A Happy Birthday Teaser!
Happy Birthday, mrstater !
I hope your day is splendid!
For your birthday, here is a teaser -- the opening of the final chapter of A Star Danced, which should be posted in its entirety on www.fanfiction.net very soon. ;)
I hope you enjoy it!
Remus had, of course, seen a few Howlers before, and had witnessed the terror they could inspire with just a few shrieked words; but this was the first Howler he had ever personally received. So how could he know that it was one of the loudest, shrillest, and lengthiest Howlers a person could get? He stood clutching the back of a chair as he gawked at the flimsy parchment screeching at him from the center of the kitchen table.
“HOW DARE YOU NOT TELL ME THAT YOU WERE CHECKING ON ME FOR DUMBLEDORE! THAT WAS A VERY SNEAKY AND UNDERHANDED THING TO DO TO SOMEONE! AND WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE ORDER, OR THAT YOU WERE PART OF IT?! I KNEW THAT STORY I WRUNG OUT OF YOU ABOUT WORKING AT A BOOK SHOP WAS A LOAD OF BOLLOCKS!
“AND MAKING ME FALL FOR YOU AT THE SAME BLOODY TIME YOU WERE SPYING ON ME WAS COMPLETELY UNCALLED FOR! FIVE MONTHS OF SUBTERFUGE! FIVE MONTHS OF LONG-DISTANCE WOOING AND DATING AND WHATNOT - ESPECIALLY THE WHATNOT - AND ALL THE WHILE YOU AND MOODY AND DUMBLEDORE WERE PLOTTING TO POP THIS ON ME THE INSTANT I PASSED THE AUROR EXAMS! I OUGHT TO HEX YOU INTO NEXT WEEK FOR THAT! BUT I WON’T BECAUSE YOU’RE SUCH A BLOODY GOOD KISSER!"
Remus laughed. And as though the Howler had anticipated this, it went on:
“DON’T YOU DARE LAUGH, THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!
“AND SPEAKING OF SIRIUS AND HIS METHODS OF DISTRACTION, DON’T YOU EVER TRY TO DISTRACT ME WITH KISSES EVER AGAIN BECAUSE I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT NEXT TIME, REMUS LUPIN, IT WON’T WORK! BECAUSE I AM AN AUROR NOW, AND AN AUROR WITH A SPECIAL UNDERCOVER JOB, TOO, MISTER SMARTY-PANTS, AND YOU CAN’T FOOL ME! NO SECRET IS SAFE! SO YOU’D BETTER BE SUFFICIENTLY CONTRITE WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!”
The Howler lowered its voice for a moment.
“AS MAD AS I AM, I SUPOSE I SHOULD THANK YOU FOR PUTTING IN A GOOD WORD WITH DUMBLEDORE FOR ME.”
But then it began shrieking again.
“ALTHOUGH I HOPE IT WASN’T JUST SO YOU’D GET ME INTO BED, BECAUSE TRUST ME, THAT WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN NECESSARY!”
It lowered its voice again.
“OH. I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU TO OPEN THIS WHEN YOU WERE ALONE.”
It screeched once more.
“NEVERTHELESS! YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE ENDS DO NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS, EVEN IF THE ENDS ARE COMPLETELY FABULOUS!
“WAIT, YOU ARE GETTING ME OFF THE SUBJECT! DON’T DISTRACT ME! GRRRR!!”
Remus snorted as the Howler actually growled at him and ruffled its edges threateningly like the fringe of a Chinese Fireball. But of course it went on:
“I’M REALLY MAD AT YOU! AND DAMN IT ALL, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU TONIGHT!!!!!”
The Howler then folded itself into a mouth and kissed Remus full-on, making him stagger backward in shock. The paper tasted salty, as salty as Tonks’ lips at the seashore, as salty as a long afternoon in bed together. He blinked, licking his lips, and watched the Howler tear itself into a hundred little pieces and toss itself over his head like confetti. It was wet like sea spray and smelled of waves and sand.
