Altercations
By Neurotica
Twelve
Inside a small bookstore on Diagon Alley called Lupin Imports, a small boy of four years old sat on a tall wooden stool in front of the counter reading a Muggle children's book. Most children his age wouldn't be able to comprehend what they were seeing, but this boy was special. His parents, both rather intelligent themselves, had started to teach him to read only six months before, and already he was reading everything he could get his hands on. He loved going to work with his father and sorting through the shop's weekly delivery of Muggle books. For hours, he sat happily in the storeroom while his father, John, helped the flood of customers, curious about Muggle literature, out front.
The Lupin family did well with their small shop. They weren't rich by any means, but they were nowhere near struggling, either. Rebecca Lupin was a Muggle nurse in a London hospital, though she found plenty of time to spend time with her pride and joy: her son Remus. John was a pureblood wizard, and well-known and mostly respected among the magical community. After he'd met and fallen in love with a Muggle woman, there'd been many who, believing he'd made a mistake in mixing blood, had lost respect for him. Even members of his own family stopped speaking with him. None of them mattered to John, though; he adored his family, his wife and son, and the opinion of the rest of the world was the last thing on his mind. Especially on one cold day in February.
The day started out as normally as any other. John and his small staff of two received a large shipment from America and spent two hours before opening the shop cataloguing and placing the books on shelves. Remus sat on his stool with his legs kicking over the edge, checking off books as his father pointed them out to him. At nine o'clock, they unlocked the doors and invited in a few potential customers.
John lifted Remus from the stool and took him to the storeroom. "Okay, Remus, my boy," he said, setting the small boy at a desk with crayons and a coloring book. "Stay back here and play until lunch and maybe we can stop by Florean Fortescue's for dessert. How does that sound?"
"Mummy says no sweets before dinner. She says it'll ruin my appetite," Remus said, picking up a green crayon.
"Well, what Mummy doesn't know won't hurt her, now will it?" John said mischievously, ruffling Remus' sandy brown hair.
"John! We need some help up here!" called Diane, one of John's employees.
"On my way!" John called back. "Alright, mate. I've got to go up front. You going to be okay back here on your own?"
"Yeah." Remus smiled, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he started coloring a picture of a leprechaun. "I'm fine."
John smiled fondly and left the child to his coloring. The morning went on without incident; unless one counts a wizard complaining that none of the books had moving pictures. "What good is a picture if it doesn't move?" the wizard asked.
"These are Muggle books," John said patiently. "Muggles can't make pictures move."
"Yeah? What about those televizzies things they have?"
"Those aren't books, and I believe the word is 'television.'"
The wizard ended up leaving without purchasing a thing, grumbling about the incompetence of Muggles, and how they couldn't even do simple things like make a picture in a book move. Things like that happened often, and John had learned early not to take it personally. Some wizards just didn't have broad enough minds. A young witch approached him moments later asking if he had the Lord of the Rings series, and he forgot all about narrow-minded wizards.
As promised, John took Remus to lunch, and after, to Florean Fortescue's for ice cream. Before going back to the bookshop, Remus dragged his father into the Magical Menagerie to look at the rabbits that turned into top hats.
"Can I get one, Dad?" Remus asked excitedly as one of the rabbits jumped out of its cage and into the child's arms.
"Not today, son." John smiled, gently taking the animal and putting it back into the cage. "Come on, we've got to get back to the shop."
The shop closed at eight o'clock that night, and John sent his two employees home. All he had to do was count their earnings for the day and tidy up a bit before he and Remus would go home. Father and son were unpacking the new arrival books when there was a loud knock on the glass door. John straightened up from where he was bent over a box and narrowed his eyes at the gray-haired man outside.
"Remus..." John said slowly, not looking away from the door. "Go in back and get Daddy's cloak."
"Kay," Remus said, running to the storeroom.
Cautiously, John went to the door, slipping his wand into the sleeve of his robe. He unlocked the door and opened it a crack to speak with the man in front of him. "Help you with something, Fenrir?" he said mildly.
"Evening, John," the man called Fenrir said, smiling with yellow teeth. The effect made his face look almost monster-like. "Just wanted to drop by and see how the shop's doing."
