Awesome-nosity, people!
xanya-forever: I hate the so-called nobility. It just annoys the heck outta me. Especially when something bad happens to the girl that the dude's trying to "save". But I like writing about it…hahahah.
Also thanks to pianoplyr84, mag, Elf771, and DarkSideoftheMoon for their reviews! Here are the promised pretzels! You guys made my day!
This is probably the last chapter I'll get in before school starts. So enjoy!
Oh, wait…
Disclaimer: An awesome forty-some year old British lady owns Harry Potter. I'm fifteen. I have no awesome accent. And I am not a redhead turned blonde.
MUST READ NOTE (which is why it's italicized, bolded, AND underlined): THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DETAILS FROM HALF-BLOOD PRINCE! SO IF YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO GREYBACK ISAND WHAT LUPIN WAS UP TO DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK, I SUGGEST YOU TO CLOSE OUT OF THE WINDOW AND RUN AS FAR AWAY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN (with HBP in hand, preferably).
Okay. On with the show.
His Metamorphmagus
Chapter IV:
Snow and Reports
Remus Apparated onto the untidy front lawn of the Weasleys' with an audible pop on a cold Christmas Eve. A thin layer of snow crunched under his feet as flakes fell fast out of the sky, landing on his head and shoulders, white mixing with gray streaks. He quickly passed the garden full of shivering sprouts and a chicken coop filled with clucking birds. His fist barely made contact with a weatherworn door before it flew open.
"Remus!" Molly Weasley gave his a desperate hug. "You came!"
He choked slightly at her tight embrace and glanced over her shoulder. A beautiful young woman with deep blue eyes and a long sheet of gold spun hair was stirring a small, bubbling cauldron with a dainty expression.
"Thank goodness, I was sure I would go mad," Molly muttered in his ear before stepping back. Remus had to admit, she did look harried. "You've met Fleur, haven't you?"
"Good afternoon," Remus inclined his head in an absent manner.
"Hello and Merry Chrees-mas," Fleur waved happily from her post next to the simmering pot. "Would you like for me 'oo take your bags?"
"Ah…"
"No, no, dear," Mrs. Weasley swept his shabby trunk out of his hands. "You just keep cooking since you know exactly how Bill likes his stew," her voice lowered to a grumble so that the blonde couldn't hear her next words, "Even though I am his mother. And I've only known him all his life…"
"Eet'z a shame zat 'is own muzzer doesn't know," Fleur shook her magnificent head in horror as she swept her wand above the steaming cauldron and the substance thickened slightly.
"Yes, well…" Molly's face was beet red from suppressed anger. She closed her blazing eyes and took a deep breath before turning back to Remus. "I'll show you to Bill's room, then."
Remus trailed after her, out the cheery kitchen, leaving a happily humming Fleur behind.
"I don't know," he heard the red-haired woman grumble beneath her breath. "Marrying that—that girl! It's almost too much for a mother to take!"
She led him onto the third floor landing and came to a stop before a door. "You'll be staying in Bill and Charlie's old room. Charlie, the dear, is still in Romania—poor boy had to help supervise a dragon hatching again—and Bill will be in around four. I sent him to go see a friend, but I know I should have so I could get away from…" her muttering trailed off as she set his trunk next to one of the beds.
"Thank you, Molly."
"Now put your things away and come downstairs. Ginny's decorating the living room today and the boys are going to help a bit with tomorrow's dinner."
Remus watched with amusement as Molly descended the stairs with a sense of dread. He them entered the bedroom. Two beds, a couple of desks, and an assortment of Quidditch posters and books filled the corners and walls. Molly had set his things next to a large stack of boxes labeled 'Charlie'. Remus opened his trunk, rubbing his eyes wearily. It had been a long six months…
He had spent the past half year underground with other werewolves. They, however, had not adapted as well as Remus, shunned aside by society, they did everything they possibly could in order to keep food in their bellies. Dumbledore hadsent him there to spy on them, to watch their every move and report it to Dumbledore. This position also solved the mystery of how he, Remus, became a werewolf. The infamous Fenrir Greyback boasted that he attacked Remus years and years ago…
Remus placed a head on his head. It was Christmas and—as bleak as his holiday spirits were—by Merlin, he wasn't going to let anything get to him!
