Chapter Text
On the third full moon in the 21st year of her life, Charlotte Isabella Belmont would meet the love of her life.
Okay, maybe not meet them, but Lottie would find out their Names in a tradition that went back to before her ancestors came over to the “land of the free” during the Potato Famine, before her family settled down in Fair Garden, Tennessee and before her mom married her dad, passing the tradition from the Howlands to the new Belmont family.
For as long as Lottie could remember, she had heard stories of the magic that occurred for every child born into the Howland line. Her mom, Carla Belmont nee Howland, and grandfather, Emmett Howland, would sit her on their laps and tell her the story of their Soul Night.
They didn’t tell her the details when she was a child, but they told her of the Names, how her mother received the Name David Sawyer Belmont who just so happened to be her boyfriend in senior year at the Texas Institute of Magic before his job as a Hitwizard and her job as a tutor for young wixen took them to different coasts. Or how her grandfather was blessed with two Names, an auspicious triad that signified good luck in a Wixen family. Dorea Alice Franklin and Maria Juanita Cortes, lovers and potioneers in New York City that Emmet pursued relentlessly for 5 years before they agreed to a bonding.
Not every story was so heartwarming, Aunt Betty still harped about her Name, one John Henry Turner, a man that took her 10 years to find before she stumbled upon him at a No-Maj speakeasy in Chicago where he was a bartender. Yet Lottie couldn’t help but hope that her Name or Names would be the kind that she would recognize instantly.
She sighed for the fifth time as she watched in the mirror on the makeup table as her mom and Nana Dorea did her hair, red and pink ribbons interwoven through curls of dark brown hair she inherited from Abuela Maria.
They were gathered in the room that every Howland used to get ready for their Soul Night. Smaller than the traditional bedroom it housed a vanity, changing area, and fireplace with a couple of cozy armchairs surrounding it so that one could prepare with the three relatives they chose to help them get ready. The walls were cream-colored although one could faintly see the gold shimmering on the surface caused by so many years of constant magic feeding into the protective runes that were hidden underneath. And although it was summer, the fireplace burned with mahogany and ebony wood in preparation for her Soul Night.
“Sweetie, sighing like that ain’t gonna make us go faster,” Nana Dorea said as she lightly swatted Lottie’s head, careful not to ruin any of the braidings she had just spent 45 minutes doing.
“Do you think it’s gonna be one or two Nana?” Lottie asked, using the mirror to look into Nana’s eyes.
Carla tsked, eyes never leaving the hair in her hands as she weaved, “You know the stats Baby, we Howlands have a good 50/50 split. But knowing you? It’s gonna be two. There’s just too much spirit and love in ya to be anything else.”
Lottie giggled nervously as she looked to her Abuela Maria who was tasked with drawing runes on her arms, carefully dipping her paintbrush so as not to spill any of the lamb’s blood on the white cotton of the dress Lottie wore, undyed and handmade so as not to interfere with the ceremony, “Has there ever been… no Name?”
“Only once that I remember, your great uncle Earl, mean sonofabitch, he was cut off from the family before you were born, last anyone heard he met a strange end around the same time he sent his wife to the ICU.”
Abuela Maria looked up and winked at her, showing just what she thought of said end, before going back to her task, “but don’t worry, it hardly ever happens and when it does it’s only ever to the people who don’t deserve the breath they take, let alone the magic they possess.”
With that, she finished the final rune on Lottie’s palm with a flourish before grabbing her wand from the end table nearby and casting a drying spell on the blood. As if rehearsed, the women stepped back from Lottie to admire their work before her mom stepped toward the window in the room and looked up at the sky.
“Moon’s almost in place, time for you to get to the meadow Charlotte,”
Lottie took in a deep breath before she stood up and walked out of the bedroom, taking measured steps down the hall so that she wouldn’t give in to the urge to bounce and hoping her family couldn’t see just how much she wanted to run out of the house and to the meadow where the ritual would take place. Judging from the giggles behind her, Lottie didn’t think she succeeded all that much.
