Disclaimer: you know the deal.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologize for missing the month mark. I got all my wisdom teeth pulled and then I got sick. Yes, it sucked a lot. And it hurt like a bitch. But I'm all better now! So now you get a special chapter...

I should warn you that the flashback section in this isn't happy. But, as I promised, Remus and Ivy are going to be okay! And all will become clear in this chapter, regarding that. So stop worrying! Gosh, you guys should know me well enough by now to know that I don't do unhappy endings. :)

Again with the warning, just to be clear: This chapter is rated NC-17 for graphic sexual content. It is not violent. Just lots of sex. If that's not your cup of tea, just skip over it when you come to it. You all know what you can handle. This is the first time I've ever posted anything this graphic, so bear with me. If it seems silly at times that's because we all know that sex is silly. Crazy, harsh, madly over-kinky sex doesn't happen incredibly often, especially not with these two... +smirk+

Thanks to all of you who reviewed, as always. You guys are fabulous. I believe I responded to everyone who wanted responding to. If I didn't, feel free to smack me and remind me. It looks like we lost some people, though... I hope that no one's mad at me... +is sheepish+

Anyway, here you are!

Chapter Nine – Mourning, Fighting, and Reconciliation

THEN

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

The sermon was given, but he didn't hear it. Nor could he hear the many people who got up to speak about the young man. No doubt the stories were amusing and moving. No doubt they were making everyone laugh and cry, but he couldn't hear any of that. He couldn't hear the sounds of sobbing or the little children shuffling their feet and wondering when lunch was.

He saw the coffin get lowered into the ground. He saw her crying. He saw the traitors who dared to stand over the tombstone like they were truly sorry. He saw the sky get greyer and greyer, threatening to break open and pound the realization of death into them with sheets of rainwater.

He felt those behind him. He felt their grief at seeing him like this. He felt the end of their childhood, no matter how happy he acted, how joyfully he played. It was over.

His brother was dead.

And they hadn't spoken since he was sixteen.

He watched as the people began to disperse, some Apparating away, some walking to the edge of the cemetery before leaving. He watched an old dog wander among the graves, and wondered if the animal slept there every night. He watched the grave diggers fill in the deep hole in the ground where the coffin would remain.

He kept expecting him to jump out. To jump out and laugh that it had all been a joke, and wasn't it funny, and oh how he'd really gotten his big brother that time. He was waiting with a fist for his shoulder, and a good shout for his ear, and an arm to wrap around him as he led him away so they could have a talk and figure out a way to still be family despite all the bullshit.

But it never happened. He didn't jump up and laugh at the joke. There was no more time to talk. Never again.

So Sirius stood with his shoulder up against a tree and his arms folded, wearing his best black robes and a tragic frown, as the gravediggers filled the hole beneath a tombstone marked: REGULUS BLACK.

He felt a strong hand on his shoulder.

"Sirius? Shouldn't we get out of here?"

Sirius did not turn back to the spectacled face that he knew was behind him. "No, James. I want to wait until they're done filling in the grave. Then I can go over and pay my respects proper."

"All right. Do you want us to leave?"

He certainly did. He wanted them to leave more than anything in the world. He didn't want them to be there and see him suffer. James and Lily had only gotten married a few months ago. This was a happy time, and he had no right to stain that for any of them. Not for James, Lily, not even for Peter and Ivy, and certainly not for Remus, who couldn't hold a job for more than a month lately.

But some weak part of him knew that if they didn't stay, he would never leave. That he would curl up by that tombstone and sleep out under the stars, like that old dog wandering nearby. And they would worry, and go looking for him, and find him there. And that would be worse.

"Could you stay with me a while? I won't be much longer."

"Of course."

Sirius waited patiently until the earth was patted down and the gravediggers had left. He walked slowly toward the tombstone knowing that the closer he got, the more this moment would become imbedded in his brain. But his legs moved of their own accord and he wouldn't back out now. When he reached the marble slab, he crouched down in front of it and stared.

He picked up some of the earth from the mound next to him. He had heard of people doing that in books, seen it in films. He thought maybe they did it because it made them feel better, and hoped that it would do the same for him. It didn't. All it did was ground him in the terrible reality that he would never see his little brother get married, or be uncle to his children, or have him over for Christmas dinner.

He had always hoped that they might do that some day. Maybe after their parents had died.

He felt James and Lily standing at his back, and knew that Peter, Ivy, and Remus were only a few paces back. They wanted him to leave this place, and he knew that he would. He just needed a minute. Just one minute to let everything settle in his mind.

"TRAITOR!"

How he hadn't seen that coming, he would never know.

She had Apparated back. He never got the chance to ask whether she had seen him standing by the tree, or if she had just suspected he would show up.

Her eyes were bulging out of her head, her black veil flying off her hair. His father watched from behind her, quite impassively. This was not his fight, he could care less about Sirius. The only one that mattered was now resting six feet below them.

"You get away from here! Shaming his name! Shaming our family! I'll have you cursed for this, you lowlife, bottom-feeding, parasite! Traitor of my flesh!"

"Everyone's gone now, mother," Sirius said tiredly. "They won't see me or know that we're related anymore. I just came to say goodbye."

Her nostrils flared, though her eyes lit at the weakness he had shown. "Oh, yes, it hurts now, doesn't it? You abandoned him and now you feel sorry. You're too late, you little monster!"

James stepped forward and stood at Sirius' side. "There's no need for this, Mrs. Black," he said softly. "Sirius won't be here much longer, he just came to pay his respects."

"Respects!" she shrieked. "You're one to talk of respect! You and your parents keeping this little leech with you after he betrays his family! You're a shame to the pureblood community! Marrying that mudblood!"

But James could not be affected by anything that Mrs. Black had to say. Her words meant nothing to him, never had. And so his temper didn't flare, his eyes didn't flash, and he stood still and straight at the attack.

It mattered to Sirius.

"That 'mudblood' has more power in her pinky finger than the whole of our family!" Sirius shouted. "And if you hadn't filled Regulus' head with such pureblood nonsense, he'd be alive right now!"

Mrs. Black screeched in rage and rushed toward her son, hands outstretched like she meant to strangle him.

Without considering his next move, Sirius' wand was out of his pocket. His hand grabbed the front of her robes as she crashed into him, pointing the tip of his wand at her cheek.

"You don't get to do that anymore," he hissed. "I'm not a child any longer. If you ever touch me again, I will curse our family so that every one of them marries mudbloods and traitors. And then you'll have to reconcile belonging to The Ignoble and Most Ancient House of Black."

Mrs. Black's eyes widened in terror, and she staggered back from Sirius as if he were diseased.

"Get out of here!" she shrieked once more. "You have no right to be here!"

Sirius glared at her, weighing the pros and cons of hexing her silent. But a hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked back over it to find a pair of grey eyes.

"She's not worth it, Sirius," Remus gentled, seeming to read his friend's mind. "Let's go. You won't find anything here to bring you peace right now."

Sirius nodded carefully and followed James and Remus as they both turned to leave. As they got further away, he heard his mother start up again.

"Look at your company! Mudbloods, traitors, monsters! You're all marked for death, all of you! Regulus knew! He knew you were all doomed! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is coming for you! You're all next!"

Sirius stumbled on the uneven ground, and he felt James grab hold of him to keep him standing. He turned to the woman next to him. "Lily?"

She gave him a knowing look and glanced sadly at Sirius. "I'll see you when you get home."

Before Sirius knew what was happening, he felt James grasp him tightly and the world around him lurch. After a moment he was standing with James and Remus in front of their favorite pub.

Remus glanced around. "Where's Peter?"

James shrugged. "Some family business to take care of, I suppose. He said his aunt was in town." He looked back to his very pale, black-haired friend. "You all right?"

