Living with Danger

Chapter 38: Open Doors

Aletha was furious with herself.

I'm supposed to be the level-headed one around here. I'm supposed to be the one everyone turns to when they need something. And I acted like a complete and total airhead.

Danger practically told me the cubs had to leave. Or at least that Meghan did. She asked me to write the note to the Weasleys, for heaven's sake! How could I not have realized?

But somehow or other, it went completely over my head, and then when she told me straight out that we had to say goodbye, I made a big fuss and cried and acted like an idiot...

She was carefully ignoring the fact that most mothers, confronted with the stark fact of their children having to leave them, perhaps forever, would have been unabashedly hysterical. She couldn't afford to be hysterical now. Being angry was better.

At the very least, it stopped her from having to think about the fact that her cubs were gone, and the rest of them were just waiting, waiting for...

A faint popping sound drew her attention, and Sirius'. He turned away from her and Remus to face the newcomer.

"Black," said Alastor Moody's growling voice. "It's been a long time."

"Moody," Sirius said neutrally. "So it has."

Moody regarded the tableau with his mismatched eyes and grunted. "Should have expected this, I suppose. Never did find you boys far from each other. And you, Freeman. How long've you been with this flying circus?"

"Eight and a half years," Aletha answered after a quick calculation. "Nine in April."

Another grunt. "Who's the other one?"

"Her name is Danger," Sirius said. "She's Remus' wife."

"Dead?"

"No. But we don't know what happened to her."

Moody nodded. "Fine. That accounts for the adults. Where's the children?"

"Gone," Remus said unexpectedly, hoarsely, still staring down at Danger. "They're gone. All of them. You won't find them. We sent them away."

"Nice try, Lupin, but it won't work. We've been surrounding this place for five minutes. No one's gone in or out in that time. One of our men did report tracks in the front lane, but they were covered by the time I got there. One set, he said, going straight out the door and up the road. Small tracks. Child-size."

"My daughter," Sirius said. "We sent her to a friend's house to stay. She's no part of this, please, just leave her alone."

"Fine. But our sources say you had four children living here, not just one. So where's the other three?"

"Were these doors open when you got here?" Sirius asked, pointing at the overhead cellar doors.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Just wondering. And no one left that way."

"No. We would've seen them. It's snowing hard, but not that hard."

Aletha closed her eyes as a brief wave of fear swept her. Oh, God, Danger, what did you do with them?

Sirius sounded tired as he answered Moody. "We don't know where the other children are. Danger brought them downstairs, and we found her like this a minute or two later."

"Long enough to kill them and hide the bodies, then," Moody said, his magical eye sweeping the cellar. "Or Vanish them."

Remus turned half-around, still holding Danger against him. "Don't say that," he spat, his voice filled with grief and anger. "Danger loves the cubs as if they were her own, she wouldn't, she couldn't do that."

"You'd be amazed what people can do," Moody said levelly, turning to look at Sirius. "I was. Still am, for that matter. Don't suppose you'd care to take a moment and explain."

"Will you believe me if I do?"

"Depends on what you say."

Sirius explained, keeping mention of Pettigrew's Animagus abilities out of the picture, Aletha noticed. He made it sound instead as if Pettigrew had Apparated away from the scene of the crime. Which could have been another way it happened, I suppose. But you'd have to have iron control, Apparating's never easy, and it gets harder when you're worked up or scared...

Moody listened with skepticism plain on his scarred face.

"Your turn," Sirius said after he'd finished. "You're retired. What are you doing here - and why are you talking to us instead of tying us up and bringing us in?"

"Second question first - because Dumbledore asked me to. Flooed over to the Ministry and caught me just as I was leaving. Told me I could save myself time and trouble if I went in first and alone. As usual, he was right. Someday I'll figure out how he does that. As to the first, I had my name down for your case before I retired, Black, and they called me up when they got their first real lead on you in seven years. And here we are."

"Yes. Here we are."

"So why don't you get your wand out, nice and slow, with your right hand."

Sirius gave a small smile. "Should've known you'd remember that about me." He slowly drew his wand out and extended the grip end to Moody.

"Remembering things like that keeps me alive," Moody growled, pocketing the wand. "You too, Freeman. Use your off hand, and take it slow."

Aletha disarmed herself, then rose and joined Sirius behind Moody, who stumped forward and held out his hand to Remus. "Your turn, Lupin," he said, almost gently. "Hers, too." He indicated Danger.

Remus pulled out his own wand awkwardly and handed it over. He slid his hand into Danger's pocket, then frowned. "She doesn't have it."

"Probably because she was using it," Moody said grimly.

Aletha stifled a gasp.

"There's lots of things you can do with a wand," Sirius said soothingly, half to her, half to Moody.

Moody's blue eye whirled in its socket. "You're sitting on it, Lupin," he said with a trace of humor. "Move."

Remus moved to one side, and Moody Summoned Danger's wand with his own. "I assume this means you're planning to come quietly," he said, turning back to face Sirius.

Sirius shrugged. "We wouldn't get far if we ran," he said. "Danger's unconscious, and tonight's full moon."

Moody looked at him searchingly. "Something strange about you, Black," he said slowly. "Are you telling me it never even crossed your mind to go alone?"

"Would you have arrested everyone else if I hadn't been here?" Sirius countered.

