Love and Lakes
Chapter 28: Love and Lakes
November 26, 1993
"Hey, James." Remus opened the door to his friend. "How are you?"
"Good," James replied, bouncing around with a little more excitement than was necessary.
"Is… everything okay?" he asked suspiciously.
"Yep!" replied James brightly. "Did you get to see Snape?"
"After the frog eyeball?" Remus asked wearily. "I didn't, unfortunately. I heard about it, though. Apparently he turned blue."
"How can someone so greasy turn blue?" asked James, rather thoughtfully.
"Oh, shut up, James. How's work?"
"Why do you think I leave so often?" asked James. "It's so boring. I've been doing paperwork for like… a week, now!"
"That sucks," Remus admitted.
"You would've made a good Auror," sighed James. "Anyway, how's school coming along?"
"The kids are being really weird," he noted. "Like, there was this entire bunch that painted themselves pink from head to toe. No association, or anything."
"Maybe…"
"And," Remus continued, "Seamus Finnigan asked me out."
James burst out laughing. "Seriously? Merlin, you're so popular!"
"It was so humiliating. And the Giant Squid rumors are starting up again. How many times do I have to tell people that we're not learning about the Giant Squid?"
"Maybe you should teach it to them," offered James. "Teach them about the Giant Squid so they'll shut up. Besides, they get to learn about it, and that's going to be fun!"
"But how am I supposed to capture it?" protested Remus. "It's a really big creature, and besides, I don't want to trap it in such a small classroom if possible. I felt bad enough about the Grindylow."
"You're crazy," commented James. "So how about you get someone to get it for you? Lils told me they wanted to go Giant Squid hunting."
"No," he said darkly. "I'm not letting anyone dive into that lake looking for the Giant Squid."
James sighed again. "Come on, Moony, live a little. Don't be so uptight."
"I'm not uptight!" protested Remus. "I just don't want anyone to die because they get eaten by the Giant Squid."
"Send your worst student, then," suggested James. "Or… Ooh, even better, get Snivellus to do it!"
"I'm not sending Severus to dive into the Black Lake to get the Giant Squid," Remus said measuredly.
"No fun," complained James. "If you won't ask him, can I ask him?"
"I'd like to remind you that your last encounter with Severus didn't go so well," Remus pointed out.
James frowned. "Don't mention that."
Remus smirked. "You and Lily seem to be well over it, seeing the level of public affection you've indulged in lately."
"Yeah, well, speaking of affection, how's your love life, Moony?"
James's tone was oddly bright and Remus was beginning to wonder if he knew something.
"Nothing's changed," he lied easily. "What did you expect?"
"Well," said James, waggling his eyebrows, "I'm inclined to think otherwise."
"What?"
"How could you, Remus?" James asked dramatically, putting a hand to his heart. "After all of this! And I thought we were friends!"
"Merlin, James, calm down. What was I supposed to tell you?"
"Come on, Moony, you went on a date! That isn't nothing! And you never told me who she was!"
Remus sighed. So that was what this was all about? "I told you. You're going to take the mickey out of me if you know."
"And I know," James said, grinning.
"You know?"
"Yep. Tonks confessed everything to me."
"What?"
James burst out laughing. "Relax, Remus. If you must know, I smelled your shampoo."
"What does my shampoo have to do with anything?"
James put a hand to his heart again. "You've already forgotten showering with a girl like her?"
"What?! Showering? James, we… oh my goodness, James, we didn't shower together!"
James waggled his eyebrows. "Care to explain?"
"She was helping me recover from my transformation and she used my shower since she had to go to work," Remus answered stoutly. "I was in bed the entire time."
"But the two of you are still dating!" exclaimed James gleefully. "Admit it! I know you are!"
He sighed. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you. Nobody else can know, okay?"
James sighed. "You ruin all the fun, Remus. Can I tell Harry and Liana?"
"No," replied Remus firmly. "Do not tell anyone."
"Too bad," said James, grinning. "I already told Lily."
"Lily is fine. Tell anyone else and I murder you."
James mimed zipping his lips shut, though Remus knew that wasn't going to last long. "Whatever you say, Remus." His expression softened. "I'm happy for you."
Remus smiled. "Thank you, James."
James hugged his friend. "I love you."
"Love you too... James, you're squishing me!"
James released him with a grin. "My little boy's all grown up."
Remus made a face. "Stop it. I'm older than you, for Merlin's sake."
"But you're still my little boy. Invite me to the wedd…"
Remus threw a pillow at him.
"Good, class, I think you're getting it," Lily announced to her class. "Test tomorrow, so prepare. It's really going to expand your knowledge. Class dismissed- Jonathan, I'd like a word."
