"Hmm," the stout wizard said, his eyes scanning over Remus's writing. He had only stayed up half the night, writing and editing an article that he had entitled "The Wonders of Being A Werewolf", he had been very proud of it as he'd finally gotten into bed at 3AM that morning, but now, watching the wizard's unimpressed expression get more and more insulting; Remus wondered whether he actually would be likely to get a job at the Daily Prophet.
"Is that a good 'hmm', Sir?" Remus asked trying to lighten the awkward silence.
"Well," the wizard shifted in his seat, "It ain't exactly a bad one, but the writing," he scrunched up his face, "Well, could use some refining."
"R-Refining, Sir?" Remus asked, his face falling. He realised now that his earlier eagerness the jump into the art of writing may have been hastier than necessary. Remus had always assumed he had a knack for writing as he had always gotten top marks on his essays, but he supposed now that writing about the properties of Lacewing Flies and giving the emotive, inner feelings of being a werewolf differed somewhat.
"Yeah, well, what I mean to say," the wizard leaned forward and grabbed a cigar which he placed in his mouth and lit, "You've definitely got yourself some potential," he blew smoke out of his mouth, reminding Remus vaguely of a train, "What I would suggest is that you go out and get yourself some experience. Go on trips, find a small stand-alone newspaper and write for them; get some life experience, then rewrite this and bring it back."
"But, Sir, I've got all the life experience I could possibly need for a piece like that," Remus tried to make him see reason, "What more could I include?"
"That's what you've gotta find out for yourself," the wizard said, his grey eyes sparkling despite the dense smoke from his cigar which was filling the room. Remus sighed and reached for his article which he packed away into his briefcase. "You know what that is missing?" the wizard asking pointing at the parchment as Remus stuffed a loose corner of it so that it was concealed.
"Yes, Sir?" Remus asked.
"Love."
"Love?"
"Yep; I'm not seeing any romantic relationships of any sort in there, and no one wants to read about a lonely person who can't get some."
Remus cleared his throat, embarrassed at the sudden change of conversation, "That's a part of being a werewolf though," he said, refusing to make eye contact, "It's not exactly easy to maintain any relationships of the...romantic sort."
"Is that so?" the wizard asked, surveying Remus over his thick-framed lenses.
"Well...yeah."
"And that answer shows how very much you need to get out more, to live. Any romantic relationship is difficult to maintain, and yes werewolves need to work a little harder but it's not impossible, trust me."
"Sorry?" Remus asked curiously and the wizard smiled and pulled up the sleeve of his robes on his right arm; it was covered in three parallel scars, each about 12 inches long and clearly having been very deep. "Oh..." Remus breathed, shocked.
"Happened when I was 18, and yeah, it's been a hard life, but having my wife by my side has made it easier and worth living."
"You're married?" Remus asked softly.
"35 Years this May," the wizard said proudly, interlacing his fingers and resting them on his desk, "Your piece shows that you clearly know what it's like to be a werewolf, but there's so much more to it."
"I see," Remus said, "Well thank you then, I'll do as you said. The life experience and so on," He turned to face the door and put his hand on the knob.
"Good luck," the wizard said from behind him and Remus nodded and opened the door.
Remus wondered the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley for the rest of the afternoon, but didn't get very much done. By 5:00PM that afternoon, Remus had consumed two large peanut butter and marshmallow ice creams from Fortescue's place and wandered aimlessly into at least a dozen shops in which there was nothing he had any reason for wanting to buy. At one point he found himself in Pedro's Plantopia: Centre for Magical Flowers, Herbs and Grasses, staring at a bewitched Bonsai tree and marvelling lamely as it emitted puffs of purple glitter every few minutes.
When he decided to finally go home, he was passing Jubilante's Jewellery Emporium as Pandora Jubilante (soon to be Lovegood) was locking the door. Remus wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone but Pandora seemed so kind-hearted, it would have felt rude not to say hello, and besides, Lupin wondered, maybe he had a chance writing for the The Quibbler seeing as the Prophet wasn't interested, yet.
