REMUS

The services Dumbledore requested from Remus came not one week following the breakout. The Daily Prophet highlighted the news of Lucius being liberated from Azkaban and Severus had supposedly deflected any questioning Voldemort had regarding the Malfoy family, but Dumbledore still called upon Remus to become the first visitor to the new Malfoy residence. Being the Secret-Keeper, Dumbledore had revealed the location to Remus only after Remus agreed to oversee a series of what would undoubtedly be tedious lessons on how to build up Lucius's magical defenses.

In addition to his served sentence weakening him during his prolonged stay, Lucius was not an adept wizard by any means and Dumbledore insisted that he, far more than Draco, be instructed on more battering dueling. The headmaster still would not reveal what importance Draco would be to the cause, but whatever the young man would be doing did not seem to be nearly as dangerous as what Dumbledore predicted Lucius would be doing.

It was an appalling thing to do, helping the Malfoy family, and Remus felt sullied for doing it, not that he could very well tell Dumbledore after he had already agreed to be of any assistance he could. He was therefore determined to hate every second of it.

And so with a gift to Lucius stowed in his pocket, Remus Apparated to a secluded cottage hidden away in a lush, wild stretch of land that extended in all directions into the Scottish glens. No doubt Dumbledore would have secured the wards protecting the cottage himself to alert the Malfoys to anyone's approach, and he was not disappointed as he saw the cottage door open and a pale face appear in the doorway.

"Who sent you?" called Lucius's voice in a slight tremble.

"I come at the behest of Albus Dumbledore, though I would say that if I were one of your former dedicated companions coming to return you to Voldemort. Just ask me the question, Malfoy," Remus called back.

"Dumbledore's parting words before he left my family protected here were what?"

"Your son's poor choice in friends reflects your own and that is something I plan to remedy," Remus replied. "Satisfied?"

He expected Lucius to walk out grudgingly and meet him. He was not expecting Lucius Malfoy to walk out of the cabin with brown hair. And furthermore, he had put on some weight, making his sunken face looked fuller, healthier. His prison garb was gone, replaced with Muggle clothing in the form of black jeans and a woolly grey pullover, and if Remus looked closely enough, he could see a glamour placed on Lucius's face so his nose appeared shorter, his eyes set closer, his lower lip jutting out. Remus had to hand it to Dumbledore; the man had thought of everything.

Lucius, however, seemed less than pleased with his current lot in life, but if the worst his circumstances provided was dyed hair and Muggle clothing, he wasn't doing half bad. Still, he seemed to find something to complain about as he strode awkwardly out to meet Remus at the threshold of the territory until only a bridge crossing over a babbling brook separated them.

"How any human being can move comfortably in clothes like these is beyond me."

"I find it hard to believe that you've never worn anything as simple as jeans."

"They ride up in the most uncomfortable sort of places and limit my movements."

"You'll earn no sympathy from me. If you had spent any time outside of the wizarding world, you would have acquired a better understanding of Muggle outerwear, but that's all beside the point. I'm here to check in on you as well as deliver some much needed supplies per Dumbledore's request."

"We have everything we need at the moment," said Lucius shortly and Remus noted how the man had tried to subtly move in front of the bridge so Remus could not cross it. The notion angered Remus.

"You still doubt that I'm here to actually help you after all of that business with falling from my broom in an effort to rescue you. I'm going to ask you to stand aside and if you don't move, I'm going to make you."

"You and Moody are perfect partners for one another, threatening a wandless man as he attempts to shield his family from—"

"I don't need a wand to hit you in the face like I did the last time I saw you, Malfoy. Unlike you, I found Muggle altercation worth learning in the event that I misplace my wand or have it taken from me. But if you can't even throw a proper punch, I'll have to add that to the long list of tasks Dumbledore has invented for you during your stay here. Now that you've made a full recovery, you can begin your training to not only close your mind to Voldemort, but also to invade the minds of others, among other things."

"For that, I would require a wand, and seeing as how mine was confiscated by the Ministry and Ollivander has taken a leave of absence from Diagon Alley, I appear to be out of luck."

"True, but Dumbledore went to great pains to have another wandmaker craft this for you."

Remus presented Lucius with a long, folded piece of fabric. Lucius took it and unveiled an ashen-brown wand that emitted a wisp of smoke at his touch. A light returned to Lucius's eyes just then, one that had been absent since Remus had first seen him in his prison cell. The life that Azkaban had drained from him came back in the form of wielding a wand.

