Later Christmas day, Ophelia and Remus sent a letter with Ophelia's owl, Roman, to James and Sirius, thanking them for their presents and taking care of last minute details for when Ophelia and Remus would be going to the Potter's.

When James pulled the letter off Roman's leg, he read it over and handed it to Sirius, who was gorging himself on the mound of Honeydukes chocolate Ophelia had sent him. James had tried to take some earlier and Sirius had slapped his hand away. Apparently, he and Ophelia had a bet going: she didn't think he could eat ten pounds of chocolate in one sitting and Sirius was determined to show her he could.

"You are actually going to explode if you eat all that chocolate, you know. And please, try not to puke anywhere near me," James said as he gave Sirius the letter.

Sirius shook his head, his mouth full. "Imnagoke," he said. "Imgowifileonsack."

"Could you try speaking English?"

Sirius swallowed. "I'm not going to puke. I'm going to win my five galleons back." James looked confused. "You know, from that bet we had on the train." Sirius set his jaw in determination, but James thought he looked a little sick; he'd gotten through probably half of the chocolate already.

"Read the letter. Moony and Ophelia have both signed it. They're already writing in the 'we'."

Sirius read through it quickly and looked up. "I thought Moony already wrote you. Why did he write again?"

"Because the first letter was to brag about how fantastic and perfect and wonderful and lovely his girlfriend is." James grinned. "I wouldn't be surprised he was planning on proposing to her already."

Sirius laughed loudly. "Come off it, it took him three months to properly ask her to be his girlfriend. We'll be sixty by the time he proposes. That is, if Ophelia doesn't shout at him to do it sooner."

James' eyes widened. "Did you read his letter? He said, and I quote, 'She's the best thing that's ever happened to me.'"

"They've only be a couple since last week. No one is proposing anytime soon."

"I'd take that bet." James' extreme competitiveness was showing. "Ten galleons says he proposes between now and when we graduate from Hogwarts."

Sirius shook his head. "You're mental. It's only been a week."

"Do you see how he looks at her?"

"Fine. I say, if it happens at all, we'll be at least twenty-five." Sirius thought for a moment. "If they don't break up."

…

Mrs. Lupin was standing in front of the kitchen sink staring straight out the window, her charmed dishes washing themselves. She was watching as two figures bundled in scarves and coats and gloves and hats approached. Remus had taken Ophelia ice skating on the river behind the house and Mrs. Lupin had planted herself in front of the window the second they stepped out the door.

Mrs. Lupin had tried to keep an eye on them over the week and a half they were there, but her husband was constantly steering her away, trying to distract her. She thought she had finally escaped his notice when she heard a low voice behind her.

"Mary." She glanced at Mr. Lupin, but quickly returned her gaze to the window. Mr. Lupin walked up beside her and put his arms around her. "Have you been watching them all this time? If you keep this up, you could probably be classified as a stalker." There was a small smile on Mr. Lupin's face.

"I can watch out for my son, John. You can too." Mrs. Lupin gave her husband a meaningful look.

He shook his head. "Ophelia's been nothing but wonderful and charming since she came here. And I know, the whole 'bra' situation on the platform really wasn't the greatest impression, but even you've got to admit, that was kind of Sirius Black's fault, and we all know how he is," Mr. Lupin said. Sirius had been to stay several times over summer holidays and Mr. and Mrs. Lupin knew he liked causing trouble.

Mrs. Lupin sighed. "She's just…"

"What?"

"Look at them!" Mr. Lupin did as she asked, and looked out the window. Ophelia was kneeling down, seemingly to fix her boot, when she picked up a handful of snow and tossed it at the back of Remus' head. Remus whipped around, grabbed up as much snow as he could and threw it back. Mr. Lupin could hear their laughter through the window.

"I think Ophelia is winning," Mr. Lupin observed, as Ophelia jumped onto Remus' back.

"John!"

Mr. Lupin laughed. "I agree, Mary. Look at them. Look how happy Remus is. I don't think I've seen him like this since…" He thought for a moment. "Since before he was bitten, at least." Then he noticed tears in Mrs. Lupin's eyes. "What is it?"

"He's falling in love!" Mrs. Lupin wailed. She pressed her face into her husband's shoulder and sobbed. "He's my son, my baby boy, and he's falling in love!"

