Chapter Text
Remus had been patrolling the corridors (and tactfully pretending he hadn’t noticed Sirius, Peter, and James sneaking down to visit the one-eyed witch statue on the third-floor) when he heard it; a sharp, hateful voice echoing off the stone walls ahead.
“…go on then, Narcissa – run back to your perfect, pure, polished little world and pretend you’re better than me! You’ll be his soon enough anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. You might run around with the mongrel after dark, but your family won’t stand for it much longer – and I bet they’ll be more than willing to put that animal down to protect your precious reputation.”
“Anteoculatia!”
There was a sudden unmistakable crack of magic, a cry, and the sound of someone thumping against a wall. Remus didn’t realise he was running until he rounded the corner just in time to see Severus – Severus with antlers sprouting from his head, no less – launching himself at Narcissa so roughly she was knocked to the floor. She didn’t cry out, but Remus heard her small, sharp intake of breath as her hand flew to her elbow. Severus didn’t even look back, his feet pounding away in the direction of the dungeons, black robes whipping around him like a storm cloud.
Remus’s voice burst out before he even had time to think. “Oi! Snape!” he bellowed. “I reckon Lily might prefer you like that, actually.”
Severus didn’t stop moving, but his shoulders twitched – just once – betraying the hit. Then he vanished around the corner, and Remus heard the footsteps speed up into a run. He dropped into a crouch beside Narcissa, who was still kneeling on the floor, her chin lifted in that impossibly poised Black family manner.
“Cissa?” said Remus gently. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Honestly I am. He just… he’s not himself right now.”
Remus snorted softly. “You’re telling me. Where did you learn to do that? I don’t remember Flitwick teaching it in class.”
“Sirius,” she said with a shrug. Of course. “Are you going to dock any points off me?”
“What?” he asked, genuinely confused. Then, he looked down to the badge pinned to his robes. “Probably not, no; I don’t think I want to get on your bad side. And honestly, I didn’t see anything – other than that slimy git going for you. Merlin, what was he thinking?”
“You must have heard what happened between him and Lily today,” murmured Narcissa. “You know how much he…” She stopped herself, straightened her back, and smoothed out her uniform as if she were reassembling armour. “He’s always been sharp,” she went on, “but today it was like he needed to burn someone. Anyone. I just happened to be the closest, I guess.”
Remus studied her carefully. “You shouldn’t have to be his target practice,” he said, his voice quiet but firm. “And you won’t be, not while I’m around – even if you apparently don’t need any help defending yourself.”
“You Gryffindors,” she said softly. “Always trying to save everyone.”
Remus smiled. “I don’t save everyone; just the people worth saving. And, for what it’s worth, thank you.”
“For what?”
“You know what,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her up onto her feet. Their faces were suddenly very close to one another, and he leaned forward to press his lips against her hair. “Defending my honour like that? It was very Not Slytherin of you.”
They began walking in the same direction Severus had fled – albeit slowly, because neither was eager to return to their respective common rooms. He yearned to take her hand in his, but he contented himself instead with matching her step.
After a moment, Narcissa spoke again, her voice low. “It’s not just Lily. Severus is… I think there’s something more going on.”
Remus glanced at her. “More?”
She swallowed. “I think something happened between him and Sirius.”
That was enough to make Remus stop walking entirely.
“What do you mean by something?”
“I don’t know.” Narcissa shook her head, catching up her long hair and tying it into a ponytail. “I just know I saw them walking together a few nights ago – and when Severus got back he looked like he’d been hexed to pieces.”
“Where were they walking?” asked Remus curiously, trying to keep his voice light.
“Towards that horrible tree,” she said, miming a shudder. “The one that tries to kill everyone.”
“They went there a few nights ago?”
“I think so,” she said, unsettled by the strange expression on his face. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Remus didn’t say anything, but his eyes flickered towards the window. Narcissa followed his gaze and caught sight of the waning moon above. “Oh,” she murmured in sudden understanding. “Oh, no – surely not. Even Sirius wouldn’t do something so spectacularly stupid as that.”
He gave a hollow laugh, trying desperately to remember any small detail from his last moonlit stroll – and he had a sudden memory of running through a tunnel alongside Prongs. “Wouldn’t he? It’s that or he took him out for a romantic stroll under the full moon. I don’t know which is worse, especially now that Severus is…”
“A storm looking for a place to land?” Narcissa offered.
He gave her a faint smile. “Exactly.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“If I hurt someone, even by mistake, they’d put me in Azkaban,” said Remus. “And they’d be right to.”
