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Chapter 10
The War Issue
It was snowing.
Remus and Lisa stood next to the bus stop under a yellow umbrella, which was covered in a thick layer of white, and watched the Theater building across the street. One of Dumbledore's informants had told him the Death Eaters might target it. It was still unclear why.
"Maybe Voldemort just hates ballet?" Lisa mused, her eyes lingering on the Swan Lake poster advertising the show taking place inside.
"Or maybe he's sour he didn't get the lead?" Remus quipped and the two of them tried to contain a laugh.
She squeezed his hand lightly. "We really should be paying attention, instead of making jokes. Now I can't get the image of Voldemort with a tutu out of my mind," Lisa said, but her tone was just as light as his.
"It looks more natural this way. If we just stood here and observed quietly, people might get suspicious. I mentioned this to James a week ago, and he said that we'll be as sullen as Mad-Eye if we never try to make light of the situation. It's for our own sake of mind, really. Lisa?"
He stopped talking, noticing that her whole body tensed next to him. Following her gaze, Remus saw she was looking straight at someone across the street. A tall, slim someone, in a black hood.
"Is that him?" Remus asked. She nodded. The werewolf studied the figure carefully. He was clad from head to toe in completely ordinary black robes, but they were spotless and though simple, gave the impression of high class. The man was tall and lean, though not as tall as him. The bottom half of his face was showing, and Remus noted he was clean-shaven, and the pointed chin indicated a young age.
After a fairly intense couple of minutes, during which they just stared at each other, the hooded figure turned to leave. Remus made to follow, but Lisa's hand pulled him back.
"What are you doing?" she said.
"Following him. He's clearly stalking you."
"Nothing about that is clear. He could be stalking you."
"Why would someone be stalking me?"
"Why would someone be stalking me?"
"Let's ask him."
"Remus, we're on duty! We can't just leave and go chasing after someone!"
He looked at her in surprise. Usually she'd be the first to run off after some mysterious figure.
"Don't you want to know who it is? To make him stop?" he pressed.
"Оf course I do. But we can't leave, if Death Eaters do attack, we have to be here to alert the Order."
"Both of us are not needed for that," he said and tried to let go of her hand to walk forward, but her fingers clenched his like a vice.
"We are not splitting up. What if he leads you into a trap?"
"At least I'd know what I'm jumping into," he said with a smirk, quoting her own words from a few months ago.
Lisa was not impressed. "Ha, ha, very funny. We're both staying right here. What's the point in chasing a person who stalks you anyway? He'll come back, we'll get him then."
Remus studied her face for a long couple of seconds. Then he relaxed his posture and draped an arm over her shoulders, pulling her close. "You actually didn't jump straight into danger for once. I never thought I'd see the day," he quipped, planting a light kiss on her temple.
"Remember how you told me once that I remind you what's important? Right now, this is more important," she said, her free hand coiling around his waist, while the other kept the umbrella steady. "Besides... last time I jumped into danger, it didn't end very well."
Remus felt a cold chill run down his spine, remembering how he stood outside the Hospital Wing, terrified to find out her fate. His embrace tightened slightly. That memory would definitely rank up there in the top five most horrible things he had to live through, and that was a hard feat to reach. He never wanted to go through something like this again. And knowing for certain that the Death Eaters were looking for her, willing to torture to find out her location... he didn't even want to think what they would do to her if they managed to find her. But he knew... he knew if he asked her to quit the Order she would just roll her eyes and laugh. He'd spoken to the Marauders about it, and they all agreed with him that the chances of Lisa backing out of the war were slim to none.
Still, he wished there was some way to convince her...
oOo
Remus was starting to get worried. Lisa went to Lily's to return some clothes she had borrowed, but it had been two hours since she left, and she still wasn't back. The young werewolf drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. The food in front of him, already served in two plates, was getting cold. Why was it taking so long? Did she just start chatting with Lily and lose track of time, or did something happen? Was it the man in the hood? Death Eaters? Some other Dark Creature?
