PROLOGUE

December, 1996…the Second War has begun…

An icy wind blew heavily, cutting across the man's face, causing his cheeks to smart. He ignored the blistering and simply turned the collar of his long, faded cloak up against the cold, continuing his determined trudge. A little girl with a skipping rope called out to the stranger, telling him to watch her, look how well she can skip. The man stopped for a mere moment, smiled at the girl, and went on his way.

He arrived at his destination – a bleak cemetery, where everything had gone brown and grey in the early winter. The two graves he had located quickly were slightly overrun with a dying weed, which he pulled off of the headstones impatiently.

It occurred to him that he really had no reason for being there at all. It was not the anniversary of their deaths, he had not brought flowers, and he was not planning to pray or talk to them or even utter one syllable. He did not feel particularly sad (though when had he last felt truly happy? It seemed an age). His period of bereavement had long since passed. True, a tiny bit of his heart would still twinge when he was reminded of them, but he pushed that emotion aside as silly, trying to convince himself that he was being weak, to just forget them…but he couldn't.

He let out a deep sigh, the sound lost in the howl of a wind threatening to bring snow at the next gust. He had never felt so old in all his life – and then he realized just how old he really was. He had aged quite a bit since his last visit, not just in the natural physical way, but so much worn him out mentally that all he wished for was a bit of peace. Yes, he had wonderful friends back home, wonderful people in the Order of the Phoenix, but Remus Lupin was known for being secretive and not sharing his innermost feelings. And without sharing those feelings, how was he supposed to find calm?

There was one person he could talk to…the one person he'd always been able to turn to in dark times. She was also his fiancée, but that was an almost secondary thing to their friendship. It was one of deepest understanding and caring, something Remus had always felt somewhat deprived of. When Ermengarde Switoviak had crash-landed into his life twenty years ago, he had found not only someone he could have a laugh with and share a cup of tea casually, but someone he could really love.

Remus thought back to the ring he had given her when he had proposed. He remembered buying it and wishing he could afford something better. Sirius and James had both offered to give him the money for a more impressive ring, but he had refused. The ring he ended up buying was a simple band of silver with a pearl in the centre and a tiny diamond on either side of it. It certainly was pretty, but not the dazzling thing he'd hoped to present Ermengarde with. She, however, couldn't have been more thrilled with it…

"Remus, it's…" Ermengarde trailed off, staring at the ring, then at him. "Are you – are you trying to ask me –"

"Yes, I am," said Remus. He took the ring out of the box. "Will you? Will you marry me?"

Ermengarde's eyes went wide and her mouth opened slightly. For a horrible, terrible, appalling moment, Remus was sure she was about to say no. What on Earth was he to do in that event? He certainly hadn't planned on anything if that were the case, he hadn't made any arrangements, he hadn't exactly prepared a speech…but as these thoughts were racing wildly in his head, she had flung her arms around his neck and laughed giddily, her voice echoing in the silent night air.

"Is that a yes?" Remus asked very hopefully, hugging her in return.

"Yes, of course it is!" said Ermengarde.

Remus couldn't help it. He knew it was cliché and silly, but he lifted her up and spun her around a few times before setting her down and gently taking the glove off of her hand. She had tears streaming down her face, but she was smiling widely all the same. He slid the ring easily onto her petite finger and kissed her hand. It wasn't until she'd touched his cheek and wiped away a tear that he realized he had even shed one. He was just so happy at the thought of marrying Ermengarde, of always being with her, that nothing else mattered. He pulled her into a kiss, and he knew he would remember that moment forever as the best moment of his life.

Shaking his head to clear it, Remus straightened up and looked at the two headstones in front of him. The names were etched in the granite, cold and hard as the chill of early winter. He couldn't believe his loved ones were gone, even though it had happened almost sixteen years ago. After running a hand over his prematurely lined face, he left the graveyard with just one thought…

…get him.