“Don’t,” Narcissa told him, closing her eyes against that awful image. “Put it from your mind. Other than a fetching new pair of antlers, Severus looks perfectly fine to me.” They began walking again through the quiet halls, their footsteps echoing. “I am worried, though,” she said. “About what he’ll become if he keeps pushing everyone away.”
Remus looked at her sideways. “And you,” he said gently. “Are you worried about him hurting you? I won’t let him, Cissa.”
She opened her mouth uncertainly. “I don’t think he knows how to be happy for other people. And I… I think he hates it when he sees someone who is.”
“That’s probably why he hates me so much, then,” said Remus, pressing his shoulder against hers. “I’ve been sickeningly happy ever since I met you.”
Narcissa couldn’t help it; she giggled, and his heart turned over at the sound. Then, she stopped walking and turned to face him fully. “I wish we could just be together, without all of this sneaking about in the shadows. But Remus,” she whispered, pressing her hand to his cheek, “I can’t bear the thought of anyone hurting you because of me.”
Unexpectedly, Remus leaned forwards to kiss her. She knotted her fingers in his cloak and pulled him closer, her back pressing against the wall and her heart pounding against his. A low moan escaped his throat, and he circled his arms around her – and then pulled back breathlessly. Her lips looked swollen in the torchlight. “What do you think McGonagall would say if she caught us like this?”
“Remus Lupin, I expected better from you! 1000 points from Gryffindor!” said Narcissa, in a passable impression of the Transfiguration teacher’s Scottish tones.
They both laughed, tension breaking like a spell being undone. Narcissa looked away first, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, breathing shakily.
“I should go,” she managed.
He nodded. But, as she turned, he gently caught her sleeve – just for a second. “Cissa? You’re never alone,” he reminded her. “Not while I’m around.”
“Canada, then?”
“Just as soon as you give the word.”
She smiled and left him, her steps soft, posture poised, and hair gleaming like starlight in the dim corridor.
***
Later, he waited in the common room for the Marauders to return from whatever mischief they'd managed without him. Rain pattered softly against the windows. Somewhere up the stairs, someone snored. And then, laughter. Familiar, bright, achingly normal laughter
“You’re up late, Moony,” Sirius said as he strode in, shaking rain from his hair. His voice was unexpectedly gentle. “You usually crash out early after a full moon, don’t you? Is everything alright?”
“Tell me you didn’t do it, Pads,” Remus said. He hated the crack in his own voice. Hated the way Sirius froze. Hated the startled, guilty flicker that passed between his friends.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Sirius said quickly, and Remus clung to the small mercy that he didn’t try to lie. “Honestly, Moony, it wasn’t…”
“I don’t know how it could be worse,” Remus replied, too calm. “You could have gotten that pillock killed. You could have gotten me killed, or locked away for the rest of my life at least. I thought you were my friend.”
Sirius looked aghast.. “I am, Moons. Of course I am. Please. You must know that you and James are like brothers to me,” he said, ignoring or not noticing Peter’s squeak of indignation. “I love you.”
“So why? What on earth possessed you to do it?”
“It wasn’t… it wasn’t like you think,” said Sirius quietly. He swallowed. “Severus asked me to meet him. He asked me. And I thought –” He stopped, shoulders curling in on themselves, the way people do when they’re bracing for laughter that hasn’t come yet. “Oh, I don’t know what I thought. I got the wrong end of the stick. Like I always bloody do.”
The truth hit Remus with a dull, painful clarity, and his heart ached for Sirius. And so, even as his friend attempted to shrug off the incident with that same Black bravado he’d seen on Narcissa, Remus reached for him. Tightly, he wrapped both arms around Sirius and pulled him close; Sirius clung back, breathing hard against his shoulder.
“Now I almost wish I had eaten him,” Remus joked weakly into his friend’s hair.
Padfoot made a strangled sound – something like a laugh, but not quite – which was muffled by Remus’s jumper. James snorted, relief spilling out of him in a gust. However, Peter frowned.
“But… what did you think he meant, then?” he piped up.
Their laughter filled the tower; too loud, too bright, a little desperate. Remus laughed with them, but inside, where no one could see, he could still feel Narcissa’s hand in his. Still taste the danger on his tongue. Still hear Sirius’ voice breaking under the weight of things he could never say out loud.
And for the first time, Remus understood: love – all of it, in every direction – was going to ruin them long before the moon ever could.