Old friends who just met

[tt_remus]

Date: 16 March 2002
Characters: Remus Lupin
Setting: Marketplace
Content: G
Status: Public : Open



Remus Lupin was one of those people who could not sleep past a certain time in the morning, despite only getting to bed a short time before. Today was no exception. He had gotten off work at 6:30AM and was up by 8:30. He wasn't too pleased by this but it was how he worked. He had done fixing up around his home and figured it was time he bought food.

He headed into town and was lingering at the fruit stand.

Comments

[tt_tonks]

Tonks still hadn't adjusted to the idea that not only had she been pulled out of time - after dying less than three years later - but that she'd somehow wound up in the past. The very, very distant past. With a settlement of people essentially avoiding the complete destruction of the human race.

She still wasn't convinced it wasn't a dream, or some sort of horrific hallucination. Maybe a combination of both. But either way, she wasn't staying cooped up in that big house on her own, and after a restless night spent tossing and turning, she headed out to the market to see about the food situation.

Halfway in a daze as she drifted through the stalls, she managed to bump straight into a man standing in front of the fruit stand. And in her attempt to overcorrect, she managed to back into a display of apples as well.

"Dammit - I'm so bloody sorry," she said quickly, bending down to pick up the fruit that had fallen. "Are you all right?"

[tt_remus]

Remus felt the bump and turned, "Oh... It's okay. I'm not as fragile as I look sometimes," he said with a chuckle. "Are you all right?" He asked the woman. Interesting looking. He bent over to help her pick up the apples that had fallen, "Are you new here?"

While he did not know everyone in all the settlements, he knew that she seemed frazzled.

[tt_tonks]

"I'm fine," she said, standing with a bit of wobble and handing the dirty fruit to the vendor with a sheepish look. At least no one had been injured. That was an improvement.

"Er, yeah, just arrived yesterday," she said, brushing her hands off and eyeing the man. He looked vaguely familiar in the way that many witches and wizards did to her, but she couldn't tell if it was because she'd met him or if he looked like someone she knew. Maybe a combination of both. "Sorry, I'm still getting the hang of things. I'm Tonks."

[tt_remus]

He cocked his head to the side 'Tonks?' he thought to himself. He wondered if she was any relation to Andromeda. And then thought of Teddy. Curious. Very curious.

"I haven't been here too very long, maybe a month. It's takes a while to get used to being here. Especially if you didn't come here voluntarily. Is there anything I can help you with?" He knew what it was like being randomly grabbed from time. Thankfully, he did have friends here to help him out. "I'm Remus. Nice to meet you."

[tt_tonks]

"No, definitely didn't come here voluntarily. I'm from 1995," she said, running her fingers through her hair. It was shoulder-length and mousy brown today, what with all the shock of this. Morphing would just take too much bloody effort.

"Er, wotcher, Remus," she said, eyeing him closely. It may have been fifteen years, but she still knew the name. "Remus Lupin?"

[tt_remus]

"Do I know you... from another time maybe?" Remus seemed genuinely surprised she knew his name. "Were you a student I forgot about?" He thought he knew all his students' names. Had he failed to remember a Tonks? "I'm from 1993."

He was slowly putting the pieces together in his head. If she knew him, then this was probably the woman he married. Bloody hell!

[tt_tonks]

Tonks shook her head. "No, no - you - er, you were mates with my cousin, Sirius?" It came out as a question instead of the statement of fact she'd meant for it to be. "I was little then, seven or eight at most, but...right. And, er, you're a member of the Order as well?" Her voice dropped a bit, not wanting anyone to accidentally overhear her.

[tt_remus]

He nodded. "Oh. Yes. He's here, did you know? Yes, I was an Order member. Are you related to Andromeda, then?" Might as well just come out and ask. He was not going to bright up their relationship if she didn't know about it. No need bringing her down.

"What were you doing in 1995?"

[tt_tonks]

"Is he?" said Tonks, rather dazed. "No, er, I didn't know. Just found out about the whole - Azkaban thing, and - right." She shook her head. "Sorry, still rather lost."

