It was a mad rush. From the Hogwarts Express, to getting home and seeing everybody, to a wild and grand graduation feast for Fae, to getting fitted for her bridesmaid dress, getting the cake, dropping the cake, fixing the cake before Lily found out, putting up muggle in-laws, conjuring the millions of flowers Lily wanted because the florist got the order wrong, lacing ribbons through a million chairs, confirming with the vendor, confirming with the caterers, chasing away the ducks at the lake pavilion, getting chased by the ducks at the lake pavilion, blowing up the balloons, not popping all the balloons, make-overs, tanning mishaps, hair color mishaps, wrapping up a thousand gift baggies and then unwrapping and rewrapping them because Sirius forgot to get the chocolate truffles, preparing the fireworks, badgering the DJ, getting a final headcount of guests, skimming the guest list for singles, adjusting the seating chart, keeping the sister of the bride away from the brother of the groom, checking in with the photographer, keeping Peter from freaking out the photographer with high expectations and tips and a ridiculous shot list request, writing the toasts, practicing the toasts, rewriting the toasts, finessing the decorations, saving the champagne from the bridal party, saving the champagne from the nervous groom and groomsmen, going through rehearsal, keeping Lily from panicking about the less-than-perfect nature of the rehearsal, confirm the honeymoon, set the placecards, and a few other million tasks.
James was an idiot for making Sirius his Best Man instead of Remus and Remus deserved to be Lily's goddamn Maid of Honor with all the running around he did for the poor bridezilla. Fae teased him about considering a future career as a wedding planner and he told her to fuck off and keep Sirius busy for five Merlin-damned seconds before he fucked something else up. Because even though Sirius only fucked up about half the things that went wrong, Fae made sure he was blamed for all of them. Although, she suspected Remus knew better which was why he was cross with her too.
Still. All things said and done, through all the panicking and rushing and fucking about and last-second fixes, the wedding was beautiful and perfect. Everything was in place, Peter and Marlene were seating the guests as they trickled in, the ducks were gone, the musicians and officiator were ready to go, Lily was finalizing the last touches of her dress and hair, and Sirius and Fae, finally done causing trouble, were keeping their brother from bursting into tears or hyperventilating or both.
"What if she changes her mind?" James asked for the millionth time, running his hand through his hair and fidgeting with his bow tie. His hair was a lost cause and Lily knew that so Fae let his hair go wild and flicked her wand to slap away his hand and fix his bow tie for him.
"After all the work she did? Not a chance," Sirius said.
Fae laughed. "I think you'd have to walk down the aisle with a hooker right now for her to cancel this wedding." Which was the damn truth. And if James did walk down the aisle with a hooker? Then Lily would probably force Fae or Remus to stand up there and marry her instead, because she had managed perfection and deserved to enjoy it, proper husband or not.
James took a deep breath and exhaled. "Thanks, guys."
"Are you ready to marry the girl of your dreams?" Sirius asked, slapping his hands down on James' shoulders and shaking him excitedly.
"Merlin knows how you got her," Fae teased.
"Yes! Yes, I am," James said. He grinned, and then the smile faded a bit, becoming just a tad sad. "I just wish they were here."
Fae and Sirius shared a look and they all had a moment of silence for their parents. She wished more than anything that they could see this. Then Fae pulled out their wedding rings and dropped them into James' hand. "They are," she told him.
He completely lit up. And almost cried. Sirius slapped his cheeks and tugged him toward the door. "Now, let's go get you married."
It was sunset, perfectly bright and warm and not too windy, a gentle breeze rocking the waters of the lake. Every decoration was flawless, every person was in position, everything was perfect. Sirius and Marlene, as Best Man and Maid of Honor, walked first. Behind them was Fae and Remus.
Gods, he looked so beautiful. Perfectly tailored tux, and only a few strands of hair out of place from all his rushing about. She had to fight herself not to reach out and fix them. He was always so beautiful and lovely and it just wasn't fair. She could just throw herself into the lake right now.
"Come on, Remus. Time to relax. You've done everything you can, all that's left to do is enjoy the show."
Remus took a straggled breath and then slumped deeply, relaxing. "Thanks, Fae." He gave Fae a grateful smile as she adjusted his tie and then took his arm, pulling him forward on cue. He straightened up and they walked down the aisle.
After them was Peter and Dorcas, and the fourth set in the wedding party was Kingsley and Mary. Theresa was the flower girl, gliding down the aisle so gracefully, you'd never know she had once had a bad burn injury on her leg. Clyde was with her, carrying the rings. Sirius and James gave them high fives when they got to the bottom.
Lily was absolutely breathtaking as she floated down the aisle, radiant in her huge, white dress and peach ribbons and flaming hair and blinding smile. Fae looked at her brother, took in the absolute euphoria on his face and the tears of complete joy in his eyes as he saw her. She couldn't help tearing up herself a little and sent Remus a toothy smile when he caught her sentimental expression and gave her a teasing look. He laughed silently and they shared a smile before turning back to the proceedings. Everything was perfect.
