The Unnerving Bet (Marauders' era)

[N.Black1753]

((I am new here, and thought this might be a good outlet for one of my Marauders' fics. It's a romance/comedy fanfiction. Please enjoy! Your comments are appreciated, and once I get one or two, so that I know people are interested, I'll post the next part.))

Unnerving. This was the one word Remus Lupin had for a description of the woman sitting in front of him: unnerving. Of course, there were the obvious details—the physical and mental ones, especially—that were distinctive about Miss Ramsden. Oh, there were plenty of those, but somehow Remus didn’t find the words “brown-haired” or “blue-eyed” adequately fitting when it came to the task of depicting either her or her personality.

For one, Nadia Ramsden was rather smart. Worst of all, she knew it. She had been a Ravenclaw in Remus’s year at Hogwarts, and they had competed heatedly for grades from day one. It hadn’t been a very friendly competition either, Remus mused, but then Nadia herself was far from friendly. Sirius always swore to anyone that would listen that he had seen the young woman laugh once, but Remus was hard-put to believe his fellow Marauder.

Then, there was the matter of her looks. She was plain by society’s standards, and yet had a standard all her own, a standard reminiscent to Remus of that of the women from the 1920’s. This was certainly unnerving to Remus, because Nadia seemed to use it to her advantage by wearing heavy eye shadow and dark lipstick.

Lastly, her voice did nothing but add to Remus’s unease. He had never heard anything so infuriatingly sensual in the way a female spoke until he heard Nadia talk for the first time. Her voice was low and scratchy, close to that of a woman who had smoked for many decades. Though seldom heard, Nadia’s voice was probably the thing about her that exasperated Remus most. He could hardly stand her, and yet when she gave her reports to the Order of the Phoenix Remus caught himself hooked on her every word. It was maddening, to say the least.

Right now, Remus was contemplating a move to a seat far away from Nadia Ramsden. She had been throwing what he guessed was her favorite dagger into the table and pulling it out for nearly fifteen minutes. The habit was now another item on the list of things that irritated Remus about her. Part of him figured that Nadia did it just to aggravate the hell out of him. Another told the previous part not to flatter itself.

Of course, Remus more readily agreed with the first part; why else would the woman be wearing such a cheeky sideways grin? There wasn’t exactly much to be grinning about these days, sideways or fully. Merlin, Remus wished the meeting would start already. Out of nowhere, he became sort of glad Sirius hadn’t thought to triumphantly point out that Nadia was sporting something that resembled a smile. He didn’t know if his tired mind could handle Sirius overdoing a moment of victory.

Thunk! Pause. Thunk! Pause.

Remus sighed heavily, leaning back into his chair. He knew that if he moved Nadia would start throwing the dagger into the wooden table more forcefully than she already was, just so the sound would follow him. Somehow it was hard for him to believe that the woman had a friendly bone in her body. According to Sirius and James, Nadia could be quite friendly; Remus was of the ideal that Nadia Ramsden was pure sadism and nothing more.

“What’s wrong, Lupin?” He looked up to find Nadia smirking at him as she added, “You look tense.”

Yes, he was on the verge of shooting back at her, and I haven’t the slightest idea why. That retort, Remus knew, would let her know that she was getting to him, something Remus hardly wanted. Instead, he yawned and said, “It’s been a long day.”

“I see.” THUNK! “That certainly explains why you’ve been grinding you teeth for the past sixteen minutes.” THUNK!

Biting back a growl, Remus glared across the table at her. The smug little witch, she knew why he was tensely grinding his teeth! He sat fuming in silence, his list of grievances pertaining to Nadia growing ever-longer.

“Who’re we waiting on, Sirius?” asked Nadia offhandedly, which nearly made Remus huff angrily. She had undoubtedly heard the announcement that Lily and James Potter would be late just five minutes earlier; he supposed that Nadia was just asking to see if she could make Remus lose his temper.