Sirius shook his head in sardonic amusement, staring at the ground. "She always gets the last word…"

"It doesn't matter," James said firmly. "You stood up to her. I've never seen you like that with her, and I was really proud of you for doing that. You held your ground, and she was more than a little shaken by it. So damn the last word. You've still beaten her. Hell, you've always beaten her. She just never knew it until today. Now, let's get a drink."

Sirius nodded gradually, and let James lead him into the pub. Remus had a brief moment of confusion before he went after them.

I thought that the only aunt Peter had died last year…

He shrugged the thought off and followed James and Sirius inside.

NOW

"Sirius, we have to go!"

He looked up from the long file on his desk and turned back to see Guinevere in the doorway.

"What happened?" he asked, quickly noticing that she was panicked, and worried about what that could mean.

"It's Sorsha. I don't know all the details, but Codger says it's bad. If we don't get over there soon, Magical Law Enforcement and the Werewolf Capture Unit are going to take her down."

"Shit," Sirius hissed, more to himself than anyone. He sprung to his feet, grabbed his jacket and quickly Apparated with Guinevere to the front of the shed where they had planned to check up on Sorsha in a few days.

There was a containment field around the shack, and officers posed all around, ready to ward off any muggles who happened to be curious. Magical Law Enforcement had the shed surrounded, wands at the ready. The Werewolf Capture Unit was waiting outside the door, a special barred cage ready to hold Sorsha when they finally got her out. It looked like it was meant to hold a wolf rather than a human being.

Sirius and Guinevere had appeared at the gates and they both rushed up to the officers, showing them proper identification and demanding to know what was going on.

One stout man with a large scar on his cheek – the captain of the Capture Unit, Sirius guessed – walked over to them, looking very irritated.

"We got a live one in there. She's coming with us."

"We're her case workers," Guinevere said diplomatically. "We must be allowed to speak with her before you do anything."

"You'll do no such thing," the captain warned sternly.

"Look, sir," Sirius began, trying to sound like he actually had some respect for the man. "There's no need to get up in arms about this. Now, the girl in there is scared and probably very paranoid right about now. But she knows the two of us. She'll listen to us. If you want to get her out of there peacefully, you'll let us go in."

The captain looked at him suspiciously. It was clear that he did not view her as a 'girl' the way Sirius did. To him, Sorsha was a danger, a threat. He probably would call her a monster too, just like the rest. These men were not known for their warm, compassionate hearts. "No funny business."

Sirius shook his head, shielding his eyes against the intense afternoon sun. "None."

The captain stepped back and told his men to clear the doorway. Sirius and Guinevere came forward and opened the door, crossing the threshold into the shack. Sirius lit his wand to get his bearings, and searched the room.

"Sorsha?" he called. "Sorsha, we need to talk with you. It's looks like you're in a bit of a jam here."

There was silence for a long time. Then –

"I thought you said that you would help me."

Sirius shut his eyes against unspoken accusation. "Sorsha, you got yourself into a mess, but we don't know what happened. And I definitely can't help you if you won't tell me what's happened. Please come down and talk to us."

And then the voice was at his back. "I could kill you right now. It wouldn't even be hard."

"You won't," came Sirius' sure response.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm the only friend you've got here."

"I don't have friends. I don't need friends."

Sirius turned around to face her. She looked even more ill than she had the last time he'd seen her. "You need one right now."

She eyed him carefully, studying his face, his posture. She leaned forward and sniffed. "Old blood."

Sirius nodded. "Old wound."

"That's too bad," she said flippantly. "Did you reopen it yourself?"

Sirius raised an unaffected eyebrow. "No, I'm not that morbidly self-deprecating."

"You don't have to be self-deprecating," she snarled back. "Sometimes it's good to remember your pain."

"Oh, that's good. You should have that engraved on plaques. You could sell them to disaffected youths around the world."

"I don't like sarcasm or stupid men who meddle."

He folded his arms across his chest. "All right, I'll be sure not to bring any around."

"…You're not funny."

"Then why are you smiling?"

Guinevere cleared her throat and shot Sirius a prompting look. He sighed. "Tell me what happened."

Sorsha looked over to the boarded up window as if she could see through it. "Neighbors are mean and nasty. Said they were going to bring protestors and have me locked up if I was near them. They're two miles away and I've never bothered them. But they don't like me. So I made sure that I was out when the moon was full last night. I ate their dog."

She smiled viciously. "And when the father came here to yell at me, I asked him if he'd still keep his son after I bit him next month. If he'd still want a monster child, marked by the devil. Then he called all the people over."

Guinevere groaned softly in dismay.

Sirius exhaled sharply. "That wasn't smart of you, Sorsha."

She shook her head in agreement. "But it felt good. It felt real. No more running, and hiding, and acting like I'm afraid of them. We're all damned now anyway. The big groups of people with their signs – they're coming for all of us. And no one will stop them because they never liked us anyway. No one is our friend."

Sirius looked to Guinevere. "Can they really put her away for this? She didn't hurt anyone. Just the family dog, and they provoked her into it."

Guinevere nodded frustratedly. "They always find a way to make it stick. People are so paranoid, all someone has to say at a Ministry hearing is 'vicious intent' and they lock a werewolf up without second thought. To say the least of Sorsha, who has a history of violent behavior."

"What can we do?"

Guinevere bit her lip. "We have to bring her out there, we promised. We can't make our agency look bad, or they'll never let us work with any of them again. We can make sure that she's treated well, and try to get her a fair trial."

Sirius looked to Sorsha. The girl raised her arms up, her wrists crossed like she was ready to be bound up. "Lead the way. The end is near anyway. They'll lock me up and feed me cat food. And others like me will be there to watch what they do."

Sirius wasn't sure that she was thinking at all, let alone clearly, but he had to get her out of there before the people outside got panicky. So he took Sorsha by the arm and led her gently out, Guinevere following behind them.

The captain of the Capture Unit quickly wrenched her away from Sirius and had his men push her into the cage.

"That was smooth," the captain mused.

But as soon as the door locked, Sorsha started screaming. Screaming as though she had an infinite supply of air and never needed to stop. Her expression was terrified, and her hands clawed at the bars desperately.

"Wait – " Sirius shouted.

The captain put a hand up to stop him. "We've dealt with that tactic before. They act like they're going crazy, and as soon as we let them out, they vanish."

"But she's not a witch," Sirius pleaded. "She can't Apparate away."

"You do your job and I'll do mine," the stocky man growled, before turning away and ordering everyone to pack up.

"Don't vanish!" Sorsha screamed back, her wild eyes landing on Sirius.

"You'll see me soon, I promise!" he called back.

And then everyone was gone. They disappeared, the containment field evaporated, and the world became very quiet.

Sirius stared out at the scene, marveling at how helpless he felt on such a bright, sunny day. Guinevere arrived at his side, her eyes following the same path that his did.

"That wasn't your fault," she said steadily. "There was nothing we could do for her."

He nodded. "Doesn't make it any better."

"I know."

They didn't speak for a long time. Finally, Guinevere straightened up and turned to him.

"Go home, Sirius. You look tired. I can cover for you at work."

He shook his head. "I know what happens when I go home. I get to wallow in everything. I don't want to wallow."

"Then come back to the office, and we can go over some new case files."

"All right. But only if you promise to stop looking at me like you think that I'm about to have a nervous breakdown."

She smiled. "Deal."

Sirius and Guinevere had met Remus and Ivy in Hogsmeade on Saturday by Honeydukes. Naturally, all the students were about as this was one of their trip days, and Ivy and Remus were acting as temporary chaperones until Minerva relieved them of their duties and told them to have a lovely afternoon.

Sirius was a little upset. He had hoped that this would be fun for Guinevere, but with Remus and Ivy practically incapable of speaking more than two words to each other at a time, no one seemed to be having a good time at all. Still, Sirius' irritation was outweighed by the fact that he was worried about his friends, and wanted to know why they looked like they were on the verge of separation.

