Comments | fiery_inception: First Steps and First Meetings

m4moony in fiery_inception

First Steps and First Meetings

Aug 29, 2007 19:39

Date: Wednesday, 29 August, 2001
Time: Noon
Location: Three Broomsticks
Characters Involved: Remus Lupin and Anne Shephard
Rating: No more than PG

( What we do not understand, we fear. What we fear, we revile. What we revile, we often are ourselves. )

character: anne shephard, status: complete, status: invitation only, location: three broomsticks, character: remus lupin, group: werewolves

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anneshephard August 30 2007, 09:02:23 UTC

Finding the time hadn't been an issue. not when Anne was currently without a job. She'd rather not have gone out and wasted money on pub food (she was in one of her budgetting moods), but Lupin was doing her a favour just by meeting her, so she wasn't about to argue. She wasn't quite sure what they all meant by wanting to meet her, or what Caleb thought she could gain, but knowing an influential werewolf couldn't hurt, could it? As she had breakfast that morning, Anne reflected that Lupin must already be drinking Wolfsbane, as he sat up in his office at Hogwarts, preparing for his job.

Lucky bastard.To be honest, she wasn't all that comfortable having a public chat about their condition, either, but people were probably more used to werewolves with Lupin around, and if anyone did decide to get shirt - it had happened before - then Lupin, as the better-known man, would undoubtedly draw the ire. All in all, there was no good reason not to go, despite her hesitancy. She wondered if it was something to do with the waxing moon ( ... )

m4moony August 30 2007, 19:35:28 UTC

It wasn't too difficult to recognize another who shared their affliction so close to the Full. The preternatural senses that were growing in strength picked out the subtle differences in scent that said 'not fully prey'. Some subliminal hint of the lupine gait flowing through human limbs registered to changing eyesight. And so, Remus stood politely as soon as she approached ( ... )

anneshephard August 30 2007, 19:46:23 UTC

"Thank you," she said, having been addressed in enough different ways not to know herself if she was Miss or Mrs, Harman or Shephard. She picked up the menu, scanning it quickly. The smell of delicious food was already making her mouth water - someone at a nearby table was having roast chicken. The salad looked nice, though.

"I do appreciate you taking the time to meet me," she said. "I ... I have to admit I'm not really sure what Caleb wanted from this meeting. Did he explain I was at school with Stella Sinastra?" She smiled gently, eyes still mostly on the menu and not on her host, except when she was speaking to him. She felt very shy, suddenly in front of this man whom everyone seemed to love, and whom she'd read about in the newspapers, and whom she'd held opinions about without much ground. He seemed pleasant, mild, though there was some undercurrent she knew was tied to this week's irritability.

m4moony August 30 2007, 20:06:19 UTC

Remus watched quietly as she perused the menu, trying to see what he could glean of her circumstances from her appearance. He could see the gentle trepidation in her demeanor, though her downcast eyes spoke more of shyness than true nervousness as Caleb had described. He would have very much liked to put her at ease, but that was likely something that would take some work and patience on his part ( ... )

anneshephard August 30 2007, 20:38:44 UTC

"I suppose lost might be a good way of putting it," she admitted, deciding to carry her self-promise of openness through to Lupin as well as Caleb. She folded the menu, having decided on the salad, and put it down on the table. "To be honest, these past two years I've just been going from one month to the next, if you know what I mean. Caleb was the first person with our condition," she lowered her voice, "that I'd ever really talked to, if you know what I mean - and then it was only because I ran into Stella." She smiled softly, his clear efforts at reassuring her contrasting with the edge she got from her subconscious instincts. "Stella speaks very highly of you too. But I'm not really sure what they thought ... well, like you, I don't know where to begin. I know there are ... things about our condition I don't know, that you probably do ( ... )

m4moony August 31 2007, 05:33:45 UTC

Month to month; oh yes, Remus knew quite a bit about that. It had been his sole existence for ten of the twelve years he had been wandering abroad, the years spent in Portugal and Tuscany the notable exceptions. Stories like Anne Shephard's were the reason he continued on this path Albus had pointed him at five years ago. Much as he tried to forget it, disbelieve the truth of the matter, Remus knew he did hold some notoriety at least. His connections to Hogwarts and Harry Potter at least bought him a podium to speak at even if few listened ( ... )

anneshephard August 31 2007, 10:14:34 UTC

"I'll have the salad, please, and a glass of water," Anne told Lass. It was partly a concession to her meagre funds (another month without a job was cutting cruelly into her dwindling savings), and partly because in this week she turned largely vegetarian, keeping her food simple and ignoring the cravings she got. It was worse than when she'd been pregnant - then she'd woken Artie in the middle of the night requesting the oddest things, from white chocolate to curry, something she never usually liked, but now it was predictable and reliable - red meat, please. Going for a more simple, less bloodthirsty diet was one of the ways Anne found some small control over what she was ( ... )