"I believe it's European make, though Dumbledore wouldn't give me the wandmaker's name. Larch, eleven and a half inches, dragon heartstring core and apparently fluid."

Struggling to find words and appearing as if he was chewing his own mouth, Lucius stuttered out, "Tell Dumbledore that I…tell him I…please relay my—"

"I will," said Remus curtly. "Now after you've let me cross, I'll ensure that everything is in order before Severus arrives."

"The both of you? What for?"

"Severus will be paying weekly visits to teach you how to close your mind to Voldemort."

"If the Dark Lord wishes to know my thoughts, he finds a way in. I'm powerless to stop him—"

"Because you have weak defenses and have never been taught how to build up inner walls to keep prying eyes and minds out. Dumbledore believes that this is a necessary skill for you to learn in case you are unlucky enough to find yourself in Voldemort's company again. Therefore, Severus will be overseeing your lessons while I merely observe for a few sessions until it is my turn to teach you how to cast a Patronus charm."

"Death Eaters cannot cast the charm," said Lucius in a deadpan gaze. "A fitting setback, seeing as how we—they ally themselves with the dementors."

"Severus can cast the charm and has been able to since he learned it some sixteen years ago," said Remus, untroubled. "And he has more reason than most to find trouble doing so. Once we see what it is you truly fear, we'll be able to extract the spell from within you. But for that we will be needing Severus's assistance if I'm not mistaken—"

They heard the telltale pop of an Apparation and saw Snape appear several feet behind Remus, his billowing black robes coming to a rest at his sides. At the sight of Remus, Snape made a quick flick of his wand and Remus heard an annoying buzzing sound fill his ears, making him deaf to the question Lucius asked of Severus so as to ensure that Remus would not know it. An irksome precaution, but necessary all the same. Once Snape had disabled the spell, he stowed his wand in his sleeve and made a curt gesture at the cottage.

"I haven't been in to check that things are in order yet," said Remus with an annoyed half-glance at Lucius, "Because Lucius is insisting that I do not enter."

Snape strode forward, his robes whispering across Remus's boots as he crossed the bridge without incident or comment from Lucius and Remus felt a minor stab of irritation that Lucius did not object to Snape intruding on him so much as he minded Remus's presence. Following in their wake, Remus let himself in behind them as they entered the cottage to find Narcissa and Draco sitting at the enclosed kitchen table.

"Forgive me this intrusion, Narcissa, but Dumbledore has asked us—that is, Lupin and myself—here to put Lucius through a series of instructive courses on how to better his magic in preparation for what is to come," said Snape without standing on ceremony.

"What is to come?" Lucius repeated.

"As Lupin should already have informed you, Dumbledore is not so naïve as to think that you will never stray across the Dark Lord's path again, and he has therefore seen fit to provide you with two tutors who will assist you in your wandwork as well as your mental defenses. This tutelage shall continue for as long as Dumbledore deems necessary, so you can expect weekly visits from the both of us and you are never to desist in asking the necessary question to ensure that it is us, is that understood?"

"Yes, but—"

"Then step outside. Our lesson today will require much space, so I will reset the wards once we leave the property and your wife and son will remain here until our return."

"I wanted to come watch," said Draco boldly. "I want to learn—"

"This is not something Dumbledore requires you to know at the present time, Draco, and you shall therefore remain here as I have instructed. If you wish to occupy yourself with a skill worth learning, I suggest relaxing your facial muscles under strain and interrogation. Lucius, then, if you will."

Snape more or less steered Lucius towards the door, but paused to call back over his shoulder at Narcissa and Draco, "You will remain here and know this; what you may hear is not real."

With that, he led Lucius from the cottage, casting shields and spells to hide the place from sight and sound as they crossed back over the bridge and out into the glen. They had hiked a fair mile and a half before Snape seemed satisfied with the distance and turned, wand out, back to Lucius.

"What I did not say in front of your wife and son is that Dumbledore hopes that you will graduate from mediocre wandwork to the status of a dueling master, otherwise you have no hope of defending yourself or your family from the Dark Lord's wrath. Your rebuttal towards the Order in the Department of Mysteries was most inadequate and embarrassing for one who calls himself a servant of the Dark Lord, Lucius. I can promise you that I will not be lenient with you, nor will I have the patience to listen to any whinging you may have about my methods. I am not here to coddle you or express sympathy for your plight, only to groom you into the best model of mental discipline I can achieve. Strive for excellence and nothing less, or you shall receive no reward for your efforts."

