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Chapter 3

Family Matters

Lisa woke up with a spinning headache.

The bed was empty, and the shabby grey curtains were pulled over the single window on the right wall, submerging the room in pleasant darkness. She laid between the sheets for a while longer, trying to decide between staying in the dark and going to find Remus, but in the end the darkness lost out. Groaning loudly, Lisa pushed herself into a sitting position and immediately felt the room spin. She caught her head in one hand, trying to steady herself; she'd never been hangover before.

Fighting the urge to be sick, Lisa made her way to the door to open it and was immediately assaulted by the bright daylight. It was as if someone flashed a lit wand right in her face. Staying still to let her eyes adjust, she registered quiet whistling coming from the tiny kitchen. Tiptoeing around the corner, Lisa saw Remus was cooking. Something warm that felt way better than the Firewhisky spilled inside her, making her smile. His back was turned to her, but he was so amazingly attractive in that worn sky-blue sweater she felt like she could just stand there and watch him all day. Something was sizzling in a frying pan as he hummed one of his favorite old jazz standards, and lost in the pleasant sounds and sight, she lost track of time.

Lisa didn't know how long she was just standing there, leaning against the wall and watching him, but at some point he turned around, carrying a plate of French toast.

"Hey. I see you're up. How do you feel?" he asked softly, setting the plate down on the kitchen and walking over.

"Like hell," she replied, sinking into his arms. "If I knew this was what being hungover was like, I would've stuck with Gillywater."

His body shook with a silent chuckle. "I made breakfast, but if you'd rather go back to bed..."

"No, I want to stay. What time is it anyway?"

"About eight. It's still early."

"I've only slept for four hours?" Lisa groaned and headed to the table. Bloody biological clock!

She collapsed into a chair and had to bite her tongue to keep herself from asking where the rest of the breakfast was. Back home, she had a choice of at least four dishes, and even the French toast always came with a side of something. Remus caressed her back as he sat down, and it immediately made her forget about any complaints.

Just as she took the first bite, however, someone knocked on the door, loudly and insistently. Lisa's hands flew up to her head and she moaned in pain, as Remus struggled to keep the amused smirk off his face and got up to see who it was, wand at the ready.

"Is she here?" Lisa heard a female voice say, and her head perked up in surprise.

Remus seemed to be just as stunned because he remained quiet for a couple of seconds. "I... Yes. Please, come in."

Lisa stood up just in time to be swept up in her mother's arms. Her startled eyes traveled to the door, and she saw her father follow suit and Remus close the door behind them.

"Mr. Fawley," the young werewolf said in greeting and held out his hand. The older wizard only eyed it wearily, and after a few hesitant moments, Remus withdrew it and opted for a welcoming smile instead. "How have you been?"

"We've been well," Mr. Fawley responded curtly, and Lisa groaned internally. Not her dad too!

Mrs. Fawley let go of her and looked around, a clear look of distaste on her face. "So this is where you live," she said, trying to be polite, her eyes stopping at the battered table, the sunken in, misshapen couch, and the mysterious orange-brown spots on the wallpaper.

Lisa felt her entire body stiffen. "Why are you here, Mum? Don't you know it's dangerous?"

"We came to take you home," Mr. Fawley said firmly, taking a step forward.

"And where would that be? Our house was blown up by Death Eaters, remember?" Lisa said and tried to pull back, but her mother's grip on her upper arm was as strong as steel.

"We've gone back to Low Row," Mr. Fawley said. "Your grandfather—"

"My grandfather has made his feelings about the way I live my life quite clear last night," Lisa said, her voice suddenly cold. "I just didn't think you shared them."

"We can't allow you to continue living like this, sweetheart," Mrs. Fawley said, her eyes sweeping the room again. "These conditions..."

"Lisa," Mr. Fawley started slowly. "This isn't a game."

"Isn't it? Well then, I suggest you stop pretending. We both know why you're really here, and it's not because you suddenly disapprove of my living conditions!" Lisa snapped.

"We do disagree with your living conditions," her father countered, his face hard. "You shouldn't be living like this!"

"Like what, Dad? Do you mean in the poor part of London or with a werewolf?"

Three pairs of startled eyes stared at her, but she was too angry to care. She wasn't going to dance around the issue all day.

"You want to cut straight to the chase – fine! It's not safe to be around one of them," Mr. Fawley spat.

"A werewolf, Dad! They're called werewolves, and they're just as safe to be around as anyone else when it's not a full moon!"

"It's not that simple..." Mr. Fawley growled through gritted teeth.

