Chapter Text
{Moony}
“Halt, scum!” The voice was high pitched and had a slight lisp to it, sounding almost childish. We looked around everywhere but couldn’t find a source.
“We said halt!” There came a second, higher voice, more insistent and aggravated, but still so adorable. Suddenly, my leg bumped into what felt like a heavy stone. I looked down and instead I saw a head of bright orange knocking against my knee. Chubby short arms latched around my leg and shook me violently with a lot more strength than you would expect of someone so small.
“I got ‘im Bill! I got ‘im!” The boy around my leg squealed in accomplishment and shook me more. I only managed to look over for a split second to see that Sirius wasn’t fairing much better against the miniscule assailants, what with his being held at the end of a wooden sword by the other child. Amusingly, I lifted my captured limb into the air and swung it around, captive and all. To his credit, he held back any burbling giggles and tried his best to maintain his soldier façade, for Bill I assumed.
Still, no child can resist laughter for that long. I only had to raise my leg up and twist him around once more for his chest to start shaking and then his delighted squeals racked around the wood as he hung on tighter to me. It was almost cute enough to serve as competition for Dora back home. Almost .
“Do not worry, I will avenge you, Charlie!” The other boy yelled out a sharp battle cry which was followed by a high yelp from Sirius and the sound of his body thumping onto the ground. I span around, Charlie still determinedly grasping onto my shin as he span through the air, laughing merrily as ever.
In front of me, was Sirius chuckling to himself while lying on his back on the ground with a slightly taller red-headed boy standing over him victoriously, with his toy sword still aimed at Sirius’ throat. Clearly the loser in the battle, his hands were raised in mock surrender as he caved to the infant’s control.
It seemed like Charlie just had taken notice of their conquest as well, since he suddenly bit my leg and hopped off ungainly and hobbled over to the other boy, jumping triumphantly on Sirius’ chest. I winced in sympathy as the air was knocked out of him, but he still played along cooly.
“Weasleys for the win!” Charlie bounced in pure infantile joy, infectious like Sirius’ at times. Bill, who I realised must have been his older brother, joined in, inconsiderate of the wounded captive below the two of them.
“I told ya’, even Big Kids don’t stand a chance against us!” They laughed and danced along Sirius’ torso carelessly, crushing his lungs in leaps and strides. Just as I was about to lean down and free him from the torture of it all-
“WILLIAM ARTHUR WEASLEY!” A shrill croaking voice cracked through the woods; I think I even saw the trees shake.
The two boys turned to each other in comical horror and suddenly jumped off of Sirius, running off and hiding behind a tree nearby with sudden great urgency.
“Charles, you and your brother get back here now!” A short, young woman with wild hair almost as bright red as the boys, but a face twice as flushed in rage came bursting through the trees. She spun her head around viciously with the keen gaze of a predator scanning for unsuspecting victims and yet it was like she barely noticed us. Her hands were bunched in her skirts and apron in tightly clenched fists as she whipped them around to march around the forest, checking behind each tree for the missing children.
It was as she was rushing around and inspecting each patch of ground for the boys to materialise in front of her that she immediately stopped and caught sight of Sirius’ shoe. Slowly, her eyes dragged up his legs and finally up to his face at which she stepped back in sudden surprise and embarrassment.
“Oh, my goodness!” Her voice suddenly went soft and polite, her blush became one of shyness rather than frustration. “Hello! And who might you be?” I’d seen many girls give Sirius that look before: she thought he was handsome. I didn’t know why but that bothered me far more than it should have. It wasn’t like I disagreed…
Nor that I particularly agreed either! Which is to say I had no strong feelings about whichever way Sirius looked. I barely looked at him in general, hardly remember the colour of his eyes; or the way they twinkled when he had something devious in mind, or darkened and grew hard when he disagreed with something. Barely noticed that at all. Either way, the way she smiled at him appreciatively like that; it rubbed me the wrong way.
Naturally, Sirius played it up for what he was worth and smirked confidently, taking the woman’s hand, and kissing it gently, “Sirius Black, madam. You are?” She flushed even darker and giggled in an unbecoming, goose-like manner.
“Molly Pre-,” She shook her head, surprised at herself, and stepped back, brushing down her skirts and trying to tame her hair as best she could. “Mrs Weasley,” she responded firmly, more like she was reminding herself than as an introduction. Through it all, she still hadn’t noticed me.
