Altercations

By Neurotica

Twenty-Two

The two couples residing within the walls of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place slept late into the following day. They hadn't returned from Hogwarts until near one in the morning—a small celebration had broken out in the hospital wing, and even Madam Pomfrey, who strictly frowned upon such things taking place in close proximity to her patients, joined in after a bit. This was mostly Sirius' doing—he'd gone into the Healer's office, dragged her out, and forced a plate of cake and a drink into her hands. After Remus cast a Silencing Charm around Ron's bed, Madam Pomfrey agreed to let the party continue. Ron hadn't been neglected by any means; his mother and Pomfrey spent most of the night at his side.

Upon returning to Order Headquarters, Sirius opened a bottle of firewhiskey and split it between him, Remus, and Emmeline—Naomi opted for pumpkin juice instead, stating she just wasn't in the mood to drink. The four of them stayed in the basement kitchen until sunrise, talking, laughing, and telling stories. And for the first time since Christmas, all four of them felt normal and content. The Order of the Phoenix had outsmarted Lord Voldemort, and they felt their chances of winning the war had just increased significantly. Voldemort would undoubtedly seek revenge for everything that had happened over the last month—the betrayal of one of his most trusted followers and her subsequent escape from death; Harry Potter getting in and out of the Dark Lord's hideout without anyone being any the wiser and rescuing a hostage; the arrests of six high-ranking Death Eaters; and of course, the open mockery of Voldemort's reign by Sirius' speech to the press—but somehow, none of that mattered. Now that the Order had managed this, they felt they could face anything the Dark Lord could throw at them.

Later in the morning, Remus woke slowly and reluctantly, and opened his eyes as the bright sunlight flooded through the window above his bed. He turned to his right where Emmeline still slept peacefully, realizing that in a month's time, they'd finally be married. He smiled, tracing the outline of her jaw, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. As quietly as he could manage, he got out of bed and pulled on a t-shirt before making his way down to the kitchen. The moment he opened the door at the top of the stairs, smells of breakfast and fresh coffee invaded his senses. He carefully made his way down the steep staircase, still feeling a bit tipsy from the night before, and found Naomi at the stove, wearing a pair of Sirius' pajama pants and a large sweatshirt.

"Good morning," he yawned widely, going to the counter for a cup of coffee.

Naomi turned and smiled at him. "Afternoon, actually; it's nearly one o'clock."

Remus raised an eyebrow and looked at the clock above the fireplace, finding that she was indeed correct. "Well, it's a good thing none of us had to be at work today."

She laughed and told him to sit at the table. Naomi put servings of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and toast onto two plates and floated them over to the table. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat across from him. "Dig in." She grinned before doing just that.

He chuckled and started on his eggs. "This is wonderful, thank you."

She waved him off with her fork. "Don't mention it," she said after swallowing a bite of pancake. "I was starving when I woke up, and I figured you three would be too."

After a second helping of pancakes, Remus asked, "So what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you obviously can't go back to your flat right now, and you're more than welcome to stay here, but what about work? Won't Tom start to wonder where you've gone?"

"I'm sure he will." She sighed. "I thought about going back once all this blows over a bit, but until then, I've written Tom and told him I need to take some emergency personal time."

"Does he know about you're being a... you know?"

Naomi shook her head and smiled humorlessly. "You think he would have hired me if he knew I was a Death Eater? No, all he really knows is that I need a lot of unpredictable time off work, and he's never had a problem with it. Good man, Tom..."

Remus nodded. "Well, if you'd like, once Sirius gets over the hangover he undoubtedly has, he and I can go over to your place and get your things. That way you're not stuck wearing his clothes."

"That'd be great, thanks," she said. "So are you excited for the wedding?"

He smiled widely. "Very," he answered. "There's still a lot to do in the next few weeks, of course—we've got to decide where we're going to have it. Dumbledore's offered to let us have it at Hogwarts, maybe out by the lake. He said he could put a heating charm around the area so we're not all freezing to death."

"That'd be nice," Naomi said approvingly. "So you two aren't going for the traditional church wedding, then?"

He shook his head. "We'd planned on having it at the cottage..."

Naomi winced and smiled sadly. "I'm really sorry about that, by the way. I know what the cottage meant to you."

Remus sighed. "It's all right. It could have been much worse." Naomi nodded. "I was thinking about rebuilding at some point, making it a bit bigger, you know."

