Authors Note: Inspired by Lonesome Dove. I'm sorry if anything is offensive. It's a western, I know that the PC term is Native American but I use the term Indian, because it's a period piece. There will be good Indians, bad Indians, good white men, bad white men. Anyway, I've said my piece.
Also, the characters, Draco Malfoy has been turned into a girl in my story. I may change that. I'll flesh out the characters more as I go.
It was hot, the sun burned mercilessly down on the inhabitants of Hogsmead. Remus Lupin, a tall man with dirty hands, took a drink of whiskey and then many more as he was apt to do after a long days work. He was co-owner of The Black Ranch, a small horse trading business. They'd just gotten about thirty wild horses in, not much bigger than ponies and skinny as rails, and he'd spent the whole day hobbling them. It was thankless work and more than once did Remus almost get kicked. Only one kick connected to his shoulder and was bruising nicely, already parts of it had turned black. He rolled his shoulder with a groan. He wandered over to the half finished fence; it was one of the many projects Sirius had left unfinished on the ranch. He rode in one night from town and told Remus that they were going to become cowmen, they were going to go to Abilene, Kansas and get two or three hundred head of cattle bring them back to Black Ranch and sell them.
"I've driven enough cattle in my lifetime, followed too many smelly asses." Remus replied, knowing well enough that Sirius would make it to Abilene and come back with the idea to open a saloon or become blacksmiths or start a rattlesnake farm.
"Who in their right mind would start a rattlesnake farm? Where do you come up with these ideas? I'm talking about cattle, cows." The next day they started on the fence, they'd fence in an area large enough to hold a few thousand head of cattle. It was boring tedious work building the fence and Sirius soon got fed up. He got on his horse and started off to Abilene.
"You're going on a one man cattle drive?" Remus asked sitting on the front porch drinking. He watched Sirius get on his favorite mount, Salty, a sturdy, tall horse with a spontaneous attitude that matched Sirius's tit for tat. Salty wasn't a mean horse, he rarely bucked, only threw Sirius once due to a rattle snake, he was as mild tempered and agreeable as horses came. But even mounted Salty wouldn't necessarily go where his rider wanted him to, he didn't skirt from danger, he just wandered, when he saw something he liked he went towards it no matter how hard Sirius spurred him. He was stubborn. Remus couldn't understand why Sirius kept Salty; he was a worthless horse in his opinion. If a horse doesn't go the way a man wants it to what's the point?
"I'll get some hands in Abilene." When he got back two weeks later he didn't have one head of cattle or any hands. But he had gotten the notion to become a trapper.
Standing on the fence Remus looked for Sirius. Sirius had ridden off that morning without a word, which was like him. Sirius was apt to just leave when he felt like it. Remus didn't know what he did on those long rides, when he asked Sirius smiled.
"Why, I'm off killing Indians. I killed five Comanche's for you." After that Remus stopped asking. He knew that there weren't many Comanche's left and the ones that were didn't have too much fight left in them. A few still terrorized lost settlers or occasionally a lone, drunk cowboy would wind up scalped and castrated. Remus doubted that Sirius even saw an Indian on one of his rides, but he still wondered what, if not killing Indians, he was doing out there for all those hours, sometimes leaving before dawn and getting back after dark. It didn't bother Remus much, but it made for quiet evenings, he took to going into town and wasting hours in the saloon, if only for the conversation. Some nights he was content to read, but as there weren't that many cowboys or ranchers who were literate, literature was hard to get a hold of and he had to send away to big cities if he wanted new reading material. Sirius couldn't read and didn't want to learn anyway, he knew just the bare minimum to get by. He could write and read his own name. Remus did the writing and reading and Sirius did the dreaming and wandering.
The night was quiet, even the piano in the salon was quiet. Remus looked back at the empty house and decided to go into town. If no one was in the saloon he could always rent the whore who lived above it. She wasn't much but she was something and she liked to talk, even if most of it was useless talk. And she was better priced than Madame McGonagall's whores.
The saloon was near empty, Binns the decrepit bartender and owner was talking to Madame McGonagall, who was giving him a hard time about his establishment. She had a sharp unrelenting tongue and anyone who crossed her came in contact with it. Everything seemed to offend her, nothing more than Sirius Black. He'd made one too many of her girls fall in love with him.
