Chapter Twelve: Christmas
Morning sun streamed into the bedroom through the slit in the drapes, hitting Lupin's face.
He blinked, opened his eyes, squinted against the brightness. He was lying on his back, naked. His whole body felt like lead; his muscles were sore; the skin of his back stung where it had been scratched. He smiled.
Blinking again, he turned his head on the pillow. Tonks was lying next to him, on her side, sleeping. Her hair was tangled; her eyeliner smudged; her lips were slightly open. She was naked, the bedcovers pulled up to rest on the curve of her hip. Her arms were folded in front of her, covering her breasts. She looked...innocent when she slept. Beautiful.
Lupin turned on his side, ignoring the soreness in his body, and ran his hand along the curve of her hip. She sighed and stirred just slightly, shifting, moving closer to him, rolling onto her back.
Lupin's mind drifted as he watched her, as his hand traveled lightly up her arm and back down. Drifted to all the things they'd done last night, starting with shagging like minks on the kitchen table, to going upstairs, half dressed, in torn clothes, entering his bedroom, peeling off their clothes again and making love slowly, languorously, taking their time, exploring each other. Then making love a third time. Lupin smiled again. It had been one of the best nights in his life.
She sighed again and slowly opened her eyes, then blinked and looked at him.
"Hi," she whispered, shifting again, moving still closer to him.
"Good morning," he murmured, kissing her lightly on the mouth.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"I don't know," said Lupin. "You don't have to be anywhere, do you?"
"No," said Tonks. "Just here."
"Good," he said.
They held each other for a while, not saying anything. It was Tonks who broke the silence.
"Remus," she whispered.
"Hmm."
"I'm sorry I scratched up your back," she said.
Lupin laughed. "I don't really think I noticed that much at the time."
"True," she said. "You were rather intent on ripping my clothes off."
"I didn't...frighten you at all, did I?" Lupin asked.
"Are you kidding?" said Tonks. "That was perhaps the hottest shag I've ever had, thank you very much. I didn't know you had in it you."
"Are you poking fun at my age?" said Lupin.
"You were the one doing the poking," said Tonks archly.
"Listen to you," said Lupin, grinning. "Such a mouth on you."
"You weren't complaining last night," said Tonks, kissing him lightly.
"No," said Lupin, kissing her back. "I wasn't." They kissed for a few minutes, slowly and gently, before settling back into each other's arms again.
"How do you feel, then?" Tonks asked in a soft voice, her hand caressing his bare chest. "Being...sexually active after all this time?"
Lupin gave a low laugh and considered. "I feel...awake."
Tonks looked up at him and smiled.
"You certainly haven't forgotten what to do," she said, smiling.
"Well, I've had years of practice," said Lupin. "But for that seventeen year sabbatical, anyway. One never truly forgets these things."
"And you have quite the stamina," she said, smiling wickedly. "For an old man."
His eyes narrowed. "You little brat," he said, grinning, and he began to tickle her.
"Oh, no. Stop, Remus!" she begged, laughing hysterically, squirming under him and kicking the covers off her in an attempt to get away. She was halfway up off the bed when he caught her round the waist and tossed her back onto it. She gave a little squeal as he rolled onto her, letting his weight pin her to the mattress. She stopped struggling when her eyes met his and she smiled softly.
"I guess I deserved that," she said.
"Absolutely," said Lupin. He rolled off her, onto his side, she onto hers, to face him.
"Tonks," he said softly, his hand running up her arm again, "last night was..."
"Incredible," she finished.
"Yes," he said. "I'm sorry I've been such a...what was it you called me?"
"A prat," she said, smiling.
"Right, a prat," said Lupin, his hand moving over her shoulder and down to caress her right breast. She shifted, arched her back slightly, moved closer to him, giving him better access.
"You're forgiven," she whispered huskily, kissing his lips. He kissed her slowly, deeply, feeling the blood rushing to his groin again, his hand moving over her breast, then lower, lower. She let her knees fall apart as he began to touch her between her legs. She was already wet. His erection throbbed.
"Good," he murmured, nibbling on her ear, stroking her. She moaned softly as her hips moved against his hand. His lips moved lower, over her collarbones, her breasts, to the dip in her belly.
"You're forgiven," she whispered, "provided you don't stop...what you're doing..."
"I think I can handle that," he said, letting his mouth drift lower.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that morning they finally dragged themselves out of bed and dressed.
