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Invitation


Sirius and Lily were on the beach - the sun streaming down - Lily laying on a beach towel on her stomach, letting the sun tan her back while Sirius sat beside her, his legs crossed. He was sitting in a hole he’d dug himself, leaning against a sort of pseudo-chair back he’d built up with the sand from it. Sirius had Lily’s Transfiguration textbook open on his knees. A large umbrella stuck out of the ground a bit away, and beneath it Petunia and Vernon Dursley were sitting side-by-side on a blanket.

He looked up, sunglasses on and reflecting the beach around them, and he said, “Evans, I’ve been thinking.”

“About what?” she mused. She had her eyes closed, her head resting in the crook of her arms, hair in a knot on top of her head.

“The full moon is on Saturday.”

Lily opened one eye.

“I… I was curious if… if your mum would mind… if Prongs came for the full moon night.”

Lily hesitated.

“You said James could maybe visit us while we were here,” he reminded her, “And it’s the first real full moon I’ve been away from Moony really in some time…” Of course this was a bit of an exaggeration, he’d missed a couple full moons that year alone, but Lily didn’t know that. And it really was bothering him, how far away Remus was for the moon and how little he could do to help him… or how little Remus needed his help, maybe. He kept picturing one of two things in his head - either Remus being perfectly fine because Ned Veigler was administering the massages to the muscles that Remus needed the knots worked out of and giving Remus loads of aconite and bathing him in hot springs like he’d talked about in Hogsmeade that one day… or else that Remus was laying about in a big mostly-empty, drafty old castle in the dark, crying himself to sleep as the muscles in his back knotted so deeply that Remus would walk like a hunchback for the rest of his life and all because Sirius hadn’t been there to rub his back.

He really needed the distraction.

Plus James had asked no less than three times in two days about whether Lily had invited him to come visit yet.

Lily said, “Well, I guess. I know mum won’t mind.”

“Brilliant.” Sirius smiled and looked down at the Transfiguration book. Then back up at her. “Evans?”

“Hmm?” she’d closed her eyes again and now opened them to look up at her.

“Can you help me with this revising? I wanna make sure I get an Outstanding on it come 9 August so McGonagall’s real proud of me. Please?”

Lily rolled over and scootched so she was sitting on the edge of Sirius’s ridiculous hole-chair he’d made himself and leaned over his shoulder to see the text. “Alright. What do you need help with?”




James came charging down the stairs in the Potter’s house a little after lunch that day, so fast his trainers skid on the carpet halfway down the stairs and he nearly fell, only just catching himself on the railing with both hands, dropping the two-way mirror onto the floor.

“Smooth,” Sirius said from the mirror.

“Shut up,” James hissed and he caught the mirror up from the floor and shoved it into his pocket as he came ‘round the corner into the living room.

Charlus was laying on the couch, a blanket over his lap, a cup of ice water at his elbow, and a thick book with a picture of a starship on the cover in his hands. He held a handkerchief balled up in his fist and James could see the edges of the cloth were singed. He slowed to a walk as he neared the couch and came to a stop at the end where his dad’s feet set. Charlus held up one finger, finishing a paragraph, his lips moving over the words, and then he slid a bookmark into the page and lowered the volume to his lap, looking up at his son.

“What’s the news, Jamesie?” he asked gently, smiling.

James said, “Y’know how Sirius is at the sea with our mate Lily Evans?”

Charlus nodded. “I do.”

“Well, Mrs. Evans, Lily’s mum, she’s invited me to go out there for the weekend. Just Saturday night, really, and I’d be home Sunday in time for dinner. What do you think?” James stared eagerly at his father.

Charlus looked down at the book in his lap.

“Dad. Please.”

Charlus’s fingers moved over the cover and finally he looked up, “I have an appointment Saturday, at St. Mungo’s… but I s’pose your mum and I could handle it okay without your help… Yes, I’m sure it’ll be okay. Don’t - you know what? Don’t worry about me. We’ll get it taken care of.”

“Are you sure?” James asked.

Charlus nodded, “I’m sure, of course, yes. We’ll - we’ll figure something out.” He waved his palm at James, “Go! Go, enjoy the sunlight and the waves! ... and the pretty girls.”

