Chapter One Hundred Forty-Four
Predecessor
It's in the stars
It's been written in the scars on our hearts
We're not broken just bent
And we can learn to love again
(Just Give Me a Reason - Pink)January 15th, 1999With everyone home for the holidays, Grimmauld Place was completely full, which
did not bother the permanent residents one bit. It did, however, pose a small problem
when the full moon came around. Rather than send everyone to the Burrow—where they
would no doubt be squished into the tight space—and unmarried couples separated as per
Molly's orders—Remus, Sirius, and Mia decided to relocate to The Den for the duration
of the moon, leaving their family and friends back at number twelve where they would be
safe.
Safety had always been a big concern for Remus, and for good reason. Despite the
Wolfsbane and all other precautions taken, the cellar door of The Den broke open during
the night, allowing Moony to escape into the woods behind the cottage—the call of the
wild was too strong to ignore.
Padfoot and Vixen kept a close watch on him to make sure he did not venture out
of the property boundaries, but the idea of herding him back into the cellar was unrealistic
at best—utterly insane at worst. When he woke up the following morning beneath the
shade of a tree instead of cement walls, he panicked.
Rather than fix the door—and about one thousand other things that were wrong
with the old Lupin Cottage—Mia and Sirius convinced Remus it was time to bury the past.
Once their things were removed from inside the small home, the pack gathered together
to knock the old building to the ground.
"You'll move into Grimmauld Place," Sirius insisted joyfully.
"And we'll have a new home built for you," Mia added.