"Come back another time; we're closed." Normally, John didn't refuse a customer after closing, but he didn't want Fenrir Greyback anywhere near his son—John knew what this man was. He made to close the door, but Greyback stuck his foot out to keep him from doing just that.
"Oh, come now, John. You can make time for old friends, can't you?" Greyback grinned darkly.
"If any of my old friends came by, I'd be happy to let them in, but at the moment, I don't see any of my old friends," John said coldly. "Now if you'll so kindly remove your foot from my door—"
Greyback chuckled humorlessly. "Open the door, Lupin. Don't be stupid."
John glared for a moment. Before he could tell Greyback to get off his property, the storeroom door opened, and Remus ran out, dragging John's cloak behind him. "Got it, Dad," he said happily.
Without thinking, John knelt down to intercept his son before he could get to the door. He'd released his grip on the door, and realized a second too late that Greyback had entered his shop, closing the door sharply behind him.
"Who's this, then?" Greyback asked interestedly.
John closed his eyes tightly and stood with Remus in his arms, keeping the boy as far from Greyback as he could. "Get out, Greyback," he said through clenched teeth.
"Not until we get something straight, Lupin." John noticed immediately that the mock-pleasantness in the other man's voice was gone. "You haven't gotten back to me with your answer on my proposal. Why is that?"
"Because I wouldn't go into business with you if the world was about to end," John said calmly. He wanted Greyback out... Now.
"I could arrange that, you know," Greyback said in a voice that sent a shiver down John's spine—he hid it well. "How's that pretty wife of yours? Muggle, isn't she? And I suppose this is your boy, is it?"
"Dad?" Remus asked meekly, trying to shrink away into John's chest.
"It's all right, Remus," John said, increasing the grip around his son. "You stay away from my family," he added in a growl to Greyback.
"Remus, huh?" Greyback said. "Remus Lupin... Interesting name, John. Did your Muggle bitch come up with it?"
John's wand was out and pointed at Greyback's chest before the other man could blink. "Get the hell out of my shop. If you ever come back, I won't even bother with calling the Ministry; I'll deal with you myself."
Greyback didn't have a wand, so he was defenseless against the wizard. He sneered, and his eyes narrowed at Remus. "We'll speak again soon, John." He turned on his heel wrenched the door open so hard it slammed into a display of Muggle cooking books.
Once he was out, John slammed the door shut, sealing it with the strongest locking charm he could think of. "Dad, who was that?" Remus asked quietly, shaking a bit in his father's arms.
"He's a bad man, Remus. If you ever see him around here again, you're to tell me immediately. Do you understand?"
Remus nodded. "Yes, sir. I don't like him; he's scary."
You've got no idea, son, John thought. "Yes, he is. We should get home to your mother, hmm?" Unpacking the books could wait until morning; John wanted his son out of Diagon Alley in case Greyback decided to come back.
"All right, Mr. Black, do you have your wand?" the old Healer asked the following afternoon.
Sirius nodded and stood from the stool he'd occupied for the last two hours and pulled his wand from his robes. A team of Healers set to examining him once again.
"Good, good. Now, we're going to start off with something simple," Healer Jones said, holding up a white feather and placing it on a table. Don't be discouraged if you can't do it at first. If you start to tire, just tell us, and we'll take a break. Whenever you're ready, Mr. Black."
Again, Sirius nodded and sighed. He held his wand tightly in his hand, staring the feather down as though it was a mortal enemy. For five hours, he'd had to endure tests and questions and pokes and prods with only an hour's break for lunch. He'd joined Emmeline, Tonks, Charlie, and Arthur in the Ministry cafeteria—he'd forgotten how horrible the food was, but it was good to be back where he belonged. After lunch came more tests, more pokes and prods, and more questions, and now, finally, they were getting to what Sirius really wanted to do. The Healers decided it was safe for him to at least attempt a levitation spell—the most elementary spell a wizard could ever cast. He recalled his first ever Charms lesson with Professor Flitwick, back when he was eleven, and the simple wand movement, swish and flick.