"I thought you were going to expand it years ago..."

"I was, but after everything happened, I didn't see any point. It was just me living there, and I definitely didn't need all that space for just myself."

Naomi averted her eyes. The plan had been to expand the cottage after she and Remus were married to make room for any children they decided to have in the future. For the most part, Remus and Naomi had gotten over the awkwardness of being in the same house together, especially after all the time they'd spent preparing Harry for Ron's rescue, but there were still moments, like this one, when one of them would accidentally bring up their former relationship. Naomi was spared from having to respond when the kitchen door opened again and Emmeline walked in.

"Morning," she said tiredly, sitting beside Remus. He kissed her cheek, returning the sentiment, and waved his wand at the coffee pot to pour another cup of coffee and floated it to land in front of her. She smiled gratefully and took a sip. "So which one of you magnificent people made breakfast?"

"Naomi," Remus said, waving his wand again. A plate of food appeared in front of Emmeline a second later.

"Could you be any lazier?" Emmeline chuckled.

Naomi smirked. "He used to summon his quills that had fallen of the floor in school. And," she went on at Remus' slight glare, "he actually started to unwrap chocolate with a wave of his wand, so this is nothing."

"Showoff." Emmeline grinned at him. "What's on the agenda for today?"

Remus rolled his eyes as the witches continued to laugh at him. "Well, I'm going to kick Sirius out of bed and I think he and I will head over Naomi's to get her things. After that, I've got nothing."

"Good," Emmeline said, smiling. "Then we can finish plans for the wedding."

Remus smiled and kissed her. "I can't wait," he said softly. "Now if you ladies will excuse me, I've got a best friend to harass."

Harry and Ginny sat beside Ron's bed, having a game of wizard's chess while Hermione sat next to them, combing Crookshanks absentmindedly. Mrs. Weasley was on the other side of the bed knitting and reading a novel by an author Harry had never heard of called Valentina Jett, which she'd charmed to float in front of her and turn the pages automatically. The three students had been given the day off from classes by Professor McGonagall to rest up after all the activity from the last few days. Harry had yet to face the rest of the school after his return from Voldemort's hideout, and he could honestly say he wasn't looking the least bit forward to it. The entire student body would be wanting to know exactly what happened in there, and Harry didn't feel like talking much about it. Dumbledore told Harry that he'd had a few words with the school, asking them not to bother Harry or his friends about the incident, but Harry knew that would have done no good.

Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins were what bothered Harry most. Harry thought he'd finally figured out Malfoy's strange behavior, though it'd taken him months to do so. He had a good feeling that Malfoy had gotten the Dark Mark, a conclusion he'd come up with a few weeks before, when Malfoy had yelped loudly in pain during a Potions lesson and grasped his left arm. Professor Slughorn had excused him a short time later to go see Madam Pomfrey. Harry didn't have any more proof than that, but Malfoy was sure to want revenge on Harry for what he'd done at Voldemort's hideout.

But he'd be stupid to try anything right away, Harry thought, watching Ginny ponder her next move across the board. If he did, Dumbledore would figure it out—if he doesn't already know—and Malfoy would be arrested. This thought both amused and comforted Harry. He had no trouble dealing with Slytherins before, and this wouldn't be any different. The worst thing the Slytherins might be able to manage would take place on the Quidditch pitch in a few months, but even that wasn't likely—Harry's team was the best in the school, and they were sure to embarrass the Slytherins.

"Your move, Harry," Ginny said quietly.

Harry smiled and looked down at the board. Just as he went to make his move, a muffled groan sounded from Ron's bed. All former activity was forgotten—Mrs. Weasley's knitting needles and book fell to the floor; Crookshanks was shoved out of Hermione's lap, and the chess pieces between Harry and Ginny began to complain about the delay in play. Everyone was watching Ron, holding their breaths. The redheaded boy moved around in his bed a bit, trying to get more comfortable. After a minute or so, he moaned and opened his eyes a bit, his brow creased in a frown.

"Oh, Ronnie!" Mrs. Weasley cried, practically throwing herself on to her son and hugging him tightly.

Ron's eyes snapped open fully and he looked around in confusion. "M-Mum?" he croaked. "Where am I?"

Once Mrs. Weasley was finished kissing every inch of Ron's face, she backed away a bit, beaming, with tears of happiness streaming down her face. "You're at Hogwarts, dear, you're safe."

