Unexpected
Title: Unexpected
Author: pinkhairedauror
Rating & Warnings: PG, just in case.
Prompts: Day of Disguise. Dementor. Action/Adventure. Location: Stonehenge
Word Count: 1805
Summary: Remus is assigned to find out what he can about a possible DE gathering - and he arrives a day early. Only there's an ambush...
Author’s Notes: Set during OotP, between the battle at the Ministry and the Order visit to Privet Drive.
Again, many thanks to r_moony for kindly agreeing to beta. (and for kinda allowing me to use her muse's point of view :D )
Also, there is a companion piece that's almost ready (what happens after the end of this one) but it only connects with this one in my head, it doesn't work for the prompts. So I'll post it to the main journal, for those who are curious.
Again, this is my first action/adventure piece, as such. I hope I managed to both make it so, and keep it in the genre.
Enjoy!
Remus Lupin arrived in Salisbury early in the morning.
Not that many people would have recognised him, unless they knew him in his school years, and well at that - and those who did know him that way were gone now. The last one gone not a month ago.
Remus' heart clenched at the image of the face vanishing behind the veil once again.
He'd asked for a task so that he could get distracted from the thoughts about the battle at the Ministry. Not that it would work, but he would feel, possibly, a whiff less useless.
And Dumbledore had given him a task.
'Go and find out what the gathering at Stonehenge in three days is about.' Of course, if possible not noticed. He'd thought about it, then settled on one of Weasley's latest finds - a de-aging potion.
He arrived one day early, in the morning, to look around.
To be out of the house where...
Out of his house.
Remus found a room for himself, for three nights. He figured if one or two were enough, he could leave early; but if he just got one, and needed to stay for the night after the event, then it would be harder.
He settled his things and went out to look around. To see if there were strange things happening, or, more likely, familiar faces. In the evening, he thought, when things were calmer and tourists were fewer, he'd go over to look around the stone monument itself. Check for theoretical places he might need to be wary of, the night after.
The day turned out to be... not very eventful, but nobody knew him here and he knew nobody, so that stood to reason. Once he caught a stunningly beautiful young woman looking at him, but he just raised his fingers to the scars on his face - he had had them all those years ago too - and looked away. The lush black hair waving around her oval face and down to her waist, as well as the emerald green eyes and the scarlet dress - they stayed with him for a moment, then vanished. No women for him. No partners. Lone wolf, he now was hunting for the only pack that let him stay near.
It was easy to put away the image from his mind; it faded away on its own. Not like another face that had recently started visiting his dreams. And worse, nightmares - where the wolf was in control, and hurting people he lo- cared for. But the same thing applied.
Lone wolf.
Remus shook his head and continued his walk around. He did see one familiar face, one of his former students who had to have graduated already, but he lost him in a crowd of Asian tourists barely past the moment of recognition. He didn't know if the boy had recognised him - possibly he hadn't.
So as the dusk thickened, he set out to the stone circle. Carefully.
Good thing he was careful. Because there was an ambush.
A whispered curse, half-heard, was all the warning Remus had to duck and throw a protective charm around himself as a yellow light shot through the space he had occupied a moment ago. Trying not to flinch, he stayed still, very still, and listened.
He heard somebody move behind the closest half-crumbled stone and rose very briefly in the gathering shadows - to shoot a spell in the direction, and to shift to a slightly better cover.
It would have been too easy. And way too few things were ever easy for Remus Lupin.
From his next hiding place he shot a few more spells, his defence up and steaming, then the light from one of the curses against him showed him an even more shielded location. And he made a run for it.
The Expelliarmus hit him very strongly as he was running - his wand flew out of sight and the impact from the hex threw him a few steps back against the ground. His hand caught his body's fall, but it went askew and he cried out in pain as he heard something crack in his wrist. Then cursed himself for crying out; he might have remained concealed in the early darkness, had he stayed silent. Now he just scrambled a few paces back and waited - for the probable killing curse, by the grade of spells cast against him so far. Potentially capture, though that seemed less likely.
Only the steps approaching him came from an unexpected direction, and suddenly there was a flash of amber that shot from the direction he'd come from, across towards the place where his attackers seemed to be located. A yelp indicated a hit, GOOD! But his attention was drawn to the brief sight of a red dress and black hair that the amber light had revealed.
Two more jinxes, and another cry from behind those stones. The young witch seemed to know what she was doing, but...
"Who are you?"
"Your bloody back-up, Lupin."
"What?"
Instead of answering, she muttered a protection against the next spell they shot at her.