She walked down the hall and to the stairs, hearing the voices and laughter spilling from the bottom level of her grandparents’ home where her family was gathered for tonight. Lottie spied her cousins running around as her Aunt Kathy and Uncle Billy chased them along with her father laughing from the living room.
Her Abuela Maria cleared her throat (Lottie had the sneaky suspicion she had used a Sonorus to make it louder) and the members of her family in the hallway turned to the stairs.
“There she is! The woman of the hour!” Grandpa Emmet exclaimed as he strode from the living room and to the bottom of the stairs, reaching for Abuela Maria’s hand as he beamed up at Lottie. Nana Dorea chuckled and kissed her partner’s cheeks as she walked past, gently pushing Lottie past the living room door where her dad waited leaning on the doorframe with suspicious wetness in his eyes.
“Look at you teddy bear, all grown up and ready to find her true love.”
Her father reached forward to gather her into his arms before Carla swept from behind Lottie and swatted him away.
“Don’t you start now David Belmont, you’ll ruin all that time we spent on her runes.”
Lottie giggled before she walked past her father and the rest of the family gathered in the living room. She knew that if she looked into the living room she would see a host of books of Wixen born in the last 15 years and laptops ready in case the name was of a No-Maj. Everyone gathered in the hall gave her smiles and words of encouragement, no one speaking above a quiet voice as if to preserve the magic feeling in the air.
The humid summer air outside hit her like a wall when the screen door screeched open, cicadas loudly chirping all around as she went out and down the porch steps, following the well-worn path that dozens of Howlands had walked before her.
The walk might have been considered peaceful as she took faster and faster steps through the woods if her heart hadn't felt as if it was going to hammer its way through her chest or her stomach didn’t twist itself into knots. Her bare feet sunk into the muddy path with every step she took, branches shaking over her head in the warm summer breeze that gave a hint of relief from the dreadful stickiness of southern air. Faintly she could hear an owl or two, though it didn’t truly register over the sound of blood rushing through her ears or her thoughts echoing in her head. This was the moment Lottie had dreamed of since she was a little girl, a smile broke onto her face unconsciously as she thought of it. All those nights in bed wondering who it was, all those days she spent staring at strangers wondering if they were the ones finally coming to an end as she stepped out of the treeline and into the meadow.
Any other night and to any No-Maj, the meadow would seem just like any other they would come across. Yet tonight under the full moon, the ritual circle Lottie had drawn at sunrise was waiting for her to complete it. She looked up and noticed the moon was in the perfect position for her to begin.
She hurried over, practically running, to the middle of the circle and kneeled. Her hair fell around her as she reached into her pocket and grabbed the charcoal and herb mix that would complete the final runic sequence in the circle and activate it. Once it was drawn, the circle started to burn into the grass, a faint hissing sound echoing into the night as it glowed signifying the start of the ritual.
Lottie grabbed the rose quartz bowl full of water from its place next to the circle, placing it in its proper position in front of her before reaching for the ceremonial knife, a moonstone blade with an ebony handle, that had rested next to it. Taking a deep breath, she dragged the knife down her palm, hissing in pain at the deep gash, and thrust her hand over the water.
Lottie didn’t know how much blood she was supposed to put in, and really what was the proper amount? But before she could think too much of it, she stared in wonder as her blood in the crystal bowl started to form words across the inky black of the water.
Remus John Lupin
Sirius Orion Black
Remus didn’t know why, but he had the distinct feeling that he was being followed as he walked down the bustling street of Diagon Alley after a rather sad visit to Gringotts While his vault had some padding from his job at Hogwarts last year, it was rapidly approaching the same impoverished state it was from before. He thrust his hands into his pocket as his shoulder came up to try and protect his ears from the freezing wind. Remus could’ve cast a warming charm by now and he honestly didn’t know why he hadn’t yet. It wasn’t like his raggedy jacket and threadbare scarf were doing much against the cold January chill that was permeating every inch of London.
Yet he continued through the street without stopping to do so, into the warmth of Tom’s pub and out the other side to muggle London, dodging shoppers and other pedestrians for a couple of blocks before coming to a stop just outside a small coffee shop.
