Chapter 13 – Moony
"Read this." Alastor Moody's rough voice matched his looks. His magical eye was rolling madly in all directions.
He thrust a dirty bit of parchment in Riddick's left hand. Riddick looked down and could just decipher "The Headquarter of the Order of Phoenix is situated number twelve Grimmauld Place" before the parchment was ripped out of his fingers again.
Something I should know?
+Fidelius Charm, I guess they have a new Secret Keeper. Of course we don't need one as this is my house.+ volunteered Sirius.
Gotcha.
Riddick did not volunteer that he had seen the house just fine before reading this. Instead he nodded and started forward, ignoring the wands that the young pink haired witch +Her name is Nymphadora Tonks but she only wants to be called Tonks + and the black wizard with the earring +That's Kingsley. Kingsley Shacklebolt+ were still pointing at him.
I don't give a fuck about their names, just lets get this over with.
The young witch knocked at the door, and a man opened at once. Obviously they were expected.
+Remus!+
Riddick froze. He could feel the rush of affection, no, love emanating from Black at the sight of the slim, tall man at the door. The feeling was so strong, that it smothered his lingering anger and replaced it with curiosity. Remus Lupin's hair was a greying light brown and deep lines of sorrow made him look older than he probably was.
Riddick met the man's guarded, hazel gaze and wasn't overly impressed. The man's wizard robes were shabby, he looked sickly and tired and not at all the way Riddick would have pictured a werewolf. He looked about as dangerous as a wet rabbit.
+Appearances can be deceiving.+
The man stepped back. He was not smiling and no recognition sparked in his brown eyes as he looked at Riddick, "I have made some tea, and there's some Firewhiskey for you as well, Alastor. I suggest we talk in the kitchen. If you please," Lupin's hoarse, soft voice sounded oddly lifeless as he ushered them in, but his narrow shoulders were tense.
+Oh Moony.+
Moony?
+What better nickname for a werewolf?+
Riddick ignored Sirius' sorrowful concern for his friend and looked around curiously.
The hall of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was narrow passage with peeling wallpaper and an old threadbare carpet. Gas lamps and a serpent-shaped, cobwebby candelabra gave off a dim light. The walls sported a number of age-blackened portraits and a section of the hall was curtained off with old moth-eaten, mouldy curtains.
Riddick's eyebrows rose at the sight of an umbrella stand made from a troll's leg.
+Sorry. I had thrown that thing out a couple of times, but Kreacher kept putting it back. After a while I just did not bother anymore and DON'T TOUCH THOSE+
"Oh no, DON'T!"
"Stay clear of those!"
"You don't want to know what's in there, laddie,"
Sirius' mind-shout was simultaneous with the hissed admonitions from Tonks, Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody.
Riddick had taken a curious step forward and was reaching for the mouldy curtains. His eyebrows rose at the agitated silent pantomime of the people around him. He lifted both hands in amused but silent surrender, before following Lupin down the creaking old wooden stairs to the basement and kitchen.
With Riddick's gesture, the tension had gone out of Remus' shoulders, but the lines around his mouth were even more visible than before.
What was that all about?
+There is a portrait of my dear old mother hanging behind those curtains. Believe me, you don't want to wake the mad old bitch if you can avoid it.+
The kitchen turned out to be quiet large, with rough-hewn walls, a giant fireplace, and a large wooden table with lots of chairs. A steaming pot of tea stood on the table with several mugs, sugar and an old battered looking silver milk jug.
Riddick took a seat at the head of the table without waiting for an invitation. He poured himself a cup of tea, put his feet up on a chair facing the fireplace, tilted his head in expectation and looked at the four people standing before him. Moody, Tonks and Shacklebolt sat down at once and got cups of their own. They watched him in silence as he added three sugar lumps to his tea and gulped the scalding liquid down without stirring.
"Padfoot?"
Riddick sharply looked up.
Remus Lupin had gone deathly pale. The tension rising from his arms and neck was nearly visible as he stared wide-eyed from Riddick's cup to his chair by the fireplace and his propped up feet before finally meeting his eyes.
Slowly Riddick put his cup down on the table. In a wave of unspoken emotions Sirius Black rose up in him, shoved him back, and took his place. Unfamiliar moisture rose in his eyes, threatened to spill over.
"Shit, Moony. You look like hell warmed over."
Tonks' cup shattered on the table, spilling hot tea everywhere.