The Completed Bond
At precisely eleven o'clock Severus and David entered the marquee in the grounds of Lions' Den where the ceremony was to take place. Since David had never attended a wizarding wedding he and Remus had walked through the ceremony the day before after they had erected the marquee. Simba and Leon had stood in for the various other participants and had had great fun pretending to be wizards. Walking in to a crowded tent was a bit different but David told himself that after all he had faced in the past this really should be something he could do.
The inside was set up like a theatre hall with an aisle down the centre towards steps that led to the low stage. As David walked down the aisle to take his place on the stage he felt all the eyes in the place turn on him. Keeping his head high and his gaze fixed on the figures waiting on the stage he walked forward as gracefully as he could and hoped he would not trip over his robes. He wondered how much money he could make if he invented an 'anti trip on robes' charm. Or perhaps Fred and George could make more from a 'trip on robes' sweet. David smiled at the thought; he would have to remember to suggest it.
Molly was waiting for him on the stage looking exquisite in her Crimson Matriarch robes. She stood sideways on to the edge of the stage and David stood likewise facing her so that everyone could see both of them. Molly directed David through his declarations and demonstrations. First he had to declare his name and recite his maternal lineage. This was to make the guests in awe of his status but tended to have a hypnotic effect. The list was long since the house dated back nearly a millennium. Although zias had a life expectancy of two centuries few had lived that long given their job of protecting the wizarding community. David was thankful that he had a photographic memory because nearly every generation had a different surname since it was chosen on marriage. Having declared his line David had to prove his position as Lord Crimson by producing the rampant lion from his circuit of office.
The third requirement was a declaration was of intent. A murmur of surprise and disapproval went through the tent when he stated that he was offering his intended spouse a guardianship bond. It was at this point that they expected Umbridge to object if she was going to, but nothing happened. David could see her beady eye watching him but she made no move to speak. She did have a sickly smile in place which worried him.
The last part was to demonstrate the soul-bond. At this point tradition again called for David to be blindfolded and for him to find his soul-mate from among the congregation by following the bond. Sirius and Molly had modified this to having David face away from the congregation while Severus led a group of guests up to stand along the edge of the stage with Remus among them. David was then to indicate which one was Remus before he turned around. Molly had the guests confirm that they had not been told where to stand or had prior knowledge that they would be participating in this way. Given that David could now communicate telepathically with Remus between Lions' Den and Hogwarts he had no trouble indicating which person he was.
Once the guests had returned to their seats Remus declared his acceptance of the bond David was offering him. Then the actual bonding took place. Remus stood on David's left and clasped David's right hand with his left. Molly lifted their joined hands and held them up so that everyone could see.
"We join ourselves together until death separates us," both men declared. "We share one body, one mind, one heart and one soul."
Severus, who had been standing on David's left, moved forward and turned through ninety degrees so that he could tie their joined hands together. "I bless your bond and see you are one," he said as he tied their wrists with a crimson cord. "I give my son to your care and acknowledge Remus as his guardian."
Sirius stood in for Remus's family as he mirrored Severus's actions from his position on Remus's right. "I bless your bond and see you are one," he said tying their wrists with a royal blue cord. "I give my brother to your care."
They all moved around so that they were facing the congregation and Molly declared loudly, "The Crimson House has a new family today. Please welcome David and Remus Owens, the Crimson Lord and the Crimson Sire." There was a smattering of polite applause from the official guests while those who knew the pair cheered loudly and sent sparks into the air with their wands and a nameless pair of red haired twins started chanting 'kiss, kiss, kiss.' The couple obliged them, earning disapproving looks from the more traditional purebloods.
The ceremony over, the guests were directed through to a second room within the marquee where drinks were served while the main room was rearranged for the meal. David and Remus examined their bonding rings to find they now had crimson bands running around each edge to show they were married; identical to the one Severus wore. David and Remus exchanged polite conversation with many people they had never intended to meet while sending less flattering comments to each other telepathically to make the experience more palatable.
Being tied together did not cause a problem at this stage, but when food was served they found it quite difficult to eat with only one hand, particularly David since they were both right handed. At least during the meal they were seated with 'family' i.e. Severus and Sirius and the senior Weasleys so the conversation was better. When David raised Umbridge's behaviour Severus gave his opinion that the toad was unable to do anything about their match and so was exerting some psychological torture while she could; that in fact she had nothing up her sleeve.
