The Songbird and the Serpent

Part III: The Cloak

Lupin's third year at Hogwarts...

Chapter 1

The first few weeks of the summer holidays could only be described as "sombre". Remus and his mother did their best to stay optimistic, hanging on every word of both the muggle and wizard news, on every knock at the door, and every ring of the telephone. The sound of beating wings or the hoot of an owl at any time of the day or night brought them sudden, but always brief, surges of hope. But no news came. There had been no sign of Mr. Thaddeus Lupin, and as Remus's mother pointed out at least three times a day, no news was still better than bad news. They could still hold out hope that he was alive somewhere. However, the fact that she frequently broke out into sobbing fits every time she said it did anything but help Remus to believe the words.

Remus himself found it difficult to cry, which bothered him almost as much as his father's disappearance did. He kept telling himself that it was only because he held out so much hope of his father's return, and did his best to keep his mind off of it; a difficult thing to do when you're stuck in a house with no one to talk to but a distraught mother. Luckily for Remus, help was on it's way.

The beginning of August saw the arrival of Remus's friends. His mother was happy to have them to stay, provided they all clean up after themselves and help her around the house occasionally. They arrived by floo; something that Remus found very exciting, as he'd never travelled by floo before, or had anyone visit by it for that matter.

Sirius was the first to come through the flaring green flames, almost hitting his head on the low mantle as he stepped out onto the Lupins' old hearth rug. He was closely followed by James, who did hit his head on the mantle, and stumbled out into the room while everyone did their best not to laugh. Peter soon joined them, smiling broadly.

"Well don't just stand there boys… come on in!" Mrs. Lupin shrieked, and turned to James, who was rubbing the part of his head that had just connected with the fireplace. "Are you alright? Think you'll need some ice on that?" She asked, suppressing laughter.

"Oh, no… I think it's okay." He replied, obviously embarrassed. Sirius could contain himself no longer, and began cackling like a madman. A swift punch to his arm from James quickly put an end to his laughter.

"You must be Sirius!" Mrs. Lupin said, and he nodded, massaging his arm with a grin. "Goodness… Remus has told me so much about you all, I feel as though I know you already!" She continued, attacking the three boys with motherly hugs.

"Mum… please." Remus muttered, cringing. She backed away from the boys and rolled her eyes at her embarrassed son.

"Oh, come on Remus… they don't mind, do you boys!" She asked with a wink.

"Not at all, Mrs. Lupin… it's wonderful to meet you at last." Peter replied, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Right boys, well I shall return to the kitchen and let you all catch up. We'll be eating soon Remus, so don't go running off anywhere."

"The chance would be a fine thing." Remus mumbled to himself, apparently a little too loudly.

"Remus… none of that." His mother chided, before leaving for the kitchen. An brief but awkward silence followed as James, Sirius and Peter kept glancing at each other and then at Remus, as if wondering just what to say.

"So Remus… how are you and your mum doing? I mean…" James began, trailing off. Sirius and Peter both shot him a warning look.

"No, no, it's okay. We're okay. I mean… it's been hard. But we can't dwell on it, you know?" Remus explained, and the others nodded. "So, what do you lot want to do?"

"What is there to do around here?" Sirius asked, and Remus thought for a moment.

"Not a whole lot I'm afraid. I'm not allowed out much… all the wizards in town are afraid of me, and everyone else, well, it's not like we can go out and do anything too 'magicky'… there are a lot of muggles in the area. Plus, supper will be ready soon."

"Well what is there to do in here then?" James asked, as Sirius wandered around the living room. Remus was about to suggest a few things when Sirius spoke.

"What's this thing?" Sirius asked, poking at the television set. It hadn't occurred to Remus that his friends wouldn't have seen a television before. His father's muggle heritage meant that Remus was brought up with all the comforts of both worlds.

"Well, I guess that answers your question, James. That's a television. It's a muggle invention… here, I'll show you…" Remus said, and plugged in the set. The screen flickered on, and Sirius jumped back slightly before becoming quickly entranced by the images onscreen. James and Peter couldn't resist, either.

"So… is this one of those things that uses, er, electricity?" James asked, and Remus nodded.

"Yeah, most things in our house do."

"What's this that's on?" Sirius asked, never moving his eyes from the screen.

"Oh, that's the muggle news. We can see what else is on, though…" Remus said, turning the dial to change channels. "Ah, here we are." He said, sitting back against the sofa, where James and Peter had already settled themselves. On screen, a couple of men dressed as old women were discussing in high-pitched voices how a penguin had come to sit on their television set. Within a few minutes the boys were rolling with laughter; particularly Sirius, whose barking laugh caused Mrs. Lupin to run into the room to ask if everyone was alright. It took some convincing to put her mind at rest, what with Sirius lying on the floor apparently unable to breath for laughing. Eventually she returned to the kitchen, and the program ended soon after.

