The chill of the opening shop door caught Tonks' attention before the bell attached even rang. She was mid-line on a tattoo on a client's thigh, and could not look up, but knew she didn't have anyone due in for a while, so she simply called over her shoulder; "Someone will be with you in a few minutes!" Her partner was somewhere in the back, and due back up at any time.
"Take your time!" She heard the familiar voice of Lily Potter replied. Tonks took her foot of the petal of her tattoo machine, and glanced toward the door. Sure enough Lily and Hermione were both in her waiting area, sitting on the edge of the couch seats. Mild panic ran over Tonks, but she gave them a quick smile and went back to work on the client at hand. It was nearly another hour, so she was surprised they waited, but finally, Tonks finished the piece. It was a large, ornate grandfather clock, based on photo's of the wizard she was tattooing had brought in, an old family heirloom. The client had requested that Tonks do the face of the clock with a charm to make the clock keep the time. She was rather proud of how it looked, and snapped a photo for her portfolio before he paid her, and even left an extra fifty galleons for tip and "Happy Christmas", as he wished her and left. Once she was done with him, Lily came bouncing over to the counter, Hermione trailing behind her.
"Wotcher," Tonks greeted, a little apprehensive. Lily smiled brightly.
"I didn't realize how money was in tattooing." Lily commented. Tonks snorted slightly.
"It is an excellent example one of those businesses where you get what you pay for. And people come to me when they want hyper-realistic enchanted art." She explained. "I didn't realize either of you would be interested."
"I have one, actually!" Lily said, in a small laugh. "Its rather horrible, on my hip. Got it about four days after graduation, at a Muggle shop, for cheap. So yeah, I guess that makes sense."
"Let's see?" Tonks ask, and Hermione had chimed in, causing Lily to confess she had kept it hidden because it was so badly done.
"I really thought I was something when I got it, too." Lily laughed. The lines had blown out, and it no longer resembled the tiger lily it was supposed to be. It was more of a melted orange mess.
"I could cover that easy." Tonks offered. "Wouldn't taken more than half an hour or so."
"Oh, I couldn't right now..." Lily said, nervously. Tonks raised an eyebrow, waiting. "But I would like to take you up on that sometime."
"What about you, Hermione?" Tonks ask, humored. She knew Hermione was not interested at all, Sirius had told her all about it during one of his sessions.
"I'll pass." She laughed.
"So- If you're not interested in my art today, what can I do for you?" Tonks ask, propping against the counter where the register stood.
"We were just wondering if you had plans for tonight?" Hermione said, and Tonks took a deep breath.
"Need a babysitter?" She guessed, not really minding to keep the Black children ever. They were some of her favorite relatives, after all, and she and the girls always had fun.
"Oh, no. We were rather hoping, you know, since our boys are having their night together for the Super Moon, we thought we would have our own little sleep over, and we were hoping you'd come! Your mum is going to keep my girls, and Harry is staying over with Neville at Frank and Alice's place." Hermione explained. Tonks felt a bit shocked.
"You- Want me to come stay over with you?" She stammered. She loved Hermione, and what Tonks knew of Lily from family events she was a very sweet lady, who was a dear and close friend to Remus, but she wasn't sure how to feel about this new invitation.
"We were going to crash at Hermione's, rent some movies, eat junk food..." Lily elaborated. Tonks had to admit, it did sound fun. She still did not answer, them one way or the other, though.
"I also didn't you alone to worry about Remus. I know you know how the Super Moons can be, and James and Sirius have been with him through two others." Hermione's voice was soft and sincere.
"You planned this... for me?" Tonks felt a lump in her throat. Both of the other witches smiled.
"Yeah, Tonks. We have to look out for each other." Lily laughed, as Tonks was clearly very touched by the offer. "It is not at all easy to love a Marauder, and since they are a package deal, Hermione and I decided years ago we had better be, too."
"So what do you say?" Hermione and Lily both waited anxiously. After a moment, Tonks gave them a small smile.
