17. FULL MOON

"Sirius!" Holly shot up from her seat and flew towards her godfather, throwing her arms around his neck and laughing brightly when he lifted her up and spun her around.

"Hey there, pup!" he replied, grinning and laughing as well. A moment later, he smoothly slid into his Animagus form, Holly following suit immediately, and they started to tussle and roll over the floor, amidst barks and growls and hisses. They were moving so fast that their fur coats blended together as they tumbled over and around each other, playfully snapping and batting at each other and trying to catch each other's tails.

"Would you two act your age for once?" Remus asked in exasperation, having followed Sirius into the dining hall from the Apparition point in the great foyer. "And good morning, everyone."

"I think we'd better heed his words, pup." Sirius changed back into his human form with the adolescent panther still hanging from his back, laughing when Holly purred loudly in his ear. "It's that time of the month again…"

"… and it's the full moon, too," Holly added with a grin, pressing a kiss to Sirius' cheek before sliding to the floor and greeting Remus with a hug as well. "Are you okay, Uncle Moony, why don't you sit down? Rudolphus, Rabastan, would you mind terribly if Remus and Sirius took your seats today?"

"No problem, Holly, we wanted to get an early start, anyway," Rabastan said with a smile, both brothers rising to their feet and Rudolphus going so far as to pull out her chair for her before they left the dining hall.

"I'm fine, Holly," Remus reassured her with a slightly crooked smile. "I actually feel better than usually at this time. I'm very optimistic about your new potion, Severus."

"It's not a new potion, it's a variation," Professor Snape corrected without looking up from his breakfast. "And your optimism has no relevance to me at all."

"Of course," Remus replied easily, shushing Sirius before he could retort something no doubt scathing. "I kept a record of any unusual symptoms or side-effects, like you asked. And thank you for allowing me to spend the full moon here."

He addressed the last to Tom, who was sitting at the head of the table as usual, and decimating his plate of cheese sandwiches as usual.

"Holly was rather insistent that she wished to spend the weekend with you despite the risks," Tom replied. "There will be several additional precautions, of course."

"You can stop glaring at any time, you know?" Holly told him with an eyeroll. "This was your idea."

"I would hate myself if you or Sirius ever came to any harm because of me, pup," Remus interjected mildly. "I'm grateful for any precaution, additional or otherwise. Besides our home isn't werewolf-proof yet."

"You've decided on a house?" Holly asked eagerly. "Which one?"

"The one Minerva recommended," Sirius answered with the same level of enthusiasm. "It belonged to one of her relatives who decided to live with her son in her old days. I think I showed you some pictures? It's rather secluded, but that's what we wanted, and the garden is huge and the property even includes a small forest plot. I finally wore Remus down that yes, we can afford it, and that yes, he deserves nice things. Which reminds me that you have to give me access to my vaults again, if you don't mind."

He rummaged through his robes before finally producing a stack of papers and handing them to Holly, together with a Self-Inking Quill.

"You can't just sign that," Tom protested in alarm when Holly positioned the quill to sign on the line without reading much more than the Signature of vault-owner under it.

"Why ever not? It's Sirius' money."

"You can't know that because you haven't read it. It could be your money just as well and why does Black need your permission at all?" Tom demanded with a dark look at Holly's godfather.

"Because I was declared dead after the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries, which put my will into effect," Sirius explained, reaching around Remus to pat Holly's slight shoulder in reassurance. "And it's surprisingly difficult to clear up such clerical errors when you're considered a mass-murdering psychopath. I thought you'd be able to relate to that."

"Sirius," Remus said warningly. "I think we agreed that we would try to be civil? For Holly?"

"I am trying," Sirius muttered petulantly.

"Try harder," Remus replied, unimpressed.

"Anyway," Holly said. "Can I sign now that that's cleared up? It's Sirius' money and besides you insisted that you would pay for all my expenses so I don't see what I would need it for anyway. And I have more than enough of it without Sirius' vaults."

"You can never have too much money," Lucius remarked, sipping on his coffee.

"Griphook told me that I'm their wealthiest client, so I think that means I have more money than you, Lucius," Holly pointed out sweetly, quite enjoying the momentary shock on the blond wizard's face.

Lucius regained his composure quickly, though. "That might well be true for the London offices, Holly, though I would question the veracity in regards to our international investments and holdings. In any event, you would certainly do well to find some use for your money other than letting it sit in your vault."

