I apologize for the delay; I'm travelling and didn't find the time to post this earlier. As always, thanks for your comments :)
Aile d'Argent: :D That sounds like an awesome idea for a spin-off...although with two Marauders in the house, Kreacher and Harry would probably have soe strong competition.
Guest: Good point about the house elves! Totally forgot about that, to be honest. But I suppose there's still a difference between having them wait on you in the school kitchen and actually being responsible for one.
Eniluap12: Thanks! About Kreacher, I won't go into much detail, but I will freely admit that I sort of copied their "reconciliation" from Rowling (as seen in this chapter). Some-kind-of-friend sounds pretty apt, though XD
HolwlingBlack: Sorry to disappoint :/ But I'm flattered you'll still keep reading :)
KlausNeedsCaroline: Damn, that would've actually been an interesting plotline...maybe some other time.
Skybox: I don't think either Remus or Sirius would ever take that much of a risk. Even if Remus stayed there during the full moon, Sirius would make sure to watch Harry the whole night. About the hints...I do have it planned out, but I wouldn't like to spoil it. It will be a longer story arch, even though this story probably won't have more than 20-25 chapters. If you really want to know how it'll play out, I can tell you via PM, but I'd rather not do so here for fear of spoiling others who might want to keep it a surprise. That being said, he definitely WILL be free at some point. Good point about the Sex Pistols!
tinkerbelldetention101: Aww! I'm flattered you're reading this to your kid, and really happy they like it! (And I do apologize for any language that might not be appropriate for that age)
Worldmaker: I went through them again, and I think you are right about breaking up the dialogue. I did change it at some point, but never went back to redo the old ones. I'll fix it as soon as I have access to a proper computer again.
Guest: Yes, that's him ;)
Kreacher Comforts
"Mr Kreacher?"
There was no answer, but Harry could swear he heard movement behind the heavy wooden door.
"I...I brought you coffee again," he continued uncertainly. After realizing that it might be viewed as trespassing, he didn't want to just burst in. "And...and I brought you a few things from downstairs. I'm afraid I don't know what your things looked like that were stolen, but these are nice, too. You can have them; we don't need them."
Technically, Harry had stolen them as well. Last night, after having seen the enormous pile of silverware that Sirius and Remus had thrown out, he had thought that it really was a shame to let it all go to waste when upstairs there was a sad little Oompa-Loompa who liked shiny things. So he had waited in his bed until he was sure Remus had gone back to sleep, before sneaking back out again, and carefully extracting a few nicer looking things from the pile of rubbish.
"I'll...I'll just leave them here," he said quietly when there was still no answer, and set down his cargo in front of the door. "I'm sorry that someone stole your things." After a few more seconds of hesitation he reluctantly turned around and slowly walked back the way he had come.
He was already around the corner and had one foot on the stairs when suddenly he heard the distinct creaking of ancient door hinges. Harry stopped, holding his breath. Was it...He didn't dare to turn around, for fear of startling the Oompa-Loompa. So he simply listened.
"The brat says it brought Kreacher coffee...Kreacher likes coffee. Brat sorry...Kreacher doesn't believe bra-" the voice stopped, followed by a sharp intake of breath. "Brat has...brought Kreacher gifts?" Now the voice sounded disbelieving, and there was a slight tremble in it.
Harry decided to risk it. "You... You can have them," he said, still without turning around. "Sirius and Remus don't need them anymore, so I'm sure they don't mind. I thought you might like them."
"Kreacher can...have them?" the voice croaked, and for the first time Harry heard no bitterness in it. It sounded surprised, and even a little bit happy.
He nodded quickly, his gaze firmly fixed on the narrow window in front of him. "Yes. Do you like them? I'm Harry, by the way. I live here, with Sirius and Remus."
Kreacher didn't react immediately, and for a moment Harry thought he heard sniffing. Then, completely unexpected, the mood changed. "Brat mustn't see Kreacher!" the Oompa-Loompa suddenly screeched, "Brat mustn't know Kreacher is here, no, no!"
There was a now familiar plop, and as Harry turned around he could just make out the vanishing figure. The coffee was still there, but the bag with the silver was gone. Before Harry could think on that, however, he heard another plop, sounding as if it came from upstairs, followed by persistent banging.
Without thinking, Harry raced up the stairs, not caring if Sirius or Remus heard him.
It didn't take him long to find out which door the Oompa-Loompa was hiding behind, as the sound of something hammering against wood was easy to follow.
"Kreacher?" Are you okay?"
