A Chance at Normal

Chapter Eighteen: Planned Deceptions and a Man to Man Talk

Lucian dropped heavily onto the couch and he felt Draco sit down beside him. “What are we going to do?” he asked quietly. Hazarding a glance at his father Lucian looked up and saw that he was sitting rather close to Remus. Figuring it was nothing to take notice of it Lucian brushed it off; his father was comforting a friend, nothing more. Although it would be nice for them to get together, they would be good for each other. His thoughts then rushed back to the Ministry and they’re new bullshit law.

“How are they going to know if you are a werewolf?” Severus said log atg at Remus and then glancing over at his son. They had to protect Lucian from the Ministry at all costs, if they found out that he was Harry Potter then all hell would break loose. And that was not something that he was looking forward to seeing.

Remus looked Severus in the eye. “Hearsay mainly. If they think that you could possibly be a werewolf they are going to force you into being tested.” Remus knew that there was no way that he could get out of being subjected to the Ministry’s new law but with luck they could keep Lucian’s lycanthropy a secret.

“There is no possible way that I can escape the new mandate. My being a werewolf is too publicly known, but we may just be able to slid by without Lucian being registered.” Remus continued softly. Just planning to keep Lucian from the Ministry was enough to get them all lifetime sentences in Azkaban, not something any of them really wanted to receive.

“ Well I guess that will play into our favor. Lucian has been able to keep his lycanthropy a secret for two years now. Lets just hope that it will be a secret that the rest of us can keep as well.” Severus said looking pointedly at the others. They sat there in relative silence until Remus’s soft voice broke the quiet.

“Maybe it would be safer for me to leave for a while. I have always wanted to see the rest of the world.” He said with forced cheerfulness.

“NO!” Lucian yelled jumping to his feet nearly throwing Draco to the floor. Draco had been lying on the couch with his head in Lucian’s lap, and when he had jumped up Draco’s top half of his body followed and he was left half on and half off the couch.

“No I think Lupin is right. Maybe it is time for Remus Lupin to leave.” Severus said with a gleam in his eyes that rivaled Albus’s.

“What! What the Fuck are you talking about? Remus can’t leave, you guys are the only ones that I got left.” Lucian blurted out and then a strange thought struck him. They where planning something. “Alright what is the plan?” his voice calm once again.

Severus laughed. “I wondered how long it would take you to catch on. Although it was a lot sooner than I had expected.” He smiled at his son and saw the confused look on Draco’s face. He glanced at Lucius and seen that the man was smirking. “I think that what we need to do is give Remus a whole new identity. One that can keep him from being subjected to the Ministry’s all knowing authority”

Draco sat there still slightly confused. How exactly where they going to be able to come up with a way to disguise Professor Lupin and was it going to be permanent. “How do you plan on doing that?” he finally asked curious at what they had planned. Draco happened to look up at the clock sitting on the fireplace mantle. It was getting late. Not too much longer and it would be time for Lucian and Remus to transform. And as far as he could remember neither had taken their doses of Wolfsbane.

Severus glanced in the direction that Draco had been looking and had noticed the same thing. It was getting late. “I have a few ideas about glamours enhanced with potions that should be semi permanent. I will have to figure it out shortly. But right now you two,” He said looking pointedly at his son and Remus, “need to take your last dose of Wolfsbane before it gets too late.” He stood and walked toward his lab and a few seconds later he came back out with two steaming goblets and handed them into the waiting hands.

Lucian grimaced at the foul taste but swallowed as quickly as he could. “ I don’t think that I will ever get used to that awful taste.”

Remus shuddered in sympathy as he downed his own goblet. “Your right, you never get used to it.”

Lucian grabbed Draco and hauled him off the floor. He wanted to feel Draco at his side. It seemed like close to the full moon he became extremely protective of his boyfriend and more times than not they had to sneak off somewhere to get some privacy. Especially when he seemed to drag Draco off into any dark corner and ravish him. Draco always teased him and said that he just got territorial. He wondered if Remus had the same problems he did or if his teenage hormones where just intensified by the lycanthropy. Lucian thought that maybe he had better take Remus aside and ask him if it was normal and what he could do to control it better.

He leaned into Draco’s side and whispered into his ear, “I am going to ask Remus some questions, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

Draco looked at Lucian questioningly, “About what?”

Lucian’s cheeks tinged a light pink. “About how I get around the full moon.” He watched as Draco’s eyes wed ied in understanding. “I’ll be right back.”

He then stood up and walked up to Remus and in a low tone that he knew the other man could hear he asked, “Can I talk to you privately in the kitchen?” He could help the blush that he could feel heating his cheeks and glanced at Draco. He was smiling with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Remus glanced up into Lucian’s face and saw the blush staining his pale cheeks, and by the look on Draco’s face he could almost guess what it was that Lucian wanted to talk to him about. “Come on lets go.” He said as he stood. As he followed Lucian into the kitchen he threw Severus a meaningful look who in turn looked at Draco, and then smiled slightly back at Remus as he went into the kitchen.

Lucian sat down at the kitchen table and saw out of the corner of his eye that Remus had sat diagonal from him on his right. “This is going to come out all wrong but I don’t know how else to put it.” Lucian said quietly his head in his hands still not making eye contact with Remus. “Is it normal for me to be extremely protective of Draco close to the full moon?”

