Keeping Calm

During chapter 34, morning, No. 12 Grimmauld Place

Remus picked up the crumpled parchment his friend had dropped before he had vanished through the Floo to the House Harry called home now.

Remus still was unsure what he should think about Lord Slytherin and his actions since he had reclaimed his life in the middle of summer. The story that was told all around their world seemed as likely as any. But it did not match with Albus' reaction to the whole affair.

His own interactions with the man, and his obvious agenda to help werewolves – at least on the surface – made the sandy-haired man inclined to give the man the benefit of the doubt. That the last full moon night – not a full week ago – went off without a hitch, the Wolfsbane potion, and the place to run, provided by Lord Slytherin, was another positive point.

With a few steps Remus had reached the table and smoothed out the parchment on the wooden surface. His eyes raced over the short letter, instantly recognizing Harry's handwriting. He had to start over three times before he could wrap his head around what he had just read.

Remus had known that there had been a little bit of pranking on Harry. With one of the history essay copies he had sent, there had also been a short letter asking for advice on how best to de-escalate a situation involving pranking. Harry had wanted to know how he could discourage someone from pranking him without resorting to violence.

But this was a whole different level.

Not able to sit still, Remus almost jumped up from the chair he was sitting on and started pacing in the kitchen.

A murder attempt.

At least three other students had tried to murder his best friend's son. Well, they had cast dangerous spells at Harry while he had been flying. Whether they really had planned to kill him was not sure.

Now he understood why Sirius had left in a hurry. And why he had gone to Griffin House. Remus himself felt like confronting Lord Slytherin about it. The man was Harry's guardian and had the political influence to make sure whoever was responsible would be found and punished.

His rising fury was doused with ice-cold water the moment he realized why he thought someone had to make sure the event would not be swept under the carpet.

Their fifth year. The prank Sirius had played on Severus, and only James' quick thinking had prevented disaster. As far as Remus remembered, there never was an appropriate punishment for Sirius. The son of an influential family getting away with setting up his friend to maybe murder the son of a family without any influence to speak of.

He had not realized how deeply that incident had damaged the trust he had had in Sirius and the Headmaster. True, he had trusted them to keep his secrets even more after that. But he did not trust Albus to defend the law, when he thought bending it was necessary for the wellbeing of all, he would do it. And he had not trusted Sirius after that as much as he had done before. He was reasonably sure that this prank had been the reason why he had been able to believe that Sirius had betrayed Lily and James.

Moving the chair back to the table, Remus sat down heavily. What should he do now? Follow after Sirius? That probably would not be the best move. While he had been at Griffin House many times as Harry's tutor in history, now that his student was not there, it would be not proper for him to go there uninvited.

Oh sure, he felt the need to track down the ones attacking his cub, making sure they never would repeat this error. But at the same time he accepted that both Sirius and Lord Slytherin had more tools in their arsenal, a better chance to get the job done.

To burn off some of his nervous energy, Remus decided to go out and take a really long walk around the neighborhood. Maybe he should apparate to a nearby wood and run a little. That always had a calming effect on him – more than once he had wondered if that had to do with his being a werewolf – and he really needed to calm down.

Decision made, Remus got up, collected his cloak from the cupboard next to the entrance hall, and went out to find some calm. He would not stay away long, so he would be in the house once Sirius returned. He planned on getting all the details from his friend.

Thanks to Jordre and Jake for helping to improve my spelling!

First published on the 22nd of October