"Off-limits," he whispered to himself as he reached the door to his room. He laughed a little at the ridiculousness of the entire situation. "Sooo off-limits."
"What's off limits?" A voice asked behind him, and Remus turned to see George Weasley leaning against the rail of the stairs.
Fred was standing beside him. "Nothing for us mate," he said, slapping his twin on the back and standing to shake Lupin's hand. "How've you been Remus?"
Remus smiled and shook both Fred and George's hands. "Alright I guess. The two of you?" He'd been around during Fred and George's time at Hogwarts and knew perfectly well what they were capable of.
"Yeah same," George offered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Hermione's been giving us a bit of a problem but that's it."
"Really?" Lupin asked, trying not to appear too interested.
Fred nodded. "Yeah. Can't get her. 'S'why we're around here all the time. Only one in the house we haven't been able to Weasley Wizard Wheeze yet. Well, her and you mate, but you know we wouldn't try anything."
"Yeah," George smiled. "Trading all the old door-knobs out for silver ones was just too cruel."
"I'm glad you realized that," Lupin said, his eyebrows raised.
Fred continued. "Anyway Remus, we were kind of wondering if maybe you could just peak into her room when you get into yours. We didn't want to pry in your room see, we weren't raised by wolves after-all," Fred shared a look with George who patted Remus on the back jokingly. "And we figure her front door's jinxed. So if you could just stick your head in for a second, maybe de-rig some booby-traps for us, we'd really appreciate it."
"Gentlemen," Remus said, not smiling any longer. "I am a werewolf, not a ghost. Unless the two of you have created some concoction that allows the drinker to walk through walls, I'm afraid-"
"You don't have to walk through a wall mate," George laughed. "You share a bathroom with her, didn't you know that? Just open the doors take a look around and report back. It's not anything deadly, we don't think—"
But Remus had stopped listening. The idea of sharing a shower and sink with girl a floor below him was as terrifying as it was wonderful. He wondered what kind of shampoo she used, and then, realizing that wondering what kind of shampoo she used was entirely inappropriate, began instead to wonder what kind of toothpaste he would find. "Not much better mate," he mentally chastised himself.
"Remus? Remus?"
Remus was pulled from his thoughts by the voices of Fred and George Weasley.
"We were only kidding about the Devil's Snare mate," one of them said.
"Yeah, she couldn't just leave that lying around. She's not daft you know."
"No," Remus said stiffly, even more eager to enter his room now. "No she is not, and so I won't be offering the two of you any assistance in your plans." He softened slightly, partly because he liked the twins, and didn't want them to feel like he was lecturing them, and partly because he thought his anger might make his feelings too obvious. "What feelings?" He asked himself.
"I'm an adult guys, and I can't come off acting like a teenager."
"Doesn't sound too bad to me Fred."
"Me either George."
But Remus only smiled and turned the knob to his room.
"If you see anything though Remus –" started Fred, but Remus had already shut the door.
…………………………………………………
In the meantime, Hermione was having just as much trouble concealing her very rampant emotions.
"Careful Hermione," scolded Ginny, who had joined them in the kitchen shortly after Remus had departed. "If you chew your lip much harder you'll bite it off."
"Yeah," Ron said, nodding his head in seriousness. "And mom would have a right fit if you got blood allover the table before dinner."
As if on cue, Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen, waving her wand absentmindedly to control a cleaning rag, and muttering to herself. She didn't even notice when the rag that had previously been wiping down countertops and kitchen tiles, began instead to scrub Harry's very shocked face.
"MOM!" Ginny shouted, pointing to the vigilante cloth.
Mrs. Weasley immediately flicked her wand away, sending the dishrag into a window where it stuck briefly, and finally slid to the floor. "Oh, sorry dear," she offered, obviously embarrassed, but much too distracted to spend time dwelling on it. "Did one of you mention someone bleeding?"
Harry laughed and Ron quickly changed the subject. "Lupin's just gotten in," he said.
Mrs. Wealsey finally seemed to focus. "Oh has he now? And I suppose he'll be wanting dinner?" This statement sent Mrs. Weasley into another storm of mutters and Hermione, who was worried for both Remus' life and Mrs. Weasley's sanity, rose and rested an arm on the woman's shoulder.
"I'm sure Remus won't mind eating something simple tonight Mrs. Weasley. Really, I could make it easily if you'd like." Hermione saw her two best friends exchange another confused glance, the idea of a domestic Hermione completely beyond them.
"Oh no dear, really don't trouble yourself. Remus deserves to be a part of the table tonight, no question about that. He just wasn't supposed to be home for weeks, and I haven't planned the seating or the dishes…" But Mrs. Weasley was already out the kitchen door before Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione could hear what else she hadn't planned.
Ron stared after his mother's retreating figure. "What's he doing home so early then?"
But just as the three others opened their mouths to answer, a scream issued from the floor above them.
A/N: Cliff-hanger!!! If I was a better writer you'd see one of these in every chapter, but let's face it, I'm no JK. I really hope people are enjoying this (it's my first time ever at fanfic so constructive criticism and blatant compliments are always appreciated). It's kind of pointless considering the next chapter's up, but hey, what the hell right? Ciao!