"There's nothing more useless than a whore in love." She'd snapped many times. Remus used to go to her girls because they were cleaner, she made them wash regularly unlike the whore above the saloon who was dirty and smelled, but he went to her anyway to avoid Madame McGonagall's wrath. When someone went into her establishment looking for a poke she looked at them so hard and condescending that many turned back. She kept a bible in each of her whores' rooms, though none could read.
"This establishment is an embarrassment to this town! Look at this bar!" She raised a firm hand and smacked a fly dead that was on the bar. Binn's looked up at Remus as he walked through the door and smiled with relief.
"Excuse me, I have other costumers to attend to." He shuffled to the other end of the bar. McGonagall looked around sternly.
"Costumers? That's just Lupin." She spat his name with distaste; she liked him about as much as she liked Sirius due to the fact that he didn't use her whores. She hated the ones that did and she hated the ones that didn't. But Binn's ignored her and filled a glass up with whiskey for Remus.
"Why, you could hire her on and she could kill all your flies." Remus jested although Binn's didn't laugh, he wasn't the laughing type and this particular joke made him cringe. He shuffled back to Remus with his drink. Remus looked around for anyone else, he downed his drink and got up.
"Is Sally upstairs?" McGonagall made a noise of disapproval and Remus was worried for a moment he might get bogged down in one of her lectures.
"She's up there if you have the money." Binn's bit hotly, irritated that he would be left alone with McGonagall again. Remus didn't feel too much sympathy for Binn's and showed it by getting up and walking upstairs. He knocked on the girl's door. It flung open and Sally stood there half naked, her greasy black hair twisting in her hands.
"I knew it was you, I recognized your knock. I knew before I even opened the door." It struck Remus, as soon as she spoke, that he wasn't in the mood for her conversation. This happened most times he came to her. The memory of her was always sweeter than the reality, and every time she opened her door and opened her mouth he wondered why he'd spent so much of the day anticipating coming to her. He paid her for his poke and pulled his carrot out of his pants. He did it quickly and quietly, she didn't though. She took her time taking off her dress, although she only had half of it on and she talked the whole way through the undressing and the sex. Afterwards she wanted him to lay with her, but he told her no, said he wanted a drink and some dinner. Persistently she offered to go down to the bar and bring some up to him, but again he declined. He got dressed and she got dressed, and when he went downstairs she followed and sat down next to him. He wished she hadn't, he knew that she wanted him to be more than just a customer, but he couldn't bring himself to marry her. He almost did once, went up and knocked on her door with every intention of asking her to marry him, but as soon as she opened the door the idea vanished from his head.
When he came back down the saloon was considerably fuller than it had been. There were two whores, they didn't drink, not when Madame McGonagall was near, but they sat at the bar when men were around. Remus recognized one of the whores, a sweet girl who was getting older and already had one kid, but the other one was new, young, and green. He tipped his hat at them and the young one blushed.
"Son of a gun and there he is! Remus Lupin it's been dern too long. You're a sight." Remus whipped around and came face to face with a tall old man with a long white beard. Remus broke out into a smile and the two heartily shook hands.
"What the hell are you doing here Dumbledore?" The old man beckoned Remus to sit down at his table. There was a small, gangly boy with a mass of unruly black hair. He was in shredded clothing, a worn, beaten hat, and brand new boots with shinned silver spurs that glinted in the light. Dumbledore ordered a round of drinks which Binn's took his time getting.
"This saloon has the worst service. Why, I bet I'm twice the age of that shriveled up ol' string bean, but I move twice as fast." He opened up his coat pocket and pulled out a green glass bottle and pulled out the cork, guzzling it down. It was an elixir bought from a traveling medicine man.
"You still drink that stuff?" Remus asked. He remembered when he used to do cattle drives with Dumbledore the old man would insist on having a whole crate of the elixir where ever he was. Remus thought it was mad, it was just alcohol and syrup and maybe some spices, usually just pepper, why lug a heavy crate of it unnecessarily? But Dumbledore was a strange old man and there wasn't nothing to do but get used to his ways.