He opened the door and stepped into the heat of the shop, enjoying the smell of freshly baked goods and coffee. It was undoubtedly small with only a few tables surrounding the coffee bar but he was able to find a table easily enough next to the large window after ordering a coffee and chocolate muffin. It was going to be his one treat this month and he figured he might as well go with a giant muffin to help himself feel better.
Taking a seat, he pulled out a newspaper from his pocket to continue his job search, pen at the ready to circle any that seemed promising. It had been harder to find something after Snape exposed what he was to all the parents at Hogwarts so he was going to have to do with independent jobs here and there around muggle London, regardless of how much Sirius kept insisting in his letters that Remus should join him on the Lam from the Aurors.
At the thought of his ex-boyfriend now turned weird friend, he couldn’t help but mentally flinch. 13 years of believing the love of your life was a traitor was hard to reconcile even after evidence otherwise and the steady friendship they achieved still held some awkwardness that translated as avoiding certain topics within their letters.
Remus was only able to focus on the Help Wanted section for a second before he heard someone, decidedly female, clear their throat delicately from next to him.
“Excuse me, sir, do you mind if I sit with you? All other tables are full.”
Remus lifted his eyes from the newspaper and turned his head toward the sound with, a negative on his lips before promptly swallowing his tongue.
Standing before him was one of the most gorgeous creatures he had ever seen, long brown curls that seemed naturally untamed tumbled down from beneath a burgundy beanie, framing a soft face set with perfect lush lips and sparkly dark brown eyes that seemed to come alive with something akin to humor. Her skin glowed a natural tan in the way that others in Britain had always tried to emulate but fell short of every time. She was on the shorter side with a soft curvy figure and something within Remus wanted to lift her and hide her away from everything and everyone.
He realized several seconds had passed without any words spoken as he stared and he flung his arm out to gesture to the seat across from him in a manner that he tried to play as relaxed but he feared came across only as awkward.
“Of course! Please sit down, sorry I zoned out there for a second.”
Her lips twisted into a small smile as she set her tote bag on the ground and placed down her coffee cup. She shrugged off her long black coat and burgundy scarf to toss across the back of the chair to reveal a soft black turtleneck sweater and jeans that hugged her figure, in Remus’ opinion, very well indeed.
“Thank you kindly, sir.”
She spoke softly as she took her seat, crossing one leg over the other and Dear Merlin were those heeled boots? Remus was going to hell.
Suddenly, Remus noted the American accent, except no it wasn’t that it was something else, American Southern wasn't it? Nevertheless, it sounded like warmth and wrapped around Remus like a hug, her voice doing something to him that filled some of that coldness in his heart he hadn’t even realized was there.
He tried to focus on the newspaper but his eyes kept going back to the woman in front of him, every couple of seconds he would peer up under his lashes to see her focusing intently on her cup as if debating something with herself. Every once in a while they would flicker over to him before going back to the cup. Her forehead pinched as she bit on her lips, clearly ruminating something; what Remus wouldn’t give to be able to reach across and pull her lip from her teeth before she made herself bleed.
After a couple of minutes, she sighed heavily and bent down to pull something out of her tote bag, rummaging slightly with something inside for a couple of seconds before placing it on the table between their coffee cups. Curious, he peered over his newspaper at what he now identified as a thick manila folder full of documents and looked up into her eyes to see they were now staring intently back at him.
“Mr. Lupin I would like to start by saying I mean you know harm, although it might seem like it with the secrecy. If I could just have a moment of your time I promise it will be worth your while.”
Remus tensed at the mention of his name, thinking back to that feeling of being followed he remembered from early, before folding up his newspaper and putting it down. One hand slowly reached into his coat pocket where his wand resided, although not pulling it out just yet. He looked her up and down, but her hands were folded neatly on the table with no wand in sight, a look of not quite innocence on her face as if to make her seem less like a threat. Without bidding, he contemplated that she could’ve very well gotten away with murder in his classroom if she appeared looking like that but he waved that thought away before it could fully take root.
