Maeglin Yedi and the Order of the Serpent

Chapter 7: A kiss is but a kiss

As it turned out, none of the guys hexed me the next morning for my horrible behavior. Fred and George left after they took a quick shower. Together. And I was stuck again playing chess with Remus while Sirius went about his task of trying to get rid of his mother\'s portrait.

And such has been my life for the past five days.

I\'ve learned a lot about these two canines over the last few days. Remus is a fantastic cook. Sirius is not. Remus is the most patient man I\'ve ever met. Sirius has even less patience than I have, and I always thought I was the most impatient person on this planet. Remus is very good at chess. Sirius isn\'t. Not because he does\'t get the game – which is still my problem when I play it – but because he lacks the patience to wait while Remus takes his time contemplating his next move.

Besides all that, I now also know that these two men are the horniest blokes I\'ve ever met, and while they do use a silencing spell each night, that hasn\'t stopped me from walking in on them doing naughty stuff many, many times. Remus on his knees in front of Sirius in the living room, sucking his cock. Sirius splayed out on the kitchen table while Remus is shagging him senseless. Remus bent over the couch, Sirius slamming into him from behind.

At first, I felt embarrassed when I caught them like that, but after the umpteenth time of walking in on them, I merely roll my eyes, suppress those nasty feelings of jealousy, and leave them to their fun.

I\'ve also learned that Phineas isn\'t such a horrible bloke after all, once you get past his constant flirting and trying to get inside my knickers. We chat about a lot of things every night before I go to sleep. Remus is also a wonderful person to have a conversation with, and during our games of chess we talk about all kinds of stuff, both Wizard and Muggle, since Remus has lived as a Muggle for quite some time while Sirius was still in Azkaban. Sirius loves to tell stories about their days as the Marauders, and I love listening to them, so that is how we spend most of the evenings, curled up in front of the fireplace.

I also read the books Walden bought for me, and even though I have little use for them, it is interesting to read about spells and the history of magic. Remus lends me a book about werewolves, and I find it fascinating to read about the facts and myths of lycanthropy.

But other than that, I\'m bored out of my mind in this house.

Dumbledore still hasn\'t contacted me, as Snape said he would. Snape himself stopped by again the day before yesterday, but I only saw a glimpse of him since he had Order business to discuss with Remus, and I\'ve learned that Order business is none of my business. Kingsley stopped by again as well, to talk to Sirius, and besides saying \'hello\' and \'goodbye\' I didn\'t see much of him either. The twins haven\'t visited again, and I suspect that has to do with the stunt I pulled that night I got caught on my knees in front of their bedroom door.

\"Care for a game?\" Remus asks as I step inside the living room late that afternoon.

\"Sure.\" I flop down in the chair and light up a cigarette as Remus grabs the chess board. But as he opens the box of chess pieces, all the white pieces – I always play white – jump out, drop themselves off the coffee table, and hurry towards the closet in the corner to hide under it.

It\'s really bloody depressing when even the chess pieces don\'t want to play with you.

While Remus is trying not to laugh, I let out a very tired sigh and shake my head.

\"I\'m done!\" Sirius bounces into the room, wide grin on his face and hands covered in black paint spatters.

As a way of making up that I spied on them, I asked Phineas how one can get rid of a painting one cannot remove. Of course, at first Phineas gave me a very suspicious look, but after I explained it was for Sirius, he was willing to help me out. All it cost me to get the answer was telling Phineas about the first time I had sex, which is a small price to pay to see Sirius this happy.

As we follow Sirius to the hallway, I see that Sirius didn\'t just take Phineas\' advice – painting the portrait black – but added a personal touch as well. Across the now entirely black painting are the words \'Die, bitch, die\' in bright red.

\"It looks....very therapeutic,\" I say, and Remus nods his agreement as we stare at the painting. Sirius beams, and all we hear is a muffled voice trying to yell at us instead of the screeching shouts we never really got used to.

\"I think I\'ve deserved a reward,\" Sirius whispers as he nuzzles Remus\' hair.

Great. While the canines will entertain themselves with yet another shag, I\'ll be left alone again in this bloody house. I\'ve had it with that. I want to go out, if only for a short while, to feel the wind and inhale a bit of fresh air.

\"Look. You can all go and have your fun, but I\'m going for a walk,\" I tell them, and Remus gives me a concerned look.