"I have, though I'm starting to run out of ideas and the money just keeps multiplying," Holly said with a shrug.

"How are you investing your money if you don't mind me asking?" Tom queried.

"I'm not investing it. I'm donating it, to hospitals and orphanages and help organisations and such," Holly said.

"Then why do you think it's multiplying?" Lucius demanded suspiciously.

"Because half the Wizarding world seems to think that I'm their personal charity case," Holly muttered bitterly. "And that throwing money at me fixes everything, of course."

"You might consider putting out a statement through Gringotts," Lucius offered after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "This way, they can donate the money directly to an organisation of your choice and you won't have to deal with it anymore."

"That's perfect, thank you, Lucius. I'll talk to Griphook about it." Holly smiled and then signed the papers before Tom could start protesting again, handing them back to Sirius.

"Thanks, Holly. I also got your O.W.L. results," Sirius said, passing over an official looking letter. "Don't know why they sent it to my address, but I found it in Grimmauld Place when I got the last of my things. Sorry I opened it – I wanted to make sure it wasn't cursed."

Holly shrugged with a smile and slid the heavy parchment paper from the envelope, skipping the few introductory lines to focus on the listing of her results:

Charms: E – Exceeds Expectations

Transfiguration: O - Outstanding

Defence against the Dark Arts: O - Outstanding

Potions: O - Outstanding

Herbology: E – Exceeds Expectations

Astronomy: A - Acceptable

Care of Magical Creatures: O - Outstanding

Divination: P - Poor

History of Magic: D - Dreadful

She looked up across the table and smiled timidly at the Potions Master. "I'm sorry, sir, but it looks like you will have to bear with me in your class for another two years."

Snape held out his hand in a silent demand and scrutinised her O.W.L. results for almost a minute as if expecting them to change before he handed the letter back to her and fixed her with a forbidding look down his large nose. "If you insist on continuing my class, I expect you to have completed your homework, done the assigned reading and developed a firm grasp of the fundamentals by the time the term starts. I shall not suffer excuses, Holly."

"Yes, sir," Holly replied brightly. "I already got my books and Hermione offered to check my homework."

"At the very least that should limit the number of spelling mistakes," the Potions Master replied, adding after a short hesitation. "You may ask me if you have any questions."

"Thank you, sir," Holly answered with a brilliant smile, kicking Sirius under the table when he pretended to gag on his toast.

"May I have a look at your O.W.L.s, Holly?" Tom asked, accepting the letter when she handed it to him. "Very respectable, though your History of Magic grade is perhaps a little disappointing."

Holly glared at him. "Disappointing, right. Well, maybe I would have managed a passing grade if you could have waited with sending me that vision of Sirius being tortured for another hour or so. I found it kind of difficult to concentrate after that, with my head all but splitting in half."

"I didn't intend to cause you any pain," Tom replied in a vaguely apologetic tone of voice. "I just needed for you to come to the Department of Mysteries so that you could pick up the prophecy record."

"Because that worked out so well," Holly retorted sarcastically. "You didn't get your stupid prophecy, half of your Death Eaters got arrested, Sirius almost died, my friends got hurt and oh, yes, I failed my History of Magic exam because that's the big loss in all this."

"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty, Holly, but I do take your point," Tom answered conciliatorily. "Lucius, who can we contact to straighten out this misunderstanding regarding Holly's exam? I'd like her to have the chance to retake it."

"I have some contacts," Lucius agreed readily. "It shouldn't be a problem to arrange something, given the… unusual circumstances."

"Maybe you should first ask Holly if she actually wants to resit that exam," Sirius pointed out, taking a crunching bite out of his apple and grinning at her.

"I don't want any special treatment," Holly murmured when Tom turned to look expectantly at her. "And I never planned to continue with History of Magic, so do I have to?"

"Of course not," Tom said, gently caressing her arm. "You did very well in your other subjects and seven O.W.L.s is a very respectable result."

"I'd say!" Sirius said. "I think Jamie must have had seven as well. I remember he failed Divination – he had a great-aunt or something with the 'gift' who convinced him to give it a shot, but I think it's safe to say that he had no such talent. And I think we both failed History of Magic."

"No, you failed History of Magic," Remus corrected with a note of fondness. "You never managed to keep your dates straight. James failed Muggle Studies."

