#dads!wolfstar

Sirius let out a disbelieving scoff at that as his hands finally fell, though they only made it to his hips where they rested as he continued scanning the pile of presents all in your name. 

“Did anyone in the sodding school happen to forget?” He asked incredulously. “Or am I really gonna find one from Mrs. Norris in here?”

“Our daughter is well-liked.” Remus said; a half truth. You were well-liked…

“Who in the sodding hell is Dennis Creevey?” Sirius spat as he glared at a card before shoving it back into its appropriate parcel. 

Remus snorted at that, nearly choking on his tea in the process. “That’s, erm, a first year, I believe.” 

Sirius spun to level Remus with a look that told his husband he had been caught. 

“Are these from admirers, Moony?!” 

Remus narrowed his eyes in thought, cautious in responding with “Define admirers?”

“Oh my Godric!” Sirius shrilled as you came down the stairs. 

“What’s all the shouting fo- oh! Wow, people really went all out this year, hm?” You commented, plucking a card from a basket and furrowing your brows at it. 

“Who in the sodding hell is Dennis Creevey?” You muttered before offering the owl a few scritches which it (thankfully) accepted as payment and vacated the parlour through an open window. 

“Are you just about ready to go, my love?” Remus asked you instead of waiting for Sirius to figure out how to ask you if you were - what he thought he heard kids these days call - a player.

“Where are you off to, birthday girl?” Lily asked as she stepped in the front door, offering you a beaming smile and pulling you into a fierce hug as she wished you a happy birthday. 

“Thanks, auntie Lil.” You replied into her hair before she finally released you. “‘Mione and I are meeting for breakfast and then we’re meeting up with the boys at the mall.” 

“I thought you were meeting up with Pansy?” Sirius blurted, causing the two witches to look at him bemusedly. 

“We’re not meeting up until later tonight; we’re getting ready for the party together.” You explained. 

“Finally got your dads to let you throw a rager, hm?” Lily laughed.

“This was dad’s idea!” You laughed in turn, and Remus thought Sirius might actually call the whole thing off in light of his recent discovery. That is, until you turned to look at him with so much love that Remus thought he could feel the ire seeping right out of his husband’s pores. “They’re the best, aren’t they?” 

You were quick to press a kiss to each of your father’s cheeks before grabbing your wand and waving goodbye, leaving your parents and your aunt with the various presents bestowed upon you. 

“Wow…Harry wasn’t kidding.” Lily murmured mostly to herself as she took a quick inventory of the room. “She really does have a lot of admirers.” 

“Merlin’s saggy fucking balls, Moony! Our daughter is a player!”

Remus hardly had a moment to wince before Lily was cackling; a full, belly aching, bending-over-at-the-waist and slapping-your-knee chortle that bounced off of the walls. It was a sound neither wizard thought they had heard from the fiery witch since their school day. 

“What, pray tell, is so funny?” Sirius muttered petulantly as he waited for Lily to collect herself. 

“I- oh godric; Merlin and Morgana both. This...this is priceless.” She managed to get out between fits of giggles. 

Remus sighed as he flicked his wand over his shoulder, charming a kettle on in preparation of offering Lily tea and sneaking in a calming draught for his soon-to-be catatonic husband. 

“I can’t believe you, ‘our daughter is a player, Moony’. Of course she is! This is Mr. Sirius flirts-with-anything-that-has-a-pulse Black and Remus Casanova-of-Gryffindor-tower Lupin’s daughter we’re talking about here!”

Lily shook her head in exasperation and showed herself to the kitchen, giggles ricocheting off the walls along her way. 

Remus hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath during the silence that followed until Sirius broke it. 

“What have we done?”

Remus tried his best to offer his husband a smile, though it felt more like a grimace. “Well…at least the party is being held here?” 

But Remus watched Sirius’ face fall when they realized that this meant they would be once again coming face-to-face, quite literally, with their daughter's popularity. 

