Ch. 16 - An Unpleasant Encounter
Around ten o'clock, Remus and Emmeline touched down in the London Borough of Bexley. Dumbledore had not given specifics on a preferred method of arrival, nor had he instructed them on where to safely land without being noticed by muggles. They'd chosen to bring their brooms down in a park near their destination and left them there with a concealment charm. The darkness made it difficult to search for the house belonging to the address on Dumbledore's letter, and the light of the waning moon was of some help, but not much. As far as Remus knew, they'd never had an Order meeting at this location before.
Remus stared down at the parchment periodically as they walked through the cookie-cutter suburb. When they reached Woolrich Road, they turned.
"Twelve...twelve...ah. Here we are. Number Twelve." But upon first glance, the quaint tract house seemed perplexingly uninhabited.
"...It looks like nobody's there," Emmeline observed, detecting no trace of light from inside the house.
Remus shrugged. "They've probably enchanted it so as not to wake up the muggles." He unlatched the gate and headed towards the front door, but noticed that Emmeline hung back. "...What's the matter?"
"...I shouldn't have come with you, I feel like I'm intruding. I'll just wait out here-"
"You're not intruding. If Albus or Alastor have a problem with it, they can take it up with me," he declared (as if he were a match for them). He flashed her a reassuring smile and held out his hand.
She hesitated, but eventually walked through the gate and took his outstretched hand. Remus delighted in the thought of them walking in as a unit; as a couple. No doubt James and the others would tease him, but in the end he knew how chuffed they would be that he'd rejoined the ranks of relationship-dom. (Now they just had to find someone patient enough for Peter.) With their grand entrance scene playing out in his mind, he knocked on the door.
It opened, but with nobody waiting to question them on the other side. That was odd.
Remus squinted into the dark foyer in search of signs of life, but the interior of the house was as still and silent as its exterior. He listened for the voices of his colleagues, but heard nothing.
Emmeline peered at the parchment still in his grasp. "...Are you positive we came to the right place? Maybe we're early." But her watch read ten fifteen. Supposedly, they were right on time.
Letting go of Emmeline's hand, he took a few steps into the house. "Lumos." The tip of his wand illuminated the seemingly empty front room. Now he was certain; nobody else from the Order was there.
"...Something's not right." He turned back to rejoin Emmeline outside, but the front door slammed shut before he could make it back out.
"REMUS!" Emmeline darted forward and jerked the door knob forcefully to no avail.
Remus tried to do the same on the other side. "Emmeline, it's a trap! Get out of here!" He turned and saw four dark, smoky figures beginning to materialize around him.
Emmeline drew her wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora!" She jiggled the door knob again, but it remained locked.
Pressing his back up against the door, Remus drew his wand and held it forward toward the shadowy people appearing before him. He quickly recognized the Lestrange brothers, as well as Bellatrix and Regulus Black. Poor kid...he was fresh out of Hogwarts and had already been drafted into the ranks. Sirius had never shown his brother much sympathy, but Remus always felt a bit bad for him. He imagined that after Sirius' excommunication, Regulus must've felt enslaved by his obligation to his family, no matter how vile their values.
"Perhaps you're not quite as smart as I thought you were in school, Lupin."
"Highly unlike you to be thinking at all, Rodolphus."
"Remus!" Emmeline cried out to him as she threw her body against the door trying to break it down. With each failed attempt, the door thumped against Remus' back.
Bellatrix's slimy grin was visible even through the tendrils of her tempestuous black hair. "Who'd you bring us? S'that Meadowes outside? I was hoping you'd have my cousin with you." As she took a step forward to peek out the sidelight window, Remus hurled a curse to keep her away from Emmeline. Bellatrix deflected it expertly.
"Expelliarmus!" Rodolphus sent Remus' wand into the air - he was now defenseless. The younger Lestrange lifted his wand again, but the older gripped his arm to stop him.
"Don't kill 'im," Rabastan instructed.
"What should we do with him then?"
"Incarcerous!" yelled Regulus. Suddenly thick ropes appeared from thin air and forcibly bound Remus' body. As he plunged to the ground and smacked the side of his head on the linoleum, he thought he didn't feel quite so bad for Regulus anymore.
"We bring him to the Dark Lord," Rabastan continued. "I reckon this one knows a thing or two about the blood traitors."
"Can't I use the Cruciatus on 'im? Just once before we go?" Bellatrix pleaded sticky-sweetly.
