Authors Notes
The Tarot deck that Sirius is using in this chapter is the Dragon Tarot, so the images described are slightly different to those in the standard decks like the Riders Waite deck. I gave Sirius this particular deck simply because it's the one that I use. Favouritism? Me? Nooo. ^_^
Chapter Nine; The Devil's Workshop
The next few days passed without incident, although this was mainly due to Sirius' efforts to avoid Richard. Sirius wanted nothing more than to have a single Richard-free day, but this remained no more than a distant longing. Richard stayed over so often, it was as if he had moved in with them. While this proposition had not yet been mentioned, Sirius feared that his mother's relationship with Richard would eventually progress to the point where the possibility would be addressed. It was a sickening thought.
Whilst around Andromeda or Ursa, Richard played the 'perfect gentleman', but Sirius was all too aware of the warning glares sent his way when his mother and sister weren't looking. Sirius refused to acknowledge them, and was pleased to see that this small act of defiance irritated Richard. However, the older man could do nothing with Andromeda at home twenty-four-seven. There was a definite air of suppressed triumph and excitement about her whenever she appeared, dropping hints that she was finally making progress with her research.
Richard was full of praise and lively interest.
'That's wonderful news, Ann!' he said, greeting her with a kiss as she informed them all that she had finally discovered why the research hadn't been progressing. 'A Nobel Prize on the way, I assume?'
'I wouldn't go that far,' said Andromeda airily. 'But I'm just so pleased! I mean, I just knew that the problem had to be with the catalyst; it was activating the base-line components much too early and disrupting the entire process – terminating the cellular structure when it should have been stimulating- '
By which point, Sirius and Ursa had already tuned out their mother's voice. When she started babbling, she would quickly start using a lot of medical jargon that Sirius barely knew half the meanings of. As far as Richard was aware, Andromeda was a medical researcher for a London hospital; it seemed the easiest explanation for what she did for a living.
Homework continued to be a welcome distraction. Although it was a great excuse not to be in the same room with Richard, insisting he needed peace and quiet to be able to concentrate, Sirius also made a point of having Ursa in the room with him. As far as Ursa was concerned, it was simply to keep one another company while they did their schoolwork. But Sirius had another reason; so long as Richard didn't catch him on his own, he was safe.
Sirius had dealt with his bruised arm using the Bruise Balm he'd found in the bathroom cabinet. He doubted that his mother would even notice the fading marks, but if Ursa saw them she was sure to ask about them.
Still, at least with his sister around, it provided a perfect opportunity to talk to her. Using the excuse that he needed to practise his Tarot reading, Sirius and Ursa sat on the floor in his bedroom, out of the way of Richard, who was busy fawning over their mother in the living room.
'You can't tell me you like him?' said Sirius disbelievingly, shuffling the cards.
Ursa shrugged.
'Richard's okay,' she said.
'Richard's a git, that's what he is.' Sirius handed her the deck. 'Thinks he can dictate to us how we ought to live. I wish he'd shove off and leave us alone.'
'But Mum likes him,' said Ursa, cutting the deck and passing it back. 'If he wasn't very nice then Mum wouldn't invite him over so much, would she?'
Sirius ignored the comment, focusing on shuffling the cards instead.
'Right, what's your question?' he asked, giving the cards to her again to shuffle.
'I don't really have one,' she said. 'Do I have to ask one?'
'Well, if you don't have a question I could try to give a reading of what's going on in your life recently,' Sirius suggested.
Ursa nodded and gave him back the cards. Sirius dealt the first seven cards, placing them on the floor between them in a Horseshoe spread.
'Okay, first card is the issue,' said Sirius, flipping it over. Seven of Cups. A jet-black dragon, its body glistening with stars, was hovering in the air, surrounded by seven blue-white goblets, each bearing a different symbol.
'Confusion … unsure of what decision to make.' Sirius gave his sister a shrewd look. 'You have chosen your subjects for next year, haven't you?'
'Yes, I have, and Divination is not one of them.'
'Why not? It's good fun.'
'I just think it's silly. How can you predict the future with a deck of cards with pictures on them? My friend Bethany says that horoscopes and such aren't accurate.'
'Gran predicted your exact date and time of birth by reading the stars,' said Sirius smugly. 'No one else thought that you'd arrive six weeks early and at seven o'clock in the morning. And remember when she told us not to use the Floo on the 9th of April, three weeks in advance? The Floo Network was chaos on that day; people getting spat out of the wrong fireplaces all over the country. Gran always said that she possessed the Sight.'