“I’m sorry to bother such a fine gentleman,” she continued, only looking at Sirius, giggling her head off, “but I was looking for my sons; two short ginger boys with faces full of freckles and cheek,” she muttered in half anger and love.
At that point, I felt the need to cough loudly, finally tired of the uncomfortable loneliness of just watching them. She jumped back and clutched her chest in astoundment before laughing at herself nervously.
“Oh my, I-I didn’t-” I cut her off before she could continue, firmly and colder than I should have, pointing to the tree her sons were cowering behind, just out of sight. She turned with renewed determination and slowly creeped up to the tree, arms raised to lunge after them. And then in one swift movement she dived behind the tree, pouncing for them. But she was too slow.
They both dashed out in opposite directions, leaving her to fall into the grass, gabbing fistfuls of it rather than of them. The boys squealed and dashed off into the thicket, ducking again behind their own trees before their mother jumped back up in swift recovery and restarted her scouring hunt, crouching and practically crawling through the undergrowth.
Sirius and I faded into the background and became a pleasant audience to the comedy of the increasingly infuriated mother chasing after and just missing her unruly children at each and every turn. It almost seemed like there would be no end to it until the younger boy tripped on a large root and fell flat on his face, leaving him prime for the capture of Mrs Weasley, who lunged at him and lifted him from the scruff of his shirt.
“You rambunctious juvenile-” she swung the boy up to her hip and scolded him just over the sound of his wailing and screaming. “One wash! One wash per year and you two can’t seem to handle even that!” She turned around, still hunting for William, whilst scolding the boy she held tightly to her to prevent his struggling limbs from having any success. “Just think of Percy! The example you two are giving him! Hooligans, the lot of you!”
Just then, as if on cue, a kind voice rang out through the trees; our comedy had gained another player. “Mollywobbles? Darling?” a man called out and appeared, through the same branches Molly barged through. He was a lot taller and leaner than her, cradling a small infant, wrapped into his arms. Where his wife seemed to be a raging flame, both in the shock red of her hair and the abrasive boldness of her nature, this man seemed like a dusky ember with soft orange hair and a passive warm disposition.
Walking in on the scene, he paused momentarily to gape at the sight of us all; two, random young men and his wife with one child in her arms, running after the other. His mouth gaped and closed like a gate in a gust before he pushed out a feeble “Oh my!” and scuttled over to join Molly in the pursuit of Bill.
The two of them seemed to have very different ways of going about it, one calling out sweetly and offering mercy in return for the boy giving himself up and the other screaming and rushing after the child with a vicious vigour. However, between the two of them, they managed to finally corner the boy and Molly scooped him up onto her other hip as he wailed in protest.
“I’m taking this lot for their wash,” she looked to her husband firmly, ordering him plainly, “You need to greet these nice young gentlemen and bring them in for a tea.” She gestured to us and smiled at Sirius before walking back off in the direction she came from.
Her husband, still holding the quiet baby in the crook of his elbow, smiled awkwardly and made his way over to us, holding his hand out to each of us in turn and giving us both firm and warm shakes.
“The name’s Arthur Weasley,” he grinned, “and this little one is our Percy.” He lifted the white hood to show us a scowling and hilariously unbothered infant, grimacing at the sight of us with all the air of an emperor hosting a slave at his dinner. We introduced ourselves in turn, already taking a liking to Arthur, who – unlike his wife – did not immediately become infatuated with Sirius.
“Please, you must come in for a tea!” He walked slightly ahead, leading us insistently behind him, “You must be tired from all of your travelling! I’m tired just from this!” He laughed to himself and wandered off, knowing we would trail behind. I thought Sirius might not want to follow after the rush he was in to leave Bridgerdom, but it seemed like he was swept up in enjoying it all and followed Arthur eagerly.
Laughing, the four of us all wandered blindly through the forest, it made me wonder how someone could lose their own house, but we were having too much fun being lost to be worried about it. When we finally arrived at the tall, wooden cabin, the sun was already beginning to set.
