Draco was sat in the kitchen, idly sketching on a bit of old parchment when the doorbell rang. His hand stilled. As far as he was aware, no one outside of the order should be able to find the house, but that didn't exactly mean that they were trustworthy.
He stood from the table and moved into the hall. He was torn; he knew that he really shouldn't answer the door given that he was wand-less, but he didn't want to go upstairs to find Harry in the library, and risk the person forcing their way in.
The only visitor they were expecting was Lupin. However, given that Draco had only sent the letter this morning it seemed somewhat unlikely that it was him. Draco had tried to be cryptic about what he'd put in the letter, but if the order had intercepted it they'd probably have worked it out.
He stood, indecisive, when the knock came again. This time there was a soft grunt from behind Mrs Black's curtain. Knowing he would regret it later, he yanked open her curtains and then pulled open the door. Their visitor was greeted by loud screeching profanities.
To Draco's immense relief, the man stood by the door was the haggard man from memory. Behind him, Harry appeared at the base of the stairs, his footfalls barely audible over Mrs Black.
"Lupin!" He called quite merrily. Lupin looked incredibly tired, and took a step back as Harry approached. Trusting Harry to have the situation in hand, Draco turned his back on them to deal with Mrs Black. She had outlived her usefulness and was merely inducing headaches now. Her calls died down, allowing Lupin to finally be heard.
"Who was in the room with us the night Peter was caught?" He challenged Harry. Harry looked somewhat disappointed by this greeting but pondered for a moment anyway.
"Um, well there was Hermione and me, Ron and Sirius, Peter of course, and Crookshanks. That was until Snape turned up." Lupin nodded, but didn't look any less tense.
"Check it's me Harry."
"What did you say to me when I told you I'd seen Peter's name?"
"The map never lies." Lupin paused briefly " The letter said you were having a furry problem, please tell me he didn't get you." The concern in Lupin's voice was almost tangible. Draco was left feeling incredibly out of place. He'd never heard an adult express that sort of concern before, not for him and certainly not for Harry.
"Not me, no." The relief was visible. Lupin crumbled slightly, clearly letting go of his huge worry. He drew a deep breath as him steadied himself.
"Thank Merlin. I was so worried, Harry, absolutely terrified. The order has been in complete disarray since you left. Dumbledore's been having unpredictable outbursts of magic. He's livid. But you called me here for a reason, what was it?" Harry shuddered at the idea of Dumbledore so angry. Even knowing it was him the anger was directed at; he sincerely hoped he'd never have to deal with it himself. He forced himself to focus on the matter at hand.
"Oh it was Greyback alright. He scratched Viktor, but he wasn't transformed. We're now at a loss for what to do or… or expect come the full moon." The look Remus gave him was troubled. He frowned for a moment before gesturing that Harry led the way inside, and then upstairs. Solemnly they ascended the stairs, leaving Draco unsure if he should follow them.
He and Lupin had never gotten along well during their time at Hogwarts, and Draco had to admit it was mostly his fault. He'd just seen a shabby, worn-out man and deemed him unfit to teach without giving the man a chance. It had led to him stalking out of the classroom on more than one occasion and saying things he regretted now he'd grown up.
Still, it wasn't going to be easy for Lupin to forget what an arsehole he'd been, and he didn't want to make things awkward.
"He's just through there." Harry said upon reaching the top. "You coming, Draco?" When Draco could see Harry, his face open and inviting, his resolve broke and he headed upstairs. Who cared what anyone else thought of him, Harry wanted him and that was all that mattered.
.
.
Harry, Hermione and Draco had relocated themselves to the study upon Lupin's request. They sat in an uncomfortable silence. Hermione was resolutely ignoring Draco, acting like he didn't exist. Harry was trying to keep the peace between them all. And Draco, he was lounging in a chair thinking about how he had been making Harry writhe and moan on this very spot earlier in the morning.
When Harry called Kreacher up and asked for some tea and biscuits the elf seemed even more on edge than before. He vanished as soon as he'd received his orders, leaving little in the way of distractions.
"Lupin sure got here fast, he's beaten Hedwig back." Harry said, trying to fill the quiet. Hermione made a small sound of agreement before returning to her book. He turned to Draco. "What did you actually put in that letter, he seemed to think I'd been bitten."
"Just that we had a furry problem. I purposefully kept it vague, in case it was intercepted." He replied.
"Well if anyone can help, it'll be Lupin." Draco nodded his agreement and they lapsed into silence once more.
Harry was certainly relieved to see Lupin again. It was heartening to know that some of there were some wizards left who trusted him without feeling the need to inform Dumbledore. He'd known he could trust the man, but that didn't ease the seed of worry that Dumbledore would somehow catch up to them here. In all honesty, he was a little surprised Dumbledore hadn't turned up on their doorstep. Perhaps he thought it too foolish a place to hide.
