Disclaimer: J.K.R owns 'em, and she won't share! I'm telling!
A/N: Thankee for the reviews – they truly do brighten my days. Sorry this took a bit longer than usual, but I had a couple of problems with this chapter. They all worked out, however, and here's the next installment. BTW, it was the fifteenth when I posted this, although it won't show up til tomorrow, but Happy Lupercalia! *snuggles Remus*
FadingSlowly – Perfect? Aww, thanks. I did think it was lovely and romantic. So cute, aren't they?
Akuma Malik – I updated. OK? Thanks muchly.
Ronda-Silverpaw – I doubt there would have been an Angela Lee Potter – it just doesn't sound right…lol.
Nolwe the Lady Dragon – Yes, poor them. Thanks a lot, but I'm still waiting for SB! I need my fix!
Lunaris – You know, I get such a kick out of being evil. Thank you!
freakyfairy – Well, thanks so so so so so much! I'm glad to hear you like it!
LLPotter – Aww. I've never made someone cry before – is that a good thing?
Lisande – Ah, someone who knows the joys of being cruel to them. Thanks!
Jenna-chan – Here's your update. Glad you liked Closed Doors, and I'm glad you like this too! Thanks a lot!
Dark Wind of Temptation – Oh no, not you! Well, I didn't really think I would turn you to a HP shipper, but that's OK with me. Stick around, huh?
Enjoy this chappie!
Before Stone Walls
By: Hawkeye's Seductress
Chapter 4 – Cast a Spell on Me
Dumbledore produced the two items they needed for the first part of the Concealious Spell – seven glass phials to hold the blood, and a silver cross.
"How did you do this?" Lily asked, picking up the cross. It was razor sharp at one end, as though it was two knives melded together, but there were no lines. Dumbledore took it from her gently. "A simple Sharpening Charm on the one end," he answered. He stepped in front of Frank Longbottom, who held out his hand. Dumbledore made a short, shallow cut with the cross, and allowed three drops of blood to fall into the first container. He healed the cut with a poke of his wand, and tapped the phial twice. The word "Frank" appeared above it in shimmering letters, and he set it down on the table.
And so it went, every caster producing three drops of blood to fall into the phial, which was then labeled. Dumbledore was last, aside from Remus, and all in the room could almost feel the power coursing through the scarlet liquid that fell from his slightly gnarled hand. He then smiled sadly at Remus, who held out his hand unflinching, Sirius gripping the other tightly.
He could feel a buzz before the silver blade even touched him – the promise of pain to come. As the sharp edge reached his skin, a trickle of smoke began to rise, telling the others the burn had started. Dumbledore made the cut as quickly as possible, and allowed the blood to fall into the last phial before healing the shallow incision. Remus breathed a sigh of relief as the metal was removed from his skin, which continued to burn. Pulling out his wand, he muttered a quick spell he'd found that numbed skin; the inflamed tissue immediately stopped throbbing.
Dumbledore tapped his wand against the phial holding Remus' blood. "Purificum Sanguinus," he said clearly. Remus bowed his head. That was a reminder that his blood was tainted, unclean. Sirius knew what he was thinking, and rebuked him aloud. "You're not tainted," he said. "You're as pure and beautiful as the rest of us here – more so, I'd say." Everyone nodded, and Lily quickly embraced the werewolf, who was blushing red.
"Lily, may I have your hand?" Dumbledore requested. She held out her slim white hand, and the older wizard dipped the point of his wand into the first phial. He drew an intrinsic design on her palm, and they watched, amazed, as it slowly disappeared. "Frank Longbottom, do you pledge to give your blood promise and protection to this woman?" Dumbledore asked. Frank nodded. "I do," he replied.
The process was the same for every phial. When it reached Peter's turn, there was a note of hesitation in his voice. Sirius's blue eyes narrowed slightly, and Remus turned to look at the smaller man, who stared back, face expressionless.
When he finished the ritual, Dumbledore released Lily's hand, and James' replaced it. It began again. "Frank Longbottom, do you pledge to give your blood promise and protection to this man?" Once again, one after another was asked the question, and once again, there was an almost imperceptible waver in Peter's voice. Remus ignored it, dismissing it as nerves – if this spell did not work, they would be back at square one.
