On the day of the meeting, the thing that would solidify the return of the Order of the Phoenix and, to Remus' mind, the official deceleration of war (another war) Remus couldn't help but cast his mind back to the very first Order meeting he had ever attended. It has been transcendent. They were all so hopeful. So young. So alive. They had stayed back afterwards at headquarters, the Marauders and Lily. The Longbottom's, the Prewett's, Hagrid, even Moody stayed for a while. Dorcas and Marlene were there. They hadn't known the girls as well at that point, having been a few years behind them at school. They became instant friends. They laughed. They drank. They drank some more. The whole lot of them had been so sloshed by the end that they had to practically hold each other up to stumble back to their share house to pass out. They had been so in love with the world and not one of them had voiced a single fear about the fight they were joining even though every one them was so, so afraid.
The next morning the rest of them had gone to work, grumbling and moaning about hangovers and downing the entire household supply of potions. Remus didn't have a job to go to. Instead of curing his hangover with a potion, he'd cured it with another drink. And another drink. And another.
The first to arrive were the Weasley's, eight in the morning, bright eyed Molly with her bleary eyed kids. Remus and Sirius greeted them at the door, ready to help them settle into their temporary home. Sirius was grouchy after Remus had to bang on his door to wake him.
"Mrs Weasley," said Sirius stiffly, voice hushed. "Welcome to my humble home. I'm going to need you all to keep your voices low when you're in this part of the house."
"Sirius, dear, good to see you looking healthier," said Molly cheerfully, though quietly, as she pulled him into a hug, apparently having taken the time since their last, rather alarming meeting to adjust to the fact that he was not in fact a murderer. "Still a bit peaky, though. I'll fix that up." She turned to Remus. "And you must be the Professor Lupin that I've heard so much about," she said, extending her hand to him, which he took with a smile.
"Call me Remus, please," he said politely.
"Of course. And that will be Molly to the both of you. Well, Remus, my kids have had nothing but wonderful things to say about you. It's such a shame, everything that happened. They all tell me you were the best Defense teacher they ever had, and that's certainly saying something for the older ones who've already been through five."
Remus looked over at the kids standing behind Molly. Ginny and Ron were both going red, trying not to meet his eyes. Fred and George, however, greeted him with a totally unashamed thumbs up. Remus' smile turned into an outright grin. Sirius felt a smile of his own coming on as he watched his friend glow under the praise.
"Good to see you all again," said Remus, earning a chorus of greetings from the group.
The kids all quickly turned their attention to Sirius, with Ginny and the twins staring intently, though Ginny with a decidedly less delighted energy than her brothers. Ron just waved at Sirius and smiled.
"Good seeing you, mate."
"How you been, Ron?"
"Bloody brilliant now that I'm here. This place is proper spooky."
Molly shot Ron a scolding look. Never mind that she'd given the house a thorough look of disgust as she first walked in, at least she had the decency not to comment. Ron just shrugged at her. "What? It is."
"Come on," said Remus. "Sirius will give you all the tour. We've made a few of the rooms habitable, but they could still use a good clean, so you'll have plenty to do today," he said to the kids, all of whom groaned in response. "You'll be fine. I'm going to put on some tea. Should be ready once you've put your things away."
"Sounds like a good plan," said Molly. "Arthur will be joining us after work, in time for the meeting."
The Weasley's, led by Sirius, made their way to the stairs, all taking in the strange sights around them as they went. Fred and George marveled in disgusted awe at the row of House-elf heads mounted on the wall. Molly seemed to be trying very hard not to touch anything.
The boys and Molly were all at the first landing with Sirius while Ginny lingered a little behind, still staring at the portraits and other strange sights. Remus was just about to head down to the kitchen when the poor girl made the unfortunate mistake of trying to peek behind the curtain that housed the sleeping portrait of Walburga Black.
"BLOOD TRAITORS!" the painting wailed, causing Ginny to stumble backwards and the rest of the Weasley's to jump in alarm. "FILTHY HALF-BREEDS IN MY ANCIENT HOME!"
Remus and Sirius sprung into action instantly, sprinting towards the picture. Sirius practically leapt down the flight of stairs, instantly enraged.
"Shut your mouth you filthy hag!" Sirius shouted back as he and Remus grabbed one side of the curtains each and desperately tried to yank them closed.
"MY OWN SON BRINGING FILTH INTO THIS HOUSE!" she screeched.
"Shut the fuck up you stupid fucking cow of a woman!" Sirius screeched right back over the top of her continued string of slurs and insults.
Remus pulled out his wand and shot a stunning spell at the picture. Then another. "WEREWOLF SCUM!" And another stunning spell.
