"Open up please."
Remus opened his mouth in compliance with the order. He was sitting in his shorts in a cold and sterile hospital room, undergoing a Ministry mandated examination.
The healer examining him was a brusque, stern man called Rollins. Rollins murmured a short spell, causing Remus' mouth to become illuminated as he peered inside. Following his silent direction, several cotton swabs flew one after another to take samples from Remus' teeth.
Remus was used to this test. The swabs flew immediately into little vials of potions which would be analyzed to see if Remus had bitten anyone in the past twelve months. It was all fairly routine. For almost as long as he could remember Remus had found himself sitting in this room once a year for this physical. They poked and prodded, administered potions and cast spells. Then they sedated him, waited until nightfall and did it all again in his wolf form. His reward for all of this was a signed certificate informing him of his lycanthropy. (Sirius had always declared with a grin: Congratulations sir, you're still a werewolf!) And of course, a star next to his name on the Werewolves Registry, indicating that he was tame.
Remus had never particularly minded going through this, but recently things had changed. The examinations that used to be once a year had been pushed up to once a month. Every full moon cycle found Remus there for at least one day and night of observations. It wasn't the only change in store for werewolf kind.
Remus took the passing of Decree 402 as almost a personal attack. For years he had been one of the few willingly registered werewolves living in England. He jumped through every hoop they provided him with. Once upon a time this was enough to allow him to get jobs. Of course they were low paying, high risk jobs, but work was work and if it meant he could eat…well it was enough for him. But now even those jobs had been taken away. The basic gist of the decree was that anyone currently employing a werewolf was required to pay one thousand galleons a year to the ministry as insurance against 'havoc and mayhem.' They were also put onto a separate registry so that 'consumers had a choice about whether or not to patronize a place that contains possible infection.' In short…werewolves don't deserve to live.
Remus sat brooding reflectively on this new set of restrictions on his life until Rollins turned around and noticed him, seemingly for the first time.
"Oh, still here eh?" he asked briskly.
Remus refrained from stating the obvious.
"Well, your fine as far as I can tell. You'll have to go and check in at the Ministry, but other then that you're free for the rest of the day, but must report back here at four thirty." As he spoke Rollins was opening drawers and glancing through them, as though he barely realized that he was talking to a patient in the first place.
Before Remus had time to respond the healer pulled out a small, silver bracelet and clamped it on his wrist. Remus felt a shock of cold run up and down his arm.
"This bracelet will insure you don't leave London." Rollins informed him, already turning to look at his chart. "Should you arrive late, it will incapacitate you and inform the ministry of your whereabouts. The penalty for this is ten thousand galleons and one year incarceration." He spoke about these instructions like he was talking about the weather. As he prattled on he made a few notes with his quill, sent the potion vials to be tested and ignored Remus completely. When he was finished he walked out of the room without so much as a nod at his patient.
Remus looked around the room and rubbed his wrist glumly. He wasn't afraid of the consequences, he knew he would be back on time. He was even understanding of the Ministry's caution while having a werewolf under observation. But he did wonder why the bracelet had to be silver. Werewolves had a well documented allergy to silver…for whatever reason it reacted badly with their magic. Remus could feel a sharp, static-like sensation where the sliver was touching his skin.
With a sigh Remus rose from the table and crossed to the chair where he'd folded his clothes neatly over the back. He put on his faded shirt and pulled on his worn trousers. He gave a faint smile as he looked at his socks. After so many years living on the road Remus had gotten quite used to having holes in socks. The pair he'd put on that morning had been among the worst at one time…but now they were so neatly patched one could hardly see where the holes had been. It had been one of the many benefits of living with Molly Weasley.
Remus finished dressing apparated into the highly polished front offices of the Ministry of Magic. As he joined the throngs of wizards and witches piling into the lifts he pondered what he was going to do for the rest of the day. It was only just after eleven, which meant that he was going to have about five hours to kill. He could go back to number twelve…it wasn't far at all and he would be back well in time for curfew, but somehow the idea didn't sound appealing. Ever since the school term had started the house had seemed empty as a tomb. There hadn't been a meeting in almost a month, which meant the only two people currently spending regular amounts of time there was him and Sirius. And Sirius was not in the best of moods lately.