Sirius Black, who had befriended Nadia in their fifth year at Hogwarts following a failed attempt at asking her on a date, immediately snapped to attention in the chair on the young woman’s right. “Er, Lily and James,” he dutifully responded, seeming also to have conveniently forgotten the similar statement from a few moments prior to the present one. “Lily’s been sick.”

“So James told me,” Nadia agreed with the subtlest of nods. Remus could’ve sworn that she cast a smirk in his direction before she returned her attention fully to plunging her dagger into the table, tugging it out, spinning it between three fingers, and repeating the process.

Lily and James, Remus thought helplessly as Peter Pettigrew sat down next to him and began to watch the dagger with fascination from across the table, could not possibly arrive soon enough.

After what felt to Remus like an eon of nerve-eroding thunks!, James and Lily Potter hurried into the large dining room of Number 326 Avalon Lane, the secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. They seated themselves on Nadia’s left, the last empty chairs nearest what was usually Albus Dumbledore’s place at the head of the table.

“Sorry we’re late,” James apologized. He was grinning from ear to ear, Remus noted; it was James’s infamous way of silently begging for someone to ask him why he was so elated.

“I’ll bite,” Nadia said with an airy sigh, not looking up from her current dagger-throwing pursuits. “Why the grin, James? I thought you informed me just two nights ago that Lily was dreadfully ill.” Now Remus spotted a smile tugging at the corners of Lily’s lips and wondered what exactly was going on.

James, meanwhile, was about to burst with whatever was his obviously enthralling news. “Well, Nadia, if you must know, Lily and I are expecting a child.”

“Haha!” Sirius’s barking laugh echoed in the high-ceilinged room, and he nearly knocked over his chair in his rush to get up and clap James on the shoulder in congratulations. “Mate, that’s terrific!”

While Sirius and James celebrated, Remus leaned toward Lily. “Congratulations, Lily.”

“Thank you,” Lily murmured back, a smile finally parting her lips. She shook her head as James and Sirius returned to their respective seats, more kind wishes coming from everyone else around them.

Dumbledore entered, and everything and everyone came to order. Nadia’s dagger had disappeared, much to Remus’s relief. Just before Dumbledore began the meeting, however, Remus heard Nadia whisper to James, “Congratulations. And to think Lily would’ve hexed anyone into submission back in fifth year for the mere suggestion that she would carry your child.” James just chuckled, still grinning proudly. Sighing, Remus settled into his chair for the meeting ahead.

[harrypotterfan:)]

((LOL....I love it....very humorous and alittle romantic.....great you just have to keep writing it....and I will keep reading it ;D oh yeah and WELCOME TO THIS SITE! ;D ))

[N.Black1753]

((Aw, thanks! Glad to be here. I'll go ahead and post a bit more, and save some for tomorrow.))
Remus was glad to find that the Order meeting was nowhere near as torturous as the wait beforehand. He was even happier when Nadia got up with all the other members who weren’t staying for dinner. Even though Nadia herself had provided Number 326 Avalon Lane—a former safe house for members of the very secretive and mysterious Ministry-affiliated agency for which she worked—for the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, she almost never hung around for meals. Remus was fine with it, all the same. The less time he was forced to spend in her presence, the better. Remus even sank into his chair contentedly once Nadia was gone; it felt like some manner of unhappy weight had been lifted from his already weary shoulders.

He was almost fully relaxed when he realized someone was laughing. Startled, it dawned upon Remus that someone was laughing at him. He straightened in his chair and surveyed the faces of the remaining people at the table, discovering James to be the chortling culprit. Despite the fact that James had matured greatly in recent years, Remus knew the laugh to mean that something incredibly devious was being processed through his pal’s mind. “What?” Remus inquired, struggling to keep his discomfort out of his voice.

“You,” said James. “Nadia takes deep satisfaction in making you squirm, and you go right on letting her.”