"Probably."

"Then there's no point in me running. Is there?"

"If Dumbledore hadn't intervened, there would have been," Moody said grimly. "The original plan was to send dementors in. With orders to Kiss you if they found you."

Aletha found herself in front of Sirius, with no recollection of moving. It was stupid and pointless, given that he was several inches the taller of the two, but memories of that July day in London kept sweeping through her, and she couldn't stop shivering. And I don't have my wand now, none of us do, we're helpless, we can't do anything...

If you don't have anything helpful to say, shut up, she told her fears firmly.

"Should I be flattered that I'm so terribly dangerous as all that?" Sirius asked lightly, sliding his arm around Aletha and holding her gently against him.

"I see that thing you call your sense of humor is still intact," said Moody dryly.

"To my friends' sorrow, yes."

Moody seemed about to smile, but instead he scowled. "Enough chit-chat," he said decisively. "Upstairs, all of you. Lupin, I'll take the woman."

"No," Remus said roughly. "She's mine, I'll take her."

"Don't be stupid, you'll hurt yourself. Let me make a stretcher for her."

"No," Remus said with finality, lifting Danger into his arms. Aletha marveled, in the part of her mind that wasn't screaming in terror, that Remus could still sound authoritative, even worried sick about his wife, and even to someone who had a wand pointed at him.

And Moody, to her further astonishment (and, quite possibly, his), responded to that authority, stepping back and letting Remus carry Danger up the cellar stairs and into the kitchen. Aletha followed him, Sirius her, and Moody finished the procession, his wand never wavering from Sirius' back.

It's like a nightmare. Absolutely logical, except for the detail of being completely insane. We don't deserve this, none of us do, we haven't done anything!

Fear threatened to swamp her. Quickly, Aletha summoned anger to force it down. It must have worked - the young Auror who was first in from the yard in response to the green sparks Moody sent out the kitchen window looked absolutely terrified when he saw her face.

That's right. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I'm a Pack-mother. Threaten my cubs and die.

She stared down at her hands. Oh, my little Pearl, go quickly, and don't look back...

Anger didn't work as well against tears.

----------

Molly Weasley looked up as a knock sounded at the kitchen door of the Burrow. She got quickly to her feet and hurried into the kitchen. "Meghan, good heavens," she said, opening the door. "Come in, out of the snow. Why on earth didn't you Floo over?" She took the girl's bag and looked behind her. "Where's Harry, where's Drake and Neenie? It's not like you to come alone."

"My mum said not to Floo," said Meghan, her voice sounding oddly strained. "She sent you this." She extended a small envelope. Molly took it and opened it, vaguely aware of children arriving from various corners of the house, drawn by some innate trouble sense her brood seemed to have...

Dear Molly,

We've been called away unexpectedly, and we can't take Meghan with us. I'm afraid I can't explain, it being a matter of some delicacy, but it's also fairly urgent. By the time you get this, we'll almost certainly have left. I'm terribly sorry to simply foist her off on you like this, but we truly didn't have anywhere else to send her. She has the key to the Black vault, number 711, on the chain she's wearing, to defray expenses in case we're gone longer than we expect. Once again, our apologies, and we'll be back for her as soon as we possibly can.

Thank you,

Carrie Black

Molly stared at the note. Strange. Very strange. Where on earth could they be going that they can take all the other children, but not Meghan?

"Where's everybody else?" Ron asked, and Molly was pulled out of her thoughts.

"They're all gone," Meghan said in that same strange voice, the one that sounded too old for her years. "I'm all alone now." Her eyes were beginning to fill. "I've never been all alone before."

"You're not all alone," Luna said matter-of-factly, drawing Meghan's attention. "We're here."

Ginny picked up Meghan's bag from where Molly had slung it over the back of a chair. "Is she staying overnight, Mum?" she asked.

"Yes, she is," Molly said.

"Let's go up to my room, then," Ginny said, holding out a hand to the younger girl. "You'll sleep in with me. We can talk up there."

Meghan nodded and took the offered hand, and they went up the stairs after Luna. Ron lingered in the kitchen for a moment, then followed them.

Molly opened the note and read it over again. A vault key. But they know our feelings about charity. They would only send us money if they thought they might be gone a very long time.

She shook her head, puzzling over the mystery that was the Blacks.

Never mind now. There's work to do. An extra bed to set up, and an extra place at the table, and it's two days to Christmas, if she's staying for the holiday we'll have to get her some presents somehow...

Having something to fuss over, as always, made her feel better.

----------

Meghan sat with her face in her hands in Ginny's room as Ginny and Luna fussed over where to put her things, trying her hardest not to cry.

Mama Letha. Dadfoot. Moony. Danger. Neenie. Draco. Harry. Their faces floated through her mind, their voices rang in her ears. She wanted them. She wanted them back so much.

She had, literally, never been alone. Every moment of her life that she could remember had been spent with her Pack. The only time she even knew about that she had been alone was when the Pack had been taken by Lucius Malfoy, and even then Dobby had taken care of her. And that hadn't lasted long. Only a few hours.

And I was too little to know.

Why couldn't I go with the others? Because I'm too little?

Fury filled her at the very thought. Ever since she had been big enough to understand what the difference was between herself and the other cubs, she had resented it. Why couldn't Dadfoot and Mama Letha have had the common courtesy to get married when Harry's dad and mum had, and have her at the same time as Harry?

