From the playlist:

Sunshine of Your Love - Cream

Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered - Sinead O'Connor

Ch. 15 - The Haircut

The Potters caught wind of what happened with Remus's transformation not long after they floated home from their utterly blissful honeymoon:

"You haven't seen him at all?" Lily asked the mirror.

Sirius's face was reflected back in it. "I told him to reach out if he needed anything, but he felt pretty bad for forgetting the transformation and my birthday. I realized today that it had been a while since I heard from him…"

"You mean poor Moony's been left to mope by himself for a whole week? Of course he never reached out, it's Remus. And it's almost never a good idea to give him space."

"No, I know, Prongs; you're right. Marley and I are back to patrols, I just got distracted."

Lily leaned over the mirror again. "What about Peter? Has he gone over?"

"You're a nutter if you think Wormtail was going to volunteer himself to offer advice about women."

"Well has anyone heard from Emmie?" asked James.

"Not that I know of. Marley dropped by two days ago. McLaggen took one look at her and slammed the door in her face."

"Wanker-"

"-Such a wanker-"

"-Total wanker."

"So they haven't spoken either, I presume? Her and Remus?" Lily deduced.

"Yeah, so that-…that whole situation became considerably more complicated. You can ask him when you see him. I know you just got back, but I think it'll do him some good to talk to you rather than me."

James rose from the bed, handing the mirror off to Lily. "Right. He's been left to his own devices long enough."

"Want me to accompany you?"

"I don't think we shouldn't overwhelm him, I don't want him to feel ganged up on."

"Prongs, no offense, but on the whole, Lily-flower is far less overwhelming than you are."

Lily flashed a smile into the mirror. "No, it's okay. If he's feeling down about Emmeline, I don't want to remind him. I have to get some work done for Dumbledore anyway. Just tell him I've missed him."

"I will. Thanks, Padfoot."

"Cheers." Sirius's face disappeared from the mirror.

…

Crack.

"...Moony?"

When James apparated into the entryway of the house, he decided it was a bit too still for his liking. He guessed that Remus was in low spirits, but a quarter till three was a bit late to still be in bed, even for him.

"...Moony," he called again. No answer.

Judging by the state of the kitchen it looked like he'd eaten breakfast and lunch - there were two plates in the sink. But where was he?

"Moony?"

Because of what Sirius had shared with him, James began to worry. Remus was usually sort of a homebody - especially if he was sulking. Death Eaters had made appearances in the area before, and with their activity projected to pick up, he started to feel paranoid about his friend's wellbeing.

He drew his wand and inched further into the house. When he got closer to the stairs, he thought he might've heard a faint trickling sound coming from the first floor. Cautiously, he stepped towards the staircase to investigate the noise…

…but soon came face-to-face with Emmeline, sporting nothing but Remus's bathrobe tied loosely around herself.

They both screamed.

"AGH!"

"JAMES?!"

"SORRY! I'M SORRY-" James turned away and stashed his wand before shielding his eyes.

"WHAT ARE YOU-"

"I CAME TO CHECK ON REMUS!"

"What the hell is going on?!" shouted the aforementioned, having just raced down the stairs with his wand in his hand. When James turned, he saw that Remus had a towel wrapped around his waist, and noticed both of their hair was wet.

James looked somewhere between bewildered and beguiled.

Emmeline flushed a deep shade of crimson as she tied the robe tighter.

Remus clutched the towel for dear life.

"Prongs! Hah…" He swallowed dryly. "Welcome back."

James said nothing and continued to look back and forth between the two, piecing everything together based on Sirius's account.

"I trust Paris was nice? Nipply this time of year."

Mortified, Emmeline smacked her palm to her forehead. "Nippy, Remus."

"What did I say?"

A stupid grin crept its way across James's face.

"Oh bloody hell, here we go," Remus exhaled.

"...Merlin's tits you two, we leave for ten days and miss all of this? Lily's going to flip her lid!"

Remus began shooing him back towards the entryway. "Speaking of Lily, shouldn't you be getting back to her?"

"You know, I was coming to check on you, but it's become clear that you're well taken care of."

