53
A small wizarding village in Yorkshire, as night fell, became bathed in the silvery shadow of the waning moon. The breeze rustled with a light cool breeze which suggested that autumn was not that far behind, though the changing of seasons would bring a much-needed reprieve from the heady heat of a rather scorching summer.
The night air around the village wafted in tranquility, though nestled and tucked safely at the edge of the woods, in a small cottage, within its walls, a young werewolf roused from an unrestful sleep.
It wasn't the cold night air nor the sharp sound of the whistling wind that roused the wolf from her fitful sleep.
Her heartbeat resembled now little more than a throbbing mass of corded muscle, thundered relentlessly in her chest, so tightly that it almost hurt. The werewolf's body was ice-cold, despite being bathed in a hot sweat, colder than the memory of the wine cellar she'd been imprisoned in for nine months.
A sob found its way to her lips, yet her tongue refused its release, sending the pitiful sound away with a rough and painful swallow.
The blonde wolf crumpled, twisting, and curling herself further into a fetal position in her bed, willing for the stench of blood and the sound of Wes's pleading whines and whimpers to leave her.
Only two fortnights had passed since Norah and Ollie had taken up refuge in Remus and Tonks's home in Yorkshire, with Dora having given Ollie the address the night that Umbridge came to Headquarters on a tip from Yaga to try to arrest the two of them, and yet, the images and screams still hadn't relinquished their hold on Norah Jameson's mind.
Sometimes, the events of that blood-soaked evening would play out verbatim, as if she were watching the memories as they happened in a Pensive, each moment strictly accounted for, and in perfect visual clarity.
Those nights were almost bearable, and Norah hardly woke up from them when they happened. Other times, however, and far more horrifying, the memories would twist and change, becoming warped and untrue.
Wes's fingers slipped from her two small hands as the older werewolf was forcefully dragged from their shared prison cell, away from her, his screams ringing in her ears.
Then, the Russian-Slavic bitch who had ruined her life would come with a smile so wide that it reminded her of a Cheshire Cat, and her eyes so listless and cold that they almost burned Norah then.
Finally, her own wand hand would raise, shaking, and the tip of her wand was pointed squarely into his chest, her mate's, his voice screaming her name in both terror and sorrow as she sent the familiar flash of green light, the worst and last Unforgiveable Curse, his way.
It was on these nights that she would wake, cold, with a fevered mind and her brow drenched in sweat, and a scream at her lips.
Tonight was one such night and Norah Jameson knew she would find no safety in her sleep this night.
Not when Yaga lay in wake for her the moment her eyelids fluttered shut. Not when the thick, almost coppery tang of her and Wes's blood still lingered in her nostrils.
Not when her ears rang out with the familiar whizzing sounds of the Killing Curses flying past her ear as Ollie let his anger take over him.
The agonizing screams of her mate and best friend mingled, both men screaming her names, blurring together until she could no longer tell which was which. Another sob, this one she allowed it to be set free willfully from its confines, shuddered past her lips.
The young wolf buried her eyes into the smothering fabric of her pillow and openly wept, seeking a refuge that she knew would not comfort her until the light of the morning sun stretched its way across the countryside.
Norah's troubled mind still played tricks on her. She saw herself walking through the desolate halls of Grimmauld Place, first, and then the room twisted and warped into someplace unfamiliar and new to her, becoming the halls of what she presumed to be Ollie's family home, though she'd only seen the cellar and the dining room.
Somewhere in the distance, someone was crying. In her dream, Norah's mind grew even more frantic as the wail continued becoming even more distant.
She began to run towards the source of the noise, hoping to help whomever it was that hurt. The noise grew more frantic, and her wolfish hearing perked up as it sounded like it was moving away from her.
Suddenly, she was in the dining room. Norah gasped, the scream escaping her lips before she could tamper it back, and her heart crashed to the pit of her stomach as she saw the stooped-over, cloaked form of Russian witch, Yaga, and Ollie stood behind her stiffly, at attention, his jaws steel.
"No!"
Norah's dream self-screamed in a pleading whimper as she outstretched her hand as though she thought that might stop the man from leaving her again.
"Please don't take him! You—you cannot do this!" she begged, tears sliding down her ashen cheeks.
