Prompt 20, Prompt 21
Title: Remus and the Tramp pt. 4
Author: Devonwood
Format & Word Count: Fic; 1,545
Rating: PG-13, T
Prompt: Prompt 20 (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross quote), Prompt 21 (blue)
Warning: Small amount of language
Summary: Remus thanked Merlin that Hogsmeade wasn’t crowded, as a grown man waving meat above his head was not something you saw every day.
Author's Note: When I first saw #21, I was going to use blue as a mood. But then an idea struck to use it as a color, and this was born. :)
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
For his entire stay at Hogwarts, the Forbidden Forest had never really been forbidden.
In the days after his first year transformations, he would sit in the woods and have pretend conversations with the squirrels and rodents, always wondering if one day he might accidentally eat them if left to his own devices without the Shrieking Shack.
Once he became friends with Peter, James, and Sirius, forming the infamous Marauders, they used to traipse about the forest as though it was their own private playground. During their pre-Animagus days, they weren’t allowed in very deep after Sirius had leapt on the back of a centaur and pretended to “ride him like a horsy”. After their fifth year, though, they could travel as far as they wanted as the rat, the stag, and the dog. Remus could never go with them as a wolf, as leaving the Shrieking Shack while transformed was something he would never allow himself to do. So he would tag along on other days, apologizing to all of the creatures for the wild behaviours of his friends which, apparently, got him enough on their good side that he could go unharmed.
It was odd to relive his school days in his mid thirties without the accompaniment of a mid-life crisis. Hagrid led them down a narrow dirt path that Remus was sure he had walked hundreds of times as a boy, and though his navigation skills were very rusty, he figured he might be able to get himself and Tonks out- if the situation arose where he needed to protect her.
Scrunching his eyebrows together at the thought, he shook his head and plowed on as the last person in the line.
Hagrid and Tonks were talking about some burn salve that he created for use in his classes that dealt with Blast-Ended Skrewts, after the entire class had wound up in the Hospital Wing with various degrees of burns. She seemed generally interested, and wondered if he would sell some to the Aurors for use on missions. Hagrid was amazed that anyone would want to buy it, but he agreed to give her a sample to take back to the office.
Remus loved enjoyed that quality in Tonks. Even in the middle of someplace dank and dreary, where no light shone through the thick canopy of the trees, she still managed to glow with happiness.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar that shook the very ground beneath him. Tonks slipped and started to fall backwards, but Remus sprinted forward and caught her around the waist. His fingers lingering a little longer than necessary on the exposed skin of her stomach, he helped her right herself. Tonks nodded a thanks, and looked down to her heels. The left heel had broken, and now dangled halfway off of the shoe. She rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, using her own wand to cast a Reparo and fix it. Without another word on the subject, she continued walking forward, completely ignoring the two men. Hagrid looked back to Remus with a confused raise of the eyebrows, but he just shrugged and started walking again.
“Better let me take the lead, Tonks.” Hagrid spoke up as they rounded a corner. She fell back in step with Remus, as the half giant held out his lantern to see in front of him. Of course, there was really no need for a lantern when the surrounding treetops were ablaze with fire, and smoke billowed far up into the sky. Tonks set to work dousing all of the flames.
What Remus first thought was a lake began moving, and it was then he noticed a tail swishing back and forth amongst the leaves on the ground. The dragon stood up on its haunches and unleashed another roar so loud that he had to clamp his hands over his ears. It eyed them warily, but made no move forward.
“Hagrid,” Tonks began, eyeing the dragon warily, “I thought you said this was a Hungarian Horntail.”
“ ‘E is.”
“Then why is he blue?”
For the second time that day, Remus saw the giant man blush. “ ‘E was getting too loud, scaring the other forest creatures n’ the like, so I tried to silence ‘im up a bit.” He patted the pink umbrella at his side. “Of course, that went wrong, an’ it turned him all blue like that. So I tried ter fix that, and it made him bigger than ‘e was before.”
Remus stared disbelievingly between Hagrid and the dragon. Before he could stop himself, he asked, “Does he have a name?”
