Moonlit Horizons

Moonlit Horizons

Chapter Eight

By Dizmius.

A Remus Fic for a friend of mine

Definition of "Snarked" for Luthien- Verb, to snark – cross between a snarl and a smirk, often used as a sarcastic facial expression. Wow, I sound like a dictionary. For those who don't know the meaning of Gimp or Gimpling- it basically means the same as idiot, but it sounds better.

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Grrrr, italics!!!!!!!

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"You know, they'll have probably found out that she's escaped and will have blown up our house." Draezyc muttered as the group trudged through the less dense parts of the forbidden forest.

"Come now, they can't do much worse than blow up the library, and you so wonderfully proved how difficult it was to be able to do that." Snape smirked at his wife who sent him an icy glare.

"I believe we've had this discussion before, and we agreed it wasn't my fault that Malfoy arrived by floo and the compound in floo powder is highly explosive if mixed with an infusion of rabbit's bile."

"You blew up Snape's library?" Sirius was grinning widely. "Oh how I wish I'd been there to see his face."

Anna gasped as she saw the large imposing castle coming into view over the treetops.

"It's only Hogwarts." Snape sounded slightly miffed. "Its tiny on comparison to some castles."

"It's amazing isn't it." Remus smiled at Anna, pointedly ignoring Snape. "Wait 'til you see the inside…"

"We're so going to show her our friend the giant squid." Sirius was bouncing on his feet. Looking happier than he'd felt all week.

"You befriended it?" Snape snorted, "Typical."

"Well… at least we didn't…" Sirius was cut off by Remus clamping his hand over Sirius's mouth.

"Not now, Sirius." Remus muttered, gauging the angry glares from both Snapes. "You should really turn into Padfoot, I wouldn't want to find out whether Hogsmeade villagers really do come down into the grounds during the summer break by having one screaming and hexing you into pieces of toast."

"Pieces of toast?" Anna asked looking curiously at Sirius who was now blushing.

"Long story." Sirius mouthed silently.

"He enraged Rosmerta. She hexed him into a piece of toast." Draezyc offered.

"Who's Rosmerta?" Anna asked, glancing at Sirius who was now looking daggers at Draezyc.

"She owns a pub up in the village." Remus filled in. "She's very nice, but has a temper to rival any Malfoy if you get on the wrong side of her."

"I'd say that Black tried to get on more of her than just a side." Snape smirked as Sirius glowered at him. "Or should that be under…"

"Severus!" Draezyc admonished.

"Is he always like that?" Anna asked, gesturing towards the tall sneering man trudging up ahead of them.

"Mostly, yes, although he can get worse." Remus frowned. "He's had it worse than some people though the years, I suppose that's what made him that way. Though he's too prideful to admit it."

"She doesn't seem to mind though."

"I wouldn't know, I haven't seen her for the best part of twenty years, she keeps out of the way, it's a Slytherin stealth issue."

"Is she one of those weird fanatical groups that took me captive?"

"Never heard of the Death Eaters being called that… a weird fanatical group…" Sirius mused, seconds later a large black dog was walking beside Remus.

"What on…" Anna stopped in her tracks as Sirius the man suddenly turned into Sirius the dog, and started barking like a rabid jackal.

"He's an Animagus, meaning he can turn into a certain animal at will. If you hear me call him Padfoot, you'll know why, that's what we called him." Remus scratched the back of Padfoot's ears before he shot off after Draezyc and Snape.

Anna had to laugh as she watched Padfoot stealthily creep up behind Draezyc and whip off her scarf, belting out in front carrying the scarf in his mouth.

"You rabid little f…" Remus cringed as he heard Draezyc start her assault of verbal abuses directed at Sirius.

