Marauders Redux

Chapter 5: Marauders on the Move

Sirius' enthusiasm was catching, and Remus felt his smile growing almost as large as his friend's. Sirius laughed--a light, giddy laugh that Remus hadn't heard since before James and Lily were killed. Sirius' eyes were glowing, and even behind his new Greek-god mask, Remus could see that his friend was the happiest that he had been since their reunion a year and a half ago. Why did I try to stop this? He's needed this for so long.

Nymphadora and Bill joined Remus in his quiet contemplation of their friend's elation. Sirius' bright blue eyes were darting around the street, watching groups of witches and wizards strolling by, and bustling in and out of shops. A pair of particularly attractive young witches caught his eye, and with a wicked grin, he started out after them. Bill hastily stepped after him and caught a hold of his arm. "Hold on, cousin," said Bill. "Slow down a little."

"Oh come on, mate!" cried Sirius. "They're getting away!"

"Don't worry--there'll be plenty more at the concert. Just be patient."

"Do I have to?" pleaded Sirius.

Bill nodded. "Sorry, Colin. But we're already a little tight on time--thanks to mister indecision over here," he pointed his thumb back at Remus.

"Well perhaps if you'd given me a little advance warning..." started Remus.

Nymphadora cut him off. "Don't worry about it. You didn't take any more time than you needed."

Bill laughed. "But you're biased, Tonks--as far as you're concerned, he's practically perfect in every way."

Sirius laughed along with Bill, and Nymphadora scowled at them. Remus looked on in bewilderment. Exactly what did Bill mean by that?

Unfortunately, they immediately dropped the topic, and Remus was left to speculate for himself.

"Let's go get Fleur. Her flat's over this way," said Bill, leading the way.

"So how can Fleur afford a Diagon Alley flat with nothing but part-time work?" asked Sirius, falling into step with his "cousin".

"Her parents are subsidizing her," Bill responded.

"It's good to have money, isn't it?" said Nymphadora with a sigh.

"Only if you're allowed to use it," Sirius responded glibly--he should know. He'd been sitting on a pile of gold that he'd been unable to spend due to his fugitive status.

Bill led the way into a narrow door between two shop fronts, and up an even narrower flight of stairs. The tiny landing at the top had doors to three different flats. Bill knocked on the first door, and it was flung open with an alarming swiftness. A shimmering blonde haze gasped in delight, launched itself at Bill's face, and started kissing him enthusiastically. This must be Fleur, thought Remus with slightly embarrassed amusement. The couple's arms were wrapped around each other, and their bodies had begun to melt together into a single fluid mass of red and blonde.

Remus expected the kissing to end after just a moment--but instead it seemed to keep going on...and on...and on. Remus shuffled his feet uncomfortably, looking at the ground. Sirius was smiling, and shaking with silent laughter. Nymphadora crossly folded her arms, and was tapping her foot impatiently. As the kissing continued to show no signs of stopping, Remus glanced up at Nymphadora beside him. She sent him a crooked little smile, and rolled her eyes at their entangled friend. She gestured for him to lean closer to her--which he gladly did--and stretched up to whisper in his ear. Her breath was warm on his neck. "It'll only last another minute--or two," she said. "They're like this every time!"

Remus smiled back down at the petite woman beside him, and inexplicably wondered what it would be like to knock on her door, and receive a similar reception. The thought of holding her soft, small body in his arms--and of feeling her slender fingers running through his hair--and of having her moist lips press against his own--made him feel increasingly warm and flushed. Remus was still looking down at Nymphadora, a happy little smile playing across his face, when she raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "What? What's the smile for?"

He shook his head, looking down at the ground. "Nothing," he said, "nothing at all." But the smile inspired by his imagined kiss lingered on his face.

The slender blonde figure finally released her suction on Bill's face to glance over at her other visitors. She blinked her large, luminous eyes, and then plastered a rather insincere smile on her face. "Tonks!" she cried in an artificially cheery tone, "'Ow delightful to see you again!" she finished in a thick French accent, before promptly turning back to Bill to fix his mussed hair.

Nymphadora mimicked Fleur's artificial smile, and replied, "It's always a joy to see you, Fleur!" After she spoke, she looked over her shoulder at Remus, and rolled her eyes.

Not only was Fleur as beautiful as Bill had boasted, she might be even more beautiful than Bill had boasted. She reminded him of a poster of a scantily-clad veela that Sirius had pinned to their dormitory wall for their last three years at Hogwarts--which was definitely not a good image to be associating with his friend's girlfriend.

Suddenly, the unfortunate revelation struck Remus that he was surrounded by a collection of strikingly attractive young people. He felt like a mule in a field full of unicorns. Remus glanced back down at his bizarre outfit, and sighed. Tonight was definitely shaping up to be an outing of four beauties, and one beast--an unmistakably middle-aged beast dressed like a gay swashbuckler. He'd just have to grin and bear it.