The banging stopped, and there was another plop. Harry tried to open the door, but it was locked. Seconds later, the banging started again, coming from even further above him.
This time Harry was more careful in approaching the door, making sure to keep his steps light. What was Kreacher doing? It sounded like he was hitting a wardrobe or something...And were those cries of pain?
Harry crouched down a little so he could peer through the keyhole. And froze.
The Oompa-Loompa was hitting his head against a drawer, again and again and with great force. Harry could see a bruise already forming between his bat-like ears.
He stumbled back a few steps in horror.
Why was Kreacher doing this? Was he cursed? Was someone making him do it? He remembered a spell that Sirius had told him about, an evil curse that forced people to do things they didn't want to do.
Was Kreacher cursed? Had this Master done this to him?
He felt tears pricking in his eyes as he listened to the grunts of pain coming from the room.
"Please stop!" he cried through the door, desperation rising in him. "I'm sorry I looked at you! Please don't hurt yourself! I...I can get help! I can get Sirius, he's my godfather, I'm sure he'd help you! Just...please stop!"
To his utter relief, the banging really did stop.
For a moment there was silence, but when Harry peered through the keyhole once more he could still see the Oompa-Loompa, apparently talking to himself again. Quickly, Harry pressed his ear to the door.
"-of Master...Brat lives here now, brat is part of the family...Kreacher likes brat, brat brings Kreacher nice coffee and brat lets Kreacher have Master Arcturus' Order...brat is one of Kreacher's masters now, yes..."
Harry stared at the door in horror. Kreacher's master? After what he had gathered about the Master, it was not a nice person to be. But he was far too relieved that the Oompa-Loompa had stopped hurting himself to protest.
"Are you alright, Mr Kreacher?"
There was a short silence, interrupted by heavy grunting. It sounded rather like Kreacher was fighting with himself. But then his voice rang through the door, louder this time, and for the first time he addressed Harry directly.
"Does the brat wishes Kreacher to talk to it?"
Startled by this strange question – and the way it was asked, the harsh words in stark contrast to the neutral, almost hopeful tone – Harry wasn't sure how to react. "Uhm...yes... if you don't mind?"
More huffing, as Kreacher seemed to mull Harry's words over. Finally, he spoke again. "Then Kreacher is allowed to talk to the brat. Kreacher thanks the brat for the generous offer. The brat is very kind to Kreacher, and Kreacher likes the brat. Even though its very presence sullies the noble House of Black."
"Uhm...thanks?" Harry was very confused. Kreacher seemed to like and hate him at the same time, yet he had no idea why.
But before he could mull it over, the realization caught up with him. Kreacher had talked to him! For whatever reason, and in whatever strange way, he could finally talk to the Oompa-Loompa! All those questions he wanted to ask...
A scream rang through the house, full of shock and pain.
Harry froze. Remus!
"Four sugars? Full moon's not for another three days, is it?"
Remus merely shrugged, stirring his cup as he moved back to the kitchen table. "Just felt like it. Since when do you care about tea?"
"Was just wondering..." Sirius studied his friend more closely. They were there, tell-tale signs of an approaching moon. Bags under his eyes, pale, tired face and the slightly glazed eyes. It filled him with worry.
Back at Hogwarts, the full moon had always be visible on Remus as well – nowhere more so than in the obscene amount of sugar he heaped into this mug, where he usually would have skinned any person alive who dared sweeten his tea – but they had never started earlier than the day before. Yet now, days away, Remus looked just as tired as he had back then.
Was it getting worse? He knew, of course, that the transformations would get harder with age, that Remus' body was not bouncing back as quickly as it had in their late teens. But they weren't that old yet – they weren't even thirty, for Merlin's sake!
"Where's Harry?" Remus asked, obviously guessing Sirius' thoughts and clearly not wanting to discuss it.
"Doing his homework; he said he was gonna come down later. It's been taking him a while, though. You're not overburdening him, are you? Contrary to what you may believe, not all seven-year-old boys love geography."
Remus rolled his eyes. "I just gave him a map to fill out." He yawned, and Sirius noticed the hand rubbing over his arm, the place where Greyback had bitten him. The old wound always ached when the full moon approached, Sirius knew.
But not this soon...Merlin, we're not actually getting old, are we?
"I've read about a potion," he said, using his observations as a starting point for something he had been meaning to bring up. "There was something about it in the Prophet the other day. Have you heard of it?"
