Chapter 3: Revelations
Disclaimer: We don't own the characters, places or anything recognisable from the Harry Potter Books 'cause they belong to J. K. Rowling. We write only for our own pleasure and make nothing from it.
A/N:
Sorry for the HUGE delay in updating!
Thanks for all the comments! Especially to Starlight, Annorial, Prankster Queen, Pawzzz, IluvSiriusBlack, Becki, Wendy, Tegan, Jestr017, Hopeful Writer and Drachenaugen, we love you guys!
In reply to Anne. Onnymouse, I know that April seems a little 2D at the moment; I promise she does have some issues though, but I figured they wouldn't all come spilling out after meeting Remus only a couple of times.
I'm trying to keep this fic a little happier and brighter than 'Wrongs' that I've been writing a lot lately as that's rather depressing, so I needed something different. If that makes April seem a little flat then I'm sorry, hopefully she will flesh out as time goes by. Hope you think it gets better, look forward to hearing from you.
Martha and Squirrel.xxx
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Remus re-read his letter from Sirius. It explained the rather skittish owl.
Surely inviting her for dinner would be harmless enough? Remus considered April, the letter from his best friend forgotten the moment he put it down on the table.
Oh well, first things first, it was late in the evening so perhaps getting ready for bed was more the order of the moment. Remus took himself into the bathroom.
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The next day, dressed in his least battered robe, Remus left the house feeling light-headed and vulnerable. He had to stop half way down the road: he felt quite nauseous. 'What's wrong with me?' he thought. It wasn't as though he was interested in her; she was young enough to have been his student.
With that thought in mind, he carried on down the road with more determination than before
He stopped when he reached the corner of her garden and able to see round the back of the house; he could see her sat on the ground. Remus began to make his way over. As he drew closer, he realised that she was sat on the edge of a pond with her feet in the water. When he was just a few feet away, he realised that she wasn't aware he was there; she seemed lost in thought. He cleared his throat a little louder than was necessary. "Excuse me."
"Remus!" She jumped when he made himself known and turned round to face him, a little flustered.
All of his impassioned thoughts from the night before returned in full force as he eyed her and there was a moment of pause until he spoke again. "I've been meaning to ask you… I mean, I was wondering whether I could make you dinner one night." April's eyes brightened and then faded slightly as he added, "just a little something to say thank you for everything."
"You don't have to do that. I did nothing, really."
Sensing her sudden coldness, Remus winced inwardly. "I would like you to come for dinner," he began. "I'm not a great cook but…" He paused as she drew her feet out of the pond and shook off the drips of water. His eyes widened. "Uhh…"
April smiled. "I would like that, if it's not putting you to too much trouble." She pushed herself back onto the grass and her wet feet made prints on the stones that edged the rim of the pond.
"Uhh… No." Remus found his head at last. "No, it wouldn't be."
"Ok." Met with silence, April smiled rather cautiously. "And when would this dinner be?" she prompted.
Remus looked at her oddly before computing her words. "Oh! Tonight, if that's not too soon."
"Ok, then." She stood up then and looked down at her wet feet, appearing a little embarrassed.
"You've got yourself a proper little paradise here," Remus mused, almost to himself.
When she looked up she was smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yes," she murmured distractedly and then, regaining herself, she added, "Would you like to come back to the cottage for a cup of tea or something?"
Remus shook his head. "I'd better not. I have some things to do before tonight. If you would come around about seven-ish…?" He smiled, before backtracking through the garden with a wave, wondering what on earth had he had just gotten himself into.
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April dug frantically in her wardrobe, suddenly in a panic at what to wear that evening. All she seemed to own were sundresses! Oh, well, she supposed she could get away with combining the unavoidable garment with a cardigan to ward off the cold.
She paused from flinging clothes on the bed and laughed. Why on earth was she making so much effort for a casual dinner? It wasn't as if it was a date or anything! In fact, he had said so himself that it was a repayment for the food that she had quickly prepared for him yesterday. In truth, she had felt concerned for him; he had looked particularly peaky, most likely due to his recent change. She hadn't expected repayment.
Sighing, she changed into a cream sundress decorated with tiny green leaves and shrugged into a matching cardigan. Besides, why make effort when he's already seen you naked? Offered a voice in her head. Her mother would probably have a fit if she knew that the first time she had met Remus, they had ended up…
Well, her mother would probably have a fit if she knew a lot of things!
