Important Authors Note: You all have full rights to flay and beat me, and sacrifice me to pagan gods! I want to apologize for how terribly long this took. College is a bit time-consuming. We write lots of papers. All the time. But college is wonderful, and my writing has certainly improved for it, so I think you will be pleased. I will answer a few questions and then leave you to a lovely chapter.

First off, I wanted to put off fears had about another fic of mine that went up recently. No, I have not been writing that fic instead of this. My college roommate and I happen to be the same person and we sort of co-wrote a funny little fic. She actually wrote most of it, but I'm posting it too since it is a crossover, and we wanted it posted in both fandoms. Again, she wrote most of it, I just discussed it with her, etc.

Second, I wanted to address some of the comments everyone had about Ron and Hermione's impending wedding. I know that some of you find it sudden, but it made sense to me. I think that they're both intelligent youngsters, and that they wouldn't want to wait very long. Besides, it moves some thing s along in the plot quite nicely. :)

Since I can't answer each individual review this time (because I wanted to get you this chapter as soon as possible), I will make some general comments to the reactions I received. Good for you all hating Clayton! He is a big jerk, and you will continue to hate him more and more as the story continues, Unfortunately, he is a necessary character, so I can't just drop him off a cliff… yet… I'm also very happy that everyone seems to like Sirius and Guinevere so much. I'm working very hard on their relationship, and I think you will be pleased with how it develops. There is a lot of interesting stuff coming up in this story (it keeps getting more and more complicated), so be on the lookout. I finally got over my lost outline and created another one, so things are getting easier for me.

As per some requests, Singing! will be found in this chapter, with more to come later on. I missed it too :).

And as payment for my extreme tardiness, some smut can be found in this chapter! Hope you like ;) Please keep reviewing! I know you're probably all mad at me for my lateness, but you really make this all worthwhile, and I love to know that you guys are enjoying the story. I've noticed some new reviewers and I hope that they will continue reading and keeping me posted about what you think. I will make an effort to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but keep in mind that college still applies, and delays are inevitable (especially with the new Star Wars movie coming out in a few months… I'm such a hopeless fangirl :). ).

Enjoy my dearies! I will respond to each review for the next chapter, so if you have questions let me know!

Chapter Three – Staircases, Proximity, and Sympathy

THEN – Marauder Fourth Year

"But don't worry about it Little Sister, we won't let that slimeball within an inch of you."

Ivy smiled at Sirius, glad that she was already making friends on her first day. They were a lively bunch to be sure, and Ivy felt right at home. Her father wasn't what people would call energetic, but he was quirky, and so she usually felt more at home with people of… interesting character.

Remus leaned toward Ivy from where he sat to her right. "I should warn you, Sirius can be very calloused toward the perpetrator when it comes to retribution for his friends."

She opened her eyes wide with mock wariness and was rewarded with a smile from him. Remus was quickly becoming her favorite person in the school. Part of it she couldn't even understand. He was certainly kind, funny, and smart, but there was something else about him that she liked. The gentle purr of his voice, the understated smile, the way that something seemed to flicker behind his eyes. Something that suggested that he was hiding a secret from everyone. She wished he would tell her what it was.

She and Remus had probably been looking at each other longer than they had intended because Sirius cleared his throat in a very obnoxious way to get their attention. Ivy prayed that her cheeks would stay colorless – this had never happened to her before.

"So James, when's the next Quidditch match?"

James' chest puffed out ever so slightly, as it always did whenever he talked of his beloved game. "It'll be in two weeks, against Hufflepuff."

Sirius broke into a devilish grin. "Fantastic! You'll flatten them in two minutes. Even if they caught the snitch they'd still lose, what with you as a chaser. You'll score twenty points before they even know what hit them."

Remus looked cautiously at the table beyond James. "Careful, Sirius. The Hufflepuffs are only one table over from us, and you know how easily they get their feelings hurt and jump to defend their pride."

"Oh, cool off your knickers, Remus. Why would we ever be afraid of Hufflepuffs?"

Remus shook his head. Ivy happened to notice a Hufflepuff turn around and glare at Sirius after he made his remark, but she decided not say anything. Remus had caught the glare too, and he and Ivy both looked at each other with stifled grins on their faces.

Suddenly, without warning, the storm hit. The sound of footsteps slamming down the corridor stopped only when a shrill voice shouted, "SIRIUS BLACK!"

Sirius rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Oh, what could I have possibly done now?" His eyes shifted to the front of the Great Hall, where a pretty, dark-haired girl in a Ravenclaw uniform stood at the doors.

"Oh," Sirius mumbled, now not sounding so surprised.

Ivy looked to Remus and Lily. "Who's that?"

"Guinevere Carnahan," Remus whispered.

Lily leaned forward so she could whisper too. "Sworn enemy of Sirius Black."

"Ooh…" Ivy nodded in understanding, and turned her head back to find the girl stalking over to where Sirius sat. She stood directly behind him, but Sirius kept his back to her, as if he was hoping that by ignoring her she would go away.

"Sirius!" the girl snapped.

Sirius turned around lazily to face her. The action seemed as if it had been done many times before. "Yes, my dear Guinevere?" he drawled in a bored tone.

"If you want to have your own private little war with Severus Snape, that is your own agenda, no matter how immature and foolhardy it may be." Guinevere spoke very quickly with her hands planted firmly on her hips. She sounded like a very disappointed teacher. "But that is no reason for you to make us all do more work!"

Sirius put up one hand to stop her and squinted his eyes at her as if she were too much of an annoyance to look upon. "Slow down, dear Guinevere. What exactly have I done this time?"

Guinevere's nostrils flared. She looked positively furious. "Don't you play dumb and coy with me Sirius Black. That may work for all the other cotton-minded simpletons around here, but it won't work with me. You've completely ruined the Disenchantment Potion we've been working on in class, just to get at Severus!"

Sirius looked genuinely puzzled. "I didn't do that."

Guinevere snorted. "Oh, and I supposed Peeves did it, hm? Or some other easy target that you can blame it on? I went to the dungeons to check on my work and make sure that the potion was simmering properly, and every cauldron in that room was overflowing and had turned bright pink from having iocane powder dumped in them! I know you've targeted Severus for torture today, but I see absolutely no reason for your inconsiderate, juvenile behavior!"

"The only thing that happened to Snape today was that James turned his wand into a carrot!" Sirius exclaimed, his voice rising incredulously. "I have not been to the dungeons today, nor would I ever go there when I'm not absolutely required to, for any reason!"

"Oh, please!" Guinevere shouted in anger, "You did it because you hate him and you hate that class!"

