Remus' Nifty, Big, Red, Beautiful Book

Author's Notes: Yay for Arni! Ashley again helped create numerous events in this chapter. And -gasp- the chapters are getting longer! Have fun reading!

Friday, May 15, 1981

Wondering about my absence? Well, my hiding spot was a good one. I couldn't find this journal for two weeks. May 4 was the originally planned date for Sirius and Elle's wedding. Now it's only 11 days away, and man, has it been insane. Roger's at Sirius and Elle's' every weekday, and sometimes he even takes some of his time off to help with the final touches. Sirius has come to like Roger... Just not like that. And even if he did, Roger got his man. He's going out with that Barry guy. But yes, it's less than two weeks away. That means Nina's coming up in less than two weeks! Not... that I care... Or anything...

Days til Nina's here: 11

Not that I care...

Tuesday, May 19, 1981

I'm not counting, but one week til Nina's here- I mean, the wedding. Exactly one week til the wedding.

Days til Nina's here: 7

I really don't care...

Wednesday, May 20, 1981

I cannot believe those two! I was at the coffee shop, making a small decaf for some woman, and the phone rings. Sue picked it up. I heard her say, "No, it's Sue." and then

"I'll get him."

"Remus!" she called.

I went over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hi, Remus," came Sirius' voice.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah. Listen, uh, James was thirsty and, ah, you'll never guess where we are."

I didn't say anything.

"We're at the jail. Can you come bail us out?"

"You're where? Wait, did you just say James was thirsty, so you're in jail?"

"Uh, yeah. See, he didn't really get how the whole store thing worked with paying for the drink, and he accidentally stole it. Then the guy from the store comes chasing after him, and James paid. But the guy wouldn't leave us alone, and I got 'aggressive'. At least, that's what it says on my police record. So it really isn't our fault. I was good! I didn't even hit the guy!"

I didn't say anything for a while. Reluctantly, I asked, "What jail?"

He told me where the jail was, and that I was to bring ₤200. They promised to pay it back. Covering for Winston's convention did have one perk: he owed me. If the boss showed up, he had to cover for me.

After bailing the guys out, I returned to work, where I told Sue and Winston what happened.

"So, did they murder anyone?" Sue asked excitedly.

"No. One accidentally stole a beverage, and the other got 'aggressive'."

Sue looked disappointed.

"Well that's dull," she said.

I hope Ilka yelled her lungs out at Sirius and James. And I hope their significant others are furious. I'm inviting Peter over. I need to vent to someone who can understand what those two are like.

Days til Nina's here: 6

Really, It doesn't matter...

Well, I'm glad I could be of assistance. They can be a little uncontrollable sometimes. Remus has gone to make me some tea (and probably some coffee for himself; it's been a rough day), and I found this on the bookshelf here. I'm hungry. So after this tea, I think I'll head home. Mum's making shepherd's pie tonight. I better put this back before Remus gets in here!

Peter

PS Nice countdown clock you've got there!

Days til Remus stops pining: 6

He really does care.

Thursday, May 21, 1981

Something went wrong with the wedding cake, or so I hear. Wait a minute... Peter! Looks like the journal's moving again. Anyway, Sirius, who I am no longer that angry with, told me that the cake orders got mixed up. They ended up having a cake delivered to their door yesterday evening. It was smallish and round and had sugary icing in the shape of brooms and snitches, and colourful icing gel spelled out 'Happy 3^rd Birthday, Billy!' I never found out what they did with the cake, but I'm not sure I want to know, since all Elle and Sirius got out was 'There isn't any more...' before Elle started to giggle and Sirius began snickering. Those two are odd.

Days til Nina's here: 5

I swear, I'm not counting or anything like that!

Friday, May 22, 1981

Sirius is starting to get nervous. The wedding is now four days away. Wow. Having the guys over tonight. Just a get-together kind of thing, I guess. We'll probably play cards and talk. Oh, and I heard Sirius got in BIG trouble with the Aurory for getting arrested. They were talking about expelling him from the training program, but I think the Head of Department sees him as too valuable.

Days til Nina's here: 4

It's not important. It's just a boring countdown to the wedding, honest...

Wow, this Journal's back on the coffee table? Never thought I'd see it again. I'm not nervous! And I feel bad about the wedding cake mix-up. Imagine Little Billy getting a big wedding cake at his front door instead of his awesomely sugary Quidditch cake. That's sad. That's like getting thick, informational books for Christmas! Unless you're Remus. Then those big encyclopedias are GREAT gifts.

Sirius

PS Boring countdown to the wedding my arse.

Billy's cake sounded pretty cool to me!

James

Well, James, I was thinking about saving that cake for Harry's 3^rd Birthday and just fixing the letters of the name a bit...

Sirius

Wow. We really weren't going to find this journal sitting here. Nice hiding spot Moony. Was the cake good, Sirius?

Peter

Well, I didn't get to eat much of it, but it was pretty good.

