Tilden

Davey lifted an eyebrow when Tilden laughed at his question. Okay, weirdo. At least he got a straight answer, though that was sort of a surprise as well. He did live here. And he liked living where he worked. Davey struggled to understand that one, but then again maybe it was different when you worked for yourself. And the bloke obviously did have a thing for all these plants. “Huh.” Davey just nodded as he followed the other inside, taking in the room they entered. It had been a kitchen at one point, but now it had been completely converted into a potions room. Herbs and plants hanging from the ceiling, counter space turned into workstations with cauldrons bubbling. Davey grinned. “Nice.” He wandered inside, peering into the cauldrons Tilden pointed out, trying to get some sense of what might be inside them. Plant potions was certainly a new one for him, but Davey figured he could manage. “You do your experimenting in here, too, or is this just for brewing the ones you’re already selling?” He asked, looking around for the new potion Tilden mentioned. 

Tilden's smile widened once again. While he wasn’t as proud of the work he’d put into this room, it was just a potions room after all nothing like the gardens, he was still proud. “Thanks.” He was surprised about the question, maybe Gudgeon really was going to take this seriously. That’d be great. “Mostly it’s just for the two. They’ve been keeping me pretty busy and getting distracted could lead to bad things. It’d suck losing all the potions from an explosion or contamination of some sort.” Tilden cleared his throat and looked around, not like that had ever happened. More than twice. Organization wasn’t Tilden’s strong suit. He tended to be all over the place. But now that he had a product, two actually, on the market he was trying to be a little more organized. Keep things in their proper places and such. “My dad suggested I move the experiments to another place, I’ve been thinking about making a workshop for just that. There’s an old garden shed that could work. A plan for later probably. Besides the one I’m mostly working on is nearly ready. Hopefully with you here helping out I’ll have the time to focus on it and get it ready.”

It took Davey a second to register where they were. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. Some old office building, maybe, or else some closet in Tilden’s flat. He was not at all ready for the small house surrounded by plants. And land, going on seemingly forever, multiple greenhouses popped up along the way. “Bloody hell,” he murmured as he took in the sight, impressed but also wondering if this wasn’t a tad excessive. This bloke really did like his plants, didn’t he? He turned his attention back to the other bloke when he started speaking, making himself focus. “Ah – sure,” he managed to answer with a nod, still stunned by the set-up he’d stumbled into, half-convinced he was going to wake up and find he’d had the most bizarre dream of all time. “Sounds good,” he agreed, following Tilden into the house. “This is insane, mate,” he couldn’t help adding, his impression clear in his voice. “You live here,” he nodded toward the house as Tilden led the way in, “Or is this just your version of an office or whatever?”

middlegudgeon:

Vaguely Davey wondered if this whole thing was as weird for Tilden as it was for him. There was a small comfort in that thought, if not also a little doubt as well. Was this really going to be a step up from the quidditch shop? Maybe Davey should have done a bit of research on what potioneers made before he agreed to this so quickly. But then again – they’d agreed to a trial period, surely that was something that could go both ways if Davey decided he wasn’t into this. If he wasn’t, then he’d just be back where he was now. Only without the quidditch shop to fall back on. Bloody hell. Davey pulled himself from that thought when Tilden offered him a bit of parchment, taking it and looking over the unfamiliar address before he glanced up at the other. He wanted to show him the place now? “Oh, uh –” Davey glanced at his watch. Galvin wouldn’t be around for a bit. Assuming he actually showed up. “Sure, why not?” Be nice to have some idea what the hell he was getting into before tomorrow. That way he could always back out before he completely committed to this thing.

