Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The song "Save The Last Dance For Me" is by Michael Bublé and I do not own it in any way.
Desperado
Chapter Two: Save The Last Dance For Me
Baby, don't you know I love you so
Can't you feel it when we touch?
I will never ever let you go
I love you oh so much
"There you are," Lily sighed, adjusting her lime green robes that clashed horribly with her red hair as she strode up to Marly. "I was starting to think you weren't going to come in to work today."
"Remus woke me up bright and early," Marly sighed in an annoyed fashion, meeting Lily halfway and starting to the staircase. "I had half a mind to owl in after he left for work, but I didn't have anything else to do."
"I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact Meredith is about ready to sack you," Lily pointed out, leading the way through the staircase and up to the fourth floor, where we were both stationed.
"Nothing," Marly replied, smirking as Lily hurried past the portrait of an old wizard, who called after her about spattergoit. "Really, you should get that checked out, Lily."
"You can go ahead and sod off," Lily called over her shoulder at Marly, who was taking the stairs at her own leisure.
Once they entered the floor dedicated to spell damage, Lily fetched both hers and Marly's clipboards, which had their duties for their shift on them.
"Oh, bloody hell, I'm stuck with the nutters in permanent," Marly complained quietly, careful that Lily was the only one that heard.
"Marly!" Lily scolded, looking up from her clipboard incredulously. "Remind me again why you wanted to be a Healer?"
"I'm sorry, I'm incredibly pessimistic today," Marly admitted, but didn't look nearly as morose as she claimed.
"Yeah, all right," Lily rolled her eyes. "Want to get some dinner or something after work and then head to the Order meeting?" She lowered her voice when she reached the end of the sentence, then looked around warily as though people were trying to overhear their conversation
"I can't," Marly apologized, sending Lily a look. "I have a date."
"It's only been three months!" Lily exclaimed, an 'I-told-you-so' smile on her lips.
"Allow me to rephrase," Marly put up one finger, glad she could squash her best friend so easily. "I have plans with Remus."
"Oh," Lily's face fell. "That doesn't count."
"Exactly," Marly smirked. "I have to run home right after work, go to the meeting, and then my night is devoted to Remus."
"Isn't it always?" Lily asked, her emerald eyes twinkling. "What are you two doing?"
"That's none of your business," Marly replied briskly.
"Why are you two so secretive when it comes to your weekly dates?"
"Because we're actually engaging in promiscuous activities relating to strippers and addictive drug use," Marly shrugged, looking back down at her clipboard.
"I'm starting to think that might actually be the truth," Lily half-joked, beginning to turn away to attend to her duties.
Before the two of them could go their separate ways, Meredith Fredrickson, the head Healer on the spell damage floor, stopped in front of the two of them.
"Good morning, Healers," she said in a would-be pleasant voice, if she wasn't staring down Marly, resembling a hawk.
"Good morning, Healer Fredrickson," Lily chirped happily while Marly mumbled a greeting under her breath, still reading over her duties for the day.
"McKinnon, I'll remind you that your scarf is not part of the work uniform," Meredith sniffed, and then walked past the two of them to tend to her office.
"Of course," Marly called after her, obviously having heard this quite a few times.
After a silent moment, Lily cleared her throat loudly, forcing Marly to look up at her.
"What?"
"Are you going to take the scarf off?" Lily asked pointedly, giving Marly a disapproving look.
"Do I ever?" Marly asked, raising a hand to the light blue scarf that was taming her curls and matched her eyes impeccably. "I have to go work now."
"Yeah, whatever," Lily sighed, taking off in the opposite direction of Marly.
"Pull that stick out, Lils!" Marly called after Lily, warranting a rude hand gesture in return from the redhead.
"I don't know why I let you talk me into this," Remus complained loudly, glancing through his bedroom's doorway through Marly's, who was standing in front of her closet scantily clad in a white slip, nylons, and her bra.
"Don't pretend you don't love it or you would've quit ages ago," Marly replied, plunging into her closet and pulling out two dresses, one a brilliant orange in colour and the other a deep purple. "Which do you think?"
"I don't know," Remus sighed, looking at himself in his mirror and smoothing his white Muggle dress shirt down over his chest. "How do I look?"
"Smashing," Marly replied. "Come on, Rem, you have to have an opinion."
Remus made an annoyed noise and begrudgingly turned to face Marly. "The orange one - I don't like how that purple one sits on you."
"It is a little on the large size," Marly admitted, throwing the purple one onto the floor and yanking the orange one off its hanger.
Remus pulled a matching tie out of his dresser and, as he began to tie it, walked into Marly's room and leaned against the doorframe. The orange dress accented her skin tone well. It was a halter dress, plunging low enough for her silver necklace to sit comfortably above the neckline. The dress ended just below her knee with a small A-line to it. The material was almost floaty, making it look as though Marly's movements were much more fluid than they really were.
