Note: I am now officially on Easter Break! So with any luck I might update a bit more often! I've completed a chapter of the 4th in this series...but I won't be uploading it until this is over! So...you could have a long wait!
This chapter is dedicated to yellow 14, for some very kind reviews of this series and for adding Meet the Marauders to the community Loving the Lupins! (I assume that was your doing, either you or Loads of Randomness, I suspect...) So, thank you very much! You've brightened my day!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
9: The Flirt and the Thief
As she sat at the small kitchen table, steaming cup of tea set down in front of her, Carrie Winters watched John and Rhea Lupin fuss over a biscuit barrel, murmuring curiously to one another, occasionally shooting the odd glance over their shoulders at their two guests.
"They don't want us here." Teddy guessed under his breath, but before Carrie could say anything her attention was drawn to the narrow staircase to their right as Remus hurried down into the kitchen and announced:
"I've changed the sheets, so you can sleep in my bed, Cleo, Joshua can cake the sofa and I'll sleep on the floor..."
"Remus." John interrupted meaningfully, and at the questioning look that he was offered in return, Rhea pointed out:
"We've not said they can stay yet, Sweetheart."
Remus was seemingly nonplussed.
"They're staying." he insisted, causing John to frown deeply.
"Son, in my house..." he began, only for Remus to announce:
"Well we'll go and stay at James' house then. It'll be a squeeze, but we'll manage..."
"We've nothing against them, darling," Rhea said, offering the visitors an apologetic smile, "it's just...well...we don't know them and...well...!" Her eyes widened meaningfully and Remus seemed to grasp what she meant, for he said:
"It's alright, they'll be gone by then. Besides, they need to stay here, it's very important."
"It is...?" Rhea said, as John frowned deeply, and Remus reminded them:
"Yes, I did tell you, didn't I?"
"Not really," John protested. "You're being very vague. What's going on, Remus?"
Remus pursed his lips together rather apprehensively before deciding:
"You should probably sit down first."
John and Rhea exchanged another bemused, yet rather worried glance before they both obediently sat down at the table. Once Remus had taken a seat opposite them, he reached into his pocket to draw out the envelope that Dumbledore had given him.
"I've got my NEWT results early." he announced, and whilst his parents' faces lit up in instant excitement, the young wizard's expression remained deadly serious as he told them: "I've got Outstandings for everything besides Herbology which is Acceptable..."
"That was the morning after..."
"...Professor Dumbledore delivered them to me personally."
Rhea's eyes widened in surprise and she let out an odd little squeak, clapping her hands together in delight.
"I told you!" she exclaimed happily, bouncing up and down on her heels in excitement. "Didn't I tell you, Remus? Dumbledore thinks you're talented!"
Remus did not smile.
"Yes," he agreed grimly, "I rather suppose he does."
At his tone, both of his parents stopped smiling. They looked distinctly apprehensive when Remus told them:
"Professor Dumbledore had a question for me. I have something very important to tell you. Now Mum, I don't want you to start crying..."
John leant forward in his chair as Rhea drew in a deep, worried breath, reaching to grasp hold of her husband by the hand. Remus sat straighter in his chair, hands folded purposefully together upon the scrubbed tabletop before him. There was a painfully dramatic pause before the young wizard announced:
"I'm going to join the Order of the Phoenix."
There was a distinctly stunned pause, before his mother promptly burst into hysterical tears, reaching to bury her face in her hands. John seemed oblivious to the sudden hysteria, he simply stared at his son in silence.
"Don't cry, Mum..." Remus began half-heartedly, but this only seemed to make her cry harder still.
"Not my boy!" she sobbed as John at last let out a distinctly resigned sigh. "Not my boy, not...not him! T...talk some...some sense into him, John! Don't...don't let him...don't let him throw his life away!"
"Rhea, dear, let's not overreact..." John began calmly, only for his wife to shriek:
"It's SUICIDE!"
Remus reached to bury his face in his hands with a sigh.
"Mum...for the love of Merlin..."
