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Chapter 13
Paper moon
"Well, now we've officially moved in," Lisa said, taking a step back to admire her work.
Since they had to leave the last place in a rush - the landlord found out about Remus in record time, they hadn't even fully unpacked before having to pick up and leave - the only flat they could find that fit into their budget was unfurnished. It was slightly smaller than the previous one, which was actually quite an accomplishment, but the wallpaper didn't have any spots on it, and it had a very tiny balcony. There were plaster holes in the ceiling and a few rats running through the floor occasionally, but it wasn't so bad. Downside was that right at this moment the only piece of furniture they had was the red second-hand armchair Remus had bought for their very first flat. It now stood right in the middle of the empty room, with the couple's traveling trunks on each side to add symmetry.
"We should really do something about the rats..." Remus muttered dejectedly, spying one leaving its hole in the northern wall and skittering through the floor.
"It's fine, we'll just turn them into goblets if they come too close," Lisa quipped, going to stand next to him and observe her handiwork on the chair arrangement. "Not bad, considering what I had to work with. You think I have a future in interior design?"
A slight smile tugged at Remus' lips despite the weight in his chest. "Your decorating skills won't be of much comfort in the morning, when your neck hurts from having to sleep in a chair."
"That's what magic is for." Lisa smirked, pointing her wand at the chair. It elongated, and the back reclined until it was a decent-looking bed. "There," she added, transfiguring her coat into a blanket. "This should be okay for a few days. We'll just have to raid some muggle flea-market or something. It'll be fine."
Just as Remus was about to say something, the lights above them flickered, then went out. Someone yelled something in Lithuanian from upstairs, and footsteps echoed through the ceiling, sending a bit of white dust down to the floor. Lisa heard Remus sigh heavily next to her and slipped her hand in his, squeezing lightly.
"Muggles and their eckeltricity," Lisa said to lighten the mood and pointed her wand at one of the trunks. A rolled up piece of parchment flew towards them, and, with a swift motion of her wand, she cut out a crescent paper moon out of it. Tapping it lightly so it began to glow with a soft blue light, Lisa levitated it to the middle of the room where it hung like a magical lantern. After a moment's hesitation she decided they could use a little more light and conjured a few Bluebell flames, scattering them across the ceiling as well. "Good thing my boyfriend is a brilliant wizard, and we don't need that," she added with a grin and pointed her wand to the old gramophone in the corner he had enchanted for her in their sixth year, making a certain record spin.
"Well, it's a marvelous night for a Moondance, with the stars up above in your eyes. A fantabulous night to make romance, 'neath the cover of October skies," Lisa sang along with Van Morrison, pulling Remus into a dance.
"It's December," he pointed out jokingly, but she only rolled her eyes.
"Don't ruin the moment."
He chuckled and pulled her closer, taking the lead, his smile illuminated by the paper moon. He didn't know how she managed it, but Lisa could make even the most depressing want-to-cry-yourself-to-sleep moment happy.
"I think it's been about a year since the last time we danced," he said.
"Hm, wasn't that at James' New Year's party? When you told me of the trail of crying women you left behind in Hogwarts?"
"Three girls, and only one was left crying!" he retorted, but it only served to make her laugh.
"Heartbreaker."
"O, never say that I was false of heart, though absence seemed my flame to qualify. As easy might I from my self depart, as from my soul which in thy breast doth lie."
"I wonder, is there a situation in which you wouldn't know which book to quote?" Lisa teased.
"Are you accusing me of quoting poetry at inappropriate times?" Remus said in mock-offense. "Because if you are, you're the biggest hypocrite in existence."
"What?! All of my quotes are perfectly appropriate!"
"I seem to recall a certain line from Love's Suicide being quoted to me while I was trying to do the exact opposite."
"That stunt you pulled with the chocolate frogs was the most embarrassing thing to happen to me during my entire stay at Hogwarts! I don't know how I ever managed to show my face again in public after that! I just wanted to crawl into some dark hole and die."
Remus chuckled and leaned in closer. "I can think of a few other things we can do in the dark," he whispered in her ear and it sent shivers down her spine. His lips slowly moved to her earlobe, then to her neck, and his hands slipped under her shirt as they continued to sway. Her skin tingled there he touched it, and her fingers threaded through his soft, brown hair. He inhaled her warm scent, and she sighed when his breath made contact with her neck.
