Anything for You
Part One
redwood
Disclaimer: Like I've said twenty-something times before, I don't own anything contained herein. So don't sue me. Everything belongs to J. K. Rowling except the idea for an alternate reality fic. I'm not making any money either.
Summary: Part one of the intro summary I posted last time. Still not really depressing. Remus is a bit of a perv, but it's all for show.
Author's Note: Due to the response on the last one… I had to post this pretty quickly. If it gets a good response, the next one will be soon. Get it? Got it? Good. OH yeah- and to readers who haven't read my When and If series- Peter Pettigrew's dead (I killed him off) so if you don't see him mentioned, that's why. (Alternate reality fic.)
* * *
Don't walk away, or close the door behind you
It's all done in faith, so why can't you just see?
I need you more than you could ever know
Don't walk away, forgive the things I do
Don't be afraid
You're my bright star in the sky
Your face I see, and everything seems so clear
I miss your touch
My world, it falls apart
Don't be afraid, if only you made clear
Angels in my dreams, oh they take me away
An angel with your face is on my mind
Seeing angels in my dreams, oh they take me away
An angel with your face is all that I ask for
Oh you're all I'll ever need
Now looking back I miss the time we shared
But knowing now, time's our enemy
Our speech is gone, not knowing what to say
Forgetting words that you never said
Angels in my dreams, oh they take me away
An angel with your face is on my mind
Seeing angels in my dreams, oh they take me away
An angel with your face is all that I ask for
Oh you're all I'll ever need
Angels in my dreams, oh they take me away
An angel with your face is on my mind
Seeing angels in my dreams, oh they take me away
An angel with your face is all that I ask for
Oh you're all I'll ever need
Oh you're all I'll ever need
Oh you're all I'll ever need.
- Don't Be Afraid (house points if you can tell me who it's by!)
* * *
"So what happened to the days when I was your angel, huh?" Remus wanted to know as he opened the door to the flat he kept in London.
"Since when are you not?" Ally retorted, stepping inside after he motioned for her to go first.
"Point for Ally," Remus said, tossing her his cloak, which she caught and hung beside hers on the back of his door.
"And about time, too. Last time I checked I was losing twenty-four to nothing!"
Remus gave a huge grin. "Don't worry, Red, the night is young and there's still plenty of chances to score."
"Not for you."
The attractive features scrunched themselves into a grimace. "Ouch."
"We even yet?" the blonde asked, smiling her best smile and knowing that she had won.
"I give. You win." There was a moment's silence as the two went to sit on the couch in the not-too-used sitting room. The silence would have scared strangers- it would have been awkward, even, for good acquaintances. For them it was nothing, they had sat through half of the past five years sitting silently with each other. Still…"Coffee or tea?" Remus asked finally, noticing that Ally seemed to be a bit tired.
"Blech," she responded immediately. "Remus, you know I don't drink that stuff…"
"Good, because I haven't got any. I don't drink it, either." Remus appeared almost mournful.
The rueful, saddened, and very much faked look on his face proved too much for Allya: she started laughing. She laughed until she fell off the couch, in fact, which made her laugh even harder. When she'd pretty much regained her composure, she said, "Sorry…" Whatever she was sorry for was interrupted by a few more chuckles, but finally between the two of them they managed to get her standing upright again.
"So do you have plans for tomorrow yet?" Remus asked. He looked more than a little hopeful to Ally, but only because she knew him so well.
"Yep," she said, noting with some degree of amusement the slightly abashed look on her companion's face. "Moving into the office. Speaking of work… we're starting promptly at six, you realize. And we do have to get some sleep."
Though he was mostly joking, Remus suggested, "You can bunk here if you want."
Allya grinned. "I don't think so, Moony."
He feigned confusion. "Well, just because you don't think (chock one up for Remus)… Is that a yes or a no?"
"That's neither." Her petite frame advanced on him, drawing him into a farewell hug and a quick kiss before she backed away.
"Well," Remus said, "clarify for me. That's a… 'Maybe some other time; I don't want to be late for work in the morning'… right?"
"As if you could last that long," Redwood teased. Remus: 25, Allya: 7,489,048. "It's a bet I'll save for another day. Good night, Remus."
"G'night, Ally."
She Disapparated. Oh… Allya forgot her cloak again, Remus thought. Suddenly she was back again, broomstick grasped in one hand and wearing her old Quidditch robes- she'd played a season for the London College for Witches and Wizards. (A/N: I see no reason why women can't play in the league… at least, I don't think it was mentioned that it's an all-male league, so there we go. The college league has female players, too.) A broomstick and the old uniform? She's lost it again. "I forgot my cloak," she said, grabbing it off of the coat hook and spinning back into the living room. "I'm going for a midnight fly- want to come?"
