RP: A Dinner Party

[tt_fleur]

Who: Remus Lupin, Bill & Fleur Weasley
When: Evening of March 2nd
Where: Bill & Fleur's place
What: Fleur invited Remus over for dinner
Warnings/rating: PG-ish

Fleur's extracting blue eyes surveyed the scene before her one more time looking for any flaws: the table had been set, the appetizers were done, the main course was almost done cooking and the wine was chilling. Everything seemed in order but that didn't mean it was safe from her scrutiny. There was just something about being French. Something that stated that your dinner parties were supposed to be neatly arranged, prepared and constitute more food than probably was needed. Or maybe it was just growing up with a mum that was a chef. Either way Fleur knew that she had the food aspect covered to their evening.

Shuffling her feet impatiently went back to leaning against the counter, pretending to read, as she listened to Bill shuffle around in the kitchen and the adjacent rooms. It was still hot out but at least the setting sun had offered a little relief from the sticky summer heat. The page of her book, which she had leaned against a sugar bowl, made a soft flutter as she turned it but her mind wasn't on the book in front of her. Truth was Fleur didn't know what to expect when Remus showed up. It wasn't the Remus they were familiar with but he was still the same person in essence. Fleur hoped things weren't too awkward and that they would find common ground. She hoped this full moon hadn't been too stressful on him or anymore than it had to be.

When the knock on the door came she fluttered over to the door in her usual graceful manner and pulled open the door. "Bon soir Remus," Fleur greeted warmly with a smile as she stepped aside to allow him into their home. "Are you well?" She asked studying him quickly before leading him back to the kitchen and dinning area. "Dinner is almost done."

Comments

[tt_remus]

Remus was very nervous about tonight. He was meeting with strangers who were apparently old friends. He had no idea how this worked, but he was glad for the friendly faces. Remus had a very limited wardrobe, even though he was here; he just wasn't used to having a lot. He had found a nice solid black long sleeve shirt and black slacks. For him, it was overdone. Yes, he had transformed it, but it didn't feel right on him.

Remus fidgeted slightly as he walked up the path; he had apparated to the front of Bill and Fleur's home. He only had to wait a few seconds before Fleur answered. "Hello Fleur. Thank you for having me. I'm well." He said simply. He hadn't really expected such a lovely young woman, and felt even more out of place with his scars and rough appearance. His leg had felt immensely better since Ginny had visited.

He spotted Bill and noted the scars along the man's face. It piqued his curiosity but he didn't dare ask. "I do appreciate being invited over. I just wish I remembered you as you remember me."

[tt_bill]

Hearing the knock on the door, Bill quickly began wiping down the kitchen counter, letting Fleur receive their guest, while he tidied up behind. Her familiar warm voice came flowing through the house, making him smile and once again feel grateful that she knew how to make people feel welcome. Of course, the opposite could also be said about her, but tonight, she was the host and as such he knew Remus would feel nothing but welcome in their home.

As he went to join them, he ran through his head what he knew of this Remus. Having arrived from 1993, they hadn’t met yet, though it hadn’t been long before. At least he knew Ginny and the majority of his brothers from then. “Remus,” he greeted him, extending his hand to him. “There are both good and bad memories, but please, know that you’re remembered as a friend, and a friend who’s given us a lot of support and guidance.” He gestured towards the living room. “Come inside. Can I get you anything while we wait?”

[tt_fleur]

Fleur brushed off Remus' comment as she was prone to do when things weren't important to her. Sure their shared history was important, it was, but so was the present. "It does not matter," Fleur told him ushering both men into the other room. "What is important now is this moment and you are considered a friend." In a sense Remus was lucky he had always been considered an alley, a friend. Fleur's memory was as quick to recall wrongs done against her family as it was to forget them but as he had committed none he was safe from her long memory.

Even though it had been nearly a week since the full moon, Fleur couldn't help but study Remus' appearance a bit. He looked okay considering and he would look better after he got another good meal in him. Perhaps her mother's nurturing qualities has rubbed off on her more than she was willing to admit. Either that or Molly's love of feeding people was rubbing off. It made Fleur better that she could at least do that for him and in return they got his company along with being able to have someone over again. It made it feel a little more normal, like home.

"How about some wine?" Fleur asked before disappearing and reappearing in the room with the bottle and the glasses. Her hand was soft as she rested it gently on the small of Bill's back, letting him know she was there, before handing him both the wine and the glasses. In another instant she was off to finish setting the table letting the two men get aquatinted or whatever. Her husband was far better at small talk and making people feel comfortable than she was; if she stayed she would be tempted to ask questions, as she always did, and their guest didn't need that right now. Besides they probably just as hungry as she was.