Norah tried to run towards Ollie and the formidable hunched-over figure of his grandmother, but her feet moved as though she were trudging through mud, slowly, and she wasn't fast enough to try to reach them.
Both Ollie and Yaga in her dream laughed at her, at Norah running as hard as she could, her heart pounding in her chest, but she wasn't moving at all.
They laughed at her again before Disapparating on the spot and vanishing from her line of sight, to disappear to somewhere where Norah could not follow her mate.
"Don't!" she heard herself scream in her dreams, just before one of Yaga's comrades, a low ranking Snatcher that Norah recognized from the Forest of Dean, shortly before she and Wes had stupidly not reacted fast enough to save themselves from getting taken, raised his wand squarely to her chest and sent the Killing Curse her way, and the square of light hit her dead center in the chest, and Norah crumpled instantly.
Norah bolted upright from her sleep, a startled cry of heartbroken anguish ripping from her lips, unable to breathe, but gasping for air.
The young blonde werewolf struggled to try to will her mind from the darkness, though it felt smothering and suffocating like she was drowning. She looked down and clutched at a fistful of her oversize t-shirt that was more of a nightgown on her petite frame, her heart beating wildly within her chest.
So that meant that she wasn't dead.
Reality slowly trickled back to her senses as she began to realize that the terror of just a few seconds ago was just a dream.
Norah peered around her to the left and right, trying to get her bearings.
She was in the spare bedroom that Remus and Dora had been kind enough to put her and Ollie up in. Norah looked over to her right, urgently towards the window.
The sky was pitch-dark, and the low distant rolls of thunder could be heard in the distance. It had been at least a couple of hours since she'd dozed off. Ollie?
Where was he? She briefly remembered that Ollie had said something about Remus wanting to take a walk with Dora, but where was her mate?
But what if…?
What her fears of all those moments prior weren't so farfetched? Where was Ollie?
Why hadn't he woken her?
Norah bolted from her bed as terror pricked at her heartstrings, shimmers of cold sweat glittering on her scalp. She sprang towards the door, her slender fingers curling around the doorknob, and flung it open.
Surely, she was wrong. It had only been a nightmare. Stepping out into the hallway that led out into the rest of the Lupins' simple cottage, Norah was about ready to scream for Ollie, but before she realized it, she was face-to-face with the Legilimens himself.
He was returning to the bedroom and had his hand outstretched for the doorknob, and caught her arm instead. For an instant, Norah gaped at him in disbelief.
Then the werewolf saw the loving look on the wizard's face and a fussing baby Teddy Lupin in his arms. Her mind relaxed, but it took a while for her breathing to regulate back to something that resembled normalcy and for her heart to cease its erratic beating.
Ollie visibly startled, becoming alarmed at his girlfriend's distress. He quickly wrapped an arm around Norah as she took the baby from his grasp. He shot her a soft, but shy smile.
"I'm sorry, Nor," he apologized, smiling adoringly. "But it's Dora and Remus's date night, and I sort of promised them we'd watch the squirt here," he teased, his smile widening as he looked towards Teddy. "I should have woken you."
Ollie leaned forward and kissed her temple, holding her close.
Norah's fingers gripped onto a fistful of Ollie's black woolen sweater as though she were drowning, and he, the life raft.
He stepped back from her in alarm and saw the sheer, unbridled terror in her burning pale blue eyes, and the glimmer of unshed tears at the edges.
The relief in which she was looking at him. Then, peeking over her shoulder and through the open doorway that led into the bedroom, he noticed the rumpled sheets, now little more than a twisted mess.
"You dreamed again." It wasn't a question.
Worry settled over his face as he ran his hand along the growing two-day stubble of his closely-cropped beard.
She'd been plagued by nightmares ever since he'd rescued her from Yaga's clutches. He'd hoped the security of being under the same roof as their friends for a while would help ease her mind and let her sleep peacefully.
But Ollie realized that he had been wrong.
Norah held Ollie's new godson close to her chest and tried to calm her breathing.
She didn't want to alarm Ollie, and she felt foolish at the alarming and troubling degree to which the nightmare had upset her.
It had shown her such an abysmal scene that her body had instinctively reacted, and she was sure the shock was evident on her face. She certainly felt it.
Her voice refused to leave her throat. When she opened her mouth to try to speak, she could barely utter the first syllable.