The house seemed rickety, as if each floor was unceremoniously dropped onto the other without any planning for it, the stories piled like sacks of grain, precariously dipping, and leaning more and more the higher they got. The walls were all different colours as well, painted each with their own theme in mind going from the rusty brown of the ground floor to the brightly painted pink of the highest floor. Safe to say, it was the most eccentric house either me or Sirius had ever seen.
“Yes, we thought Percy would be a girl,” Arthur smiled at the top floor, “After two boys and all…” his voice trailed off, mumbling to himself about re-painting and dyeing wood, as he gently pushed the front door open.
Slowly, it creaked open loudly, whining with age, into a tight, cramped hall with paintings of redheaded freckled families, each one as bright as the last with smiles all around, covering every inch of the walls. The kitchen it led onto was just as small and intimate with rags and dishes all over the tables and the warm aroma of a dinner meal being cooked over the fire wafting through the air; light streamed through the window in steady bright rays. From there we could hear delighted children screaming in the garden and the steady sloshes of moving water.
“Oh, so now you’re all agreeable!” Molly’s frustrated scolding carried over and we all chuckled softly to ourselves, settling down at the main kitchen wooden table. Sitting next to me, Sirius bumped my knee with his and smiled at me knowingly, like he was already at home here among this strange, loud family and expected me to feel the same. All I could muster was a weak grin back, before turning away. A lot of it still unnerved me and I wasn’t quite used to all of it, after all there hadn’t been anyone like this back home. I didn’t think there could be anyone like them anywhere.
Arthur pulled up a small carrier and set the silent baby down, lying right across from us and staring directly into my eyes. It was oddly terrifying.
“Tea, lads?” He got up and shuffled around the cabinets, pushing around the cluttered surfaces for a kettle underneath all the random appliances that didn’t belong at all in the kitchen, but there was no reasoning with a man that lifted a washing board to look for a kettle underneath it. Eventually, he did find it – under an old discarded cloak of all things – and set it onto the fire.
“So, tell me, what’s your story? Two young men like yourselves out here in the middle of nowhere?” he grinned over his shoulder in breaks between pottering around more cabinets for cups and plates, likely.
“Well, we’re-“ I started but was cut off by the sudden clanging of the kitchen door and the stomps of three pairs of feet from outside.
“Finally, now was that so hard?” Molly smiled satisfied at the boys dewy clean skin as they giggled at her and both ran off and latched on to each of their father’s legs. He only laughed and laboured them around, reaching into the pantry for some bread. “Honestly, Arthur, you only encourage them,” she continued but still chuckled at the sight of them all and lifted up the resting baby to her chest, helping to finish up setting out tea.
“So, are you going to introduce yourselves then?” The old woman leaned over and smiled leeringly at Sirius, as if she wasn’t holding her husband’s own child. I am the last person you would find judging anyone for their expression and agency, but she acted like I wasn’t even there. I couldn’t help but wonder how such a nice man put up with being treated this way, but when I looked over at him throwing bread over Charlie’s head with Bill, I thought it could just be that he hadn’t noticed.
“Well, I’m Sirius Black and he’s Remus Lupin,” I shrugged nonchalantly, not like either of them noticed, “and we’re coming from a little up north on work.” I looked at him rather quizzically at that. Why didn’t he tell them we were vampire hunters? He must have felt my gaze fall on him as he reached under the table to squeeze my knee in reassurance. He’d probably explain when we were alone.
“See, I knew you weren’t from around here, yours is a face I’d recognise if I’d seen it before,” she giggled shamelessly as Arthur set the bread down on the table and deposited each of his sons into their own chairs.
“It also is rare to see such a pair of two young men travelling alone,” Arthur commented openly and expressionlessly, “What do you do for work?”
The question unsettled me; what did he mean by “such a pair”? It reminded me of my father’s warning about the world not looking on us the same, but what was there even to look on? They act as if they have never seen male friends and companions before, and is it my fault they have had such a lonely life deprived of such a brother-in-arms? After all that was all we were. That was all.
“Are you Witchfinders?” Bill struggled to look over the table at us, eyes bright with curiosity and innocent wonder.
“No, they’re bounty hunters!” Charlie interjected excitedly, “Right?” He beamed so intensely, I didn’t want to disappoint him.
“Of sorts,” I smirked secretively and passed him a slice of bread, which he stared at in total awe before turning triumphantly to his older brother, whispering, “I told you so!” They then proceeded to bicker and stick their tongues out at each other before their mother leaned over and wacked them both over the back of their heads.