“So?” Remus attempted to seem to the entire world like he was not bothered by Nadia as much as he really was, yet somehow the whole universe knew that Nadia did, in fact, bother him a great deal. He really wasn’t sure why he even tried to hide it anymore. “I can’t stand her. She knows that.”

Sirius plunked himself into the seat Nadia had vacated and broke in, “Exactly, Moony. She knows, which is precisely the reason she makes you miserable at any given opportunity.”

“Oh, let it go,” Lily chided the pair, ever the matronly figure of the group. As always, she was ignored by all but Peter, who was taking the conversation in as if it were the back-and-forth action of a Quaffle in a particularly thrilling game of Quidditch.

“If you can’t stand her so much,” James pressed on, oblivious to both his wife and Peter, “then mate, why don’t you ignore her?” His eyes were fixated on Remus, whom he was watching with an especially sly grin.

As if Remus hadn’t asked himself that very same question! Why didn’t he ignore her? Remus instantly found something extremely intriguing to look at about the table in front of him. “She makes it hard,” he mumbled, which had some truth to it.

Sblack personing, James banged the table with his closed right fist, acting as if he’d just made the most exciting discovery in history. “Oh,” he stated simply and, smirking, sat back in his chair. He snickered again every few seconds and then went back to his silence; this caused Remus to wonder if James wasn’t taking a page out of Nadia’s book. James stared across the table at Remus, almost daring Remus with his eyes to ask what the hell was so hysterical. Remus closed his own eyes, vowing not to give in to the silent challenge.

When James burst into laughter, Remus sighed in defeat and opened his eyes. “What’s ‘oh’?” he asked.

The smirk on James’s face spread from ear to ear. “You fancy her,” he said, as if they had been politely chatting about the weather; for all his tone mattered, though, James could have just accused Remus of snogging some girl in a broom closet.

“Do not!” Remus snapped without giving it a thought, so fast that even Remus himself wasn’t exactly convinced by how he’d said it. Of course he didn’t fancy the pest of a so-called woman! Her life seemed to be centered around being a cold-hearted woman; it certainly didn’t revolve around making him fall for her.

James, now chuckling quietly along with Sirius, said, “Prove it, then. Ten galleons say you make out with her before my kid’s born.”

It was Remus’s turn to laugh, and laugh he did. The idea in itself was absurd! Ten galleons may have been nothing to James Potter, but to Remus Lupin it was a nice sum for what seemed an easy bet to win. How much could happen in seven months? Not enough, Remus thought smugly. “Might as well pay up now,” he grinned as he and James shook on it. What Remus was forgetting, though, was a very important detail: James hardly ever made a bet unless he already knew that he would win. It was hard to tell whose grin was wider, because everyone knew Remus did everything short of move mountains just to avoid Nadia.

James Potter had his ways, though….and only when it was too late would Remus remember that.

[harrypotterfan:)]

((LOL.....so cute.....this story is so good.....nice but the suspense to who will win the bet is killing me now.....see you on tomorrow ;D ))

[Kiara Johnson]

Indeed, BUMP (Err, that means write more)

[N.Black1753]

((Haha, I figured that 'bump' wouldn't mean something negative. Glad you're enjoying it.  ;D))
Three weeks passed in uneventful succession, which led Remus to wonder if James just wanted an excuse to slip him ten galleons. Six months and a week to go, Remus thought, grinning as he pored over his copy of the Daily Prophet. Maybe, he mused with a laugh, Lily would even give birth early. It wasn’t something Remus would normally laugh about, of course; he just disliked Nadia Ramsden that much.

“Unh,” came a moan as Sirius ever-so-gracefully made his way into their shared kitchen. “Wha time’s it?” he inquired, stumbling toward the medicine cabinet.

Remus chuckled to himself. “Noon.” It seemed like Sirius was in a constant caveman-ish state (or, as most called it, suffering from a hangover) every morning of every weekend thanks to the large amounts of alcohol he consumed when he went out at night. His mid-hangover habits never failed to amuse Remus. “Have fun last night, Sirius?”

