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14 April 1977
Aug. 16th, 2012 06:17 pmIn retrospect, maybe he shouldn't have borrowed James' jacket.
He had a perfectly serviceable jacket of his own, but it had been upstairs, and when Mrs Potter had told him to just take the one James had left by the door, he'd figured it didn't really make much of a difference. And that it was better not to interrupt the conversation he'd left James and Sirius having when he'd gone downstairs in the first place.
Except, of course, that James' jacket is somewhat more respectable (or at least less shabby and worn at the elbows) than his own, and he rather thinks he wouldn't be here if he'd been wearing his own jacket.
Of course he also wouldn't be here if he'd stayed at his parents' house for what's left of Easter Break. But home is so ... dull, especially when compared to an invitation to visit James in London. And it let him see first hand how James and Sirius are getting on. So he's staying with the Potters till it's time to go back to Hogwarts, and alternately providing a sort of buffer between his two best friends and knowing when to make himself scarce so they can continue to work out the things they're still working out.
He'd wound up having an awkward conversation with James' mum, which was a little ridiculous, because she's one of the kindest people he knows. It's just not exactly easy to have a long conversation with James' mum. But there hadn't been any way out of it, at least not that he could see, except to announce that it looked like a nice afternoon and he was going to talk a walk.
And it is a nice afternoon, and moreover it's a perfectly nice if totally uneventful walk.
And then it's not.
"Winston! Winston, stop! Heel! Come back! Winston! Somebody catch him, please!"
Remus turns toward the voice, almost automatically, and spots the small black puppy tearing down the pavement, barking madly, leash trailing behind him.
It reminds him of Sirius, a bit.
And then he realizes the puppy is headed directly into the path of an oncoming double decker bus, and it reminds him a lot of Sirius.
Maybe that's why he does it. Maybe it's not. Either way, Winston finds his forward motion abruptly arrested by a very covertly cast Petrificus Totalus. (And Remus is a Marauder. He can cast spells covertly with the best of them, and frequently does.) He grabs the end of the leash and releases the puppy from the spell just as the bus goes rumbling past and Winston's owner rounds the corner and comes into view.
"Oh, thank God," she says. "You caught him. Thank God." And while at least part of this appears to be addressed to Remus, her attention is more or less wholly on the puppy. She lifts him off the ground. "Bad dog," she says, sternly. "Very bad dog." Winston responds by licking her face, and barking happily.
Sirius. Definitely.
She sets the puppy back down on the pavement and looks to Remus, who is still holding the other end of the leash. "Oh, you probably want this back, don't you?" he asks.
"Thank you," she says. "For everything, really. He's my little sister's, and I don't know what I would have told her if anything had happened to him. She'd never have got over. Thank you."
"You're welcome. It was -- " Remus breaks off for a second, because now that the excitement is over and her attention is on him, Remus can see that she's rather exceptionally pretty. Her eyes eyes are an almost violet blue, her hair is very long and a shade of blonde that's nearly gold where the light hits it, and he'd guess she's just about his age. "It was no trouble," he manages, finally.
"Angela Randle," she says, and she smiles.
For a second, Remus wants to turn and see whether it's Sirius or James coming up behind him, because in his experience, girls don't smile like that at him. They smile like that over him, to one of his better looking, better connected, richer friends.
"Remus Lupin," he says. "It's very nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, too," she says. And then, "Remus? Like the founder of Rome?"
Or his brother, at any rate, Remus thinks, but he just nods. "My parents were feeling classical when I was born, I guess."
She laughs. She actually laughs. Like he's managed to say something clever or witty or amusing.
She's ... she's flirting. With him. And it has to be the jacket, which must make him look like James, because this is the sort of thing that happens to James, not to Remus.
Ever.
Angela and reaches up to push her hair behind her ear. "Well, thank you again," she says. "For taking time out of founding Italian cities to catch my sister's puppy."
"Um, you're welcome again," Remus says, and that makes her laugh more.
They stand there for a second and then she says, "I really should get Winston home."
"Of course," he says.
"But, um." She holds the end of the leash back out to Remus. "Could you? Just for a second?"
"Yeah, sure."
She searching through her handbag for something. "I never do this, you know," she says, and he nods, though he has no idea what it is she never does. "I know I've just met you, and it's probably a bit mad," she adds, scribbling something on the back of a receipt she's managed to locate in her bag, and then offering it to him. "But, um, that's my number. Ring me? Perhaps? If you want."
And since that appears to require an answer of some sort, Remus nods.
Angela smiles again and takes Winston's leash back from him. "Brilliant."
She takes Winston's leash back and sets off, back the way she came, stopping once to turn around and wave to him, and Remus, because it would really be very rude not to, waves back.
It's only when she's out of sight that he looks down at the scrap of parchment--no, paper in his hand.
