Remus Lupin, clearly, has had better fucking nights. The man is the particular kind of wan that bespeaks of, in a normal person, post-illness. In his case, it's the moon; although the legal full moon was last night, the actual peak of it was somewhere around noon. You wonder if werewolves can get hit by the same moon twice. It's not something you've ever had to deal with.
He's clearly in the particular chaos of trying to ready himself for battle - his jacket is only halfway on when he snaps his wand in the direction of the sound of your Apparition. It remains pointed at you as he says, "What did you serve when you invited me to your home?"
"Greek takeout," you say, deliberately not moving. Venat's raised eyebrows are practically audible. Lupin's shoulders relax just a hair, as you add, "Put the damn wand down."
It dips, finally, and then he shoves it in his pocket. "I assume this isn't a social call."
"Hardly. I came to tell you to have your people prepared for some kind of nonsense from Voldemort's followers, but I see you're already aware."
A brisk nod, a grimace. "Snape actually came through for once; Harry got him a message about Si - " He stops, glances at Venat.
You say, "Anything you say to me can be safely said to my companion. Frankly, she's the better at keeping secrets."
"Flatterer," Venat says, amused, finally letting go of your arm.
You do not tell her where to stuff it, but it is a near thing. "Venat, Remus Lupin. Respectively, the only other person I know with knowledge of soul magicks and one of the functional guardians of Harry Potter. Now, you were saying about Black?"
"Harry believes Voldemort has him and is torturing him," Lupin says. He finally seems to remember the jacket he hadn't finished putting on, and yanks it over his shoulders.
"That would explain why the boy and most of his close friends took off for London as soon as they could escape Dolores Umbridge," you say. "Which is what I came to inform you of."
Lupin exhales hard through his mouth. "Where are they?"
"Right now? Somewhere in the sky over the middle of the country, on thestral-back. I'm guessing their destination is London."
"That would be in line with the message Snape passed on," Lupin says. He goes to pull on his shoes, and there Venat stops him by gently putting herself between him and the door.
"Forgive me," she says, "but you don't seem to be in any condition for battle."
"That doesn't matter," he says. "Harry's - There's been too many times I wasn't there for him."
"And he's forgiven you thus far," you say. "And he's just as aware of your condition as I am, so I'm sure he'll manage to forgive you this time, too."
"that's not what I'm worried about," Lupin says.
"We won't let anything happen to him," Venat asserts, in that particular way she has that makes everything she says sound like the utter truth. "That's why we came, isn't it, old friend?"
She looks to you, and you nod stiffly. "Get word out to your people," you say, "and then you can tell us exactly what we're going to be walking into."
Lupin finally gives up at that, probably because you gave him something to do instead of just standing around. He pulls his wand out of his pocket again, and calls out a spell - "Expecto Patronum."
Predictably, the silver mist takes the form of a wolf, one that's a little too skinny and long-limbed to really be a wolf. You give Venat a shrug as he tells the silver creature, "To Alastor Moody: Hades Solus busted my door down to tell me that Harry and the other missing students are headed south on thestrals. Presumably, they're headed for the Ministry. Solus and his companion, a white-haired woman, came prepared for battle. I know they're not members of the Order, but I'm sending them in my place."
When he's done speaking, the wolf bounds away, and Lupin goes through the motions of pulling off the jacket he just put on.
"The Ministry?" you ask, ready to be gone five minutes ago. "You're sure that's their destination?"
"You remember Arthur getting bitten by the snake at Christmas, right?" Lupin asks, and you nod. "Well, since I have no choice but to read you in..."
no subject
He's clearly in the particular chaos of trying to ready himself for battle - his jacket is only halfway on when he snaps his wand in the direction of the sound of your Apparition. It remains pointed at you as he says, "What did you serve when you invited me to your home?"
"Greek takeout," you say, deliberately not moving. Venat's raised eyebrows are practically audible. Lupin's shoulders relax just a hair, as you add, "Put the damn wand down."
It dips, finally, and then he shoves it in his pocket. "I assume this isn't a social call."
"Hardly. I came to tell you to have your people prepared for some kind of nonsense from Voldemort's followers, but I see you're already aware."
A brisk nod, a grimace. "Snape actually came through for once; Harry got him a message about Si - " He stops, glances at Venat.
You say, "Anything you say to me can be safely said to my companion. Frankly, she's the better at keeping secrets."
"Flatterer," Venat says, amused, finally letting go of your arm.
You do not tell her where to stuff it, but it is a near thing. "Venat, Remus Lupin. Respectively, the only other person I know with knowledge of soul magicks and one of the functional guardians of Harry Potter. Now, you were saying about Black?"
"Harry believes Voldemort has him and is torturing him," Lupin says. He finally seems to remember the jacket he hadn't finished putting on, and yanks it over his shoulders.
"That would explain why the boy and most of his close friends took off for London as soon as they could escape Dolores Umbridge," you say. "Which is what I came to inform you of."
Lupin exhales hard through his mouth. "Where are they?"
"Right now? Somewhere in the sky over the middle of the country, on thestral-back. I'm guessing their destination is London."
"That would be in line with the message Snape passed on," Lupin says. He goes to pull on his shoes, and there Venat stops him by gently putting herself between him and the door.
"Forgive me," she says, "but you don't seem to be in any condition for battle."
"That doesn't matter," he says. "Harry's - There's been too many times I wasn't there for him."
"And he's forgiven you thus far," you say. "And he's just as aware of your condition as I am, so I'm sure he'll manage to forgive you this time, too."
"that's not what I'm worried about," Lupin says.
"We won't let anything happen to him," Venat asserts, in that particular way she has that makes everything she says sound like the utter truth. "That's why we came, isn't it, old friend?"
She looks to you, and you nod stiffly. "Get word out to your people," you say, "and then you can tell us exactly what we're going to be walking into."
Lupin finally gives up at that, probably because you gave him something to do instead of just standing around. He pulls his wand out of his pocket again, and calls out a spell - "Expecto Patronum."
Predictably, the silver mist takes the form of a wolf, one that's a little too skinny and long-limbed to really be a wolf. You give Venat a shrug as he tells the silver creature, "To Alastor Moody: Hades Solus busted my door down to tell me that Harry and the other missing students are headed south on thestrals. Presumably, they're headed for the Ministry. Solus and his companion, a white-haired woman, came prepared for battle. I know they're not members of the Order, but I'm sending them in my place."
When he's done speaking, the wolf bounds away, and Lupin goes through the motions of pulling off the jacket he just put on.
"The Ministry?" you ask, ready to be gone five minutes ago. "You're sure that's their destination?"
"You remember Arthur getting bitten by the snake at Christmas, right?" Lupin asks, and you nod. "Well, since I have no choice but to read you in..."