Chapter Fifty-Three
Light
Remus was woken by the need to cough, forcing him to roll over onto his side and hack. His whole body rioted at the action, every bone and follicle and particle roaring in anger at the sudden movement, but the coughs kept coming and coming.
"Sh, sh, sh," a gentle voice came from over Remus's shoulder, and he froze, trying to stifle his cough—but then another wave hit, and he was forced to shift further onto his side, coughing into the floor.
"It's alright," the voice continued, and Remus felt a horrible prickle of terror run along his spine, because it was a woman's voice.
Narcissa? Bellatrix?
Panicked, Remus drew up whatever strength he had left to let out the biggest cough he could, a cough that turned into a sob at the pain that tore through him as he contracted his muscles and heaved.
"Hey," the woman whispered, "that's enough."
Remus knew he had to look. He had to. Whatever horrors were about to befall him, he wanted to know who was carrying them out. Because surely it was horrors, surely—
He turned his head, squinting as light poured into his newly human eyes. Light. There hadn't been any light in his last memory, and it didn't look like sunlight…
Someone with loose, dark hair was standing over him, staring down. He couldn't make out their face, but there was something in their slender frame, the wave of their hair...
"S—" Remus tried to say Sirius's name, to ask if that was really him.
"Don't speak," the woman's voice returned. "You need water."
The woman's voice. It was coming from Sirius's body. Sirius didn't sound like that—
"S'not 'im, Lupin," another gruff voice cut in.
Remus squinted, trying to figure out who could possibly be speaking.
"What?" the woman asked.
"He thinks you're Sirius," the other voice, a man, someone familiar.
"Oh… oh, I'm sorry, Remus," the woman replied. "That's—here, is it alright if I come closer?"
She did, without waiting for any kind of answer from Remus. Her hair changed as she went, transforming to a soft pink as she dipped down in front of Remus.
No. Remus felt his body riot as his eyes finally found a way to focus on her face. Her beautiful, soft face, twisted by some kind of bittersweet heartache.
"Not quite Sirius," Tonks smiled, tilting her head as she looked at him. "But still good, I hope."
Remus stared, unable to process what he was seeing. She let him watch her for a moment, her face remaining gentle and open.
"Tonks…" the other voice interrupted.
"I know," Tonks glanced up at the other person. Remus's gaze followed hers, eyes finally accustomed enough to the bright magical light overhead that he could make out who had been speaking. Moody.
"We have to get going, Remus," Tonks continued, turning back to Remus. Remus looked back at her, stifling another cough. "I'm not sure when they'll be back."
They.
The Death Eaters.
Lucius.
Narcissa.
Remus's eyes swelled.
"It's alright," she breathed, "it's okay. We're here, now."
Remus opened his mouth to speak again, but she raised a hand to stop him.
"We can talk when we're safe, yeah?"
Remus recoiled, trying his best to push away from her, realising that he was naked and cold and exposed—
"I c—" he tried to push on as he moved backward, his voice breaking as he tried to force out the words: I can't leave without him.
"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I know."
I know.
Remus looked at her face again, trying to read her expression. If she knew, she would hate him, and he couldn't see any hatred in her face. Pain, confusion, anxiety—but more than anything, love.
"Tonks!" Moody interrupted.
"I know, I know," the witch barked back, glaring at her old teacher for a moment before turning back to Remus. "I'm going to hold you, now. We're going to get you upstairs and get you a cloak and get you onto a broom with me, alright? We're going home."
Home.
Remus tried to hold back his tears while Tonks bent down and hooked her arms under his and began to pull him upright.
Lucius cursed under his breath as he finally fell out of the Disapparation's warp, landing so hard against the ground that he found himself stumbling back away from Narcissa to try to regain his footing. The stumbling wasn't very effective; they were standing on uneven earth, surrounded by tall grasses that pushed at him as he tried to right himself.
He looked up, started to ask where they were—and then he saw it. The Manor, looming in the distance, an imposing tombstone. They were in the fields on the far South edge of the Estate, even farther than he'd ever walked with Remus. The sky was turning a pale shade of silver as the sun began to light it up.
"No," he whispered to himself, eyes widening as he stared at the structure, knowing that the other Death Eaters would've already returned. "No, Cissy. We can't be here."
"Why not?" she asked, voice emotionless.
"Because I—" Lucius looked back to his wife, searching her face for some proof that this wasn't real, that it was just some horrible nightmare, that the Full Moon hadn't even risen yet.
"Because we weren't supposed to come back here?" Narcissa asked.
Lucius opened his mouth to speak, but found that there was no space for words to make their way out, and no air coming back into his lungs.
