Narcissa Black stepped to the door Lucius Malfoy had charmed locked behind himself as he abandoned her in his ancestral manor to face the wrath of the Dark Lord herself. She stooped to the keyhole where she could close one eye and see into the corridor outside. It was empty, no guard, no sign of the only Death Eater left who might help her. Not her sister Bellatrix, not her brother-in-law Rodolphus, but Fenrir Greyback. She didn't understand the connection he had to Lupin. It had begun in violence and revenge. But now it was something else, something like a bizarre proud legacy. And with no sign of Sirius and Potter and the Order of the Phoenix coming to their rescue tonight, it was the last chance they had for help.

Clearing her throat, Narcissa took a deep breath and called out a wordless tone in the ultrasonic range Lucius would never know she had. No one would hear it but other creatures. Lupin might be too far away for it, but Greyback, on the above ground levels of the house, might sense it, especially if he had been convinced by Lupin to be watching her.

But minutes passed and no one came. She called again, and then again. It had to work. Her tones grew higher, louder, until she was hoarse and light-headed, near tears with desperation.

Her upper register faltered and she beat her hand once against the door. "Please come," she called to the empty corridor. "Please, I can't let them hurt him."

There were heavy footfalls on the floorboards. Through the keyhole, she saw Greyback bounding down the hall, fast and frantic in his movements, like Moony, massive but lithe.

Narcissa stood back as his hand grasped the door knob. The lock was charmed shut on the inside only, so Bellatrix and Druella Black could continue to come and go as they pleased. It meant that Greyback could throw the door open with ease, swearing and wild-eyed. "What is all the bloody racket?"

She moved to dash past him, out of the room, but he caught her in the crook of his arm, squeezing her in a painful hold against his front, like a mauling bear.

"Lupin," she said, her ribs aching in his hold. "We need to get him and leave before the Dark Lord learns he's bound to me. He'll know it as soon as he tries to bind Malfoy to me and sees it can't be done."

Greyback's already craggy brow crinkled further, his teeth visible, blood always on his breath. "Can't you have them both, slut that you are?"

She shook her head, breathless. "No, it's not possible, even if I wanted it. And I don't want Malfoy. I chose Lupin. And as long as he lives, I can't, I won't accept another."

Greyback crushed her further, forcing a cry out of her. "I'm not a fool, witch. You formed a betrothal bond with Malfoy before you bonded with my boy. You're already bound to both of them, and lying to me about it."

She gasped to draw breath enough to speak. "It's not a lie. Malfoy breached the engagement pledge by forcing Legilimency on me. He broke it himself before I went to Lupin," she said. "Believe me. You have to believe me, or Lupin dies. We lose him if we do nothing tonight. He'll be destroyed, and with him goes everything he could have done for his kind."

He dropped her like a sack of silky white rubbish at his feet. "Get up, witch. Come along. And if you've crossed me, if any bit of you belongs to Malfoy, so help me - "

"I haven't," she said through a cough, refilling her lungs, pushing herself to her feet. "I swear. Please. Malfoy himself has probably fled by now. We've got to leave this house before anyone figures out there will be no wedding tomorrow."

With a grunt he shoved her ahead of himself, out into the empty corridor.

She had no wand and was afraid to insult him by asking for a Disillusionment spell in case he didn't know how to cast one. For all she knew, every werewolf in the country but Remus himself was unschooled, self-taught and mostly in survival spells for fighting and speed.

And so, they moved through the manor dangerously exposed, Narcissa white and shining and taking twice the usual space, holding the skirts of her grandmother's wedding dress coiled around one arm, creeping toward the servants' staircase.

A peal of forced, pained group laughter rose up through the floor. The Death Eaters were in the dining room below, in a meeting in advance of the wedding. Perhaps Malfoy was still there.

No one accosted them as they made their way to the darkened kitchens. Barefoot, Narcissa broke into a run, sprinting toward the cellar stairs, to Lupin. Greyback caught her arm. "You wait here."

There was nothing she hated more than waiting. "He'll trust you more quickly if I'm with you."

"He'll trust me quickly or I'll leave you both here to rot."

She nodded. "Right. Just - please don't forget me once he's free."

He relished her mistrust, took pleasure in it, grinning malevolently. "And what if I do?"

