Unbalanced Equations

I sat behind the counter, nibbling on the end of a quill as I paused, trying not to gag over the order form I was filling in. We needed a shipment of various rat parts, and the images brought to mind were utterly disgusting. I am of the opinion that animals should not be ordered in individual bits (tails, eyeballs, spleens, etc.), but unfortunately, an apothecary shop must stock ingredients in as many practical forms as possible.

But just because something is practical does not make it pleasant.

Practicality had kept me from Remus Lupin all summer, and it was most assuredly not pleasant. We had parted at the end of term with tears (mostly mine) and kisses and promises to see each other "soon" - such an indefinable unit of time. I much preferred precision in measurements. And although Remus' sweet near-proposal to marry me gave me an electric thrill every time I thought about it, his vague promise of "someday" bothered me a bit. I wanted to be with him now.

Now, however, I was stuck in London. Remus was somewhere in France. He had had no choice but to leave, without seeing me at all, for his annual trip to gather data on werewolves living in the wild; he was having a horrible time trying to line up employment for the end of the summer, when his study grant ran out. I knew he had been determined to find a job before he left because he hated the thought of being out of work. The money he had saved while living and working at Hogwarts the past year wouldn't support him forever. I also knew he would never marry me if he thought he was a burden. I was willing to forego his company in the week between the time I returned to Diagon Alley from Hogwarts and the time he had to be in France if one of the contacts he visited might be able to offer him a job. Unfortunately, not one prospect had panned out.

I had abandoned my plan to surprise in the field when my father had fallen ill. Now, though Dad was feeling much better, he was thinner and paler than I thought he should be. He just seemed generally off to me, although the Healers at St. Mungo's couldn't find anything wrong with him. No matter what they told me, I was still worried about him.

Today, I was also worried about Remus. We had sent each other at least one letter every single day since he had left Hogwarts, but it was already late afternoon and I hadn't received so much as a note. I finished with the rat order and picked up the next parchment in the pile. I was further disgusted to find that I was now required to order reptile sections. I sighed and got to work, thinking that I might as well get it over with. At least the store was empty: it was the quietest Saturday I could remember. Everyone who had tickets was either already gone or getting ready to leave for the Quidditch World Cup. The game wasn't until Monday afternoon, but camping out beforehand was part of the fun for those who went early.

My own tickets had been a birthday gift from Mr. and Mrs. Vablatsky, old family friends and the owners of Quality Quidditch Supplies. They had given me good seats, not top box but good enough so I didn't have to get there days early unless I wanted to. Even though I had always enjoyed this sort of event in the past, I wasn't planning on leaving until Monday because I wanted to give Remus as much time as possible to be able to join me. I hadn't been to a Quidditch match without him in ages, and the memory of the last one, the final game for the Hogwarts Cup, made me flush. More specifically, the memory of the intense closeness Remus and I had shared before, after, and during that match made me go warm all over. I missed him, his voice and his touch, desperately. I felt my quill snap between my teeth as I bit down hard on it in frustration.

"Well, that's just great," I muttered, tossing the broken quill into the dustbin and casting about behind the counter for another. Remus had given me a beautiful quill enchanted to be unbreakable, but it seemed wrong somehow to use it for something so mundane as filling in order blanks.

The bell over the door jingled, and I looked up, half hoping, as always, that it might be Remus. "Oh, hello," I said, hiding my disappointment when I saw that it was only Cameron McIntyre from the cauldron shop across the street.

"Hello, Miss Vector. I was wondering if I could bother you for a few blank receipt slips. We're out, and the printer's is closed while they're all at the Quidditch Cup." He aimed his deliberately charming smile in my direction.

I forced a smile in return; while Cameron seemed to have most of the witches in Diagon Alley swooning in his direction, he was a bit slick for my taste. "Of course. I'll dig some up for you."

I rummaged around the desk and handed him a stack of receipts. "Thank you," he said, his fingers intentionally lingering on mine as he took them. "Won't you allow me to take you to dinner? I've noticed that you rarely go out for an evening. It's a shame that a nice, unattached young woman like yourself should stay home alone every night."

I was rather annoyed by his assumption that I was sitting around waiting for some man to take pity on poor spinster Anna. "Thank you for the invitation, Mr. McIntyre, but I am actually quite attached."

"Really?" He narrowed his eyes slightly but recovered his smooth façade almost immediately. "I wasn't aware that you were seeing anyone."

"Oh, Anna hasn't actually seen her young man all summer." My dad, as always, chose the most awkward moment in which to enter a conversation. "He's been abroad."