\"That\'s not a good idea, Maeglin,\" he objects. \"You know that Dumbledore said --\"

\"Fuck Dumbledore! Staying locked up in here is driving me mad, and it makes me feel more of a prisoner than staying at Voldemort\'s home ever did.\"

That must have sounded like a reasonable argument, because Remus looks thoughtful for a moment.

\"Please,\" I say softly. \"Just a warounround the block. I need some fresh air. I\'m chronically depressive and staying inside all the time is very bad for my health. Seriously.\"

\"Very well,\" Remus agrees finally, and I give him a bright smile. \"But I\'m coming with you, and only a short walk to the park and back.\"

Sirius steps up to me and slings his arm across my shoulders. \"If she can go, so can I.\"

\"Sirius,\" Remus starts, but Sirius glares at him.

\"Fine. But as Padfoot.\"

\"Of course.\" Sirius gives me a victorious smile, and I grin right back.

Running up the stairs, I hurry to my room and get my thick, woolen cloak and the soft scarf we bought at Madam Malkin\'s. Pulling them both on while I bounce back down the stairs, I wait impatiently for Sirius and Remus to join me. Remus appears with Padfoot by his side, and I give him a very happy smile when he opens the front door and gestures for me to step outside.

Pulling the scarf up over my mouth and nose, I hook arms with Remus, and I\'m sure we look like any other couple taking their dog for a walk. So, I\'m not too worried something bad might happen during our short walk.

It feels great to be outside again: the wind is chilly and plays with my long hair, and the streets are covered in brown leaves. We make a bit of small talk while we stroll across the pavement in the direction of this small park Remus was talking about earlier. Padfoot follows us obediently, jumping in piles of leaves every now and then.

The park turns out to be nothing more than a large field of grass with a couple of trees on it. Still, it looks peaceful and quiet, with the sun almost setting and the sky partially clouded.

I pick up a stick and throw it away, thinking Padfoot might like to play fetch. But Padfoot gives me a blank stare, and I shrug. \"My dogs like it,\" I say as I sit down on a small bench next to Remus.

Padfoot huffs, and sits down at Remus\' feet, sniffing the air a bit, and just enjoying being outside. I follow his example, and inhale the autumn air deeply while relaxing beside Remus. It\'s really good to be outside again, and I\'m already looking up to going back inside that gloomy house later.

Just when I want to reach inside my cloak to get my smokes, there are several loud cracking noises around us, and before I know what is happening, Remus shoves me off the bench as I see Padfoot transform into Sirius from the corner of my eye.

\"Stay down!\" Remus yells, and he doesn\'t have to tell me twice since there\'s a lot of shouting and colored flashes of light all around me. I crawl behind the bench and curl up, wrapping my arms over my head and hoping to gods that no one will get hurt. Especially not me.

The noise and the flashes of light end as abruptly as they started, and then there\'s silence until I hear heavy footsteps coming towards me. I hesitantly release my head and see a pair of dark boots in front of me.

I know those boots.

Blinking against the light, I look up to see a familiar face looking down at me.

\"Walden!\"

\"The lost lamb,\" Walden says with a grin, and holds out his hand, which I accept gratefully so he can pull me to my feet. I give him a big hug and Walden returns it with much enthusiasm.

\"It\'s so good to see you again,\" I tell him, but then I remember my other caretakers, and release Walden and quickly turn around.

Sirius is splayed out across the ground and Remus is lying on the bench. They both look very –

\"Don\'t worry, they\'re just stunned,\" Walden explains as I\'m sure he saw me gaping at them in horror.

Just stunned. I suppose that\'s a lot better than just dead. I look at Walden again, who is running his hands across my body, which isn\'t at all unpleasant, but we do have an audience of several masked Death Eaters, so I\'m a little embarrassed all the same.

\"You didn\'t get hit with anything, did you?\" he asks as he spins me around once. I quickly shake my head and give him another bright smile. It really is good to see him again, even though I know his presence here also means that things are about to change quite drastically for me. Again.