Sirius

Monday, May 24, 1981

Is this journal now a conversation book? Rehearsal dinner was tonight. During the rehearsal, Olivia, as she finished throwing the flowers from her basket, swung the basket too hard and let go, smacking Peter in the head. Ilka looked rather humiliated. She ran up to get Olivia, who was giggling at the scene. Sirius and James were chuckling too, and even Elle was hiding a grin. Peter rubbed his forehead where the basket hit and grumbled a bit. We got through the rest of it without trouble.

At the dinner, when he got his headache, Sirius asked if he was allowed to leave, which frustrated Ilka. Ilka is touching when things get intense like this.

"Mum!" he growled. "I have a headache and I just want to leave!"

This didn't make Ilka any happier, and Sirius realized that he'd never make it out of the building, much less to his mother's house, where he'd be staying that night. Elle didn't bother trying to calm Ilka down, but she did find Sirius a pain reliever. Nina is coming tomorrow. She's probably in London now. No, I'm NOT thinking of her. Shut up.

Days til Nina's here: 1

I'm NOT excited.

Tuesday, May 25, 1981

It's raining. Today is the wedding. We're all staying at the hotel that the reception is at. I don't have much time, since I'm supposed to be at the church in thirty minutes. It's twenty minutes away, and knowing my car, I'm going to be late.

Nina's here!

Wednesday, May 26, 1981

Where to begin? There's so much to say about yesterday. I'll just start, I guess.

I was late. It didn't really matter, though, because Peter was too. He got lost. James was there with Sirius though, since they had both stayed with their parents and sisters the night before. By the time Peter and I showed up, Frank was waiting in the atrium of the church to tell us that Sirius had left them a message.

"The message," Frank relied, "is 'If anyone needs me, I'll be getting sick in the bathroom.'"

Peter and I figured James had it under control and stood talking to Frank. Ilka came over to ask where her sons were. That's when she came. Nina entered as Peter told Ilka Sirius was in the bathroom, probably vomiting into a toilet. Following her was a short woman with... bright purple hair and an orange dress. She was babbling animatedly to Nina who rolled her eyes. Nina... Nina was tanner than I remembered her. She's grown her brown hair out longer, and it had highlights in it now. Pity she worn a plain, black dress, though. What did I do? Should I go over and say hello? Just then, the purple haired woman, who was obviously Casey, noticed me and waved, smacking Nina on the shoulder and directing her head my way. I swear my face heated up. Ilka looked at me confused. Peter said, rather loudly, "It's Nina. His lost love from Africa." Ilka nodded in a knowing way only Ilka can nod. She went over to Olivia and Harold and took out her wand, doing little fix-ups on Olivia's curly black hair. It seems poor Olivia picked up the crazy Potter hair gene, God bless her soul.

Casey, meanwhile, seemed to be dragging Nina over to Peter, Frank, and I. Once they reached us, Nina and I stared at each other for a few seconds before Casey began talking.

"I'm Casey," she said brightly. "You're Remus; I've see your picture. You're Remus' friends, right?" She looked to Frank and Peter, waiting for an answer.

"Casey," Nina said bluntly. "That's Peter, that's Frank." She pointed to each of them.

I had almost forgotten her voice. But the sound of it brought the memory back. It was just as it had been the last time I heard it.

"You'll be lucky to find your friends," Peter told Nina. "They're all bridesmaids, I think."

Frank nodded.

"Hey, two are missing!" Casey said. Just how much did this person know about us?

"Huh?" Peter looked lost.

"Sirius and James," Casey said, as though it were obvious.

"Oh," Peter uttered. "How do you know all of us?"

"Nina," she said simply. Nina smacked her forehead. "That, and Nina got a scrapbook in the mail that her friend Lily made, and I could kind of figure everything out from there." Nina sighed deeply. I could tell she wished her friends were out here, instead of preparing for the wedding.

"What about James' sister?" Nina asked.

"Olivia's over there," I answered stupidly.

"I meant Virginia. That's her name right?" Clearly, Nina was desperate to find someone here to talk to that wasn't us.

"She's a bridesmaid, too," Frank said helpfully. "She's Sirius' sister too, remember."

"That's okay!" Casey crooned. This girl was a little frightening. Her hair was clipped back, but it still made an outrageous statement. I think Sirius is going to regret letting her come. "We'll just talk to you guys!" I can almost hear the exclamation points after everything she says. I prayed to God that she wasn't sitting near me at the reception. James appeared at our side. He greeted Nina and, with a glance our way, Casey. Casey shook his hand vigorously and said, "I'm Casey, and you must be James! I could tell because of the hair!" James stole a glance my way, as though I had something to do with Casey being here.

"Where's Sirius?" Peter asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"Oh, he's alright. Virginia showed up, wanted to talk to him," James answered, shrugging.

"Virginia's in the men's room?"

"Well, yeah, but it was just us in there anyway."

I can only imagine what Virginia was telling her older brother (hopefully something to calm his nerves).

With the wedding due to start in five minutes, someone had to get Sirius. James, Peter, and Frank looked to me.

"What?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Go get him," the three told me.

Outnumbered, I said goodbye for now to Nina and Casey and made my way to the restrooms. I slipped into the men's room. Sirius was on his knees before the toilet, and Virginia was knelt beside him, softly talking.

"Sirius, there isn't much time... Are you going to be okay?"