'Yeah, but Gran also said that she'd passed her gift on to one of us,' said Ursa blandly. 'Personally I've never had weird visions and the closest you've ever come to a correct prediction was that time you said it was going to rain the day Dad had planned to take us out.'
'I never claimed to have the Sight, it was a lucky guess.'
'Is that not what Divination is? Lucky guesses?'
'Are you going to help me practise my readings or not?'
Ursa leaned back against the bed, folding her arms behind her head.
'Well, go on then; astound me with your powers of foresight,' she said lazily.
Sirius ignored her mocking attitude and turned over the second card. Judgement, reversed.
'Aha, conflicting points of view. See, the dragon has three heads all looking in different directions, so each of them has a different perspective. That ties in with the Seven of Cups rather well if people's opinions are confusing you.'
Ursa chewed her lip thoughtfully.
'Go on,' she said slowly.
'The unexpected influences is … Five of Swords.' Sirius revealed the third card; a picture of a dark blue dragon entwined round the blade of a long sword, hanging suspended between two smaller dragons and the other four swords.
Sirius frowned.
'That doesn't look good …'
'What's it mean?'
'It usually means a parting and not on pleasant terms. An argument or something.'
'Sounds like Mum and Dad splitting up,' said Ursa softly, her eyes lingering on the card.
'Well, you never know; maybe this reflects a future event and it's Mum and Richard who'll split up.' Sirius clasped his hands together as though praying, his pleading gaze fixed on the ceiling. Ursa gave a small laugh.
'Don't, Siri. That's not very nice.' She looked down at the remaining cards. 'What's next?'
'Suggested action; what you could do about the current situation.'
The fourth card turned out to be the Eight of Cups. The eight sparkling goblets hung over a hilly landscape, a river flowing down the middle with a dark blue dragon floating high above it in the darkened sky.
'Um … I think this one means something about a deeper meaning … that there's more to it than what's on the surface.'
'So, what do I do?'
'Don't take things at face value, I suppose. There's another reason behind the recent events although it's not always clear as to what that might be.'
Ursa thought hard for a moment, looking rather confused.
'What's the last one then?'
Sirius turned over the seventh and final card – the possible outcome.
Ursa's face fell as she saw it.
'Oh, great,' she grumbled unenthusiastically.
The card portrayed a derelict tower perched on a barren rock, crumbling into the stormy ocean surrounding it. A red dragon was coiled around the gloomy structure as flames ran up the stonework from its body. Bolts of lightning tore the dark sky above the tower.
'Does that mean that everything's just going to fall apart?' asked Ursa, peering at it. 'Siri?'
Sirius didn't answer straight away.
'It's not a good card to get,' he said slowly.
Ursa huffed.
'What? No tall, dark handsome stranger? I think I've been cheated.' She grinned at the mildly offended look on her brother's face.
'I'll have you know that I fit that description very well,' he said. 'Expect maybe the 'stranger' bit.'
'Why not? You're stranger than anyone I know.'
Sirius laughed, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue. Ursa giggled. 'Oh, vast improvement there!'
She looked back down at the Tarot spread.
'Do you always have to use a lot of cards?'
'Not necessarily, you could do a Touchstone spread which is just a single card reading.'
Sirius shuffled the deck for a minute and withdrew one card at random. 'This'll be my Touchstone card for the day,' he said, flipping it over and dropped it to the floor. The image stared up at him.
A formidable red dragon sat upon a throne, a ram's skull over his head. Two barren trees framed the picture, the background a deep fiery red. The dragon peered up at Sirius through narrowed eyes, clutching an orange sphere and slender arrow in its clawed hand.
The Emperor, reversed.
The meaning flashed through Sirius' mind. The Emperor depicted a dominating personality, a tyrant who could easily force his ideals on others. A symbol of corrupted power.
Ursa had just opened her mouth to inquire as to the cards' meaning, when the handle of the bedroom door turned. Sirius and Ursa jerked their heads up as Richard stepped into the room.
That does it; I'm getting a lock for my door, Sirius thought angrily. 'Hey, did you ever hear of knocking?' he said out loud, irked by the second invasion of his privacy.
But Richard didn't seem to have heard him say a word. His cold eyes were wide and his pupils contracted as they swept around the room.
