Expectations
Title: Expectations
Author: sugarannie
Rating & Warnings: G, no warnings
Prompts: ”Poinsettias” and “Hold tight, now, Ron,” said Tonks, and Harry saw Ron throw a furtive, guilty look at Lupin before placing his hands on either side of her waist. (DH)
Format & Word Count: Fic, 1011 words
Summary: There are always so many expectations.
Author’s Notes: Thanks to my cousin Kathie for beta-reading it.
There were always so many expectations. Not that there hadn’t been any throughout Remus’ life, but since he was married, he always seemed to notice everyone’s expectations, and felt as though he could not help but fall short of them. Wouldn’t the husband Dora deserved act differently about all these things.
The wedding itself had been one of these things. Everyone expecting a huge, glamorous celebration - and it had been a small private ceremony and dinner afterwards, nothing more.
In the time that had followed shortly after, they seemed to think he should have changed by being married.
Like the common expectation that a husband should be able to do some kind of providing for his family, which he couldn’t.
Like Ron, who had, even on an important and dangerous Order mission last summer, had the expectation that he might protest if anyone touched his wife when Ron and Dora had been flying on the same broom. Of course, he had no problem with that. Actually, he would have considered himself ridiculous if he had jealously yelled at Ron.
Like Hestia, who always wore that surprised look when he came over in the evening with reports, expecting he would spend every night at home for at least a year. (An expectation he couldn’t fulfil anyway, because of the existence of full moon nights, although he wasn’t sure they featured in Hestia’s romantic fantasies about what early marriage should be like.) Like - well, everyone - expecting him to be happier than ever when hearing they were having a baby. And he had mainly been scared. Sure, the happy part had come after the first shock, but still…
He never seemed to be able to fulfil any of their expectations. And so he had decided that their first Christmas as a married couple should be as perfect as anyone could expect. Anyone probably would expect a lot of him, as always.
There was only one problem with it. He knew what most of the people around him would have expected - but he was never entirely sure what Dora expected. She always seemed pleased, even if he didn’t praise her cooking, spend every waking moment guarding her jealously against people looking at her or picking out baby names. And he wasn’t sure what she was expecting Christmas to be like.
She was also always telling him not to interpret too much into what everyone would expect. “Either they all expect perfection, which no one can reach so why bother, or they all do not expect half as much and it’s just yourself expecting all that. Don’t worry so much.”
With all the good advice from all his friends - for which he hadn’t asked, of course - he had now been able to make a mental list of things to organise for their first Christmas. He had bought a tree, baked cookies with Dora, conjured up lots of decorations and fairy lights.
One thing everyone had mentioned, though, were poinsettias, and he hadn’t managed to get any of these yet. He had had half a mind to transfigure one of the potted plants in their living room, but decided against it. He was expecting something of himself right now. Even if he could not buy lots of expensive presents, sure he could find and buy a simple flower himself.
It couldn’t be that hard to find a poinsettia close to Christmas, could it?
Most of the wizarding stores were closed because of the war, but he could just as well go to the Muggle ones. He had often done so in the past - it was nice not being stared at by prejudiced people. But, as he realised when leaving the third store, it was obviously pretty late for buying one. The first store was out of poinsettias completely, the second had them all sprayed with weird colours (and if he was buying it properly, as was expected, he wouldn’t charm paint off them, either), and the third - well, maybe he had made a mistake with the exchange courses between Galleons and Pounds, but if he hadn’t, they were ridiculously expensive. Maybe he should just apparate to wherever poinsettias grew, and dig one out. Too bad he wasn’t too sure where they did grow - Australia?
By the time he entered the fourth store, he began to think that maybe the transfiguration wasn’t such a bad idea, after all. Maybe he’d buy that strange-looking green one over there and change it…
Well, whatever that one was, it was even more expensive than a poinsettia. Strange, it didn’t look like anything special. Maybe they had some powers, were used for potions - wait, now it was him who was expecting unrealistic things. This was still a Muggle store. Maybe that was what Dora meant by expecting too much or the wrong thing.
This was the last flower shop he’d go into, he decided. Dora was expecting something of him this evening, after all. She was expecting him to come home in time for dinner, trying to cook something for both of them. He hoped it wasn’t something too weird - ever since she was pregnant, she sometimes preferred strange combinations of food.
The flower shop did have poinsettias, and they weren’t too expensive either. But his eyes were caught by a different flower, this time not one he wanted to transfigure, but one that just seemed to fit their flat. It was more expensive than the poinsettias, but had just the colour of the living room walls, and he somehow knew that Dora would like that one. And since he hadn’t told her about his idea to buy poinsettias either, he wouldn’t let her down. No expectations would be broken this time. Actually, wasn’t that something expected of a “perfect” husband, coming home with flowers as a surprise for his lovely wife from time to time. Even if it that meant just one time so far.
And, despite what anyone would expect, their Christmas decorations looked perfect to both of them, despite the fact that they had birds-of-paradise instead of poinsettias that year.
