Disclaimer: Whatever you don't recognize belongs to J.K. the great, anything else is mine
A/N: Oh my gosh!!! Look at all those reviews!! * blushes * Oh you all make me sooo happy!!! A big thanks goes out to everyone who reviewed, especially Aljinon – I'm glad you all like it!
On with the Story!!
Chapter 9: Why Not?
"Remus!" Sarah called as she entered Grimmauld Place.
The person in question looked up upon hearing his name called. "Hi." He said, emerging from the drawing room with his sleeves rolled up. "Here, let me help you with that." Relieving her of her numerous bags, he smiled at her. "How was your trip? You look like you had fun."
Sarah, in fact, looked radiant. Her hair cascaded in shiny curls down her back and her cheeks were tinged pink from the cool end of November air. One lock of hair rippled down in front, its golden colour making it stand out from the rest. Despite his best intentions to get over his feelings for her, Remus found himself reaching out and picking it up.
"You must have been in the sun for ages," he said, feeling its softness. "It even bleached your hair."
Sarah blushed and laughed a little. "No, this bit has always been like this. I usually try and pin it back, though."
Remus was puzzled. He would never understand women. One minute they showed off numerous assets, the next they completely hid others. "It's beautiful." He told her. "You shouldn't hide it."
Sarah tried not to smile to hard, but failed miserably. As good as the trip had been, she'd missed Remus. "I suppose." She said, but left it down instead of pushing it back. Remus picked up her bags again and she followed him up to her room. "Everything was fantastic, as always. Going to see my grandmother is always great. And with the way things are, well, you know."
Remus didn't need to be a telepath to know what she had been about to say. She'd be lucky to ever see her grandmother again. Sarah, however, recovered quickly from her small bout of melancholy and continued.
"It was lovely, soaking up the sun, swimming in the ocean, all the bright colours. And then there was just the sheer peace of being in my grandmother's home – you know, you would like it Remus, at her house." Sarah smiled wistfully at him.
"Tell you what, Sarah," he joked, but half seriously, depositing her bags in her room before turning to go back downstairs. "Next time, if your grandmother doesn't mind-"
"Of course not!" Sarah interjected.
"If she doesn't mind," he continued. "I may take you up on that offer and come along myself. No, don't unpack yet, I made us dinner."
Sarah's eyes lit up. "You cooked?? Oh, and here I was thinking that I'd come back to a skin and bones Remus that needed nursing back to health."
Remus frowned at her. "Why the big surprise? You know I can cook! I'm sure you've had my lasagna before!" He continued as they walked downstairs, not realizing the trap he was walking into. "And if you haven't, I'll make it for you. Starve?! Me?! I was always the only Marauder who could cook!"
Sarah grinned at him. Sometimes it was just too easy. "Good!" she said, linking her arm through his. "You can cook for us now, then."
"Of course I can…" Remus began indignantly, then stopped short. You can cook for us now… Sarah's words replayed in his head, and he groaned. "Sarah!!!" he said, exasperated, then followed the laughing girl into the kitchen.
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After an enjoyable dinner, Remus and Sarah moved back to the drawing room, continuing the light conversation they'd had over their meal. Sarah was in the middle of a sentence when she froze, pointing at a brightly coloured box in a corner of the room. "Is that," she dramatically indicated the box to Remus. "What I think it is?"
"Depends." Remus shrugged. Molly Weasley had brought it in the other day, saying something about how it needed to be hidden from Arthur. "What do you think it is?" he grinned wickedly as she scowled at him. Undeterred, she ran to pick it up and upon inspection, squealed with delight.
"It is!!" She practically jumped up and down with excitement. "Oh, and someone's left a note…Oooh!! They spelled it so the selector works on its own!!!!"
Remus's previously indifferent attitude vanished as curiosity took over.
"So…" he prompted. Sarah, however, made no response except to ooh and ah over the box at random intervals. His curiosity getting the better of him, he strode over and in one fluid move plucked the box from her grasp. "Twister?" he read out loud, holding it high above his six-foot frame as Sarah attempted to get it back. He surveyed the pictures on the front, then looked back at Sarah, puzzled. "What's so great about it?"
"Oh – well – it's not – no it is fun." She began, finally getting the box from Remus and opening it. She took out a big plastic sheet with sixteen circles on it, with there being four types of circles; red, yellow, blue, and green. "It's a muggle game." She explained to Remus. " You have to put whatever… 'appendage' the game selects on a certain colour each time. Whoever stays up the longest wins."
The things muggles come up with… Remus thought. "Sounds simple." He told her.