The meal had seven courses which David thought was ridiculous given that the guests were supposed to dance later. After they had eaten there was a break for people to relieve themselves before the speeches were given. At this point the newly wedded couple came up against the worst part of being tied together. Bonds are strengthened by proximity and even more so by physical contact so the cords were a symbol of their sponsor's wishes for a strong bond.
All those involved in arranging the ceremony were dreading the speeches; at least the ones insisted on by the Ministry. Since the arrangements had been made while Fudge was still in power he insisted on his right to give the speech he was down for, and of course Scrimgeour wanted to give one as well. Several of Fudge's cronies took the same line and so did Scrimgeour's. This had led to six very boring very political speeches that only those within the cliques of the giver wanted to listen to. David made an effort to take in what was being said, but soon decided that he did not believe half of it anyway so there was no point. It was just propaganda.
This was the point where they found out what Umbridge had in store. She had insisted on making a speech, but the dreaded dissertation against werewolves did not appear. She was actually the least political of the lot. Umbridge talked about the history of the Crimson House and the causes it had supported over the years before reaching the first maternal and hence a non-zia, Godric Gryffindor. Then she described the dispute between Gryffindor and Slytherin and finished off by walking over to David and presenting him with her wedding gift; a locket that had once belonged to Salazar Slytherin. The way she had led up to it showed that she intended the gift as a great insult. She gave it publicly so that David would have no choice but to keep it, the emblem of the enemy of his house.
The toad's smug smile did not falter as she shoved the gift across the table because she failed to notice David's face light up in glee and amusement. He took hold of the gift immediately and then hung it around Sirius's neck and leapt over the table to land beside her, his right arm twisted behind him as Remus's was pulled forward with him. David pulled Umbridge to him with his free hand and kissed her soundly on both cheeks.
"You don't know how much this means to me," he said to her horror. "I've been looking for this heirloom for ages. Grandfather Godric was a great friend of Uncle Salazar's, if you'll forgive me the familiarity for they called themselves brothers. Uncle Salazar even named his pet basilisk 'Godric' in his brother's honour. Their dispute was petty and given time they would have been able to resolve it; just as the relationship between their houses at Hogwarts is improving. Thank you Madam Umbridge, you have given me a chance to publicly resolve a millennium old fight, not to mention the chance to return stolen property to my steward, although I never had you down as a fence before!"
David levitated himself back to his seat leaving a stunned and fuming toad behind him. As the next speech started David caught Albus's eye and nodded to indicate he was certain that the locket Sirius was eyeing warily contained the missing horcrux.
Eventually the speeches David and Remus actually wanted to hear started. Ron went first as David's best friend. It had been difficult for him to compose a speech without mentioning any of Harry's experiences but the result was good, although Hermione's influence was obvious in parts. Ron talked about how because of the danger he was in David had grown up with muggles and not knowing about magic or the position he would inherit. He mentioned that the first time David had seen a chocolate frog he had been worried about eating it thinking it was real. He gave his opinion as Gryffindor Quidditch Captain that David was a natural on a broom and suggested he run away from his responsibilities and sign on with the Cannons because even a loyal fan would like them to win some time.
Sirius was next as Remus's best friend and he was as expected, witty and charming, as well as deeply embarrassing. Sirius was now a registered animagus and so could describe Remus's reaction the first time he saw 'the grim' without mentioning how long ago it actually was. He paid tribute to Remus believing him when he was on the run and called him a true friend and brother. It was Sirius who explained why the pair had chosen the name Owens. He talked about how when they were at Hogwarts they had called themselves the Marauders and how there was a family named 'Owens' who used to maraud for sheep in Wales. Lions' Den was in Wales since it had been Gryffindor's place of origin. Sirius did not mention that the initial reason they had thought of 'Owens' had been because it meant 'warrior' which was what David had been prophesied as since before his birth.
Severus was brief in his turn saying that while he had not had much to do with his son's upbringing due to the need for secrecy, he was proud of the man he had become. He mentioned that after the extremely private ceremony of his own wedding it was good to be part of one that was done properly.
Molly came last, as the president, and she had realised that there would not be much to say left and that most of what she wanted to say could not be revealed. Instead she said she would pay tribute to Albus as a former mentor of both men, gave a few random but interesting sounding words, and resumed her seat.