Sirius laughed and nodded. "Right, right! He took that in hopes of impressing Lily, of course, but he was an absolute disaster when it came to Muggle technology. He managed to set the classroom on fire at least once a week."

"Yes, and I'm sure you had nothing to do with that," Remus commented with an eyeroll.

"I take offence to that!" Sirius declared haughtily. "I'll have you know that I was a prodigy in that class – and I have my N.E.W.T.s to prove it."

Holly laughed, always loving these little anecdotes about her parents and feeling a lot better about her O.W.L. results. She knew that Ron had earned seven O.W.L.s as well, while Hermione had passed all her courses with flying colours, of course, and received nine Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations.

"Have you decided which classes you wish to continue?" Tom asked, handing her the second sheet of paper that had been in the envelope and which demanded an answer to just that question.

"Potions and Charms and Transfiguration. And I always did really well in Defence against the Dark Arts and I like Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures," Holly said, studying the list of available subjects. "I don't think I want to continue with Astronomy, though, and I only need five N.E.W.T.-level classes."

"I think most jobs require three or four N.E.W.T.s at the most," Tom remarked. "Though there's nothing wrong with taking more if your grades allow it."

"Professor McGonagall said I needed five and pass them with top grades, too," Holly said, using Sirius' quill to note down her picks.

"Auror?" Lucius asked, making a passing effort to keep the sneer from his face.

"No, I thought about it, but… I think I had enough of that without making it a career choice," Holly muttered, folding the letter back up and sliding it into her robes to owl later. "I want to be a healer or a mediwitch."

Tom smiled at her. "Ah, that explains your interest in helping Madam Pomfrey in the school infirmary. I was wondering about that."

"You said I could," Holly reminded him sternly.

"Of course, and I do think these are excellent career choices for you," he replied. "I think you will be great and it will be my privilege to support you in any way I can."

"You sound like a politician," Holly murmured, a little embarrassed at Tom's praise.

He laughed, smirking at her. "Well, that is the career I picked for myself. There were no traineeships for being a Dark Lord, you see."

Holly snorted and rolled her eyes before deciding to broach another subject since Tom had all but finished his breakfast. "Is it okay if we use Rudolphus and Rabastan's training room for tonight? I already asked them and they said it would be okay if you don't have any objections."

"I was thinking of that as well," Tom replied, taking the last sip of his coffee. "I'll help you ward it later. I'm assuming you wish to spend the day with your godfathers?"

"Yes, please," Holly agreed, breathing out slowly when Tom nodded and smiled.

"I shall get out of your hair in that case," Tom declared, getting to his feet, but leaning down once more to lightly kiss her cheek. "Try not to cause too much mischief."

"I make no promises," she shot back and Tom laughed again, sending her a wink and then leaving with Lucius and Severus in tow.

"He seems friendly," Sirius commented with studied nonchalance, abandoning his seat to move around to her other side and sprawling out in the chair Tom had just relinquished. It was probably a good thing that the three Gryffindors were alone in the hall now since Holly was sure most Death Eaters would have taken offence to this new seating arrangement. "Should I put the escape plans on ice, do you think?"

"I don't think I need them right now, but thank you," Holly murmured, leaning over to rest her head on Sirius shoulder. "It's okay, being here. It's different – he's different than what I expected and I don't quite know what to make of it. But I think he's trying and so I think I should, too. Right?"

"You're a very wise young woman," Sirius murmured, leaning down to gently kiss her forehead. "Certainly didn't get that from me, but I'm still proud of you."

Holly laughed, returning Sirius' wide grin. "I'm glad you're here. Both of you. Do you want to see the castle?"

"If you don't mind, I think I would like to lie down for a bit," Remus offered with an apologetic smile. "I always feel like an achy old man this close to the full moon."

"You are an achy old man," Sirius replied immediately, blowing Remus a teasing kiss. "But don't worry, I like older gentlemen and I think you're very… distinguished."

"You're five weeks older than me," Remus pointed out dryly.

"Yeah, but I'm young at heart," Sirius shot back immediately, flashing another one of his contagious smiles, as he got to his feet. "So how about we find you a nice bed or couch somewhere and then my lovely goddaughter can show me around her new castle?"