The toasts went with laughter and nobody getting offended except for Lily's sister probably, but it could've been worse so meh. Sirius was hilarious and loving and she was so proud of him, even if he'd long come to terms with his feelings. The food was amazing and Fae ate with manners for once. So did James and Sirius. It was Lily who had started throwing and smashing cake, which meant a food fight was fair game as long as her dress remained pristine. Then there was music and dancing. Fae sang for James and Lily's first dance - choosing Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love. Smooth and slow and sweet. Everybody joined the happy couple and when Fae came down from the stage, Remus was surprisingly waiting for her.
"That was beautiful, Fae."
"Why thank you,' she said, taking a large, sweeping bow. As she stood, she nearly smacked into Remus' outstretched hand.
"May I have this dance?" he asked, smiling sweetly.
Fae thought about it. One dance couldn't hurt. Probably. As long as it was a polite ballroom or something. Nothing like that last dance they'd shared at the fair. She shrugged and took his hand. "Only if you let me lead - none of the guys around here are any fun."
"Sounds great," he answered with a laugh.
True to word, he let her lead and she swept them into a stable frame, an easy and slowly spinning glide. Nothing too complicated. Or close. Still, very nice though. Oh, she loved how he twirled for her.
"So how's it feel?" he asked, a little ways into their dance.
"How's what feel?" she asked cautiously, side-eyeing for a sibling to blame a potential and sudden escape on.
"To graduate? See your brother get married? Join the Order? Everything?"
Oh. That. Good. Those things she could talk about. "Hmmmm. Well I'm overjoyed to see James get married. Did you see him when Lily walked down the aisle?"
Remus laughed. "I'm surprised he only cried a little bit."
"My thoughts exactly," Fae said, grinning. "But the look on his face was… beyond words. He and Lily make each other so happy and support each other and balance each other out. I'm so glad James found that and I couldn't be happier for them."
"They really do balance each other out, don't they?"
"Yeah. And bonus! Now that they're married, I don't have to live in the same house and see them suck face and be gross all the time," she pointed out cheerfully.
"Fae!"
"What?" she said, snickering. "Don't even pretend you aren't thinking the same." She'd certainly heard enough about it from Peter. And forget Sirius, who also lived with them. It was no wonder the black-haired boy had become a work-a-holic and cleared training so fast.
"Well," Remus conceded, clearing his throat embarrassingly.
"As for the Order, not much to say. I haven't officially been indoctrinated yet."
"As good as. You've been gathering information for Moody and training for years," he reminded her.
Fae preened and then stuck her tongue out at him. "And yet you're the one who got to go see the wolf packs. Ugh."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Oh don't even think about being jealous. It wasn't anything exciting - just sneaking around and laying low mostly."
"Yeah, but you got to travel. And see them!"
"True," he said. "But you'll be with me soon enough."
"I guess," she said, shrugging.
"We'll make a good team and do the Order proud."
Which was too sweet and too Remus for Fae to really deal with here and now and at wedding at sunset. So she changed the subject. "Now as for graduating - it's bittersweet. I had a lot of good times there, but it really wasn't the same in the last year without you all. It was tough and I don't know if I could've done it without Romilly."
"No Regulus?" Remus asked, voice teasing.
Fae's smile turned small and bittersweet as she avoided his gaze and looked to the sky instead, searching for his stars. "No. Regulus… he uh. His dad got sick with… he was okay, but Regulus decided he couldn't take any risks anymore."
"Oh," he said. "Does Sirius..?"
Fae nodded. It had been a nasty conversation. Sirius hadn't even known about Orion getting sick. "Yeah, we talked about it.. there's nothing we can do for him now."
Well. For now. She couldn't give up hope yet. She had faith in Regulus and would wait for him. He needed her and Romilly, and they needed him. She believed in that.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Why?" Fae asked, giving him a suspicious glance. "You never liked him much. I still remember both of your obnoxious bickering that time I got sick."
"You mean that time you almost died," he said sternly. Then sighed. "And yeah, we never really saw eye to eye, but I know you cared about him and it must've been hard to lose him."
"You have no idea," she sighed. It had just been another incentive to keep herself busy, to go hard in her research and training during last term. "But yeah. I'm ready to move on from Hogwarts. Ready to get out into the world, make my marks, win a war, all that. Which reminds me, I need to add a badger to my tattoo, for Hufflepuff," she remarked idly.
"Pft. Typical Fae. No fear," he said, partially exasperated, partially fond, and partially patronizing.
She fixed him with a glare. "Try nothing but fear. Sometimes I feel like I'm so in over my head and I have no fucking clue what I'm doing or why I even try."
He went quiet at that and she could practically see the word guilty flashing across his pretty blue eyes like subtitles. She exhaled deeply to calm down and then laughed a little. "But then I remember that that's normal and getting all fussed up about it is a waste of time and energy. Better things to do," she said, grinning Fae-like.
Remus grinned back. "You are something else."
And Fae hated him for being so adoring and sweet and so Remus. For being a liar.
"Isn't she just?" Sirius said, walking up to them.
"Hey," Fae said, turning to him, and then pausing because Sirius was not alone.
"Fae, I wanted to introduce you to my friend from work," her brother said, gesturing to the man beside him. And this man was- woah. Only an inch shorter than Sirius, tan skin, devilish glittering gem-like blue eyes, perfectly-styled wavy black hair with a few bangs falling over his forehead, lean, broad-shouldered, clearly fit, bright pretty white smile. He was fucking gorgeous.