Fleur, her arms still wrapped around Bill, turned her gaze toward Remus. She looked him up and down with an air of what could only be described as snobbish amusement. "You must be thees Remus zat I 'ave 'eard so much about," she said. Remus did his best to muster a smile, and stepped forward, holding out his hand. "Remus Lupin. And you must be Fleur Delacour. Bill has told us all about you." She reluctantly released her grip around Bill's midsection to shake his hand.

Sirius took that moment to step forward from the shadowy recesses of the narrow stairwell. When she saw him, Fleur's expression lit with sudden curiosity, and she stepped away from Bill toward Sirius, saying, "And you must be Colin! Bill deed not even tell me zat 'e 'ad a cousin until two days ago, and now 'ere you are! So good to meet you!"

"A pleasure to meet you, Fleur--a real pleasure!" he said in his best imitation of an Irish brogue. He took Fleur's hand in his, and raised it to his mouth for a kiss.

"Ze pleasure is all mine," said Fleur, winsomely. She giggled as Sirius continued to grasp her hand.

"That's enough of that, cousin," said Bill, stepping forward to wrap his arm protectively around Fleur's waist.

"Oh, 'e is just being chivalrous, mon petit chou," said Fleur, still smiling up at 'Colin.'

"Nice shirt, Fleur," broke in Nymphadora, clearly trying to change the subject. For the first time Remus noticed what was printed on Fleur's small, tight, bright pink t-shirt. A purple glittery letter "I" was followed by an equally glittery heart, which in turn was followed by the letters "SB."

"So would that be I 'heart' Stubby Boardman, or I 'heart' Sirius Black?" asked Nymphadora, smiling wickedly at the girl, as Remus stifled a laugh.

"Both, of course," replied Fleur. "Both poor men were wronged by your Meenistry, and both were shunned by society--but 'opefully soon both men will be publicly cleared, and geeven the respect and admiration that they are due." She sounded very serious about it.

'Colin' looked Bill in the eye, and said, "I really like this girl of yours."

Fleur giggled again.

Nymphadora raised one eyebrow, and asked, "So you don't think they're the same person?"

"Not anymore, no," answered Fleur, still terribly serious. "Bill told me ze truth, of 'ow 'is own brother Ron witnessed proof of Meester Black's innocence, and was ignored by the Meenistry. And, of course, as a loyal fan of ze 'obgoblins since I was a leetle girl, I knew full well zat Stubby Boardman 'ad never gone to Azkaban. But I feel such sympathy for both men, zat I am compelled to speak up on zere behalf."

Nymphadora nodded, still grinning. "Good for you, to get involved in important social issues like this."

Fleur frowned at her. "I do what I can."

"Of course you do," with an air of mock sympathy. "But enough of politics. Let's get some food. I'm starving. There's a great fish and chip shop just down the way," said Nymphadora.

"Do zey serve salad?" asked Fleur, with a wicked glare.

"Salad? What for?"

Fleur sneered at Tonks. "Some of us like to watch our weight."

Remus was beginning to suspect that Fleur was smarter than she had appeared at first glance. She certainly wasn't going to let Nymphadora get away with taking the mickey out of her, without taking some back. Nymphadora stared at Fleur in shock, and appeared about to make a harsh retort when Bill stepped forward and said, "Just a bit further there's a great little café, and they serve salad and fish and chips."

Wisely, Nymphadora chose to keep her mouth shut as Bill led them out and down the street to the café. Bill took one of Fleur's arms, and Sirius took the other, forming a nice little Fleur sandwich. Remus and Nymphadora fell in behind them.

Nymphadora was looking glumly down at herself as they walked.

"You're really bothered by what she said, aren't you?" asked Remus.

Nymphadora sighed. "She always finds a way to hit me where it hurts. Insufferable snob."

"Ignore her," replied Remus. "As far as I'm concerned, you can eat all the fish and chips you want. You look fantastic."

His words had the desired effect of turning her frustrated frown into a smile of delight, and Remus was additionally rewarded by the light in her eyes when she turned to ask him, "Do you mean it?"

"Absolutely," he stated flatly. A shy smile blossomed on her face. "And besides," Remus added, "if you were ever unhappy about your appearance, you could just--change. Couldn't you?"

Her smile disappeared. "Humph. And feel all pinched and stretched and twisted all day, just to look like that?" She pointed at Fleur. "No thank you. I admit, I used to play that game when I was in school, but I gave it up years ago. I tried to convince myself that going au natural was a sign of maturity, but it's probably just laziness."

"Not at all! I think it's definitely a testament to your strength of character that you stay true to your natural self, even when you have the power to disguise it. Not many people would have that kind of confidence," he retorted. "Not that there's anything wrong with your natural self. I'm rather fond of it."

Her smile returned. "That's very sweet of you. I just wish everyone felt that way," she said with a significant glance at Fleur.

"Oh, I'm sure most of them do," replied Remus.

"Hah. You don't know the sort of guys I've dated. Most of them only asked me out when I was trying to look willowy and graceful like my mum. Two of them even had the gall to ask me if took requests."

"No!"

She nodded her head with a little laugh. "Yes! Needless to say--there was no second date. I got so tired of blokes fixating on my looks, and on how I could look, that I gave up putting on a show. I decided that if someone wanted to ask the real me out, then he might be worth something. And I've been the real Tonks ever since--pudgy cheeks, crooked smile, wide hips and all. I haven't had nearly as many dates, but the fellows have all been of a much higher caliber."