So at the moment, Ivy was picking up robes from the clothing store nearby, and trying to get Guinevere to try on some fun clothes. Guinevere was completely mortified and refused to try anything on that would show her figure, much to Ivy's dismay and Sirius' amusement. Remus was staring out the window silently.

Sirius walked over to him. "Are you going to talk to anyone today? Because I was unaware that you were mad at me too, or Guinevere for that matter."

Remus blinked a few times before glancing back at Sirius. "Oh, er, I'm fine. I'm just not feeling very outgoing today."

"Outgoing? I'd say this is a bit beyond 'not outgoing'. I'd say you look damn depressed."

"I'm not really interested in your opinion on the matter, Sirius."

Sirius raised his hands defensively. "Oh, so you are mad at everyone today. That's fine, I just wanted to know."

Remus did not attempt to defend himself. He went back to staring out the window. Sirius snorted angrily and walked back over to the dressing rooms, where Ivy was trying to coax Guinevere out so she could see some of the clothes she had told her to try on.

"Come on, Guinevere! No one's going to freak out about it."

"This skirt is too short! I can feel a lot of air, and that's not supposed to happen!"

"That's because you're not used to it," Ivy insisted. "The skirt's not that short – it's not even mid-thigh."

"Ivy, I can't do this one."

Ivy sighed. "All right. But try on the other one that looked so good, and come out and show Sirius."

"Why?"

"Because it's always nice to get a man's opinion."

"I don't think I require his opinion on something like that. No, I'm just going to change back into my clothes now, and then we'll be done here."

Ivy turned to Sirius tiredly and mouthed the words "she's hopeless" to him. He smiled.

"Now you know what I've been dealing with at work. She's this neurotic about everything."

Ivy sent him a sympathetic glance and patted him on the arm. Then she happened to spot Remus over by the window, and her expression instantly darkened.

"So what's going on there?" Sirius asked carefully.

She shook her head. "Damned if I know…. Damn him. God damn him to hell. He won't talk to me at all, and he won't tell me what I did."

"How bad is it really?" Sirius pushed again.

She took a moment. "…I don't know who he is anymore, Sirius. That's not who I married a few months ago. That's not the man I went on my honeymoon with. That's some morbid, angry, repressed human being who looks a lot like my husband."

Sirius thought for a moment. "Morbid, angry, repressed…. Sounds kind of like him when he's feeling wolfish, doesn't it?"

Ivy shook her head. "That's not what this is. I would know if that were it. And he wouldn't be so distant if that were it."

Guinevere opened the dressing room door and the conversation ended. Ivy turned and whispered softly to Sirius, "Guinevere and I have some things to wrap up here. Could you take Remus over to the specialty food store? We have to get something to bring to Ron and Hermione's engagement party."

Sirius nodded and walked over to Remus. "Come on, mate. We've got to go find some special cheese or some such."

Remus nodded mutely and followed Sirius out the door, hearing echoes of Guinevere and Ivy talking about some skirt or something. He had noticed that Sirius and Guinevere seemed to be getting along very well, and part of him was happy about that. They seemed to be good for each other right now.

Ivy was another story.

He just didn't know what to do anymore. He couldn't fake caring about her the way he used to. He just felt like all of his emotions were used up. He couldn't feel anything about anyone really. Least of all her.

So he followed Sirius to the store across the street and stepped inside, hearing a charmed bell tinkle to notify the clerk of their arrival.

The clerk happened to be a striking young woman with brown hair and hazel, almond-shaped eyes. She looked sort of exotic, with an olive complexion and curvy lines. And she was smiling at Remus like she had never seen a man before in her life.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked, in a voice that wasn't uninterested, but also not too overeager.

Remus smiled in his usual charming manner and nodded. "Yes, I need to find something to take to an engagement party. It's two friends, you see, and I wasn't quite sure what to get."

She laid a hand gently on his shoulder to guide him and said, "Well then, follow me this way, sir. I'm sure we can find something that you'll like."

Sirius hung back because he was completely stunned into submission. After spending the entire day acting melancholy and impossible to get along with, Remus was suddenly bright and happy and totally willing to let a woman half his age hit on him. He had no idea what was going on, but Ivy seemed to be right – this wasn't the man she married.

They had been walking around the store talking and laughing for too long already. It was passing in a blur. Sirius finally focused his thoughts so he could hear what they were saying.

"These particular fruits are wonderful," he heard the young woman say. "You don't find them in most countries, but they're sweet and go with most other fruits too. The way to tell if they're ripe is to squeeze gently and also make sure that you smell them. Scent is always very important."

"Yes, I'd tend to agree on that," Remus said lightly, a sly smile in place.

Well, of course he would, Sirius thought angrily, wanting to walk over and slap Remus into sensible thought, he's damn werewolf! That's the sharpest sense he has!

"Of course, if you're in the market for something sweeter," she let her lips linger on the last word ever so slightly, "we also have different kinds of imported chocolate, maple candies, jams and preserves…"

"I'm sure I'll like whatever you like," Remus said silkily.

The young woman laughed and nudged his chest with her shoulder teasingly. "Oh, you're just saying that to be nice."

"Never," Remus answered back in a playful tone, leaning forward so that he was definitely not a safe distance from her face.

Sirius was shuddering inwardly, but he couldn't think of anything to say that would stop this. If he tried to drag Remus out, he had a funny feeling that Remus would go wolf on him and start really letting him know who the alpha male was. What he needed was the alpha female. What the hell was taking Ivy so long?

In the meantime, the young woman's sweet laughter was grating on his nerves and he found his foot tapping uncontrollably against the tile floor.

"Or we could try wine tasting, if you prefer."

Remus shrugged unassumingly, but Sirius knew the primal glint when he saw it. "Only if you'll join me."

He was so close to her. Far too close. Sirius suddenly felt like he was intruding on the privacy of two lovers and the feeling was dirty. He wanted to back out quietly and let Remus fuck up his life as he pleased. He just needed to back up a few paces. Just a precious few…

The bell on the door tinkled.

"Remus…" came a voice not to be challenged anywhere on the green earth.

Sirius watched Remus' head snap up, all playfulness gone from his exterior, the glint in his eye snuffed out. But he didn't seem ashamed or afraid. And that's what made Sirius hate Remus for the only moment in his life.

"Yes, Ivy?" Remus answered in a bored voice.

"Could I speak to you for a moment?" Ivy asked in a gratingly sweet voice.

"Yes, I suppose," was the response.

Sirius followed Remus outside. Once the door had closed behind them, he walked over to stand by Guinevere, who was looking equally stunned. Then the screaming started.

Sirius was not quite sure what was being said.

They were overlapping, both talking so fast and at the exact same time, so all that could be discerned was a crazy jumble of anger and passion and some form of betrayal.

And then they both vanished. They had to have gone back home, he surmised, but that still didn't change his feeling of complete bewilderment.

After a few endless moments, Guinevere's voice spoke up through the haze.

"Well… that was… fun."

He turned to her and attempted a smile. "I'm really sorry about that. But maybe they'll be all better the next time we see them."

"And maybe they'll be divorced," Guinevere suggested with a laugh.

Sirius knew that she was speaking from experience, and that was what worried him.

"Want to go get those groceries now?"

"Yes, please," Guinevere said tiredly. "I think I've had about as much drama as I can handle for one afternoon."

So they set off to the grocery store, lost in their own thoughts, both perplexed and sad.

Ivy didn't give Remus the chance to explain himself yet. She had been busy yelling at him, and when they had both Apparated to the front gates, she had raised a finger at him and said, "Not here. Upstairs. Right now."

He followed her in brisk silence all the way up to their rooms. The tension was so palpable that the students who saw them in the hall did not say a word, and jumped out of the way as they passed.

As soon as they were behind closed doors, Ivy rounded on him and started at it again.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Oh Ivy, what's the point, really?"