With the speeches finally over it was late afternoon and the guests moved back into the second room or outside to mingle and conduct business while the room was rearranged for dancing. At this point the family and friends moved back to the house to take some posed photographs. Albus and David also took the opportunity to mark the occasion by destroying the horcrux. Albus was now very experienced at doing so and it was gone without fuss. As they walked back towards the marquee David collapsed suddenly pulling Remus down with him.
David started to scream and Severus hastily cast a silencing charm before he attracted the attention of the official guests. "We'd better get him out of sight," he said levitating David so that Remus could get to his feet. The whole group returned to the house trusting that everyone would assume they were still taking photographs. By the time they got inside Severus was having great difficulty keeping David steady as he was thrashing about. He lowered him to the ground and the telltale scar was immediately visible on his forehead.
"He knows," cursed Sirius. "Why today if he didn't know?"
"It could just be to coincide with this event," said Albus mildly. "Voldemort might not realise, although now that Harry is known to be alive the connection is more obvious."
Remus had his palms pressed against David's temples and was trying to use their bond to pull him out of the vision as he had done before. He succeeded just as Severus returned with some potions. Remus helped David sit up.
"Tremors," he informed Severus without the need for David to speak. "Cruciatus but only one and it can't have been more than half a minute." He shuddered as he spoke at the idea of being held under the curse for a whole thirty seconds; 'only' indeed. Severus held the relative potion under David's nose for his inspection and when he agreed through Remus, Severus helped him drink it.
"What did you see?" asked Albus.
David looked pointedly at Remus who mumbled 'silencing spell' and removed it. "It was just to give us his best wishes for our wedding," said David rolling his eyes. "You'd think he had more important things to do. He's worked out how to force a vision upon me though which is not such a good thing."
"More occlumency?" asked Remus.
"I'm not sure as to the extent that it would actually help," said David doubtfully. "The curse gives him a connection straight into me. I could remove the connection completely, but I'm wary of doing so when it could be useful. It works both ways; I can enter his mind too."
"Does this mean that he will be able to search through your mind for information?"
"Probably," said David dejectedly, but inwardly pleased that they had believed what he had told them about the vision. "I think you'd all best keep me out of the loop until you tell me where to go to finally face him."
"So there'll be an announcement in tomorrow's Prophet about you being Harry?" asked Hermione. "Wouldn't it be best to announce it ourselves so as to take away his leverage."
After a bit of debate there was a grudging ascension to Hermione's idea. Before they returned to their guests David took the opportunity to have a whispered conversation with Hermione and send her to look something up in the library for him. Nobody else knew what this was about, but judging by Hermione's face it was not something she was expecting to be asked to find out. She returned shortly and whispered something back which was obviously good news because David gave her a one armed embrace and thanked her.
Simba was called and the fidelius charm was cancelled. David healed his scar since he disliked the way it had been what everyone recognised him by. As they returned to the marquee, David was busily rewording the speech he and Remus would give just before they left the party; anything to keep his mind off what he would have to do in the early hours of the next morning. At least he consoled himself with the idea that it was now possible for Voldemort to be gone within twenty-four hours; he could finally be free of prophesies.
Back in the marquee the officials were networking and conducting their business and so were a bit annoyed when the wedding party returned and thing had to be put on hold while they ate cake and listened to their speech. The younger people in attendance were pleased since that meant that the time for dancing was getting nearer. The cake was produced, the animated figurine of a lion roaring was removed, Remus and David fed each other a piece and then it was cut up and distributed to everyone while they made their speech.
Those who did not know the couple prepared to mentally tune out most of it but found themselves interested by the subject matter; where exactly the heir to the Crimson House had been for seventeen years had been a closely guarded secret. David did not give the real reason behind his parents hiding him but instead spoke vaguely about a family disagreement and the wish to keep him away from this grandfather, as well as the danger from Voldemort; but the plan had gone wrong. There was a collective shudder at the name of the dark lord but David completely ignored it.
"My godmother and godfather adopted me. They took me as their own child to the extent that my godmother even pretended to be pregnant so that everyone would believe she had given birth to me. The first thing that went wrong was that my maternal, Roger Dragon, died from complications with my birth. Since it was done in secret there were no healers to help and when he realised he was dying he insisted that none were called, he was the first person to die for me."
Some of the guests had worked out where this was leading, but many were unsure; everyone remembered the boy-who-lived for the events on Halloween not his birthday. Neville Longbottom was looking decidedly cheerful. "I knew David's parents," Remus continued. "And I saw a lot of him while he was little; it would appear that I was around him enough for his mother, who was very shrewd, to notice that we probably had a bond."