Lucius gaped at Snape's harsh criticizing tone and Remus suspected that as old of friends the two were, Snape had never spoken so lowly of Lucius. But Snape was right; Lucius was easily outmatched by Sirius at the Ministry and Sirius had been out of practice for thirteen years. It was only the sheer number of Death Eaters that had had the Order scrambling for victory, but Remus had seen Lucius's skill firsthand and was less than impressed. Against six teenagers, he appeared to be more than a match, but Mad-Eye had later referred to Lucius's wandwaving as, "ninny swishing", and at this recollection, Remus had to suppress a grin.

"Prepare yourself. I am about to enter your mind and you will attempt to force me out, however necessary, so that I may see how you respond to an attack. You are familiar with the process, I presume?"

"Yes, but—"

"Legilimens!"

Lucius never even got to raise his wand. Remus watched his eyes gloss over in a blank stare as Snape leafed through his thoughts, memories, and emotions at his leisure. He didn't want to know exactly what Snape was searching for, if anything, but he did suspect that Snape wasn't even exerting the full force of the spell on Lucius. Nonetheless, Lucius was already exhibiting signs of strain as sweat prickled down his forehead and his expression turned to one of strained concentration.

He swayed and fell headlong into a manmade well, knocking his temple against the stone basin. Snape pulled back his mental attack and crossed his arms, displeased at the results.

"What—happened?" asked Lucius as his eyes returned to focus.

"You realized what he was doing and had started to attempt a rebuttal, but you fell," answered Remus.

"That was an attempt and I need hardly add that it was lacking in effort."

"You attacked my mind without warning," Lucius protested, nursing his head where a lump was already beginning to form.

"Do you expect the Dark Lord to inform you of when he is about to penetrate your mind? You are an easy target, malleable and susceptible to his every whim because of how open and unguarded your thoughts are. He can read you without delving into your mind as easily as a Muggle could interpret the expressions on your face and I would even go as far as to venture a guess that a blind man could read you with equal ease. Nothing is sacred to you, Lucius, and so I fear that we have a terribly long and difficult road ahead of us if you are to stand the slightest chance of holding back the Dark Lord."

"Exactly the sort of motivation he needs, Severus," said Remus with a roll of his eyes.

Ignoring him, Snape continued to berate Lucius. "Your mind must be prepared to multitask and you must be ready to cast up your defenses without a moment's notice. Not only in mind, but in body as well. You must be completely blank, devoid of expression so the Dark Lord cannot read a single solitary thing about you. Not your body language, your eyes, your breathing—nothing. He must think that you are letting him in by feeding him false information, these untrue memories we will give you. You will recall these lies to mind when and if he questions you and it is these that you must surrender to him whilst keeping your true memories hidden."

Seeing that Lucius was well and thoroughly confused, Remus interceded. "Severus and I will feed you false information to make it look like a true memory and we'll train you to put those false memories in place for when Voldemort is attempting to read your mind. Your real memories will be hidden—assuming that you can learn how to do such a thing."

"What would be your definition of a false memory?" asked Lucius.

"You were brought here mostly unscathed and have been treated with the utmost respect, something you could not expect of a hostage in the Dark Lord's care. If he were to discover the part I played in helping liberate you from Azkaban as well as Dumbledore's involvement and the Order's, my position would be compromised, as would Dumbledore's plans. I will attempt to create a scenario in which you and your family are handled brutally as if you were prisoners and not guests in protective custody. You will be able to view these false memories at your leisure while keeping the real ones, but you must be able to call upon the false ones in the presence of the Dark Lord."

"I hope you're not expecting this of me in the first session," said Lucius reasonably.

"If you aim for anything less than perfection, you have lost your battle before it has begun, as I have told you already, Lucius. Again."

Lucius was still nursing his head when Snape broke into his mind and it had only been a few moments when he waved his wand insistently with only a tendril of smoke as the result, pleading, "Stop it, stop!" to Snape.

"What's wrong?" asked Remus, wondering what memory Lucius could possibly have that tormented him enough to not want Snape anywhere near it.

