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Remus grimaced as he tripped over a mossy rock. This section of the forest was always a nightmare to navigate but especially when it was this dark outside. Only his long limbs halted his fall. His cheek pressed painfully against the trunk he wrapped himself around and he grunted as damp bark dug into his skin.
Thank the stars Lily wasn’t here to see this. She would have laughed herself sick.
“Almost there,” he murmured to himself.
Maybe if it hadn’t been so late he wouldn’t have felt the need to cut through the forest. He hadn’t expected Lily’s Halloween dinner to run so long into the evening but once the murder mystery games started it was like the clock stopped for them all.
Consequences of sticking a bunch of bookish losers with a love of crime solving television and whodunnit novels in a room together complete with props, costumes, and character sheets.
Straightening, he brushed a stray leaf from the padded material of his high visibility vest and tucked his hat under his arm. At least his costume was warm. Mary, dressed as a flapper, hadn’t been so lucky. No wonder she ended up curled into Lily’s side ‘for warmth’.
Snapping twigs captured his attention and he instinctively paused, eyes scanning the abyssal darkness. Moonlight fought to break through the dark green canopy above his head. Fumbling in his pocket, he raised his phone with the torch lit and took another glance around the forest. There were no large predatory animals in this area of Wales, or anywhere in Britain, so he wasn’t concerned about an animal attack, although that didn’t account for humans or smaller creatures. Hopefully it was merely wind rustling the trees.
A flash of movement in the corner of his eye had him whirling around, arm extended to push the range of the torch to its limits. His other arm reached behind him to clutch a nearby tree. Covering his back would be important in a fight. Not for the first time that evening, he wished he had brought his cane. Usually he kept it handy but for a dinner party, he expected to be sitting. Evidently, he forgot to account for his walk home.
He should have taken Lily up on her offer to sleep on her sofa. Maybe if Mary hadn’t finally plucked up the courage to ask her out, he would have. If he died here today, he hoped they knew it was their fault.
Sapphic love killed him.
Another shift in the darkness sent his heart flipping in his chest. Something moved purposefully from behind a thicket of bushes. Brambles rustled. Leaves shook from their branches and fluttered to the ground to surround small, fluffy black slippers which slowly peeked out from behind the bush.
Remus’ eyes widened, following the shoes up to see the face of a tiny child.
“Oh,” he gasped. With the torch directed at the child’s face, it was no wonder they abruptly raised an arm to cover their eyes. “I’m sorry, honey,” he said as he hurriedly lowered his phone, aiming the light at the floor. “Are you okay? Are you lost?”
The child sniffled. One tiny hand clutched a stuffed animal while the other wiped at his wet cheeks.
Remus’ heart ached as he dropped into a crouch. His knees would scream at him later for the movement but he couldn’t think straight. Why was this kid alone in the forest so late at night? Where the hell were their parents?
Taking a shaky breath, he tried to calm his racing pulse. He couldn’t blurt out questions. This was a small child he was dealing with, a kid probably no older than three or four. He needed to be patient lest he frighten the poor thing.
“Let’s try this again,” he murmured and smiled weakly. “My name is Remus. I live just on the edge of the forest in that direction.” He pointed off to the left. “Do you live around here?”
A breeze swept through the forest and the child shivered. Remus tried not to get angry as he saw the clothes the baby was wearing. Black pyjamas patterned with stars covered the child’s legs and arms but the material was thin. Fine for indoors with the heating on, not so great outside in late October.
“Regulus.”
Remus blinked. “Is that your name?”
Regulus nodded softly and Remus took a moment to look him over.
As he surveyed the child, his chest gave a painful tug at the fluffy cat slippers on his feet. They were adorably small and fuzzy, giving way to cartoonish feline faces which stared up at the thicket of trees above them. The right slipper had been covered in mud, staining the cat’s face. For some reason, that made him inconceivably angry.
What sort of parent allowed this?
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Remus asked tensely.
Regulus shrugged. “I’m okay.”
“Where are your parents, Regulus?”
“Appa is busy.”
Appa must have been a word in another language. He discreetly unlocked his phone and typed the word into his search bar only to discover it meant ‘father’ or ‘dad’ in a variety of other languages.
“Your dad is busy,” Remus murmured more to himself. “What about your mother?”
Regulus shook his head. “Only Appa.”
“It’s just you and your appa?” Regulus nodded. “Alright, why are you out here alone? It’s not safe to be in the forest by yourself. Did your appa bring you here?” If this unknown prick abandoned his sweet baby in the forest then Remus would hunt him down and throttle him.
Once again, Regulus shook his head.
“How old are you?”
