A/N: See end notes for information on the posting schedule!
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"Moony," Sirius's voice called through the door. Remus was digging through one of his dresser drawers, ready to unearth his mother's engagement ring, and decided to ignore the call. The door creaked open, and Sirius's head appeared in the doorframe.
"Psst."
"What?" snapped Remus, finally closing his hand around the faded velvet box.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" Remus held up the box in his hand and gestured back to Nymphadora, who was blissfully asleep in his bed.
Sirius did a double-take upon seeing the little box. "When?"
"As soon as she wakes up."
"No, mate. Not like this."
"How would you—" Remus was unable to finish his thought, as Sirius had pulled him through the door and dragged him out of the bedroom. Sirius cast a quiet "Muffliato" around them and glared at Remus.
"What is your problem?" Remus demanded. "Why do you care what I do?"
"I love you like a brother, so I'm going to talk to you like a brother. Now is not the time to be asking her to marry you."
"Piss off."
"Have you talked to her parents? Told Harry? Does she know?"
Remus was momentarily speechless. He had not talked to either Ted or Andromeda, though he felt he didn't need to. Nymphadora was more than capable of making her own decisions. He didn't think he needed to consult Harry, either, as he was well aware of the seriousness of the relationship.
"I reckon not, based on that look on your face."
"She's a grown woman – I don't need to ask for her parents' permission," Remus said dismissively. "Harry will be fine, I'm sure—"
"—you're not thinking this through. You just lost your dad." Sirius put his hand on Remus's shoulder and dragged him down the corridor to Harry's room. "I'm not saying this is a bad idea, but she was engaged to someone else less than a year ago. Have you even asked her what she thinks about this? Does she want to be married?"
Remus frowned. The only times he had discussed marriage with her were to tell her that they could never be married, because of his lycanthropy. He knew that she hadn't wanted to be married too young, and that was one of the reasons she had ended her engagement with her ex-boyfriend, Evan.
Marriage had popped up in Remus's mind after a long night of being comforted by Nymphadora in the wake of his father's death. Weeks before, Wormtail had tried to kidnap Harry after the last Quidditch match of the term. Harry was dragged through a secret passageway unknown to anyone, and when Remus, Sirius, Nymphadora, and Lyall, Remus's father, came to confront Harry's kidnapper, Lyall had been killed in the ambush. Nymphadora had been nothing but supportive, and her love for Remus, Harry, and Lyall spurred Remus into action. He didn't want to spend any more days without her at his side.
"Well?" Sirius said impatiently. "Have you?"
"No," Remus admitted. "I haven't."
"You should do that first – and you should talk to Andromeda. Ted won't care, but Andy will want to know what you're doing."
"Fine, I'll talk to them. Anything else?" Remus said irritably.
"Wait until Harry is home for the summer holidays. He deserves to know, too. It's going to affect him if you and Tonks get married. You need to be sure he's all right with it."
"He as good as told me he was. He told me my dad wanted us to get married."
"I'm trying to help you here, arsehole. I understand you just lost your father, but I can't believe I'm the one telling you not to make a rash decision. Talk to Tonks, Andy, and Harry before you ask any questions."
"And you?"
"What about me?" Sirius asked, confused.
"What do you think?"
"About you asking her to marry you?"
"No, I need your opinion on unicorn shit."
Sirius sighed dramatically. "You can drop the attitude now. If you want my opinion, I'm all for it, but do right by her, Harry, and Andy before you do anything."
"Who should I talk to first?"
"Tonks. If she's against it, why bother talking to anyone else?"
"You think she'll be against it?" Remus said, panicked. "What have I—"
"—that came out wrong," Sirius interrupted. "I reckon it's less with whether or not she wants to get married but when she wants to be married. That ex of hers wanted a wedding too quickly."
Remus sat in silence, considering Sirius's recommendations. He was loath to admit that Sirius had a point; Nymphadora had to agree to the possibility of marriage before he made a fool of himself in front of her mother.
"Is that what you came into my room to tell me?"
"No, actually," said Sirius. "I just found out that Britain's hosting the Quidditch World Cup in August. I thought of getting us tickets as part of Harry's birthday present."
"Ask the Weasleys if Ron and Ginny can come, too…Hermione as well. Harry would like that."