Author: sugarannie
Rating & Warnings: G, no warnings
Prompts: ”Poinsettias” and “Hold tight, now, Ron,” said Tonks, and Harry saw Ron throw a furtive, guilty look at Lupin before placing his hands on either side of her waist. (DH)
Format & Word Count: Fic, 1011 words
Summary: There are always so many expectations.
Author’s Notes: Thanks to my cousin Kathie for beta-reading it.
There were always so many expectations. Not that there hadn’t been any throughout Remus’ life, but since he was married, he always seemed to notice everyone’s expectations, and felt as though he could not help but fall short of them. Wouldn’t the husband Dora deserved act differently about all these things.
The wedding itself had been one of these things. Everyone expecting a huge, glamorous celebration - and it had been a small private ceremony and dinner afterwards, nothing more.
In the time that had followed shortly after, they seemed to think he should have changed by being married.
Like the common expectation that a husband should be able to do some kind of providing for his family, which he couldn’t.
Like Ron, who had, even on an important and dangerous Order mission last summer, had the expectation that he might protest if anyone touched his wife when Ron and Dora had been flying on the same broom. Of course, he had no problem with that. Actually, he would have considered himself ridiculous if he had jealously yelled at Ron.
Like Hestia, who always wore that surprised look when he came over in the evening with reports, expecting he would spend every night at home for at least a year. (An expectation he couldn’t fulfil anyway, because of the existence of full moon nights, although he wasn’t sure they featured in Hestia’s romantic fantasies about what early marriage should be like.) Like - well, everyone - expecting him to be happier than ever when hearing they were having a baby. And he had mainly been scared. Sure, the happy part had come after the first shock, but still…
He never seemed to be able to fulfil any of their expectations. And so he had decided that their first Christmas as a married couple should be as perfect as anyone could expect. Anyone probably would expect a lot of him, as always.
There was only one problem with it. He knew what most of the people around him would have expected - but he was never entirely sure what Dora expected. She always seemed pleased, even if he didn’t praise her cooking, spend every waking moment guarding her jealously against people looking at her or picking out baby names. And he wasn’t sure what she was expecting Christmas to be like.
She was also always telling him not to interpret too much into what everyone would expect. “Either they all expect perfection, which no one can reach so why bother, or they all do not expect half as much and it’s just yourself expecting all that. Don’t worry so much.”
With all the good advice from all his friends - for which he hadn’t asked, of course - he had now been able to make a mental list of things to organise for their first Christmas. He had bought a tree, baked cookies with Dora, conjured up lots of decorations and fairy lights.
One thing everyone had mentioned, though, were poinsettias, and he hadn’t managed to get any of these yet. He had had half a mind to transfigure one of the potted plants in their living room, but decided against it. He was expecting something of himself right now. Even if he could not buy lots of expensive presents, sure he could find and buy a simple flower himself.
It couldn’t be that hard to find a poinsettia close to Christmas, could it?
Most of the wizarding stores were closed because of the war, but he could just as well go to the Muggle ones. He had often done so in the past - it was nice not being stared at by prejudiced people. But, as he realised when leaving the third store, it was obviously pretty late for buying one. The first store was out of poinsettias completely, the second had them all sprayed with weird colours (and if he was buying it properly, as was expected, he wouldn’t charm paint off them, either), and the third - well, maybe he had made a mistake with the exchange courses between Galleons and Pounds, but if he hadn’t, they were ridiculously expensive. Maybe he should just apparate to wherever poinsettias grew, and dig one out. Too bad he wasn’t too sure where they did grow - Australia?
By the time he entered the fourth store, he began to think that maybe the transfiguration wasn’t such a bad idea, after all. Maybe he’d buy that strange-looking green one over there and change it…
Well, whatever that one was, it was even more expensive than a poinsettia. Strange, it didn’t look like anything special. Maybe they had some powers, were used for potions - wait, now it was him who was expecting unrealistic things. This was still a Muggle store. Maybe that was what Dora meant by expecting too much or the wrong thing.
This was the last flower shop he’d go into, he decided. Dora was expecting something of him this evening, after all. She was expecting him to come home in time for dinner, trying to cook something for both of them. He hoped it wasn’t something too weird - ever since she was pregnant, she sometimes preferred strange combinations of food.
The flower shop did have poinsettias, and they weren’t too expensive either. But his eyes were caught by a different flower, this time not one he wanted to transfigure, but one that just seemed to fit their flat. It was more expensive than the poinsettias, but had just the colour of the living room walls, and he somehow knew that Dora would like that one. And since he hadn’t told her about his idea to buy poinsettias either, he wouldn’t let her down. No expectations would be broken this time. Actually, wasn’t that something expected of a “perfect” husband, coming home with flowers as a surprise for his lovely wife from time to time. Even if it that meant just one time so far.
And, despite what anyone would expect, their Christmas decorations looked perfect to both of them, despite the fact that they had birds-of-paradise instead of poinsettias that year.