Pure blood breeding obviously doesn't encompass verbal eloquence. Remus thought to himself. Funny that, I never thought Snape would even look at a woman in his life, we all decided he had married his potions years ago. I think there was one point where we couldn't sleep one night so sat up in the dormitory and discussed what was going to happen to each of the Slytherins in our year. I remember James said that Draeliana would end up being married to Malfoy. We didn't notice Malfoy's infatuation with women who looked just like his own sister. Thus we counted Narcissa out of the picture. I wonder if Draco knows he has Veela blood in him. Maybe that's where he gets his vile temper from.

"Remus… Remus?" Anna tugged at his cloak,

"Oh.. sorry. I was miles away." Remus smiled at her softly. "Thinking…"

"Remus... Can I ask you something?"

"Anything… well… almost anything, if you want to the colour of my bedsheets or something I might have to decline comment…" Remus tried to lighten the situation and smiled when her face cracked into a smile.

"I wasn't going to ask that… although now you have me thinking." She became sombre once more, "Can you tell me about Jacob Fritzend?"

"Who?" Remus furrowed his brows.

"Well, Malfoy… he told me about how I could be as useful as Jacob Fritzend was, years and years ago." Anna looked uncomfortable, "It was about me being a Phaerren… is it true?"

"Yes. But being a Phaerren… it's not something to be disgusted about… believe me, you could have been cursed a much worse magical creature than a Phaerren." Remus looked faraway. "Even if they are classified in the ministry as dark creatures."

"Jacob Fritzend was a Phaerren." Snape had slowed his pace to match that of Remus and Anna. "You see, nobody within the ministry knew, until the information somehow… leaked out but it wasn't believed." He smiled cruelly at that point, "However, he was captured as a Death Eater anyway, and placed in Azkaban."

"He's still there, then?" Remus asked.

"At latest check he's six feet under in some deserted graveyard actually." Draezyc chipped in, having taken the now rather tatty scarf back off Padfoot.

"You see, he was placed in Azkaban, but being a Phaerren, he assimilated himself with the Dementors, as only Phaerrens can do." Snape sneered. "He escaped barely an hour after he was put in his cell, the stupid thing was, the Aurors who had captured him were still in the Azkaban fortress, and killed him as he tried to get through the gates, they didn't know it was him but they had a hunch that the skitterish thing that was darting for the gates definitely wasn't a Dementor."

"You heard of the ring of the Soul-Syphon?" Draezyc asked Anna, and when Anna shook her head she continued. "Well the Soul Syphon is thought to be the origin of all Phaerren magic. It was lost after the goblin battle of St. Giminez in 1298. Rumour states that it was enclosed in a gemstone and made into a ring.

Only a Phaerren can locate the ring, if indeed it exists. It sort of attracts the Phaerren with a magical pull, it's my guess that Voldemort wanted to place you under Imperius and get you to find this ring… If he finds it, it gives Phaerren power to anybody who wears it, but only when they wear it."

"Let me guess, you got an A* in the History of Magic NEWTs?" Remus asked casually.

"No actually. Just an A. Got beaten by your crowd by about an eighth of a point..." Draezyc shrugged, then returned to the subject. "Only animals and dark creatures can sense a Phaerren by themselves, I believe Slytherin's daughter was rumoured to be one. A Phaerren I mean. A Phaerren's spirit can be invoked from many years hence… basically you can call up a future Phaerren's soul and find out who it will be, what they will look like etc… Maybe he wanted you so you could invoke them, he could make an entire list, and create a Phaerren Army."

"There are more of my... people?" Anna was trying to take in every scrap of information possible.

Snape ran a hand though his hair. "It's a small ratio. But there are more now than there have ever been, many just don't ever find out about themselves or they have read up on the subject and decided for their own safety's sake that it would be more… prudent to keep quiet and live as a Muggle does."

Remus didn't listen one of Draezyc's comments was running through his mind. "Animals and Dark creatures can sense a Phaerren." Is that why I felt the way I do? Is it just something to do with the creature aspect? Is that why I'm even anywhere near Foxton? Why am I thinking this?

~*~

"Well Miss Anna, I must say I'm glad you were brought here, would you care for a crumpet?" Dumbledore offered her a plate covered in richly buttered crumpets.