"Hi there. I'm Henry Jacobs. Sirius has told me so much about you," he said, taking Fae's hand and pressing a kiss to her knuckles with a wink. Oh, Sirius was getting all the hugs for this. He had impeccable taste and timing.
Fae smiled charmingly at him. "Good things or bad things?"
"Does it matter? All I know is I've been dying to meet you since I heard about how you were Gryffindor's personal cheerleader and got Sirius into a miniskirt."
She giggled and then gestured to herself grandly. "Oh really? Well. Ta da! Feel free to applaud and present your offerings."
Henry laughed, a rich, thick, pleasant sound. "I'm afraid I don't have any offerings for you, but how about a dance?"
"Sure, why not," she said, taking his hand and twirling him away, startling him and making him laugh. He regained his footing and settled in to lead and spin her around the floor expertly. Fae laughed delightedly with his grand moves.
Henry was nice and witty and had a good sense of humor. He was a great dancer, at least for the ballroom and fancy dancing. She had to show him a thing or two when the fun stuff came on, but he handled it well enough. They talked about Hogwarts and the Auror program and their favorite places on Diagon Alley. He was nice. So when Peter called her to go set-up the send off for Lily and James and Henry asked to see her again, maybe dinner sometime, Fae agreed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Lily threw the bouquet and Fae stayed well away from the damned thing, because she had charmed the flowers in it to make-out with whoever caught it. Fae gave James and Lily a million kisses and hugs as she sent them off, and then quickly snuck away with the other three Marauders. In the dark, Fae, Sirius, Remus, and Peter rocked the boat and snickered in their slightly inebriated states as they rowed out to a little floating island where the fireworks waited.
They only almost killed each other twice, knocking over the mortars on the unsteady, floating boards. Fae shot roman candles at Sirius on 'accident' and then the two screeched as he tackled her and they both went flying into the water. They swam around, laughing and whooping and watching the rest of the fireworks until Peter RKO'd Remus into the water with them, and then the two less-drunk boys towed Sirius and Fae all the way back to shore.
In the morning, Fae woke up slightly hungover, but not hungover enough to skip her morning run. With how busy the past few days had been, she'd only managed longing looks at her woods. Finally, it was time to really go home. To Fae's joy, Remus was already waiting for her at the back door, grinning and shifting eagerly from foot to foot.
It was different. Things were different between them and they were just different people themselves. But it wasn't bad. Remus, who had mapped these woods thoroughly in the past 9 months, was the one to lead them. Fae, pleasantly surprised, was happy to follow for once. He was at ease and it was good to see. She couldn't help being at ease too. At least, for the first twenty minutes. Then she just had to pick up the pace and they started racing through the third, fourth, and fifth laps. They were gasping for air and laughing and grinning breathlessly when they reached the back porch a little after sunrise, Fae just seconds before Remus did.
Shoving playfully at each other, they headed into the house, Remus headed for the kitchen and Fae automatically went to wash up and change into clothes for the day. When she emerged, Remus already had breakfast going and she offered to finish up while he got dressed. He thanked her easily and left while Fae picked sizzling bacon out of the pan. A few moments later, she heard loud shouts and bangs. Then Remus returned, dressed, fresh, and smug. Fae arched an eyebrow at him and he grinned over his mug of tea.
"Waking Sirius for work," he explained. And well, they both knew how Sirius was about waking up in the morning.
Sirius appeared just as they sat down to eat, although most of the bacon was already gone to his dismay. He shot a betrayed look at Fae and she grinned before taking a big bite of leftover wedding cake. Remus left a little while later, requesting that Sirius do the dishes before he too left for work. Fae decided to be generous and help, which resulted in both of them taking a bath. Then Sirius was rushing madly and running out the door for work as well.
Fae was left alone in the Potter house for the first time ever. As in, she had never been home alone. Never been in this house while nobody else was here. It was uncomfortable and depressing. But she refused to let it get to her. She'd known this was coming - the silence and keen lack of Fleamont bustling in the workshop, James and Sirius causing a ruckus, Euphemia humming in the garden. It wasn't the same and never would be the same again. But this was still her home. This was her home and she couldn't run away just because Fleamont and Euphemia weren't there anymore. It was home. Albeit, somewhat untidy.
So she started cleaning, picking up dirty laundry from the living room, actually properly doing the dishes and putting them away, wiping down the counters like Euphemia always did. With everything she got done, she found a few more chores to be done, although less than she thought. She had a feeling that Remus had been keeping up the house in the past few months and made a mental note to get him some of the high quality tea leaves he liked from that one bakery in London.
The more she moved and refamiliarized herself with home, the more she was able to move things around as she, and Euphemia and Fleamont, had preferred them, the better she felt. And it certainly helped that she got to blast her music on the boombox and sing obnoxiously loud to songs that nobody could hear and wouldn't exist for a few decades. There were moments of sadness that stopped her, like dusting Fleamont's workbench or refilling the kitchen table vase with orchids and lilacs. But she carried on.
By the afternoon, there was still plenty to do, but Fae felt that she'd earned a break. In fact, she had earned a treat. So Fae went for a little jog down to Lucrecias's, eager to see Remus as a server and baker and coffee maker. And to finally taste this famous coffee cake everybody was always telling her about.
"Fae!" he said, bright and cheerful.