For Tilden now was almost always better than later. There was just too much that could distract him between the now and the later. His dad liked to say he was going to be late for his own funeral, not something he liked thinking about now that it could be sooner rather than later. It was a relief when Gudgeon agreed to going now. He wouldn’t have to worry about remembering to meet up later or worse tomorrow. “Great, come on then!” Cheerfully Tilden grabbed Gudgeon’s arm and disapparated them away. No need to dawdle about it. “Here we are!” According to his mum the house needed a coat of paint inside and out but Tilden hadn’t been concerned with the house when he’d bought it. Eventually he figured he’d either fix it up or tear it down and build something that suited him more. The important part was the land. Once this had been a farm of some sort so there was plenty of it. Too far from any town, village, or city to be wanted by anyone except someone like Tilden who wanted lots of space for plants. He’d already put up five greenhouses of varying sizes and had several gardens started. “So for now at least you’ll just be working in the house, I’ve set up the brewing stuff in the kitchen. Seemed like a good place for it. I’m typically in the house or around here. I haven’t had a chance to spread out too far away from the house yet so I won’t be far.” Such a shame he hadn’t had time too, he had a lot of plans for this place and so few of them started. “Anyway, let’s go on in shall we? I can show you the set up.”

(outside,inside x, x, x)

“Ten?” That was music to Davey’s ears. He’d been ready to hear he needed to be up and about at 5 am or something ridiculous, whatever all those crazy Ministry people did. But this was even better than some mornings he had to open the quidditch shop. The perks of working for a bloke who did his own thing, Davey supposed. “Works for me,” he agreed easily. “And where exactly am I going?” Davey wondered how legit this whole thing was, whether Tilden was working out of his living room or he had a shop set up, but if the bloke was offering to pay him Davey didn’t really care where they were doing the work. Anywhere beat the Ministry, as far as Davey was concerned, at least so long as he was taking a step up from the quidditch shop. Maybe he’d even like doing shit with plant potions. Sure.

Was that too late….or early? Tilden was already regretting not saying noon despite the fact that he was almost always working by ten. Or still working at ten depending on the day. “Yeah, I think ten would be best.” Hopefully. Tilden just wasn’t the schedule type of bloke let alone one that could enforce others to be. The Order stuff was hard enough. Tilden had to try all sorts of alarms and such to make sure he didn’t get caught up and forget he was supposed to be somewhere. Finally resorting to buying an owl that would peck at him constantly till he apparated off. He had a feeling Moody got a little too much enjoyment sending it off for him knowing he was going to be pecked for a good half-hour or so before he finally got annoyed enough to realize why. It worked though. Maybe having Gudgeon around would lessen the need for the bloody thing, his head would appreciate it. That was if Gudgeon didn’t just fuck around, that was still to be seen. “Oh right, you’ve never been there.” Tilden forgot about the location. Shit, this boss thing was gonna be a lot to remember. Quickly he looked around for a quill and some paper before scribbling out his address. “This is the address. You want me to apparate us over so you know where you’re going?” Now that he was seeing a bird that had apparition issues he was a little more aware of that than he’d have been otherwise.

Wiat, did Toots just say he was gonna pay Davey the going rate for potioneers? Bloody hell, this bloke really must be doing well with that potions business of his. Not that Davey knew off-hand how much a beginning potioneer actually made, but it had to be more than he was making at the quidditch shop. And it was a surprisingly fair deal, given he’d left it wide open for Toots to undercut him. And Toots didn’t even know for sure if he was any good. Never mind that the whole ting was on a trial basis. Davey could handle potions; he’d prove himself. He hoped. “Sounds good to me. You’ve got yourself a deal.” And to make it official Davey stuck out a hand. “Just tell me when and where ya want me to show up, boss.”

Tilden reached out to shake Gudgeon’s hand before the other’s words sunk in. Boss…that was him. Fuck! Tilden had no idea how to be someone’s boss, let alone some bloke he went to school with. The fuck was he supposed to do now? He was definitely gonna need to get some advice from Alaric about this. That would only help later. Not now while Gudegon was waiting on him to speak up. Shit. “Uh, right. How’s about ten or so tomorrow?” Tilden wasn’t used to working on a schedule but he supposed he’d have to do one with Gudgeon, at least to start. If Gudgeon turned out to not be a dud hopefully Tilden could just let him set his own schedule. At least that would make things a little easier. He wondered what else was involved with this boss business. Fuck.