I hope your day is splendid!
For your birthday, here is a teaser -- the opening of the final chapter of A Star Danced, which should be posted in its entirety on www.fanfiction.net very soon. ;)
I hope you enjoy it!
Remus had, of course, seen a few Howlers before, and had witnessed the terror they could inspire with just a few shrieked words; but this was the first Howler he had ever personally received. So how could he know that it was one of the loudest, shrillest, and lengthiest Howlers a person could get? He stood clutching the back of a chair as he gawked at the flimsy parchment screeching at him from the center of the kitchen table.
“HOW DARE YOU NOT TELL ME THAT YOU WERE CHECKING ON ME FOR DUMBLEDORE! THAT WAS A VERY SNEAKY AND UNDERHANDED THING TO DO TO SOMEONE! AND WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE ORDER, OR THAT YOU WERE PART OF IT?! I KNEW THAT STORY I WRUNG OUT OF YOU ABOUT WORKING AT A BOOK SHOP WAS A LOAD OF BOLLOCKS!
“AND MAKING ME FALL FOR YOU AT THE SAME BLOODY TIME YOU WERE SPYING ON ME WAS COMPLETELY UNCALLED FOR! FIVE MONTHS OF SUBTERFUGE! FIVE MONTHS OF LONG-DISTANCE WOOING AND DATING AND WHATNOT - ESPECIALLY THE WHATNOT - AND ALL THE WHILE YOU AND MOODY AND DUMBLEDORE WERE PLOTTING TO POP THIS ON ME THE INSTANT I PASSED THE AUROR EXAMS! I OUGHT TO HEX YOU INTO NEXT WEEK FOR THAT! BUT I WON’T BECAUSE YOU’RE SUCH A BLOODY GOOD KISSER!"
Remus laughed. And as though the Howler had anticipated this, it went on:
“DON’T YOU DARE LAUGH, THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!
“AND SPEAKING OF SIRIUS AND HIS METHODS OF DISTRACTION, DON’T YOU EVER TRY TO DISTRACT ME WITH KISSES EVER AGAIN BECAUSE I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT NEXT TIME, REMUS LUPIN, IT WON’T WORK! BECAUSE I AM AN AUROR NOW, AND AN AUROR WITH A SPECIAL UNDERCOVER JOB, TOO, MISTER SMARTY-PANTS, AND YOU CAN’T FOOL ME! NO SECRET IS SAFE! SO YOU’D BETTER BE SUFFICIENTLY CONTRITE WHEN I SEE YOU AGAIN! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!”
The Howler lowered its voice for a moment.
“AS MAD AS I AM, I SUPOSE I SHOULD THANK YOU FOR PUTTING IN A GOOD WORD WITH DUMBLEDORE FOR ME.”
But then it began shrieking again.
“ALTHOUGH I HOPE IT WASN’T JUST SO YOU’D GET ME INTO BED, BECAUSE TRUST ME, THAT WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN NECESSARY!”
It lowered its voice again.
“OH. I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU TO OPEN THIS WHEN YOU WERE ALONE.”
It screeched once more.
“NEVERTHELESS! YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THE ENDS DO NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS, EVEN IF THE ENDS ARE COMPLETELY FABULOUS!
“WAIT, YOU ARE GETTING ME OFF THE SUBJECT! DON’T DISTRACT ME! GRRRR!!”
Remus snorted as the Howler actually growled at him and ruffled its edges threateningly like the fringe of a Chinese Fireball. But of course it went on:
“I’M REALLY MAD AT YOU! AND DAMN IT ALL, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU TONIGHT!!!!!”
The Howler then folded itself into a mouth and kissed Remus full-on, making him stagger backward in shock. The paper tasted salty, as salty as Tonks’ lips at the seashore, as salty as a long afternoon in bed together. He blinked, licking his lips, and watched the Howler tear itself into a hundred little pieces and toss itself over his head like confetti. It was wet like sea spray and smelled of waves and sand.