Then we'd all be the same age. Then I could go to Hogwarts with them. As it is, I have to stay home three years - three years - after they go. That's almost half my life!

Meghan was very like her mother in many ways. One of them was the way in which they dealt with fear.

Meghan, though, was much younger, and had had much less practice in keeping her fear at bay.

If the others ever go to Hogwarts, her fear whined in her ear. If we ever see each other again.

Harry, she wailed silently. Neenie. Draco. I want you, I want you, I want you here, I want you now...

Her thoughts disintegrated into mental sobs, and she fought with all her might to keep them purely mental, not to cry in front of Ginny and Luna and Ron...

----------

The cubs ran in silence.

Characteristically, Neenie was the first to break it. What are we going to do now? she asked, shivering as she ran and limping slightly. I'm cold and I'm getting tired.

We need to find somewhere to get inside before we freeze, Draco said. Harry? Where are we going?

Why are you asking me?

Neenie sighed. Because you're the alpha now, she said as if it should have been obvious.

What? Harry skidded to a halt and stared at his sister, her form barely visible through the blowing snow. I'm not the alpha. Moony is.

But he's not here, Draco said, sounding like it hurt him to say. And we might never see him again. We might never see any of the Pack again.

We are the Pack now, Neenie said with a slight quiver in her voice. And you're the alpha, Harry.

Why me? Why not Draco? He's older.

Oh, by five days, big deal! Look, Harry, I wouldn't make a good alpha. I make a good beta, like Padfoot does. Not an alpha. You're the alpha now. You have to be.

Why? Harry demanded again.

Neenie looked at him beseechingly. Because we don't know what to do, she said very softly. We're scared.

Yeah, well, so am I, Harry said roughly.

But you'll find a way to work around it. You always do. You can figure out what to do. We can't. We need someone to tell us.

Please, Harry, Draco said quietly. We really need you.

Harry sighed. Fine. All right. I'm the alpha. And my first decision is that we need to get inside. We're all going to freeze out here if we don't.

I thought I said that, Draco grumbled.

You made me the alpha. That means all the good ideas get to be mine too.

Is it too late to change my mind?

Yes.

Darn.

Neenie, what was that poem Danger said? That might tell us where to go or what to do.

Neenie tipped her head back, thinking. "Love that binds you, sisters, brothers, help you understand the others. Seek the one whose cry you hear..."

Wait! Draco said suddenly.

What?

I thought I heard something. Listen.

The cubs were silent.

All I hear is the wind, Harry said finally.

It wasn't an outside sound. It was like one of you said something, but it didn't sound like a word.

What did it sound like?

Like... someone crying.

But none of us are crying, Neenie said in bewilderment.

So we have to go find out who is, Draco said. "Seek the one whose cry you hear."

And I know who it is, Harry said with the sound of his grin in his voice as the answer came to him.

Who? the others asked simultaneously.

Meghan, Harry crooned in the way he used to do when Meghan was a tiny baby trying to grab his hair. Little Pearl-girl, can you hear me?

----------

Meghan, cooed a voice she knew. Little Pearl-girl, can you hear me?

Her head jerked up. "Harry?" she whispered.

"What?" Ginny said, turning to her.

"Nothing." Meghan bit her lip, fighting her tears even harder. I just imagined it, it was just my imagination, it wasn't real, it can't have been real...

----------

I just imagined it, Meghan's voice whimpered in their minds. It was just my imagination, it wasn't real, it can't have been real...

No, it's real, Neenie answered quickly. It's like Remus and Danger have. Danger gave it to us. Meghan, where are you?

I'm at the Burrow. Where else would I be?

I didn't know, maybe you got lost.

I did not get lost. When did I ever get lost just going to the Burrow? Meghan's voice had lost all trace of tears and become indignant.

Stop it, Harry said. Meghan, stay there. We'll come to you. Come on, Draco, Neenie, let's go.

The three cubs raced along the snowy road. They knew where to go, and they were going to get there in record time.

After all, their sister was waiting at the end of the road.

----------

Ron shook his head in bewilderment. Meghan had been all calm when she first arrived at the Burrow. Then she had cried when she got upstairs. Then, for a moment, she had looked totally shocked, then almost mad about something, and now she was smiling and happy and playing Exploding Snap with them at the kitchen table like nothing was wrong.

I don't think I'll ever understand girls.

----------

Albus Dumbledore descended the staircases of Hogwarts, rehearsing what he was going to say. He was unaccountably nervous.

Perhaps because I know my actions could have an enormous effect on the lives and happiness of people I have come to care about. To care a great deal about.

It may have been a mistake to become so involved in the life of the Pack. This day was almost inevitable. And almost every outcome for it that I can anticipate is bad...

But not every consequence of it is inescapable. Not if a certain person will cooperate.

And it may be within my power to persuade him to that cooperation...

He knocked at the door.

"Enter," called the man's voice.

"Good afternoon, Severus, are you busy?"

----------

Yes, of course I am busy. I am always busy. That question means he has something he wants me to do. "Not particularly, Headmaster. Do come in."

"Thank you." Dumbledore closed the door behind him. "Severus, I have a favor I wish to ask of you."

