Better Late Than Never

[candesgirl]

Title: Better Late Than Never

Author: candesgirl

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: OC!!!!!

Feedback: Please and thank you!

Challenge: 20 - Remus is late to James and Lily's wedding... why? -
exiledmind

Summary: Lily asks Remus to do her a favor regarding a wedding guest…

Author’s Notes: I had this fab idea when I took the challenge and I wrote several versions of it and hated them all! This came to me four days ago on my girl 
hauntedpetals birthday when I was trying to think of something to write for her….It is unbetad, all my fault for getting it done so late, sorry!!! But I hope you like it! I had fun writing this one…

If Remus owned a watch he would have checked the time, instead he glanced outside at the dying light streaming in through the dingy windows of The Leaky Cauldron. Thinking it must be late afternoon, there was still time for another drink. He signaled the bartender who promptly served him yet another glass of honey mead, a personal favorite of Remus’; he had discovered its warming sensation and mind soothing properties years ago when he was spending almost all of his free time with Lily, also a fan of the stuff. He winced slightly at the thought of Lily, at the thought of all the time he used to spend with her and how in a just a few short hours he would again be in her company, though in attendance of her wedding to James.

“James” Remus said out loud to nobody in particular. He tilted his head up and lifted his glass in a silent toast to what seemed to be the better man. He had to be the better man, after all, he got the girl, the one girl Remus had ever felt any connection or attraction to, the one girl that had ever paid any sort of attention to Remus. In fact, James got the boy too; in his typical show off fashion he had to be best at whatever it was he set his mind to and he set his mind one day on Sirius, the other person of interest in Remus’ life. For years James managed to juggle both relationships, and as much as Remus had always thought he should tell Lily, he just could not be the man to break that news to her, to break her heart like that. It didn’t matter, because of course one day Sirius abruptly grew bored of James and ended their physical relationship, like Sirius always did when he‘d had enough. In fact, Remus had been waiting for his axe to fall for quite some time now. Sirius took up with Remus soon after ending things with James; something about him being different…softer…nicer. Remus remembered laughing, thinking that Sirius made him sound almost like a woman.

At first Remus had been happy with Sirius, happy to have a warm body next to him in bed at night, happy to feel wanted. The happiness and newness of their relationship, at the beginning, served to push the hurt of seeing Lily with someone else to the back of his mind. He wasn’t even sure what he had to be hurt about, it was not as if Lily had ever declared feelings for Remus in any fashion other than that of a friend. It wasn’t as if she would lie in bed late at night dreaming of him, as he did of her…And if that were indeed the case, what did it matter? She loved James, and James, no matter what road he took to get there, loved her back. He had heard through Sirius that they were planning an intimate wedding for an October evening, so very true to Lily’s nature. She had always loved the fall, in fact her favorite picture was one of she and James with the leaves cascading around them, as if they were commanded to do so and knowing Lily, they probably had been.

He was surprised, to say the least, when he received their wedding invitation. He had not been hanging out with them much at that time, not like in the old days; he had been engrossed in the mundane details of life and with his work within the Order. They too were all involved with the Order, Lily especially so; some secret assignment she had with Severus took up most of her time. He figured that intimate wedding meant family and close friends, and though he was once a close friend, he had been so out of the loop for awhile that he thought maybe he was not considered to be so any longer. He was beyond surprised when Lily showed up at his and Sirius’ apartment one recent afternoon and asked him to do a favor regarding the wedding, or more specifically, a wedding guest, a Muggle cousin of hers that she had recently gotten back in touch with after a long time.

Remus was a bit taken aback, though that could have very well been from just being in close proximity to Lily again after such a long stretch. She looked beautiful as always with her bright green eyes shining and long red hair gleaming in the sunlight as she stood outside of the door. After what seemed like an eternity, he realized that his manners had apparently gone right out the window while living with Sirius, for he had not properly invited her in. He did so finally, but she politely declined and launched into some talk of meeting with Alice, Molly and some of the other girls for lunch. Before he knew it her back was to him and she was walking away, yet he had not answered her request for a favor. He called out to her and she paused to turn her head and shoot him a spectacular grin before telling him that her cousin, Danielle was her name, would meet him at The Leaky sometime around four o’clock in the afternoon, Muggle time, the afternoon of the wedding.