Remus stood up sharply. Maybe he was being paranoid, but it's better to be safe than sorry. He threw on his coat and left the flat, barely waiting to be outside and Disapparate.
When he arrived at Godric's Hollow and headed for the Potter Cottage, it occurred to him he might be overreacting and that she might be at their flat right now. Remus knew Lisa was capable of taking care of herself, and maybe he was a little too worried lately, but he just couldn't help it. And honestly, it was a little hypocritical of her to laugh at him for it, when in seventh year she wouldn't let him out of her sight after he and Lily got ambushed by Mulciber and the Slytherins.
He raised his fist and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, footsteps echoed from inside and Lily swung it open.
"Is Lisa here?" he asked.
Lily chuckled and put a finger to her lips, then caught his hand and gently pulled him inside. He followed her to the den, where he found Lisa and James sitting on the floor in front of the television set, gaping like zombies and watching a re-run of Gilligan's Island.
"Lisa just discovered sitcoms," Lily whispered into his ear. At that moment, the Skipper said something funny from the screen and hit Gilligan with his hat. James and Lisa roared with laughter.
"These muggles are more ingenious than I thought!" James said. "This 'Nitroglycerin' thing sounds amazingly useful! All we need are some papaya seeds, some cave rocks and pebbles from a lagoon! Those aren't hard to find, and wouldn't it be awesome if we could lure Death Eaters into a trap and take them out without risking our lives?"
"That's a brilliant idea!" Lisa added enthusiastically. "And we can make a lie detector too, for when we run out of Veritaserum. Just think of how much easier it would be to just build one of those things instead of brewing a complicated potion all the time! What did the Professor say it took?"
"Radio batteries, a horn, some bamboo... we can totally do this!"
That was when Remus lost it and laughed loudly, joined by a snickering Lily.
"Remus!" Lisa exclaimed happily and shot to her feet, running over. "Come, look at this! These muggles are showing on the television how to make all sorts of things!" she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him further into the den.
"Lisa, it's just a show. It's not real," he tried to explain.
"I know that," she pouted. "But listen, it's about these muggles stranded on an island, and they build all sorts of muggle technology to help them out!"
Lily giggled behind Remus. "It's all made up. Muggles can't really make all that from coconuts and bamboo."
"But, Lily, they made one of those 'cars' they ride up and down the street!" James protested.
"They're just actors, none of the things they make are real," Lily said and snickered again.
"No, they make things I've seen real muggles use!" he argued.
"James, you can't really make a lie detector from bamboo," Remus said calmly. "It's exaggerated. For comedy."
Lisa's face fell. "So... we can't really make all that stuff?"
"You can... but it'll be a lot more complicated," the werewolf said.
"Remus, they can't build a lie detector," Lily interjected.
"How would you know? We've never tried before," James protested indignantly.
Lily rolled her eyes. "It's just a show, James. Real muggles study science for years before they're able to build things like that."
"Can't we get a muggle and ask them how these things work?" Lisa asked.
"Maybe some other time," Remus said with a smile and pulled her to the door. "Come on, dinner's getting cold."
"But... there are still four more episodes..." Lisa whined, looking at him imploringly.
"There's a marathon on right now," Lily explained.
"Can we stay and finish it?" Lisa asked hopefully.
Remus tried to suppress a laugh. "What about dinner?"
"You can stay here?" James proposed. "I'll call Wormy and Padfoot too, we can all eat together!"
"We wouldn't want to impose..." Remus started hesitantly.
"Don't be silly," Lily said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know you're never imposing in this house. I was just about to take the roast out of the oven anyway. We'd love to have you for a meal."
Remus turned his eyes back to the hopeful face of his girlfriend and sighed in defeat. "Alright. Do you need help with setting up the table?" he turned to Lily.
Lisa squealed with delight and gave him a quick hug, before she and James took their previous seats in front of the television. Lily shook her head and laughed, then led Remus into the kitchen and started taking out plates from the cupboards, piling them in his hands.
"Purebloods are like children sometimes, aren't they?" she said as he was setting them on the table.
