Tomorrow Never Came
Chapter 10
The front door of 12 Grimmauld Place was flung open and Ren was greeted by the bushy haired, rather flustered looking, Hermione Granger. She grinned when she saw the woman stood at the threshold.
"Ren, hi!"
"Hi Hermione, how are you?" Ren greeted as the girl stepped aside in order to allow Ren in. It was Sunday, three days after Ren and Sirius had gone for their 'reunion drinks'. Ren had received an invitation from Harry asking her to join him for Sunday dinner with the rest of the family at somewhere called 'the Burrow'. It would allow her to meet the rest of the Weasleys and finally put some faces to the names Harry was constantly mentioning.
Ren had happily accepted the invite, excitement coursing through her because she figured if Harry wanted her to meet the Weasleys it showed that he really wanted her around. However, as Sunday had crept closer Ren's anxiety had reared its ugly head.
She felt a lot of pressure to impress the Weasleys and she was paranoid that the parents, Arthur and Molly (whom Harry had spoken so highly of) would look down on her because she hadn't been there for her Godson. Ren didn't want to have to explain herself to strangers.
But despite her worries Ren had sucked it up and put on her big girl pants, and there she was at Grimmauld Place at ten to five so that she could floo over to the Burrow with Harry and the others.
"I'm good thank you," Hermione was saying as she closed the door behind Ren. "But we might be running a little behind schedule."
"Why's that?" Ren asked, an eyebrow cocked in curiosity. Hermione pressed her lips together in an attempt to keep a straight face.
"Well," She began, her brown eyes twinkling. "Teddy may have projectile vomited all over Ron."
Ren couldn't help the small snort of amusement that left her. She quickly pressed a hand to her mouth to try and hide her smile. Hermione also seemed to be struggling to keep a straight face.
"Oh," Ren said, trying her best to sound casual. "Is he alright?"
"Ron or Teddy?" Hermione asked, and Ren didn't try to hide the laugh that escaped her this time.
"Both, I guess." Ren said, still chuckling. Hermione had also given up trying to keep a straight face. She giggled along with the woman.
"Teddy seems absolutely fine. Very proud of himself, even."
"And Ron?"
"Considerably less so." Hermione said. "He's in the shower as we speak, no doubt scrubbing his skin raw which is why we're running late."
"Why not just use scourgify?" Ren questioned.
"Well we did. Teddy is squeaky clean but Ronald was insisting he could still feel the sick all over his skin. He wouldn't stop complaining so we all figured letting him go for a shower would just be easier for everyone involved. He shouldn't be too long though. Come on, we'll wait downstairs." Hermione led the way along the hallway and down to the basement kitchen.
Upon entering the room Ren was greeted by the Lupin family sat at the long table bench. Teddy was stood upon the table top, holding hands with his mother in order to gain more support. Remus was sat beside Tonks, grinning as his son stomped his little feet against the wood.
"Hi guys," Ren greeted as she followed Hermione into the kitchen. Remus and Tonks both turned to her and smiled.
"Hi Ren," Remus stood up and met her halfway, offering Ren a hug in greeting which she gladly accepted. It felt so unusual to feel Remus' arms wrapped around her once more. She decided that they'd have to have a one on one catch up soon.
"I hear there's tardiness in the ranks thanks to a certain someone." Ren said once her and Remus had separated, fixing the giggling Teddy with a pointed look. Hermione had been right in saying that he did seem very proud of himself.
"You heard correctly," Tonks confirmed. "Remus put the kettle on, will you?"
"Yeah, Master Lupin must have noticed that things were running too smoothly. It was nice of him to take matters into his own hands and spice things up." The Werewolf said. "Cuppa? Ren, Hermione?" He added. Both of the women accepted the offer as they took a seat opposite Tonks and Teddy.
The toddler, still standing on the table, focused his attention on the women. He unsteadily turned himself to face them, a cheeky grin creeping its way onto his chubby face when he noticed the abundance of curly hair that Ren and Hermione shared, just waiting to be grabbed.
"Hiya handsome," Ren winked.
"Say hi, Ted." Tonks said to her son, brushing her vivid orange hair out of her eyes. Teddy took a step of two forward so that he was stood unassisted directly before Hermione and Ren.
"Haii," He said bashfully, succeeding in making the women weak in the knees as they cooed over his cuteness. That's when all hell broke loose.