Remus had hardly a reply out before she was gone. He threw his hands up in a bit of defeat, knowing full well he never had a chance against that killer grin of hers. If he would have been quite honest with himself at that moment, he would have conceded that he was then and would have always been putty in dear Lily’s hands, however he chalked it up to feeling as it if were his duty, you know for the good of the wedding.

And then there he was, just about four o’clock in the afternoon, wedding set at around eight o’clock, and no sight of this cousin, Danielle. Though he would have preferred meeting her elsewhere, say somewhere in the actual Muggle world, this had worked out okay. He ended up renting a room upstairs for the weekend as he was not in the mood for the bachelor party that Sirius had planned for James, nor would he be in the mood for Sirius pawing all over him after the wedding as he tended to do after a bit of drink. A nice quiet room at the Leaky would come in handy he had thought.

Four o’clock was gone, as was four thirty and it was coming up on five o’clock when Remus decided to leave. Sod it, he thought, she will find her own way, after all, she was supposed to manage Diagon Alley on her own, why not find the wedding on her own as well? Remus wondered for a minute, to the best ability his fuzzy head could manage, as to just how she was to find Diagon Alley anyway, it was not exactly on a Muggle map or anything. Just as he stood up to ponder this he was startled by a bright green light coming from the direction of the fireplace, which he happened to be sitting next to. He landed with a drunken thud back down on his seat and saw what had to be one of the most unattractive women he had ever seen . She was unusually tall and thin, with short, perfect thick black hair and starched clothes that made him want to itch just looking at her in them. Standing next her however, was one of the most gorgeous creatures he had ever laid eyes on, a long legged beauty with gorgeous kohl rimmed eyes and short, funky black hair.. The aesthetically challenged woman gave a quick look around the room before settling her beady little eyes on him and pursing her thin lips together in what seemed to be a permanent scowl. She approached him alone at first, though once she realized she was alone she promptly turned around and grabbed the other woman by the arm before dragging her the short distance to his table.

She looked in disgust at the number of empty glasses spread over the table and said in an unpleasant manner “You have a wand, why not clean this mess up? What good is magic if not for using it towards cleanliness and keeping things orderly?”

Remus blinked, “Excuse me?”

“I take it you are Remus? Lily said you were the intelligent one, though I see she was once again sadly mistaken about the men whose company she keeps.” The ugly woman said.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Remus asked, befuddled.

“No, thank goodness. I am a relative of Lily’s.” She said.

Remus winced, the thought of having to escort this woman anywhere, let alone a wedding was sure to be sheer torture. “Are you…Danielle?” he asked.

“Again no, not Danielle, thank goodness for that as well. I am Lily’s sister, this is Danielle, Lily’s cousin.” The younger woman stepped forward.

“Oh, Lily never mentioned a sister, or a cousin…” Remus started to say, though he was interrupted by Petunia.

“No why would she have? We are…very different, my sister and I.” Petunia continued.

“Yes I can see that.” Remus added, resulting in a chuckle from the younger, prettier woman, Danielle. “I had no idea I was meeting two of you, does Lily know you are coming? I am sure she will be…” Remus was again cut off by Petunia.

“No, I was to bring Danielle here, nothing else. I would not attend her wedding to that, that…that boy. I promised to get her here, I am through with my promise, she is yours.” And with that Petunia walked toward the fireplace, uttered something about Privet Drive and she was gone in a flash of green light.

Remus was dumfounded, to say the least. He turned to look at this woman, this cousin of Lily’s and found her laughing out loud.

“Something is funny then?” He asked her.

“Oh yes, it is just that…Well that was Petunia’s first Floo ride is all.” And Danielle with that, was engulfed in a fit of laughter.

“Her first? Well why didn’t she just apparate then? You two could have gone directly to the wedding.” Remus sounded confused.