"Hogwarts? How'd I get here?" Ron questioned hoarsely.

"Harry saved you," Mrs. Weasley said, her voice catching. "He went into You-Know-Who's hideout and brought you back here."

Ron's eyebrows shot up. "Harry did that?" he whispered in what sounded like disbelief. "How?"

"Ask him for yourself," the witch said, smiling across the bed at Harry.

Ron finally turned around and spotted his two best friends and his little sister standing beside him. "Hey," he said to them. "Hermione, why are you crying?"

Harry looked at Hermione who was indeed crying about as hard as Mrs. Weasley. Hermione choked out a sob and hugged Ron tightly. Harry's jaw dropped when Hermione pulled back a little and began kissing Ron. When she stood a few seconds later, both her and Ron's faces were bright red, but neither looked very remorseful. Harry stole a look at Mrs. Weasley who seemed to be holding back a laugh, even though her daughter was doing no such thing.

"Welcome back, Ron." Harry grinned. "I can't say I'll give you as enthusiastic a greeting as 'Mione, but will you settle for a handshake?"

Ron threw a pillow at his best friend, grinning broadly.

A few hours later, Sirius and Remus Apparated just outside Naomi's flat, their wands drawn as they opened the door—somebody could be waiting for the witch to return home. But to their immense surprise, the flat was empty, and there was no sign that anybody had been there since Naomi.

"Let's get this done and get out," Sirius said quietly, looking around cautiously. "Just because we don't see anything, it doesn't mean something hasn't been planted..."

Remus nodded and followed Sirius to Naomi's bedroom where they found a few suitcases in the closet and began packing. She'd asked the wizards to get her a few books from her desk drawer, so Remus took care of that while Sirius gathered her clothes—ex-fiancée or not, Remus felt a little uncomfortable sorting through Naomi's undergarments. Just as Remus was about to close the desk drawer, a small black box caught his eye. He knew what it was before he even reached out for it, but opened it anyway. It was the solitaire diamond engagement ring Remus had given her nearly eighteen years ago. "I can't believe she still has this," he muttered.

"What?" Sirius asked, turning to look. Remus held out the ring and showed him. He nodded. "She told me she didn't know what else to do with it. The day she broke it off with you, she wasn't wearing it, and she never had the nerve to give it back."

"Hmm," Remus said, snapping the lid shut and placing it back in the drawer. "Well, are we almost done here?" he asked.

Sirius watched him for a minute. "Are you all right?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Yes," he said slowly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. Finding the ring you gave your ex-fiancée can't be the easiest thing in the world, I'd imagine."

"It's not a big deal," Remus insisted. "I was just surprised she kept it after all these years, that's all." Sirius didn't look convinced, but didn't have the chance to reply. "We should be getting back, don't you think?"

After a few moments, Sirius nodded. "Yeah, sure," he muttered. "Would you mind a quick stop at my flat before we head back? I want to grab a few things."

Remus nodded and watched Sirius shrink the suitcases to palm-size so they could be placed in the wizard's pockets. They took one last look around Naomi's flat to be sure they hadn't missed anything, and Apparated across London to Sirius' flat. "What do you need to pick up?" Remus asked, again following Sirius to one of the bedrooms.

"Some stuff of Julia's that Naomi wanted to see," the Auror muttered. Remus noted that his best friend had no trouble navigating through the boxes of things that had once belonged to Julia. Sirius obviously had no desire to spend any more time there right then; he found the boxes he wanted, shrunk them, and turned to Remus. "See you back at Headquarters, then." Remus raised an eyebrow at the abruptness and prepared to Apparate a second later.

Mrs. Weasley left for the Burrow later that evening, and after promising not to excite Ron too much, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were permitted by Madam Pomfrey to stay in the hospital wing for a bit longer—Ron had wanted to know every detail of Harry's rescue mission, and still seemed to be in awe of the fact that the Order would go through so much trouble just for him. His friends tried to get him to tell them what had happened in Voldemort's hideout, but he claimed that he remembered nothing except Voldemort himself interrogating him about Harry and the prophecy.

"But I don't know the whole prophecy," Ron said quietly to Harry. "I only knew the first bit that you told us back in second year. And he didn't like that at all." Ron shivered. "He was mad because he thought I, being your best friend, should know the whole thing..."

"What did he do?" Harry asked.