Silently, Regulus held up four fingers.
”Four years old,” he whispered, horrified. Four was nothing. A baby, really. Were four year olds in school yet? Regulus was so tiny, he couldn’t imagine why he was out here alone at night.
“Why are you not at home?” he asked gently.
“Appa went out.”
A flame of fury ignited in his chest. What a selfish, irresponsible, poor excuse of a parent.
“He left you home alone?”
Regulus frowned. “Miss Umbridge watches me.”
“Is she your babysitter?”
“She’s mean,” Regulus said unhappily.
“Did she bring you out here?”
“I left. She was being mean.” Regulus sniffled, more tears falling. “I wanted Appa. Appa is always nice. Not like Miss Umbridge. She was drinking her grown up drink and shouting.”
“Did she hurt you?”
Slowly, Regulus pulled up his sleeve to show a wide, mottled, red handprint wrapped around his tiny forearm. Anger rolled in Remus’ gut and he had to close his eyes, breathing shakily to stop himself from gagging. Bruises should never stain the skin of a child.
“Miss Umbridge doesn’t like me but I don’t like her either.”
“I can see why you dislike her..”
“I was really scared. I wanted to find Appa but I got lost. Then I saw you.”
Remus tried not to smile. “How did you know I wasn’t mean like Miss Umbridge? Talking to strangers can be dangerous.”
“Appa says not to talk to strangers,” Regulus replied in a slightly haughty tone. His tiny face was tipped up, chin raised in a show of superiority. “He said ‘Agaya, if you get lost, only speak to a nice lady, people with children, or a police officer’.”
Confused, Remus had to stop himself from blurting that he was none of those things. As he adjusted his crouch into a more comfortable kneel, something glinted in the corner of his eye and he froze when he looked down at his chest.
“The uniform,” he said in realisation. “You recognised it?”
“You are a police officer.”
Guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders. He was definitely not a police officer. At best he was someone playing dress-up for a costume party but he didn’t know how to explain that to a child. What if Regulus got frightened and ran away?
“I am,” he said uncomfortably. He checked his phone again only to see his signal had dropped off. Typical. “Er, let’s get you out of this forest. My house is only about a ten minute walk in that direction. We can call your appa from there. Do you know his number?”
With the same proud tone as earlier, Regulus prattled off a string of numbers. “Appa made me memorise it. He said ‘Agaya, if you ever need me, you call this number and Appa will come and get you, no matter the place, no matter the time.’.”
“Your appa sounds like a good man.”
“The best,” Regulus said with the ferocity of a toddler. Remus’ heart squeezed. Such unconditional love was something he had only ever experienced with his mam. “Appa is the best.”
At least that seemed to be true. Hopefully this brilliant appa of his would make sure Miss Umbridge was suitably penalised for her actions. If not, Remus would.
“Okay, come with me.”
As he rose on creaky knees, Regulus raised a hand. Did he have a question?
“Er, yes?”
Regulus sent him a flat look and wriggled his hand pointedly.
Embarrassed, Remus looked around. “Do you need something?”
“Appa always says to hold his hand.”
“Oh!” Remus reached down and wrapped his palm around Regulus’ tiny hand. “Is that better?”
Regulus blinked up at him. His eyes were the most startling grey. Like molten silver. Remus had never seen such an adorable kid in his life; No wonder his father was so intent on protecting him.
This must be why people like the Weasleys had so many kids. Remus had never felt paternal instincts in his life but he was quite sure if a bear appeared in their path he could wrestle it into submission. Or at least give Regulus enough time to run away while the beast was busy mauling Remus.
Was that insane? Maybe. Still true, though, and he would go down a hero. His mam would be upset but she would write a beautiful obituary, and little Regulus would be safe and sound.
Steadily, they ambled through the forest. Regulus was surprisingly quiet for a child but he supposed the mood would be a bit somber considering the situation. A few minutes into their walk, Remus shrugged off his vest and wrapped it around Regulus’ body in an attempt to curtail his shivering. There was probably a mild cold waiting for the poor kid at the end of this week but so long as that was the worst of it, he could accept that.
“Do you live nearby?” Remus asked as they neared the edge of his property.
“We have a big garden. The forest is next to it.”
Much like Remus, Regulus‘ home must have bordered the forest. Strange. He thought he knew all of the surrounding farmers.
“Is that why you went through the woods?”
“Appa keeps the big gate locked. The forest was the only way out and I didn’t want to stay. Miss Umbridge was being so mean.”
