Corrupted Souls | remus lupin

alice's birthday

Neoma tugged at the fabric of her dress nervously, staring at herself in the mirror. She looked more like a woman now than she ever had before; gone was the girl that walked meekly through Hogwarts' halls. 

The garment fell right above her knee, hemmed with black lace. The rest of it was a forest green, which was innocent enough unless the person wearing said dress was sitting at a table full of Gryffindors. A part of her hoped that it would elicit some kind of reaction from Remus, who hadn't reached out to her since he invited her to Alice's birthday dinner. Alice started to write instead, very excited that she would be going out with them to celebrate. 

Apparently Neoma would be meeting Frank Longbottom, who was Alice's beau that had graduated a few years prior to them. Neoma faintly remembered that he played quidditch, but beyond that she didn't really know him at all. Besides him, it would be the entire crew that Neoma left Hogwarts on strange terms with. 

She wondered if Remus told them all about her mother. She hoped he didn't, but seeing as she didn't exactly tell him to keep it a secret, it wouldn't surprise her. Neoma had plenty of reasons to be upset with Remus - why not add that to the list?

With one final look-over, Neoma finally tore herself away from the mirror and grasped Alice's letter from her bedside table, as well as a shawl from a hook near the door. The restaurant she would be going to wasn't actually too far away from The Leaky Cauldron, but she wasn't at all familiar with muggle London. The bartender, Kraig, lived in the area though, so she hoped he might be able to help her. 

As she descended to the main floor of the pub, her attire drew the attention of the Saturday night crowd. She stuck out like a sore thumb, and her face flushed as she awkwardly pushed her way toward the bar, where Kraig was chatting away with some drunk old man. 

She waited patiently for their conversation to finish, trying to busy herself by reading the labels of the alcohol behind the bar. BiggleBee's Boar Hair Hooch was looking quite dusty, but with that kind of name it wasn't surprising. 

"Neoma!" Kraig finally noticed her, face breaking out into a grin. "You look great - gotta big date or something?" He tried his best to sound nonchalant about his question as he slung a dishtowel over his shoulder.

"No, not quite. Just a birthday dinner for a friend from Hogwarts." She smiled, fiddling around with the letter in her hand. "Actually - uh, it's near here, but I don't know where I'm going exactly. D'you know where -" she squinted down at the piece of paper "-Midnight Fig is? It's a muggle restaurant ... fancy enough to have to wear a dress, apparently."

"I'm familiar - I've broken some hearts there once or twice," Kraig joked. "It's really nice - about four blocks north of here actually."

"Great - thank you!" Neoma took a small step backward as she prepared to leave. "Have a good shift - sorry I'll be giving some other bartender my business tonight. Maybe I'll get back in time for a nightcap."

Kraig nodded happily before getting pulled into the direction of a customer. Neoma headed outside, wrapping her shawl around her shoulders as a cool summer breeze brushed her arms. 

After a few minutes of walking (and stopping once to ask a muggle for directions), Neoma finally found The Midnight Fig. She sighed nervously and discreetly cast a vanishing spell on Alice's letter before stepping into the restaurant. 

It was dimly lit and buzzing with the kind of quiet energy that one would expect at such a venue. Neoma informed the hostess that she was there for 'Longbottom', and was promptly led toward the back of the building. 

She spotted Lily first, whose hair stood out amongst the blacks and browns and blondes. Neoma could feel her palms start to sweat as she inched toward the table, which had just broken out into laughter.