"Hey, Remus!"
He looked up from helping Ginny Weasley cut out paper snowflakes. Bill Weasley, the eldest of the Weasley children, was standing at the doorway of the living room, his cheeks flushed from the cold and lipstick.
"Hi, Bill."
"Bill!" Ginny abandoned a snowflake she was hanging in order to hug her oldest brother. She stepped back after a second, her nose wrinkled. "Phlegm—I mean, Fleur's got lipstick all over your face again," she said before turning back to her work.
Bill rubbed his cheeks fiercely. "Hey, Gin, can I borrow Remus for a while?"
She looked down at the large stack of paper angels and snowflakes and shrugged, "Sure."
Remus expected them to go into the kitchen, but Bill led them to the front door. "Here," he offered Remus his old cloak. "It's a bit chilly."
The door swung open and the gently fall flakes swirled to the floor. The two quickly donned their cloaks before stepping out into the slowly whitening world.
"Isn't it odd?" asked Bill.
"Hmm?"
"How it's snowing," he motioned at the ground and an old pair of Wellington boots. "I thought it wouldn't with the dementors mating and all."
Remus observed the falling white clumps thoughtfully. "Yes, well, I suppose life does go on, even in the middle of a war…"
The two rounded a corner and found the Weasley twins, Fred and George, their brother, Ron, and Harry Potter tugging on the heads of carrots, digging up potatoes, and pulling up parsnips from the frozen ground. Harry, who was wiping a frozen hand on his jeans, was the first to spot the two.
"Hi, Professor Lupin! Hey, Bill!"
"Hello, boys," Remus greeted them warmly as Bill gave a hearty wave.
"Could you give us a hand?" asked an agitated Ron as he pulled at a particularly stubborn root.
"Wouldn't it—?" began Bill, but he was interrupted by a string of curses that left Fred's mouth. He hopped away from the other three with a thick orange carrot (coated with dirt) and a rather ugly, bald garden gnome attached to his ankle. Still swearing profusely, he whipped out his wand and Stunned the biting gnome.
"I was going to say that you two," Bill indicated the twins, "should use your wands, but…well…" he trailed off, thoroughly amused, as his brothers shot him disgruntle looks. "C'mon, Remus."
The two left the fuming teenagers behind as they approached the broom shed. Bill motioned Remus to take a seat on a frosty stone bench and he obeyed, curious at what the younger man had to say.
"So," started Bill, standing before the older man. "Heard from Tonks lately?"
Remus froze on the spot.
"Look, I know it's a touchy subject, but you can't avoid her forever."
"I haven't been avoiding her," Remus retorted in a rather childish manner. "I couldn't send owls around all of those werewolves; they would have thought I was corresponding with the outside world when I was suppose to be an outcast of society!"
"Yeah, but why aren't you over at her flat, talking things over with her?"
"I—It's just that…I…I don't want to hurt her again," he muttered, making circles on the cold ground with his boot as he thought back to that fateful day. The look in her eyes when he said no…
"Hurt her," Bill scoffed as he tugged at his ponytail. "She's miserable. She thinks you think she's not good enough for you!"
"I didn't say that!" said Remus, aghast. "I said that she…she needs to find someone closer to her age. That my…condition…is too dangerous for a serious relationship to form. And that I'm much too poor."
"Remus, look at my parents," Bill said rather severely. "They barely scraped enough money together to survive their first few years together. And look at how happy they are."
He looked up at the warmly glowing kitchen window and found a red-faced Molly talking to a smug Fleur.
"And has anyone told you her Patronus has changed?"
"Changed?" Remus sat up in alarm. "What? How? When…?"
"Sometime last summer. I don't know how, but I suspect it has something to do with you. And it's shaped like a wolf."