The choked up quality to his tiny voice rankled. Remus resisted the urge to go and hunt this babysitter down himself. Instead, he focused on climbing the fence outlining his property, then he reached over to lift Regulus and was surprised when the baby willingly raised his arms with no protests or discomfort on his face. Maybe the vest had helped. He didn't seem to be shivering anymore.
He carried Regulus the rest of the way to his house. Something fond welled in his chest as Regulus gave a sleepy sigh and rested his head on Remus’ shoulder.
So cute.
Using one arm to support Regulus, he smoothly unlocked his front door and went straight to the living room. Setting the kid down on the sofa, he gestured for him to turn on the television and rushed into the kitchen to find something for him to eat. As he offered a plate with buttered toast and some chocolate biscuits to Regulus, he noticed his tiny nose and cheeks were rather pink from the cold. Thinking quickly, he left the living room and picked up a blanket from the airing cupboard and a pair of his smallest socks from his room. When he returned, Regulus was happily munching on the biscuits.
Regulus’ dad might not have wanted him eating chocolate so late but the kid had been through enough. Some chocolate might help. Chocolate could cure anything.
“Sorry about the toast,” Remus said as he set a cup of water down on the table beside the sofa. The blanket was draped over Regulus’ lap. “Usually I have spreadable cheese or jam but I ran out. I was meant to go shopping but…”
“I can’t eat jam,” Regulus said quietly. His damp stuffed dog was curled into his side. Wrapped up like he was, he resembled a chick in a nest.
“Too sugary?”
“I’m allergic to strawberries. I have a special medicine Appa had to stick in my leg when one of our neighbours gave me jam sandwiches.”
Remus’ heart plummeted. “Oh my goodness— I didn’t even ask— Do you have any other allergies?”
Wide eyes fixed on the television, Regulus said, “No.”
Remus clutched his chest. This was the part about having kids that always worried him: the fear. Anything could happen to a child and he would be helpless to stop it. How did his mam cope with Remus’ many ailments and illnesses throughout his childhood? How did it not send her into a nervous breakdown? After twenty minutes with Regulus he was quite sure he would break his own neck if anything happened to him.
“Can you tell me your appa’s number again? I think I should probably call him.”
Dutifully, Regulus did as asked. Remus shakily typed the numbers in and shuffled into the hallway so he could keep an eye on the kid.
“Regulus, do you know your full name? Your last name?”
“Regulus Arcturus Black.”
“Thank you.”
With the phone pressed to his ear, he listened impatiently to the drone of the dial tone. Regulus was once again distracted with his toast and the programme playing on the television. Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Maybe not the most suitable thing for a kid his age but a classic.
The call connected with a sharp click.
“What?” a sharp voice snapped.
Shocked, Remus blinked several times. In his mind, Regulus’ father had gone from an irresponsible, careless arse to a loving, warm, older gentleman. This man sounded nothing like either of those images.
“Er, hello. Is this Mr Black?” Remus asked weakly.
“Yes,” the man responded impatiently. “Look, I’m sure you have a brilliant reason to be calling me this late at night but I’m in the middle of something incredibly important so I hope you don’t mind if I hang up—” The man’s voice became more distant as he pulled the phone away.
“Wait!” Remus said loudly. “I have your son!”
The line went still.
“What did you just say?” The man sounded dangerously angry. Remus couldn’t find the words to respond. He was torn between immediately apologising and asking for him to say those words again in that deliciously husky tone.
Focus, Remus.
“I found your son,” Remus managed to force out. “In the woods. You live near Meadeway, right?”
“You…” Mr Black’s voice cracked. “You found my baby?”
“Regulus, yes.” Remus crossed the living room floor and crouched beside the baby who had turned to him curiously. “I’ll put you on speaker. Regulus, it’s your appa.”
“Appa?” Regulus looked down at the phone with wide eyes. He said a string of words in another language which prompted a choked sob from the phone.
“Oh, oh, Reggie, baby,” the man sobbed.
“Appa!” Regulus gasped, one hand reaching out to clutch the phone. “Appa, I’m sorry! Miss Umbridge was being mean and I was scared and I wanted you!”
“No, baby, it’s okay. We’ll talk about it once you’re home.”
“I did what you told me, Appa! I found a nice police officer and he took me to his house and now I’m eating biscuits and he knows I can’t have strawberries and I told him your number because I remembered it and now I’m waiting to see who killed Lucy Crale’s father. I think it was Elsa.”
Heat blazed in Remus’ cheeks. He should have changed the television channel.
Surprisingly, Mr Black laughed wetly. “That’s good, baby. I’m so proud of you. You did exactly what Appa told you to do. Will you be okay if I speak to the nice police officer now? I need to know where you are so I can come and get you.”