All that came out was a bunch of strangled attempts at speech.
There was no need for her to speak.
Ollie knew he was right. He furrowed his dark brows into a frown and gingerly took Norah by the waist and escorted her back inside to their bedroom. He perched himself on the edge of the mattress as Norah followed suit.
He wanted nothing more than to take the young blonde wolf in his arms and shield her.
"What was it, sweetheart?" he beseeched. Norah vehemently shook her head no, not wanting to tell him.
His heart sank to the pit of her stomach as he dared to give his next thought a voice.
"It was my grandma," he conjectured, trying to coax Norah gently into saying what was bothering her, what she had dreamed about.
Norah nodded numbly, still nearly speechless as she swallowed down past a lump in her throat, looking pale.
"Tell me what happened, Norah. Please." Ollie reached out and squeezed onto her hand reassuringly.
"I…" Norah stammered, still struggling to find her voice as her tears began to drip from the edges of her lids, remembering the horrific image her mind's eye had shown her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head as if she thought that might be the thing that rid her mind of such an unpleasant mental image.
"She was in the—in the courtyard. She took you away from me," Norah sobbed. "Both of you—you Disapparated, Ol."
She heard him sigh, but she'd ducked her head, though Ollie had decided he was having none of that, as she felt a calloused hand cup her chin, and felt her head being tilted upright and she was forced to meet his gaze.
Norah almost wanted to look away from the man's piercing pools of pale blue orbs but couldn't.
"Norah, baby, please trust me," Ollie begged. "You're safe here with Remus and Tonks, I—I promise. My grandma can't hurt you anymore, either one of us."
Ollie brought Norah's hand to rest close to his heart, bringing her knuckles to his lips for a gentle kiss.
"I want to, Ollie," Norah confessed in a gentle, hushed whisper. "I want to believe you."
Although Norah tried to summon up whatever shred of former Gryffindor courage still might exist within herself, the quiver in her voice gave her away as anything but brave.
She gazed at her lover but could not hide her sadness. "I want to trust you, too—to trust us again, Ollie, but I'm still afraid of what Yaga could do to us. To…you."
Nestled in her arms, Teddy began to cry. Norah didn't realize how late it was getting and gently rocked the baby in her arms, hoping to get the baby to quiet.
She hoped babysitting Teddy for their friends for a couple of hours while they had some time to themselves in Hogsmeade would help her relax and alleviate the growing sense of foreboding in her chest.
Norah tried to feel Ollie's words, to cling to them and believe, but try as hard as she might, she couldn't quite keep her fear from returning.
Her blue eyes glistening with tears conveyed the uncertainty she couldn't summon enough strength on her throat to voice.
Ollie scooted closer to her on the bed, and brought her face to his, resting his forehead on hers.
"My grandma will never lay a hand on you again, sweetheart," Ollie passionately assured Norah. "She won't try to get either one of us here. She can't do it."
"How can you possibly know that for sure, Ollie?" Norah challenged as she raised her deep blue eyes to meet Ollie's gaze.
The sapphires that stared back at him made his heart melt to a puddle within his broad chest.
"Because you've got me. And Lupin and Tonks will do what they can to keep us safe. They made me a secondary Secret-Keeper to this place," Ollie replied, tearing his gaze from hers for a moment to look around the simple spare bedroom they'd kindly been put up in.
Norah frowned, furrowing her brows. "Are—are you sure that's wise, Ollie? What if…" She bit her lip, hesitating to voice her next thought, but she couldn't keep it from her mate. "What if Yaga tortures you and manages to get the location from you. What, then?"
Ollie shook his head vehemently as if trying to send away her words. "I'm not going to let that happen, Norah. I promise… I'm going to protect you," he said.
Norah nodded as Ollie shot his girlfriend an encouraging smile and looked down at his godson in her arms. She'd finally gotten the baby to stop fussing.
There was something about Teddy Lupin's thick head of turquoise hair, though it was slowly turning black to match Ollie's, nestled against the light heather gray of the oversize t-shirt she wore to sleep in, that reminded her of how much she wished she could send word to her mother, Rena, back home.
Though Rena was Greyback's mate, Norah had always liked her mother and had mostly remained loyal to Fenrir out of fear for the savage brute.
