Marauders - Always - Part One

CLXXIII: Disappointed

Remus was looking through a pile of scrolls he had been sent by one of the members of the pack who had a contact at the Ministry for Magic. Dust settled on the beams of sunlight coming in through the stained-glass windows in the Sanctuary of the church where he sat in one of the pews side-ways, one knee bent on the seat in front of him. He shook his head in frustration as he let the scrolls roll back up, rubbing his right temple with his fingertips, arm propped up on the back of the pew beside him.

More anti-werewolf legislation being proposed, more sections to be added to the Restrition Act, further increasing the oppression against the community. It would lead to even further unrest among the pack. How could Dumbledore expect the werewolves to do anything except rebel against the Ministry with the pressures that were constantly being placed upon them? Convincing them to help the Order, which had so many ties to Ministry officials, would be nearly impossible. Hell at this point, even Remus was starting to feel bitter.

Suddenly the door of the sanctuary banged opened and Spencer Stewart's voice carried, echoing off the high beams. "You cannot go in there! He isn't available for talking to at the moment, you simply must come back at another time! I --"

The irrational part of Remus thought it had to be Sirius Black. Who else would go banging into a known werewolve's lair? Especially on the morning after the new moon, when the lunar pull was at it's worst and therefore Remus was at his crankiest?

Remus sprang up from the pew, his knees cracking as he did, and turned 'round quickly, eyes wide, heart thumping emotionally - ready to accept Sirius's explanations and apologies that he'd thought would never come and --

But it wasn't Sirius.

The next best thing.

"Nymphadora," he said, surprised, as the pink-haired pixie of a woman rushed up the aisle between the pews toward where Remus was standing, shaky on his legs. Behind her, lingering in the doorway, was the red-haired form of Charlie Weasley.

"Don't CALL me Nymphadora!" Tonks said in frustration. She spun about as Spencer Stewart came up behind her. "And you - will you relax, I --"

"You HAVE to come back another time, Remus is very busy --" Stewie was still shouting.

"Stewie!" Remus called, "I have time."

Stewie slowed to a stop and looked even more frustrated, "She doesn't have an appointment," he said stiffly.

"I always have time for Tonks," Remus said patiently and Tonks stuck her tongue out at him and waved her arm for Charlie, but Charlie continued to stay back and shook his head. "What is going on, Tonks?" He lowered his voice as she came nearer, "You know you aren't supposed to come here."

"Never stopped me from showing up at your door, did it?" Tonks said. She paused. "Charlie. C'mon."

Charlie stepped just into the sanctuary doors, keeping his back to the wall. "I'm okay," he murmured.

Remus looked at Charlie, then back to Tonks. "This is a bit different than appearing at my flat back in the day, Tonks," he said quietly, "Having a Ministry Official around here so close to the moon isn't exactly favorable."

Tonks stared at him for a long moment, then replied, "I don't give a bleeding toad if it's close to the full moon or not, it  isn't as though you're changed now, is it?"

"No but I actually meant because the Ministry isn't very popular among... the - the, er - pack." Using the term around somebody not in the pack felt strange, and Remus had this sudden feeling as though he led two very different lives. A life of a normal person who didn't have a use for the term pack, and the life of a man who not only had a pack but led one and had to think about the consequences of one of the pack members - like Storm, for example - seeing him fraternizing with a Ministry Official.