She nodded. "Andromeda's my mother. Ted Tonks is my father," she added, in case that wasn't obvious. "I'm an Auror. Mad-Eye - Alastor Moody? He'd just invited me to join the Order."

[tt_remus]

Wow. So this was the woman he married. She was very pretty, if a bit younger than he thought. Overall, he was impressed.

He nodded. "I've met up with him for drinks not too long ago. I thought he killed my friends all these years. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you... I don't recall a Ted Tonks at Hogwarts. Where did he go to school?"

An auror. That in interesting. "Can you imagine Mad-Eye Moody here?" He chuckled a bit.

[tt_tonks]

The fact that Sirius was here - the same cousin she'd thought guilty all those years - was just another straw to add to the camel's back. Thankfully it hadn't broken yet.

"Yeah? I'd be happy to see him, too," she admitted. And to apologise for thinking he was a murderer all those years. "My mum and dad went to school together. He's Muggleborn though, and they were older than you lot, so...right."

She shook her head and glanced around sheepishly. "To be honest, I'm having a hard time imagining myself here, yet here we are. Does it get any easier? Or am I going to wake up every morning for the next ten years and have to remind myself that we're in prehistoric times?"

[tt_remus]

He nodded. "I remember Andromeda as a girl, I was First or Second Year though."

"Eventually it does become normal. The large flying creatures become normal. The food becomes normal. They may not be what you remember, but they are very similar. I've got friends who were pulled from the late 70's and early 80's - this was a big surprise for them, but it becomes normal. These... data things. Those are weird. You'll be settled before you realize it. I promise. What's your job here, if you have one."

Remus didn't know what else to say. At least it was warmer here than it was in Britain.

[tt_tonks]

"The...large flying creatures?" said Tonks faintly. The food seemed normal enough for now, but she had only had a few bites the night before. And she hadn't exactly been focused on what it'd tasted like. "The data...oh, those things. Right. Er. Right. Haven't even really looked at it yet.

"I'm security," she added. "Seems reasonable, really. What do you do here? Did you choose to come through, or were you spit out, too?"

[tt_remus]

"It's almost the norm. I'm not shunned here like I was back in London. By no means a social butterfly, but more people are just cautious without the hate. Ginny and I are working on a research opportunity that will hopefully educate the people without prejudice towards werewolves. It's a breath of fresh air." Remus got silent for a moment. "I prefer this normal."

"I died in 1998. There was a big battle at Hogwarts in which several died. Voldemort also died as well. It was a way I think I preferred to have gone."

[tt_tonks]

Tonks blinked. "Werewolves?" she said after the space of several heartbeats. "You're a - oh. I didn't know." Though now that he'd brought it up, she realised she had known. It'd been impossible not to, working in the Auror office the year before, when word had gotten out of his condition. "Yes - wait, yes I did, I'm sorry. Right. I'm glad you're happier here. Do most people seem to be, in general?"

She was quiet for a long moment. "That's when I died, too. I suppose we must have known each other through the Order."

[tt_remus]

Remus nodded. "We did." Oh, they more than knew each other, he thought. But again, Remus kept his mouth shut.

"I think most are happier here. For some, it's a world without looking over your shoulder for Death Eaters and Voldemort. For others, it's just a new beginning. A way of wiping away the slate. It won't be immediate, but you'll like it here."

[tt_tonks]

"But you're from before me, so you don't remember either." Way to state the obvious there. "But you knew who I was?"

A world without looking over their shoulders. That sounded - impossible. Like one giant relief she couldn't articulate. But she'd trained to be an Auror for so long, to be a soldier in the war against dark wizards, that part of her had no idea how to cope with the idea that all of it was for naught. Better that than being needed and having innocent people die, of course, but still. It was another shake-up.

"It sounds lovely," she said. "Just have to get used to it first, I suppose. Do you know more about the war?"

[tt_remus]

"A lot of people clued me in as to what went out after '93. The datapad has a lot of information about the war, if you're interested. It's a portable library." Leave it to Remus to point out that one.

"Take your time and enjoy here. The people here are nice, mostly. There are a few you'd like to hex into next century... or something like that. But those are far and few in between. "

Remus tried to think of what to say about the war. "Voldemort ended up with complete control of the Ministry by 1997. He was on the hunt for Harry. I just can't describe it. I can only tell you what I've read, but you could read it just the same."