I knew it. "What sort of favor?"

"A potion I would like you to brew, if you have the time, and if you are so inclined. It would be needed by three-thirty this afternoon, if you could do so."

Snape checked the clock on the corner of his desk. It was just after twelve-thirty. I can brew most common potions in two hours or less, unless they specifically need a longer simmering time. "What sort of potion?"

Dumbledore met his eyes. "The Wolfsbane Potion."

Snape allowed his eyebrows to rise. "Indeed." That is not a common potion at all. In fact, I doubt there are ten wizards in England who could brew it correctly. Or in under three hours.

However, I have no doubt that I can.

But will I?

"A... mutual acquaintance of ours finds himself in need, Severus. You could help him greatly, if you so desired. I cannot and will not force you to do this." Dumbledore left the sentence hanging.

But it would please him.

And it would put Lupin and his little family in my debt.

On the other hand, why should I exert myself to help him, given the manner in which we last parted?

"Did our mutual acquaintance desire you to ask me for this?"

"He did not. I am acting purely on my own initiative here. He plans to pass this night without aid. It will tax his strength greatly. Strength which he will need for tomorrow."

"Oh?"

Dumbledore sighed. "It will be common knowledge soon enough, and your position as Pack-friend entitles you to know."

I would gladly give up position and knowledge to be able to drop that ridiculous title. Still, Snape listened. Knowledge was knowledge, no matter how come by.

"The adults of the Pack have been arrested. Their trial is tomorrow. They will be spending tonight in the Ministry holding cells."

"Not in Azkaban," Snape said, allowing just a hint of his disappointment to show.

"No. Not in Azkaban."

"And you wish me to ease Lupin's night in prison," Snape said, making up his mind. Pack-friend indeed. You forced me to become such a thing, old man, and I will not dance to your piping any longer. "No. I will not."

Dumbledore's eyes acquired the quiet sadness that so daunted most people. Snape carefully Occluded his mind and met the Headmaster's eyes straight on. I am no puppet of yours, and no friend of Lupin's or Black's. Lupin can kill himself tonight for all I care.

Or, even better, kill Black.

"As you wish, Severus." The Headmaster rose and left.

Snape closed his eyes and ran through his itinerary for the Christmas holiday. I have nothing tomorrow that cannot be put off. And if I did, I suspect I would put it off anyway.

Tomorrow, I will see Black and Lupin humiliated at last.

He wondered why that did not make him as happy as it should.

----------

"Well, your bed's all made up, Meghan, love," Molly Weasley said, bustling into the kitchen where the children were sitting at the table playing cards, "and we're having chicken for dinner, and I know you like that."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Meghan said, smiling shyly.

She is such a well-mannered child. And so sweet. It might not be so terrible if her family never did return...

Shame on you, Molly. The girl would be devastated if her family didn't come back. And rightly so. I've never seen so devoted a family. The adults all dote on the children, and the children don't take nearly as much advantage of that as I would have expected them to...

There was a scratching sound at the door.

"What on earth?"

A pitiful whimper joined it. Then another, and a low yowl.

"It sounds like animals," Luna said. "Like a dog and a cat that want to come inside."

"Well, I wouldn't leave anything outside on a day like this," Molly said with a glance at the window. The snow was still blowing past thickly. "Let me see what it is..."

She pulled the door open just a fraction. Two small things brushed by her ankles, and Meghan let out a glad cry. Molly turned to look.

Meghan was on her knees on the floor, brushing snow from the coats of a half-grown gray kitten and a white fox kit of similar size.

Odd to see a cat and a fox together...

Something brushed Molly's fingers. She looked down.

A large, dark-grey - dog? - looked up at her hopefully.

"Do you belong with them?" she asked it. "All right, come along." She opened the door enough for it to pass by her, which it did, then pulled out her wand and conjured towels. "Dry them off," she said to the three staring children. "Come on, don't just sit there, if we don't get them dry they'll shake all over the kitchen, and you'll have to clean it up..."

Ron and Ginny grabbed towels immediately. Ginny went to work on the dog - no, it was almost certainly a wolf, now that Molly got a good look at it - and Meghan came to help her. Ron approached the cat gingerly, but seemed to gain heart when it started purring as soon as the towel touched it.

Luna took the last towel from Molly and gently wrapped up the fox, lifting it from the floor and carrying it over to the fire. "Mrs. Weasley, do you have any ointment?" she said. "Its paw is hurt."

The wolf whimpered and lifted his front left paw. "Aww, yours is too," Ginny said. "Mum, where do we keep the healing stuff?"

"I'll get it," Molly said, glad to see her children showing compassion for the creatures.

Though what we're to feed them I don't know... but I couldn't have left them out in the cold...

----------

Luna looked carefully at the fox kit, now dry, with a bandaged paw, and curled in her lap. It looked back at her with eyes very like her own...

Eyes like mine?

She blinked slowly, allowing her eyes to drift out of focus, and thought hard about nothing. She had never been able to do this before, but ever since her mother had died, things had started appearing differently to her, as if she could see things now that she couldn't before...

The fox seemed to disappear in a mist. Out of the mist, stepped a figure. A human figure. A boy. He raised his head, and Luna looked into warm grey eyes, the fox kit's eyes...

"Meghan?" Luna asked quietly. "Are these animals your family?"