"Dear god, Remus, look at my t-shirt," she said, picking up her shredded t- shirt and shaking her head. "What am I supposed to wear home, I ask you? AND my knickers." She sat down on the chair near the bed and pulled on her jeans, her boots.
"I rather prefer you without knickers," said Lupin, grinning.
"Ha ha," said Tonks, kissing him on the cheek. "That's all well and good but I can tell you that going commando in a pair of jeans isn't all that comfortable."
Going commando, he thought, and smiled. He had grown to like her colloquialisms.
"You can borrow one of my three ancient shirts," said Lupin, tossing her an old white t-shirt that was grey with age. "It's practically from the Stone Age, but it's clean."
"So it's younger than you, then?" she joked, as she pulled on the t-shirt.
"One more crack about my age, young lady, and I'll have to punish you," he said, putting his arms round her waist.
"Ooh, sounds kinky," she said, raising her eyebrows. "But unfortunately I do have to report in for work today."
"That is unfortunate," said Lupin. "But you'll come here tonight?"
"Of course," said Tonks. "But only if you promise to ravish me and shag me madly."
"You randy girl," he murmured.
"Always," she said. She grabbed his behind and squeezed firmly, then kissed him hard on the lips. "Until tonight, then? You promise to--"
"Shag you madly, yes," said Lupin, feeling an erection building inside his trousers. "Now get out of here before I do just that right now."
She laughed, kissed him on the cheek, broke their embrace, pulled on her robes and gathered up her things, then marched from the bedroom, stumbling on her way out.
Lupin watched her go, in a slight daze. He felt his knees go weak and he sat down on the bed. He thought about all that had happened in the past sixteen hours. From kissing her that first time last night, until this morning, when they had lingered in bed, savoring each other. A smile broke out on his lips, and the smile turned into a chuckle, which turned into a full-throated laugh. He fell back onto his rumpled bed and laughed, quite certain he'd never felt so good in his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two nights before Christmas, the front door to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place swung open and Tonks rushed inside. She didn't attempt to be quiet; the noise of her footfalls as she raced up the stairs awakened the portrait of Mrs. Black, who immediately set to screaming.
"FILTH! MUDBLOODS! SHAME! BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS!"
Lupin came bursting out of his bedroom.
"What's going on?" he demanded.
"QUIET!" Sirius bellowed; he yanked the velvet curtains covering the portraits shut, muffling Mrs. Black's screams. Then he started up the stairs, three at a time.
"What is it, Tonks?" he demanded.
She was disheveled, panting, sweating. She looked as though she had been running.
"Arthur..." she gasped. "Arthur..."
"What about Arthur?" Lupin asked.
"Excuse me." A voice from seemingly out of nowhere made them all spin round in different directions. "I'm looking for that worthless great-great- however many greats-grandson of mine."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Phineas," he muttered. "Follow me," he added, gesturing to Tonks and Lupin to follow. They marched after him down the hall to his bedroom. They stopped in front of a portrait of a handsome but very smug looking wizard.
"Good evening, Phineas," said Sirius. "What do you want?"
"I have a message from Dumbledore," said Phineas. "Arthur Weasley has been injured. Harry Potter and the Weasleys are coming to the house shortly."
"What?" said Lupin. He glanced at Tonks, who nodded vigorously.
"What do you mean, Arthur's been injured?" Sirius demanded.
"Don't ask me," said Phineas, sounding bored. "Dumbledore wouldn't give me any details. I'm just telling you what he said."
"I heard it from Moody," said Tonks, her breathing now slowing down. "He was attacked. Something attacked him. That's all I know. Moody and Kingsley found him, they took him to St. Mungo's."
"Dear god," said Lupin.
"I have to get to the hospital," said Tonks. "Remus-"
"I'll go with you," he said at once. "Sirius?"
"I've got to go downstairs, meet the kids," said Sirius. "What about Molly? She's at the Burrow."
"Dumbledore'll get the message to her," said Lupin, feeling his stomach tighten with dread.
"Right," said Sirius.
"Let's go," said Lupin, taking Tonks's hand. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arthur Weasley survived, but barely. Lupin learned the details of the attack from Sirius. A snake-Voldemort's snake-had slipped into the corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries, where Arthur was standing guard. He'd fallen asleep, but awoke when he heard the snake; he'd managed to get out his wand but the snake had struck, biting him three times and filling him with poison. Kingsley and Moody were in the Ministry that night, but nowhere near the Department of Mysteries-it was only when the painted form of a former Hogwarts headmaster appeared in his portrait at the Ministry and had begun to yell. It was sheer good fortune that it was Kingsley and Moody who'd heard the shouting first; they were able to get to Arthur before others could intercept them and start asking all manner of questions.