Fae waved and winked. "Hey Remus. Thought I'd come give you a hard time. Look at you, Mr. Working Man," she teased.
He rolled his eyes and flipped her off, causing her to laugh wickedly.
Lucrecia came from the back and gave Fae a light, sweet hug. Still smelling of herbs and flour and coconuts. It was a good, easy, familiar feeling. "Fae, it's good to see you. Congratulations on graduation!"
"Hi Lucrecia, thanks! It's good to see you too. How's business been?"
The woman gave her a sly, amused smile. "Busier than ever, now that I've got Remus here. You know how polite he is and with his good looks, we have more customers than ever, flitting in and out trying to get his attention."
"Oh please," Remus said, voice tired and embarrassed, sounding very much like this was a common argument. "They're here for the good food and coffee."
"Which you also make most of the time these days," Lucrecia pointed out.
Fae beamed and gave Remus a teasing look filled with wiggling, suggestive eyebrows. He huffed and pretended to ignore her in lieu of mixing some cream cheese icing.
"He makes the best coffee cake, you know? And he just never stops. He does the work of two employees at least, you know? Normally I'd have to hire a few part-timers for the summer, but even with the increase in business, I'd have nothing for them really," Lucrecia said, chiding and loving and happy. Then she turned to Fae and grinned teasingly, so much like Euphemia that it hurt Fae a little bit. "Unless Remus would like to have another night off a week, especially now that you're back?" she suggested.
Fae laughed thinly. "Typical Remus, work-a-holic. I might be able to convince him to take it a little easier."
"Keep dreaming," he chimed. "There's nothing wrong with liking your job and I happen to like mine. Must be because you're such a good boss."
"Oh you," Lucrecia laughed. "And that's why business is booming - charm like that."
"It's the food," he insisted.
And Fae just had to add her two cents. "I bet it's both. You do look absolutely adorable in that apron." It was pale blue with white threading and a few lace trimmings along the bottom. Too cute, and it matched his eyes.
"I'll show you adorable!" he said, swiping some flour across her nose. Fae squealed and flicked some blueberries at him. Lucrecia let them get away with it for a while before requesting that they clean up and that Remus let Fae have her pick of the case today - as a homecoming and congratulations. Fae gave her another big hug, sharing flour and icing imprints between them happily.
Fae skipped out with more food than she came in with, having swiped all her favorites and made sure to get a few slices of Remus' coffee cake because that stuff really was incredible. She had to bully the recipe out of him one day for sure.
"Mmmmmmmm," she moaned loudly. Took another huge bite. Let out another loud, filthy moan. "Remus, what the fuck? You hate coffee. But this is amaaaaaaazing."
He'd looked very embarrassed and pleased, turning away to hide his red face and giving Fae the chance to swipe some more.
After the cafe, Fae went over to the library and just heaved a happy, content sigh while walking through the stacks. It was such a nice, familiar feeling. She grabbed a book Remus had mentioned lately, plopped down on a comfy chair, and read for the afternoon, just relaxing and nibbling on treats and enjoying a quiet moment. When the sun began to dip a bit, she stretched luxuriously and packed up for the run home. As she jogged easily, she breathed in the summer air. Then paused. What was that?
"Gotcha!" Remus yelled, flying out of one of the trees lining the road and scaring the shit out of her. She fell over with a screech, then threw a handful of gravel at him with a laugh and a playfully angry shout of his name. Remus cast a small barrier to block the gravel, winked, and then sprinted down the road. Fae raced after him and they shot cute Jelly Legs jinxes and Bat-Bogey hexes at each other, always missing.
At home, Remus dutifully started dinner and Fae only got in one more cute-apron joke and a jest about him being a lovely housewife before he forced her into making dinner with him. He was leading, again, and Fae decided it was a rather good look on him, to be so at-home in the Potter house, and in his own skin. She really liked seeing him like this and struggled with herself a little to not think too much about how domestic this was, cooking dinner together. So she pulled little pranks, switching the salt with the sugar, the cayenne with the cinnamon, making the knife about as sharp as rubber, all good fun. Remus took it all in stride, charming everything back perfectly without missing a beat. He must've been used to having Sirius around while he cooked.
That, and Remus was actually a really good cook. He glided around and knew where everything was and remembered their food preferences, but insisted on healthier eating like veggies and whole grains and lean proteins what not. It was painfully like Euphemia and reminded Fae of the days she'd watch them cook or garden together. It had been months now, but Fae still really saw them in everything and everyone, for better or worse.
Sirius showed up a little late, already ranting about his day. His stories were as lively as ever and she and Remus listened, sharing sassy looks and nodding when Sirius needed validation. Sirius cleared the table and left to change into more comfortable clothes while Remus washed and Fae dried. Then, just like so many other nights Fae could remember, they all settled down together in the living room. Fae continued her book, sometimes bickering with Remus on their differing opinions regarding whether the antagonist was hot or not. Remus worked on his freelance writing jobs, reading and editing easily. Sirius watched tv for a bit and then headed out to the garage to tinker with his motorbike. After she finished her book and yelled at Remus for not warning her about the absolutely heartbreaking ending, she joined Sirius and they sang along to the radio and chatted about Fae's upcoming dinner with Henry.
It felt astonishingly surreal and normal at the same time. She could get used to this.