"I'm still the only viable mother for the dark chosen one," she lied. "If you - "

All at once, his grin vanished and he hissed her into silence as he doused the light of his wand. She had yet to hear anything, but Greyback had sensed someone coming. It was a single step of footsteps, leaving Greyback more curious than afraid as he shoved Narcissa's head below the level of a kitchen work table. They watched through its legs, through the stacked pots and pans beneath it, as a wizard came grumbling into the room, wrapped in a long, heavy traveling cloak.

There he was, the elegant Lucius Malfoy gathering food and tucking it into a rucksack like a moody schoolboy playing at running away from home. He was slow and indecisive, hadn't quite made his escape yet. And he wouldn't.

Pouncing from behind the table, Greyback stupefied him with a blast to the back. He fell with a crash as his stiffened body collided with a metal tray on the counter in front of him, knocking it to the floor. Narcissa was on him, searching his robes for her wand. If she couldn't find it, she'd have to take his, which seemed intimate and vile. But there was hers, fine and dark, heavier than it looked. She tossed it between her hands. "Thank you for bringing this to me, Lucius darling," she taunted him as he lay trapped in the spell.

Greyback was already at the cellar stairs, his wand lit, whistling low for Lupin.

He was at the iron grate, his eyes wide, his hopes realized but not wanting to seem too gratified. "What is it, father Greyback? What's happened?"

"Your Miss says they're onto you," he answered, a growl in his voice. "I won't have them snuffing out our educated gentleman werewolf. Too much at stake. Now hush up and move."

Lupin moved but kept talking. "My Miss? Where is she? I can't go unless - "

Greyback flicked open the cellar door, clawing through the opening to haul Lupin out. "Quit your babbling and come on," Greyback said. From his cloak, he produced Lupin's wand, mashing it against his chest.

Lupin grappled after it with both hands, following Greyback up the stairs. Something flashed in his peripheral vision and before he knew what it was Narcissa had flung her arms around him. He recognized her by feel and scent before he saw her clearly, his own arms snatching at her. There seemed to be more of her than usual. She was covered in yards of white fabric, fine and luxurious.

He held her at arm's length. Yes, she had come for him in a full wedding regalia, pearls in her hair and Andromeda's fake opal on her finger. "Cissa, what in the stars?"

She kissed his cheek, laughing with relief at seeing him, at finding him his same stodgy self, as always. "It's just a dress, Lupin. Come on. The servants' exit is this way," she said. "Mind you don't tread on the brave lord of the manor stupefied here on the floor, caught in the act of scarpering."

Lupin rushed after her, skidding over the glazed terracotta tiles, reaching for her hand, more concerned about treading on her skirts than on Malfoy's stiff and motionless body. But there were voices in his ears, getting louder. The clatter of the fallen tray was bringing someone to investigate, annoyed and complaining. Narcissa couldn't hear it but both of the werewolves could.

They paused for just an instant to look at one another across the kitchen, Greyback's eyes burning with the hex-green light that never went out. It was a moment of great, painful decision for him. Remus knew it.

"Father Greyback - "

"Never forget. This is for our kind's chosen one." And with that, he turned his wand and stupefied himself.

Narcissa reeled as his wand flashed, clutching at Remus for support. "What's he done?"

"Survived. Made it look like we overpowered them," Lupin said, throwing his arm over her shoulders and bearing toward the door. "For failing to stop us, he'll be chastised and shamed, but he won't be executed like he would be if they knew he abetted us."

They hadn't escaped outside when a shadow crossed the kitchen door. A tall, lean Death Eater had arrived. He was the man who had tackled and disarmed Lucius when they first apparated into the drawing room that morning, Antonin Dolohov. He snarled out his curses in a language neither Narcissa nor Remus knew, impossible to counter.

Narcissa shielded them against the first one, but Dolohov's attacks were relentless and brutal, like nothing either of them had ever seen in their Defense Against the Dark Arts training. As other Death Eaters shouted just outside the kitchen door, Remus knew they were about to be outnumbered as well as outperformed. He nudged Narcissa to the floor, her shield faltering. Crouching, both of them crawled for the servants' exit. Remus reached for the door's handle, knowing if it was locked, they were finished. It didn't matter. One of the curses flying overhead blew most of the door away, leaving a hole, cool air rushing in. Narcissa held Remus and rolled out into the workyard where they would be free to apparate.

They clambered to their feet. "Go. Go back to James and Sirius and get everyone to the school," Remus said. "I'll distract this lot until you're safe."