April frowned as she pulled a brush through her hair; thinking of her family had definitely put a damper on her thoughts. She slipped on her shoes and, with a glance at her watch, left the house.
Answering the door to April would quickly become one of Remus' favourite things to do.
On this particular occasion she was stood on the step with her back to the door and spun around to smile warmly at him when she heard him come to answer it.
Remus invited her in.
There was an awkward pause and April took in Remus, as he looked her over. This couldn't be the best plan; spending time with another werewolf around the full moon was disastrous, it brought out all ones baser instincts and from the look on his face Remus' instincts were playing havoc with him, his sense of decency provoking him to invite her to dinner despite knowing it would be uncomfortable.
Remus cleared his throat. "Dinner is going to be a little while longer, so I thought we could sit and chat for a little bit."
He sat down on the window seat and patted the space next to him, regretting his decision when he realised how small the seat was; they were practically thigh-to-thigh. She turned her head to smile almost nervously at him and he caught a whiff of the aroma of her hair, which made him take a deep breath.
"That's alright," April said quietly, looking around the room to avoid eye contact. All of a sudden, she felt nervous and a little uncomfortable under his intent gaze. Slightly irritated, she turned and deliberately looked straight into his eyes. "So, what's for dinner?"
Remus swallowed and averted his eyes. "Shepherd's pie. I hope you like it."
"Don't worry, I will." April almost grinned when she realised that she must be scaring him slightly with her brazen hussy routine.
Remus suddenly found something very interesting outside the window.
Seeing his pupils dilate slightly, despite his quick head turn, April leant forward and whispered, "So, did you invite me here only out of gratitude, or was there some other reason?" She groaned inwardly at this question, what was she doing?
"Um… I don't think that gratitude was the reason." He shifted uncomfortably and evaded the question.
April couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. You must look like a lunatic! Said her inner voice of reason.
Suddenly, Remus jumped up from the seat. "I think dinner is ready. Would you like to sit down at the table? I'll just bring the plates through."
April went and sat at the small table, which had been moved closer to the bay window so they could see the road and the view beyond.
Remus set a large bowl on the table and served a generous portion of the shepherd's pie onto each of their plates before sitting opposite her.
"This smells lovely, Remus." April sniffed at the plate and grinned appreciatively before taking a large bite.
"Careful, it's hot," Remus warned, blowing onto a forkful before eating it carefully.
They sat in an awkward silence for a moment, not really knowing what to say, but the nervous tension was broken when April let out a slight huff of laughter. Remus turned his gaze to where she was looking and saw an old man slowly picking himself up from where he had fallen down onto the pavement, his walking stick tottering under his unsteady arm.
He looked back at April is surprise and her smirk turned into a fully-fledged grin.
"I would feel guilty about laughing at him, but he was knocking the apples off of my tree with his walking stick last Tuesday. Who would want those little things, anyway? I mean, they're the size of marbles, utterly useless and…" she paused, seeing his eyes narrow with amusement. She shrugged uncomfortably. "Anyway…"
Remus took another bite of his pie and continued to smile at her with his eyes, while April felt rather foolish.
Seeing her discomfort, Remus finished his mouthful and said, "To be honest, I think I've seen that man hanging around my rhubarb plants…"
April laughed appreciatively; at least he didn't think she was too strange.
The quiet eating that followed was much more comfortable and natural.
For desert, Remus had made a steamed treacle sponge. His grandmother had taught him to make it and it remained one of very few he could turn out with success.
April seemed to enjoy it and helped herself to more than one helping of custard; Remus found this encouraging.
When they finished and Remus had promised to give her the recipe, he asked, "Do you want to sit in the living room and I'll make some coffee?"
"That'd be nice." April managed to say before she yawned, feeling content and drowsy after their meal.
She got up and walked through the kitchen door into his small, cosy living room. It wasn't long before Remus brought through two big cups, set them down on the coffee table and plopped down on the sofa next to her.
Looking across at him, April could have just cuddled up to him, nestled into the curve of his body and laid her head on his chest. Oh, stop it! scolded a voice in her head. She hated this feeling, she didn't know if she did want to cuddle up to him of if the wolf inside her was just having an instinctive response. Do wolves cuddle? she wondered. Stop it! That's not what's important. No, those lovely long legs, now those are import – Stop it! You'll be thinking about touching him next…! And there we are, you're thinking about touching him! April shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not wanting to be caught staring, and uncrossed her legs and crossed them the other way for something to do.