She stamped her foot so hard that the floor shook. "God damnit Remus, you tell me what's going on here or I swear I will divorce you faster than you can say 'nasty lying cheating bastard'!"

"Fine!" Remus shouted. "Divorce me! That's what you want, isn't it? To be rid of me, finally? That's what all of this has been leading up to, hasn't it?"

Ivy blinked in puzzlement. "What are you talking about?"

"You were so upset that some random woman was flirting with me in a store, but when you're doing the same thing all the time, right under my nose, it doesn't make a difference?"

"Remus, you looked like you were about to start making out with her in the middle of the place! And what are you talking about, 'I'm doing the same thing'?"

Remus shook his head and laughed angrily at the floor. "You know, I think that despite what you said about your mother's family being terrible, maybe you really missed them deep down, and you've just been dying to get in touch with those American roots of yours – "

Ivy reeled back to slap him, but he caught her wrist as it came down. They both stood staring at each other, livid, breathing hard, completely out of touch.

Ivy was the first to speak. "Let me go."

Remus squeezed tighter on her wrist. "Don't do that again."

"I'll do whatever I damn well please."

Remus snorted and let her go, tossing her arm away to prove to her how weak she was by comparison. Ivy rubbed her sore wrist and glared up at him furiously.

"Now, what did mother's family have to do with this?"

Again Remus gave a humorless laugh. "I can't believe you're making me spell this out for you, after everything you've done – "

"I've done!" Ivy bellowed. "I have no idea what you're talking about! I'm not the one who decided that we couldn't talk anymore, that we couldn't be near each other anymore, that we couldn't make love anymore – "

"We did a few days ago!" he said exasperatedly.

"You weren't there!" Ivy shouted in vexation. "For all you knew I could've been anyone! You just got me off, so you could pretend that nothing was wrong! How could you even think for a moment that I didn't know? I watched you all night after that. I couldn't understand what had happened."

Her voice was getting more unstable with every word, and she couldn't look at him anymore. Remus walked to her back, making sure he didn't shout because it looked liked she couldn't take much more of that.

"How do you think it feels?" he hissed. "You spend all day with him, not with me. He's always right there, right at your shoulder, your back, and then you come home smelling like him, and I can't handle that. What am I supposed to think?"

She turned around slowly to face him, but she didn't look sorry. She looked completely enraged.

"That's what this is about?" she asked slowly, the horrible realization dawning on her face. "Clayton? … You've been destroying our entire marriage over Clayton? ….What the fuck's the matter with you?"

Remus' voice locked up in his chest. That was not what he had expected her to say. He had expected her to defend Clayton and herself. Part of him actually did expect for her to admit to some affair they were having. Not this, not this look of betrayal and hurt.

"Why didn't you tell me that you hated him so much?"

Remus found the only thing that he had for her was a weak shrug. "He's assisting you, and you need the help, and it wasn't my place – "

"You're damn right, it wasn't your place!" Ivy shouted. "But if you loved me, you would have told me that he made you nervous. You would have told me that you wanted him to leave anyway, because you would have cared about me so much that your need to keep me to yourself would have outweighed your worry that I'd get mad at you for saying something."

"You would've been furious if I had said anything against him."

"Yes, because the suggestion that anything was happening between us would be totally unfounded."

"That's not what everyone else thinks."

She cocked her head to the side. "Who's everyone else?"

"Everyone!" Remus said frustratedly, amazed that she hadn't even noticed how they looked together. "Sirius, Harry, Minerva, Severus, the students…"

"I see…" Ivy said slowly, working the idea around in her head. "So it appears that you've been talking to everyone about this, except me. That everyone knows I'm having an affair with Clayton except me."

He paused uncomfortably. "I didn't talk to everyone about it. I just know that lots of people noticed."

Ivy shook her head in incredulously. "But you couldn't talk to me about it. You've been worried about this since he came and you never said a damn word. You just expected me to figure out why you wouldn't touch me anymore, or talk to me, or…"

Remus froze as all the gears clicked into place. She was right. So was Sirius and everyone else who had told him that he was making everything worse by not saying anything. He hadn't wanted to play the role of jealous husband to her, but by keeping his mouth shut, he had done worse – he had alienated her and destroyed their relationship. They were all completely right and he was a damned coward.

What have I done?

"Ivy…"

She raised a hand up to stop him. "Don't. Please Remus, just don't. I've been hurt enough by you in my life. Never mind that I feel absolutely nothing for Clayton, or the fact that I've spent nights up trying to figure out what to do about this protest situation, trying to make sure that they don't hurt you…. I'm tired of you doing this." She walked up to him and grabbed the front of his robes, suddenly frantic, the rims of her eyes glistening. "What do I have to do to prove to you that I really love you? That I've never wanted anyone else? What do I have to do, Remus? How many times can I say it, or scream it, or show it to you? Why don't you ever believe me?"

Remus had no answer for that. He had never thought of it that way.

But it was true.

He never did believe her, did he? Some small part of his brain was always convinced that she deserved something better, and therefore, wanted something better. How long was it going to take before that insecurity faded away? And more importantly, how much damage would he cause in the process?

The stranger thing was that part of him was still mad at her. Mad that she didn't understand this, mad that she hadn't been able to figure out what was bothering him in the first place. But that wasn't her job.

Ivy turned her back to him and started walking away. Remus reached forward to grab her. "Ivy – "

"Go away, Remus. I don't want to do this anymore."

"Ivy, wait!"

"No. I won't wait anymore. You blew it."

This time he got a good hold of her arm and spun her around to him again. "You can't just say it's over now! You can't just decide that we can throw everything away!"

"Says who?" she shouted, her face beginning to streak with tears.

"You can't," he said more definitely.

"You can't tell me that! Not anymore! Give me one good reason why I should let this keep going! How dare you tell me that I can't end this!"

But Remus didn't want to talk anymore. It clearly hadn't helped them so far, and his mind was too full of fear and doubt to continue trying to put together sentences that could ruin this more anymore than he already had. All of his emotions had been reignited too quickly, and now he was feeling everything so sharply it blinded him. And the very first thing that he felt was an alarming amount of love and pain. For her. For what he was losing in that moment.

This was all him. All his fault as usual. He seemed to have a frightening talent for letting things slip through his fingers. But if he tried to talk now, he knew she would walk away. She was too hurt by him to hear anymore.

So he quickly silenced her by crushing his lips to hers in a brutal, bruising kiss.

And she nearly collapsed from the feeling because she'd almost forgotten how powerful it was. She fought him at first, surprised and still too angry and wounded, pounding her fists against his chest. But he just pulled her closer, harder, willing her to be pliant beneath his hands, to stop struggling against him. And she eventually gave in, she had to. Because the kiss was needy and hungry, and his arms were wrapped around her tightly, pressing every inch of her to him.

And he was him again.

The one that needed her just as much as she needed him. She found herself nearly hyperventilating as he continued because she was so panicked and relieved at the same time. But she was scared too. Scared that in one moment he'd turn off again, that he'd be cold and angry. She always seemed to lose him when she needed him most, and she had to make sure he stayed with her now. So she kissed him back harder, lacing her fingers through his hair.

"Oh God, it's really you…" she murmured against his lips, her eyes still damp from the tears she'd already cried, her wet lashes brushing his cheek. And when he whispered her name in return, she whimpered and bit at his bottom lip, squeezing her eyes shut.

After some time, she managed to pull away briefly and call to him.

"Remus…?"

"Yes?" he answered quickly, pulling his lips away and keeping the rest of his body pressed against hers.

"Nothing… just… air…" she said slowly.

And he laughed. He laughed that leisurely, murmuring laugh that always made her mind go soft and her head tip back. She wouldn't be able to refuse him anything if he did that again.

