Mmmmmhmmmmm…yeah, sorry about the wait!

This chapter is dedicated to ABBA, who allowed me to butcher their lyrics as I wrote this chapter. Voulez Vous indeed.

Do they have Ace Hardware's in England? Oh well, they do now! Just pretend.

A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" The deep voice called as Jaida and Lily hurriedly made their way off the train. "Firs' years, follow me!"

"Come on, Lily! You're taking forever!" Jaida laughed lightly as she gripped her friends' hand tightly. Walking over to the massive being calling them closer, a group of four boys cut in front of them, causing them to stumble.

"Watch it, jerk!" Lily exclaimed passionately, whipping her red hair over her shoulder as she talked.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was go—" The dark brown haired boy started to explain, but he cut off abruptly, his eyes going wide as he took in who he was talking to. "Hello," he added, his voice several octaves lower, an attempt at sounding sexy, Jaida was sure. He reached up to tousle his hair, causing it to stand up straight in the back.

"Yeah, I'm sure you were so distracted trying to walk in a straight line." Lily hissed, and Jaida was surprised at her tone; her friend was usually moderately passive and kind—she was acting quite strange. The boys' eyes widened even further and he opened his mouth to reply but Jaida cut him off.

"C'mon, Lil," Jaida interjected quickly. "Let's get a good seat, yeah?" The last thing the first years needed was to start a fight before they've even seen the castle. Grabbing her friend by the collar she tried to maneuver her way away from the four boys while still observing them. Once they had reached the towering man, who introduced himself as Hagrid, Jaida allowed herself to study the foursome they had left behind.

The one who had flirted shamelessly with Lily was, even for an eleven year old, pretty cute. His dark brown hair was shaggy enough for him to run his hands through it, intentionally making it even messier. The one standing next to him had a deer-in-the-headlights look to him; slightly pudgy and blonde, he looked up adoringly at the other, extremely handsome, boy who was punching the first on the shoulder. However, the one that had Jaida's attention was the fourth boy…the light brown haired one holding a book she had been meaning to read. It wasn't his looks that caught her attention, though. It was how he looked the way she felt on the inside…scarred from the past.

"The first thing we have to do," Jaida said, dropping her law books on Remus' cluttered table, "is figure out what our strategy is going to be. Are we going to try and prove that Peter is still alive or try and prove that Peter was the real secret-keeper?"

"Why would us proving he was the secret-keeper help? That doesn't mean that Sirius wasn't the one to blow up the street." Remus' eyes were dark as he stared at Jaida who was sucking on her pen cap absent-mindedly.

"Well, was he put in prison for blowing up the muggles or following Voldemort?"

"I actually have no idea. Both?"

"Maybe we should find out what he was actually charged with before we claim it was wrong."

"You think?" They both jumped when the phone rang, and Remus stretched out his hand to answer it. "Hello?" he frowned when he heard the voice on the other end, and his frown deepened as the person continued talking. Jaida stared at him, trying to read his expression. "Well, when is he going to get in?" he sighed and it was Jaida's turn to frown. "Yeah, I'll be right there. Bye."

"What was that about?" Jaida asked as he hung up the phone and walked to the other end of the flat.

"That was my boss," he answered from behind a closed door. "It seems another employee decided not to show up to work today and he wants me to work until the next shift." He came out in wizards' robes and stowed his wand in one of the pockets. "I'm really sorry, this was completely unexpected."

"Oh…" was all she could reply. He was leaving? "Well, I'll just get my things…"

"No, no," he said quickly. She cocked an eyebrow at him. "You can stay here, I'll only be a few hours and then we can continue."

"That's okay; you can just call me when you get back—"

"Stay here," Remus pleaded. His tone took her by surprise; he wanted her to stay? "Stay here and wait for me, please. I'll be back by six at the latest. Please?" Jaida sighed as the pathetic look on his face.

"Are you sure you should be working? The full moon was just last night, you shouldn't be up and about…" he smiled a sad smile at her words.

"I don't really have the luxury of taking a break," he answered slowly. "Being a werewolf limits my career opportunities pretty severely. I take what I can get; this month it happens to be a book store. It's only a matter of time before someone looks closer at my résumé and fires me." He sighed again and walked to the door. Once he was convinced she wasn't moving from the couch, he said a quick goodbye and apparated away.

Jaida frowned as she pondered over his words. She had changed a lot since she had left school, and clearly so had he. He was slightly bitter about his condition when she last knew him, but this hopelessness was new to her; when had he gotten so tired? She still felt like a teenager compared to him; when had he gotten so old? Clearly, the Order had affected him in ways it had not affected her and she felt a wave of guilt flow over her as she remembered the way she had ended the relationship. Sure, she knew her reasons for breaking up with him, and they had seemed like perfectly good reasons…but he had no idea. And this entire time while she had been focusing on other things, he had been wondering why yet another person had left him, what he had done to deserve her actions.

