"I thought you couldn't have kids?" James asks, leaning back against the bed frame.
Remus nods, "Legally..we're not supposed to. Female werewolves get forced sterilisation but A- she grew up in the wild."
"You can trust us, Moony." Peter insists, "You can tell us about her."
Remus smiles but doesn't continue further. They're all part of the Order but still aren't aware of what the Order are capable of. Once they think you're on the wrong side, they turn on you. Remus knew this better than anybody. Of course Dumbledore had been most apologetic, once the Veritaserum further confirmed everything Remus had said but his trust in the Order had disappeared. He no longer wanted to be part of it. He would no longer be a part of it.
"What's with the injuries then?" Sirius questions, still not letting it go.
Remus sighs, "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."
"You're our best friend Moony." James states, "We'd always believe you."
Sirius stiffens. He hadn't believed in Remus they way the other two had. When he was missing it was James and Peter who protested Remus' innocence, not Sirius. In fact, Sirius understood why Remus would switch sides. He felt guilty for thinking like that, but being in the Order was looking an awful lot like a death sentence.
The murders of Effie and Monty had sparked fear in new ways. Wizards who believed they were safe, due to the deatheaters only targeting muggles, were feeling less confident. Panic was rising in all corners of England, even the most remote wizards had heard the news and were starting to come out of hiding to fight back.
Dumbledore was relieved. The numbers of the Order were going up, the help and the team growing in numbers. His speech at the funeral had clearly made an impact, the deaths made more people listen.
Remus holds Zion tightly, Zion clutching his clothes with his fist, his head resting on his chest. Nobody had missed Remus more than that little boy. Remus' heart swelled when he finally got to reunite with his favourite marauder.
"It's been a massive inconvenience." James complains, "Trying to get him to say my name and he just fucking says yours."
"Language!" Kate and Sirius chorus, smiling at each other.
Sirius squeezes her hand. Neither of them had spoke about the splinching incident two weeks ago. They didn't speak of the kidnapping either. Both of them paralysed with fear of saying the wrong thing. Sirius didn't want to cause an argument, he knew Kate was on edge. Their son had been moved into their room, where they could keep an eye on him 24/7.
He often found himself waking up in the night to check on him, but Kate was already wide awake just staring at the toddler. Her wand tightly grasped in her hand, ready to fight if she needed to.
"Moon!" Zion babbles excitedly, yawning into Remus' chest.
"I'm not even going to attempt to take him from you." Sirius mumbles, "He will kick off and never sleep again."
Remus smirks, cradling Zion and rocking him to sleep with ease. James flaps his arms around in protest, "I'm supposed to be the favourite!"
"Clearly didn't work out that way." Peter snorts.
"Fuck you,Wormy."
Zion's tiny snores fill the room, Sirius takes the toddler from Remus. James sat sulking miserably. The poor kid was going to like books instead of Quidditch at this rate. Remus sits besides Kate, stretching his legs out in front of him.
"You're a baby whisperer." She smiles, stifling a yawn.
James raises his eyebrows, "Bet I'm the baby whisper for his cub and I'll never ever do him a favour. Karma for stealing my role as favourite Uncle."
"Piss off." Remus snorts, "Kids love me. I'm a natural." Remus leans over to Kate, lowering his voice so only she can hear. "When are you planning on announcing your news, hm?"
"What?" Kate asks frowning.
Remus shakes his head, "Don't play dumb, Kate. I can hear it."
"Hear it?"
"I learnt a lot when I was with the pack." Remus shrugs, "I can hear things miles away, if I focus hard enough. You're sat in the same room as me and it's like a fucking train running on the track."
"Oh.." Kate looks away nervously, "Can't you just stop listening?"
"Yeah." Remus sighs, "I just thought you should know that Sirius won't be mad about it."
Kate looks around the room, avoiding Remus' eyes. How can he say that when he ignored her for so long when she was expecting Zion? They were so stupid and reckless. The war had taken new shape. No one was safe anymore and they got knocked up again. Stupid. So fucking stupid. They couldn't even stop Zion from getting kidnapped. Two kids was double the amount of work.
Remus places his hand on her arm, "You don't have to tell him if you're not ready..but please tell him this time. Don't leave it to him to figure out on his own. He'll end up thinking it's mine or James' again."
Kate chuckles softly, "Yeah, okay.. I'll tell him soon."
A few days pass, her conversation with Remus weighing heavy on her mind. Both Sirius and Kate refused Order business, both needing to be with their son more than anything else. The Potter house stood empty, just the three of them in the livingroom. They sat playing building blocks with Zion on the floor, Sirius getting mildly irritated every time the tot knocked his tower down.
"Zion, no!" Sirius says rolling his eyes at the tot, "I'm building a castle stop knocking it over."
"It's like having two toddlers." Kate mutters, glaring at Sirius as he starts to rebuild the tower, she leans in to the child's ear, "Hey! Zion knock it over."