“No, she has never apparated either. She is not a Witch.” Danielle pulled up a chair next to Remus as she talked.

“Isn’t a Witch? Well then how did she…You aren’t a Witch, she isn’t a Witch, how did you do that then?” Remus was beyond confused as he pointed towards the fire.

“Oh, no Petunia is a Witch, she just doesn’t like to admit it to anyone. I don’t know why, I think it is very special, having those sorts of abilities I mean.” Danielle pulled up a chair and asked Remus to sit, almost as if she were the one who had been sitting there all afternoon. Remus, of course, complied and sat back down in his seat opposite her. Before even asking the barkeep had made his way over to see what the new, unfamiliar young lady would like to drink. She ordered a nice hearty glass of red wine at first, then changed her mind and went ahead and ordered the whole bottle instead. As he was off to fetch her bottle of wine, something not usually ordered around The Leaky, she felt eyes upon her. She realized then that Remus was staring at her, his mouth slightly open, and with an amused look upon his own face.

“You know, I don’t usually order entire bottles of wine when I am out, however I see that I have some catching up to do.” She motioned towards the scattered empty glasses around the table. It was then that the barkeep came back to the table with Danielle’s bottle of wine, and Remus took this opportunity to ask him to clear the table, clearly embarrassed by his lack of cleanliness after being chided about it for the second time in mere moments. She chuckled, took one of the cleaner glasses and poured her wine into it before bringing it up to her lips for a sip, leaving her full lips a gorgeous burgundy color as she brought the glass back down to the table.

“Don ‘t clean up on my account, really, besides the glass came in handy now didn’t it?” Danielle said, an air of easy personality coming off of her and bringing a silly smile to Remus’ lips.

Remus shooed the barkeep away and put his hand out across the table towards Danielle’s, “Let’s do this the right way, shall we then? My name is Remus, it is an honor to meet you, Danielle, is it?” He said in his thickest, most charming manner.

She took his hand in hers and giggled. “Why yes it is. Aren’t you just the most adorable thing? Lily said you would be cute.” She said as he pulled his hand away gently from her silken skin, a slight shade of red creeping into his cheeks at her offhanded compliment. He brought his hand up to the back of his neck and rubbed it as he looked down, unsure of what to say.

“You are too kind dear girl, thank you. And what a compliment coming from a beauty such as yourself.” He added.

“Girl? Love, I am only two years younger than your beloved Lily, which I believe makes us about equal, right?” She asked.

“Yes, yes I suppose it does then, make us equal I mean. And Lily is not my beloved, let’s get that straight now, shall we?” Remus said with a slight crispness to his voice.

“Oh. Sorry then, it’s just that I…Well I got the feeling you always had a thing for her, you know, the way she told the story of you two and all. In fact I wondered why she was marrying James when she told me. It had been awhile since I last spoke with her and back then she thought James was a stupid git; her words, not mine.” Danielle told him.

“Yes, well, he is a stupid git.” There was a slight pause as Remus downed the rest of his mead before speaking again. “I mean, was a stupid git of course. He was my friend, is my friend really…And I never had a thing for Lily. Did she say I did? We were close, yes and I loved her of course, but as a friend, only a friend.” Remus found himself dumfounded in front of this woman again. He wondered if she often had that effect on men.

“Well no, she didn’t mention that you had feelings for her, and I understand you are with someone else now anyway. Sirius, isn’t it?” Danielle said as she poured herself another glass of wine.

“Yes, Sirius it is. Lovely fellow, you will meet him of course. He would have been here to greet you as well if…” Remus trailed off.

“If you had asked him to maybe?” Danielle laughed.

“Right, that would have done the trick I suppose. You are a bright girl, Danielle.” Remus said, realizing that he was flirting with this girl, this incredible looking cousin of Lily’s. And the best part of it was, he thought, no, he was pretty sure that she was flirting back. This was all new to him, with Lily there was never any flirting, he was far too young and level headed then to have ever done anything like flirt with the girl he loved above all else. The only real relationship he had ever been in was this one with Sirius and though Sirius had quite the reputation as a flirt, Remus had witnessed its effects on many over the years, it was never something he did with Remus.