Sirius scoffed and stood up from the table. "Fine! I'm certainly guilty of hating both aforementioned parties! But why would I destroy my own class work? You can't ignore the fact that I do work in that class, dear lady!"

"Ahem," Remus cleared his throat slightly. "Sirius, Guinevere, maybe you should both take some time to calm down and–"

"–Shut up, Remus!" they snapped in unison.

Remus sighed in defeat and slumped his shoulders.

Sirius' head tilted suddenly. "Wait a tick… of course! Snape's the one who did it! He did it to get back at us for his wand. Everyone will think it was us, just like you did, and we'll get detention for it."

Guinevere rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly. You don't think I'm going to fall for that, do you? Severus would never do that. It's his favorite class, why would he ruin it?"

"Because it'll be so easy for him to do the potion again," Sirius explained impatiently. "That class has always been a breeze for him. Smarmy, tricky little wank–"

"– I don't believe you actually expect me to fall for that," Guinevere interrupted. "No matter how intelligent you are you continue to display your completely infantile sensibilities and your fear of true responsibility. You disgust me."

And with that, Guinevere turned and stalked out of the Great Hall.

Sirius thudded back into his seat, his brow wrinkled in anger. James tried to improve his mood with a little playful prodding: "Sirius has a girlfriend, Sirius has a girlfriend…" This eluded to a very base response from Sirius: "Go shag a broomstick, James." James promptly shut up after the assault.

Others from the table had obviously heard the exchange, and were eyeing Sirius with either pity or contempt. One classmate who was sitting several seats down sarcastically commented, "Nice job, Black."

"I didn't do anything!" Sirius replied irately. But many didn't believe him. His reputation was too vast.

The food began to appear for the meal. Sirius took a gulp of his pumpkin juice and slammed the goblet down on the table. "Everyone always believes her," he hissed.

"Well, that's because she's usually right," Lily pointed out. Sirius shot her a glare.

"I didn't do anything. Not a damn bloody thing."

"We know, Sirius," Remus said soothingly. Ivy nodded encouragingly at Sirius to back Remus up.

"Oi, Sirius," James called. Sirius looked over at James, who held his gaze for several seconds. And suddenly, Sirius seemed fine. As if James had said something silently in that gaze that made everything all right again. They were funny that way, their friendship was something unexplainable. The black-haired boy smiled.

"I propose a toast to Ivy, our newest friend and, we hope, comrade in arms." He raised his glass to the girl next to him, and was rewarded with a grin.

Everyone raised their glasses in turn as a new chapter of Marauder history began.

The next day, as Ivy was meandering back from her last class, she ran into Lily.

"Hey! You're walking pretty slow. Anything bothering you?"

Ivy shook her head. "No, just thinking to myself. Trying to get used to the castle and everything. I was thinking about doing some exploring to find out where things are. I wanted to send a letter to my dad too."

Lily started leaning in one direction, and beckoning Ivy to follow. "I can take you to the owlery, if you don't know where it is."

"Thank you, that would be great."

Halfway up their first staircase, Lily began talking again. "So, how were your other classes today?"

"They were good."

"I meant to talk to you last night, but you got up and went down to the common room."

"I'm sorry, I thought you were asleep. I was just a little restless, and fires usually make me sleepy, so I went down there." Ivy paused, not sure if she should mention anything else. "Remus came down later, and I talked with him for a bit."

Lily's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "Oh, well that's nice, at least you weren't down there all by yourself. What did you talk about?"

Ivy really didn't want to tell Lily about how she'd poured her heart out to this boy who was practically a stranger. She didn't want to talk about her mother again, either. She was certain she couldn't do that. She didn't want to explain to Lily that it had been easier to talk to this gray-eyed young man than it had been to talk to the one dozen different therapists that her mother's family had tried to make her go see after her death. She didn't know how to tell her any of that.

"Oh, nothing important."

Lily took the hint and didn't press further. "What did you think of the rest of the chaps?"

Ivy smiled. "Oh, they're… interesting. James seems like nice guy, you two are very cute. Peter's a bit too shy for me to get much from him. Sirius is… something else."

Lily snorted. "Something else is right. But he's ours and we love him all the same, even when he is a right twat."

"And that argument between him and that Guinevere girl. That was pretty intense."

"Oh, they've been going at it like that since first year," Lily explained exasperatedly. "Everyone thinks that one day they'll curse each other into oblivion. I, however, have always suspected…"

Ivy looked at her hard. "What? Suspected what?"

Lily shrugged. "Well, you've seen the way they fight. You know your Shakespeare?"

Ivy nodded quickly.

"Well, think Much Ado About Nothing. Think Benedick and Beatrice. I'd say Kate and Petruchio, but I don't think that's fair or true of Guinevere."

Ivy paused for a moment the landing. "But that would mean that…. Lily, you don't really think that…"

"Sirius is used to things falling right in his lap," Lily clarified. "Everything is easy for him. It would be just like him to fall for the one thing he can't have."

"Well, that may be the deep, underlying psychological truth of the matter, but right now, he seems pretty focused on hating her."

Lily sighed. "Yes, and we'll have to deal with it, one outrageous fight at a time."

They were about to continue on their journey when Ivy chuckled ever so lightly. Lily turned back to her.

"What?"

"It's just…. I agree, they are a lot like Benedick and Beatrice, but the mention of Kate and Petruchio made me think of Kiss Me, Kate. You don't know anything about that, do you?"

Lily's eyes gleamed. "The musical? I love musicals! I used to go see them with my family all the time!"

Ivy grinned. "Me too! But you see, now I have this image in my head of Sirius singing So In Love. It's pretty funny…"

Lily was holding her sides in laughter. "Oh, that is really funny. Could you imagine?"

Together they both started singing in low melodramatic voices, laughing as they went.

"Strange dear, but true dear

When I'm close to you, dear

The stars fill the sky

So in love with you am I.

Even without you

My arms fold about you

You know darling why-"

"What are you doing?"

Standing at the top of the staircase was none other than Sirius Black. Lily and Ivy smiled to each other before clutching the railings in laughter that caused their whole bodies to shake.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You can play dumb all you want, but I know I heard Kiss Me, Kate."

Both girls shot up. "What do you know about musicals, Sirius?" Lily asked.

"What do I know?" Sirius pretended to look flabbergasted. "What do I know? Actually, I have a cousin who happens to really like muggles, and she used to steal me away from my parents on weekends, and take me to all sorts of muggle performances, and fairs, and museums. You know, all the good stuff. She was a sucker for hopeless romance stories, so she took me to see that musical more than once."

Needless to say, Ivy and Lily were both surprised and impressed. Lily cleared her throat. "And…?"