And I'm trying to please to the calling of your heart-strings that play soft and low
He lowered her onto the bed and clothes fell to the floor.
And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush
His fingers traced up her bare thigh as she wrapped it around his waist.
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
His hand found hers in the darkness and their fingers intertwined.
Can I just have one more Moondance with you, my love
The bed screeched alarmingly against the floor.
"We'll break it," Lisa breathed into his shoulder.
"That's what magic is for," he replied, capturing her lips with his own.
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love
The record reached its end and the needle began to skip, but the couple didn't seem to notice, their ears full only with whispered names and ragged breaths.
oOo
Remus lay on his side, just watching the sunrays catch in Lisa's honey-blonde hair. In the right light, it looked almost ginger. The locks were scattered on her exposed back, as she slept on her stomach, head turned away from him. He frowned slightly, wishing she were facing him so he could kiss her. Deciding to go for her shoulder instead, he moved a few tresses out of the way but stopped, feeling like he got slapped in the face. The long scars deforming her skin were almost as prominent as the night she got them, ugly and misshapen. The image of them alone was enough to make him wince, as he was able to clearly picture the pain she must've gone through. He hadn't felt his own claws dig into his skin in a long time, but something like that is not easily forgotten. His fingers almost unconsciously traced one of the longer claw marks, stretching from her shoulder blade all the way down to the small of her back.
She stirred and stretched, turning around to look at him. There was something so wonderful about the way she looked, naked under the sheets, with the winter sun reflected in her eyes, and it took his breath away.
"Good morning."
She smiled at him, and without even thinking about it, he leaned in for a kiss. Her arms coiled around his neck, bringing his body closer, as he hovered on top of her, his scarred chest pressing against her bare breasts.
"Have I told you before that you somehow still taste great in the morning, while simultaneously having the worst case of morning breath on the planet?" she quipped when they broke apart.
"I don't know about that. Have you smelled Padfoot in the morning? Though I can't speak for the taste," said a voice behind them, and Remus and Lisa looked to the door, where James and Sirius had just entered. Remus swore loudly and rolled off to reach for his wand while Lisa shot to a sitting position, gathering the sheets to her chest.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE!?" she yelled, but they only snickered.
"House warming," Sirius replied casually, holding up a bottle of wine.
"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?!"
"We knocked. No one answered, so we let ourselves in," James said offhandedly, his eyes sliding down to the broken legs of the bed, which was now completely flat on the floor. "You broke the bed? Moony, you beast."
"Obscuro!" Remus said, pointing his wand at his friends. Black blindfolds covered their eyes, but they barely reacted to them.
"So what would you say, Prongs? A solid C cup?" Sirius continued nonchalantly.
"Moony was blocking my view. C is a good guess though, but it looked more on the B side."
"Because she was on her back. Trust me; I've seen Bs and those—"
"GET OUT, YOU BASTARDS!" Lisa shouted, face red and wand held high. The repulsing charm sent them both staggering out the door, which then slammed loudly in their faces. Their laughter echoed through the walls, and she reclined back in the bed, burning with embarrassment.
"I hate your friends," she said when Remus joined her, propped up on his elbow.
"I'm sorry about them," he sighed.
"Didn't we have locking charms on the door?"
"We did, but that's never stopped either of them before."
"Why do we even bother giving them keys then?!"
"Because they gave me theirs. I felt like I had to return the gesture."
Lisa laughed and looked at him. His warm smile and the way he was looking at her were quickly erasing any other thoughts.
"Let me try to make it up to you?" he said, gently tracing the shape of her now exposed breast.
"You'd need to do something pretty spectacular to make up for that."
"Well, I have been told I'm better than Merlin," he said seductively in her ear. She giggled, but it soon turned into a sigh, when his lips pressed to her neck and his hand slid downwards.
oOo
In the following week, Lisa and Remus visited multiple flea-markets, agreeing that having some furniture of their own would be an investment in the long run. After about five or six, they had a battered couch that doubled as a bed, a table, six plain wooden chairs, a worn coffee table, and three rugs. Dorcas' gold came in very handy, though with each knut spent, Lisa felt more and more guilty. She had to lie to Remus and tell him she just got an advance on this month's pay, although the witch who was her boss seemed like she would rather swallow bubotuber puss then give her an advance. The woman really hated her for some reason.