"It's not 'my' castle," Holly protested quietly. "But it does have some nice nooks and crannies and Dobby and Winky already readied one of the guestrooms for you."

"Thank you, Holly," Remus said, giving her a smile. "And perhaps you could give me at least a brief tour on our way to the guestrooms?"

"Okay." Holly nodded happily, already thinking of some of her highlights that she wanted to show to the two Marauders.

§*§*§*§*§

Tom finally rapped his knuckles against the door to the guestrooms he had assigned to Holly's godfathers for their weekend stay, having debated an embarrassingly long time with himself whether or not he should knock, in his own castle. He had decided to do so, in the end, because he knew that Holly was in there and she would surely be less than pleased if he just barged in unannounced.

The door swung open, though when he stepped inside the room all three Gryffindors were sprawled out on the floor in a nest of blankets and pillows and Black was the only one with his eyes open, leaning against a wall with the werewolf's head in his lap and one hand resting lightly on Holly's shoulder, who was wrapped snuggly in Lupin's arms. It certainly didn't look comfortable, Tom thought with a touch of irrational anger, and why they had chosen to lie down on the floor when there was a perfectly serviceable bed in the room was anyone's guess.

"Black," he greeted neutrally. "I see you've worn them out already."

"Wasn't too difficult," the Black heir gave back with a grin and without the usual malice and suspicion he had come to expect from the members of Dumbledore's vaunted Order of the Phoenix. "Remus wanted to get some rest, anyway, and Holly wasn't happy about leaving him alone, so…" He shrugged nonchalantly. "Did you want something?"

Tom wanted a lot of things, none of which he was going to voice out loud. Black wasn't the only one who had resolved to try to be civil. "We're about to start warding the training room. I thought you might have some input into that."

"Right, yeah," Black murmured, running one hand through his wavy black hair, but seeming reluctant to get up.

"Go," Lupin suddenly spoke up, blinking open his amber eyes. "I probably shouldn't see the details of what you can come up with, anyway, and Holly needs her sleep. So, go, we'll be fine."

Black sighed, but nodded obediently, leaning down for a brief peck of lips with his lover and then shifting out from under him. "We have another two hours till moonrise. Try to get some rest, at least."

"Yes, mother," Lupin gave back with a roll of his eyes.

"Better leave the jokes to me if that's the best you can come up with, Moony," Black replied with a smirk.

The werewolf replied something, but his voice was too soft for Tom to hear and he didn't care enough about what intimacies they were whispering to each other to try to listen in. Instead he turned around, casting only one last regretful look at his sleeping wife before he left the room and waited for Black to join him, who fortunately at least had the good sense not to dawdle.

When the new Lord Black had joined him, he wove a quick warding spell across the door and then indicated the way to the training rooms.

"Can't trust your Death Eaters?" Black asked mockingly.

"I can't trust your cousin, Black," Tom replied drily. "I think I made my point very clear after the last incident, and she's kept herself out of sight for the most part, but I doubt that is a good sign."

"Yeah, definitely keep an eye on her," Black agreed. "Bella has always had some doxies in her attic."

Tom didn't feel like arguing that point, though he still felt justified in remarking, "It probably didn't help either that Holly said that you would disown her, as the new Lord Black, if she threatened Holly again."

Black just shrugged. "It's what I told her to say. I honestly couldn't care less about our illustrious family name or the pureness of our line or all the rest of that nonsense. But I care about my family. And that means Holly. It doesn't have to mean Bella if she insists on being a bitch."

Tom thought about reminding Black that they were trying to make peace and put to rest old grudges, but he had a feeling Black wouldn't have any of that because there had been nothing but brutal honesty in his words. Black wouldn't hesitate to burn everything to ground, including but not limited to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, as long as Holly was safe and happy.

"Why does your boyfriend think that Holly needs sleep?" he asked instead.

"Depending on the effectiveness of Sniv- Snape's potion, we probably won't get much sleep tonight," Black replied, casting him a quick look. "And she doesn't sleep well in general. Especially… well, she doesn't. It's good if she can get some rest now."

He knew that Holly sometimes feigned sleep when he rose in the morning, but he had always figured that she was just a light sleeper. He hadn't noticed anything about her having trouble sleeping, though he could well fill in the blanks of what Black had left unsaid: Holly had trouble sleeping because she had to share a bed with him and because she was nervous or uneasy or uncomfortable with that. And because, of course, she had never thought to address that problem with him. He suppressed a sigh and resolved to just forego any further attempts of small talk with Holly's godfather. He doubted he would hear anything he wanted to hear.