"It gets me up in the morning. It keeps me young." He slipped the bottle back in his jacket and patted it proudly.
"It keeps you drunk is what it does. This stuff does it faster and cheaper." Remus drowned his whiskey as soon as Binn's put it down in front of him. The girl was standing behind them; no one had invited her to sit. "You on another drive?"
"Heading up to Nebraska, just stopped by to see if you and Sirius were still here and if I could get a decent poke. And I need a few more hands." He drank his whiskey and eyed the dirty whore behind disapprovingly. He preferred the cleaner ones at the bar and hoped Remus didn't volunteer his whore. But Remus didn't even think of it, he'd forgotten she was behind him at all.
"Sirius and I are retired cowboys, you know that. We ran with you long enough. But there is a family just up the road that got too many mouths to feed and not enough food. Two of their boys have gone away already, but there are plenty of others to choose from. Molly Weasly was blessed with a whole passel of boys."
A pretty, pale girl walked in the saloon, turning up her nose instantly in disgust. She wore a fine white dress and white gloves with lace trim. Her cheeks were pink and her hair, although loose was still curled tightly at eh ends. Remus didn't notice her come in until she was standing over them and Dumbledore addressed her.
"Why if it isn't Miss Malfoy. What brings you to these parts of town?" He laughed. "This here is Miss Draco Malfoy, she's run away from home and has not a cent to her name, but she has some mighty fine clothing, don't you girl? It was my great misfortune to come across her. We tried to point her towards the nearest town and told her to sell her pretty clothes and become a whore, but this here lady is above whoring and refused to sell her clothes."
Remus had never seen a woman quite like Draco. She was short and slim in the waist, her face was sunken in and drawn, and soft bags had developed under her steely grey eyes, but all that he could tell was from extensive travel that she wasn't accustomed to. She had dainty white hands and soft blond hair that hung around her long delicate neck. He agreed that she was too good for whoring. Even the ladies in the larger towns he'd been in didn't look like her. Then had more cooler and though well dressed and in lace and furs with their hair curled, rolled, and pinned, they looked like they belonged. He couldn't imagine one town where she could go where she'd look like she'd belong.
"We offered to sell her a horse but she'd run out of money, which is why her ride pitched her out in the middle of nowhere. She was quite fat when we found her, but she's thinned out. We gave her a pony but she wouldn't ride it. But after a whole day of walking she rode it and has been following our outfit ever since." The woman glared at Dumbledore without a trace humor in her face.
"I was never fat." She said tartly and sat down. She wouldn't have a drink when offered, and refused to look at anyone in the entire saloon. But Remus couldn't help but look at her, not many people in the saloon could. None of them had seen anything like her. The whores had taken an instant interest in her; they were interested in her fine clothing. She smelled like perfume, sweet flowery perfume that mingled with the smell of alcohol, dirt, and smoke. Dumbledore noticed that Remus was paying Draco attentions.
"She's temperamental, she'll bite you if you get close enough. I had half a mind to hobble her every night." Remus ignored Dumbledore's sore jab at the girl. He prided himself in being able to appreciate the finer things; he'd studied art in university before Sirius convinced him to become a cowboy. She reminded him of the girls in paintings, fair, soft, delicate, and their skin illuminated. But she had a surly look on her face and did her best to distance herself from them although she was sitting at the same table.
"What's going to happen to her?" He asked Dumbledore who looked more than indifferent.
"I was hoping to drop her off at some whore house. Is McGonagall still here, I figured she'd take her in. She'll die if she follows us for too much longer. The bit she followed us for was the easy part. If the weather doesn't kill her an Indian will pick her off, her hair would make a fine trophy for a warrior." The girl stiffened as he spoke.
"This is the Potter's boy." Dumbledore added. The boy didn't make any sign that he heard Dumbledore. "I picked him up a week ago, I stopped by his uncle's horse farm to check up on the boy, James was the best hand I'd ever hired and I wanted to pay my respects. When I got there I found he was treated no better than a slave. I had a right mind to shoot that damn Dursley."
