VII.
Remus gazed at the two fifth-year students standing in front of him. He was trying very hard not to laugh; it had been a great prank, after all. Yet he was a teacher now and needed to enforce school discipline, no matter how much he wanted to clap them on the back and share the laugh with them. He was reminded of his days as a prefect, and how difficult it had been to keep his friends in line.
–Fred. George.†Remus cleared his throat in an effort to hide his smile. –While I appreciate the intricate planning that went into this particular prank--†he ran his hands through his hair, now a violent shade of electric blue, –--you do realize that I must still give you detention.â€
The twins shrugged, obviously not caring about detention after the hilarious uproar that had ensued in the Great Hall when dozens of students and teachers had begun spontaneously sporting a new hair color that morning.
–And take ten points each from Gryffindor,†added Remus. The twins looked at him in disbelief.
–That’s all?†asked George.
–A detention and twenty points?†repeated Fred.
–I must admit that while blue isn’t my color,†began Remus, –I thought that Professor Snape looked lovely in that particular shade of green.â€
Fred snorted, but George kicked him silent. Remus raised an eyebrow.
–I assume you had planned on delivering the antidote as well?†he asked, watching their reaction.
–How do you know about the antidote?†asked George, narrowing his eyes.
Remus reached into his desk and pulled a small vial from the top drawer. It was filled with a clear amber liquid that he had brewed earlier that week. Without answering, he unstopped the vial and took a deep sip of the contents. Within moments he could feel his hair returning to its more traditional brown color, and he smiled at the look of surprise on the twins’ faces.
–It was not as original as you think, gentlemen,†he announced. –That isn’t the first time Hogwarts has found itself on the wrong end of a Shading Solution in the Great Hall on April Fool's Day.†He waited for the impact of his words to sink in.
The twins’ eyes went wide.
–You didn’t--†breathed Fred.
–No way!†chortled George.
Remus stepped around the desk and led them toward the door with the smile he'd been holding back the whole time. –I don’t think Professor Snape liked green hair back then, either,†he replied with a wink.
–Wicked,†said Fred, and George nodded in agreement. Before Remus could continue, however, there was a knock on the door. He was somehow not surprised to find Charity standing there, a stormy look on her face, her normally dark hair a light, fluffy, cotton-candy pink.
"Remus!" she exclaimed, then frowned. "But your hair's gone back to normal."
Remus heard the twins struggling to contain themselves. "I've got the antidote, Professor Burbage," he said, trying to hold back a laugh. "Please, come in--I'll just be another minute with these two."
Charity narrowed her eyes at Fred and George as she entered. Remus cleared his throat and turned back to the twins.
–Off with the antidote now, please,†he ordered –We had to deliver it to each Head of House with a full apology, so I would suggest you do the same. Immediately. You will serve your detention this weekend.â€
–Yes, sir!†they replied, and turned away, grinning. But Fred glanced back, a curious look on his face.
"How did you know it was us, Professor? You dragged us out before we could hardly enjoy it.:
Remus nodded in mock understanding. "Good question. Next time remember to take it yourself, boys."
George ran a hand through his hair and groaned, but Fred just clapped him on the back with another laugh, and they hurried down the hallway. Remus sighed. It was remarkable how much the Weasley twins reminded him of James and Sirius. They too had always been trying to pull off one prank or another. There had been other, darker things as well--cruel jokes and outright bullying, especially when it came to Snape--but he pushed those memories aside as an idea came to mind.
Before the twins turned the corner, Remus raised his wand and sent a quick Color Change Charm down the corridor, then laughed to himself as Fred and George walked away, their red hair now a deep shade of purple.
They didn't even notice. Original, indeed.
Heading back into his office, Remus found Charity standing there with her hands crossed over her chest. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?" she asked.
He walked over to her and kissed her lightly. "So what if I did? There was no harm done."
"I don't know about that," she murmured. "Snape was angry, and there were some tears, from what I saw."
"Some people just don't appreciate a good joke," he said with a shrug. "Their hair will go back to normal by the end of the day, I'm sure."
"Did you punish them?" she asked.
"Of course I did," he said, pulling out more of the antidote. "I asked if I could. Twenty points and detention, plus they need to take the antidote to each Head of House personally. It's exactly what Minerva sentenced us to my fourth year."