Mrs. Lupin was a very motherly person. When Remus was little, she had always been there to hold his hand when they crossed the street, to make him soup when he was sick and to read him bedtime stories. After he had been attacked by a werewolf, she had held Remus in her arms and promised him that everything was going to be alright and that him being a werewolf didn't change anything. When he had confessed to her his worry that he wouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts because of his condition, Mrs. Lupin had written to Dumbledore several times to secure a spot for him at the school. When he had first gone to Hogwarts, she had written to him twice a day, until he had asked her to stop as no one else got that many letters. Remus was her only child, her son, her baby, her world.

And Ophelia White wasn't good enough for him.

There was part of Mrs. Lupin that knew she was being silly, that Ophelia really had been a lovely girl and Remus seemed to like her quite a lot. But there was a much larger part of her that wanted to take Remus in her arms and pull him away from Ophelia before she could hurt him. Remus had already been rejected and hurt by so many because he was a werewolf.

Mr. Lupin was rubbing his wife's back as she sobbed. "Shh… It's alright. He's going to grow up sooner or later, dear. He's coming of age this March, isn't he? Soon, he'll be living and working on his own, having his own life…"

This was the wrong thing to say, because Mrs. Lupin only sobbed harder. "I – don't – want –h –him –to get –h –hurt!"

"He won't get hurt, dear, he won't. Remus has always had pretty good judgement, hasn't he? And even if he does get hurt, it'll be a good learning experience." Mr. Lupin took her chin and looked her in the eyes. "But right now, I think you're hurting him, Mary. He really wants you to like Ophelia. Or at least pretend to."

Mrs. Lupin sighed and nodded. She knew John was right.

"Good," Mr. Lupin smiled widely and found his wife a tissue. By the time they heard the back door open a few minutes later, Mrs. Lupin had regained her composure and her eyes were only slightly red.

Mr. Lupin tried not to listen to Remus and Ophelia's conversation because he knew he wouldn't want anyone eavesdropping on him, but the back door was just around the corner from the kitchen and they were being quite loud.

"I can't believe you tried to bury me in snow." Ophelia was laughing.

"You started it," Remus said. Mr. Lupin could hear the smile in his voice.

"I think I've got snow in my ear, Moony. My ear."

"I don't believe you."

"Look." There was a pause. Then, "Ow! Did you… Wow, Rem. I going to give you the award for strangest person I've ever met."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do! You just bit my ear!"

"I'm a bit of an animal, darling."

"I'll bet you are." This comment was much too suggestive for Mrs. Lupin and she opened her mouth to let them know they were being overheard, but a glance from Mr. Lupin made her resist the urge.

When Ophelia and Remus stepped side by side through the doorway and saw Mr. and Mrs. Lupin standing by the sink, Ophelia looked at them seriously. "I think you should have your son locked up. He's like a rabid dog."

"I take offense to that," Remus said.

"It's true. He's only just physically assaulted me."

"You can't prove anything. It's my word against yours."

"The bite marks on my ear are pretty damning evidence, I think." At this, concern wiped away Remus' grin. He stepped forward and pushed Ophelia's hair away from her ear. If he had left a mark on her, it would be a cursed wound.

Ophelia looked surprised. "There's not actually anything, Moony. It wasn't that hard. Don't worry about it." Relieve washed over Remus' face. He grinned.

Mr. Lupin looked at his watch. "Are you two all packed and ready to go? The Potters will be expecting you soon."

"Ugh. Can we pretend like we forgot to go? I owe Sirius five galleons and his head is probably ten times more inflated now," Ophelia groaned.

"I told you not to bet him about chocolate. He's like a bottomless pit; he could eat Honeydukes out of business," Remus said.

"But in all honesty, Rem. Ten pounds? All at once? That's insane." Ophelia shook her head.

Remus shrugged. "You've seen him at dinner. Him and James, come to think of it. They could clear the entire Gryffindor table in their first course."

Mrs. Lupin watched Remus entwine his fingers with Ophelia's and lead her out of the kitchen, knowing deep down that no matter how much she thought of him as her baby boy, she still had to let him grow up.

A/N: So here's another kind of short one. I feel a little bad for Mrs. Lupin

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