"He used the Cruciatus Curse on me a few times," Ron answered hoarsely. "And when he finished, he looked into my eyes, and I could see memories of you, Hermione, and Ginny…"

"He's a Legilimens," Harry muttered. "He was trying to break into your mind, see if you were lying to him."

Ron nodded. "He knew all these thoughts and memories that no one else knows." He discreetly stole a glance at Hermione, who was speaking with Madam Pomfrey on the other side of the room. "Then he ordered someone—Malfoy's dad, I think—to give me a potion, and that's the last thing I remember." He looked at Hermione again, and after a moment he frowned as if he was trying to remember something. "There is one thing..." he began silently, turning to look at Harry. "But you've got to swear not to tell anyone."

Harry nodded and sat closer to his best friend to hear better. "Yeah, of course," he said.

Ron hesitated, biting his lip. "You-Know-Who showed me something... He said that if I cooperated with him, this thing he would show me would happen."

"What was it?"

"It was a picture, I think," Ron said, trying to work it out as he spoke. "Like that television thing you had at the cottage, but it looked so real... Anyway, it was the future, or what could've been the future, I'm not really sure. But Hermione was there, and she was older, maybe five, six years. And there were these kids I'd never seen before, and they looked a lot like her, but one of them had red hair like mine. Then I was there, and it was like we were a family, a really happy family. The war was over, You-Know-Who was gone... But—" Ron broke off, swallowing a lump in his throat. "You'd died. You and Ginny, and Sirius and Remus... My dad was Minister of Magic, and my mum... I don't know what happened to her. It was nice for a bit, but I didn't have any of my friends around except Hermione, and then I remembered it was a trick, that this wasn't really the future, or at least not how it should be. Because you've got to defeat him, Harry, and you won't die doing it. He's afraid of you; he knows you're powerful and that you will defeat him, so he's trying to get everyone to turn against you. He said I could have what he showed me in that vision if I just told him a few things about you, things that would help him. And I told him no, and that he could kill me if he wanted, but I wouldn't betray my friends, no matter what he promised me."

Harry could only stare at Ron, his mouth partly open. Ron had the chance to live a semi-happy life (if Voldemort went through with his promises, which he wouldn't have), but he'd turned it down for Harry. He wouldn't hand over secrets to the enemy just to save his own skin. Harry thought briefly of his parents and Wormtail, and how weak Wormtail had been in that very situation. But Ron wasn't like that; he told Voldemort no, and he lived through it. Most other people would have cracked under the pressure of Voldemort's threats, but Ron hadn't. Harry remembered something Dumbledore once told him, that his friends would stand by him, and that he wouldn't have to face Voldemort alone.

Harry always thought, regardless of what Sirius and Remus told him, that when the final battle between him and Voldemort happened, he would be alone to face it. But as he watched Ron examine a chocolate frog card, he realized he wouldn't be alone at all. The prophecy didn't say he couldn't have help in defeating the Dark Lord, and he now knew what it would take. He only hoped that when the time came, he really knew what he was doing.

In the library of Number Twelve, Emmeline sat on the sofa, trying to pick out floral arrangements for the wedding. She was having a lot of trouble concentrating, though, since her fiancé sat right behind her, massaging her shoulders and kissing her neck. She tried to ignore him, really she did, but when one of his hands slowly snaked its way under her shirt, she gave up.

"Remus," she breathed. His lips left her neck in favor of her ear and Emmeline melted in his arms. She leaned back against him and turned her head to capture his lips with hers. When they broke apart long minutes later, Remus wrapped his arms around her tightly and buried his face in her hair. "We've really got to get this done, you know," Emmeline breathed, her eyes still closed.

"It can wait," he murmured, his hands on the move again.

As much as Emmeline would have loved to let him continue, she caught his hands and pinned them at his side, turning to face him. "We have to do this. You're the one who suggested moving the wedding up," she said, noticing his amused blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

He groaned in annoyance when he realized she wasn't going to let him go any further with his wandering hands. "Alright, alright... What do we need to do?"

She smiled and kissed his cheek, moving out of his lap and silently vowing to continue later that night what he'd started. "Well, we've got to pick out flowers for one thing."

Remus stared at her. "I know nothing about flowers and plants, except that I was bitten by a rabid mandrake when I was twelve."

Emmeline raised an amused eyebrow. "I highly doubt it was rabid, dear," she said dryly.