Daveyifted an eyebrow. Trusting plant lives to him? Seemed a but melodramatic, but Davey could certainly understand wanting the product with your name on it to be top quality, always. He just didn’t quite appreciate the implication he didn’t understand that. To Davey, experimenting didn’t mean cutting corners. Didn’t mean messing up anything the bloke had already done, either. It was finding ways to make things better. But he didn’t think Tilden would take well to hearing that, so he bit his tongue. Maybe if the bloke learned to trust him, he’d trust him enough to start making suggestions. “Look, I get it, mate. I’m not trying to change anything on ya. Or cut corners.” His brain just never managed to sit on one notion for long. “If ya need someone to help with potion brewing, I think I’d be good at it. And a lot cheaper than anyone else,“ Davey added with a wry grin. He needed something that paid more than the quidditch shop, but that wasn’t exactly a tall order.

Maybe he’d jumped to conclusions but it wasn’t like Gudgeon’s reputation was one of being careful and following instructions. It wasn’t as if Tilden knew Gudgeon personally. Aside from the love potion incident he didn’t have a lot of personal experience with the bloke. Not exactly a glowing recommendation to hire him. But Gudgeon was in the Order and in Tilden’s opinion that meant he should at least give the bloke a shot. Especially since he seemed desperate for a job if that last statement was any indication. “I’ll pay ya whatever the going rate for potioneers is. Or beginner potioneers if there’s a difference, I dunno. Seems only fair.” Financials wasn’t Tilden’s speciality but surely he was making enough for that. “We’ll try it out for a few weeks and see how it goes?” Tilden still wasn’t sure about this but the least he could do was give the bloke a few weeks to either prove himself or not. Hopefully if he did fuck up that wouldn’t be enough time to fuck things up beyond fixing.

If the fact Tilden had to think about his answer for a second should have concerned Davey, it didn’t. He’d just heard the bloke talking about this l, maybe he didn’t have a plan yet. And still Davey was basically asking him for a job. At least Tilden hadn’t laughed him off, yet. “Not right now, maybe,” Davey agreed with his initial answer. “Doesn’t mean there’s not a way to do it. Your potions get big enough it’d be worth experimenting with, at least. See what could be done to make more without affecting quality.” Davey shrugged before he caught himself. “Uh, I mean – just a thought, is all.” Fuck not the way to make a bloke want to hire him. “I’m sure whatever you’ve got now must be going real well, if you’re needing to bring on extra help and all.” Bloody hell, this was weird. Maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut. Davey just nodded at the rest of Tildens words. “Sure, makes sense.”

At some point Tilden might be interested in what Davey was talking about but only if it were him doing the experimenting. The idea of someone messing around with the potions he’d been working on since school, before school for one of them if you counted the idea for it, was not something he liked. “Listen, I’m all for experiments but not on the potions I’ve already put out there. If we’re going to do this you have to understand that there’s no cutting corners. Some of it might be tedious to you but I’ve spent years perfecting these potions. I’ve invested a lot of time and effort into this and people are trusting the lives of their plants to me. That’s a huge deal for me.” Tilden was laid back about most things but these potions were important to him. Not the popularity of them or even the money he was making off them but all the plants he was helping to save with them. Letting someone screw around with that wasn’t something he liked at all. Maybe hiring someone to make the potions was too much of a risk. If he gave it some more thought he might be able to figure out a system to make them while experimenting on the stuff he wanted to. Hire someone to take care of his growing plant collection. Or even just the plants he grew for potion ingredients. He could probably cut back on sleep some.

