Saturday 3rd November 1979

Marauder Flat, 14:30

James was sitting in the Marauder Flat (it wasn't his flat anymore), with his head in his hands. He had decided to change it up a bit, having had been doing this at home but he had noticed that it was starting to worry his parents and, well, he didn't want that. They had enough to worry about. Worrying wouldn't make them stronger. And they needed to get stronger. They still looked so fragile from their previous bout of dragon Pox... No. He couldn't think about that right now. He couldn't.

It had been... it had been a long few days. Way too long. Deaths. Destruction. Injuries. Hospital stays. And yet, the world kept turning and life kept going on. And on and on. James felt like he had sort of been left behind these past few days but he couldn't bring himself to care.

There was a part of him that was hurt, angry and the emotions were roaring inside of him to do something, anything. And then there was another part of him that felt nothing. He was completely numb.

He had never felt like this before. Never felt so helpless, so angry. He didn't know what to do with all these emotions. How to control them. How to use them. Why was it now that he was feeling like this? Why not when Fenwick disappeared. Or when he saw civilians lying dead in their homes?

"Because they weren't family," a voice whispered in his head.

Remus was family. Dora was family. The Prewett twins... well, they weren't family but they were friends. Good friends, especially in the last few months. And for them to just die? And Remus and Dora get seriously injured? Well, it just wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. No one should be dying. No one should be getting injured.

"Hey," Sirius interrupted his thoughts, suddenly appearing in the flat.

Apparently with the rise of abductions by Death Eaters, Sirius, Remus and Peter had shifted the Apparition point to inside the apartment.

"Hey," James said monosyllabically.

"It's been a crappy few days, hasn't it?" Sirius tried to say flippantly.

As if he hadn't been the one who had been freaking out over Dora being in the hospital and by her side every chance he got. At least he was getting to know Andromeda better this way, James mused. Though it could have been in better circumstances.

James grunted at him, not in the mood to pretend he was okay. Because he wasn't okay. He really wasn't.

"At least Remus got discharged," Sirius said, trying to be optimistic.

"Yeah, for the second time," James said with a sigh.

"Trust him to manage to get a curse on his burns," Sirius said with a hollow laugh.

James winced in sympathy for both Sirius and James. It had been Sirius who had had to catch Remus as he fell after being discharged on that day everything happened. Remus had got his burns treated and bandaged up and had been sent home with strict instructions to rest and apply the paste he had been given every two hours to his burns. He hadn't even made it to the first two hours before he had collapsed from the burns splitting open.

It turned out that his back had got hit by a stray curse which interacted weirdly with the paste, not allowing them to heal or start to heal. And it exacerbated the pain greatly. A terrifying amount if Remus had called out in pain like Sirius said he had. The man had a scarily high pain tolerance after all.

But at least he was better now- except for the fact that he refused to take it easy and went straight back to work.

And then there was Dora who still wasn't out of hospital, had even worse burns than Remus, had almost been directly hit by the pieces of wood and stone from the explosion that happened and had got hit by three curses. Because, you know, things apparently came in threes.

She was on the mend, thankfully. The Healers were very optimistic for her, the burns had been cleaned up (or were clearing up), bones set and cuts healed. She was still covered in bruises because they didn't want to tax her magic too much, not while they were trying to remove the curse from her - she was already on a lot of potions for those.

It was a lot to think about. Almost too much to think about. They were okay. They were okay. That was the only thought that was getting James through all of this.

"Do you think Peter's alright?" Sirius asked suddenly.

"What?"

James looked up and stared at his best friend. Peter? Peter had been acting weird? Peter was probably the only one of them who was acting somewhat like an actual human.

"You don't think he's been acting weird?"

"Remus and Dora are in the hospital and two Order members are dead. I think we're all acting weird."

Sirius shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I mean, well, I mean he's acting all... twitchy?"

James couldn't help but chuckle at that. They first happy noise that he'd made in the past few days.

"That's just Wormtail for you," he said, emphasising their friend's nickname.