Here goes... something, I hope, he thought before nodding to the Healers. They nodded back and set their quills over their parchment, preparing to take more notes. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said firmly and confidently. His shoulders slumped when the feather sat there innocently, mocking his very being. He tried again and again, until the Healers actually took the feather from the table and forced him to sit down.
"Do you really have to do all this again?" he asked exasperatedly as the Healers crowded around him, waving their wands up and down his body.
"It will only take a few more minutes, Mr. Black, and you'll be free to go," one Healer said soothingly.
An hour later, Sirius was finally walking down the Ministry corridors to Emmeline's office in the Department of Magical Transportation. Her office door was open and she was issuing instructions to one of her employees. She spotted him, smiled, and waved him in. When she finished, the other witch left the office, looking appraisingly at Sirius as she went.
"How'd it go?" Emmeline asked.
"Well," Sirius said, sitting in a chair across from her desk. "At this rate, I'll be able to transfigure a toothpick into a needle in about ten years."
She smiled sympathetically. "That bad, huh?"
"The feather did flutter a bit, but I think that was more because of all the swishing and flicking I was doing," he said flatly. "Have you heard from Remus?"
"Not yet," she answered. "But their train doesn't arrive in Berlin until six, so there's no need to worry. I don't think."
Sirius nodded. "Alright, well, I'll let you get back to work. I'm going to stop by Auror Headquarters, then head back to the cottage. See you tonight."
"Hey, don't be too upset by what happened today, Sirius. This is going to take patience and concentration."
"Two things I don't have," Sirius muttered. "I'll be fine. See you."
"Bye," she called as he left the office.
Hoping his next destination wouldn't make him feel any worse than he already did, Sirius stepped onto the crowded lift, hitting the level six button as the golden grilles closed. Auror Headquarters hadn't changed physically, but it was obvious that something had. Normally the place was full of chatter and laughter; now, half the Aurors silently hunched over their desks, working. Someone spotted him and the entire place erupted. There was so much noise that Dawlish tore open his—correction, Sirius'—office door, glaring around for the source. Sirius extricated himself from Tonks' death grip around his waist and made his way to Dawlish.
"Hello, sir," Dawlish said a bit nervously. "Didn't know you were stopping by today."
"That's why they call them surprise visits. I want to talk with Scrimgeour. Where is he?" Sirius asked, looking over Dawlish's shoulder into the Head Auror office.
"Oh, er, he's off today."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "On a Thursday?"
"Yes, well, he had a few things to take care of."
"You know, you never did tell me why you went behind my back and brought him in here," Sirius said. "Because I'm pretty sure I made it quite clear that I didn't want him in my squads."
"We need all the Aurors we can get, Sirius. Without you—" Dawlish began.
"Oh, cut the crap!" Sirius said loudly, very aware that every Auror in Headquarters was listening in. "You've been fighting to get him back here for a year, and you're too much of a wanker to do it while I'm here, so you waited until I was out of the picture. You do realize every single Auror except Scrimgeour hates you, right? Tell me, Dawlish, one thing you've done in my absence to further our chances in this war. How many Death Eaters have you brought in since I've been gone?"
"Well, none, but we've been staking out—"
"You have no idea what it takes to do this job, do you?" Sirius asked quietly. "It's not about staking places out, having a meeting, and then going out and cleaning up messes. If you want to succeed, you've got to actually get out there and do something. Otherwise, we're going to lose. Now, I'm going to talk to Bones about coming back here—that would mean you get your old job back. And I really think it's rather sad that I've got to come back just to baby-sit you, but I'm afraid that if I don't, you're going to ruin my squads. You can tell Scrimgeour he can stay, but I will be having a chat with him about who the boss is around here, and if he crosses me once, you're both gone, since you seem to like him more than you like me. I'll be back on Monday, and if he's not here, make sure both of your cubicles are cleared out on Tuesday. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," Dawlish said through gritted teeth.
"Good. See you on Monday, then."
Remus sat down on a barstool in a local pub in Berlin and ordered a drink. He and Arabella had arrived on time, got settled in their motel rooms, and gone for a bite to eat. Arabella had turned in rather early, but Remus found he couldn't sleep—his excuse was that the bed was lumpy, but he knew it was because Emmeline wasn't beside him. He'd contacted his girlfriend and Sirius after dinner to assure them he was still alive and well, and to make sure Sirius wasn't getting into any trouble. Of course, any prank the wizard could come up with to use on Emmeline, she could get him just as good, if not better.