Her mother had done what she could to try to protect her adopted daughter growing up from the worst of Greyback's punishments.
The thought troubled her as she wondered what her mum's reaction was to learn of her dad's death if she would care at all.
A flicker of apprehension darted across her features. Only seconds ago, she'd been relieved by Ollie's words, that he wasn't going to let any further harm come to her.
Now she wondered if, considering the man whom she loved more than anything and had more than mated with, had killed her father, if Rena would approve of her mate. She stiffened, and Ollie noticed the change.
"You really think she would?" he prodded gently, wanting nothing to cause Norah distress, and at the same time coax her into revealing what was on her mind, even if the man had to reveal he'd just dipped into her mind and had read her thoughts, even if he didn't want to, it was a skill that he could not help.
Norah's face grew wistful, the lump in her throat worsening as she swallowed, and it felt like she was swallowing a razor blade as her face dissolved into tears.
"I wish I could see my mum," Norah admitted. "I—I don't even know if she knows what's happened... She—she doesn't even know if I'm alive or dead, Ol."
Ollie smiled happily, his blue eyes twinkling, eager to provide his girlfriend with whatever she wanted.
"We'll send her an owl, arrange a meeting time." He grinned and reached for her hand. "You'll see her again, Nor. I'd like to meet the mother of my girlfriend soon," he murmured, almost pensively.
He wasn't quite sure what kind of reaction he'd been expecting the blonde werewolf to have, but for her already peaky face to lose what little color was left in it, to begin with, and for her stricken expression to haunt him was not what he expected as she shook her head.
"No. Don't," she begged, almost earnestly, biting down on her lip. "I don't… it's too much, Ollie."
Ollie furrowed his brows into a frown, his expression conveying his confusion. "Why?" he asked. "She's your mother. She needs to know you're alive and well. And dating me now," he added, almost as an afterthought.
Norah's reaction didn't falter. She almost squirmed, flinching away from Ollie's embrace, imagining her mother's contempt to learn she'd mated with the very man who had killed her uncle.
She lowered her lashes as she answered, speaking haltingly as she tried to address her concern with her boyfriend. "My…mum has…ah…very strong views on propriety," she said in a hushed tone, finally looking up at him, a blush creeping its way onto her cheeks and flushing them rosy and pink with color.
She paused for a moment as she chose her words carefully.
"I'm afraid she won't like you," Norah whispered, her face contorting in pain and fear as she bit down nervously on her lower lip.
Ollie's frown deepened, though it looked like the man was at least beginning to comprehend where Norah was coming from.
"Because you…because you, what, marked me as yours and slept with me out of wedlock?" he stammered, a blush of his own forming.
Norah nodded. "Ah…you—you could say that…" her voice trailed off. Though she blinked owlishly at the man as a light little chuckle left Ollie's lips. "What?"
Ollie chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her forehead and paused to ruffle the now-sleeping dark tuft of black hair that belonged to Teddy that now rivaled his own affection.
"I promise you, love," he started. "I…once it's safe for me to take you home, you and your mum will see each other again. I promise." Ollie assured her.
He looked proudly at his girlfriend, unable to stop the slightly smug grin that formed on his face and curled the edges of his lips upwards in a smirk.
"Besides…once your mother sees me, and hears all that I've done for you, she'll fall just as desperately in love with me as you did, Jameson," Ollie teased, a slight teasing lilt to his tone.
His grin widened as Norah reached over and punched his arm in a playful manner. Ollie smiled, relieved that he'd been able to assuage her fears for now, and leaned forward and sealed his promise with a kiss.
She answered his beck and call with equal intensity. Both felt the fear in which they'd lived for so long these last several months at being parted pouring from them like billowing smoke from a heavy fire and dissipating on the breeze that came through the open bedroom window.
Norah's heart raced, her fingers trembled slightly as she rested them softly against the sharp curves of Ollie's angular jaw.
For the last nine months, she'd been utterly terrified. She'd lived every day of her life in terror in the cellar of Ollie's family's home's cellar. She'd known what it meant to shudder in dread, wondering if each new day was going to be her last.
But what she felt now, was not the reason that caused her entire body to tremble. But of exhilaration. She allowed herself to hope for the first time in nine months, what a life together with this man might look like.
Norah felt like she could breathe again and could not get enough of his kiss.