"Oh? What is he-" The bell chimed at that moment, and I didn't hear the end of Cameron's question. This time, it was Remus who walked through the door.

I shrieked like an overexcited schoolgirl (a mannerism that I must admit greatly annoyed me in my students) as I rushed around the counter and promptly tripped over a half-unpacked box of student potion kits. I landed flat on my face, the wind completely knocked out of me.

"Oh, dear!" I heard my father's exclamation over Cameron's surprised gasp.

Remus didn't say a word until he had helped me up from the floor. "Are you all right?"

"I will be as soon as you kiss me," I answered. He complied immediately. "Mmmm," I murmured. "I missed you."

"Is this how you're greeting customers now?" Cameron asked with a laugh. "Because I don't think we'll be able to compete."

"This would be Anna's Remus," said my father, easily sidestepping my nemesis, the box of kits, as he came around the counter. "I hope you'll allow me to greet you with a mere handshake."

Remus smiled as he released me to shake hands with my dad. "It's very nice to see you again, Mr. Vector."

"I'm glad you're here," answered Dad. "Anna's been fairly pining away for you all summer."

"Dad!" I protested more as a matter of form than anything else. After all, it was the truth.

"Yes, she nearly had to settle for dinner with me." I had forgotten that Cameron was still there. "Cameron McIntyre, from the cauldron shop across the street." He stepped forward, offering his hand to Remus. "Glad to keep Anna company while you were away."

Remus, unfailingly polite as always, automatically took the offered hand. "Well, I wouldn't want her to be lonesome. Remus Lupin. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I must get back to work. Thank you for the receipts." Cameron left and the echo of the doorbell was the only sound in the shop for a moment. Then Remus, my father, and I all spoke at the same time.

"I wasn't going to dinner with him."

"You're coming to the Quidditch Cup with us, aren't you? Anna's been saving you a ticket."

"You're bleeding!" Remus pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it to my temple. "Of course I'll come with you. I wouldn't miss the Quidditch World Cup for anything." He smiled at my father, who grinned and returned to his workroom. Remus then turned his smile to me. "I don't care who you eat dinner with, Anna. I know you're mine."

"That I am. And you belong to me." I drew in my breath with a hiss as he dabbed the cut on my head. "Ouch. I don't know how I survived growing up here, with all these breakables and sharp edges."

"Well, it's not really so bad. Just a scrape." He put his arms around me and kissed me much more thoroughly than before. "I missed you too," he whispered.

"I wondered why I hadn't heard from you yet today." I hugged him tightly, not wanting to ever let him go. "Between you and Dad, it's a wonder I ever get any sleep at all anymore, I'm so worried all the time."

"I'm sorry. I wanted to surprise you. You don't really have to worry about me, Anna. I'm used to taking care of myself." He squeezed me gently and dropped several kisses on the top of my head. "You're right about your father, though. He does look a bit under the weather. They haven't found anything at St. Mungo's?"

I shook my head and sighed. "No. Nothing. To listen to them, he's perfectly healthy. But I can see that he isn't."

"There has to be someone who can help. We'll find something." He ran his hands lightly over my hair and down my back, pulling me even closer. "I'd forgotten how good you smell."

I looked up at him and smiled; he always did know how to improve my mood. "That's because you stayed away too long. I really, really missed you."

"Really?" He grinned as I reached up for another kiss. "I've got a room at the Leaky Cauldron," he murmured, tracing a finger gently along my collarbone.

"Why?" I asked, startled. "Don't you want to stay here?"

"I didn't want to presume anything. Besides, I want..." He turned a bit pink. "You."

"Oh." I felt myself flush slightly as well. "I want that too. You have no idea how much. But why do we have to go to the Leaky Cauldron? Seems rather silly to pay for a room a few doors down the street, when I have a perfectly good bed upstairs."

"Anna, " he chuckled, looking rather scandalized. "It's your father's house. It just seems...disrespectful to be lusting after a man's daughter right under his nose."

I smiled at his regard for my father's sensibilities; Remus Lupin was nothing if not respectful. "Well, he's leaving right after dinner to stay with Mr. and Mrs. Vablatsky at the Quidditch Cup campgrounds. They're insanely busy selling their merchandise and he promised to help them. And technically it's my house, not my father's."

He looked mildly interested. "Is it? I didn't know that."

