, baring his teeth.
"Hi, Uncle Moony. I know you are scared and hurt, but you are home now. Home is safe. No one wants to hurt you. We just don't want you to hurt us either…"
Remus' growls slowed significantly.
Harry went on: "You need to calm down, uncle Moony… You are scaring everybody."
Remus stopped growling and whimpered as he looked at his bleeding arm.
Emma had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming when Harry stretched his arm to touch his uncle's cheek. "I know all you want is to protect us because you love us, and we are your family…"
Remus nodded slowly, whimpering like an overgrown puppy. Harry caressed Lupin's face and smelled around it, dragging his small face against his uncle's rough bearded one. "You are safe here. We are all safe here. Everyone will put the silver things away, so you feel better, okay?"
Remus whimpered again. He knelt down in front of Harry and pressed his face against the boy's chest, letting out a long, slow breath. His first, clear, human thought was that Harry should have been scared, and his heart should have been racing, but it wasn't. The boy was absolutely calm. Padfoot rushed to his boyfriend. Remus looked at Sirius in shame and unadulterated horror. He realized what had just happened. He had almost bitten Harry. "Chain me! Please! I don't care if it burns," Remus' wide eyes filled with tears as he understood what had almost happened.
"Remus, here," Narcissa summoned a silver container and offered it to Sirius to pour it down his boyfriend's throat. "Wolfsbane. It can't hurt to double dose."
"What?! Narcissa! No! It can hurt!" Severus ripped the container off her hands, with one hand on his sore chest. "Two doses of wolfsbane in twenty-four hours could be lethal! Wolfsbane is one of the deadliest combinations of ingredients in potion-making! The only reason they don't die is that werewolves are stronger than regular people."
"I don't care! Give me that. I deserve whatever happens to me," Remus exclaimed, reaching out desperately for the container.
"No! Uncle Moony! It's okay. I am fine. You controlled it. Let me try something first. Hermione, I need you," Harry said.
Hermione walked over to his side and held his hand. "What should we do?"
"Wish him to sleep for an entire day," Harry replied without a pause. Hermione nodded. They put their joined hands on the man's chest and their free hands on his head. Remus let out a shaky breath. This could be dangerous, but he deserved anything that went wrong.
White incandescent light came out of the children's hands and began bathing Remus' entire body. Harry turned to Sirius and the rest of the adults. "You should wish the same with your magic. As hard as you can."
Sirius, Narcissa, Severus, and Eileen extended their wands towards Remus and started pushing calm energy. The elves stretched their arms and did the same. After a couple of minutes of straining, Remus' eyes drifted shut, and he fell down into a deep slumber, sliding into his boyfriend's waiting arms. As soon as the man fell asleep, everyone else let out a collective breath.
"Mother of God!" Martin exclaimed. His rosary beads had been crutched so tightly in his hand that it left a mark. He had put the tray, and the sword down, and immediately felt little arms hug his leg. Draco was shaking like a leaf. Martin pulled the kid in closer and looked around, "Is everyone alright?"
Narcissa was pale and shocked at her son, who seemingly disappeared from her side and appeared next to Martin, but she nodded. So did most people in the room. Emma rushed over to Harry and Hermione, "Honey, are you ok? You are bleeding."
Harry thought Emma meant Hermione, and he began checking her over with concern. "Harry, not me, you," Hermione pointed at his elbow.
"Oh! I'm fine," Harry smiled. There was a bit of blood on his arm, but the cut was closed. Emma took a closer look and saw the healed skin with amazement. The boy wished for the elves to go away, and they did.
"Cissa, a little help here," Sirius motioned at Remus. Narcissa began to levitate the werewolf off her cousin and onto the sofa. "I'm taking him to the cottage and staying with him until the moon is completely over. Emma, the kids?"
Mrs. Granger nodded and motion for him to get going. "Be careful, Sirius."
"I will. Tomorrow we will be at waxing gibbous so Remus will be right as rain when he wakes up," Sirius held onto Remus and apparated away.
"Waxing what?" asked a confused Draco.
"He will so not be right as rain," Martin sighed.
"Um, not to take center stage or anything… but my head is killing me," Daniel said, dropping next to Eileen, who was muttering healing incantations to her son's chest.
"Of course, Trippy," Emma said, "Can you get me my medicine cabinet and some ice?"
"Yes, Missy Grangy," the elf said, popping out and back in with her requests.
Emma had updated her cabinet when she went shopping. She had bought stronger medications, IVs, suturing kits, the works. Soon enough, she had her husband with an IV bag cocktail that made him feel significantly better.
"Nothing beats the muggle feel-good stuff, huh?" Eileen smiled at Daniel. "Eileen Snape, Severus' mother."
"Hurray for modern medicine!" Daniel slurred, sliding down to a semi-sitting position. "Nice to meet you. We have been expeeecting you."
"Welcome to Potter Manor," Emma smiled and shook the woman's hand. Eileen smiled back and patted the doctor's hand.
"Can you please tell us what happened out there? You come home with an injured Daniel, an altered Sirius, an unstable Remus, and this weird briefcase that stinks like a funeral," Severus said.
"Right. Everyone take a seat. We'll fill you in."
"Tolanthe?" Hermione asked. "Can we have a calming tea?"
"Yes, Lady Potter. At once," Tolanthe's echoey voice replied. Emma cringed.
"Lady Potter?!" Eileen asked, her jaw disengaging.
"It's a long story," Harry blushed. hanging his head down. Hermione nodded then shrugged.
"I've got time," Eileen smiled.
I'm alive! Thank you for reading! Sorry for the long time between updates. Remote teaching has been... a lot. Because of it and all the time sitting, my back is doing pretty bad. So I haven't had a chance to work on this as much as I wanted to. I will make no promises for updating, but I will try to work on this soon. -Lux-