Title: Photographs/ Chapter 2: Wild World
Author: Mucada
Rating: PG-13 for mild language and serious themes
Disclaimer: JK's not mine. Lyrics are Cat Stevens, or whomever wrote them originally. I'm not a stickler for props on lyrics. That's the folk lover in me. :)
A/N: chapter two picks up and moves faster than the first, and for some reason, I'm immensely proud of this chapter. More detailed A/N at the bottom.
Summary: Chapter two of WIP "She was only pretending today was a normal day. Again, he thought of that photograph." Remus-Tonks
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you as a child, girl
-Cat
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"Hey, Moony, how're you doing this fine morning?" asked one of the twins as Remus walked into the kitchen. They're still here? I didn't even know Molly was here.
They had found out about his infamous role in writing the Marauders' Map last night, after Ron had casually mentioned it without realizing, so he claimed. Both boys looked at him with identical grins.
"What'd you call him, Fred?" came Sirius' inquisitive voice from behind Remus.
"George," the boy corrected, still grinning at Remus.
"They found out about us, and the map," he said, pouring a cup of coffee and sitting down as far away from the twins as possible.
"Did they now?" Sirius asked with a smile, nodding at the twins. "Couldn't keep quite for long, mate. And, they have a right to know the truth about their old professor."
"Bloody brilliant, gentlemen. We give you our humble praise."
"You started us out, you know, when we were wee little first years."
"Started us on a wonderful journey though the art of mischief making."
"And for that—"
"We thank you."
"But we must be off."
"Work calls, you know."
"If you need us, we'll be—"
"Experimenting."
Remus had a hard time following the twins as they finished each others sentences. Was he hung over from the night before? Doubtful, he and Tonks barely finished the bottle between them.
The boys left, and Remus turned to Sirius who was trying to grab a piece of toast off of Ginny's plate, not able to find any himself, "You don't have to encourage them, Sirius. Molly would have my head if she found out I had some influence on them."
"Scared of her, mate?"
Ginny huffed, grabbing her toast back before Sirius could start eating it. "She's the devil when it comes to them, you know that," she said, glaring at Sirius.
"The devil, Virginia?" Ginny looked horrified, as Mrs. Weasley came into the kitchen.
"Remus, dear, will you help me string this line for the laundry?"
Remus stood up, grabbing one end of the chord and a vacant chair to stand on. Ron stared at his mother and said, "In the kitchen?"
"Yes, Ronald, where else would you want it, in the foyer where that wretched portrait is?"
Molly muttered to herself as she ordered Remus, "A little more to the right, dear, I don't want anyone bumping into it," as she patted him on the side of his leg. He stepped down from the old chair, and moved across the room to where Mrs. Weasley directed him, holding the line and handing it to him as soon as he stood up again.
"Careful, dear," she said, as he reached up to attach the line to the ceiling, on a hook that one time was probably used to hang a plant, or something of the sort.
Just then Tonks entered the kitchen, waving sleepily to everyone as she took a seat next to Sirius. Remus moved the chair back to the table, sitting next to Tonks. Humming to herself, Molly began to hang clothing: socks, shirts, Hogwarts robes, and to Ron's embarrassment and shock, underwear.
"Mum, why? This is the kitchen!" Ron said, in horror.
"Yea, I know, who wants to see something that disgusting," Ginny said to Ron. "Sorry, Hermione," she added, as a wicked afterthought.
"Ginny!" Hermione, Ron and Mrs. Weasley all glared at her, but she seemed unmoved by their outburst, shrugging and smiling as she sipped her tea. Remus, Tonks and Sirius all laughed.
"Oh, how rude of me," Sirius exclaimed, looking around at the bunch, hoping to calm the riff amongst the Weasleys and Hermione. "Everyone, this is my cousin Tonks. She's new to the Order," he said, holding the back of Tonks head, in a brotherly fashion and added, "Don't know why you're here this morning, actually…"
"Long night, is all," she said, catching Remus' eye with a smile. They weren't quick enough, and Sirius noticed the connection between the two.