"Can I use you're bathroom?" she blurted, searching for a brief way out of this situation.
"Certainly." Remus sat up looking as guilty as though he'd been caught stealing with his hand in the cookie jar. "It's just through there, to the right." He pointed through the door at the back of the room.
"Thanks." April stood, smoothing down her clothes and feeling under-dressed, even in the warm evening. She sighed upon shutting the bathroom door and covered her face with her hands, exhaling loudly.
Remus sipped his coffee, wondering what had just happened. He got the impression it wasn't just needing the toilet that was making her uncomfortable. Was he scaring her? Was he staring a lot or drooling or something…?
No definitely not drooling, although he was a little concerned that he'd needed to check. He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, thinking abstractly it was lucky he'd remembered to clean the bathroom that morning.
Remus had finished his coffee when she came back and felt more than a little like a pervert. He endeavoured not to pay her body quite so much attention and tried to start a conversation about books while staring at the empty fireplace. It didn't get very far off the ground.
"This is a bit uncomfortable, isn't it?" she said finally, it had to be best for them to just admit that the wolf instincts were proving a little hard to ignore and that neither of them were meaning to be acting strange.
"I don't know what you're getting at."
"Being so close, so near to the full moon, I know it's affecting you too."
"What do you mean?" Remus looked somewhat horrified.
April couldn't believe his naivety. "What do you think I mean…?" She watched his still blank face disbelievingly. "You've never seen another werewolf at full moon, have you?"
"I have once, but I don't remember it. I do remember the irrational desire to beat the man to death in the few days leading up to and following the full moon."
He watched as she looked more and more embarrassed. "Well, that's probably natural for males." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She looked determinedly up from her lap and said, "I should probably be getting home; I've a lot to do tomorrow. Thank you, I've had a lovely evening." Standing up, April crossed to the door and unhitched her cloak.
"I'm sorry," Remus offered.
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you wouldn't know. I didn't mean to be insensitive."
With that, April let herself out and said she would see him soon.
Remus stood back from the door feeling a little shell-shocked. If wanting to rip each other apart were normal when around a male wolf, what would being so near a female do to him? It certainly explained the fact that he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her… or leave himself alone for that matter. Sickened by the thought that he was so susceptible to the instincts of what was within him when the moon was near full, Remus turned round and went in the kitchen, busying himself with tidying away the fallout from their meal.
After the rather fraught and embarrassing evening of raging hormones and confusion, April sat herself at her dinner table and sighed deeply. She needed to work, and work a lot, if she was going to close the deals she needed for the next year.
After sipping a whisky thoughtfully until she was looking through the bottom of the glass at nothing in particular, she stood and took herself to bed; she'd have to make an early start.
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April pushed her hair out of her face. She would have to leave the meal cooking and go to get dressed in a minute or she wouldn't be ready in time.
She went upstairs and jumped in the bath, quickly washing her hair and drying it with a spell, then dressing in her smartest black robes, despite the fact that they made her feel dreadfully uncomfortable. Buttoning up the tight black bodice part of the ensemble, she had to hold her breath and force the fabric around despite her slender figure, finally exhaling and hoping she wouldn't have to stay in the garment for too long.
Hurrying back downstairs, she checked, with relief, that the meal hadn't ruined without supervision and put the finishing touches to the table.
The doorbell sounded. He was early. April's stomach lurched and she hesitated for a moment before rushing to the door.
Needham Booth was a pompous old git that she had been trying to do business with since she started out. He stood on her doorstep looking out over her front garden and twiddling his over-long moustache.
"Ah, there you are, dear," he said, putting his thumbs in the stretched waistband of his trousers and adjusted them shamelessly around his overlarge girth.
"Yes," April muttered. "Won't you come in?" she said more audibly and politely, stepping away from the door and beckoning him inside.
"Ah, I see you were serious about dinner." He eyed the table and patted his stomach. "Good, Good. Never do business on an empty stomach, that's what I always say." He picked up one of the knives and eyed it critically. "Good cook are you?"
How to respond to that? Modesty or arrogance? April hesitated a moment too long.
"Don't be shy now. I know this is a big venture for you, and being a woman…" His eyes travelled over her small figure and he adjusted his trousers once more. "Still, no real need to sell yourself short."