“Mum!” They whined in unison and me and Sirius both laughed jubilantly at them. Seeing such young rambunctious boys, reminded me of my own childhood and my mother, who I could no longer deny I was beginning to miss. I looked over at Sirius’ muted smile and wondered if he ever missed his own mother too. Or maybe I was just being childish.
~
By the time we had all finished eating the sun was already long gone and the moon had begun to glow in the indigo sky. The Weasley’s offered to lodge us for the night and even I now felt to amicable with them to refuse. I was already helping them with the dishes when we realised it was too late to move on and everyone was getting ready for bed.
“Now, both of you up to bed quickly or the evil Grindy will come take you away!” Molly leaned down to Bill and Charlie and rushed them up the stairs.
“Who’s that?” Sirius and I asked in unison and laughed at the sudden synchronicity.
“Can I tell it, please mum?” Charlie begged and jumped up and down.
“Well, go on then, but then bed,” Molly conceded, sitting down in defeat. Sirius and I both joined her at the table, leaning down more attentively than we probably should have to the child’s story.
“Many, many years ago in the big, big place,” he pointed out the window to a nearby tower that I hadn’t noticed until then. It was made of stone and seemed to be crumbling down from the inside and was coated almost entirely in ivy and moss. “There was a very bad scary man who would run around the woods at night and snatch anyone he saw.
“He ate all the animals and the birds and even the plants but he was still hungry! So he went into the town and started to eat the farm animals but he was still hungry! Hungrier and hungrier he started to eat the kids’ blood!” Charlie himself flinched at this point in the story, allowing me to share a knowing look with Sirius without being noticed; this “Grindy” was a vampire.
“But then a good guy came to fight the scary Grindy-wally or no- Grindle-windle… ugh… Grindle-wanker!”
“Charlie!” his mother scolded loudly and smacked up Charlie’s head. “It’s Grindelwald.” Molly substituted.
“Wait,” Sirius gulped suddenly, “as in Gellert Grindelwald?” I looked warily over to him as he became paralysed in space. Carefully, I tried to reach for his hand, to show him some comfort from underneath the table but maybe he was just too far away, or I wasn’t close enough.
“Yes, I think that’s who the tower still legally belongs to, odd name isn’t it?” Molly laughed to herself, and I think I remember Charlie continuing the story but neither I nor Sirius were listening at that point. When I leaned in, I could hear the quiet, continuous stream of his mumbles of “it can’t be”, “I remember now” and “our finest”. None of it made sense to me then, but the way his mind seemed to be so tightly wrapped around the words, I knew it had to be important.
“He’s still up there?” I cut into Charlie’s animated ramble.
“Yes and he eats all the naughty children!” the boy mocked an evil laugh, giddily.
“Which is why we should all be good and go to bed now and why I’m going to ask you where you learned such an interesting word,” Molly glared at Charlie before she turned and smiled carefully at us, likely taking note of Sirius’ disturbed state and wanting to clear the situation as quickly as possible. “It goes without saying that you two will be spending the night here.” I tried to step in and argue but she waved me away quickly, “There’ll be no two words about it, you’ll sleep in Percy’s room since the boy still stays with us overnight. Although I will warn you in advance, there’s only one bed and it’s rather small.”
I choked on the air suddenly and stared into the space by Sirius’ ear. One bed? That would mean- We would have to- But we couldn’t. We couldn’t, we couldn’t, we couldn’t. I needed to stop blushing like a dame at the idea that we might, it’s not like it would be any different than the tent. The roomy, separate pillows and shared blanket of the tent was perfectly unromantic on the dewy grass so how was I heating up at the mere image of our bodies cramped up against one another in a small wooden bed, at the top of a silent moonlight house, alone together. In a bright pink children’s bedroom.
It wasn’t like Sirius had noticed at all, still trapped in his anxious trance and passively registering the conversation around him, if he registered it at all. Even if he did, I doubted he would have been as foolishly ecstatic as I was about sharing a bed with me. Somehow, it made me more upset thinking he wouldn’t care than thinking he might have any reaction to it at all. I was hoping for an angry rage or an aversion or maybe even… It wouldn’t matter, he was otherwise too occupied to even notice. Even when I thanked Molly and led him up all those stairs, carrying both of our trunks up into the enclosed private space.