"Thought you didn't want to be late for work," Remus said. "Besides, what if someone sees us?"
"I'm not planning on being late for work," she countered, throwing one of the windows open and stepping out onto the windowsill. "I'm also not planning on getting seen. So are you coming or not?"
Remus hopped off the couch, grabbed his cloak from the door and his broom from the closet, and met her at the window. "Race you to your place," he challenged.
"Only if you're staying for dessert," she baited.
"Well, if you put it that way…" Allya began tapping her foot impatiently. "Okay." He pushed off of the windowsill and got a good head start before Allya caught up.
"Is this a challenge, Remus dear?" she whispered loudly, keeping close to him and above the clouds so that the Muggles couldn't see.
"Um," Remus said, "last one to your mansion strips first?" He glided out in front of her, artfully dodging the playful swing of her arm and knowing what her next words would be and saying them along with her. "My house is not a mansion!"
Ally made it to her 'house' first.
Remus didn't really care. He lost on purpose.
An alarm clock rang at twenty past five.
"Shit." The curse was singular and adequate enough for the both of them.
"Shit."
Or not.
"Bathroom's down the hall, sixth door on the right," Ally mumbled with her face buried in her pillow.
"Uh huh," Remus said from somewhere near her ear, not moving his hands from around her body. Her fully clothed body.
What is going on here? Allya wondered. "Ah… Remus… you wouldn't happen to remember anything that happened last night… would you?" she asked carefully, despite the early hour.
"Nope."
We must've had something chocolate for dessert, she decided. Things like this always happen after chocolate. "Damn I hate getting up early…" She threw off the covers and looked around for her fuzzy bunny slippers.
"Uh huh," Remus said, still holding on to her even though she'd dragged him halfway out of bed already.
"Could you please let go of me now, love?" Allya asked sweetly.
"Uh huh." Moony's arms didn't move. Allya whacked him over the head with a pillow. "Ow," he muttered six seconds later. "Okay, I'm up."
Ally took in his not-quite-fully-clothed form. "That much is apparent." Remus blushed. Remus 25, Allya- inscorable.
"No fair pulling something like that on me at five thirty," Remus complained. "Wait a second- five thirty?"
They looked at each other. "Race you to the bathroom?"
Remus snorted. "Which one?"
They were only thirty seconds late for work.
Another briefing. 'The Life of a Successful Auror,' the seminar was called. Auror team Beta-b-beta was assembled in the junior lounge with teams Beta-a-gamma and Alpha-c-delta, watching an old Muggle newsreel-style projection show, presented by none other than their old Hogwarts teacher, Professor Binns (it was just a summer job, he assured them). It had something to do with preparing yourself for an untimely death (so of course it had to have 'life' in the title), making one's peace with God and loved ones before a mission… something Professor Binns knew a little about was being dead (besides History).
"So what did you do last night, Remus?" Sirius asked after the meeting, just before they were to receive the information on who they were to watch for Dark alliances first.
"Dinner, walk, talk, fly, dessert, sleep," Remus listed, counting off on his fingers, successfully hiding his embarrassment. "You?"
Sirius shrugged. "Talked to Mioré, not a whole lot else." The gleeful look on his face when he said her name implied a whole bunch of something elses.
"Did you ask-" Ally began.
"Yes," Sirius said, as though bored.
Allya let out a breath she'd been holding for four long years. "Thank God."
Remus added, " 'Cause it must've been divine intervention if she said yes."
Allya pinched him.
Remus pinched back.
The six new Aurors moved into their offices, all down the same corridor, stashing things like pocket sneakoscopes and Foe-Glasses on their shelves and in their drawers, happy to be surveying one of their worst enemies, Severus Snape.
"Celebratory lunch on me!" Allya called down the hallway at break.
"Excellent," Sirius said, drawing out the word.
"Sweet," Remus commented, springing out of his office, the one next to hers, and into the hallway. "Where're we going?"
Allya thought for a moment. "Let's let the newlyweds decide. Hey Sparky!"
Lily stuck her head out of her office, where she'd been reviewing facts on Severus Snape. "Yes?"
"You and James are deciding where I treat you to lunch today," Ally informed her, then went off to find James and Mioré. She finally encountered them three doors down the hall, in a small room, studiously going over a list of Severus' constant companions over the years, and which ones had already been convicted of using Dark Magic. "There's got to be three inches of dust in here," she coughed, waving away the airborne dust in front of her face. "How can you two stand it?"
"Part of the job description," James murmured, not looking up.
"Ever think about taking some of these records back to your office?" Allya questioned. "Besides, it's lunch hour, my treat. Let's go. Coming, Mioré?"
Mioré slammed the book she'd been skimming through shut, sending up a cloud of offensive, nose-clogging grime. "Absolutely. Let's get out of here."