Lisa's rage bubbled up to the surface and erupted like a volcano. "YES IT IS! It's prejudice, is what this is, pure and simple! You and your bigoted, narrow-minded rubbish! So it was all right to invite Remus to dinner and to see me go off alone with him when you thought he was just a half-blood, but now he's suddenly beneath you!? I thought you were better than this! You defended him in front of Grandpa, you told me you were happy I chose to be with someone intelligent and kind, instead of one of those stuck up purebloods, and look at you now! You can't even look at him!"

She made two angry steps forward and grabbed a hold of Remus' hand, while he looked as if he wanted to sink into the floor and disappear.

"That was when I thought he was human!" Mr. Fawley exploded. "He's a Dark Creature! They are classified as Beasts by the Ministry and I cannot—"

"You hypocritical tosser!" Lisa interrupted angrily. Her mother looked like she was about to faint. "He's still the same person he was last Christmas! And I know you were corresponding all throughout our seventh year, asking him how I was doing! How can you stand there and talk to me about him being a Dark Creature, when only a week ago you would've trusted him with my life?"

"Werewolves are not to be trusted! He's only pretending to care about you, can't you see that?! He's not capable of love! He's a monster!"

Silence fell over the room, heavy and charged with emotion.

"Get. Out," Lisa said quietly, the feeling of Remus' hand in hers the only thing keeping her from whipping out her wand.

"Lisa..."

"I said. Get. Out," she repeated, glaring daggers into her father. He returned it with full force before grinding his teeth and making for the door.

"No, Robert! I will not lose another daughter!" Mrs. Fawley shrieked and caught on to his arm.

"And what do you want me to do about it!? That filthy beast is probably feeding her love po—"

Even Remus couldn't keep her back from that, and Lisa snatched the wand he was still holding in his other hand and sent her father flying out the door. Mrs. Fawley screamed and ran over to him, helping him scramble back to his feet. As soon as he regained his balance, something Lisa had never seen before flashed in his eyes, and his wand was suddenly out, pointed at his daughter. Before he knew what he was doing, Remus' body moved on its own, and he stepped in front of her, holding out his free hand defensively.

"Mr. Fawley, please," he said imploringly. "I understand this cannot be easy for you, but there's no need for violence..."

"Don't speak to me, werewolf!" Mr. Fawley snapped and a jet of red light flew from the tip of his wand, but just before it hit, collided with a shiny silver shield. Remus squeezed Lisa's fingers lightly. A nosy neighbor popped his head out of apartment 2/3 and blinked curiously at the two couples.

"Go," Lisa said through gritted teeth as her shield faded away. "I am not a little girl anymore, and you can't control my life. When you're ready to talk to us like civilized wizards, then you can come and find me. Until then, stay the hell out of my life." With that, she waved the wand and the door slammed shut, leaving her mother in tears and her father close to another outburst.

Lisa sighed and ran a hand through her hair, letting go of Remus and sitting back down on the table. She had eaten half a French toast by the time he finally joined her.

"Don't you dare," she said and glared at him when he opened his mouth to speak. "I'm not interested in whatever self-deprecating speech you have in mind, and I don't want to listen to apologies either."

She returned her attention to her breakfast, and he just stood there for a few minutes, before his fingers curled over hers silently.

"... Your shield didn't break this time. That was some excellent spellwork."

She shot him an amused look and intertwined their fingers, looking out at the first November snow falling just outside the window.

oOo

Lisa adjusted the fake glasses she wore and looked around the muggle diner wearily. The tight black pencil skirt really wasn't something she was used to wearing, and the high heels had killed her ankles on the way there. How did other women do this? She couldn't even walk in those things for a bloody half-hour! The clothes did not feel natural on her at all, and she constantly fidgeted with the ruffles on her white blouse nervously. What was taking so long?

"Elizabeth Bennet?"

Lisa looked up at the tall, platinum-blonde woman that approached her, and had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from giggling uncontrollably. She was wearing a neon blue top, clashing horribly with the big orange belt around her waist and the tacky red pants.

"Yes. You are Cassandra, I presume?" Lisa said, standing up and shaking hands with the woman.

"Should we get a booth?" the blonde asked, and Lisa could only nod and follow. They waited for the ginger-haired waitress to take their order, before she finally exploded in laughter.

"Okay, I know you do not own a red pair of pants. Where did you get this?" Lisa asked in-between giggles.

"I bought it. You would not believe the embarrassment I had to go through. See what I do for you?" the other woman said playfully and removed her sunglasses, allowing the clear blue eyes of Dorcas Meadowes to stare back at Lisa and twinkle with amusement. "How about you? I know for a fact you would never wear a skirt like this. And have you ever worn high heels in your life?"