"Pandora!" Remus exclaimed, fixing his face into a look of contentedness. She turned around, her own face breaking into its own, genuine smile.
"Remus!" she said, slipping a bunch of keys into her bag, "What are you doing here? Have you come to apply for the job again? Have you been writing, like I said?"
"No and yes," Remus laughed, replying to her individual questions in one breath. Pandora's eyes widened and she looked delighted.
"Oh you must let me read them, er, that is, if they're not too personal. Although...wait you're dressed smartly"-she eyed him up and down-"Have you been to the Daily Prophet offices? Oh, are they going to publish it?" Pandora had quite the talent for jumping to conclusions.
"Erm, yes and no?" Remus attempted to answer both her questions again and Pandora sighed dramatically, a look of disappointment etched into her features.
"Come, join Xenophilius and me for dinner, Emilia will be there too." she held out her small hand.
"Who is Emilia?" Remus wondered aloud.
"My sister, silly, I saw you looking at her the other day, you seemed interested." Remus struggled to remember what the other witch who ran the shop had looked like but all he could picture was another Pandora.
"I couldn't intrude-" Remus began but Pandora cut him off instantly.
"Don't be ridiculous; come, Xeno would love to meet you, I've told him all about you and oh!" Pandora clapped a hand to her mouth, her eyes looked as though they would bulge out of her head, "You could discuss your article! I'm sure he would be happy to publish it for you!"
"Well, I-" Remus tried to speak again but before he could utter a single, proper word, Pandora had already grabbed his hand and turned on the spot and he felt the familiar compressing feeling as though he were being stuffed through a tube; they had Disapparated. Remus tried to balance himself in the new location and fought the urge to vomit before opening his eyes. They were standing on a hill in front of a peculiar looking house which was shaped like a large cylinder and was painted white with sapphire coloured swirls delicately painted all the way to the top. There was a small tree with small, plum-like fruits hanging from it at the bottom of a short staircase which lead to a rounded door.
"Xeno!" Pandora called as she hopped up the stairs and started turning a wheel connected to the wall of the house. Remus watched as a marigold coloured, duck-shaped kite grew closer and closer to the ground stopping only once Pandora had wound up the entire wheel and the kite was propped neatly to the side of the small landing in front of the door which opened and a rather tall man walked out of.
"Pan, my dear!" he exclaimed, kissing Pandora on the lips and then turning to Remus. The man had short, white-blonde hair, just like his wife and light blue eyes. He wore a poncho embroidered with several, multicoloured llamas which appeared to be prancing around in a scene on top of a volcano. Remus felt himself staring, encaptivated at the poncho in such a way that he almost didn't notice when Xenophilius Lovegood grasped his hand in a firm handshake.
"You must be Remus then, Remus Lupin? An absolute pleasure!" Xenophilius smiled widely and stepped aside so as to allow Remus to step inside his home which Remus did, trying to shake the deep interest he had had in Xenophilius' poncho not a moment ago. The inside of the Lovegood house was, if possible even stranger than the outside. The kitchen appeared to be made specifically for a cylindrical house as each counter folded neatly into each other. A round, peacock blue dining table stood in the centre with several fuchsia coloured chairs scattered around it. A large roasted bird sat in the centre of the table, surrounded by 3 large plates and one smaller bowl, obviously for Pandora's baby, Luna.
"Oh! I'll just add one more plate to the mix shall I? Please make yourself at home!" Xenophilius said hurrying over to a cupboard and pulling out a plate. Remus looked around at the rest of the first floor. The floor was carpeted in what appeared to be multiple carpets all sewn together, all pinks and blues and yellows strewn at random. There was a living room set in the corner and several bookshelves stacked high with books as well as a machine covered in a sheet which was emitting loud clanking noises regularly.
"Luna's fussing Pan, she refuses to go to sleep-oh, hello," came Pandora's sister's voice. She was coming down the stairs, Baby Luna dressed in pale lilac robes making her best effort to clamour out of her aunt's arms.