\"How about you?\" I ask, looking him up and down. He doesn\'t seem to be missing any vital parts. \"Are you all right? Did Voldemort hurt you much? I\'m so sorry I got kidnapped like that, I really am.\"

Macnair raises his hand and gives me a reassuring smile. \"I\'m fine, I\'m fine. It takes more than a few rounds of the good old Cruciatus to hurt me. Besides, the boss didn\'t do anything to me I didn\'t deserve for losing you.\"

\"So, he wasn\'t happy that I got lost?\"

\"Not happy is an understatement, luv. He was seething. I don\'t think I\'ve ever seen him that angry before.\"

Somehow the idea of Voldemort being angry because he lost me warms my insides, which should disturb me, but it doesn\'t. It kind of makes me feel appreciated, in a very odd way.

\"How did you find me? And what took you so long?\"

Narrowing his eyes, Macnair looks from me to the two canines and back, and reaches for his ax. \"What do you mean, it took me so long? Was I too late? Did they hurt you? By Salazar, if they touched you I\'ll –\"

\"No, no,\" I say quickly, putting my hand on his arm, gently steering it away from his ax. \"They were perfectly nice to me. Treated me very well. They only tried to bore me to death with chess, that\'s all.\"

God, I hope Walden understands that was meant as a joke. I really don\'t want to be responsible for killing the canines with my lousy attempt at humor.

Macnair nods and visibly relaxes, putting his hand on my shoulder and giving it a soft squeeze, which is nice. \"And it wasn\'t hard to find you once you got out in the open. The potion our Lordship gave you made sure of that.\"

\"Potion?\" I ask, frowning, because I can\'t remember drinking any potion while I was staying at the Mansion.

\"Yeah, he spiked your tea when you were having breakfast with him. Potions are more difficult to discover than spells. I couldn\'t pick up your trace until just now. They must have some pretty strong wards on the place where they kept you. Where did they keep you?\"

\"Um...I don\'t remember.\" I give Walden my best \'I\'m such a dumb blonde\' look, and he glares at me for a moment before nodding his head.

\"Fine. Let\'s go. I don\'t want to keep the boss waiting.\" Macnair turns to look at the four masked Death Eaters. \"Rodolphus, take those two with you. I\'ll apparate the Muggle back to the mansion.\"

It dawns on me that they\'re not just taking me back – which I don\'t mind that much at all – but that they\'re also taking Sirius and Remus with them. And I\'m not too happy about that, since I have a pretty good idea what Voldemort will do with them.

I grab Macnair\'s arm, tugging on his sleeve desperately. \"Walden...can\'t you just leave them here? Tell Voldemort you only found me? I\'ll come back with you, but there\'s really no reason to take them with us as well.\"

Macnair seems to consider my suggestion for a few seconds, but then he gives me a grave smile and shakes his head. \"I really don\'t want to risk pissing our Lordship off again, luv. So I have no other choice than to take them with us.\"

\"Okay,\" I say in a small voice, and step up to Walden when he opens his arms. Pressing my face to his shoulder, I wrap my arms around his waist and I feel Walden\'s arms closing around me. And while I\'m desperately trying to think of a way to keep Voldemort from killing Sirius and Remus, the world dissolves around me.

Apparating is just as horrible as traveling by floo. The only good thing about it is that at least there\'s no soot.

While we appear on the lawn outside Riddle Mansion, I\'m very happy to note that my body is whole again and that Walden didn\'t get us splinched. Because I have no desire to find out what that feels like.

The masked Death Eaters appear around us, as do the still stunned canines. One of the men takes out his wand, and points it at Sirius and Remus. He mutters a few spells, and suddenly they both try to move but seem to be bound somehow.

\"Maeglin,\" Remus says while he turns on the ground to look at me. \"Are you all right?\"

\"I\'m fine,\" I mutter while I let go of Walden. I can\'t help but feel a bit embarrassed and very guilty that I got us captured. Or rather, that I got them captured, because personally, I\'m feeling pretty excited about seeing Voldemort again.

\"Come on, let\'s go see the boss,\" Walden says, and grabs my elbow, gently steering me towards the mansion. I hear Sirius yell obscenities behind us as the Death Eaters drag him and Remus to their feet and force them to follow us inside Voldemort\'s home.

Walden leads us to what looks like a very large sitting room, with several couches and chairs scattered across it and a raging fire burning in the massive fireplace. I see several people standing in small groups, talking, but they fall silent the moment we enter.

\"I killed you!\" a woman suddenly yells, and it startles me, so I step up closer to Walden as he walks towards the front of the room.