Anyway, it was probably better to stay away just in case…the bracelet was a tracking device after all. One never knew…perhaps the ministry had found a way around the fidelius charm. It could happen. Better not to risk it.
This well thought out and tremendously responsible conclusion reached, Remus became somewhat more aware of his surroundings. The lifts at the Ministry could be described most accurately by one word: silent. They were all the same. Everyone stood as far apart as possible (which wasn't usually very far), eyes slightly unfocused, enjoying on of the few moments of calm in a place that was always hopping with business. This ride was no different. At the Twelfth floor—Department for the Governance of Dangerous, Displaced, or Maladjusted Creatures—Remus stepped off.
Once again, this was very familiar territory. Remus waited in a room with an elderly Hag, a defanged Vampire, and a rather snappish goblin. When at last his number was called he went to a window to sign a couple of magically binding documents, be briefed once more on the penalties of were-tardiness and receive several nasty glances from the witch behind the counter. The fine was new, but all in all, it was pretty typical.
In fact, Remus would have classified the whole trip as uneventful if not for the Hag.
Remus was waiting for the lift when the commotion occurred.
"INGRATES! FILTHY LYING SONS OF PERDITION!" screeched a shrill and furious voice down the hall.
For a brief but panic filled moment Remus thought that Sirius' Mother had somehow managed to escape her painting and was now following him through the halls of the ministry.
"CHARLATANS! THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE! FILTHY, SCHEMING, LYING CHARLATANS!"
At this point the door flew open and the Hag flew into the hall followed by two rather harried looking wizards. Remus had talked to her briefly—Brunni was her name—she'd told him that she was a charter member of V.H.P.U. (Vegitarian Hags for Peace and Unity). She had come to apply for a charm-permit. (Hags had only restricted access to magic since the Gingerbread ruling of 1512.) Apparently the meeting had not gone well.
"Madame, you must calm down!" the older of the two wizards exclaimed exasperatedly. The younger one looked like he was having a very hard time not wetting his pants.
"CALM! I'LL SHOW YOU CALM YOU TRAITOROUS BACKSTABBING LUMP!" screeched the Hag bearing her teeth and hissing with rage. She snatched the wand right out of his hands and threw it across the corridor. The old wizard leapt back in surprise, falling against the wall. The young one gave up acting brave entirely and hid behind a potted plant.
Remus ran over and placed himself between the two.
"Easy now Brunni." Remus told the Hag in a calm tone. "Think about this for a moment."
Brunni whirled on Remus and hissed wildly in his face. "Stay out of this Wolf!" she screamed, flecks of spittle flying from her terrifying lips.
Remus felt heat rising in his face, but kept his voice even. "This isn't going to help you Brunni." he spoke under his breath so only she could hear. "They want you to go on exactly like you are right now, because if you do, then when you appeal their decision they can paint you as a wild woman who can't control her actions. You think that is going to get you anything but heartache?" he asked, locking eyes with her fierce red ones.
Brunni gave him a look of apoplectic fury. For a moment Remus was afraid she would attack…but instead she took several ragged breaths and fell silent.
Remus breathed a sigh of relief and gave her an encouraging smile. "Good girl Brunni." he whispered.
He didn't have a chance to hear Brunni's reply however, as at that moment the ministry officials swooped in. The older one was covering the hag…who seemed to be maintaining at least some semblance of composure.
Brunni was led back into the room and Remus let out a sigh of mingled relief and resignation. He headed back toward the elevators thinking about what had just occurred.
"Where do you get off interfering with Ministry business?" asked a furious voice. It was the younger wizard. He had apparently gotten over his initial bout of fright.
Remus suppressed another sigh. "I beg your pardon sir, I was only trying to help." he said in a polite tone.
"The ministry doesn't need the help of your kind!" shouted the young man.
"Oh certainly, as long as there are potted plants who needs anything?" snapped Remus. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew it was a mistake. The young man was obviously feeling sensitive about that, it was probably why he'd picked a fight with Remus in the first place. Remus opened his mouth to apologize but it was too late.