As everyone rushed out of the class, Jonathan trotted forward to her desk, looking glum.
"Hey, Jonathan," she said softly. "I'm sorry. As a teacher, I had no right to say any of that to you, especially not considering it's hard for you. I was actually having some… family problems at the time, and I was just taking my stress out on you. I'm not trying to make excuses for what I did, but I wanted you to know that I'm really sorry."
"It's okay," Jonathan mumbled.
"No," she said, "it's not. I disregarded your conditions, Jonathan. That's not okay on my part. I behaved irresponsibly. And I want to help you."
"It's okay," he repeated.
"I get that this is a challenging class," she continued, "but if you want to do weekly sessions, I can do that. A one-on-one class every week, or something like that. Just to help you understand the material better."
"Only if it's not trouble," he murmured.
"No, it isn't. My job as a teacher is to help you learn, and I'm sorry, Jonathan. I didn't realize what you've been going through all year. So, how does Monday sound?"
"Mondays work," he muttered. "Thanks."
"I'm sorry," she apologized again. "Really, I am. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me, and maybe we can start afresh from here."
"Okay," he said.
"Okay? Good. That's it, then, Jonathan, have a great day."
"Bye," he mumbled, and he left the room.
Lily let out a sigh. She hoped she could make it up to him.
One day.
"Aaaaah!" shrieked Professor McGonagall.
The class erupted into laughter as McGonagall hopped around the classroom, wiggling and squiggling. "There's a spider in my pants!"
Roger laughed with the others, a smug grin on his face. The Uncles had gotten their first point.
"Get it off, get it off!" shrieked McGonagall. "It's tickling my backside!"
People were practically rolling around the floor with laughter.
"Use your wand, Professor!" someone shouted out.
"Yeah, Professor, use your wand!"
"I'm not crazy!" she yelped. "I don't want to miss and accidentally hex off my… aaaaah!"
Roger was glad he had chosen such a stubborn spider.
"Are you ready, Carlos?" asked Ana, his friend. Even though she was on a different team, she was helping him get ready for his most epic prank.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Carlos replied, trying to be brave.
"Okay," said Ana. "So remember: don't get eaten. Don't touch the tentacles. It's going to be cold. It's going to be dark, so turn on that headlight. Good. All right, you're set!"
"Okay," said Carlos with a deep breath. "Ready. Set. Go! Giant Squid, here I come!"
And he dove into the lake.
"Did someone just jump in?!" shrieked Lily.
"Yeah, it was Carlos!" shouted someone. "He's looking for the Giant Squid!"
"I'm going to get him!" she announced. "Everyone else, don't you dare come after me."
James watched his wife as she dove into the Black Lake after the kid, hoping that she would be okay. But he found that he wasn't too worried, because he trusted his wife to get through something like this. She was tough.
Sure enough, in a few minutes, two heads emerged from the water. "I did it!" exclaimed the boy, Carlos. "I actually touched it! Mrs. Potter can prove it!"
"He did it," she grumbled. "He touched the Giant Squid."
The crowd that had formed around the shore of the lake burst into applause and cheering. "Carlos! Carlos! Carlos!" they chanted.
"Enough, enough," grumbled Lily, shaking her hair and wading onto the shore. Merlin, she looked beautiful when she got her hair wet. James couldn't stop staring.
"Hey," she muttered, walking over to him. "Why's your mouth open?"
He ran a finger through her hair. "You look absolutely stellar when your hair's wet."
She smirked, wrapping her arms around him. It got him wet, but he didn't care. "Glad to hear it. You have work tonight? Or can you stay with me?"
His eyes glittered. "I'm all yours."
Dumbledore had been planning to cancel this staff meeting too, but several teachers had insisted they discuss the outrageous behavior of the students. So finally, he had relented, and so the staff gathered on this lovely afternoon, to talk about the students.
"All right," Dumbledore began. "We'll go one by one. Please discuss what any of the students have done in your class that has sparked trouble for you. Pomona, let's start with you."
"They blew up a greenhouse!" complained Sprout.
"My regrets, Pomona. Severus?"
"Sippy found it amusing to stick a frog eyeball in my shoe."
Dumbledore willed himself not to burst out in giggles. "I'm quite sorry, Severus. Remus?"
"I was, well, asked out by a student in class."
"I don't think that's quite abnormal behavior, Remus," said Septima Vector, smiling with all her teeth. "They're crazy about you anyway."
"Oh, yes," Dumbledore said. "Lily?"
"Nothing, really, other than the pink outfits head to toe."
"I see. Sybill?"