\"Well, obviously you did a piss-poor job, dear cousin!\" Sirius yells back while he glares at the woman, who I now realize is Bellatrix.

\"I can remedy that,\" Bellatrix snarls while she whips out her wand.

\"Bella, leave our guests be.\"

I know that voice.

As we step up to a small group of men, Lucius and a few other men I don\'t know step away from a imposing figure, who looks me up and down with a narrowed crimson gaze.

\"Lord Voldemort,\" I whisper, and bow my head a bit, but I can\'t help but look at him. He still looks the same as he did when I last saw him, and I wonder if he\'s happy to see me, or if he\'s going to punish me for getting away, even though it really wasn\'t my fault. But somehow I think a guy like Voldemort doesn\'t really care whose fault it was.

\"Maeglin,\" Voldemort says after a moment of uncomfortable silence. \"I\'m glad you decided to pay us another visit.\"

As if I had any other choice, but well, he\'s glad so that\'s a good thing I suppose.

Behind me, I can hear the Death Eaters force Sirius and Remus to kneel, and I worry my bottom lip, not sure if I should start begging for their lives right away or if it would be a better thing to just keep my yap shut.

\"Oh yes, we\'re positively delighted to see you again, Miss Maeglin,\" Lucius drawls while he gives me a hateful look that clearly tells me he\'s anything but happy with my presence. I\'m so tempted to make a rude comment, but I do realize that it might be better to just play along if I want to save my own arse, and the lovely bums of the two canines.

\"And you brought two friends,\" Voldemort states as he looks down on Sirius and Remus. \"An escaped convict and a werewolf. Really, Maeglin, you should pick your acquaintances more carefully.\"

\"Why don\'t you just do everyone a favor and Avada Kedavra yourself, eh?\" Sirius suggests while Remus whispers that he should keep silent.

I have to agree with Remus here. Shifting on my feet uncomfortably, I look up at Walden, but he\'s not much help since he\'s got his gaze fixed on Voldemort and looks like a willing soldier ready to do anything for his commander.

\"I think I\'d rather use the killing curse on you, Mr Black,\" Voldemort says with a pleasant smile as he reaches inside his robes and pulls out his wand.

His wand. I touched his wand. That meant something. Gods, this is not the time to be remembering that when Voldemort is about to kill two men who have become my friends over the past few days.

\"Please, my Lord,\" I say in a trembling voice as I take a hesitant step towards him, ignoring Walden\'s polite cough as he\'s trying to signal me not to get involved in this. \"Please, don\'t kill them.\" rchirching a thin eyebrow, Voldemort looks at me curiously. \"We will talk later. Right now I have some unfinished business to take care of.\" He raises his wand, pointing it at Remus, who is looking up at the Dark Lord with a mixture of defiance and fear written all over his face.

This can\'t be happening. He can\'t kill them. He just can\'t.

\"Please don\'t,\" I urge again, stepping closer until I\'m standing right in front of Voldemort. I can hear the people around us mutter, but I don\'t hear a word they say since I\'m staring into Voldemort\'s eyes and try to get my brain to work so I can think of a way to stop him from killing my friends.

\"Step aside, Maeglin.\" Voldemort gives me a gentle push, but I refuse to bulge.

\"I said, step aside.\" His voice is a lot more threateniow, ow, and I swallow audibly, but I refuse to move. I won\'t let him kill them. I just won\'t. Even though I haven\'t a clue how exactly I won\'t let him.

\"I will deal with you later,\" Voldemort says softly while he narrows his eyes at me, and then he shoves me to the side. I\'m no match for his strength, and I stumble to keep my balance.

Voldemort raises his wand again, and gives Sirius and Remus a devious smile.

\"Ava..\"

No, no, no. This can\'t be happening.

\"...da...\"

I have to think of something. Anything. Come on, work, brain, work!

\"...Ke...\"

Without really knowing what I\'m doing, I step up to Voldemort again.

\"...da...\"

And in a desperate attempt to shut him up, I stand up on my toes, place my hands on the sides of his face, and press my lips to his.

Nothing really happens for what seems like a long time, besides the fact that I keep thinking over and over again that I\'m standing there, kissing Voldemort. Sort of. I hear mumbled voices around us, and some kind of gagging noise that sounds suspiciously like Sirius and an approving whistle that could be Walden.