Remus looked up. His insides were melting; oh how he loved her…
Bill looked up at the sky, getting a face full of snow, and slowly edged into his next sentence. "I tried to get her to come here Christmas."
The solemn gray eyes lit up. Maybe he could see her, but not have to confront her under the cover of festivities…!
"But she refused when she heard you were coming," Bill looked at him sympathetically. "Mum's been asking her to reconsider for days, but she wouldn't answer her owls. So then Mum sent me to visit her flat. She wouldn't answer the door."
Remus slowly lowered his forehead onto the palm of his left hand. Why was she avoiding him? Given, they had not spoken since the disastrous day at the park, but he still wanted to be her friend. But a week after the two saw Harry off, Dumbledore sent him on his mission to spy on the werewolves. He had had no contact with the wizarding world until very recently.
"How is she?" Is she all right?" he asked the ground.
"She's…alive, if that's what you mean," Bill answered after a collective pause. "But she's changed. She's not happy, just indifferent. And she hasn't metamorphed in a long time. Dawlish—the Auror that works with her at Hogsmeade—says she wanders around after dark a lot now. Just wandering and thinking. Not patrolling with her wand out or anything."
Remus frowned at the brown dirt slowly being surrounded by the pure whiteness. Wandering around after dark with her defense down? That didn't sound like his Tonks. He should talk to her…or at least get someone to talk some sense into her…
"And she doesn't talk much anymore either. And when she does, it's as though she doesn't care. She's lost."
His heart sank like lead. The guilty feeling that had been bubbling in his stomach ever since the beginning of summer gave an especially heavy gurgle and he rubbed his tired eyes in anguish.
"You need to talk to her," Bill urged gently. "She's changed. She's not Tonks anymore."
"But I loved the old Tonks," the words slipped through his lips with such ease, it surprised him.
Bill gripped the older man's shoulder. "We all did."
The cobblestone streets of Hogsmeade were empty. There were no bustling people, eager window shoppers or gleeful customers. Remus passed the boarded up Zonko's Joke Shop and gazed around the once-happy village. He headed to the inn next to the Three Broomsticks.
He was to present his report on the werewolves to Dumbledore the following day. He was sure a simple letter would suffice, but Dumbledore insisted on hearing it in person. Remus was secretly grateful, for now he had a chance to see a certain Metamorphmagus for the first time in ages.
A bell tinkled cheerily as he entered the warm lobby of the inn.
"Good evening, sir!" a tired wizard greeted from behind an ancient desk.
"G'evening," Remus returned with a smile. "Do you have any rooms available?"
"Aye, how many nights?"
"Just one, thanks."
The wizard jotted something down in a scroll of parchment. "Room Eight's free."
Remus nodded and the innkeeper whipped a wand out and flicked it at a staircase. A bright golden key fluttered at the foot of the set of stairs. He then motioned Remus to go up the rickety stairs. "Follow the key," said he, "last room on first floor."
"Thank you, sir."
He followed the fluttering key up the stairs and onto the first landing. As he approached the last room at the end of the corridor, the key inserted itself into the keyhole and the door swung open to admit him into the nicely furnished room. He set his briefcase next to the mahogany desk and cross the spotless hardwood floor and looked out the window. The main road was still empty save a figure strolling absently down the cobblestone street. He watched as the figure slowly approached the inn.
There was a sharp intake of breath as the figure passed the bright windows of the Three Broomsticks. There was no mistaking the pale heart-shaped face. It was Tonks. His heart volleyed up to his Adam's apple, but it sank just as quickly as it rose as he studied her closely. The short hair was a depressing mousy brown. Her once light and confident (though somewhat accident-prone) strides were now heavy and weary. Bill was right, thought Remus as he bit back the urge to rush out and hug her, she has changed…
Her aimless walk continued down the road. He watched until her body disappeared over a hill. The hill that led to the Shrieking Shack.