“Oh my Godric,” Remus murmured, bringing his own hand up to his lips, “what have we done?”

→ sirius and remus had always been father figures in your life

→ the moment you stepped into grimmauld place, young and determined to help out in the war, they claimed you as theirs

→ their ward, their responsibility, their child

→ it was a little shocking at first, you couldn’t lie. having two grown wizards taking you under their wing and getting past the wall you had so efficiently put up 

→ but somehow, they were able to gain your trust and help you understand that you didn’t have to be alone in everything that you did

→ sirius drew you in with his wit and humor, with the ease he always seemed to exude even in the darkest of times. it was also the way he could make you roll your eyes in exasperation at every little thing he did. 

→ he was late nights full of laughter and mirth, cheeks aching from smiling too hard and heart so full with love. he was the knowledge that you were safe, protected from anything the world could throw at you, as long as he was by your side. 

→ remus drew you in with his comforting presence. nothing needed to be said for him to tell you that you were safe, wanted, and valued. it was in the soft smiles sent you and the little pieces of chocolate that would mysteriously end up on your bedside table whenever you had a bad day.

→ he was warm blankets on stormy nights and cups of tea pressed into your cold hands. he was the feeling of not having to worry about taking care of yourself because you knew you had someone who could do it for you, even if it was just for a night. 

→ so you didn’t know why exactly you were so nervous about telling them that you were bi

→ they were always so patient and so accepting of you, never trying to rush you into putting your trust in them or opening up 

→ it was one of the things you loved the most, how they never assumed, never put words into your mouth. they always let you be the one to tell them whatever it was that you wanted to tell them. everything was always when you were ready.

→ and the thing was, you knew that coming out to them shouldn’t be that big of a deal, you knew that they loved wholly and unconditionally; not to mention, they were literally gay wizards in love

→ but today, today you were finally ready 

→ it wasn’t even a particularly exciting or special day. the war was over, life was slowly starting to turn into what it was supposed to be, and you thought that it was the perfect time

→ the three of you were having lunch out in the gardens because the sun was miraculously out and the breeze wasn’t biting

→ you also knew that sirius would choose to be out in the fresh air more often than not, and it was one of the many pleasures the three of you got to have now that you had survived a war 

→ remus was in the middle of passing the salad bowl over to sirius when you suddenly had the urge to blurt out, “i’m bi.” 

→ it would have seemed like remus hadn’t heard you except for how his hand paused for a fraction of a second before sirius took the bowl from him 

→ it was silent for too long afterwards, and it made your heart stutter erratically in your chest. why weren’t they saying anything?

→ then, in a very sirius-like fashion, sirius simply said, “sweetheart that’s not news.” 

→ remus pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes tightly at the nonchalance of his partner, and the audacity that he had to say such a thing when it was clearly so important to you

→ “sirius, please.”

→ then remus looked at you with so much tenderness in his eyes that you couldn’t help but feel tears well up in your own 

→ in a typical remus-fashion, his hand slid across the table to squeeze yours and no other words needed to be said

→ you bit your lip, trying to contain how elated you felt at finally being able to say the thing you had always wanted to say, the pair of them sent you identical grins back and that was that

→ lunch went on as usual, sirius cracked jokes that you and remus rolled your eyes to, the sun warmed your skin and the breeze cooled it again, remus broke up a large bar of honeydukes finest chocolate and the three of you shared it for dessert

→ the relief you felt from seeing that everything was going to stay the same was practically euphoric and your heart could not have been happier

→ as the three of you cleared up, wands raised and dishes carefully floating back inside, you felt a warm hand at the small of your back

→ “thank you for trusting us enough to be your authentic self with us, y/n” 

→ the statement was accompanied bya cheeky wink from sirius and a soft pat on the cheek from remus as they went inside ahead

→ and, for a moment you were left wondering how you could have been so lucky

General taglist: @expectoevans @george-fabian-weasley @gxthsanrio @slytherinscribbles @harpyloon @nuttytani @mesmerisedangel @amourtentiaa @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @lumos-barnes @cherryweasleys @writingsomewrongs @the-unmanaged-mischief @mrzweasley​

“I can’t believe you were worried about telling us.” He pouts, though there’s no judgement in it, only love. 