Dumbledore, meanwhile, had come up with a cover story for Arthur's presence in the Ministry after hours, but Lupin never learned just what that cover story was. Arthur had been rushed to St. Mungo's; the healers had worked on him, purging his body of the poison and giving him Blood Replenishing Draughts, bandaging him up. It was a narrow escape; the poison from the snake's fangs had been powerful and would have surely killed Arthur-if he hadn't bled to death first-had Moody and Kingsley not learned of what had happened.
But the only reason anyone knew anything about this at all, the only reason Arthur was still alive, was because of Harry Potter. Harry had witnessed the attack in a dream; he'd seen from inside the very eyes of the snake itself, and was able to raise the alarm.
What started out as a very tense Christmas holiday quickly turned into a joyful one at the news that Arthur would fully recover. Sirius was in a better mood than he'd been in weeks. With the house full and with Harry there, he became the consummate host and even took to decorating the house with the enthusiastic help of everyone there. Hermione Granger joined them, having cut short a holiday with her parents.
On Christmas Day, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys made a trip to St. Mungo's to visit Arthur. Moody, Lupin and Tonks went along. Arthur had related that a man was sharing his ward who'd been bitten by a werewolf, but that he was in a bad way emotionally. Lupin volunteered at once to speak with the man.
Once there Lupin was amused to see that Arthur-indulging yet again in his Muggle obsession-had been convinced by the healer in training to experiment with a Muggle remedy called stitches. The children had fled as Molly exploded at Arthur; Lupin retreated to the man in the bed nearby and they spoke at length, both of them trying and not entirely succeeding at ignoring Molly's shrieking rebukes at her husband.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, ARTHUR! HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND?"
All in all, it was a very lovely day. They returned to the house that evening for Christmas dinner, a veritable feast prepared by Molly and Sirius, then retired early, their stomachs full.
Next day Lupin rose early. He turned to Tonks and decided against waking her. She'd been exhausted from her Auror duties, her work for the Order, and as she finally had a respite, he thought he might as well let her catch up on her rest. He pulled on trousers and a jumper and crept out of his room and downstairs to the kitchen to brew coffee.
Sirius was already there, having brewed the coffee. He was eating a crumpet spread liberally with butter and preserves.
"Morning," said Sirius, sipping his coffee.
"Good morning," he said.
"So," said Sirius. "You've been in a fine mood lately. Finally got together with Tonks?"
"Yes," said Lupin, smiling as he poured himself some coffee.
"I take it your celibate period is officially over," said Sirius dryly.
"Very much so, yes," said Lupin, grinning. "What about you? Have you seen Emmeline lately?"
"She's in Cornwall, visiting with family," said Sirius. "Saw her last week."
"And, how are things?"
"Not bad," said Sirius. "Good, actually. She's quite a woman, I must say. But I don't see it becoming very serious. At least not now. She's too busy and I've never been one for complicated relationships."
"So basically you two are shagging and that's about it," said Lupin, smirking.
"That's about the gist of it, yeah," said Sirius. "But it suits us fine for now."
Lupin nodded. Sirius bit into his crumpet. He was making a good show of a light mood but Lupin recognized the look in his friend's eyes. Now that Christmas was over, Sirius was facing the reality that Harry would be returning to school.
"House'll be gloomy, with the kids gone," said Sirius. "Harry."
"Yes," said Lupin.
"But of course he has to go back."
"Of course."
"Too bad," said Sirius. "He's been telling me about that Umbridge woman. She sounds bloody awful. D'you know she's banned him and the Weasley twins from playing Quidditch? Thanks to some education decree passed down by Fudge? Poor kid. He loves that game. Apparently this Umbridge cow has really made things miserable for everyone."
"What about that D.A. club Harry's involved in?" said Lupin.
"That's still on, thank god," said Sirius. "Rules or no rules, those kids need to know defensive spells. For god's sake, they come up on the O.W.L.s and that bat Umbridge isn't letting them practice any, can you believe it?"
"Well, I hope they're able to continue it," said Lupin. "Without getting caught. If that happened they'd all be expelled. That would certainly make Fudge's day."
