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]

"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."