“I wasn’t worried, or even about you guys, it’s just-”

“A lot. Big.” Remus finishes for you. You nod again. “You must have been thinking about this conversation for a while.” 

“Is there…something that solidified this for you?” Sirius asks, tone both knowing and taunting. You feel hot all over but figure you’re in for a knut, might as well go for the galleon.

“Yeah I’m…I’m actually, sort of, seeing someone?” You announce in the form of a question. Sirius looks as though he’s about to jump out of his chair with excitement and that Remus’ hand on his thigh is the only thing keeping him pinned to the spot, though your Da’s eyes are shining with pride as well. 

“Yeah?” Remus encourages, sharing a watery smile with Sirius. “Anyone we know? Or anyone you want to tell us about?”

You do, you find. You really, really do. 

You take a large, steadying breath. “I- well,” you chuckle “I…I’m seeing Pansy Parkinson.” 

The table falls silent, and your face slowly falls as you sit up straighter at the golden and silver eyes blinking absently across the table from you. 

It’s Sirius who breaks the silence. “Sorry, what was that?” 

Your eyes flicker to your dad; his head tilted as if his ear being too far away from you was the problem. 

“I’m dating Pansy Parkinson?” You repeat; a statement lilting up into a question again.

“Run that by me again?”

“I’m dating Pansy Parkinson.” You tell him again, more confident this time as you share a wary glance with Remus. 

“Sorry, can you say the name one more time?”

You fight against an eye roll. “Pansy Parkinson.”

“Just the last bit?”

You roll your eyes. “Parkinson.”

“Absolutely not.” He declares definitively, sitting back in his chair as you let out a petulant “Dad!” and Remus lets out a cautionary “Sirius…” 

“What?” Sirius shouts defensively, holding his hands up helplessly. “No daughter of mine will be dating a Sacred 28 family!”

“The Weasley’s are a Sacred 28 family!” You retort. “The Shacklebolts too!”

“Yes, well, you had to go and pick one of the Slytherin kinds, didn’t you?”

“Sirius!” Remus actually chides, looking at his husband as if he has grown two heads. 

“Dad.” You reprimand, levelling him with a look. “The Black’s are a Sacred 28 family too.” 

“Yes and they’re a bunch of bastards, the lot of them.”

“You’ve gone mad.” Remus sighs as he shakes his head, flicking his wand over his shoulder to prepare a soon-to-be much needed pot of tea. 

“Listen, princess, you are the absolute love and light of my life and I love you beyond all measure. Now, I was able to look past being sorted into Hufflepuff-”

“Dad!”

“Okay, now you’ve really lost the plot.”

“-but I cannot have my perfect, beautiful, lovely, sweet, darling girl dating a Slytherin.”

Remus is staring at you with a half suppressed eye roll courtesy of your dad, you’re shooting Sirius an unimpressed glare from across the table, and Sirius has his eyes closed as he turns his nose up at the lot of you. 

“Dad.” You sigh. “You didn’t mean that, did you.” 

Sirius hardly moves, face still upturned when he reluctantly admits “no.” 

“So, I think what you meant to say is that you love me and are proud of me, Hufflepuff and all.” 

With this, Sirius theatrically deflates, looking awfully close to tears as he turns his gaze on you. “Who am I kidding? You being a Hufflepuff is one of the greatest things about you.”

You offer him a smile as he opens his arms and beckons you over; you go willingly. 

“You’re my sweet, smart, brave girl and I am so proud of you.” He murmurs into your hair as he hugs you tight. You’re about to tell him that you love him too when you hear a huff come from behind him.

The two of you turn to find Remus with his head in his hands, very clearly sobbing. 