Teddy pounced, leaping forward with a piercing squeal and his arms outstretched. It almost looked like he was trying to hug both Ren and Hermione at once, which would have been sweet had it not been for the fistfuls of each of their hair that Teddy grabbed hold of with an almighty yank, resulting in loud cries of pain from the two women as their heads were jerked forward towards the table.
"Teddy, no!" Tonks screamed, springing up and nearly jumping over the table as she grabbed her son around the waist so that she could pull him back. However, Teddy's grip was like an iron vice, resulting in Ren and Hermione being dragged halfway across the table when Tonks backed away, more shouts and outcries of pain bursting from them. Remus had abandoned the tea order and bolted over, but at that exact moment the kitchen door was kicked open and in walked Harry and Sirius. The door slammed right into Remus' face and he fell back to the floor, clutching his nose.
"Shit, Moony!" Sirius yelled as his friend went down.
Now amongst the sounds of Ren and Hermiones' yelps of pain, Tonks' begging for her son to let go as she tried to loosen his grip, and Teddys' ecstatic giggling, there was a collective cry of "REMUS!" from the three women, causing Sirius to jump back in terror as Harry dived after Remus to help him sit back up. The Werewolf batted him away.
"JUST GET TEDDY OFF REN AND HERMIONE!" He bellowed, still holding onto his nose. Not needing to be told twice, Harry and Sirius bolted over to the women. Harry grabbed Teddy's fist which had cemented itself to Hermione's hair and Sirius the one in Ren's and they eventually managed to pry the hair loose from the toddlers deceptively strong grasp.
Tonks, who had ended up kneeling on top of the table in an attempt to make sure no hair left the scalps from which they belonged, hurried backwards the moment they were detached in order to put as much distance between her son and the curly hair as possible. Neither Hermione nor Ren were prepared for the sudden freedom. Hermione almost lost her footing but was steadied by Harry. Ren, on the other hand, all but fell into Sirius and the pair clattered to the stone floor.
Remus had regained his footing and was stood at the head of the table, hands spread before him as if he was trying to tame a wild Hippogriff. Other than Teddy's satisfied giggling, no one spoke. Everyone was trying to catch their breath.
"What… the bloody hell was that all about?" A bewildered voice suddenly broke the silence, and everyone turned in unison to see a flabbergasted Ron Weasley stood in the doorway.
-x-
One hour later Ren (her hair now safely plaited and out of the way) found herself wedged between Harry and Remus at the crowded kitchen table of the Burrow. Despite the fact that everyone was busy demolishing the delicious joint of roast beef, conversation still flowed freely between the extensive group.
Ren had quickly found that she liked the Weasleys' immensely. They reminded her very much of her own family, which helped Ren quickly pick up the vibe of the gathering. The Matriarch and Patriarch, Molly and Arthur, warmed Ren's heart. Despite the care she showered on everyone from the second they arrived, Ren could tell that Molly was a force to be reckoned with.
Even now as they ate, Molly was up and out of her chair at the head of the table every five minutes making sure that everyone had enough to eat ("Do you want another Yorkshire pudding, Ren? Fred, more carrots?") or checking on the treacle sponge pudding that was cooking away in the oven. Arthur was sat at the opposite end of the table from his wife, and Ren smiled at the way he listened attentively and interacted with each of his children, as well as Harry and Hermione. He was a genuine and caring individual, that much was clear to anyone.
Ren sat back as she chewed on a crispy roast potato and took in the rest of the party. There were sixteen of them squished together around the long wooden table, seventeen if you included Teddy in his highchair sat at the corner of the table between Molly and Tonks. The orange haired Metamorphmagus sat on the other side of Remus, two seats down from Ren.
On Molly's other side, opposite Tonks and Remus, sat the eldest of the Weasley offspring, Bill, and his wife Fleur. Despite the scars on his face (which Harry had explained in a letter were from a Fenrir Greyback attack) Bill was still effortlessly cool. From his handsome face, long ponytail and dragon tooth earring, Bill oozed a fierce edginess which reminded Ren (though she would never have admitted it) of a young Sirius. 'Let's not go there,' Ren thought to herself as she took a deep swig of her wine.