Shooting Remus a death glare, Sirius replied, “Piss off.”

Remus snickered as he turned the page of the Prophet, the newspaper shaking along with his quiet laugh. He usually hid Sirius’s bottle of hangover cure potion for kicks, but Sirius had taken to chunking things of late if the aforementioned bottle could not be found. Remus supposed that his roommate might just work out one hazy Saturday morning that, hangover or not, he was a wizard with a wand and a repertoire of hexes, but until such time Remus would risk taunting Sirius. In fact, he was just about to fire off another snide remark when an owl fluttered in the open kitchen window. The owl landed on the dining table in front of Remus and held out its leg, a note attached. As he untied it, Remus recognized James’s familiar scrawl. He patted the owl’s head, and it took off through the window.

“What is it, Moony?” asked Sirius.

“A note from James,” Remus answered, unrolling the piece of parchment and beginning to read.

Moony—

You, my friend, are going out tonight. There’s this new club called “Le Masque” where everyone, as your keen and penetrating mind might have already surmised, has to wear a mask. So put on something that doesn’t screech “I’m a nerd!” and conjure yourself up a mask! I’ll be there to get you at eight o’clock.

Prongs

PS—Oh yeah, I’ve got a date for you. She and Lily’ll meet us there. Cheers mate! And yes, Padfoot can tag along.

He stared at the post script for a long time without a single discernible thought. His friends were always dragging him along on their weekend adventures; that was nothing new to Remus. No, the novelty of it all lay in James’s arranging what, apparently, was a blind date for Remus. Normally Remus got his own dates, if there were any to be had. Yes, this was certainly strange. That James had planned it caused the whole thing’s suspiciousness to double in Remus’s “keen and penetrating” mind.

“What does he want?” inquired Sirius, whose speech had become considerably less slurred.

“Er,” said Remus, debating with himself over whether or not he should actually tell Sirius the contents of James’s letter. Hell, thought Remus, Sirius was probably in on it already. “James set me up with some girl on a date at Le Masque tonight, a double with him and Lily.”

Once Remus mentioned Le Masque, however, it was obvious that Sirius had tuned out any further information. “Le Masque! I’ve been thinking about going there. I’ll just, er-” Sirius ran a hand through his hair in a devilish manner, a grin spreading on his face. “-join you lot on this little outing.”

“Yes,” Remus muttered, rolling his eyes, “there’re bound to be some women you’ve yet to snog.”

“What was that mate?”

Rolling his eyes a second time, Remus replied, “Oh, I said it’s fine. James said you could tag along.”
((Any theories as to who this blind date might be? Coming next post...))

[dobby888]

omg ur an amazing writer!!! i was captured after your first post!!!! keep writing!!!

[harrypotterfan:)]

((oh wow....it's Nadia as his blind date right....and I bet she's gorgeously dressed but in a mask so Remus doesn't know it's Nadia and they kiss.....and then Remus loses the bet......haha just a theory.....continue I can't wait....))

[N.Black1753]

((Good theory. Of course, if they kissed at the end of the night, I wouldn't have much of a story, would I? ;) Assuming it is Nadia that's his date, of course. Thank you both.))

Nadia Ramsden didn't normally wake up to owls tapping on her window. The birds usually dropped the post through its specific slot in her door and went on their way. So it was slightly irritating for Nadia, who was attempting to enjoy her weekend off by sleeping as late as she possibly could, to open her eyes and see James Potter’s tawny owl pecking insistently on the nearest windowpane. “Nothing that you have to say,” Nadia mumbled as she threw back the bedcovers and clambered out of bed, “James Potter, could possibly be urgent enough that I need to get out of my bed before noon.” Nevertheless, Nadia opened the window, and in flew James’s owl. It perched on the dresser next to her, patiently sticking out its leg for her to detach James’s letter. She reminded herself that it wasn’t the owl’s fault for her sleep being interrupted and unwrapped the letter with a sigh, absently stroking the owl's head as she began to read the note.