"James's son." Remus looked at the boy as close as he could, but he couldn't see much behind the mass of unruly black hair. James' had had unruly hair. Remus and Sirius rode with James for most of their lives—until James went and got himself and his wife killed. Remus knew about Harry but he never expected to meet the kid. A year after James was killed Remus and Sirius gave up the cowboy life and settled down in Texas.
"He's skinny but a hard worker. He's far more confident than that dern fool Vernon at taming horses. He can't be bucked, I've seen him on a bucking mare hell bent on throwing him who threw my most experienced boys." Dumbledore was always prone to talk three times as much as anyone else in his company. Remus was only half listening; he was too busy thinking about James' and how he was dead and now here was his son.
"He'll do anything you ask. They had him cooking and cleaning and wasting away while their own son got fat as a cow." Draco, bored with the conversation now that it had turned from her to the kid, picked at the lace in her dress. Her dress had once been stark white but was now covered in a light layer of dust, the hem was heavy with dirt and torn. It irked her. She was also upset at her prospects. Dumbledore had made it clear that she wouldn't be tolerated following the herd any longer, which was fine with her except she didn't want to stay in the dusty, hot town where apparently her only choice of employment was to become a whore. It bothered her further that Remus was staring at her so persistently. She did her best not to look at him back.
"Can you cook?" Remus asked her directly, finally getting the nerve up to talk to her. Dumbledore had ordered more drinks and was getting rather ruddy faced; the idea of Draco cooking made him laugh out loud so hard he almost fell out of his seat. Remus waited for Draco to respond but she didn't.
"I have a small outfit just three miles from here, there are only two of us and the food has been near inedible since we settled there. We had a cook but had to hang him after he tried to make away with forty horses." He was afraid he'd made the offer seem unappealing to her.
"We have a nice room, it's small but once we clean it out and put a bed in it, and you'll get a small wage, I reckon, if you do a good job." Finally she looked at him.
"I don't need your pity." She replied snobbishly. Dumbledore was quick to agree with her.
"She'd be worthless to you Remus. Harry here would be a great asset. He can cook and tame horses." Remus looked at Harry who remained impassive. Harry had been glad when Dumbledore had taken him away from the Dursley's. He'd been willing enough to follow the herd and pull his weight. He hadn't had any herding experience, and almost no exposure to cows except for the dairy cow Petunia made him milk. He got along well; he slept away from the camp and mainly kept to himself. He ate by himself and rode by himself; they only one who talked to him was Dumbledore and he never had much to say back. He was obliged to the man and treated with respect. All the men treated Dumbledore with respect.
"I don't see you have many options Miss Malfoy." Remus said, turning back to the girl. "Either you take my offer or you become a whore." Sally had stood behind him still with a jealous look in her face. She didn't like fact that this woman had monopolized Remus and she was hurt, and furthermore she was startled by her hurt. She never expected anything from anyone until she'd met Remus. She'd had dreams about being married and settled and cared for, but she thought she'd left them far back in her past. Remus had managed to stir up those hopes and dreams of her green youth and now this woman blows in with a herd and got Remus clearly smitten.
"My father—" She began hotly then remembered she'd run away from her father and that she was in a saloon in the middle of Texas.
"I don't see your father, Miss Malfoy. Would you kindly point him out to me?" Dumbledore laughed at Remus's rebuke. He always had liked Remus. He was his favorite to talk with. Sirius had never been much for conversation, he sat and day dreamed on his horse, only when he got some idea lodged into his head did he start talking. He took a gleam to his eyes and talked fast and enthusiastically to anyone in ear shot, which was usually Remus or James and cow asses. The other time Sirius spoke freely was when he was mad, and he had been testy with many of the cowboys, he'd whacked many with the barrel of his gun. Dumbledore chuckled to himself remembering quite a few green cow hands stumbling around hurt and confused after coming into contact with Sirius's rage.
Draco was angry with herself. She was angry at Dumbledore. She was angry at the presumptuous cowboy sitting next to her. Remus and Dumbledore had started up a game of cards, they were both smoking. A third man had joined since Harry refused to play a hand or two. Draco didn't like the third man; he was a large buffalo hunter that traveled with Dumbledore. He was twice the size of most men and had small beady eyes that reminded Draco of small black beetles. He had a massive beard which he constantly dribbled tobacco down. It made Draco feel sick to her stomach every time she looked at his beard with a river of tobacco spit running down it. It stained his shirt and pants.