“Pretty girl,” James corrected, “Thanks dad.” And he turned and spun out of the room quickly, running back up the stairs, his feet thundering as he took out the mirror from his pocket and stared into Sirius’s eyes in the reflection. “He said I could come,” he reported eagerly.

Charlus stared down at the cover of the textbook for a long moment, and he started coughing, bringing the handkerchief to his mouth once again, his eyes wincing closed as he thumped his fist upon his chest.




Ned Veigler put a cup and saucer down before Remus, who was sitting on a cushion in a large bay window that overlooked the cliffs below the tall mountain that the castle stood upon. The sunlight came through this window all day and the seat there was warm and Remus had fallen in love with this spot, sitting and reading through a pile of Ned Veigler’s personal book collection, which Remus had carried up to the room. The cup steamed, fogging up a bit of the window by where it sat, hot water and several sprigs of aconite floating within.

“Thanks Professor,” Remus said, using his fists to push himself up from the half-laying position he’d been in to take up the cup.

Ned sat down on the cushion beside Remus, letting the sun hit his back and he smiled, “I see why you like this spot.” He shifted, stretching his back so that his spine cracked as he moved, letting out a groan. “Merlin’s beard, that warmth really loosens up the muscles, doesn’t it?”

Remus nodded. “It feels marvelous.”

“You’d think we were werecats instead of wolves,” Ned said, smirking.

“I wouldn’t complain about becoming a cat once a month,” Remus said, “Great layabouts they are.”

Ned laughed. “There’s an old kneazle running about the castle here someplace. I’ve spotted him a couple times. He seems unsure about us. Probably can sense the were in us.” He smiled. “Eventually, I hope to make a friend of him… or her, I s’pose it could be a her.”

Remus said, “I haven’t seen him. Or her.”

“Keep your eyes out. Especially ‘round the bannisters on the north stairs. Seems to like watching from the second floor landing there when we’re working on the dining hall.” Ned smiled, already fond of the suspicious little critter.

“I’ll keep a look out next time we’re down there,” Remus nodded.

Remus loved the castle already. It was beautiful. Narrower than Hogwarts, which had a sprawling landscape and wide walls, the castle that Ned Veigler had purchased and called Fallengunder was narrow with high white walls and brilliant blue roof tops with many towers and many high arch-shaped bridges that connected tower-to-tower here and there. It stood on the precipice of a small mountain in an alcove of sharp, rocky peaks that seemed to cup the castle in safety and effectively hid it away. It was this that had made Ned Veigler so eager to buy the castle for the school he wished to start. It was safe, it was hidden, and there, his students could freely be themselves without fear of prying eyes.

It was hard not to love a place like Fallengunder, even with it’s current state of disarray, thick layers of dust on every surface, rips in the old wallpaper, covered windows with thick horrible drapes, broken furniture and doors hanging loose from their hinges.... That’s what they were there to fix, of course, and Remus was excited to be helping in the fixing up of the place. He felt as though Ned’s vision was something great, something bigger than he was, something good, and he was glad to be a part of it.

He stared up at the sun, which was slipping behind the mountain’s peaks. “Full moon in just a couple days,” he murmured.

Ned nodded, “Thank Merlin, these pains will end and we can get to work on our project again.” He smiled.

Remus smiled, too, sipping his tea.

Ned looked at the books at Remus’s elbow, bending to see which titles the boy had selected from his collection. There were several thick volumes, all on defensive magical theory, books that Ned himself had read in his time studying to become a Professor of Defensive theory.

He looked at Remus carefully and smiled ‘round the steam rising up from his cup.

He turned to stare up at the room, a huge room with high windows and a ceiling several stories above them. He looked at Remus. “I believe,” he said slowly, “That this would make an excellent library, don’t you?”

Remus turned to look at Ned, his hands clasping the cup. He smiled and stared around the room, too, “I think it would be a most excellent library, Professor,” Remus said with an eager nod.

Ned said, “We’ll line the walls with shelves… right to the ceiling… fill them with books and great rolling ladders… we’ll install landings…” he waved his palm around, smiling, “And fill the floors with great cushions and thick plush chairs.”

Remus smiled, picturing it.

“And paint the ceiling with the stars,” Ned added.

“The constellations,” Remus said, nodding, and his eyes flitted to where the star Sirius would be painted.