"The plan went completely awry when Voldemort," another collective shudder, "decided he needed to kill me because of some words that had been overheard that might have been a prophesy. Instead of checking his facts he came after me and killed by adoptive parents to get at me. You all know the story; I survived but two more people died for me."
"Lily Potter left a journal," continued Remus, "enchanted so that only Sirius and one other could read it. Upon her death guardianship of David was supposed to go to Sirius, but due to certain circumstances exacerbated by the actions of the Ministry, Sirius never received the journal and instead ended up in Azkaban. That same journal was used to clear him a few months ago."
"Instead I was left on the doorstep of my godmother's sister," said David distastefully. "I think it was someone's bright idea to keep me away from my fame, which I agree was a good thing, but also to ensure that I grew up appreciating muggles. It backfired spectacularly. Not only did this family not have the journal or even if they had had it, the knowledge to be able to educated me for the position I now hold, but they also had such a great fear of everything magical that I grew up believing my parents had died in a car crash and that the Wizarding World did not exist. It was a bit of a shock to arrive at Hogwarts and find that everyone knew more about me than I did."
"Then I taught David during his third year, while a friend of mine was posing as an escaped mass murderer out for revenge." At this point Sirius stood up and made a bow. "Neither of us recognised the bond, but I think it caused me to be in the right place a few times to get David out of the trouble that seemed to follow him around, starting with the dementors on the train, and ultimately culminating in our confrontation of Sirius that summer. Once I'd resigned and left Hogwarts and we were no longer in close proximity I realised that we had a bond."
"Anyway what followed is now well known; I was kidnapped and then hunted down and given a fixed trial before becoming a dark prisoner." When he said this Fudge's denial that Harry Potter could be a zia was completely destroyed. Fudge realised with growing horror that David could have him executed for his part in what happened. He could not even claim ignorance of him being a zia since it would be easy to imply that the refusal to give Black a trial had been part of an attempt to keep David's heritage from him. With the Ministry implicated in David's grandfather's murder many would believe that. The details about what had happened while Harry was a dark prisoner, so far suppressed, indicated that he had been raped repeatedly. With a shudder Fudge recalled that the ancient Roman statutes called for the crucifixion of anyone involved in the rape of a zia, not to mention the laws around support of paedophilia. He did not know whether that law had been kept. He saw his successor eyeing him hungrily and gulped audibly.
"But the conspirators did not reckon Viddy," David was continuing, "better known to those from Hogwarts as Professor David, who is very close to me. Viddy show yourself and take a bow! Oh it seems he's popped out, probably worked out where I was going with this; he's quite shy. Anyway, with Viddy's help I escaped and learnt of my true parentage. I learnt the skills I need and had the Ministry followed its own laws I would have learnt a long time ago. I met my father for the first time knowing who he was on my last birthday and we agreed to begin our relationship from scratch. Through Viddy I got to know Remus and Sirius, although it was a while before I revealed that I already knew them. Viddy appropriated Lily's journal so that Sirius wouldn't read about me, but these two are a bit too clever my own good and they worked it out."
"It was Sirius who nudged us both towards acknowledging the bond," said Remus as Sirius took another exaggerated bow. "And then along with Tonks and some trusty extendable ears invented by Fred and George and going for what boys?"
"Sixteen sickles," said George.
"Or you can have three for two galleons," added Fred.
"Share them with your friends."
"Only available from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley, London."
"Or our stall just beyond the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmead on selected weekends."
"Which just happen to coincide with when the students are there!"
"If you've finished boys?" inquired Remus cordially. "As I was saying Sirius and Tonks used these 'items' to eavesdrop on the conversation between David and myself and our acknowledgement of the bond. I don't think that my father-in-law was guilt free either."
"I hear he was a right terror at school," agreed David. "All that remains is for us to pay tribute to Sirius and my cousin, Molly Weasley and her family for organising this amazing event. And I should say that as well as being my cousins, Molly and Arthur adopted me over two years ago but were obliviated when they handed the paperwork into the Ministry. You know Remus, I don't know about you but I'm seeing a bit of a trend here of Ministry personnel interfering with my life? Perhaps it's all in my imagination and now that I've thought about it it'll stop."
"You may be right there," said Remus grinning. "Interfering in your life hasn't been a healthy occupation so far. But I believe a toast is in order; to Sirius and Molly!"