"And I have no idea why you would be singing that song on the stairwell," Sirius complained as he walked down to meet them on the landing. "I was always more of a fan of I've Come To Wive It Wealthily In Padua."

"Example?" Lily said persuasively.

Sirius, never being one to not take up a challenge, fell back onto on the steps and stuck one leg out in a sprawling posture. With his chin resting lazily on his fist, he proceeded to sing:

"I would not be disturbed one bit

If she be but a quarter-wit,

If she only can talk of clo'es

While she powders her goddamned nose!

I've come to wive it wealthily in Padua!"

Both girls applauded while laughing hysterically. They shouldn't have been surprised – there was no better showman than Sirius Black.

"You've got a great voice, Sirius," Ivy said appraisingly.

"Why thank you, Little Sister."

"So where were you off to?" Lily questioned.

Sirius shrugged listlessly. "I'm supposed to go get Peter from the library. You know, when he's studying he never checks the time and one of us always has to drag him out of there. Remus is down there with him, but he's useless when it comes to keeping track of time. The only thing that ever makes him aware of it is the moon's pha-"

He stopped short as Lily shot him a glance. Sirius internally cursed at himself. He was already so used to Ivy that he had nearly forgotten that she didn't know about Remus.

Luckily, Ivy had stopped paying attention to Sirius at the mention of Remus's name. "Uh, you know, Sirius, I could go get them from the library if you don't want to."

Sirius exchanged a knowing glance with Lily and nodded. "If you're sure you want to, go ahead."

He had barely finished the sentence before Ivy had begun scampering down the stairs on her way to the library.

After she was gone, Sirius broke into a full-fledged grin. Lily snickered into her hand.

"How long, do you think?"

Sirius motioned for her to join him in climbing back up the stairs. "Oh, don't get your hopes up. Remus is a shy boy, as we all know well."

"But they would be so sweet!"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, spare me the girly analysis. Yes, I'm sure they would be quite adorable. That doesn't change the fact that up until Remus met Ivy yesterday, he had never introduced himself to a girl unless James or I did it for him."

"Well, maybe Ivy will be the exception to the rule."

"We hope."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

Lily smiled. "Where's the exception to your rule?"

Sirius shook his head. "Oh, don't ask me that. How should I know? Besides, it's not all that important to me at the moment."

"Well, if you spent less time pulling pranks maybe it would be."

Sirius gasped mockingly. "Then I shall pull pranks till I die!"

Lily laughed as they continued together up the stairs. As they both looked up, they spotted someone they did not expect to see. Regulus Black was rounding the corner with a group of Slytherins, all chatting away furiously. At the sight of Lily and Sirius, they all grew quiet and eyed them harshly.

"Hey, Black," one of them called out, "what would Potter say if he knew that you were carrying on with his mudblood right under his nose?"

Sirius's brow narrowed, but at the touch of Lily's hand on his arm, he stopped himself. "Don't," she whispered. "It's okay, they're just proving their ignorance by resorting to tactics like that."

But Sirius knew that if he were to turn around and look at Lily, the hurt would show on her face. Just because she knew that their comments did not matter did not change the fact that they were painful to hear. And Sirius hated not being able to do anything when his friends were hurting.

He turned his face to his brother, searching for some of that humanity in him. No matter what their parents said to brainwash him whenever they were home, he knew that Regulus was not cruel the way they were. Regulus met his gaze and Sirius caught a flicker of regret, a glimpse of sadness. But his brother quickly turned away. No matter how he felt about what his friends did, he would never stand up to them.

The group grew uncomfortable with Sirius's silence and moved on. He watched his brother go with them down the stairs. Shaking his head, he turned back and started up toward the common room again.

"Sirius, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Lily. There's nothing to talk about."

Tears formed in Lily's eyes as she heard the tone in his voice. He never admitted to the pain he felt where his brother was concerned, but Lily knew. And she wished he would talk to her about it because she understood. She knew what it felt like to have that sibling bond dissolved.

"Wait for me!" she called, catching up to him. "So what are you guys planning on doing tonight?"

Sirius smirked in spite of himself. "We're probably going to flood a bathroom or turn every Slytherins hair pink – you know, our usual standard of wickedness."

Lily smiled. "Think you could spare the night for me and Ivy instead? We could play a game or something."

"For you, dear lady? Anything." He thought better of his words after a short pause. "Provided that it doesn't involve homework."

Lily laughed and followed him to the common room door.

NOW

Remus had gotten everything in order for his first classes and he was quite proud of himself. Normally the start of school was associated with scrambling to make last minute course changes and checking to be sure all the correct materials were in stock. Remus had two days before the term started, and absolutely nothing left to do. So he thought he would stop by and see Ivy, since he was sure she was still up to her neck in ridiculous paperwork.

As he opened the door to the office, however, he was met with the sound of an unpleasant, twanging voice and the ring of his wife's laughter. Remus felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Nothing had ever pushed his instincts into overdrive as quickly as that man's voice.

"Well, from the looks of it, Mr. Wilcott, you're a quick enough learner that you won't have to stay on the entire school year after all."

"Oh, then I'll have to find a reason to stay to make sure that I don't miss the pleasure of your wonderful company, ma'am. And I told you, please call me Clayton. It doesn't seem right for us not to be on first name terms."

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Well, Clayton, if there's nothing else-"

"Actually, there is, Ivy. I was wondering if you'd-"

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Remus said in a voice louder than he had meant to. He didn't like where their conversation had been going.

Ivy looked up and smiled at her husband, setting her quill aside. "No, not at all." She blinked as Remus maneuvered to her side of the desk and leaned in to give her a soft kiss. While Ivy found it a pleasant surprise, Remus felt it was necessary, especially when he could feel the other man's eyes burning into the back of his head.

He allowed himself a brief moment to take in Ivy's closed eyes and the tip-tilted smile that the contact had caused, before straightening up and turning his head to take in Clayton with a look of mock discovery. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break anything up, I hope you're finished. I just thought that I might get her alone for lunch, since the term is starting soon."

Clayton smiled, though his eyes held an angry glimmer. He stood up from his chair on the other side of the desk. "Not at all, I understand. After all, once the term starts it'll probably be hard for you to find time. Ivy'll undoubtedly be so busy teaching me the ropes around here that you'll barely see her."

Remus's eyes narrowed, but Ivy merely laughed. "Oh, I'm sure that you will do just fine, Mr. Wilcott."

Clayton snatched up her quill from the desk without warning and brushed her nose with it playfully. "Mr. Wilcott? Ivy…"

Ivy snatched the quill from him, grinning. "Clayton."