“Okay, Appa. I’m going to keep eating my biscuits. They have chocolate in them. Is that okay?”
”Of course it is. You can have whatever you want.” The man sounded unbearably fond. “What did you say your name was?”
Remus hurriedly turned the speaker off and pressed the phone to his ear as he shuffled back out to the hallway. By the time he looked back, Regulus was already curled up with his biscuits, gaze fixed on Poirot as he spoke.
“Remus Lupin. Er, full disclosure, I’m not actually a police officer. I was at a friend’s dinner party and because it’s Halloween we were all dressed up for a murder mystery thing. I was the detective.” He felt a bit stupid rambling to this man who must have been in severe distress up until sixty seconds ago but sometimes when he started talking he didn’t know how or when to stop.
“Sirius Black. Thank you for your honesty. Now, not to be rude but could you give me your address so I can come and get my baby?”
Unhaltingly, Remus rattled off his address and confirmed the street name and house number when Sirius repeated it back to him.
“Excellent. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Five minutes?”
“I’m only around the corner. Could you give your phone to my son so I can speak to him privately?”
Remus didn’t hesitate to do as requested. He left Regulus alone with his phone and went to unlock the front door, then he filled the kettle and flicked it on, anticipating at least one visitor.
Several minutes passed. The sweet sound of Regulus chatting away to his father made Remus feel warm inside as he buttered several more slices of toast. He nibbled on the edge of one and plated the rest up as he thought about the night’s events. Once he got his phone back he would have to fill Lily in. She wouldn’t believe how his evening turned out.
A sharp knock on his front door was followed by the sound of the ancient hinges screeching as it was pushed open. Remus twisted to look down the hallway only to freeze as he saw Sirius Black standing in his doorway.
Fuck me with a rake.
“Remus Lupin?” the man asked. His strikingly handsome face was pinched as he surveyed him. “I’m Sirius Black, Regulus’ father. Have to admit, you’re taller than I expected.”
“You’re gorgeous,” he blurted, then immediately turned to hide his burning face. “Er…” He lifted the plate of toast. “Hungry?”
Sirius blinked at him.
“Appa?” Tiny socked footsteps pounded out of the living room. “Appa!”
Regulus launched himself at his father who smoothly bent down and caught him before he could fall.
“Agaya,” Sirius breathed into his hair. “Oh, baby. Thank the stars.” Sirius looked over the top of Regulus’ head and met his eye. “Thank you.”
The raw emotion in his voice made Remus’ eyes itchy. He didn’t think anyone had ever given him such an appreciative look in his life.
“It’s okay,” he said honestly.
“It is definitely not okay.” Sirius cradled Regulus’ cheek, wiping away the tears which had begun to fall freely. Regulus’ tiny body shivered in his father’s arms as he pressed his face into his neck. “Baby, what happened? Can you tell me and the nice police officers?”
Only then did Remus notice there were flashing lights behind Sirius. With his front door still wide open, all it took was him angling his neck to see several police cars parked out the front of his house. A small army of uniformed officers dawdled around the front gate while two more senior looking detectives stood directly behind Sirius on Remus’ weathered, wolf-themed door mat.
His neighbours were going to be spreading all sorts of rumours. For once, he found himself unable to care.
The officers kindly didn’t beat him over the head for wearing a police uniform he purchased online and were actually rather nice as he gave his statement. They made a point to separate him from Regulus as a younger female officer took his statement, bending down to his height and letting him munch on his last biscuit as he responded to her questions.
Remus couldn’t hear them from the kitchen but he occasionally saw Sirius pacing the hallway restlessly. After he finished his statement, Sirius came to angrily eat some of the now cold slices of toast, an expression of pure rage on his face.
“I want Dolores Umbridge prosecuted,” Sirius said to the officer standing by Remus. “I want her locked up.”
“Our techs have taken images of Regulus’ arm. The evidence from your home along with his statement should be enough,” the man said calmly. “I need to call my superior.”
“Thank you, Kingsley.”
“Always a pleasure, Sirius. You just make sure that baby of yours is tucked in well tonight.”
“We’re going to have to stay in a hotel. I’ll have to hire a cleaner to gut my living room and kitchen after the mess that wretched woman made of it.”
“You could stay here,” Remus said, surprising himself and everyone else in the room.
After several beats, Kingsley snorted. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Once he left, Sirius sat opposite him at the little dining table his mother bought back when he was about Regulus’ age.
“Who are you?”
“Er, Remus Lupin?”
