Things were suspiciously quiet in the Lupin nursery. Too quiet considering that there was a five year old and an eleven month old in the room. By all rights there should have at least been baby babble, possibly a tantrum or two. But instead everything was quiet. Lupa was sitting in a pile of cushions reading a book and Remus was busy crawling around and exploring the room to see what had changed in the last five minutes.
After exploring every nook and cranny, Remus crawled over to his older sister and sat down in front of her.
"Lu, Lu, Lu, Lu." He chanted, giggling.
Lupa closed her book and looked at the giggling baby in front of her.
"What do you want?" She asked with a smile.
In answer, Remus held his arms out to her. Lupa put her book to the side and stood up from the cushions. Taking Remus' hands, she pulled him to his feet. Even with the firm grip she had on him, he still wobbled unsteadily. She took a slow step back and Remus followed. In this manner, they crossed half of the room. When they reached the middle of the room, she suddenly let go of his hands. For a long moment, Remus wobbled in place and looked as if he was going to fall. Then he got his balance and looked up at Lupa. Lupa took five steps back before kneeling down and holding out her arms.
"Come here Remus. Come to Lupa." She said.
Remus' face took on a look of concentration and he slowly moved first one leg, then the other. Gaining speed, Remus continued taking steps until he crashed into Lupa's waiting arms. Lupa wrapped her arms around her brother and stood up, spinning the child around in a circle. Both of them were laughing when she finally stopped and set him down.
The siblings continued to make their way around the room. First Lupa would lead Remus by the hands for a minute. Then she would let go and back away from him, going back one extra step each time she did so. Most of the time, Remus was able to make it to the safety of her arms without falling. There were a few times that he fell before he could get there. Usually, he landed on his rear but once he fell face forward and hit the ground before Lupa could catch him. Thankfully the girl managed to sooth him before he worked himself into a proper fit.
It took them a full hour to make a complete circle of the room. When they finally reached the cushions, Lupa collapsed backwards on to them. Remus, wanting to prove that he could do everything his sister could, fell face forward onto the cushions and ended up landing on Lupa.
"Oof." Lupa said, shifting Remus to the side and sitting up. "You're heavy little one."
Remus merely gave her a baby grin and snuggled into her side. For several minutes, the two simply sat there in the cushions. It was a rare moment of peace and contentment. Something they hadn't had in a while. Or more accurately, that Lupa hadn't had in a while. Things had been undeniably tense between her and her parents ever since Remus was born. They had wanted her to let the servants raise him and to forget about him. Understandably, Lupa had been shocked and angry. She had waited nine long months to meet her baby brother and when he finally arrived, her parents told her to forget about him. Not a chance. Newborn Remus had captured his sister's attention and stolen her heart. She wasn't going to forget about him and she wasn't just going to let the servants raise him. Her parents hadn't been pleased with her decision and as a result, they hadn't spoken more than a handful of times in the last eleven months.
Lupa was brought out of her thoughts by a knocking on the door. She bade the person enter and one of the female servants entered, carrying a tray loaded with food.
"Lunch Miss Lupa." She said, setting the tray down on a low table.
Lupa's eyes lit up. She hadn't realized until now how hungry she was.
"Come on, Remus. Let's go have lunch." She said, once more getting up from the cushions.
She walked over to the table with Remus crawling behind her. The servant picked him up and set him down in one of the chairs. Lupa took the other one across from him.
"Miss Lupa, have you given any thought to how you would like to celebrate your brother's birthday? It is in a month, after all." The servant asked.
A sheepish look stole over the girl's face.
"No, I haven't. I will though and I'll let you know soon, alright."
The servant nodded and left them to eat their lunch.
Sirius was quietly playing with his blocks in one corner of the nursery while his nanny Lucille straightened up the room. She had just finished putting the last toy away when a knock came at the door. Hastening across the room, she opened the door to find her employers standing on the other side.
"Good afternoon Lord Black, Lady Black. Won't you come in?" She said, standing to the side so they could enter.
With only a nod of greeting, the Lord and Lady of the household entered the nursery. Walburga cast a critical eye around the room and noted with dull approval that everything was neat and tidy.
"Why did you request to see us?" Orion asked.
"Your son has just said his first word. His first two words, actually. I thought you might like to hear them since your son has started talking earlier than expected. Most children don't say their first word until after their first birthday." Lucille answered.
"Very well then." Orion said.
Lucille walked over and picked up Sirius who looked slightly upset at being taken away from his blocks but quickly calmed down after Lucille whispered a few soothing words to him. She brought him so that he was a few feet away from his parents.
"Alright Sirius. Show your mother and father your new words." Lucille said.
"Mum." Sirius said obediently, looking at his mother. "Dad." He said, turning his silver eyes to his father.
"Very good Sirius." Lucille praised.
She turned to look at her employers to see their reactions. Both Orion and Walburga were looking impressed and a little pleased.
"Good boy Sirius." Walburga said, surprisingly giving the boy a smile.
"Yes. Good indeed." Orion said.
Lucille set Sirius down on the floor and turned him towards his blocks.
"There you go, Sirius. Go play with your blocks."
Sirius happily crawled away and was soon stacking blocks on top of each other again. Lucille smiled at him for a moment before turning back to his parents.
"Was there anything else that you wanted?" Orion asked.
"Yes, my Lord. I wanted to ask you if there is anything specific that needs to be done for Sirius' birthday. It is only a few weeks away and I wanted to begin making preparations for it." Lucille said.
"There is. I will send a servant to you later today with a list of what needs to be done."
Lucille nodded.
"Very well, if that is all, then we must be going."
Orion and Walburga turned to the door and left the room. Just before he disappeared completely through the door, Orion paused and turned his head to look at his son. Lucille could have sworn that she saw something like pride flash through his eyes. Before she could be certain, Orion had turned away and was gone.
AN: I think most of the chapters for this story are going to be about this long. I'm sure there will be some that will be longer but I can't say for sure yet.
I said in the author's note for the last chapter that I would explain the curse on the Lupin family in the author's note for this chapter. The curse comes from Mrs. Lupin's side of the family and affects every child but the first born. Most of the children born after the first child become ill and die before their first birthday. Those that make it past their first birthday usually become ill and die by their fourth. Now you have a better understanding of why Remus' parents didn't want him.
One thing you should know, Sirius is about three weeks older than Remus, who is almost eleven months. He's about two days away in this chapter.
In other news, I'm still suffering from partial writers block. I know what I want each chapter to contain but actually writing it is proving difficult. Remus and Sirius are definitely behind it as I nearly caught them playing around in the engine room of my train of thought. Still haven't determined if Star has a part in this. I'll let you know later.
Before I go, I would love it if those of you out there reading this story would take a minute to give me some feedback. This story is unbetaed and I sometimes miss mistakes. It also helps when people ask questions as it reminds me of things that I want to include in future chapters. I also love hearing from readers.
Now, I'm off to do some hunting.