"I have one more person coming in, for a small addition to a back piece, it should be maybe a little over an hour. I can meet you after that at Hermione's?" She offered. Lily clapped excitedly.
"Great! See you then!" They called, dressing back up to head out into the cold. "Bring comfy pajamas!"
James, Sirius and Remus laid spread out on a pile of cushions in the floor of the Room of Requirement. Their heads were close together, bodies sprawling in different directions, making them look somewhat like a graceless synchronized swim team. They were each a few whiskey shots in, having waited the appropriate amount of time after Remus had his potion so that it would be effective. The Room had supplied them with a first aid kit on the wall next to a window with very, very thick glass, a large pile of overstuffed cushions made of thick, rip resistant cloth, a fireplace with a grate covering the fire, and the ceiling showing the night sky, much the same way as the Great Hall. They had chosen the castle due to the cold, and the lack of students present for the upcoming Christmas holiday.
The three childhood friends had been here for about three hours now, laughing and telling stories, generally attempting to keep Remus' mind off the ache setting deep in his bones. Remus was starting to feel the pull of the moon, due up sometime in the next two hours or so. He laid quietly, listening to James and Sirius telling about an odd encounter they had while on duty one night, with a drunken wizard who was convinced he had found the fountain of youth in his local town park. He was relaxed, waiting patiently for the pain he knew was coming.
"Hey, Moony?" James said, rolling over to have a better view of his friend. "You good, mate?"
"Mmm. Fine. Just trying to rest before it hits." He confirmed without opening his eyes.
"Are we allowed to ask questions now, or is it still too soon?" Sirius ask from his place on the floor.
"You've known I was a werewolf for twenty years this year, Pads. I think you can ask questions." Remus joked in reply.
"About Tonks." Sirius clarified. Remus sighed, he had been dreading this.
"I guess." He said, bracing himself. "Depends on the question, though."
"When did that even happen?" James blurted, rolling to sit up, cross legged, facing the other two wizards. Remus stayed laying down, facing the ceiling, but Sirius rolled onto his stomach and propped up on his elbow.
"And how in the hell did we miss it?" Sirius added. Remus couldn't help but smile.
"When we got the map banner tattoos." Remus answered. "And because we were careful."
"Why wouldn't you tell us, though?" Sirius sounded offended, but James and Remus both laughed at his dramatic questioning.
"Because, Pads. Dora is your family. You two have always been close. She and I both felt, that at first, we should make sure it was something that would work before we told everyone and got the lot of you invested in our relationship. Too much pressure." Remus explained.
"I can see that. Ted and 'Dromeda would be tough, too." James agreed. "Andromeda is always so critical of Tonks."
"I'm sorry, did you say 'Dora'?" Sirius demanded, sitting up now. Remus still did not move, nor open his eyes, even with their onslaught of queries.
"Andromeda is much too critical of her." Remus agreed with James, ignoring Sirius' outburst. "She does not find her art or her business to be a 'real job', even though she's out earning us all. And she nags her for not being 'feminine' enough. She is, but it is her own way... Andromeda just wants Dora to be more like her, Pisses me off, honestly."
"Awe! Siri, Rem's in love!" James mocked, but they both saw the large, genuine smile on Remus' face.
"I really, really am." He admitted. "It's odd, having been the odd bachelor out with you two for all this time. I mean, I was fine with it. But I sort of thought maybe I always would be. But that day when she was doing our tattoos, we were just making small talk while she was doing mine, and you two were playing with the TV set in her lobby. There was just something about her I couldn't get past. She is incredible."
"I was being an ass, but aw, man." James said, "I'm so happy for you Moony."
"I'm happy for me too, mate." Remus laughed.
"Well, now that we have all that mushy stuff out of the way- Is sex with a metamorphmagus as wild as I feel like it would be?" James ask, making his face stone serious as he ask. Sirius reached over and punched him in the arm, and James yelped in pain. "What?!"
"She's still my baby cousin, mate. I don't necessarily want to hear about all the horrible things Moony does to her. I already know 'Mione found some sex bruises on her wrist..." He fake-gagged in an over exaggerated manner.