There was a muffled shout from outside just before the front room window blew to smithereens. Emmeline hurdled into the room over the broken glass and began hurling spells at the four death eaters. Since she had surprised them, she managed to stupefy both Rodolphus and Regulus before Rabastan disarmed her.
"EMMELINE RUN!" Remus screeched from the floor. But Emmeline was done leaving Remus behind, so she stood her ground.
"Vance! Haven't seen you for ages!" Bellatrix cackled, her wand pointed at Emmeline's throat as she slinked towards her. Rabastan quickly revived the other two and helped them back to their feet.
Emmeline clenched her teeth. "I see you haven't shampooed the mop on your head since we last met."
"Why you filthy-!"
"Bella," Rodolphus scolded her as she was about to hex Emmeline. "Remember, he likes a fresh canvas for his curses."
She withheld her hex and settled for a hard slap across the face instead. Remus cursed and writhed as he watched Bellatrix take a fistful of Emmeline's hair and shove her onto the floor next to him.
"We'll bring them both back to him," Rabastan decided.
"Filthy half-bloods," Bellatrix remarked.
Rabastan motioned for Rodolphus and Regulus to pick them up, but their task was interrupted when a large fireball broke through the front door and narrowly missed the four of them. Broomstick in hand, Alastor Moody flew in through the cavity where the window had been with Marlene at his heels. There came the rumble of a motorbike outside, then Sirius dashed in behind them.
"BLOOD TRAITOR!" Bellatrix spat. Spells and jinxes started flying through the air.
With Marlene covering her, Emmeline had a chance to crawl towards her wand. When she'd reached it, she pointed it back at Remus to release him. "Emancipare!" His bindings evaporated and he scrambled towards her, dodging a curse from Regulus in the process. After a quick summoning charm to reunite Remus with his wand, they stood up together to join the battle.
Bellatrix and Regulus paid special attention to Sirius and Marlene, while the Lestrange brothers had Alastor, Remus, and Emmeline to deal with. The five wizards (and, to be frank, Alastor alone counted as two,) were too much for the young death eaters, and they eventually retreated. Sirius tried to launch himself into Regulus' apparition channel, but Marlene held him back.
The five Order members remained, panting from the heat of the conflict. All of the sudden, Emmeline jumped into Remus' arms and smashed her lips into his.
Sirius did a double-take. "What the-...Well it's about bloody time!" he griped, not that Emmeline or Remus were listening. Equally shocked, Marlene stared at the pair with a slack jaw and a twinkle in her eye. Apparently, James had not shared their secret yet. Alastor just rolled his eyes, muttered something about gantin teenagers, and went outside to do any necessary damage control.
When they pulled away, they spoke simultaneously:
"You know I love you, right?"
"I want to join the Order again! Wait, what?!"
"Like a ruddy melodrama, these two," Sirius said under his breath to Marlene. She elbowed him in the gut.
No taking it back now. Remus swallowed hard and looked at her restlessly. "...I just had to be sure that you knew." Next time he faced death (and he imagined it wouldn't be long before there was a next time), at least he'd have all of his affairs in order.
Emmeline's response to this was preemptively cut short by Alastor. "I've just had to obliviate two muggles peepin' oot their windaes, and more are probably on their way after that ruckus." As he came back in, he directed his wand at the damaged portions house and the bricks swiftly put themselves back together. "Save the snogging for later, we have to get out of here. Meet me at the Potters'. I need to have a word with them." His broomstick flew into his outstretched hand and he was off, back out through the front door.
"Our brooms are just up the road at a park," Emmeline explained as she followed Marlene and Sirius out the door. Remus closed it behind them as quickly and inconspicuously as he possibly could, checking around to make sure no more muggles had come to their windows.
"We'll take you to them. Best if we stay on the ground for a bit anyway." Sirius mounted his bike and motioned to the little sidecar attached to it. "Hop in, muffin," he wisecracked, which Emmeline did not appreciate.
Remus looked begrudgingly at the sidecar. "Is it just me, or is this just a bit degrading?"
Marlene tried her best to keep herself from laughing as she climbed on behind Sirius. "Well, if you'd rather walk-"
"Fine." With some difficulty, Remus lowered his tall frame into the seat and helped Emmeline to sit down in front of him as if on a toboggan. Perfectly aware of how cool he looked, Sirius kickstarted the bike and they zoomed back towards the park.
Somewhere along the way, Emmeline leaned back against Remus and muttered something in his ear. It was difficult to hear over the roar of the engine, but he got the gist of it and smiled. The L word had been reciprocated.
