In The Fight To Survive (Golden Trio Era) {4}

Gate Crasher

As Harry's birthday dinner would have stretched the Burrow's kitchen to breaking point even before the arrival of Charlie, Lupin, Tonks, and Hagrid, several tables were placed end to end in the garden. Fred and George bewitched a number of purple lanterns all emblazoned with a large number 17, to hang in midair over the guests. Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically over the trees and bushes, while Mikayla turned the leaves on the crabapple trees gold.

"Out of the way, out of the way!" Mrs. Weasley sang as she came through the gate with what appeared to be a giant, beach-ball-sized Snitch floating in front of her. They quickly realised that it was Harry's birthday cake that she was suspending with her wand, rather than risk carrying it over on the uneven ground. When the cake had finally landed in the middle of the table, Harry beamed as he took it all in. "That looks amazing, Mrs. Weasley." Harry smiled brightly, causing a fond smile to etch itself on Molly's face as she said, "oh, it's nothing, dear."

By seven o'clock all the guests had arrived, most returning from work, and were led into the house by Fred and George, who had waited for them at the end of the lane. Hagrid had honoured the occasion by wearing his best, and horrible, hairy brown suit. Although Lupin smiled as he shook Harry's hand, Mikayla could see that he wasn't happy, his smile falling as soon as Harry was distracted by Tonks. Tonks was simply radiant with a brilliant smile as she pulled Harry into a hug and wished him a happy birthday.

Mikayla slide up beside Remus asking to speak to him alone. This seemed to confuse everyone but Remus, and Harry who must've noticed Remus' sadness. Remus reluctantly agreed and the pair of them wandered away from the others, they were silent as they walked and by how tense Remus was Mikayla knew something was truly eating at him. "Alright, what's got you spiralling then?" Mikayla asked as they came to a stop, far away from the others. "I don't know what-" Remus tried to deny his off mood, but Mikayla was having none of it.

"Cut the shit, Remus. There's something wrong, you're all tense and reverted back into your little shell, like you did when Tonks was pursuing you." Remus paled in the face when he realised that Mikayla wasn't going to let up until he admitted why he was acting so strange. "It's more than just one thing." Remus tried, hoping the idea of him rambling about his problems would scare the young girl off. "You don't have to tell me the details if you don't want to, Moony. But could you tell me what the common denominator is?"

Remus blew out a breath as he looked back over at the group to see Harry, Hagrid and Charlie taking animately between themselves. Tonks distracted by chatting with Ginny and Hermione, they all were smiling and laughing, cheer happiness. "I- it's just, without a job, I'm afraid that I won't be able to provide for Tonks. And Umbridge's legislation has made it impossible for any werewolf to make an income. And now, there's more people effected by my lack of employment, I just, I want to be able to get a stable wage and give Tonks everything she needs and deserves."

Mikayla wrapped Remus into a tight hug, he was surprised at first, stiffing in the embrace before accepting the hug. He rested his chin on the top of Mikayla's shoulder as she held him tight to provide some sort of comfort. When they pulled apart, Mikayla kept her hands resting on Remus' elbows to keep him close. "Everything is going to be okay, you may remember me saying that I wanted to build a farm on the Carra estate..." Remus almost immediately went to shut the idea down, but Mikayla knew that the farm wouldn't be possible now that Blackcarra and the Manor are severed and no one knows the Manor's location other than herself and Fred.

"But obviously, we can't do that because of the Fidelius Charms. So, I want to propose this... Blackcarra become a proper village. It'll need more houses, a few shops maybe, and perhaps a playground for the kids. Now, obviously it won't be open to the public until after the war is over, but I'd trust no one else to construct a village that is safe for all. This could be your legacy, Remus, and I'm sure Séan will want to help too, considering he is facing the same problems as you. You can chose your own payment rate, if that'll ease your mind, and the muggle town nearby will make a handy supplier for the project. So, please just say yes."