Title: Advoco Lupum, Chapter 4
Description: Being a werewolf is becoming even more difficult for Remus Lupin. Voldemort's after him, he's all but imprisoned at Hogwarts 'for his own safety,' and his nephew, Sirius and Harry are all driving him up the wall. And what does all this have to do with some dusty old book?
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: SB/RL and possibly others, When I figure out who I'll let you know.
Spoilers: AU after Harry's fourth year but with a few pieces of background info from OotP.
Disclaimer: I don't own them no matter how much I wish I did.
Notes: This starts at the end of PoA and then skips quickly to the summer after Harry's fourth year. It's a sequel of sorts to my fic 'From the Ashes' but that part of the plot won't show up for a few chapters. Told from Remus' pov, but may change in later chapters. Oh, and since this takes place in Harry's fifth year, OotP doesn't happen.
Warnings: Slash, a little violence, language (mostly from Sirius) and discussions about Remus' sex life or lack there of.
I woke with a start sometime in the predawn morning with this nagging feeling that something was very wrong. I lay in bed, listening to the sounds of the house at night, trying to figure out what had awoken me. The first thing I heard that I couldn't identify at first was snoring from across the hall. But memory soon filled in that it had to be Sirius sleeping peacefully in the guestroom. I smiled slightly, thinking that that had been what had bothered me.
I was about to turn over and go back to sleep when another noise grabbed my attention. A creek of the floorboards out in the hall. But Sirius was asleep, I had just heard him and after living in the house with Aaneas for a year I knew that we both knew to avoid that spot in the floor. Maybe he had just forgotten, but something was telling me that it was something else.
I rolled silently from the bed and crouched on the floor, looking out into the hall. I didn't see anything, but the creaking of a door caught my attention. Sirius and I had left our doors open, the only door that was closed was Aaneas'. I felt a moment of indecision and stupidity, I was being paranoid. And yet…
Just for my own piece of mind I crept to the doorway and looked out into the hall. It was the new moon, so the stars were alone in the sky. But with my night vision their light was more than enough to silhouette the person in the hallway. I wasn't being paranoid, the silhouette didn't belong to anyone who should have been in my house.
I had grabbed my wand even before rolling out of bed, an unconscious defensive act, and now I pointed it at the back of the stranger standing in the hall. I crept silently towards him, avoiding all the spots in the floor that would have given the slightest hint that I was there.
I was right behind the man when small yelp diverted my attention past him and into Aaneas' room. The man wasn't alone, and his partner had pulled Aaneas from his bed.
I grabbed the man in the hall around the neck and pressed the tip of my wand to the base of his skull.
"Tell your partner to let go of him right now," I growled into his ear. The man nodded and cleared his throat.
"Um, Ms. Hadgrible I really think you should let go of the boy," his voice was meek and well mannered, definitely not what I had expected from a burglar or a Death Eater.
I saw now that the person holding onto my nephew was a woman. She looked up at her partner in confusion and froze when she saw me.
I saw her eyes widen as she looked at me and I was pretty sure I knew why she was suddenly afraid. My night vision was as good as a cat's, or a wolf's. But unfortunately, like them, if the light hit my eyes just right, they would glow. It was one of the easiest ways to tell if someone was a part-human.
"Who are you?" she asked abruptly, the earlier surprise melting away to almost clinical calmness.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I said. She still had ahold of Aanei. I tightened my hold on the man before me, just enough to make him wheeze with the effort of breathing. "Let go of him." I said, loud enough for her to hear me this time. She complied with a sigh and Aaneas ran past me and out into the hall.
"If you're a relative of his," she said, pointing after my nephew. "You're not safe here." I raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief.
"Really?" I asked acidly. "And here I was thinking you lot had just popped in for a cup of tea." She rolled her eyes and gave another long-suffering sigh.
"We're not the ones you should be afraid of," she snapped, but whatever else she was going to say was drowned out by a fierce growl from behind me.
"It's all right Padfoot, I have everything under control," I said, not looking over my shoulder to confirm what I knew was behind me. Sirius must have made quite the picture because, even in the dim starlight, I could tell that the woman paled. yes">
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" I asked.
"My name is Cleo Hadgrible and the man who is currently turning blue in your arms is Rupert Avrone." I was so surprised by her statement that I unintentionally let go of the man and he stumbled forward away from me. Rupert Avrone was a name I recognized quite well, he was the wizard who had invented the Wolfsbane potion, the wizarding world's foremost expert in lycanthropy. There was a slight shift of air behind me and suddenly Sirius was standing at my side.
"What are you two doing here?" he asked, looking at the two intruders in confusion. "Why did you attack the kid?"
"You know them?" I asked incredulously. Where they here looking for him? But no, if that were true Sirius would have just stayed in dog form. I looked between the two intruders and Sirius, now completely bewildered.