Meghan, who had the wolf lying next to her and the cat in her lap, stiffened.

"Her family?" Ron asked, sounding bewildered. "How could they be her family?"

"If they were transfigured," Ginny said. "But why would you think they were transfigured, Luna?"

"Are they?" Luna asked again, ignoring the Weasleys.

Meghan closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at Ron. "Is your room still soundproofed?" she asked.

Ron nodded. "Mum and Dad don't want to hear me practicing in the mornings," he said. "Why?"

"I have to tell you a story," Meghan said. "And it has to be secret." She looked at Luna and took a deep breath. "Because yes. They are."

----------

Chapter 39: Close Every Door

Sirius jumped as a sound like someone clapping their hands reverberated down the hall. Damn, I'm nervous. I need to settle down.

Of course, it's easier to do that when I'm not locked in and alone.

Yes, I'd say this is starting to rank pretty high on my list of all-time bad days.

He sat down on the bed in his cell and stared at the opposite wall. Don't look at the bars, he reminded himself. You'll only feel worse. Look at the wall. The nice, boring, white wall.

And be thankful for small blessings. Like light.

The cells each had a panel in the ceiling, which Sirius suspected was a window such as the Ministry of Magic had, but enchanted to give plain white light instead of show a scene. The effect was very much like Muggle florescent lighting.

And it's starting to give me a headache.

What I wouldn't give to see real sunlight. What there is of it today. Third shortest day of the year, after all...

And it would have to be a full moon.

Sirius brought up memories of his Hogwarts years. Remus had usually spent the day before and after a full moon in the hospital wing, because the changes in his body started happening as much as twenty-four hours before the actual moment of moonrise, and the aftereffects could last as long or longer. In winter, when nights were so long, he might spend as much as four days there, two before and two after.

But with Danger with him, he's barely affected, before or after.

And now, with her gone...

The Aurors had taken Danger away, not quite by force, just after the Pack had been Portkeyed to the Ministry. The moment Remus released her hand, Sirius had seen him pale and his lips tighten. He had been limping when they escorted him away.

Tonight is going to be hard on him. God, I wish I could be with him, I can't do what Danger does for him, but I could at least help. And he's going to look terrible at the trial tomorrow... the Wizengamot's probably going to think I beat him up or something...

The trial. Sirius sighed. They had sent an officious little clerk around to collect his personal data - name, current residence, that sort of thing - and to inform him of the charges against him. Thirteen counts of murder, he knew already. Escaping from Azkaban, ditto. That he was being charged with Harry's kidnapping had come as something of a surprise.

That one, at least, I can prove I didn't do, Sirius thought, carefully steering his mind away from further thoughts of Harry. And I'm fairly sure it's not a crime to break out of jail if you're innocent. But it's going to be proving I'm innocent that's hard. Even if I offer to take truth potion, they'd say I'd done something to circumvent it - been ordered to tell a different story under Imperius, or been Confunded into believing my own story - after all, truth potions only detect whether or not you think you're telling the truth.

His hands closed slowly into fists. What we need is to find Peter. That's the only way we could prove, beyond a doubt, that I didn't do it. Come to think, that would get everyone off the hook - the only charge they have against the others is aiding and abetting me, and if we could prove I'm innocent, that disappears too. Well, and the kidnapping for Remus and Danger, but they were taking Harry to give him back to his legal guardian - me...

The memory of their reunion in the little clearing in Scotland crashed in on Sirius. He recalled with utter clarity the way Harry's tiny, too-thin face had lit up with joy the moment Sirius had spoken to him - he knew my voice. My face had changed, but he knew my voice.

And we haven't been parted since then. Except when Malfoy had us, we've never been apart, until now...

Memories of that little episode started flooding his mind. Specifically, memories of the utter terror he'd felt when Danger told him where they were - when he had realized he was helpless, trapped, parted from his cubs, and at the mercy of his enemy. The only thing that had held him together through that had been the rest of the Pack.

And now we're parted too. Now I'm alone.

It was the thought he'd been trying to avoid for almost an hour...

An hour. That's good. Think about the time. Danger's dream had been around 12:30, and Moody had arrived at the Den at 12:45. The Portkey had taken effect at 12:52. His last sight of Aletha had been at 12:58. She had been holding her head high, in a pose that made him think of Meghan...

No. Don't think of Meghan. Don't think of any of them. You won't be able to stop...

The Aurors had locked his door at 1:00 exactly, and the file clerk had arrived at 1:07 and left at 1:19. It was 1:50 now. He looked at his watch again. 1:51.

Sunset is around four. And with sunset comes moonrise...

If we were home now, we'd be setting up for den-night - no, wait, we did that already, this morning after breakfast. I wonder what the Aurors who searched the Den thought of all the mattresses on the floor in the room with the Christmas tree?

The Christmas tree. Christmas Eve is tomorrow. We're going to be tried on Christmas Eve. There's something ironic about that, but I can't pinpoint it.

Oh, wait, could it possibly be that we're not supposed to be getting tried at all? Because we aren't criminals? That we ought to be home, with our cubs, getting ready for the holiday, not here, in jail, with no idea where the cubs are or even if they're alive, separated, alone...

He was either going to cry or scream in a moment, he didn't know which.

"Someone help me," he whispered fervently. "Please."