He still seemed to be making her feel as inept as possible. Potions were one of the wizarding world's predominantly male domains and April often felt as though she was merely tolerated. She decided to move business along quickly; hopefully his apparent enthusiasm for food would mean they could be done with dinner in short order. "Would you like a drink?" she asked to start with.
"Appreciated." Booth nodded once.
"I'll get my proposed quote for you to look over," April said, going through to the kitchen and pouring him a glass of the appropriate wine to compliment the meal, as he had not specified a preference, and picking up the proposed price list she had spent weeks pricing and preparing. She just hoped that he didn't throw it back in her face; this was the biggest business venture she had ever attempted to make. Needham Booth was a buyer for one of the wizarding world's largest pharmaceutical potion's suppliers – something of a household name.
She shuddered at the thought of it ever getting out that she was a werewolf: she'd be ruined, and she could certainly kiss this deal goodbye.
Booth smiled patronisingly at her as she returned to where he was standing and passed over his glass of wine. It appeared that he had decided to take the chance while she was out of the room to have a look over her things and was unashamedly flipping through the pages of one of her well-worn books.
April's eyes bugged as she realised which one and tried to calm herself down. Just because she owned a copy of 'Hairy Snout, Human Heart' didn't mean she was a werewolf. Well, in this case it did, but he didn't know that!
Just in case he had enough brains to put two and two together (which, by the look of him, he didn't), she tried to distract him.
"Um… How's your wine, Mr Booth?" She took a nervous sip out of her own glass.
Booth frowned and put the book back into its niche on the shelf. "Well, I would put it in a class of its own. I hope you didn't make it yourself, or there's no point in us talking now!" He let out a booming laugh that raised April's hackles, especially since the wine was made as a hobby by her uncle.
Forcing a laugh, because she really needed this deal, April ushered him to the dining table.
When she had shown him to his seat, she placed the quote down beside him.
"Now, down to business, here is a pricing list of the items I hope to supply to you during our business transactions."
Booth picked up the parchment and eyed it condescendingly, while April served out the meal. They sat in silence while they ate, and April's stomach dropped when Booth's pompous smile turned into a frown.
Finally, he put it down, coughed, and adjusted his trousers. April watched all this with a mixture of hope and distaste.
"That was a fine meal, dear." He levered himself off of his chair and started for the door. April followed in confusion.
"Oh, Mr Booth? About the contract…"
Booth coughed again and looked her up and down. "I'll send the company's solicitor down to see you sometime this week. Looks like we have a deal." He took her hand in his large clammy one and gave it a hard shake.
April beamed. "Thank you, sir. You won't regret it."
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The moon was waxing again and his instinct problems seeming to be wearing off to some degree, Remus found he couldn't leave things how they had been left with April, he pushed his hands firmly in his pockets as he walked down the country road away from April's cottage, not really knowing what he would say when he got there, but going anyway.
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Hearing the doorbell ring, April rushed down the stairs, now more comfortably attired in slacks and a t-shirt, and opened the door.
"I'm so glad you could come!" April grinned and was enveloped in a big hug.
"How could I not come and see my favourite niece? Especially when she obviously has something to celebrate! So, what is it, sweet pea?" He put a finger under her chin and looked down at her from his towering height.
"I got the contract! I got the contract with Edgerton and Booth!" April gave an excited whoop.
Her Uncle Sean picked her up and swung her around in the air, before giving her a large smacking kiss. "That's great! I didn't expect any less from my talented April. And guess what?" He pulled out a green bottle from one of his large pockets. "I've got a little something to help us celebrate."
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"Well, that's that," he muttered under his breath. "You barely know her, you big oaf."
He kicked a pebble viciously out of his path and said some savage curses, which would make his mother blush. They would definitely make Sirius' eyebrows reach for the sky.
"Well, at least she likes older men," he shrugged, perversely looking on the bright side. "The man she was with looked twice her age."
Remus frowned darkly. He had never seen April smile the way she had when the man had swept her up in his arms. And seeing the wildly affectionate kiss he had given her had definitely put the stopper on his hopes for their relationship to deepen. Not that such a thing had ever crossed his mind, she was a lot younger than him and he wasn't some old pervert.
He swore again. How had it come to this? He had only known her a couple of days and he was already thinking of relationships? He didn't even know her last name, for Merlin's sake.