The bartender placed a glass in front of Remus and walked away to tend his other customers. Sipping at his brandy, he looked around the small, shabby pub with one hand in his jacket pocket, wrapped around his wand. He was in a foreign town, and if there was any trouble, he'd have an advantage. For the most part, the pub's patrons consisted of men having a nightcap and hitting on women who came in, so Remus didn't expect any problems.
Of course, even Remus Lupin could be wrong at times.
Just as he finished his drink and prepared to return to his room for the night, one of the least likely people walked through the door. Remus increased the grip on his wand as Fenrir Greyback spotted him and grinned a snarling, yellow-toothed grin. Luckily, Remus noticed, the other werewolf seemed to be alone at the moment. Greyback sat in the empty stool beside Remus wordlessly and ordered drink from the bartender.
"So, Lupin, long time no see." Greyback said without looking at him.
"Not long enough, Greyback," Remus replied. "Might I ask what you're doing in Berlin?"
"You may not." Greyback laughed throatily, as if mocking Remus' formality. "Shouldn't you be back in London trying to keep people like me off the streets?"
"What do you want, Greyback?" Remus asked quietly. "Looking for fresh meat?"
"Why deny the rest of us our fun, little Lupin, just because you're not embracing the wolf?"
"Because all you are, Fenrir, is a murderer," Remus replied. "And I look forward to the moment we finally have enough proof of to catch you."
"You really think you and your little freedom fighters will win this war, don't you? Well, let me tell you something, boy," Greyback said, turning to Remus. "You're going to lose. You and all your little friends; that is, unless you come to the other side, the right side. The only side. The Dark Lord rewards his followers, Remus. Can you say that about your Mudblood-lover Dumbledore?"
"No," Remus said. "But he also doesn't kill us if we don't give him the answers he wants."
Greyback downed the rest of his drink and leaned in close to Remus. The younger werewolf tried not to pull away from the other's putrid breath. "When you come to your senses, the Dark Lord will be waiting. Otherwise, I'll see you at your funeral." Greyback threw a few coins on the bar and left the pub without another word, leaving Remus to wonder how or if Greyback knew he'd be there, and if he'd see Greyback again before his three day trip was over.
A noise in the kitchen woke Sirius from a restless sleep. He stared at the ceiling, trying to make out shapes by the moonlight, for ten minutes before finally deciding to get up and investigate. Figuring it was just Emmeline going for a late-night snack, he put on a pair of jeans before leaving his room. He found his suspicions to be correct when he reached the kitchen—Emmeline was sitting at the table, nursing a cup of tea.
"Want some company?" he asked, pouring some hot water into a clean cup and grabbing a teabag from the box on the counter.
She smiled as he sat across from him. "Did I wake you?"
He shrugged. "No worries. It's not like I've got to be anywhere in the morning. Can't sleep?'
"No," she answered with a sigh. "Not the same, sleeping here without Remus."
"Oh, please." He grinned. "I can't see how you sleep when he is here, the way he snores. James used to put silencing charms around his bed at school."
"I've got my own ways to keep him from snoring." Emmeline grinned.
"Yeah, I so didn't need to know that..."
Emmeline laughed. "Do you have any plans for tomorrow? Well, today now..."
Sirius sipped his tea and nodded. "I was going to head out to Godric's Hollow and visit Lily and James. After that, I'll probably sit around staring at the fireplace the whole night."
Emmeline nodded. "So you're not going to Naomi's, then?" she asked casually.
Sirius choked on his tea. "Why would I go to Naomi's?" he sputtered.
She shrugged. "I don't know. I just got the idea the two of you had been seeing quite a bit of each other lately," she said lightly.
"And what would make you think that?"
"Well, I was cleaning Harry's room the other day, and I found a crumpled letter from her to you..."
Sirius sighed. "How much does Remus know?"
"He's clueless." Sirius nodded. "But I think you should tell him before he finds out on his own. He's not stupid, Sirius. He will find out eventually."