Sirius started to nod, but threw up into the toilet instead. Virginia shook her head.

"At this rate, there won't be anything to throw up," she muttered.

"I'll be fine," Sirius muttered. Virginia patted his head and stood up. "Oh, Remus," she said, surprised. Sirius looked up.

"You've, uh, only got a few minutes, Sirius," I said.

"Right," he mumbled. He stood up slowly and bent his head over the sink. Quickly, he rinsed out his mouth. Virginia gave him a hug and disappeared. Not knowing what else to do, I headed back out to the others.

"How is he?" James inquired. I noticed Nina wasn't there anymore. In fact, most of the people were already seated in the pews of the church.

"He's alright, I think," I told him, Peter, and Frank.

Sirius walked over to us, head bowed slightly.

"You alright, mate?" James asked him, putting an arm over Sirius' shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm good," Sirius affirmed, giving them a half-smile and lifting his head a bit.

He seemed to recover a bit during the ceremony. Whatever James thinks about them staying together, Sirius and Elle are a beautiful couple. Nina sat in the back for the ceremony. And no, I was not looking for her. Casey's dress and hair are hard to miss.

The reception was pretty elaborate, but I wasn't surprised. It started at six. Unfortunately, I was seated next to Casey. Apparently God wasn't listening to me today. I was sitting next to Nina, though. Not that I was excited or anything. After his speech, James got pretty drunk, mainly on champagne. (He cursed Sirius the next morning for getting "the good stuff".) Lily was not too happy with this, and neither was Ilka, but there was nothing to be done about it. Then came the part of the evening that made the rest of the reception awkward: the bouquet and garter. I think Sirius and Elle planned it or something, but here's what happened:

Nina was ignoring the bouquet toss, her back facing Elle, talking to me. Elle threw the bouquet, and Nina caught it in her open, unexpecting hand. She stared at it for over a minute. So did I. Neither of us realized anything until Sirius turned around and shouted, "Heads up, Moony!" I looked up and caught the garter. Oh, God, I thought. This was going to be really uncomfortable. Sirius, James, Peter, and Frank were cackling with laughter. I looked at Nina. She stared back, as if asking, 'What do we do?'

"What do we do?" she asked me.

"I..." Before I could finish, James slurred, "C'mon, Moony! Be a man!"

It seemed I had no choice. Nina, obviously not liking this one bit, sat down in her chair. Music began playing, and everyone's eyes watched us. I slipped the garter up her leg- Man, she had nice- No, bad Remus. You don't like her...remember? Anyway, it was the longest minute of my life, and not at all amusing, as my friends seemed to think. After that, Nina and I had trouble figuring out what to say for a while. Sirius popped over and demanded (in that Sirius and convincing way) that Nina and I should dance. I told him to bugger off, and Nina told him worse.

"Aw, c'mon you two lovebirds!" he begged. "You know you want to!"

"Do not," Nina and I told him sternly.

"You guys are absolutely no fun!" he continued. "You're madly in love, and yet you refuse to dance together at all... This is indeed, a tragic love story. A never-ending saga of things that keep your hearts from beating as one!"

"He's lost it," I informed Nina.

"I have not! Look, you two really need to get back into your relationship. We're awaiting another wedding here, and lemme tell ya, it's not Peter's."

"Sirius..." I started. I never did finish, because Nina cut me off.

"Fine. If we have one dance, will you let us be?" she demanded.

"Sure, your majesties," he responded smoothly.

Nina grabbed my arm and pulled my to the dance floor. The song change to a slower one about (God, did you take a vacation while this wedding occurred?) love. And not just love, but a lost love reunited. I stole a glance at Sirius, who smirked and twirled his wand before putting it in his pocket. After that dance, Sirius did leave us alone, but James didn't, and he was drunk.

"C'mon, kiss 'er!"

"James, how many times til it gets through your drunk head...?"

"You wanna, you know you wanna..."

Nina rolled her eyes.

"Permission to hit him?" she asked.

"Permission granted," I said with a shrug.

She hit James hard in the shoulder, making him stagger.

"I'll come back later then..." he said, backing away.

He didn't come back later, and Nina and I spent most of the rest of the evening talking about her school and such things. It sounds boring and unromantic, but it wasn't.

That's about all from the wedding. Sirius and Elle are currently on an airplane (since Elle wanted to travel the muggle way, being a muggleborn) to some island. They'll have fun, I'm sure. Oh, yeah. This morning, Peter and I stopped by James and Lily's hotel room to make sure James was all right, and he had little ponytails all over his head. They were Lily's way of keeping the sick from getting into his hair. He'll never live it down. Nina has returned to Africa, taking Casey with her. (Thanks God, you've finally come through...) I WON'T MISS HER.

Days til Nina comes home: 690

Monday, May 31, 1981

Hasn't been too much to write about. Just recording that Sirius and Elle are back from their trip. Also, Harry doesn't call James 'broom' anymore. Harry now calls James 'Daddy', me 'Moo-ee', Sirius 'Pa-foof', and Peter 'Wometay'. James called us all up for this momentous news.

NO MORE COUNTER, GOD DAMMIT! I've got to get a GRIP!