"What do you think?" Marly asked Remus, pulling her hair back in a different scarf, this one black.
"Twirl for me," Remus smiled.
She did, allowing the dress to fly out with the slip, allowing him to glimpse a flash of her upper thigh.
"You look beautiful," Remus admitted as she stopped spinning.
"You're just saying that because you have to," Marly sighed, stepping into a pair of black heels and checking herself out in her mirror one more time. "I'm ready."
"As am I," Remus replied, shifting uncomfortably as Marly's eyes travelled along the full length of his body, checking for anything that might be out of place. She stood in front of him, straightened his tie, and ran her hands down the front of him, tugging the fabric tight. Remus tried to ignore the tremor that went through his body as she did so.
"Much better," Marly smiled. She took hold of her small black purse that she used for these outings and said, "To headquarters?"
"To headquarters," Remus agreed and the two of them Apparated at the same time.
They appeared in front of the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters, which was in a highly Muggle inhabited area of London, but that didn't mean the Muggles could actually see them. The two of them walked up to the unstable looking house that, in actuality, looked like little more than a shack. They silently walked up the path that led to the front door and stood on the stoop for a few moments without saying a word. Finally, the door swung open, revealing the inside of a house that could only fit into the small shack with the aid of magic.
"Moony, what are you wearing?" James Potter greeted them, his hazel eyes wide in amazement at the Muggle garb the two friends were donned in.
"Clothing," Remus replied, pushing past James as Marly did the same.
"B-but you look like a Muggle!"
"And what's wrong with Muggles, James?" Lily spoke up, but still looking shocked when she saw Marly and Remus's appearance. "You look nice."
"We're going to a show in London after the meeting," Remus lied flawlessly. After seven years of having to lie about his whereabouts every month, he became a very good liar, which sometimes made Marly uncomfortable because even she fell for his lines every now and again. "It's not like we wanted to show up in cloaks and robes."
"Yeah," Marly added lamely.
"Way to add to the conversation," James joked, granting Marly a wink.
"Are we going to have the meeting in the foyer?"
Marly looked up to see Sirius standing in the doorway of the sitting room, his arms crossed. He looked as though he wanted to comment on Remus and Marly's outfits, but thought better of it after listening to James.
"Come on, guys," Marly sighed, leading the other three into the sitting room.
Glancing around, she saw that most everyone was present and accounted for and anyone that wasn't probably was on some sort of mission. Marly and Remus were usually the last to arrive at meetings because Remus refused to leave without her and Marly tended to dawdle. Marly followed Sirius and took a place next to him on a dark green loveseat and Remus perched himself on the arm of it. The furniture in the room was quite mismatched, varying from lawn chairs to extravagant sofas that looked as though they had come from the common rooms of Hogwarts.
"Now that we are all here we can begin the meeting," Albus Dumbledore greeted, thogh there was no sense of annoyance in his voice - in fact, he gave the stragglers a good-natured wink. Marly was quite surprised to see that Dumbledore was there; he was usually absent from meetings, but always sent an owl ahead with his instructions.
Marly couldn't help but begin to drift away from the circular room filled with people ranging in ages from eighteen to however old Dumbledore happened to be. She knew she should have been paying more attention because she hadn't gone on a mission in quite some time and was probably due, but she kept stealing glances at Sirius, who kept making derisive noises next to her, which probably meant that Dumbledore was discussing a recent attack.
"…there were approximately thirteen Muggles killed at the house and Benjy Fenwick was sent to St. Mungo's and is recuperating there. Is there any word on how he is doing?"
"He was on my duties," Lily spoke up from the other side of the room. "He'll be just fine. There was minimal nerve damage from the Cruciatus and I suspect that he'll be released by tomorrow."
"Good, good," Dumbledore nodded, looking over his spectacles at Lily. "Now, this has been a fairly short meeting, but I have some things to tend to. Therefore, I will be assigning missions quickly and then unfortunately must be leaving your presences. First of all, Remus," Marly saw his head shoot up from where he was staring at the carpeting throughout the majority of the meeting, "will you continue trying to infiltrate the werewolf camps?"
Marly saw something flash across Remus's amber eyes, but it was gone just as fast as it had appeared. He nodded sharply. "Of course."
"Second, Adrianna and Peter," Dumbledore moved on to Anna, who was lounging on the floor with her back to the front of the armchair that Peter Pettigrew was sitting in. "You are trailing Lucius Malfoy, am I correct?"
"Right you are, Professor," Anna nodded, giving Dumbledore an "okay" sign with her right hand.
"Now, Adrianna, how many times have I asked you to call me Albus?" There was a slight tittering across the group.
"Well, Professor, I believe just as many times as I've asked you to call me Anna," was the reply, the tittering growing to a good-natured laugh.
