You know me.
Sirius.
That was it. That had been all that Sirius had written in his letter, now pinned to the wall in Remus's kitchen. It had been scrunched up and folded several times, a sign of the times he had gotten angry with it and tried to forget about it, but currently he was in a state of consideration. The truth was that he did know Sirius, and a story such as this one, generally, wouldn't even be associated with the likes of his ex-best friend. But, then, war changes people, Remus thought. These thoughts chased each other daily and well into the night, imprinting themselves firmly into his brain. But he didn't give Sirius the satisfaction of knowing this.
Besides, there were far more important written things that caused Remus's mind to go into overdrive. His article had just been published in The Quibbler and Remus spent most of his time at Xenophilius Lovegood's house helping him open fan mail and staying alert for anything about his piece about being a werewolf.
One the first day there had been nothing, "Don't worry yourself," Xenophilius had told him, "The first day is always letters about the glorious cover art," he shoved a copy of the magazine under Remus's nose, "Look at it, by the talented Miss Birdie Gericho, isn't it wonderful?" Remus had given the cover a quick glance - making a mental note never to buy any artwork by the witch as it consisted of a badly drawn elephant covered in tiny, orange mirrors - nodded and continued opening envelopes.
The next day there was a letter by a cleverly named "Anoni Mouse" who had proceeded to rant about the bad representation of spotted-hair-syndrome. A sickness that they had most likely both invented and self-diagnosed themselves with. They had also made a comparison between the alienation having the sickness brought and the stigma around lycanthropy which Remus had not only found horrendously offensive but also ridiculously inaccurate. Again, though, Xenophilius had told him not to worry; the ranters took up mostly the second and third days, but after that the comments on articles would come in.
Remus was pleased to discover that he had been right, as, on the fourth day, upon opening a butterscotch yellow envelope, he found a letter written in spiky handwriting.
"Dear Mr Person Who Wrote the Article," Remus read aloud to Xenophilius and grinning, "My mom let me read your article because she wants me to learn that some people are different and that's okay. I'm different too. I can change how I look when I want to. It's really fun but some people don't understand and that makes me sad. I hope you are not sad. Being different is good. Love (as a friend) Tonks." Remus felt tears prickling his eyes as his heart rose but he didn't let Xenophilius see.
"And on the fourth day," Xenophilius said triumphantly, "There are the ones worth waiting for."
"Do you often get letters like these?" Remus asked, folding up the letter and putting it in his pocket.
"Oh, yes, often. People are happy to get the chance to read about more than just Hogwarts and the latest scandal in the Ministry. We provide the real news," he said proudly, "Lots of information on the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"
"Er, yeah," Remus nodded, reaching for a white envelope and opening it. "Ah! Another thank you!" he said, smiling as he read it. A witch thanked him for speaking the truth and admitted to her own plight as a werewolf in the Wizarding World.
"I must go and prepare supper, will you be staying?" Xenophilius asked tying a rainbow coloured apron around his waist. Remus thought with horror of the Dirigible Plum soup he had been subjected to the previous night.
"No, really, thank you but I should go home. I have a, er, owl that needs looking after," The Azkaban owl had been spending long amounts of time with Remus in his kitchen as he thought repetitively of Sirius' words.
"Oh," Xenophilius said, disappointed, "It's just, Emilia was hoping to see you." Remus looked up.
"What? She-She was? Oh well then-"
"But your owl does need looking after," Xenophilius wondered, oblivious to Remus' sudden change of mood, "I remember an owl I had as a child, Bernie, his name was. I always gave him as much attention as I could. They're just like people you see..." he went on about owls as Remus began packing up several piles of envelopes into his briefcase, nodding all the while.
"Tomorrow then?" Remus said.
"Absolutely!" Xenophilius clapped his hands together, grinning widely.
"Will, er, Emilia be here?" Remus asked, trying to act casual.
"Oh you dog, you!" Xenophilius smiled knowingly, "Yes she shall."
"Um, okay then," Remus nodded, smiling slightly to himself, "See you then."
"Safe Disapparition!" Xenophilius called as Remus shut the front door. He sighed and Disapparated, taking a deep breath as he arrived back in his kitchen.
