If one of the Marauders was going to get into a fight, it was almost always Sirius. James was second. And then there was Fae, because Remus and Peter just didn't fight. They preferred to express their displeasure in more subtle ways, more clever, underhanded, and cruel.
So Fae was very surprised to find Remus missing three nights of running because he was given detention for fighting. Maybe she was a bad influence on him. After all, she'd done the same not too long ago. It was his first offense so he was on trophy polishing duty. She borrowed the cloak and snuck in easily, sneaking up behind him and trying to scare him. Unfortunately, he smelled her coming and greeted her easily.
"He- Dude what the hell?" she'd been about to say hi when he turned around and she caught the big bruise around his left eye and the split lip.
"The other guys look worse?" he said teasingly as she inspected the injuries and then started healing them.
Snorting, she rolled her eyes. "Oh, I don't doubt that. My question is who were they and what the fuck did they do to piss you off that much?"
He shrugged. "Don't worry about it. It's no big deal, just homophobes having a problem with Sirius."
"What are their names and class schedules," she asked.
"Fae."
"What? Not cool, man. I'll cut a bitch for talking shit about my brother," she declared, crossing her arms and frowning deeply. She knew it was a thing in this time, but her patience for intolerance was still horrendously low, especially concerning her loved ones.
"Don't worry about it. It's over now," Remus said, grinning and clearly pleased with himself. Fae arched an eyebrow. If he was happy to be in detention, then whatever he did must've been downright diabolical. Remus didn't get caught. So she sighed and let it go. Then cocked her head with a sharp smile.
"Okay if you say so. But at least let me teach you how to throw a proper punch," she said, eyeing the bandages on his knuckles.
"I'm supposed to be cleaning trophies."
"Uh huh."
"Right then, teach me."
Remus was a man of his word more often than not. Punctual and trustworthy and honorable, an adorable and proper little shit. So Fae was surprised that wasn't the end of it. And a little pissed he hadn't told her about it in the first place.
And downright horrified to be rushed into the infirmary, only to find him unconscious in a hospital bed, bandages wrapped securely around his eyes and left leg in a thick cast, elevated by a stand and looped cloth. She nearly collapsed on the spot. Her knees felt like jelly and she staggered to his bedside, falling into the chair beside his bed that James had just vacated, leaping up when she'd entered the room and calling her name worriedly.
He was already talking a mile a minute and Fae caught the key words. A potions accident, kids locked in a classroom, bloody hero, not blind, broken leg, could've been worse, he'll be okay in a few days. Not permanently blind. She tenderly brushed the hair from his forehead, ran her fingers along the bandages over his pretty blue-grey eyes.
The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees as she quietly asked, "Who did this?"
"He didn't want you involved. Wanted to handle it on his own, you know?" Sirius said, trying to calm her down. As if that helped.
"Tell me. Now."
Slytherins and Gryffindors had a long, sordid, rocky past. The Marauders perpetuated that and they had beef with many of the Snake House. This particular skirmish had started with Maximillian Wilder, the older brother of Lilah who'd been dumped by Remus when she caught him in an infirmary bed with Fae and accused him of cheating. There had been shoving and name calling and petty, cute stuff for a while.
Then it got worse with his buddy, Wren Parkinson. He was a Beater for the Slytherin team who was also, apparently, closeted, and had been participating in a secret thing with Sirius once or twice. Gryffindor beat Slytherin, Wren called it off, and then he got mean about it, going after both Sirius and Remus. Sirius usually took care of it and Remus never rose to taunts, not until the leader of their little group, Evan Rosier became butt hurt because he'd been in the group who'd had their asses kicked by Fae. Rosier had been plotting revenge, apparently. Stupid shit. Saying stuff like he'd push her down the moving stairs or feed her to his family's crups or he'd drug her and let his buddies have 'fun' with her.
And then they were finally getting a rise out of Remus who never rose to taunts, Sirius said. And then Regulus went back to Romilly and Fae and they started calling her a slut, a freak, a monster. They were getting too close to the truth - she had beat the shit out of five grown boys and had as many scars as Remus did. So Remus does something stupid to shift their attention and protect her. He pranked them. And he pranked them hard, getting downright nasty with it. Like 24-hour gender-change, covered in poison ivy, and chased by bees, nasty. The stupid thing was that Remus made it obvious that he did it, which the Marauders never do when they're targeting a specific victim. Hence why they got into a fight and Remus had detention back then.
It was a truly marvelous prank and Fae remembered people talking about it for days. Still, Remus thought he'd won and he'd let his guard down. He didn't anticipate revenge - and they got him good. He'd been called out for a reason, he didn't say what, James explained. They'd locked a couple first years in a smoking potions classroom and when Remus got them out, the potion exploded, nearly permanently blinding him. As it was, he was likely to be blind for a week and had bad chemical burns on his leg, so crutches too.
At least it was post-moon, Sirius said. He'd be fucked if he had all that restless energy and couldn't see. Or walk, let alone run. As if that made it better.
Fae didn't say anything when they finished explaining. She just sat there, staring at him, wondering when the hell Remus got so stupid. He was supposed to be the smart one. The subtle one, even on par with Peter. Stupid Remus. Stupid James and Sirius, begging her not to do anything and to not freak out and to explain how they were going to get Rosier, Parkinson, and Wilder back. A perpetual rain cloud? Making their girlfriends dump them? Setting their beds on fire? Pathetic.
"Fae?" Remus called out, already reaching for her. He'd woken up and knew she was there, she knew he could smell her and she could only hope her presence was comforting. She reached back, held his hand, kissed it. He called her name again, sounding nervous.