He winked at her. "Right."

And without even glancing at Remus, he turned around and walked out.

Remus watched the man leave, his eyes glaring more sharply than Professor McGonagall's when she was faced with misbehaving students. Ivy stood up from her desk and started arranging some papers. Then she moved to walk behind Remus, but before doing so, she went up behind him and placed a kiss on the back of his shoulder. Remus had almost forgotten that she was there, as his thoughts had gotten lost in how he was going to handle the new intruder that had broken through the walls of their impermeable castle. Instincts taking hold again, he grabbed Ivy roughly by the arm and pulled her around to him, kissing her again, but this time fiercely. She gladly obliged him, going limp in his arms, but when he pulled away she sensed something out of place.

"What's wrong?"

The hard look that had developed in Remus's eyes faded, replaced with one far more docile and unreadable. "Nothing. I'm fine."

Ivy flinched almost imperceptibly and he knew that, like always, he had not fooled her. And she was not happy about it.

She reached her hands up to knead his shoulders, and he found his neck tilting to the side of its own accord. He sighed into her touch.

"No, you're not. You've been tense the past couple days. I can tell."

"Really?" Remus said sedately, not willing to give her anything else to work with. "What makes you say that?"

I can feel it whenever you're around. Even in bed." She glanced down in a bashful way that made Remus feel guilty. She still got nervous whenever she brought up anything that happened between them privately, part of her still remembering how he used to close down when they were younger. "I woke up last night and scooted closer to you because I was cold. You were so rigid. Your back was stiff as a board and you didn't move at all when I got nearer. I was worried."

Remus sighed. He wasn't about to let her know what had raised his hackles, but he felt bad that even his body language was betraying him while he slept. He didn't want her to worry, she had enough on her mind.

"I just keep thinking about how little I'll see you when the students start to arrive. I'm not looking forward to that."

Ivy knew that he still wasn't being completely honest with her, but she decided not to press the issue. She started rubbing his shoulders again, hoping that he would relax. "Remus, it's not like I'll suddenly be gone. I'll just be more busy during the day, maybe have to spend some nights up. It won't be that terrible."

Remus's eyes closed this time as her fingers eased the knots in his shoulders. A shot ran down his spine as he suddenly felt her breath close to his neck. He kept his eyes closed, tried to stop thinking about what was bothering him so he could focus on that feeling. Her lips pressed into his neck over his pulse point, something she had learned from him, and now found herself doing all the time for the tantalizing reactions it created.

Her efforts were not in vain as she felt his body unwind. His breath hitched and she felt a light purring sound start in the back of his throat.

"My, my…. It's pretty far from the full moon yet," she said laughingly. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Remus groaned lightly and rolled his eyes at her comment. He abruptly grabbed hold of her wrists that rested at the back of his neck and yanked them forward so that her body was pressed tightly against his. "Don't… tease…" he whispered throatily, his lips, twisted in a pitiless smile, hovering a mere centimeter from her own.

Ivy knew better than to toy with him when she was warned, no matter how playful he seemed. Especially when he gave her that dizzying stare that made her feel like an inexperienced schoolgirl. She laced her fingers through his hair in an effort to bring him closer. He obliged only slightly, letting his lips brush lightly over hers again and again in a maddening way that made her whimper as if they had never kissed before.

Remus pulled back enough to grin at his handy work. He heard her blood beginning to rush to all the appropriate places, her eyelids fluttering rapidly as her knees began to shake. Remus backed her up into the desk so that she could lean on it for support, and gave it no further thought as he brought his lips crashing back down on hers, feeling her gasp into his mouth. Having the air sucked from his lungs by those warm, trembling lips sent his mind into a hazy overdrive as he inhaled the aroma of their mingling scents. His teeth grazed her bottom lip sharply, eliciting a soft cry from her, and he chuckled quietly as he slipped his hands past the folds of her robe on an impatient quest to find and touch skin.

Ivy suddenly put her hands up to stop him, wrenching her mouth away. "Remus!" she scolded in a shaky voice. She pointed around at the walls. "The portraits!"

He smiled at her exasperation, amused at how they had switched roles. He was supposed to be the paranoid one, not her. He glanced up at the walls and suppressed a snort. Ivy followed his gaze, noticing that every single figure in each portrait was fast asleep, which was quite normal for the old men. She looked back to him sheepishly, now feeling silly for stopping the delicious assault on her sanity.

"I guess it would be pretty hard to wake them up," she said, leaning back against the desk coyly, willing her head to stop spinning.

He grinned slyly, leaning forward so that his chest was pressing into hers, his lips next to her ear. He placed a hand on either side of the desk so she couldn't slip away, enjoying the feeling of her chest rising and falling against him faster by the second from the close contact.

"Not if I make you scream," he whispered devilishly.

Ivy shivered as those words hit the base of her spine and shot back up, the electricity spreading to her fingertips so that she had no choice but to tug him back from her ear and slide her tongue between his lips, wanting to taste the mouth that uttered such sinful, honeyed words.

Remus picked her up and placed her easily on the desk, amazed at the new sense of adventure they had both accidentally found. His lips found her neck this time and he began to trail down the smooth expanse feverishly until-

"Headmistress!"

A figure came bursting into the room, black robes billowing behind him. Ivy let out an, "Oh God!" and jumped off the desk quickly, spinning around and attempting to compose herself. Remus pulled away from her swiftly and backed into the corner of the room. Many of the portraits around the room snorted awake as Severus Snape came charging into the office.

Snape was not as blind and dumb as they had hoped, though. He had caught an unfortunate glimpse of what had been occurring between the Headmistress and the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and was feeling profoundly disturbed. His eyes shifted back and forth accusingly, his expression clearly showing disgust. Ivy flinched under the stare, while Remus grabbed a book from a nearby shelf and attempted to flip through it in an interested way. He thanked the heavens that he was wearing a robe over his normal clothing, knowing if he hadn't been that things would have gotten horribly uncomfortable very fast. As if they weren't enough already.

"If you prefer, I could return at another time, Headmistress."

"No! That's a… that's quite all right, Severus," Ivy attempted rather pathetically, tucking strands of disheveled hair behind her ears. "What did you need?"

"I need to talk to you about Mr. Malfoy. He's having some… difficulties."

Ivy blinked in surprise. "You're having a problem with him?"

Snape looked insulted. "No, Headmistress, I just have a feeling that he would be more inclined to work if the person who was officially responsible for him explained to him the seriousness of his situation. He doesn't seem to realize that he truly has nowhere else to go."

Ivy sighed. "Very well, Severus, I will speak to him after dinner tonight. But I can't keep doing this all year."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "I assure you, Headmistress, you won't have to. After you speak to him, he will have to deal with me. And it will not be very pleasant."