“What are you two up to?” Lily asked suddenly, causing both wizards to jump nearly a foot in the air as they turned their attention to the witch, James and Remus approaching as well. 

“Haz here’s filling me in on all of my daughter’s admirers.” Sirius sneered as he looked out at the various students currently littering his home. 

Harry, for his part, made a noncommittal sound as he moved his head back-and-forth. “No…I’m filling him in on all of our classmates.” 

“And not one of them is good enough for my niece.” James muttered as he, too, glared at the sea of students. 

“Oh you two.” Lily chided goodnaturedly, rubbing both men’s arms as she tried to encourage a smile out of them. “She’s been so loved, I hardly think she’ll ever settle for anything less than exactly what she deserves, yeah?”

Sirius felt some of the tension leave his body as he turned to offer his sister-in-law a warm smile; eyes flickering up to his husband standing behind her as if to say “we did do a pretty good job, didn’t we?” 

“‘Sides, Pads. You aren’t even paying attention to the bloke she’s paying attention to.” James continued, apparently not nearly as placated as Sirius was as he gestured towards the corner of the party you were standing in with a curly-haired wizard.

”Well what the fuck?” Sirius hissed as he pulled Harry back over towards him by the hood of his jumper. “You’re failing me, Haz. Who’s that?”

With that, Harry craned his neck to spot where you were standing and talking with Mattheo. 

“Oh, that’s Mattheo Riddle, he-“

“OI!” Sirius barked quickly, causing the volume in the room to come to a gentle hum as a sea of heads turned towards him. “Princess! Family meeting in the kitchen!” 

“Oh, the poor girl.” Lily murmured as conversation slowly picked back up in the room and you obediently made your way towards the kitchen. “Go play referee, Rem.” 

“On it.” Remus sighed, dutifully following his husband and daughter towards the kitchen and smiling to himself when he heard a petulant “oh my gods, dad” being moaned.

           Luca and Remus talked at length about the uprising of former Death Eaters, and Luca said, “Really, if it weren’t for the amount of damage they’d done, I’d be glad for it. Many of them claimed to be under the Imperius Curse during the first war, but with You-Know-Who dead, it’s obvious they were acting of their own volition then and now.”

           Remus nodded. “I agree. But still, it’s a shame that they managed to injure so many Muggles.”

           Things were going very well until evening fell. While each person brought their dishes into the kitchen after supper, Remus said, “Now, I know that you two are adults in a committed relationship, and I have no allusions about what that entails, but while you are in our home, Sirius and I are not going to allow you to share a bed, not if you aren’t married.”

           “Dad, that’s silly,” Lincoln told him, a bit taken aback. “Luca and I-“

           “Silly or not, neither your papa nor I am comfortable with someone else in your bed while you are in our house. You may be adults, but you are still our child.”

           Lincoln rolled her eyes. “Okay, Dad. Luca and I shared a bag, let me go unpack my things so he can take his to the spare bedroom.”

           Luca followed up to her room. Once the door was closed behind them, he hissed, “What the hell was that, Lincoln? You didn’t even fight them!”

           Lincoln chuckled. “Luca, it’s their house, their rules. What, are you not gonna survive two nights without getting into my pants?” she joked.

           Luca wasn’t laughing; rather, he was gripping Lincoln’s wrist tightly. “I will not stay in the guest room,” he said firmly. “Go tell your fathers that I’m sleeping with you.”

           “Luca, let go,” Lincoln said. He only squeezed harder as she pulled away. “I’m not going to do that. You can stand a few nights without sex and-“

           Werewolf reflexes notwithstanding, Lincoln never saw the hand coming, but she swung back on pure instinct, wrenching her wrist from Luca’s grip. Barely a half-second after the slap to her face landed, Lincoln punched Luca in the jaw.

           “You bitch mutt!” Luca cried, cradling the spot where Lincoln’s fist had connected.