The young wizard had gone white and then red in the face quite quickly. "What do you know you disgusting half-breed? You think you helped that filthy hag just now?" he raged. "You made it worse! Now she's a known werewolf fraternizer!"
Here Remus turned his back on the wizard, waiting for the lift doors to open. He would not respond to his provocation.
"You should feel lucky to be allowed to even breathe! You…you…" he seemed to be struggling to find a word bad enough to call him.
Remus wished the doors would open. Coincidently they did just as he thought of it. Feeling slightly relieved, he stepped on board.
"YOU WEREWOLF!" shouted the young wizard. Seems he'd found a word after all.
Lovely, thought Remus as the doors closed. Just lovely.
as one body, everyone took one step away from Remus huddling en mass at the walls, leaving him in the center of a horseshoe of people. Everyone was staring at him—most in shock or fear, some in outright loathing.
As soon as the doors opened again Remus stepped off mumbling something about "my stop" as he did so.
In truth, he didn't even know what floor he was on but he decided he would rather just take the bloody stairs.
"Remus?" Remus spun around and found himself face to face with one Nymphadora Tonks.
"Nymphadora!" he cried in surprise. He certainly hadn't been expecting to see her at this moment.
Tonks made a face and hit him lightly on the arm. "You are the very worst about that!" she told him sternly. "Its Tonks! Just Tonks!"
Remus couldn't help grinning a little. The depths of Tonks' name hate always amused him. "I beg your pardon, Tonks. What are you doing here?" he asked, still smiling.
"Well I work here don't I?" Tonks asked playfully, gesturing around her.
Remus glanced around and felt himself groan inwardly. He would choose the auror department…trying to hide his discomfort he turned back to Tonks.
"Ah yes. I'd gotten off on the wrong floor you see."
"What are you here for?" she asked smiling up at him in a charming way.
Today she was sporting the traditional spiky pink hair she was so fond of. Traditional for her anyway. Remus couldn't help smiling at that either.
"Uh…" he searched for an explanation that didn't involve mentioning his condition, but he couldn't, so he simply answered: "Werewolf check in." a little sheepishly.
Tonks nodded. "So are you in for the night already?" she asked.
Remus was a little taken aback. How did she know he was observation tonight?
"Uh…no, actually. I've got until four thirty, and then I go to Mungo's." He answered. A horrible thought crept into his mind…what if she was part of the protection force for the healers? They often had an auror or two…he felt his face grow hot at the thought of Tonks seeing him transformed.
"Uh, how did you know about…?" he stammered, trying to seem casual.
"Sirius told me." answered Tonks easily. "What are you going to do? You're not going back to the tomb are you?" she asked wrinkling her nose.
Remus laughed. "That's a good name for it. No, I thought I'd wander around London for the day…" he told her vaguely. Remus felt simultaneously relieved that she hadn't found out about it through work, and annoyed that Sirius had told her at all.
"So you don't have plans then?" she asked him smiling.
"No, not really." Remus was forced to admit. How pathetic that sounded.
"Well, I've got an assignment I've got to go on right now, but I should be done pretty quickly and then I'm off for the day. "D'you want to meet for lunch or something?" she asked easily.
"Yeah! That sounds great!" exclaimed Remus before he could stop himself. He couldn't go to lunch with Tonks…that would be like…like a…
"Cool!" responded Tonks cheerfully. "Shall we meet say…half past one?" she asked.
Date. It would be like a date.
Thank you so much to my three reviewers. Glwbender90, hopefully this story will help kindle Tonks/Lupin feelings for you, but even if it doesn't I really appreciate your comments. Georgie Gryffindor thanks so much for your kind words, and update your story, I'm really enjoying it! Santiva Potter, thanks for reviewing! It means a lot to me! I know where you're coming from on the Draco thing. Its hard to be too sympathetic to him, I'll be really interested to see what J.K. does with him in the last book. Once again, that's to everyone who reviewed...I hope you enjoyed this chapter!