"Oh, but it was. James decided it would be humorous to put a Confundus charm on it and make it think it was a wild animal. It actually climbed out of its pot and chased me around the greenhouse. I tripped over a vine and fell, and then it crawled up my leg and bit my..." Emmeline raised her other eyebrow, her lips twitching. "Well, that's not important, but I swear it happened... Ask Sirius."

Emmeline tried not to laugh, but the image of a mandrake chasing a twelve-year-old Remus around was too much. Once she calmed down a little, she realized Remus was glaring at her. "Don't look at me like that," she said, sniggering. "You have to admit, it is funny."

"I still have the scar where it bit me. You want to see it?"

She rolled her eyes, her face red from trying not to laugh at him anymore. "Fine, you win. It's definitely not funny. Now, can we get back to the wedding? I promise we won't have any mandrakes in the flower arrangements."

"Har har," he said flatly. "Look, you pick out the flowers. Anything you decide will be fine with me. I'm not going to this wedding to look at flowers after all."

She chuckled. "Okay, then. Have you asked Arthur if he'd be your third groomsman?"

Remus nodded. "He said he'd be happy to do it. I think he was a bit surprised I asked him, actually. And how about you? Have you decided on your Maid of Honor?"

She sighed. "I wanted to talk to you about that," she said. "How would you feel about it being Naomi?"

Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Naomi?" She nodded, watching him closely. "Well, that's up to you," he said slowly. "I wasn't aware that the two of you had gotten that close..."

Emmeline shrugged. "I just thought that after what she did for us... And with Sirius being the best man, she's the only person I think he'd be perfectly happy with."

Remus nodded. "Have you asked her?"

"Not yet," she said. "I wanted to run it by you first."

"It's fine by me," he said, shrugging. "As I said, it's your choice."

"So you wouldn't feel awkward with having her there?"

"Why would I?"

"Because she's your ex-fiancée and she's going to be in your wedding."

"Why does everyone seem to think I've got some problem with having Naomi around? I've told you and Sirius over and over again that I feel nothing for her. We've only just started becoming friends again. I've got no problem with Naomi being in the wedding," he said in frustration.

"Okay," Emmeline said, slightly surprised by his tone of voice. "You feel nothing for her, I got it. From now on, I won't ask you anything related to her, and I'll let you be surprised. Is that better?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm only saying that everyone tiptoes around the subject of Naomi and me as though I'm going to breakdown and start crying because it's not her I'm marrying."

Emmeline raised an eyebrow. "That's not what I was implying, but is there something we should talk about?"

"No!" Remus yelled. "There's nothing to talk about! I'm not in love with Naomi; I'm in love with you, Emmeline. I don't give a damn about her being your maid of honor, and I don't give a damn about her still having the engagement ring I gave her. All I want is to marry you and start our life together. That's all I care about! Not floral arrangements, not where we're having the ceremony! None of that matters!"

Emmeline only watched as Remus stood and started to pace. She'd never seen him so frustrated and angry. Normally, he was very calm and collected; he rarely let his emotions get the best of him. "Remus," she said quietly. He spun around and stopped his pacing, his hands clasped behind his head. "What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath. "Nothing," he finally said, his voice back to its calm tone. "I'm sorry for yelling. I'm just a little stressed, that's all."

"A little stressed?" she said dubiously. "Remus, you never yell. Please tell me what's bothering you." She stood and crossed the library to stand in front of him, removing his hands from behind his head, and held them tightly in her own.

He sighed heavily. "I suppose the last few months have just finally caught up to me," he admitted quietly after a minute. "Everything from Greyback and Arabella, to the cottage, to Sirius and Naomi, and Ron, and Harry, and the war... I'd just like a bit of normalcy for a change, and I'd like it to stick around for more than a week. And the only time I feel completely normal is when I'm with you, Harry, and Sirius. I'm sorry for yelling at you," he said again.

She smiled softly. "It's all right. We've got to yell at each other sometimes, don't we? Even Mister Rational who never yells needs to do it at some point."

He chuckled. "I suppose," he said. "Emmeline, you should take care of all the wedding details. Naomi can help you if that's what you want. I'm already getting what I want out of this deal and the rest just isn't as important to me as marrying you."

She leaned up to kiss him. "How is it you always know exactly what to say?" she murmured against his lips.

"It's all true," he said before kissing her again. The wedding plans were, once again, put on a temporary hold.