They certainly seemed to have been expecting a young girl. The walls were painted a bright pink that smelled like it had been washed in the very roses it shared it’s colour with. The two windows were adorned with similarly pigmented and fragranced curtains and the wardrobe was a tall mahogany piece with flowers painted up the sides. I couldn’t help but think that my mother would have adored it. I missed her greatly.
In the left corner of the room, there was an oak vanity desk with a candle lamp, quill and paper on it. Since my partner was conversing with death and I doubted we would have a break and shelter like this again for a while, there seemed no better time to write back to my mother.
Mother,
You’ve always known me better than I’ve known my own self. Perhaps that is what happens when you make an entire person and raise them up. Rest assured that I have received all of your support and love through your flowers and I’m now planning to grow my own. Don’t worry about me and instead care for yourselves back home.
How is father? I have so many questions for him: what was he doing with books from a vampire hunter’s library? What did he mean when he said that this wouldn’t be my first encounter with the monsters? I had a rather disturbing dream that feels a lot like a memory and I think he might know what it means.
In any case, we are well here. It is safe to say that our travels have been nothing short of thrilling but I am glad we are both here, together and unharmed. We have found shelter amongst a lovely warm family which is where I am writing you from. You can send any replies back to this address and while I may not be here when they arrive, I’ll return to likely find them here.
Please do check on the Tonks’ for me and for Sirius; he has not said anything but I am sure he is worried for them and anxious to hear of their wellbeing. As am I. The same goes for Ms McGonagall and the library. I hope you are all in the best state.
I eagerly await your response.
All of my love,
Aster.
A teardrop fell onto the page, spoiling the flourish of the ink on my sign off. I hadn’t even realised I was crying. I wiped my face briskly and composed myself, folding up the letter and turning back to check up on Sirius. To my great surprise, he was up and had a gun tucked into his pocket whilst also wielding an iron dagger.
“Um, hello?” He jumped at my sudden recognition of his actions. What was he thinking? That he could just arm himself up and sneak out without me even noticing? “What are you doing?” I questioned him, frustrated.
“I-” He seemed at a loss for words, “I’m going to go kill it.”
“Kill what?”
“Grindelwald.” He said all self-assured and matter-of-factly, as if his secret escapes to go kill some mythical made-up fairytale monster for children made perfect sense.
“Why?” was all I could sigh out.
“Wh- What do you mean? I-“
“I mean why would you try to go by yourself? Why were you all quiet at the table and now you’re plotting murder after hearing a cautionary tale for CHILDREN?” I stood up and marched up to him, forcing him to look me in the eye instead of the darting glances at my feet he seemed so intent on giving out. “And why-” I had already started to choke up again and I could barely see the lines of his face through the blurry fog of my own tears, “Why do you always lie and hide and evade? You’re so reckless!” I saw him flinch at that, “I don’t understand. I thought… I thought we were friends? Padfoot?”
I groaned in frustration and sat down on the edge of the bed, slapping my cheeks in hopes to gain any composure, but I was already too far gone. With the ugly hiccups of my sobs, echoing through the otherwise silent room and my face feeling all sticky with snot and tears, all I could be was frustrated and embarrassed. All the while, Sirius just stood there and looked at me; silent and expressionless.
It was tiring. I was so tired. He reached and gaped as if he was about to say something, some half-thought out apology. I raised my hand to stop him, “Don’t bother. Just go, if you feel like that’s what you have to do.”
“You’re not being fair.”
“Me? Unfair. That’s the funniest thing you’ve said all day.”
“You’re not even going to let me explain myself?”
“So you can lie to me even more? Get out.”
“I-”
“GET OUT.”
Then the door suddenly creeped open and we both turned sharply to see Arthur peeking meekly from behind it. “Is everything all right here?” He asked in a way that made it very clear he knew it was just the opposite. I hadn’t realised until then how loud we must have been, some guests we had turned out to be. As I was about to apologise for the noise, Sirius grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out the door causing Arthur to jump aside as he was still confidently wielding the dagger with his other hand. He yanked at me carelessly, so much I felt my arm would fall out of my shoulder. He didn’t stop until we were back where we had first met the Weasleys.
“Right, Moony: let’s fight.”