           Remus and Sirius had rushed to Lincoln’s room at the first sign of raised voices, just in time to see Luca slap Lincoln. They started forward, but Lincoln held up a hand. “Dad, Papa, stay out of this,” she ordered before rounding on Luca. She hit him twice more, leaving his left eye blacked and his lower lip swollen, then pulled back and kicked him as hard as she could in the solar plexus. “Who the hell do you think you are?!”

           “How dare you—“ Luca gasped, out of breath, but Lincoln was already ranting over him.

           “Did you really think you could intimidate me with one little slap to the face? I’m a fucking werewolf, Luca. Not just that, I’m a werewolf who is hated and targeted by Amaruq Greyback. Do you know who that is? That is Fenrir Greyback’s daughter, and the leader of his pack. I sustain more broken bones in a single year than most people do in their entire lives, so I don’t know what the hell made you think you could control me, and I don’t really care. I want you gone. I want you to go to your flat, gather my things, and send them to me, and hope that I don’t fucking burn your shit. Do you understand?”

           Luca changed his approach, raising his hands in surrender. “Lincoln, baby,” he started, but Sirius Black had heard enough.

           “You get the hell out of here before I decide to hide Lincoln and Remus’ wolfsbane,” he ordered, moving forward and seizing the front of Luca’s shirt. “Or I kill you with my bare hands. You laid a hand on my daughter, and I should rip your lungs out of your chest and stuff them down your throat!”

           Remus was only a step behind him. “You’d better leave, Luca. No one hurts our daughter, especially not under our roof. Leave. Now.”

           Luca had paled considerably with the treatment Lincoln had seen him to. Hearing the threats of her parents left him positively ashen. He Disapparated on the spot.

           Sirius glared at the place where he’d stood while Remus rushed over to Lincoln to inspect her cheek. “Are you alright, love?” he asked gently.

           Both Sirius and Remus expected her to shake off the incident with a wisecrack and a smirk, as she had with every transformation and injury she’d sustained for the past several years. They both stared as her voice came out trembling rather than in its usual stoic tone. “I thought he loved me,” she whispered before she began to cry. Remus pulled her into a tight hug and let her sob, sitting down on the bed and tucking her head under his chin. Sirius left the room. “Daddy, I don’t understand, what the hell just happened?” She pulled away to look up at Remus.

           Remus cupped her cheek gently, running his thumb over the bruise forming at the corner of Lincoln’s mouth. “Luca turned out to be… well, everything your papa thought he was, actually. As soon as you two went upstairs, he told me, ‘Moons, we gotta get him out of here. He’s bad news.’”

           “I thought… Dad, he was so wonderful before today. He took me out dancing and he never even flinched when he saw all my scars and… and I loved him! What if he didn’t mean to hit me?”

           “Lincoln, don’t,” Sirius ordered from the doorway. He was carrying a tray with five mugs of hot cocoa on it, and Micah and Cassi were right behind him.

           “Lincoln, those things you described, those don’t exactly classify a guy as ‘wonderful.’ That’s like… the bare minimum of what you should expect from a romantic partner,” Remus reminded her.

           “Now, your siblings heard what happened. When I told them that they couldn’t find Luca and nail his intestines to his forehead for legal reasons, they decided they wanted to stay in here with you tonight,” Sirius announced.

           Cassi, who was fourteen now and nearly as tall as Lincoln, took the tray from Sirius, who took the two mugs meant for himself and Remus. “Lincoln, change into your pajamas. Daddy, Papa, Micah, I hate to kick you out, but she’s gonna be temporarily only half-dressed and I need to talk to her one-on-one,” Cassi said authoritatively.

           Remus turned to Lincoln. “You okay?” he asked, running his thumb once more over the angry red mark. It was beginning to turn blue. When Lincoln nodded, he followed Sirius and Micah out of the room.

           “Pajamas,” Cassi repeated, setting the tray on Lincoln’s bedside table.

           Lincoln started to change into her sweats and tee shirt. “When did you get so bossy?” she asked.

