All in the Family

Chapter 182: The Silver Doe

They only just had time to shake snow from their face to realize something was wrong. Remus Lupin was not even trying to get to his feet, but instead writhing on the ground and moaning in pain, his whole body shaking.

Sirius knelt over him at once, keeping a long-ago promise Remus never even knew he made, Merlin this only reinforced what he wished his boyfriend would understand, he'd never leave him no matter the dangers of his condition. "I love you," he said right into his ear, making sure Moony heard as he whimpered in pain for the beginning of his transformation.

"Love, you," Remus brokenly, but stubbornly forced the last conscious words out, leaving Sirius no doubt what he meant this time, unlike the last one.

"Run!" James snapped at once, voice barely heard among the deep cracking noise of bones breaking and reforming before Padfoot and Prongs stood before them all once more. Nobody needed to be told anyways, the two animals were so dark that they almost blended into the little meadow they were in, leaving a spotlight of silver moon down on Remus' sharp sounds of pain.

The four took off, not quite knowing where, just away, somehow staying together for protection out of instinct. Regulus' slight frame was the fastest, but even he was aware he could slam into the barrier at any moment and it still wouldn't be far enough. Frank had Alice's hand that would not be pried away from him for anything as the two dodged in and out of trees together, and Lily leaped clean over a bush, ignoring her hair getting snagged on a low hanging branch when it pulled nastily at her skull and she still kept up. When they saw Regulus turn slightly as if he'd spotted something, they didn't question it and followed his lead right into the warm tent once more.

The loud, echoing howl of the werewolf finally reverberated all around them as if he were in here too.

"Should we have stopped?" Lily panted, eyeing the tent flap like she expected the jaws to come in any second. The weathered poles and flapping material would deter him long enough to stop laughing, if werewolves could do such a thing.

"Stay here," Frank said, "I'll go check if we can keep going-"

"Not by yourself," Alice snapped at once, they still hadn't dropped hands.

Regulus felt idiotic he'd lead them in here at all, but the gas lamp light had drawn him in before he'd considered it. He threw back his shoulders though and determined to fix his mistake before any more could be said and walked to the far end of the tent, meaning to throw it clear over his head so he could keep running without any more obstacles. He slammed into the barrier instead, again.

He grumbled and cursed for several moments as he let his hands run along the wall that must be pressed right up to the tent, and looked back to the others with a terrified expression.

There was another howl in the distance, and the four of them felt their hearts sink as the book was nowhere in sight. Alice immediately tried to summon it, but when the heavy wind was all that continued slipping in, they just shivered, huddled close together, and waited.

By the time Moony jolted himself onto all fours and howled his excitement, the other three had taken in the pros and cons around them. The tiny little meadow was not large, but the fact that none of them could hear the heartbeats or their breathing anymore gave some kind of credence to the idea the area they were trapped in this time must be big enough they could keep Moony somewhat away.

However, there was a small, frozen bit of water not two feet from him, and inside was the sword of Gryffindor for some unknown reason, and the book. It was barely wide enough to be called a puddle, but deep enough the water wasn't actually frozen straight through. It definitely would not keep Moony's attention as any kind of distraction, as he immediately caught sight of Prongs and leaped with salivating jaws.