"A relapse," said Snape without sympathy. "I drew up his memories of Azkaban, but it seems that he has allowed himself to panic in the presence of them." Shaking his head at Lucius, Snape urged him to regain his composure. "True horrors do not and have not existed for you, Lucius. Your suffering pales in comparison to that of others, many of whom were subjected to them by your hand. Do try to keep up."

Remus never expected to sympathize with Lucius Malfoy after his involvement in Sirius's death, but gazing upon him now on his hands and knees with his wand bunched into his fist as tears ran down his face and his shoulders quivered in recollection of his sentence in Azkaban, Remus felt compassion stirring within him. Lucius could have said no, could have refused Dumbledore's help or refused to partake in these lessons with Snape, but he knew that his mind was weak and was doing his best to overcome his fear in order to strengthen the walls within him.

And Snape's constant ridicule was not helping in the slightest.

"Again, and if you attempt to shout your way out of it this time, I shall only linger on those memories you wish to not relive. Do not make me instruct you on how to close your mouth as well."

"Wait—"

Remus felt himself wince for Lucius as Snape's attack hit him again and he struggled to remain on his feet.

"You know what is at stake here, Lucius, yet even that does not help you show any improvement. The more you simply fight, the more painful it is."

"I'm trying," said Lucius earnestly.

"Then show me and stop telling me."

"I can't—"

"Perhaps if I were to bring your family out here—"

"No!"

Lucius broke free from the spell and an angry red vine spurted from the tip of his wand, searing across the skin on Snape's wand hand. Snape drew his hand back, waving it with a soft curse under his breath. Casting a cooling charm on the burnt skin, he nodded.

"That was an improvement, however small. You reacted to a threat, but it was in the form of anger and anger marks a loss of control. If the Dark Lord terrorized your family and you reacted thus, you know the consequences. I want you to be able to hear someone tormenting your family and accept it calmly while maintaining focus on the task at hand. I want your face to be the epitome of weakness when you are delivering false memories to the Dark Lord."

"That's not going to happen if you threaten my family again," said Lucius dangerously.

"If you insist on letting your love for your family be ever-present on your face, you are going to lose them much sooner than you would like."

Lucius started forward, but Snape was ready for him.

"Legilimens!"

Stopped mid-stride, Lucius's brow turned down in concentration, but the sweat on his forehead increased under the strain. He had his wand pointed at Snape, but his grip was lax and he looked to be in a painful trance. Then, his eyes grew wide and he recoiled as if he had been electrocuted. His face screwed up in terror and he dropped his wand, clasping his hands over his eyes as he screamed.

Snape continued to invade his mind, his face blank as he watched Lucius writhe on the ground. There was no change in him; he might have been watching flobberworms mingle.

Remus cast a shield between the two of them and Lucius rolled over, gasping as Snape took a step back, thrown off balance by Remus's protection.

"Why did you intervene?" Snape asked mildly.

"You're torturing him, or do you not know the difference between that and teaching? He's clearly in pain, but you kept going. Dumbledore instructed you to train him, not break him."

"Sometimes, in order to achieve the desired outcome, one must lead to another," said Snape dismissively.

"Then I'll go straight back to Dumbledore and tell him that Malfoy needs a new teacher," Remus countered. "I don't expect you to be sympathetic with him, but don't be cruel, however difficult that may be for you."

"That is not your call to make. Dumbledore insists that he learn and he has agreed to comply, unless that is, Lucius, you do not wish to proceed?"

Lucius pulled up grass between his fingertips as he remained hunched over. He wiped his sleeve over his face and stood back up, determined. He jerked his head to the side to ask Remus to step out of the way, which Remus did, but he was reluctant to allow Snape another go at Lucius's mind when it was already so fragile before taking multiple hits from Snape's attack.

"Once again then, Lucius."

By some miracle, it seemed that this time Lucius was ready for him and his eyes went in and out of focus for a few tense moments before he shot a spell at Snape. The blue knockback jinx rebounded as Snape sent it back at its caster and Lucius took it to the chest, flying an admirable distance of eight feet before hitting the ground so hard on his back that he made an imprint in the soft grass.

"Your goal," said Snape tonelessly as Lucius groaned in pain and pulled his knees to his chest to relieve some of the impact from his back and tailbone, "Is not to harm the individual delving into your mind, but to simply push them out. Of course, this goal cannot be obtained until you learn to direct the intruder in the direction of your choosing. You must steer, Lucius, and at the moment, I am afraid that you are a very poor driver."

