FIC for: kirasha
Title: Crossroads
Recipient: kirasha
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: G
Characters: Bill Weasley, Remus Lupin
Summary: Bill and Remus each have a choice to make.
Notes: Written as a gift for kirasha. I hope you like it.
~/~/~
Bill stood on the edge of the clearing, waiting for a sign. In his hands, he toyed with a piece of parchment. It outlined a position at the Gringotts branch in Hong Kong. He hadn’t mentioned it to Fleur or his family yet. He hadn’t decided if he was going to take it.
Nominally, he was here to meet Remus and learn what he had found out among the werewolves. However, Bill thought that Remus’ spying for the Order was highly overrated. The information he provided was scanty at best, too little, too late at worst. With Remus’ condition, he was only available for three weeks out of every four. When a group of Death Eaters attacked a bus full of tourists in London, Remus had only been able to tell them about it after the fact because of the full moon. Moreover, they never seemed to meet anywhere comfortable or well lit or, hell, convenient.
Worse, ever since Dumbledore died, the Order had seemed…lost. They had no sense of direction, no sense of purpose; they were simply a group of people who came together to cling to their idea that they were fighting a war that didn’t actually involve any fighting. Truth to be told, they were times he thought of the Order as nothing more than a mutual masturbation society.
Lately, Bill thought that this was nothing worth dying for. His father was right: family changed your perspective. Fleur wasn’t pregnant, not yet, but he already had ample proof that Britain was not the safest of places to be and working for the Order of the Phoenix was not the safest of things to do. The four slashes that twisted his face and marred his smile attested to that. Despite her brave words to his mother all those months ago, he knew how palpable Fleur’s relief was that he hadn’t changed when the full moon came after Greyback had marked him. The more he considered it, the he was convinced that it was no longer safe here, not for him, not for his family, and not for Fleur. Yet, here was, waiting for Remus Lupin in the middle of a Muggle park in the middle of the night.
In addition, something had been decidedly off about Remus lately. He was more feral, more secretive. Remus had broken off with Tonks; his only contacts with the Order were with Bill. His distance made some of the other Order members nervous - they remembered a time when they suspected he was a spy. While Bill was neither an Occulumens nor a Legilimens, he did have an uncanny knack for reading people. If something was going on with Remus, he could sense it and, maybe, with a little luck, find out what was going on. In the meantime, Bill tried to decide if he wanted to keep risking all that he cared for in the name of the Order.
~/~/~
Remus stood at the edge of the clearing, unsure of why he was here. It’s not that he didn’t want to help Harry. He cared deeply for James’ son, but he was not Sirius; he knew Harry was not James. And he did want to help the Order defeat Voldemort. What he did not want to do was betray his people.
When Greyback was around the other werewolves, they could be nothing more than ravening beasts. Under his influence, they wanted to savage anything unfortunate enough to cross their path. In addition, if nothing presented itself, they would seek out someone to attack. However, when Greyback was away, which was most of the time, things were different. The werewolves, the outcasts of Wizarding society, had created their own village, far from the Ministry and far from humans. There, in their own place, they were safe from the second-class status conferred on them by the Ministry, safe from the very real threat of discovery and all that would entail at the hands of Muggles.
For the first time in his life, Remus felt like he belonged. The village was home for him, more than anywhere he had even been. Hogwarts always made him feel gratitude, guilt, and a perverse anger. Despite having friends, he could never call the school home. He was never allowed to belong. However, in the village, he could just be. No one looked at him sideways, expecting him to slobber all over them with the midday sun shining down.
He was respected in the village as a leader, something that had never happened to him before. Even though Greyback’s influence overwhelmed the other werewolves in the village without him, there was peace in his frequent absences. During those times, Remus worked to sway the werewolves to be neutral in the war. He knew that even though he bore no real grudge against the Wizarding world, others were not so fortunate. Just because he didn’t hate all wizards, that didn’t mean he was especially inclined to help them either.
For thirty years, Remus had been the shunned outcast who could not hold down a job because of his nature. He lived, more often than less, on the charity of others and his meager savings from what odd jobs he could find. In the village, he was a respected teacher. As one of the few werewolves who had received the benefits of a Hogwarts education and had experience as a teacher, he was responsible for teaching the children changed by Greyback the rudiments of a magical education. As one who passed on knowledge, he needs were met. While the village was poor in money, they were rich in craft skills, so barter, not wages, was the coin of trade.
Most of all, the village was forming their own traditions, separate from the world that whelped them. In the midst of this, Remus had never been happier. He felt useful, productive, and, most of all, whole. He was making progress in getting the other werewolves to throw off Greyback and his dominance. If he could succeed in that endeavor, and keep off the Ministry radar until after the war was over, they had a chance, a real chance, to keep their small slice of the world as their own, beholden to none.
Remus stood on the edge of the clearing, watching the fountain geyser water into the air, scenting the night with chlorinated mist, trying to decide if he should even keep up this charade. It’s not as if he had anything to tell Bill, unless he was interested in how Jeremiah Thornton was doing in basic Charms.