At last they managed to get the curtains closed and blessed silence rang through the room. Sirius and Remus both slumped back, panting slightly. Sirius laughed a little in relief.
Remus looked back up the stairs and saw the Weasley clan staring down at them both, every last one of them wide eyed in alarm. Molly in particular looked completely aghast, jaw hanging open. Remus stepped towards them, raising his hands in a calming gesture.
"Sorry," squeaked Ginny.
"It's alright, you didn't know. This is why we try to be quiet down here," Remus explained in a low voice. "Can't figure out how to get her down, unfortunately."
"Well," said Sirius, making his way back up to the landing, "now that you've met dear old mum, why don't we continue on with the tour?"
"How'd she even know we're blood traitors?" asked Fred.
"Yeah," said George. "Usually we at least have to introduce ourselves before they figure that out."
"Mother's always been rather gifted that way," deadpanned Sirius.
Molly tapped both the twins on the backs of their heads in warning as Ron barely managed to suppress a laugh. Sirius glanced back over his shoulder at Remus with a look that seemed to say he was ready for the day to be over immediately. Remus grimaced sympathetically.
"I'll start the tea then," he said, excusing himself to the kitchen and leaving Sirius alone with the new housemates.
The tea had just finished brewing when Sirius entered the kitchen. It had only been five minutes, but he already looked exhausted.
"Do you know the last time I had to talk to that many people at once? It was the fucking Shrieking Shack," he said, leaning against the counter. "Thankfully they all just wanted to settle into their rooms. I think I used to be an extrovert once upon a time."
Remus scoffed. "You were never an extrovert. People just treated you like one because you were charming and you never shut up, but you pretty much hated spending time with anyone who wasn't part of our group. Even when we went out, if a stranger actually tried to talk to you they either got flirted with or got hit and either way you weren't engaging for longer than a minute at a time."
"I guess you're right," said Sirius thoughtfully. "Still, I've only just gotten used to having one person around to talk to. They seem like a nice enough family but Merlin's beard, Moony, that's only half of them."
Remus opened his mouth to respond, but before he got the chance Molly emerged at the entrance with a decidedly unhappy demeanor. Sirius perked up a little, plastering a pleasant smile on his face that Remus knew was entirely fake.
"How are you finding the accommodations, then?" he asked.
"They're fine, thank you. I wanted to discuss something with you," she said tersely.
"Oh?"
"In the future, I would appreciate if you can use appropriate language around the children."
"What?" asked Sirius, befuddled.
"Those things you were shouting at that portrait. I would rather not have that kind of language around my children."
Remus had to turn away, pretending to be fussing with the tea, in order to hide his amusement. The look on Sirius face was priceless.
"Are you kidding me? I don't think the things I was shouting were the most offensive utterances in that interaction," he said indignantly.
"Believe me, if I thought it could possibly make a difference, I would be making this same request of the painting."
Sirius laughed in disbelief. "Come on, Molly, they must here worse than 'fuck' at school all the time! I mean, I remember when we were that age," he said turning to Remus, who shook his head, absolutely not wanting to get involved, "we used to-"
"I don't care what you did at school. You're not children anymore. You are responsible adults, and I would rather you set a better example, if you don't mind," said Molly in a clipped tone.
"Well, I wouldn't want to be irresponsible," said Sirius sarcastically. "You'll have to forgive me, we can't all have such perfect examples for a mother."
"Clearly."
Sirius narrowed his eyes at her, crossing his arms. "Fine. I'll make sure I set a good example for as long as you are guests in my house."
Molly at least had the decency to look sheepish at that. Remus recognized that she was likely under a great deal of stress herself and only had good intentions. Still, Sirius was not someone who took well to being told what to do.
"Good then," she said, softening her tone. "Thank you for understanding. I think I'll go unpack for a while. I'll be down later to make lunch for everyone."
With a brief, awkward smile, she turned around and excused herself from the room. Sirius watched her go. Remus stared down at the bench and the untouched, steaming cups.
"I guess nobody is having tea, then. I should've got some chocolate. Everyone loves chocolate," he said to Sirius, who didn't seem to have even registered that he had spoken. Didn't even glance around. "Maybe I'll get some for the meeting tonight. Or maybe just crush up some Valium into everyone's drinks. That'll keep conflict to a minimum," he joked. "Always worked for me."
Still no response. Sirius almost seemed to have forgotten he was there as he turned on the spot and disappeared with a loud crack, presumably to go sulk in his room.
Remus sighed. "Or not, I guess," he muttered in frustration, grabbing the tea cups and dumping out the contents into the sink.
