Chapter 3

September 1991

Remus did little else but try to stop thinking about Nina. He stopped himself, multiple times, with his quill dipped in ink, paused at the top of a clean piece of parchment, all intent to write her a letter. Eventually he decided that maybe if he wrote Dumbledore, he would work out some of his frustrations towards Dumbledore's niece.

And besides, it was high time he wrote his former headmaster. Harry Potter had just started at Hogwarts a little over two weeks ago, and Remus was keen to check up on him. He confided to Dumbledore that he really wished he could one day meet Harry. He didn't say it, but Remus truly wished he could be a foster father for Harry. Dumbledore probably knew this. And they both knew the unlikelihood of it ever happening.

He also updated Dumbledore on his abysmal job situation, which was currently part-time editor at a newsletter about the care of magical creatures called Magical Menagerie Monthly. He also shared that he was only expecting to hold onto this job for another few months, when he would be required to miss work again due to the full moon landing on deadline week in December.

It was only as a postscript that Remus mentioned he had met Nina, and that she was very charming. As he sealed the letter, he thought that Dumbledore would probably realize Remus's affections for his niece through the simple words in that one postscript sentence.

He sighed as the owl flew out the window. His owl had only just left when another one, a gray one he recognized, appeared through the gap. He unrolled and read a dinner invitation from Hestia for that very evening. She was rather brief in the letter, saying it wasn't anything special, just to come over if he's bored or whatever, and she promised she was not trying to set him up with Nina.

Remus responded with an affirmation, his heart skipping beats as he did so, and at six o'clock that evening he walked over to Hestia's.

Hestia and Nina were busy at work in the kitchen when he arrived. As soon as Remus set eyes on her, every ounce of worry that had welled up inside of him disappeared abruptly. All he wanted to do was smile.

Hestia seemed to be catching Nina up on years of spells, everything from levitation to Vanishing, and Nina was very focused, holding her new wand tightly.

Excitedly, she picked up her wand and turned to Remus as soon as she saw him, holding it up so he could see. "Do you like it? Twelve inches, made of willow, with a unicorn hair. It's been lovely having it." She swished it in the air, making a silver streamer appear out of its tip. He thought of how appropriate a willow wand was for her, especially the way she looked as she moved gracefully about the kitchen, as if moved by a breeze.

She was wearing a floral skirt, presently covered in a striped apron, and she was barefoot. Her hair was different from before: it was long and wavy down her back, kept out of her eyes by neat little clips. She had the strange appearance that she had just been sunbathing, even though the weather had been quite overcast.

Remus joined Bernie at the table, where he was reading The Daily Prophet and making comments on Hestia's teaching.

"Show her how to open jars," he said as he turned a page.

"Bernie, darling, she's already doing that," Hestia replied.

"Well, it's a useful one," he shrugged to Remus.

"How are things in the Muggle Liaison Office, Bernie?" Remus asked, trying not to turn his head to glance at Nina. It was like he could sense her presence behind him.

"Actually, we've just had ground-breaking meeting with a few other offices," Bernie said enthusiastically, folding his paper and leaning forward on the little wooden table. "Arthur Weasley up in Misuse of Muggle Artifacts has drafted a proposal, which calls for a straightforward policy on Muggle protection. Of course, all of us in Liaison were quite interested to hear about it. I mean, it's been a while since You-Know-Who has been scaring the pants off of everyone about this sort of thing, and I personally think it's about time we've gotten serious about keeping Muggles safe. There are too many wizards and witches getting away with too much."

Remus listened interestedly. "That sounds promising," he said. "And I think you're hitting on a subject that many witches and wizards are failing to comprehend: that tolerance is one thing, but genuine respect for all living creatures, magical or not, is what it's got to come to one of these days. You've heard my opinion on the subject," he concluded meaningfully. He wasn't going to elaborate any more with Nina present.

"Too true, my friend, too true."