"I know," Sirius said. "And I will tell him."
"When?"
"I was thinking on my death bed."
Emmeline rolled her eyes but smiled. "I don't blame you for being nervous about telling him this, but I think he'll take it a lot better if he hears it from you rather than someone else."
"You really think he'll take it well?"
"That's not what I said. You'll be lucky to get away with only a black eye."
"Thanks for that vote of confidence," he muttered flatly.
Emmeline continued to watch him with that thoughtful expression she had. "Can I just ask a question?" He nodded. "What is it about her you like? After what she put Remus through... For the first year in this war, she fought against us."
"Yes, but for the last two, she's been risking her life to give us as much information as she can. You know she tried to help Remus in France?"
"If she had really wanted to help him, why didn't she tell us where he was? Sirius, he could have died out there, and we never would have known. Look, I'll give you this: she has passed us some good information, but she's still got a lot going against her."
"I haven't forgotten what she did to Remus," he said quietly, looking at the table. "But that was fifteen years ago. We've all made mistakes, even you. You dated Snape." She glared at him. "I'm not saying that as an insult—okay, maybe a little insult, but I do have a point. You knew he was a Death Eater, right? And you still trusted him, didn't you?"
"The war was over when I started seeing Severus. It was different. I knew he'd been a Death Eater, yes, but I also knew where his loyalties lay—"
"And I know where Naomi's lay," he said patiently. "She wouldn't do anything to hurt Remus anymore than she has. Everything she's done, she's done to keep him safe."
"So what makes you think she's not just using you to get him back?"
"She knows he's happy with you and that he loves you more than anything in the world. She's trying to make up for her mistakes, Emmeline. She still cares for him, yes, but she knows there's no chance that he'll come back to her. And if you don't believe that, I can tell you for certain he hasn't even thought about going back to her," he said.
"But you're still with her, knowing how she feels about him?"
He shrugged. "I care about her and she cares about me. I trust her," he said simply.
"Why?"
"I've known her since I was five years old, longer than I've known Remus, and I know when she's telling the truth. I realize she broke Remus' heart, and I know he'll probably never forgive her, but she regrets it. I think she regrets what she did to him more than the actual fact that she became a Death Eater."
"And you don't see something wrong with that?"
"Considering the relationship they had, no," he replied. "Their relationship was absolutely perfect until she left him. I know that's probably not what you want to hear, but it's true. They would have done anything for each other, just like he would do anything for you. She knows she made the biggest mistake of her life by leaving him. But even she deserves to be happy. Right?"
Emmeline sighed. "I guess."
Sirius watched her for a moment. "Do you feel threatened by her?"
"A little," she admitted. "Like you said, their relationship was perfect before they broke up. How can I live up to perfection?"
"You already have." Sirius smiled. "Emmeline, I don't remember ever seeing Remus as happy as he is with you. He turns into a complete idiot when you're around and you can't get one coherent word out of him. I can see the two of you getting married and having a huge family. He'd do whatever it took to make you happy."
"I know," she said quietly with a shadow of a smile.
"And the added fact that you've accepted Harry and me without question only makes him happier. Just being associated with us is a death wish, and here you are, living with us without a second thought. You've got nothing to worry about when it comes to Naomi. As for me... I promise to talk to Remus."
"That's all I ask," Emmeline said. "Just be careful with Naomi, okay? I know you trust her, but we are in a war, and it's very easy to misplace trust."
Sirius winked. "When am I not careful?"
Emmeline raised an eyebrow and finished her tea, obviously finding it better not to answer. "I'll see you in the morning, Sirius," she said before going down the hall to bed.
Rolling his eyes, Harry followed the path through a forest that looked as thought it'd been made just for his use. Since this was most likely another Voldemort vision, it probably had been. The trees were oddly calm and quiet as he walked, and was all the more proof that he was somewhere he shouldn't be. He followed the path until he came upon an open field that stretched as far as his eyes could see. As he began to wonder what the point of this was, a castle, larger than Hogwarts, materialized before him.