She shoved him into the shadows, out of the yellow beam of light coming from the kitchen doorway. "No. Tonight, it's me they want. They'll stop chasing everyone if I stay. Kiss me and go."

Leaving her was too ridiculous to argue about. Remus did kiss her, quickly, as he grabbed at her with both arms, already turning, ready to apparate them away and sort the rest of this mess later.

But the Death Eaters were in the yard now. Dolohov was in sight, slinging his wand from behind his head. A stream of crackling light, like a long purple rope extended from its tip, circling Remus and Narcissa like a lariat, keeping them from leaving.

When they saw the young people were caught, sneering laughter rose up from the Death Eaters. There were three of them. One turned back into the manor to break up the dining room meeting and get help while two stayed in the yard.

"Yes, wasn't that an exciting diversion?" Dolohov said, following the strand of his crackling purple magic, sauntering toward the captured pair. "Once a runaway bride, always a runaway bride. Is that it?"

"This incorrigible slut," Amycus Carrow was crowing, coming to stand behind Dolohov, shouting at them over his shoulder. "The Dark Lord simply cannot allow her to remain the chosen mother after this second outburst."

"Why not make sure of it?" Dolohov said, close enough for his prisoners to smell the drink on him now. "What if little Miss Black didn't survive her escape attempt? So sad, but what if that brute of a Greyback killed her in the kitchen before any of us could stop him? Who'd believe the denial of a werewolf over the word of two wizards? Because we both saw him do it, didn't we Amycus?"

Carrow's jaw dropped, horrified and impressed all at once. "Why yes," he said. "Come to think of it, that is exactly what I saw."

Dolohov laughed, lifting his finger to swipe Narcissa's hair out of her eyes, his ragged fingertip snagging against her smooth forehead. "So very pretty. My type exactly. An awful shame."

"Don't touch." The noise had come from Remus's mouth but it hadn't been spoken in his voice. It was the low, guttural sound, barely language. Narcissa had heard him speak like that only twice before. It was the edge of Moony, coming on not at the command of the phases of the moon, but in response to his bond with the woman now menaced and touched against her will.

"Lupin, no," she was saying, knowing that if they knew what he was, he'd be killed on the spot, his werewolf strength bound up by Dolohov's spell. If he could stay a man, he might keep his wits and escape again, especially if they killed her first. If he stayed a man, there was still hope.

She was ranting, desperate. "Hold it in, Lupin. Breathe. Look at me. Use your voice, language. Don't let them do this to you."

Dolohov was laughing at them. "The brave little fancy man from the papers tells me not to touch. How's that?" He thrust his hand into Narcissa's hair, his fingers on her scalp, baring her neck and yanking her head back with a viscous jerk. She bit back a scream but couldn't keep from wincing and stiffening as Dolohov pulled at her. But all she said was, "I'm alright, Lupin. Hold it in."

The sight of Dolohov's arm, tense as he pulled at Narcissa's head, wracked Lupin's body with a spasm. Dolohov's magic lariat seemed to be tightening around them, only it wasn't. Lupin was growing, his shoulders sloping and broadening, legs bending and lengthening, his clothing straining and splitting, revealing his body now covered in a brown pelt growing denser by the second.

"Lupin, no."

Dolohov stumbled away from them, letting go of Narcissa's hair but gripping ever harder on his wand and the magical purple cord that kept control over what was now a fully transformed werewolf growling and snapping in their midst.

Carrow let out a yelp and scuttled back to the kitchen door, calling for Greyback, or anyone else in the house to come help.

Narcissa spoke to Moony, lashed against his heaving, growling body by Dolohov's magic, her face inches from his teeth. "Lupin, change back. Stop it, love. You have to - "

He snarled in her face, his breath hot and angry. She shrunk back, lowering her eyelids over the flaming gold now shot through her irises. Her inner Veela thrilled at his nearness, every cell of her blood vibrating, her skin aglow, fire inside her rising up to meet him. In an instant, she would be a fierce creature herself.

Dolohov couldn't launch a killing curse at them while his wand was occupied with restraining them. An accomplice had to join him. "Carrow!" he was calling, not taking his eyes off them. "Carrow, you useless hack, get back here."

"I'll have Greyback revived in a moment - "

"No, you idiot. Leave him. One look at one of his own kind and the werewolf will be on their side, not ours," he said. "Come quick."