The toast was made and the band started up so that David and Remus could start the dancing. They had planned on making a quick getaway once the dance was underway but the unexpected disclosures meant that a lot of people wanted a few words. Since all Remus's colleagues would want to attend there had been a question as to what to do with the students at Hogwarts for the holiday; they couldn't be left in the castle alone, or rather with Filch who had refused to attend. Many staff had visions of returning to find their charges hanging by their ankles in the caretaker's office. The solution had been simple; to invite all the students who remained, but to not announce the fact until after the holidays had started so that nobody took advantage of the offer. Hermione and Ron had carefully 'suggested' that a few of their year make sure to stay. This led to Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan and Neville Longbottom now making their way purposefully towards David.
When their congratulations and interrogation were over Neville stayed behind and said quietly, "You never showed any signs of being a zia at school. You weren't particularly powerful, except on certain occasions were your life was in danger; so I think you had magical repression like me. And your grandfather was a metamorphmagus. And you suddenly get engaged to Professor Lupin when everyone knew he was interested in Professor David. And then Malfoy was saying how he knew you'd been spending time with Professor Lupin but it was because you had the same name as your father, but your parents were Severus and Roger so…"
"Don't go there Neville," said David warningly.
"So I'm right? Don't worry I won't tell, although some time I'd love to know how you learnt it all."
"Congratulations Neville," said Remus warmly. "Hermione hasn't worked it out, but we don't think our colleagues or the students would be comfortable with a seventeen year old as a teacher. Suffice to say, David had a lot of luck and a lot of help which has led to him being much older than he appears."
"I learnt about magical repression from Godric Gryffindor," confirmed David. "But I can't really publicise the fact so keeping Professor David separate from myself until I'm older and could have had time to learn these things seems a good idea."
Minerva came over to congratulate the pair and thanked them for finally settling who it was Harry had left his personal belongings to. She had apparently been worried what the recipient had been doing with them but was pleased that David had been able to keep his photographs of his adoptive parents.
"You glossed over it," she said accusingly, "but life with the muggles was really bad wasn't it? I've seen the picture you sent Albus and you're a talented artist. You're also powerfully magical. We never saw any of it so they squashed your talents didn't they?"
David nodded.
"Something that has been bothering me for years," she continued, "the first letter we sent you was addressed to a cupboard, when the second one wasn't I decided it wasn't important but…"
"Until the day that letter came I lived in a cupboard," David confirmed softly. "But given all that happened to me after I rejoined the Wizarding World you could say that my early experiences taught me what I needed to survive."
It was nearly six o'clock when David and Remus finally got away from the marquee and made it back into the house. The party was still in full swing but was now none of their responsibility. Sirius and Molly would ensure that everything went well and everyone left safely. They could not seem to make it to the exit so in the end David apparated them both back to the house.
"When can we take these off?" asked David once they were alone, gesturing at the cords that tied them together.
"They come off when the conditions the binders put on them are met," said Remus looking worried. "Molly was meant to tell you those were."
"Well she didn't," said David flatly. "My betting is that either Sirius or the twins volunteered to pass on the information and then 'forgot.' A simple oversight!"
"We can't go back and ask," said Remus thoughtfully, "but we could ask Simba or Leon to do so."
It was a good idea and Leon returned with a piece of parchment listing the tasks they had to complete. "He's having a laugh!" spluttered Remus as he glanced down the list. "I can understand asking us to kiss, and the thing with the strawberries and cream sounds like fun, but 'use your joined hands to create a convincing frog shadow puppet,' what potion was he on when he wrote that?"
"Let me see," ordered David. "Hmm, I agree about the strawberries, and number seventeen's not bad either, but… well as I see it there is no way either of them could have put all these conditions on the cords, so I reckon they'll come off if we just do the last one. We should probably have supper first though, I'm not that hungry but if you are…"
"After that lunch? With Molly commenting on how both of us needed feeding up? The only thing I actually want is some water, although if Simba can find us some strawberries then we could take them up with us for later."
Simba obligingly retrieved the strawberries, sending them straight to the master bedroom, and congratulated her masters on their wedding.
"I don't think that a reverse fireman's lift was quite what Sirius had in mind when he wrote the instruction for you to carry me over the threshold of our room," complained David as the cords tying their wrists unravelled and fell to the floor.
