yellow (remus lupin.)

forty four.

FORTY FOUR.

Christmas turned into new year, which turned into valentine's day, which turned into Remus's birthday, which then turned into easter. Months passed as Cara's bump grew larger, and everyone in the order became considerably more protective of her. Remus was reluctant to even let her lift a finger, whilst Sirius pestered her all day to make sure she was feeling okay. Tonks and Stass were obsessed with buying as many random items as possible, whilst Ron, Harry and Hermione demanded updates via letters.

Everyone had decided to play musical houses after Christmas, and there had been a few changes of address. Tonks and Stass had moved into a flat of their own one floor above Cara's, who was now sharing with Remus. The new setup was a dream having Stassie only upstairs she could call on her at any time, but still had her own place with Remus.

Sat on the floor in Stass's old room of the flat, Cara was busy painting the red band of a rainbow onto the cream wall of the now designated nursery. The windows were wide open, filling the room with the the brightness spring had brought, whilst the great escape by blur belted out on her record player. Feeling another kick in her stomach, she couldn't contain her glee.

Faintly, the sound of the front door unlocking announced Remus had returned home. Standing up with a struggle, she went to go and greet him by the door, but was met with another surprise instead.

"Get this bastard off of me right now." Sirius attempted to undo the dog collar around his neck, dressed in the large coat that came with transforming into the dog.

Remus was doing an appalling job at hiding his amusement as Sirius finally freed himself from the collar, throwing it down on the kitchen worktop.

"I think Snuffles quite enjoyed that walk." Remus patted Sirius's hair sarcastically.

"He must be desperate if Snuffles made an appearance." Cara snorted as her dad glared at her.

"It's not desperate, more dangerous." Sirius sighed. "Sit down."

Landing beside Sirius on the sofa, Remus filled the kettle with water as he listened in.

"You remember Bellatrix from the big tapestry?"

It was hard to forget the deranged smile Bellatrix wore in her portrait. Wild curly hair like her cousin Sirius, but had the taint of evil in her eyes.

"Yeah, Narcissa and Andromeda's sister, right?" Cara checked.

"That's the one. Well, she's been in Azkaban for a while, sent down for life. Thing is, she seems to have escaped with a few others."

"There's a running theme in your family Pads." Remus piped up from the kitchen as the kettle finished boiling, pouring three cups of tea.

"Someone's put a galleon in the comedian this morning." Cara fired back, shutting Remus up swiftly.

"Ignore him, listen. She's the one who tortured the Longbottoms until they went insane, she's the most dedicated Voldermort fan ever known. Now, guess who the ministry are blaming for this?" He sighed, fury filling his eyes.

"Would that be you?"

"Bingo!" He seethed. "I'm the poster boy for illegal behaviour these days."

Remus appeared, handing them a cup of tea as he sat with one of his own on the armchair.

"You always have been." He teased, but it was clear no one was in the mood for jokes. "Right, sorry, wrong moment."

"So what does that mean for us then?" Cara inquired.