Davey was instantly tempted to follow up his answer with a laugh, to brush it aside before Tilden could take it too seriously and laugh Davey off himself. This was why he didn’t try at things. He wasn’t like Galvin or Gladys, known for their brains and their work ethics. He’d never wanted to be – how would he ever compare to them? Fun, that’s what Davey was good at. Jokes and pranks, like Toots had ended up on the wrong end of (though really the bloke should have known better than to pick up random drinks at the Gryffindor table). He’d never want to hire Davey. And Davey didn’t even really know what he was asking to get in on either. Would working for some bloke he’d gone to school with be any improvement on the quidditch shop? How much was Tilden even offering to pay? Davey felt awkward asking now he’d already suggested himself for the damn job. Only Tilden wasn’t instantly laughing him off. In fact, it sort of looked like he was actually considering this. Huh. “Oh, uh – yeah, ‘course. What exactly are you looking for?” He added, realizing suddenly that a job being available didn’t necessarily mean he should just take it. Or even try for it. “Just someone to brew your potions, or something more experimental?” Bloody hell, Davey would love if it was the latter. “Are you brewing one batch at a time right now, or have you found a way to mass produce?”

Maybe he should have wondered why Davey hadn’t asked questions before suggesting himself for the job. Except Tilden was new at this whole hiring thing. In fact he’d only had one experience with the whole being hired thing. A job he’d jumped at with little details because of the reputation of the Herbologist hiring him. The fact was he hadn’t even given the idea of hiring someone enough thought to know exactly what he wanted. “Oh uh…” Tilden frowned for a moment thinking it over. He did know one thing at least. “I’m not interested in mass producing them. Mass produced potions are not as effective.” No matter how much his potions took off he wasn’t going to budge on that. Quality was way more important. “Right now I’m just trying to find someone to help out with the brewing. But I dunno, if it works out it might expand. Hard to say how it’s gonna end up cause I’ve never actually worked on my own potions with anyone before.” Tilden really had no idea how it was gonna end up. Clearly he should probably give it more thought but he really did need some help with brewing and now.

For a second all Davey could do was stare at Tilden in mild disbelief. He was actually looking to hire someone to make potions for him. This seemed too good to be true, right? Of course it was. Tilden wanted a potioneer. A real one. But he’d also asked, so… “Well uh, as a matter of fact, I’ve been looking for a new job myself. And I’m pretty good with potions.” Something Tilden would know better than most, but Davey didn’t think reminding the other of that would help him out here. “Herbology potions, you said? I’m not half bad with plants either – can’t have potions without ‘em can ya?” Davey asked, moving a hand up to run through his hair. Had he really just sort of asked a bloke he went to school with for a job?

This day just got infinitely stranger. It was odd enough thinking about hiring someone but did Gudgeon just ask him for a job? Pretty good with potions…Tilden would have liked to disagree with that one on principle. Except he had to admit love potions were difficult potions, not out loud though. Not half bad with plants? Not a glowing recommendation given that Tilden’s life was 95% plants. But he didn’t need someone to help him out with his plants. He just needed someone to make the potions. “No you can’t,” he answered while still giving the idea of hiring Gudgeon of all people some thought. Probably would be better than hiring a stranger. Especially with the Order stuff. Plus he’d be helping out a fellow Order member, that would be a good thing too. On the other hand if Gudgeon wasn’t good enough or screwed around he’d be wasting precious time. Or worse his brand would get fucked up. A difficult choice. The fact that Gudgeon had committed to the Order made him less worried that he wouldn’t take the job seriously. His reputation from school would have suggested otherwise. “Might work. I’d have to see how you do on the potions I came up with first to make sure.”

Remus couldn’t help the small, sly smile that tugged at the corners of his lips when Tilden asked about the Whomping Willow. “It distracts people,” he answered with a slight twinkle of mischief in his eyes. There, at least, was something of a good memory attached to his furry problem. Full moons finally spent not on his own, but with his mates alongside him, laughing at how nobody knew about the secret passage that was right under everyone’s noses. Of course, most of the passageways they’d found were right under everyone’s noses. Fortunately Tilden hadn’t asked about that, so Remus was not compelled by the truth potion to mention it aloud. Instead he was just glad Tilden didn’t seem too mad at Remus for snapping at him, though he could have been a little more apologetic if you asked Remus. “Well I don’t really make a habit of telling people so I haven’t got a lot in the way of expectations,” he muttered. Remus’s only expectation was that he’d instantly be labelled a freak. So this was still an improvement. “Maybe,” Remus answered Tilden with a small appreciative smile, though there wasn’t much conviction in his voice. It widened a bit at the next thing Tilden said. “You can say that again,” he answered with a light chuckle.