Still winded on his back, Lucius pointed his wand at Snape, but Snape deflected the hex, almost lazily.

"Close your mind, Lucius. Direct me where you wish me to go. Legilimens!"

Lucius clawed at his temples, hoping to force Snape out by grabbing onto him as if his presence were a tangible thing existing in Lucius's head.

"You cannot rid yourself of me by willpower alone. You have to have the confidence that you possess the skill."

A look of horror claimed Lucius's face and Remus saw the change in his posture. He was on the defense now, determined not to let Snape any further into the memory the latter had just accessed.

"The more personal the memory, the stronger you resist. You have made it known that this is something you do not wish me to see, so substitute it. Replace it with a memory that you can conjure that does not exist. Make me believe a lie, Lucius."

"Don't look at that," huffed Lucius. "That's private. If you're trying to help me as my friend, don't try to access things that don't concern you."

"Our friendship cannot be present if you are to succeed. You must act as if I am the Dark Lord and you wish to guard everything from me. Now concentrate, or I may stumble on something far more secret."

"Get out," Lucius panted, finding his feet even as his eyes rolled over. Remus was behind him, ready to catch him should he fall, for the last thing they needed was to report back to Dumbledore that Lucius had cracked his skull open during his first training session.

"Take charge of your own mind," said Snape, his voice rising to be heard over Lucius's pleas.

"Get out!"

"Then remove my presence."

Lucius threw his wand to the ground, took an ungainly step forward, and then another and another until he stood before Snape, though Remus wasn't sure if Lucius was entirely aware of how close he was to Snape. Reaching out a blind hand, Lucius grabbed Snape's cloak and as his fingers closed around it, he growled, "Enough!"

Snape dislodged Lucius's grip and then motioned at Lucius's fallen wand. "Admirable though it may seem in disarming yourself, you cannot rely on your physical being coming to your rescue. Maintain your grip on your wand, if only to prevent yourself from dropping it."

Lucius did as instructed, but as Snape made to attack again, he blocked the spell. He was still heaving and his clothes were sticking to him in cold sweat, but he seemed completely aware of himself and there was a no-nonsense look to him as he confronted Snape. "No, we're not going to continue until we set some ground rules, one of which is that you will show me some respect in not invading my privacy. Dumbledore told you to help me, not—whatever this is. If my progress in the past thirty minutes displeases you, then sort out your issue with it elsewhere, not by taking it out on me. And you will not talk down to me or try to intimidate me like I'm one of your students. I've suffered through much these past months—"

"I thought I made it clear that I will not be tolerating your whinging," began Snape, but flame burst from the tip of Lucius's wand and the former blond thundered, "You're going to tolerate it until you've shown me some goddamn respect!"

Moved to silence by Lucius's outburst, Snape cocked an eyebrow to let Lucius know he was listening, but Remus crept closer, preparing to intervene to separate the two if he needed to.

"I have served a sentence in Azkaban and as little as that means to you, it did lasting damage on me. Dumbledore had you retrieve me because he foresees that I will be of some use to the Order in the future and that my son has a part to play as well. That means that I have something to be lost in this war and I would appreciate it if the fact that you don't doesn't get in the way of these lessons. I've not done proper magic in eight months and the fact that I can summon any at all should be satisfactory enough, even for you who sets your standards to impossible heights. But I will not be treated this way, thrown to the ground and tormented while you lecture standing over me. I will do everything within my power to achieve perfection in blocking my mind, but I promise you, if you continue to push me like this at this rate, you're going to destroy my mind before I get a chance."

Remus had to admire Lucius's stance on Snape's methods. They were indeed unnecessarily cruel and in the past half hour, Remus's opinion that Lucius deserved it had changed significantly. The man's body and mind had taken a brutal beating, but his devotion to the protection of his family, his need to not fail again, made him return to the source of his pain.

"Do we have an understanding, Severus?"

Snape did not agree to Lucius's terms, but neither did he revoke them. He gestured at Lucius's chest instructively.

"The emotion you used to push me out was hurt, pain that you were being subjected to such treatment from someone you considered your equal. It was humiliating to be belittled in such a manner, something I trust you are aware that you have a habit of doing to others."