"They've just never had to interact with everyday things like we have," he replied, taking the cutlery she handed him and arranging it in front of the chairs.
"But look at how wide-eyed they are! Did you know that after we watched Star Wars James asked me to take him to the place they sell lightsabers?"
Remus laughed and watched Lily set down the glasses. "I bet you'd be just as wide-eyed about mundane wizarding things. Like having house-elves serve you. Or having enchanted Christmas decorations. You should've seen the look on Lisa's face when she saw the completely plain and ordinary ornaments my mother made out of paper and pine cones. The fact that they weren't moving was apparently fascinating."
Lily laughed too and took a few bottles of pumpkin juice out of the fridge, emptying their contents in a large glass pitcher. "House-elves are the reason for half of my arguments with James! He's so used to being waited on hand and foot he expects me to do everything around the house!"
"At least he doesn't just leave his clothes on the floor and expect them to wash themselves and end up in the dresser," Remus mumbled and the redhead erupted in a hearty laughter.
"She really does that?"
"Not anymore. But the first month was a nightmare."
"I know what you mean," Lily said, putting on kitchen gloves and taking a chicken roast out of the oven. "Two should be fine, right? Or should I make three?"
"I'd say three, just in case. You know how much Sirius can eat," Remus replied, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.
"Three it is then," the host said and waved her wand, duplicating the meal twice. Someone knocked on the door.
"I'll get it!" James' voice came from the den, and after a minute they heard Sirius' laugh join his and Lisa's, along with the show's laugh track.
"Sirius will probably like that show. He's always been interested in muggle technology," Remus noted, craning his neck to see into the other room.
"What are we gonna do with them?" Lily said affectionately and looked through the open door at the three of them, gathered around the television. Just then, there was more knocking on the door. Lily sighed and went to get it.
"Come on, you lot, supper is served," she said when she came back, Peter trailing after her.
"But there are three more episodes to go!" James protested.
His fiancée rolled her eyes. "I'll rent it for you from the video store. Now come eat."
James gaped after her, then slapped a hand to his forehead. "Of course! The video store!"
"You're so out of touch with muggle technology, Prongs," Sirius said, walking into the kitchen. "I can excuse Fawley, but you and I took Muggle Studies together! How can you believe muggles can make a weather-predicting machine out of bamboo?"
"Hey! They showed it on screen, how was I supposed to know the television would lie to me? And how come she gets a pass?" James grumbled, sitting down in the chair next to Lily's, who was already serving.
"Because you live with a muggle-born. You should know a lot of things about muggles by now," Lisa said.
"Wha—! You live with a half-blood! Why should you be excused?" James demanded indignantly.
"I'll have you know that I already know how laundry works," she replied with a thick air of self-satisfaction. "So I have picked up a few muggle things."
James' head turned to Lily. "Lily, teach me how laundry works." The whole table sniggered and the redhead frowned, sitting down next to him.
"Oh, so now you want to learn how your socks just appear pine fresh in your drawer. Last week you said you couldn't be bothered with something this insignificant." Then she leaned over to Remus and said quietly, "You got Lisa to do the laundry?"
Sirius heard that and guffawed. "He always did know how to work her."
Both Lisa and Remus threw him indignant looks.
"Excuse me, Remus does not 'work' me," the blonde protested. "We share the household chores because he's my boyfriend, not my house-elf, and I don't want him to do all the work. He's never asked anything of me that I wasn't already willing to give."
"Yeah right," Peter snorted. "How about the war issue?"
The whole table went quiet.
Peter looked up from his plate. "What?"
Lily, James and Sirius exchanged glances, while Remus and Lisa were both looking at their plates.
"I just meant to say," Peter started anxiously, "that it's something you can't agree on. Moony wants you to stay out of the war, but he's never said anything because he thinks you wouldn't budge. So that's one thing you aren't willing to give... right?"
"I need some air," Lisa said, getting up. Remus kept staring at his plate.
"It's snowing outside," Lily tried to say.