The fuck? Remus’ answer felt weird. Or maybe that was the sly smile on his face as he said it. Like there was some joke Tilden wasn’t in on. He might have asked about it except well he did have a point. So Tilden laughed.

“No, I haven’t tried planting wolfsbane outside my bloody door, but if it actually worked I think Dumbledore would have thought of that instead of planting a giant killer tree in the middle of the grounds.” Remus surprised himself when he snapped at the older bloke, but he didn’t like the way the guy was talking about the problem that had shaped Remus’s entire life – and would continue to do so – as if it could be solved by planting something outside his door. It wasn’t that simple. Still he sort of wished he could have kept that irritation to himself given that overall this bloke was being pretty cool about the whole thing, so he bit the inside of his cheek and added a mumbled, “…Sorry,” a moment later. Though his mood wasn’t helped by the next question Toots asked. “Already have been,” he answered, his eyes downcast as he remembered not just the McKinnons, instantly assuming he was the traitor, but also Tommy Tooker’s reaction to his problem. The way he’d looked at Remus like he was something to be wary of. Asked him if he was registered. It was only when Toots spoke up that Remus looked up again, relieved until it came out that Toots was going to tell his mate. Doc Dearborn. Bloody brilliant. Not that there was much Remus could do about that except accept that they were under truth potion right now, so at the very least Toots did believe Dearborn wouldn’t turn on him. And that he would keep this to himself. Just like Toots was going to do, aside from the one mate. “…Okay,” he answered, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “Thanks. I uh…’preciate that.”

Tilden was about to tell Remus off for getting testy over a fucking question. But he was distracted by the giant killer tree part. “The Whomping Willow? That was because of you? What does a Whomping Willow do besides just whomp? I didn’t know it had anything to do with wolves.” Tilden had been fascinated by the tree. He might have found having one on the grounds of a school weird but there were plenty of slightly dangerous plants in the greenhouses. Not to mention the stuff in the forest. Instead it was just another plant at Hogwarts to drool over. Definitely had made his list of plants he wanted to own. “I don’t appreciate the temper, but apology accpeted. I’d figure you’d expect some questions.” The truth potion stopping him from just accepting the apology or brushing it off like he might have. Thankfully there wasn’t much time to think abut that. He was surprised by Remus’ answer. Maybe he shouldn't have been. Not with the traitor shit and Voldemort supposedly having an army of them. But he was still pretty new to this fight and no matter how big of gits some of them were they were all on the same bloody side. “Bloody hell,” he let out. That had to be rough. “Welcome. Sorry some have been shits about it to ya. Maybe this whole drugging mess will make ‘em realize they were wrong about ya. We’re all on the same side.” That was about as reassuring as Tilden could get for someone he’d really just met. It was still a shitty situation. “But you know some people are just dicks, mate, no matter the side.”

“Yeah, well. If it was that easy I could just lock myself in my room on the full moon with a bit of wolfsbane outside the door, simple as that.” Remus shrugged. If only it was that easy. If only the bloody potion was something a normal person – a normal wereperson – would ever be able to make happen. He just grimaced and nodded when Toots spoke about the potion like it was some abstract thing that didn’t matter. Why should it matter to him? Remus doubted he would have had any interest if he didn’t need it himself. At the moment his thoughts were a lot more occupied with Toots inevitably coming around and realizing Remus was a problem that needed to be dealt with. Maybe immediately. So much so that he couldn’t help asking about it, and once again Toots was surprising him with his answer. Okay. He didn’t think Remus was scary. That was – good. A little insulting, actually, the way he had to put it like that. Remus liked to think he was scarier than a kitten. He frowned slightly, even more so when the bloke started talking about plants. Toots really wasn’t mad. In fact, he didn’t seem to care what Remus was at all. “Okay…” he managed to answer with a small, slightly dumbfounded nod. “Yeah, okay.” He nodded, suddenly feeling lighter. This bloke knew what he was – and he didn’t care. Remus grinned slightly. “I uh – would you mind just um, not spreading this around? It’s just –” his grin fell just as quickly as it came and he brought a hand awkwardly to the back of his neck. “Most people wouldn’t be so okay with having someone like me around, is all,” he shrugged. 