He led Black to the rooms the Lestrange brothers used for their training, finding that the two brothers were busy with some elaborate martial arts routine, spinning around each other, blocking each other's hits and kicks as if it was a perfectly choreographed dance at lightning speed.

"My Lord," Rudolphus said when he noticed their entrance, side-stepping another kick from his brother before they both respectfully inclined their heads. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"I'm going to commandeer this room for tonight, for Holly and her godfathers," Tom replied.

"Of course, my Lord, would you like us to help with the warding?" Rabastan asked and Tom nodded in agreement.

"Black, why don't you tell us what wards you'd normally use? We can go from there."

"We'll need some general warding and locking charms, of course. Nothing too elaborate, but strong enough to keep Remus in check if he should feel adventurous," Sirius explained, drawing his wand. "I'll also add a Scent-Barrier just to be on the safe side. We'll also have a wall in the middle, two and a half meters I'd say so that Remus won't be able to get past it, but Holly can still jump it easily. This way we can test how Remus reacts to the presence of a human under this new potion."

"Excuse me," Tom hissed dangerously, dearly hoping that he had misheard because otherwise he was very certain that this more or less pleasant civility with Black was about to come to a very abrupt and painful end. "You are not planning to transform back into your human forms, with Lupin in the same room."

Black rolled his eyes. "Not right away, of course. We'll first wait a couple of hours to make sure that Remus is doing fine with the new potion. If that goes okay, we will check how he reacts to Holly's human form while she's safely out of reach. And only then will we test how Remus reacts to her immediate presence."

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Tom demanded angrily, only noticing that he had let his wand slip into his wand when he found Black's wand pointed squarely at his chest.

"You have, if you think for just one second that I would ever do anything that could put Holly in danger!" Black retorted with a scowl as dark as his name. "I will be right there, guarding her, and if Remus shows even a hint of aggression I will restrain him immediately and Holly will jump back over the wall. I will keep her safe and I certainly don't need your input in how to do that!"

They glared at each other in a silent challenge, neither of them willing to back down. It actually wrested a grudging sort of respect from the Dark Lord, who was not used to people disagreeing with him and actually standing up to him. Even Lucius was always very circumspect in voicing his opinions, offering suggestions instead of overt criticism. Black's recalcitrance was almost refreshing, albeit still very annoying.

"Rudolphus, you and Black can see to the wall. Rabastan and I will ward the outer perimeter of the room," Tom finally declared, slightly appeased when the two Death Eaters immediately sprung to action; Black snorted softly, but wisely refrained from any further comments and the rest of the preparations went reasonably well.

Tom insisted on quite a few extra warding spells and protective shields, not only to protect the rest of the castle inhabitants in case of a werewolf rampage, but also to protect and safeguard his young wife and her foolish, over-confident, dogged godfather. Not, that he expected any thanks from either of them.

They were just about finished, Black and the Lestrange brothers still arguing whether or not the wall was too high for Holly to jump safely, when the young witch in question entered the room, greeting all of them jovially, but then immediately going to her godfather's side.

Black tucked his arm around her. "Where have you left Moony?"

"Professor Snape wanted to run some tests or something," Holly replied, poking her godfather in the side at his instinctive scowl. "Don't do that. Professor Snape's been great and he wouldn't hurt Remus."

"As if he could," Black muttered petulantly before swiftly changing the subject. "What do you think of that wall?"

"It's… very evenly mured?" Holly replied with an audible question mark. "I'm sorry, what answer are you looking for here?"

"We were just discussing whether or not it was too high for you to jump in your Animagus form," Rabastan offered.

"You seemed to be doing fine with such heights during our training sessions, but your godfather voiced some concerns," Rudolphus added, studying her carefully.

"You included Holly's Animagus form into your training schedule?" Tom demanded to know, stepping a little closer to his wife. He wanted to pull her into his own arms, but he doubted Black would be willing to let go and Holly probably wouldn't appreciate being in the middle of their tug-of-war.

"We usually have a little freeform self-defence at the end of our lessons, my Lord," Rabastan answered readily. "Holly's panther form has been a great asset in that."

