Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter or any related characters
Remus Lupin trudged through the streets of Diagon Alley. Sunday's were never usually busy. The streets were quite empty, and it made walking enjoyable. The few passers-by kept their heads down as they rushed from shop to shop. They were trying to get some last minute shopping done before the week started, and everyone would be back to work. He had been trying his best to be happy, he really had. His mother had always warned him against jealousy. She said it was an ugly thing that ruined lives. Remembering her words, he stuck a polite smile on his face as he nodded to the occasional witch who rushed passed him.
It was tough though. He never thought at the age of 18 his life would be over. He received mostly Outstandings in his NEWT's, but that wasn't enough. Nothing he did would ever be enough. He was a werewolf, and would forever be judged on it, no matter how many O's graced his results page. He knew he shouldn't feel resentful. He had been lucky to even get to go to Hogwarts, his father was well aware of that. Remus remembered that his father had often told him stories about his own days at Hogwarts. Always finishing with a small sigh, and a sad comment about how Remus would never get to experience it. His father had been sad for him. However, Professor Dumbledore had made exceptions for Remus, and he definitely should not complain. He received a better life than most other werewolves.
With that thought he continued down the road, the slanted buildings on either side of him. Only one thing could cheer him up at a time like this: Reading. Reading was his sanctuary, and now that he no longer had access to the school library, perhaps Flourish and Blotts could keep him occupied. Perhaps he could pick up the latest Potions Master magazine, and see if there were any updates on a cure for lycanthropy.
"Er, excuse me sir. Do you happen to have the latest edition of Potions Master in stock yet? I can't seem to see it on the shelves..."
"Hold on, I'll check. Constance!" The shop employee yelled into the back room to someone. "Constance! Are there anymore copies of Potions Master?"
"Oh yes! Sorry I was having a flick through the last one!" a voice called back, and soon Remus was able to put a face to her. A young woman with deep brown hair emerged. She couldn't have been much older than seventeen or eighteen. Her hair reached to her shoulders in soft waves, and she had the bluest eyes Remus had ever seen. They were quite round and open, and reminded Remus of doll eyes. She had tiny pink lips that pulled into a grin when she caught sight of him. She handed the last copy of the magazine. "Here, hope you enjoy it. Fascinating read!"
"Constance, you can't take merchandise back to read it." The man muttered as he pushed passed her into the back room.
"Oh.. Thanks..." Remus muttered, as he fished through his pocket for a galleon.
"Seriously, they've got a first draft potion for lycantrophy. It still needs to be improved, obviously-"
"Really? That's great!"
"I know! No one else seemed as impressed with it as I was, until I met you of course." She said with a smile. "I thought it'd take another ten years at least. Funding was slow for it."
"Yea... I didn't imagine it would ever get done, to be honest."
"You know someone?" She asked. As she put his money in the till, she raised a brow at him.
"Oh... Er... Yea, I do... It's.. It's just nice to have a remedy for it." Remus said nervously. Clearly she wasn't judgemental, but there was no way he could let her know that it was him that was suffering. Though somehow, from the look in her eye, he thought she already knew that.
"I can hold next weeks edition for you, if you like. So you know you have a copy."
"Oh wow, can you do that?"
"Well... No, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him, will it?" She said with a cheeky grin, and jerked her head in the direction of the back room, to indicate she was talking about her boss. She extended her arm out to him. "I'm Constance by the way."
"I'm Remus. And, I'll take you up on that offer. I'll see you next week!" He shook her hand and went on his way.
It became something of a routine. Constance would hold an extra copy of Potions Master in the back room, and, without fail, Remus would visit to collect it every Sunday afternoon. It was a wonderful change from hanging out with the Marauders and Lily. It was something new and fresh. It was something that was his, not his friends'. He enjoyed the Sunday trek to Diagon Alley. It rid him of all his job and money worries, and most importantly it helped keep him sane.
In truth, Remus wouldn't have bothered buying it every week. He enjoyed potions, of course, but really his main interest was this Wolfsbane potion that was in the making, and they didn't document on it's progress weekly. Though, after one look at Constance, and her twinkling blue eyes, he had no problem wasting a galleon just to say hello and ask her how her week had been. Conversations started out quite slow, mostly focusing on the topics in last weeks Potions Master. Over time, however, they developed that little bit more. Constance would occasionally ask about his families well being, and Remus in return would ask about her. It turned out that this beautiful girl, who was only one month older than him, had never attended Hogwarts. That was obvious enough, as he would have remembered a face like that. Remus was surprised to learn that she had not attended Beauxbatons or Durmstrang, she hadn't even attended a wizarding day school that littered the country. She told him she was home schooled. With a muggle father, and witch mother, they were each opposed to her attending what they regarded as the best school. In the end, they settled on teaching her themselves, her father taught her about English literature and poetry, and they would spend their evenings reading. She appeared to be quite the Daddy's girl. She recounted to Remus, nights when she would sit on her fathers lap, as he read Mary Shelley's, Frankenstein. Her mother, on the other hand taught her magic. As far as Remus could tell, it was all quite basic magic, simple charms and spells, mostly for household use. Remus was amazed at the simplicity of all this and thought her idea of magic was adorable, though he didn't utter this aloud. The only area where she seemed to excel was in potions. She learned so much, so much more than Remus knew after seven years of education. Her mother was clearly gifted.