Just as Remus began to wonder if he was any good at this game of flirting, Danielle polished off her second glass of wine and stood up, showing off the killer legs she hid behind a long black skirt slit up the side to about mid thigh, where the slightest hint of pale white skin showed above what could only be described as the sexiest piece of clothing he had ever recalled seeing; a high, black stocking with a zipper running all the way up, or down the length of her leg. An image of himself slowly zipping them down and revealing the soft white skin underneath suddenly came into his mind, and a very slight sigh came from his lips before he could stop himself. Danielle looked at him and excused herself to find the restroom, but not before a quick wink at the obvious appreciation of her outfit.

“Pour me another glass, will you love? And if you catch that cute little barkeep grab us something fun too. Be back in a bit.” And she was off, shaking her way to the ladies room. She may not have been literally shaking her way there, but all Remus saw was the slow sway of her hips and how with each step he could catch a glimpse of the silver zipper running down her legs. When she was finally out of sight he looked around for what she described as the cute little barkeep, though all he saw was the same hunched over, bald man with bad teeth that had been serving him since he was a teenager, who was actually standing next to Remus, looking in the direction of the ladies room. Remus looked up at him and they exchanged knowing glances, though Remus wondered what either of them actually knew and why they would exchange a look about it.

“You heard the lady. Something fun from the cute little barkeep.” And the barkeep was off.

Something had happened to Remus in the short time he had been in her company, something incredible really. He laughed. He smiled. He flirted even. He did not think about Lily, other than to wonder why she had never before mentioned this glorious creature that was her cousin. He did not think of James and how he envied the man so, nor did he think about Sirius and try to figure out how he would run from his drunken grip after the wedding later that night. In fact, he did not think of the wedding at all, the wedding that was soon to be starting, the very thing which he was supposed to bring Danielle to. All he could think of was Danielle, and he wondered how she could bewitch him so without being a Witch at all.

He was lost in his world of jumbled thoughts when she came back to the table, so much so that he had not noticed the “fun” drinks that the decidedly not so cute little barkeep had conjured up for them. They were a dark green, almost swamp like color, and Remus swore he saw an eyeball floating in his, but Danielle picked hers up and drank it down, so he followed suit and did the same, figuring that he had been wrong about the swamp water, surely that would have tasted better. There was no time to think on it however, because soon he was being pulled up from his seat by the surprisingly strong yet exquisitely soft hands of his lovely table mate. The fact that Remus had two left feet or less when it came to dancing did not concern him at that moment, nor did he wonder how the music seemed to manifest itself out of thin air, or how he had been to the Leaky two to three times a week for years yet he had never before heard music echo off its four walls. The only thought in his head was that he felt a growing desire, a growing need to touch more of that soft skin.

Remus felt Danielle wrap herself around him as the music suddenly slowed down. He reveled in the way she felt in his arms, it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He could feel her hips sway with his in time to the music, could feel her arms tighten around him, could feel the weight of her full breasts against him. Her head settled into the crook of his neck and he could smell her all around him; her hair and it’s fruity overtones, her perfume and it’s earthy overtones, and more importantly, her growing arousal that wafted through his wolf’s nose. He was intoxicated, though not by the mead. He was drunk on her, on the feelings she created in him, on the way her body felt next to his, on her desire.

His hands seemed to move of their own accord; they ran up and down her back and over her arms as they continued to dance, and he felt delighted in the goose bumps he felt on her flesh as he did so. His lips brushed over her ear slightly as she tightened her hold on him and moved her own hands down toward his lower back. The music stopped, though their dancing did not. He whispered into her ear before brushing his lips this time against her neck.

“The music has stopped.” He whispered.

“Has it?” She whispered back.

“Wait right here.” Remus said to her as he reluctantly pulled away for a moment, making a mad dash over to the table where he threw down all of the money that he took from his wallet before hurrying back over to the stairs where he found Danielle.