Remus didn't have to ask what Sirius was talking about. "I...have," he said, nodding slowly, and casting Sirius a weary look. "Wolfsbane Potion. It's been in development quite a while; there was a very ugly incident with the testing a couple of years back."
Sirius winced. "Sorry, didn't know that. They didn't mention..."
Remus scoffed. "Course not," he muttered, bitterness in his voice. "One werewolf less, who cares. Surprised they've written about it at all."
They were silent for a while. "Have you ever tried it?" Sirius finally asked. "It sounded helpful."
"No," Remus shook his head, not looking up from his tea. "There was a call for test subjects, with a promise of supply once it was finished, and I thought about enlisting...but it would've meant registration."
Sirius winced again at the thought of his friend serving as a lab rat. Ugly incident...He shuddered.
"What about now?" he continued, "it's openly available now. From what they said it was safe."
"It's also very expensive," Remus said, shooting him a pointed look. When Sirius opened his mouth to protest, he quickly added, "and it's only sold to registered werewolves. You need ministerial permission to buy it."
Sirius' mouth fell open. "What!? That's ridiculous!"
"It's their way of keeping tabs on us," Remus shrugged. "There've long been campaigns to get more werewolves to register – unsurprisingly with all the legislation, few do so voluntarily – and this one is like a godsend to them. It's backfiring magnificently, of course. Most of those who are registered are ferals, and they don't care for the potion. Those who might be interested are the ones trying to live a normal life, and they'll never register voluntarily. Needless to say, there hasn't been much demand for the potion."
Sirius stared at him disbelievingly. "That's just...what kind of lunatic would do that? Do they have mountain trolls running the ministry or what?"
"Close," Remus muttered, still staring at the table.
"Think we could forge that permit?" Sirius mused, "Or bribe someone? With legislation that dumb surely there's some unlicensed stuff in Knockturn Alley to be had."
"Leave it," Remus said, "I've been doing fine for years without it."
But Sirius could see the true reason for his reluctance in his eyes.
Money.
It had always been a touchy subject. They had avoided it until now, but Sirius knew that they couldn't keep doing so.
"I really should pay you," he started, watching his friend's face carefully. As expected, it immediately closed.
"Don't."
"Oh, come on! You need money! And it's my fault you're stuck in here, practically a criminal. So it's only fair I should compensate you."
"I helped you as a friend," Remus said tersely, "not a paid goon."
Sirius flinched. "That's not...you know I didn't mean it like that," he tried to amend. "Look, I don't plan to shower you with gold. It's not charity, but just compensation. You cook for us, you teach Harry-"
"Because I care about him. Because I want to. And I don't want your money."
"Moony, be reasonable!"
"I am reasonable! I eat your food and sleep in your house. That's payment enough, don't you think?"
Bloody Hell. I forgot how stubborn that sodding werewolf could be.
"No, it's not!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and rounding the table so he could shake Remus by the shoulders. "I'll pay you, and if I have to force it down your throat knut by knut. And it's not gonna be much – I plan to pay you far below the minimum wage, actually – but you will take it. Save it all up and use it to buy me a birthday present if it makes you happy – I do expect a birthday present, actually. And a bloody great one at that; you've got six years to make up for. Understood?"
Remus stared at him for a moment, perplexed by this sudden ferocity, until finally a small grin spread on his face. "You really are nothing but a spoilt little child, aren't you?"
"Now you're getting it," Sirius grinned, returning to his place, and sat back down with a triumphant huff. "Don't expect any paid leave, by the way."
Remus chuckled, before finishing his tea and rising to his feet. "Wouldn't dream of it. I'll just pop out to get some more vegetables, we're almost out. Any preferences?"
Sirius snorted. "Yeah, none. How about some of that frozen pizza instead? It's amazing!"
Remus rolled his eyes, not even bothering to answer as he made his way to the front door.
A second later, a pained cry rang through the hallway.
Sirius jumped up, knocking over a chair as he bolted out of the kitchen but barely caring. "Moony!"
He found him in the hallway, stumbling backwards through the open front door and clutching his side. Sirius stomach churned when he noticed the blood seeping through Remus' fingers, drenching his worn jumper and falling to the ground in thick droplets.
"Merlin's...what happened!?" He rushed forward to catch Remus when the werewolf's legs failed him, struggling to keep him upward.
"Apparated...must've blocked it..."
Spliched. He splinched himself.
"Fucking...Moony, how bad is it? Can you make it to the kitchen?" He didn't know if he should feel relieved that their defences had not been broken, or scared at the rapid blood loss.
If there's internal damage... Neither he nor Remus were particularly well-trained healers.