           “I’m channeling my rage. Someone hit my sister, and I want to be stabbing that someone in the heart with their own ribs, but Papa says I’ll go to Azkaban if I do that, and I love you, but I doubt I’d make it a week in Azkaban, so I’m ordering people around instead.” Cassi sat down on the bed. “Can you expand this? A twin bed will not be comfortable for all three of us, especially now that Micah’s latest growth spurt has made him taller than Dad.”

           Lincoln pulled her hair into a messy bun at the top of her head and waved her wand to expand the bed. It stretched to take up most of the floorspace of the small bedroom.

           “Very nice,” Cassi commented. “So, was he handsome?”

           Lincoln sighed. “Yeah, he was. Red hair, green eyes. Tall.” She touched her cheek and sighed again. “Strong hands.”

           “Too bad he turned out to be the literal worst,” Cassi shrugged. “Want me to sabotage his broom?”

           Lincoln smiled and sat next to Cassi. “No, I don’t want you anywhere near him. I did kick him in the chest, that really knocked the breath out of him.”

           Micah knocked on the door. “I’m coming in, don’t be naked!” he called.

           “You’re good, we’re clothed!” Lincoln assured him. Micah came in and passed mugs of hot cocoa to Cassi and to Lincoln and climbed into bed with them.

           “Let me see your face,” he said, turning Lincoln’s face with two long fingers on her chin. He hissed when he saw the bruise; it had turned completely blue and bloomed from the corner of her mouth up to her cheekbone.

           “I kicked his ass, if that makes you feel any better,” Lincoln told him with a smile.

           “Yeah, Papa told me you were amazing. He and Dad also both told me that the only reason they didn’t kill him was because they thought you’d do a better job of it.” Micah wrapped his arm around Lincoln and squeezed lightly. “But if he comes back, I promise to hex him into next year.”

           Lincoln leaned on Micah’s shoulder. “Pinkie promise?” she asked, holding out her little finger.

         Sirius nodded, lighting a new fire of panic in Remus’ chest. “You have,” Sirius agreed, “but you didn’t do it at the last full. You didn’t do it when you bit her. You’re doing it now.” Sirius’ voice was a low growl as he approached Remus and seized the suitcase.

          “Sirius, I— “

          “Don’t start, Remus. Your twelve-year old daughter saw you packing and ran to her room. She’s crying her eyes out because she thinks that you-“ and Sirius shoved Remus’ shoulder- “hate her now.”

         “No!” Remus protested, glancing in the direction of Lincoln’s room.

         “Yes,” Sirius confirmed. “Do you know what she said to me, Remus? She said, ‘Papa, Daddy’s leaving. He hates me, he doesn’t want me now that I’m ruined. I thought he’d still love me, because he’s like me, but he’s leaving.’ And she wouldn’t even let me hold her because she’s afraid to hurt me.” Sirius’ grey eyes burned with rage. “If you go, Remus, you are dooming Lincoln to the same childhood of fear and doubt and self-loathing that you had to live through. If you can live with that, then fucking go,” he snarled, shoving Remus’ suitcase into his chest, “but don’t you ever come back. You could stay, you could help Lincoln through her transformations, since she’s too young and too small to take the wolfsbane potion. But if you’d rather run away, then do it, Remus, and stay gone.”

         “Sirius, what if I hurt her again?” Remus demanded loudly.

         “You can’t!” Sirius shouted back. “You bloody idiot, you can’t! Lincoln… I couldn’t stop her from coming out into those woods. I didn’t… didn’t catch her in time,” Sirius sobbed, the noise ripping from his chest. “You don’t get to leave us, Remus, because I don’t know how to make this easier for her!”

        Remus dropped the suitcase and pulled Sirius close, letting him sob against his chest. “You couldn’t have stopped her, Sirius. And you couldn’t have stopped me. It’s just a miracle you and James kept me from killing her.” He ran his hand through Sirius’ thick, shoulder-length hair, certain that there was more grey in the ebony hair than was there a month ago. Remus sighed heavily. “This isn’t your fault, Sirius. But you’re right, I don’t get to just leave. I need to go talk to Lincoln. Will you bring some blankets down to the cellar?”