It suddenly dawned on Sirius what Richard was goggling at.
He and Ursa was both sitting crossed legged on the floor with a spread of Tarot cards between them and a number of Sirius' school books were in plain sight on his bed, including 'Unfogging the Future', 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi' and 'Curses and Hexes of the Dark Arts'. On the desk was a pewter cauldron containing several inkbottles and quills. Cosmic was sunning himself on top of Sirius' school trunk, which, thankfully, was closed, otherwise Richard would have got an eyeful of black robes and a broomstick.
Richard had gone very pale, mouthing like a fish out of water.
Sirius felt his stomach clench, exchanging a nervous look with Ursa. The look on Ursa's face stated quite clearly, 'You are going to be in so much trouble when Mum finds out.'
Sirius cringed as Richard's voice returned, shaking with a mixture of anger and fear.
'What the Devil is going on here?' he roared, eyes bulging. 'Devil worship! That's what this is! Ursa, get away from him this instant!' Richard beckoned to her frantically. Ursa looked frankly bewildered, unsure if she should do as she was told or burst out laughing at his foolish presumption.
There was a pounding of feet outside the door and Andromeda came in. She took one look around the room, taking in the obvious implications of magic, from the parchment and quills, to the books and Tarot cards with Ursa and Sirius sitting in the middle of it all, and finally over to Richard's horrified expression. Her face drained of colour. She, too, was rendered temporarily speechless, but for a different reason.
'What is going on, Sirius?' she asked, making every effort to keep her voice steady, though her eyes were narrowed and there was a dangerous edge to her voice that Sirius had never heard there before.
'Is it not obvious?' Richard growled, waving a hand at the contents of the room. 'The boy is part of some evil cult! Look at this – books of magic – these cards – and that black cat! I suppose that's why you have it? A familiar to aid you in your spell casting? Putting curses and whatnot on innocent people? Fun to dabble in the Black Arts, is it?'
He strode across the room, seized Ursa's arm and pulled her up and away from Sirius.
'I will not have you corrupting your little sister with your foul delusions of magic and mystic power.'
Richard was so mad he seemed beyond reason. Hopes of being given a chance to explain that practising a form of divination had nothing to do with devils or satanic cults were quickly dashed. Ursa pulled away from Richard and went straight to her mother. Andromeda made no effort to stop Richard; she looked just as angry. Sirius felt a horrible thrill of foreboding, wondering if Richard was about to suggest burning him at the stake or some other medieval punishment.
'It's absolutely disgraceful,' Richard spat, his eyes flashing ominously in Sirius' direction. 'Though I can't say that I'm surprised. No discipline whatsoever. Why, in my day, such notions of rebellion were unheard of.'
Andromeda took hold of Richard's arm and said soothingly, 'Richard, dear, please calm down. There's no need to get so worked up.'
Richard stared at her as though he thought her mad.
'No need?' he repeated incredulously. 'I do believe the fact that your son has got himself mixed up in all this occult nonsense is considerably worthy of punishment. He needs to be taught a lesson.'
Sirius' heart was pounding harder and faster against his chest. He scrambled to his feet, and, for once, was at a loss for words. He looked to his mother hopefully but she paid him no heed.
'I know, Richard, I know. And as his mother, it's my responsibility. I'll see to it that they're both punished.'
Ursa blinked and stared uncomprehendingly at their mother. Andromeda gave her children a fierce glare, two angry blotches of red in her cheeks.
'I would not have believed it of either of you,' she hissed furiously. 'You can both pack up these accursed things – I'll get rid of them.'
Sirius and Ursa stared, open mouthed in horror.
'Ursa, go to your room and fetch anything you have to do with this – now.'
Ursa quickly left, skirting round Richard and out the door. Breathing heavily, Andromeda turned to Richard.
'I'll see you soon, Richard.'
Richard nodded curtly.
'Yes of course. I trust you'll deal with them appropriately.' He shot Sirius a nasty smile over Andromeda's shoulder as he left.
Sirius and Andromeda stood in silence, listening to Richard's footsteps receding down the stairs. When the front door slammed, Sirius knew better than to breathe a sigh of relief.
'Mum, I – '
'I don't want to hear it, Sirius,' she snapped. 'I meant what I said. Pack up all your school things and bring them downstairs – quickly. I don't want to see a single quill left in this room by the time I get back, you hear me?'
She spun on her heel, marched out of the room and slammed the door.
A ringing silence fell.