"Um... No thank you." Anna declined, wondering whether her horses would be alright, and if Hannah had thought to notice her absence and taken the initiative to look after them for a while.

"I believe it would be safer if you stayed at the castle for a brief period while things simmer down with Voldemort." Dumbledore glanced over at the rest of the occupants in the room. "That extends to all of you. Draezyc, I think you'll find that you should refrain from returning to the Snape family home… It no longer has a roof."

"I told you so" Draezyc muttered, then suddenly shrieked "Pytheus. I left him with Pandora Lachesis." She practically fled out of the door, with Snape looking at the door with a worried glance.

"Who's Pytheus, and why have you left it with Andy Pandy?" Sirius helped himself to another crumpet. "She still resemble a beer barrel?"

"Pytheus is my son." Snape said with forced control, his eyes were shooting daggers at Sirius. "And Pandora has never in my recollection resembled a beer barrel."

"You must have seen some pretty out of shape beer barrels then." Sirius muttered grinning. What Snape had said hadn't sunk in yet, he was too busy eating crumpets to notice until suddenly it registered and he almost dropped it into his lap. "Come again?"

"Oh did I forget to mention to you, Black." Snape smirked, "I have a family of my own you know."

"You're joking." Sirius muttered.

"You never mentioned…" Remus frowned.

"I had no cause to. Why should I? I don't see it as anything to do with my job description here at Hogwarts to go round bragging about my wife and son." Snape leaned back in his chair. "Not like it is anything that concerns you anyway."

Dumbledore had wisely decided to take a back seat in the tensions and was watching them over his half moon glasses.

"How old is your son?" Remus was interested.

"Seven." Snape folded his arms. "Any more interrogatives for now?"

"Yeah." Sirius raised his hand. "HOW?"

"I'm sure you're acquainted with the details, you've had enough women to know…" Snape rolled his eyes. "Headmaster, I have an urgent potion that needs attending to…"

Dumbledore nodded and Snape swept out of the room in a totally different fashion to his wife. Hs robes billowed out behind him, and Sirius grinned at Anna from his chair near the window mouthing "gimp".

"Now, Remus, Sirius, would you care to take your charge on a tour of the castle?" Dumbledore smiled, then reached into a large yellow box, "You may like to wear this, you won't stand out so much."

Anna took the midnight blue simple robe from Dumbledore, and followed an excited Sirius out of the room, with Remus following behind, obviously lost in thought again.

A son. That man is a walking puzzle. And the tone he said it in, he's goading us. He finally thinks he's got one over the Marauders. He's got the wife, he's got the heir, and the money. We have… well… no wives, although the number of women Sirius was "engaged" to has to count somewhere, we're social outcasts, the one Marauder who had a son, is no longer here, and quite frankly, we're broke. It's his way of showing that he's finally won. Or at least, he thinks that way. I didn't think he'd ever go anywhere near Draeliana, she was the one who went round in black or white bandanas all the time, refusing to show her hair to anyone. She had a thing for Muggle Drums. I think she had one set sent to her one Christmas and had it up in her dorm. She got ostracised for that by her fellow Slytherins. Didn't work though, most of them realised that it was pointless anyway, getting on the wrong side of the Tealamon family isn't wise. She was the brains behind the "Gallumping Gosh! It's the Geeky Gryffindor Gimplings" banner that was found in out commonroom one morning, nobody worked out how she got it in there, until Sirius admitted to having let her in briefly after a heavy session in the Astronomy tower. I wonder if Sirius remembers that. She got him drunk first, James thought it was treason when he found out. Remus smiled at the memory.

"Hey, Sirius." Remus grinned evilly.

Sirius stopped in the hallway and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. " Mm?"

"Does... 'Gallumping Gosh, it's the Gryffindor Gimplings' ring a bell?" Remus asked innocently

Anna watched in amusement as Sirius went bright red and muttered something about alluring dark haired Slytherin minxes and too much alcohol.

TBC