Finally, he motioned with the hand not on his wand for her to proceed to talk, and at that she relaxed her shoulders minutely before a look of determination appeared on her face.
“My name is Charlotte Belmont, I have reason to believe that Sirius Black is innocent of his crimes and within this folder contains the information I’ve been gathering to try and prove it.” And with that bombshell, she pushed it toward him and beamed.
“Run this by me one more time.”
Lottie tried not to sigh as she gathered what bit of patience she still had and pointed to the genealogy map of her family that was sprawled across the small coffee table in front of the couch she sat upon.
“On the 3rd full moon of a Howland Wix’s 21st birthday, they do a ritual that shows them the Names of their soulmate. This is a tradition that has gone back centuries and in June of this year I did my ritual which gave me your’s and Sirius’ name.”
“Say I believe this, somehow this ritual… this proves Sirius’ innocence?”
Remus looked at her incredulously from where he stood in the living room, momentarily pausing the pacing he had done for the past 10 or so minutes since Lottie had stopped explaining the evidence she had gathered on Sirius and started explaining why she was so invested.
After Lottie had dropped the admittedly rather big bomb about Sirius, Remus had insisted they reconvene at his apartment. It was rather drab with second-hand, mismatched furniture and beige walls that gave the appearance of being repainted by the landlord to hide the damage beneath. Yet something about it held a coziness to it, with large bookcases overflowing with books and mugs of tea scattered about in such a manner that suggested they were abandoned in the pursuit of a good novel or two. The apartment also smelled faintly like Remus, a musky forest scent that was doing no small part in distracting Lottie if she focused too long on it.
“No one in my family has ever nor will ever have a soulmate who's a serial killer or blood purist.” Remus opened his mouth to say something but Lottie held up her hand and shook her head, stopping him,
“Before you say anything it’s not some naivety on my part either, if anyone in my family held any inclinations towards such practices the ritual wouldn’t work for them. I have spent the last couple of months after finding you and between looking for proof about Sirius meticulously going through the family tree. The closest anyone in my family got to that kind of thing was an enforcer in the Irish Mafia who faked his death in 1924 to be with my great, great Aunt Ethel.”
Remus’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he settled on something to say “... I don’t know how to respond to that.”
Lottie stood up from the lumpy blue couch and strode around the coffee table littered with documents to stand in front of Remus. He towered over her, even more so that she had taken off her heeled boots an hour ago in an attempt to get comfortable. Her black socks dotted with red and green ornaments seemed at odds with his sensible brown socks but something within Lottie made her think that it made sense, her whimsy to balance his logic.
“Whether you choose to believe me about the soulmate thing or not, are you at least willing to help me prove Sirius’ innocence? Because if not I will walk out that door right now with the promise you never have to see me again. But I need help, I have lawyers working right now to gather everything but I don’t have any contacts within the British wizard government that would be willing to hear me out.”
Remus sighed and ran his hands through his hair, eyes darting from the coffee table of evidence and back to Lottie before settling on the wall behind her head. His eyes seemed lost for a second as he debated in his head and Lottie waited patiently for him to come to a decision. She could tell the second he made his mind up as a look of steel came into his warm brown eyes.
“Say I hypothetically know of a way to get in contact with Sirius as well as a hypothetical person within the justice system that might be willing to listen. I can’t promise anything but maybe, Maybe, I might be willing to help.”
With that Lottie let out a small squeal before tackling him in a hug. As soon as her arms wrapped around his neck, Remus’ arms settled on her waist and almost unconsciously pulled her closer. All of the tension she had held in her body melted with the contact, in truth her entire body melted into his. That woodsy scent of his filled her nose and her eyes closed in contentment as she turned her face into his neck, burrowing in just a little.
Lottie had to stand on the very tips of her toes to be even close to tall enough for such an action, something that started to hurt a little, and yet she was unwilling to stop doing it. Judging from the way Remus tightened his arms around her and pressed his face into her hair she didn’t think he was close to letting go either. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, getting used to the feeling of warmth that seemed to infiltrate every cell of her being and enjoying just how right his body felt against hers. After a while, she felt a rumble through Remus’ chest as he chuckled under his breath.