[tt_tonks]

"The - oh, that thing. Right." Tonks pulled hers out of her bag. "They explained it to me, but it's so bloody futuristic. I'm decent with Muggle technology and all, but this is maddening."

She nodded. It would take loads of time to get used to it, but once she was, and once she'd had time to mourn the lose of the life she'd had before, it would be better, she thought. Or at least she hoped as much.

"I'll read up on it," she promised. "Any nasty surprises I ought to know about beforehand? I don't suddenly turn into a Death Eater, do I? Or my parents - are they here?" She brightened a bit at the thought. "Is that how you know my mum?"

[tt_remus]

"Erm." Remus hesitated. Should he inform her. "There may be some things in there that will surprise you..." He was referring to the 'martyrs' area. It listed all who died and everything significant about them. "Your dad died during the war. I'm sorry to tell you. I honestly don't know if he's been pulled. I've been trying to find your mum for a little while. No news there either. There are a lot of people here, so they very well could be here but not using their datapad a lot."

Remus bit his lip. "Erm. Another surprise... we ... erm ... were apparently more than friends. Erm..." this was very, very awkward.

[tt_tonks]

Her dad was dead? She stared at him, completely dumbfounded. She was supposed to be the one who died, the half-blood stain on the family tree. The one the Lestranges and Malfoys would have been happy to see in several pieces. Not her father. And why was a stranger looking for her mother? That didn't make any sense, even to her muddled brain, and it took her several seconds to register exactly what he'd said.

"More than..." She stopped and stared openly at him. More than friends. Boyfriend? More? Husband? She couldn't imagine being married three years from now, but then again, she couldn't imagine dying in three years, either. Or losing her father. Though now that she knew it was a possibility he was here, she had every intention of searching every bloody nook and cranny in this place until she found him. Or was certain he wasn't here at all.

"Were we married or just sleeping together?" she blurted.

[tt_remus]

"I really don't know which came first but we ended up married... and eventually had a baby. There was a lot of frowns in our direction for that." Remus didn't know what else to say. Talk about a shock to the poor girl's system.

Remus had to admit, he felt like a git.

[tt_tonks]

Married. A baby. With a man she'd met twenty minutes earlier. For a long moment she said nothing, just staring at him unblinkingly. What was she supposed to say? Was there anything to say, really?

"My dad's dead," she finally managed, her mouth dry. The fact that they'd had a child, her and this man she'd only just met - that was a blow, but she'd always wanted kids. It wasn't the most surprising thing in the world that she'd had one by twenty-five. But her father was dead, and that was going to take a lot more than a few seconds for her to accept.

She swallowed the lump that was quickly forming in her throat. She was not going to cry in front of him. Especially not in public. "You - you're cute," she said tightly. "I can see it. The shagging probably came first. I probably wouldn't... I wouldn't wait until..."

She trailed off, and blinking rapidly, she looked away. Dammit.

[tt_remus]

Remus felt very awkward. "It's not going to be much consolation, but he died a hero. He was a really good man. He and your mum let the Order use their house as a sort of stop-over when trying to get Harry to safe keeping. I have a feeling you'll see him and your mum again. If the Portal can pull Godric Gryffindor, yes, THE Godric Gryffindor, your dad can be here as well."

What else could he say. "Erm. Would you like me to leave?"

[tt_tonks]

It wasn't much consolation at all, but it was something, at least. She must have gotten them involved in the Order, she realised. But as soon as she thought it, she cut herself off. Her parents would've gotten involved in the war effort anyway. That was just the kind of people they were. And they would have been targeted regardless, just for the simple fact of who her mother's sisters were.

"Thanks," she said, hastily wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "You didn't have to do this, and I - I appreciate it. I appreciate the truth." Her dad had to be here. Remus was right, and she would find him.

Tonks shook her head, pulling herself together as much as she could. She sniffed and took another sip of water to clear her throat. "No, unless you want to." The last thing she wanted to be was alone right now. "Er. Is that why you were looking for my mother? Did she - did she wind up with the baby?"