"Very well," Dumbledore warranted a smile. "How is it going?"
"Not as productive as we had first hoped," Anna admitted with a glance back at Peter. "However, we've been staking out Malfoy Manor for the past few weeks."
"We think that the Malfoys are hiding some sort of magical device in their house, but we've been unable to discover what it is so far," Peter spoke up, sounding as though he was reading from a script, which, Marly thought, could very well have been the case.
"But, don't you worry, Professor," Anna continued, giving Dumbledore a cocky smirk. "We'll figure it out."
"I put my full trust in you both," Dumbledore smiled. "Frank and Alice, might I congratulate you both and welcome you back from what I'm sure was a most pleasurable honeymoon."
"Emphasis on pleasurable," Sirius mumbled under his breath so only Marly could hear. Marly shot him a smile and jumped when she realized they were being addressed.
"Finally, Marlene and Sirius," Dumbledore began, looking thoughtful. "I do believe that the two of you have never worked together?"
"No, sir," Sirius shook his head.
"Well, I think that I will have a most special mission for the two of you," Dumbledore nodded, still looking as though he was trying to figure something out in his head. "Yes, I believe so. However, you will receive the details at a later date if that is all right."
"Not a problem," Marly nodded.
"Well, I believe that is that," Dumbledore got to his feet, dismissing the Order. "Alastor, could I have a word before I leave?"
"Secret mission," Sirius grinned, standing up as Marly and Remus did the same. "All right."
"I'm pretty sure that officially makes us the best," Marly shrugged, smirking slightly. "You know you're jealous, Rem."
"Anything is better than going underground," Remus sighed heavily, lowering his voice slightly. "I know that it's necessary and all but, damn. It's not as though I fit in any better with them than I do among wizards."
"Oh, Remus," Marly gave him a sympathetic look and putting a hand on his arm. "You're more of a wizard than Sirius will ever be."
Remus let out a laugh and, after a moment, Sirius protested, "Hey!"
"Now, come on," Marly smiled, taking his hand and giving it an encouraging squeeze. "We have a show to attend."
"This is quite true," Remus nodded.
The two quickly said their goodbyes before hurrying out of the sitting room, still hand in hand. Sirius came up to Lily, Anna, James, and Peter with a questioning look on his face, his eyes watching Remus and Marly disappear through the front door.
"Are they, er, together?"
Anna let out a loud laugh. "Yeah, right."
"What?" Sirius asked, giving her a questioning look and sounding a bit offended. "They sure act like it and I don't see Moony a terrible lot anymore."
"They've been friends since as long as I can remember and I don't think they've ever laid a hand on each other, despite how obvious it is that Remus is completely enamoured with her," Anna crossed her arms. "Actually, some of my first memories include Marly and Remus doing some sort of dastardly deed to me."
"Moony did dastardly deeds?" Sirius asked, his eyes wide. "I didn't think it was possible."
"Padfoot, remember when Remus would have lunches and dinners at the Ravenclaw table when we were still at Hogwarts?" James reminded Sirius, nonchalantly slipping his arm around Lily's waist.
"Yeah…," Sirius said slowly, and then widened his eyes. "She's that Marly McKinnon?"
"You know, we're really not a terribly popular wizarding name," Anna put in, trying to be informative. "My dad's a Muggle and we're pretty sure we're the only witches in his family."
Sirius, however, still looked completely shocked. "Why, she gave me at least a detention a week when she was Head Girl!"
"Don't even try to tell us you didn't deserve them," Lily snorted.
"Well, of course I did," Sirius gave Lily a condescending look. "I knew that Moony and Marly were friends and all, but I didn't know that she was the same one that went to Hogwarts with us."
"Think she just sprouted out of the ground, Padfoot?" Peter asked, smirking.
"In Sirius's defence," Anna put up a hand to stop the discussion, "my sister has kind of done a bit of a makeover the past few years."
"Thank you, Anna," Sirius looked at the others smugly, despite that they still looked amused.
"Yeah, she actually tries to tame that mane of hers," Anna continued. "And she ditched those ugly glasses once she finished school."
"Anyways," Sirius interrupted before Anna could degrade her sister further. "I have to work. Why don't you guys come with - drinks all around, my treat?"
"Ready? And, two-three-chachacha."
At a modest dance studio, not two blocks away from the Order of the Pheonix headquarters, six or seven couples were dancing across the floor. The only sound, other than their instructor's thick German accent giving off beats, was the click of the men and women's heels hitting the hardwood floor. All of the couples were silent - all of them, that is, except for a very orange couple in the corner.
"This is so damn easy," Marly mumbled under her breath, not even looking down to follow what Remus was leading her to do.
"Shush," Remus replied, barely audible. "Last time she caught us talking she nearly had our heads."