Carrow was returning, coming trembling back into the yard. As he approached, Narcissa's head was lolling, still in the throes of her own transformation. The silk of the wedding dress, already taut between Narcissa's shoulder blades, was tearing apart as her wings unfurled. Moony howled and thrashed against the purple restraining magic. It sparked and burned, singeing his hair and branding his flesh.

Dolohov fought to hold them. "Carrow, now! Your wand! The killing curse!"

Carrow fumbled for his wand, tripping into range, still shaking.

Narcissa screeched into the sky above their heads, her hands contorting, fire flaring from her fingertips. Orange flames lit the yard like a warning, or perhaps a distress signal.

At the flash of light, Dolohov and Carrow dropped to their stomachs on the gravel ground, the whip spell barely holding. Dolohov snarled and forced his wand into Carrow's hand as he took Carrow's wand. He would cast the killing spell himself. He was on his knees, his wand arm raised, the incantation half uttered when the yard was lit with a second flash, not orange, but gold, whiter and brighter than the first volley of fire.

Dolohov dropped to his stomach again. The wand clattered out of Carrow's grip as he yelped and covered his head with both his hands. The whip spell failed and the creatures were free. Without a pause, the werewolf swept the Veela into his arms and sprinted into the darkness.

The Death Eaters raised their heads, shocked to find the yard still shimmering and golden even after the Veela had gone. And then they saw. The second flash hadn't been her magic, not the magic of any single creature or witch or wizard. The source of the golden light was a pair of figures hovering overhead, seated together on a broom, almost too bright to look at.

Carrow squinted up at them, his arm lifted against their light as he lay in the dirt. A cry of surprise rose up from him as the yard went dark again. "They've come - the parents of the chosen one, the soulmate pair. They're here."

James and Sirius wheeled their brooms over Malfoy Manor's kitchen yard. Peter was with Moody, searching the far side of the sprawling manor, leaving Sirius and James, with Lily clinging to James's back, to find Remus and Narcissa in a terrible fix, trapped by Death Eaters.

James and Lily had cast a shield spell together with astounding results. James's parents had told them this kind of amplified magic was possible between soulmate pairs, but the power of it was shocking nonetheless. Sirius floated aghast at their side, fading back into darkness as they dropped their shield and retreated, searching for the trail of the fleeing creatures.

"Did you see them?" Sirius was calling through the air as they flew in a tight quidditch formation. "He'd gone full Moony somehow. And Narcissa throwing fire - that must have been her Veela form."

"Oh, most certainly," Lily said. "With the wings and everything, like something out of an old book. We should be able to see the light from her skin."

"Right," James said, squinting at the trees below them.

Sirius was shaking his head. "I don't see anything. Could she be flying?"

"Flying carrying Remus?" Lily said.

"Not just Remus," James said. "Moony. He's massive. A real beast. Imagine yourself carrying Prongs, love. That's the scale of it. They've got to be on foot."

"We'd better regroup with Moody and Peter," Lily said, glancing back at the manor as it shrunk away behind them.

"Do what you like," Sirius said. "But I'm not going near that manor again unless it's to get Remus. Not when they may be dispatching every Death Eater they've got to hunt for him."

Knowing James was of the same mind as Sirius, Lily gave him a single nod, bobbed her chin into his shoulder. It was agreed. They would press on.

"Remember what Remus told you," James said to her as they chased after Sirius. "He will kill you if he meets you as a werewolf. If we find him, you have to leave, Lily. Take the broom and fly away as fast as you can. I'll stay with Sirius."

"James, no. We promised we wouldn't split up - "

"It can't be helped," he said. "Sirius and I can transform into creatures and he won't hurt us, but you - Remus doesn't know you when he's Moony. It's not his fault. It's just what he is. We'll find him and then you'll have to go. No matter what."

She made him no promises but held him closer, dread rising in her chest as they flew. James watched the ground and Sirius scanned the sky. Lily watched for anything appearing behind them, hoping to see Moody and Peter, but expecting the Death Eaters. The manor was lit up now, a light in every window, every door thrown open, shouts and flashes of light.

"Stars, Peter, be careful," she whispered back into the night as they circled the grounds, unable to make a retreat yet, even as their enemies advanced.

Ahead of them, Sirius's arm went up. "There!"

Below them, a soft white glow lit the trees. The light had a shape, that of a slender woman. It was Veela Narcissa, clinging to Moony's back as he beat back the forest undergrowth, swinging his claws and arms as if they were machetes. "They're getting away on their own," Sirius said, "but not fast enough. Not with the Death Eaters coming on brooms, as mad as they are."