"Remus." John interrupted, shooting him a warning look before turning to his wife and reaching to put an arm around her. "Listen, darling, Remus isn't a little boy anymore, let's just...listen to what he has to say..."
"Who does Dumbledore think he is?" Rhea complained, voice a strained whisper. "Putting...putting grand ideas in...in our son's head?"
"It's not a grand idea, Mum..."
"What have we been telling you all these years? Keep your head down!"
Remus' hands fell back to the table with a loud slap, making both Carrie and his mother jump.
"We can't all stick our heads in the sand, Mum!" he cried, eyes wide in annoyance. "How do you suppose we're to overcome Voldemort if nobody is prepared to stand up to him? Dumbledore says the Order's losing, he says they need more members..."
"More canon-fodder, more like." John muttered disapprovingly as Rhea dissolved into tears once again. "Do you have any idea what it's like, Remus, to fight in a WAR? Because I'm telling you now, this isn't school! We're not talking about dueling club on a Saturday morning..."
"How do you know what we're talking about, Dad? You've never fought in a war, either!"
John's eyes widened furiously and he opened and closed his mouth a few times, too appalled by the comment to know quite what to say, only for his anger to diminish somewhat when his son told him:
"You're supposed to be proud of me."
John leant across the table, reaching to lay a hand upon the werewolf's arm.
"You misunderstand me, Remus." he said, sighing heavily. "I've never been prouder. I'm simply concern that you...that you don't fully understand what it is that you are doing...or perhaps that you understand perfectly well and yet you are still determined to do it...my son is not a child anymore. You have no idea how...how utterly petrifying that is for me."
Remus offered him a rather right-lipped smile, only for it to fade from his face when Rhea complained:
"This is...this all much too...much too fast!" The witch sat straighter in her chair and fixed her son with a distinctly accusing look.
"There's not much time to do things slowly." Remus pointed out grimly, but she shook her head vigorously.
"What's Dumbledore said to you? What...what has he done?"
"Rhea, dear..."
"No, John! He's...he's done something! Said something! He must have done! My...my Remus wouldn't just...just join the Order of the Phoenix on...on a whim!"
"It's not a whim, Mum!"
"Is it because it's Dumbledore asking? I know we say we owe him a lot for what he has done for you, Remus, but you don't owe him this much! You don't owe him your life!"
"No, Mum, it's got nothing to do with that! I'm doing it because..."
"Oh Merlin...it's not because of...of him, is it? He's a Death Eater, isn't he? You're not...you're not just going after him, are you? Because revenge isn't the answer! Tell him, John!"
"It's got nothing to do with that!"
"Are you sure? Because..."
"Rhea, for goodness sake!" John cried, hands clasping fistfuls of hair in exasperation. "Stop and listen to him, for the love of Merlin!"
At long last, silence fell over the kitchen, and Remus drew a deep, calming breath before telling his parents:
"I'm going to join because I want to stand up for what is right, I want to make a difference, and I believe that it doesn't matter how desperate or hopeless it all seems, I'll fight for the greater good anyway. And if the Order fails, if everything is lost and Voldemort is triumphant or...or if I die...well...well at least I did my very best. At least I'll never have any regrets. And that's it. That's all. I'm not seeking revenge, I'm not paying off a debt to Dumbledore, I'm not looking for an adventure, and I'm not doing it for the glory. And if you're not proud and just think I'm suicidal, well I don't care because I'm not doing it to make you proud, either. I'm simply doing what I believe is right. And there is absolutely nothing that you can say that will change my mind or convince me that I'm wrong."
Both John and Rhea looked somewhat awe-struck by this firm declaration, indeed Carrie was sure that she and Teddy looked very similar. The muggle found herself with a strange urge to jump to her feet and throw her arms around the Order of the Phoenix's newest member, but she remained stock still, an attempt to be invisible. She couldn't help but feel that she and Teddy were intruding on a pivotal moment in Remus' life, that they ought not be there, but neither Remus nor his parents appeared to notice that she and Teddy were still in the room.