“Remus John Lupin, twenty-four, currently employed as a customer service advisor which you do from home due to your disability. You have a father whom you are estranged from. Your mother lives across town in an assisted living facility. This is her house. You’re close, considering you make daily trips to her even if it’s just for an hour—”
“How on Earth do you know all of that?” Remus gaped at him in shock.
Sirius smiled. “Standard background check I ran when Reg and I first moved to the area. I swept every neighbour for several miles. The man in the house across from you has a gambling addiction he’s been hiding from his wife, the woman two doors down is distantly related to Cher—”
“Really?”
Sirius narrowed his eyes.
“Sorry. I’m just a bit lost. Are you…famous or something?”
“You could say that. Some would say infamous.” Sirius leaned back and assessed him. “Regulus is my heart and soul, my entire world. When we decided to move to this dingy little town, I wanted to make sure there were no threats to his safety. With my money and influence, it was pretty easy to achieve.”
The memory of Kingsley’s interactions with Sirius came back to him. “A friend in the force helps, I’m sure.”
Sirius grinned sharply. “Oh, I have many friends in much higher places. But, yes, Kingsley helped.”
“Is that why the entire town’s police force is outside?”
The amusement vanished from Sirius’ face. A dark shadow twisted his handsome features into something both terrifying and enchanting.
“Do you know how it felt to come home to my house in ruins and my baby missing?”
“I can’t even imagine,” Remus said honestly.
“I wanted to die,” Sirius said, tone severe yet quiet. His expression was gentle as he gazed off towards the door. Remus knew from his seat he could probably see Regulus but the adoration sparkling in his grey eyes confirmed it. “A world without my baby isn’t a world at all. Worse, I had no idea what happened to him.”
“Kingsley said something about evidence at your house.”
“Umbridge wrecked my living room. I suspect she found out about her boss’ plans to fire her.”
“Isn’t she a babysitter?”
“No, she’s a teacher although she only works part-time. I thought she would be perfect for Reg. Stern but warm. Decades of experience. A squeaky clean record.” Sirius shook his head bitterly. “I should have known. Nobody is that clean. She’s good friends with the mayor of this town.”
“Fudge?”
Sirius nodded tightly. “I’ll be dealing with him separately. He recommended her to me—I need to know if he knew she had…issues.”
“I assume you saw Regulus’ arm.”
“I did.”
Remus had heard that tone before. One time, when a teacher made a disparaging comment about his ability to keep up in physical activities, his mother almost bulldozed the school in her fury. He could still recall the way her voice lowered, taking on a pitch so grave and thick with intent that he expected miserable old Mr Filch to keel over and die from the shock of being berated by a tiny Welsh woman with the fire of a thousand suns.
“She’s lucky to be alive,” Sirius said plainly. “Speaking of luck, I guess this is your lucky day.”
“I’d like to think so. I can’t imagine… I love this town, but you can’t trust everybody. If someone else had found him. Or worse, if he’d never been found… I wouldn’t have even gone through the woods if I hadn’t left Lily’s house exactly when I did. If I’d been a few minutes earlier or later, I might not have even seen him.”
Thankfully, Sirius was too distracted rifling through a small black notebook he procured from his jacket to pay any mind to Remus’ frenetic rambling. With flourish, Sirius scribbled something down before tearing the page out and sliding it across the table.
Remus caught the paper only to freeze when he saw a signed cheque for fifty thousand pounds.
“Is this a prank?” Remus asked in confusion. “Because it’s a very odd one and I don’t think now is the time to be making jokes.”
“Not a prank.”
Remus stared at the cheque. “I don’t understand.”
“Well, just as you called me I was in the process of setting up a rewards system for any information on my baby. An alert was about to be broadcast with Regulus’ face and description along with the information on the reward. Any credible information would garner a cash prize. I may not have implemented it but the fact remains that you saved my baby. You brought him back to me.” A painted nail tapped the cheque. “This is nowhere near the value of knowing my little boy is safe again but it’s the least I could do. Also, I paid off the mortgage on the house and your student loans while I was waiting for Kingsley to finish interviewing you. And your mother’s care has been given indefinite funding.”
Remus’ jaw dropped.
“What?” he shouted.
Sirius smiled and set Remus’ phone on the table as he stood. “Good talk. I’m going to go and see if Amelia is finished with Reg. You might want to talk to your friend Lily. She’s called a dozen times.”
With those parting words, Sirius left the room. Remus didn’t even have the wherewithal to ogle his backside and deliciously long legs. Who knew a supermodel had taken up residence in his tiny town?
A glance down at his phone screen confirmed Sirius’ words. Mentally unable to process the thought of his financial hardships being removed, he swiped on Lily’s contact and pressed the phone to his ear.
He had one hell of a story to share.