The chain he wore around his neck seemed to grow warmer.

----------

Aletha walked back and forth in her cell, spacing her steps to match the beat of her heart. It might almost have been called pacing...

I am not pacing. I am not. Nervous people pace. I am not nervous, so therefore I am not pacing.

She sighed, admitting defeat.

Yes, I am. Pacing, and nervous.

Her mind was spinning. It had all happened so fast. Less than two hours ago, the Pack had been happy, secure, together. And now, they were scattered, separated from their cubs - three of them were missing altogether -

She pulled her thoughts away from that. At least I know where Meghan is. She's safe at the Weasleys'. Molly and Arthur will take good care of her.

Possibly for a lot longer than I want to think about.

Her mind skittered from her child to her child's father, her husband, her lover and beloved. Sirius. Oh, God, this must be terrible for you. I wish I could do something to help you, anything, but I can't, I'm here, and you're there, and I can't get to you...

Danger's voice echoed in her head.

"The eagle-hearted truth must give

"The star the sound that helped him live..."

Aletha froze mid-step. Maybe I can't get out... but a sound could. Can. Will. She clapped her hands, and the sound echoed satisfyingly along the corridor beyond the barred door.

But what kind of sound helped Sirius to live?

She sat down and closed her eyes, thinking of her husband, her mate, her other half, the only man she had ever loved, or ever wanted to love. Those months when I thought he had betrayed Lily and James, and killed all those people, were terrible. I don't know how much longer I could have gone on that way.

From there, it was only a short step to the moment of their reunion in her music room, and from there to the conversations they had had over the next few days. One in particular began to surface. Aletha held herself back carefully and allowed the memory to emerge on its own. It's like a child - like a shy child - the way Draco was when he first came to us. You make an overture, then allow it to make the next move.

And gradually, the memory became clear to her.

----------

"My legs were starting to get tired," Sirius said, holding a dozing Harry on his lap. It was a few days after the escape from Azkaban, and the Pack - only we weren't the Pack then, not yet - was all gathered in one room to hear the story. "And I still thought I was going mad. So I decided I wanted to hear you playing, Aletha - and I did. It was the one that goes like this." He hummed a series of notes, five ascending, the last three again, then repeating.

"All right, now that's scary," Aletha said. "Because I was playing that the night you escaped. After I got home from burgling the museum. And I was thinking of you while I was doing it."

"It's possible we may have been connected somehow," Remus suggested. "Danger's magic is still unpredictable. She might have connected us all, the way she and I are connected, but less strongly and temporarily."

"And that would explain where I got the kind of power to pull you in to land that way," Danger said. "If I had everyone's magic to draw on and not just my own. I was watching you, you know," she said to Remus and Sirius. "In my dream. I knew I was dreaming, I knew I was still in the truck, but I could see you out there, and I could hear you talking to me, Remus. I heard you say that you weren't going to make it, and..." She shrugged. "I did something about it."

"And I'm so very glad you did," Remus said lightly as Neenie cuddled up against him.

"You saved my life, you know," Sirius said softly to Aletha as Remus and Danger became otherwise occupied. "With the music. I forgot I was tired, listening to you. You're probably the only reason I made it."

"Then I'm so glad you could hear me," Aletha said, leaning her head on his shoulder and allowing herself to rest secure in the comfort of her love's presence in her life, a presence that, if she had her way, would never depart...

----------

My music. That's what I can give him. I can sing. I can tell him he's not alone. No matter how many doors are between us, I'm still here with him.

And with that, she even knew what to sing. A piece by the same composer who was responsible for their favorite love-song duet, but in a very different style, it had originally been intended for a man's voice, but transferred just fine to a woman's...

And it's perfectly in context. The singer has been imprisoned for something he didn't do, and the story has a happy ending.

She stood and faced the door, closing her eyes. The chain around her neck warmed, as if approving of what she planned to do. Inhaling deeply, she hummed a note, allowing the hum to grow in intensity until the very walls seemed to be ringing with it.

That's good. It'll do for a starting note.

She imagined the introduction. Two sets of solemn chords on the piano... and then...

Close every door to me

Hide all the world from me

Bar all the windows

And shut out the light

She bit off the t-sounds hard, overemphasizing on purpose.

Do what you want with me

Hate me and laugh at me

Darken my daytime

And torture my night

Her voice ascended the scale, then fell in skips.

If my life were important, I

Would ask, will I live or die

But I know the answers

Lie far from this world

A return to the main theme.

Close every door to me

Keep those I love from me

She was amazed at the feeling she could put into that line.

Children of Israel are never alone

This theme had a different ending, upward-turning, hopeful.

For we know we shall find

Our own peace of mind

For we have been promised

A land of our own...

----------

Don't stop. Please, don't stop, Sirius pleaded silently with his wife. Please, don't stop yet. I'm almost there...

Her hum had come so quickly after his half-voiced plea for help that he could almost believe she'd heard him. He hadn't heard it at first, and when he had, had almost dismissed it as something normal - but when she had begun to sing, he hadn't been able to stop listening. And the song was doing something for him.

It's as if she turned on the light in my brain. I'm not alone. I may be alone right here, right now, but I'm never really alone. Not while I'm Pack. And not with this. He touched the pendant hanging against his chest. It has a little of everyone in it. No matter how far we are from each other, we'll always be together in our hearts.