Fleur was, to be blunt, the most infuriatingly beautiful person that Ren had ever seen. Harry's letter had also mentioned that Fleur was a quarter Veela, however this warning did nothing to quell Ren's unintentional comparisons between her unruly brown curls and age lined face to Fleur's shimmering main of silver hair and unblemished skin. Not that Ren held it against the girl. When the women had been introduced, Fleur had given Ren a dazzling smile and said, in a hypnotic French lilt, how nice it was to meet Harry's beautiful Godmother. This had reminded Ren that for a thirty-eight-year-old with no Veela blood heritage she was still doing just fine.
Next to Fleur, opposite Ren herself, sat Sirius. Back at Grimmauld Place when the hair fiasco had ceased Sirius and Ren, who by the end of it had been lying on top of one another on the floor, had quickly scrambled away from one another, exchanged a quick, formal word of greeting, and had continued to keep a respectable distance between them ever since. That was, however, until they had unintentionally ended up sat opposite one another.
There was nothing quite like being forced into the direct line of vision of the ex you were trying desperately to avoid because you had gone from having no contact for nearly two decades to accidentally having sex on the first unsupervised meeting together. Despite having accepted sleeping with Sirius as a… minor bump in the road and agreeing to simply move on, Ren was finding that it was very much easier said than done, and from the way he was looking in any other direction then hers, Ren guessed that Sirius was very much on the same wave-length.
She chanced a glance in his direction and regretted it instantly. Visions of Sirius pounding into her, asking her if she was going to come for him in a low growl, flashed before her eyes. She couldn't help it. Was Sirius having the same problem whenever he looked at her? With a shake of her head Ren downed the remainder of her wine. 'Moving on,' She hurriedly thought to herself.
Besides Sirius sat another Weasley brother, Percy. With his upright manner and crisp, pointed voice, Ren found Percy rather intense. She very much got the impression he was an 'all work no play' kind of guy, but the fact that he was at the Burrow with his family meant that her suspicion couldn't be entirely true. On Percy's right sat Ginny Weasley. Now Ren had been very excited to meet this particular redhead, and she had taken an instant shine to the girl. Ginny was charming and vivacious, and the way she interacted with Harry made Ren's heart melt. In a strange way the young couple mirrored Lily and James, not only in the aspect of looks. But it was Ginny who reminded Ren of James and Harry of his mother, Lily.
Next to Ginny was Fred, one of the twins. Ren was used to twins, they were very common in her family, but she found that she was absolutely floored by the similarities between the Weasley twins and her favourite cousins, twins Lennie and Dexter. They were just as funny and charismatic. When Harry had introduced Ren to the twins their eyes had widened in a mischievous delight and they had fixed Sirius, who had been stood a few paces away preparing drinks for himself and Arthur, with matching impish grins. Sirius had quickly grabbed the beers and bolted out of the kitchen. Ren didn't dare ask the reason why. Beside Fred sat Ron, who had Arthur, at the head of the table, on his right and Hermione opposite him.
On Hermione's right was Charlie, a brawny, freckle covered man who Ren discovered was on leave from his job at a Romanian Dragon Reserve. This had sparked an instant companionship between her and Charlie. Before dinner had been served, they had spent most of their time comparing their experiences tending to dragons, Charlie being immensely impressed by the fact she had spent years working with Swedish Shortsnouts. Next to Charlie sat George, who was identical to Fred down to the last freckle (minus the missing ear, that was) and on George's right was Harry, who was on Ren's left.
Yes, it was a tight squeeze but Ren found that it was a very effective way of getting to know one another.
"So how was your birthday, Fleur?" Remus was asking the beautiful blonde sat opposite him. "Arthur said you went back to France for the weekend?"
"Oui it was lovely, Remus! We went for an intimate dinner wiz' my parents and zen' out for drinks." Fleur told the Werewolf.
"When was your birthday?" Ren asked politely.
"Last week," Fleur told her with a smile.
"Oh well happy birthday for last week." Ren said, returning the grin. Fleur managed to thank her just before Mrs Weasley spoke.
"I don't think we have any more birthdays now until yours, Harry dear. Is that right?" She asked the boy, who was just swallowing a mouthful of potato.
"No," Sirius suddenly said, just as Harry had finished and opened his mouth to speak. Fifteen curious sets of eyes all focused their attention on Sirius. The man in question, however, seemed unfazed. He took a long swig of his beer before deciding to enlighten them. Glancing around the table he simply said "Ren's is next." Before shrugging casually and beginning to cut up a piece of meat on his plate.