Remus, for all his talk a year ago, didn't move out and didn't even seem to be considering it. Fae figured it had to do with helping the family during the winter and then losing his job, but things were fine now. So it must've been the war, for the sake of staying together and safer. It was good to see him so comfortable and at home, albeit weird that he was the one in charge of cleaning and cooking and dishing out chores. Although it shouldn't surprise that he'd been the one to keep up on it since Euphemia passed. Overall, Remus was, by far, the easier of the two men to live with.
"SIRIUS PENELOPE BLACK, IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR DIRTY SOCKS OFF THE COFFEE TABLE, I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU EAT THEM!"
"MY MIDDLE NAME ISN'T PENELOPE!"
"WHO FUCKING CARES, JUST CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF, YOU GODDAMN MESSY-ASS MAN-CHILD!"
"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK! YOU LEAVE MUGS AND CUPS OF WATER EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME!"
"He's not wrong you know, do you know how many times I've almost knocked over one of your forgotten drinks on my manuscripts? And Sirius, please do move your socks. They smell. Bad."
"SHUT UP REMUS."
The week continued just like that, easy and kind of perfect in its mundanity. Fae had dinner with Henry on Thursday, and it went well. He was nice and very attractive, she supposed. She got quite a few skillful and tasty snogs out of it, laughing and diving back in for more kisses on the front porch as she half-heartedly attempted to say goodnight.
Alas, it was not meant to be. A little high on the snogging and feeling giddy and excited for her other brother to come home, Fae decided to surprise Sirius and Henry at lunch. She hadn't been to the Ministry since she was registered as a werewolf, since Euphemia and Fleamont had adopted her. Taking a moment to remember, she smiled and then took a deep breath. Such wonderful, loving people. Then she walked in.
The lady at the front desk took her name and then directed her to the Auror floor where she was confronted with another lady at the Auror floor front desk. This one, however, looked like Elsa from Frozen and made Fae pause in surprise. Then she smiled as prettily as she could while asking after her brother.
The blonde receptionist didn't even look up from her work as she sent Fae down a hallway to the training room. But it was less of a dismissive gesture and more with the fidgeting that denoted someone who wasn't great under direct attention. Cute. Fae thanked her, Ms. Klara Henderson, no wedding ring, and walked off to the training room, hips swaying her skirt flippily.
The Aurors were doing some dueling training, which Fae found had devolved into just showing off and fucking with each other. She found Sirius easily and he was delighted to see her, introducing her around and, ugh she loved him so much, informing everybody there that she could kick their asses. At the same time, Henry had come to give her a nice, thorough kiss and assure them that Sirius was joking.
"I'm really not. She once beat up five guys for serenading her best friend. Like, broken bones and bleeding in a few creative places. It took me, Remus, and James combined to pull her off them."
Fae chuckled and fist-bumped her brother. "Ah, good times." She reveled in the way several of the Aurors, particularly the women, were giving her both fearful and impressed looks.
Most looked like they still didn't believe it, including Henry unfortunately. "You can't be serious. Pretty, little Fae here?" he said, dropping a kiss on her head.
Fae and Sirius shared a look and a few quick moments later, Sirius told her the rules and Fae was demonstrating her dueling abilities on Henry, launching him with a Depulso, catching him with a Stupefy where he fell, and letting the Engorgio'd windowsill plant wrap him in an embarrassingly gentle hug while she took his wand.
"I win!"
"I went easy on you!" he whined, displaying a very uncharming lack of a sense of humor.
"If you say so. Best 2 out of 3?" she said, grinning predatorily. Which turned into 13 out of 25, and only then did he finally storm off and declare that they were over. Fae shrugged, jumped into some more duels, ate half their sandwich tray, and left with two new dinner invitations. Maybe she should've watched her grades more and joined the Aurors like her brothers.
It was a great story to tell James and Lily when they got home that night, just in time for dinner. James consoled her between his laughter and Lily, her beautiful new sister-in-law, gave her a high-five. After dinner, she and Lily sat out on the porch swing and talked about how perfect the wedding had been and how the honeymoon went and all the exciting things in the future. It was nice and Fae was happy to officially welcome her into the family. At least, until they all settled into the living room for a movie and James 'forced' Lily into sitting on his lap in Fleamont's old chair for it. Remus, Sirius, and Fae threw pillows, although it was only for fun. They were pretty damn cute and so happy together. Honeymoon phase and all. Besides, it was just one night.
The next morning, Remus went to work, the traitor. Sirius and Fae got stuck with a second round of Bossy Lily as they helped the new couple move into their new home - a cute house on the outskirts of London, closer to both of their jobs. Most of the morning was packing and when Remus came home, he helped shrink and load everything up. Then he wrapped an arm around Fae's shoulder for a comforting half-hug as she stood still and sad in the garage, gazing at her station wagon and her dad's Thunderbird.
She sighed and he removed his arm from her shoulders, sliding his hand down to hold her's and then place the keys to the Thunderbird into them. She looked at them, took a deep breath, nodded, and smiled. Together they ripped off the cover.
Remus drove her station wagon with James and Lily while Sirius, the fun one, piled into the Thunderbird with Fae. Fae drove wildly and raced Remus there, who pretended he wasn't falling for it and racing her, only to gun it right at the end, speeding up the street to James and Lily's idyllic new home.
