Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nope, not me.
A/N: Yay for reviews!
Sorry to keep you all in suspense after the dramatic conclusion to the last Remus chapter, but your suspense endeth now! How will Aemilia react? Moreover, how will Remus react?
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Remus pulled back almost instantly. His eyes were wide with shock.
"Ae - Aemilia," he stammered, "I'm so sorry."
"Why?"
Remus got up hurriedly, knocking over his chair in the process. "I'm so sorry," he repeated again.
"Remus!" she barked.
He stopped. "Wh - what?"
She stood and came over to him. "Why are you sorry?"
Remus ran shaking hands through his hair. His sleeve was still wet. "It's full moon tonight… the wolf is closer to the surface… instincts are stronger… I'm sorry."
Aemilia looked at him sharply. "So your instincts got the better of you."
He nodded shakily. "The wolf… he's testy because he knows he'll get let out soon - I'm sorry."
She laughed, but it was a humourless laugh. "Remus, what in bloody hell is wrong with acting by instinct?"
Remus barely heard her. "I'm so sorry, Aemilia. It won't happen again."
"What if I want it to happen again?" She was advancing on him now, a predatory look in her eye. This one is good, the wolf snarled within him. Good mate.
No! He forced the wolf back down.
"Aemilia - you don't understand… the wolf did it… full moon…"
She captured both of his hands, imprisoning them within her own. "Remus, stop babbling and LISTEN TO ME!"
He was silent. His eyes were wide and he was still shaking.
"I know perfectly well that it's the full moon tonight," she told him calmly. "I know what happens to you the closer it gets to the full moon. We've been through all this before, remember?"
Remus nodded, still shaking.
She smiled at him and he could see real tenderness in his eyes. "You're so controlled, Remus," she said gently. "You've got better emotional control than Snape, and that's really saying something."
"That's why I'm so sorry - the wolf -"
"Shut up," Aemilia told him evenly. "Remus, I know you have instincts." Her dark eyes crinkled like they always did when she smiled. "Try following them once in a while."
"But -"
"The wolf is a part of you," she said softly. "It is as much Remus as the control you have over your emotions. People may hate the wolf, but -" she broke off suddenly. "Do you remember what you told me the other night? About how we hadn't been friends for almost twenty years because my father is Cornelius Fudge?"
He nodded slowly. "Yes," he whispered hoarsely.
"It works both ways," she replied tenderly. "Remus, I didn't fall in love with you all those years ago because you were a wonderful boy who had the unfortunate defect of growing a lot of hair once a month." She released one of his hands and ran her long fingers down the right side of his face. "I fell in love with Remus Lupin, man and wolf wrapped into one."
"But you didn't know I was a werewolf," he answered, voice cracking. "And when I told you… you left me."
"That wasn't because you were a werewolf," Aemilia said, smiling gently. "It was because you kept a secret from me - and I was a fool, Remus. I know that. You deserved better than that. I was a little idiot and couldn't see past the fact you hadn't told me something. No matter that you were trying to protect me, no matter that you thought I would hate you if you did… and it must have taken an enormous amount of bravery to tell me in the end. And look how I repaid you."
"But -"
"Don't give me 'but', Remus," she told him. "I should have understood. You deserved better."
"But, Aemilia -"
"And now," she said, talking shamelessly over the top of him, "I find myself once more with Remus Lupin. There are no secrets this time - and even if there is, I don't think I really care. All that matters is that we have a second chance." Her dark eyes bore insistently into his. "Would you throw that away?"
"Aemilia, I -"
"Answer the damn question, Remus," she ordered him. "I've told you. I don't care about the wolf. I don't care if it was the wolf that made you kiss me before. The wolf is a part of you - and I love the whole of you, not just the human part." She took a deep breath. "There it is. I've bared my whole soul to you. Would you throw our second chance away?"
"I don't want to hurt you," he whispered hoarsely. "I can't let you throw yourself away. I'm not worth that."
She let go of his other hand, cupped his face in her hands. "Remus," she said gently, "you are worth it. You are worth suffering any pain, any hardship, any torment. I would be throwing myself away if I said I was happy to spend the rest of my life anywhere but away from you."
It is equally important to - at least sometimes - wear your heart on your sleeve, Dumbledore's voice seemed to whisper in his ears.