Charity's eyes widened. "That was you?" she exclaimed.
"You didn't realize?" he asked, highly amused. It should have been obvious, given their reputation.
"I suppose not, or else I just didn't put it all together." She paused and nodded. "That's how you knew the antidote. But how did you know to have some ready?"
"Because I recognized a bit of James and Sirius in the Weasley twins," he replied, then laughed. "And because I overheard them talking about it in the back of my class."
"You didn't!" she exclaimed once more, then mock-punched him on the arm. "And you didn't stop them. Remus Lupin, you should be ashamed of yourself."
"On the contrary," he murmured, pulling her close and running a hand through her hair. "I quite like you in pink. It's lovely."
"I want the antidote," she said, stepping back.
"I think you should leave it," he said.
"Why didn't you leave yours?" she countered.
"Blue isn't my color," he replied with a casual shrug. Charity pulled out her wand.
"Want to try another color then?" she teased. He growled good-naturedly and threw her the vial of the antidote; almost immediately her hair went back to its normal color.
"That's more like it," she said, shaking it back over her shoulders. "Thank you, and I will see you at dinner."
"Wait, you're leaving?" he asked. "Now? After all that?"
"I've got work to do," she called, already halfway down the corridor. "I imagine you do as well. Ta!"
* * *
Later that night, as they lay entwined in one another's arms reliving the day's prank, Remus sensed that Charity was not really listening. She had seemed distant since dinner, and had sighed several times already, as if something were on her wind. Finally propping himself on his elbow, Remus turned her face toward him and asked.
"Is there anything wrong? Something you'd like to talk about?"
She laughed through her nose. "Yes. How did you know?"
"I can just tell," he murmured, leaning down to kiss her. "You've got an air of distracted thoughtfulness about you."
"I do?" He nodded, and she grinned. "Maybe it's just you and those amazing pyjamas."
"You should be over that by now," he replied with a smile. "I think there's something else on your mind."
She nodded but did not begin right away. "My parents are coming to visit in a few weeks."
When she didn't go on, Remus tried to think of something to say. "And you're upset?" he asked. "Or glad to see them?"
"Oh, I'm not upset," she said. "We get on fine. It will be good to see them as they were on holiday over Christmas."
Remus nodded. "But you're still worried about something." He had an inkling of what she was going to say and tried to brace himself for it.
"Not worried, not exactly." She sighed again, like she had several times already. "Only it's just that I haven't told them about you, Remus. And now that they're coming I don't know whether to tell them ahead of time or when they're here."
Rolling back onto his pillow, Remus tried not to frown as he gazed at the ceiling. She hadn't told her parents about him. What did that mean, exactly? That she hadn't told them she was involved with someone, that she was seeing a fellow professor, or that he was a werewolf? It didn't matter, not really: the bigger question was why.
"All right," he said slowly. "Let me ask this to help you decide. Why haven't you told them anything?"
Charity shot up, her eyes wide. "It has nothing to do with you, Remus!" she exclaimed. "Please don’t think that it does. I just tend to keep my personal life a bit more private when it comes to them."
He was silent, and she continued with a sigh. "My mum is very nosy, as well as rather meddlesome. If I tell her I'm seeing someone, she practically starts planning the wedding again."
He couldn't help it: he sucked in a breath as raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Again?' he asked. " Was there a first?"
"Yes--no!" she exclaimed. "Remus, I--Merlin's buttocks, I'm mucking this up, aren't I?" When he nodded, still feeling slightly shocked at the implication of her words, she shook her head. "Then let me try again. I was engaged once, years ago. My mum threw herself into it, as my brother has barely held down a job, yet alone a relationship for more than a year. But it didn't work out, and she still holds it against me."
"Why?" asked Remus; it was the first thought that came to mind.
"Why didn't it work out, or why does she hold it against me?" Charity asked, and he heard a bitter tinge to her voice. It was obviously not a pleasant subject for her, but it had come up, and he couldn't just leave it.
"Both," he said softly, and he pulled her back down next to him, kissing her neck in support. She turned toward him and kissed him back, but he smiled against her. "Don't try getting out of this now," he said. "I want to know."