"I'll tell you about it later, Prongs." Remus said, laughing hard now. James laughed too, as Sirius continued to stick to his protest of the subject. They had began to laugh again when suddenly Remus went quiet, and James and Sirius went on alert.
"Now?" Sirius ask, looking over to the window, and he saw the moon peaking over the crest of the mountain. Remus winced and rolled onto his side.
"Remember, you promised..." Remus reminded them. Super Moons were very dangerous for werewolves, but also made werewolves more dangerous. This would be their third together, and he always made them promise that if worst came to worst, they would do what they had to him to get away.
James and Sirius, of course, only promised this to keep him quiet, but had no intention of leaving him alone. "Yeah, Moony. We promise. Try to relax." James soothed. Before any of them could say another word, Remus' back was suddenly lurched backward, bones cracking and rearranging. Remus cried out, and both James and Sirius winced with him, wishing there was more they could do to help. He clawed at his skin as patches of fur pushed through, impatiently waiting for it to stop.
By the time it was over, the large grey wolf which stood in Remus place looked exhausted. Normally, when Remus transformed, because he had his potion, he would go for a run, then go sleep until the sun came up. This time, he had no energy, and they pain did not subside once it was over. He was only able to stay up on his legs for a moment, and he stumbled over toward the window, then had to prop his entire large, furry body against the cool glass.
Sirius went ahead and shifted down, padding over to the other canine with a small, kind tail wag. James took out his wand, and flicked it over to the cushions, so that they moved over to where the dog and wolf stood. Remus, or rather in his current state, Moony, collapsed heavily onto the cushions. Sirius curled up close to him, in comfort. James conjured a blanket, and he too then transformed, and gracefully bent his long stag legs beneath him, and he laid his head on the wolf's back.
Moony whimpered for a bit, fighting pain, before he was finally able to drift off to sleep, and his friends, once sure he was alright, followed suit.
Sirius had only been asleep for a few hours when he heard something, and the heightened senses he had from being a dog amplified the sound, jolting him awake. It sounded almost like someone was dragging a large blanket or mattress against the stone walls and floor of the old castle, and it put Sirius on edge. After all, his wife had warned him there was a giant snake in the castle, potentially loose and looking for a meal. He sat up, moving away from his sleeping friends, trying to hear the sound better.
He followed it along the wall that opened to the hallway, and decided to follow after. He transformed back into himself long enough to leave the room and relock the door behind him, then he transformed back into Padfoot and took off after the noise.
He noticed it moved faster the closer it got to the bathrooms, and then he couldn't hear it at all standing outside the girls lavatory. Sirius sat back on his hind legs, head tilted in confusion. He wondered if Hermione knew where they thing's nest was. He sat for a few long moments, waiting to see if he heard anything more, but suddenly a light came bounding down the hall to him.
A white stag, James' patronus, was illuminating the hall. Sirius felt panicked, but the charm spoke out to him.
"You alright, mate? Where did you go?" It ask, then dissipated back into the darkness. Sirius ran back to where he had left the others, and came back into the room.
James was propped up against the wall, face pale, arms crossed over his body. Moony had curled himself into a tight ball, and was sleeping soundly, if not for the occasional whimper or snore. "Where did you go?" James whispered angrily.
"I heard something!" Sirius whisper shouted back.
"You scared the shit out of me!" James scolded. "Could've at least left a note. I was afraid-"
"What could possibly be scarier than Moony here at Hogwarts?" Sirius questioned. James closed his eyes and blew a long breath out of his nose.
"I don't know, but don't do that again." He commanded, and Sirius rolled his tired grey eyes as he transformed back into Padfoot and took his place back at Remus' side. James rejoined them, but couldn't help laying awake, listening to the quiet of the castle.
Much longer chapter, hope you all enjoy it! Next chapter will have Christmas- and I hope to have it out much sooner than it took me to update this.
Please be sure to review and let me know what you think/what you'd like to see!