I have my eyes wide open and stare into equally wide, crimson eyes, but Voldemort doesn\'t push me away. We just kind of stand there, lips still pressed together, and briefly I wonder if Voldemort even knows how to kiss properly because he seems at a loss of how to take it from here.

But then I feel his lips move beneath mine, ever so slowly, and he tilts his head to the side while his eyes fall shut. I just go with it, and part my lips when I feel Voldemort do the same.

And we\'re kissing.

As in *kissing*.

I\'m snogging the bloody Dark Lord.

And he\'s good at it, too.

This is so very, very wrong, but I can\'t be arsed to care because Voldemort slides his arms around my waist and I sag into his embrace and we deepen the kiss even further and I love the feeling of his tongue against mine and his lips moving slowly and just a bit forcefully over my mouth, and I definitely could get used to this, which isn\'t a good thing I realize somewhere in the back of my mind, but it feels good, so damned good, and I let out a tiny moan.

Voldemort pulls back abruptly, and I feel warm, too warm, and disorientated and I gasp for breath. Slowly, Voldemort releases me and looks at me in confusion and shock and I\'m sure I have the same emotions written all over my face as well, because I have no idea what just happened or what will happen other than that I really wouldn\'t mind if we did that again.

But Voldemort steps back, grabs my elbow none too gently, and drags me with him out of the room without giving any of his servants a second glance.

I stumble over my own feet and if it wasn\'t for Voldemort\'s strong grip I would have fallen straight on my arse, but he leaves me no choice but to follow him. When we reach the deserted hallway, Voldemort spins me around and pushes me against the wall, looming over me threateningly.

\"You kissed me,\" he states, narrowing his eyes, but I can still see a lot of confusion in them.

\"Yeah,\" I whisper. \"I noticed that.\"

We stay silent for a moment, just staring at each other, and I\'m not sure if he\'s angry with me. He doesn\'t seem angry, but he\'s not exactly swooping in a for a reprise either.

\"Why did you kiss me?\" he finally asks, taking a step back from me and folding his hands behind his back.

I blink, and bite my lip, because I\'m not entirely sure why I kissed him. To stop him from killing the canines, mostly. I think.

\"I\'m not sure,\" I mutter, lowering my gaze and fumbling with the buttons of my cloak.

\"You kiss me in front of half of my Death Eaters and you\'re not sure why you did so?\" Voldemort starts to pace in front of me, short, angry steps while he keeps his narrowed eyes on me.

I shrug.

\"Did you enjoy it?\"

Snapping my gaze up, I see Voldemort look at me curiously. And I blush.

Of, for fuck\'s sake, how old am I? A guy asks if I enjoyed a kiss and I\'m blushing like a bloody Vestal Virgin.

\"Well, I thought that was pretty obvious,\" I mumble, remembering that pathetic moan I let out.

Voldemort stops pacing, and looks at me with his head tilted to the side. \"Did you only kiss me to stop me from killing those two Gryffindors, or was there another reason you felt the need to lock your lips with mine?\"

\"Um...maybe at first it was to stop you from killing my friends,\" I say a bit hesitantly, because I still haven\'t quite figured out if Voldemort is angry with me or not. \"But as the kiss...um...progressed, other reasons might have slipped into it as well.\"

I have no idea if that makes any sense, but this is as articulate as I can get at the moment, after just having snogged the enemy of the free Wizarding world.

\"They are your friends?\" Voldemort asks, somewhat surprised.

\"Yeah, they are. We got pretty close these last few days.\"

\"Not too close, I hope?\" Voldemort steps up to me until our bodies are almost touching, and he stares into my eyes, and he\'s doing that trying to see if I\'m lying thing again, which must be very powerful magic because I feel something tingle in the pit of my stomach as I\'m staring back into his eyes.

\"What?\" I mumble, feeling very distracted by his intense gaze. \"Close? Oh, no. Not that close at all, since they\'re very gay and can\'t seem to stop shagging each other for more than five minutes.\"

\"Very well.\" Voldemort gives me an amused smile, and without realizing what I\'m doing, I smile back at him. I think Voldemort is the jealous type. Which is flattering, in a way.

\"So you wish to keep them?\" Voldemort looks at me expectantly.

\"Um...yeah.\" Of course I wish to keep them alive, and I nod my head to emphasize my words.

