[HP] The Order of the Phoenix Family

Remus was sure he couldn't fall asleep tonight, so he put on a coat and left the room.No matter how calmly he had trained himself over the years to deal with werewolves, the fear had always ingrained in him, as evidenced by his Patronus.Fear turned to anxiety as the full moon approached, keeping him awake at night.It was better in those days with James, Sirius, and Peter, and the worst has happened in the last ten years, sometimes when he regained his human form and woke up in a mess, wondering if it was worth it. .

Sirius was still trying to convince him to stay at 12 Grimmauld Place on a full moon night, so that he could have Padfoot by his side when he transformed.Of course Remus longed for this, and he had to admit that to make Full Moon Night less scary, Wolfsbane Potion was the best option he had ever had, and after a year teaching at Hogwarts, Full Moon Night was much less scary. It was harder before; but being able to shapeshift without being alone sounds just as enticing.He didn't think Dumbledore could still persuade Snape to brew potions for him every month. For someone like Snape, it was much more difficult to help someone he hated than someone he felt guilty about. If Snape used to regard Remus as an accomplice who bullied and nearly killed him, then after announcing the latter's identity as a werewolf, from Remus' point of view, Snape felt that he was the one who owed something. , and in order not to show it, he doubled down on any offer to help Remus.The brewing of wolfsbane potion was extremely complicated, and when the other party risked his life to lurk beside Voldemort, Remus was unwilling to waste the other party's energy for himself.

So the current situation is that it is almost impossible for Remus to have the best option, and he is in the process of considering Sirius' proposal with difficulty.He fully trusted the Order of the Phoenix to create a closed environment strong enough to trap werewolves, and even without Padfoot, it sounded much more reassuring to be in the headquarters rather than the wild transformation where a predator could appear at any time.Yet the thought of transforming himself into a beast around all the remaining friends gave Remus the creeps.It's one thing for them to know he's a werewolf, it's another thing for them to transform in their sights, the members are good people, they'll accept a wounding wolf in the same house as them out of compassion and kindness It doesn't mean they don't mind.Especially Molly, if she could, she would probably pocket all her children and protect them.

With this in mind, Remus was sure he would refuse.He has seen a lot of fools who make themselves suffer for the so-called dignity, and he is obviously one of them. There is nothing new about it.

With the last few steps remaining, Remus stopped.Sirius and Hermione were occupying the sofa head to head, an unusual combination.After returning to the old house, Sirius has been in a bad state. It is common for him to see each other in sleepless nights. In fact, insomnia has become one of the bridges for them to rebuild their friendship.As far as he knew, if the fact that Harry was James' son was removed, Sirius probably liked Ron the most among the three of them. This kid was not so confident and cheerful, but he was simple, easy-going, brave, and loyal. There are many similarities with James; Hermione's personality is not the type that can be compatible with Sirius.But at least when Remus went downstairs, they didn't seem to be chatting, just staring at the fire in a daze.Hermione was stroking the big yellow cat Crookshanks lying on her lap, and had already started to doze off bit by bit.

It was Crookshanks who first spotted Remus, and it half stood up with its tail up, waking Hermione; then Sirius also found his old friend.

"Hey, want to join the pajama party?" Sirius hooked his fingers, and someone else would probably be irritated by him.

Hermione always respected him as a teacher, she subconsciously sat up straight, causing Crookshanks to groan in dissatisfaction, and jumped onto the sofa to lie down again.Remus gave it a somewhat apologetic look, and he had a strange respect for Crookshanks, presumably because he had failed to respond to his astute decision to trust Sirius and help him within a few weeks. My old friend of more than ten years did it.

"I didn't see any alcohol at the party." Remus found an armchair nearby and sat down, Sirius looked a little hurt.

"I still have limits," he said. "There are kids here."

The bottom line for Sirius was that no matter how badly he tried to mess with himself, he wouldn't let himself be a bad example to the kids, and honestly, that didn't reassure Remus at all.Several times since they'd reopened the Black family's wine cellar, he'd smelled Sirius wafting around and noticed fewer bottles in it.He remembered how, as a young man, Sirius had become obsessed with anything - or people - who could make him feel better.

"Alcohol isn't good for you," said Hermione, and Remus felt a sudden ally for her.

If it was Remus who said that, he would definitely be ridiculed, his unhealthy life decisions were no less than Sirius'.But now it was his godson's 15-year-old best friend who was speaking, and Sirius hummed softly with the utmost politeness to show that he heard.

"Can't you sleep either, Hermione?" Remus asked, and since Hermione couldn't think of him as anything else, he went with the tone of a good teacher.

"A little bit." Hermione smiled a little. "I'm not used to living here...I mean, it's nice here, everyone treats me well, I'm just a little uncomfortable."

"Just say it straight, it's normal for you to be unable to sleep after moving from a warm home to this gloomy, smelly broken house." Sirius said bluntly.

Hermione was a little embarrassed, and Remus thought it best to stay away from this topic, after all they both knew why Hermione moved here - as a Muggle-born, her home was not protected against attacks by dark wizards, and after Voldemort returned Now, if she continued to live at home during the summer, she would be the most obvious weakness in Harry's inner circle.He got up rashly and stretched out his hand to Crookshanks, and was slapped swiftly, but fortunately, the other party probably looked at Hermione and Sirius' face and didn't stretch out his paw.

