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The Power of the No by bardlover [Reviews - 1]
The Power of the No Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter or any of the characters that inhabit it. I only borrow them for my own selfish reasons. A/N: This is a tie-in to my Ron/Hermione story Easy, but can be enjoyed separately. Enjoy! Chapter 1: The First Meeting “Journeys End in Lover’s Meeting.” Twelfth Night II iii Remus Lupin never had liked Grimmauld Place. He had only visited it once before Sirius had moved out, but he had not received a very hospitable welcome that day. The place was creepy, as creepy as Sirius’ parents and brother were. And that was a long time ago, when the house was actually occupied by something other than a deranged house elf. Now the place was reminiscent of something out of those muggle horror novels he used to read. The Gothic ones especially, with vampires, monsters, and ghosts hanging around. Or werewolves. He never particularly liked the werewolf ones. He looked around the house once more. “Sirius, are you mental? You can’t offer this place as the headquarters for the Order! We’ll probably all be killed by some poisoned wine or a cursed pin cushion.” Sirius just grinned. “It would make my parents turn over in their graves. Besides, it’s the only thing I can actually do for the Order, since I’m still a “dangerous criminal.” Besides, we’ll have aurors and Dumbledore here. I’m sure we won’t die at the hands of a disgruntled pin cushion.” Remus frowned. “I was being serious.” “No, I’m Sirius.” Remus picked up the closest seat cushion and threw it at his friend. “That’s one thing I haven’t missed about you.” Sirius brushed the dust out of his hair. “That hurts.” He grinned mischievously. “Of course, I haven’t missed how much a party-pooper you are.” “Hey, one of us had to be sane. We couldn’t risk our lives on every adventure we set out on.” “No, you’re right I suppose.” He shook his head. “It’s just a bit ironic that the most cautious of all of the Marauders is the werewolf.” Remus ignored the comment. “Do you think we ought to clean this place up a bit before we offer it as headquarters?” “Nah. Molly will take care of it. After all, she has that heap of a house of hers spotless, with four children still living at home.” He laughed. “And Arthur.” “I suppose she would like to supervise. Besides, I’m sure we’ll all be roped into helping eventually. Especially you, Sirius, since you’ll be here all the time.” Sirius sighed heavily. “Yeah. I just wish I could borrow Harry’s invisibility cloak and take a stroll around Diagon Alley.” “No. You’d get caught, Sirius. You’d run into Snape and conveniently drop something on his head. Besides, there are aurors all over London looking for you. There’s quite a reward offered on your head, in fact. Better be careful. If you get too annoying, I might just turn you in,” Remus joked. “See! Cracks like that, and you wonder why I thought you were the spy?” “You should have hit me with some veritaserum and asked me if I was the spy.” “No. I didn’t want to kill you. I hoped I was wrong. I just…” “Me too. I couldn’t think of anyone else who knew so much. Peter, of all people…” Sirius growled. “That rat. I should have thought more about his animagus form. If I ever get my hands on him, I’ll tear him to pieces!” “I’m sorry, Sirius.” “Hmm? What for?” “For letting him escape.” “Come off it, Moony. It wasn’t your fault, really. I mean, if someone had just come to me and told me that someone I thought was dead was alive, I’d be a little out of sorts too.” “There was no excuse for me to forget both about the full moon itself and the wolfsbane. I could have attacked the students, or you, or Harry…” “Or Snape,” Sirius said wistfully. “That would have been wonderful.” “No, Sirius. It’s not funny. Would you really like it if I killed someone?” His friend sighed. “I guess not. However, I hope someone kills Snape before this war is over. If they do, I might just let them escape from our clutches.” Remus shook his head. “He’s in the Order now, Sirius. You’re going to have to behave.” “Relax, Moony. I’m a grown-up now. I’ll behave.” As Remus went to go inspect the state of the kitchen, Padfoot smiled. “In front of Dumbledore, at least.” The first meeting of the Order was bizarre, to say the least. The Order of the Phoenix was considerable smaller than it had once been, with the Potters, Longbottoms, Prewetts, and of, course, Pettigrew among those missing. Remus did notice that four new members had joined their ranks: Arthur, Molly, Bill, and Charlie Weasley. “Well, I see you all have noticed our new members,” Dumbledore said to those assembled. “That I did,” Sirius grumbled. It was only then that Remus spotted Severus Snape sitting at the table. “Well, I believe we all know one another, but I suppose we must all be introduced,” Dumbledore continued, choosing to ignore Sirius’ comment. “I, of course, am Albus Dumbledore. We also have Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Emmeline Vance, Mundungus Fletcher, Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Alastor Moody, Rubeus Hagrid, Dedalus Diggle, Hestia Jones, Sturgis Podmore, Elphias Doge, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black. Okay, now we are all acquainted with one another.” “We need more members,” Moody said gruffly. “Yes, Alastor, I was going to bring that subject up, but thank you for getting straight to the point. I thought perhaps you could find out if any aurors would be interested in joining,” Dumbledore replied, his eyes glinting with amusement. The ex-auror looked around the room, eying the members with his curious magical eye. “Yes, I suppose I could. I’d just have to make sure Scrimegeour doesn’t suspect anything. You know how he’s been lately.” “Yes, yes, I have heard. The next order of business is to thank Sirius for allowing us to use his family home for our headquarters.” There was a polite round of applause, but it was soon silenced when a acidic voice replied, “Well, he has to do something to make himself useful.” Remus turned to his friend. The two long-time enemies stared each other down from across the table. “Well, at least my loyalty was never suspect, Severus.” “Not true. I didn’t serve twelve years in Azkaban.” It was about to come to blows, from the looks of it. “This isn’t the place,” Remus said flatly. “We have business to attend to.” Snape eyed him maliciously, but remained quiet nonetheless. The meeting continued. Remus missed the next meeting. He spent it in the marvelous company of…himself. In the Shrieking Shack. The cursed full moon didn’t care about Order meetings. The next time he went to Grimmauld Place, Sirius was sulking by the fire. “Oh no, what’s the matter, Padfoot?” Sirius looked up. “About time you got here. I’ve been cleaning for three hours straight. She can’t make me do anymore of it!” “You sound like a spoiled child. Molly is doing her job, and after all it is your house.” “I hate this house.” “I always did.” “Always? You only came here once.” “Yes, and I was quite thrilled not to have to repeat that experience,” he answered, sitting beside his friend. “SIRIUS? SIRIUS? WHERE ARE YOU?” a voice called. A voice not belonging to Molly Weasley, as Remus would have expected. Suddenly he heard a thump and a squeal, and a young female with bubble gum pink hair fell into his lap. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m always so dreadfully clumsy…Wait, who are you?” “Oh, that’s right,” Sirius said, “I forgot you missed the last meeting. We have new members. Remus, this is my cousin, Nymphadora Tonks.” “Remus Lupin.” “Oh, nice to meet you,” she said, shaking his hand enthusiastically. “Um, I hope you don’t mind, but I was fancing a cup of tea, so I do need to get up.” “Oh! Oh, sorry about that,” she apologized, leaping from his lap. “What a horrible first impression. I’m always falling all over things. Scrimegeour says I’m a bloody menace to the department…” “You’re an auror?” “I know, you wouldn’t think so…” “No. I’m just glad we actually got one to join.” “Two. Kingsley Shacklebolt joined too.” “Good. I’m sure Dumbledore was pleased.” “He was,” Sirius replied. “He only wishes we could have gotten more.” “Well, I found Sirius, which is what I was looking for. I’m off to tell Molly he was socializing while she is cleaning his house,” she said, her voice touched with mirth, and bounded off from whence she had come. “Not fair, Moony,” Sirius grumbled. “Why can’t I have women fall into my lap?” Remus stood up and looked down on his friend. “She’s your cousin. It would be highly inappropriate for her to fall in your lap.” He paused. “However, I’m sure Emmeline Vance would be willing to oblige…” He laughed as he dodged the pillow his friend vaulted as his head. A/N: Well, there is the first chapter of my stab at Lupin/Tonks fanfiction. I know there was a depressing lack of Tonks, but setup is a key here. You’ll see more of her from now on. Please review—you know you want to, that button is so much fun to click! |
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