With her head back, Remus moved his lips to her neck. Ivy felt his hands pushing their robes off their shoulders to get at the clothing underneath, and she had a brief moment to wonder if this was where she wanted this to go. But she knew that after all the suppressed tension of their fight, of the past weeks, there was no other way to resolve this. And she wasn't sorry about it either. She needed his touch, needed it so badly she couldn't think straight…

His tongue trailed over her pulse point, and as soon as she gasped, he bit down. Ivy smiled as the familiar sensation of pain and excitement muddied her brain. He always had to bite at some point. She knew that it was about possession for the wolf, and that was flattering in its own way. But she had never admitted that to him.

And then he stopped. Ivy's stomach clenched in dread, but her fear was calmed when she felt his hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw his face a centimeter from her own. But he was not going to kiss her. He had his eyes closed and he was breathing in deeply, carefully. And she felt her heart skip a beat as though she were a silly teenager.

"What do I smell like?" she asked softly.

He opened his eyes slowly, his thumb brushing over the cheek he had cupped in his hand. "You," he said reverently.

Her. She only smelled like herself, and yet he had to stop and take that in. It was that important to him to know every part of her.

She giggled. "You are something else."

He tilted his head curiously, clearly wanting to know what that meant.

"Most men don't talk, you know. Or pause. They just like to get it over and done with. But you…" she said slyly, trailing a finger from his shoulder all the way down to his belt, where she looped the digit around it so she could tug him closer, "I've figured out your secret, Mr. Lupin. You're a damn romantic."

He smirked. "What, and you'd rather I be like other men, is that it? Just get it over and done with?" He deftly pulled her shirt loose from her skirt and dragged it over her head. "Because we can do that, if that's what you want." He started undoing all the buttons on his shirt in a very business-like manner while Ivy smiled in amusement. "We can do this quickly. I can take you in an aggressive fashion right up against the wall with you half-clothed and my shoes still on."

Ivy gave a pretend shudder as Remus actually did push her up against the wall, his hands gathering her skirt like he meant to pull it up and do exactly as he said. And then the pretend shuddering stopped as her body started trembling for real. He must have felt it too because a slow, seditious smirk twisted his lips.

His head tilted this way and that around her face, as if he was trying to decide what the best angle was to start attacking from. "Is this right?" he asked in a low growl.

Ivy mock winced. "With your shoes on? God, that's just downright depressing. People actually do that?"

Remus smiled. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the wall, bringing her back to rest against him. "That's what I thought," he said teasingly. "You're no better than I."

She shrugged. "Guilty."

Then she leaned up to kiss him, surprising him when she slipped her tongue into his mouth, her hands trailing mischievously around the skin just above his beltline. He responded by unzipping her skirt and pushing it down her hips until it fell on the floor. The undressing was simple and not at all showy, and it suited them both just then. He took a few paces backward so she could step out of the skirt, and let his fingers trickle down her bare back as she brought her lips back to his and finally decided to undo his belt.

She was surprised that they weren't going faster with how much tension there had been, how mad they had been as they fought. But he didn't seem to be in a hurry, and she certainly wasn't complaining. After how long he'd stayed away from her, she wanted this to go slow. Maybe he was thinking the same thing.

Her fingers went to pull off his trousers at the same moment that he moved to unhook her bra, but Ivy paused and he took the cue from her and stopped as well.

"Everything all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, just… where are we going to do this? Because I'm thinking that we should move there soon."

He nodded in agreement, as out of breath as she was, and pulled her toward the coffee table and the couch. The light from the fire that the house elves lit every evening certainly made everything look lovely, but the location was troublesome. Ivy was about to tell Remus that there was no way that they could do this on the sofa, when he grabbed his wand from where it had fallen on the floor with his robe, and used it to move the coffee table to the other end of the room.

Which left them with a large expanse of rug at their disposal.

Ivy's mouth twitched humorously. "The rug and the fireplace? My, my, but isn't that a bit of a cliché…"

"Only if I charm the rug to make it softer and more comfortable."

"And you're going to do that, right?"

Remus smirked. "Of course."

He flicked his wand again, but Ivy didn't bother to watch the rug transform. Instead, she stepped back to him, placing her hands on his chest and letting her fingers intertwine with the light hairs there. She kissed his shoulder, snaking her tongue out to taste skin and sweat, and was rewarded by the sound of a light groan.

Remus dropped his wand on the couch and curled around her, his head bowing into the crook of her neck, his arms wrapped tightly about her frame, his hips pushing against her own. Ivy instinctually rocked and realized an immediate problem.

She tugged sharply at the front of his trousers. "You need to get these off now."

He chuckled softly and helped her take off the offending garment, kicking it away once it was off his ankles. His eyes then directed her attention to another problem, and she threw her arms around his shoulders to give him access to her back.

Remus took a few moments unhooking the damn thing. "This is the most poorly designed garment in the history of humanity."

Ivy laughed. "You're welcome to redesign it, if you think you can do better."

Remus snorted at the jibe and slipped her bra off her shoulders, tossing it away.

"I hope you remember where that landed," Ivy teased. "It would be a little embarrassing if someone were to come in and find it as an adornment for one of the lampshades."

Remus shook his head at her humor and dropped his hands to her hips, giving himself a little distance so he could look her up and down properly.

"You're beautiful," he said quietly.

Ivy blinked in disbelief. Always at the time when she felt the most self-conscious, he knew exactly what to say, a strange quality in a man. "It's been a long time since you've told me that."

"I'm sorry," was his truthful response as he looked back up to her eyes. "You should never doubt it, in any case."

Ivy closed her eyes at those words, making the decision to let him set the pace now. What she felt was hesitant and gentle, and so very warm. One hand reached up to her collarbone and trailed down slowly, brushing over her breast, her stomach, her hip. The fingers of both hands slipped beneath her underwear and slid it off slowly.

There was a second when his hands withdrew and she couldn't feel anything, but a moment later he pulled her into him and all she felt was skin. And they stood there like that for a long while, both enjoying that moment where no one had to be on top or underneath, where no one had to shout or groan or thrust, where neither one of them had to be in control. It was just two people curving to fit each other, pressing every bit of flesh that they could against each other, just wanting to be closer.

Ivy broke the stillness by kissing his jaw. He woke up from there, his fingers threading through her hair as his lips moved to her ear. She giggled at the tickling sensation, her hands scratching playfully at his chest to stop him. He kissed her lips briefly before guiding her to lie down on the rug. He had done a good job with the charm, Ivy noticed, feeling something beneath her that was soft and cradling. He laid down at her side, up on one arm so he could lean over her.

Remus ghosted a hand down her side, and Ivy moaned, arching her back deliciously. He loved watching her this way. When she forgot to be embarrassed and insecure, and gave way to raw feeling. It was becoming for her to be so enticing and free. And Remus suddenly wanted to ask a question that he'd never dared to ask before.

"Ivy?" His voice came out a little shakier than he would have liked.

"Yes," Ivy responded hazily.

He took a beep breath, gazing at her face intently even though she had her eyes closed. "If I asked to claim you tonight… would you refuse me?"

Ivy's eyes snapped open.

Claiming… oh, she knew about that. She had looked up all sorts of information on werewolves as soon as she'd learned about Remus' condition when they were younger. And claiming… that was one of the most interesting topics she'd come across.

It had a lot of ridiculous rumors that went along with it, of course. Some people said that werewolves "claimed" the first person they had sex with, and that that person was their mate for life. Both of these suggestions were wrong. Some said that once claiming had happened, the werewolf and his or her mate could read each other's minds. That was completely ridiculous as well.

From what Ivy had come to understand, claiming was a choice made by a werewolf and their partner, and they didn't become bonded for life because a werewolf could claim more than one person. It happened during intercourse, though no one seemed to be able to describe what actually happened then. It didn't make the couple psychic, it just gave them a deeper awareness of each other. And it was not something that any werewolf did lightly, as it required them to be both vulnerable and dominating – they had to open up completely to their mate, but they were the one "claiming" the other person as their own.