At long last, John cleared his throat loudly and declared:
"Well said, son."
And with that, Rhea burst into tears again, leaning to bury her face in her arms upon the table.
"She's very proud of you." John supplied on her behalf, and Remus murmured:
"I'm sure she is."
An hour later, after a few more cups of tea, a few rounds of sandwiches and a large slab of Victoria Sponge cake, Carrie and Teddy found themselves upstairs in Remus' bedroom, watching the werewolf sort through stack after stack of books that were piled up against the walls of the cramped little room.
"I've not even seen a real time turner before," Remus admitted as he dumped one pile of volumes into a corner and reached for the next teetering tower. "Let alone used one...I have no idea how they work...or how to fix them!"
"I'm sure you can figure it out." Teddy assured him from his position perched upon the edge of the bed, and as he rose to his feet and went to kneel beside his father's younger self Carrie heard him mutter: "You always do."
"Are you looking for one book in particular?" Carrie asked as she too went to kneel upon the floor, and Remus told her:
"Not exactly. Just...any that might be useful. There won't be many, time travel's never interested me all that much."
What did appear to interest Remus' eighteen year old self, Carrie discovered as she began to examine the pile of books to her left, were all manner of magical creatures, especially the rather grizzly ones, and countless volumes about Defense Against the Dark Arts. There wasn't a work of fiction in sight. By the time they had gone through the vast collection, some of which Carrie was sure that she had seen in the Lupins' study back in her own time, it had grown pitch black outside and the silvery moon was casting an eerie light through the bedroom window.
A soft knock upon the door drew the trio's attention, and as Carrie looked up, Rhea Lupin's head appeared around the door.
"I've made two beds up in the sitting room." she announced, apparently over her earlier hysteria for she offered her visitors a bright smile. "Your father says you're to keep the noise down, Remus, we're going to bed." She was just ducking back out of the doorway when her son made her pause:
"Mum?"
The witch offered him a questioning look, only for a deep frown to crease her brow when he asked:
"Can I borrow twenty galleons?"
She gave a distinctly unamused chuckle.
"What on earth do you need twenty galleons for?"
"Books..." Remus began, but before he could explain any further her eyes had widened irritably as she repeated:
"Books...? For goodness sake, Remus! How many books can one boy possibly need?"
"An unlimited supply. At least that's what you're always telling Dad."
"Yes but...twenty galleons' worth?"
"What's all this fuss?" John's voice called from over his wife's shoulder, reaching to push the door further open.
"Your son seems to think I have twenty galleons for him to spend on books." Rhea informed him as Remus scrambled to his feet and folded his arms across his chest in a distinctly defensive manner.
"Does he now?" John said, and with that he stepped around his wife, into the room, and reached to put a firm hand upon his son's shoulder. "Downstairs." he instructed firmly, only for Remus to explain:
"I need it for...for Order work. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will pay you back."
"Yes, well," John said, grip upon the young wizard's shoulder tightening. "If Dumbledore thinks you can read You-Know-Who into submission, he can come here and give you twenty galleons himself!"
And with that, he half-dragged Remus out onto the landing, pulling the door shut behind him.
Teddy instantly jumped to his feet and Carrie followed his lead, both leaning to press their ears against the door.
"...and you know full well that we don't have twenty KNUTS to give you, let alone galleons!"
"Yes, but Dad..."
"But nothing, Remus! For the love of Merlin, why even ask?"
"Well...I'll ask James and Sirius..."
"YOU MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT! I...I won't have people think...I won't have them think that I can't look after my own family!"
"Well obviously nobody thinks that, Dad, but they're my best friends, they know we're...not rich. James lends me money all the time..."
"I hope you pay him back!"
"Well...not really..."
"REMUS JOHN LUPIN!"
"He doesn't let me! Besides, what else do you suggest I do? What am I going to do when you and Mum aren't here anymore? Get a job and look after myself, I suppose? No! And how bloody long do you think my inheritance will keep me? Five years, maybe..."