She took a deep breath and let the rage sink. Compartmentalize. There'd be time for that later. Now, Remus needed her attention and her affection and her support.
"Hey darlin'. Heard you played hero to some cute little first years?" she said, laughing lightly and letting a tear or two slip out. She couldn't stand seeing him in pain.
He smiled softly, arched up on his elbows, reached for her face. She settled her cheek in his hand and then leaned in to hug him. He sighed in relief and didn't let go, so she just climbed into bed with him, mindful of his leg as she curled up on his shoulder.
"Yeah, you know me. Couldn't resist the chance for heroics."
Sirius, James, and Peter gave her nervous looks for the rest of the week, but she just kept smiling, kept it cool. She spent the nights in the Gryffindor common room and told everybody to fuck off because Remus wasn't doing extra stairs so the couch was their's for the time being. Nobody argued. He hated crutches, so Fae stayed tucked under his arm and helped him get most places.
"Damn shame apparition classes and the test are still a few weeks out, huh?" she joked.
She couldn't go to his classes with him so he was in her brothers' and Peter's hands then, but she was always there before and after, waiting for him. The bandages came off on Thursday and she assured him his eyes were as pretty as ever. He assured her they were as operational as ever, thank Merlin. They snuck out that night to make sure he could still see in the dark. All good. And when the cast came off, Fae made sure he took it easy for at least a day before letting him sprint with her again.
After their Saturday run in which Remus led, happy to have full mobility and to floor it, they returned to Gryffindor for lunch. He went upstairs to grab a sweater for Fae because she told him she was cold. Then she turned to Sirius and James. Asked for the Marauders Map and the Invisibility Cloak. They gave it to her without a word.
She stalked her prey. Watched them with sharp, careful eyes and concealed steps. Regulus was helpful - he had lived in the same house as them for a few years now after all. And he understood how Fae was feeling, so he told her everything. It was a good starting point, a fairly large base of stories and occurrences to begin her research upon. Then she followed them, using the map and cloak, nailing down their schedules. When the Marauders asked why she'd been so busy lately, she just shrugged and told them it was yearbook deadline season, which wasn't untrue. Peter let them believe her lie and to be fair, she spent a lot of time in yearbook. She got her work done for club efficiently and then went hunting through the archives, looking at every piece of gathered materials for the past six years.
Evan Rosier, Maximilian Wilder, and Wren Parkinson. Slytherins. Ambitious, entitled, rich, purebloods of the blood superiority variety. The thing is, when you start from the top, you don't learn anything about being crafty or subtle or smart, because you can buy, blackmail, and threaten your way out of trouble. They were sloppy and careless. They were fools. They were as good as dead.
Two weeks later, Fae got her revenge.
The full moon fell on June 1st in the middle of the week, right near the end of exams. It had been three weeks since Remus had gotten hurt and with finals, things had calmed down. The Slytherins thought they'd won.
The full moon had been brilliant and Fae and Remus had run wild, finding a set of two cliffs above the stream that they just had to jump over. It took a bunch of tries, but the water felt good with the summer heat coming in. Running at full speed, leaping from the edge, falling short so many times until they made contact. Great fun.
In the infirmary the next day, Fae slept happily through the morning and stretched luxuriously when she woke up. She and Remus did their stretches and applied lotion to their hurts as usual, Fae humming happily the whole while.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Remus asked, unable to stop smiling either. It had been a good night, he'd pushed his awareness time again.
"Romilly said the house elves were making dippy egg, ham, and cheese sandwiches for lunch today," she replied cheerfully.
"Ah, one of your favorites," he said. "I think I have some apricot jam in my room too, if you want?"
"Please and thank you."
Lunch came around, they separated to get dressed, and then Fae met him at Gryffindor so they could walk to lunch together. They entered the Grand Hall and took a seat, saying hello to the Marauders. Romilly and Regulus joined them a second later, smirking deviously.
As the food appeared on the table, there was a loud pop. Confetti and paper rained from the ceiling. Hundreds of polaroids and little pink sheets with scrawl on them, flitting to all the tables with the pink, red, yellow, and blue scraps of tissue paper. There was gasps and 'wows' and laughter. And then they heard the muffled screaming. The students looked up and saw three boys hanging upside down, execution style, from the ceiling. Hands tied behind their back, mouths stuffed with rags, naked except for their underwear and some special pet names cut into their chests.
For Evan Rosier - 'Bully'. Wren Parkinson had received 'Slag' punctuated with kiss marks. And for Maximillian Wilder, he bore 'Cheat'.
The students howled with laughter. And then the whispers and the shouts started. There were about 10 varieties of moving polaroids floating around, 3 for each of them. Evan Rosier holding a student up by the neck and slamming them against a wall, stapled to a nurse's report of the students injuries which amounted to a broken collarbone, crushed windpipe, and bruised spine, all attributed to a nasty fall down the stairs. The other two were similar - brutal incident reports that were thought to be accidents, accompanied by photos of Rosier committing it.
Wren Parkinson, under a slight glamour in Hogsmeade hanging off a 35-year-old man's arm and receiving money and kisses from that man, who was definitely wearing a wedding ring. And another day, another subtle glamor, a passionate make-out session in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with this year's professor - Mrs. Thimesh. And a third one, sitting in the lap of a big, burly man smoking a cigar and sharing it, and passing a bag of powder, with the boy as he kissed his neck.
Maximilian Wilder, snooping through professor's classrooms for test questions, paying off students to do his work for him, using a self-writing quill during essays. Plagiarizing work from a few brilliant students in the 50s and 60s. Not too far back that the yearbook club had put those books away yet.