"Aemilia," he whispered, his voice cracked.
Her dark eyes were soft. "Will you throw our second chance away, Remus?"
He ran his left hand down the side of her face. Three times is magic. "No," he said softly, his face breaking into a smile. "No, I won't."
There were tears running down her face now. "Remus," she said through her tears.
He could do nothing but say her name. "Oh, Aemilia."
And, for the second time that day, Remus Lupin kissed Aemilia Fudge, and this time, he did not pull away, and neither did she.
"AEMILIA FUDGE! WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"
*
Remus and Aemilia jumped apart immediately with shock. I feel like a schoolboy again, Remus thought dazedly, about to get detention for snogging in the library.
He grinned, which was completely inappropriate to the situation. He and Aemilia had got detention for snogging - or 'public indecency,' as it was euphemistically called - in the library on no less than three occasions when they had been at school. Caught by McGonagall every time, he thought almost wistfully.
But then he realised who had caught them this time, and his heart fell. He had a feeling that the consequences could be far, far worse than detention.
"Hello, Father," Aemilia said evenly.
Cornelius Fudge advanced on her, irate. He was wearing his lime green bowler hat and his face was purple. He looked, Remus thought idly, a magical version of Vernon Dursley. "What," he hissed, "are you doing?"
Aemilia pointed her wand at the books and parchment on the table. "Evanesco," she said calmly, and they vanished - presumably, Remus supposed, to her rooms. She turned back to her father. "Preparing for the lawsuit," she said calmly. "What did you expect?"
"Don't you be smart with me, young lady! You know what I saw!" Fudge roared. His eyes turned to Remus. "Who are you and what do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
Remus gave Fudge a look of far greater assurance than he actually felt. "My name is Remus Lupin," he replied, his voice - mercifully - steady, "and I believe I was kissing your daughter."
Fudge's eyes narrowed. "I've heard of you," he snarled. "You used to teach here - you're a werewolf!"
"Right on both counts," Remus replied, but Fudge wasn't listening. He had turned back to Aemilia.
"Aemilia, if you think for even one second I will let you associate with a werewolf -"
"And if you think," Aemilia retorted, "for even one second that I will listen to a word you say, you can fly to Mars on a thestral."
Remus remembered her saying something similar to Vernon Dursley and hid his smile.
"I am your father!" Fudge roared.
"And I am thirty-six years old and perfectly capable of making my own decisions!"
"I can cut you off without a penny, you know!"
"I don't care!"
"You will care," Fudge hissed, "when you have no money. When you're penniless because no-one will employ you or your werewolf husband. When your children can barely afford to eat, let alone be educated." He shot a look at Remus. "Perhaps I should say puppies, not children."
Aemilia's dark eyes were flashing. "How dare you?" she grated. "How dare you!?"
Remus held her back. "Aemilia," he whispered in her ear, "he's not worth it."
"I notice you have very little to say for yourself, werewolf," Fudge sneered.
"Maybe because I don't think you have the right to hear it," Remus replied.
If anything, Fudge's face turned even more purple. "Trying to set yourself up as superior to me," he hissed, "when you're nothing but - an animal!"
"You don't understand anything, do you, Father?" Aemilia said. She looked disgusted. "Absolutely nothing." Her hand found Remus's and he laced his fingers through hers. "This - animal - as you insist on calling him, is more human than you'll ever be." The pitch in her voice was rising. "He is tender, and loving, and he cares. He has so much love in his heart that I can't even begin to describe it. Whereas you -" she shot her father the most scathing look Remus had ever seen on her face, "- could not give a damn about anyone but yourself. All you care about is power."
Fudge looked slightly shell-shocked. "And so - this is your choice? You'd throw your lot in a werewolf? Choose him over your own family?"
Aemilia's eyes were hard. "I would."
Fudge turned away. "You are no daughter of mine. There is no place for you in my house or among my family. And you can clear out your desk at the Ministry, because there is no place for you there!"
"However," a voice came from the doorway, "there will always be a place for Aemilia at Hogwarts. And a place for Remus too."
It was Albus Dumbledore.
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Next chapter… will it be another Remus chapter? Or will it be Severus? Will I tell you? No…