Ivy understood. He wanted her to speak to Draco because he was worried about losing his temper with the young man. If Ivy could reach him without threats, he would be spared a verbal beating from his former Potions Professor.

"All right. I'll try, but I can't make any promises. He never respected me much as a teacher, so I doubt that he'll pay me any mind now. Is that all?"

Snape's eyes shifted again, taking in Remus, who was still trying to be as unassuming as possible in the corner. "Yes, that is all, Headmistress." He gave a curt nod and excused himself from the office.

Remus set the book down and walked back to Ivy as she placed both her hands on her desk and dropped her head. He placed a hand on her back, rubbing in gentle, broad circles to ease the tension that had flared up at their being caught going at it like two over-enthusiastic teenagers.

Ivy eventually relaxed enough to emit a short laugh. "Well, let's hope that never happens again. Otherwise I'll never be able to look him in the eye as long as I live."

"Could've been worse," Remus said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"How?"

"Could've been a student."

Ivy shuddered. "Or Sirius."

Remus's eyes widened at the thought. "Yes, that would've been terrible."

Ivy turned around to face him. She placed a hand on his chest, fingering the buttons on his shirt, a distant look in her eyes. "What now?"

Remus placed a hand over the fingers resting on his buttons. "Keep going," he said softly, placing his free hand on her back and pulling her close again. Something at the back of his head told him that he wasn't being his usual rational self, but at moment he was too upset at the fact that they had been interrupted to care.

Ivy didn't seem to care either as she began undoing the buttons at an unhurried rate, her fingers caressing as she came into contact freshly uncovered skin. Remus placed his head in the crook of her neck, sucking gently at the tender flesh, eliciting the occasional soft whimper from her.

"Maybe next time we should just keep at it and see if he leaves," Ivy suggested breathlessly.

"Mm," was the only sound Remus could manage in response, his tongue now sweeping lightly over her collarbone.

The flap of wings brought his head up, and they both peered at Ivy's desk to find an owl sitting impatiently with a letter attached to its leg. Ivy groaned and dropped her forehead to Remus's chest. He laughed and took the letter from the owl, nodding in thanks. The animal gave him an indignant stare, but left all the same. Remus glanced over the letter, looking for the sender.

"It's from the Ministry."

Ivy sighed. "Not our day, is it?

"Apparently not."

"I'm sorry."

Remus placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to his. "It's okay." He leaned down and gave her a lingering kiss, wishing with all his heart that they were upstairs in the comfort of their own room. "It's something I'll have to get used to."

Ivy rolled her eyes agitatedly. "Don't say that." She placed a hand on his cheek, and he brought his hand up to cover hers. "Wait up for me tonight?"

"Of course," he exhaled, turning his head and kissing her palm. "Till dawn, if I must."

She smiled at him as he broke reluctantly from her and walked to the door. He gave one last glance back, watching her settle back down to her desk to read the letter, and stepped out.

Guinevere peered around the partition to find Sirius still going through the debriefing of their latest case. Since she realized that they should be going soon, she cleared her throat to get his attention. He looked up at her somberly.

"You almost done? We should get out of here soon."

He nodded and pushed the parchment away from him to indicate that he was finished. "Are we Apparating?"

"Yes, but to a safe point. Since these people are muggles, we can't just show up on their doorstep."

Sirius pointed to the debriefing. "It says that the mother has a witch aunt."

Guinevere leaned against the partition. "I talked that over with Codger. It's true, but it also seems that she'd never made her husband aware of that particular aspect in her family. He's not taking it well, apparently. We have to be careful with this family."

Sirius sighed. "He's so young."

Guinevere winced. She normally made a point not to think of such things. It hurt her concentration. "Most of them are. There's really nothing for it. They're young, they wander out into the woods on some dare. It happens."

Sirius tried not to think badly of her for her harsh words. He realized that after years of working in this field she probably had made herself numb to allow her to deal with the people she helped. But Sirius could not be like her. He had too much firsthand experience. He knew what this did to people.

"Well, I'm ready to go when you are," he said, getting up from his desk and putting on his jacket.

Guinevere stepped forward, placing a hand on his arm to transport them both, as he didn't know where they were going. The cubicle area faded out and soon they were standing in an alley behind what appeared to be a restaurant. Guinevere hastily let go of Sirius and glanced around.

"This way."

Sirius followed her out into the street, walking past swarms of people in transit from one place to another. They made their way into a nice neighborhood full of picket fences and flower gardens. There was a wood close by and a stream running through it. A playground was situated near the edge of the wood.

"The Ministry should keep a better watch on this place," he mumbled in a hushed voice. "This is an extremely risky setup for werewolf activity."

Guinevere glanced around to make sure that no one was within earshot. "The Ministry has a habit of ignoring traps like this. Their department in that area has never been up to snuff. They have no profitable reason to care about it, so they tend to overlook a lot of problem areas until there are enough complaints. And unfortunately, since muggles don't know about werewolves they can't find someone who can supply the new counter potion soon enough if someone gets bitten, so you get lots of victims in places like this."

They reached a good-sized brick residents at the end of the block. Guinevere rang the doorbell and waited patiently. She still had a hard time looking over and seeing Sirius Black standing next to her instead of her former partner. But she was thankful that they weren't fighting anymore, to say the least. As long as she could still do her job, she'd put up with anyone for a partner.

The door opened and a tall man with blond, combed back hair answered the door. His eyes were narrowed and he took them both in carefully before stepping aside and allowing them in. "We've been expecting you," he said shortly. "My wife said that you'd be coming."

Guinevere held out her hand to the man. "Yes, Mr. Walden. I'm Guinevere Carnahan and this is my partner, Sirius Black. We're here to make this as easy for all of you as possible, and we will do all within our power to make sure that your son can lead a normal life."

Mr. Walden did not accept Guinevere's outstretched hand. Instead, he motioned them both into a sitting room. Sirius and Guinevere made their way into two winged back chairs that were situated across from a plush sofa.

"We have guests, Amy," Mr. Walden called down the hall. They heard a bustle from what sounded like a kitchen, and footsteps in the hallway.

A woman came in carrying a tray of tea. She set it down on the coffee table in front of them and sat down on the sofa. Mr. Walden joined her a moment later.

"So you're from the Ministry?" asked Mrs. Walden.

"Yes, we are, Mrs. Walden," Guinevere offered. "We've come to answer your questions and help you with anything you might be worried about."