'I should remember to buy a bookshelf,' Lisa thought one evening, exiting the bathroom after a shower. The room looked relatively decent now, especially with Remus sitting on the sofa and scribbling something on a piece of parchment, occasionally consulting a thick dictionary on the shabby coffee table. It was almost homey.
"What are you doing?" she asked, sitting down next to him and producing a gust of hot air from her wand to dry her hair.
"Translating. I answered an ad in the Daily Prophet this morning; some wizard wants this 12th century runic contract translated into Latin. They'll pay me twelve sickles per page."
Lisa peered into the parchment and frowned. "This wording is so archaic! They should be paying you more!" she said. He only shrugged.
"I suppose that's why the ad was in the paper. A real agency would've taken triple for a text of this complexity."
"But you're still doing it for next to nothing?" Lisa grumbled.
"Better than actual nothing. If I asked for a higher pay, I'd probably have to present credentials and personal information and they'd reject me. We could use the money."
"Why? We already got what we needed. I was hoping to get a bookshelf, but I can live without it."
Remus put down the quill and turned to look at her. "A shelf shouldn't be too expensive. How much from that advance have you got left?"
"It doesn't matter, I can dip into the fund for this. We agreed it's an investment."
"We also agreed you should save that money for when you really need it."
"I think having no furniture qualifies as 'need'," she said dryly. "And I have some more from the advance, yes. I'll go looking for a shelf tomorrow after work, then. Is there something more you want?"
"No."
"Liar."
Remus chuckled softly. He shouldn't have answered that quickly, it was always a dead giveaway.
"What is it?" Lisa urged.
"I was... I was thinking maybe we could get a writing desk? Not a big one, I think an old desk should serve just as well as a new one, and a lot of people want to get rid of bulky furniture, so they'll be willing to sell cheaply."
"Pining after the glory days, eh?" Lisa teased.
He smiled at her and picked up the quill again. "The glory days?"
"When you had to write essay after essay. Do you miss homework, Prefect Lupin?"
Remus laughed lightly, and his eyes turned back to the parchment. "You could say that."
"Really?" she said, a bit surprised. "I was just kidding. You really want to go back to Hogwarts?"
"... In a sense."
Lisa shot him a look. "Okay, how about you stop being vague and tell me what's going on?"
Remus left the parchment on the table and reclined back into the couch, running a hand through his hair.
"I've been thinking lately..." he started. Lisa's stomach twisted into knots. Usually when Remus thought about things, it never ended up being positive. "About... about what I want to do with my life. I know I have very limited possibilities, but I was granted an education and... I was thinking of maybe applying for the qualification tests in the Department of Magical Education. For a Professor." Lisa's jaw dropped. Remus threw her another look and chuckled at the stupefied expression on her face. "You think I'll be a bad teacher?"
"What?! You'll be a brilliant teacher! The best Hogwarts' ever had!" she exclaimed happily and threw her arms around his neck.
"You really think I should try for it?" he asked, embracing her tightly and pulling her into his lap.
"Of course you should! Remus, this would be perfect for you!"
"They won't let me teach immediately... I'll need to have a few years of practice, experience on the field..."
"Oh, stop! So what if you have to wait a little while, Dumbledore knows you, he'd hire you in a heartbeat!"
"It's not just up to him, there's the Board of Governors and—"
She cut him off with her lips. "Shut up. You're ruining my excitement."
"You know what this would mean, don't you?" he said, gazing deeply into her eyes. "A stable income."
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Remus, no one cares. I'm just happy you'll get to do something you're good at, something you enjoy. You've always been an amazing tutor; I wouldn't have passed my Transfiguration N.E.W.T. without you. And Peter wouldn't have gotten half of his exams."
"I didn't do that much," he said modestly. "You already knew the material, I just helped you believe in yourself."
She smiled at him affectionately and caressed his head. "How did I ever land someone as wonderful as you?"
He chuckled softly and drew her in for another kiss.