“Do you have a room here, Remus?” She asked softly, looking lovely with her flushed cheeks and warm glow.

“Yes, I do have a room here. Danielle, I…” He lost his thought as he felt her hand slip into his and she started up the stairs.

“You didn’t plan this, I know.” She finished his thought for him.

It was a quick walk to the top of the stairs, where his quaint little room was just to the left. He guided her over toward the door by placing his hands upon her hips and gently pressing his body against her back.  He turned the unlocked doorknob  and pushed her gently into the room before closing the door quickly and backing up against it with his hands behind his back. He watched as she reached down to slip off her high heeled black shoes and throw them to the side of her and as she turned around to look at him, really look at him. His pulse quickened as she approached him and then put her hands upon his belt, slowly unbuckling it while never once dropping her eyes from his. Nor did she look away as she pulled out his shirt hem and worked her way up, popping each button with meticulous care, until she was at the top and that is when she ran her hands up his neck, over his face and into his hair while she pressed himself firmly against his body and drew his lips unto hers.

She felt soft and smooth, not at all like Sirius with his rough beard and thin, chapped lips. He thrilled to the feel of her lips on his and soon he was kissing her back with wild abandon, like a beast unleashed. He slipped his tongue past her lips to find the smoothest, warmest velvet waiting for him, inviting him in and beckoning him to stay and claim her mouth as his own. His hands were in her hair at first, then running down her back, then cupping her behind before he pulled her legs up and she instinctively wrapped them around his hips. He had never been happier for his unusual strength as he was when he moved carried her across the small room with her legs still firmly wrapped around him.

He laid her down on the bed and hovered for a moment above her before ravishing her completely, first her mouth, then her breasts, which once he ripped her shirt he found wrapped in a nice gift like package of the darkest green lace. He ran his fingers under the lace and pushed the intricately designed lingerie to the side, exposing her soft, supple flesh and her erect, rose colored nipple that he took into his mouth and hungrily feasted upon, all the while the sounds of her small groans of approval only further enflaming him. He moved on to the other breast and feasted once again until the smell of her arousal was so great that he had to taste its sweetness. He moved his hands down to the hem of her skirt and pushed it up to her thighs, revealing the matching lace panties that he wanted to tear from her body. He kissed her inner thigh before moving down one leg to the zipper of the stockings that had enticed him so earlier in the evening. He ran his hand up and down her leg once before unzipping the flesh from the silk and slipping them off of her foot, then moved on to the other leg to repeat the process. Finally he slid his hands under her bottom and rid her of her gorgeous underwear, though what lay beneath was far more glorious than any lingerie could ever be. He could wait no longer; he parted her legs farther and darted his tongue out to taste her, licking and sucking until her moans got louder, her breathing became heavier and she shuddered beneath him, all the while telling her how sweet she tasted and how incredible she smelled.

Her legs were still shaking as he made his way back up her body and kissed her again with the sweet taste of her still in his mouth. She quickly reached for his pants, unfastened them and pushed them down to his knees. She then threw her legs up around him and positioned herself against him, her body on fire once again as he entered her. Her nails raked down his back as he thrust into her, at first hard, deep and slow, though when he flipped her over she rode him hard, fast and faster until she felt her body erupt once again and she collapsed on top of him. Remus however was not done, and he threw her off of him and onto her belly. He ripped her hips up to his and entered her from behind, where she met his every wild thrust with one of her own until he too felt his body explode with pleasure and the room was filled with nothing but her name repeated from his lips over and over, as if worshipping calling on a sacred Goddess.

He released her from his grip after gathering his bearings and rolled her back onto the bed with him where he caressed that silky white skin until there was a knock at the window. Heavy eyes opened to find the room completely darkened and a very smug looking owl pecking at the window. Remus quickly got up and opened the window before grabbing the rolled up piece of parchment with familiar handwriting from its grip. It read:

‘I knew you would like her Remus! Now won’t you at least bring her to the reception?

Yours,

Mrs. Lily Potter

Better hurry up or you won’t get to dance with the bride!’

~The End~