Mrs. Walden reached over and grabbed hold of her husband's hand, seeming to need something to anchor her. "Well, I wouldn't really know where to begin. This all happened so fast, and it hasn't really soaked in yet. Thank God Aunt Mildred knew what the bite was, or we might have never known, and Charlie would have…"

The woman bowed her head. Mr. Walden, however, had seemed very upset at the mention of his wife's aunt, and looked agitated. "Why didn't we know about this?" he burst out. "How could something like this happen? Don't you people have rules or something that keep monsters like that from attacking people? Especially innocent children?"

Sirius felt his temper rise at the man's referral to werewolves as monsters, but he kept himself in check and allowed Guinevere to do the talking, since she seemed comfortable enough handling it.

"I understand your anger, Mr. Walden, but please understand that it is impossible for the Ministry to keep tabs on every werewolf in the country. It is very hard to know where each of them are, as many bite incidents aren't even reported."

"Why don't they mark them, brand them or something?" Mr. Walden spat out angrily. "There's got to be some way that you can tell them apart from normal people."

Sirius was about to yell at the man when he heard something outside the room. It sounded like it was coming from the stairs. He listened carefully as Guinevere continued on in her very professional and controlled manner.

"Mr. Walden, it would be extremely unfair to these people to force them to be marked for all to see. They receive a great deal of hostility by many in our world, so it is understandable that they prefer to be anonymous."

"Unfair!"

"Leonard, please calm down."

"I will not calm down, Amy! Our boy could have been spared this if these people could keep better track of these freaks of nature!"

"Mr. Walden," Guinevere interrupted smoothly, "your son is now just like those 'freaks', as you were referring to them. I don't think that he would take kindly to hearing you call them that."

"My son," Mr. Walden hissed, "is nothing like those animals."

Sirius turned back, aware of where the conversation had turned. With all the charge he could muster, he jumped in before Guinevere. "Mr. Walden, they are not animals. They are people, just like you and me. Unfortunately, if they are not well cared for, they can have difficulties and disasters can happen. But it is no fault of theirs. Your son will likely be supplied with Wolfsbane Potion, but-"

"With what?" Mrs. Walden interrupted.

Guinevere explained the Wolfsbane Potion to them as succinctly as possible. When they both understood what she was saying, Mr. Walden appeared to be even more furious.

"You mean there's a way to stop these people from going crazy? Then why don't they all get this miracle potion of yours?"

"Many cannot afford it and don't have the means or connections to request it," Guinevere clarified. "Some do not take it in time. Which brings me to my next point: it will be difficult to get your son the Wolfsbane Potion in time for the next full moon. Apothecaries have been backed up recently in this country as people have started to stock up on the ingredients. He will probably have to undergo his first transformation without it."

Mrs. Walden's eyes began to shimmer this. "My poor baby," she whispered. "How hard will it be for him?"

Guinevere paused. She was at a loss for what to say. Sirius jumped in for her. "It depends," he said gently. "Some transformations can be worse than others. What you need to do is try to make him as comfortable as possible. And don't scare him – he's going to have a hard enough time grasping this as it is."

He heard shuffling outside the room again. He didn't want to sit and listen anymore. "Mrs. Walden, would you mind if I took a look around? I'd like to see if maybe I can find suitable facilities for your son when the time comes."

Mr. Walden looked like he wanted to protest, but Mrs. Walden jumped in before he got the chance. "Yes, please."

Guinevere shot him an inquisitive look, which he ignored as he excused himself from the room. Walking out, he caught a figure trying to race up the stairs out of sight.

"Hey," called out quietly. The figure stopped and turned around to face him. He was a sweet looking boy with alert blue eyes and sandy hair like his mothers. He's only seven year old, Sirius thought agonizingly. He tried to recompose himself, sitting down on the stairs and motioning toward the boy with one hand. "Come on, sit down, I'm not going to snap at you."

The boy came down the stairs tentatively, his eyes never leaving Sirius, as he wasn't sure he trusted him yet. He's already getting the werewolves instincts, Sirius marveled. But he doesn't know what to make of them yet because he's too young to understand it.

Eventually the boy found something in Sirius's eyes. He didn't know what it was, but it was something that made his brain think safe. Slowly, he sat down next to Sirius on the stair.

The boy looked at him for a long minute without saying a word. Sirius stared right back, being sure not to blink. He knew this exchange.

"The book said that I would tear myself apart," he finally said, bowing his head.

"What book?" Sirius asked.

The boy reached behind them and pulled up a loose plank in one of the stairs to reveal a hiding place. He pulled a book out that bore the title Werewolves! And Other Fantastical Monsters. He flipped the book open to a page and showed Sirius. It was a very advanced book with fine print and graphic pictures. Sirius fought back the urge to wince at a very graphic portrait showing a werewolf clawing at his own stomach.

"You can read this?" he asked, more than a little impressed.

The boy nodded. "Mum taught me how when I was three."

"Wow, three?" Sirius gasped. He was truly awed, but he made an even bigger deal of it in hopes that the boy would open up more.

The boy seemed unmoved. He glanced back down at the book instead. "Is it true?"

Sirius sighed heavily. "Without the Wolfsbane Potion it will be difficult."

"And I heard your friend say that I won't get it this time."

Sirius almost laughed at the boy's referral to Guinevere as his friend, but he stopped himself. "We're not entirely sure of that yet. There's still a chance."

"But it's not very likely." The boy played with the hem of his shirt and stared nervously at the floor. Sirius fought against the wave of nostalgia that was choking him. The advanced book, the alert eyes, the soft mouth, the pale complexion. All the boy needed was a few claw marks and thick bandages, and Sirius would find himself in the hospital wing his first year at Hogwarts. The year when they hadn't know what was wrong.

"Remus? My God, what happened to you! They said you were sick-"

"I'm fine, Sirius. I just got a little too close to the Forbidden Forest when I was doing class work. It was just some stray, wild dog or something."

"Wild, stray dog? Remus you've been torn to shreds!"

"It's okay, Sirius. It's not as bad as it looks. Please, just go away. I can handle it."

"Remus, I'm not leaving."

"… Well, if your planning on staying here, you should at least make yourself useful."

"How? What do you need?"

"Would you mind handing me that book?"

Sirius shook himself from the memory and stared at the small boy next to him. Without thinking, he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. The boy looked up, startled, but relaxed quickly.

"You're going to be fine. I know it seems like a lot now, but you-"

"Are they going to lock me up somewhere?"

Sirius paused carefully. "Who said that?"

"My aunt said something about the Werewolf Registry."