"Yeah," said Sirius, sipping his coffee. His mouth was curled in a frown, his eyes distant.
"Sirius, he has to-"
"I know," said Sirius. "I know. But, dammit. You know what it's like. Being here."
"I know," said Lupin sadly.
"Molly had a point," said Sirius. "I do forget, sometimes. That he's not James."
"I've forgotten myself, on occasion," said Lupin.
"I'll never understand why they didn't choose you," said Sirius. "James and Lily. You were the smart one, the responsible one. Why'd they pick me to be Harry's godfather?"
"You know why," said Lupin.
"Right, because you're a werewolf," said Sirius, smirking.
"That's not the only reason," said Lupin. They were silent for several long moments. Lupin had never spoken out loud his own jealousy for the friendship Sirius and James had shared. They had never once done anything to make Lupin feel left out, and yet Sirius and James had been brothers in a way that they had not been with him.
"I still miss him," said Sirius. "Both of them."
"So do I," said Lupin.
"It'd be easier, if Harry didn't look so much like him," said Sirius, running a hand through his hair. "I never thought anything would happen to them, Remus. I signed on to be Harry's godfather but I never thought I'd actually have to...BE it."
He paused, sipped his coffee, set it down. Lupin watched him, not saying anything. It had always been hardest, among the three of them, for Sirius to talk about personal things.
"You know, I never even thought of having kids myself," said Sirius, smiling. "Didn't even really think about settling down. Committing to one woman, getting married, having kids. All seemed like too much responsibility. And now here I am, the legal guardian of this amazing kid and I can't even..."
His voice trailed off.
"I don't want to let him down," he mumbled.
"You won't," said Lupin.
"It'd help if I weren't stuck in this bloody house all the time," Sirius said bitterly. "That's what's so bloody hard. If I give in to what I want to do I risk getting caught and sent back to Azkaban, and then what good am I to Harry? But I'm starting to wonder whether I'll go mad in this house."
"I won't let that happen," said Lupin.
Sirius looked at Lupin with sad eyes.
"You're a good mate, Remus," he said, his voice sounding a bit strangled.
"Thank you," said Lupin, smiling mildly.
"Even if you are shagging my first cousin once removed."
"Piss off, Sirius."
Morning sun streamed into the bedroom through the slit in the drapes, hitting Lupin's face.
He blinked, opened his eyes, squinted against the brightness. He was lying on his back, naked. His whole body felt like lead; his muscles were sore; the skin of his back stung where it had been scratched. He smiled.
Blinking again, he turned his head on the pillow. Tonks was lying next to him, on her side, sleeping. Her hair was tangled; her eyeliner smudged; her lips were slightly open. She was naked, the bedcovers pulled up to rest on the curve of her hip. Her arms were folded in front of her, covering her breasts. She looked...innocent when she slept. Beautiful.
Lupin turned on his side, ignoring the soreness in his body, and ran his hand along the curve of her hip. She sighed and stirred just slightly, shifting, moving closer to him, rolling onto her back.
Lupin's mind drifted as he watched her, as his hand traveled lightly up her arm and back down. Drifted to all the things they'd done last night, starting with shagging like minks on the kitchen table, to going upstairs, half dressed, in torn clothes, entering his bedroom, peeling off their clothes again and making love slowly, languorously, taking their time, exploring each other. Then making love a third time. Lupin smiled again. It had been one of the best nights in his life.
She sighed again and slowly opened her eyes, then blinked and looked at him.
"Hi," she whispered, shifting again, moving still closer to him.
"Good morning," he murmured, kissing her lightly on the mouth.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"I don't know," said Lupin. "You don't have to be anywhere, do you?"
"No," said Tonks. "Just here."
"Good," he said.
They held each other for a while, not saying anything. It was Tonks who broke the silence.
"Remus," she whispered.
"Hmm."
"I'm sorry I scratched up your back," she said.
Lupin laughed. "I don't really think I noticed that much at the time."
"True," she said. "You were rather intent on ripping my clothes off."
"I didn't...frighten you at all, did I?" Lupin asked.
"Are you kidding?" said Tonks. "That was perhaps the hottest shag I've ever had, thank you very much. I didn't know you had in it you."
"Are you poking fun at my age?" said Lupin.
"You were the one doing the poking," said Tonks archly.
"Listen to you," said Lupin, grinning. "Such a mouth on you."
"You weren't complaining last night," said Tonks, kissing him lightly.