His lips moved slowly across Norah's, allowing him to drink her in.
She pressed herself as close as she could to close off the gap of space while at the same time trying not to crush Teddy in her arms, though quickly, she became irritable and reached for her wand, giving it a sharp wave.
It took it a moment to glide in the air from Remus and Dora's bedroom and towards theirs, where Teddy could sleep in his bassinet while allowing them to still supervise until his parents got home, she broke apart from the kiss and took a moment to settle Teddy.
The moment she turned around once her arms were free and Teddy was settled in his bassinet, Ollie's gaze searched Norah's face, concern for him shimmering in his burning blue eyes.
An unspoken physical need passed between them, that both of them understood.
"Can you?" he asked, his voice low and husky with desire, a muscle in his jaw twitching. "I—I don't want to force you if it's too soon. Your—your wounds…"
Norah nodded silently, her own blue eyes heavy with desire for the man. "My wounds are mostly healed," she whispered. "But…" she bit her lip, peeking over her shoulder at Teddy's crib, though before she could speak again, the familiar sound of someone Apparating onto the property and into their living room caused her wolfish hearing to perk up and Norah's ears twitched.
Norah stiffened, her fingers curling instinctively around the handle of her wand that had rested by her thigh, though she let her features relax into a soft smile when she saw Lupin poke his head in through the door.
"Sleeping already?" he asked, a slight smile curving the edges of his lips upward, his brown eyes twinkling a bit.
A light pink blush speckled its way along Norah's cheeks. It took the younger werewolf a second to realize that the proud father was asking after his son.
"Oh!" she squeaked. "Um, y—yes, he's out like a light," Norah breathed, letting her shoulders slump in relief.
If Remus and Tonks noticed the exchange at all, the longing little glances between the wolf and Legilimens, then neither one of them said a word.
"Wotcher," Tonks murmured, sidestepping Lupin, and moving to take Teddy, still sleeping, from the bassinet. "Thanks for watching him, you guys," their friend mumbled, glancing at the two of them and her eyebrows raising at the flushed look on Ollie's face.
Catching Remus's eye, she noticed how he nodded. Tonks almost smiled at the longing looks the two exchanged, wondering if they were even aware of it, but given she herself could barely stifle a yawn with the back of her hand, she let it go and assumed they did.
"Of course," Ollie replied, looking surprised. "The squirt here slept the whole time," he joked. "Easiest time babysitting I think I've ever had, Tonks," he teased.
Tonks nodded, smiling, letting out a content sigh as she shifted their son in her arms, feeling Lupin's hand come to rest on the small of her back.
"Well, it's getting late. I don't want to keep you two and we should get this one to bed," she added, glancing down at Teddy in her arms. "Breakfast with us in the morning, French Toast and eggs and bacon?" Tonks asked, her smile widening as both of them nodded yes.
"Wouldn't miss it, T. See you in the morning," Ollie replied warmly, rising from his perch on the edge of the bed and hovered in the doorway for a moment, watching as Dora and Remus's silhouettes faded as they walked from their spare bedroom and to their own.
Ollie didn't speak again or close the door to their room until he heard his friends' bedroom door close and only then did he shut their door and threw up a Muffliato Charm for good measure.
He stood there for a moment as he turned around to look at the young blonde witch, who'd gotten off from her own spot on the bed and now stood inches from him.
Ollie rested his arms around Norah's waist, pulling the werewolf to him, drinking in the pure sight of her. Suddenly, Ollie could hardly control himself. He deftly moved his hands underneath Norah's oversized t-shirt, gliding his fingers enticingly up to cup her breast.
The move elicited a gasp from deep in Norah's throat as she leaned her head back against his, arching her back in anticipation of his movements, silently begging him to go further.
Ollie felt the tremor of pleasure and excitement that ran along her spine as his fingers drifted lower. He smiled sensuously to himself and to her as he pulled back to study Norah's flushed face.
This wouldn't be like their first night together in his bedroom at Headquarters.
This time he would be slow, gentle but passionate, and Ollie vowed he would savor every moment of Norah's return to him.
She shivered above him in an ache that sent a wallow through his body almost hungrily, as he propelled her back and pinned her on top of the bed's mattress.
He shifted her to lie on top of him, his lips meeting hers with fervor.