Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
An Understanding
He is the crazy old Auror known for his eccentric ways and manners.
She is the cousin of Remus Lupin - equally sensible, soft-spoken and level-headed as her relative - who is almost a permanent figure in Grimmauld Place.
She knows what they think. What they thought in the back of their minds.
They always thought, that no matter how much they loved Alastor, as friends, as co-workers, no woman would be able to.
No woman would be able to love him like a lover, see beauty in that face of scars and make love to it, the wooden leg, the magical eye. Nobody would be able to love that quirky soul.
They think that she's with him because she's afraid. Afraid of being alone, being lonely, having no one to protect her. They think that when she finds someone else, someone more handsome, more normal, she'll leave him.
They don't understand what beauty is.
When she was a girl in Hogwarts, she was a chameleon. If the person she liked at the time liked short hair, she'd cut it. Her eyes hidden behind contact lenses. Her heels higher.
Now she knew it didn't matter. She only changed the color of her hair, because she got bored with it, or when she need to go on a mission.
They don't understand what beauty is.
And how she feels safe and loved in his arms. And their bantering isn't annoying to them. And they really can't comprehend that when she looks into his eyes, she sees how beautiful he really is.