"Bite me, Potter," Emmeline grumbled as she snuck back upstairs.

"I think Remus beat me to the punch, dear!"

"Not funny," Remus groaned.

"A bit funny, come on."

"You couldn't've knocked?"

"I called for you, Romeo. You must've been otherwise occupied."

"It's hard to hear when the water's running."

"Not as hard as other things, I imagine."

"Godric- Prongs!"

"How'd you two even get back together!?"

"It's a long story for another time-"

"Oh I'm sorry, am I keeping you from round two-?"

"Three." He scrunched his face in regret as soon as he said it.

James's jaw flung open with pride. "You're a proper Adonis!" he wheezed, clapping him on the shoulder.

Remus spoke tersely as he opened the door for him. "Glad you're back. Send Lily our- er- my regards."

"BYE Emmie!" James took his shoulders and shook them. "Well done Moony, well done!"

"Yepthanksgoodbye." He closed the door on him, leaving James to walk the ten minutes back home with a skip in his step.

Remus rested his head against the door and huffed a sigh. He and Emmeline had managed to spend seven glorious days together - the likes of which would have earned them the envy of rabbits - with their little secret intact. Now that Prongs knew about them, Padfoot and Wormtail were sure to find out before dinner. He would have to prepare himself for the ridicule.

But oh, how he could care less.

Speaking of Emmeline, where had she run off to?

He traipsed back upstairs to the bathroom where she was waiting with another towel and his desk chair. "It would appear we've been caught red-handed." Thankfully, she didn't look too torn up about it.

Remus leaned in the doorway. "So it would seem."

"They were going to find out eventually," she shrugged.

"I hope you're prepared for the torment we're about to be put through. I expect this'll give them material to work with 'til Christmas."

"Who, the boys? Them I can handle. It's Marlene and Lily you ought to worry about taking the piss out of you. Absolute menaces."

"What's all this?" he asked, pointing to the chair.

"I believe a trim is in order. And you can shave after."

Remus pawed at his wet, chin-length hair. "You don't like it? I thought it sort of made me look like James Hunt."

"You want the truth?"

He nodded.

Emmeline scrunched her nose. "...You look a bit feral."

"Well in that case," he complied, sitting down in the chair and letting Emmeline have her way as she wrapped the towel around his shoulders and got to work.

He began to hear the soft slicing sounds of the shears as little tufts of hair fell around him. The sensation of her fingertips moving through his hair and along his scalp was something he'd always relished. Remus watched her lovingly in the mirror as she worked with a furrowed brow and pursed lips.

Eventually she made her way around so that she was standing in front of Remus with one of her legs in between both of his.

"Good Godric, what've you done to the front?"

"I couldn't bring myself to ask Lily when she was planning the wedding, so I tried to enchant the scissors." He moved his hand into the slit of the bathrobe and affectionately caressed her thigh. Merlin almighty, her skin was smooth.

Emmeline tried to swallow a smile. "Don't distract me, I don't want to nick you."

"I'm no stranger to cuts…" He began moving his hand up her leg...

She stuck the shears between her teeth and swatted him away. "Down boy. I've got to fix this hair first." Her lips pursed again as she continued trimming, and Remus went back to silently admiring her.

With a week gone by, he still hadn't found an opportune time to tell her the extent of how he felt. The more time that passed, the more he began to second guess himself. "Love" was a strong word, and perhaps one week into their renewed romance was just too soon. They'd said the L word to each other before, but it seemed to hold more weight now. I mean, did he really have to say it? Weren't the sleepless nights and afternoon pick-me-ups evidence enough?

Then again, there was a difference between love and lust; but Remus was unequivocally inflamed with both.

"I think I've salvaged it," she announced ten minutes later. After running her fingers through his hair a few more times, she moved over so that he could see himself in the mirror. "Ta-da!"

Remus tousled his shorter hair for himself. She was right; with three or four inches of hair gone all over, he definitely looked less like a lycan. "Brilliant," he said approvingly, pulling her into his lap.