He wasn't quite at the peace of mind the song was talking about, but he was getting there...

Aletha began to sing again.

Just give me a number

Instead of my name

Forget all about me

And let me decay

Sirius smiled, in spite of the content of the lyrics. No one, but no one, does venom like Letha. Not even Snape could sing it like that.

The image of Severus Snape belting out a musical theater tune almost made him laugh and miss the next stanza.

I do not matter

I'm only one person

Destroy me completely

Then throw me away

Her voice flew effortlessly to the high notes.

If my life were important, I

Would ask, will I live or die

But I know the answers

Lie far from this world

She changed keys upward and slowed down for what must be the final chorus.

Close every door to me

Keep those I love from me

Children of Israel are never alone

For we know we shall find

Our own peace of mind

For we have been promised

A land of our own

Sirius shook his head in wonder. Can that woman's voice ever carry. I have no idea where she is, but I could hear her like she was standing right next to me.

And I feel like she is.

Thank you so much, love. That was exactly what I needed. No more despair. No more self-pity. Dumbledore was right - the truth is on our side. We'll come out of this all right. Somehow.

----------

At 2 o'clock that afternoon, a Healer arrived at the holding cells. Her mission was twofold - examine a female prisoner who was unconscious, reason unknown, and interview a male lycanthrope.

She shuddered as she stepped from the fireplace, remembering the last time she had been in this place. This is exactly why I changed specialties into research in the first place, so I would never have to come here again...

But that was then, and this is now. You don't know this woman. You can't possibly know her.

She followed the Auror-trainee down the maze of corridors and into a small infirmary, where her patient lay unconscious.

Wait a second. Do I know her?

The face, relaxed as if in sleep, hovered just on the edge of familiar. No, I don't know her. Not exactly. I think I may have been introduced to her at some point. But it was a long time ago.

Banishing these perplexing puzzles for another time, she conducted her routine examination, and was left even more puzzled than when she had started.

She seems perfectly healthy - her body at least - but she's completely unresponsive. The closest thing I've ever seen to this is... She swallowed hard. She had only been up to the long-term care wards a few times in her career, and the one reserved for patients who were entirely incapacitated only once, as a trainee. And one of the people she had seen there had been a victim of the Dementor's Kiss.

She shook her head decisively. No. She can't have been Kissed. What would a dementor be doing this far from Azkaban?

Still, it seems very similar. As if her soul was somehow missing from her body - as if they'd been disconnected in some way...

"I can't make anything out of it," she told the mediwizard who usually staffed the infirmary. "The only thing to do would be wait and hope she comes out of it on her own."

The wizard sighed. "I was afraid that's what you'd say," he said dejectedly. "Do you want to see the other one now?"

"Yes."

He escorted her through a door at the back of the infirmary. "The quarantine cells," he explained. "There's only the one way out, so you won't get lost. It's the third one along here, on the right. These are observation cells, so there's a front space you can go in, with a chair, in case you stay more than a few minutes."

"Thank you." She didn't plan to stay more than a few minutes. The werewolf was likely to be angry, bitter, frightened, and all in all not very cooperative. She would try to get answers to a few basic questions, and ask permission to observe his transformation, which she was sure would be declined - it always was. Werewolves were very touchy about allowing people to see them at their moment of greatest vulnerability.

With these thoughts in her head, she walked the short distance down the hall, until she was in front of the occupied cell. The occupant was sitting on the lower bunk, knees drawn up to his chest, head down, shoulders shaking. Gently, she cleared her throat to announce her presence. "Excuse me," she said when he didn't respond. "I'm Healer Tonks, I'd like to ask you - "

The man's head shot up. "Andy?" he said hoarsely, staring at her.

Andromeda dropped her quill.

"Remus?" she said in disbelief. "Remus Lupin?"

Her cousin's best friend gave her a slightly watery smile. "No one else." He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his cheeks, which were tear-stained. "May I offer you a seat?" He gestured to the chair in the front area of the cell, which was separated from the back by a second set of bars.

"Of course."

My plans have just changed. Dramatically.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, knowing it was a stupid question even as she asked it.

Remus shrugged. "I've been asking myself the same question for about an hour. I suppose they think I've committed a crime."

His sense of humor was even drier than she remembered. And decidedly more acidic.

"You're a werewolf, then."

"Since I was little."

"Before Hogwarts?"

He nodded. "Dumbledore made arrangements so I could attend."

Of course he did. He believes the best of everyone. "Did Sirius know?"

"He did and does."

"You know where he is?"

Remus smiled without any real humor. "Take a walk around this place. You'll find him somewhere."

"He's been arrested?"

"We all were."

"All," Andromeda repeated.

"Sirius, Aletha, Danger, and myself."

Andy vacillated between two questions, and went with the one she understood least. "Danger?"

"My wife," Remus said shortly. "You've probably seen her, or will see her. Brown bushy hair, unconscious, no telling when or if she'll recover."

"I'm so sorry," Andromeda said sincerely. "I did see her. I examined her, actually."

"Any insights?" It was said lightly, but Andy could sense a desperate longing behind it, a need to know something, anything, about how his wife was.