"It's sort of a family tradition; the house belongs to the women. When my grandparents retired, they gave my dad the store and his wife the house. She left it to me." I shrugged, trying not to dwell on the thought of my mother. She had been on my mind a lot this summer, as I had recently learned some interesting facts surrounding the circumstances of her murder. "My dad didn't have any sisters, and Uncle Hector only has sons."

He raised an eyebrow. "Your uncle's name is Hector Vector?"

I grinned. "Don't get me started. You have no idea how thankful I am that at least my mother was sensible about names."

"I hated my name when I was younger. My parents had normal names, and they stuck me with 'Remus'?" He shook his head and smiled wryly. "I've never quite forgiven them."

"I think your name suits you." I kissed him lightly on the nose and brushed aside the bit of hair that was perpetually falling into his eyes. "It's unusual, and so are you."

He pulled me to him for another long, slow, wonderful kiss. "Have I mentioned how much I love you?"

I smiled at him teasingly. "No, not today. I didn't get a letter." I rested my head on his shoulder, completely content for the first time in what felt like forever. "I love you, Remus. Don't leave me for so long ever again."

"I'll do my best not to," he promised. "I have an interview on Wednesday for a position here in London."

"That would be fantastic." I pulled away from him to turn the sign in the window to 'Closed'. "I'm planning on coming home most weekends this term. Dad needs me here"

"What about his apprentice? Doesn't he help?" Remus frowned thoughtfully.

"Well, yes. But Geoffrey is really only good at potion making. He isn't great at keeping up the shop." I felt a great surge of warmth toward Remus for his concern over my father. I knew he cared about me, but the fact that his feelings extended to my family made me fall even further in love with him, if that was even possible. I nearly knocked him over with the force of my sudden embrace. "Go cancel your room at the Leaky Cauldron. I'll put your things in the guestroom and tell Mina to set another place for dinner. You see, we do have a guestroom; it's not entirely improper for you to stay here, you know."

"Must you tease me, Anna?" His smile was slightly self-conscious. "I can't help that I want to protect your reputation."

I couldn't help but laugh. "You're very sweet, Remus, but it's a bit late for that. Go on now. I'm hungry. The sooner you get back, the sooner Mina will let us eat. You know she's the strictest house-elf in London. She won't let us start dinner without our guest."

*****

Moments after my father left for the Quidditch Cup campground, the guestroom door closed behind Remus and me with a soft click. We just looked at each other for a long moment, thrilled to finally be alone but suddenly a little bit shy. So much had passed between us since the last time we had been together, and so much of that by post, that it was almost as if being alone and able to touch each other was all new for us. I sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for him to join me. He did, taking my hand in his, but he dropped it almost immediately with a sharp intake of breath.

"Oh, Remus! I am so, so sorry. I forgot I had this on." I started to remove the silver ring I was wearing, but he stopped me.

"It's all right." He looked at the ring without touching it, holding my hand up to the light of the lamp on the bedside table. "This is pretty."

"It was my mother's. I was going through some of her things a few weeks ago, and I found this. She wore it almost all the time."

"You've been thinking about her a lot, haven't you?" He looked at me very intently as he released my hand, his forehead crinkled in the manner that I had always found so adorable.

I took off the ring and set it on the table. "Yes. I suppose I just really miss her. I wish she were around to take care of my dad. I don't know if I can. I don't care what they say at St. Mungo's; I'm afraid he might be really sick. Did you notice he hardly ate anything at dinner? He's getting so thin, and he's starting to be really forgetful, and..." I realized that I was crying. "I'm just scared."

He put his arms around me. "Why didn't you tell me it was so bad? I knew you were worried, but I didn't realize you were in such a state. I hate that you've been so upset and I wasn't here for you."

I sniffled, wiping my eyes on my sleeve. "You were working. I don't expect you to rearrange your whole life because of my silly problems."

"Why not? It's not a silly problem. Besides, I would do almost anything you asked me to. I love you."

"Remus, no. I don't want you do anything just because you feel obligated. You don't owe me anything. I don't want that from you." I had had enough of people doing things for me out of a sense of duty. "I only want you."

"You have me. Whatever that's worth. Your unemployed werewolf." I detected a rather large amount of bitterness in his voice.

Our mutual self-pity was getting ridiculous; I took refuge in sarcasm. "Aren't we lucky we've found each other? Who else could possibly want us? The unemployed werewolf and the grown woman acting like a little girl afraid of losing her Daddy. We might as well just give up and go throw ourselves under a train."

Remus frowned at me briefly before dissolving into grudging laughter. "All right. I see your point. I'm finished feeling sorry for myself."

