In the Present
A HariPo fanfic
by mew-tsubaki
Note: I haven't finished To the Future and already I'm starting its second companion story. AGH! However, J.K. Rowling's characters are in good hands by now, so I hope everyone enjoys this Rena story. But to reach the present, one must glance at the past, where our story begins… READ & REVIEW!!!
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The Second Wax
About a week later, Remus found himself struggling to get by amidst the throng of jostling bodies on Diagon Alley.
Bloody crowd! he thought as he was shoved to the side. Merlin! The next time I need supplies, I'm sending away for them!
He walked to a nearby café and sat down in one of the metal chairs outside. The clouds drifted by on the sea of muted blue sky, forecasting more rain. Remus sighed. One reliable thing in England was the rainy weather.
She didn't seem surprised that I took the job, the wizard supposed as he watched the passersby. She didn't even seem very surprised that Albus offered the job. I wonder what Nymphadora's thinking… Remus shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.
"Excuse me, sir. May I help you?"
The werewolf looked up and locked eyes with the waiter. "Oh, sorry. I'm not…"
The waiter frowned. "I'm sorry, sir, but if you're not going to order, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave. The table must be vacant for paying customers."
Remus stood. "Of course." He nodded in embarrassment as he walked away. "Sorry about that." The crowd had thinned slightly by then, so Remus continued on his journey. I hate that I have to get the chests from Borgin and Burke's, though, he grumbled to himself. Gee, a known werewolf shopping at a store notorious for its Dark Magic items- -he grimly smiled- -that's wonderful for my image. Again, he sighed.
"Remus? Remus Lupin?"
And again he looked up. This time, however, he glanced behind him, and he saw two young faces. Remus stepped off to the side and waited in front of what used to be Ollivander's wand shop.
Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood met him with bright smiles. "I can't believe it!" Neville exclaimed. "I heard that you and Sirius were hired –good for you!"
"Yes, well, I didn't like being unemployed. But I needed the past school year off." He gave them a tight smile. "The Auror's Office… I'm not sure it's quite my thing."
The Herbology professor nodded. "Hey, do you want to join us?" Neville asked. "I still have a lot of seeds and other things to buy, but if you have the time…"
"Sure, Neville. However, I've got to make my own stop first. Do you mind?" But the young teacher didn't hear him, as he scampered off to take part in a sale on roots. "I guess you don't…"
"Shall we?" Luna asked. She turned her ethereal blue eyes and unnerving smile on him.
Remus nodded and led the way to Borgin and Burke's. They entered the shop, and he headed towards the back. There, next to the iron maiden and hands of glory, was a stack of chest, each box made of deep oak and wrought with burnished black steel. Remus knelt down and checked them, feeling the sturdiness of the numerous locks and looking for any faults.
"Planning to capture more boggarts, Professor Lupin?" Luna asked beside him. She peered over his shoulder.
"Not really," Remus replied. "Dumbledore told me that the previous D.A.D.A. teacher trashed some items. Unfortunately, the chests containing some of the test creatures were demolished in the process. But we need these." He stood and looked around. "Did you see Borgin, by any chance?"
"No, professor."
He stood and gave her a look not unlike one given when someone has an unfavorable taste in their mouth. "I'll go find him, I suppose. Er…Luna? You don't have to call me 'Professor Lupin'. Actually, I'd prefer it if you'd call me 'Remus'. You're not a student anymore, you know."
She nodded. "Of course."
"Er…good." Remus wandered around the front of the store and found Borgin suddenly behind the front desk. "Borgin."
The shopkeeper looked up. "Well, well…," Borgin said with a jagged, toothy grin.
"I'm here on Hogwarts business, Borgin," Remus stated, "so don't get any funny ideas into your head. I need three of your Better Beasts chests in the back. How much?"
"Tch… Hogwarts business…," Borgin muttered under his breath. He grabbed a parchment from under the counter and skimmed it. "Sixty galleons per chest."
"Jesus!" Remus sharply shook his head. "No school discount?"
Borgin stared at him over the counter. "Sixty galleons per chest," he spat.
"All right, all right…" The werewolf took out the envelope Dumbledore had given him for pre-term expenses. He paid Borgin the money, wishing he were elsewhere as the creepy grin returned to Borgin's face. "One more thing," Remus added. "I need you to send them to Hogwarts right away. They'll be expecting them. Good day, Borgin," he finished, and he headed to the back.
"Curious contraptions they have in here," Luna commented when Remus came back.