The 10th photo was her favorite - all three boys surrounded a table covered in thin little white lines, razors, money, and bottles of firewhiskey.
It was mayhem and Fae basked in it, taking large, satisfied, pleased bites out of the untouched plate of sandwiches on the table. Perfectly dripping egg yolks, melty cheddar cheese, and sizzling ham on thick sourdough slices. Slytherin table was in chaos. Someone spelled the rags off of Evan Rosier's mouth and he started screaming.
"THAT BITCH! I'M GOING TO KILL HER! I'M GOING TO KILL HER!" and then some weird silent mouthing, because oops? He thought she'd leave them with the ability to say her name and snitch?
It was a delightful afternoon, even when Sprout called her out of Herbology class an hour later, escorting her to Dumbledore's office.
They asked her plenty of questions and she knew exactly how likely it looked to them that she'd done it. But here were the facts - she had been in the forest last night and in the infirmary all morning. Several had seen her, including many of the professors and staff members in the room. Second, they had no proof it was her and those boys had tons of enemies. Third, why spend time looking for who did this, when these three boys had been caught red handed breaking tons of very vital school rules? It was going to be all over the news, these boys from such prestigious families committing such acts? They ought to be working to mitigate this disaster, ease the fallout.
So Fae walked out an hour later, scot-free. Romilly and Regulus were waiting and they flanked her sides as she strolled to Transfiguration. Everybody cleared the hallway, standing to the edges as she strutted down the center. Some older Slytherins hissed and threw hexes at her, easily blocked by Romilly, until Regulus commanded them to stand down. The rest of the students looked at her warily, some in horror, most in awe, lots of both. And then they clapped. James, Sirius, and Peter clapped the loudest, cheering and whooping madly.
She didn't see Remus until they met up for their evening run, more of a walk on the day right after the moon. They walked silently for a while, until they got to the edge of the lake and he stopped. "I can't believe you," he said hoarsely, staring intently at the water.
She laughed wickedly. "Really? You can't believe I did that?"
He whirled on her, nostrils flaring, eyes blazing, inescapably pissed off. "You hung them in the Grand Hall! You got them expelled!"
Fae met his gaze head on and raised her chin. "They hurt you."
He took a step back under the force of her ironclad voice. She continued, cold, calculating, cruel, satisfied. "They nearly blinded you Remus. How could you think I'd just let that go?"
His mouth opened and closed for a bit, searching for words until he settled on, "You could've been expelled too! It's a miracle that you're not!"
"They couldn't prove anything. I'm not stupid," Fae spat, rolling her eyes.
"I didn't say you were! I just-" he cut himself off, raked his hands through his hair, muttered curses under his breath, took a deep breath. "That was a really fucked up thing you did," he said quietly, thoughtfully. He wasn't revenant. He wasn't grateful. He wasn't impressed, or awed, or pleased. To be fair, she didn't think he would've been. He was gentle and kind. And Fae was not.
"Does it disgust you? Scare you?" she asked, chuckling darkly. "Because I'm not sorry and I'd do it again."
He looked at her for a long time, then turned and left. Fae let him go. He'd come around. For now, there were about two weeks left of school and she and Romilly had some figuring out to do.
"So where is Regulus staying this summer?" Fae asked her best friends cheerfully.
"What do you mean, where is Regulus staying this summer?" Regulus asked.
"Can't he stay with you? I thought your mom practically collected kids," Romilly said, ignoring their black-haired friend.
"Nah, too risky. Sirius might give it away accidentally, or James. Big mouths, both of them. And if Regulus is caught at my house? So dead." Fae sighed.
"Why can't I stay at my house?" Regulus asked.
"Do you want to?" Romilly replied.
"No."
Fae hummed. "Exactly. How about your uncle?" she asked Romilly.
"Traveling. Thailand this time, bastard was supposed to take me with him," the blonde said, clicking her tongue in displeasure.
Fae offered her an apologetic look. "Stay with you and your family then? We could say Regulus is taking on some fancy internship out there, young scholars alchemic engineering at University of Greenwich?"
"Possibly, but even I don't want to stay with my family. Little brothers will drive us nuts and it's a full house with my uncles' kids."
"Ouch."
"We could always use that young scholars story and I could just stay with my Uncle Alphard?" Regulus suggested.
"Wasn't he disowned?"
"...yes, but it wasn't as bad as Sirius getting disowned. I could stay with him for a week or two at least I'm sure."
"Why don't you just runaway and join the circus? Or a biker gang?" Romilly said.
He laughed. "It'd be better than home."
They talked about it for a bit, but the answer didn't come until the following week. Jenna Green had requested to speak to Romilly and Fae made her go see what it was about. She and Regulus still teased Romilly about that date back in fourth year and needed new ammo. Oh, were they about to get some. Romilly came back grinning.
"So Regulus, how do you feel about summer camp?
"Summer….camp?"
Jenna Greene's parents were renowned Gryffin owners. And evidently, they had decided to try their hand at a summer camp where kids could learn about the majestic creatures and eventually ride them. A new session every week, so they'd be staying in a cabin at camp and working as counselors. All families welcome, but plenty of purebloods and Slytherins. Strange for Regulus to have or want a job, but his mother wouldn't turn down the chance for him to make better, notable connections. There was that solved. The idea of Regulus as a counselor at a summer camp was hysterical and Fae was almost tempted to see if she could go too. Almost.
Unfortunately, Remus didn't talk to her for those remaining two weeks of the school year which kind of put a damper on things.