Lisa laughed. "Skirt is Lily's. Blouse and heels are Marlene's. They think I've gone to some job interview. Did your hair have to be such a Malfoy shade of blonde? I swear, for a second there I thought you were him."

Dorcas snorted loudly, just as the waitress returned with their food and drinks. "Hey, this whole disguise thing was your idea. And at least I don't look like a female version of my boyfriend," she quipped, bringing some chips to her mouth.

"What? I do not!" Lisa exclaimed indignantly.

Her friend raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Please. Your hair is the same tawny brown, and if he were a bird, he'd dress up like a middle school assistant principle too. And those fake glasses don't exactly hide the eyes. You made them the exact shade of green as his on accident?"

"Should I be concerned you know the exact shade of green of my boyfriend's eyes?" Lisa asked playfully, sipping her drink.

"Oh yes, I'll seduce him to the Dark Side." Dorcas wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Because last time a Death Eater tried to put the moves on him, it went so well."

"First off, you're not really a Death Eater. Secondly, she made it out alive, so what's the problem?"

Dorcas bit her lip.

Lisa gave her a desperate look. "Oh, Cass, not you too! Please tell me you haven't developed prejudice against werewolves."

"I haven't... developed them," Dorcas said. "You have to admit, her life did sort of get flushed down the toilet that night."

"Being a werewolf is not that big of a deal!"

"To you. It's not that big of a deal to you, and that's because you're dating one."

"Can we not do this right now?" Lisa said irritably. "I haven't seen you in months; I don't really want to talk about werewolf prejudice. How's the mission going?"

Dorcas shrugged nonchalantly. "How you'd expect. There's a lot of sneering at muggle-borns, a lot of jabber as to what it'll be like once Voldemort takes over. The usual stuff. Evan introduced me to his family last Friday."

"Oh yeah?" Lisa took a sip from her straw. "How'd that go?"

"Kinda bad. They wanted him to marry a pureblood, but he basically told them all of the eligible women were taken already. You gotta move fast if you want to nab a suitable woman in these times. So he had to settle for a half-blood, and so do his parents. Though we aren't thinking of getting married, so they're just letting him have his fun."

Lisa put the cup down. "That's not... that's not really how he feels about you. Is it?"

Dorcas shrugged indifferently. "He tells me it isn't." Her friend observed at her in silence as she took a bite from her sandwich.

"You still love him, don't you," Lisa said. It wasn't a question.

Dorcas stopped chewing and her eyes fixed on Lisa's. It was amazing how even though they were a completely different color, they were still so familiarly piercing. She swallowed, then said slowly, "That has nothing to do with anything. I told you already. He hates me."

"He does not hate you," Lisa said, placing a hand on her friend's arm. "He was devastated when he thought you'd turned on us."

"Again, nothing to do with anything." Dorcas pulled away. "We snogged once, it was nice. He thinks I've betrayed you and him and all his friends. Whatever we had is gone. Can we move on already?"

"Cass..."

"How about your family?" Dorcas said firmly, trying to change the subject. "Your parents liked Lupin, last time I checked. Is your grandfather still resisting?"

Lisa's face immediately fell and a crease appeared between her eyebrows.

"Uh-oh. Did something happen?" Dorcas asked with concern.

"I threw my dad across the hall," Lisa said darkly.

Dorcas almost choked on a chip. "You what?"

"Someone leaked Remus' furry secret to them," Lisa said with a scowl. "My grandfather sent me a Howler. Next thing I know, my parents are at my door, telling me I can't keep living like that because werewolves are incapable of love." She growled he last few words, and the sandwich crumpled in her hand, which quickly became covered in ketchup as pieces of lettuce and chicken fell back into the plate. Dorcas silently handed her a napkin.

"I know what you're thinking. That I overreacted," Lisa said, throwing her a look.

Dorcas stared at her thoughtfully. "Don't you think that?"

Lisa looked down at the table. "He said that word. My dad."

"What word?"

"Monster."

Dorcas reached out and squeezed Lisa's hand.

"Lately things have been a little... stressed," Lisa continued. "I can live without money, but I can't live with Remus thinking he brings me down. That Howler my grandfather sent me, it exploded right in front of him. And then when my parents came over, he offered to shake my dad's hand. And Dad just... glared at it. I still can't believe my own father... I know I probably should've talked about it more, tried to get him to understand... But you know what, there is nothing more to say. Prejudice is what it is. I just... can't be a part of a family that treats Remus this way."

"Lisa," Dorcas started gently. "I know you're angry, but... they're your family. They raised you, they took care of you, and they love you. You know you can't just sever ties like that."

"It wasn't just like that," Lisa said bitterly. "We've been drifting apart ever since Julie died. I blamed them for what happened to her for so long, by the time I came around I was already in the Order, and then all those things happened... I haven't even seen them since Christmas."