"That is ENOUGH!"
"I'm just saying, Dad, there's not a whole lot of room in all this for your inflated sense of pride."
There was a long, shocked silence before John finally asked:
"What in Merlin's name has happened to my son? I didn't raise you to be so utterly rude and disrespectful! Ever since you've come back from school you've been behaving APPALLINGLY! You've answered me back more times in the past evening than you have in the past EIGHTEEN YEARS!"
There was a long silence before Remus attempted to make his father see sense once again:
"Listen, Dad...I know this seems utterly ridiculous to you...but...but it really is very important that I get these books...Dumbledore says..."
"I've said it once and I'll say it again: if Dumbledore wants you to buy books he can come and give you the money himself!"
"He's very busy..."
"In which case it really can't be that important now, can it? Now go to bed!"
And that, Carrie supposed as she heard the door of John and Rhea's bedroom being slammed shut, was that.
Breakfast the next morning was a very quiet affair that saw Carrie, Teddy and Remus sat around the kitchen table as Rhea served them each a generous bowlful of porridge. When the witch finally took a seat beside Teddy and reached for her spoon, a long silence was finally broken as she asked:
"So...what's the big plan for today then?"
Remus mumbled incoherently into his glass of orange juice.
"That sounds nice." Rhea decided, full of false cheer, and they continued to eat in silence for a long few minutes, until John came stomping down the stairs, casting a distinctly bad-tempered glance at his family and guests as he made a beeline for the coffee pot upon the stove.
"Bath taps are jammed again." the wizard muttered as he poured himself a generous mugful of steaming hot liquid. "Fix it for your mother today, won't you Remus? I'm late for work. There's a good book in the attic somewhere if you get stuck...if one's good enough for you."
Remus began shoveling porridge into his mouth as quickly as he could manage and, though she wasn't quite sure why, Carrie felt compelled to follow suite. Once John had guzzled half a mug of coffee and disappeared back upstairs, Rhea set down her spoon, sighing heavily.
"You won't take any notice of him, will you Sweetheart?" she said as Remus threw down his own spoon in triumph, breakfast finished, before getting hurriedly to his feet. "You know how he gets this time of year...what with the inspections at work..."
"Mm." Remus mumbled, apparently not really listening as the two time travelers abandoned their food and got to their feet too. "We'll be back after lunch." the young werewolf announced, reaching to snatch up a worn looking green jumper off the back of his chair. "Then I'll um...fix the taps for you."
"Just make sure you do it before Dad gets back from work." his mother insisted as he stepped around the table to drop a kiss atop her head. "Remind me, where are you going?"
"Diagon Alley." Remus said, turning to stride briskly towards the door.
"You be careful, Remus, you hear?" Rhea called after him, "I mean it, don't get into any trouble! It's not the same there these days, you know, and I just...I just couldn't stand it if...well...!"
"Don't start crying, Mum." Remus called over his shoulder, and Carrie hurriedly said:
"Thank you for breakfast, Mrs. Lupin."
"You're very welcome, dear!" Rhea announced, voice rising a pitch or two as she reached to dab at her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse.
"For the love of Merlin, Rhea, what did I say about crying all over him morning noon and night?" John's voice asked irritably as he came stomping down the stairs once again. "Have you seen my wallet? I can't find it anywhere, I could have sworn I left it on the bedside table!" He rounded on the front door just as Carrie hurried over the threshold and out into the front garden. "Remus? Have you seen it? Did you hear me? REMUS?"
"I...took it."
"You what?"
"I said I...I took it."
It was lunchtime in the Leaky Cauldron, and having trailed around all manner of second hand bookshops after a distinctly shifty-eyed Remus, Carrie and Teddy had joined the young werewolf and his numerous bags of books in the pub for lunch with Lily and the other Marauders.
Across the table, James, Lily, Peter and Sirius were all staring, their bowls of lamb hot pot seemingly forgotten.
"Let me get this straight." James said, leaning across the table to scrutinize Remus' face, narrowly avoiding dipping his sleeve in his food. "You...you, Moony...you've STOLEN you DAD'S wallet?"