The brothers smiled at Holly, who blushed a little and ducked her head before casting another assessing look at the wall. "It should be fine. I don't think it's too high."

"Let's try it then," Black suggested, releasing Holly from his hold and taking a step back.

"Okay," Holly nodded, rolling back her shoulders and then smoothly transforming into her Animagus form. She butted her head against Black's legs, purring appreciatively when he scratched his fingers lightly over her head and behind her ears. Tom had never considered himself a cat person, but he still found himself wishing that she would have come to him instead.

"Go on then, Miss Hiss, show us what you've got," Black urged her gently after a few moments.

Holly gave a soft mew in agreement and then wove swiftly through their legs, gaining speed incredibly quickly, her sleek body compacting for just a fraction of a second before she vaulted herself up, caught the edge of the wall with her front paws and easily scaled it. She transformed back, a triumphant grin spread over her delicate features.

"Told you!"

"Very good," Sirius agreed, stepping up to the wall and opening his arms expectantly. "One more time, to ease my mind?"

Holly dropped down without hesitation, the older Gryffindor catching her safely in his arms. Black set her down again, taking a few steps back to give her room for her second run. Tom watched in fascination as Holly changed skins again, as easily as slipping on a jacket, and was so focussed on her that the huge black dog that was suddenly chasing after Holly with angry barks and bared teeth came as a shock – not only to him, but to Holly as well, who lost precious seconds just staring at her godfather in surprise before she started forward again, trying to reach the safety of the wall. But she fumbled the jump this time, only getting one paw up on the edge and Black's teeth caught one of her hindlegs and dragged her back to the ground.

He barked once, but then gently licked over her cheeks and dropped back, his tail wagging happily and his tongue lolling out in a friendly, relaxed grin.

"Was that really necessary, Black?" Tom demanded angrily, kneeling down next to Holly and carefully examining her ankle to make sure Black's teeth hadn't broken the skin.

"I'm fine," Holly said softly, and some of Tom's anger slipped away at having her in his arms, her delicate ankle still in his grasp, though the soft black fur had given way to a strip of creamy skin between the edge of her light blue socks and her grey jeans. "And I'm pretty stubborn. I probably wouldn't have listened to Sirius if he had just told me the wall was too high. Sorry."

The last was directed at her godfather, who also turned back into his human form and gave her a shrug and a grin. "I never doubted that you could jump that wall, pup, but having an angry werewolf on your tail can be quite distracting. Believe me, I'd know."

He dropped down next to her, ignoring Tom completely, and ruffled his fingers through her hair, only laughing at her affronted squawk.

"Then perhaps you should reduce the height accordingly," Tom suggested in a tone of voice none of his Death Eaters would have dared to misinterpret as anything but an order. Black just rolled his eyes, only rising to his feet when Holly sent him a pleading look.

"I'm really fine, you know," Holly muttered, tugging her leg out of his grasp. "I didn't know Dark Lords were allowed to worry so much."

"And who's to stop me?" Tom replied, taking the chance to move a little closer as Severus and the werewolf entered the room and joined the other wizards, effectively distracting Black so that he had a few undisturbed moments with his wife; he reached for Holly's hand, lightly tracing his thumb over her fragile finger bones. "I don't have your godfather's confidence in this plan, Holly, and I wish you would reconsider…"

"I won't, though," she pointed out, almost apologetically. "I want to do this. Remus says he's feeling a lot better with Professor Snape's variation of the Wolfbane Potion, but he won't want to continue taking it if it isn't as safe as the original potion. And to find out if it is we need to know how he reacts to humans."

Tom resisted the urge of offering up one of his Death Eaters for just that purpose, knowing exactly the kind of horrified-disappointed look he would garner for his logical suggestion. Instead he nodded, rising to his feet and lifting her up as well, putting his arm gently around her slim waist. "I expect you to be careful, kitten. Or Miss Hiss, was it?"

She blushed prettily, casting a quick glance over to her godfather and the Lestranges, who were still putting the finishing touches to the wall. "It's my Marauder nickname. Sirius said I needed one and Remus suggested it because cats hiss… and so do snakes."

Tom smiled, lightly tracing the delicate arch of her spine. "Very fitting, I must admit… Miss Hiss." He let a bit of Parseltongue tint the words, drawing the s's into the flowing, polysemous syllables of the snake tongue, and smirked to himself at the shiver he could feel racing down her back.