"He had a point, you know. That was pretty risky," Regulus pointed out.
Fae rolled her eyes. "Hence why I didn't hang them from the Whomping Willow, which would've been super obvious, even though I could've. I should've. Damn."
"Yeesh, brutal," the dark-haired boy snickered. "Everybody knows it was you anyways."
"But can they prove it?" she said, grinning at him.
Romilly looked up from her book. "You know, how do you never get caught?" she wondered.
"My sense of smell is my best feature," Fae explained, laughing. "Did you know McGonagall has a distinct liking for red wine and feta cheese? Can't blame her for indulging so often when she's head of Gryffindor. And Slughorn loves his peppermint candies. Loves them."
She laughed with them on the Hogwarts Express and hugged them goodbye before disembarking. Normally, she sat with the Marauders, but Remus wasn't there, still avoiding her, and she couldn't bear looking at his empty seat. It was hard and it hurt. She hadn't expected him to be mad this long. But she knew he couldn't be mad for long and lo and behold, he was waiting on the front porch steps of the Potters' house when Fleamont, James, and Fae arrived from King's Cross.
"I'm still not sorry," she said as she ran over to him.
He shook his head, smiled, and opened his arms wide. "I don't care anymore. Come her- oof!" he said as she collided with him and squeezed him in a tight hug, legs and arms like vices around his chest and shoulders, nose buried in his neck and deeply inhaling the scent she'd missed so much.
"I missed you."
"I missed you too, you silly, mad, absolutely wild thing." He laughed and pulled her off him, gripping her cheeks in his big hands and bumping their foreheads together, eyelash to eyelash. "I can't believe you did that for me."
She giggled. "Really? You can't?"
"Okay, I can," he said, grin loopy and pleased. "Thank you Fae."
"Anytime," she said, settling her hand over one of his and leaning into his touch blissfully, full of relief. "You and your happiness are essential."
His blush was precious, the way his pupils grew big and his mouth wiggled with helpless, emotional happiness. Embarrassed, he pulled her back into a tight hug. And then side-alonged them to settle on the porch swing to the side, Fae squeaking and yelping in surprise, before laughing loudly.
"So….how did you do it?" he asked. Fae smirked. Suddenly, Sirius and James had apparated from the driveway to the porch swing as well, leaning in eagerly and making it swing precariously.
Lucky bastards, getting their apparition licenses.
James and Sirius buggered off after she recounted her magnificent tale. However, she and Remus stayed on the porch swing for hours. They had two weeks of time to make up for and it wasn't until Euphemia called out to them to inform them it was near midnight, did Remus even think about getting up.
"I.. probably should get home," he said, legs dragging against the porch so the swing would stop moving.
"Nonsense, you can stay over," Fae offered excitedly. "We can camp out on the couch, go running in the morning."
"My parents don't know where I am. I apparated home only to drop off my trunk before coming here, you see," he explained, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Oh." Oh, this wonderful, infuriating boy.
"Yeaaahhh. I'm probably in big trouble."
She didn't even want to imagine. "But you'll be back?"
He nodded and grinned. "Of course. Nothing could keep me away. It may be a bit, but I'll be back in two weeks for the full moon for sure."
"Sooner, please," she demanded, causing him to laugh.
"I'll see what I can do."
Unfortunately, Remus did get very grounded and was confined to his house. Fortunately, he was to be allowed out again to spend the week of the full moons with her during the summer. Better, there were going to be three full moons before classes started again. Best, Fleamont was teaching Fae and Sirius to drive so they could go get Remus whenever they wanted as long as they were willing to make the trip. Well, so Fae could go get him, and probably just never drive him back home. The boys just apparated everywhere all the time, but Fae was completely out of her mind with happiness to be able to drive whenever she wanted again. Sweet freedom.
Fleamont had bought her and Sirius, and James but James didn't want anything to do with it, a bumper car. A beat up old station wagon with wood paneling that would go from point a to point b, had windows that rolled down only some of the time, and could play cassette tapes. It was the most beautiful thing Fae had ever seen. A gift for finishing her O.W.L.s he'd said and for Sirius and James and Remus coming of age.
Sirius and James also received customary watches and she definitely made fun of Sirius for crying. He got her back by making fun of her for being a shitty driver. She wasn't that shitty of a driver, she was just rusty. And then James had to go make a big deal out of it, so she had to fuck with him a little bit. This thing was indestructible, so what if she hit a few curbs for funsies to freak out James? Sirius only egged her on, encouraged her to speed and attempt to drift and lift onto two wheels by hitting corners far too fast.
Hope looked like she might have a heart attack when they rolled into Remus' driveway and Fae honked the horn loudly, repeatedly, and obnoxiously, bouncing in her seat and laughing wildly while Sirius tossed himself out the passenger side window and then rolled himself into the backseat with James.
"Love you mom, bye!" Remus said quickly, kissing her on the cheek, and running down the driveway to hop into the front passenger seat. He tossed his backpack onto James and Sirius, already laughing and howling wildly with them. Fae paused just long enough to wink and grin at Hope before she peeled out of the driveway and sped down the gravel road, sending rocks flying into her peonies.
This summer was better than last summer in many ways, namely Remus being there nearly every day, whether his parents liked it or not. Fae still made the trip for the moons because she loved road trips and loved driving, especially when it was just the two of them because James was a coward and Sirius was the ultimate wingman. Five days before the full moon, the day of, and the day after. That was the deal. And Remus just stayed over and slept there. But otherwise?