It was true. They needed to get away by apparation, back to the school grounds where they couldn't be followed by people not authorized to be there. And apparation was something only elves and witches and wizards in human form could do.

All three of them understood. "Right," Lily said. "The pair of you take your creature forms, lead them to me, and I'll apparate them back, one in each hand."

James scoffed. "While Moony tears out your throat. No. Absolutely not."

"Prongs and Padfoot will be there to calm him," she argued.

"That's not how it works," James said. "We can redirect Moony, but we can't change his nature. We protect him by never letting him get near a human. If he sees you, he'll ignore us completely and do what he's cursed to do. Don't put him through that, Lily. Don't do that to me. I can't - "

"There they are! Come on, James!" Sirius was calling as he tilted his broom into a dive.

"Rus, wait!" He swore and followed after him. "Don't you step off this broom, Lily Potter. Follow from above, but you cannot let Moony see you."

Again, she promised him nothing, but prepared to begin piloting the broom as they descended. Below them, Sirius had already dropped his broom away, landing on the ground as Padfoot. James was next, slipping over the side of the broom and springing to the forest floor as Prongs. Together they were bounding toward Moony and the Veela, intent on shepherding them faster and farther away from the manor.

Lily followed from the treetops on the broom. Compared to the speed of flight, the creatures on foot moved painfully slowly. She kept her cover, resisting the urge to cheer for them to hurry along. When would Remus change back? Was this untimely fit of lycanthropy going to last until the moon set, as it typically did?

There was no time to find out. From the manor, a fireball burst over the grounds. As its crash and its rumble died away, Lily heard a shriek, and saw a silhouette rising on a broom in front of the fire. A sense tripped in her. All at once, she was thinking of Petunia, and she knew whose silhouette it was. It was Bellatrix Black Lestrange, enraged and coming to collect her little sister.

Enough with silence, Lily was calling down to the lads. "James, hurry. They're almost here."

As soon as she spoke it, she regretted it, knowing what would come next. Either James or Sirius would return to human form and risk apparating with the werewolf even after they told her it would mean certain death. Knowing James and Sirius, they would each try to beat the other to doing it. It was a chance she could not take, and she dived toward the ground.

Prongs and Padfoot were still a ways off, herding from behind when Lily landed in front of Moony, stumbling to find her feet. He reared up to his full height at the sight of her, the Veela sliding off his back to stand next to him. They were massive, terrifying. All of Lily's skin prickled with panic, everything in her screaming at her to run. She had meant to grab at Remus and disapparate before he could react, but now that she stood in his presence, she saw that his arms were so long she'd be swatted away, torn to shreds before she could touch him.

Already he was coiling himself low, a growl rumbling in his chest.

Padfoot was barking madly as he and Prongs sprinted toward them. There was a glow of green fire in the sky as Bellatrix closed in from above, her voice wailing on the wind. In desperation, Lily spoke to the Veela. "Narcissa Black, can you understand me?" she said. "It's Lily. Get Remus to change back. We need to be human so we can disapparate. We'll be caught like this, and we won't leave him. They're almost here. Please - "

Moony could tell she was addressing the Veela and he snarled, his teeth snapping.

Lily closed her mouth on a scream. She couldn't tell if Narcissa was listening at all, her eyes fixed on the sky, on the spreading green lights, the source of Bellatrix's voice.

Then the Veela took Moony's long, tawny face in her hands, she pressed her forehead against his brow and rubbed her nose against his snout. There was a high hum in her throat, almost songlike. His hex-green eyes blinked and the murderous tension in his shoulders slipped. As she held him, a tear fell from her flaming golden eye, coursing down his snout and between his jaws. He tasted the salt and lapped at it with his tongue.

Prongs and Padfoot arrived, throwing off their creature forms to stand on either side of Lily, wands drawn, panting and beginning to cajole Moony when Lily hushed them.

Moony flinched at their arrival but the Veela held his face, his eyes. It took a moment before everyone was sure that he was shrinking, his features smoothing, the pelt thinning. In a moment more, he was Remus, standing shivering in a cold sweat in the dark of the forest. The Veela didn't resist him as he tipped his head away from her face, looking past her head to where her wings bobbed gently over her shoulders. He didn't speak, but laughed, gently and quietly, his long, white fingers, smoothing over the edge of one wing.