"Good man." Sirius clapped his hand on Remus's back. "I'll get to the letters for the Weasleys and Grangers."
While Sirius went downstairs to write the letters, Remus returned to his room and tucked his mother's engagement ring back inside one of his dresser drawers. He rejoined Tonks in bed, waiting for her to wake up to ask her about marriage.
His thoughts wandered off to his recently deceased father. He wished so badly he'd had the courage to repair the relationship with his father before bringing Harry into their lives; he'd missed out on the chance to ask Lyall how he'd had the courage to ask his wife, Remus's mother, to marry him. He wished he could speak to Lyall now and ask for advice on how best to approach the subject of marriage with Tonks. Instead, he was arguing with himself on whether to blurt it out, wait for a special occasion, or reconsider the proposal altogether.
Nyx, Grimmauld Place's half-kneazle, poked her head through the door. She was a fluffy, black cat with bright green eyes and a lustrous coat of fur. When Peter escaped from Azkaban and his status as a rat Animagus was broadcast throughout wizarding Britain, the magical population rushed to bring half-kneazles and other cats into their homes to ward off rats. Even the Muggle Prime Minister had been warned of the escapee and had instituted a program to 'hire' cats to take care of the rat population in London. Nyx was one of the many half-kneazles purchased, and she'd quickly become most attached to Tonks.
Nyx jumped up onto Remus's lap and purred deeply. He scratched her ears and asked, "You wouldn't know how to talk about this, would you? Any tips on prop—"
"—huh?" Tonks said sleepily. "Are you talking to me?"
"Dora! No, I was talking to Nyx." Remus held his breath, hoping she hadn't heard anything incriminating. Tonks yawned widely and reached a hand out to pet Nyx. The cat hopped off Remus's lap and curled up next to Tonks, who buried her face in the fluffy, black mass.
"How are you feeling today?"
"Me?"
"I wasn't asking Nyx," said Tonks, peering up at him over Nyx's fluff. "I know you had a hard night…and I wanted to remind you that I'm here for you, whenever you need me."
"Thank you, Dora. I love you very much," Remus hesitated, wondering if it was the right time to bring up marriage, but an insistent screech at the window foiled his plans.
"Bollocks. That's probably a Ministry owl." Tonks rose from the bed and took the letter from the owl. Remus saw the Ministry seal on the envelope, and Tonks's scowl confirmed that it was work-related.
"I'm here for you, as soon as I finish this shift," Tonks said grumpily. "Two Aurors called out sick and I'm the second backup." She started dressing herself hastily, while expressing her frustration with mutters under her breath. When she was finally dressed, she came back to Remus's side and put her hands on his cheeks.
"I'll be back later. I'm sorry I've got to go, but send an owl if you need." She kissed him goodbye and sped out the door, leaving him with Nyx.
Moments later, Sirius came knocking at the door. "So, it went that badly?"
Remus cocked his head to one side, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Did you or did you not just tell dear Tonks about your plans to marry her…and did I just see her storm out of this house, fully dressed and enraged?"
"She got summoned to her job – something about two others calling off," Remus said, groaning into his hands. "The letter's over there. I hadn't said anything yet."
"Better luck next time," Sirius said, biting into an apple. Nyx hopped off the bed and ran to see what Sirius was eating, but was disappointed with her findings.
"I'll feed her," offered Remus. "May as well get something done today."
"Tell you what…you feed Nyx and then we'll go to one of those Muggle footy matches my coworkers keep telling me about."
"You mean football?"
"That's it! One of them are bound to have a match somewhere. Let's go see what the fuss is all about."
Remus reluctantly agreed, finding there was little else to keep him distracted enough to wait until Tonks was home from work.
…..
Days after the Muggle football match, after which Sirius declared himself an expert in all things relating to the Tottenham Hotspurs, Remus finished up his shift at the Muggle bookshop. He'd been working there for a few years, it was his main source of income since moving to London. When he'd first tried adopting Harry through the Muggle system, he managed to receive a "diagnosis" from a Muggle doctor, which allowed him legal protections to keep his job. In a hilarious twist of fate, he'd been diagnosed with a Muggle illness called lupus, and it afforded him the ability to take the days surrounding the full moon off every month. With the medical documentation in place, the job had served him well for years.