He Disapparated without thinking. He appeared in the fringe of wood before the supposedly haunted house and there she was. Her head bent, slender body curled beneath one of the many trees. He stood a mere twenty yards before her, hidden behind a cluster of trees and bushes. Her thin shoulders were shaking slightly and he had to fight back the impulse to step forward and pull her to her feet, to tell her that everything would be all right and that he loved her. Loved her more than all the people in the world.
Get a hold of yourself! the voice of common sense ordered. You know you can't!
Oh, how he longed to embrace her until the world came to an end, to take in her beautiful scent, to stroke her back, to press her soft, pink lips to his…
Stop! Stop! the voice rang through his head with a enormous amount of severity. You had your chance and you didn't take it. You'll only confuse her and then she'll hate you for being so indecisive.
He didn't want her to hate him. He just thought she was too good for him…
No, because you wanted to be noble and let her go. Let her live a full life without fear or danger.
Remus smiled a grim, crooked smile. What's life without a bit of danger? Just like Tonks said. He took a step back in order to get a better view of her. Something round and long fell beneath his black boots. He placed some weight on the foot and a handful of leaves crunched as the mysterious object cracked, disturbing the silence. He glanced down to find an innocent twig beneath his heel.
Idiot, grumble his voice of common sense.
Tonks's back stiffened and she looked up. Her apathetic eyes nearly broke Remus's heart. The energy and life that once twinkled in her orbs, which he admired and loved so much, was gone. She was so lonely. He wanted to fill those eyes with happiness again. If only…
Tonks was slowly getting to her feet, eyeing Remus's hiding place with suspicion. Her wand was out and…
Remus Disapparated on the spot and appeared back in his room at the inn.
That was close, he thought as he took a seat on the comfortable bed.
Idiot, his voice of common sense muttered again as he stretch out on the comforter of the bed.
"…And so Greyback's got almost all the werewolves convinced that Voldemort's the way to go," Remus told Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, in a weary tone.
"I expected no less," Dumbledore nodded slowly as he surveyed Remus.
"Then, sir, why did you send for me?"
Dumbledore's lips twitched upwards as he spoke, "I thought you needed to see an old friend and decide when the two of you would make amends and form a new relationship."
Remus's face flushed red as he looked past the older man, out the window, and on the icy lake that stood before the school.
"You shouldn't live like this, Remus," Dumbledore continued in a soft tone. "Neither should Tonks. By coming together, you will succeed in becoming more than Voldemort could ever dream of. Love, Remus, remember, love is our greatest weapon against him. The two of you could help one another—"
At that moment, the door of Dumbledore's office swung open and a distracted Tonks entered, her blank eyes swept from Remus to Dumbledore and back. Her eyes widened and the indifference left, replaced by surprise and confusion.
"I'm…I'm so sorry," she mumbled awkwardly, turning to leave.
"It's all right," Remus got to his feet. "I was just about to go."
She hovered on the threshold, lips gently pursed together, eyes glued to the stone floor.
"Go ahead and take a seat, Tonks," Dumbledore conjured up a squashy armchair. "I'll be with you in a moment."
She crossed the room and sat next to Remus. The two exchanged quick glances and Remus gave her a small smile before walking to the door with Dumbledore trailing behind him.
"As I've always said, you're a bright young man, but even the wisest man must learn a harsh lesson."
Remus gave the headmaster an inquiring look, "Sir?"
"There's more than one form of thinking, my friend," he shook Remus's hand. "Good day."
Remus slowly descended the circulating staircase, Dumbledore's words echoing in his mind.
Hmmm, where could the plot POSSIBLY go now!
This is the last chapter that I'll be able to get up for a while. School starts on Tuesday and I have to work for the next three days, so be on a look out for a fresh new chapter in two or three weeks! Yeah, two or three weeks...sorry guys.
Review. Review! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! I love reviews 'coz they keep my spirit up. And plus, you can add suggestions and thoughts and all that good stuff...and i might actually listen! Hmm, what have I not bribed you with? I have a lovely surplus of gummy worms if you want them! Yum, gummy worms…
Until next time,
Farfanugans,
Chikin Wang