The infamous Werewolf Registry. Sirius had wondered when they would be coming into this conversation. "The Werewolf Registry doesn't have the power to make you do anything. Just keep away from them as much as possible. Only go in when you're required to and don't talk to anyone for very long." He thought about it for a moment, and then another thought hit him. "If you'd like, I might be able to get a friend of mine to go with you the first time you have to go. He's a werewolf too, he knows how to handle these people."

The boy blinked up at him, surprised. "You have a friend who's a werewolf?"

Sirius smiled. "Yes, I do. His name is Remus. He teaches at the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry."

The boy was stunned. "They let him teach there?"

"Yes, they allowed him to because he's an excellent teacher and his students loved him. He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts."

The boy tried to digest the information. "So wouldn't that mean that he would be teaching people to defend themselves against him?"

"Ironic, isn't it?" Sirius replied. "But he's happy there. His wife is the Headmistress of the school."

"He's married?"

"Yes, quite happily married, in fact. To a very wonderful woman, who adores him."

The boy stared off into the distance. "I thought that no one from your world would be willing to speak to people like us."

"Some of them aren't. You just have to be careful, and you'll eventually meet some who are."

"Do I have to choose a world?"

Sirius blinked quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"My mum said that she thought it might be easier for me to live in the wizarding world, but my aunt said that I shouldn't."

Sirius placed his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. "It depends. The wizarding world can be hostile to your kind sometimes. But people from the muggle world – your world – think that you're mythical creatures, and it would be much harder for them to come to terms with it. But you have a lot of time to make that decision. Don't worry about it now."

"Do you know anything about the transformation?" the boy asked tentatively.

Sirius stopped, unsure of how he should answer that question. "I do."

"How bad does it hurt?"

"I really can't say. It's different for everyone, and I've never been through it myself."

"What did your friend say about it?"

Sirius cringed. Remus was rarely descriptive about the pain of his transformations, only bringing it up when Sirius had pushed him and made him angry. "The hardest thing is the changing of your bone structure. Expect that to hurt the most, and don't do anything very physical on the few days preceding the full moon."

"Should I be chained up?"

Sirius shook his head vigorously. "No, I would not recommend that. Especially not for a first transformation. Your mind is going to have a difficult enough time adjusting to its new state. If you chain yourself up, the wolf side of you will be very confused, and you will probably do more damage to yourself than you would have without them."

"The wolf side of me?"

Sirius took a moment, trying to figure out how best to explain to the little boy. "You will find that your instincts will get sharper and your senses too. An inherently animalistic side of you will come to the surface in your daily life – you won't be threatened by it, it will simply be there lurking at the corners of your mind. You will find that the wolf has its own mind in a way. But it cannot control you. It may scare you sometimes, but you must remember that. You are not dangerous because of it."

The boy nodded slowly, trying to digest what he been told. Sirius tried to show that he understood. The boy's life would never be the same, but Sirius wanted him to know that the new life ahead of him didn't have to be full of suffering.

"What's your favorite thing to do?" he found himself asking.

"I like to read."

"Well, then," Sirius began. "I know it will probably be too hard for you to concentrate the first time, but before your transformations, I would recommend that you take out one of your favorite books and read for hours. Just let it relax you. Don't even think about the moon. You'll wake up the next morning a little sore, but you won't feel so tense."

"What does your friend do?"

Sirius grinned. "He reads too."

The boy smiled back for the first time.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a throat clearing. Both of them glanced up to find Guinevere and Mr. and Mrs. Walden standing in the hall watching them. Mrs. Walden was smiling warmly at Sirius. Guinevere seemed shocked, but didn't say anything. Mr. Walden eyed Sirius and his son with cold approval.

"We have to leave now," Guinevere managed. She seemed to be having a hard time observing Sirius Black doing anything that she would consider compassionate.

"All right," Sirius said with a nod, standing up and walking toward the door. The little boy followed after him.

"Will you come to see me again?" the boy asked when Sirius had reached the door.

Sirius turned around and gave him his prize-winning grin. "Of course I will. And I'll come soon too, I promise."

The boy took another step toward Sirius, reluctant to see him go. "And can I meet your friend?"

"Sure. Maybe if we can get your mum and dad's permission, they'll even let me take you to the school where he works."

The boy turned his head instantly to his mother. Mrs. Walden beamed at her son, then at Sirius. "I'm sure we can work something out."

The boy looked back to Sirius and reached out his hand. "My name's Charlie."

Sirius took the boy's hand and squeezed it firmly. "I'm Sirius."

The boy blinked quizzically. "Really? That's your name?"

"Yeah," Sirius said while rolling his eyes. "Parents had a thing for stars. My brother's name was Regulus."

The boy smiled a second time.

"Run into the kitchen, Charlie. I left a snack for you on the table," Mrs. Walden said.

Charlie nodded, but turned back to Sirius first. "Bye."

"Bye, Charlie."

Mrs. Walden saw them both out. Before Sirius was completely out the door, however, she grabbed hold of his hand. "Thank you," she whispered.

Sirius nodded. "He's a great kid. He's going to be fine, Mrs. Walden."

Mrs. Walden gave him a kiss on the cheek before retreating into the house.

Sirius caught up to Guinevere, who was already close to the gate of the house. "What happens now?" he asked her.

Guinevere sighed. "Now we file the paperwork to try and get him the Wolfsbane Potion." She paused for a moment, wondering if she dared say what else was on her mind. "You shouldn't have made that promise."

Sirius blinked at her, following close as they started to make their way back to the alley where they'd arrived. "Why's that?"

"You don't know if we'll be required to go back and see them. You shouldn't have told him that you would."

"Guinevere, if work doesn't allow it, I'll go see him on my own free time."

She snorted. "Really?"

Sirius's felt his eyes narrowing at her sarcasm. "Yes, really."

"Are you going to do that for every werewolf we get assigned to?"

Sirius stopped at a street corner and grabbed Guinevere by the shoulder, turning her around to face him. "Okay, I'd like to know what I did this time to get you pissier than a dog in heat."

She put her hands on her hips and proceeded to lecture him in a way that gave Sirius an alarming sense of déjà vu. "You can't simply go around making friends with all of these people. There are a lot of them, Black. Eventually you'll let one of them down."

Sirius raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her. "My, aren't we being a bit melodramatic."

She sneered at him and turned to walk away, but he stepped in front of her. "What is this really about? Is it just because I got him to trust me so fast? I got him to trust me even though you don't?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

He grabbed her arm as she tried to get past him again. "Then what is it? Why is everything that I do wrong to you?"

"I don't know!" she finally shouted. Sirius abruptly let go of her. "I don't know, all right! Maybe I want to understand why everyone seems to fall in love with you immediately no matter what you do, and why I'm always the one who's wary about everything you say. Maybe I'm just trying to figure out what's wrong with me, okay?" She paused for a long moment, taking a deep breath. "Or maybe I just hate you and can't get past that feeling. But I'm trying, so you're just going to have to take what I can give you. I'm sorry."

