Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 92 - Crash and Denial

After Molly sent Remus off to help Arthur in the garden, Selene approached her just before she intended to leave to begin the dusting.

"Molly, I know you're busy right now, but Remus insists I ask," she began carefully, as Molly set her eyes on her cousin with an assessing gaze. "That crash in the Tonks's yard is really giving me a run for my money, and I was wondering if you had something that might help."

Molly raised her eyebrows. "Well, what are your symptoms?"

Selene began ticking off her fingers. "Pretty bad nausea, headaches obviously, some fatigue..." She sighed, kneading her forehead with her hand. "It's come at a pretty bad time, too, because all this stress over Harry has had me feeling pretty off-colour as well."

"You've been sick before this?" Molly asked, and Selene thought she saw something unreadable cross Molly's eyes – though it vanished so quickly she thought she might be imagining things.

"Er – yeah," Selene said offhandedly. "It's been come-and-go for a few weeks now, but the crash last night really made things worse. I mean, Remus landed on his arse this morning when I shoved him out of bed to make it to the bathroom this morning, my nausea was so bad."

Molly raised her eyebrows at her.

"What?" Selene said defensively, at the look on Molly's face. "You've never pushed your husband out of bed before? I find that hard to believe, Molly Weasley."

The Weasley matriarch rolled her eyes, waving a dismissive hand. "Whatever, never mind," she said, walking over to one of the kitchen cabinets and pulling out a few bottles. "I've got a couple things you can try, and they don't work, then we can try whipping up something else. But, if this is truly because of a concussion, I really don't expect you to be dealing with these symptoms for much longer," she said, eyeing Selene.

"Well, that's a relief," Selene said, "because it's really getting on my nerves, and 'Dromeda didn't hint around to any after-effects other than soreness – which I've got too," she added, wincing as rubbed her shoulder gently.

Molly shook her head at her. "Just let me know if your symptoms persist past tomorrow, and until then," she said, whipping out a duster out of thin air, "you can get started on the dusting."

Selene gave her a thin smile. "Lovely."

Remus' POV

There had evidently been so much work to do around the house that Remus hardly saw his wife for the rest of that day, other than the spare exasperated glances that she managed to throw at him while she was running after Molly, still looking faintly green in the face. Remus' mind continued to drift to her worriedly, wondering why on earth a mild concussion would cause her to feel such a way, but if she said she was okay, then he was going to try to trust her.

Especially when there was still so much at hand to do.

He'd been looking for Harry for most of the day, but it seemed that Molly had also given him and the other kids a variety of tasks, and he didn't end up coming across the boy until late that afternoon, when he was heading inside from talking to Arthur at the chicken coop. A little relieved, Remus waved him over, being careful to stay out of sight of Molly's view from the kitchen window.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked, approaching Remus with a slight hesitancy.

Remus took a deep breath. "Harry, I don't know exactly when and where you, Ron, and Hermione plan to go, but –"

"What d'you –" Harry began quickly, but Remus raised a hand to stop him.

"I know that you three have a plan," Remus said. "I'm not trying to interfere. Your mother mentioned that she thought you were planning to leave sooner rather than later, and I know that wherever you're going on your... mission... that it's going to be dangerous. I just – I just wanted to offer you an escape."

He handed Harry a folded slip of paper.

"You, Ron, and Hermione read that in private later," Remus said in a low voice. "I just need you to know that if you ever need a place to lie low for a bit – a safe house, I suppose – you've got one with us. The Fidelius Charm has already been cast."

Harry looked at him, wide-eyed. "I don't want to put you and Mum in danger –"

Remus shook his head. "Harry, don't worry about us. We've already agreed – our first priority is you."

Harry still looked uneasy. "But –"

"Look, you don't have to take me up on it," Remus said quickly. "Just know that the offer is there for you."

Finally, Harry nodded reluctantly.

"Alright," he said. "Thanks.... Dad."

A funny little spasm flickered across Remus' face, a cross between a happy smile and a grimace.

"Harry, I don't want you to feel obligated to call me –"

Harry shook his head, saying quickly, "I'm – I'm not, I promise. I want to. Really."

Remus' face flickered again, and then he smiled warily. "A-Alright then. If that's what you want."

"It is," Harry said firmly, nodding.

There was an awkward pause, and then Harry made to go back into the house, leaving Remus outside in the garden.

"Harry."

The boy whirled back around to look at him.

Remus smiled at him again, a real one this time. "Thank you."

Harry grinned. "No problem. Love you, Dad."

And then he ran inside.

Something in Remus' chest seemed to squeeze tightly. "I love you too, son."