“What’s so funny?” She mumbled, not quite willing to pull away from his embrace to ask the question, her lips lightly caressed his neck as she spoke and she felt Remus shiver from the sensation.
“Merely thinking,” he stated, nosing into her hair a little,” I would say the whole soulmate thing was a bunch of poppycock a couple of hours ago and yet I am now filled with a wave of strange anger at the thought of letting you go anytime soon.”
Lottie pulled away a little to look up and into his eyes.
“Don’t worry, judging from what my family says, that feeling should fade as we get more used to each other. It’s simply the magic trying to settle the bond between us through physical contact, not that we won’t still want each other but the anxious feeling will at least lessen. You probably felt something similar when Sirius and you first met.”
Remus nodded in thought as he stepped back from her, she was a little sad at the loss of contact until he grabbed her hand and held it firmly within his larger one.
“And that doesn’t worry you? That Sirius and I have a history?”
Lottie shook her head and laughed.
“If anything it’s a bit of a relief. I’ve heard stories of the hell Uncle Billy went through to get not just Aunt Kathy but Uncle Jimmy to even think of being friends with each other, let alone be part of a triad together. It didn’t help that Uncle Jimmy was sure that Aunt Kathy hated him for being a werewolf while Aunt Kathy thought he didn’t like her smell because she was part veela.”
Remus raised his eyebrows at that, “Your uncle’s a werewolf? And that doesn’t concern you?”
“Why would it? He has an orchard that's warded to help him during the full moon and William and Walker join him, they’re the only ones out of the 7 cousins on that side of the family that got the gene,” Lottie looked down to their intertwined hands and started absentmindedly playing with his fingers, “You brits and this whole werewolf prejudice is frustrating, there’s no reason for it and I’m half tempted to bundle you up and take you both back to Tennessee, UK be damned.”
He pulled his hands away and took a step back, “you know.” It wasn’t a question but a statement. Lottie had the sense to feel a little chagrined, staring down at her socks, not quite able to meet his gaze.
“I hadn’t meant to find out your secrets but I stumbled upon it while researching Sirius’ case, they had a mention of it during his brief stint under supervision at Hogwarts last year. Honestly, I find it awful that they even included it at all but once I realized you were the werewolf they were referring to I couldn’t unlearn the information.”
Remus huffed out a laugh and ran his hands through his hair, a habit Lottie quickly found to be a sign of nerves from him.
“You have one soulmate who's a monster and the other who's a supposed serial killer. Charlotte what your family must think of us.”
Lottie stepped toward him even as he stepped back, she could almost see his walls going back up behind his eyes. She reached for his hands and had to keep herself from flinching as he jerked them away from her. She felt the anger and helplessness rise in her at the injustice of anyone making him think he was anything less than perfect. Raising her finger, Lottie jabbed it at him in an imitation of her Nana Dorea.
“You listen to me Remus Lupin and you listen good, there is not a single ounce of you that’s a monster, werewolf or otherwise. In the time I’ve known you, you’ve shown to be a good man with a good head on your shoulders. Just because you’re not fully human means jack shit to me,” She took a step closer to him as he stared at her incredulously, “the next time you start spouting that nonsense I’m gonna show you just how pissed I can get, no one is allowed to talk about my soulmate like that, not even you mister.” She finished by crossing her arms and nodding as if to punctuate the sentence.
A couple of beats of silence passed before Remus huffed out a laugh, his face softening with a look she couldn’t quite place but if pressed would say fondly.
“Understood Darling.”
At exactly 1:15 on Thursday mornings, like clockwork, Remus would receive a fire call from Sirius that lasted exactly 5 minutes each time. He had no idea how the bastard did it but Sirius had only ever missed twice in the long months it had been ongoing. He had no idea what he was going to say to Sirius, every speech he tried to write in his head seemed fake somehow. At this point, the only option available was to simply wing it and hope Sirius believed the fantastical tale.