~/~/~
Bill looked at his watch, the traditional Weasley coming of age gift. Half-past the hour and Remus was late. He wondered if he should try to send his Patronus after him, but that would be inviting trouble and trouble was the last thing he needed right now. He ran his fingers across his face, tracing the scars.
Fleur thought him a hero. She thought him brave for facing down the threat that Voldemort was to their world. Despite not being from Britain, she knew better than he did the danger that lunatic posed. The Weasleys were blood traitors; Fleur was a mixed breed and under Voldemort, she would be lucky to die cleanly. If she were unlucky…Bill shied away from contemplating that fate for his wife. While she was not on the front lines right now, that was only for her lack of familiarity with her adopted country, not from a desire to be safe.
Bill again read the notice for the Hong Kong post. Was there anywhere that he could be safe? Could he leave his family behind to face Voldemort alone? He didn’t think so and he knew better than to think that he could convince his mother to come with him. She had lost her brothers to Voldemort. His father had lost siblings also. Neither of them would be willing to choose flight over fight. His brothers, too, were too invested in the Order and this war to pick up and leave. Charlie was training dragons to bear riders for offensive strikes and Percy was feeding them information from inside the Ministry. Fred and George were putting their devilishly clever minds to work on new ways to thwart the Death Eaters. Ron and Ginny simply would not abandon Harry.
Neither could he, Bill decided. In the end, he was as much invested in this as his family. He could no more turn his back on the Order and the war than Harry could. Taking care, he began to shred the notice into pieces to be picked up and carried on the wind. He had to go out and wait for Remus.
~/~/~
Remus wondered why Bill hadn’t arrived yet. He considered stepping out from the tree line, but he hesitated. Standing in the shadows, it dawned on him that he only hesitated because he didn’t want to see Bill. If anyone else had come to meet him, Remus thought that he would have been done and gone by now. However, Bill was a different story.
It times like this - quiet moments in the dark of night - that he knew he was envious of Bill. He had everything that Remus wanted: a large and loving family, a respectable, steady job, a beautiful, loving wife, and friends. Most of all, when Greyback marked him, Bill didn't lose any of it. Remus had been bitten as a child, ruining any hope of a normal life. Bill had had that normal life, been marked by Greyback, and kept everything.
He had the potential for a new life in his hands right now. The village could be the home he always wanted. There, he didn’t have to look at someone who had it all and feel so envious and full of self-loathing. In addition, Remus knew that cooperating with the Order would ultimately cost the werewolf village their fledgling sovereignty, bringing them back under the auspices of the Ministry. That was a path that every werewolf in the village already knew, all too well.
In the end, he knew he was a werewolf and it is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven. It was time to go home.
Recipient: kirasha
Fic or Art: Fic
Rating: G
Characters: Bill Weasley, Remus Lupin
Summary: Bill and Remus each have a choice to make.
Notes: Written as a gift for kirasha. I hope you like it.
~/~/~
Bill stood on the edge of the clearing, waiting for a sign. In his hands, he toyed with a piece of parchment. It outlined a position at the Gringotts branch in Hong Kong. He hadn’t mentioned it to Fleur or his family yet. He hadn’t decided if he was going to take it.
Nominally, he was here to meet Remus and learn what he had found out among the werewolves. However, Bill thought that Remus’ spying for the Order was highly overrated. The information he provided was scanty at best, too little, too late at worst. With Remus’ condition, he was only available for three weeks out of every four. When a group of Death Eaters attacked a bus full of tourists in London, Remus had only been able to tell them about it after the fact because of the full moon. Moreover, they never seemed to meet anywhere comfortable or well lit or, hell, convenient.
Worse, ever since Dumbledore died, the Order had seemed…lost. They had no sense of direction, no sense of purpose; they were simply a group of people who came together to cling to their idea that they were fighting a war that didn’t actually involve any fighting. Truth to be told, they were times he thought of the Order as nothing more than a mutual masturbation society.
Lately, Bill thought that this was nothing worth dying for. His father was right: family changed your perspective. Fleur wasn’t pregnant, not yet, but he already had ample proof that Britain was not the safest of places to be and working for the Order of the Phoenix was not the safest of things to do. The four slashes that twisted his face and marred his smile attested to that. Despite her brave words to his mother all those months ago, he knew how palpable Fleur’s relief was that he hadn’t changed when the full moon came after Greyback had marked him. The more he considered it, the he was convinced that it was no longer safe here, not for him, not for his family, and not for Fleur. Yet, here was, waiting for Remus Lupin in the middle of a Muggle park in the middle of the night.
In addition, something had been decidedly off about Remus lately. He was more feral, more secretive. Remus had broken off with Tonks; his only contacts with the Order were with Bill. His distance made some of the other Order members nervous - they remembered a time when they suspected he was a spy. While Bill was neither an Occulumens nor a Legilimens, he did have an uncanny knack for reading people. If something was going on with Remus, he could sense it and, maybe, with a little luck, find out what was going on. In the meantime, Bill tried to decide if he wanted to keep risking all that he cared for in the name of the Order.
~/~/~
Remus stood at the edge of the clearing, unsure of why he was here. It’s not that he didn’t want to help Harry. He cared deeply for James’ son, but he was not Sirius; he knew Harry was not James. And he did want to help the Order defeat Voldemort. What he did not want to do was betray his people.