"Heed your own advice, Severus," called Remus, and Lucius spun around, startled to see Remus so close to him when Remus was almost positive that Lucius had forgotten he was there.

It was not I who did the bullying, Lupin.

Remus heard Snape's voice in his head and gave a small start, for he had never before sampled such a skill from a skilled Legilimen.

You are even less accomplished at this than Lucius and your opinion, therefore, counts for naught. Do not interfere again.

Remus longed to shoot a scathing remark back at Snape, but it was true; he didn't know the first thing about breaching one's mental walls or defending his own, so how could he expect to communicate telepathically with Snape? The more he watched Snape drill Lucius, the less he wanted to participate in learning the skill himself, but he knew that it was an essential skill to have, especially if faced with the likes of Voldemort—or Snape's own unrestrained mind.

And so he watched Lucius stumble, shout, and swear as the day dragged on. At times he would be able to hold Snape off for a moment or steer him away from an undesirable memory, but he had not yet been able to summon a false memory, nor could he completely throw Snape out of his mind. He insisted only on three minute breaks every hour and for someone as pampered and well to-do as he, Remus expected more fussing. But the man was adamant about making some type of progress and though Snape reserved his criticisms, he was still relentless and Remus could smell the stench of a day's hard work coming off of Lucius before he was even in sight when Remus left them temporarily to relieve himself in the bushes some distance away.

Finally, Snape called the session to a halt and Lucius sank down into the flattened grass, kneading at his temples. His dyed hair had curled into long, wavy strands in the humidity, but the look suited him far better than his normal precision-cut blond hair.

"We'll escort you back to the cottage before we leave," said Remus, but Lucius gazed up at him, flinching as an after-effect of having his mind infringed every time he made eye contact in the past seven hours.

"Would you be kind enough to demonstrate the Patronus charm for me before we return?"

It was a question asked in earnest, and Remus knew that he would eventually have to teach Lucius anyway, but this man was still very much an enemy in Remus's eye and he could not help resenting him. Snape had spoken of belittling others and Remus knew that if he were to present his Patronus, Lucius would have a comment on its corporeal form, even if he kept it to himself.

"If it's too much to ask-"

"It isn't. I'm merely wondering why Dumbledore asked me, of all people, to teach you."

"Dumbledore obviously seemed to think you were up to the task."

"I don't pretend to be an expert in any type of magic, but Dumbledore recognizes that I can nearly always present my Patronus where others can't."

"Surely that indicates an advanced level of magic?"

"No, it only means that I've been able to present my Patronus during the deepest form of natural depression, so conjuring it in the presence of a dementor is hardly any more difficult. How does one call upon it when so little happiness exists? By storing those select few happy memories in a place where the dementors can't access them: in your anger."

Sirius is dead largely due largely in part to this man on his knees in front of me and here I am teaching him, helping him, allying myself with him. Would you approve of that, Sirius?

And Remus saw his friend, strutting about the halls of Grimmauld Place, singing carols as visitors began to trickle in. He was alive again, happy…

"Expecto Patronum."

He saw the timber wolf emerge from his wand, silver and sleek with its eyes whited out. It cast a glance back at Remus, recognizing him as its master—and its friend. Remus didn't let it stay, slashing his wand down through the air to sever his connection with the magic. He turned to Lucius who was gazing after the place the wolf had disappeared with a natural curiosity to his face.

"Expecting a werewolf, were you?" challenged Remus before Lucius could get the question out.

"No, but its form clearly does mean something to you. I've seen the Patronuses of the Azkaban guards, asked them what correlation they see between themselves and their forms, and I've tried to understand. A werewolf is something you despise and fear, so it would make little sense if your Patronus took that shape. But a wolf is something different."

Lucius's curiosity and research into the subject surprised Remus, as did his next question.

"What would you imagine my Patronus would be, if I ever managed to conjure one?"

Thinking of the pictures he had seen in the Prophet of Lucius's house and the luxurious decorations that adorned it, Remus answered, somewhat jokingly, "A peacock."

He thought he saw the ghost of a smirk appear on Lucius's lips, but a moment later, it was gone as Snape returned from sending a message to Dumbledore via Patronus himself.

"If you've quite finished," he said irritably.

Gathering up his wand, Lucius stood and followed Snape back towards the cottage, leaving Remus to wonder if he needed a reassessment of this man.