“Course ‘e does. Name’s Reginald.”
Tonks attempted to smother a giggle by faking a cough, and Remus covered for her. “So what exactly are we supposed to be doing?”
Hagrid cleared his throat.
“Well, Charlie couldn’t come all the way here, as ‘e is on business in Ireland. But he wanted two Order members t’come and bring Reginald to ‘im before ‘e got any bigger. The Death Eaters still want to use ‘im for summat, and he didn’t want ‘im falling into the wrong hands.”
“So, we have to escort a dragon to Ireland, so Charlie can pick him up?”
“S’what I said.”
Tonks blinked. “In these clothes?”
“Well, where yer headed’s not the best part o’ town, so to speak.”
Remus sighed. “And we have to blend in.”
“Exactly,” Hagrid pointed to Remus. “Kingsley says yer s’posed to be Tonks’s pimp.”
“You’re kidding.” Both he and Tonks got the same wide-eyed look at exactly the same moment. Hagrid grinned, turning back around towards the dragon.
“He’s kidding, right?” Tonks whispered to Remus while still staring straight ahead.
“I hope not.”
Tonks’s chin dropped open and turned to face him, but she closed it when she saw the twinkle in his eyes.
“Prat.” She scoffed, but Remus couldn’t help hearing a twinge of disappointment in her tone.
Remus observed what was taking place in front of him. Hagrid had walked all the way up to the dragon and was now- dear lord- petting the thing. And to top it all off, the dragon was making some strange purring noise as he rubbed its leg.
“That’s a good Reginald. Now, you be a good boy for Remmy and Tonksy-”, they both cringed, “and mind yer manners.”
Reginald yipped, and smoke poured out of his nostrils to surround his head.
“Uh…Hagrid?” Remus asked, “Why can’t you take him? He seems to like you.”
“I’ve got important Hogwarts business. Me ‘n Olympe are going t’the mountains.”
“Congratulations.” Remus muttered dryly, but Hagrid shook his head.
“Not like that.” He replied, but mumbled something that sounded distinctly like ‘But I wish it were’.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three hours later, and Remus and Tonks had barely made it as far as the other end of Hogsmeade. They were traveling with a Disillusioned dragon, and the going was slow, if not crawling at a snail’s pace. By the time they had passed the Three Broomsticks, both of them were insanely tired at pulling the dragon along on a leash, occasionally waving a ham in the air to attract his attention. Remus thanked Merlin that Hogsmeade wasn’t crowded, as a grown man waving meat above his head was not something you saw every day.
“This is bloody insane.” Tonks mumbled, throwing a beef brisket into the air to have it disappear from sight. “We could just Apparate, and get it over with.”
Remus looked up at the space where Reginald would be standing, and back down to Tonks. “Do you really think we could pull off an Apparation? All we know is that we are going to some slum in Ireland, and we’re toting a dangerous be-” he stopped, and started again, “a live dragon behind us!”
Tonks reached into the back pocket of her shorts, and pulled out a piece of paper before she could notice Remus’s blush. “Hagrid gave me this picture of a run-down old house that is in the town we’re supposed to visit. We could try Apparating there, and see what happens.”
“But with a dragon?”
“Sometimes,” she smiled, “you just need to have a little faith.”
Remus sighed and placed his hand up into the air, where it connected with the dragon’s scaly back. Tonks mimicked him, and he shut his eyes tight, his mind focusing intently on the picture. A strange sensation of being caught by a fisherman’s hook occurred behind his navel, and the sound of a screaming dragon was what told him they had Apparated successfully.
When he opened his eyes, Remus saw Tonks stagger a bit on uneven and mossy ground, but she pushed against the dragon for support. Reginald snorted an angry huff, and fire rolled out of his nostrils, a single spark landing on Remus’s jumper.
As he brushed it off, Remus looked around him. The house was situated on a large hill, and a small settlement of a town could be seen below.
He turned towards Tonks. “So, shall we proceed?”
She nodded, and Reginald stamped the ground impatiently. Sighing, Remus conjured another ham, waving it above his head as he started the way.