He was ready to turn on his heel in his usual spot to Apparate home, but Sirius was waiting for him.
"What are you doing here?"
"It's time for Mr. Howell and Snuffles to take a trip to Little Hangleton."
Remus groaned. John Howell was the name he'd given himself the day he interviewed Frank Bryce, posing as an investigative journalist for unsolved murder cases. Sirius had come along as Padfoot, but evidently he wanted to be called Snuffles for the trip.
"What happened?"
"Muffliato," cast Sirius, swishing his wand in a circle around them. He glanced around and said, in a low voice, "Dumbledore thinks someone's taking up residence in the old Riddle house."
"Who?" whispered Remus. "Voldemort?"
"Not sure. That's what we're being sent to find out. He wants us to go now – he knew you'd be working so you've got Muggle clothes on. He got a letter from that Bryce bloke."
Remus recalled that after speaking with Frank, he'd given the older man an address in London that Dumbledore had set up. If Bryce saw anything out of the ordinary, Remus had asked him to write a letter to the address. It appeared the time had finally arrived for Frank Bryce to see unusual activity around the Riddle mansion.
Despite the importance of the task ahead, Remus was irritated. He was taking Nymphadora out to dinner later, where he hoped to discuss marriage with her. He hadn't found the right time yet to broach the subject, given that Sirius's warning had dampened his initial enthusiasm, but he was resolved enough to try talking to her about it.
With his luck, however, he wouldn't be home to see her until nightfall because of the mission. He said, "Are we supposed to do anything? Dora's waiting for me."
"I already told her we're needed elsewhere. Unless someone goes after us, we're gathering intelligence."
"It's days like this that I forget the war never really ended," Remus said dejectedly. "All right…let's go."
Remus and Sirius turned on the spot and appeared with a crack on the edge of the town of Little Hangleton. It was just as they remembered it from their previous visit, although the prospect of running into someone at the old Riddle house was decidedly less appealing. Sirius transformed into Padfoot immediately and trotted at Remus's side.
The two passed by the copse of trees that guarded the Gaunt shack without giving it another glance. They knew a horcrux was still in it, but they were waiting until they were better practiced at casting Fiendfyre before they attempted to destroy it.
"Stay with me for now, Snuffles," said Remus, once they rounded the bend to the old Riddle mansion. "If there's something inside that house, you shouldn't go in alone."
Padfoot barked in agreement, and the two came upon the cottage where Frank Bryce lived. Remus knocked on the door, waiting patiently for Frank to open the door.
He heard movement from inside the cottage, but no one had come to the door yet. He exchanged a glance with Padfoot, and Remus knocked again, but kept his wand in his sleeve as an added precaution.
The door slowly creaked open. A terrible stench emerged from the cottage, as well as the incessant buzzing of maggots. Padfoot barked, and Remus took a step back.
"Mr. Bryce?" said Remus, keeping his distance from the door. He let his wand slip to his fingertips, unsure of what lay inside the cottage.
Frank grunted but opened the door further. Remus thought he looked very sick, but with his advanced age, it made sense that the old caretaker would someday fall ill.
"Mr. Bryce, I'm not sure if you remember me, but I'm John Howell," Remus said, staying outside the cottage. Padfoot had his back to Remus. He one of his furry ears raised up, as if trying to listen for something.
"I'm an investigative journalist…we discussed the unsolved Riddle murders before?"
Frank grunted again and gestured for Remus to come into the cottage. The stench within was almost unbearable, and he was reluctant to spend any longer than a minute breathing in the foul odor.
"Is it all right if my dog comes with me? He's called Snuffles and he's very well trained." Padfoot whined, shaking his head, and Remus cleared his throat. "Never mind. I think he'll be better off outside."
Frank closed the door behind the two of them and shuffled forward. The man's movements were erratic and shaky, leading Remus to believe that he was seriously ill.
"Mr. Bryce, are you all right? I don't mean to impose, but it might be a good idea to—"
Remus's thoughts died in his throat, as Frank turned to face him. His face contorted, almost melting away, and his tongue swelled massively. Remus had his wand brandished and cast a charm to prevent the swelling, but the tongue became bigger still until it was moving on its own. Frank's body fell back against the floor, and though his skull cracked against the floor, the liquid that seeped out of his head wasn't fresh blood, but something putrid, purple, and oozing from his neck.