"It doesn't seem to like me very much," Remus said, watching Crookshanks jump onto the back of the sofa.

"That's because you're not polite." Sirius laughed at him. "When dealing with cats, you have to obey the rules."

"Crookshanks didn't mean any harm," Hermione defended her cat. "He jumped on Ron when he first met him, and he likes Ron quite a bit now. Just let him Knowing you, he will definitely get close to you."

"Cats like ferocious creatures." Sirius said and scratched Crookshanks' chin, causing the big cat to squint its eyes. "I bet it will like you."

Following the instructions of Sirius, who was said to be good at dealing with cats, Remus squatted down and looked at Crookshanks.Crookshanks looked at him, his yellow eyes like two transparent glass balls, his head tilted to the left and to the right.Remus is not an expert at interpreting cat expressions. In his opinion, Crookshanks' flat face is always looking unhappy, but judging from the fact that the other party has not yet scratched his scalp, the progress may not be bad.

When his legs began to ache, Crookshanks jumped off the back of the sofa, startling him.The big cat landed at Remus' feet, circling and rubbing against his trouser legs.

"Oh, it decides that you are entitled to be its property." Sirius said.

Indeed, when Remus sat back in the armchair, Crookshanks jumped onto the armrest.Not lying on his lap like Hermione did, but tolerated Remus's tentative touch.Its fur is thick and surprisingly soft and smooth.

"Look," said Hermione happily.

However, Remus was still an amateur at grooming cats. After a while, Crookshanks became impatient. He used Remus' knees as paw pads, and jumped into Sirius' arms. .Remus was amused by the smug look on his friend's face, but he did kind of envy Crookshanks showing his stomach in Sirius' lap and relaxing into a furry puddle.

"I'll have to clean those trousers again later." Sirius' tone was more affectionate than complaining, and Remus had heard James use this tone when he mentioned his son smashing furniture with a toy broom, "it Is your hair shedding a little too much?"

"They're all like that," Hermione replied, "and so were the two I had at home. They were all like walking dandelions. Cats are a lot more of a headache to non-magic people."

"I can imagine." Sirius laughed, his pajamas had already been covered with a layer of turmeric cat fur, "Are they still there?"

"Not anymore, one died when I was seven and the other when I was nine." Hermione sighed, "My parents had them before I was born, and among cats they are both longevity."

The way Remus looked at Crookshanks couldn't help but change. It was common sense that cats had a shorter lifespan than humans, but realizing that the creature in front of him was destined to die before him would always bring a kind of shock.

"Crookshanks has been in the store for a long time before, he is considered to be middle-aged." Hermione said, "Considering his bloodline mixed with cats and raccoons, his life span may be shorter than ordinary cats, at most There were five or six years. The clerks didn't recommend me to choose him. They suggested that I adopt a kitten. The cat raised from childhood will be closer to the owner. But... I don't know, I still chose Crookshanks, maybe It was a flash of light."

She added in a gentle tone: "Now it seems that that is the most correct decision for me."

"Same-sex attracts," Sirius said, moving Crookshanks back to Hermione. "You're both terribly smart."

"Thanks for the compliment." Hermione said a little too politely, she probably grew up being praised like this since she was a child.

"I've never had any pets at home, and my parents once wanted to have a child or two, but they gave up after I was bitten. My affairs took up all their energy." Remus said, Hermione showing A sad look, but he didn't mean to elicit sympathy. "I never thought about it—it's hard for me to even take care of myself, and the thought that they will leave me in a few years, I always find it hard to accept."

At this point, Remus remembered that he had already experienced things that he cherished with all his heart die after a few years, and maybe he was always trying to avoid the situation from happening again.There are actually not so few wizards who don't mind whether their friends are werewolves, not to mention there are still many werewolves living on the fringes of wizarding society.All these years he was alone and didn't even have a friend, not entirely because of his status.

"I cried a lot when Best died, and it was much better when I got to Sekhmet, although it was still sad, but not as shocking as last time," said Hermione, and Sirius interrupted her.

"You named your cat after the cat god?" His eyebrows were raised high, "Wait, I remembered, your name is Hermione, it's not surprising at all."

"My parents love fairy tales." Hermione smiled. "Anyway, it took me several years to start keeping pets again. I think it would be easier to accept such a thing if I was mentally prepared."

"Really?" Remus asked.

"If you've always known you'd lose them someday..." Hermione shook her head, "I don't know, I still miss Best and Sekhmet, but I also enjoyed my time with Crookshanks. I'm not that sentimental."

"Reason is a virtue," Sirius concluded, not without humor.

Hermione yawned loudly and wiped away her tears embarrassedly. The loneliness that prevented her from falling asleep had passed.Sirius and Remus immediately reached an agreement and persuaded her to go back to their room.Crookshanks strode proudly ahead of his sleepy Master, hopping up and down steps along a winding path of his own making, and Hermione had to be careful not to kick it.

"Amazing girl," Sirius said.

Whether he was referring to cats or not, Remus couldn't agree more.

(End of the article)