[tt_remus]

Remus smiled, "Wine would be nice, thank you." He certainly felt at ease here; normally the tension with other people was thick as if they feared he'd attack them. When would people learn?

"How have you been?" He asked the pair, asking mostly about the past week, not the week prior with the potion hullabaloo. He didn't want to know details of that.

A part of Remus wished he knew the man they knew; and even wished he could remember who they were. They seemed like a nice couple.

[tt_bill]

”Working,” Bill chuckled with a slight smirk. “That debacle with the potion shed some much needed light on the security that doesn’t have to do with the wildlife here. So, it’s been a matter of improving what’s already there. How about yourself? Please, have a seat.” Gesturing towards one of the comfortable chairs, Bill hoped that Remus would sit down and relax. He recognized the look on the other man’s face, from the first times he had been in his company. The look of uncertainty about his surroundings.

Barely had he offered Remus a seat before Fleur returned and he took the bottle and glasses from her with a smile of thanks. And then she was off again. Sometimes, he swore, that woman wasn’t as different from his mum as she claimed to be. Filling first one glass, he handed it to Remus, before he filled his own and took a seat in the other chair. “Cheers.”

[tt_fleur]

Even in the other room wisps of their conversations still found their way to her. "Playing in the dirt." Fleur said with a laugh as she walked back into the room her nose wrinkling slightly at the thought of how dirty she had been after work lately. The dirt and grim always looked out of place on someone as prim and proper as Fleur but the truth was she didn't mind it as much as one would think. Sure it was a pain to scrub and get out of her long blonde hair but as long as the work was worthy of getting dirty it was an acceptable consequence. "We have been working on collecting new samples on some of the plants that could be potential replacements for some of the harder to obtain potion ingredients here."

Fleur settled into a seat of her own as she gave both of them a smile. "You know if there is something you want to know you can just ask." It was a blunt statement but it was the truth. It had never been her style to over indulge in small talk or not say what was on her mind. Besides it was a good way of judging what was fair topic to talk about and what wasn't. Each person had their own preference on how much they wanted to know or not know about the future in general and their own and she had no idea how much Remus knew already.

[tt_remus]

Remus took the glass, "thank you," he said and sat down. The chairs were really comfortable. He swirled the liquid in his cup before taking a drink; that was more habit than anything. "What went on from 1993 until I died?" That was an awful lot before a meal, but he was curious. "I know I ultimately got married and had a son, and I heard I was a bit of a prat with that according to various sources."

That was putting it lightly. There was no sense in beating around the bush about it. "I've read about the war, but second hand narrative isn't the same as hearing someone's first hand account." Remus would have asked about the scars, but for all he knew, Bill had that since childhood.

[tt_bill]

“From 1993 until you died…” Bill swirled his glass of wine while he considered that request, even getting as far as opening his mouth to tell Remus, when Fleur returned to the living room, only this time she actually joined them. Rather than leaving her without, he handed her his untouched glass of wine and poured himself another one. “That’s… there’s a lot to tell about those years.” Which was the truth. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell Remus everything, it was just difficult to pinpoint where to start in it all.

“Well, you know, some might say you were a prat,” he agreed with Remus, then ventured on a bit more diplomatically, “others might say you were a tad overwhelmed by it, however…” Bill’s lips twitched into a small smile as he recalled the episode that was coming back to him. “Harry, Ron and Hermione were staying at our place when Teddy, your son, was born, and you showed up to tell Harry and to make amends for something that had happened earlier… You were so proud of that little boy, and I think that went a long way in making up for any mistakes you made while Tonks was pregnant.” He looked from Remus to Fleur for confirmation that he wasn’t the only one to have seen that that night.

[tt_fleur]

She took the glass from her husband, giving him a smile, as she sat in the chair closest to him. The wine was sweet but light on her lips as all good wines were and she was glad was the one she went with.

"Sorry I cannot be much more help than to tell you of the last year of that time. I did not graduate until 1995 and I did not join the Order until 1996, after I had been dating Bill a while." Fleur stopped to think on it a moment. It felt like another lifetime; being a teenager, in school and worried about the Triwizard Tournament and the early days with Bill. "The French wizarding world is not too concerned with the affairs in England."

Yet that memory made her smile. "You were so proud of your son." Any fool could have seen that. "Considering how dismal those days were people were happy to accept any good thing. No one knew where Harry and his friends were, it felt like we were losing..." Fleur shrugged and sipped her wine a little more. It wasn't the easiest time to remember as it had been filled with a lot of uncertainty and fears. "We were all trying to do our best and sometimes it didn't work and we had to try again." Just like Remus himself.