The wizards talked shop while the witches continued a running background noise of new spells being taught and learned, until at long last, dinner was actually ready.

"Sorry I delayed dinner a bit," Nina apologized as she brought a large dish to the table. "Hestia is being very kind to show me everything I need to know."

"It's no trouble, dear!" Hestia said.

"Remus, did you know that Nina is now working at Ollivander's?" Hestia said over her wineglass.

"Well, that's fantastic, Nina," he said, bowing his head slightly towards her. "Does that mean you're interested in a future of wandmaking?"

"Oh, yes. I've only ever made a few by myself, and Ollivander's only had me make one so far, and I don't think he liked it—"

"You've made wands before? Without a wand to make them with?" Bernie asked, bewildered by the thought.

She smiled over her wineglass, and it was that smile that did it. There was something in her eyes that made him want her to smile like that again.

"Funny, but yes. You don't need a wand to make a wand. They were for my friends back in Florida; they were just testing them out for me. I thought they were okay, but none of them worked for me."

"As Ollivander says, the wand chooses the wizard," Remus said, also surveying her over his own wine glass.

"And am I glad to have one that finally chose me." As she said this, her eyes seemed to bore directly into his. His heart stopped.

Hestia got up and cleared away their empty plates. Nina insisted on helping, though it turned into another long escapade since Hestia wanted to show her even more wand tricks.

Bernie seemed to be taking advantage of the racket (that Nina was making by accidentally slamming the cabinet doors shut) by the fact that he kept his voice low when he addressed Remus: "Hestia is throwing me a birthday party here at the house Saturday after next."

"Is it supposed to be a surprise?" Remus asked, wondering why they were whispering.

"No, no, no, just didn't want her—" he jerked his head towards Nina, "—to overhear. You're obviously invited and I wanted to check and see if there were some people you might not want to run into."

Remus knew exactly what he was talking about. "I appreciate that."

Bernie nodded. Being friends, they had dealt with this kind of thing before. "We've got the normal crowd coming, you know, Algie Radner, Phyllis Downworth, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Dedalus Diggle, the Nathansons, Kurt Peters and his girlfriend Nancy (fiancée, I mean; they are engaged now, by the way), the Shaws, and the Emersons…" Bernie rattled off a dozen or so more names, all reassuring Remus that it was destined to be party in the style that Bernie and Hestia liked best: loud and boisterous. Remus was on very good terms with all the people listed; in other words, none of them were prejudiced towards him being a werewolf. He assured Bernie that he still got on very well with all of them.

"But I was wondering if you knew the Vedders, or Sturgis Podmore, or Elizabeth Friedman? You see, we were thinking about asking them to come along…"

"Hmm…" Remus contemplated the names. "I certainly remember Sturgis Podmore from a while back. It's been a while, but I would look forward to seeing him again. I don't believe I've ever met the other two."

"Well, good. Just wanted to check."

Their evening together wound down nicely as they sat and had tea and biscuits on the patio. Remus, Hestia, and Bernie had gone off on long tangents reminiscing about Hogwarts; they had been caught up telling Nina about the beloved school. She seemed to enjoy their various stories: Bernie winning the Quidditch Cup in his sixth year, Hestia accidentally turning a professor's hat into a pigeon turning an examination, and Remus, exploring the castle by night by use of his friend's invisibility cloak.

Remus couldn't help shake the feeling that for the entire evening, he and Nina seemed to be just missing each other's eye contact, or, having realized they were looking at each other, looked away after a split second. The candlelight was doing marvelous things for her sparkling eyes and glowing skin.

He said his goodbyes and thank yous and wandered off down the street, though he wasn't headed towards his flat. He needed a bit of a long walk to clear his head.

The buzzing was starting to return. He was positive that Nina was at least slightly attracted to him. No, she wasn't obvious about it. But the same phrase kept repeating itself in his head:

There is something to be said in detecting mutual affinity.

He walked on.