"I'm aiming to head out tomorrow morning, but first I want to sign on some new men." Dumbledore repeated. Remus acted as if he didn't hear Dumbledore at first, he was busy thinking over his hand. He thought of bluffing, but he knew Dumbledore never lost a hand, at least not one when he was the one who'd cut the cards. Remus knew that Dumbledore was an ardent cheat, but he'd never caught him at it so couldn't prove it. He himself cheated at cards all the time, he was lousy on his own but when he and Sirius tag teamed they could clean a man out of all his money and future wages. They tried to cheat on Dumbledore, but the old man beat them at it and worse had caught them in the act. He threw down his cards in frustration.
"I fold. If you want to get some boys try the Weasly's, like a told you, they've got boys to spare. Sirius and I ain't aiming to sign on with any cow outfit." He threw back one more shot of whiskey, he wasn't sure, actually, whether Sirius wouldn't want to go with Dumbledore. Sirius had been taking his long rides more and more lately and for longer stretches, Remus felt like he was getting restless, itching to leave Hogsmead and have some adventure. Sirius couldn't stay put in one place for too long. Remus also felt that pull towards adventure, but he'd ridden behind too many asses and was content to sit and drink whiskey and have a poke now and then.
"I'd like to see Sirius before I head out." Dumbledore was getting up and Hagrid was following suit. He didn't speak much; he mostly followed Dumbledore around diligently.
"You might have to go out and find him; I don't know where he's at. He rode off this morning." Sirius had had a tendency to ride away from camp, he would scout off ahead, or behind, or to the side, or anywhere he pleased. Sometimes he and Hagrid slipped up into the mountains, when there were mountains, and hunted. Hagrid was rumored to have killed five full grown male grizzlies, he wore a large fur coat made from three grizzly skins, he wore it all year round despite how hot it got.
"I'd be sorry to miss him." Dumbledore shucked a gold piece at Binn's and tipped his hat at Remus.
"You think about takin' the kid on as a hand." He added. "He'd be a sight better than Miss Malfoy there."
"Your father was a good man." He added, nodding towards Harry approvingly.
After Dumbledore left Remus realized the kid hadn't stayed in the saloon because he felt like it, he stayed because that was what Dumbledore had ordered him to. He looked between Miss Malfoy and Harry and realized that Dumbledore had left him with two wards. He also realized that Miss Malfoy hadn't accepted his offer.
"Well, come on." Was all he said, Harry stood up and followed dutifully, though he didn't say a word or lift his head. Remus couldn't gauge at all what the boy was feeling, but Draco made it quite clear how she felt. She refused to budge, she just sat there scowling deeply at the wall.
"Miss Malfoy, I'm willing to leave you behind but you can't live in that seat for the rest of your life. Should I put in a word for you with Madame McGonagall?" Draco stiffened but continued sitting.
"Well, suit yourself, ma'am. Good luck to you." He tipped his hat although she had her back turned to him and couldn't see. Harry didn't, Harry said nothing to her he wasn't at all concerned with what became of her. He felt indebted to Dumbledore and would do what he asked, if Dumbledore wanted him working as a hand for some horse traders he would, but he wasn't indebted or tied to Draco in any way. She could sit in the Saloon until her skin fell off and she was just a pile of bones for all he cared.
When Remus left Draco felt exposed. She sat stiffly, feeling the eyes of the men in the saloon. She bristled when one of the men approached her; he touched her shoulder and leaned his face next to hers. His breath stank like liquor and rotten food. She shrank from him and sharply slapped his hand. He didn't take well to being slapped, he grabbed for her hand, but she waved it out of his reach. He grabbed the back of her head and turned her face towards his and tried to kiss her. She saw a horrible greasy face coming towards hers, she struggled against his hold but he just laughed at her exposing his rotten, black teeth. As he laughed she felt him loosen his grip slightly, she escaped the grip and ran for the door.
"Why, that's the worst behaved whore I ever met."
End note: First chapter. We'll see… ) Next chapter we meet Hermione Granger.