I'm really sorry this has been a while - i've had it ready for ages but it wouldn't let me upload! :0 But now it's finally here so enjoy :)

Chapter 8

"I think you should have gone with Remus, not Sirius." Lily voiced her thoughts out aloud to her husband.

The two were sat in the kitchen of Grimmauld with a cup of tea, deciding to wait for Remus and Sirius to get back, rather than go to bed. Lily didn't believe she could have gotten to sleep even if she had tried.

"Why not?" James asked whilst wrapping his hands around his mug of tea.

"Because, well, what if Tonks is there?" Lily looked up at her husband, "I mean, I know Remus is the sensible one, but he isn't when it comes to Tonks, and we've just let him go off with Sirius, who isn't likely to stop him from charging off into Malfoy Manor, he'll probably encourage him."

James sighed. "They'll be fine, I'm sure. I know Sirius can go for brawns over brains most of the time, but I trust him."

Lily took a sip from her tea, "Maybe I am overreacting slightly," she said. "I want to make a bet that they'll come back in a different state to what they left like though," she added.

"Well yeah," said James, a slight smile playing on his lips. "They'll be more tired. And they'll be a few hours older."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean like that. I mean, at least one of them is bound to be bleeding."

A slight glint appeared in James' eyes, "how much?" He questioned.

Lily rested her head in her hand as if in thought. "Twenty galleons."

"You're on," said James.

***[:]***

For the second time that Day, Remus Lupin found himself standing outside Grimmauld place covered in blood. However, this time, at least he wasn't the only one. Sirius was also standing next to him, and he was bleeding a considerable amount more than him.

Remus knocked on the front door, not loud enough to wake up all the residents inside but enough to at least grab the attention of someone.

They waited for a short while until the door opened to reveal James. He took one look at his two best friends and then sighed. "Guys you've let me down."

Both Remus and Sirius looked slightly confused by this.

"What?" Questioned Sirius.

"I made a bet with Lily that you would come back unharmed."

Remus mock winced, "How much?"

"Twenty Galleons."

Sirius stepped past James into the dimly lit hall of Grimmauld. "You'd have thought you would have learnt your lesson now. There's no point in having a bet with Lily. Now, where's the firewhiskey?"

"Kitchen," said Remus whilst also entering the building.

James quietly closed the front door of Grimmauld, not wanting to disturb the portrait of Sirius' mother.

The three then silently went down into the kitchen.

Lily took one look at Sirius and Remus and a slight smile appeared on her face. "Cough up James," she said.

"Alright, alright," he held his hands up in defeat and then sat down at the table. "I'll give it to you tomorrow."

Sirius was searching though the kitchen cupboards in the hope of finding a drop of firewhiskey and Remus sat down next to James.

"What happened?" Lily asked, her face now looking concerned.

"There were dogs," said Sirius, now finding a bottle in a top cupboard, and smiling.

"Dogs?"

"Malfoy had charmed dogs as security," Remus elaborated.

"What were you doing?" Lily exclaimed, going into her 'mother mode' as James liked to call it. "You said you were just checking the place out, you weren't ever trying to break in!"

Sirius sat down at the table, bottle in hand and took a swig from it. "Want some Moony?" He asked, holding the bottle out to Remus. He gladly accepted it and also took a swig from it.

Lily flicked her wand, summoning two glasses and passed them to them. "Other people may want to drink that," she said, not sounding too pleased by their actions.

Remus poured the golden liquid out into the two glasses.

"So what exactly did happen?" James asked.

Sirius explained what they had seen when they got to Malfoy manor, and how they had come up with the firework plan. He then told them about hearing the alarm go off at the manor and how he'd gone to find Remus, only to discover him being chased through the woods by two enchanted dogs.

Suddenly all eyes were on Remus. "Why did the alarm go off?" James asked.

Remus took a sip from his drink, enjoying the numbness it brought him. "Dora came out of the shed," he said. "I kind of threw all sense to the wind when I saw her, I called out her name and threw James' cloak off, and then the alarm went off." Remus ran a hand through his hair, "it was stupid really."

Silence had fallen quickly on the four friends.

"Did she look alright?" Lily broke it.

"I'm not sure," Remus replied. "It was dark, I couldn't really see her. But it was definitely her."

"How are we going to get her out?" James asked. "All Remus had to do was take my cloak off and the alarm went off."

"How come he wasn't detected under the cloak?" Sirius questioned, bringing his glass down.