That was the textbook definition, at least.

Ivy had wondered if Remus would ever ask her for this, and sometimes wondered why he hadn't. But that brought up so many questions in her head, that she just generally did not think about it. She always ended up wondering if he'd ever claimed anyone before, or if he didn't feel close enough to her, or if it scared him. So she left it alone.

And now he was staring at her, trying to look sure of himself, but clearly terrified out of his mind. When she didn't answer immediately, he glanced away.

"I'm sure you already know what it is," he said slowly, trying to minimize the quiver in his voice. "I never asked before because I didn't think it was necessary – we've always been so close anyway. And I was worried that it could cause damage because that has happened in certain cases. But I can't help wondering what it feels like, and you're the only person I would ever consider doing this with. So I just wanted to know – " He turned his gaze back to her, somehow looking strong and petrified at the same time. "Would you refuse me?"

Ivy couldn't believe that he had to ask, but then she remembered who she had married. Still, she loved him so much – how could she refuse him anything? Especially something that would mean so much for them both?

She raised a hand to cup his cheek and felt him press into her palm. Locking eyes with him, she nodded deliberately and watched as he let out a breath she didn't know he had been holding. He shut his eyes briefly, allowing himself a moment of relief before plunging back into unknown territory.

"How does this work?" Ivy asked.

"It's already started," he explained, splaying one hand over her stomach, brushing with his fingertips. The distraction of skin made him a little more at ease. "As soon as the mate accepts the proposal, the claiming process begins, even though we may not feel anything."

She thought for another moment, wanting to get all of the uncomfortable questions out of the way. "Will it hurt?"

Remus fixed her with a sympathetic stare. "I have no idea."

Ivy nodded bravely. "That's okay. I'm not worried."

Remus chuckled doubtfully. "Well, that's a relief, because I certainly – "

Ivy did not give him the chance to finish. He was thinking too much, as usual, and she had a funny feeling that wasn't going to help him for this. He didn't have to be scared, this was her, just her. He didn't have to prove anything to her. So she pulled him down to her and began kissing him fiercely, guiding his hands to touch her everywhere she knew he wanted to, yanking at his waist to get him into a better position.

She closed her eyes when she felt him relax against her. She always had to wait for that to happen with him. Like he had to get comfortable with himself before he could move on to her. He didn't trust himself, which was ridiculous. She did. She trusted him more than any man she'd ever been with, and they hadn't been werewolves. He didn't understand that, though. Didn't think he could be counted for the control.

And there was nothing Remus Lupin cared about more than control.

Ivy, on the other hand, wanted the control gone. She wanted him to lose it, to one day snap and do something ferocious, to say something dirty and completely out of character, to stop waiting for her approval on everything and surprise her once and a while. She hoped it would come with time.

So she would be the exploratory one for now. She would make the suggestions, and he listened most of the time. She really had to give him credit – when she tried to get him to try new things, he usually obliged her, even if he seemed wary. And he had tried more in his past than he let onto; she found that out the one night when he –

Ivy bit down on his ear, running her tongue along the edge, feeling him growl lightly in the back of his throat. "Louder," she whispered, goading him into it, biting down harder. He stifled a moan against her shoulder, his hips rocking involuntarily. Oh, she could feel that –

"Well, someone woke up," she teased impishly, swaying her hips a little, providing more friction.

And he growled again, now much louder, just the way she'd wanted. Then she shrieked, suddenly startled when his hands took hold of her wrists and pinned them above her head in one swift move, leaving him room to press down, hold her in place with his body. His face was close enough that she felt his hair brushing her forehead, and he was staring her down with an awful intensity that made Ivy burn in frustrating places.

"You," he hissed severely, "are a dirty tease."

Something fire-bright flashed in his eyes, an underhanded smile barely noticeable at the corners of his lips. This was what made Ivy's stomach shoot into her throat, what she tried to draw out every time, even if only for a moment. That dangerous lilt in his voice, the point where she couldn't be entirely sure if he was joking around or really having darker thoughts.

She was quick to smile. If she seemed even the slightest bit scared, he would back off immediately, horrified. So she smirked, half-closed her eyes, brushed subtly at the back of his calf with her toes. "Well, you'll just have to punish me for it," she shot back softly, wriggling a little against his hands to make him pin her tighter against the floor.

She could have sworn she saw his pupils dilate as he quirked his eyebrows at her response. But before she had enough time to look carefully, he dipped his head down and was licking a rough path up her neck, finally stopping at her mouth. "You needn't worry about that," he murmured darkly, capturing her lips in a rough, demanding kiss.

Ivy was twisting beneath him, desperately pulling in air through her nose, but it clearly wasn't enough, because she was feeling lightheaded and jittery from her oxygen-deprived high. She didn't care.

Eventually, it was the inability to use her hands, rather than the lack of breath, that made Ivy turn her head to the side, breaking the kiss. She felt his gasps for air against her cheek, felt him breathe the word rather than say it. "What?"

She took a few moments to catch her breath, before turning back to look at him. "Give me my hands back," she insisted, not about to beg him for it… yet.

His lips curled into a wicked smirk. "Why would I do that?"

Well, she wouldn't be able to talk him into it, that was for sure. She'd have to be a bit more creative than that. So instead, she curled her leg around one of his, trailed her foot along the inside of his thigh. She went slowly, kept her eyes locked with his, moved up, up, up…

His breath hitched sharply when she reached the spot, his eyes fluttering shut for a brief second, but quickly snapping back open in surprise. She had certainly gotten his attention for the moment.

"Give me my hands back," she said again, more slowly this time.

He paused for a short time, just to preserve situation, intriguing as it was. To observe their positions, to study the rapid beating of his heart against hers, how she wasn't afraid. He had no reason for why, he just did it. And then he released her hands, watched carefully as she brought them up to his face, touched his eyelids, traced the bridge of his nose, caught his bottom lip between the pad of her thumb and the curl of her forefinger. How they managed to change tone so quickly was always a mystery to him, but he welcomed it. That way it was easier to stop if anything got out of hand, if he went too far, the way he always feared he might.

"Kiss me," Ivy mouthed the words, her hands winding around his back. He was in no position to argue.

Ivy's hands ran up and down his back, over countless scars. Her view of those marks had changed so much over the past few months. She had always felt so bad about his scars, about that constant reminder on his skin of what he hated about himself. But she found that he wasn't embarrassed by them anymore, the way he had been when they were children. He learned to live with them, to ignore them, if anything.

Ivy loved them. Not for what they stood for, but because it was him, something about him that she knew from careful, intimate study. She loved the feeling of running her hands over his back. The scars were only on the sides, as it was impossible for a werewolf to reach the center of his back, and Ivy would trace her fingers down his untouched spine, a place of sensitivity for him, before mapping the lines running up his flanks.

It was primal of her, and perhaps that was why it seemed right. To feel the ridges, the texture of his skin, and know that she was the only person he bared it to without thought.

She always paused, paid special attention to one mark right below his ribcage, one that circled round to the front. A large, jagged mark that always felt angry underneath her fingertips. If old Greyback had wanted to, he could have killed that five-year-old boy. He'd had the opportunity, grabbing him from behind like that. But Fenrir was making a point to Mr. Lupin, the father that night, and had left the boy with only one scar. The first of many.

Maybe it had something to do with the claiming, but Ivy started seeing things. She made it a point not to think too hard when she touched that place, felt the old magic that still lingered right under his skin there. But tonight she kept seeing that small boy, his terrified face, and she just couldn't get it out of her head –

Remus felt her mouth go slack, her chest shudder. He pulled back and stared, saw tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, felt where her hand was. "Ivy," he called. She didn't hear him. "Ivy, look at me," he said sternly.