"But who are you." She didn't turn, which was absolutely justifiable considering the intensity that she needed to fight with at the moment. But in the light of a deflected hex, he saw a paler lock in the rich wavy hair.
And it seemed pink.
"I thought you were in the hospital still!"
"Obviously not. Now if you'll get about running away, I can retreat and either draw them out, or leave them behind."
"I'm not running away and leaving you alone!"
After a rather rare spell she pulled off, she called to him again. "One wand. Run!"
He seethed for a moment, then as soon as he moved the pain in his wrist reminded him that she was right. He rose to his feet as quietly as he could and started back, then stopped dead in his tracks.
The attack from behind the stones had suddenly ceased.
But the sharp chill in the air, the undeniable way his heart clenched, let him know they weren't letting them go just like that.
He turned back to the girl - the young witch, he had to concede; her prowess at fighting was indeed as impressive as a member of the Order's should be - and stepped closer. "Dementors. The quick way back's closed--" The words were out of his mouth before he noticed her wand-hand had dropped and she was almost swaying on her feet, her shoulders shaking.
She'd noticed, obviously.
He expected her to raise her wand and chase them away, but instead she crumbled to the ground, her arms tightly holding her knees to herself, and wept.
One thing that he knew was that ever since he'd returned, he'd never seen Nymphadora Tonks cry. Not once. It was disconcerting on its own.
"There is no time for that now..." The cold feeling around his own heart was growing; the chill was... palpable. And he suddenly realised there was a phrase she was repeating.
"Cousin, I'm sorry."
Sirius.
Remus gritted his teeth and knelt before her, trying to catch her attention. Softly, oh so softly. "Tonks? Sirius is gone. You need to chase those creatures away, they are coming closer!"
She looked up at him, and whispered back, "He's gone. He's not coming back. I didn't do anything... I didn't do anything when he was there at the mercy of the Dementors, and I didn't do anything to keep him safe in the battle..."
It was like a fist in his stomach.
He'd not done anything either. Anything that worked anyway.
Then he suddenly realised she wasn't going to be able to do it. Her guilt right now was too strong.
"I'm... sorry." Remus pulled at her wand and she let it go.
He rose, and stood straight, the wand held firmly in his good hand.
If Sirius was to be their grief tonight, then Sirius should be their safety too. Sirius would most definitely NOT like them losing because of the memory of him. Sirius... Remus concentrated. On the thought of Sirius and James and himself, laughing over a joke in their sixth year. On the thought of finally realising Sirius was not guilty... On their embrace. On the embrace Remus had watched Sirius give Harry last summer.
"Expecto Patronum!"
The silver-white light around the Patronus revealed three Dementors, approaching them from different sides. But Remus held firm, as he knew he could.
Sirius, Sirius' love, Sirius' joy, had meant a lot to Remus. And the Patronus conjured out of those memories was strong.
The demons were chased away.
It seemed darker, when their protection disappeared. Remus felt weak. His wrist hurt; his whole body hurt.
Tonks was still sobbing at his feet, though it seemed to be growing quieter. He squatted beside her and touched her arm, and she just turned to him and wrapped her arms around him.
The long luxurious hair was gone; her own spiky lighter one seemed to be back. It was too dark to see the features of her face, but he thought the familiar heart-like shape would be greeting him.
Then behind him there was more noise, somebody was muttering about having to finish the job.
That did it. Remus wrapped his arm around her back and urged her to stand up with him, then quickly apparated back to his room. With Tonks securely wrapped around his neck.
He deposited her on the edge of the bed; she hid her face in her hands, and wept for a bit more while he stood looking at her, then put her wand beside her. Then he turned away to look at the clock.
He'd last left the place just an hour ago. It seemed much, much longer.
Her voice startled him. It was deeper than usual, more hoarse; that went with the crying, he thought. "What's wrong with your wrist?"
"I... something cracked when I fell."
"Right. May I look at it?"
He sighed and nodded, then moved to sit beside her.
Her fingers were very gentle, but it still hurt. Then she took up her wand and murmured, "Episkey."
The familiar - first-hot-then-cold feeling washed over from elbow to fingertips; after it, the pain was gone.
"Thank you. And for earlier too, you showed up just in time."
"No worries. And thanks too. I... sorry I broke down like that. Dementors... just now, Dementors for me means Sirius, and his time in Azkaban, and I did nothing--"
"I understand, it's all right," he interjected quickly, as her chin quivered again. Her eyes finally rose to meet his.
And then she did something he totally did not expect.