Charlotte (“Christ on a bicycle Remus, call me Lottie”) had been stopping by every day since they had met 4 days ago, going over plans and figuring out how they would go about this for hours.
She and Remus met with the lawyer she had helping her to go over everything and Remus had called in a favor with his old schoolmate Amelia Bones to get in to see her. They had a meeting next Tuesday at lunch to officially present their evidence and Remus could think of nothing else.
Well almost nothing else, despite constant physical contact between Lottie and himself, Remus still hadn’t kissed her. A rather large part of him wanted to throw caution to the wind and snog the living daylights out of her, every move she made from sweeping her hair back into a ponytail or even something as small as sipping tea from an old mug drew Remus in. The hand brushes and hours spent practically glued to each other on the couch side by side did nothing to quell the ache within him.
Yet the other part wanted to talk to Sirius before they went any further, wanted to reassure his (were they still partners after all this time?) that even though Charlotte took up a lot of Remus’ mind, there was still a not insignificant portion of him waiting to be able to finally kiss Sirius again.
It was as if Charlotte had settled something within him when she mentioned the constant need between soulmates. It would make sense why the years without Sirius had done such a number on him physically and emotionally, certainly explaining away why every full moon seemed to get more painful as the years went by with no companion.
So there he was, in a pair of old sweatpants and a loose jumper, waiting for Sirius to firecall him with an anxiety that hadn’t existed since the first couple of calls between them last June. He didn’t have to wait for long though as a couple of seconds after the clock officially read 1:15, Remus’ fireplace lit up and he could see the face of his lover in the flames.
“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”
“Sorry Pads, not all of us can pull off insomnia chic quite as you can.”
“Damn right they can’t, imagine if everyone could walk around looking like me. It would be absolute chaos.”
Remus chuckled, enjoying the small glimpse of Sirius’ old humor. Lately, it had been happening more and more, the effects from the dementors slowly wearing off and a peek of the old Sirius coming through as the months dragged on. He was gaining weight too if the more rounded cheeks Remus could just make out were a sign.
Something must have read on his face even with the show of humor as Sirius looked at him and sighed, closing his eyes slightly as if preparing mentally for the blow, “alright out with it, what happened to put that look on your face.”
Remus looked down and fiddled with the sleeves of his jumper, not quite able to look Sirius in the eye.
“Before I start explaining you have to promise to listen to everything first do you understand?”
“Now you have me worried Moony.”
“Just please swear to me,” Remus’ voice bleeding more into annoyance.
“Alright alright don’t get your knickers in a twist and just tell me.”
Remus ran a hand through his hair as he debated where to start, “A couple of days ago I was approached by a woman who said that she could prove your innocence,” Remus fixed Sirius a look as he opened his mouth to interrupt. Once satisfied that Sirius wouldn’t speak, he continued.
“Her name is Charlotte Belmont from somewhere in the States, she claims… well she claims that her family has a ritual that can tell you who your soulmate is. Sirius, she claims to be our soulmate.”
Remus let the silence stretch as Sirius processed this information, Sirius’ mouth opened and closed wordlessly before he seemed to return to his sense.
“I’m sorry Remus I think the firecall distorted your words, did you say OUR soulmate?”
“I know it sounds crazy, believe me, I thought she was crazy when she explained it to me but you’ll understand when you meet her. Something just… clicked, like a voice in my head said ‘oh, there you are.’ She has all this evidence from her family going back generations, stories of her family members going out and finding their one true love. Pulling names and dates out of nowhere, no one would spend that much time coming up with so many fake identities. I asked, the only divorce in the last 300 years was some distant cousin that married the right name but the wrong person found out 20 years later. Lottie said she near cried in relief that our names were so distinct.”
Remus watched as Sirius processed this information. Triads were generally more common across the pond than in Wizarding Britain but there had been stories of course. Remus had a sneaking suspicion that given half the opportunity Lily and James probably would’ve been in one.