"I don't think Sirius thought about the practicalities of lifting someone you're tied to like that," returned Remus as he swung David down off his shoulder. "I was quite pleased with my ingenuity for working out how to actually do it. Now I've been wondering all day what monstrosities they covered my skin in…"
The pair undressed each other and then examined themselves in the mirror. "The handprints are courtesy of Gred and Forge but that's all I worked out," said David as Remus regarded his back view. "But it appears yours have been signed, have mine?"
"Ah ha," confirmed Remus tracing a finger up David's back following the contours of a passable image of a hippogriff. "This is Sirius's, on behalf of Buckbeak I think." He rested his chin on David's shoulder and looked at his image in the mirror. "Judging by your father's contributions on our chests it's obvious where you get your artistic talent from. It's a good likeness of Sooty."
"Yes," agreed David spinning around in his arms, "I'd return the complement about Moony but I've only ever caught a brief glimpse of him and I wasn't paying a huge amount of attention to what he looked like."
"I think he had Sirius describe Moony for him. I can hardly comment not knowing what he looks like either."
They spent a while discovering each of their friends contributions and felt they understood why the ancient Picts had felt comfortable to go into battle naked apart from woad designs; the large amounts of blue on their skin made them forget their actual nudity.
"As interesting as these designs are," said David as Remus mapped out the cat on his chest, "I really want to have a bath. Hermione filled my hair with Merlin knows what to keep it in order and I've been wanting to get it back to nature all day."
"At least the pigment should take about a week to come off," said Remus as he reached down and swept David into his arms in a more traditional manner than earlier, and carried him into the bathroom. They spent a few minutes playing volleyball with some of the large purple bubbles that one of the taps had produced before Remus retrieved some shampoo and washed all Hermione's good work out of David's curls. When he had finished David pressed Remus up against the side of the bath and leaned against him his head buried under Remus's chin.
"I can't give you what is traditional," he sent through the bond keeping his face hidden. "Both of us know that, but I do want to mark the occasion for us." He started kissing his way down Remus's chest and disappeared below the waterline. "Will you let me?" he asked as he reached Remus's groin.
As David remained underwater and began, Remus's rational part of his brain became concerned and wondered whether he was drowning. His irrational part told him to stop worrying and enjoy what was going on. His rational part then noted that there were no air bubbles surfacing which suggested David had wandlessly performed the bubble headed charm to allow himself to breathe. His irrational part told him again to stop thinking and just to enjoy the sensations David was producing. His rational mind made a last ditch attempt to remain in control by reminding Remus just how David must have learnt what he was doing. His irrational self finally lost its cool and told his rational self to bugger off and it did so.
When David re-emerged from the water and Remus's rational mind reasserted himself he was hit by the difference in their bond. "It's complete!" he exclaimed. "I know exactly where you are, how you're feeling… It's not just in the background any more. It's a bit overwhelming."
David hurriedly occluded his thoughts before Remus could find out his plans for the early morning; he did not need Remus forbidding him from facing Voldemort or worse insisting on coming along. "Hermione looked up a definition for me earlier," David explained. "I found out last night that the bond would have forced us closer and closer together until it was completed and that could cause problems for Viddy, so consummation was very necessary. This afternoon I had an idea about the definition of consummation and Hermione checked it out for me. Looks like I was right."
"I think that's an O for ingenuity," said Remus grabbing him and lifting him up to sit on the side of the bath. "Now it's my turn." David regarded him oddly. "I can't do wandless bubble headed charms," explained Remus leaning forward and he continued his explanation with actions not words.
When they retired for the night David squashed his guilty feelings to be dealt with later and cast a sleeping charm on Remus while he went down to his potions laboratory and brewed up a strong sleeping potion. The charm would not protect Remus from the strong feelings the bond would broadcast while David faced Voldemort, but the potion should.
Potion in hand David returned to their room. He strengthened his occlumency walls so that Remus could not control him through the bond and cast a silencing charm so that he could not order him out loud either. Then he tied him up, woke him, explained the situation, apologised and forced the potion into him. Remus was obviously angry and David felt the bond exerting pressure on him to stop making him so, but he kept the thought that this was for Remus's own good uppermost in his mind and restrained his spouse further so that he could force him to drink. He held Remus tenderly as the potion began to take effect and his struggles slowed to a stop and checked his health to make sure that he would not have a bad reaction to the potion. David vanished Remus's bonds and meditated for a while to mentally prepare himself for the confrontation ahead as the stimulant he had taken to keep himself awake worked through his body. Then he dressed in his duelling robes and left the room, pausing in the doorway for a long look at the sleeping form of his new spouse.