Sirius stood stunned for several minutes. Then, slowly, he knelt on the floor to gather up the cards. His hand brushed over the Emperor card. The sly grin of the dragon laughed mockingly up at him. Sirius stared at it blankly for a moment, and then shoved it back into the deck.
*
An hour later, everything that had even a vague connection with magic and Hogwarts was crammed into Sirius' trunk. He'd just locked it when Andromeda returned. Her mood had not improved in the slightest. She held out her hand. Sullenly, Sirius dropped the key to the trunk into her open palm.
'Downstairs,' was all she said, sternly, going next door to Ursa's room, no doubt to do the same.
Grabbing the handle, Sirius dragged the heavy trunk out of his room and down the stairs; it thudded loudly on every step, the harsh sound reverberating through the otherwise silent house.
Ursa's trunk followed a few minutes later. Andromeda's face was nothing more than a stern mask; cold and unyielding. Sirius and Ursa followed her silently to the laboratory.
Snatching up her wand from the worktop, she pointed it at the trunks. They rose a few inches off the floor and drifted across the cold, flagstone floor to a shallow alcove, which Andromeda had emptied of her spare cauldrons. The trunks stacked themselves up neatly one on top of the other, shoved up against the wall. With a furious swish of her wand, an iron portcullis fell over the mouth of the alcove, clanging loudly as it struck the floor. Chains criss-crossed over and through the holes and a large, silver padlock snapped through the cold, heavy links.
Andromeda, still glowering, turned to Sirius and Ursa. The two of them had made not a single protest during this procedure. They didn't look at each other, eyes downcast and fixed on the potion-spotted and sticky floor beneath their feet.
'I'm at a loss for words, I really am,' said Andromeda coldly. 'I've told you both again and again that Muggles are not to know of the existence of magic. I trusted you two to be intelligent enough to understand the implications and the dangers!' She folded her arms. 'Clearly, I was mistaken. I have never been so disappointed.'
Sirius kept his eyes on the floor, a sick churning in his stomach. Ursa was blinking furiously, on the brink of tears.
'From now on, if either of you have homework to do for school, you must come to me. You will stay down here while you do it so I can keep an eye on you. Nothing, I repeat, nothing leaves this lab between now and September 1st – do I make myself clear?'
Sirius and Ursa nodded meekly, murmuring understanding.
'Good. Now get back upstairs. You're both confined to your rooms for the rest of the day. And don't think that'll be the end of it. Tomorrow, I want both of you down here before eight; the lab is in need of a thorough clean, top to bottom. Now, get out of my sight.'
They did as they were told.
*
Staring almost unseeingly about his room, Sirius quietly closed the door. His heart sank a littler lower in dismay. The room looked so bland, so barren, like everything that made it his was gone. It might as well have belonged to a stranger.
Only Cosmic remained. The black cat was half hidden under the empty desk, behind the waste bin. Poking his head out, he blinked his great green eyes up at Sirius anxiously, taking a tentative step forward.
Sirius crossed the room to lie down on the bed, his head on the pillows, staring blankly at the wall.
Cosmic padded silently across the carpet and sprang up onto the bed. Moving up to the head of the bed, Cosmic mewed softly. Sirius didn't move. Cosmic patted his shoulder with a dainty paw, determined to get a response.
When he got none, Cosmic turned, leapt over Sirius' back and up onto the windowsill. Squeezing through the open window, he stepped out onto the slanted roof tiles and trotted over to the next window. Perching on the windowsill, he mewed loudly and batted the glass pane.
Ursa looked up from the cuddly panda she'd been staring at. She got up off her bed and went to the window. Her hand on the latch, she hesitated. Cosmic blinked at her, his tail swishing impatiently.
Abruptly, Ursa removed her hand from the latch and twitched the curtains shut instead.
Cosmic waited, staring hopefully at the dark material. When nothing happened, the cat turned, walked down the sloping roof to the gutter pipes. The cat dropped lightly to the ground below, looked back over his shoulder once more, then walked away.
*
A loud screechy wail cut harshly through the night, jerking Sirius awake. He gazed blearily about him, uncomprehending. The yowling was nearby. Groaning, Sirius lifted his pillow, put it over his head and rolled over, trying to block out the noise, willing it to go away.
It didn't.
Sighing, Sirius sleepily sat up, rubbing his eyes. The clock on the bedside table read half past two in the morning. Wonderful.