Something in those grey eyes lit with hope, “And she believes me? She doesn’t think I did any of what they say I did.”
Remus shook his head as he shifted his weight into a more comfortable position on the floor.
“I promise you that the first words out of her mouth were proclaiming your innocence, almost bit my head off when I tried to imply that you were anything but.”
Sirius grinned and opened his mouth to ask more questions but something happened on his end that made him turn around and then come back.
“I don’t have much time, is there any way we can meet up to discuss this in person? Maybe a way to meet this Charlotte?”
“Yeah meet us at these coordinates,” Remus rattled off a latitude and longitude belonging to an old grove deep within the woods in Wales. “Meet us there on Sunday at 11 pm, we’ll explain everything.”
Sirius nodded as he seemed to write it down on the other side. “Got it, I’ll see you there.”
Remus reached forward before Sirius could end the call, “Sirius wait, just know that I still love you yeah? No matter what happens.”
Sirius beamed back at him, a shadow that Remus hadn’t noticed before dropping away. “I love you too,” and with that, the call dropped.
Remus let out a long exhale as he crossed his legs in front of him and leaned back on his hands, staring at the now-normal fire. Something in him told him that he was going to need a lot of self-control when Lottie and Sirius met.
To say that Lottie was nervous was an understatement. Getting the nerves to approach Remus had taken her 3 days before she finally approached him in that coffee shop. Now she had to go through all that again, and with the one, she was arguably most nervous about meeting. Her stomach was tying itself into knots and she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
She had no preconceived notions about either of them before meeting Remus, but something in her said that if Sirius didn’t feel the same pull as them both, Remus wouldn’t go any further with her.
Her hands felt clammy as she paced around the grove, Remus stood leaning against a nearby tree watching her with amused eyes and crossed arms.
“What if he doesn’t think it’s good enough? He might think I didn’t try hard enough to get him free or that I left him to this intentionally.”
Remus snorted as he approached her and stopped her frantic pacing and grabbed her by the upper arms, soothingly rubbing his hands up and down. He looked into her eyes filled with panic and smiled before reaching up and gently pulling her lip from between her teeth, soothing the skin with his thumb.
“I promise you that he won’t think that, there is no doubt in my mind that he’ll like you, darling.”
Lottie took his hand from her arm and held it between her own as his other hand went from tracing her lip to holding her cheek, thumb going back to rubbing soothingly across the apple of her cheek. She stared at her gloves that held his hand, burgundy mittens against the scarred surface that decorated his skin.
“You say that, but Lord only knows what he’s prepared to see when he walks in here. What if I’m not what he expects?”
“There is no way in his mind that he’ll expect you,” Lottie’s head whipped up and she stared at him in disbelief, “trust me that’s a good thing. You are everything and nothing like what I would’ve asked for and the same will probably stand true for him.”
Before Lottie could come up with a reply, the bushes on the opposite side of the grove started to shake as a skinny but no less imposing black dog emerged from the underbrush, looking around before finally transforming into the figure of who she assumed to be Sirius Black. Remus let go of her and rushed over to greet the dog-turned-man, pulling him into a fierce hug.
Lottie watched with bated breath as they let go and talked to each other in low voices, their faces close together and bodies only inches apart. From the way they were standing, the casual intimacy alone was proof of decades spent in each other's space. It was like viewing her parent's embrace and Lottie couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit like an outsider.
Squaring her shoulders though, she reminded herself just what Gramps always said about meeting Nana Dorea and Abuela Maria. He felt like an outsider at first but together they created something far stronger than apart. Lottie mentally prepared herself as she approached the two men and she could tell the moment that Sirius registered her presence and turn towards her, stepping away from Remus and his embrace.
Her steps stuttered to a stop a couple of yards away as she got her first full look at him. Unlike the warmth and feeling of home she got from Remus, this felt different. Explosive. Electricity was running through her and to him in a feedback loop that just kept getting stronger the longer they stared at each other.
He was in a threadbare jacket and jeans, his face still gaunt from his time in Azkaban and his hair a little stringy but lord almighty that didn’t stop him from being a looker.