She leaned forward, and kissed him.
Author: pinkhairedauror
Rating & Warnings: PG, just in case.
Prompts: Day of Disguise. Dementor. Action/Adventure. Location: Stonehenge
Word Count: 1805
Summary: Remus is assigned to find out what he can about a possible DE gathering - and he arrives a day early. Only there's an ambush...
Author’s Notes: Set during OotP, between the battle at the Ministry and the Order visit to Privet Drive.
Again, many thanks to r_moony for kindly agreeing to beta. (and for kinda allowing me to use her muse's point of view :D )
Also, there is a companion piece that's almost ready (what happens after the end of this one) but it only connects with this one in my head, it doesn't work for the prompts. So I'll post it to the main journal, for those who are curious.
Again, this is my first action/adventure piece, as such. I hope I managed to both make it so, and keep it in the genre.
Enjoy!
Remus Lupin arrived in Salisbury early in the morning.
Not that many people would have recognised him, unless they knew him in his school years, and well at that - and those who did know him that way were gone now. The last one gone not a month ago.
Remus' heart clenched at the image of the face vanishing behind the veil once again.
He'd asked for a task so that he could get distracted from the thoughts about the battle at the Ministry. Not that it would work, but he would feel, possibly, a whiff less useless.
And Dumbledore had given him a task.
'Go and find out what the gathering at Stonehenge in three days is about.' Of course, if possible not noticed. He'd thought about it, then settled on one of Weasley's latest finds - a de-aging potion.
He arrived one day early, in the morning, to look around.
To be out of the house where...
Out of his house.
Remus found a room for himself, for three nights. He figured if one or two were enough, he could leave early; but if he just got one, and needed to stay for the night after the event, then it would be harder.
He settled his things and went out to look around. To see if there were strange things happening, or, more likely, familiar faces. In the evening, he thought, when things were calmer and tourists were fewer, he'd go over to look around the stone monument itself. Check for theoretical places he might need to be wary of, the night after.
The day turned out to be... not very eventful, but nobody knew him here and he knew nobody, so that stood to reason. Once he caught a stunningly beautiful young woman looking at him, but he just raised his fingers to the scars on his face - he had had them all those years ago too - and looked away. The lush black hair waving around her oval face and down to her waist, as well as the emerald green eyes and the scarlet dress - they stayed with him for a moment, then vanished. No women for him. No partners. Lone wolf, he now was hunting for the only pack that let him stay near.
It was easy to put away the image from his mind; it faded away on its own. Not like another face that had recently started visiting his dreams. And worse, nightmares - where the wolf was in control, and hurting people he lo- cared for. But the same thing applied.
Lone wolf.
Remus shook his head and continued his walk around. He did see one familiar face, one of his former students who had to have graduated already, but he lost him in a crowd of Asian tourists barely past the moment of recognition. He didn't know if the boy had recognised him - possibly he hadn't.
So as the dusk thickened, he set out to the stone circle. Carefully.
Good thing he was careful. Because there was an ambush.
A whispered curse, half-heard, was all the warning Remus had to duck and throw a protective charm around himself as a yellow light shot through the space he had occupied a moment ago. Trying not to flinch, he stayed still, very still, and listened.
He heard somebody move behind the closest half-crumbled stone and rose very briefly in the gathering shadows - to shoot a spell in the direction, and to shift to a slightly better cover.
It would have been too easy. And way too few things were ever easy for Remus Lupin.
From his next hiding place he shot a few more spells, his defence up and steaming, then the light from one of the curses against him showed him an even more shielded location. And he made a run for it.
The Expelliarmus hit him very strongly as he was running - his wand flew out of sight and the impact from the hex threw him a few steps back against the ground. His hand caught his body's fall, but it went askew and he cried out in pain as he heard something crack in his wrist. Then cursed himself for crying out; he might have remained concealed in the early darkness, had he stayed silent. Now he just scrambled a few paces back and waited - for the probable killing curse, by the grade of spells cast against him so far. Potentially capture, though that seemed less likely.
Only the steps approaching him came from an unexpected direction, and suddenly there was a flash of amber that shot from the direction he'd come from, across towards the place where his attackers seemed to be located. A yelp indicated a hit, GOOD! But his attention was drawn to the brief sight of a red dress and black hair that the amber light had revealed.
Two more jinxes, and another cry from behind those stones. The young witch seemed to know what she was doing, but...
"Who are you?"
"Your bloody back-up, Lupin."
"What?"
Instead of answering, she muttered a protection against the next spell they shot at her.