The tongue that had swelled began taking on a life of its own, and Remus forced it back, blasting the door behind him open.
Padfoot was now Sirius, and he was engaged in a duel, coming from two different directions. The tongue that emerged from Frank's body was now scaly. It had massive fangs and it began hissing, which led to the terrifying realization that it was not, in fact, a tongue. A gigantic, muscular snake had emerged from Frank's body, and it snapped its jaw aggressively at Remus.
"It's a trap!" cried Remus. "Get out!"
Just as the snake's jaw tried to clamp down on Remus's neck, he felt a firm hand on his forearm and the familiar sensation of being suffocated.
He and Sirius fell over in a heap, landing in a grassy patch across from Grimmauld Place.
"What just happened?" gasped Sirius. "One minute, there was silence and the next, I've got Killing Curses coming my way and you've got a giant snake after you!"
"How should I know?" said Remus, panting. "Frank Bryce isn't alive anymore. The snake came from inside him."
"Bloody hell…we've got to tell Dumbledore."
"You didn't smell anything or see anyone?"
Sirius shook his head. "There I was, minding my own business as your lookout and then I see the flashes of green light and you almost dying."
Remus shuddered, thinking of how close the snake had been to killing him.
"We need to put the house under the Fidelius Charm," Remus said. "Whatever was there knew we were coming."
Sirius glanced around his body furtively, as if the danger was around the corner. "Let's go to Hogsmeade. We'll talk to Dumbledore now."
They turned on the spot, Apparating to the edge of Hogsmeade, and walked briskly to the castle gates. They sent a Patronus to Dumbledore, keeping their eyes darting in all directions, and sighed in relief when the phoenix Patronus opened the gates, allowing them onto the castle grounds.
It was the end of June now, and most students were studying for their end of term examinations. Remus and Sirius sped through the castle, and were pleased to see that the gargoyle statue was already moved aside for them. They went up the stairs, where Dumbledore was waiting for them.
"It was a trap," said Remus, wheezing from the near-sprint they'd taken through the castle. "They were waiting for us, whoever they were."
"Please sit," Dumbledore said, offering them tea and lemon drops. "Once you've caught your breath, tell me everything you saw and did."
After Remus explained the near-fatal incident with Frank Bryce and the snake, Sirius retold his account. Dumbledore sat still while they talked, and once they were finished, he pulled out a sheet of paper from his desk.
"This is the letter our Muggle address received from Mr. Bryce," Dumbledore said, giving the letter to Remus and Sirius to read.
Dear Mr. Howell,
I'm writing to you from Little Hangleton. You came to me last year to discuss the old Riddle murders. I've seen two men wandering around the village and the house. Strange blokes – they wore funny cloaks, like the boy I saw the day the Riddles died. I don't know if they're connected, but thought you should know. They didn't look like they wanted to be found. I called the police but they didn't do anything.
F. Bryce.
"That explains why I dueled two people, but it doesn't explain what happened to Remus," Sirius said, as soon as they returned the letter to Dumbledore.
"I suspect that Frank was being watched," Dumbledore said heavily. "It's possible that Voldemort is receiving help…but it's more concerning that he might have been that snake."
Remus did a double take. "That was Voldemort?"
"I don't know. Though he doesn't have a body, he's shown to be perfectly capable of possessing another's body. He may have possessed Frank's body, or possessed a snake to then pose as Frank."
"He can do that?" Sirius said dubiously. "Possess a snake and then possess a man?"
"I don't put it past Tom Riddle to dabble in necromancy," Dumbledore said curtly. "He is not the first Dark wizard to attempt such offensive magic." His electric blue eyes gazed upon his Pensieve for several moments, but he turned back to Remus and Sirius.
"Let us assume, for a moment, that Voldemort has possessed a snake and has two helpers. If they were around the Riddle mansion, it's possible they are still there. However, your presence may have scared them off."
"So what are we going to do?" asked Remus. "They've seen us, so they know we're after them."
"Great. Fan-fucking-tastic." Sirius shook his head angrily. "They know we're after them – how long will it be until Voldemort realizes we're going after his horcruxes?"