Remus stifled a chuckle. He knew that this conversation would come up sooner or later when Lucian told him that he had been changed. “It is very normal and nothing to be ashamed of. You’ll also find that Draco is not the only person that you will feel overly protective of. Although with Draco, it will get to the point where it is not just being overly protective, but more along the lines of being territorial and having to constantly reestablish your bond with him.” Remus said as he watched for a reaction from Lucian.

“Thank Merlin, I thought that I was going crazy.” Lucian said as he finally lifted his head and looked at Remus. “Draco thinks that it is hilarious at how possessive I am of him.”

Remus chuckled lightly. “I can see how he would think that. He takes a lot of things in stride instead of getting thrown off by something different. Lily, your mother, was the same way. She thought that it was adorable that I was so protective of my friends.
She always was mothering over me. She was more of a mother than I ever had.” Remus swallowed visibly.

“My mother left after I was bitten, she said that her son died after my first transformation and then she left. It was just my father and I. He tried to make sure that he was there for me, but it was hard. When I went to school and met Lily she became sort of a foster mother for me. As odd as that sounds considering I was half a year older than her. She was friends with me long before James, Sirius, and Peter were.” Remus winced at the memorie Sir Sirius; it still hurt to think what he had done. But he was getting over it. He knew that as long as he kept close to Lucian and Severus he would heal. He had been slightly surprised when he had caught himself thinking about Severus. But he knew that he would never have chance with Severus. He blew that a long time ago.

Lucian glanced at his watch, it was almost time. “Well we had better figure out where we are going to change. It’s almost time.”

Chapter Nineteen: Lucian’s Transformation

Lucian followed Remus back into the living room still slightly embarrassed by the conversation in the kitchen. It wasn’t everyday that you had those kinds of talks with people.

Draco would just take it all in stride and laugh it off. Nothing seemed to bother him, but Lucian knew that wasn’t always the case. He just hoped that he would be able to be there for Draco when the death of his mother finally sunk in. A lot had happened today and he imagined that both he and Lucius had just pushed it to the back of their minds for the time being, or at least until they where alone to grieve.

Lucian looked up when he seen that his father was motioning toward him. Walking quickly over to him he looked at him questioningly.

“Is there something wrong?” Lucian asked when he seen the worried look on his father’s face.

Severus stood there silently unsure of what the reaction would be to his decision. “ I am going to go back to Remus’s rooms with him and you and Draco are going to stay here in your room for the transformation.”
When he seen the hurt look in Lucian’s eyes he continued, “The reason is that I think that it would be safer for the both of you. We don’t know how your forced transformation last night is going to affect you tonight and it would be the first time that you will be around Remus in his werewolf state. With your territorial behavior over Draco I don’t want to take a chance of you and Remus fighting for dominance.”

Lucian pondered what his father was saying and knew that he was right but he still wished that they both could stay with him and Draco.
“What is Lucius going to do?” he asked glancing toward Draco and his father talking on the couch in quiet tones.

“The Headmaster is going to help him get settled into his new quarters. Which means that Draco will be staying with his father and you will be staying with me once the term has started.” Severus said softly to his son. Looking up at the mantel clock he knew that it was time to head up to Remus’s rooms.

“Time to get going, I’ll see you at sunrise.” He said taking the young man into a slight hug.

Lucian nodded toward Draco catching his attention. He gestured toward the clock, knowing that he had gotten the hint he turned back to his father just as Remus walked back over to them.
“Alright, I guess I’ll see you both in the morning. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He said grinning evilly as he ran out of the room and toward his own before his father or Remus caught what he had said.

Draco gave his father a quick hug and bade him goodnight and followed Lucian into his room. He heard his father put up a warding charm and a locking spell that would keep Lucian in the room until morning.

Draco watched as Lucian began pacing the room. He watched as the pacing began to slow and it seemed that each step taken was beginning to get painful. Suddenly emerald eyes locked with his silver ones.

“Change, now!” was the only thing that Lucian was able to say before he fell to the floor and began the painful monthly transformation.

Draco didn’t hesitate once before he shifted into his smaller animagus form, a pure white ferret. Mere seconds after he had shifted a pain filled howl erupted from the large wolf.

Slinking over to the large wolf slowly Draco kept constant eye contact. He wasn’t sure if the wolfsbane had worked and in the back of his mind he was already plotting an escape route incase things got dangerous.

The hazy was slowly lifting from Lucian’s mind and he glanced up to where Draco had been standing minutes ago. He was relieved to see that Draco had opted to change into the smaller form. He wagged his tail to let Draco know that he was ok. He watched in amusement as the small white body relaxed and scampered over to him.

Using his rather large paw he swiped playfully at Draco and watched as the ferret went rolling across the floor. This was what they did every time that Draco was with him for the transformation.

The two of them chased each other around the room several times before Lucian began to get tired. His body still hadn’t had enough time to heal from the night before transformation along with the charms being forced from his body.

He padded silently over to the blankets that were piled on the floor for them to sleep on and curled up in a comforting ball. He smiled inwardly when Draco still in his ferret form curled up in between his shoulder and head. Not long after that he felt himself beginning to drift off to sleep.