Muttering darkly about strangling whatever was making the racket, Sirius ripped back the curtains. The dark garden below was still, lit softly by the light of the half moon above and the distant pinpricks of the stars.
And there, perched on the edge of the gutter, was Cosmic, screeching incessantly, eyes glinting in the darkness. Sirius pushed the window up, stuck his head out and hissed, 'Cosmic, shut up! You'll wake the whole neighbourhood!'
The cat continued to yowl, moving along the gutter away from Sirius.
'Cosmic, knock it off!'
Again the cat ignored him.
There was a faint clatter at the next window. A light came on, shining through the curtains before they were ripped apart. Ursa looked half-awake, her long black hair in a tangle, flattened on one side. She slid her window open.
'If that's anything but a banshee, I'm gonna throttle it,' she muttered darkly, peering about, looking for the source of the cries. She spotted Cosmic.
'Stupid cat – shut up, I'm trying to sleep! Shoo!' She waved her hands at the cat.
Cosmic stopped yowling in an instant, but instead of leaving, trotted back up towards Sirius. Ursa turned to see her brother leaning out of his window.
'Can't you keep that cat of yours under control?' she whispered grumpily. 'Stupid animal.'
'Oh, don't you start. It's not my fault Cosmic thinks he can sing.'
Sirius reached out and scooped up his pet, cradling the little animal in his arms.
'I wouldn't mind but it's the middle of the night,' Ursa hissed pointedly. 'Most normal people are trying to get some sleep at two in the morning.'
'Hey, I was asleep as well … I'm normal too, you know.'
'Not according to Richard, you're not,' said Ursa.
'Like he's a model for the average family man; perfectly sane and open minded,' said Sirius irritably. 'Git.'
They fell silent for a few moments. Then Ursa said, tentatively, 'D'you think Mum's still mad at us?'
Sirius shrugged.
'Dunno. Never seen her that mad before.'
Another pause. Then:
'Do you think Mum and Richard will break up?'
'We can only hope.' Sirius stroked Cosmic's sleek fur. 'He is a Muggle. You heard what he thinks of magic. Even if he and Mum fall madly in love,' his face contorted with disgust, 'he'll never accept us for what we are. It'll never work unless Mum gives up all association with magic.'
Ursa's eyes widened.
'But – but she wouldn't do that! Would she?'
'Not a chance,' said Sirius savagely. 'You can't deny what you are. Sooner or later you have to reveal your true identity. Magic isn't something you can just forget about, pretend it never existed; it's who and what we are.'
'But what if Richard stays?' Ursa asked softly.
'He won't.' Sirius looked up at the stars. 'Look up there. What do you see?'
Ursa gave him an odd look, sighed, and then looked up at the sky.
'Sky. The moon. Bunch of stars.'
Sirius shot her a sidelong look.
'They're more than a 'bunch of stars' Ursa, you know that. You see that constellation over there?' He pointed to a cluster of stars. 'Which one's that?'
'The Little Bear,' said Ursa, grinning. 'Ursa Minor.'
'What about that one?'
'Andromeda. That's Mum.'
'And that one over there?'
'Dad; Orion.' Ursa pointed to another group of stars close to the Hunter constellation. 'There's you!'
'Right; brightest star in the sky.'
Ursa snorted.
'Can't say the same down here.'
'Hey, cheeky,' Sirius laughed good-naturedly. 'Can you see any star or constellation named Richard?'
Ursa frowned and shook her head.
'No.'
'So you see?'
'See what?'
'That Richard doesn't belong with us. He doesn't fit in. We're magic, he isn't. And he's too much of a narrow-minded bigot to consider that his prejudice medieval ideals may be wrong.'
Cosmic mewed softly in an agreeable tone.
'Hey, don't go starting that again,' said Ursa. 'One rendition was quite enough, thank you.'
'Yeah, you're a pain, aren't you?' Sirius told the cat. But Cosmic simply lay purring in his arms, seemingly very smug, closing his eyes blissfully as Sirius rubbed his belly.
'Fine; disturb our sleep then catch a few winks yourself,' Sirius muttered. 'Guess we'd better go back to sleep.'
'Yeah,' Ursa withdrew from the window. 'G'night Siri.'
'Night.'
Sirius closed the window and lay back down, Cosmic settling himself beside him, still purring with content. For some time Sirius lay awake, gazing through the window at the stars.