He checked his watch and noticed the date with a slight sinking feeling. It was the 11th of January, Lily Potter's would be twenty-second birthday. Remus conjured up a bright green candle, the colour of her eyes, and lit it with her wand.
"Happy Birthday Lil," he said out loud and set the candle down on the counter.
"Lovely dinner, darling, as always." Pandora kissed her husband on the cheek. Remus suppressed a slight shudder as he felt his stomach trying to digest the meal he had just been served; sheep's head with carrot and dirigible plum gravy. He heard a low snicker from across the table and looked up to see Emilia laughing silently. She flashed her napkin filled with food and he returned a grin. Luna started squirming in her high chair.
"Bedtime, Luna-Posey!" Pandora said, scooping up her daughter.
"I shall join the Putting-To-Bed-Ceremony!" Xenophilius said, getting up and grabbing what appeared to be a lantern made of feathers and leaping up the stairs ahead of his wife. The odd couple's exit was observed with looks of amusement from Remus and Emilia.
"My sister's always been weird," she said, "At least she found someone as stark-raving mental as herself to marry."
"They are a perfect couple," Remus agreed, nodding.
"So, I've considered what you asked me last week," Emilia told him, smiling.
"Oh, yeah?" Remus said.
"Would you like to go to The Hollow with me tomorrow night?" she asked and there wasn't a hint of nervousness in her voice. Remus couldn't decide if he admired Emilia's forthrightness or felt intimidated by it but he replied nevertheless.
"I would be most honoured," he told her.
"Do you even know what The Hollow is?" Emilia questioned him, raising her eyebrows.
"Er, no," Remus admitted. He had heard about it in passing but hadn't felt the need to find out more about it. He didn't get out much anyway.
"It's a restaurant, of course, but it's...kind of weird. Like, it's remind you of Pandora and Xenophilius."
Remus laughed, "This I have to see."
"And you will," she winked, "Tomorrow night!"
"There you are, Winslowe!" Remus said cheerfully as he put a tiny bowl filled with bacon on the kitchen counter beside the porpoise coloured owl. She hooted happily and stuck her beak into the bowl.
"So, I'll be out tonight," he told her, waving his wand and cleaning dishes. "I know, I'm excited too," he told the owl when it didn't respond.
It was 5:30PM and he had to be at The Hollow in half an hour. Three different outfits had been pre-set out on the bed and he had checked multiple times when the next full moon was, inexplicably doubting that it was indeed on the 20th as it had been every time he checked. He hated to admit it to himself but he was nervous. Remus had never been on a real date before, or had a real girlfriend. He'd always considered himself, in his condition, unworthy of such things, but lately it seemed more and more like something that could potentially do him a lot of could. Whether he was worthy was still a gnawing question at the back of his mind but he would ignore that for now.
He knew he wouldn't be telling Emilia about his "furry little problem" tonight. Of his newest friends, Xenophilius had been the only one to know about his lycanthropy and he preferred to keep it that way for now. Remus hated involving people; he knew how dangerous it was and he wasn't sure yet how he felt about Emilia.
Winslowe's beak scraped the bottom of the bowl as she finished her bacon and she looked up at Remus as though asking for more.
"Sorry Wins, maybe later." He stroked the top of the owl's head with the back of his finger and smiled down at her. Remus checked the time, 5:40PM and went to get dressed, emerging another ten minutes later in a white shirt, dark blue jeans and a black jacket.
"How do I look?" he asked the owl, which observed him curiously, trying to discern if it was about to receive more bacon. "Be good!" he said as he turned on the spot and Apparated onto the doorstep of a restaurant with dark green painted doors, dotted with what seemed to be small purple clocks.
"Remus!" Emilia hurried up onto the front steps, "Hi! Hello, you're just on time!" she kissed him on the cheek and beamed at him. She was wearing a small black skirt and a white shirt with "Witch Way?" printed on it. Remus felt his cheeks redden and he quickly opened the door and stood back.
"Ladies first," he said and Emilia grinned and walked into the restaurant. Remus followed and saw exactly what she had meant about it being weird. The walls were painted in such a way that it felt as though he was looking through a kaleidoscope. The ceiling was draped with veils that, although were visible, seemed to be made of wind. The tables were small tree stumps with multicoloured cushions set out around them for chairs.