"I'll just be a minute," Lisa replied, already halfway across the den. When the door slammed, four pairs of eyes turned to Remus.
"You alright there, mate?" James asked softly.
"I'm so sorry," Peter threw in. "I wasn't thinking... it just slipped."
Remus sighed heavily. "It's alright, Wormtail."
"Haven't you two... haven't you talked about it?" Sirius said.
"What would be the point?" Remus said, getting up. "You know she wouldn't just stay at home, nothing I can say will convince her of the opposite."
He went over to the coat rack and retrieved his coat, walking out into the chilly garden. The snow was falling at a steady pace and the ground was already covered in white. Lisa was standing in the middle of it, looking up towards the sky, the top of her head gleaming from the snowflakes. He walked up to her and just stood beside her in silence.
"It's pretty," she said. "The snow. I love watching it fall."
"It is," he agreed. "It covers all the ugliness of the world and makes it all seem beautiful. Even a pile of rubbish can look pure under a bit of snow."
She chuckled. "What a weird analogy. Figures you'd associate snow with covering secrets."
"I didn't say anything about secrets."
They were quiet for a moment.
"Why didn't you tell me you felt this way?" she said.
"Did I need to?"
"... No."
He turned to look at her, and saw her brown eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Lisa..."
"Do I need to tell you how I feel?" she asked, whirling around to face him. "Do I need to tell you that I think you have enough on your plate without all these dangers? Do I need to tell you you're fighting in enough battles already? That you have plenty to worry about without looking over your shoulder for Death Eaters all the time, that maybe your life is hard enough without you having to risk it every day?"
Remus just looked back at her silently.
"... No."
Seeing she was about to cry, he slowly drew her into a tight hug.
"As if I don't worry about you when you're just going about your day, I have to also fear Death Eaters and Order missions and all the other things the war puts you through!" she said into his shoulder. "I wish I could tell you to drop the whole thing and just leave the fighting to me, but I know you'll never do it. And it's so frustrating, and good at the same time, because the reason you fight is also the reason I love you, but I'm so worried, all the time! I don't even know what I'm afraid of most, am I worried a werewolf pack got you, or the Death Eaters, or some werewolf hunter, or an angry mob, or my own family, who should I think about first!? You have so many and varying enemies, and every time you're even a little late it's like my whole body is on fire, itching to go after you. I've been trying to deal with this on my own, but it's so hard sometimes, because I... I can't stand the thought of losing you. I know you said we'll just have to trust each other, and I'm trying, Remus. I truly am. It's just... hard."
"I know," he said, his throat tight with emotion. "It's hard for me as well, especially considering your track record of getting yourself in danger. You know as well as I why neither of us has said anything – we both know the answer we're going to get. I feel the same way you do, and I'm trying too, to varying degrees of success. I don't even know how I managed to wait two whole hours before coming to look for you today."
Her body shook in his arms as she chuckled. "I'm sorry about that. I'll let you know the next time I'm going to be late, I promise. I just lost track of time, that show is a riot. I was just about to head back when a camera landed on the island, and because the castaways were covered in glue and feathers, the muggles mistook them for chicken people on Mars."
They both laughed lightly, and Lisa's tears finally overflew. She sniffled and wiped them, backing away a little. Then she saw the white snow that had piled on his head and giggled.
"It's like you have a big, fluffy hat," she said, dusting it off. He just looked at her, smiling, something warm and gentle reflected in his eyes. The snow continued to fall around him and the light of the cottage lit the scene in such an unnatural way, for a moment she had the ridiculous thought that he looked like an angel.
"I love you," he said and slowly leaned in to kiss her. It took her breath away.
oOo
"I can't believe this," Sirius muttered inside the house as all four of them were gathered around the window, though there was a clear smirk on his face. "He really does have her wrapped around his finger."
"Why don't all our arguments end this way?" James whined, and Lily hit him over the head lightly.
"Because Remus isn't a git."
Peter and Sirius sniggered.
"She's got you there, Prongs," Sirius said, earning a punch in the shoulder.