AN: I got the idea for this from one of my reviewers of Another World. Smittyloveshpfic recommended that I do a prequel to my stories, and I don't know about that but the idea of showing some of the conflicts that Remus faced when he taught Ria stuck with me. This is a one-shot, but I might add a second part. Came from the end of chapter 16 of Another World, the line, "both as her teacher and lover."
Song is I Listen to the Rain by Beverley Craven.
The song Ria is singing is No Bravery by James Blunt
Song Lyrics
Memories
The Rain
I listen to the rain, whispering your name
And hurricanes cloud my life again
It was the first Saturday in October and Remus Lupin was standing in his quarters staring out at the lake, watching as rain poured from the sky. Memories overtook him as he thought of a girl who used to say that the rain fixed everything. To anyone else the storm was just that, but to Remus it brought a flood of memories that he wanted to suppress. This was the first storm he had faced at Hogwarts since his seventh year.
The memory will fade
Everyone told him and Padfoot that they would get over the twins, but they hadn't. Until Lily and James had died neither man had sought to have another lover for more than a few dates.
And time will turn the page
Our love was made
The Marauders and their new companions for the year, the Bandits, were sitting eating dinner when thunder broke through the chattering of the students. It was just after the first Hogsmeade weekend and while the day had started off nice, a storm had come in just before dinner. Suddenly a wide grin spread across the face of the girl sitting next to Remus, it was one of the happiest smiles he had seen from the girl. She finished quickly and left the hall.
The Marauders watched her leave in confusion, turning questioning looks to the girl's companions. The other Bandit's just finished eating and gestured for the five to follow them. When they got to the grounds the group could see Ria standing by the lake, her arms spread out, spinning.
I dream of yesterday
The fantasy is mine
It's you I long to find
Remus stood at the window, leaning his head against the glass, wondering if he could wait for her much longer. Fantasies had overwhelmed his past 16 years. The passage of time never eased by the disappearance of his best friends.
I close my eyes
And dream that you are here tonight
Make believe you're crazy for me
Remus walked out to her. "What are you doing Ria?" "Letting it wash everything away." "What?" "The rain, it washes everything away. Let's you start over, clean and fresh." Remus shook his head and went back to the group standing under the overhang by the castle doors.
You turn your head to hide
I know the reason why
He hadn't known then, in that first storm, what the group was hiding from the Marauders. Later he would find out both her secrets, and the secrets the group kept. She had been laid bare before him, tears running down her cheeks in shame at the scars that had crossed her flesh. Eyes that could no longer see turned away from the world.
The moon we ride
Could drown the swelling tide
Shadow stood beside Moony in the dungeons of Riddle Manor. Even in wolf form Moony could tell that his mate needed to rest. The phoenix only managed to produce a few tears before it fell asleep. Two songs rose into the night, Moony and Shadow committing their wolves to what their humans had already promised, an eternity.
I call out from the shore
A siren from the sand
This lonely land I am forever more
Ria had a beautiful voice. Few ever heard her sing, but Remus had walked in on her once.
Remus opened the door to the Room of Requirements to see Ria standing there. She must have assumed that everyone was busy today with homework, and that no one would notice if she left. Just as Remus was about to make his presence known music had started in the background and Ria began to sing. He was mesmerized by her voice; it was a song he did not recognize, so he assumed it was from the future. The song was a sad one, oddly appropriate for what was going on. Filled with scenes of deaths and rapes, telling of a person left with No Bravery, realizing what war truly is.
She is gone now. His Ria. None of them ever understood her fascination with the rain, and she couldn't ever explain. Once she told him that she had tried to hide her love of the rain, but she couldn't ignore the feeling of being clean. For the longest time he never understood what she meant by being clean, but after 16 years he finally began to understand the heaviness those four had carried. It was starting again. The war that the four had been part of, that they had inspired him and his friends to be part of.
The fantasy is mine
It's you I long to find
I close my eyes
And dream that you are here tonight
Make believe you're crazy for me
Remus saw a figure walk out to the same spot by the lake. It was another girl, this one younger by four years, yet already weighed down by experiences that no child should have had. Her hair was shorter, it was missing the colored streaks, her eyes still a clear emerald- not yet blurred by blindness that would come in two years, her body held no tattoos, and few scars marred her body. Yet Remus knew it was only a matter of time before she morphed into the girl who had taken his heart into the future with her.
Four years, he couldn't believe that a person could change so much in that short of a time. He had to believe it though. Believe that in four years the girl standing by the lake would come to love him. Come to promise her life away to a werewolf, who is twenty years older than her. For now he watched the young girl twirl around, arms outstretched, until her brother and her friends came to drag her back to the castle.
I close my eyes
And dream that you are here tonight
He closed his eyes and imagined her sitting next to him by the fire, sharing his bed, and holding him after each transformation. Her lips would soothe away every new scar he developed, every pain left over. Her quiet voice would be singing to him or telling a story as he drifted off to sleep. Remus felt a tear roll down his cheek. It seemed that the storm was tormenting him, reminding him of what he couldn't have. He could almost feel her silken hair in his fingers, the warm weight of her pressing back against his chest while he comforted her after a nightmare.
Remus walked away from the window turning his gaze to the uninviting room. Like his life it was empty and cold. It was devoid of laughter and a personality that seemed to demand attention yet belonged to a person who hated the attention she got, a girl who refused to believe that she was beautiful and worth giving up everything for. He sat on the couch, downed a fire-whiskey, and closed his eyes, listening to the storm rage outside.
I listen to the rain
Whispering your name
Whispering your name