"Not sure," replied Lily, "but it can be used to our advantage."

She glanced at Remus and Sirius. "I think we should all get some rest and think on it in the morning. You two look like death."

"Thanks," said Sirius, raising his glass and downing the contents.

"Do you want me to take a look at that?" She asked whilst gesturing to Sirius' bloodied shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, I was going to drink a potion before I went to bed. Should be fine."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes I do seriously worry for your welfare," she said. "Let me have a look at it." She stood up, walking around the table to where Sirius was. "Do you want me to have a look at your arm Remus?" She asked him as she pulled up a chair next to Sirius.

"No, it's okay Lily. I'll clean myself up." He stood up, his chair scraping on the tiled floor of the kitchen. Lily glanced at him briefly, but didn't say anything else on the matter.

Both him and Lily had studied medicine at school, and for a while Lily had been a nurse at saint Mungo's. But it wasn't long until 'the master' took control and she'd had to leave her career to go underground with her family. She obviously thought Remus was capable of looking after himself.

Remus quietly left the kitchen. He was feeling slightly light headed as he headed up the stairs, and put it down to the firewhiskey and the slight loss of blood.

When he reached the upper landing he quietly tiptoed along the corridor, not wanting to wake any of the Weasley clan up. Remus reached the end room that he shared with Ted and quietly pushed the door open.

With all the Weasley clan at Grimauld, Teddy and Remus often had to share a room. It could get quite hectic when there were order meetings and lots of people often needed a place to stay.

Remus closed the door behind him and lit his wand to guide himself through the room, careful not to wake his son who was curled up on the large double bed. He went into the on-suite bathroom that also twinned onto Sirius' room, and turned the light on, pulling the door to slightly.

Remus put the plug in the sink and turned the taps on. He then slowly removed his jacket, wincing slightly at the movement and slung it over the edge of the bath.

He then opened the cupboard above the sink where he pulled out a phial that had 'antiseptic' written on it. He poured half the contents into the sink and turned the taps off. He removed his wand and muttered a few incantations over the sink of water and the liquid turned a shimmering purple colour.

Remus slowly eased his top over his head, peeling his bloodstained sleeve away from his skin and locking his jaw in an attempt not to cry out. He slung his top over the side of the bath along with his jacket, and then picked up a flannel, dunking it in the purple liquid.

Remus took a deep breath and then brought the flannel up to his arm, pressing it against his wound. He gritted his teeth with the sharp pain but continued the process until the water had gone dark with his blood.

Once finished Remus opened the cupboard again and removed a small kit, taking out a bandage. He was wrapping it around his arm when the door to the bathroom was slowly pushed open.

Remus looked up, wondering how he hadn't heard anyone enter his room to see Teddy, his hair sticking up from sleep and clad in his Quidditch pajamas. He stood half hidden behind the door and rubbed one of his eyes.

"Dad…?" He muttered, looking at the bandage wrapped around his arm and the sink filled with blood red water. "What happened?"

"I'm alright," Remus replied. "You should go back to bed."

"Was it Greyback?" Teddy muttered.

"No it wasn't," Remus let the water out of the sink. "Go back to sleep Ted, I'll be through in a minute."

Teddy glanced through to the bedroom. "It's dark," he said.

"Alright," replied Remus, giving in, "you can stay." The damage had already been done now anyway. Teddy had seen his arm and he was certain to ask questions in the morning.

Ted entered the bathroom and sat down on the toilet seat, his feet not touching the floor.

Remus put the phial and the small bandage kit back into the cupboard. "Where did you go?" Teddy asked.

Remus thought about telling Ted about his mother. He had a right to know, surly? But he didn't want to get his hopes up too much. Perhaps he would tell him in the morning. "I went out with Sirius," he replied.

"Is Sirius alright?"

"He's fine." Remus picked up his jacket and top, "C'mon," he said as he made to leave the bathroom.

Ted jumped down off the toilet seat and followed his Dad out of the room. "I don't like it when you go out," said Ted.

Remus turned the bathroom light off and Ted took hold of his hand as the room fell dark. "I know," said Remus, lighting his wand again. He walked over to the bed and Ted climbed in once more, getting under the covers.

Remus threw his clothes over the back of a chair, being too tired to do anything else with them and quickly put his pajamas on and climbed in next to his son. Teddy shuffled closer to his Dad and Remus put his good arm around him.

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Millipher Steerus xx