"I've been here before," he muttered to himself, letting his feet carry him to the entrance. He could feel the freezing cold he associated with dementors pour over him as he got closer. A thick green fog surrounded him, making it difficult to see, but the dream guided him through without him running into anything. He navigated the dark corridors easily, turning corners and going up staircases automatically until he reached a tall pair of stone doors. Looking over his shoulder briefly, Harry pushed the doors open and entered a room with a high mirror ceiling and shining black floors.
Unsurprisingly, the room wasn't empty; Death Eaters wearing hooded cloaks gathered in a circle, staring at the center where Harry suspected Lord Voldemort was standing. The circle of Death Eaters was deathly quiet as their master paced back and forth, deep in thought.
"Two years," Voldemort said softly, sending a chill down Harry's spine. "It has been two years since my return, and I am no closer to my goal than I was then. Every attempt to destroy my enemies has failed, as has my desire to gain knowledge of the prophecy. Not even I could break the barriers of Harry Potter's mind to discover the secrets needed to destroy him. The boy has been receiving Occlumency lessons from Emmeline Vance, a rather accomplished Legilimens in her own right and Head of the Department of Magical Transportation. For the three days that I occupied young Potter's mind, I came across some interesting information: It seems Miss Vance has developed a relationship with the werewolf Lupin. Yes, even a dirty beast like Lupin can get a woman in his bed." Voldemort laughed coldly.
"But we are not here to discuss the love lives of werewolves and blood traitors; we are here to discuss how I will destroy Harry Potter. The obvious choice would be to go after his so-called family. The trouble is every last one of you seems incapable of murdering a wizard with no magical powers or a werewolf. I've decided that if I want this done correctly, I will have to do it myself. By the New Year, the names Lupin, Black, and Potter will be only spoken of in the past tense..."
Unfortunately, Harry heard no more; Ron was shaking him awake by his shoulders. "Harry, come on! We're already late for Herbology," Ron was saying.
Harry's eyes snapped open and he had to keep from slapping his best friend in annoyance. "I'm up," he groaned, pushing the blankets away from him. Ron backed away from Harry's bed while the other got up and dressed, rubbing his scar as he did so. By the time they left the dormitory for class, Harry's dream was entirely forgotten.
Sirius walked through Godric's Hollow cemetery carrying a single rose. He'd already been to see Lily and James, and now he was going to find Julia's grave. There'd only been three other times since his release from Azkaban that he'd gone to see her, and he felt terrible about that. How was it so easy for him to see his best friends' graves, but not the grave of the woman he'd wanted to marry? He found her gravestone under a large tree and tried to smile as he set the rose on top of it.
"Hey, Jules," he said quietly, kneeling in front of the grave. "I'm sorry I haven't been by in, what, five years? I've got no excuses. I miss you every day, and I think about you all the time." He sighed and sat down cross-legged on the grass. "So I guess you know I've been seeing Naomi for the last few months. She's not you, but I do care about her. Moony's going to kill me when he finds out." He grinned a bit.
"Julia... I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you. I seem to have a lot of trouble keeping my loved ones safe, don't I? You didn't deserve what happened to you. There was so much you didn't get a chance to experience. Could you imagine the family we could have had, Jules? Little girls running around with black hair and your gorgeous blue eyes... Little boys with my lack of respect for authority." He chuckled quietly, sadly.
"Why'd you have to leave me? I know it wasn't your choice, but... I don't know. I still love you as much as I did the day I was going to propose to you. But I know you wouldn't want me to live my life alone. You'd want me to move on, start a family. But every time I think about a family without you, it doesn't seem right. It feels like I'm cheating on you in someway. That probably sounds really stupid, and you're probably laughing your head off at me, but I always saw myself with you and nobody else. But then Naomi shows up again, and I find myself thinking about a future with her. I'm not ready to go out and buy a ring or anything, but I can picture us together, with a family. After the war, of course.
"Julia," he sighed. "I will always love you more than anything, but you're gone, and there isn't anything I can do to change that. I've come to tell you that I'm going on with my life, the way you would want me to. Please know that I will never, ever forget you. Nothing short of the world's strongest memory charm could make me forget you. I love you, Julia." He stood and moved to her gravestone to kiss the top.
"Good bye."