"No," said Lupin, kissing her back. "I wasn't." They kissed for a few minutes, slowly and gently, before settling back into each other's arms again.
"How do you feel, then?" Tonks asked in a soft voice, her hand caressing his bare chest. "Being...sexually active after all this time?"
Lupin gave a low laugh and considered. "I feel...awake."
Tonks looked up at him and smiled.
"You certainly haven't forgotten what to do," she said, smiling.
"Well, I've had years of practice," said Lupin. "But for that seventeen year sabbatical, anyway. One never truly forgets these things."
"And you have quite the stamina," she said, smiling wickedly. "For an old man."
His eyes narrowed. "You little brat," he said, grinning, and he began to tickle her.
"Oh, no. Stop, Remus!" she begged, laughing hysterically, squirming under him and kicking the covers off her in an attempt to get away. She was halfway up off the bed when he caught her round the waist and tossed her back onto it. She gave a little squeal as he rolled onto her, letting his weight pin her to the mattress. She stopped struggling when her eyes met his and she smiled softly.
"I guess I deserved that," she said.
"Absolutely," said Lupin. He rolled off her, onto his side, she onto hers, to face him.
"Tonks," he said softly, his hand running up her arm again, "last night was..."
"Incredible," she finished.
"Yes," he said. "I'm sorry I've been such a...what was it you called me?"
"A prat," she said, smiling.
"Right, a prat," said Lupin, his hand moving over her shoulder and down to caress her right breast. She shifted, arched her back slightly, moved closer to him, giving him better access.
"You're forgiven," she whispered huskily, kissing his lips. He kissed her slowly, deeply, feeling the blood rushing to his groin again, his hand moving over her breast, then lower, lower. She let her knees fall apart as he began to touch her between her legs. She was already wet. His erection throbbed.
"Good," he murmured, nibbling on her ear, stroking her. She moaned softly as her hips moved against his hand. His lips moved lower, over her collarbones, her breasts, to the dip in her belly.
"You're forgiven," she whispered, "provided you don't stop...what you're doing..."
"I think I can handle that," he said, letting his mouth drift lower.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that morning they finally dragged themselves out of bed and dressed.
"Dear god, Remus, look at my t-shirt," she said, picking up her shredded t- shirt and shaking her head. "What am I supposed to wear home, I ask you? AND my knickers." She sat down on the chair near the bed and pulled on her jeans, her boots.
"I rather prefer you without knickers," said Lupin, grinning.
"Ha ha," said Tonks, kissing him on the cheek. "That's all well and good but I can tell you that going commando in a pair of jeans isn't all that comfortable."
Going commando, he thought, and smiled. He had grown to like her colloquialisms.
"You can borrow one of my three ancient shirts," said Lupin, tossing her an old white t-shirt that was grey with age. "It's practically from the Stone Age, but it's clean."
"So it's younger than you, then?" she joked, as she pulled on the t-shirt.
"One more crack about my age, young lady, and I'll have to punish you," he said, putting his arms round her waist.
"Ooh, sounds kinky," she said, raising her eyebrows. "But unfortunately I do have to report in for work today."
"That is unfortunate," said Lupin. "But you'll come here tonight?"
"Of course," said Tonks. "But only if you promise to ravish me and shag me madly."
"You randy girl," he murmured.
"Always," she said. She grabbed his behind and squeezed firmly, then kissed him hard on the lips. "Until tonight, then? You promise to--"
"Shag you madly, yes," said Lupin, feeling an erection building inside his trousers. "Now get out of here before I do just that right now."
She laughed, kissed him on the cheek, broke their embrace, pulled on her robes and gathered up her things, then marched from the bedroom, stumbling on her way out.
Lupin watched her go, in a slight daze. He felt his knees go weak and he sat down on the bed. He thought about all that had happened in the past sixteen hours. From kissing her that first time last night, until this morning, when they had lingered in bed, savoring each other. A smile broke out on his lips, and the smile turned into a chuckle, which turned into a full-throated laugh. He fell back onto his rumpled bed and laughed, quite certain he'd never felt so good in his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two nights before Christmas, the front door to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place swung open and Tonks rushed inside. She didn't attempt to be quiet; the noise of her footfalls as she raced up the stairs awakened the portrait of Mrs. Black, who immediately set to screaming.
"FILTH! MUDBLOODS! SHAME! BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS!"
Lupin came bursting out of his bedroom.