James cleared his throat as he came forward, covering Remus with his cloak. "Time to go, mate."

Sirius care forward carefully to take the Veela by her luminous white arm. Maybe it was the force of their kinship at work, but she seemed to understand, and closed her lips over her fangs.

With Bellatrix Lestrange's screech of defeat in their ears, the five of them apparated to the safety of the school.

With a crack, they arrived just outside the gates to the Hogwarts grounds and stumbled into the zone inside which no one but the headmaster could apparate. Once inside, all of them collapsed on the green.

Narcissa's wings were gone, her Veela standing down. Moving exhausted on her knees she found Remus and threw herself over him where he lay. "Are you alright? Stars, Lupin. That evil restraining spell, I could smell it burning you. Let me see how you're hurt," she said, tugging at the cloak in spite of it being the only thing covering Remus.

"Hey, no - wait," he said. "Cissa, stop. It's nothing so serious that I need to expose myself to Mrs. Potter over it."

"Honestly, Remus mate, we're way past that," James said.

Remus groaned through a laugh. "Sorry. I didn't expect any of this tonight. Turns out I'm murderously protective of my girl."

Lily shrugged. "No apology needed. It's an honor to no longer be the only one of us who hadn't met Moony."

Narcissa sniffed. "We don't say that word in this house. It's all just Lupin."

A dubious muttering went up from the lads.

"All I mean is thanks, mates," Remus said. "Truly the best friends ever. Though - where's Pete?"

"With Moody," Sirius said, jostling Remus in a loving headlock. "They're bound to figure out what's happened and make it back soon, or get chased off. Did you hear our Bella carrying on over the treetops as we left? She clearly didn't find what she wanted. Stars, I wouldn't want to be Malfoy tonight."

Narcissa was keenly uncomfortable, almost guilty looking as she got to her feet in her shredded heirloom wedding dress. "That's another name I never want to hear again. Come on, Lupin. Let's go. We both need to clean up and find some clothes."

"And where do you think you're going to get those?" Sirius called to her. "We didn't come all this way so you could march into the Slytherin dorm where Snape is no doubt waiting to take you right back to the manor."

"Snape doesn't scare me," she said. It didn't come out as defiantly as she intended, remembering all the soul darkening sweets she'd been unwittingly feeding them over the past two years. Maybe he should scare her. "Fine, I'd rather go home with you lot and sleep in Lupin's bed anyway."

Sirius was sputtering. "Like bloody hell you will - "

"Black family, please," Lily called over them. "I'm invoking Head Girl authority here. James and I will make a report to Dumbledore, and I'm sure he'll find new living arrangements for Narcissa. He's expecting us to return with her tonight already. But it's late. So for tonight," she winked at James, "Narcissa can stay in a safe place within the protective bounds of Hogwarts but outside the castle. The Shrieking Shack should do nicely."

"Of course, it's designated specifically for Remus's use," James continued. "So he'll have to go with her."

Narcissa was more than content with this, turning to grin into Lupin's face.

He looked back at her, puzzled. "None of the clothes I keep there will fit you," he said.

Her grin was now a knowing smirk.

Sirius swore at the ground, shaking his head.

"I'll have some of your things sent over," Lily rushed to say. "One of the Slytherin prefect girls can help with that."

They parted ways again, Narcissa and Remus heading for the willow passage, Sirius, James, and Lily climbing toward the castle.

James groaned and draped an arm over Lily's shoulders. "Is anyone else completely knackered? So many stairs between us and the pinnacle of Gryffindor Tower."

"Stairs and a debriefing meeting with Dumbledore," she said.

To the west, a broom with its bristles on fire streaked into the school grounds.

"Apparating without getting off the broom first? That will be Moody. Sure hope he's still got Pete," Sirius said. "I'd better go let them know we've got Remus and the fight's over for tonight."

Lily and James continued their walk alone. He bent to mash a sloppy kiss against her cheek.

She squealed and wiped her face. "What was that for?"

"I'm not too tired to show you how glad I am you're still safe and here with me," he said, "You took a huge risk confronting Moony. You couldn't have known the Veela could tame him like that."

"No, but I suspected," she said. "If I was a werewolf, I think I could hold back my murder-curse if you asked me sweetly enough."

James snorted a laugh. "Lily, you couldn't even stay on a broomstick when I ordered you directly."