Her glistening eyes finally found his face. "Oh…. Remus, I – "

He hushed her, closed his hand over hers, where it clutched at his side, pulled her fingers away from that spot. She shuddered again, catching her breath now that she was free, interlacing their fingers. Then she shook her head, trying to clear it. "I'm sorry, I just – "

He squeezed her hand to stop her. "Are you all right?"

Ivy swallowed for the sake of her dry throat. "Yeah, I'm fine now. I think it's the…"

He nodded once to let her know that he understood. "Bit of an overload there?" he guessed.

Ivy bit at her lower lip. "Yes, it was."

His eyes narrowed at her, tying to figure out what she needed right now, what was best at the moment. "Don't think about it anymore," was what he told her, bringing her hand to rest on his shoulder, waiting for her to dry her eyes.

When she leaned up to kiss him there was something desperate in the tilt of her head, the pressure of her tongue, and he gave her free reign to do what she wanted. Clearly, something had shaken her and he didn't want her to be worried all night like that. Soon both of her hands were on his shoulders and she was pressing, turning him onto his back and sitting up. She straddled his abdomen, leaned forward on her hands and stared down at him hesitantly.

Well, that wasn't like her, being tentative. Remus stared back, trying to think of something that would break the tension that she seemed to have building. With an expression that was half-coy, half-incredulous, he grabbed a lock of her hair and tugged at it gently, getting her to lean down another few inches.

"Is there some sort of plan here?" he asked cheekily with smiling eyes, "or were you just 'winging it', so to speak?"

It worked. Ivy smiled, started laughing, leaned all the way forward. "Shut up," she directed, snatching his bottom lip up between her own. She finally sat down, and Remus moaned outright when he felt her wet against his stomach. Ivy sighed, rocking her hips back and forth over his skin. "Missed you," she murmured headily, pulling her hair over one shoulder so it wouldn't get in her way, and dropping her mouth to his neck.

"Likewise," he groaned, his head falling back against the rug.

"What I should do…" she pointed out between licks along his throat, "is send you outside… in the freezing… cold… just as you are… for what you did…"

She felt the start of his laughter underneath her, beneath his ribs and next to his heart, felt his hands grab her by the waist. But she didn't expect him to flip her over like that without so much as a warning or a 'by your leave'. Nevertheless, Ivy found herself on her back seconds later with him staring down at her, a bemused expression on his face. "Then why don't you let me make it up to you?" he suggested.

It was the errant look in his eye that curved her lips into a smile, that made her say, "Do your worst, then," and lie back without the slightest apprehension. She curled her toes and rubbed her legs together as she felt him start to trace the curves of her body. Ivy reached out, threaded her fingers through silver-cinnamon hair, shifted and arched under his hands.

And as they continued touching and playing, Ivy started to notice something. As Remus' tongue trailed softly from her navel to her neck, she shivered in approval. And then she felt him shiver.

"Wait a minute," she forced out.

Remus stopped immediately, fearing as always that something was wrong. "What?"

"It's nothing," she said instantly. "Just try something for me. I want you to focus on what you feel while you're touching me."

Remus raised an eyebrow in a puzzled but amused fashion, but he didn't seem to know what to do with that direction. So Ivy brought his head down to her breast, and said, "Okay, you can't stop just because I said something confusing. That is not fair to my senses which are all on overdrive right now."

"Your senses?" Remus said incredulously, feeling playful, stopping her retort by tracing a nipple with his tongue. "You have no idea what it feels like to have your senses in overdrive! Not one clue." She tried to interrupt again, and this time was stopped as he blew cool air over the same area. "Your senses don't get heightened the way mine do. I can hear your heart beating faster and harder, I can smell your pheromones."

"Really?" Ivy managed to press out in amazement.

"Really."

A graze with his teeth.

"Oh God, Remus – "

"Yes, Ivy?" he inquired devilishly, a sly grin on his face.

She pulled him down to her breast again, her back arching up against her will. "Just… suck! Or do something! You can't keep stopping like that!"

He smiled and did just as she requested, a rush of pleasure pulsing through him as she mewled and bunched her fists in the rug. And suddenly, he felt a flash of something else, something that did not come from his own reactions to her. He felt a shudder run through his body, all the way down to his pelvis and back up to his head, where he now felt a little dizzy.

He sat up and clutched his head, trying to figure out what had just happened. Ivy sat up too.

"You felt it, didn't you?"

He looked to her quizzically. "What was that?"

"I'm not quite sure. You'll have to let me try something first."

Remus nodded to give her the go ahead, and then watched in some shock as Ivy reached her hand down between his legs and began stroking softly. He gasped at the sensation, which was now twining with all the other impressions that had just washed over him, and tried to keep himself somewhat in check, even though that place at the back of his brain that he could usually ignore was screaming at him to take Ivynow.

After a moment, Ivy felt strong sensations spreading through her body, and though she knew they were pleasurable, she could not identify them as her own.

"It's like we're getting echoes of what each other are feeling," she tried to explain. "It must be part of the claiming."

Remus tried to shake off his other thoughts, his eyes narrowing in contemplation. "So when that happened just now, I was feeling something of what you feel?"

"I think so."

He mulled that over for a moment. "You get dizzy like that?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. "You have a much greater affect on me than I think you realize."

He couldn't think of anything to say. Somehow, "wow" just didn't cut it. But he was worried for her all the same.

"If you don't think this is a good idea, we don't have to – "

"Stop right there," Ivy demanded. "You don't get out of this one. Besides, I'm much too curious now."

Remus couldn't deny that he was too. "All right," he said slowly. After allowing a few more seconds to collect his thoughts, Remus pushed Ivy back down onto the rug, and lowered his lips to hers gently. Time to really start things up then.

Staying alongside her, Remus let one hand drift down past her chest, over her stomach, down between her legs, where he cupped her for a moment and watched her eyes shut slowly. Carefully, he parted her folds and stroked, just to the side of her center, as he knew she preferred that to direct pressure.

"Yes," Ivy breathed, just as he started to feel the echo of her senses. It wasn't as though he was feeling exactly what she felt, but even a general idea of it was enough to distract him, adding to his own arousal and confusing him completely. But he refocused his attention, forced himself to breathe, to keep close watch on her expressions and sounds.

He left his thumb to rub gently, moving his other fingers down further still, teasing against her slick opening. "Do you want me to – " he started breathlessly, not finishing because she nodded instantly.

He pressed one finger in, but she suddenly whispered, "two", and so he listened, sliding in two fingers, pushing them in and out a few times. Then he felt carefully, looking for that spot…

He ran over it and paused, crooking his fingers and pressing hard. Ivy gasped sharply at the same time that his vision went momentarily black, and he gave them both a moment to adjust. Once he was seeing clearly and she was beginning to squirm, he looked down at her curiously. "I'm in the right place?" he questioned, just to be sure.

She smiled faintly, her eyes soft, her mind hazing over. "What do you think?"

Remus leaned down and kissed her, his skin tingling everywhere as he pushed firmly against that spot over and over…

Ivy was panting and keening without thought, feeling that slow, deep build rack her from head to toe. She had avoided this side of sex with most men she'd been with in her life because they were clumsy and inelegant, they didn't care enough, but not him, of course not her husband, with those long, clever fingers of his, and oh, God damn him, how did he do that –

"Remus…" she whispered weakly, "oh God…"

When she felt that long, rolling shudder, she heard his breath catch in his chest, and realized that he was feeling it with her. "Ivy," he gasped before burying his face against her neck. She moaned in reply, incapable of speaking, still riding out that incredible high.

After what seemed like forever or maybe just a few minutes, Remus pulled back from her neck, stared at her in amazement. "So… that's what that feels like?"

Ivy laughed giddily. "That's part of what that feels like. You're not even getting it full force, remember?"

He snorted, propping up on one elbow so he could stare at her properly. "I think I ought to be jealous," he said laughingly, still slightly winded.

