A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed Attack of the Original Characters to tell me what they wanted. Here's the most popular choice. Enjoy! Also, this is set right after the events in HP/GoF, before book five (whenever it finally comes out.). Padfoot will very soon be coming to 'lay low at Remus Lupin's place.'
Werling Ambassadors
Chapter One: Cozy As A Kitten
The woman who breezed into his humble little house as if she owned the thing completely blew the mind of Remus Lupin. Within minutes, she had set herself up a cozy little nest without saying a single word to the speechless werewolf. Finally, Remus gathered enough wits to clear his throat and ask: "Care to tell me your name?"
She looked up as if seeing him for the first time. "Remus Lupin? I'm Irissa Talor, you'll be getting an owl from Albie about me any time now, but I decided to head in right away." The sunlight filtering in through the white curtains caused her strangely fuzzy-looking black hair to shimmer subtly with copper and bronze highlights. Her greeny-gold eyes spoke more than words ever could about her amusement with the world in general. "He seemed to think having his two favorite wers under one roof would do a world of good."
Remus stared stupidly. "You're a werewolf?"
Irissa roller her eyes. "No, I'm a werecat. Duh. I thought you were an expert on Dark creatures."
Remus felt himself blush a bit at her scornful tone. "I seem to recall something on the subject. You transform at the new moon instead of the full?"
Her smile was a deliberate pat on the head. "Very good, Remmie. Now what's there to eat around here? I'm starved." She padded into the kitchen and started shuffling through the cabinets. "Good God, do you survive on peanut butter sandwiches?"
Remus followed her. "I order in a lot. I'm not exactly a deft hand in the kitchen." What was Albus thinking, putting a female cat in the same house as him?
Irissa rolled up her sleeves and pulled out her wand. "Well, I am and no more takeout for us, my dear dog."
Remus shook his head. And a damnably bossy . . . not to mention attractive . . . feline at that. So much for a well deserved rest.
Irissa gave a relieved sigh as Remus absented himself from the kitchen. She understood perfectly well why Albus had made her the partner of a werewolf, but a male werewolf? With the peculiarities of her genetics? Well, I suppose I could lock myself in my room at those times of month. Happy with her solution, she returned to the beef stew she had decided on for supper. Now as long as he doesn't go all spastic territorial wolf on me, I'll be just fine. She smiled contentedly at the marks of 'her' she had left around the room. She had placed a blue tablecloth on the previously bare table. Her china dishes had replaced Remus's cracked and stained plates. Her Darjeeling tea had joined his Earl Grey on the top shelf of the cupboard. She planned on making a few more changes, but not so quickly that Remus would actually notice them. Hopefully.
There was a muffled exclamation a few rooms over. Irissa winced. I guess he's found my additions to the bathroom. Hope I put everything in the right place . . . there was a loud thump, and a very red-faced Remus walked resolutely through the kitchen on his way to the sitting room. He took one look at Irissa and turned even redder. She produced a tiny smile. Guess I didn't. Oh, well, he'll get used to it, kill me, or move out.
Remus cleared his throat. "So. Er. It smells good."
The smile grew larger. "Thank you. I've always loved cooking, but my mum would never let me near the kitchen when she was around, so you're the first to get the benefits of my experimentation."
Remus seemed to relax as he smiled back. "Lucky me. I suppose you don't need the tour, since you seem to have made yourself at home already."
Irissa laughed. "Front door's to the sitting room, which leads directly into the kitchen. From there you can find the only hallway in our house." Remus's eyebrow raised at the 'our', but he wisely chose not to comment. "There, you will find doors to my bedroom, your bedroom, and the bathroom. The office door is in your room."
Remus went red with suppressed anger. "You went through my room?"
Irissa laid a soothing hand on his arm. "Remus, calm down. I was just getting adjusted."
"Never go into my room again." This was ground out between clenched teeth.
'Spastic territorial wolf.' I think I jinxed myself. Irissa crossed her arms over her chest. "Well how am I supposed to get to the office, then? As I said, the door is in your room."
Remus seemed to freeze, then slowly melt. "Sorry. Didn't think about that."