All eyes now swung to Ren, and she felt herself flush as she stared at the man opposite her. Ren didn't know whether it was the fact that he remembered her birthday that shocked her or that he had announced it quite casually in front of everyone. Ren supposed that she couldn't be too surprised. After all she also remembered Sirius' birthday. It was the 3rd of November, 1959. He would be forty this year…
"When's your birthday Ren?" Harry suddenly asked, and Ren had to stop herself from jumping slightly as she came back down to Earth with a thump. She opened her mouth to reply but once again Sirius got there first.
"June the 1st." He said, not looking up from his plate, which was probably a good thing as Ren was now narrowing her eyes at him. What was he playing at?
"Oh, so just a few weeks away!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed, and Ren tore her eyes away from the raven-haired man to look at her instead.
"Yeah, not long. I don't usually like to make a big deal about it but my parents are insisting we throw a party at the family pub. It makes me feel like a reluctant teenager again." Ren said with a chuckle. That was putting it lightly. While she had lived in Sweden Ren had never bothered acknowledging her birthday. Sometimes her parents and siblings would come and stay with her but it would always be a low-key affair. Since the war had ended and Ren had decided to stay in England her Mother, Violet, was insisting on making up for nearly two decades worth of uncelebrated birthdays.
"Is that at the Dozing Dragon?" Remus questioned. "Your parents still run it?"
"They retired a few years ago. My brother and his wife took over." Ren explained. Remus let out a small laugh.
"Ollie? That's crazy. I remember Ollie as a mischievous twelve-year-old who would beat Sirius and James at card games and now he's married and running a pub. Merlin, I remember when he wasn't even allowed behind the bar." The sandy-haired man reminisced. Ren smiled, albeit stiffly.
"Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?" She reflected softly, before realising that the tables attention was still on her. "Anyway," She cleared her throat as she sat up straight. "You're all welcome to come along if you like." Ren extended the invitation with a warm smile. "Although it may be quite a raucous affair. A lot of my family are coming and they know how to party."
Laughter rippled through the group at her words, and Ren found her eyes sliding back to Sirius. A small smile played on his lips but his eyes, which were fixed on the table, seemed to be lost. Lost in memories, perhaps? Ren wondered if he was recalling the time which he had spent with her family all those years ago, and if he would dare to face them again.
Sirius exhaled as he relaxed into the wooden garden chair on the Burrow's patio. It was approaching eight thirty in the evening. Dinner had finished up an hour or so ago and the guests were now pottering around doing their own thing as Molly finished making sure the kitchen was tidy. The cosy living room was alive with chatter that Sirius could still hear, albeit rather muffled, from outside.
He had excused himself from the house in order to get some air, not quite sure why he was beginning to feel overwhelmed. 'Well that's a lie,' Sirius thought to himself. 'You know why.'
Sirius had braced himself for Ren's presence that afternoon and had thought he was coping rather well, even with the bizarre way in which he had greeted her by helping to yank her free from Teddy's ridiculously strong grip. He was managing to deal with the questioning looks other members of the family had been giving him (namely the twins) and had even spoke about her birthday at the dinner table (although from the looks Ren had given him, she had clearly been both surprised by and suspicious of him doing so).
However, what was niggling at Sirius was the invite to her birthday celebration and the idea of seeing her family again. There had been a point in time in which Sirius had cared very deeply for the Gallaghers, and the family had made it clear that they felt the same about him. Next to the Potters they were the only family that had welcomed him with open arms.
But then everything had changed, and they had likely spent the past eighteen years loathing him for what he had supposedly done. The betrayal and the murders he had committed, and the heartbreak he had made Ren live with for most of her life.
Despite his innocence being proved Ren herself had admitted she had at first found it hard to let go of her hatred. Did Sirius really want to put himself in the position of potentially being judged and having to defend himself to the Gallaghers, just because Ren had invited him to her birthday celebration?
The kitchen back door suddenly squeaked open, allowing the subdued chatter and laughter from within to filter outside loudly, and Sirius turned to see Remus peeping out. Once he spotted Sirius he emerged from the house and closed the door again behind him, successfully quelling the noise slightly once more.
"There you are," Remus said as he joined him, pulling up his own chair and taking a seat.
"Here I am." Sirius drawled.
"You okay?" The Werewolf asked, and Sirius' brow creased in what he hoped was a confused manner.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be okay?" He questioned casually, to which Remus quirked a fair eyebrow.