"Muggle inventions are so cool…" James said, wiping his glasses.

"Yeah, it's great what they come up with… I wish we had something like this!" Sirius added, flipping through the channels to find something else to watch.

"As if your mum would ever allow any muggle stuff in the house…" Peter joked, and Sirius sighed.

"And here I thought I was going to have trouble keeping you lot entertained." Remus said, more to himself than anyone else; a good thing, since they were all far too occupied with the television to hear him anyway.

Remus amazed his friends with many more muggle inventions during the next few weeks, and they all found themselves dreading the approach of September. Sirius in particular had become nothing short of obsessed with the muggle world, particularly the entertainment industry, and was determined to somehow get electricity into his room at home so he could have a television and a record player. Peter soon developed a taste for muggle sweets previously unheard of in his life, and James was intrigued by the world of muggle sporting events.

"It's just so strange that we never knew about these things before. Seems odd to live so close to this stuff without even knowing anything about it." Peter mused, looking through the Lupin's kitchen cupboards.

"Well, I guess it's the same sort of situation the muggles have with us wizards. I mean, at least we know they even exist!" James said, and Peter shrugged. "Oi Remus, where'd Sirius go?"

"My mum's showing him the car… he was interested in how muggles get about without broomsticks and stuff."

"Ah… honestly, I think he's starting to wish he was a muggle." James joked, helping himself to a sandwich.

"Considering his family, I'm not surprised. I think I'd wish I was someone else, too…" Peter said quietly, and James nodded.

"Are they really that bad?" Remus asked, having never met the Blacks, apart from a few cousins. He certainly hadn't liked them, but he found it hard to believe that an entire family could really be so horrible.

"They really are. There are a few nice ones in the bunch, but not many. One of his cousins… Andromeda, I think… was disinherited recently. She married a muggle bloke a few years ago, right out of school. Apparently her dad, Sirius's uncle, was actually alright with it… but you'd never hear him say it in front of the rest of the family. He'd likely end up being ignored like Andromeda." James explained, and Remus shook his head, finding it all a bit odd.

"That just seems so odd. Sounds like a wonder Sirius isn't some maniac himself."

"He is a maniac…" Peter muttered, and the others laughed.

"Yeah, well, you know what I mean. So wh--" Remus stopped short when he noticed Sirius standing in the doorway.

"It's not polite to talk about people behind their backs." He mumbled, retreating to the living room. Remus looked to James and Peter, both of whom looked as though they'd just been caught stealing. Remus was sure he looked about the same. He certainly felt that way.

"I should go talk to him." James said, finally.

"Do you want us to--"

"No, no… I can handle it. He'll be too moody to talk to all of us. I know how to deal with him better than you two. It was mostly my fault, anyway. I didn't have to go blabbing to you about his family like that."

"Oh… okay."

Remus and Peter sat in deathly silence in the kitchen, aching to hear any part of the conversation going on in the next room. Unfortunately, all they could catch were occasional moments when Sirius would raise his voice, and he apparently wasn't terribly coherent at the moment. After a few moments of silence, Mrs. Lupin came in from outside, causing the two eavesdropping boys to jump about four feet in the air in shock.

"Merlin! I didn't mean to scare you boys!"

"Oh… er… sorry mum, you just startled us."

"What on earth are you up to, anyway? You're acting awfully strange, Remus."

"Well… I think we upset Sirius. James is in there talking to him…"

"I see. Trying to listen in, are you?" She said, her tone disapproving. Remus and Peter nodded. "And what exactly did you do to upset that poor boy?"

"We were just… well, I was curious about his family. He doesn't really get on with them, and I just wanted to know why, and he heard us talking about him."

"If you wanted to know about his family, maybe you should have asked him, hmm?"

"I would, only he never wants to talk about them. I didn't mean to upset him…"

"I'm sure you didn't, but from now on why don't you try thinking before you go discussing someone's personal business, okay?"

"Sorry mum…"

"I'm not the one you should be apologising to. Anyway love, I have to go out to the shops. You boys be good, okay?" Mrs. Lupin said, walking back through the kitchen door. Remus and Peter could no longer hear anything at all coming from the living room, which only increased their curiosity. Still, they didn't dare leave the safety of the kitchen.

It wasn't terribly long before James and Sirius emerged from the living room, Sirius slightly red around the eyes. Remus guessed that he'd probably been crying, but he wouldn't dare say anything about it. He knew he'd likely get thumped if he did.

"Sorry, Sirius. I didn't mean to upset you, really. I was just curious."

"It's alright, mate."

"You sure?"

"Yes… but if you don't shut up about it, it won't be!" Sirius replied, only partly joking.

"So… what'd you think about the car, then?" Remus asked, eager to change the subject. Sirius seemed eager to accept the subject change, and grinned.