"Good. So am I." I pulled his face to mine and kissed him gently.

"What was I thinking, staying away from you for so long?" His voice was a soft, deep growl that made me shiver with anticipation. "It never stops amazing me that you love me too. I can't believe I've gone so long without touching you."

His hands trembled slightly as he started to undo the buttons down the front of my dress, an expression of unadorned desire on his face as he concentrated on his task. I loved him like this, with his defenses lowered. He was never completely uncontrolled, but with me he would allow at least some part of himself almost total freedom. This part of him was mine alone.

He was taking much too long with my buttons, so I took matters into my own hands and did it myself. "Patience is not one of my admittedly few virtues, Remus. If you knew how much I've been wanting to feel your hands on me, you would have been here weeks ago. Data compilation and endowment money be damned."

He raised his eyes to my face, a strange half-smile on his own. "You have many virtues, Anna." His voice became muffled as I nearly strangled him in the process of helping him remove his own clothing. "But please forgive me for not thinking of you as particularly virtuous right now."

"Consider yourself forgiven." My laughter stopped even as it started, as he kissed me fiercely and pushed me down into the pillows.

He stopped as I let out a sound somewhere between a yelp and a whimper. "What's the matter?" He looked so concerned that I started to laugh again, quite against my will this time; no one wants to be laughed at in bed.

"Nothing. It's just," I choked on a giggle. "It's just that my leg doesn't really bend that way."

His face turned a brilliant shade of red as he shifted to allow me to assume a more comfortable position. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't, really." I felt bad for laughing. "And I'm not laughing at you. Cassie's been sending me drafts of this incredibly tawdry romance novel she's been writing, and I was just thinking that nothing so mundane as a cramped muscle would ever dare to interrupt Amora and Sebastian."

"Amora and Sebastian?" Remus raised an eyebrow and started to laugh himself. "I can only imagine to what heights Miss Vablatsky can take characters with such names."

My friend Cassandra Vablatsky was well known for her books on Divination, but was looking to "expand her horizons" by writing a romance novel (under a pseudonym, of course). I was her guinea pig, forced to read and give my opinion on each and every chapter. I had never been much of a fan of the genre before, but I was finding it strangely compelling. "I don't think Cassie'll mind if I show you. It's all very hush hush, you know. She doesn't want people to know that the esteemed Seer is writing trash."

"I can't wait to read it." We were both shaking with laughter. "I can't believe that I am lying completely naked in bed with the nearly naked woman about whom I have been fantasizing for months, laughing over the mere thought of trashy fiction."

"Well, why am I only nearly naked?" He took care of that small detail in an instant, his breath on my newly exposed skin making me quiver. "Have you really been fantasizing about me?" I whispered, tangling my fingers in his hair.

"Constantly," he murmured. I could feel his smile against my body, but neither of us was laughing anymore. "I didn't want to forget anything about you. The way you look lying under me, the taste of your skin, the smell of your hair, the sounds you make...."

I must have made a sound he particularly enjoyed, because he gave a sudden strangled gasp of his own. He kissed me until I couldn't breathe. I didn't want to breathe anymore, if it meant being without his mouth on mine. We couldn't stop touching each other, our hands and mouths and bodies remembering everything as if we had never been apart.

"I dreamed about you, too," I sighed. "But this is much better."

*****

I was confused for a moment when I woke: my pillow seemed to be alive. I opened my eyes, and smiled to realize that my head wasn't resting on a pillow at all, but on Remus' chest. His arms were around me, our bodies still entwined. Not wanting to wake him, I didn't move at all. I was utterly and completely at peace, and the gentle rise and fall of Remus' breathing lulled me back to sleep.

I was floating. A small boat on a smooth expanse of ocean. Peaceful. Drifting. Calm.

I was alone. Lonely. The boat was sinking. I couldn't stop the rushing water. Sinking. Afraid. Alone.

I was drowning. The air was gone. Something was pulling me under. Falling. Fading. Drowning. Lost.

"Wake up, Anna." Remus was shaking me. "Sweetheart, wake up."

I opened my eyes. "I'm awake." I felt tears already drying on my face.

He seemed relieved. "You were crying for someone to help you, but you didn't hear me."

"The boat sank." I felt as distressed as he had looked when I had first opened my eyes.

He pulled the quilt up around my shoulders and wrapped his arms tightly around me; I was trembling. I could still feel the water closing over my head, cutting off the air and the light. "Just a dream," he murmured, stroking my hair.