It was for the best really. The sooner Richard knew the truth about what they were, the sooner he'd leave. And good riddance to him.
Sighing wistfully, Sirius' eyes slowly drooped and he fell into a restless sleep once more.
*
To Be Continued
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Please review. All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.
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Author's Notes.
Pixie12 – Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed some of my other fics. And it is annoying but the chapter doesn't show up immediately. I posted the chapter at half six, checked back two hours later and the chapter 'didn't exist'; it did show up by midnight but I will be making the effort to try and post a bit earlier in the day.
NightSpear – It took a while to figure out how to best describe the moves – it's so much easier to watch someone demonstrate it than to write them down! I mean, I know what I'm talking about but for someone who may never have seen them, it's bloody hard to describe. ^_^
Well, Sirius, being a sixteen-year-old guy, in my opinion, would not be the type of person to go running to his friends with every problem he encounters. I think he'd be more inclined to try and deal with it alone, at least to begin with. Richard is being a narrow-minded bigot, as you've just seen. I wrote this bit thinking about the Christian groups who want to ban the Harry Potter books because of 'witchcraft' and 'devil worship'. Misguided idiots.
Squintz – Thank you! I've had the idea of Remus having some knowledge of Muggle self-defence for a while; I'm thinking of incorporating it into another fic based on him and his life before he goes to Hogwarts.
Christy – I had the same idea really. Remus just fits it somehow, and I don't see him as one to abuse his knowledge of how to fight, but to use it for good. ^_^ As for pushing Sirius for an explanation, you've hit it right on the head. James, he doesn't strike me as too perceptive so yes, for now he's in the dark about this.
Will they find out? Have to wait and see. Dangerous? Hhm, I guess they'd both be pretty dangerous in their own ways! ^_^
MorganD – LOL! Whoops! Slip of the fingers more like – I can't touch-type quickly and spell accurately at the same time! As for sensei, I could have sworn it was spelt with an 'a'. My spell checker accepted it, silly thing.
I don't see Sirius as being incapable of asking for help, just determined to at least try to deal with things on his own initially – it doesn't mean that he won't ask for help if he really needs it. As for the martial arts (being careful with the spelling here!) it takes a lot of practise to be able to use them effectively, and considering that Sirius has only had one lesson, there's no realistic way that he could do much at the moment. I'm not going to have him performing flawless roundhouse kicks and throws in later chapters, I can't quite do them properly and I've studied it for a year already! Trying to stay on the realistic side here.
It's a shame that there are thugs out there who only learn the arts with the intention of hurting others, unfortunately there's always going to be people out there who have no respect for others. It was bands of thieves that gave Ju Jitsu a poor reputation in ancient Japan, which is what led to the development of Karate and Judo in an effort to escape the banditry reputation. Ju Jitsu is slowly regaining popularity and I chose it for self-defence rather than the sport element that seems to be the focus of Karate and Judo.
WallyTheWhale – Ah, when someone refers to 'strong' language or vocabulary we generally take it to mean swearing or being rude. By all means direct it at Richard!
True, it does fit Remus' character not to pressure his friend, but it is hard to decide how much you can push someone to talk about something they may not want to discuss, without risking having them refuse to discuss it, resulting in the 'it's none of your business' scenario, which can drive friends apart and you definitely don't want that happening. (Was that even a sentence? Did it make sense? You've got me at it now.) Remus is basically leaving it open for Sirius to decide whether or not he wants to talk about it, and by simply letting Sirius know that his friends are there if he needs them, it's not a hard push but it sends a message all the same.
Well, Sirius can try to use martial arts but they do take practise, so don't expect a major battle whereby Sirius kicks Richard across the room. You may want to see that, but it's not feasible I'm afraid.
The fic is twenty chapters long in total. So we're nearly halfway through. The Marauders do pull another prank later on in the fic but it won't be on the moor this time.
To be honest, if there were a crazy person in the house, I'd want to run! 'He who fights and runs away, is wasting valuable running time with all that fighting!' Can't remember where I read that. ^_^ But it's true; better to avoid a fight whenever possible. Still, screaming works too – either deafen them or attract a neighbour's attention.
Your Remus sentence made perfect sense. ^_^ He's my absolute favourite of all the characters. If I ever get my sequel to Tell No Lies and Take It Back done, I'll be starting a Remus fic next. I've already worked out how he came to study martial arts and focus on some other stuff that happens to him before he starts going to Hogwarts.