((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.
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.