Before Remus had time to mumble anything in his defense, Peter added:
"AND you've spent all of his money?"
Sirius slumped back in his chair, slapping his hands down upon the table as he declared:
"That's bloody priceless!" Realizing his own rather poor play on words, he dissolved into laughter. "D'you get it, guys? PRICELESS! Ha!"
"Sirius be quiet!" Lily snapped. "This is really serious!"
"I didn't steal it, I took it. That's sort of different really...isn't it?" Remus mumbled rather hopefully, frowning down at the distinctly empty-looking leather wallet that he had in his hands.
"Well...not really, to be honest mate..." James began, distinctly bemused, only for Remus to fix him with agitated eyes as he said:
"But I'm going to give it back! It's...it's more like I've borrowed it..."
"And then blown all of his hard earned money on a load of crap." Sirius finished helpfully, and Peter sniggered.
"I BORROWED the money!" Remus insisted rather loudly, causing a passing witch to glance round at him, he hastily ducked his head guiltily. "I'll pay him back...before the end of the day! Besides, Padfoot, what the bloody hell do you know about hard earned money? Don't be such a hypocrite!"
"I had a summer job once!" Sirius announced proudly, only for Remus to scowl at him and say:
"And they sacked you after half an hour! Listen...Prongs..." the werewolf turned to look at James rather hopefully. "Do you think...maybe...perhaps you could...well..."
"Spit it out, Moony mate, you want me to give you ten galleons."
"Not...exactly..."
There was a long, expectant pause before James offered the werewolf a raised eyebrow and Sirius said:
"You heard the man, Moony, spit it out!"
Remus drew in a deep breath, cleared his throat before mumbling:
"I...spent...thirty..."
"YOU SPENT THIRTY GALLEONS ON BOOKS?" Sirius cried, slapping his hands down upon the table again, making both Remus and Carrie jump.
"That's the most Moony thing to do in the whole world!" Peter observed, somewhat awed.
"You bloody idiot!" Sirius exclaimed. "Why didn't you spend it on something decent? If you want books, go to a bloody library!"
As Lily turned to glower at the dark haired wizard, James remained motionless, staring at Remus in silence.
"You know Remus can't go there, Sirius, he's told you before! They don't let...everybody in!"
"Well then he could have got one of us to go for him!" Sirius complained as James' brow creased into a deep frown.
"You wouldn't go for him, Padfoot, you're allergic to books." Peter pointed out, and the estranged Black grinned in a distinctly proud manner.
At long last, James lent across the table again, eyes piercing as he observed:
"Wormtail's wrong. Stealing thirty galleons off his dad to buy a load of books is the most un-Moony thing in the whole entire world."
Remus stared back at him, face a blank mask, and beside him, Teddy shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Why would you do something like that?" James wondered, and Remus reddened as all eyes around the table came to rest upon him.
"I need the books."
"You're that desperate to read a bunch of books?"
"Yes..."
"What, is the world going to end if you don't read them all in time or something?"
"It's quite possible..." Remus said, and beside him, Teddy sniggered rather darkly.
"Come on, Remus!" James cried impatiently. "Don't take the piss, what's going on?"
"Dumbledore told me to do it."
"Dumbledore told you to steal your dad's wallet?"
"No, he told me to...get the books. Have you...spoken to him recently?"
Comprehending silence descended upon the table and the Marauders' eyes all seemed to suddenly light up in excitement.
"I spoke to him last night." Remus said, nodding his head to their eyes widening in question, and Lily said:
"He came to speak to us this morning."
They all took a moment to nod at one another again before Sirius' gaze came to rest upon Teddy and Carrie.
"Does Dumbledore asking you to buy a load of books have something to do with Joshua and...?" he paused, offering Carrie an apologetic look before she supplied:
"Cleo."
"Yes." Remus admitted, causing the others to eye the time travelers curiously. "But I'm not to tell you anything else about them."