\"Then you may keep them. Come, let\'s get back inside before we give my servants the wrong idea.\" Voldemort gives me a half-grin, and I grin sheepishly in return, trying not to show my disappointment that he didn\'t at least try to kiss me again. I really wouldn\'t have minded making out with the Dark Lord in a deserted corridor.

Voldemort puts his hand on my shoulder and leads me back inside the room, where we\'re met with many curious, affronted and disgusted looks.

Sirius and Remus look up at me with raised eyebrows, and I just shrug, trying to look as if what I just did is the most normal thing in the world. I don\'t think they\'re buying it, though.

When Voldemort points his wand at the canines again, I gasp silently, but he gives me a reassuring smile.

\"From this moment on, these men are the property of Maeglin. They are not to be harmed in any way.\" Waving his wand, Voldemort mutters a few spells, and suddenly Sirius and Remus are both sporting identical golden collars, with thick, leather leashes attached to them.

It takes every bit of my restraint not to giggle like a school girl at that sight.

\"Now, I expect you to take good care of them,\" Voldemort instructs me, as if he\'s telling me how to look after a hamster or some such. \"You will see to it that they are fed and walked, and you are responsible for them. Do you understand?\"

\"Yes, my Lord,\" I say dutifully while Voldemort grabs their leashes and pulls them to their feet. I can see Sirius narrowing his eyes, and I hope to God that he\'ll keep his yap shut.

\"This is my gift to you.\" With a charming smile, Voldemort hands me the leashes, and releases Sirius and Remus from their invisible bonds.

\"Thank you, my Lord,\" I whisper, feeling flattered and warm and happy and very, very amused that I\'ve just been given Sirius and Remus as pets. Sort of.

\"I trust you can find your way back to your room on your own?\"

\"Of course, my Lord.\"

\"Very well. Then you are dismissed for this evening. I will see you at breakfast tomorrow morning.\" Voldemort nods at me curtly, and I smile at him before glancing at Walden, who is grinning at me from ear to ear.

\"Let\'s go.\" I give the leashes a gentle tug, and both Sirius and Remus stay silent as the follow me out of the room.

But the moment we round the cornf thf the hallway, and are out of earshot of the room, Sirius yanks his leash from my hands and lets out a deep sigh.

\"Hey, give that back,\" I say in mock-annoyance. \"You\'re mine!\"

Sirius glares down at me, but I see his lips twitch up into a smile, and I laugh, handing Remus his own leash.

\"I can\'t bloody well believe you kissed that bugger,\" Sirius exclaims, looking at me with a mixture of admiration and disgust.

\"I got you out of there alive, didn\'t I?\" I say with no small amount of pride in my voice.

\"Personally, I can\'t believe you accepted his gift,\" Remus says softly, his face screwed up in expression of deep thought, and I look up at him in confusion.

\"Of course I accepted his gift. To get you out of there in one piece.\"

\"Yes, I can see that,\" Remus says, and I notice Sirius looking at him in confusion as well. I\'m glad I\'m not the only one who doesn\'t understand what the hell Remus is talking about.

\"But you are now officially courting Voldemort, just as he is now officially courting you.\"

\"Excuse me?\" both Sirius and I say.

\"First you touched his wand, then you kissed him, and Voldemort accepted both these steps, and even took it a step further by presenting you with a gift, which you accepted. It\'s all part of the ancient laws of courting someone.\"

Why the fuck doesn\'t anyone ever tell me shit like this? I mean, the kiss was all nice and good, but courting? I don\'t want to be courting anyone, and most certainly not a Dark Lord.

\"I...I...had no idea,\" I whisper, feeling beyond confused and shocked.

\"I thought that much.\" Remus puts his hand on my shoulder and I lean into his touch, needing the comfort, because I\'m still trying to grasp the fact that I\'m *courting* Voldemort. It is definitely not something I ever thought I\'d be doing in my life.

\"Cheer up. I\'m sure there\'s worse things in life than courting Voldemort,\" Sirius says, and then frowns. \"Actually, I don\'t think there is something worse than courting that bastard.\"

Thanks, Padfoot, for the support and all.
pushpush the door to my room open, and the canines follow me inside. As they look around the room, I sit down on the bed and let out a tired sigh.

\"You don\'t have to accept anymore steps in courting him,\" Remus says as he unhooks the leash from his collar and sits down on the bed beside me.