Because, yeah. Peter was always kind of jumpy and twitchy. Less so these days but that's what growing up did, didn't it? It gave you a bit more confidence in yourself and James was glad that later was finally getting that.

"I suppose..."

Tuesday 6th November 1979

Malfoy Manor, 21:00

No, no, no, no. No. This was all wrong. This was all wrong. He should he thinking like this. There was no way he should be thinking like this. But here he was thinking like this. Thinking in a way that went completely against all his family stood for and wanted to stand for.

But here he was, incapable of doing the right thing. The thing he was brought up to do. And yes, he understood the need for duty and honour and tradition. But he couldn't do it. Not if it meant acting on the orders, he and so many others have been given."

Bile rose in his throat and he leaned over the sink to spit it out. It burned coming up, somewhat like the way this fear was burning him.

Regulus finally had to admit it to himself. He wasn't made for this. Wasn't made for it at all. He should never have become a Death Eater. Should have never bowed at the feet of such a madman. He understood that now. He had to. He had no choice because he couldn't do it. Didn't have the guts to do it. Nor the cunning. Nor the intelligence. He just couldn't. It was wrong. It was foul what these people did to people. To other people. Because that's what they were, weren't they? Muggles? Muggleborns? They were just other people. People He was obviously superior to but still people.

Oh, why was this so confusing? So conflicting? Did Sirius ever think like this? Feel like this all those years ago?

No, Regulus shook his head. Sirius was always so sure of his opinions. Of his stance. That's what constantly got him into trouble. There was no way that he ever felt this turmoil inside of him.

Even with the second guessing himself, Regulus was still absolutely, one hundred percent sure that he could no longer do this. He couldn't. Though, he didn't know how to get out. Walk away. Death Eaters couldn't do that. They had to obey. And the results weren't pretty if you didn't obey.

"Black," the Dark Lord himself came sweeping into the room

Regulus immediately stood straight and tall, no matter how odd it was too she the Dark Lord in a bathroom. For some reason it just seemed above the man even though, logically, Regulus knew that the man had to also make use of one. He was human, after all.

"My Lord."

The man's lips curled into some sort of semblance of a smile. Though, it wasn't something that brought Regulus pleasure or warmth. In fact, it made him go cold.

He took care not to look the man straight in the eye. Which was actually fairly easy because as a sign of submission the Death Eaters rarely looked their Master in the eye.

Master. Regulus inwardly shuddered at the term. It felt wrong, jarring now. How had he never seen?

"The meeting will begin in two minutes," he was informed.

"My Lord."

Of course, that meant that he was there in one. It wouldn't do to be late, after all. And he wasn't.

Soon, everyone was gathered and the usual formalities taken care of. Lots of "My Lord" and generally sucking up as people gave the Dark Lord their information. He seemed to be pleased or at least indifferent to all of it. No one got tortured today, which was something. It meant things... well, kt meant things were going well for him. Something Regulus couldn't bring himself to be happy about.

"Regulus," came the summons which made him jump.

Taking a deep breath, Regulus stepped forwards, feeling very exposed.

"My Lord?"

"I require something of you."

"Anything, my Lord."

The man gave him a piercing stare that seemed to go right through him. Regulus resisted the urge to shudder.

"An elf." He said finally.

"An elf, my Lord?"

Thursday 8th November 1979

Leaky Cauldron, 12:30

"Don't you have a girlfriend or something?" Reginald suddenly asked.

"Sorry?" Peter spluttered.

"A girlfriend? Do you have one?"

"I, well, I mean, uh, you see..." Peter babbled and then he stopped and hung his head. "No."

He was quite ashamed of this fact as well because even he found it kind of pathetic. James was married and Sirius had Marlene. Remus even had that weird flirty thing he had going on with Tonks, whatever that was. It was still more than him though! Okay, and sure, Severus didn't have a girlfriend (he thought so anyway) but Severus was different. He was completely besotted by all the research he was doing. He didn't have time for anything else never mind a girlfriend. Which was fine. For Severus.