“Yeah, okay, but have you tried that? Or planted because a full plant, roots and all, might be more potent.” Maybe he should have been more concerned discussing experiments with wolfsbane with an actual werewolf but who else would he talk about them with if not a werewolf. As far as he knew the bloke was only an issue on a full moon. And hadn’t he said, under truth serum, that he wasn’t dangerous. Nothing to worry about. At the moment this kid was just some scrawny teen he was certain he could take in a duel if needed, not some, well, werewolf. He chuckled at the bloke’s grin. What a weird kid. Though his question and the follow up didn’t make him chuckle. “What? You really think people would be like that here?” Sure in the wizarding world in general but weren’t they suppose to be here fighting for good, fighting against oppression and all that shit. Against Voldemort who had werewolves with him. Suddenly he could see why the kid would be worried. Shit. “Yeah, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Except my mate.” Tilden hadn’t meant to say that, hadn’t even been thinking of telling Doc but he’d clearly tell him. “Sorry,” he shrugged apologetically. “There’s no way I can keep something like this from Doc. But don’t worry he’s not that kind of jackass. He won’t care. I mean he might but not in the fuck you’re gonna have us for a midnight snack sort of way. More like curious about it.” Tilden gave Remus a rough pat on the shoulder. “He’ll keep it to himself too. He’s good at keeping shit to himself.” Something Tilden wasn’t happy with after what happened but it would be a good thing for this bloke.

Fuck. This was why Remus kept to himself, aside from the Marauders. Could they even still call themselves that, given that one of the three people he’d ever chosen to trust had betrayed him in the worst way imaginable? When he was standing here alone – where normally Pete would have been at his side, pretending to enjoy the party while Prongs and Padfoot actually did so – while someone he’d only just met slowly wrapped his brain around what Remus had so badly not wanted to say. And somehow he hadn’t said it – but he’d said enough. And sure enough there was Toots staring at him in shock, dawning realization written clear across his face. Remus braced himself for the horror or anger or both that were sure to follow – only they didn’t. Not even for an instant. Not even on truth potion. What followed was nothing more than a string of questions, too many for Remus to have followed even if he wasn’t still in disbelief of what he was hearing. “I…uh….” He stammered, dazed, as he tried to wrap his brain around the fact that Toots was talking about plants right now. Just like that. Okay. What had he asked Remus? “Wolfsbane only works at keeping normal wolves away,” he started, fixing Toots with a skeptical gaze, as if the other was going to explode on him at any moment. “As for the potions, I uh, I wouldn’t know.” His voice grew slightly bitter at that, at the hope that had been dashed nearly as quickly as it had come. “They just perfected the potion a couple years ago but it’s more complicated than anything I’ve ever seen before and uh, potions aren’t exactly my strong point. Anyways even if I thought I could brew it without messing something up and poisoning myself, the ingredients are nearly impossible to get. I couldn’t afford to make a single batch.” He shrugged. That was how it was, simple as that. And that still wasn’t the worst thing on his mind right now. “Sorry, uh, but are you not – …you’re not scared of me? Or – I dunno…mad, or – something?”