Sirius took a moment to let her words soak in before nodding curtly. "Fine," he said sharply, turning to start back toward their arrival point.

She started walking again, now trying to keep up with his pace. After a minute of very uncomfortable silence, she managed to find the courage to speak again. "I am really sorry. I don't make a lot of sense, I know."

He snorted.

She winced, trying to stop the high-handed, rude retort that had already formed in her head to defend herself. "I'm just not used to… people really."

"I noticed," he bit back harshly. Something in the way she averted her gaze made him regret the way he had responded. "What do you do on the weekends, Guinevere?"

She looked at him strangely. "I… I sit at home and read a lot. Sometimes I go shopping."

"For what?"

"Food. Clothes when I need them."

"Don't you have any friends?"

"Of course I have friends," she shot back, trying not to sound insulted.

"No, I didn't mean-" Sirius took another deep breath to calm himself. "What I mean is, don't you have someone to do things with? Someone to visit?"

She didn't like where the conversation was going. "No, not really. I've always been very self-sufficient. I can take care of myself."

"People need to be around other people," Sirius said softly. "Doesn't it bother you that you spend so much time alone?"

"No," she responded resolutely. "I've always done fine on my own."

"And it doesn't bother you in the slightest?"

"No!" she snapped. "Now, I really don't want to pursue this discussion any further. I'd appreciate it if you left me alone and kept your nose out of my personal affairs."

Sirius hissed out a breath. "All right. Whatever you want."

They walked in silence all the way back to the alley, each lost in their own thoughts.

Ivy knocked on one of the doors in the dungeons. Normally she would be expecting an uninterested drawl to greet her, but on this particular occasion she was not looking for the Potions Professor. One of the rooms near the Potions classroom had been converted for the Potions Professor's new assistant, and it was him that she needed to speak with.

The door opened a crack. Two piercing eyes stared out. The door opened all the way.

"Have I done something wrong already, Headmistress?"

The way he hissed 'Headmistress' gave Ivy a very clear warning that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation, but she had promised Severus, so she dove in.

"I've been told that you don't want to work."

Draco scowled. "This is not a job for the member of a pureblood family."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "You're really going to have to get over that one Draco. Very few people really care about that anymore. And it's not like you have many options open to you at this point."

"I don't want to be here."

Ivy nodded. "All right then, leave."

Draco's thin brow furrowed at her response.

Ivy motioned down the hall. "Go ahead. No one's stopping you. This isn't a prison, and I'm not a warden. If you want to leave you're free to at any time. But before you go, you might want to consider where you'll go, what you'll do, and who will take care of you."

Draco's eyes slowly found the floor, though they remained narrowed in anger.

"Doesn't sound quite so appealing now, does it?" Ivy said quietly. "You need to realize, Draco, there are few options left to you. My suggestion is that you take what you can get at this point, because at the moment there is a great deal of hostility toward family members of Death Eaters."

Draco flinched almost imperceptibly. But he was never one to take a lecture on the shoulder, and he cut Ivy off before she could continue. "They have no right to treat me that way. I am not responsible for my father's actions. They cannot judge me by what he did."

"And you shouldn't judge people either, but you do, Draco. Whether or not it's right has nothing to do with it. It simply is. Take it or leave it. But I can guarantee you that many people would kill to be working this closely with Professor Snape for an entire year. He's very well known in his field for a reason. You could learn a lot from him."

Draco sneered in indifference. Ivy sighed. "Draco, I really don't care about what you want. You made some bad choices and bad things happened. I can't change that. I'd like to know that you had some sort of direction in your life, but I don't think you really know who you are anymore." Draco was about to cut Ivy off again, but she didn't let him. "Say what you like, but I don't. And I think that this is a good opportunity for you to figure that out. The job isn't that difficult, and if you could get past your own ridiculous pride, you have a lot to gain from this situation. Make a decision, and let me know before the start of term. Goodnight."

Ivy walked away without giving the young man a chance to retaliate. She didn't feel up to the challenge. Satisfied that she had completed all of her duties for the day, she made her way back up to her rooms.

She reached the door and opened it quietly, hoping to surprise Remus when she sneaked into their bedroom. Instead, she found him on the couch in front of the fireplace, the glow from the flames haloing his light brown hair with a ring of soft golden light.

"You stayed awake," she marveled.

He rubbed his eyes and looked back at her. "Yes, in spite of everything."

She moved around the couch and sat down next to him. He had his legs folded underneath him, and she did the same, leaning against him and running her fingers lightly through his hair. "You're not too tired, are you?"

He shook his head and gave her a small smile, bringing his arm around to rest at her hip. "So how did your discussion with Draco go?"

Ivy groaned. "Oh, I don't want to talk about him. I don't want to talk about anything I did today."

His smile grew. "Then how are we supposed to turn into one of those boring old married couples people keep telling us about?"

She brushed a fingertip down the side of his face and he closed his eyes briefly at the sensation. "Life with you, Remus Lupin, could never be boring."

"Are you sure?" He maneuvered suddenly so that he was lying on his back with his legs stretched out, and pulled her down so that she was resting on top of him. "I'm not exactly the wild party type."

Ivy raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not? Could've fooled me after that display in my office this afternoon."

"That was… a momentary lapse in my self-control."

She grinned. "You should have more of them. I know how important your self-control is to you, but I don't really give a damn about it."

Remus felt her hands beginning to weave their way down his body, and he fought back the urge to reciprocate, knowing that once he did she would have a hard time speaking. "You mean you actually wanted me to keep going in there?"

"I think I communicated that pretty well."

"In a place where anyone could've come walking in like that?"

"Why not? I thought it was pretty funny. Not when it happened, but in retrospect."

He gave a short laugh. "What an odd little creature you are."

She smiled. "Hm, yes, very odd."

She sought out his lips and claimed them for her own, branding him gently as she felt his body shift beneath hers. But she also noticed that his response was not exactly of the intensity she had been hoping for. She pulled back and stared at him.

"You're tired."

He sighed sadly. "Just a little. I'm sorry."

She gave him her typical quirky smile. "It's okay. Sleep." She got herself comfortable on top of him and laid her head on his chest.

Remus was quickly drifting off, feeling the warmth that her body radiated, a warmth that told him that he was home. "Love you," he murmured softly.

"Love you too."

How was that, everyone? Did you like? I hope so. Let me know how it went and I will give you all chocolate Padfoots and Moonys. ;)