Fleur chewed on her lip some not sure what else she could really tell him or how much she wanted to say. Nothing about war was pretty.

[tt_remus]

"What happened to him? Where is he at? Who is taking care of him?" Remus asked. Maybe his boy was here. That would be interesting. 'I'm your dad 5 years before I became your dad.' That wouldn't confuse a child none. It was hard to believe that he would be the second of the Marauders to have kids. Who would have thought that?

"What brought the Order back together?"

[tt_bill]

Bill lips twitched into a pensive smile as he listened to Fleur elaborate on what he had started telling them. Teddy’s birth had been and still stood as one of the bright spots during the war, even if he had never been particularly involved in the boy’s life. His eyebrows knitted together in concerned confusion when he heard Remus’ question. “Nobody’s told you?” he asked, not at all certain what to think of that ‘small’ detail. “You were told that you had a son, but nobody bothered to tell you where he is?” With a sigh, he shook his head, though his sigh was about the fact that Remus’ hadn’t been informed, though he was pleased to be able to pass along some good information. “Teddy’s with his grandmother, Tonks’ mum. Andromeda Tonks.”

He took a long drink of his wine before he cleared his throat. “There had been…signs that something was building, that… Voldemort was gaining power, so Dumbledore had started having new members recruited for the Order, or at least had feelers out about people’s loyalties, my parents, one of my brothers and myself included.” Bill grew quiet for a moment, looking at Fleur, knowing he was about to bring up a time that she had been very affected by, a time that had been the beginning of both the most sad and happy of their time together. “The final confirmation came at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, when Harry witnessed Voldemort’s return, and that was when Dumbledore gave the instruction for the Order to gather again.”

[tt_remus]

"Is she here? Are they here? I am bad at keeping in the loop, apparently," Remus said with a soft sigh.

He turned his attention back to Bill and what he was saying about the Order. Harry in the -Triwizard Tournament? Wow." The information Remus had gathered on his datapad were vague in some areas.

[tt_fleur]

Were they here? Fleur wasn't sure but then again she hadn't been there long enough to know exactly who was there and who wasn't. Just the people she has run into or had been told was around. Though if anyone needed a fresh start it would have been Tonk's mother and Teddy. Fleur hoped they had come through.

Her blue eyes settled on Bill a moment as he talked, taking in the familiar contours of the face she knew so well. The Tournament had been what it had been. It wasn't something she talked about much even with Bill. "The Tournament was just an elaborate cover organized by people under the Imperius curse to make it possible for Voldermort to get Harry's blood. It was not like Dumbledore would have allowed it other wise." Even after nearly ten years it was a bitter topic. Viktor, Cedric and herself had been just pawns, lives that they would have thrown away without thought. Only Cedric had paid the price. She took a long sip of her wine to wash away that batch of memories. Maybe it was part of the reason she has wanted to come back to England seeing as the Tournament had seen that she was already involved. Fleur couldn't hate it completely though because it had given her the biggest treasure she could ever have, Bill.

"From that point it was a lot of battles and searching for Horcruxes though at that time we weren't sure what we were looking for." She didn't think it was right the Order members were constantly in the dark about that but maybe it had been necessary. "It was hard... They had the Dementors, some giants, and werewolves." The last word came out as a mere whisper. It brought back the painful memories of the night of Bill's attack and she found herself again looking to her husband to make sure he was okay with this topic and well, for comfort as she reached for his hand. It had been a hard night all around.

It was a lot to explain to someone but Fleur was okay with trying because Remus should know.

[tt_remus]

Remus shook his head. He supposed the werewolves involved were tired of the prejudice and finally lashing out. Why couldn't they have more sense?

"What a horrible, dark time it must have been. I'm sorry to have asked about it. I hope it doesn't put a damper on tonight."

[tt_bill]

Returning Fleur’s gentle squeeze, Bill was grateful for her consideration, though he was alright. Then he looked to Remus. “It was a dark time,” he agreed, “but you’ve nothing to apologize for, Remus. You were invited here because you were our friend, and we still consider you as such.” He looked at the other man for a moment before he continued. “Maybe talking about it will put a bit of a damper on tonight, but I think Fleur will agree, that we’d rather have a damper on this one night, than leave you wondering which could so easily put a damper on any future times we’ll meet.”