"Interesting change, isn't it? You comforting me after a bad dream." I forced a laugh, trying to calm myself. I had often held Remus in much this same way; he was plagued by terrible nightmares, usually when the moon was nearly full. "I had hoped they might stop once I had you back with me."

"Have you been having these sorts of dreams often?" He lightly caressed my cheek with the back of his hand.

"Not...not often." I wasn't lying to him, exactly. "Often" was a rather subjective term. If I chose to interpret "not often" as "not every night", I was being completely honest. Never mind that I woke in tears before dawn more mornings than not, in a panic over some indeterminate thing I couldn't escape.

"Anna," he said gently, his soft kisses on my cheeks and nose and forehead making me feel much better. "You can tell me what's bothering you. I want to help you if I can. What was it you said to me once? About my problems being yours as well? It goes the other way too, you know."

"I know that. There's just not really anything specific to tell." I snuggled deeper into the safety of his embrace. "Just being with you helps, Remus."

"It helps me, too." The touch of roughness in his voice reminded me that we were both still very naked under the quilt, and we had a long summer spent apart to make up for.

*****

It wasn't worth the trouble to open the shop that Sunday, since Diagon Alley was nearly deserted. After a very late breakfast, Remus and I simply lounged in the sitting room, enjoying each other's company. Letters and the occasional Floo call were all well and good, but nothing could replace just sitting together on the sofa and reading. Or rather, sitting on the sofa and ignoring our books as we talked to each other. It was, after all, how we had fallen in love in the first place.

"Is that Cassandra's new project that you were telling me about last night?" Remus indicated the pile of parchment sitting beside me.

"It is. These pages came this morning. Her note says that it's 'a good part.' She wants to know if I think it's too racy." I smiled at him suggestively. "Want to read something naughty?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why not? Might be educational."

"It might, at that." This could be fun. "Here, I'll read it to you." I settled into my corner of the sofa with Cassie's manuscript.

"Felana Corrine St. Marquise-de-Laurent sauntered seductively through the bedroom, languorously shifting her weight onto the black satin sheets. Her thin silk chemise shimmered seductively in the glittery moonlight. She slid back onto the bed, her long, long legs stretching out before her like long, long, sultry, sexy legs. Her deliciously chocolate hair tumbled in sugary tresses down her back and onto the satin sheets. Her rich, creamy, flawless skin shone like alabaster in the darkness, her pouty ruby lips were parted, revealing pearly-white teeth, and her dazzlingly blue eyes pierced the night with their lustful stare."

A snort from Remus made me look up. He shook his head slightly, indicating that I should continue.

"Karl Dominic Price-Aster VII followed her, his brooding, darkly handsome face softened at Lana Corrine's beauty and utter innocence. He stood mightily tall, his powerfully muscular frame, dark, mysterious eyes, and tousled, raven hair all radiated with masculine glory and had many women throwing themselves at his feet, begging to be ravished."

"I suppose I don't 'radiate masculine glory'? I've never once had a woman beg me to ravish her." Remus attempted to look put out, but ended up sniggering instead.

"I've never had to beg," I replied. He choked on his cocoa.

"She was innocent, so innocent. Never mind that she seemed to know exactly what she was doing, exactly where to touch and stroke him to evoke the desired effect. She'd told him she was innocent, and so she was. All of those rumors about her tarnished honor were crap, anyway.

"The lust shimmered in the air with a sultry, heady shimmer. He wanted her, now, yes, now! His member throbbed painfully, aching for the sweet embrace of Felana's nether orifice."

Where had Cassie come up with these words? 'Nether orifice'? Really! I continued reading; my voice wavering slightly with barely suppressed amusement.

"Must be gentle, she's an innocent. Must go slowly--oh, sod it! Karl pushed her roughly against the satin sheets.

"Felana writhed in glorious agony. His rough touch was amazing; so overpoweringly masculine, manly and seductive. Her ample bosom heaved laboriously as Karl captured her perfect garnet lips with his own perfectly shaped mouth. His very manly stubble scratched her delicate cheek, but so deep was Lana in her ecstasy that the marring of her exquisite skin was of little consequence."

Remus coughed. I didn't dare look at him.

"He broke away from her mouth, and drifted down her body. Felana sighed as he explored her perfectly proportioned body, kissing and licking, sending delightful shivers over her.

"She let out a surprised gasp when she felt his fingers spread apart her nether lips. As his fingers explored her most secret places, Felana felt joyous tears forming in her eyes."