"How did you like Hogwarts?" Constance asked one evening after Remus had plucked up the courage to ask her out for an ice-cream. It was quite a hot summer's evening. The temperature had dropped quite a bit since midday, but it was still warm enough to not bother with he noticed her gaze longingly out the window, he had the wonderful idea to wait for her after work and offer to pay for a strawberry sundae. She appeared absolutely delighted by this, and after seeing her reaction, Remus felt disappointed in himself for not asking her sooner. She studied at home her whole life, and had never experienced real friendship. An invitation such as this would have been a dream for her.
"I loved it... I didn't actually think I'd be able to go." As soon as Remus said this, he realised he shouldn't have. He quickly busied himself with his ice-cream, hoping Constance didn't think too much of it. They walked along together at a relatively slow pace, as both tried desperately to keep their ice-creams from melting down their hands.
"Why not?"
"Oh, er... My parents weren't very rich, you see. Robes, books and cauldrons, they all cost a bit."
"But you did go!"
"Yea... Diagon Alley has some pretty good second hand shops." Remus added awkwardly as they strolled together through the cobblestone streets.
"I used most of my Mums things. Her old cauldrons and school books." She said lightly, as if Remus had not said anything embarrassing about his home life at all! "She didn't see much point of buying anything new. She said all the spells would be the same, no matter how new the book looked."
Remus smiled slightly. Constance appeared to be an amazing young girl. She had this incredible innocence about her that could be attributed to being taught at home. She had no perception of house rivalries, of duels, of quidditch matches. Her knowledge on You-Know-Who was quite shockingly limited. All she was certain of was what she read in the paper, and even at that, she never thought too much into it. Remus daily life was riddled with worry. Would he be able to get a job with his condition? Would he survive long enough to raise a family, if he had a family would he even be able to support them? Would Voldemort's reign of terror be disastrous for him?
"Why do you always look like that?"
"Like what?" Remus asked, genuinely confused. His heart gave an uncomfortably hard thump in his chest at her comment. He put a lot of effort into his appearance every Sunday when he travelled to Diagon to see her. Sirius insisted that he wear muggle jeans, and part his hair from the side, setting it with a bit of hair spray. Sirius was hard to argue with, but he managed to convince Remus that all the cool muggles dressed this way, and that Constance would definitely appreciate it.
"You're always frowning... Well, not always. But whenever we stop talking, you frown... What're you thinking of?"
"Just... How hard things are getting at the moment. Not just me, everyone..." Remus trailed off uncomfortably. He had come to the end of his ice-cream and now began munching on the wafer.
Constance threw hers in a nearby bin. "I've never liked them." She stated when she saw Remus' curious glance, before adding. "Ah...You mean all this war stuff."
Remus blinked. All this war stuff? "Of course!"
"Does it effect you personally?"
"Yes!" Remus said, a slight bit more indignantly than he intended.
"How did it effect you today?"
"Come again?"
"What did it prevent you from doing today?" She asked with genuine interest, as Remus struggled to find the words.
"Well... Nothing, I suppose."
"If a Death Eater jumps out from around the corner and amputates an arm, so you can no longer hold your ice-cream, then you have my permission to frown. Until then though..." She reached forward with slightly sticky fingers and placed each index finger in either corner of his mouth, attempting to make his lips form a smile. Unable to help himself, Remus grinned. "Good! That's all I want to see you do from now on!"
Soon they knew everything about each other's lives. It seemed as if Constance had known his friends her whole life. She promised Remus that when she first met Sirius, she would definitely tell him everything she understood about motorbikes, though, that wasn't much. She was aware of James long winded infatuation over Lily, with his second love being quidditch. She knew of Peter's adoration of his friends, and while he wasn't the bravest of them, he was always there for the good and the bad. She also soon came to realise that Lily, while not Remus' best friend, she acted as his most trusted confidante.
"Your friends sound wonderful!" She gushed, as if the possibility of friendship was completely foreign to her.
"They are... They really are. I wouldn't know where I'd be without them..." Remus said, a small, sad smile on his face.
"Why do I get the feeling that there's always something you're leaving out?" Constance asked with a slightly raised brow.
Remus gave a small shrug, but his silence didn't deter her.
"What about the werewolf?"
Once again, Remus' hearted thudded uncomfortably in his chest. "Er... What?"
"The day we met, when you were looking for that copy of Potions Master, you said you has a friend... Someone who suffered... Who is it?"
"Er..."
"I know; it's not your place to tell... But you know I wouldn't care, don't you?"
Remus made a noise that sounded like a cross between a cough and a hiccup. It was bizarre to say the least, but Constance took this as a sign that he was too loyal to his friend to give away any information.
"I just think that, if this person needed some support, it would be nice to invite them out with us sometime. You know, so they weren't so lonely."
Remus had to consider this for a moment. She wanted to invite his werewolf friend out with them, meaning she didn't want this ice-cream trip to be a once off or a rare occurrence. "Oh... Right... Well... What makes you say he's lonely?"
Constance smiled a little. "Because we're all alone, and it's just easier to take when we have friends."
Remus smiled in return, as he broke eye contact with her. She seemed so innocent, but she came out with these lines. These lines of incredible wisdom, and they just made Remus get it. She made him get life for the first time ever.