"Hello Travellers, and welcome to the Hollow," a short witch appeared at their side, "I'm Misty and I shall be your guide for the evening as you embark on a journey of flavours," she had a dreamy voice, like Pandora, and her hair was long and cerulean coloured. She had one lavender and one peach coloured eye, both of which sparkled in the dim lighting which appeared to be coming from floating, ethereal spheres.
"Misty! Hey, this is Remus," Emilia grinned, obviously she knew the witch.
"Emilia, Merlin! I didn't realise it was you," Misty's voice lost it's dreaminess for a moment and her eyes both flashed to a neutral grey colour, "Remus?" she asked, her eyes going lavender and peach coloured again, "Nice to meet you!"
They shook hands and she led them to a tree stump around which Remus and Emilia sat. Remus noted, with discomfort, how impractical the cushions were; he could only cross his legs and he could barely lean across to reach the table.
"There are four courses at The Hollow tonight," Misty said with her floaty voice, "Enjoy." She wondered off without leaving anything for them to enjoy.
"Yeah, she's an odd one," Emilia laughed, twiddling the red sweet pea in the chair-shaped vase in the centre of the tree stump table.
"You don't say..." Remus said, "How does she change her eye colour like that?" he asked.
"A spell, whenever she breaks character her eyes go normal." A plate of odd, berry blue dumplings appeared in front of both Remus and Emilia and Remus recoiled slightly. "Sorry, should've warned you," Emilia giggled.
Remus warily lifted a dumpling to his mouth. It smelled like seaweed and pistachio and, wrinkling his nose slightly, he took a bite and felt his taste buds get assaulted by and assortment of flavours that definitely weren't meant to be mixed. The dumpling tasted like bread dipped in milk and covered in coconut and egg nog mixed with granola.
"Wow!" he choked, his eyes watering.
"Not their best," Emilia agreed. Sensing that they were both finished, the dumplings disappeared and were replaced by bowls of bronze coloured soup that smelt more like edible food; carrot and squash. Remus scooped some up and ate it with a spoon. It was disappointingly ordinary after the dumplings but he ate it all, at fear that this would be the last thing remotely safe to eat. He was right. The third course was a brick coloured steak with rose flavoured potatoes that were purple tinged and a side of mulberries covered in olive gravy.
"I'm so sorry!" Emilia said staring in disbelief as her steak dripped white oil. An attempt at dessert, a silver bowl filled with periwinkle blue ice cream drowned in shamrock green sauce and three black berries which appeared to be glittering appeared last.
"Yeah, we should go," Remus laughed as the dessert disappeared. He counted out a few Galleons and dropped them on the table. He and Emilia walked along the snow covered street, chatting lightly about nothing in particular.
"So, tell me about your childhood?" Emilia asked suddenly.
"Oh, er," Remus stumbled slightly, there was nothing he could tell her about his childhood without telling her about being a werewolf. "Yeah it was good." he said lamely.
"Great," Emilia sounded unenthused by carried on, "What house were you in in Hogwarts?"
"Gryffindor," Remus smiled proudly.
"Oh," she sounded slightly disappointed.
"You?"
"Ravenclaw."
"Ah."
"Yep, wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," she recited.
"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart," Remus countered.
"Hm," Emilia said and Remus thought he could detect a slight hint of tiredness in her voice. Damnit he said to himself, Say something cool!
"So, yeah. How about that Filch?" What the hell?
"Oh my God, what an idiot," Emilia laughed, "And that bloody cat!" They laughed together as snow started falling lightly.
Remus shivered slightly, "It's beautiful," he said, looking up at the falling tufts. And then Emilia leant forwards and kissed him very lightly and quickly on the cheek. For the second time that night he felt his face redden and he smiled down at her.
"I had a wonderful time," she smiled at him, "Next time, I swear we can go to a proper restaurant."
"Next time?" Remus raised his eyebrows, smiling.
"Well...I mean, if you wanted to," Emilia's cool demeanour slipped momentarily and she looked anxious.
"No, I mean, I'd love to!" Remus said quickly.
"I would to," Emilia smiled up at him and together they walked down the road in the dark, snowy night, neither of them feeling the cold.