"Oh, please!" I finally dissolved into laughter. No wonder Cassie was so cynical about love. "It's your turn. You read now."

Remus, his face bright red, tried to refuse. I insisted, and he reluctantly took the pages from me.

"Running her long, aristocratic fingers through his silky black hair, Felana pulled his face up to meet hers, kissing him deeply, exploring every region of his mouth with her delicate, sensitive pink tongue, sending groans of muted satisfaction through Karl's throat. Felana grinned slyly at him before reaching down and grasping his manrod firmly in her small, delicate, long-fingered, and very talented hands."

Remus paused. "Anna, if you are going to force me to read this, at least don't laugh like that."

"I'm sorry," I gasped. "But 'manrod'? She's gone off the deep end, hasn't she?"

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked hopefully.

"Heavens, no."

"Karl gasped in delirious pleasure. Feeling as if he would explode in the next minute if he could not feel her sweet flesh around him, he climbed masculinely on top of her, asserting his dominance. She submitted, tangling her lily-white hands in his raven hair, pulling him closer.

"Bracing himself against the bed, Karl slowly slid into her, the most delicious, wonderful ecstasy cascading through his trembling body. Gathering up Felana from where she was mewling kittenishly in delight, they rocked together, proving their love and devotion to each other."

Remus had stammered throughout that last part so badly that I asked him to read it again; I found it perversely amusing that it seemed to unnerve him so.

As they lay cuddled together, Karl kissed Felana's sleeping form. Ah, this was the life! A different wench every night.

"Erm, you'll have to forgive me if I've suddenly gone a bit off sex." He was blushing furiously. "I've never quite thought of it in some of those terms before."

"Oh, Remus." I was absolutely wheezing with laughter. "I'll never compare you to Karl. The character of Sebastian is much sexier."

"Is he?" He looked at me consideringly, his face still an impressive shade of scarlet. "Do you read this sort of, er- thing often?"

His reaction was not helping me recover from my fit of giggles. "No," I sputtered. "Not really. Don't you like it?"

I hadn't thought it possible for him to look any more embarrassed than he did already, but I was wrong. "Not-not especially."

I took pity on his offended sense of propriety. "It's not meant to be taken seriously, Remus. At least, I hope it isn't." I frowned at the pages Remus had placed on the sofa between us. Cassie couldn't possibly be trying to write a genuinely romantic story, could she? The thought that these might be her true views on love and sex was disturbing, to say the least.

"I know that, Anna." He sounded a bit annoyed. "It's just not really what I would usually read."

"I probably wouldn't have picked it up either, if Cassie hadn't asked me to." I straightened the pages and set them on the end table. "For what it is, it's not bad."

"No, I suppose not," he said grudgingly. "The imagery is quite...vivid."

"Quite." I moved so that I was sitting very close to him. "Did you find it educational at all?" I teased.

"You live to torment me, don't you?" He tried to sound as though he was still irritated, but he was smiling. "What was the objective of the lesson, Professor?"

I had to think about it for a minute. "That it's better to just call a spade a spade?"

He laughed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if you start using words like 'writhing' and 'throbbing' or talking about your 'masculine' anything, I'm going to laugh you out of the bedroom."

"I think I can promise to avoid those particular phrases, if you promise to refrain from mentioning anything to do with 'heaving', 'mewling', or-" he coughed, blushing again, "my, ahem, 'manrod'."

"I absolutely swear that I will never refer to any body part as any sort of 'rod'." I could feel another attack of helpless laughter coming on. "I'm so glad we cleared that up. It might have become a real problem."

"I've missed this," he said quietly. "Just being silly with you. It's hard to be that way in letters."

"I missed this, too." I leaned against him as he put an arm around me. He appeared to have recovered from his brief aversion to physical intimacy. "You do write fantastic letters though."

"Is there really nothing we have to do today?" he asked.

"Not a thing. Unless, of course, you want to go to the Quidditch Cup today rather than waiting until tomorrow."

"And give up the chance to have you to myself for a whole day? No thank you." He suddenly kissed the back of my neck, making me squeak in surprise. "Well, that's a new one. Was that 'mewling'?"

"I'm not sure, I don't think I know exactly what sort of noise 'mewling' is." I briefly managed to contain most of my impending outburst of giggles, but a snort of amusement escaped.

"I wonder how many different sounds I can get out of you?" Remus mused, keeping his mirth in check about half a minute longer than I had been able to.

"Well, I'm up to helping you meet the challenge." Shared laughter turned to shared passion. It was a lovely afternoon.