        “We can’t-“

        “We have to, Sirius. She will hurt somebody if we don’t. Bring the blankets down to the cellar, take the kids to Lily’s, and then come back with James.” Remus’ voice was finally firm, no longer shaking or unsure.

        Sirius nodded and left, and Remus went to Lincoln’s room. He could hear her barely-stifled sobs. He knocked gently and called, “Lincoln, may I come in?”

        There was no answer, so Remus went into the room. Lincoln was sitting cross legged on her bed, staring out the window. “I owe you an apology. Well, about a thousand, actually,” Remus amended, wincing. “But I never meant to make you feel as if I don’t love you anymore.”

         “But you don’t,” Lincoln flung back. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

         Remus sighed and sat next to her. “Look at me, darling,” he urged. When she did, her eyes were no longer green like they’d been all her life, but the same amber-yellow as his own. “I’m not leaving. I was going to, because I let my fear of hurting you or Micah or Cassi take over. But your papa talked some sense into me. I won’t let you go through this alone.”

        “You’re not leaving? You don’t hate me?” Lincoln asked in a small voice.

         “Of course not, darling,” Remus assured her. Before he could continue, Lincoln launched herself into his arms, sobbing. “It’s okay,” Remus murmured, tucking her head under his chin and slowly rocking her. “I’ve got you.”

         “Daddy, I’m scared,” Lincoln sobbed into Remus’ sweater. “Is it going to hurt?”

          Remus blinked back tears. “Yes, Lincoln. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s going to hurt a lot. But Papa and I will be with you, and we’ll keep you as safe as we can. We’ll do our best to keep you from hurting yourself too much.”

          Lincoln glanced up at him. “Am I gonna have scars like you?” she asked. She had stopped crying when she learned that Remus and Sirius would stay with her.

         “Most likely, yes. I’m sor-“

          “Good.” Lincoln nodded resolutely. Remus gaped at her. “That’s good. I don’t want to hide this, I don’t want to run from it. I’m gonna be brave and honest like you, Daddy.”

         “Lincoln, I’m… I am so sorry. You can’t take wolfsbane yet, not till you’re seventeen. It could kill you if you tried to now. So we have to…” Remus trailed off, unable to say the words.

         “The cellar?” Lincoln guessed. When Remus nodded, she asked, “You’ll still take the potion, right? Uncle Prongs can’t fit in that cellar, and two werewolves would probably be more than Papa could handle.”

         Remus nodded. “Uncle Prongs will stand guard outside the cellar in case anything goes wrong. You’ll be safe. I promise.”

         “Pinkie promise?” Lincoln asked in a small voice, her little finger outstretched.

         Remus linked his little finger with Lincoln’s. “Pinkie promise. Now come on, love. It’s time.”

         Remus stopped in his study to take the wolfsbane potion, then took Lincoln’s hand and led her downstairs. James and Sirius were just stepping out of the fireplace.

         “Hey, Linc, how are you holding up?” James asked, concern in his voice that he was trying to cover with casualness.

         “Ask me that in about-“ Lincoln looked out the window- “ten hours, when this bullshit is over.”

         James laughed. “Sorry, she’s funny!” he protested when Sirius hit him.

         “Glad you think so, Uncle Prongs,” Lincoln deadpanned, indicating Remus’ death grip on her shoulder.

         “You’re hilarious, Lincoln,” Sirius assured her. “Your dad’s just starting to feel the moon.” And he pointed to the dark sky.

         “Come on, love. It’s going to start soon.” Remus steered Lincoln outside, to the cellar.

         “Dad, my clothes, they’ll rip,” Lincoln said.

         “Just take them off. See, Papa brought blankets we can cover up in until we change,” Remus told her gently.