\"But I don\'t have any idea what other steps there are,\" I whisper with a lot of desperation in my voice.

\"Well, there\'s things like accepting more gifts, more kissing, obviously. And sex.\"

Truthfully, that doesn\'t sound so bad at all, but I\'m not going to let them know that. Especially not because Sirius is now looking at me with a wrinkled nose.

\"Oh, come on, Moony. She would never have sex with that snake. She\'s got more brains than that.\"

I guess I have, but I also have more hormones than I can handle, which both frightens and excites me. It was a very nice kiss, after all.

Sirius unhooks his leash as well, and flops down on the bed on my other side. \"It is bloody bizarre, though,\" he muses, and both Remus and I look at him with raised eyebrows.

\"That Voldemort is letting a mere Muggle court him. And is courting her back. It makes no sense at all.\"

\"He is a half-blood,\" I offer, not at all helpfully. \"Maybe he\'s trying to get in touch with his inner-Muggle or something.\"

Snickering, Sirius pats my back. \"Who knows. You just stay away from him. He\'s evil, not matter how much Muggle he\'s got inside of him.\"

\"So, what do we do now?\" I ask, look from Sirius to Remus and back.

\"Perhaps we should get some rest. And tomorrow, we\'ll try to find a way to get us out of here.\" Remus gets up, and starts unlacing his boots. I follow his example.

\"That\'s not going to be easy,\" Sirius says as he kicks off his boots and starts unbuttoning his robes. \"They took our wands, and these collars have some pretty strong magic on them, which will most certainly not allow us to pass the wards on this place.\"

\"We\'ll think of something, Padfoot.\" Remus gives his lover a warm smile, and Sirius nods at him in return.

I let the canines have their private moment, and open the closet. Much to my surprise it\'s filled with robes and other clothes, and I even see a familiar looking blue nightgown with tine red dragons on it. I guess Walden did some shopping on his own after I was kidnapped by the side of light.

While Sirius and Remus undress themselves, I quickly shed my cloak and robes and slip into the nightgown. Then I crawl onto the bed and slip under the covers, looking up at the two canines, who are both only wearing their underwear, with a frown.

\"Where are you two going to sleep?\" I ask.

\"In that bed, of course.\" Sirius doesn\'t give me a chance to object, but throws himself on the bed beside me, while Remus slips under the covers on my other side in a much more civilized way.

\"You\'d better not snore,\" I mutter while I pull at the covers when Sirius is trying to hog them.

\"You have nothing to fear from us, dearest,\" Sirius says with a grin that is way too mischievous for my liking. I decide that ignoring him would be the best thing to do.

\"Remus?\" I ask after a moment of silence.

\"Hmm?\"

\"It\'s not a full moon tonight or anything, is it?\"

\"No, it\'s not.\"

\"Okay. Just checking.\"

\"That\'s all right,\" Remus says while he gives me an amused smile. I manage a weak smile in return. I mean, I like Remus and all, but it\'s not everyday that I share my bed with a Dark Creature, so I\'m a bit anxious about it.

Sirius snorts while he shifts onto his side so he can look at me and Remus. \"You snogged the bloody Dark Lord and you\'re worried about Remus all of sudden? You\'re one weird bird, Maeglin.\"

\"Can we not bring that up again?\" I mutter, pulling the covers up and glaring at the ceiling.

\"Goodnight.\" Remus shifts onto his other side, and I wish him a goodnight as well. Closing my eyes, I try to relax my mind so I can get some much needed rest.

But the stupid dog next to me won\'t lie still, and after a few moments of inwardly cursing him, I let out a frustrated sigh.

\"Stop humping my leg, Sirius.\"

\"I\'m not humping your leg. I\'m just trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in without you hogging all the sheets.\" Sirius yanks at the covers again and I yank right back.

\"I\'m not hogging the sheets, you are!\" I protest while I glare at Sirius.

\"Stop it, or you\'ll both be sleeping on the floor,\" Remus growls without looking at us. I release the covers while Sirius huffs and turns his back to me, stretching himself so he pushes me right up against Remus.

I take a few deep, calming breaths, and try not to give into the urge to shove Sirius right off the bed. I wonder if Voldemort hogs the sheets. If not, sharing his bed seems like a very good alternative to trying to sleep with these two mutts.