Molly Weasley had been there. Tonks and Moody were there. They were going to get Remus. The sun had risen, Remus would be human again. He would be naked and hurt…
"No," Lucius choked, and then he felt his knees give out, felt himself drop down between the grasses. "I can't do this, Narcissa—"
"You're not going to do anything," Narcissa cut him off, and he knew she was getting closer by the sound of her voice, but he couldn't see her, his vision suddenly narrowing to a tunnel as he fought to take another breath. "You've done more than enough."
"We—we can still go—"
"Go where, Lucius? Did you actually think he was going to help us?"
"I—I did—he's been on the r-run before—"
"Merlin, Lucius, you're—you've lost your mind."
"I haven't," Lucius rebuked her, even though the words sounded like a lie as they came out of his mouth, because of course he had, it had been lost the minute he'd brought that cursed creature into his house—
"It's fine, Lucius," Narcissa interjected, and then Lucius could feel her hand on his shoulder, and he wanted to turn to look at her, but he couldn't risk it, couldn't bear to see whatever expression she might be wearing. The ground was the only safe choice. He felt his eyes widen even more as he stared down at it.
"It's not fine, Narcissa," Lucius whispered, and then he felt something wet on his lip, and reached up to find that several tears had fallen down his cheeks. "He's going to die. So are we."
"We are not going to die," Narcissa disagreed, her voice becoming harsher.
"But I drew the Order out, Cissy. We planned for them to hear. We planned for them to attack the others."
"We? You and the creature?"
"Yes."
"Would the others have any way of knowing that?"
"N-no, not unless the Order told them."
Narcissa went quiet for a moment, her grip still tight on his shoulder.
"I can get Bellatrix to believe me," she spoke after several tense seconds, "and she can convince the Dark Lord. It was a risky idea that went terribly. You can't say it's surprising."
"They weren't supposed to be able to get in," Lucius hissed. "All I had to do was stay awake—"
"What do you mean? Did you enchant the house somehow?"
"Yes," Lucius nodded.
Narcissa muttered a series of foul slurs and let go of Lucius, as if touching him was burning her.
Lucius felt his mouth open and close like a fish underwater, as if he might be able to suck more air into his lungs if he tried hard enough.
"I failed," he whispered, more tears catching between his lips, making his words sound odd. "Of course I failed."
"The Order would've found you eventually, if not tonight," Narcissa chided him, calmly, but almost without emotion. "You underestimate them."
Lucius let out a small, bitter laugh. "He said the same thing."
"There will be a price," Narcissa continued, ignoring Lucius's acknowledgement of Remus. "It'll be Draco."
"No," Lucius said it again, and this time it came out more like a sob than a murmur, and he found himself curling forward, inward, as if he might be able to protect himself from any further pain if he curled up in a tight enough ball. "No, Narcissa, we're supposed to save him, too."
"It's fine," Narcissa repeated, her voice hardening even more, cracking several tall stocks under her feet as she adjusted her stance. "I can save him. I can protect him."
"H-how?" Lucius asked, squeezing his eyes shut, some part of him wondering if maybe the world would reset when he opened them again. "How can you save him, Cissy?"
"I made a plan," she murmured. "In case this went horribly. I'll speak with Severus. You will give the Dark Lord whatever he wants. Whatever he wants. Do you understand?"
Lucius opened his eyes again. He was still on the lawn, although the clouds were starting to turn a sweet, pale pink as the sun continued to rise. He thought he might vomit.
"Yes," he whispered, barely managing it.
"I will do my best to keep you alive, too, for his sake."
For his sake.
Lucius had destroyed all of it—his marriage, his family's chance at freedom, his son's future, his connection to Remus. Remus.
"I'm not going to see him again, am I?" Lucius asked, blinking slowly. "I—I've ruined everything."
"I will fix it," Narcissa answered, ice cold. "I always do."
Author's Note: dfa;skdfja;lskdfjasd i can't believe this is posted omg
ok pls be nice and remember i spent years of my life writing this for you and that it's always been marked as "mostly canon compliant" lololol. This means that Lucius's wand would still be taken by Voldemort eventually, and Narcissa would make the Unbreakable Vow with Snape, and so forth. This is just a deeper explanation for Voldemort targeting Draco (there's even an easter egg about that idea and the cursed necklace being implanted in Voldemort's head if you read back lololol) and Narcissa going straight to such a nuclear option to keep him safe. I also see this as an explanation for Lucius becoming so submissive and broken around Voldemort once Volide moves into the Manor, personally.
Dénouement and epilogue soon!