"It's nothing," she started, but he shook his head.
"It must have been something, if you were engaged to be married."
She stared at him as if he had caught her stealing cookies from the cookie jar, then sighed once more. "It was a long time ago--almost ten years ago. I met him right after the war, and we were together until the day he left me, which was practically at the altar."
"Practically?" Remus prodded, curious about what had happened to ruin things.
"A week before the wedding he ran off with someone else." Charity's voice was flat, as if she did not want to drudge up the pain of what had happened. "My mum--well, you'd think she'd be more supportive, right? Try to comfort me, that sort of thing. Only she was nothing but furious--her perfect wedding had been ruined, and she was embarrassed by her only daughter's failure."
Remus stroked her back, trying to comfort her now, so many years later. "But it wasn't your fault."
"No, it wasn't," Charity agreed. "Although it took me a long time to understand that. I thought he loved me, and he probably did, once, but it wasn't my fault he found someone else. Sometimes things just happen."
Remus was silent as he thought about her last words: Sometimes things just happen. That had certainly been true in his experience. He was sad to think that Charity had experienced such heartbreak in her own life, though. He kissed her once more.
"And your mum?" he asked gently.
"Like I said, she was furious. She wanted dad to drag him kicking and screaming to the ceremony. Fortunately my father is a lot more rational." Remus chuckled with her before she continued. "Then she wanted to go ahead with the reception, but I refused. We had a major falling out, and I didn't talk to her for over a year after that."
"What did you do?" he asked, even more curious about how she had recovered without the support of her family at such a time. He hadn't had anyone after he'd lost everything, and sometimes he still wondered how he had survived the months after that horrible Halloween night.
"I traveled some more. Went back to France for a bit, saw more of Europe. And gradually I came to understand that it wasn't me--it was him, it was my mum, but it wasn't me."
"You're an amazing woman," Remus murmured.
"I'm not. I'm just lucky I figured things out on my own. When I returned, he was married, and my mum was beside herself with worry. We worked things out and everything is fine now, only she's developed the very annoying habit of inquiring about my personal life every time I see them. If I don't have anything to report, she tries to set me up with someone. So I finally stopped telling her things."
"And that's why you haven't told her about us," Remus said, and Charity nodded.
"It's nothing to do with you and everything to do with her. Honestly." Her eyes begged him to understand, and he did, he really did.
"So they're coming to visit…when?" he asked casually, starting to think.
Charity narrowed her eyes at him. "Next month. Why?"
"What if I wanted to meet them?" he asked. "Would you introduce me?"
She just stared at him, so long he wondered if he had just doomed their relationship; it was a big step, after all...wasn't it? "You actually want to meet them?"
"Yes, I do," he replied. "Your dad sounds like a decent bloke, and your mum too. She's just concerned about you and wants you to be happy."
Charity snorted. "She saved the place cards. She wants to plan another wedding."
"Well, I don't know about that quite yet," Remus murmured, smiling as he kissed her once more. "I think I'd like to just meet them first."
She studied his face, as if trying to gage just how serious he was. He had thought long and hard about her words at the Whomping Willow, about walking away from every chance at happiness he'd had over the years, and in spite of his temporary gloom at the time, he was now determined to stay. He wasn't going to push it away this time, he was going to embrace it.
"All right," she murmured. "I'd like that. Thank you."
"You're welcome," he replied, feeling his eyelids growing heavy. "We won't tell them everything, but I think I can make a decent enough first impression before we spring the rest on them."
"You'll be great," she replied, sounding equally as drowsy.
"Maybe we should color our hair for it," Remus murmured. "I really liked the pink--"
She twisted around and silenced him with a long kiss. "Good night, Remus."
"Good night, love," he replied, and he drifted off to sleep, more content than ever, even if he had just committed to taking a rather large step in their relationship.
* * *
Almost by Gmariam
Chapter Endnotes: Something silly, something serious. What can I say? I'm just going with it. The first part is actually based on a drabble I wrote years ago and thought fit perfectly here. And I know it's 'colour' but I just couldn't stand all the red lines. I left you 'pyjamas', though. Thank you for reading - any reviews out there? :)