Remus wasn't sure how to respond. He finally just shook his head, and asked, "Are men really that shallow?"

"Not all of them. But too many are--especially the ones my age. They haven't had enough time to grow up yet. That's why I like older men. They have the maturity and experience to appreciate someone like me," she said, smiling up at him with an unreadable expression.

Once again, Remus was lost for words. Though they had talked a great deal about their lives and past history with one another, somehow the topic of their love lives had never before come up--with the exception of that ridiculous conversation Nymphadora had started several weeks ago, the night they finished All's Well That Ends Well. His heart started pounding faster, and he looked intently at her profile beside him, wondering--not for the first time--what her true feelings for him might be. Older men--is she trying to tell me something? Or am I reading way too much into this? He was so distracted by his thoughts that it took him a moment to realize that they had arrived at the café.

Fortunately, Bill's assertion that the café served both fish and chips and salad proved correct, and they were all soon enjoying a bite of dinner. Remus did notice that the waitress kept giving Sirius admiring glances, alternating with disdainful looks at Remus. Looking down at his dreadful outfit, then back up at his collection of beautiful friends, he began to wish he was carrying an Invisibility Cloak in his pocket. If he was going to be getting looked in askance all evening, he would certainly prefer to disappear.

Most of the conversation during dinner revolved around Sirius spinning ever more elaborate tales of his life as a globe-trotting writer. Some of his stories were really quite convincing. But Remus found himself growing increasingly troubled by the dreamy way Nymphadora kept staring at Sirius' new face. Was it possible that when she had mentioned liking older men, that she could have been referring to Sirius? After all, she had gone to a great deal of trouble to arrange this outing for him. And she certainly seemed to resent the attention he was paying to Fleur. With these distressing thoughts swirling in his head, Remus did his best to work his way through his dinner.

After several more minutes of thought, he concluded that he had never seen Nymphadora look at Sirius like that before his transformation. It couldn't have been Sirius she was talking about. But what about the Muggle whose appearance he had assumed? When Fleur and Sirius got carried away in a tête-à-tête about the Paris theater scene, he leaned over Nymphadora's shoulder and asked her quietly, "So really, how did you get your sample of Sirius' alter ego?"

Nymphadora looked back at him with a curious expression on her face. After a pause she asked, "Is that a trace of jealousy I detect in your voice, Remus Lupin?"

Remus could feel himself blushing. "No," he denied. "Certainly not. Why in the world would I be jealous?"

"Why indeed?" said Nymphadora, still with the curious expression on her face.

Remus could think of no reply other than, Because I have a crazy crush on you, and so remained silent. It was the first time he had admitted to himself that his feelings had gone as far as a crush. He wished he'd recognized his feelings sooner, and put a stop to them. No good would come of it. He was far too old and gray to catch her eye for any lasting period. There were times when it seemed that she might hold him in a higher regard than their other friends, but surely that was nothing more than the result of the closeness of their friendship. In some ways he felt closer to her than even to Sirius.

She returned to her observation of Sirius and Fleur with a secretive smile on her face, and he sat in silence studying her sweet, heart-shaped face. Why didn't I see this happening to me? And why didn't I try to stop it? Do I even want to stop it?

Finally, Bill--looking frustrated at Sirius' monopolization of his girlfriend--spoke up. "We'd better get a move on, or we'll miss the Hobgoblins."

"Oh no!" cried Fleur, "We cannot meess Stubby!"

Sirius insisted on paying the bill for the whole group, much to Bill's frustration, and then they all headed down the alley to the nearest Floo station.

"Since we haven't all been there, I supposed going by Floo might be safer than Apparation," said Bill.

"So what's the name of the club where the concert is being held?" asked Remus.

"The Dragon's Lair. It's an old converted manor-house in Devonshire," answered Nymphadora.

"Really?" said Remus. "Does it have a bunch of silly Greek statuary in the front garden?"

"Yeah," answered Bill, with a laugh. "How did you know?"

"It used to be called Monique's Manor," said Remus. "Sirius and Peter and James and I all went there just after leaving Hogwarts to see the Banshee Babies!" He paused, noticing the incredulous stares of his young friends. "I just dated myself rather badly,didn't I?" he asked, as Sirius began to chuckle softly.

"My father listens to the Banshee Babies!" said Bill with a laugh.

"Well--they were quite hip. At one time..." muttered Remus.

"Don't worry about it," said Nymphadora, leaning toward him conspiratorially. "I'm sure you're the type of bloke that's only gotten better with age."

Remus thanked her abashedly, wondering again if she ever flirted with Sirius like this when his back was turned.

They had reached the Floo station, and Remus watched as his beautiful young friends disappeared one by one into the fire. After one last glance down at his ridiculous attire, he thought, At least clubs are always dark. Let's hope this one is VERY dark. With a sigh, he stepped in after them and said, "The Dragon's Lair." He felt himself rushing through the Floo network to his destination.

It was party time.