"Remus, you know each other?"
"Not really, no, Padfoot," Remus asked, in mock confusion he knew Sirius would pick up on anyway, regardless if he said anything. He saw Tonks hide her smile behind her mug.
"Tonks," Sirius said, "How's your mother fairing?"
"Her and dad are in the South America on holiday now," she said simply, "but they're having a dreadful time, so it seems from her last letter."
"But it must be nice and warm," Sirius said, in a voice that suggested he wished he was someplace warm and sunny.
"Rainy season," Remus heard himself saying, without thinking. Tonks and Sirius said nothing more to each other about the subject, and the room became comfortably quiet as Molly continued to hang clothing, some of which Remus noticed was actually his. He felt touched that Molly felt the need to care for him in such a motherly way, in the way she automatically cared for her children. It was endearing, in a way that made Remus feel calm inside, like he was reliving some type of childhood memory, one of the family he never really had.
Sirius stood up to pour himself more coffee, and the remaining Weasleys all left, leaving their plates in the sink. Molly carried the empty basket she had the clothing in as she followed the teenagers up the stairs, and the three were left alone in the same silence. Molly closed the door at the top of the stairs behind her, and after a few moments Remus stood and began rummaging through one of the messy kitchen drawers. After a few minutes, he grew frustrated, and moved onto the second drawer that held nothing but miscellaneous junk thrown in without a thought: loose spoons, chewed quills, and a matchbook from some restaurant.
"Looking for these, Moony?" Sirius asked, as Remus spun around. He tossed a half crushed packet of cigarettes at him, which he caught. "Nicked them before Molly came down early this morning. You know how she is."
"Thanks," he said, with relief, placing one between his lips and lighting a match from the book he had previously tossed onto the table. It was an old habit, one he picked up at school, and one that he never bothered to break. He wasn't dying anytime soon, a gift from his lycanthropy. More like a curse, though, he thought as he exhaled a stream of smoke from his nose.
"Hey, what's with the nickname?" Tonks asked suddenly. Remus had almost forgotten she was there with them. Almost. Actually, not quite. At all. He grinned reminiscently, leaning back against the cold hard counter.
"Told you the first day I saw you again," Sirius said, glancing quickly at Remus, "Padfoot the big black dog, remember?"
"Are you an animagus too?" she asked, looking at Remus.
He paused, unsure. Tonks face was turned from Sirius, and he was glad she didn't see him humorlessly smiling at Remus, his eyes cast downward as if saying, Just go for it, mate. She's a good one. He knew that already, and didn't really need Sirius to tell him that, but the reassurance made him feel less shaky.
"Not quite," he started, crossing his legs and resting one elbow on his wrist, taking a drag from his burning cigarette. Sirius made a nondescript motion with his hand, and Remus tossed the packet of cigarettes across the table to him, which he caught. He lit one with his wand, not bothering with the matches lying on the table. Taking the edge off, Remus thought bitterly.
"Either you are or you're not," Tonks said, eyeing Remus with curiosity more that distrust.
"It's not that simple," he said, completely beating around the bush. Of course it was, he was a werewolf. Simply said, just not simply told.
Tonks turned and looked at Sirius, who was watching Remus intently, not taking his eyes off him. What do you want me to say, Padfoot? he thought. Sirius gave him an all too familiar look, as if telling him not to be so spineless. But Remus sometimes had a hard time trusting others, and this wasn't just a skeleton in his closet, it was more like a lot of dead bodies that he felt everyone he encountered suspected him of hiding. Everyone else currently in this house knew about his lycanthropy though, as well as many members of the Order, but for some reason, despite how much he trusted Tonks, he was just afraid to tell her. He was afraid of the rejection that he had experienced too many times in his life, and he was only given the chance to live normal by those close to him.