It wasn't okay for Peter. It was so bad that he didn't have a girlfriend. It wasn't fair either. James and Sirius had always found it so easy to float but Peter had found that he just couldn't. He either said something stupid and embarrassing or he said nothing at all and stared from afar. He didn't know which one was worse. Either way, he found it hard to get and then keep a girlfriend. Sure, in school he had been lucky to get a few dates but it was never anything long-lasting and he had started to think that those were because of his proximity to James and Sirius. Without them, apparently, he couldn't get anyone.

"Hey, it's no big deal," Reginald reassured him. "Perfectly normal."

"Really?" Peter said sceptically. He found that hard to believe.

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

Wednesday 14th November 1979

Longbottom Manor

"Frank, I'm just saying that it's been a year-"

"Mother, this really isn't the time to talk about this."

"Of course, it's the time. In fact, it is beyond the time."

Frank sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face. It was one of his rare days off and je had to deal with this. He didn't know whether to be glad or not that Alice wasn't here - she had been working the overnight shift last night, had slept for a few hours and then gone out with Mary. Something she didn't really do much of. So, it was just him. If Alice had been here, he doubted his mother would have brought this subject up. He hoped so anyway.

"As progressive as we are in some circles, we still have a need for an heir," Augusta said with a sniff. "And that will never change."

"I know mother."

Yes, he knew how important this was. It ensured the survival of his family name, after all. He was the only male line at the moment. He needed an heir.

And he wanted an heir. He wanted a child. Children, hopefully. It would have been nice to have a sibling growing up and he kind of wanted that for his family.

"You aren't... preventing it in any way?" Augusta asked delicately.

Well, as delicately as Augusta Longbottom could be, which wasn't very. Frank spluttered loudly. That was not a question you wanted your mother to ask you. Never, ever, ever!

"What? No! Of course not!"

How could she even think of such a thing? There was no way they would try to prevent a baby like that! They just couldn't do it!

"Okay," Augusta agreed easily, thankfully.

Frank resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"We don't want you ending up like the Malfoys," she continued. "All these years married and still no heir."

How many years had those two been married now? Three? Four? And still no heir? That wasn't a position Frank ever wanted to be in. The gossip rags always ran an article speculating about them. And none of those speculations were flattering.

"Maybe you should be focusing more on your family than this job of yours. One is more important than the other."

Frank couldn't help but bristle at that.

"The work we do as Aurors is important, mother."

"I am very aware," Augusta said in a serious voice. "And I am proud of you. Of both of you," she corrected herself. "Despite it not being something, I would ever think a lady like Alice would do..."

"Mother..." Frank said warningly but she waved him off.

"I am not being disparaging of her for it, Frank," she admonished. "Actually, I am rather impressed that she can perform well in that sort of job and still be the perfect wife for you."

Frank swelled with pride for his wife and all felt relief wash over him. He thought his mother was going to share some views with Celia Smith there which would not be a good thing.

"That doesn't negate the fact that you need an heir."

Saturday 17th November 1979

Bar in London, 21:30

Tonks tapped the bar again and the bartender nodded at her, knowing what she wanted. A glass was soon put in front of her. Good. Nice and fast.

Before she could lift it to her mouth and sling it back, a hand closed over her wrist, stopping her. A very familiar hand. She didn't even need to turn around to see who it belonged to.

"Let me have my drink, Remus."

"Should you really be drinking this with the potion you are taking?"

Probably not. Definitely not. But she found that she just didn't care. Didn't want to care. She was alive and that's all that mattered. She wanted to live a little.

"I nearly died. Cut me a break."

Remus chuckled that warm, throaty chuckle of his. The one that sent heat through all the right areas of her body.

"I believe it's 'cut me some slack' or 'give me a break'."

"Who cares? It got my point across, didn't it?"

"That is true." He waved over the bartender and got his own drink.

Whatever. As long as he wasn't stopping her from having hers.

"Anyway, you almost died as well," she said. "And you don't see me telling you not to drink."

"I wasn't the one who spent days in the hospital."

"Eh."

Remus chuckled at her as he took a mouthful of his own drink.

