Anything for You
Introduction
a prequel to I Don't Know You Anymore
~redwood
Disclaimer:
Everything belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am not making any money, no infringement is intended.Summary:
Well… I was in a tragic mood, what can I say? Anything for You is supposed to be the alarmingly depressing prequel for I Don't Know You Anymore. All you depressing Remus fic f-reeks, enjoy!Author's Note:
This has turned out to be a much longer fic than I would have imagined- probably at least as long as I Don't Know You Anymore. Thus I have decided to post it in four parts. Parts one, two, and three will be out soon, how soon depending on the reader response, so… respond. Review. Suggest. Be creative…*……………*……………*……………*……………*……………*……………*……………*
If only
I had the guts to feel this way
If only
You'd look at me and want to stay
If only
I'd take you in my arms and say
I won't go
'Cause I need you
Please don't go,
'Cause I need you now
- If Only, Hanson
*……………*……………*……………*……………*……………*……………*……………*
A deceptively cheerful Monday morning dawned in Muggle London, where some very non-Muggle people were making their way towards a café that went unnoticed by the Muggle types- The Leaky Cauldron. One of these non-Muggle people was James Potter, who was quite intent on making his entrance to the wizard world.
Potter spent barely a moment inside the café- long enough to say hello to Tom, the bartender who must have been nearly as old as Dumbledore, and rushed out the back, tapping his wand on the appropriate brick and stepping into a very different world.
Diagon Alley was well-known in the wizard world, and nonexistent as far as the Muggles were concerned- most of them, that is. A few, decreed mentally unstable by other Muggles, who had slipped the attention of the Ministry of Magic, were locked up in rubber-walled rooms with straightjackets on, raving about dragons, magic wands, unforgivable curses, hexes, frogs that talked…
But I'm losing my train of thought. It seems that I've spent far too much time among said Muggles. Very well. It is in this alley that our story begins, and it's in this alley that it will finish, although that chapter is not yet written. So where was I? Ah, yes. The alley.
Shops by the dozens- shops for magical wands, spellbooks, potion ingredients, wizard's robes, and the most delicious ice cream imaginable lined the street. As a matter of fact it was in front of the ice cream shop that the person- persons, actually- waiting for James were situated.
"I've got the letters," James said quietly, disturbing the idle chatter of his friends. Lily, behind whom he was directly standing, squealed, jumped up, and wrapped him in the biggest hug and kiss she could manage with her petite 5' 4" frame. It was quite obvious to James (Mm, he thought, Strawberry.), as well as to the others, that Lily had had far too much sugar; the others resolved to never again let her eat an entire super-deluxe ice cream cone by herself. (James didn't mind.)
Sirius, straight to the point as ever, said, "So let's have it, then. Are we in?"
James distributed the envelopes. "If anyone other than the intended recipient views his or her letter, it'll blank until that person is present," he explained. "So don't show anyone…"
They sat there a moment, the six of them: James Potter and his wife of one month, Lily, Remus Lupin, Allya Jade Nightrunner, Mioré Lancaster and Sirius Black, just pondering what could be inside.
"Well," Remus said finally, glancing down. "Might as well have it, then…" He and Allya slit open their envelopes. A quick rush of breath confirmed what they already knew: they were in. Lily and James, too, opened their envelopes. Smiles and a sly wink added the group to four.
Mioré looked at Sirius, who gestured for her to go first. She did, and the quiet, "Yesss…" made the team five. Sirius took one last glance at his package and opened it quickly.
One look, and- "Excellent!" Sirius whooped, jumping up and nearly knocking over the entire table. Six of them. It was nearly unheard of.
"To the Ministry, then?" asked one of the newest Aurors on the team.
"To the Ministry building," James agreed, and so it was to that building that they went.
"You know," Lily said, on the way, "This means I'm going to have to quit my job at the Daily Prophet. That's really too bad. I liked that job."
"I'm sure you'll enjoy this one, too, Sparky," Allya replied distractedly. Lily and James shared a mysterious smile- Allya was concentrating more on Remus' form than on what anyone was saying. They were privy to the not-so-very secret knowledge that Remus and Ally were in the process of getting back together- again. James didn't see what all the run-around was for. Remus should've just asked her to marry him and gotten it over with. It wasn't as if they weren't going to end up together in the long run.
Allya and Remus had been in this on-again, off-again relationship since they were fifteen- that was a solid four years, plus a few months. They were nearly twenty years old- fresh out of a sort of magic college. It was beginning to get old- James and Lily had only broken up once, but Allya and Remus' breakups numbered somewhere near sixteen. As for Sirius and Mioré- well, they still weren't officially together, but everyone knew it would happen someday.
James smiled to himself. Things were finally going their way- he and Lily were together forever, their friend-couples (an expression he'd made up himself) would be there soon, and they were on their way to the base of operations for the fight against Voldemort. So why did he have a bad feeling about this?
The Auror briefing was long and boring- at least, that's what it would be if I described it, so I won't. The new defense team- Auror group Beta-b-beta, found it quite interesting… except for Sirius, who fell asleep, and Mioré, who passed the time gazing at Sirius and wondering when he'd ask her out. And Allya and Remus, who were busy getting back together, and James who was planning to ask Lily to marry him, until he remembered that they were already married, at which point he just told her that he loved her.
Lily paid attention. She filled the others in after the meeting, in many less words with much more expression. By that time it was 7:30 and time for dinner.
James and Lily Apparated back to their flat in Muggle London to eat. Sirius and Mioré went who-knew-where, but it was the last time they ever went anywhere single. Ally and Remus took a side door from the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron and ended up in a classy dining establishment.
In this particular chapter of our story, where James, Lily, Sirius and Mioré went almost doesn't matter. Our story lies with the other two- with Remus Lupin and Allya Jade Nightrunner.
"Nice place," Ally observed, tapping her wand above her head to transform her robes into something a bit more elegant and style her hair. She performed a similar transfiguration on Remus' robes, but left his hair as it was. She thought his spiky brown hair looked cute messed up.
"Glad you like it," Remus said, pulling out her chair for her and sitting down across the table. "You look a little tense."
"Bad vibes about the job is all," Allya said, hoping she believed herself.
"You'll do fine, partner," Remus assured her, winking. As a security measure, the six-member Auror teams were divided into partner pairs- alpha, beta, and gamma pairs. James and Sirius were paired as alpha; Lily and Mioré made up gamma. This left Remus and Allya's full designation Auror Team Beta-b-beta-beta. They found this understandably funny, and nicknamed themselves B4.
"I still can't believe team names are so unimaginative, I mean, Beta-b-beta? That's stupid!"
Remus baited, "Believe it or not, I didn't invite you here to talk about work."
Her eyes narrowed as she rose to the challenge. "Well, then, Remus," Ally countered, "you invited the right girl, because I didn't come here to talk about work, either."
"I didn't need to know that to know that I invited the right girl."
Allya blushed. "Flirt."
Remus gave a roguish grin. "Remus one, Allya zero."
She cocked her head sideways. "I'm not sure I understand your scoring method, but I'll give you that one."
"You'll understand my scoring method in a couple hours, Sweet Cheeks." Another grin, and another wink.
"Ouch," Allya said, laughing. "I set you up for that."
"You most certainly did. Remus two, Allya zero."
END OF INTRODUCTION
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