They couldn't keep him from apparating as he pleased, but Hope did enforce a 10pm curfew on him which Fae thought was precious - and annoying. Remus wasn't a fan either, he rather liked running at night when it was cooler and playing Hide and Hunt in the dark. Fae just liked being able to fall asleep and wake up with him and her brothers around her. Still, she did her best to nudge Remus to keep to curfew because some part of her did want Hope to like her one day and another part of her wanted things to be better for Remus and his mother than they had been for her. Although to be fair, she had Euphemia now so she had gotten a happy ending on that front.
Like last summer, Sirius kept up babysitting too. He'd grown attached to Theresa and Clyde and so he spent most mornings looking after them happily, sometimes bringing them over to the Potters' to hang out with the rest and play cuter, safer versions of Hide and Hunt. Those days were tons of fun. Also like last summer, Tuesday mornings remained belonging to Sirius and Fae for shopping, with the new addition of bitching about boys. And occasionally checking cute boys and girls out at the mall across town, whenever they felt like being adventurous.
James kept sending letters to Lily and hanging out with whoever could handle his energy or go along with his troublemaking ideas for the day. Sometimes he stayed with Sirius and the kids, sometimes he was at the local pool giving poor sunburnt Peter five stars, and sometimes he was with Fae and Remus, playing tag or trying to convince them to ransack, garden gnome, or paint-bomb Ms. Delores' yard, often successfully.
In other ways the summer was different. There was a tenseness hanging over her parents. At first, she'd been thrilled to see Alastor Moody. It had been more than a year and she'd grown and gotten so much stronger in that time. He'd sat down for tea, nearly tackled when Fae had seen him. She babbled at him for a solid hour, telling him all about her accomplishments, and spending much more time talking about the progress Remus had made, much to the shy, blushing boy's dismay.
But, she said, one was potentially an anomaly. Two was nearly proof. Awareness was possible. Enhanced senses were possible. Heightened strength and magic were possible. The power of a werewolf was tangible and controllable. Moody seemed pleased with her and Fae was practically walking on air for a solid day or two.
But then he was over more and more. Not just him, but several Aurors, familiar and new.
Even Ms. Cole who started paying Sirius to babysit a few nights here and there too. They were members of the Order of the Phoenix, the original one. Fae realized it when James and Sirius had excitedly greeted a red haired couple - the Weasleys. Molly and Arthur, with Fred and George on the way, and still ready to fight. Her brothers hadn't figured it out, not even when the Prewett Brothers showed up. Assholes still called her Little Potter too.
Missing witches and wizards, ransacked shops, members attacked on the street, homes razed mysteriously. Things were getting worse and Fae listened to their whispers, but had to be careful about it. She couldn't get caught listening by them, nor by Remus. She didn't want Remus involved in the war yet - he had one more year to just enjoy himself at least. They all did.
Of course, the choice was taken from her hands on the day after the full moon in July.
Sleeping off the night on the couch, Fae and Remus were roughly shaken awake and startled by Moody bursting out of the floo.
"Where were you two last night?"
Fae gaped at him, shoved Remus behind her on instinct, tried to form words, and then answered a moment later. "In the woods, within the wards, as always!" she said frantically.
"You didn't leave them? Not even for a second?"
"No!"
Moody stared at her intently, grim and dangerous. "I know you Fae, you like to push boundaries and toe lines. We cannot afford that now. Are you lying to me girl?"
Fae met his gaze, challenging back out of the instinct to protect Remus who was still really confused and sluggish. "I'm not. I swear it."
"The lot of you can attest to that?" Moody called, sweeping around to James, Sirius, Fleamont, and Euphemia who had rushed into the room at the sound of shouting. "If the ministry came asking, you would testify they were here?"
"Yes, of course," Euphemia hissed, lurching to stand in front of Fae and Remus, putting her body between theirs and the Auror's. "Alastor, what's happening?"
"There were six werewolf attacks last night. Two dead, four infected in the hospital."
Fae collapsed back onto Remus, eyes wide in shock. Six? No wonder Moody was freaking out. As far as she knew, the ministry didn't know about her abilities or that she and Remus spent the moons together. If what Moody said was true, then withholding that information could quite nearly make them automatically guilty of any charge the ministry threw at them. This was bad.
Remus clutched her arm, chest pressed against her back and clearly nervous and worried and scared as the adults began to talk frantically. Fae turned and pulled him into her arms, petting his hair and muttering soothing comforts to him, although her mind was racing frantically. Four.
It didn't take her long to come to a conclusion. Moody had barely sat down and Euphemia had only just set the tea on when Fae addressed them fiercely.
"I want to help. Take me to them. The survivors. Let me talk to them." Survivors. Not victims. Not infected. People. Survivors.
"Fae?" Remus murmured, looking at her curiously. Every eye in the room was on her now.
"Why on earth would you want to do that?" Euphemia gasped.
"They may be willing to give me details. Pack dynamics are strong and while they aren't my pack, I'm-"
"An alpha," Remus breathed, eyes widening in understanding.
"A what?" Moody questioned. She nearly chastised him for having clearly not listened well enough to her when she'd explained weeks back.
"I'm an alpha, a pack leader," Fae said proudly. "A fellow werewolf. I could put them at ease. See if I can't get any information out of them." Although the information part was secondary, but she knew Moody would be on board if she could spin her help as useful.
"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Moody said lowly, considering.
"You can't be serious!" Euphemia argued.
"I can help them, mom. Don't you remember how lost I was after my first transformation? Don't you remember all the bad things I read early on, about how people treat werewolves? They need hope. They need me. Or Greyback will find them," Fae answered fiercely.