“Really? Huh, that’s interesting.” Already Tilden was wondering why that was. He didn’t know much about werewolves but thinking about them in terms of plants and potions made ‘em a hell of a lot more interesting. Talking to one helped too. “Oh, right, that’s right. It was just a few years ago. Dates aren’t my strength. I read about it in Potion Monthly but didn’t pay attention to the particulars. Might remedy that.” Already Tilden was wondering about it. Hearing something was complicated made it much more appealing to try out. As far as ingredients being impossible to get, well he was a herbologist with a lot of contacts already. Partially thanks to Slughorn as he opened some doors but since school Tilden had made plenty of his own. Nothing felt impossible to get for him, just potentially difficult, something else that made it appealing. In the middle of his trying to remember where he’d stuck that Potion Monthly, he kept all of his copies, Remus spoke up again. Tilden’s brows pulled together for a moment. Scared, mad? “Uh no. I’m not about to meet you for a moonlit stroll or anything like that, not stupid, mate. But right now you’re about as scary as my mate’s kitten. Well less because she’s got claws. And I just met ya so I’m not sure why you’d think I’d be mad at ya. Unless you’re the jackass that pulled up my honking daffodils then yeah I’m pissed.” This kid was a bloody weird one. Werewolf prejudice was far from his mind right then. Instead the former Ravenclaw was preoccupied with finding out why wolfsbane didn’t keep out werewolves and possibly attempting that wolfsbane potion, if it was as complicated as this kid said. That wasn’t as high on his list since he had no use for the potion. But he did like a potion challenge for fun, so it could happen.

“Bloody hell. So much for the truth potion bringing us closer together.” As if forcing them all to share everything with one another wasn’t enough, obviously something like what Toots was describing was bound to happen. There was a reason people watched what they said around other people sometimes, and it wasn’t always a bad thing. Like the fact that normally Remus would let out a dry chuckle and nod his agreement to the next thing Toots said. Because honestly, he felt that too. But he also knew they both knew what he was, and had accepted him for it. It didn’t feel like Remus’s place to question them too much after that; it was more than most would do. Fortunately the subject changed before he could spill anything more, and plants had clearly been a good choice as they seemed to distracted Toots from his slip. And what he had to say was actually interesting. Flesh eating plants and herbology potions. Huh. That was a new one. “Cool,” Remus answered honestly, impressed. In fact, he’d have liked to ask the older bloke some follow up questions, but he wasn’t given a chance before Toots was talking again and  – oh. Shit. They were back to the full moon thing. Of course they were, because that had been a bloody weird thing to say. So weird that Toots thought he – “What?” Remus questioned, confusion clear across his face. Safety pins? Music? That was another new one. Under different circumstances Remus might have been amused by the thought of himself involved in some weird dark music fad, but tonight wasn’t the time. Because tonight he couldn’t just laugh it off and agree. Tonight he couldn’t control the words that came out of his mouth. “I don’t do it on purpose. It’s just hurt myself or hurt a bunch of other people.” Fuck! That wasn’t good. Remus’s eyes widened, his skin paling slightly which surely did nothing to help hide the few scars on his face and neck. “I. Um. I’m not dangerous, I swear,” the words tumbled past his lips, his default, and he was mildly surprised to hear that he really did believe that about himself. Sometimes he wondered. But he was careful, always careful. Not that this bloke likely cared. Remus cast his eyes to the ground, his whole body tensed to run or to defend himself if he had to. Even if Toots didn’t get to the right conclusion this time around, they were dancing around it far too close for Remus to feel like he would get out of this without it coming out. It felt too late to flee the conversation, too. He was trapped, his eyes lifting ever so slightly to glance around the room for a sign of Padfoot or Prongs. He didn’t see them. Fuck.