"You better enjoy it Remus, because that's the only way you're ever gonna beat me in a race," she teased.
After all the boxes and furniture were dropped inside, they called for take-out and ate it on a blanket in the backyard, with the sunset and some of Fae's favorite charmed fairy lights floating around. It was then she brought up the idea she'd been considering since lunch - getting a job. That week had been nice, plenty of time to relax for once. Thing is, she was never too good at relaxing and her planning for the war was going pretty steadily. It would be nice to work - she hadn't in nearly five years now and it actually sounded nice.
Remus was completely exasperated that she had finished her education, but apparently hadn't taken even a second to think about her future or a career after. Fae just shrugged, reminding him she liked to live on the edge and play it by ear. And with that - Sirius and James were begging her to come be an Auror. She easily refused - far too much work and politics for her liking. No, she was much less ambitious and wanted something nice and easy, which made them all gape at her. Lily suggested the secretary opening at her company next. A desk job? Sitting all day? Pass, but thank you. The rest of the night became a free for all of job ideas, funny and wild and obnoxious.
Fae had worked four jobs in her past life. Her parents had cleaned buildings and often took her and her brothers along instead of paying for a babysitter. And then to help clean as they'd each gotten older. When she'd been 16 for the first time, she paid her dues for a few years as a waitress and occasional cook at an old, dying, homey diner. Challenging, awful at times, but fun more often than not. That job had taught her very well how to lie through her smiling, pretty teeth. Her next job had been working at one of the on-campus libraries as an assistant. She'd loved that one, so easy and smooth and surrounded by books and stressed out grad students. Then her last job had been amazing - a graphic designer for a publishing company in her college town that specialized in magazines. She missed working and she missed creating and she missed being needed and appreciated for simple little tasks.
Still, it needed to be flexible to fit with her plans. So on Monday, Fae put on her cutest dress, had Sirius do her make-up, had Remus braid her hair, and she drove the Thunderbird into town, dropping Remus off at work and telling him to look after her baby while she went job hunting the old-fashioned way - door to door, face to face.
At dinner, Fae showed off her nine application forms and her six business cards, three of which had appointments for an interview written on the back of. Remus looked annoyed and slightly pissed off while Sirius slapped her on the back. Then they ran the pros and cons of each one. Fae's hopeful favorites were the fitness studio, the diner on the other side of town with the super delicious greasy burgers, and the junkyard across town.
By the end of the week, Fae was a little less confident. Scratch that, she was getting downright depressed. Now she knew how Remus felt last year when he did job hunting. Of course, she'd done this before. When she had graduated college, she had literally applied to 50 jobs over a course of four months before one finally stuck. She wasn't surprised by the rejection, but she was a little hurt by the second-round-interviewers who had known her for years in this small town and suddenly looked at her differently when she was compelled by her identification mark to inform them of her lycanthropy. And well, it might've also been that the full moon was in a few days so her emotions were a little screwy.
"I just reaaallllyyy wanted that job at the fitness center," Fae whined, words coming out rough thanks to the large slice of coffee cake she'd just shoved in there. Fuck, Remus' coffee cake was so good and she hated him for refusing to share the recipe. Said werewolf was beside her on the porch swing, comforting her with cake and sympathetic nods and perfectly brewed and sweetened coffee drinks. For someone who didn't like coffee, he had a weird talent for using it in the culinary arts.
She sniffled and rubbed away tears, taking another large bite. She couldn't cry if she was too busy eating and enjoying cake.
"I'm sorry Fae. But I know it'll work out eventually. I bet you'll have a job by the end of next week," he soothed. "And it'll be better than all those other lame jobs combined. You'll find something and it'll be perfect and you'll love it."
"You think so?"
He reached out and smoothed her hair away from her bulging cheeks so it wouldn't get caught in the cake. Smiled so sweetly. "I know so."
And her heart skipped far too many beats to be healthy, especially when his smile turned into a devilish grin and he reached forward to straight up scoop her off the swing, cake and all, before carrying her to the station wagon, which was pretty much his car now. "Now let's go for a drive. Sirius has been going on and on about your latest mystery tape and I demand to hear it."
Fae laughed wildly. She ate an entire pan of coffee cake between belting out the lyrics to Bad Romance while Remus sped down the highway, all windows open. Fucking sweetheart had even had a hairband on his wrist ready to tie her hair back so they didn't go blind with all the wind whipping it around. Remus tied it up himself before they left the drive, fingering the strands into a neat ponytail even though Fae didn't really give a fuck.
"Your hair is almost all the way grown out again," he observed happily. Fae blushed and smiled, before telling him to hurry the fuck up. He was taking forever.
Lucrecia, the absolute sweetheart, usually gave Remus the day after the moon off to recover, since the cafe long closed before the moon rose. But for this one, the first moon Fae and Remus had spent together in almost a year, she gave him the day of the moon off as well.
They ran like crazy all day and when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, they went swimming. Definitely not the pool, nope. They hopped in the Thunderbird, picked up two giant bags of take-out, and drove out to the waterfalls they'd explored last summer to swim and eat an amazing picnic. Then, after a few hours, they drove back, went inside to prepare, and sprinted into the woods. It got quiet as they set the wards.
"This is going to sound nuts… but I'm nervous?" Remus admitted after a little while.