Marly gave Remus a smirk and surrendered to the beat that had suddenly changed from their instructor's voice to "Cha Cha Cha d'Amor" that was flooding through the speakers in the room. Marly barely had to glance into the mirrors that donned the entirety of the walls to see that they were obviously more advanced than the other couples were.
Marly felt as though she was floating on her heels as she turned away from Remus, feeling his hand glide down her spine and then back up as she spun toward him. Their hips moved together fluidly as though they knew what the other was going to do before they did it. As they followed the elaborate dance moves, Marly felt her skirt spin around her as Remus expertly guided her through the steps, their hands never leaving each other's. All thoughts about the Order, werewolves, Voldemort, and secret missions were far from their minds. They lost touch with the world - the only people that mattered were each other and the person singing the music and giving them the beats to move their feet to.
"Shoo, shoo, little bird," Dean Martin crooned, signaling the end of the song. "Tell her all my love."
As the final chords reverberated through the speakers, Marly and Remus slowly finished their final dance moves and froze in a close embrace. Their faces were barely an inch apart and it seemed as though they were staring each other down as they struggled to catch their breath.
Suddenly, applause filled the room, shocking the two of them out of their trance. The couple flushed as they noticed that the other students were clapping for them, obviously having stopped dancing quite a while before Remus and Marly had.
"Very good!" their instructor, Frau Brigitte, a short, portly woman, clapped along with the others, her eyes appraising Remus and Marly. "That vas very vell done. You 'ave obviously been practicing."
Remus and Marly exchanged a look - it had been nearly two weeks since the two had danced together, but they weren't about to admit it.
"Vell done, everyone!" Brigitte addressed the rest of the class. "That vill be all for tonight. I vill hope to see you all next veek!"
As Remus and Marly turned to fetch their things, Brigitte came up behind them, startling them both.
"If you don't mind me asking, vhere vere you last veek?" she asked in a non-judgemental tone. "You two are my star pupils and I missed having you."
"I was out of town," Remus apologized as Marly put the strap of her purse over one shoulder. In all actuality, the full moon had happened to land on the day of their dance class.
"I figured I wouldn't me a terrible lot of help without my partner," Marly finished, flashing Brigitte a smile.
"Vell, I missed you," Brigitte repeated, giving them both a warm smile. "I do vish the two of you vould reconsider competing."
"While it would be a lot of fun, Remus and I really have no time for that in our schedules," Marly gave a sad smile.
"Perhaps sometime you two could come to a club I know of," Brigitte gave them a questioning look. "Vhat good is it having such talent in my class if I can't show it off?"
Marly and Remus both laughed.
"I think that can be arranged," Remus gave a nod. "Just let us know ahead of time."
"Oh, I vill," Brigitte smiled slyly. "Have a good night."
With a sigh, Remus put a protective arm around Marly and steered her toward the door. As they waved goodbye to some of the other couples, Marly pushed Remus's arm off her and she shot Remus a look.
"Now, now, Remus, old boy," boomed Robert, an older man who always greeted Remus and Marly as though they had known each other for ages, which they had as they both began lessons together nearly two years earlier. "You can't let your wife treat you like that - show her who's boss!"
Remus cleared his throat uncomfortably and Marly spoke up.
"Even if we were married, I'd definitely be the boss," Marly grinned. "Goodnight, Robert."
"Goodnight, you two," he called after them.
Once they were on the London sidewalk, a light fall breeze sweeping by them, Marly turned to Remus.
"Now, was that so bad?"
"Yeah, yeah, you know you're right," Remus rolled his eyes.
"Damn, we were on fire tonight," Marly grinned, spinning around once. "Did you see the look on Caroline's face? She is so smitten with you."
"Isn't she dating her partner?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not like you, Marly."
"Oh, sod off, Rem," Marly elbowed him playfully. "So, are we going to continue pretending we aren't amazing dancers or are we going to come out to our friends?"
"I think you know the answer to that," Remus replied. "I wouldn't ever hear the end of it from Padfoot and Prongs."
Marly scoffed. "Anything they'd say would be sheer jealousy."
"Yet I still don't want to deal with it," Remus sighed as he came to a stop in front of a Muggle burger place they frequented after their lessons. "Now, let's eat."
"Fine," Marly rolled her eyes as she followed Remus into the restaurant. "I wish your friends would just grow up already."
"They're your friends, too, Miss Secret Mission," Remus countered. "Two, please."
"But I know that anything they say is bullocks," Marly shot back as they followed the hostess to a booth. "I just hate that I look so amazing once a week and you're the only one that gets to enjoy it."
"If it makes you feel any better, I enjoy it so," Remus replied, sitting down in the booth.
"It doesn't," Marly shot him a look. "Well, maybe next week."
"Maybe next week," Remus repeated, concluding the conversation they had every week after their ballroom dance lessons.
Author's Note: Who would've thunk it - a werewolf dancing:-) Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think!