He just hoped that going downhill would be easier than going up.
Author: Devonwood
Format & Word Count: Fic; 1,545
Rating: PG-13, T
Prompt: Prompt 20 (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross quote), Prompt 21 (blue)
Warning: Small amount of language
Summary: Remus thanked Merlin that Hogsmeade wasn’t crowded, as a grown man waving meat above his head was not something you saw every day.
Author's Note: When I first saw #21, I was going to use blue as a mood. But then an idea struck to use it as a color, and this was born. :)
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
For his entire stay at Hogwarts, the Forbidden Forest had never really been forbidden.
In the days after his first year transformations, he would sit in the woods and have pretend conversations with the squirrels and rodents, always wondering if one day he might accidentally eat them if left to his own devices without the Shrieking Shack.
Once he became friends with Peter, James, and Sirius, forming the infamous Marauders, they used to traipse about the forest as though it was their own private playground. During their pre-Animagus days, they weren’t allowed in very deep after Sirius had leapt on the back of a centaur and pretended to “ride him like a horsy”. After their fifth year, though, they could travel as far as they wanted as the rat, the stag, and the dog. Remus could never go with them as a wolf, as leaving the Shrieking Shack while transformed was something he would never allow himself to do. So he would tag along on other days, apologizing to all of the creatures for the wild behaviours of his friends which, apparently, got him enough on their good side that he could go unharmed.
It was odd to relive his school days in his mid thirties without the accompaniment of a mid-life crisis. Hagrid led them down a narrow dirt path that Remus was sure he had walked hundreds of times as a boy, and though his navigation skills were very rusty, he figured he might be able to get himself and Tonks out- if the situation arose where he needed to protect her.
Scrunching his eyebrows together at the thought, he shook his head and plowed on as the last person in the line.
Hagrid and Tonks were talking about some burn salve that he created for use in his classes that dealt with Blast-Ended Skrewts, after the entire class had wound up in the Hospital Wing with various degrees of burns. She seemed generally interested, and wondered if he would sell some to the Aurors for use on missions. Hagrid was amazed that anyone would want to buy it, but he agreed to give her a sample to take back to the office.
Remus loved enjoyed that quality in Tonks. Even in the middle of someplace dank and dreary, where no light shone through the thick canopy of the trees, she still managed to glow with happiness.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar that shook the very ground beneath him. Tonks slipped and started to fall backwards, but Remus sprinted forward and caught her around the waist. His fingers lingering a little longer than necessary on the exposed skin of her stomach, he helped her right herself. Tonks nodded a thanks, and looked down to her heels. The left heel had broken, and now dangled halfway off of the shoe. She rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, using her own wand to cast a Reparo and fix it. Without another word on the subject, she continued walking forward, completely ignoring the two men. Hagrid looked back to Remus with a confused raise of the eyebrows, but he just shrugged and started walking again.
“Better let me take the lead, Tonks.” Hagrid spoke up as they rounded a corner. She fell back in step with Remus, as the half giant held out his lantern to see in front of him. Of course, there was really no need for a lantern when the surrounding treetops were ablaze with fire, and smoke billowed far up into the sky. Tonks set to work dousing all of the flames.
What Remus first thought was a lake began moving, and it was then he noticed a tail swishing back and forth amongst the leaves on the ground. The dragon stood up on its haunches and unleashed another roar so loud that he had to clamp his hands over his ears. It eyed them warily, but made no move forward.
“Hagrid,” Tonks began, eyeing the dragon warily, “I thought you said this was a Hungarian Horntail.”
“ ‘E is.”
“Then why is he blue?”
For the second time that day, Remus saw the giant man blush. “ ‘E was getting too loud, scaring the other forest creatures n’ the like, so I tried to silence ‘im up a bit.” He patted the pink umbrella at his side. “Of course, that went wrong, an’ it turned him all blue like that. So I tried ter fix that, and it made him bigger than ‘e was before.”
Remus stared disbelievingly between Hagrid and the dragon. Before he could stop himself, he asked, “Does he have a name?”
“Course ‘e does. Name’s Reginald.”