"Do you really want me to list the potential reasons you may not be okay?" At his words Sirius let out a huff and dropped the act. He turned away from Remus and fixed his gaze on the masses of untamed land he could still make out in the fading evening light. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you and Ren probably had sex on Wednesday, didn't you?" As Remus spoke Sirius tensed up and whipped back around to face him.
"Fucking hell, is it that obvious?!" He demanded, unable to help himself. Remus chuckled.
"Probably not to the others. But you have to remember I know you better than anyone, and there was a time where I was Ren's best friend. You're both easier to read then you realise." He said.
"Wonderful," Sirius muttered.
"So is that what's bothering you? It's even more awkward then it was before because you had sex?"
"No that's not it. Don't get me wrong, it's more awkward, but we agreed to just move on and be there for Harry." Sirius told his friend, who nodded contemplatively.
"So?" He prompted.
"The idea of seeing Ren's family again puts the fear of Merlin into me, okay?" Sirius admitted brashly, and Remus nodded in understanding but remained silent. "Seeing Ren again for the first time was… it was a nightmare. It was horrible. But it's over with, we did it and agreed to move on. I just hate that there's loads more painful moments that follow after it. The memories are one thing, but seeing her family again after what I put her through would be brutal." Sirius elaborated, rubbing his brow. Remus watched him for a moment before letting out a sigh.
"Padfoot man, look at it this way, if you truly want to be there for Harry you can't let that fear get in the way of it." He said.
"I was being there for Harry just fine before Ren came back into his life." Sirius muttered petulantly as he looked at his feet.
"You're right, but whether you like it or not she's now back. Going to Ren's birthday means you do risk that judgement, as you said, but no matter how many years have passed we both know that Ren wouldn't let her family come down on you. She wouldn't put you in that position on purpose."
"You think so? After everything she went through because of me?" Sirius couldn't help but ask, almost bitterly.
"Sirius, stop. Despite the time that's passed we're both fully aware that Ren isn't the type of person to do that. Give her that much credit. If she can look past everything that's happened then she'll be able to make her family do the same… with the exception of Aunty Brenda, maybe."
Sirius let out a small huff of amusement. Aunty Brenda was Ren's great aunt. An abrupt, unforgiving Welsh woman, she was the textbook definition of the phrase 'ball buster'.
He supposed Remus was right. While Aunty Brenda would no doubt make him sweat, Ren surely wouldn't let him walk straight into a warzone with her family. Despite still bricking it internally, Sirius realised he was looking at the situation too negatively.
"Thanks Moony," He eventually said, a small smile playing on his lips.
"No problem, you know I'm all too happy to help you to see sense." Remus joked.
"Merlin, I could have done with you on Wednesday night then." Sirius chuckled with a shake of his head, to which Remus remained silent. When Sirius eventually turned to him, he could read the question in Remus' eyes perfectly. "It was better than I ever remember it being, which is saying something." Sirius told him, his voice quiet as if he didn't really want to admit it to himself let alone someone else.
"So why don't you-" Remus started but Sirius cut him off.
"Because, Remus, that's the complete opposite of agreeing to move on!" He snapped, unable to help himself. When he saw Remus staring at him with wide, amber eyes Sirius sighed and apologised. "Sorry Moony, I just… never mind." He looked down and found his fists clenched. He forced himself to relax. "Now I'm going to go and pinch a large glass of Arthur's Firewhisky then go home to bed."
And with that Sirius rose and trudged back to the house, his body pulsing uncomfortably with energy. He didn't want to settle down with Ren again, why didn't Remus understand that? All Sirius wanted was his heart to stop aching painfully whenever Ren was mentioned. Was that too much to ask for?
I've updated! It's a Christmas miracle!
Hi guys, I'm so sorry for the delay with updating. I've just completed a semester studying at a university in Australia and the work load was insane! Turns out you get a shit load more assignments at Australian unis then you do at British ones. It was pure stress so hats off to all you Aussies for coping with that for three years, haha.
I haven't forgot about this story and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for any errors, grammar all that shit. I'm only human. In the new year I'll try my best to update more (key word there being try, making no promises). Thank you all for the support, and please continue to follow, fave and REVIEW LETTING ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. Every review is motivation to get my arse into gear and write.
So happy holidays and enjoy the festitivties, but stay safe and don't forget to check on your loved ones. This time of year can be very hard for some people and letting someone know you're there for them can make all the difference.
All my love
Eve x
P.S. PLEASE REVIEW!