Sirius gasps, "You're conspiring against me!"
He picks Zion up and places him on his lap, building a tower between Kate and them. Zion bashes two blocks together, laughing to himself as he gets louder. Sirius stares at Kate over the makeshift wall and nods satisfied.
"Such a child."
"I'm not a child." Sirius protests, "I'm a Dad."
"Dada!" Zion squeals.
Sirius' eyes pop out of his skull, he stands to his feet with the toddler in his arms and spins him around, knocking over his tower.
"YES!!! Fucking finally!"He cheers, he looks down at the blocks scattered across the floor, "Right, you've knocked my tower over again so you have to say Dada again or I'm not being your mate anymore."
Kate pulls a face at him, "He's not even one yet."
"Dada!" Zion squeals.
"Ha!" Sirius smirks, "I'm the favourite parent."
"He still said Moony first." Kate smirks back, standing to her own feet.
"But he said Dad before Mum and better yet, before James."
Kate rolls her eyes, "Me and James still have a chance with the next one."
The words get caught in her throat, Sirius lowers Zion onto the floor and raises his brows at Kate.
"Oh? The next one?" He asks casually, his eyes glinting mischievously,"Something you want to tell me?"
"Oh erm.."
Sirius smirks, pulling Kate closer and whispering into her ear, "I already knew."
"What? How?!"
"Being sick. Splinching me. The norm." He shrugs, "You know pregnant people shouldn't apparate with others?"
"Fucks sake. Why didn't you say something?"
Sirius sighs, "I was waiting for you to be ready. Took your fucking time though."
"Oh..well Remus may have put the pressure on a bit, he can hear the heartbeat.. wolf powers or something."
"Huh.. so the only person left to tell is Peter."
"Eh?"
"Me and James have had theories for weeks." He smiles, "Lily and the girls might have noticed too... but poor Pete is just Pete."
Kate smacks his arm playfully, "Don't be mean about Pete!"
"Peeet." Zion babbles, grabbing at his Dads legs.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Kate mutters, staring down at the toddler in disbelief.
"Don't worry, you and James can have the next one." Sirius winks, scooping his son up in arms.
James was not happy. He glared at the toddler from across the table, stabbing his meal rather aggressively after learning about his two new words. Pete, Sirius and Remus ensured to keep gloating, getting Zion to say their names and smile triumphantly.
"You're not my favourite anymore, Zion." James nods, "Your brother or sister is."
Lily laughs, "You're such a child. It's not Zion's fault James is hard to say."
"It's not hard! J-Ames. Jaaaames." He looks at the toddler expectantly but Zion just continues to scoop mash into his mouth.
Sirius pats him on the shoulder, "It's okay. Don't cry about it."
"Fuck you." He mutters under his breath, smiling as Zion starts throwing potato on the floor.
Their friends were supportive of the news. Sirius seemed excited at having Zion 2.0. The idea of seeing Zion be a big brother gave them all something to look forward to in such a dark time. Remus was excited too, he couldn't wait for when the war was over and his own child could meet Sirius' children.
The baby news was a symbol of hope. It showed a future waiting ahead, something to cling onto during the dark times. With every death or attack mentioned in the papers, they reminded themselves of the babies. The next generation. The future. And things seemed a little less dire.
As the full moon got closer, Remus knew he must leave again soon. The thing is, he didn't want the Order to follow. He didn't trust them anymore and he had to protect the people he loves.
Flashback
"So you went to Hogwarts?" Tate repeats, his mouth hung open, "Bet that was good."
Remus shrugs, "Yeah, I hadn't really thought about other magical werewolves before."
"You thought you were the only one?" Amelia snorts, sipping her water and frowning expectedly at him.
"I guess I assumed I was the only one my age, why else wouldn't there be others like me at school?"
Gwen purses her lips together, "Dumbledore always knew a war like this was to happen. It helped him having a werewolf on his side, he's always thought ahead about these things."
Remus' heart drops into the pit of his stomach. Had Dumbledore really used him like a chess piece in a much bigger game? Remus felt like he owed Dumbledore a great deal, he had an incredible education, the bestest friends etc none of which would've been possible without Dumbledore pulling strings for him. Except, it made sense. Why else would they allow one single werewolf into the school?
Gwen squeezes Remus' hand, "Sorry love. I'm not saying Dumbledore isn't a great man, but he doesn't often do things without reason."
Tate senses Remus' uneasiness and changes the subject, "The others will be home soon. I wonder what they found out in Bulgaria."
"The others?" Remus frowns as his eyes snap toward Tate.
They both stare at each other, Remus' heart quickening in his chest before he looks away.
"Our friends. You didn't think it was just us three with the children did you?" Amelia smiles, "There's four more."
"Werewolf kids can be a handful." Gwen laughs, "but we somehow survived."