"I am…" he paused, inhaling smoke briefly, pretending it helped with his nervousness, "I have this condition." He could hear Sirius' place his hand down on the table, a little more forcefully than a simple movement.
"What is it?" she asked, almost anxious to hear.
"I'm a werewolf."
And then came the silence, there was no sound in the room except Sirius' sharp intake of smoke, sounding like an addicted chain smoker with a lot of nervousness. Tonks said nothing at first, picking up the carton of cigarettes and lighting one with the matches. Inhaling, she threw the blown out match on the table, which was still smoking.
"What can you do, you know," she said, letting the smoke stream from her mouth, "no harm in that. If we're all having a moment of sharing, I'll let you know that I'm a Metamorphmagus. See?" Her features scrunched up and suddenly her hair turned from pink to white, in a few seconds. She grabbed a lock of it, and tugged on it slightly, muttering, "I was hoping for light blonde. Oh well."
Her innocence made his heart pang with a feeling he could not place. It made him feel like his life had moved on to something dangerous in a matter of seconds, like the feeling he had many times when traveling to an unfamiliar place, or that night when Lily and James chose Sirius as their secret keeper. The feeling was just a reminder that nothing was only a speculation of what was to come, but rather it was finally here, and his life was being lived, not waiting anymore to get a move on. But he felt certain happiness for her, like she still had a chance to have no pain. He remembered the still photo of her, from the night of the party that she showed him last night.
Sirius was nervous, and from Remus' position on the counter, he could see his whole body shaking from the foot he was bouncing against the floor under the table. He finally stood up and walked over past the hearth, throwing his cigarette onto the grey stone. Saying he had to go help Molly with cleaning one of the bedrooms, he left Remus and Tonks alone in the kitchen. He didn't once look at Remus as he left, and the door at the top of the stairs opened and shut with such softness, it made Remus carelessly throw his finished smoke into the sink next to him and quickly light another, so anxiously he was able to light it without a wand or match.
"It's no big deal, Remus," Tonks said, obviously fed up with the silence, although she had tried to hide her discomfort. "Really, anyone who would mind isn't worth your time."
"My parents minded," he said, sitting down across from her, the ground cold under his feet. He didn't even realize until now that he was barefoot. Where were his shoes? He could have sworn he put them on. He let out a noise that was supposed to be some type of laugh, but ended up sounding like a cough. Leaning against his elbows, he said in a voice that triggered a quick feeling of self-loathing, "How fucked up is that?"
"That's terrible," was all she could say. He didn't mind anything she said, as long as she didn't say that she was sorry. She held the burning cigarette between her fingers, looking down at her hands like they were foreign objects. He was again reminded of the picture and of that hazy night, the shy girl with the blue eyes, someone he totally looked over and had forgotten about until yesterday, when the forgotten night was brought back to him.
And then he looked up at Tonks, catching her eye for a moment, he watched as she changed her eye color to match his, which so much as moving a muscle this time. Her hair still white, she took a nervous drag, laughing strangely for one moment. She looked like an old woman who was trying to look young. Or, a young woman trying to look old, smoking a cigarette for the first time, or one of the first times, and holding nervous conversation with a character she never thought she would. She was only pretending today was a normal day. Again, he thought of that photograph.
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A/N: Thank you to all that have read and reviewed chapter 1. I feel like I have some sort of a chance with this, and I'm excited to continue with it.
I have a request, of sorts:
Anyone who reviews this, I was wondering if you might take the time to tell me exactly what you thought of this chapter or this story so far in general. I'm not being a picky writer who craves beefy reviews -I value all reviews-it's just that I have my own thoughts on this, and my own favourite moments in this story, and especially this chapter, and I want to see where the readers' interest lies. So, it would be wonderfully helpful and appreciated if you perhaps mentioned a section/line, or feeling that you liked about this. Thanks. :)
You don't have to do this, it's not like I'm forcing you all or anything.;) I just want to see what your specific thoughtsare on this.