Nadia--

How are you this fine morning? Since I have it from extremely reliable sources that you are off-call this weekend, I am extending a mandatory invitation to you to “Le Masque,” a new club where masks are required. Be ready! Lily will be there for you at eight o’clock tonight.

James

PS-I’ve set up a date for you. He and I will meet you and Lily at the club.

“That’s it?” Nadia asked the piece of parchment in her hands. James hadn’t given the guy’s name. Snorting impatiently when the parchment didn’t reply, Nadia tossed the letter aside. The only things stopping her from telling James that she couldn’t attend were the fact he’d made sure that she was not on-call at work and the knowledge that if she tried to hide, Lily would drag Nadia out of bed, put a mask on her, and take her to Le Masque in her pajamas. James had unfortunately rubbed off on Lily, who’d started to show a mean streak since their marriage. Casting a glance to her watch, Nadia saw that she had eight hours in which to get ready. “Might as well,” said the young woman with a sigh, shuffling out of the bedroom.

[harrypotterfan:)]

((yeah my theory was right.....continue.....I am anticipating....but you're right.....I bet they dance and then they realize who they're with and then...and then....ummmm.....Remus leaves angrily....?I dunno.))

[N.Black1753]

((I'm almost to the point where they take off each other's masks. I must say...Remus will not be happy.))
“Oooo,” Sirius chuckled, entering Remus’s room unannounced. “Look who’s ready for his da-ate!”

Once Sirius was in range of Remus’s arms, Remus gave him a good shove. “Shut up.” Remus stood in front of his floor-length, freestanding mirror, eyeing his reflection with a pleased expression on his face. Not too bad, he thought. He was wearing the forest green robes that he reserved for going out with the guys and a simple black mask that covered three-fourths of his face, stopping just above his mouth. Not too bad at all; definitely not nerdy.

“Think she’ll be a looker?”

Sighing, Remus again wondered to himself whether or not Sirius was in on the whole thing. He decided to answer with a wry smile, “What’ll it matter? She’ll be wearing a mask.”

“Till midnight,” said Sirius, clapping him on the shoulder and grinning before sweeping out of the room.

“Till…” Confounded by this news, Remus turned and called after Sirius, “Midnight?”

Sirius stuck his head in the door, now wearing a navy blue eye mask trimmed with gold. “Did I stutter, mate?” Remus directed a glare at his friend, which apparently led Sirius to conclude that now was not the time for snarky comebacks. “Er, yeah, till midnight. At midnight, everyone in the place takes their partner’s mask off. James told me.” Sirius’s head left his doorway once more, leaving Remus in a bewildered state. Pictures were running through his mind like stampeding hippogriffs, all of them of how this unmasking would go. His heart was sinking already; what if she was gorgeous and high-class, not unlike James in the latter respect? Remus considered himself lucky when he had two Galleons to rub together, and wasn’t exactly as dashing without the mask that was currently hiding most of his face. And somehow, he got the feeling that James wouldn’t let him sneak out before midnight…

[harrypotterfan:)]

((haha that would be funny....I have another theory now.....they were about to kiss but then the clock struck midnight and they took off their masks and everything will change.....haha sorry.....I'm kind of thinking of something similar to Cinderella))

[N.Black1753]

((Imagine Remus acting as if he'd been hit by a disarming charm, dropping her mask, I think...I'll save the last part of the second chapter till tomorrow. School starts here tomorrow. :( ))

[harrypotterfan:)]

((oh man.....I feel bad for you....what about us.....what about our needs.....LOL.....joking.....just finish writing soon ;D ))

[LordBlaZe]

((oh man.....I feel bad for you....what about us.....what about our needs.....LOL.....joking.....just finish writing soon ;D ))

lmao WHAT ABOUT OUR NEEDS" that's jokes. Anyways, d**n this is something that JK herself would've wrote, it's so detailed and perfect. I'm more of an action loving guy but this is pretty good. Keep it up!