Tonks attempted to smother a giggle by faking a cough, and Remus covered for her. “So what exactly are we supposed to be doing?”
Hagrid cleared his throat.
“Well, Charlie couldn’t come all the way here, as ‘e is on business in Ireland. But he wanted two Order members t’come and bring Reginald to ‘im before ‘e got any bigger. The Death Eaters still want to use ‘im for summat, and he didn’t want ‘im falling into the wrong hands.”
“So, we have to escort a dragon to Ireland, so Charlie can pick him up?”
“S’what I said.”
Tonks blinked. “In these clothes?”
“Well, where yer headed’s not the best part o’ town, so to speak.”
Remus sighed. “And we have to blend in.”
“Exactly,” Hagrid pointed to Remus. “Kingsley says yer s’posed to be Tonks’s pimp.”
“You’re kidding.” Both he and Tonks got the same wide-eyed look at exactly the same moment. Hagrid grinned, turning back around towards the dragon.
“He’s kidding, right?” Tonks whispered to Remus while still staring straight ahead.
“I hope not.”
Tonks’s chin dropped open and turned to face him, but she closed it when she saw the twinkle in his eyes.
“Prat.” She scoffed, but Remus couldn’t help hearing a twinge of disappointment in her tone.
Remus observed what was taking place in front of him. Hagrid had walked all the way up to the dragon and was now- dear lord- petting the thing. And to top it all off, the dragon was making some strange purring noise as he rubbed its leg.
“That’s a good Reginald. Now, you be a good boy for Remmy and Tonksy-”, they both cringed, “and mind yer manners.”
Reginald yipped, and smoke poured out of his nostrils to surround his head.
“Uh…Hagrid?” Remus asked, “Why can’t you take him? He seems to like you.”
“I’ve got important Hogwarts business. Me ‘n Olympe are going t’the mountains.”
“Congratulations.” Remus muttered dryly, but Hagrid shook his head.
“Not like that.” He replied, but mumbled something that sounded distinctly like ‘But I wish it were’.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three hours later, and Remus and Tonks had barely made it as far as the other end of Hogsmeade. They were traveling with a Disillusioned dragon, and the going was slow, if not crawling at a snail’s pace. By the time they had passed the Three Broomsticks, both of them were insanely tired at pulling the dragon along on a leash, occasionally waving a ham in the air to attract his attention. Remus thanked Merlin that Hogsmeade wasn’t crowded, as a grown man waving meat above his head was not something you saw every day.
“This is bloody insane.” Tonks mumbled, throwing a beef brisket into the air to have it disappear from sight. “We could just Apparate, and get it over with.”
Remus looked up at the space where Reginald would be standing, and back down to Tonks. “Do you really think we could pull off an Apparation? All we know is that we are going to some slum in Ireland, and we’re toting a dangerous be-” he stopped, and started again, “a live dragon behind us!”
Tonks reached into the back pocket of her shorts, and pulled out a piece of paper before she could notice Remus’s blush. “Hagrid gave me this picture of a run-down old house that is in the town we’re supposed to visit. We could try Apparating there, and see what happens.”
“But with a dragon?”
“Sometimes,” she smiled, “you just need to have a little faith.”
Remus sighed and placed his hand up into the air, where it connected with the dragon’s scaly back. Tonks mimicked him, and he shut his eyes tight, his mind focusing intently on the picture. A strange sensation of being caught by a fisherman’s hook occurred behind his navel, and the sound of a screaming dragon was what told him they had Apparated successfully.
When he opened his eyes, Remus saw Tonks stagger a bit on uneven and mossy ground, but she pushed against the dragon for support. Reginald snorted an angry huff, and fire rolled out of his nostrils, a single spark landing on Remus’s jumper.
As he brushed it off, Remus looked around him. The house was situated on a large hill, and a small settlement of a town could be seen below.
He turned towards Tonks. “So, shall we proceed?”
She nodded, and Reginald stamped the ground impatiently. Sighing, Remus conjured another ham, waving it above his head as he started the way.
He just hoped that going downhill would be easier than going up.