"Not true. You saw them for your 'engagement'," Dorcas corrected with a light laugh.

Lisa couldn't help but join in. "That was a complete farce. If it were up to me, we would've told them there was no way in hell it was happening right away, but James and his stupid hesitation... if he'd just let me break it off when it was just us and his parents, there wouldn't have been an engagement dinner, and I wouldn't have had to hex anyone."

Dorcas snorted. "To be honest, I can't believe your parents still stuck by you after that."

"Well, they weren't there, were they?" Lisa pointed out. "It was my grandpa that arranged that whole fiasco."

"They still supported you. Even though they thought you were dating a half-blood."

"I am dating a half-blood!" Lisa snapped. "And I don't give a toss about their bloody hypocrisy! They loved Remus before they found out he was a werewolf, they invited him to dinner and treated him kindly. Why should knowing that one more bit about him change the way they view him completely? Is he still smart? Is he still a prefect? Is he still well-mannered and kind? Then they had no right to act this way towards him!"

"Alright," Dorcas said soothingly, seeing the tears beginning to well up in her friend's eyes and rubbing her back comfortingly. "Why don't we talk about something happier? I think the Death Eaters might try to kill you. Want me to tell you details?"

Lisa looked at her and gave out a shaky laugh, wiping the tears away. "Is that why you wanted to meet?"

"Partly," Dorcas admitted, reaching in her purse. "Mostly I wanted to give you this."

A heavy bag of gold jingled as it made contact with the wooden surface of the table. Lisa's eyes lingered on it before she opened her mouth to protest, but Dorcas cut her off.

"Shut up. There's no way I'm letting you having to starve to pay rent. Think of this as payment for the Invisibility cloak you loaned me."

"Cass..."

"I said, shut up and take it. No one will know I gave it to you; this is from my personal vault. If anyone bothers asking, which let's face it – no one will, I'll just tell them I stuffed my face at a very expensive restaurant."

"Cass, I..."

Dorcas grunted impatiently and stuffed the gold in Lisa's bag. "There. I don't care if you refuse your friends or your cousin, but you'll take it from me. No objections. Speaking of Frank, how does he feel about the whole werewolf thing?"

"Everyone in the Order knows, so he's known for a while now," Lisa said, looking down at her uneaten sandwich. "He told me at his wedding that he was a bit put off at first, but he came around. I sort of feel like he's the only real family I've got left. And I will pay you back for this gold."

"You don't need to pay me back, and what about your Aunt Augusta? Does she know?"

"No idea. She wouldn't be too thrilled if she did, but I don't think she'd outright disown me. Then again, that's what I thought of Dad, too. But after seeing my grandfather's reaction, I'd guess all of the pureblood circles know by this point. I bet you Rosier will tell you all about it when you get back."

"Speaking of that," Dorcas said, her voice serious, "I wanted to give you a heads up – The Dark Lord is not pleased. He's still obsessed with the Sword of Gryffindor. He was talking about how the Order is keeping it from him. Mulciber claims you know where it is."

Lisa felt like someone threw a whole bucket of icy, cold water on her head at the mention of Mulciber, but forced her voice to be calm when she spoke. Dorcas still didn't know what happened near the end of seventh year.

"I do. I hid it."

"Well, they think so too. Evan is convinced you left it with your parents for safekeeping, but Mulciber insists you have it on you. The Dark Lord really wants that thing for some reason, and he offered to reward whoever brings it to him. A big chunk of his followers are insane, and Bellatrix Lestrange in particular had a very dangerous gleam in her eyes. I want you to be extra careful from now on, and I think we should meet like this once a week so I can teach you Occlumency."

"Occlumency?" Lisa's eyebrows connected in a frown. "Since when can you do that?"

"Since halfway through seventh year," her friend confessed. "Dumbledore gave me private lessons before I joined the Death Eaters. You know Voldemort is a skilled Legilimens, so I had to be able to pass off my lies. I agree with Dumbledore that for whatever purpose he wants the Sword, it's not a good one. In the instance they catch you, not that they will if I can help it, they'll try to get the location out of you. I think it's a good idea to teach you to defend your mind, is all."

"And they won't notice you going missing to give me these 'lessons'?" Lisa asked skeptically.

"We'll coordinate through the notebooks; it won't be a set day or hour. We can pull it off."

"I don't know, Cass... this sounds too dangerous..."

Dorcas smirked, a playful flame in her eyes. "And when has that ever stopped you?"

Lisa returned the smile, but on the inside she was very conflicted. On one hand, she wanted to see Dorcas more often, but on the other, this would put her in immense danger. Could she risk it?