"Why not?" Peter asked, sounding distinctly hurt at this exclusion, only for James to tell him:
"Because if Dumbledore reckons Remus has whatever this is covered it might be...safer if as few people as possible know about it, right Moony?"
"Exactly." Remus said, and Sirius and Lily mumbled agreement, only for Peter to ask Teddy:
"Are you on the run from You-Know-Who or Death Eaters or something like that?"
"They might well be soon if you don't shut up!" Remus snapped uncharacteristically, and Peter shrunk back in his chair as if the werewolf had struck him.
"Be careful what you say out loud in public, won't you Peter?" Lily suggested more calmly. "You know it isn't safe...one slip of the tongue within earshot of the wrong person..."
The atmosphere seemed to darken quite suddenly before James cleared his throat meaningfully and admitted:
"The thing is, Moony mate, I...well I don't have thirty galleons to give you, not right now, anyway. Dad's a bit pissed off about the carpet Sirius puked all over last night, he says I can't be trusted with money in case I blow it on a load of booze again, so he's taken my key to the vault away."
At the utterly mortified expression that materialized upon Remus' face, James shifted rather guiltily in his chair.
"Don't worry though!" he exclaimed uncertainly. "We'll get you thirty galleons, no problem!"
"Yeah right," Sirius sniggered. "You're screwed, Moony..."
"Shut up, Padfoot, he's not screwed. We'll just have to all pitch in, look, I've got..." James dug around in his pocket, drawing out a handful of coins that he flung triumphantly down upon the table.
"Two galleons, twelve sickles and three knuts." Sirius observed with a grin. "As I said, he's screwed..."
"I've got five galleons." Lily offered, tossing her purse onto the table with a bright smile, and Peter followed her lead.
"Four galleons and eight knuts." he announced as he dropped the handful of coins down.
"Cough up, Padfoot." James instructed, and Sirius puffed his cheeks and reached to draw his wallet out of his pocket.
"Couple of galleons..." he mused as he peered into the dark leather confides.
"Don't be such a tight arse." James told him, snatching the wallet from his friend's hands and upturning the contents onto the table.
They all leant in to get a good look at their efforts. Carrie didn't know the mathematics behind wizarding money, but she was pretty sure that they were far from their target.
"You should have asked us before we went shopping." Peter concluded, as James frowned deeply.
"I'm screwed." Remus decided, only for Lily to tell him:
"No you're not. Come to Gringotts with me, I'll lend you the rest."
And so it was that ten minutes later, Lily and Remus left to go to the bank, leaving Carrie and Teddy with James, Sirius and Peter. After a while Teddy began to chatter away to James and Sirius about his various hobbies, which both Marauders commented seemed rather similar to the one Marauder now absent from the table, and Carrie was left to gaze uncertainly across at Peter, who was staring straight back at her, smiling awkwardly. The muggle wasn't quite sure what to say to the future traitor, because no matter what Teddy had said, she didn't feel comfortable talking to him. Apparently he was not terribly comfortable talking to her either, for it took him several minutes of staring before he finally plucked up the courage to tell her:
"I like your necklace."
Carrie glanced down at the beads in question and managed to smile brightly.
"Thank you."
"Where did you get it?"
"My aunt bought it for me for Christmas."
"Cool."
More awkward silence. Carrie supposed it was her turn to make polite conversation, so she asked:
"So...do you guys come here for lunch much in the summer? I um...I think it's nice here."
"We come here quite a lot." Peter told her, fiddling with the buttons upon his shirt. "We liked the Goblin's Head better, only Remus isn't allo...OUCH!"
Sirius withdrew his foot from it's vicious attack on Peter's shin before seamlessly continuing with the story he was in the middle of telling Teddy.
Carrie pretended to be very interested in the blackboard behind the bar, in front of which the hunchbacked barman was busy serving a butterbeer to a dumpy wizard wearing a top hat.
"Have you ever tried the pea soup?" she asked as she gazed at the pub's lunchtime menu.