"Oh, but it's so much fun." Sarah sighed, sounding wistful. Suddenly she turned to Remus with a predatory gleam in her eye. "Wanna play?"
Remus began to protest, but he found his pride taking over when Sarah accepted his protests without any disagreement.
"Of course… I understand how awkward it would be to get beaten at such a silly little muggle game…"
"That does it." Remus announced. "I'm in."
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A few minutes later, a high-pitched voice called out "Left foot, yellow!" and both Sarah and Remus struggled to get over to a yellow spot. Sarah's body was now stretched out gracefully over the sheet, unlike Remus, who looked considerably less elegant sprawled over the colours.
Don't call right hand green. Remus desperately pleaded. Don't call right hand green.
"Right hand, Green!" Remus glared at Sarah as she easily lifted her right hand and moved it to a new spot. As he moved his own hand, he wobbled, but managed to successfully get it to where it needed to be. "You must have heard me and made it pick green!!" he growled at Sarah.
Sarah laughed at him. "Hello? One-hundred percent pure Muggle heritage, right here?" Remus intensified his glare. Sarah had been spot on with her earlier comment. He did not, under any circumstances, like to lose. Oh well… he thought. It can't get any worse from here.
Sarah smirked at him as the selector called "Right foot, Blue!"
"Merlin!" Remus exclaimed. "I have to get my foot to where my head is – that's not possible!"
Sarah gave a triumphant "Yes!" as she swiftly flipped over so that her foot landed exactly where Remus had wanted to put his.
"HEY!" he cried out, indignant.
"Sorry!" Sarah laughed. "Only place I could go that was anatomically possible."
Remus grumbled to himself for a few seconds, unconsciously enjoying the view of Sarah bent over on top of him, then attempted to move to a free blue spot. Inevitably, he lost his balance as he did so, taking Sarah down with him as he tumbled to the ground.
"It's a draw!!" The voice called out.
"Ow." Remus said; Sarah had landed on him with her elbow in his stomach. Without thinking, he flipped her over so that her elbow was no longer threatening to disembowel him. Now, however, she was underneath him, smiling up at him as he unsuccessfully attempted to brush away the sandy brown hair that fell in his eyes. As she reached up and tucked it behind his ear, smiling shyly at him, Remus suddenly became very aware of their position. "Sarah…" he began, gently taking hold of her hand as she tucked his hair away, but found he couldn't finish. Not with their legs entangled, his arms around her. He moved down towards her, closer and closer.
Sarah's free had reached up behind his head and pulled him closer down to her. She could feel his heart beating fast and knew that hers would be doing the same. Their lips met softly, the world around them quickly disappearing as they moved closer to each other. Sarah's mouth opened slightly as Remus's hands began to move over her body. Breaking away momentarily to kiss her neck, he elicited a soft "Remus…" from Sarah.
Remus stopped abruptly. Pulling away from her, he disentangled himself and moved away.
"Remus – what?" Sarah was confused and hurt. What had happened? She knew that she liked him, and that he liked her just as much back. Or did he? Remus glanced at her then turned away, wishing he hadn't. Her eyes looked hurt and disappointed.
"I thought…" she stammered. Oh man, she thought. I sound like a lovesick teenager. Doesn't help that I'm only 22, does it?
"Remus," she began again. "I really – I really like you. I thought that… you … liked me…" She trailed off, feeling more and more embarrassed by the second.
"No, Sarah." He said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. Sarah's heart shattered. What???? her mind cried out. No, you have to! You can't just – kiss me like that and not like me!
"Sarah." He turned around to face her, not meeting her eyes. "You are a great girl, really, Sarah, you are. But… I'm an older, dangerous wizard, and you're a young…" he stopped. He'd been about to say harmless, but with Sarah's abilities and her job, both of them knew that would be an outright lie. "You're… a muggle. I'm a wizard." he finished.
Sarah fought back tears. She quickly busied herself with tidying up the game so he wouldn't see her glistening eyes. How could he say this to her? This was nothing like the Remus she had fallen for. He knew all about people treating you differently because of what you were and not who you were.
"Right, then." Sarah said, looking at him full in the face now, not hiding the tears running down her cheeks. Anger started to course through her veins. He didn't think she was good enough, then? She'd show him. "Glad we got that out in the open, Remus. It wouldn't have been good if either of us got too attached, now." She turned on her heel and left, her words hanging in the air.
Remus stood rooted to the spot, staring at where she'd been moments earlier. Her words kept playing over and over again in his head, until he realized that she was completely gone – he'd driven her away and she wasn't coming back.
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A/N: What do you think?? What should they do now? Review if you like, or if you don't, or if you just want to say hello!
Laren