in the moment | REMANDY
“It’s just a bit further,” he insisted with a laugh. “Then you can take the blindfold off, I promise.”
Remus held onto her hand, lacing their fingers together as he slowly ascended the staircase with Andromeda in tow. Perhaps the secret of where they were was long gone. The sounds and smells of the Three Broomsticks was hard to mistake and the chattering voices of its customers had probably given the game away. Even so, it was the intrigue that counted and he hoped there was at least some surprise to the setup he had waiting for them on the top floor.
Thankfully, Rosmerta liked him (and the other Marauders) well enough and he had been given a room for an evening after sweeping the floors and doing a few other manual chores that needed done around the place. The food and drinks were supplied by the house elves back at Hogwarts or made in Rosie’s own kitchen and the decorations and the ‘fairy lighting’ were all the product of a few charms and enchantments he’d picked up from a book in the library. The record player was very obviously the battered and beat-up treasure he called his own.
It wasn’t much, but the effort was obviously there.
Remus was still nervous around Andromeda and the thought that she was now his girlfriend. To say that he wasn’t would have been a grievous lie. For every reason he could think of to be with her, there was one glaring problem that trumped them all. She deserved so much better than a monster like him. She deserved someone that could take her on midnight dates beneath the full moon and that could lavish her with the riches and spoils she deserved.
A tired sigh escaped him at the thought. She really did deserve better than him.
Even so, he couldn’t help being selfish. Andy had a way of bringing out that animal side in him - the territorial and ravenous - and he had denied himself what James called ‘simply joys’ for so long. If he could believe her words...that he made her happy, he was willing to overlook the furs in his closet for now. His mates were always telling him to enjoy what had been given to him and live for the moment. Maybe it was time that he took their advice for once?
“Alright, we’ve just about made it. One more step and you’re home free, Miss. Black.”
The boy moved behind her, gripping the knot in the cloth with both of his hands after guiding them over the threshold of the room.
“Ready?” He whispered the words into her ear, swallowing the nervous fluttering as he tore the blindfold away to reveal all of his hard work. A table was laid out in the middle of the room, filled with more desserts than actual food and bottles of wine that Sirius had generously donated to ‘the cause’. There had been a few warnings and specifications, of course, but he wasn’t about to give them credence by mentioning them out loud.
“I thought actual privacy might be a nice change for once.”