Irissa smiled, seeing that the situation had defused itself. "It's fine. I promise not to bounce on that enormous bed, or rifle through your overflowing bookshelf. I'll just cut a straight path through the various papers on the floor to the door. By the way, what is it with you and the color gray?"
"Doesn't clash with anything." Remus shrugged.
Irissa rolled her eyes. "Males. Well, you can expect a little redecoration to be going on, at least in the parts of the house where I'm allowed to be." She ignored the way Remus winced. "That is, if Albie decides to let us stay here long enough for me to get really settled in. The way he was talking in the owl he sent me, we might be leaving pretty soon."
Remus looked at her sharply. "Leaving? Why would we be leaving?"
Irissa looked at him, eyes wide. "You mean he didn't tell you? Oh, that's right, he hasn't had enough time to send an owl and for it to get here since I left."
Remus waited for a bit. "Well?"
Irissa, who had already started focusing on the stew again, jumped. "What?"
"Why would we be leaving?" If Remus had been a religious man, he would have been praying for patience at that moment.
Irissa looked surprised. "Oh, I thought I'd already told you!" She smiled. "He's sending us as ambassadors."
Remus waited a bit more. "To whom?"
Irissa smiled brightly and held up a spoonful of stew. "Have a taste?"
Remus obediently opened his mouth, then froze when her fingers brushed his lips. He swallowed slowly, then in a hoarse voice that had nothing to do with the heat of the soup, said, "It could use a bit more salt."
He very nearly choked when Irissa wiped a drop of the stew off of his lower lip and tasted it. "Hmm. I think you're right." She took the salt shaker and added more salt, as calmly as if she hadn't just set Remus's heart to beating as fast as it had ever gone. Remus took a deep breath and quickly grabbed a seat and pushed himself under the table. Things might get a bit . . . embarrassing . . . if she happened to look at what was going on down south.
After he had calmed himself to a certain extent, he returned to the question he had been asking before the little witch so blithely distracted him. "Irissa?"
"Hmm?" The werecat smiled sweetly as she placed a bowl of stew in front of him. "Do you want iced tea or pumpkin juice?"
"Pumpkin juice, thanks." Remus waited until she had everything adjusted to her satisfaction, including crackers arranged artistically on a platter. When they were both settled down and about halfway through their bowls of stew, he tried again. "Irissa?"
"Yes, Remus?" Irissa fixed her full attention upon him, which was a bit eerie.
"Who are we being sent to as ambassadors?" Remus held himself as stiff as a board to keep from fidgeting under those strange eyes.
Irissa shook her head. "Where are your manners? You never talk business over the dinner table. Really, Remus."
Remus sighed and slumped down in his chair. Trying to get a straight answer out of Irissa was like trying to get a polite conversation out of Severus Snape - impossible. "So, what house were you in at Hogwarts?"
Irissa nodded approvingly. "That is polite dinner-table conversation. I was in Gryffindor. My best friend worshipped you and the rest of your group."
Remus almost asked how old she was, but remembered that it was never polite to ask a woman her age. I don't need that lecture, as well. "What year were you in when I graduated?"
"Second." The werecat laughed. "It's funny I should remember this now, but I had the biggest crush on you back then. I was always staring at you, but I never got beyond that point. I was such a shy, awkward little thing back then."
Remus just looked at her. "Forgive me if I sound skeptical, but I just can't see you as being shy and awkward."
Irissa smiled at him, delighted. "Really? I was, to tell the truth. I was quite scrawny, and my eyes were the biggest thing about me. I had braces, and I was always tripping over my own two feet."
Remus tried to picture that version of Irissa, and found himself smiling. "Were you the one I almost fell over when I was trying to catch something Sirius and James had stolen and were tossing about?"
She laughed. "That was me. Wasn't I dreadful?"
Remus shook his head. "No, I actually thought you were adorable. Now I know why you reminded me of Lily's new kitten."
Irissa crumpled up a napkin and tossed it at him. "Enough about me. Tell me about your friends."
That was a long story, and by the time he had finished telling her about all the pranks they had pulled, he had forgotten about his question in the first place.
Exactly as Irissa had intended.