"That's completely different," she said, and as she did, she stopped on the path, turning to kiss him. She meant for it to be sweet but the fear and tension of the rescue and the chase still hadn't defused. It was caught in their bodies, heating their kiss, driving their hands as they grasped after each other.

Lily pulled away, breathless. "I was there, James Potter, when you bragged to your friends that you could have me anywhere on this campus."

He breathed a laugh, which she interrupted with another kiss, hotter, serious. "Lily - what - anywhere? What do you mean?" he managed to say.

She stood on tiptoe, whispering in his ear, though there was no one else to hear her. "I mean, I've had my eye on a golden willow by the lakeshore, with branches that hang all the way to the ground. It's covered in new leaves now, a perfect private romantic hideaway much closer to here than the top of our tower."

"And you'd really - you're saying we could - "

She spoke with her lips against his throat. "Definitely."

She was squealing again as James bent her over his shoulder and sprinted for the lake.

Remus lay beneath the blankets in the bed of the shack. Narcissa had conjured a fire on the hearth and the cold of the forest was melting out of him. She sat next to him, treating the thin, red burns on his arms and torso with her wand. She still wore the ruined wedding dress and Remus traced the lines of the impossibly intricate lacework on her sleeve as she worked.

"This must have been a beautiful dress once," he said.

She wrinkled her nose. "Well, Bella was married in it, and what a blessed union the Lestranges have turned out to be."

Remus laughed, low and quiet. "How old is it, exactly? The dress. Old enough for your ancestors to have married their Veela in it?"

She leaned into him, pressing a kiss on his mouth, the first since they'd escaped the manor. It was charged with the joyful relief that they were both alive and together in spite of that demon Riddle. Remus's manner was still slightly wolfish, his kiss quick and hungry, his hand reaching blindly for the spot of her back where her wings had been. Beneath his hand, her flesh tingled from the recent eruption - but it wasn't time for them to be like this yet. His wounds were only partly treated and she broke away, grinning. "Now, Lupin. You know Veelas don't need to make bonds wearing wedding dresses."

He smirked back at her. "No, they don't."

"Give me your other arm and let's have done with it," she said. "The longer I look at those burns, the more my heart aches."

Laying back on the pillow, he held out his arm, watching her as she bent over it, working with her wand. He spoke. "We're properly bound. I know that. It's not like a traditional human wedding could bind me any more tightly to you than I already am. But if you wanted one, I would get you one." he said.

She didn't look up from the nearly healed mark she was tending to. "One what?"

"One wedding," he said. "I think my parents would rather like it if we had one, actually. Especially with Mum being a Muggle and all."

She raised her eyebrows, her lip curving into a smile as she lowered her wand. "My darling, are you proposing?"

He was sitting up in bed again. "Well, not exactly. Not like this, all undressed and wounded and pathetic. It's not that I don't want to ask you properly. But after all that's happened - I mean, it's not like we'll ever split up. I honestly don't think I could live - "

He fell silent as she kissed him again, tender and warm at last, after all the intensity of feeling that had already passed between them that night. "Hush, Lupin darling. Remember that in this relationship, the mad headlong confessions are for me to make."

He laughed, his fingers stroking her cheek. "Well, that's not because I don't love you every bit as much."

She raised an eyebrow, questioning. But as he opened his mouth to argue, she kissed him once more, drawing his face to hers with her hand cupped on the back of his neck. She inched closer as the kiss deepened, filling his arms, the silk at the front of her dress smooth against his bare chest. She pulled away, tracing his collar bones with her fingertip.

"We don't need to fuss over any of that tonight. For now," she said, "I don't want any more gowns, or reporters, or ceremonies. I just want to wake up and have you walk me into school holding your hand, looking adoringly at me. Yes, exactly like that, for everyone to see."

"Well, I'm afraid that won't do at all." There was a blast of hot air and third voice speaking in the room now, grittier than usual but still recognizable. Speaking through the fire, the image of her head visible in the coals, was Andromeda Tonks.

Narcissa sprung to her feet. "Medie! How are you speaking through an exit-only Floo?"

"It's not exit-only from the fireplace in Dumbledore's office," came the reply. "Are you coming here to meet me, darling, or shall I come where you are?"

Narcissa looked at Remus, his burns mostly treated but still undressed, lying in the bed they'd shared. Her shoulders rose and fell with a mighty sigh. "I'll be right there," she said.

"Splendid," Andromeda answered. "And bring grandmere's wedding dress with you."