"Mr. Black, I didn't expect to see you here," Avrone said, smiling at Sirius as if they were old acquaintances. "And I assure you we did not attack the boy. He is in danger and we…" he ground to a halt as the woman dug her fingers into his should hard enough to make him wince. "He is one of Albus' trusted associates Ms. Hadgrible," he said in exasperation. "I see no harm in giving him an explanation." She gestured at me with her chin, making it quite clear that it wasn't Sirius she had a problem with.
"My name is Remus Lupin, I'm Aaneas' uncle. Now what are you doing in my house?" I said through gritted teeth.
"You are his mother's brother?" Avrone asked, almost hopefully.
"Why are you here?" Sirius asked again before I could respond to that unexpected question. Avrone looked at Hadgrible and she nodded reluctantly before stepping away form him.
"The boy is in danger," she said, glaring back and forth between Sirius and I as if daring us to question her. "And so is anyone he is related to by blood." She paused to give me a significant look and then continued. "Aaneas was supposed to be the last in the family line of a rather overlooked but historically significant wizarding family. All that we know at the moment is that Tom Riddle seems to think that the boy is useful and has sent several of his servants to try and find him," She finished, looking grave.
"I know I've heard the name before but who's Tom Riddle and why should we be afraid of him and his minions?" Sirius asked. Hadgrible looked shocked for a moment and then realization dawned on her face and she nodded.
"Oh, sorry, I forget that most people know him better as Voldemort," Sirius and I gaped at her in shock. Voldemort was after my nephew, and he'd sent Death Eaters to capture him. I was going to say something, ask her what exactly Voldemort wanted with my family, ask her to explain, but my thoughts were interrupted by a tug at the hem of my shirt.
"Uncle Remus?" Aanei was using me as a shield, hiding from Avrone and Hadgrible and shaking with fright. "Uncle Remus, there's someone downstairs." I was still so focused on what Hadgrible had just told us that it took a few moments before the words registered. By the time I had whirled around to try and look down the hall Sirius had already turned back into Padfoot and was creeping down the stairs.
It didn't take long for him to return. His tail had just disappeared when there was a crash from downstairs and Padfoot came bounding back up the stairs towards us. He changed back before coming to a stop and ended up in an awkward heap at my feet.
"Death Eaters," he said, quickly picking himself up from the floor.
"Are you sure?" I asked, casting a glance at my other uninvited guests.
"They were Death Eaters," Sirius bit out, looking behind him convulsively ever few seconds. "Unless those two brought friends that just happen to wear silver masks and black cloaks."
"You two must get out of here, and take the boy with you," Avrone said as he stepped cautiously into the hall, wand out and pointed down the hall. "Go to Dumbledore, one of us will be in contact with you as soon as we can."
"And who's going to stop the Death Eaters? You two?" Sirius asked incredulously. Hadgrible glared at him from the doorway to Aaneas' room.
"No, we are going to contact the Aurors. But you can't very well be here when they get here," she said crossly. yes"> "That and both the Lupins need to be somewhere where they are not in danger. If what we suspect is true it's very important that Tom not get his hands on them." I frowned at her, not liking the fact that she was talking as though I wasn't there. But another crash from downstairs pulled my thoughts back to more important matters. I looked down at Aaneas still clinging to my shirt. They were right, I had to get him out of here.
"Come on Aaneas," I said, he looked up at me with wide eyes, confused and scared. I heard the creak of a foot on the stairs, the Death Eaters had probably heard us talking. We had wasted too much time. I picked Aaneas up bodily and took off down the hall.
"What are you doing?" Sirius asked, fallowing right behind as I ducked back into my room. It had been the master bedroom and it was the only fireplace on the upper floor. I silently thanked whatever ancestor had had it connected to the Floo network ages ago. A flick of my wand and a fire burst to life in the empty hearth.
"I don't really trust them but Avrone gave good advice, I'm going to Dumbledore," I said quickly. Sirius nodded and turned, almost as if to leave the room, to go and fight, but I grabbed his wrist. "Come with me, please?" I was suddenly afraid that if I went I'd never see him again. I didn't think I cold take loosing him again.
Something must have shown through, maybe my hands trembled or I looked as scared as I suddenly felt because Sirius nodded and just stood there as I looked for the Floo powder. I pushed both the powder and Aanei into his arms as I heard the first uttering of a spell out in the hall.
"Aaneas has never travel by Floo powder before, take him with you," I said, slightly panicked. Sirius just stood there, eyes glancing nervously out into the hall. "I'll be right behind you." Apparently that had been the assurance he had been waiting for because he nodded and turned to the fire.
"Hogwarts," I turned to tell him to specify the infirmary because I didn't know where we'd end up if he didn't but it was too late, he and Aaneas were already gone. I debated about weather to fallow them directly or go somewhere I knew was safe. I sighed and just shouted Hogwarts as I tossed another handful of Floo powder into the fire. A loud crash echoed through the house and I cringed before diving into the fireplace.
I didn't letting myself stop to think about what condition everything would be in when I came back. If I came back.
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