"What's going on?" he demanded.
"QUIET!" Sirius bellowed; he yanked the velvet curtains covering the portraits shut, muffling Mrs. Black's screams. Then he started up the stairs, three at a time.
"What is it, Tonks?" he demanded.
She was disheveled, panting, sweating. She looked as though she had been running.
"Arthur..." she gasped. "Arthur..."
"What about Arthur?" Lupin asked.
"Excuse me." A voice from seemingly out of nowhere made them all spin round in different directions. "I'm looking for that worthless great-great- however many greats-grandson of mine."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Phineas," he muttered. "Follow me," he added, gesturing to Tonks and Lupin to follow. They marched after him down the hall to his bedroom. They stopped in front of a portrait of a handsome but very smug looking wizard.
"Good evening, Phineas," said Sirius. "What do you want?"
"I have a message from Dumbledore," said Phineas. "Arthur Weasley has been injured. Harry Potter and the Weasleys are coming to the house shortly."
"What?" said Lupin. He glanced at Tonks, who nodded vigorously.
"What do you mean, Arthur's been injured?" Sirius demanded.
"Don't ask me," said Phineas, sounding bored. "Dumbledore wouldn't give me any details. I'm just telling you what he said."
"I heard it from Moody," said Tonks, her breathing now slowing down. "He was attacked. Something attacked him. That's all I know. Moody and Kingsley found him, they took him to St. Mungo's."
"Dear god," said Lupin.
"I have to get to the hospital," said Tonks. "Remus-"
"I'll go with you," he said at once. "Sirius?"
"I've got to go downstairs, meet the kids," said Sirius. "What about Molly? She's at the Burrow."
"Dumbledore'll get the message to her," said Lupin, feeling his stomach tighten with dread.
"Right," said Sirius.
"Let's go," said Lupin, taking Tonks's hand. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arthur Weasley survived, but barely. Lupin learned the details of the attack from Sirius. A snake-Voldemort's snake-had slipped into the corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries, where Arthur was standing guard. He'd fallen asleep, but awoke when he heard the snake; he'd managed to get out his wand but the snake had struck, biting him three times and filling him with poison. Kingsley and Moody were in the Ministry that night, but nowhere near the Department of Mysteries-it was only when the painted form of a former Hogwarts headmaster appeared in his portrait at the Ministry and had begun to yell. It was sheer good fortune that it was Kingsley and Moody who'd heard the shouting first; they were able to get to Arthur before others could intercept them and start asking all manner of questions.
Dumbledore, meanwhile, had come up with a cover story for Arthur's presence in the Ministry after hours, but Lupin never learned just what that cover story was. Arthur had been rushed to St. Mungo's; the healers had worked on him, purging his body of the poison and giving him Blood Replenishing Draughts, bandaging him up. It was a narrow escape; the poison from the snake's fangs had been powerful and would have surely killed Arthur-if he hadn't bled to death first-had Moody and Kingsley not learned of what had happened.
But the only reason anyone knew anything about this at all, the only reason Arthur was still alive, was because of Harry Potter. Harry had witnessed the attack in a dream; he'd seen from inside the very eyes of the snake itself, and was able to raise the alarm.
What started out as a very tense Christmas holiday quickly turned into a joyful one at the news that Arthur would fully recover. Sirius was in a better mood than he'd been in weeks. With the house full and with Harry there, he became the consummate host and even took to decorating the house with the enthusiastic help of everyone there. Hermione Granger joined them, having cut short a holiday with her parents.
On Christmas Day, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys made a trip to St. Mungo's to visit Arthur. Moody, Lupin and Tonks went along. Arthur had related that a man was sharing his ward who'd been bitten by a werewolf, but that he was in a bad way emotionally. Lupin volunteered at once to speak with the man.
Once there Lupin was amused to see that Arthur-indulging yet again in his Muggle obsession-had been convinced by the healer in training to experiment with a Muggle remedy called stitches. The children had fled as Molly exploded at Arthur; Lupin retreated to the man in the bed nearby and they spoke at length, both of them trying and not entirely succeeding at ignoring Molly's shrieking rebukes at her husband.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, ARTHUR! HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND?"
All in all, it was a very lovely day. They returned to the house that evening for Christmas dinner, a veritable feast prepared by Molly and Sirius, then retired early, their stomachs full.