He looked over to Fleur, once again considering how much he should tell Remus. There was no way they could possibly cover everything that had happened during his missing years, but there was one thing that Bill felt the need to tell him. “You were there the night I got these,” he started, directing his attention back to Remus, tilting his head to show the scars his hair no longer covered. “A group of Death Eaters had gotten into Hogwarts, had overpowered the Aurors stationed there, one of which was Tonks. Tonks called the Order, and there was a fight.” Bill took a long drink from his wine, licking his lips before he continued. “Greyback was there. Wasn’t a full moon, but he was ferocious. Managed to get behind me and…” he shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t remember a lot of it, not until I woke up in the Hospital wing the next day. You were there, and you answered every single question we had, because we didn’t know what to expect. Even with everything else that was going on, even with Dumbledore having been killed that night, you still took your time to help us.”

[tt_remus]

Remus was so surprised to hear Bill's tale. "So what were the repercussions of your injury? Greyback has always been ferocious." He thought back to his own injuries and scars. "I'm sorry to hear he got you, but at least it wasn't a full moon."

He let out a sigh. How many lives had Greyback ruined? He turned his mind to other things. "Have you two thought about having children now that the world is a bit more peaceful?" Nice segue, Remus.

[tt_fleur]

There was a reason Fleur's patronus was cheetah and it wasn't only because the animal was swift, beautiful and fierce. Cheetahs were also fierce protectors of their own much like Fleur was of those she considered her own but she knew Bill didn't need shielding or protecting from his past and their shared memories, but it didn't mean the desire wasn't there. Yet she sat on the tendencies and let him speak. Bill's strength gave her strength.

"Well the wounds were cursed they will never heal completely." Fleur said softly answering Remus' question. "He likes his steaks a bit rarer than he did before," a shrug worked its way to her shoulders. There had been side-effects but it hadn't been anything they hadn't been able to handle. "But really you were a comfort though Remus. I will always be grateful."

A slight blush found its way to Fleur's cheeks, a blush she would have accredited to the wine but his question probably had a part in it. It wasn't really a topic they had discussed in length but it was something they both wanted eventually. "I have always wanted a couple," Fleur said with a bit of a shy smile. "When the time is right that is."

[tt_bill]

Hearing Remus’ question and seeing Fleur’s reaction to it, had Bill laughing. “Did mum tell you to ask us that?” he chuckled and combed his fingers through his hair. He still hadn’t gotten completely used to the lack of length, but he still preferred it as it was now. “Like Fleur said, when the time is right, though they’re always welcome. We’ve just no… specific plans.”

“But let me turn this around a little, Remus,” he said, still smirking at the fact that Remus obviously felt comfortable enough to ask these kinds of questions. “Do you have any ideas what you’d like to do now that you’re here?”

[tt_remus]

Remus chuckled. "No, although that does sound like something she'd do. I don't know, Bill. I'm here, existing, with no st plans. Although there is something I'd like to discuss with you, and then Kingsley. Educational nature." He said, taking a drink of his wine. He relaxed some in his chair. These were friends. He trusted them.

"You may agree to one part of the idea."

[tt_bill]

Bill nodded; yes, that was indeed something his mother would do, and he and Fleur didn’t even have to be out of earshot for her to do so.

“One part of the idea?” he asked, shifting slightly in his seat though highly intrigued by the way Remus was presenting it. “I’d like to hear the parts I might disagree with too, though.”

[tt_remus]

"The other part may put my health at risk with other parties involved," he said with a grin. "I'm coming to you with this because you're higher up in security and have a general knowledge of things." Now where to begin? "First part... setting up an area so I can transform without further harm to myself. Even with the wolfsbane, it puts a great strain on myself to stay cooped up. If there's an area I can go and run around - safely - that would be wonderful."

He swirled the wine in his glass and took a drink. "The second part was Ginny's idea. She wants to study a werewolf - with wolfsbane and without - to help educate the public. There is so little information available and it may help them rest easier. We've discussed safety issues - that was my primary concern. She'd be flying above whatever area I would be in." Remus looked to Bill, watching his expression. Way to drop a load of information on the man.

[tt_fleur]

Fleur listened to the men talk back and forth a bit and the steady rhythm to it. Though it was quite like Molly and her mum too, to needle them about children. They both claimed they had had long enough and a million other reasons. When it came to security and other matters it was Bill's area so she let them handle it and went to check on the meal instead before coming back.

"How about we move this conversation to the dinner table?" The food wouldn't get cold as it was a colder lighter dish, perfect for summer but that didn't mean they couldn't sit and enjoy a meal and the conversation. It was a simple salmon dish served on a bed of lettuce with a light dressing but it was too hot for anything else. Fleur topped of the wine dishes before ushering them both to their proper spots at the table.