Also, he wasn't really sure how Sirius' death had affected the wards. He had obviously become a secret keeper himself as he'd been able to get Krum and Draco in, but Lupin had come without directions. Did that mean that anyone who had visited the house at any point was free to enter? They really ought to look into that, when they had less pressing matters to deal with.
Harry sighed. They always seemed to have some crisis or other to deal with. Draco looked over at him when he heard the sigh. His brows furrowed slightly in a questioning look but Harry shrugged it off. It was a problem for another day.
Now that his thoughts were wandering to Draco he couldn't help but think of how many problems they'd already gotten through together. He knew it was wishful thinking to hope that the problems were now behind them. Still, they'd been doing a good job of being on the same side of the problem of late.
That reminded him. The stolen pensive was still sat in his room, waiting for the promised memories. He was sad that it seemed unlikely now for him to ever regain his own memories of the start of their friendship, but at least he'd get some vestige of them.
He couldn't remember falling in love, just remembered realising without a doubt that he was.
The door clicked open, breaking his train of thought. Three sets of eyes looked up to where Remus was currently hovering.
"Well?" Said Hermione at once, raising from her chair. Lupin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I don't know." He said simply. Hermione looked a little stunned. "Until the full moon rolls around it is impossible to know for sure. I think it is unlikely he will turn, at least I've never heard of it happening. Then again, I've never heard of someone being half a werewolf, and there is no doubt the wolf's magic is in him."
"So what do we do?" Harry said, fighting to keep his voice even.
"There is a cellar under this house, a level below the basement. Dare I say it; it was probably used for the practice of dark magic by the Blacks. Dumbledore showed it to me while the Order were based here, in case I wanted somewhere to change. I never did, enclosed spaces seem to help little, but it should be sufficient. He'll need to stay in there overnight. If the worst comes to the worst and he does transform then I'll talk to professor Snape about getting some more wolfsbane potion. I will be paying him a visit in the next couple of days to pick some up for myself."
"That could be problematic." Draco's voice was flat and emotionless. Lupin looked up at him in surprise. "My godfather is dead."
For a moment it was clear the words hadn't sunk in. Draco had a mask on so impenetrable Harry wouldn't have known how much he was hurting. It was only from seeing the distress when they'd briefly talked about it last night that Harry knew better.
Lupin on the other hand was far from emotionless. He went white as a ghost and it took Harry a moment to place the emotion in his eyes. Fear. But mixed with something else that Harry still couldn't place. Lupin's knuckles had turned white as he gripped the doorframe for support.
"Dead?" He managed to croak out at last.
"He was the one to rescue Viktor. He'd didn't make it back out. I'm sorry." Remus looked like he was about to crumple to the ground, so Harry stepped forward to catch him. Sat in the doorway, stunned and trembling, Lupin looked much less than his years.
Harry was unsure if it was simply because his supply of wolfsbane had now been cut off. It seemed more complicated than that. Together he and Hermione managed to guide him to a chair. He had become a broken man due to four small words. My godfather is dead.
When Harry looked back up he noticed Draco had slipped out of the room.
.
.
By the time Harry was able to hunt Draco down, about half an hour after, it was clear he had just finished putting himself back together. His eyes were red rimmed, but he greeted Harry with his head up and his voice steady.
"How is he?" Harry carefully sat on the arm of the chair, next to Draco. The second floor landing had become one of their favourite haunts, with its big window overlooking the park.
"He's… in shock I guess. It seems there may have been slightly more between them than just Remus' reliance on his potions, but now isn't the time to be asking. He's agreed to stay here for the next three days; just he's going to have to leave for the full moon. We can't have both of them in the cellar." Draco nodded, staring out of the window again. "How are you?"
"Lost, I guess. Everything has changed so quickly. Four months ago I was still a Malfoy. I had a godfather who looked out for me. I didn't have a price tag on my head and whilst life was far from decent I at least knew where I stood. It may have been a crap place to stand but I was with my family. I had status and money and a reputation and whilst I know those things don't matter, I've always grown up being told you're worthless without them! So yeah... lost."
Harry had let Draco have his rant, watching him carefully.
"Do you regret it?" He said at last, softly.
"Leaving? Not letting the Deatheaters in? Merlin no. I may not be a free man exactly, but at least I'm not bound to that maniac in the same way as I was." He finally turned to look at Harry, silver eyes shining. "I love you, and life is too short not to revel in that fact. If what you were saying about Sev and Lupin was true it only proves that point."
Leaning down, Harry pressed a warm kiss to Draco's lips.
"I love you too. Now come on." Harry stood and offered Draco a hand. He took it without hesitation.
"Where are we going?"
"To our room, you have some memories to show me and this seat is too small for the both of us. Besides, they will be as good a distraction as any." Draco couldn't help but grin at the way Harry had said our room. He followed, hand still entwined with Harry's.
AN: Hello! I know this chapter is a bit of a filler chapter but I was just desperate to get something up. The good news is my exams will be over in 10 days, then I should be able to get typing like mad! Please review, I'm so close to 100!