She gaped at him. "Really?"
He nodded and she laughed before saying, "Me too."
"Ha, really?" he asked.
"Yeah, I am. It's been so long since we spent a moon together," she said. It was exciting sure, but things had changed between them. Still good and still fun, but different. She didn't know how it would manifest in their more honest and primal forms. It would probably be fine. Better than fine, exhilarating. And if they'd gotten back up their peak skills from a year ago apart, it was exciting to imagine what they could do now, together again.
"Yeah. I," Remus trailed off, voice quieting to a sad, low tone. "I'm. Fae, I really am sorry."
They both knew that sorry was for a whole lot of things. And she was happy to take it as a sorry for everything, because she really didn't want to talk about the individual things. That specific thing. "I know. I forgive you," she said, smiling. "And besides, we ended up learning some really important information, like how useless you are without me."
"Uh- excuse you!" he argued. "I recall that we both established you looked worse than I did after that first moon."
"Details," she replied, waving it off with a teasing grin.
"And besides, I know I regained all my awareness and abilities and then some," Remus bragged.
"Oh?" she arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Implying I didn't?"
"Maybe. Got some new tricks to show me tonight?" he asked, teasing.
She grinned wildly. That sounded like a challenge. "Got some I can show you right now, as a matter of fact."
So Fae pulled out her goggles and blinded herself. She started counting down. Remus was confused for only a moment before taking off for some Hide and Hunt. Fae found him, blind, in ten minutes. Although he put up one hell of a fight.
She tackled him to the ground, sat back, removed her goggles, and gazed down at him smugly.
"Wow," he breathed.
She preened and helped him up. Now that was the proper reaction to her displays of strength and badassery. "You know me. Best 2 out of 3?"
There was no need to be nervous, of course. The full moon was amazing. Completely unbelievable. Fuck it felt incomparably good to have Remus at her side again. Her awareness almost hit a full five hours and he was nearly edging three. It was a good thing they'd decided to expand the wards out a little farther, the 10 square mile area was barely enough to contain them, their sheer energy and excitement and joy had them running so fast and wrestling and playing. Padfoot couldn't hope to keep up. And in the morning, Fae opened her eyes to see Remus leaning over her, smiling so brightly, both of them sore and bruised to hell from the wrestling with a few puppy-sized, playful claw marks, but completely happy and at home again.
The next day, Fae felt completely rejuvenated, re-energized, and remotivated to find a job. There were a bunch more rejections, but none that had her crying. Still, Remus was always there for each one, bringing home new coffee creations to taste, going with her and Sirius to the drive-in, setting aside his manuscripts at night to read aloud to her, cooking her favorite dinners, playing Hide and Hunt for a few late, thrilling nights.
Sirius did his part too - dragging her out to London bars and live shows and to pick up and snog cute boys and girls before mysteriously disappearing into the night. Riding around on his motorcycle at 3 in the morning for shits and giggles. Bringing her into the ministry to duel with and beat up more of his coworkers. They even went to the diner, their diner, a couple times despite the fact that they too had rejected Fae. The burgers were just that damn good.
Remus was right though. By the end of next week, Fae had secured a job. It was a muggle establishment, so she wasn't honor bound to tell them about her lycanthropy. She was required to inform the ministry and they had to give her an okay, but that went easily enough. And it would be a little tough not to be able to do magic whenever she was there, but she'd survive. It was a relatively new diner that was hiring for the grand opening - fresh neon and checkered floors and teal booths. It reminded her of her first job and how she'd always joked that she wished she could've seen it in it's days of glory because by the time she'd gotten there, it was falling apart. This place was brand spanking new. And best of all? It required the servers to wear roller skates - thus winning Fae the position because she could skate like nobody's business, was graceful and small enough to get around easy, and would happily keep it up all day.
Remus, James, Peter, and Sirius gave her shit about it for days. The huge, cheesy hoop skirt, the bows in her hair, the pink-laced roller skates, the twirling. But Fae could care less - she loved it. And it felt so nostalgic and nice. Also, as one of the first employees, she got her pick of hours. Remembering how much of a bitch closing was and wanting to be home with her boys, it was with no consideration that she took the morning shifts. Wednesday through Saturday, 7 to 2, with a double shift to 6 on Saturdays.
And that was that. Two weeks after she started her new job, she was officially indoctrinated into the Order and her morning schedules paid off. Meetings were always late at night in the back room of some random bar. Tonight, it was, hilariously, Sirius' favorite gay bar and she just knew he'd been the one to suggest it for her. The damn Prewetts still had the gall to call her Little Potter, although Gideon got flirty and asked her out for a drink after. It was with great personal pleasure that she turned him down.
"So how bout it, Fae? Fancy going out sometime?" he asked, enunciating her name with a lilt that was actually pretty charming.
"Sorry, I can't, I'm sort of seeing someone," she said.
"You are?" Gideon asked, Remus echoing him seconds later.
"Yeah, it's a recent thing. We're going on our first date this weekend," Fae answered, glancing down and twirling her hair around her finger, feeling all fluttery and shy. It was different for her - she hadn't felt like this about a date since. Well. She normally wasn't the type to get flustered, is all.
"Who is it?"
"Uh… Klara?"
Sirius dropped into the conversation then, gaping. "Klara. Like my boss's secretary, Klara? Klara Henderson?"