At last, Dumbledore reached out to gently grasp baby Harry's hand. Again, he repeated the question, and everyone answered. As Remus said, "I do," Dumbledore let go of the sleeping child's hand. A blue light surrounded the Potters for the briefest of seconds, and Dumbledore touched Lily's forehead.
Remus gasped. The Potters were suddenly pale – not in colour, but it was as though they were behind smoked glass – he couldn't see them clearly. "Uh, sir, something's wrong," he said. Dumbledore frowned at him, then nodded. "Remus, did Lily and James get…let's say foggy, for want of a better word?" Remus nodded
"The first part of the spell has succeeded," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling as Sirius whooped. "Remus, because you are a werewolf, when the spell is completed, you will not be able to see the Potters." Remus looked up, alarmed. "Why?" he asked.
"Because you are technically a Dark creature," the older man said gently, ignoring Sirius' growl. "The spell guards the receivers against Dark Magic users, and Dark creatures. That is how we will know if the spell has worked properly – you will not be able to see them or sense them." He sighed. "We will begin again in an hour. You are free to walk around the castle or grounds, but I would ask you not to leave Hogsmeade."
Sirius sprang up from his chair with a raucous cry, dashing out of the office and down the spiral staircase. Remus followed behind, at a slower pace, laughing quietly as he heard the clatter that was Sirius tripping, and his explosion of swear words.
As they hit the smooth green grass, Sirius turned a cartwheel, in sheer bliss at being outside. Casting a quick glance around, he changed into Padfoot, tugging at the sleeve of Remus' robes and whining. Remus grinned brightly, reaching out to rub the huge black dog's ears, causing him to pant happily, tail whipping back and forth at record speeds. Remus allowed himself to be pulled into the Forbidden Forest, to a huge weeping willow they had visited many times during their seven years at Hogwarts. Padfoot pounced, knocking Remus backwards onto the plush grass, then turned back into a man, long limbs entangled with those of his lover.
"Mmm…Moony, what's wrong?" Sirius asked, gently biting Remus' collarbone. Remus was silent, staring blankly at the curtain of string like leaves that surrounded them. "I shouldn't be helping you," he said softly. "I'm a Dark creature."
Sirius growled again, forcing Remus to look at him. "You are not. And I'm pissed at Dumbledore for saying that." Remus shook his brown head. "You can deny it all you want, Sirius. It doesn't stop it from being true. You saw what happened in there. Dumbledore had to purify my blood. I'm tainted. I don't deserve the love or friendship of any of you. I should be locked up, put away where I can't hurt anyone, can't poison anyone. Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head where Sirius had just smacked him.
"If you don't shut up, I'm gonna put a Silencing Spell on you," the brunette threatened. "We've been through this before, Re, how many times? You are not a Dark creature. You are not tainted. You are wonderful."
Remus snorted. "In your opinion." Sirius pulled out his wand. "Silencio!" he exclaimed. Remus choked – his voice was gone. He settled for glaring murderously at Sirius, who shrugged. "I warned you," he said. "Now you listen to me. You are not unclean. If anyone doesn't deserve anyone, it's me who doesn't deserve you. I love you with mind, body, and soul, Remus – and Moony is a part of who you are. You can't change that. But you are just as pure and perfect as anyone else." He paused. "No, that's not true. You're better. You're caring and kind and compassionate, and you're absolutely drop dead sexy."
Remus laughed silently. Sirius removed the Silencing Spell, letting the low murmur of his werewolf's voice wash over him. "I love you." He straddled Sirius' lean hips, shifting back and forth slightly as he leaned in to kiss and lick the throat of the man beneath him. "Don't start anything you can't finish," Sirius said, voice choked with pleasure as Remus flicked his tongue across the small scar on his neck. With a grin, Sirius arched into the touch, remembering the blissful, wonderful night that Remus and Moony had branded him, claimed him. The night they had mated…
"Ahem." The voice jerked them out of reverie, and both peered through the dense leaves of the tree. "I hate to interrupt, but we have to get back to the castle," the voice continued. James – and by the sound of him, he was smirking. "Tell Dumbledore we'll be there in five minutes," Remus called, eyes twinkling at Sirius, who stared in astonishment. "OK Moony," James answered, sounding just as surprised. His footsteps faded away, and Sirius detached his lips from Remus'.