Surprisingly, it was Fleamont who jumped in to keep the argument going, giving his only daughter a rather intense and fiery gaze. "No. It's too dangerous," he said, complete with disappointed dad voice that, truthfully, hit her pretty hard.
"Dad, it's perfectly safe in St. Mungo's, and there's no way a newly-turned werewolf could hurt me."
Remus, the traitor, joined her parents, giving her a frantic look. "It's not them, at least not directly. Greyback may go after them and what If they give him your name? What if they lead him to you?"
Fae hadn't thought of that. That would definitely not be good. She had plans and being invisible, easily forgotten by the enemy was essential. She chewed her lip, thought again, and sighed. "Then at least let me write them. I can use a pen name and keep up a correspondence. I have to do this. Please."
Everybody seemed okay with that option and Fae was pleased. This was her chance to make a difference, finally. 'Be the person you needed when you were young' had always been a philosophy she wanted to live up to one day.
"Alright then. I know the healer in charge of the unit. We'll set something up."
Each of the four survivors received a package the next day - a gift basket filled with soothing lotion, directions for helpful stretches, reusable bandages laced with lavender oil to soothe growing pains, lots of chocolate, lots of cheese and meat, tea and coffee, and a letter from two werewolves named Athena and Romulus.
Joy was 22 and had been engaged to be married. She didn't know if she still was and Athena assured her that if he gave up on her now, then it would never have lasted and she deserved better than that.
Mark Hamilton was 46, two kids 10 and 14. He was scared shitless that he'd hurt them and afraid he'd never see them again. Romulus told him about wards and extension charms and bunker options. Told him that it was perfectly doable to pass the moons and not hurt anybody - Athena'd done 32 moons and Romulus had done 115.
Bethany was 12 and she had dreamed of being a football star. Athena told her that dream was now more achievable than ever.
Jim Hanson was 32 and a lonely bachelor who worked as a clerk in a grocery store. Athena and Romulus worried about him the most, because he seemed to think he already had very little to live for and it may not be worth it with lycanthropy on top of everything. Athena wrote the ward director and made sure he was put on suicide-watch. Then she and Romulus vehemently promised Jim that he was necessary and essential and that life would get better. He absolutely could not give up.
Remus helped her write the letters, although he was quite hesitant and nervous about it at first, stating that Fae would be able to help them best. She'd helped him after all. Fae reminded him that he'd been a werewolf five times as long as she had and his advice was invaluable. Also, their experiences with awareness, while similar, were not the same. Anything would help. He knew it. Anything they could offer might help them feel better, and it was worth the discomfort and risk.
All four of them wrote back and Fae felt good. She could see the smudged ink and smell the tears on the page, tears of sadness, but happiness too. Even Jim seemed more hopeful, thank Merlin. Probably helped that a cute nurse had taken to flirting with him lately. She felt like she was helping, doing something. Remus was feeling it too - he threw himself into research, although his goal was to find a way to lessen the pain of transformation. Bethany was really scared, she'd broken a bone when she was 6 and didn't want to have to go through that again.
Remus had comforted her, it was an inevitability, but he broke down all the ways she could make it less painful. All the ways that currently existed. So he buried himself in the medical section in the town library, reading everything he could find on how doctors, magical or muggle, prepared patients for surgery or how broken bones were mended or how athletes rehabilitated snapped or strained or torn muscles. Remus was particularly interested in anesthetics and muggle pain relievers.
As for information on the attacks - no such luck. The werewolves came out of nowhere, bit, trashed the surrounding area, and disappeared. As far as Fae could tell, it was a show of strength to spark fear. It was working. And they weren't done yet.
Three weeks after the werewolf attacks, the Coles' house was hit. Ms. Cole had been out, doing something for the Order. Sirius had been happy to watch after Theresa and Clyde. James had joined him, thinking they could do smores and movies and cute little games.
Fae and Remus had been in the woods when they heard the explosion. Fire and ash and smoke filled their senses and she knew exactly what lay beneath the pillar of black above the treeline. Fae had been sprinting for the house and had arrived there in minutes, Remus not far behind. She caught the tail end of the battle, James kneeling and gasping and bloody, but sending a great Depulso at a masked, hooded figure. The attacker flew backwards and then was gone in a stream of black smoke before he hit the ground. Before Fae's curse could hit him.
"James," Fae screamed, dragging her brother away from the fire. There was a bleeding wound on his head that she immediately wrapped her hand over and applied pressure to. He couldn't walk, one of his legs red-soaked and broken.
"Remus, get Sirius! The kids!" James yelled. Fae's heart stopped as Remus ran into the fire immediately and her body lurched in his direction to follow, but her hands were still around James. The world slowed to a stop while her heart pounded, and then he was stumbling out of the fire, Clyde and Theresa each under an arm while Sirius was slumped over his back.
Under the weight of three bodies, Remus collapsed to the ground next to James and Fae, coughing and sputtering and panting. Fae reached for him, rubbing his back and making sure he was breathing okay before turning to Sirius and Theresa who looked to be the most hurt. Theresa was crying and gasping and coughing, her left side a molted mess and the clothes burnt away, skin red and raw and bleeding in several large areas on her torso and leg. Sirius' back was completely mangled and burned, the boy unconscious from the pain, but twitching. The leather jacket he'd found that week at the thrift store had probably saved his life. And to think, they'd fought over it and it had almost been Fae's. Clyde was in Remus' arms as the tawny-haired teen tried to comfort the screaming, but thankfully uninjured toddler.
