"I see the moon and the moon sees me
And the moon sees the one that I want to see
So God bless the moon and God bless me
And God bless the one that I want to see."
- Ya Ya Sisterhood
- - -
The snow was cold, white, and fluffy. It fell in light, dancing swirls upon Hogwarts grounds, blanketing the grass in a white cloth. In the midst of all the sparkling and frozen water sat Remus John Lupin beneath the infamous beech tree. His chin rested gently upon the tops of his knees, his tawny brown eyes gazing lazily over the dark, glassy river as night fell.
Cold? No, he wasn't. His Gryffindor robes were secured tightly about his thin figure, hands gloved, head covered in a black beanie, and his feet in a pair of snow boots. Remus was anything but cold at the moment. Maybe he was a bit sad, but not cold.
Night was falling upon the grounds, slowly, the blackness of shadow stretching its wings and engulfing the sunlight grounds in which Remus sat. Many of the students were now gathering their things up and scurrying back to the castle to avoid missing curfew. Remus, however, did not move from his folded position, but rather closed his eyes.
He and Laini Vaitra Black had argued. Badly. They'd spent their whole dinner in the aisle between the Ravenclaw table and the Gryffindor table screaming at one another.
Remus and Laini were… more or less best friends. Of course, Remus had Sirius, James, and Peter- but Laini was right there behind them. Sure, they'd never gotten along fully, but they'd never argued like… well, like they had less than two hours ago.
- - -
"You're horrible! Horrible!"
"Laini, I—"
"Horrible!" The brunette turned and moved to storm off down the aisle. A hand curled around her upper arm and tugged her back. She stumbled, slamming her foot upon the floor before her body collided with his. "No!"
"Would you just—"
"Why? Why?! So you can… can make up another excuse as to why you're so… so…" She was shaking her head, eyes searching the floor for the words she needed.
"Lowly? Pig-headed? …Horrible?" His sarcasm was evident.
"Disgusting!" Came her angry retort, her hands balling into fists. Remus's hand tightened on her upper arm and he shook her some.
"You can't tell me who to be friends with, Laini, you can't."
"I'm not! I just said you were horrible—"
"For being friends with who I am friends with—"
"For associating with… them!" She cut him off as he had done to her, scowling, malice in her eyes, and pointed jerkily in the area she expected the other three to be. "Do you like the way they treat Severus?"
"Snape is no better."
"He's loads better than… than Sirius! And James… Peter… even you!" She squirmed, attempting to twist her way out of his grip. "All of you! You're all… oh, just sod off!"
"Laini!" He howled, shaking her again. "You're not there all the time, you don't know what happens! You only know what you hear, what you actually witness when you're actually there! Are you always there? No!"
"No, I'm not!" Their 'no's' over road each other, echoing through the Great Hall. "Severus just… he tells me what you lot do and… and when I am there all my fears are proven true." Her lips pursed, the lower one trembling, "I don't care if…" She sniffed loudly, squirming from his grip again, "…if he doesn't even know I worry about him! I don't care if he cares that I care. And… I don't care if you lot don't do anything and I'm wrong."
"Laini…"
"Don't. Don't try and… and pull out one of your stunts, Remus. You can't, you just can't. You would not understand, you never understand, you're just…"
"Horrible?" He offered.
"Yes."
- - -
Was he horrible? He had never felt as horrible as Laini had made him feel earlier. Never. No matter how many times he had endured seeing the look of hatred on Snape's face as James and Sirius hung him from his ankles. And of all people to make him end up curled in on himself outside Laini had been the least of his worries.
"I see the moon and the moon sees me…" Remus whispered, his eyes opening slowly. The moon had gone up, in it's crescent glory, and was bathing the snow-covered grounds in soft light. A shudder danced through him and he took a long, slow breath, "And the moon sees the one that I want to see…" The silence that swallowed his words was a bit unbearable. "So God bless the moon and God bless me, and God bless the one that I want to see."
"And who… do you want to see?"
Remus lifted his chin from his knees and peered slowly over his shoulders, eyebrows lifting into the messy strand of hair that he considered his fringe. "Oh, just someone." Came the airy reply.
Stepping out of the darkness and into the moonlight, Laini appeared with her arms crossed over her stomach and a hesitant smile on her face. "Remus." She greeted, no emotion in her voice.
"Laini." His held a lilt of a smile, though none appeared on his face. "You're out late."
"Well…" She shrugged lightly, taking a few slow steps towards him before she was standing next to where he sat, "I had this feeling, you see—"
"The cards?"
"The cards." Her tarot cards weren't wrong once, at least not yet, "They said someone was mourning and…" She frowned, the line between her eyebrows wrinkling. "Distressed. Upset. And… the symbol for deep emotion."
"Deep emotion?" An eyebrow lifted, and Remus crossed his arms atop his knees. "Which one this time?"
"It doesn't matter, Remus, look—"
"Laini."
"—you're out passed curfew, Remus, and I—"
"Laini!"
She jumped some, a shudder running through her, and shut her mouth automatically. "I—yes?"
"Which. One."
Laini opened her mouth to attempt at changing his mind, but his shot her a look and another frown mark marred the crease in her forehead, "The Lovers." His nod was short, curt even, just a small inclining of his head. And that was that.