"Hello," Remus said smiling at her, now that he saw her, out of the shop; she looked far more normal and actually quite pretty. She was dressed in mauve coloured robes and her hair was braided, tiny white daisies poking out of it. She had dark blue eyes which twinkled as she smiled back at Remus.
"I didn't know you were joining us," she said throwing her sister a furtive glance as Luna carried on bouncing in her arms.
"Oh, yes, I ran to into him just as I was closing up," Pandora said dreamily poring herself a glass of light green liquid, "By the way, Xeno, he's written something you could put into the magazine." she told her fiancé.
"Oh, well I-" Remus stammered but Xenophilius beamed.
"Excellent!" he said loudly, rubbing his hands together, "But first, let us eat, I'm sure we're all starved."
Remus seated himself at the table as Emilia put Luna into a high chair and sat down next to him.
"I do hope you enjoy pheasant, Remus?" Xenophilius indicated the roasted bird on the table and Remus nodded as Pandora piled potatoes onto his plate.
Once everyone was seated and had their meals in front of them, Remus got a real sense of just how odd the Lovegood house was. Discussions ranged from the current economic problems in Australia to the weather conditions in Brazil and changed just as quickly as they were brought up. Conversation was one fluid, constant at the table and was never haltered, even as they all ate.
After dinner, Pandora and Emilia had taken Luna over to the lounge section of the room and Remus remained seated with Xenophilius and together they drank the green liquid, which Remus had found to be rather enjoyable as it tasted of frosted watermelon. Xenophilius had been most keen to hear Remus's article and simply insisted that Remus allowed him to put it into The Quibbler. Remus had felt rather uneasy about telling someone he had only just met about his "furry little problem" however he eventually convinced himself to do it, after remembering what the wizard at the Prophet offices had told him.
Remus had been relieved to see that Xenophilius hadn't reacted badly and instead his smile grew even bigger, "What an experience!" he gasped, his already large eyes widening.
"Well, yes, I suppose it is," Remus said.
"And your article, it's about being a werewolf then?" Xenophilius asked, pouring himself another glass of the watermelon drink.
"Oh yes, all about it." Remus replied, smiling.
"Well, I would be simply honoured to include it in this month's issue then! Do you have it hear?" he said.
"I do," Remus said and removed the parchment from his briefcase. Sliding it across the table he said "I was told it needed refining though."
Xenophilius shook his head, "I believe in putting an author's article, word for word into the magazine, otherwise it just isn't authentic." Remus smiled.
"Of course, I'll be paying you for it," Xenophilius told him.
"No, no, I wouldn't expect you to at all!" Remus said, ready to refuse any money at all from Xenophilius Lovegood.
"It's part of the basic publishing process," Xenophilius told him, "It's routine; 10 Galleons to each article writer. I cannot accept no for an answer, it's against my policy."
Remus felt quite relieved, although he had been ready to refuse payment, he also knew how much he needed it. "Well, if you're sure..."
Xenophilius nodded vigorously and folded up the piece of parchment.
Remus yawned and got up, "Well, I should be going then." Pandora and Emilia got up and walked across the room to say goodbye. "Thank you so much for the wonderful supper, and for agreeing to publish my piece." Remus said gratefully and shook Xenophilius's hand. He then recieved a bone crushing hug from Pandora who told him he was always welcome for dinner or to visit, but when it was Emilia's turn to say goodbye Pandora pulled Xenophilius with her into a corner and winked at him.
"Er, goodnight then," Emilia said, smiling lightly at her sister's antics.
"We should go out some time," Remus blurted out and then quickly covered his mouth his hand, his eyes wide. Emilia laughed but nodded.
"I'd like that." She hugged him quickly and then he collected his briefcase and his jacket and stepped out the front door. Smiling to himself, he turned on the spot and Disapparated, reappearing a moment later right outside the front door of his apartment. Sighing happily, he let himself in, his jubilant mood broken only when he noticed another grey letter with Azkaban's symbol on it sitting on the kitchen table.