Tilden let out a bark of laughter at that. “Fancy that. You’d think he’d have guessed forcing us into something wouldn’t lead to us all hugging and shit.” Yeah, he was still pissed. Talking about plants did ease that a lot. It always did. Plants were great! More people should get into them. Tilden smiled at Remus’ answer. “Yeah, it really is.” It was nice to meet someone who found it cool. Even if that bloke was into some weird dark music fad. Fucking kids. Except, wait what? Tilden’s brows tugged together at that. Maybe Moody’s truth spiking wasn’t all bad because this kid was clearly telling the truth. But what a weird truth to be telling. “Okay. But why do you have to hurt yourself? I’m beginning to think this isn’t some fucked up fad.” What had the bloke said before. He did it to himself when… The full moon. That meant something. What did he know about the full moon. Veritaserum took full moon cycle to mature. That wans't it. It was when flixweed needed to be picked for polyjuice. Still not it. The only time you could get moon calf dung was a full moon. That wasn’t it either. Except wait. When picking fluxweed or collecting moon calf dung what did you have to be careful about… Werewolves. Was that… “Bloody hell!” Tilden stared at the bloke wide eyed for a moment. “Huh. I’ve never met one of you before. Or maybe I have guess you don’t really go around advertising it.” That was a whole hell of a lot different then some weird sex kink. Tilden was still wrapping his head around it but already he felt a million questions bubbling up. “So what it’s like? The change? Do you remember after what you did? How the hell did you manage at Hogwarts? Were you on wolfbane? Does that actually work? They use it you know in some parts of Europe to keep the wolves out of the gardens. Plant it on the edges. Serves a double purpose keeps the wolves out and they’ve got it for Wide eye potion.”

“Obviously,” Remus answered with a dry laugh. Normally these were the kinds of thoughts he would keep to himself and maybe Prongs, Padfoot and – Prongs and Padfoot – but there wasn’t much he could do for it right now thanks to the potion Moody himself had given them. So this one was on Moody. “Really?” He asked with mild interest when Toots said Longbottom jumped down his throat over it, though it wasn’t all that surprising. “Pretty sure he learned everything he knows from Moody, so it figures he’d agree with him.” Overall Remus preferred Longbottom to Moody – he was a bit more approachable – but their methods were certainly similar. And Remus did not appreciate those methods right now, especially now that Tilden apparently thought he was hiding some weird sex kink. “What?” Remus pulled a face and shook his head. “No, that’s not what I – nevermind,” he said quickly, before he let slip anything more. That was more than enough of that. Overall the bloke seemed nice enough though. They were on the same page about the truth potion, and he certainly seemed to be smart. It was easy for Remus to honestly tell him, “Nice to meet you,” as they shook hands. And he would have been just fine leaving things at that, but of course that would have been much too easy. Of course Toots was going to ask about his hands, and of course Remus couldn’t just lie and agree it had been a violent plant. Instead his mouth moved without his consent. “No, it was me. During a full moon.” Fuck. His eyes widened. Maybe that wasn’t the worst thing he could have said. Or it wouldn’t have been if he was physically capable of following it up with an excuse about clumsiness or something. Instead he did the next best thing. “I uh – you know a lot about plants?” He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and trying to hide the panic that was gripping him. Please, for the love of Merlin, let Toots just go with his distraction. Please. 

“Yeah! Fenwick had to come break it up, you’d think I was calling Moody an incompetent fool instead of a tricky bastard.” Though he did wonder about the thought that went into this plan. Maybe the people they were following were not the brightest tools in the garden shed. “Probably so. Those aurors are like a bloody gang.” Always sticking up for each other even when they were clearly in the wrong. Like tonight. Moody had been wrong. Tilden laughed at Remus’ reaction to what he’d said about the kink. If he did have one Tilden was definantly gonna tell Doc so the pair could laugh at the poor bastard. Not that he didn’t like Remus so far, at the very least the kid understood how wrong this whole thing was. “Nice to meet you too.” Especially since it seemed like they would be talking about plants. Or not. The fuck? Before Tilden had a chance to ask Remus was talking again. “Oh yeah! I’m a herbologist. Just got back from studying the flesh eating plants of Europe. Interesting stuff. Not my interest though. I plan on starting my own line of herbology potions. I’m a potioneer too, in my spare time.” He laughed here because spare time wasn’t something any of them had. Normally talking about plants could distract him for a while but this time there was something else on his mind. “Back to this whole full moon nonsense, is that some weird fad or something? Like those muggles with the safety pins? Honestly, mate, you need to get yourself some strong dittany cream, see if you can get rid of those cause that’s just bloody weird. You seem like a nice bloke, find yourself some calmer music that doesn’t require blood yeah?”