"No. I'm sorry." She was not, absolutely not, going to tell him the only similarity that had come to her mind. He was already emotionally overloaded - knowing that his wife's soul seemed to be missing would probably make him hysterical, and she was not in the mood to see a hysterical werewolf.

"It's all right," Remus said quietly, pressing a hand against his chest for a moment.

"So what does Aletha have to do with this?" Andy asked, trying to get the conversation back on a lighter track.

Remus gave a small smile. "You know Aletha's daughter?"

"Yes. Meghan, wasn't it?"

"It is." His smile grew. "She's your cousin."

"How so?" But the moment Andromeda had asked, the answer came out of nowhere and hit her in the face. "Sirius," she breathed. "She's Sirius' daughter. Isn't she."

"She is that."

"I should have known," Andy murmured. "I should have known. I just never bothered to put the pieces together."

"Pieces?" Remus asked, frowning.

"I knew that Aletha had Draco," Andy explained, fitting it together as she spoke. "And I knew that a boy named Harry, who was Draco's age, claimed to be Draco's cousin. And of course everyone knows that Sirius Black has Harry Potter."

"Yes, that's true," Remus said in bemusement. "But I would love to know how you knew those first two things you mentioned."

Andy smiled with just a trace of smugness. "My Dora," she said. "She spotted Draco under his glamour and wrote me about it. Both times."

Remus smiled ruefully. "Wonderful. Found out by - an eleven-year-old, wasn't she?"

"The first time."

They talked for a little longer about the strange, eclectic family that Remus called the Pack, brushing past the topic of Sirius - Andy made a mental note to ask more specifically about him later - and finally she worked the conversation around to the topic of lycanthropy, and how Remus dealt with it.

"Do you send the children away at the full moon?" she asked.

"No, we all sleep in the same room. They used to sleep on top of me, actually. That's gotten more problematic as they've gotten bigger - now they just use me for a pillow."

Andy laughed. Then she took another look at his face.

He wasn't joking.

"But... that's..."

"Impossible?" Remus suggested. "Insane?"

To put it mildly. "Only a little."

"You've heard of the Wolfsbane Potion?"

Of course I've heard of it, I helped develop it. "Yes."

"Danger has magic that works similarly to the potion. We call her a werewolf tamer. Under her influence, I don't lose my mind in the change." He smiled thinly. "And I haven't undergone a change without her since we met, almost nine years ago."

Oh. Oh, dear. "And she has to be conscious to work the magic?"

"I don't know," Remus admitted. "But since I can't be with her, it won't matter much." He turned his head to stare away from her. "The hardest part of this, for me, is being alone," he said almost too quietly for her to hear. "When you live in a house with three other adults - one of them Sirius Black - and four children, you're never alone for long. And Danger and I share a... special connection. We could always sense each other's presence. But I can't sense her now. And that scares me."

"Is there anything I can do?" Andromeda asked impulsively.

"If..." Remus seemed to be having a hard time even saying it. "If there was any way we could be together. One last time. If there was some way to have the others here, or nearby - it wouldn't be safe for them to be in with me when I transform, but just having them near would help." He turned back to her. "This might be our last night outside Azkaban. It would be nice to spend it together."

"If there's anything I can do, I will," Andy promised. She bit her lip. It was going to be terrible of her to ask this, but it was part of the job she'd come here to do... "Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Is there any way you'd consider... letting me watch?"

"Watch me transform?" He looked vaguely revolted by the idea. "It's not pretty. And I warn you, the wolf's likely to be more than usually violent tonight. He's been caged for a long time. You are aware that werewolves self-mutilate if denied human prey?"

"Yes."

"I have a suspicion that the wolf wants revenge on me, for meeting Danger, for taming him for these last eight years." He met her eyes. "He might manage to kill me."

It took her a moment to sort out the pronouns and realize what he meant. "You're not saying..."

"It is a possibility. I thought you should be warned."

Andy sorted through his words, his tones, and his body language, as Healers were taught to do and mothers learned by instinct, and came up with a terrible conclusion. "You want to die," she said, managing to keep her tone in horrified territory, just short of accusing. "You think your wife is dead, so you want to die."

Remus did not answer.

"What about the rest of your Pack?" she challenged. "What about Sirius and Letha, and your cubs?" She used his word for his children deliberately, and was pleased to see him flinch. I'm getting through. "Even if your wife is dead - which I don't believe, and I'm a trained Healer - you have other people to live for. Don't you dare give up yet, Remus Lupin. Don't you dare."

She got up.

"Where are you going?" Remus asked, startled by her abrupt movement.

"I'm going to talk to Aletha," Andromeda said, resolve filling her. "And maybe to Sirius. And then I'm going to talk to someone in charge around here, and find out exactly what the rules are about housing two or more people in the same cell. It's not over yet, Remus. Don't give up. Please."

"All right," Remus said with a sigh. "I won't."

"Promise."

"I promise." He smiled slightly. "Bossy Andy." It had been Sirius' nickname for her.

"Always." Andromeda returned his smile. "One more thing. When is moonrise tonight? Exactly?"

"3:58," Remus answered promptly.

Andy checked her watch. It was 2:26. "All right. I'll be back in about an hour to let you know how I'm coming."

She stayed just long enough to hear Remus' "All right" before hurrying down the hall, purpose in her steps.

I have an hour and a half to save a man's life.

Every minute counts.