November 6, 1978

Althea padded into the house, her hand covering her mouth as she yawned. She was still wearing the clothes from yesterday because Aubrey had kept her up all day and all night working on spells. Aubrey did most of the working of course, but Althea was looking up the etymologies and assisting wherever she could. She was surprised, when she walked into the house that evening, that most of the lights were on. By now, Lily and James probably would be getting ready for bed since it was almost nine o'clock. But for whatever reason, all of the lights were on. It made her a little nervous.

Althea walked into the kitchen and her eyes went wide with surprise. James and Lily were sitting at the island, but that wasn't what surprised her. No. It was who was sitting across from them. Remus. He looked battered and bruised, and beyond exhausted but it was really him. As soon as he had seen her, he stood up but otherwise didn't move. It was as if he was waiting for her to make the first move. Make the first move she did.

Althea surged forward, colliding with Remus – earning a small grunt – and wrapped her arms around his waist, her head on his chest where she could hear the steady pounding of his heartbeat. A sound that she hadn't realized she was going to miss until it was no longer there.

"When did you…" Althea trailed off at a loss for words.

"Dumbledore rescued me this morning," Remus whispered his voice raspy, and a brief frown flitted across Althea's face. "I came here right away, when Sirius told me that your apartment had been sold to someone else, and you were living with Lily and James." He chuckled, "Imagine my surprise when they tell me that you aren't here."

Althea flushed, ducking her head. "I was working with Aubrey. She's a member of the Order, and she invents spells. She agreed to let me become her apprentice. I guess we got caught up in our work."

"Evidently," Remus replied, amusement heavy in his voice and Althea tipped her head back to stare at him sheepishly, a silent apology glimmering in her eyes. "It's fine, Thea. It wasn't like it was planned in advance."

"I know." She shrugged, but she still couldn't help but feel bad.

Lily huffed, "This is why you shouldn't have gotten a job."

"I can't sit around and do nothing with my life, Lily. I'm not a housewife. Not like you." Althea snapped.

Perhaps that was a low blow, given the way that James's mouth dropped open and Lily gasped. Remus tensed in her embrace and she could feel his eyes boring into her skull but she made no move to explain the situation or to backtrack. Lily crossed her arms a hurt expression making itself known on her features.

"Althea," Remus sighed, staring at her confused. "Lily's your best friend."

"I thought she was, until she didn't support me when I wanted to get a job. When I wanted to feel useful, and wanted to stop sitting here, wondering when you were going to come back," Althea answered icily. "She didn't support me."

"You didn't need to attack her," Remus whispered in her ear. When he saw that she wasn't going to budge, he sighed. "Let's get some rest, Thea."

She didn't verbally answer, however she did nod her assent and allowed Remus to draw her away from the kitchen and upstairs to the bedroom that she had been occupying. Althea reflected on her actions as she changed into her nightclothes, and sat on the bed waiting for Remus to join her, and deemed the way that she had reacted childish. But she wasn't going to go apologize to Lily, when Lily had been unsupportive and harsh in the way that she had reacted as well.

Remus crawled into bed, sidling up beside her and with a wince pulled her toward him, curling his body around hers. It was then that Althea allowed herself to relax.

Remus was here with her, and most importantly he was safe.

The next morning, things were decidedly a little awkward after the slight conflict between Lily and Althea. Lily was still stung by Althea's comments, and Althea was still more than a little irritated that Lily had not been supportive of her decision to get a job. So, breakfast was odd, since Lily and Althea weren't speaking to each other – James and Remus tried to bridge the silence and get both girls involved, but to no avail. They refused to speak or even acknowledge the other. Althea wanted to talk to Lily, but her wounded pride wouldn't let her and honestly, she didn't think that she had done anything wrong. Lily was the one who hadn't been supportive.

Lily huffed, as breakfast came to a close, getting to her feet and striding upstairs. James sighed, glancing at Althea before taking off after her. Althea sighed, resting her head on her arms as Remus's hand came to rest gently on her lower back.

"I hate fighting with Lily," Althea whispered.

"Then why are you doing it?" Remus questioned. "I'm sure you have a valid reason to be mad at her Althea, but your words did hurt her. You know that being a housewife isn't her choice – if she could, and if You-Know-Who, wasn't at large, Lily would be doing amazing things."

"I know." Althea's voice was barely above a whisper. "And I feel bad for what I said, at least a little bit. However, she didn't support my decision to get a job, and until she can, I won't apologize for what I said. I can't be friends with someone who doesn't support my decisions, and criticizes or even condescends them. I just can't do it."

Remus nodded, and the touchy subject of Lily was dropped. "Tell me about the job you got with, Aubrey."

"Oh, it's amazing Remus!" Althea gushed turning to face him with a broad smile. "She invents her own spells and charms, for the Order. After the war, she plans on getting them out there in the wizarding world, but for now only the Order has access. She's working her way through the spells alphabetically – right now she's on the letter C. She's invented the spells Contumesco, a spell that makes one swell up like a pufferfish, Conterreo, a spell that induces terror and Complaceo, a spell that makes one have an uncontrollable urge to please someone." Althea leaned toward Remus in excitement, "It's really spectacular working with her Remus, even though I admittedly haven't been working with her for that long. Yesterday, I was reading up the theory behind creating spells. It's fascinating."

"I can tell," Remus murmured affectionately watching her. "Your eyes lit up, as you were talking about it. You must really like this job."

"I do." Althea leaned back in her chair. "Of course, I took this job because I wanted to help out the Order, and if You-Know-Who, wasn't such a threat I may not have taken this job or I may have explored other options. However, time is a luxury that we cannot afford. If helping out Aubrey, will help stop Him, then I will do it."

"Althea, you've contributed so much already."

"It doesn't feel like it," she muttered.

Remus didn't know how to answer that, and they lapsed into silence. While others might insist that Althea had contributed her fair share to the Order, she didn't feel as if she was doing enough compared to Gideon and Fabian, Remus, Sirius, and all of the other members of the Order. She felt as if she was just mediocre and that was a feeling that didn't set well with her. It was a small stroke to her ego that James and Lily had done less than she had, simply because they were in hiding, so they didn't have any other choice. Still, it made her feel better.

"You are doing plenty Althea," Remus murmured. "Don't doubt yourself."

Althea nodded leaning her head against Remus's shoulder. "I should probably head to Aubrey's soon. I'll see you later?"

"I can come with you if you want," Remus offered. "I'm rather interested in creating spells, myself."

"I thought you wanted to pursue a career in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Althea said regarding him suspiciously.

"Oh, I do, but having a background in spell crafting will likely be an asset, especially given my 'furry little problem'. However, if you do mind me coming, I won't and will just do my research here."

"You can come," Althea laughed pulling Remus to his feet. "Aubrey will be delighted to meet you."

"Somehow your words make me doubt that."

"They shouldn't. She's actually quite lovely."