DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, a genius called J.K. Rowling does!
The calm before the storm
It was a warm afternoon in May. Remus Lupin had apparated in front of the gates of Hogwarts and was walking up the path to the castle. He was tired, and it showed: the night before had been a full moon and he knew he should be resting. But he couldn't, not when Dumbledore had just summoned the whole order to protect the school. The headmaster had to leave again and he said the he needed extra protection this time.
As he walked on, reflecting on where Dumbledore might be going, something caught his eye. He looked towards that big tree near the lake under which James had taunted Snape when they where in 5th year and saw 2 people lying there, surrounded by books. Suddenly he found himself walking towards the tree, pushed by his curiosity.
When he recognized who it was, a lump caught in his throat: it was Harry and Ginny, sleeping in each others arms.
He hadn't known they were dating, but that's not what surprised him the most. He was startled by how much they looked like another couple that 20 years before had laid the same way, under the same tree.
And then, he found himself back in his 7th year, the week before NEWTS, Sirius mischievously grinning by his side, looking at their best friend and thinking up a marauder-ish way to wake him up. He recalled those times, when they were young and cheerful and without a care in the world.
He would forever remember the smiles on Lily's and James' faces as they dreamt about their future.
"A future they didn't get to live." He thought darkly.
He recalled Sirius' laughing face as they woke them up, his dark eyes not yet haunted by 12 years in Azkaban. And he saw himself, young and full of hopes. Hopes of a change, of a new life, of a cure being discovered soon. At the time he had thought that nothing could be worse then being a werewolf. Now, he wished he had never found out how wrong that thought was. One by one he had lost all of his friends to Voldemort; two killed, one a traitor. At times it felt like he had nothing to live for anymore.
"NO! I must not think like this!" and while he tried to find a reason to live for an image came to his mind. An image of a pink haired witch that he hadn't seen since after Sirius' death. He had avoided every contact with her since then, hoping that his crush would go away. But even if he tried to deny it, he knew that this wasn't a simple crush. No, he was in love but he couldn't, wouldn't do anything about it.
"It's better this way." He thought to himself. "she's better off without me…"
He was snapped out of his thoughts by Harry's stirring. He didn't know how much time he had spent there, staring at the young couple and thinking, but he noticed that the sun was now setting. He realized that he was late for the meeting.
And he walked away, saying to himself that now was not the time… he could always think about his emotions later, when everything was calmer.
Little did he now that he wouldn't have anymore time to think clearly, that those few minutes by the big tree near the lake were only the calm before the storm.
AN: I wrote this fic on paper just after the 7 book was out. I was sad 'cause Remus was ine of my favorite characters so I decided to write something about him. The other day I found it in one of my books and decided to publish it. I hope it's not too bad.
Cheers!