"They asked me if I had a boyfriend!" she protested vehemently.
The entire room sniggered.
"Amusing. Minerva?"
"THEY SLIPPED A SPIDER DOWN MY PANTS!"
Nobody bothered to hide their amusement at this one.
"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" she yelled. "DUMBLEDORE, FIX THIS!"
"I am quite sorry, Minerva. We will discuss solutions shortly. Septima?"
"The same," Septima Vector replied.
"They slipped a spider down your pants too?!" asked Dumbledore.
"No, I mean the pink," she snapped.
"My apologies. Rubeus?"
"I haven't noticed nothing, Perfessor."
"Filius?"
"Applesauce!" he squeaked.
"I'm sorry?"
"Applesauce! They threw it into my hair!"
Dumbledore looked at the little hair left on Flitwick's head. "A pity. Aurora?"
"Pink."
"Cuthbert?"
"I don't know!"
Dumbledore snorted. Of course Binns didn't pay attention to his students. "Very well. And finally, Charity?"
"Nothing, Professor."
Dumbledore nodded. "So here we stand. Several…"
"And, Professor, Carlos jumped into the Lake looking for the Giant Squid," Lily added bluntly.
Remus coughed at this.
Dumbledore fought a smirk. "Thank you, Lily. Several of the students are growing more bold and audacious. Does anyone know who is behind these acts?"
"Ajit Sippy," replied Snape immediately.
"Hermione Granger!" squeaked Flitwick.
"Ernie Macmillan, I think," Sprout responded.
"Dean Thomas," grumbled Trelawney.
"Carlos Ayala," added Lily.
"I don't know who did it!" wailed McGonagall.
"Very well, then," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "It is up to your discretion whether or not you will punish these children for their acts. Minerva, you may issue a warning to your classes. However, I implore you not to make their punishments too harsh. Things like these lighten up the school. And I daresay you will find them quite funny."
"Not amusing in the slightest," spat Snape.
"Thank you for your opinion, Severus," Dumbledore said graciously. "I think this is all we have to discuss on the matter. If it does not stop, we will consider prevention measures at our next meeting. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a Tik… I mean, a… something to do, you see. Urgent matter. Yes, very urgent. Indeed. Right, then, I will be off. Goodbye, everyone!"
"Okay, Tonks, that's good."
"No, I need to do it again. I missed one last time."
"Yes, but you actually know it. You just said the wrong thing. Go ahead and move on to the next one."
"No, I'm going to do it again. I need more practice."
"Sure."
Remus and Tonks were sitting at the lakeshore by the Black Lake. It was windy, and the snow was melting after an unusually sunny day. "Okay, let me try this again."
Remus listened to her recite the procedure for attending an Auror briefing, the breeze rippling through her hair as she talked. He had learned, while studying for her exams with her, that she was a perfectionist; she was very meticulous about every tiny detail, which was a good skill to have as an Auror. Detail was important.
"Good," he said, as she finished it. "Ready to move on?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Procedure for…"
"Wish me luck!" screamed a kid behind them, and he ran directly towards them, knocking Tonks into the lake with him.
"What the…" Remus cursed and plunged in after them.
The water was clammy, and dark, and sticky, but he managed to find someone, and then another someone, and he dragged them back up to the surface, and then onto the ground.
"Aw, come on!" whined the kid. "I was going to touch the Giant Squid!"
"You what?!"
"The Giant Squid!" repeated the kid. "Come on, Professor, you teach Defense Against the Dark Arts! Surely you know what the Giant Squid is!"
"Of course I know what the Giant Squid is, but why are you trying to… touch it?"
Another kid jogged up to him and put a hand on the soaking wet kid's shoulder. "Carlos already did that one, Terry."
"Did that one?" asked Remus. "What do you mean?"
"What?!" yelped the wet boy, Terry. "Carlos already did that? But I was going to do that!"
"It's okay," the other kid said. "Let's go get you dried."
Remus turned to Tonks, who was shivering from the cold of the water, and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm f-fine." She leaned her head against his chest, still shivering.
He kissed the top of her head softly. "Sorry," he whispered, stroking her hair. "I didn't mean to let you fall in."
"It's n-not your f-fault."
He held her tightly. "Here, let's go up to my place. I can get you warmed up, and I can get you something to drink."
She smiled. "You can get me warmed up anywhere, though, can't you?"
"Er, I guess," he stammered, blushing. "But it'll be better if you're inside. Come. We can finish studying there."
"Okay. Thanks."
"Of course."
And he took her hand, their fingers intertwined, and started heading back up to the castle with her, not caring in the slightest what the students were going to say.