Her breath caught in her throat as she took him all in before settling on his warm grey eyes sparkling with mirth.
“Like what you see love?”
Lottie rushed to find her wit, she seemed to misplace it a couple of seconds ago but she’d be damned to let him win this round.
“Just making a note of all the different types of meals I can feed ya to put some meat on those bones. Can’t have you dying of malnutrition before I have a chance of knowing ya.”
Then again she wasn’t very good at playing aloof, was she?
Sirius strode toward her, his pace trying for nonchalant and coming just short. She could see Remus standing behind him taking in the scene, his shoulders shaking with laughter and face contorted into a grin.
“Remus says you can prove my innocence?”
Lottie shrugged her shoulders and looked away bashfully as he came to a stop in front of her, so close that if she wanted she could reach out and grab him. Not that she was thinking of doing that at all.
“I might have cooked something up, I don’t wanna get your hopes up but my lawyer thinks I have enough of a case to get the ball rolling at least.”
“Lottie’s being modest, you should see the binder she has. Honestly Padfoot I don’t think she’s stopped long enough to breathe; reminds me of you, like a dog with a bone.” Remus interjected and she could feel her face and ears warming with a blush.
“It was nothing, I was just doing what should’ve been done in the first place. Trust me when I say if I get my hands on that no good sonofagun who’d locked Sirius up in the first place there’s not gonna be a body for the Aurors to find. My auntie always said there was a reason for all the ponds in the south just like there was a reason all the bastard husbands kept disappearing.”
Sirius barked out a laugh at that, drawing her attention as he took one of her hands. Even though she was wearing gloves, Lottie swore she could feel his warmth radiating through them. The tattoos and scars running along the top of his admittedly larger hands did something to her insides that she tried not to think too hard on.
“Thank you.” He tilted his head slightly down to look her in the eyes, he was shorter than Remus but still had considerable height on her own smaller frame.
She swore that she felt sparks fly between them at that moment and it took all of her self-control to tear away from the intensity of his gaze to look at Remus. She feared that he might feel left out, yet his pupils seemed blown in a way that suggested he very much liked what he was seeing.
“Do you have the papers?” Remus shook himself out of whatever state he was in and nodded before he reached into his pocket as Sirius stared between them curiously.
“What papers?”
Remus approached and held them out.
“Just hear us out Sirius. Lottie did some digging and found out that you were never officially disowned from the family line. Now that doesn’t do much in terms of money since you still have to sneak in and out of Gringotts but that does leave us options on where you can stay long-term.”
Before Remus could get the whole explanation out, Sirius was shaking his head and backing away from them both, raising his hands almost as if to ward away the suggestion. “Absolutely not,” His voice getting louder with each word, “I swore I would never set foot in that place again and I meant it, Rem. I would rather die than go back,” he finished with a shout.
Remus opened his mouth to reply but Lottie stepped forward arms raised in a placating manner, “Please Sirius, we’ll change it up. Remodel it so that nothing remains if you want to, but it’s the best option. The wards can keep just about anyone out and most importantly it’ll keep you safe.”
She could see that he didn’t quite buy it, an internal debate going on in his head. Remus could see it too as he picked up where she left off, stepping forward as well.
“Just think Sirius, we can stay together. No more 1 am fire calls or sneaking to groves in the middle of winter. Charlotte can get to know both of us and we can grow close again.”
Remus touched Sirius’ shoulder and Lottie watched as the fight seemed to leave his body at the physical contact.
“I get to physically rip out anything that belongs to my mother,” Sirius stated before he turned to her, “And you aren’t allowed to step foot near any of the truly cursed objects.”
Lottie laughed and stepped towards the pair to take one hand in each of hers. It felt like coming home after a hard day, warmth and lightning mixing until she couldn’t quite tell where her soul ended and theirs began.
“I’ll do just about anything you ask if it means we can all be under the same roof.”
“Anything?” Sirius waggled his eyebrows at her, the blush once again coming back onto her cheeks.
“Shut up.”