m4moony September 2 2007, 21:08:49 UTC

Remus did not miss the scant amount of food his dining companion ordered. Surely, this close to the Full, her metabolism had to be increasing more than that could suffice? Zak, who, granted, was still in the last stages of adolescent growth, was practically eating them out of house and home! Tucking the observation into the back of his thoughts for further ponderance, he ordered the stew, half a grilled chicken, and fish 'n' chips for himself, including a butterbeer to go with all ( ... )

anneshephard September 13 2007, 21:57:20 UTC

The amount Lupin was ordering! Anne had to stop her mouth watering at the mere names of the dishes he was going to eat; she knew it would be tough to be satisfied with her salad once his meal actually arrived. But she could be quite firm when she wanted to be; Anne was not going to indulge the craving for meat right now.

"The Weasleys sound like wonderful people," she murmured into the pause after he spoke of them - she thought of that girl, back at St Mungo's - she'd been a Weasley, hadn't she? She was shaken from that train of thought, however, by the cold curdling of her stomach when he said Greyback's name. She was suddenly glad she hadn't ordered a rich meal.

"Him, Greyback," she said, awkwardly, when he had finished, "he was - the one. He was going for my daughter, she was only three ..." She shrugged, looking pointlessly at the menu again. She and Lupin had something in common, then, and she thought of how horrible life would have been if Greyback had reached Miriam. For all she hated her current circumstances, she would ( ... )

m4moony October 23 2007, 23:26:57 UTC

"No, it's all right. I don't mind. I've had seven years to adjust to not hiding what I am, thanks to my rather public outing. Talking about it doesn't bother me much any longer." Much being the operative word, of course. Mundane details like how it had affected his eating habits and his temper, were nothing to talk about. The constant niggling fear in the back of his mind during the dark, still hours of the night as the moon grew fuller, that one day, that maybe Fenrir's level of feralness was something that would naturally happen to him, Remus, as he drew nearer old age? That was something he rarely even shared with Severus, let alone a woman he'd just met ( ... )

anneshephard October 24 2007, 11:46:16 UTC

It was chilling, listening to Lupin's story. Anne would have found it moving at any time, but of course it struck a deeper chord now. That child could have been Miriam, and she found herself wrapped up in that depressing thought (counterpointed by the bittersweet relief that Miriam was human, and whole, and to be a student in six years) as Lass arrived with food. The smell of Professor Lupin's stew, chicken and fish and chips. Her stomach wanted to growl, and she knew her mouth was watering. But the idea of indulging the edge to her hunger was more than she was willing to contemplate. She stuck with her salad ( ... )

m4moony November 6 2007, 20:39:37 UTC

"It's no different than Voldemort and his death eaters, really. They like power and they like and if they can get power by making you afraid, so much the better. It's the same with Greyback." Remus stabbed at his stew a couple times before reaching for a chip, stabbing that into the stew instead of his spoon, and eating it. "He talks about giving power to the disenfranchised, which only includes werewolves, and encourages us to become the monsters society would name us in order to claim that power. When you've lost everything that ever meant anything to you, including basic dignity and the right to live, it's tempting. For some it's too much temptation to resist ( ... )

anneshephard November 8 2007, 11:07:53 UTC

It didn't feel good, to hear Lupin say she'd saved Miriam's life, but it didn't feel bad either. It was a curious mix of uncomfortable sensations, a confirmation of the bitter, guilty, hopeful thoughts she'd long tried to comfort herself with ( ... )

m4moony December 10 2007, 06:32:29 UTC

"Ah, so you would have started school after I had left, then ( ... )

anneshephard December 22 2007, 12:56:38 UTC

Anne blushed hotly, taking a sip of her water as if that would cool her burning cheeks. Professor Lupin might be able to empathise with the reality of her situation, but there still wasn't equality between them. She wasn't a respected teacher and pillar of the community.

"I'm ... I'm getting along okay, Professor," she said, embarrassment leaking through her voice, her hunched shoulders, her expression and her eyes. "Things aren't dire, and I certainly haven't come beg - asking for favours. I wanted to speak to you simply because ... well, I've already asked you about the thing I thought you might be able to help with. People to talk to, that sort of thing." She tried to hide her disappointment that there was no hidden country club where werewolves could go and relax and enjoy a drink or two while listening to the Quidditch on the WWN. "My situation isn't great, but I still have savings to help support me, for example, so I'm not nearly as badly off as some are ..." She took another mouthful of water. This was difficult to talk about ( ... )

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