"But who are you." She didn't turn, which was absolutely justifiable considering the intensity that she needed to fight with at the moment. But in the light of a deflected hex, he saw a paler lock in the rich wavy hair.
And it seemed pink.
"I thought you were in the hospital still!"
"Obviously not. Now if you'll get about running away, I can retreat and either draw them out, or leave them behind."
"I'm not running away and leaving you alone!"
After a rather rare spell she pulled off, she called to him again. "One wand. Run!"
He seethed for a moment, then as soon as he moved the pain in his wrist reminded him that she was right. He rose to his feet as quietly as he could and started back, then stopped dead in his tracks.
The attack from behind the stones had suddenly ceased.
But the sharp chill in the air, the undeniable way his heart clenched, let him know they weren't letting them go just like that.
He turned back to the girl - the young witch, he had to concede; her prowess at fighting was indeed as impressive as a member of the Order's should be - and stepped closer. "Dementors. The quick way back's closed--" The words were out of his mouth before he noticed her wand-hand had dropped and she was almost swaying on her feet, her shoulders shaking.
She'd noticed, obviously.
He expected her to raise her wand and chase them away, but instead she crumbled to the ground, her arms tightly holding her knees to herself, and wept.
One thing that he knew was that ever since he'd returned, he'd never seen Nymphadora Tonks cry. Not once. It was disconcerting on its own.
"There is no time for that now..." The cold feeling around his own heart was growing; the chill was... palpable. And he suddenly realised there was a phrase she was repeating.
"Cousin, I'm sorry."
Sirius.
Remus gritted his teeth and knelt before her, trying to catch her attention. Softly, oh so softly. "Tonks? Sirius is gone. You need to chase those creatures away, they are coming closer!"
She looked up at him, and whispered back, "He's gone. He's not coming back. I didn't do anything... I didn't do anything when he was there at the mercy of the Dementors, and I didn't do anything to keep him safe in the battle..."
It was like a fist in his stomach.
He'd not done anything either. Anything that worked anyway.
Then he suddenly realised she wasn't going to be able to do it. Her guilt right now was too strong.
"I'm... sorry." Remus pulled at her wand and she let it go.
He rose, and stood straight, the wand held firmly in his good hand.
If Sirius was to be their grief tonight, then Sirius should be their safety too. Sirius would most definitely NOT like them losing because of the memory of him. Sirius... Remus concentrated. On the thought of Sirius and James and himself, laughing over a joke in their sixth year. On the thought of finally realising Sirius was not guilty... On their embrace. On the embrace Remus had watched Sirius give Harry last summer.
"Expecto Patronum!"
The silver-white light around the Patronus revealed three Dementors, approaching them from different sides. But Remus held firm, as he knew he could.
Sirius, Sirius' love, Sirius' joy, had meant a lot to Remus. And the Patronus conjured out of those memories was strong.
The demons were chased away.
It seemed darker, when their protection disappeared. Remus felt weak. His wrist hurt; his whole body hurt.
Tonks was still sobbing at his feet, though it seemed to be growing quieter. He squatted beside her and touched her arm, and she just turned to him and wrapped her arms around him.
The long luxurious hair was gone; her own spiky lighter one seemed to be back. It was too dark to see the features of her face, but he thought the familiar heart-like shape would be greeting him.
Then behind him there was more noise, somebody was muttering about having to finish the job.
That did it. Remus wrapped his arm around her back and urged her to stand up with him, then quickly apparated back to his room. With Tonks securely wrapped around his neck.
He deposited her on the edge of the bed; she hid her face in her hands, and wept for a bit more while he stood looking at her, then put her wand beside her. Then he turned away to look at the clock.
He'd last left the place just an hour ago. It seemed much, much longer.
Her voice startled him. It was deeper than usual, more hoarse; that went with the crying, he thought. "What's wrong with your wrist?"
"I... something cracked when I fell."
"Right. May I look at it?"
He sighed and nodded, then moved to sit beside her.
Her fingers were very gentle, but it still hurt. Then she took up her wand and murmured, "Episkey."
The familiar - first-hot-then-cold feeling washed over from elbow to fingertips; after it, the pain was gone.
"Thank you. And for earlier too, you showed up just in time."
"No worries. And thanks too. I... sorry I broke down like that. Dementors... just now, Dementors for me means Sirius, and his time in Azkaban, and I did nothing--"
"I understand, it's all right," he interjected quickly, as her chin quivered again. Her eyes finally rose to meet his.
And then she did something he totally did not expect.
She leaned forward, and kissed him.