Author note: James and Lily were killed because of Peter's betrayal. Voldemort was definitely killed the first time. Peter was arrested. Sirius is and always has been a free man. Harry lives with Sirius at Grimmauld Place except for when at school. Remus has never worked at Hogwarts.
It was a clear Tuesday morning. The sun was shining, birds were singing and Remus Lupin didn't have a care in the world. He had finally unpacked the last box of his small amount of possessions after recently moving into an apartment. His new accommodation was made by splitting a terraced house that was stuck in-between a long line of matching dwellings. Moving into permanent residence seemed like a good idea a few months ago, he now had a steady income from his book reviewing muggle job and the social confidence to move away from his childhood friend, with whom he'd been living with in London for the past eight months. His new-found confidence did not stretch too far though, for he had settled in a predominantly muggle town in the south east of England, on the outskirts of London; his interaction with the Wizarding world would therefore be limited along with the prejudice it entails. Remus' job allowed for flexibility and so found he had nothing to do for the rest of the day. Bored, he chose to go for a wander.
The smell of freshly baked goods enticed him further down the high street and lured him to a midday snack of a very muggle treat of Gypsy Tart. Sweet tooth satisfied and tummy contented, the werewolf made his way along a less crowded path.
Books, somehow he knew they were there before he saw them. It was an old fashioned shop, wooden frames around the window and door and sign in calligraphy. A little bell rang announcing his arrival. The countless rows of books made him miss the library back at Grimmauld Place and the unlimited store of books it offered.
The lycanthrope moved through the shop glancing at the book spines and absorbing the words like a lifeline. As if by magic he reached out and gently removed a book from the shelf in front of him. It was a copy of a story his mother would read to him as a boy when he was sick, it had been misplaced after her death and he didn't realise how much he'd missed it until that moment.
Remus made his way over to the cashier point that seemed to be vacated. Glancing around, he realised that he was alone in the small shop. There was no bell on the desk so he chose to clear his throat instead.
A bright and flustered young women jumped up from behind the desk almost startling the thirty-something werewolf. "Wotcher, how can I help?"
"Uh," he stumbled. She wore a purple short sleeved t-shirt with a pair of dark jeans. But what stood out most was the unusual and unique colour of her hair. The bubble gum pink seemed to radiate from her tresses. "I'd like to purchase this book please?"
"Well you came to the right place." She answered straight off the bat, a smile everlasting on her heart shaped face.
He handed her the book, their fingers grazing ever so slightly. His breath hitched.
"Err…" She pondered flipping the book over in her hands; "that'll be three pounds."
He reached into his pocket and fished out an assortment of coins "Here we are." He dropped the coins into her palm. In her rush to place the money into the till, her hand knocked the counter sending the coins spilling onto the floor and at her feet. However, instead of stooping down and collecting the loose change she stayed upright.
He looked at her questioningly and slightly bemused.
"Don't worry I'll get it later."
"Are you sure? I could lend you a hand." He offered.
"No," she leant forward to obscure his view of the ground behind the counter, "it's fine. Enjoy your book." She told him as she forced the book into his hand.
"As long as you're sure…" He smiled taking the book.
She nodded. "Have a nice day."
"You too." He turned and exited the shop, book in hand and a smile on his scarred face.
"Oh thank Merlin." She released a deep breath, "you still got him Edwards?" She turned around to find the familiar skinny, blond man practically lying on the floor to hold down the dark wizard beneath him who'd been moonlighting as a shop owner.
Her work partner gave her one of his signature cheeky grins; "have I ever let you down Tonks?" He asked her.
"Do you want me to mention that one time?" She teased as she picked up and dusted off her Auror robes that she had thrown on the floor with her quick thinking. "You might as well leave the silencing charm on him."
Riley Edwards got to his feet pulling the balding dark wizard with him. "Agreed." Moving his wand, wordlessly ropes appeared and the man was secured and levitated. "Good on ya, for the quick thinking," he complemented as Tonks crouched down to collect the fallen money from earlier.
"Well you weren't doing very much were you?" She smiled at him and placed the loose coins on the counter. He knew she meant no harm by her remark, they had worked together long enough to know when the other was really pissed off. "We should get out of here before someone else comes knocking, looking for a book;" she stated as she turned the open sign to 'closed' and locked the door.
"Do you think that bloke suspected anything?"
"Nah, muggles don't see anything do they?" She grinned, looking through the large window at the muggles walking down the road, going in and out of shops, oblivious to the people that lived amongst them, that there were people in the shadows who constantly had to keep them and their precious world safe from the hands of dark magic.
With a wave of Riley's hand the blind fell over the window, surrounding the three people in darkness, giving them the perfect cover to disapparate, leaving a crack in the air behind them and making books fall onto the floor, pages laying open with no one left to pick them up.
They apparated to the Ministry of Magic where the defendant would be put in a holding cell to be tried at a later date.
Later Tonks was finally in the solitude of her office cubical, she sat lazily in her chair, leaning back as far as the chair would let her while her feet that were enchased in her chunky black boots rested on her desk.
Her eyes were momentarily closed, her mind filled with an image of the man she'd met in the book shop, the mysterious scars on his face haunting her. Shaking her head, Tonks put it down to the fact she was an auror and so was naturally drawn to people who had some sort of darkness within.
"Tonks?" She looked up and saw Riley walking into her cubical with two sandwiches in hand.
"Ah, what did you get us today, it better not be dragon balls again," she eyed the blond carefully.
"I told you they were not dragon balls!" Riley grumbled at her as he pushed her feet off of her desk only to have them be replaced by Riley himself who sat down and offered her one of the sandwiches "Mustard with a bit of roast beef," he teased at her obsession with mustard.
"Thanks!" Tonks snatched the sandwich from his grasp before lifting her feet to kick him from where he sat on her desk making him jump up.
"Hey!" he glared at her, "Witch," he muttered not looking at her right in the eyes.
"What was that?" She asked him, giving him a stern look.
Riley cleared his throat before speaking; "I've got a spare ticket to see the Weird Sisters this Friday, do you wanna come?" He asked, his blue eyes almost hopeful.
"Oh Edwards," Tonks shook her head; "We've been over this, I like you, we're friend, let's not make this weird." She told him; "plus I hear that Henrietta Jenkins really like's you, why don't you ask her?" Tonks suggested with a devilish smile.
"Maybe I will, I mean I'm sure I'd have a better chance at getting a goblin to go out with me than you." Edwards grumbled as he walked out of the office cubical.
Tonks once again lent back in her chair, put her feet up on the desk and began to eat her sandwich while thinking of that mystery man again.
Remus was sat in his small living room engrossed in his new addition to his personal mini library and enjoying a cup of tea and not to mention a small bar of Honeydukes finest chocolate.
As much as he'd like to say that he was fully enthralled by the book in his hand; Remus had to admit that his mind was wandering to the ever enchanting woman at the book shop. Her vivid pink hair wouldn't let his mind rest, nor did her captivatingly bright smile. He knew it sounded odd, but he couldn't deny the urge to want to see her again. He didn't even know her name. 'Stop it Remus, there's no point even thinking about her; it would never work. Most Wizards can't accept you how can you expect a muggle to?'
And so there they both were, wandering in their own little worlds, dreaming about the other and thinking how different from one another they'd be. Oh, if only they knew the half of it.