"I can...Harry," Remus grunted, and when Sirius looked up he saw his godson standing on the stairs, his face pale as a ghost and his eyes open in shock and fear.
"Remus?"
Fuck.
"He's...he's just had a little accident, Harry. Nothing we can't fix. Just...why don't you make Remus a cup of tea? He'll need it to feel better."
Harry didn't move, still staring at the blood falling onto the faded carpets in thick drops of crimson. "What happened?" he squeaked, panic in his voice.
"He just...stumbled. It's nothing, I promise. Just make that tea and I'll fix him up, alright?" Sirius pleaded, feeling helpless desperation rise as Remus slumped further against him, probably losing consciousness. "Please, Harry. Just go make tea, okay? It'll all be fine, I promise!"
Finally Harry moved, slowly and hesitantly, but Sirius barely gave him another look as he heaved Remus upright once more and slowly dragged him towards the study.
"Accio Dittany," he yelled, cutting Remus' jumper open and wincing when he saw the enormous gash that went across half his upper body.
But as bad as it was, it didn't look like Remus had splinched any organs, and halfway through the healing procedure his eyes fluttered open once more amidst a groan of pain.
"Padfoot...where's...Harry?"
"Sent him to make you a cup of tea. Freaked out, obviously. How do you feel? Can you breath properly? Any other wounds?"
Remus managed to nod. "F-Fine," he muttered weakly, wincing at the bandages that wrapped around his ribcage. "N-New clothes. Don't want Harry to see—"
Sirius rolled his eyes, but obligingly summoned a dressing gown from downstairs and carefully wrapped it around his friend, who was sitting up already. "Lie down, Moony."
But Remus ignored him, smiling instead at something behind Sirius. "Hello Harry. I'm sorry I gave you such a fright."
Sirius whirled around and saw his godson standing in the doorframe, looking scared and hopeful at the same time. "Are you okay, Remus?"
"Perfectly fine," Remus smiled, sitting up a little straighter, "Sirius fixed me up. Is that tea for me?"
Harry nodded hastily and stumbled forward, sloshing a little on the floor in his hurry. "What happened? Were you cursed? Was it the-"
"I wasn't attacked, don't worry," Remus said quickly. "I just made a mistake while apparating. But it's nothing; I'm perfectly fine now."
He held out his arms, and Harry rushed forward to hug him, obvious relief strewn over his face. "I was scared. I'm glad you're oaky."
"I'm glad I'm okay too, Harry," Remus smiled, though Sirius could see him grimace in pain over the boys shoulder as pressure was put on the fresh wounds.
He quickly stepped forward. "I'm afraid Remus needs to rest now, Harry. Why don't you go upstairs while I'll tuck him in? I'll be with you in a few minutes, and then we can read, how's that sound? I promise and try to do the voices properly."
Harry hesitated, obviously still very shaken, but finally he nodded. "Okay. I hope you get better soon, Remus."
"I'm sure I will"
Remus smile stayed on his face exactly as long as it took Harry to leave the room, before he went pale again and slumped back with another painful moan.
"Reopened?"
Remus nodded, grimacing. "That was stupid," Sirius admonished, pulling out his wand to fix the damage, "I'd have managed to calm him down, no need to go all martyr again."
"Didn't want him to worry," Remus said through gritted teeth. "And I've had worse." He frowned. "It was my own fault, really. I usually check for wards, but this time I just forgot..."
Sirius nodded slowly, as the reality of what had just happened caught up with him.
Anti-Apparition wards... they were stuck.
"Who do you think placed them? Dumbledore?"
Remus shook his head. "Not in his power. They'd need clearance from the ministry, so there's at least MLE involved."
"But he was the one who knew we were here," Sirius said, "So he's definitely part of it...bastard."
"Doesn't matter who did it," Remus said, "Question is, what do we do? If we can't get out..."
"We're stocked up on food, aren't we?" Sirius asked, remembering the heaps of tins, cookies and other keeping foodstuff that Remus had bought when they first moved in. "Should be able to last quite a while. Even though I admit that I wasn't hoping for this when I asked for no more vegetables..."
He chuckled, before another thought entered his mind. And judging by the last hint of colour leaving his face, Remus had just had the same idea.
The full moon was in three days, and they had no way to leave.
Yay! A cliffhanger! (sort of)
I'll try to get the next chapter up on Wednesday as ususal, but I'm not sure where I'll be at that time, and if there'll be internet. But I'll have it up on Friday the latest!
Don't forget to review! :)
