❁ʙᴜᴛᴛᴇʀᴄᴜᴘ - ʀ.ᴊ.ʟ❁

ᴏɴᴇ sʜᴏᴛ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

𝕸aple nibbles on her lower lip, standing tall in front of her bedroom mirror, eyeing herself up and down nervously.

Maybe it was too much. The eyeliner, the pleated mini skirt, the leather jacket, the patent leather doc martens and definitely the cat-eye sunglasses. It was all too much. And it wasn't even her fault, it was her Godmother and Uncle Paddy's, they wanted to 'spoil her', and now Maple really thinks about it, perhaps they just wanted to piss her mum and dad off. Because she looked...sexy. And she wasn't old enough to be described as...sexy.

Fifteen. She was fifteen, about to go into her fifth year at Hogwarts, and whilst she'd unfortunately heard all of the nauseating, details of what misbehaving deeds her parents had gotten up to at her age — it was a no from her. Not yet. She was comfortable, she could easily flirt with Harry, grin when he flustered just like Uncle Prongs, and then smirked, shooting a flirty line or two back, just like Uncle Reg — it's comfortable.

Maple was dungarees, pretty floral dresses, corduroy trousers, cable knit sweaters and high top converse. And here she was now, looking moderately devilish and daring — especially with her silky pearly hair curled into precious waves down to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Yes, her Aunt and Uncle definitely wanted to piss her parents off by doing this. But it was too late to change now, and by the way she was imagining Harry's reaction — she had to give it a go.

She leaves her bedroom with a skip in her step, chin held up high as Scar had taught her, padding into the kitchen with radiating confidence and amour-prope — just like Paddy had taught.

"Oh, Merlin! Fucking hell!"

Teddy spat out his coffee all over his half eaten breakfast plate, honey eyes widening and jaw dropping when he happened to lift his head to see his sister's dramatically new appearance when she entered. His dad, who was rocking whimpering baby Lennox in his arms whilst warming a bottle of milk, warned absently without turning around,

"Language, Teddy"

Remus sighed tiredly, skilfully managing to tuck his littlest baby underneath his arm, tipping the warm milk just enough for to begin to feed, settling her down. He turns around to his son, furrowing his eyebrows when he spies his flabbergasted and startled expression, swiftly following his gaze. He wished he hadn't.

"Oh Merlin! Fucking hell!"

Maple swallowed down the fear and terror crawling up her throat underneath her dad's overprotective and shielding eyes, nonchalantly continuing to sweep past him to pour a cup of coffee. She contemplated taking her baby sister out of his arms just in case he reacted worse, but that would mean going near him, and she did not want to do that.

Remus blinked rapidly, the lack of sleep he previously found himself groggy with gone, and replaced with high alert flashes and alarm bells ringing in his mind. Clearing his throat loudly, he growls,

"Maple Hope Lupin, what are you wearing?"

"Hm? Oh this?..." Maple trails off, feigning obliviousness when she glances down herself, then swiftly shooting a glare towards Teddy when he snorted and muttered 'good luck' underneath his breath, "I would say i'm wearing clothes, dad. Something you seem to be lacking in at this moment in time..."

Remus narrowed his eyes further, nose twitching and lips pursing, not knowing how to argue with that. He was lacking in the clothes department at the moment, just in some trousers, scarred chest bare like he always did when he was holding Lennox at home. The bonding was much more efficient this way — though as it seems, too much in the past. Because, clearly, Maple has inherited his sarcastic tongue.