"Ahp-ap-ap! Shave first." Much to Remus's dismay, she climbed out of his embrace and stood him up. With a swish and a flick of her wand, the hair on the bathroom floor was swept up into the waste bin. Then, he watched desirously as she pulled the desk chair away and went into the bedroom to get dressed.

"You're really so displeased with my facial hair that you won't let me touch you again until it's gone?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "We've just gotten out of the shower together and you're craving more? You're insatiable."

Sirius had put ideas in his head last week. "Ravenous. By my calculations, we still have nine and a half months to catch up on. There's simply no time for me to shave." He came up behind her and ran his hands down the curve of her hips…

…but she spun around and nudged him backwards with a smirk on her lips. "Razor."

Remus gazed at her hungrily, but ultimately trudged back to the bathroom. He began applying shaving cream to his face and pulled the straight razor his father had given him out of the cupboard. It was torturous really, making him watch as the robe dropped from her body while he was banished to the sink.

"I thought you would've learned your lesson about enchanting sharp objects after that one time with that very razor," Emmeline called to him, pulling her arms through the sleeves of an orange jumper. "You walked into Care of Magical Creatures one morning and I thought you'd fought off a pixie horde."

"...Have you thought about Dumbledore's offer?" he asked, veering the conversation in a different direction. It had been a week since she'd received the letter with no indication of what she was planning to do about it. Through the mirror's reflection, he watched as her smile disappeared.

"...Still considering it. I've got my interview at Flourish and Blotts tomorrow, remember? I'm focusing on that first..." She pulled her jeans on.

"Right, of course."

He dropped the subject.

Not a minute later, an owl rapped on the bedroom window. Emmeline trotted to open it for the creature who simply dropped the letter from its beak and flew off, but not before it earned itself a territorial squawk from Orpheus. Once she had closed the window again, she picked the delivery up off the floor. "His ears must've been burning. It's another note from Dumbledore."

Remus stepped away from the sink with half of his face still covered in shaving cream and opened the envelope. "...The meeting's been moved. It's in London, and it's tonight." He set the letter down on the bed then looked back at her, an idea forming. "...You should come with me."

"...I don't think I'll be allowed."

"You've just been offered your spot back. Alastor isn't going to throw you out. It'll be a good opportunity to discuss matters with Dumbledore." He was hopeful that a face-to-face conversation with Albus might persuade her.

"...I suppose you're right," she conceded. She couldn't avoid the matter for much longer.

"Besides," he continued, heading back to the sink to finish up shaving. "It could mitigate some rumors - so James can't go blabbering about us before we get the chance to tell the rest of them ourselves."

"What's he going to say? That we've shacked up at a frightfully alarming rate and we're too lecherous to leave the house?"

"Precisely."

"...Remus, all of that is true."

"Maybe, but I'm more confident in my choice of words than I am in his."

"Well, it doesn't matter who breaks the news; now they're just going to pester us about whether or not we're being careful," she complained, a bit less jovially.

Remus lifted his head in thought. "Have you ever wondered if we're all a bit too close?"

That got her to laugh.

"I mean honestly, Sirius looked me in the eye and asked me if I 'knew there were charms' for that."

Emmeline came back to the bathroom and eyed him fondly. "You missed a spot," she informed him, slowly reaching out to commandeer the razor. She then sat herself on the countertop in front of him and gently swiped the blade under his chin a few times. "...There." She set the razor aside and handed him a towel to wipe his face with. When he emerged from the cloth, she beamed. "Remus Lupin, you are the most dashing man I've ever laid eyes on."

Remus grinned bashfully. When they'd dated before, he had to convince himself that Emmeline wasn't fibbing every time she told him how handsome she thought he was. It was still hard for him to believe her, but he couldn't help himself from leaning in to kiss her tenderly. Then, the tenderness became tenacity.

"Alright Ms. Vance, I've done as you asked. My hair is cut and my face is clean," he said against her lips. "May I please touch you now?"

"I've just gotten dressed," she reminded him - though judging by the way her fingers were circling his stomach just above the towel, Remus got the impression she didn't really care.

He was already unbuttoning her jeans. "That can be remedied very easily, I assure you."