Next day Lupin rose early. He turned to Tonks and decided against waking her. She'd been exhausted from her Auror duties, her work for the Order, and as she finally had a respite, he thought he might as well let her catch up on her rest. He pulled on trousers and a jumper and crept out of his room and downstairs to the kitchen to brew coffee.
Sirius was already there, having brewed the coffee. He was eating a crumpet spread liberally with butter and preserves.
"Morning," said Sirius, sipping his coffee.
"Good morning," he said.
"So," said Sirius. "You've been in a fine mood lately. Finally got together with Tonks?"
"Yes," said Lupin, smiling as he poured himself some coffee.
"I take it your celibate period is officially over," said Sirius dryly.
"Very much so, yes," said Lupin, grinning. "What about you? Have you seen Emmeline lately?"
"She's in Cornwall, visiting with family," said Sirius. "Saw her last week."
"And, how are things?"
"Not bad," said Sirius. "Good, actually. She's quite a woman, I must say. But I don't see it becoming very serious. At least not now. She's too busy and I've never been one for complicated relationships."
"So basically you two are shagging and that's about it," said Lupin, smirking.
"That's about the gist of it, yeah," said Sirius. "But it suits us fine for now."
Lupin nodded. Sirius bit into his crumpet. He was making a good show of a light mood but Lupin recognized the look in his friend's eyes. Now that Christmas was over, Sirius was facing the reality that Harry would be returning to school.
"House'll be gloomy, with the kids gone," said Sirius. "Harry."
"Yes," said Lupin.
"But of course he has to go back."
"Of course."
"Too bad," said Sirius. "He's been telling me about that Umbridge woman. She sounds bloody awful. D'you know she's banned him and the Weasley twins from playing Quidditch? Thanks to some education decree passed down by Fudge? Poor kid. He loves that game. Apparently this Umbridge cow has really made things miserable for everyone."
"What about that D.A. club Harry's involved in?" said Lupin.
"That's still on, thank god," said Sirius. "Rules or no rules, those kids need to know defensive spells. For god's sake, they come up on the O.W.L.s and that bat Umbridge isn't letting them practice any, can you believe it?"
"Well, I hope they're able to continue it," said Lupin. "Without getting caught. If that happened they'd all be expelled. That would certainly make Fudge's day."
"Yeah," said Sirius, sipping his coffee. His mouth was curled in a frown, his eyes distant.
"Sirius, he has to-"
"I know," said Sirius. "I know. But, dammit. You know what it's like. Being here."
"I know," said Lupin sadly.
"Molly had a point," said Sirius. "I do forget, sometimes. That he's not James."
"I've forgotten myself, on occasion," said Lupin.
"I'll never understand why they didn't choose you," said Sirius. "James and Lily. You were the smart one, the responsible one. Why'd they pick me to be Harry's godfather?"
"You know why," said Lupin.
"Right, because you're a werewolf," said Sirius, smirking.
"That's not the only reason," said Lupin. They were silent for several long moments. Lupin had never spoken out loud his own jealousy for the friendship Sirius and James had shared. They had never once done anything to make Lupin feel left out, and yet Sirius and James had been brothers in a way that they had not been with him.
"I still miss him," said Sirius. "Both of them."
"So do I," said Lupin.
"It'd be easier, if Harry didn't look so much like him," said Sirius, running a hand through his hair. "I never thought anything would happen to them, Remus. I signed on to be Harry's godfather but I never thought I'd actually have to...BE it."
He paused, sipped his coffee, set it down. Lupin watched him, not saying anything. It had always been hardest, among the three of them, for Sirius to talk about personal things.
"You know, I never even thought of having kids myself," said Sirius, smiling. "Didn't even really think about settling down. Committing to one woman, getting married, having kids. All seemed like too much responsibility. And now here I am, the legal guardian of this amazing kid and I can't even..."
His voice trailed off.
"I don't want to let him down," he mumbled.
"You won't," said Lupin.
"It'd help if I weren't stuck in this bloody house all the time," Sirius said bitterly. "That's what's so bloody hard. If I give in to what I want to do I risk getting caught and sent back to Azkaban, and then what good am I to Harry? But I'm starting to wonder whether I'll go mad in this house."
"I won't let that happen," said Lupin.
Sirius looked at Lupin with sad eyes.
"You're a good mate, Remus," he said, his voice sounding a bit strangled.
"Thank you," said Lupin, smiling mildly.
"Even if you are shagging my first cousin once removed."
"Piss off, Sirius."