         The cellar was no longer the cold, dank room Remus remembered from his childhood. When James closed the doors behind them with a call of, “Good luck, Moonslet,” Sirius lit the candles he’d brought down with a wave of his wand. The soft glow revealed a relatively clean room with a nest of pillows and blankets in the middle. Sirius changed into the shaggy black dog, and Remus turned to give his daughter privacy as she undressed.

         When Lincoln was sitting on a pillow and waiting for the moon to come, Sirius brought over the softest blanket, draping it over her shoulder. “Thanks, Papa,” she said, then turned to Remus. “Daddy, I think… I think I can feel it coming.”

          Remus nodded. “You feel the itch? Look, the hair is coming first. Trust me, it’ll… well it’ll be over soon.”

          Sirius whined and nuzzled Lincoln’s cheek, trying to comfort her.

          Remus watched, barely noticing his own transformation, as Lincoln’s bones rearranged, cracking and snapping sickeningly. He kept waiting for her to cry out with the pain—indeed, he had done so every transformation until he was nineteen—but she never did. Several long moments passed, and a small wolf with impossibly long limbs and sandy fur stood in Lincoln’s place. The wolf sniffed the air, searching for the scent of human prey, and howling her rage when she didn’t find it.

          Sirius barked sharply and Remus growled a warning to him. Sirius took a playful stance, hoping to bring some fun to his daughter’s fear, but the wolf had taken over Lincoln, and wasn’t interested in playing. She took to pacing, biting and scratching at herself all the while. She spotted the crack of moonlight coming from the cellar door and loped over to the door, scratching at it and whining.

          Remus snarled sharply at her, shoving her away from the door and growling. He asserted himself as the alpha easily. The young wolf recognized his scent; this was her father, her maker, and the dog was familiar too. But she wanted blood and meat and there was none to be found. Frustrated, she returned to taking out her destructive energy on herself. Sirius whined again and Remus snapped his teeth at her, but she paid them no mind.

          Hours later, the she-wolf had exhausted herself. She was bleeding from three nasty cuts on what would become her left forearm, but she was asleep in the nest of blankets with Sirius curled protectively around her.

          Remus watched them sleep, feeling an unexpected burst of affection for the two of them, as well as a glimpse of hope. Without a doubt, this would make Lincoln’s life immeasurably more difficult. But for now, while he and Sirius could protect her, perhaps it wouldn’t be as difficult for her as it had been for Remus as a child.

           Around 4:30 in the morning, Remus and Lincoln both woke from their slumbers to change back to human, and Lincoln was barely back into her jeans and tank top before Remus had pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head.

           “You did so well, Lincoln,” he murmured into her sandy hair. “You did so, so well.”

           “’M thirsty,” she croaked. Remus chuckled and found the water bottles in the bag Sirius had brought down.

           “How do you feel?” Remus asked as Lincoln drank quickly.

           Lincoln tore herself from the water, gasping. She made to speak, but instead, turned and was sick on the floor. “That about sums it up,” she quipped. Then she leaned heavily on Remus’ arm.

           “That’s normal, love. Here, lie down with Papa. I’ll heal your arm and bandage it, you go to sleep.”

           Lincoln lie back down, pillowing her head on Sirius’ furry side. “It’s going to scar. Daddy, is it always going to be like this?”

           “Yes, Lincoln. I’m so sorry.”

           “Daddy, it was my fault.”

           Remus looked up from bandaging Lincoln’s arm. “Darling, don’t say that.”

           “No, Dad, I… I wanted to see what you were like as a wolf. And I knew that you were out of wolfsbane, because Micah and I knocked the bottle over when we were playing. I thought if I stayed in the tree, you wouldn’t be able to smell me, so I took Uncle Prongs’ broom and I flew over here from his house…”

           “Lincoln, I know,” Remus said gently, and finished with the bandage. “I know. It’s alright. I’m not angry, and Papa’s not angry with you, either. Go to sleep, baby girl. Things will look much better in the morning.”