Disclaimer: None of the nouns within belong to me except for Astrid McKay.
A/N: I went back and changed a few minor things in chapter one. The poetry at the top of that is mine. Chandelle is French for candle, and Sarita is a Spanish (I think) version of Sarah. I go to ets freetranslation com/ (add in a dot where the spaces are) to get things in other languages, but if someone doesn't take this fic over from me the other languages I use will be translated at the end of each chapter.
Summary: Astrid McKay is betrothed to Remus Lupin at a young age. Yet can she find love with him? Maybe. And with the Marauders afoot she's bound to find adventure. A/U.
Variable X – Chapter 2, Son of Candle's Light
"Lumos."
Remus Lupin, son of Richard and Chandelle Lupin, was sitting out in the gardens, reading as per usual. Without other kids his age nearby there wasn't much to do but stand around reading all day, so he had become a bit of a loner. Remus had been very surprised, therefore, when he had found that people wanted to be friends with him. After all, Remus wasn't just a loner, but a werewolf, a dark creature, as well, not that his friends knew. It wasn't that they weren't good friends, but even if they still accepted him they might tell someone, and gossip fed Hogwarts. Other kids were bound to tell their parents, and then he'd have to leave and be schooled at home, and he'd hate to do that when he'd just made friends for the first time in his entire life. Having thought this, Remus got up to owl the friends he had made in his first year at Hogwarts. On the way to his room, however, he heard raised voices, and came to an involuntary stop outside of the kitchen door.
"… needs to be told, Richard! We can't just throw them together, say 'be friends' and leave it at that! It would be a disaster, I guarantee it!" his mother yelled.
"Chandelle, please, calm down. Remus is only eleven. He hardly needs to know about the betrothal agreement yet. Let him have a few years to date, and then we can tell him about Astrid. How does that sound, dear?" he asked, obviously trying to placate his wife.
"Fine," the woman snapped at him, "but you're the one who gets to break the happy news to a fifteen or sixteen-year-old. He'll just be so happy that he can't get involved with any other people because you don't want to break the family tradition."
Deciding he'd heard enough, Remus backed away from the door and went back to his room. He flopped onto the bed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling. Astrid… Who do I know with a name like that? It's pretty, though. Astrid…
A soft knock came at the door.
"Who's there?" Remus asked.
"It's Maman. May I come in?"
"Sure," he said. Why not, after all?
"How much did you hear?" the blonde asked, sitting beside him on the bed.
"Enough," he said.
Chandelle sighed, taking out a cigarette and lighting it with a quick incendio charm. This was only odd because she tried not to be in the same room as her children when she smoked. After a few drags, she began to speak.
"Her name is Astrid McKay and she's ten, eleven this August. She's a pretty little thing; curly auburn hair, dark blue eyes. Astrid is interested in action/adventure novels, potions, charms, and just about any type of music except disco. She plays the violin, guitar, and would like to learn how to play the piano someday. She's also easygoing, cheerful, fun to be around, and anything but shy. Astrid has five older brothers, you see. I think you will come to like her fairly quickly, Remus. She's a bit of a tomboy anyway."
"Do you really think I'll like her, or are you just saying that?" Remus asked.
Chandelle carded her fingers through her son's hair with a smile.
"I think you'll like her. Astrid will grow into a fine woman." She stood up. "I'll leave you alone to think." This wasn't the way she had wanted her son to find out.
The door closed softly behind her.
"Time to owl Lily and the guys."
Chandelle smile to herself, then went to make dinner.
"Hello Chandelle."
"Sarita! It's been forever!"
James rolled his eyes, and as one he, Remus, and Sirius muttered, "Women."
"Come on, let's go to my room. I have something important to tell you."
Several minutes later, exclamations of, "People still do that?" and "You've got to marry her?" came from Remus' room, and at the same time Sarita Potter and Chandelle Lupin said, "Boys." Then they shared a look and laughed.
"They must have been talking about the betrothal, earlier. I mean, honestly, I don't know why Richard insisted. He broke family tradition by marrying me. Why should a tradition that nearly tore us apart carry on? He didn't do this with the twins, and if he was going to you'd think that Richard would start with them." She was almost in tears.
"Shh, Chandelle," Sarita said. "It's all right. Arranged marriages can be love matches. It will turn out all right in the end. It will be all right. You'll see."
"You really think so?" she asked.
"Yes," Sarita told her with conviction. "Everything will be all right."
"Edward?" Sarita asked her husband across the dinner table.
"Yes, dear?"
"Do you know the McKays' daughter, Astrid?"
"Yes. Polite little girl, interested in her music; a bit of a tomboy though. She'll be a real heartbreaker in a few years time. Why do you ask?" he said conversationally.
"Do you think she be a good match for Chandelle and Richard's boy, Remus?"
"I'm sure they'd get along well enough. Why?"
"No reason, dear. Pass the potatoes please."
Remus, James, and Sirius sat up all night talking and watching the telly in Remus' room. They talked about all sorts of things: the betrothal, Hogwarts, Quidditch, pranks, James' small (cough not cough) obsession with Lily Evans. By the next morning it was pushed to the back of Remus' mind, and all was well, and chaotic, at the Lupin place once more. Well, what else would you expect, with three Marauders in one house?
"Nox."
Maman means Mama in French. You can find the translator I use in the a/n at the beginning of the chapter.