It was the next day before Remus remembered that he'd wanted to know something from Irissa. In fact, he only remembered when an owl from Albus arrived while he was working to the sounds of the music bursting from Irissa's radio. The woman was sprawled out across the floor in front of the desk where Remus was working, and she barely looked up as the owl swooped in. Remus smiled. You can tell she's a cat, she's already got herself a nice cozy nest made.
Irissa seemed to feel his eyes on her and looked up, smiling. She studied the owl. "From Hogwarts. Probably the one that Albus sent to tell you about me. I don't think he expected me to be moved in quite yet. I told him I would as soon as I had everything packed up, but . . ."
Remus grinned. "You probably packed more quickly than he expected." That was probably an understatement, actually. "It takes owls a while to get here from Hogwarts."
Irissa grinned back, and Remus felt it like a punch to the gut. He broke open the seal on the letter and started reading.
Dear Remus,
I hope this reaches you before Irissa does, but I sincerely doubt it will. In case, by some miracle, it has, you can expect a house guest very shortly. Her name is Irissa Talor, and she is a werecat. The two of you are very compatible, I believe, and I hope you will get along well.
Also, you may expect Sirius to be along in a few days. His visit will most likely be just after the new moon, so you will not have any problems there. I ask that you do not let Sirius and Irissa kill each other, as they will probably clash if forced to stay together for too long a time. I ask that you allow Sirius use of your house, even if you are not there. He will be running errands for me, and will need a safe place to hide, as he is still wanted by the Ministry.
And yes, Remus, even when you are not there. I am requesting that you and Irissa do something for me. We are currently looking for allies against Voldemort, as Sirius informed you when he visited last. I would be very grateful if you and Irissa would accept the post of ambassadors to a very old group of mages, who have special powers that I feel will prove very useful in the upcoming war. If you can, I would like you to persuade the royal family to send their oldest son, who is about fifteen, to be taught at Hogwarts. I warn you, though, that the Atlanteans are a very insular group of people, and none of the ruling family, Draconis, have ever left the island before. You will have to be very persuasive.
I feel strongly that you and Irissa are the best ones for this job. Your dual nature will appeal to the Atlanteans, most of whom can transform into dolphins. They will expect you exactly one week from the date on this parchment. If you've any objections to this post, I would ask you to send a letter refusing immediately.
Once again, I thank you.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Remus looked slowly up at Irissa. "Why didn't you tell me he wanted to send us to Atlantis?"
Irissa looked genuinely shocked. "I didn't? I could've sworn I had . . . oh, well, you know now. Do you have any objections to going to Atlantis? I know I don't, I've always wanted to see it. Do you know it's underwater? We'll actually be living underwater, but it won't be wet! Isn't that great? Oh, please, Remus, say we can go. Please?"
Remus sat back, eyes closed. "Well, I, I really have to think about it." Atlantis . . . the Lost Island . . . located in the Bermuda Triangle . . . the place that no human had returned from alive. But I'm not a human, he reminded himself, I'm a werewolf. And no werewolf has ever gone to Atlantis, so it's entirely possible that one could return. He looked up to find Irissa sitting on his desk, watching him eagerly. He sighed, a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth. "Well, I suppose we can go . . ." He caught her as she bounced up, probably to go start packing right away. "But we don't need to leave quite yet. We have nearly a week."
Irissa sighed. "Are you sure we can't go surprise them?"
Remus winced. "I'm sure. We have to convince them that we're worth bothering with, Irissa, so we have to do everything as it is arranged."
Irissa shook back her hair. "You're no fun. All right, I suppose I can wait. But what will we do until then?"
Remus shook his head. "If I remember correctly, the new moon is two days away. After that, one of my friends will be coming to stay here for a while. The house is his while we're gone. You can pester him for a few days, until it's time to leave."
Irissa considered that, then bounced up again. "Okay, that should work. Remus?"
Remus shrank back a little when he saw the gleam in Irissa's eyes. "Yes?"
She smiled innocently. "If we need to look impressive, then you need new robes. We're going shopping tomorrow."
Remus groaned, wondering what he had gotten himself into this time.