"Yeah?"
"But she's so… uptight!"
"She's not, she's just shy and awkward. It's so cute!"
When not hiding at her little desk, Klara was tall. She was beautiful and demure, well-groomed and polite, sweet, and a little sassy. She was seven inches taller than Fae without platform boots or heels. She had dirty-blonde hair, usually tied back in a bun with pretty bangs and ice-blue eyes. She looked like Elsa, but honestly, Fae couldn't resist flirting with her because she was so timid and shy until you finally made her laugh. Once you made her laugh, that high bell-like sound, she lit up and opened up and started teasing back. Cautiously at first, but with more fire, Fae discovered after their first date. And fuck, she was one hell of a kisser.
Life flashed by like that.
Remus and Fae ran every morning, although they ran by themselves on Fridays and Sundays because Remus liked to go into work two hours early to get some extra baking done on those days.
She went on dates with her adorable girlfriend, for lunches and dinners and brunches and strolls through the gardens in London. For nights out dancing because Klara actually loved to disco and even if it added a few more inches above Fae, her legs were amazing in the tight, flared pants and gogo boots.
She cheerfully dodged the crude flirting from the kitchen guys while twirling and gliding around on her skates at work. Poured coffee effortlessly while zooming by, bright smiles and good mornings and winks for her favorite regulars.
Thursdays and Fridays were her favorites. She'd leave work and roller skate across town to the cafe where she'd pull out zines and books and journals, post up at her booth, and hang out for a few hours until Remus finished work so they could walk together. The cafe really was buzzing with all sorts of customers in and out, but Remus always saved her booth for, leaving dishes on it until she got there and cleaned them up herself. Fae loved watching him flit back and forth in his little apron, smile the same kind smile at every person as he handled the register, and gracefully bake up trays and trays of treats all at the same time. He looked happy. So beautiful. And the coffee was top notch, she always teased him.
On Saturdays, he returned the favor, showing up at the diner after lunch to hang out and read and joke with the flirty kitchen guys and make fun of her awesome skating skills until she got out of her second shift.
They ran home and cooked dinners together, eating said dinners with Sirius while he told his adventure stories and with Peter on Tuesdays, and on random days that James and Lily showed up, much to Remus' chagrin. He hated when more people showed up than he'd planned on cooking for.
The three of them spent most evenings together if there were no dates or Auror assignments or Order missions, Remus working on his editing, Fae reading or writing in her journals or answering her penpals as Athena, Sirius watching tv or fiddling with his bike. Every Saturday, they met up with James and Lily in London for a night of dancing and drinking and debauchery, just like the year before. The only difference was that more often than not, Sirius would go home with some pretty thing, Lily would cart James' drunk ass off back to their home for sex, and Remus and Fae would pile into the car and drive for hours in the night. They liked to ease off the excitement and just pick a direction and drive, even though Remus had to get up at 5 to go bake. Adorable dummy. She loved those nights, sometimes full of laughter and howling and sometimes full of quiet singing and the sound of the wind.
Remus would go off to bake and be gone by the time Fae woke up Sunday morning, but Sirius would always be there without fail and they continued their longstanding tradition of shopping and gossiping and talking about boys. Sometimes, their new sister would join them. Lily was particularly a joy when the honeymoon phase wore off and Sirius and Fae got to laugh their asses off at the horror that was married life with James Potter.
With all three of them working, Fae, Remus, and Sirius bickered like hell over the chores. Eventually, they just installed a wheel onto the fridge door with several options for solving disputes. Rock, paper, scissors. Arm wrestling. Staring contest. Changing the color of Mrs. Delores' prize white roses without magic. Chicken wing eating contest. Dance-off. Hide and Hunt. A game of pool at the bar down in town. Shot contest. And so on. The dispute was usually between two of three and the third was left to mediate and referee whatever challenge they spun to solve the problem. Winner got their way and the loser got to replace that piece of the wheel with a new challenge as a consolation prize. There were sore losers a lot, but they also all had good senses of humor and were able to make it work. Living with Sirius and Remus was anything but boring.
Then there were the Order missions. Fae could understand all their bitching now. Her first few missions were boring as hell. Surveillance. Sometimes Death Eaters, sometimes suspected of being Death Eaters, mostly just people thought to have been working with Death Eaters like a potions supplier or a dirty, lower ranked politician. With her enhanced senses, Fae was unfortunately very good at it.
But it wasn't nothing and she kept up her duties faithfully, balancing everything very happily. A month flew by, another awesome full moon, a few Order meetings, James and Lily's first big fight which had James sleeping over on the couch and Lily coming to find him and apologize halfway through the night, Remus driving up sales at the cafe with a new frozen coffee drink that Fae had totally helped him invent, Sirius settling into a semi-legit relationship with a bartender who'd seen many of Sirius' sores and scores over the past few months and wanted to try his hand, Peter getting promoted at his job, Lily getting promoted at her job, James nearly losing an arm at his job, and on and on. It was a beautiful life.
And then the waiting paid off. After a meeting near the end of August, Moody approached Remus and Fae.
"We've got a mission for you two."
"Oh?"
"Recruitment."
A/N: Happy Saturday everyone! Hope you're enjoying the fall weather, and the incoming delicious thanksgiving food, as much as I am.