When Greyback was around the other werewolves, they could be nothing more than ravening beasts. Under his influence, they wanted to savage anything unfortunate enough to cross their path. In addition, if nothing presented itself, they would seek out someone to attack. However, when Greyback was away, which was most of the time, things were different. The werewolves, the outcasts of Wizarding society, had created their own village, far from the Ministry and far from humans. There, in their own place, they were safe from the second-class status conferred on them by the Ministry, safe from the very real threat of discovery and all that would entail at the hands of Muggles.
For the first time in his life, Remus felt like he belonged. The village was home for him, more than anywhere he had even been. Hogwarts always made him feel gratitude, guilt, and a perverse anger. Despite having friends, he could never call the school home. He was never allowed to belong. However, in the village, he could just be. No one looked at him sideways, expecting him to slobber all over them with the midday sun shining down.
He was respected in the village as a leader, something that had never happened to him before. Even though Greyback’s influence overwhelmed the other werewolves in the village without him, there was peace in his frequent absences. During those times, Remus worked to sway the werewolves to be neutral in the war. He knew that even though he bore no real grudge against the Wizarding world, others were not so fortunate. Just because he didn’t hate all wizards, that didn’t mean he was especially inclined to help them either.
For thirty years, Remus had been the shunned outcast who could not hold down a job because of his nature. He lived, more often than less, on the charity of others and his meager savings from what odd jobs he could find. In the village, he was a respected teacher. As one of the few werewolves who had received the benefits of a Hogwarts education and had experience as a teacher, he was responsible for teaching the children changed by Greyback the rudiments of a magical education. As one who passed on knowledge, he needs were met. While the village was poor in money, they were rich in craft skills, so barter, not wages, was the coin of trade.
Most of all, the village was forming their own traditions, separate from the world that whelped them. In the midst of this, Remus had never been happier. He felt useful, productive, and, most of all, whole. He was making progress in getting the other werewolves to throw off Greyback and his dominance. If he could succeed in that endeavor, and keep off the Ministry radar until after the war was over, they had a chance, a real chance, to keep their small slice of the world as their own, beholden to none.
Remus stood on the edge of the clearing, watching the fountain geyser water into the air, scenting the night with chlorinated mist, trying to decide if he should even keep up this charade. It’s not as if he had anything to tell Bill, unless he was interested in how Jeremiah Thornton was doing in basic Charms.
~/~/~
Bill looked at his watch, the traditional Weasley coming of age gift. Half-past the hour and Remus was late. He wondered if he should try to send his Patronus after him, but that would be inviting trouble and trouble was the last thing he needed right now. He ran his fingers across his face, tracing the scars.
Fleur thought him a hero. She thought him brave for facing down the threat that Voldemort was to their world. Despite not being from Britain, she knew better than he did the danger that lunatic posed. The Weasleys were blood traitors; Fleur was a mixed breed and under Voldemort, she would be lucky to die cleanly. If she were unlucky…Bill shied away from contemplating that fate for his wife. While she was not on the front lines right now, that was only for her lack of familiarity with her adopted country, not from a desire to be safe.
Bill again read the notice for the Hong Kong post. Was there anywhere that he could be safe? Could he leave his family behind to face Voldemort alone? He didn’t think so and he knew better than to think that he could convince his mother to come with him. She had lost her brothers to Voldemort. His father had lost siblings also. Neither of them would be willing to choose flight over fight. His brothers, too, were too invested in the Order and this war to pick up and leave. Charlie was training dragons to bear riders for offensive strikes and Percy was feeding them information from inside the Ministry. Fred and George were putting their devilishly clever minds to work on new ways to thwart the Death Eaters. Ron and Ginny simply would not abandon Harry.
Neither could he, Bill decided. In the end, he was as much invested in this as his family. He could no more turn his back on the Order and the war than Harry could. Taking care, he began to shred the notice into pieces to be picked up and carried on the wind. He had to go out and wait for Remus.
~/~/~
Remus wondered why Bill hadn’t arrived yet. He considered stepping out from the tree line, but he hesitated. Standing in the shadows, it dawned on him that he only hesitated because he didn’t want to see Bill. If anyone else had come to meet him, Remus thought that he would have been done and gone by now. However, Bill was a different story.
It times like this - quiet moments in the dark of night - that he knew he was envious of Bill. He had everything that Remus wanted: a large and loving family, a respectable, steady job, a beautiful, loving wife, and friends. Most of all, when Greyback marked him, Bill didn't lose any of it. Remus had been bitten as a child, ruining any hope of a normal life. Bill had had that normal life, been marked by Greyback, and kept everything.
He had the potential for a new life in his hands right now. The village could be the home he always wanted. There, he didn’t have to look at someone who had it all and feel so envious and full of self-loathing. In addition, Remus knew that cooperating with the Order would ultimately cost the werewolf village their fledgling sovereignty, bringing them back under the auspices of the Ministry. That was a path that every werewolf in the village already knew, all too well.
In the end, he knew he was a werewolf and it is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven. It was time to go home.