Remus looks around as the three of them talk about Bulgaria. He hadn't realised there was more of them, they'd never mentioned them before. He had to know who the others were. Remus stands to his feet, excusing himself. He hadn't had chance to contact the order in awhile.
Once outside he removes his wand from his cloak. Tate follows Remus, their bare feet crunching the leaves beneath them as Remus tries to hide amongst the trees. He knew magic made the others uncomfortable. They were scared of it.
"Updating the Order?" Tate asks with a tut, "You could just tell them to come here and see for themselves."
Remus shrugs, "I'd rather they didn't."
"Are you ashamed of us?"
Remus immediately shakes his head, Tate's brown eyes relaxing as Remus puts his wand away. Remus moves from out the trees, stepping closer towards Tate. Tate was by far the most attractive person Remus had ever seen. Everything slowed down when Tate was around. His perfect abs, perfect face and tattoos- it was fucking torture being around this man.
Remus reaches out a hand and cups Tate's cheek. He pulls him in towards him determinedly and kisses his lips softly.
"I could never be ashamed of you."
Tate laughs against his lips before kissing him back, his hands wandering into Remus' messy hair. Tate reminded Remus a lot of Sirius,if Sirius had dark skin and tattoos. Remus never thought he would move on from his crush on Sirius, but Tate had given him that.
"Come on then, Lupin." Tate smirks, taking Remus' hand and leading him into the forest.
He pins Remus up against a tree and kisses his neck, sucking and biting as Remus gasps and squirms at his touch. Tate smiles confidently, getting down on his knees and unbuckling Remus' pants.
He opens his mouth, taking Remus whole and sucks his dick. He starts off slow, teasing Remus before sucking harder and faster, itching to taste him. Remus pulls Tate's hair, his head falling backwards against the tree as he moans in pleasure.
After a few minutes, the warm cum shoots down the back of Tate's throat. He swallows and smiles up at Remus, who shakes and gasps. Tate stands back up, kissing Remus again and smiling.
"Don't contact them." He says in an almost whisper, "Just stay here with us."
"Okay." Remus gulps nervously.
Both boys heads turn as Amelia approaches them with her arms folded. Her eyebrow raised at them both, "Really? In the middle of the forest?"
Remus can already feel himself getting hard again. Tate grabs Amelia's wrist, pulling her towards them both and kisses her. Remus feels a pang of jealousy as he watches them make out. Amelia presses up against Remus, Tate still kissing her but Amelia's hand grabs Remus' dick and starts to rub him.
He closes his eyes and tilts his head back. Amelia reminded him of Kate. It was so fucked up how things worked out.
He fancied Sirius for years, then he met Kate and fancied her. Then they got together. Now here Remus was with their lookalikes, both of them like a greedy sex deprived deviant. He didn't mind though. He enjoyed sharing them both, even if he did get jealous. Even if he did prefer him and Tate alone, Amelia was hot and she added more to their fun.
Remus allowed himself to think of his friends, how mind blown they'd be if they knew his arrangement. Sirius had always wanted a threesome, and here Remus was living that fantasy on a daily basis.
A few days later, the other four arrived. Tate held Remus' hand tightly as the kids rushed forward to greet their pack. Gwen wrapped her arms around each one, pecking their foreheads and fussing over them.
Three men and a woman. The three men throw their belonging in a heap, scooping kids up and hugging them tightly. One of the men with long ginger hair, a thick bushy beard and a dangly earring, high fives Ben before rugby tackling him to the floor.
"Be gentle Luke!" Gwen stresses, "The full moon is approaching!"
The ginger man laughs, "Yes mama, don't worry."
Gwen picks up the shy three year old, she's never met the other members before. A man with black hair approaches,placing a daisy chain on her head and smirks.
"Now you're ze Princess of ze forest."
"Her name is Daisy." Gwen smiles at the man.
"I'm Hunter. A magical mind reader. I knew your name was Daisy, hence the Daisy flowers." He winks at her.
The little girls face lighting up, "Really? You're magic?"
"TATE!" The woman screams, running towards him and throwing her arms around him.
"Hey, Lucia." He grins, dropping Remus' hand to hug her back tightly,
He can't help but feel jealous as his strong arms hold the girl tightly to his chest. Remus' eyes find the marks on Tate's neck that he'd left last night, the knot loosening in his stomach.
The girl looks at Remus with a smile, "New member?"
"This is Remus Lupin. Remus, this is my twin sister." Tate grins, ruffling her hair.
Remus relaxes, even smiles as he watches Tate and Lucia catch up. They start play fighting like wild animals, Lucia jumping into Tate's back and pulling his hair. He stares at Tate as he laughs, realising in that moment he was falling in love.
Only one member of the group keeps his distance from Remus. He's another older man, his blonde hair greying slightly and a deep scar across his left eye. He doesn't say a thing to Remus. He doesn't introduce himself or offer small talk, he just stares.