Fleur looked to Remus a moment, "And what do you think? I mean you are the one that actually would have to go through that without the potion. You shouldn't do it because it would make others feel better or because they want you to." Not that it was probably good with Wolfsbane but it had to he a little bit better.

[tt_remus]

Remus stood when Fleur came back in and ushered them to the table. "It looks wonderful, Fleur. Smells even better." He waited for her and Bill to sit before sitting himself.

"I want to educate people. That's my goal. To show what Wolfsbane does and that werewolves, under the potion, are not extremely dangerous. I don't have to make my home impenetrable during a transformation but I do to ease minds. This is a new world and it's young enough to embrace a new idea about werewolves.

"As long as I have the space to let the wolf run free, it won't hurt me too much. It helps to stretch muscles and basically wear myself out."

[tt_bill]

Bill was just taking a moment to consider what Remus had said, when – before he could share his thoughts – Fleur returned, asking them to join her for dinner. With a gentle hand on the small of her back, Bill led her into the dining area, pulling out the chair for her before he too took a seat.

He was listening to Fleur and Remus talking, still considering Remus’ idea. He wasn’t against it, it was a brilliant initiative, but what had given him cause for thought, was Ginny’s involvement in it and the level of it.

“You’re right,” he told him, “if there ever was a time to really show people, both Muggle and Magic, it’s now,” he started while he cut out a piece of the salmon. Tasting it, he chewed slowly then hummed in approval. “Mm, this is good, love. Perfect,” before he directed his attention back to Remus. “There’s plenty of land here. The South Island is completely void of people, safe for the ones at the Ark, if that’s more of a comfort for you. So warding off an area for you to run in, I can’t see how that could possibly be a problem, and I’ll personally do the wards for it.” He put down his fork and tapped his fingers together while he tried to phrase his only concern about this idea properly. “My main concern in this, shouldn’t come as a surprise to you; Ginny’s safety.” Wanting to soften his words he held up his hands. “I know she’s adult and I know there’s a need for the observation, but I won’t have her up there alone. The risk may be minimal, but I’d rather err on the side of caution than risk anything when it comes to her safety.”

[tt_remus]

Remus ate a bit and agreed with Bill, "This is really good. Definitely perfect for the weather. Molly better watch out with her cooking, you could easily surpass her." The fish was definitely delicious, and a good change from his normal meals.

"Okay, what if I had James keep her safe by being in his animagus form and running around with me? It's not 100% safe, but it's something we're used to doing. He would be more of a diversion than anything."

[tt_fleur]

Fleur had to laugh at his compliment though enjoying it all the same. The acknowledgment made all the effort worth it. "I would not let Molly hear you say that," for what it was worth, Bill's mum was an excellent cook even if Fleur found English food a little heavy and sometimes unappealing. "It is ma maman's cooking you need to look out for. Yes she is a chef, but she is having fun experimenting with the new kinds of food here and whatever herbs and spices I can find her." Most of the dishes were far from perfected.

Fleur shifted in her chair as she listened to the pair of them talk. There were pros and cons certainly but she wasn't sure which out weighed the other at the moment but then again she wasn't exactly sure about most of the details. "Logically, how much control would James even have over you should it come to it?" What she read in a book and was actually true could be two different stories and it wasn't like she had any first hand knowledge of it either. In her mind Ginny was as much Bill's as she was her own now and she didn't want to see her hurt either. Then again she knew Ginny was going to do it anyhow.

"What exactly is in a Wolfsbanes potion anyhow?" Fleur found herself asking as another thought popped into her head. Her natural gifts had always been with Charms but Potions had always been an interest of her's. It had been a long time though since she had looked at the instructions for the potion as she had no need for it; not after it became clear after Bill's attack that it wouldn't be needed. "There might be something here that could help." Always a possibility anyhow. There were a lot of new plants there, some of which she had taken to growing in her garden so she could play around with their properties.

[tt_remus]

"James' animagus is a stag and he would have no problem going after me with antlers and hooves. We've done it before. And... if James couldn't handle it by himself, he could drag Sirius into the mix too. The pair can easily defend her and keep me in line." Remus thought about her next question. What was in a Wolfsbane potion?

He had to stop and think a minute, chewing his food and savoring the taste as well. She was right, paired with the wine was perfect. "Well... main ingredient is Aconite...Wolfsbane. About the lesser ingredients. I don't know. And I may not want to. Since Wolfsbane itself is poisonous, I would say that there may be something to prevent it from being too strong." Remus had never thought to ask anyone what was in it. Severus made it for him since he started teaching at Hogwarts, and a local Potions maker made it for him otherwise.