Angela 01 496 6457
What on Earth is he supposed to do with that?
He had a perfectly serviceable jacket of his own, but it had been upstairs, and when Mrs Potter had told him to just take the one James had left by the door, he'd figured it didn't really make much of a difference. And that it was better not to interrupt the conversation he'd left James and Sirius having when he'd gone downstairs in the first place.
Except, of course, that James' jacket is somewhat more respectable (or at least less shabby and worn at the elbows) than his own, and he rather thinks he wouldn't be here if he'd been wearing his own jacket.
Of course he also wouldn't be here if he'd stayed at his parents' house for what's left of Easter Break. But home is so ... dull, especially when compared to an invitation to visit James in London. And it let him see first hand how James and Sirius are getting on. So he's staying with the Potters till it's time to go back to Hogwarts, and alternately providing a sort of buffer between his two best friends and knowing when to make himself scarce so they can continue to work out the things they're still working out.
He'd wound up having an awkward conversation with James' mum, which was a little ridiculous, because she's one of the kindest people he knows. It's just not exactly easy to have a long conversation with James' mum. But there hadn't been any way out of it, at least not that he could see, except to announce that it looked like a nice afternoon and he was going to talk a walk.
And it is a nice afternoon, and moreover it's a perfectly nice if totally uneventful walk.
And then it's not.
"Winston! Winston, stop! Heel! Come back! Winston! Somebody catch him, please!"
Remus turns toward the voice, almost automatically, and spots the small black puppy tearing down the pavement, barking madly, leash trailing behind him.
It reminds him of Sirius, a bit.
And then he realizes the puppy is headed directly into the path of an oncoming double decker bus, and it reminds him a lot of Sirius.
Maybe that's why he does it. Maybe it's not. Either way, Winston finds his forward motion abruptly arrested by a very covertly cast Petrificus Totalus. (And Remus is a Marauder. He can cast spells covertly with the best of them, and frequently does.) He grabs the end of the leash and releases the puppy from the spell just as the bus goes rumbling past and Winston's owner rounds the corner and comes into view.
"Oh, thank God," she says. "You caught him. Thank God." And while at least part of this appears to be addressed to Remus, her attention is more or less wholly on the puppy. She lifts him off the ground. "Bad dog," she says, sternly. "Very bad dog." Winston responds by licking her face, and barking happily.
Sirius. Definitely.
She sets the puppy back down on the pavement and looks to Remus, who is still holding the other end of the leash. "Oh, you probably want this back, don't you?" he asks.
"Thank you," she says. "For everything, really. He's my little sister's, and I don't know what I would have told her if anything had happened to him. She'd never have got over. Thank you."
"You're welcome. It was -- " Remus breaks off for a second, because now that the excitement is over and her attention is on him, Remus can see that she's rather exceptionally pretty. Her eyes eyes are an almost violet blue, her hair is very long and a shade of blonde that's nearly gold where the light hits it, and he'd guess she's just about his age. "It was no trouble," he manages, finally.
"Angela Randle," she says, and she smiles.
For a second, Remus wants to turn and see whether it's Sirius or James coming up behind him, because in his experience, girls don't smile like that at him. They smile like that over him, to one of his better looking, better connected, richer friends.
"Remus Lupin," he says. "It's very nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, too," she says. And then, "Remus? Like the founder of Rome?"
Or his brother, at any rate, Remus thinks, but he just nods. "My parents were feeling classical when I was born, I guess."
She laughs. She actually laughs. Like he's managed to say something clever or witty or amusing.
She's ... she's flirting. With him. And it has to be the jacket, which must make him look like James, because this is the sort of thing that happens to James, not to Remus.
Ever.
Angela and reaches up to push her hair behind her ear. "Well, thank you again," she says. "For taking time out of founding Italian cities to catch my sister's puppy."
"Um, you're welcome again," Remus says, and that makes her laugh more.
They stand there for a second and then she says, "I really should get Winston home."
"Of course," he says.
"But, um." She holds the end of the leash back out to Remus. "Could you? Just for a second?"
"Yeah, sure."
She searching through her handbag for something. "I never do this, you know," she says, and he nods, though he has no idea what it is she never does. "I know I've just met you, and it's probably a bit mad," she adds, scribbling something on the back of a receipt she's managed to locate in her bag, and then offering it to him. "But, um, that's my number. Ring me? Perhaps? If you want."
And since that appears to require an answer of some sort, Remus nods.
Angela smiles again and takes Winston's leash back from him. "Brilliant."
She takes Winston's leash back and sets off, back the way she came, stopping once to turn around and wave to him, and Remus, because it would really be very rude not to, waves back.
It's only when she's out of sight that he looks down at the scrap of parchment--no, paper in his hand.
Angela 01 496 6457
What on Earth is he supposed to do with that?