"It's better than 'Whiskers', in any case," she mumbled, smiling a little at his laugh. "Goodnight, Tom, thank you for your help." She lifted up on her tip toes and breathed a short, soft kiss against his cheek, dropping back down and ducking her head.

"You're welcome," Tom murmured, tipping her chin up so that she could see his smile before he reluctantly released her from his hold. "I'll see you in the morning, Holly. Severus will alert me if there're any problems."

"Yes, my Lord," the Potions Master agreed readily from where he was standing with Black and the werewolf, probably trying to impart some last-minute instructions and warnings to the two former Gryffindors. "I will be in the next room to monitor everything and will be prepared to intervene if it should become necessary."

"Thank you, Severus, I appreciate that," the werewolf replied, ignoring the other wizard's impressive sneer. "You should leave now, I can feel the moon beginning to rise. Padfoot…"

"On it," Black declared jauntily, pecking the werewolf's lips in a short kiss before he grasped Holly's arm and pulled her back towards the wall and the protective circle Tom had woven into the ground. It was infused with silver, to protect them just in case Lupin didn't react favourably to them in their Animagus forms, and was timed to collapse after ten minutes.

Tom would have liked to get in another word with Holly, maybe have the chance of a proper kiss goodnight, but there was no more time. The moon was about to rise and Holly had already slipped back into her Animagus form, purring happily as the huge black dog snuffled her fur.

§*§*§*§*§

Holly turned her head to watch Tom as he left the room, unaccountably disappointed that he didn't turn around for one last glance. But that would probably have been too much sentimentality for a Dark Lord and she didn't know why she should care either way. This had been supposed to be her weekend away from the castle, from this marriage, from everything, and instead he had made demands on that as well. (Reasonable demands, as Remus had pointed out carefully, but still.) But at least he hadn't intruded overly much into her time with her godfathers. She certainly wasn't about to call him back now and risk him getting any ideas.

She turned away resolutely and pressed against Sirius' reassuringly massive canine form, butting her head lightly against his chin. Sirius barked softly in reply and then they both settled down to wait for Remus' much more painful transformation. Remus had already shed most of his clothes, wrapping himself in a rather frayed looking bathrobe instead and was pacing the length of the training room with forced calm. Holly wished they could talk to him, reassure him in some way, instead of just sharing in his nervousness and pain.

Holly had only ever seen Remus' shift once, at the end of Third Year. The few full moons she had spent with her godfathers, Sirius had always been careful to shield her from the sight, on Remus' request, and now too he gently closed his teeth on the scruff of her neck and pushed her down, blocking her view with his long, stretched out form. Holly hissed unhappily, but already knew that Sirius wouldn't budge before Sirius dropped his own head rather heavily on top of hers, pinning her completely.

She couldn't see anything other than Sirius' heavy black fur and a patch of bright green grass, but she could still hear Remus' pained grunts and yowls, the cracking of bones and popping of joints. She shuddered, squeezing her eyes shut and wishing she could block her hearing as well. Sirius rumbled soothingly in her ear.

When he finally let her up, she pushed around him to check on Remus, who had changed into his second form, a vaguely wolf-like creature with glowing yellow eyes and razor-sharp teeth, thin and emaciated, his sharp-angled bones clearly visible under patches of colourless fur. She mewed questioningly, trying to decide if Remus' slightly cocked head and his tongue lolling out between his impressive fangs was a good sign or not.

Sirius barked loudly, tippling and jumping impatiently in place, his tail waving wildly behind him, and Remus answered with a small whuff of his own, stalking towards them with his tail also wagging before he plopped down on his hindlegs at a respectful distance. Sirius became even more enthusiastic at that, yowling happily and slobbering a wet, doggy kiss over Holly's cheek. She hissed a little testily, but then gave in to the urge to purr, pressing against Sirius' side as they both turned back towards Remus.

It was slightly difficult to communicate properly in their current forms, with Remus' and Sirius' barks and growls and jowls sounding exactly like barks and growls and jowls to her cat ears, but the two Marauders had had years to work out a system and learn to converse in their canine forms. Holly left them to it and just focused on their body language, the excited happiness Sirius was exuding and Remus' mellow contentment. She was very hopeful that Professor Snape's potion was a success, at least in regards to this initial phase.