"I doubt he thinks that anyone knows about them," Dumbledore said calmly. "The Gaunt shack is intact. Our difficulty with the locket gave us the hindsight not to try destroying the shack and the horcrux within." Dumbledore laced his fingers together. His brow was knitted and his lips downturned, deep as he was in thought.
"Fidelius Charm," blurted Remus. "We were going to put Grimmauld Place under it."
"That is a good idea, if only for Harry's protection," Dumbledore replied. "He will be in as much danger as he was before if Voldemort is indeed back in the country…and it's unknown if he will stay, given that you've seen him."
"How much danger are we in? I think I can speak for both of us," Sirius paused, gesturing toward Remus, "in that we'd give our lives to keep Harry alive, but if he loses both of us—"
"The Tonkses," Remus reminded. "He'll go to Andromeda and Ted."
"If you marry Tonks, she can adopt him, too," Sirius said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I might've spoken too soon when I told you to wait on that. The sooner you marry her, the better."
"I'm not going to ask her to marry me because we might die," Remus said irritably. "If I ask her, I want her to marry me because she wants to."
"I agree that we needn't rush into anything," Dumbledore interjected. "It can't hurt for Harry to have an additional legal guardian, especially if he can stay at Grimmauld Place, under the Fidelius Charm." He tapped his long fingers together and sighed. "We ought to go to Little Hangleton."
"Now?" Remus said, horrorstruck. "What if they're still there?"
"Better for us to be able to catch them." Dumbledore stood and beckoned for Remus and Sirius to join him at the Floo. "Unless you've changed your minds about defeating Voldemort?"
Remus and Sirius exchanged annoyed glances, but there was little they could do to dissuade Dumbledore. They followed him through the Floo to the Hog's Head and then back out to the edge of Hogsmeade to Apparate back to Little Hangleton.
It was dark now, and Dumbledore held his Deluminator in his hand, making it darker still as they descended into the village. Remus felt a strange sensation washing over him, and realized that Dumbledore had disillusioned both him and Sirius. Only the sounds of their footsteps marked their movement around the bend to the Riddle mansion.
Remus whiffed the stench coming from Frank's cottage, now recognizing it as the foul odor of a decaying body. Dumbledore stopped them in their tracks and began murmuring incantations.
"They're not here," Dumbledore concluded softly. "I believe we can track them." He cast a charm on the ground, which illuminated several footsteps around the mansion, including tiny track marks.
"Wormtail," Sirius growled. "He's one of them." Remus felt the rage welling up, knowing that they had been close to recapturing Peter Pettigrew, but Dumbledore shushed them, keeping his ears and eyes to the ground to see where they'd escaped to.
"I'd like to investigate who the other footsteps belong to," Dumbledore said quietly. "The trail ends with them."
"Reckon it might be Voldemort?" whispered Sirius, but Dumbledore shook his head.
"I'm almost certain he's possessing the snake and Pettigrew is helping him. I'm unsure who the third person is…perhaps a former Death Eater."
"Is that why you need Mad-Eye?" asked Remus.
"With his electric eye, we may be able to investigate all former Death Eaters' homes and see if they're harboring any fugitives. Until then, we'll place your home under the Fidelius Charm, and wait for the next incident."
"You mean you expect someone to be brutally attacked by a giant snake?" Remus said, sputtering. "You want to risk that?"
"I don't believe Voldemort will be attacking anyone until he feels it is safe to do so. You've already threatened him once tonight. We'll plan and move forward when we have more evidence."
"We're back at war, then?" Sirius said somberly.
"We never stopped fighting." Dumbledore's voice was solemn, and Remus winced. That morning, he thought his biggest problem that summer was finding a time to speak to Tonks about marriage, but now, realizing that Voldemort was back in the country, he decided he had graver concerns.
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This story is told in alternating perspectives between Remus and Harry, with the occasional "guest" POV of another major character. Canon-compliant relationships - Remadora/Hinny/Romione.
Posting Schedule:
One chapter on Wed/Sun until the end of July; then, two chapters Wed/Sun until the work is complete.
I'm juggling 3 WIPs at the moment, in addition to lots of little one-shots and a Harry Potter writing competition, so I thank you in advance for your patience :)