"What's gotten into you, Moony?" he asked. Remus shrugged. "We just haven't had much time to ourselves lately. The others can wait for five minutes. Now shut up and kiss me."
So Sirius did.
* * *
They returned to Dumbledore's office some seven minutes later, flushed and unkempt. Sirius' hair was mussed, and Remus' robes were slightly grass stained, and there was a livid mark on his neck. They ignored the wink from James, the sappy grin from Lily, and the knowing smiles from everyone else. Dumbledore cleared his throat as they sat.
"Ah…now that everyone is with us – " he allowed his eyes to twinkle at the pair. "We'll continue. The second part of the Charm is the sacrifice section." He pointed to the huge stone basin on the floor near his desk. The water in it was a vibrant blue, and it lapped at the sides of the basin as though moved by the wind. "You must each place a token of value into the water. This will prove that you are willing to sacrifice anything and everything for the recipients of the spell."
Dumbledore was first, and he dropped a scarlet feather from Fawkes into the water. Remus arched an eyebrow – to pluck a phoenix's feather was to weaken it. This truly was a sacrifice, for Remus knew that Fawkes was very dear to the older man. As the gold and red feather hit the water, it disappeared with a sucking sound. Dumbledore nodded to Remus, who stepped forward and dropped a tooth into the water. It was a tooth of the werewolf that had bitten him – his sire. It had been found beside him, and he kept it all these years – for like it or not, Moony was a part of who he was. Dumbledore nodded as the tooth vanished, and Sirius squeezed the younger man's shoulder as he moved to the basin.
Into the vivid blue water fell a book. Sirius did read – not to the extent that Remus did, but he was known to sit down with a book every once and a while. This particular literary example was a very old collection of poems. Sirius loved poetry, and even tried his hand at it occasionally. He was quite good. Remus' eyes widened as he realized it was that book that Sirius had sacrificed. He had had that book since before they had met – it was dog eared and dirty, the pages ripped and the words dim. Remus knew the book held huge sentimental value to Sirius, and wondered how he could have ever thought Sirius to be the spy.
Peter was next, and he dropped a quill into the water. A very lovely quill – it was black, edged in gold, and held an Ink Producing Charm. Remus recognized it as the gift given to Peter by his longtime girlfriend, a cute Hufflepuff named Heather Jones. She had been killed in the crossfire of a battle between some Death Eaters and a group of Aurors a week after their one-year anniversary – the day she'd given him the quill. Peter never mentioned the sweet young brunette, but Remus knew that he'd loved her very much.
Alastor Moody placed in the basin a twisted piece of metal, Frank Longbottom an old, tattered envelope, and his wife an ornate looking necklace. After the necklace disappeared, Dumbledore peered into the basin. The water was now glowing, still a bright blue. Nodding, the older wizard dipped one finger into the water, and drew a glowing pattern on Lily's hand, just as he had done with the blood. He repeated the process again with James and Harry, and once again, a soft blue light surrounded the small family.
Remus winced – the Potters had instantly gotten lighter. He could now barely make out their forms, seeing only faint outlines, and their voices seemed to echo. He did not like this – once the spell was complete, how would he know if they were alright? If they were still alive?
"The second part of the spell has worked," Dumbledore announced. "We will now retire, and complete the Charm tomorrow morning. For your safety, you will all be staying here at Hogwarts tonight – there have been many Death Eater sightings. Goodnight."
They filed out of the office, Remus staring blankly at the slight lines of his best friend and his family as they entered their rooms. Sirius noticed his discomfort, and kissed his hand. "It's OK, Moony. You know they're still there, even if you can't see them, or sense them."
"I just don't like not being able to contact them when they're in such danger!" Remus exclaimed, slamming his hand on the walls of their room. "Ow…"
Sirius grinned, wrapping his arms around the werewolf's slim waist. "Relax," he whispered, sending electric jolts up and down Remus' spine. "I can see them, and they're fine. And they'll be fine. So don't worry." He proceeded to chew on the closest bit of skin – an earlobe – while Remus watched the night through the window. He gasped suddenly. "Sirius, look!"
A lone figure hurried across the grass, and was soon swallowed up by the darkness.
~TBC~
The last part of the spell comes in the next chapter, and we'll find out what happens. Please review!