"You think you ought to be?" Ivy repeated. "Excuse me? I think you are."

He grinned. "Well, when I think about how many times I can do that to you in an evening, then yes, I am most definitely jealous."

Ivy giggled, brushing the sweat from his brow and kissing the tip of his nose. "Don't worry, dear, there are plenty of things you can do, that I will never be able to do." Her smile twisted slightly. "Speaking of which…"

His eyes widened at her suggestion. "Give me a second to recover, will you? That's the first time I've ever experienced anything resembling a female orgasm – I think I deserve a moment's rest."

Ivy laughed and shifted closer. Ah, the advantages of being a woman; different types of orgasms and faster recovery time. As she waited for his breathing to slow, his movements to become more deliberate, she kept the immediacy between them, touching, kissing, gently teasing with her tongue.

After some time, while Ivy was stroking between his knees with her feet, gently massaging his back as she kissed his chest, he looked down at her lazily and spoke with mock seriousness. "You know if you keep all of that up, I'm going to end up thinking that you want me to make love to you, or something…"

"That so?" she taunted back. "How terrible of me, then…"

He chuckled. "Yes, you are a vicious being."

She smirked. "Oh, yes, absolutely. That's why you married me, you know, we're both so vicious. So why don't you stop talking and make love to me, or something?"

He was about to respond to the cheeky way that she'd turned his words on him, when Ivy grabbed him by the back of his neck and brought his lips down to hers, driving him into a leisurely, deep kiss. Remus fell into the embrace, paid special attention to how he couldn't tell where his feelings ended and hers began. It was going to make things interesting, he was sure…

Ivy's arms encircled his back and she pulled him down so that he was lying on top of her. Their sweat mingled, their breathing became ragged again, and finally Remus decided that there was no reason to hold out any longer.

When he broke their kiss, Ivy's legs parted further out of instinct. He looked carefully into her eyes, making sure that he wouldn't miss any sign if she didn't want this, staying cautious. Claiming could still be a dangerous act, and it unnerved him.

"Are you ready?" he asked softly.

She nodded.

When he slipped into her, he felt the sensations twofold. His head reeled with too much emotional information at once. It was enough that they had spent weeks apart and all of this had been relief beyond measure. Adding her own feelings to his now, when they were like this, just made everything spin out of control. He took a minute to let the jumble settle in his mind.

Ivy seemed to be having similar feelings, as she looked completely thunderstruck and dazed, her eyes darting around the room, every breath she took seeming difficult for her. Remus almost pulled out, concerned that it might be too much for her, but when he shifted back, Ivy's legs came up and wrapped around him, holding him in place. That still wasn't close enough for her, apparently, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as well, drawing him down to her.

She was shaking hard and her heart was beating so fast – too fast – and she kept a firm grip on him, so he couldn't lift his head and see if anything was wrong. But as he felt her heave shuddering breaths against his shoulder, he realized that she was taking her moment to adjust. She was holding him close to feel connected, to sort out what was physical and what wasn't.

He suddenly realized that this was probably where the 'damage' occurred for some during claiming. The partner mentally blew off their hinges because the couple went too fast, didn't allow time to regulate what they experienced, to sort everything out and just feel.

But Ivy had good instincts. She knew what she needed. And he carefully stroked a hand down her side to let her know he understood. He gave her time.

Finally, her breathing had slowed to a reasonable pace and her arms relaxed, letting him draw back to look at her. She seemed to have settled into it well now, her eyes lazily half-opened and staring at his lips, her hands trailing willfully over her own body, knowing that he would feel the touch on his own skin. She nodded ever so slightly, squeezed with her legs to let him know that it was time.

And so he rocked, beginning a rhythm slowly but surely. Ivy set her head back and let her hands wander everywhere they could find space and skin. Their pace started out calm and fluid and he never took his eyes off of her, always checking to make sure that he hadn't done anything to hurt her. But she never looked scared or hesitant, and her hips were thrusting up to meet his, so he assumed that she was all right.

As the pace picked up, however, he began to worry. Ivy was always very vocal when they made love, but when he had entered her this time, she had not made one sound since. She was so silent, in fact, that it was making him nervous.

But the feelings that he was receiving from her were staggeringly pleasurable, made it difficult to see straight, so she wasn't in pain. Her eyes were dark and wide, her lips parted, her whole body flushed, so she did desire what was happening.

He still had to make sure.

"Ivy…?"

"Don't stop," she whispered.

So he didn't. And he felt his awareness of her grow around him. Suddenly, he wasn't quite sure that they were separate people anymore. He had always heard those absurd stories where people claimed that they had "joined in spirit" with someone while they had sex, that "their bodies became one". He had always thought that was ridiculous, as he was always very aware that he was with another person, a separate human being with their own thoughts and emotions. That was the point, wasn't it?

But now his thoughts and emotions were blurring with hers, even more than before. He had never been so wrapped up in another before. And he knew that no one had ever known her like this before, not this close. So he could lay claim to her. It was the only thing that made sense.

And his mind spoke something that he would never utter aloud.

You belong to me eternally. Every part of you is mine.

It wasn't about male superiority or power over another. It was simply the truth. If she had felt the same about him, he wouldn't have argued.

You belong to me eternally. Every part of you is mine.

And though he hadn't whispered one word of it –

– Ivy nodded.

And at that moment they both reached climax, something that Remus vaguely realized shouldn't have been possible in their position. Ivy came with a hard gasp, her hands keeping a frantic grip on his back as though she feared she couldn't hold on. Remus moaned in the back of his throat and felt his entire body racked with a sudden explosion of energy unlike anything he had ever felt. Somehow, they both managed to keep their eyes open, to look at each other and see what they had done, though the rest of the world seemed to white out and go molten.

They stared for a long time.

Eventually, Remus realized that he could not hold himself there, and he pulled out, resting next to her on his side. There, he continued to look at her, trying to wrap his brain around what had just happened between them. But what he felt worried him.

Because he could feel her next to him. He could feel her trembling.

"Ivy? What's wrong?"

When she turned on her side to face him, he saw the fresh tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm fine," she whispered defiantly. "It was just… intense…"

Remus could almost have laughed at the obviousness of that statement, but he waited for her to collect her thoughts.

"Thank you," were the next words that came out.

"What?" Remus asked perplexedly. "Why would you feel the need to thank me?"

She shook her head, trying to indicate that he didn't understand. "I mean, for asking me to do this. You gave me a gift, really."

He stared uncomfortably at her, not wanting this kind of praise from her after what had just happened. "Ivy…"

"I'm sorry," she said shakily, trying to stop him from over-analyzing her response, "I'm just trying to figure out exactly what that was, and I'm a little fuzzy on it right now. I just know that it was something much larger than me, and I wasn't expecting that…. It makes me feel small, that's all."

He wiped one of her tears away with a thumb. "I feel small too," he confessed, only recognizing that the statement was true after he had said it. He paused and watched her, tried to figure out what came next. "What do you need me to do right now?"

One hand reached out to him. "Just… hold me. I know that sounds stupid, but I need you to do that tonight. I need you to not let go."

He nodded perceptively and pulled her to him, one arm going around her waist, the other under her head, so he could pillow it and cocoon around her. Breathing in deeply, he closed his eyes. Yes, he knew this scent. This perfect scent of the two of them together in every possible way. And the undercurrent aroma of some kind of unidentifiable magic somehow made it all come together beautifully.

He heard her sigh as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Ivy – "

"I know."

Remus smiled and kissed her forehead before allowing sleep to take him.

So... how was that+gives evil laugh+ I told you they'd be fine. I promised, right? Hope you guys were all right with everything, and that I didn't offend anyone. And don't worry, Sirius and Gwen get to have some fun in the next chapter (no, not that kind of fun, you perverts). And for those of you waiting for more serious parts of the plot, they're coming up quicker than you think, so don't worry. TTFN!