Then Euphemia and Fleamont were there. Members of the Order. Healers. Remus held onto Clyde until Ms. Cole showed up, screaming and panicking. She took hold of the toddler and comforted him, only to begin screaming again when she saw Theresa. So Fae took Clyde back and stood to the side with Remus, reluctantly, as her brothers and the little girl were taken to St. Mungos. It was a very long night. Remus and Fae stayed awake on the couch, comforting the crying boy, watching tv with him until he fell asleep, and looking after him when he had nightmares. Fae told Remus to apparate to the hospital, to see what was going on. He refused to leave her alone and she didn't want to be apart from him, not now.
Around 4am, Euphemia came back to the house and took over watching Clyde so Remus could side-along Fae to St. Mungo's. James' leg was broken in three places and he had a concussion. He'd be fine in a week or so. Sirius had nerve damage on his back and for a little bit, they thought he might not walk again. He got lucky. Bad burns, scarred for life, but he'd be fine. He'd be in a world of pain for a few weeks, lots of rehabilitation and therapy, but he was going to be okay. Theresa too. It had looked worse than it was. Mostly second degree burns that would heal just fine. The worst was the bit on her thigh, that was a third degree burn and she'd have trouble walking for awhile. But she was a tough girl, already awake at 6 in the morning and demanding to see Clyde. It made Fae laugh until she cried. They'd gotten very, very lucky.
Sirius had been Padfoot, had heard them coming just quick enough to warn James to put up a shield charm. Sirius and James had kept the kids between them, fending off attacks as the house burned. The ceiling fell and Sirius took the blow, covering them with his body. James had tried to get them out, but had been sidetracked by a Death Eater and Theresa and Clyde had gone back for Sirius, little shits.
Theresa and James were released that afternoon. Sirius, two days later. The Coles moved into the Potter house for the time being. It wasn't until Sirius was settled in and the treatment cream was spread across his back that Fae relaxed. She'd been carrying a tray of food from Sirius' room back to the kitchen when she collapsed, having not slept since the attack. Remus caught her with ease, picked her up, and settled her in her bedroom. He stayed and lied with her when she refused to let go.
Remus was an absolute angel. Her rock, and the steady force keeping up many of the household inhabitants actually. He helped Euphemia with the cooking. Reminded Fae to sleep or to exercise when she was getting tetchy, he always knew which. Badgered Sirius into keeping up with his creams and treatments. Set up Peter with a bunch of muggle board games to keep James occupied and stationary til his leg healed. Helped Fleamont strengthen the wards.
Leave it to Sirius, though, to brighten and liven things up. As soon as he was regularly off the good drugs and could start moving around again, he was doing his best to put a smile on everyone's face. Cracking jokes like there was no tomorrow, pulling harmless little pranks, even allowing James to make fun at his expense. It worked for many of them, having desperately needed the emotional reprieve. Theresa didn't smile and Clyde didn't talk. No matter what Ms. Cole or Euphemia or anyone did.
At least, not until Sirius was well enough to be Padfoot. He barked and played and rolled. He put Clyde on his back and raced around the yard until he was breathless with laughter. Snuffled Theresa's uninjured side til she was squealing. Dug up Ms. Delores' roses and brought them back for Ms. Cole to put a smile on her face. At night, he stayed Padfoot and slept in the kids' room so they wouldn't have nightmares.
When it was just the Marauders though, he got real. He looked to Fae, who he realized had known all along and had been preparing for this.
"We need to get stronger."
They started practicing dueling with each other. Once James' leg had healed, he joined Remus and Fae's exercise regimens to the best of his human ability and then some. Sirius joined in too, pushing himself far harder, far faster than someone with a back injury should. Thank Merlin for magic.
Fae requested help from Moody and Artemisia as often as she could. Sometimes they helped, sometimes they just didn't have the time.
Diagon Alley was the same exciting trip as usual with wild wandering and excitedly talking over each other and running into school friends and marveling at all the cool stuff. Only difference was, instead of marveling at the stationary in Flourish and Botts or the newest broom at the quidditch shop, they were checking out the armory and the dueling books. Euphemia, bittersweetly, gave them full reign to get whatever they wanted. She knew how resourceful they were when something mattered, best just help now and save time and trouble.
When Sirius' back was mostly healed, he got his second tattoo. As did Fae. His was a teddy bear on fire, burning away. Another reminder. Fae's was the bottom piece of what she planned to be a totem pole, going up her ribcage and starting from her bite mark on her hip. The first piece, the most important, was the wolf. There were two, a big one and a small one. The small one which had started her journey and the big one which kept her going. Above, would be a deer, a dog, and a rat. But that was for another time.
On the night of the full moon heralding the end of August, far too short of a time after the attack, Remus didn't mention anesthesia or drugs or pain killers that might lessen the transformation. He knew as well as she that they couldn't afford to be anything but as alert as possible. They changed the wards into a loop with a bubble around the Potter house, with Moody's help, and each added an hour to their conscious time that night, circling and protecting. They slept for most of the next day, exhausted from the strain, but satisfied that everyone made it through the night safe.
Everyone, in the Potter House, at least. Athena and Romulus gained two more pen pals on top of Joy, Mark, Bethany, and Jim.
Two days after the full moon, a day before they'd be getting on the Hogwarts Express, Fae, James, and Sirius began to pack their things. And it occurred to Fae that Remus hadn't gone home in weeks. Not since the attack.
"Do you want me to go with you?" she offered.
He considered it for a long moment and then shook his head. "No, I'll be in and out, just getting my stuff for school."
"You sure? We could make a road trip of it? Get out of the house for a while?"