Cursing under her breath, Jaida made up her mind once more. Standing up and taking in the tiny flat she smiled grimly and apparated away. Her destination? Ace Hardware.

"Stop it! That tickles!" Jaida squealed as Remus laughed and released her feet that he had been rubbing. They were sitting in the common room, lounging on the couch in front of the fire one cold January evening. Sirius and James were sitting on opposite sides of the table in the arm chairs, having a staring contest. Peter was building a house of cards, made ever more interesting because he was using exploding snap cards.

Seeing her sitting there, laughing, Remus took in his girlfriend of one year. He was fourteen, sure, but something about this girl lying with her feet in his lap, furiously reading one of her many books, made him tingle from the inside out. He knew it was more than hormones; it had to be. He knew in that instant, right as she flipped the page and sighed happily at the words, that he loved her. Now the only problem was how to tell her.

When Remus apparated back to his flat, he thought he had gone to the wrong apartment. Staring around him in awe, he took in the sight of his thoroughly changed flat, wondering what on earth had happened to it. The previously white walls of the living room were now a soft, soothing blue. The carpet looked a lot cleaner than when he had left, and a new blue shag rug had found its way underneath his sparkling coffee table. There were crisp white shelves hanging on the walls with pictures donned upon them, and his old friends grinned at him and waved in the small frame. Fresh flowers were placed in matching vases all around the room, and new pieces of art were hanging on the newly painted walls.

"Is it okay?" A small voice asked from behind him. Turning around in alarm, Remus saw Jaida standing in the doorway to the kitchen, which, to his confusion, was also a new color.

"How…what…who…" he stuttered awkwardly.

"I thought that if we were going to be spending so much time here, I would make it a little more livable." She answered his confused question quietly. "I'm sorry if you don't like it, I just thought…" she stared at her feet and he felt his heart tighten at her compassion.

"Merlin, Jade," he breathed, and her head shot up to take in his expression. A grin slowly formed on his face. "It's wonderful. How in the world did you do this so quickly?"

"I bewitched the paint brushes to paint in the different rooms," she explained eagerly, satisfied that he wasn't going to curse her. "And I picked up the shelves and other supplies from a muggle hardware store. Then I went to a department store for the frames and other decorations!" She grinned back at him as he peered into the bright green kitchen and saw that it had been transformed more drastically than the living room. Now it was heavily equipped with new cooking supplies and a nice smelling indoor herb garden above the sink.

"Jade," he said slowly as he took it all in. "Jade, I can't possibly accept this. This must have cost you a fortune—"

"No, I promise, I was careful!" she interjected quickly. "I barely spent any money, and I had a lot of store credit from the department store, so I barely spent—"

But she was cut off by his arms encircling her body and pulling her close in a tight hug. "Thank you," he whispered into her hair as he crushed his body to hers. "Thank you so much." She smiled again and hugged back.

"You're very welcome. I was the least I could do."

"What do you mean?" He pulled away from her slowly, but didn't let his arms drop.

"Well, you seemed pretty miserable," she admitted reluctantly. "And I thought that maybe I was part of the reason for that. That, and this place needed a little color; I don't know how you lived with those white walls!"

"I haven't exactly had a lot of money to redecorate," Remus chuckled dryly. "And…the pictures?" Jaida tensed up and pulled further away from him to meet his eyes.

"I…I took the liberty to…" she blushed as she answered. "I went through the boxes in your room. Please don't be mad! I promise I didn't go through all of your stuff, just those boxes in the closet because I thought they might be pictures and things, and I was right. So I took out a select few and put them in frames. I thought that they would inspire us to free Sirius." She finished even quieter than she had started, thinking he would be furious at her.

Surprisingly, he wasn't. He had expected himself to be angry that she had invaded his privacy and gone through his things, but he was only slightly embarrassed that she had seen his messy room. "I'm not mad," he answered, tilting her chin up to meet his eyes again. "I am so grateful for you, Jaida," his voice was soft and calm. "I don't know how I can ever repay you." She grinned cheekily at his statement.

"Do you want to see the bedroom? I've redone it as well." He nodded and she bounded down the hallway into the bedroom, giggling like a little girl. Seeing her so blissfully happy, he knew he was in trouble; he was still in madly, ridiculously in love with her.

Merlin, he buried his head in his hands as he followed her into the soft yellow bedroom. What am I going to do?

A/N: Okay, I know, it's impossible to paint three rooms (and a hallway) in only a few hours. I painted my house—I know how it works. But hey, these are wizards we're talking about! Let's just suspend belief and let the surprise be wonderful :)

Hope you enjoyed! I know it's been a while, so if I still have any readers I'd love some feedback!