And that's kind of how they stayed for the next hour or so. Talking. Drinking. Drinking. Talking. Of course, the talking got more and more inane the more they drank. But it was still good. It was fun. And Dora needed fun.

They were both very much not sober. Not even a little bit. The world was swaying which meant she was which was never a good sign. But she didn't mind. Didn't care. Because this all meant that she was alive. She was alive and breathing and living. Yep. Living.

"Whoops." Remus caught her as she swayed too much, causing her to fall backwards.

"You have a nice chest," she mumbled, not standing up again tight away.

Because he did. He had a very nice chest. All firm and muscled. It felt nice.

"Thanks," he replied, only slurring the 's' slightly or else you would know that he had had a bit too much to drink.

She, on the other hand, had gone past 'a bit too much' and right the way through 'drunker than drunk'.

"Yeah, I don't think you're going to make it home alone," Remus said with a chuckle.

"And you, you are?" She managed to get out.

"Yes because, out of the two of us, I am the only one who can stand upright and walk in a straight line."

"If you can still do that then you can't have drunk nearly enough."

There went that chuckle of his again. The one that made her feel warm and glowy inside. Did that make sense? Probably not but who cared?

She tried to take a step forward again and stumbled. Again. This time Remus didn't have to reach out for her because she fell backwards into him. And his hands were definitely not at her waist like the usually were.

"Sorry," he said, changing their position so his hands were in a more... modest area.

"Don't be," she said in what she hoped was a sultry tone. "I preferred them where they were."

She actually heard a gulp from him, which was pretty cute. What was also pretty cute was his nose. And his lips. They were framed by some scruff on his face. Which was very nice. His lips were very kissable looking. She had to check that.

Inhibitions removed by alcohol, Dora did just that. She leaned forwards and planted a kiss on him and he actually returned it!

It was great. It was amazing. It was fantastic. It was even better than she thought it would be.

"Wow." Remus said as they broke apart.

"Wow." She repeated and then fell over again.

"Uh, okay," Remus said. "We need to get you home."

"Nooooo," she complained. "I wanna do more kissing."

"Dora-"

"Please?"

Remus looked at her, sighed heavily and then ran a hand over his face. She took this opportunity it to try and wrap her arms around him which led to him holding her up because she nearly fell. Again.

"Is Marlene at your flat tonight?"

"Dunno."

She really didn't. She couldn't remember what Marlene said to her earlier. Yesterday? Two days ago? She didn't know.

"I don't want to leave you alone," Remus thought out loud. "Lily?"

"Want to stay with you."

And in his arms, preferably.

Remus sighed again and the next thing she knew they were in his, Sirius 'and Peter's flat and her stomach didn't not like it. She ran to the sink and ... didn't throw up? Huh.

"Yay! I wasn't sick!"

Remus chuckled and handed her a glass of water but she ignored it and started kissing him again. After a moment's hesitation, he started reciprocating. Oh, yes. They definitely had to do this more often.

Then there was fumbling hands and far too much giggling on her side. Dora discovered that it was not just his chest that had all those nice, firm muscles. The only problem was that clothes were very much in the way of them. Sure, her hands had sneaked past buttons and zips but she wanted unrestricted access. And, Merlin, she was going to get it.

Now, this wasn't at all one-sided because Remus was doing something similar though he didn't seem to be quite as eager to get under her clothes, keeping his touches above them.

"Are you sure you want this?" He asked in a breathless voice.

Dora almost laughed at the question. Even in the throes of definitely not sober passion, Remus Lupin was still a gentleman.

"Yes," she hissed out as Remus' hand grazed a particular sensitive area even through her shirt.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a sensual hiss. More of a she didn't realise that area was still tender from the fight and subsequent explosion sort of hiss. It was not a fun hiss. Especially since it meant Remus took his hand off her, which she did not like.

"Are you still sure?"

"Yes!" She all but shouted without absolutely no slurring of her words.

Remus didn't respond to that except to pull her close. Of course, she wasn't going to just be passive about this either and soon there were no clothes on them and they were tumbling towards his bed.