Lupin's True Love

August 20, 1973

Veronica dropped onto the bench beside Lily. Lily looked up from her copy of Care of Magical Creatures: A Guide to the Care and Treatment of Magical Creatures.

"Still upset with Remus?" Lily closed her book.

"How can you tell?" Veronica glared at the boys' tent.

"You haven't talked to him for about two days."

Neither of the girls noticed Remus approaching them. He listened to their softly whispered conversation.

Veronica frowned slightly as she picked at a loose spot of paint on the table. "He's supposed to be my boyfriend and he was flirting with that...bimbo. He's ignored me this entire vacation. That was insensitive of him."

"No more than it was of you to kiss Sirius." Lily played with the cover of her book.

"Hey. I did that to get back at Remus for flirting with her." Veronica slammed her fist against the table.

"Still, you haven't given him a chance to explain or apologize."

"What's to explain? We all saw him flirting with that...that..."

"Bimbo from hell is what Sirius called her." Remus sank onto the bench beside Veronica. "Lily, could you leave us alone?"

"Nope. I was here first and I'm not leaving." Lily opened her book before looking over at Remus and Veronica. "Why don't the two of you go for a walk?"

"Fine." Veronica practically jumped to her feet as Remus held out a hand to aid her.

"See you later, Lily." Remus waved as he and Veronica moved away from the campsite.

They walked silently along the path to the beach. Even the wind seemed to have anger about it as it whipped Veronica's hair away from her face. Remus shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked beside her. Veronica's eyes flashed violet as she shoved a branch away from her face.

"Veronica..."

"No! I don't want to hear any excuses, Remus. You betrayed me when you started to flirt with that girl. How could you do that?"
"How could I flirt with her? I wasn't flirting with her. I was telling her about us when you kissed Sirius." Remus ran a hand through his hair. "She wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Why didn't you just walk away from her?" Veronica swiped at the tears sliding down her cheeks.

"I tried. She wouldn't let me go and when we all saw you kissing Sirius, I just froze."

"A likely story." Veronica turned away from Remus. "You like her better than me all because she's got blonde hair and blue eyes."

"Not bloody likely." Remus grabbed Veronica's shoulders and turned her around. "I love you, Veronica. Not some girl I just met on the beach. She called you a bitch after you kissed Sirius and slapped me."

"I'll kill her!" Veronica jerked out of Remus' arms.

"Not before I tell you what I told her. I said that if she ever called you a bitch again she'd wish she'd never been born."

"Why'd you tell her that?"

"Because I love you. She had no right to insult you like that." Remus pulled Veronica closer to him.

Sirius and James stood behind two mid-size oaks watching them. James leaned towards Sirius slightly. "Do you think they're going to kiss?"

Veronica giggled slightly. "We would if the two of you would leave us alone."

Remus tugged on her arm slightly. "Come on. Let's go the beach." He waved at James and Sirius staring after them. "Bye, idiots."

Remus and Veronica left James and Sirius still gaping after them as they walked along the path to the beach. Alastor watched from where he was standing. He pulled in a deep breath on his pipe before turning and heading back to the campsite. As Remus and Veronica approached the beach, Veronica saw the flicker of candlelight. She turned slightly to look at Remus but it was like he didn't see the flickering light. They stepped from the path to see a blanket stretched out on the sand and a picnic basket sitting on top of it. Candles were sunk into the sand around the corner of the blanket near the basket. Remus pulled Veronica slightly toward the picnic.

"Dad thought a candlelight picnic would be just the thing for us tonight." Remus smiled softly as he settled Veronica onto the blanket.

Veronica tilted her head slightly as a gentle sea breeze lifted her hair. "You were positive that I was going to forgive you, weren't you?"

"You've never been able to stay angry with me for long." Remus settled himself onto the blanket beside Veronica. "Besides I thought you had forgiven me."

"You know I have." Veronica leaned forward to place a soft kiss on his lips.

Remus pulled her toward him but Veronica pulled away. "What?"

"We've got a lovely picnic here and I, for one, am not going to waste a single morsel." Veronica laughed as Remus stared at her. "That means you'd better open that basket and see what was sent for us."

Remus laughed as he turned to the basket. He flipped open the top and saw sealed containers of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, homemade biscuits, corn on the cob, potato salad, and a garden salad. "I think Mrs. Weasley thought she was feeding an army."

Veronica took an empty plate from Remus and started to fill it with the food. Remus handed her a bottle of butterbeer he had found at the bottom of the basket. They sat on the blanket eating and laughing, completely happy that they had made up. Veronica put her once full plate down on the blanket as she looked around for signs of Sirius and James.

"Remus, I think I should warn you about a little prank the girls and I are going to play on you and the others."

"What prank?"

"We each wrote a letter from those girls at the beach and had Orlando send them to the four of you. We're going to be hiding and waiting to throw water balloons at you."

"What's in the balloons?" Remus looked apprehensive about her answer.

"Well, I'm not sure what it is but Orlando says it only lasts for three days."

"I guess we do deserve it."

"You know you don't have to go with the prank. You could join us in it. Just tell the guys that we've made up and you don't want to upset me anymore than you've already done."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Remus started to gather the remains of their picnic and put them back in the basket. "No since in letting Sirius and James get away with flirting with those girls either."

Veronica climbed to her feet as Remus grabbed the basket. She scooped up the blanket and shook it free of all the sand before she folded it up. Remus took her hand and together they returned to the campsite. Alastor watched them as they came back into the camp. He only nodded when he saw Remus give Veronica a kiss on her cheek. James and Sirius rolled their eyes before dragging Remus into their tent. Veronica went to the girls' tent and scrambled up onto her bed before rolling over and going to sleep.