"No...Sirius did once though, for a bet." Peter said, glad that his blunder had been ignored.
"Is it that bad, then?"
"You have no idea."
Once again, the pair fell into awkward silence. Carrie reached to fiddle with a stray strand of hair, winding it around her index finger.
"You've got very pretty hair, you know." Peter mumbled, and Carrie paused in her fiddling to stare at him.
"Pardon?"
"I said...I said you've got very pretty hair..." Peter mumbled again, quieter than ever, but just about loud enough for Sirius to hear him and pause in his story. Twisting in his seat, the young Black fixed Peter with wide, shocked eyes.
"What did you just say?" he cried, and Peter's face flushed pink in embarrassment.
"Wormtail," James said, leaning to look past Sirius to stare too, "are you attempting to FLIRT with poor Cleo here?"
"N...no..."
"HA!"
"Wait until we tell Moony!"
"I...I'm...I'm really not..."
"I think he needs a few lessons in subtlety, don't you think, Prongs?"
"Not off of you, Padfoot. You wouldn't know subtlety if it walked up and slapped you in the face!"
As the laughter and jeering grew loud enough to draw the disapproving looks of the people sat at nearby tables, Carrie felt Teddy shift beside her until he could whisper in her ear.
"You look like you've seen a boggart." he hissed. "Are you alright?"
Carrie opened her mouth to reply, only for Sirius to spot Remus and Lily making their way across the room.
"MOOOOOONY! Wormtail's attempting to flirt and he's even more crap at it than you are!"
"Did he make the fatal mistake of opening with Alright Hot Stuff? like you usually do?" Remus asked as he paused to let Lily squeeze past him and back into her seat.
"Alright Hot Stuff, do you want some Sirius action?" James mimicked with a shout of laughter, and Sirius let out a snort.
"I'll have you know that that line works every single time!" he declared as Remus stooped to gather up his countless bags full of books by Carrie's feet.
"Yes, Padfoot." the werewolf agreed as he straightened up. "If the objective every time is to get yourself slapped in the face." Ignoring Sirius' scowl, he told them all: "I have to go home, I promised my mum I'd fix the taps in the bathroom."
"We'll come with you!" James decided brightly, practically jumping to his feet. "Sirius and I want to stay out of my parents' way for a bit...they're still annoyed about the carpet! Are you coming, Wormtail?"
The scarlet faced boy mumbled that yes, he certainly would.
And so the afternoon was spent lounging around outside of the Lupins' house, just like the night beforehand, and Carrie took it upon herself to demonstrate to the Marauders the basic rules of muggle football, whilst Remus sat under a nearby tree and began to read the first of his many new books on time travel.
It was approximately three o'clock when Carrie was distracted by her futile attempts to referee the shambolic game by the front door of the dilapidated cottage over the way being opened, and the girl that she and Teddy had first spotted in Diagon Alley stepped outside, pulling the door shut behind her. Carrie hurriedly returned her attention to the game, not wanting to be caught staring, only for a voice at her elbow a minute later to say:
"Excuse me?"
Carrie turned to find the girl stood before her, smiling somewhat nervously.
"Hello," the girl greeted as Carrie looked her up and down. "My name is Anya, my family just moved in over there." She waved a hand over her shoulder towards the house. "Do you know the way to the next village? I've been sent to buy the shopping, only my brother Aristo says I'm not to apparate, because of the muggles. I'd hate to get lost in the woods!"
Carrie glanced over at the woods, utterly clueless.
"I've no idea how to get there." she admitted. "I don't live around here." Turning back to the girl she added: "I'm Cleo, by the way, I'm...staying with a friend."
At Anya's deep frown that seemed to make her thin, pointed face look even bonier than ever, Carrie glanced around searchingly until she spotted a certain werewolf sat under a tree.
And it was then that Carrie Winters made her next fatal mistake.
"You should ask Remus over there." she told Anya, pointing over in the young werewolf's direction. "He lives here, he's bound to know the way. I expect he'd walk you there himself if you asked him nicely."