When the shielding charm collapsed, Sirius made sure to move between them, growling lightly at her to stay back as he approached Remus, the two canines circling each other a few times before they moved closer, Remus nosing into the soft fur of Sirius' neck and gently tugging on one of his ears. Sirius whined softly, returning the gesture, and then the two canines turned to her, both wagging their tails in a friendly greeting.

Holly mewed softly and approached carefully, purring happily when Remus repeated the same steps with her, ending with an almost delicate lick over her ears. She swept through their legs, allowing Sirius to clean her fur with his tongue before paying the favour forward to Remus, happy to see that he seemed to be mostly pain-free and still in possession of his human mind.

They still waited another hour or so, just playing around in their animal forms and letting Remus take the lead. Remus was one of the most mild-mannered men Holly had ever met, but in all the years Sirius had been rotting in Azkaban he had grown used to being a lone wolf, a pack of one, and his werewolf self did not react well to any perceived challenges to his authority. That was okay, though. Sirius teased him mercilessly about all his growling and huffing and posturing, of course, but he still easily accepted Remus as his alpha, ducking low or baring his throat to show that he was willing to submit. Holly simply followed suit, though Remus always treated her more like a pup he needed to protect than a challenger he needed to defeat. If Remus could only be spared the pain of his transformation, they would indeed have a very nice time on the full moons.

And that was what this new potion was supposed to offer, Holly reminded herself, as she disentangled from the two canines and easily jumped the wall, crouching low on top of it and making sure she was on solid footing before she changed back into her human form with one last deep breath. It took her a moment to adjust to her human senses, but when she looked down at her two godfathers again they were still snuggled peacefully together, Sirius's black head resting on Remus' front paws and the werewolf's head tucked over his neck. They were both looking up at her, their tails swishing over the ground and Remus' eyes glowing warmly.

At her soft call, they both got to their feet, Remus stalking a few steps towards her and raising his snout for a deep sniff before he sat back down and howled a short greeting. Holly grinned, waving at them.

"Everything all right there, Uncle Moony?" He barked once, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he gave a decisive nod.

"Do you think it is safe for me to come down?" she asked again, smiling a little at Remus' enthusiastic little yip.

She waited for Remus to move to one corner of the room, creating the largest possible distance between them and Sirius moved into the middle, his eyes focused unblinkingly on the werewolf. Remus sat down again before giving her a slow and measured nod; Sirius' muscles bunched in preparation; and Holly took a deep, deep breath and slid down the wall, crouching at the foot of it in the soft grass and keeping herself as still as possible.

And nothing happened. Remus stayed almost perfectly still, only his tongue still lolling out of his mouth in a friendly grin and his tail wagging lazily. Sirius barked a question and Remus answered with a small yip of confirmation before he slowly and carefully moved forward again, Sirius shadowing his every step. Holly held out one hand to Remus, feeling strangely calm, because werewolf or not, this was Remus, her second godfather and he would never hurt her.

She laughed softly when Remus sniffed her hand and then delicately licked over her fingertips. She carefully reached out to pat Remus' head, lightly running her hand through the scruffy fur on his neck.

"So I take it you still like me in this form?" she murmured gently and Remus barked once in agreement, pressing his head lightly against her chest. "I'm glad to hear it. Maybe another half an hour to be sure and then we'll let you get some rest."

It was Sirius' turn to bark in agreement before he also pressed closer, snuffling into her hair and licking over Remus' cheeks. Holly laughed again, wrapping her arms around both of them, just happy that they were all okay and that Professor Snape's variation had really, truly worked. She was going to have to bring him some extra rare potions ingredients from the gardens as a thank you.

§*§*§*§*§

The rest of the weekend with her godfathers, after the successful trial run for the new and improved Wolfsbane Potion, was just as successful and though Tom showed up from time to time – just to check in, as he claimed – she was able to truly relax with Remus and Sirius. They took her to see their new house and visited the nearest town for ice creams and then played cards and board games on the bare living room floor since the two Marauders hadn't got around to picking out furniture yet. That was also the reason why they returned to the castle at night, though Sirius' wordlessly transfigured the couch into another bed for her so she could stay with them in their assigned guestrooms. And in the morning they slept in late before Dobby brought them a fantastic breakfast buffet and Sirius decided to start a pillow fight. It was perfect and she was only sad that the weekend had to end.