"I'm sure," he said. "But hold that thought, a drive sounds nice later."
He was gone for much longer than he'd said he would be. Fae had been worried sick, then relieved when she felt him apparate back. Then curious and worried again, when she realized he'd landed himself somewhere in the middle of the woods. It was strange, he usually had really good accuracy. Then she smelt the spicy vanilla scent of anger, could feel his magic whipping, raging and pissed, throwing hexes and curses like a mad man. Before anyone else could get too worried about the tree that fell in the distance, Fae eased them and let them know she'd take care of it. It was just Remus. A very pissed off Remus. They'd better stay back. Far back.
His curse arced wide and nearly hit her when she entered the clearing, but she deflected it easily enough and lent against a tree, arms crossed as she observed him. "Went that well, huh?"
"They don't understand. Worse, they! Don't! Fucking! Care!" he yelled.
Remus absolutely ranted about how it didn't matter to them that his friends were almost killed, it just meant the Potter family was 'dangerous' and Hope tried to forbid him from going back. Lyall had been a little more understanding, but eventually got pissed at Remus for fighting with Hope and for yelling about the stupid curfew and her stupid ideas that he wasn't strong or involved in the war, her stupid order to stay home, the fact that she didn't really care about him because she doesn't give a fuck about his lycanthropy except for how it looked to others and if she really cared, she'd know why stopping Voldemort from making more survivors and victims was important to him. She just wanted a proper, obedient, successful son but he was never going to be that. And Lyall didn't give a fuck at all, he just ignored it which is why the war is getting worse!
"Wow," Fae said, amazed and surprised that he'd snapped so much. And proud. Atta boy. "Why don't you tell me how you really feel Remus?"
"Oh shut the fuck up Fae!" he yelled.
It went silent. Then he deflated.
"I didn't mean that. I'm sorry," he said miserably, shoulders slumping as all the energy left him.
Fae hummed, walked over to him, tipped up his chin and smiled at him sweetly. "Don't be sorry. Of course you didn't mean it. If anything, I'm the sorry one."
"What could you be sorry for?" he asked.
She sighed and sat, beckoning him to sit beside her. It had been weighing on her for a bit, and she was glad to be able to tell him. "For your parents being pricks. They love you and they want you safe, which I can understand, but once again, they fail to understand you at all and I'm sorry for that," she said, letting magic grow the flowers around them so she could pick and fold them into a chain.
It really sucked and she felt bad for him. And felt bad that she'd let him deal with it alone. "And I'm sorry I didn't realize you were so stressed and so worried about this. After the werewolf attacks and then the Coles', my mind has been elsewhere and you've been picking up the slack, looking after me and everybody. You've been so amazing, Remus. I don't know how I would have got through this without you. And I'm sorry I haven't been able to do the same for you."
She'd made a crown, nowhere near as grand as the ones she could make purely with magic. With a sheepish and shy smile, she slipped it over his head. It flopped down, caught on his nose, then fell to hang around his neck.
He stuttered, going red and cute and bashful. "I'm fine. Really, and I'm happy to help," he insisted. Then frowned. "This has been weighing on my mind, true, but it's just.. I've never fought with my mother like that before. And Dad's never yelled at me, not like that. I feel like such a bad son, after everything they've done for me. But I can't just do nothing."
"Oh darling, don't be silly," Fae said, laughing softly. "You're the best person I know and I'm sure they couldn't be happier with the child they raised. But that's the thing - you're not a child anymore. It's hard for parents to let go and for them to draw the line between child and a grown person with their own ambitions. Their own life."
Remus thought about it and then nodded, sighing and relaxing completely. He wasn't back to 100%, but he was better. "I should apologize. For getting so angry at least. I could've explained better."
Fae rolled her eyes. "You are too sweet Remus. Yeah, you probably should," she agreed. Then stood, dusted herself off, and held out her hand with a mischievous grin. "But first, I think we decided to go have some fun and get away from this mad house for a bit. Fancy learning to drive?"
No surprise, Remus picked it up fast after a solid hour of being nervous and hesitant. Fae explained everything and then decided to just put her hands over her eyes and let him take the wheel. There was nobody around and this crate was sturdy. It'd be fine. Not long later, after he'd finished shouting at her, he was driving them down a gorgeously deserted highway.
"Thank you Fae. You always know how to make me feel better," he told her.
"Back at you," she said, leaning into his side and sticking her legs out the window. "We'll get through this. As long as we're together, nothing can get to us."
After everything that had happened that summer, saying goodbye was hard. Especially for Sirius, who'd become more than just a nanny to Theresa and Clyde. To make matters worse for her poor brother, not long after they got onto the train did Lily Evans come barreling down the aisles, yelling James' name fiercely.
At first, they were worried she was pissed about something and going to attack. But then she flung herself at him and kissed him fiercely. James stood stock still for far too long until Sirius elbowed him and told him to kiss back, you berk. James swept Lily off her feet, despite his bad leg, twirled her around, and kissed her deeply. Lily pulled away, giggled, looked into his eyes and told him she'd been so scared. Was so glad he was okay. Loved him.
James lifted her again, absolutely gleeful. His joy was contagious and Fae whooped the loudest of them all, although she kept a tight grip on Sirius' hand. Gamely, he smiled bittersweetly at the new couple and announced to the whole train that it had finally happened. To James Potter and Lily Evans. This year was going to be good, Fae decided.
A/N: And anotha one.
Don't worry, nobody is dying. Yet.
Think sweet thoughts of Regulus at summer camp.
Next up: the Marauders enter their final year at Hogwarts and Severus makes a lovely reappearance.