"If you're ready to go, I'm all set," he said. He paused. "What are you looking at?"
Luna tilted her head to one side. "It's a device for the removal of earwigs. Looks intricate," she said, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look.
Remus squinted at it. "Looks painful to me." His eyes darted to the front, where Borgin kept an eye on them. "Erm, Luna, I don't think we're that welcome anymore…"
The girl looked at him and followed his line of sight. "You know, people who watch others constantly tend to possess paranoia."
"A, that's nice, Luna, but let's go, shall we?" Remus said in a rush, for he wasn't sure if Borgin had overheard her. The were ushered the witch out of the store, and they nearly crashed into Neville.
"There you are!" Neville exclaimed. "I didn't realize how long I'd been, and then when I turned around, you guys weren't there!"
"It's all right, Neville," Remus remarked. "I took care of my business already."
Neville pinked. "Oh, sorry… I guess I wasn't really listening earlier… But you should still shop with us! It's been a while since we last saw you," the young teacher pointed out.
The were nodded. "Life's been keeping me rather busy-"
"Hold that thought! I see baby mandrakes on sale!!" And off Neville scampered again. However, this time Luna and Remus did not stray far from him.
"Anyone can make a claim for something keeping them busy," Luna stated as she and Remus watched Neville fight some old hag for a mandrake with circular leaves.
Remus grimaced. I don't exactly want to talk about my personal life right now, he thought. "Lu-"
"For example, some people have work to keep them busy. Others waste the day doing nothing, claiming that that's a purpose for life," she prattled on. She looked at him with what he supposed was a smile. He wasn't sure; she was strange. "I keep busy by being curious."
"Curious about anything?"
"Mostly. See, I think about the creatures magical folk refuse to believe in. I also ponder the consequences of the other choice a person had in a situation. It's also fun to just watch people and observe." She pointed to Neville. "Take Neville, for instance. He is very amusing in that he frets about things like he were a small, woodland animal. Even more interesting are the times when he doesn't fret at all, like now, when the only goal in his mind is to buy the certain cuspkid."
Remus glanced at her. "You mean a mandrake."
"No, I believe that is a cuspkid," Luna affirmed with her oddly calm expression. "Mandrakes don't have circular leaves. Cuspkids do, but they try to pass themselves off as mandrakes." She leaned in so only Remus heard her. "I believe it's a conspiracy, possibly tied to the Rottfang one."
He chuckled. "A conspiracy? And it's tied to the Rottfang conspiracy?"
She leaned outward. "You never know." The blonde stared at him for a moment. "You are like a wolf."
"Oh?" he prodded, but his muscles automatically tensed. The attention was back on him.
"You're struggle for survival is evident in your carefully chosen words and hand-selected actions." She leaned in once more. "You are too careful, scared that the next moment will be your last." Luna leaned back out. "Which is good. It means you live for the here-and-now," she finished with a smile.
At first, Remus had wanted to cut her off –though not too rudely –before she could analyze his personal life; after all, analyzing is what she did best. But somehow, she had completely turned her words around, and he felt dumbfounded that she could take a look at what she barely knew of him and give him a summary that was so positive, it had to be outside of the box. He laughed this time. Luna truly was a strange one.
Neville came back and they moved on, and each time Neville disappeared, Luna would amuse Remus with an observation of someone off the street. His laughter almost hurt; it had been a long time since he had last been in this good a mood. He also stopped her every now-and-then to ask how she jumped to certain conclusions, and he wondered if he could learn to read people as well as she could. But that would have to wait another time, as night was falling.
"It's this late already?" Neville whined, looking at his watch. "I'm not even done packing!" He looked at Remus and gave him a small smile. "Well, I suppose I'll see you soon, Remus," he said, and he shook the werewolf's hand.
"I'll see you at Hogwarts, Neville," he replied. He shook Luna's hand, as well. "See you around, Luna."
Again, she slightly cocked her head to one side, and her protuberant blue eyes met his brown ones. He wasn't sure if a smile played at her lips at first, and then she gave him a whimsical grin. "Farewell, Remus," she said in that faraway tone of hers.
"Uh, yeah…" And they parted ways. Yet, when he went home that night, Remus felt different. And different felt good.
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Hmm. I wonder just how good that difference felt… Well, we could always read and review more of this story- whaddaya say, peoples? OKIES!!! ON TO CHAPTER THREE!!! And review, please!!
-mew-tsubaki
