A MATURING RELATIONSHIP.

"Good God, Darcy! What's wrong?"

Lupin was knocking on the door and even though it was locked and he could have easily opened it with magic, he didn't. He respected me enough to wait until I opened the door for him. He opened the door slowly and poked his head inside. When I didn't throw anything at him or attack him, he walked in the room, closing the door behind him. He sat down beside me on the bed and rubbed my back as I began to cry silently. "I'm sorry for everything I've put you through. I don't mean to put you in so much danger! I don't want you to be hurt!"

Lupin sighed. "Darcy, listen to me," he said softly. "There are so many things that I want to say to you right now, but I feel like everything I say will simply make it worse. I'm not good at cheering people up. I only make you cry when I try." He paused. "Did Severus upset you?"

I nodded my head.

"Don't let him get to you, okay? You know what he's like," Lupin continued. "You don't have to tell me what he said, but I'm sure it's not true. Severus cares about you."

I didn't say anything.

"Look at me, Darcy. I want to see you." I rolled over and looked at him. Lupin smiled and touching my chin. His eyes flicked to the cut on my face, but then back up to my eyes. He brushed his lips against mine. "That's better." He kept his face close to mine and I could taste his breath on my lips.

"I'm acting like a child," I told him quickly. Lupin shook his head and grasped my hand, his thumb caressing the top of my hand. "Please. Leave me alone. I don't want you to see me like this."

"You're not acting like a child," Lupin reassured me. "You're sad. It's okay to have a good cry once in a while. After all you've been through, it's okay to cry."

"Then how come you're not crying?" I asked him through tears. He pursed his lips together, trying to find an answer. I wasn't sure if he had already planned out an answer and didn't want to voice it, or he just didn't know.

"Tell me why you're crying."

I looked up at him with sad eyes. "Because all the danger – I could have died last night. I could have died the year before and the year before that and the one before that. And even though I'm in so much danger, you come to save me if you can. I'm terrified of that. I wish you wouldn't come to rescue me because I don't ever want to see you hurt." I blinked a few times and he smiled weakly. "Now tell me why you aren't crying if you really think it's okay."

"Because I believe that everything is going to be okay. And it will be," he told me in a very soothing tone. He held his hand to his mouth and kissed each of my fingers, his lips warm and inviting, lingering on each finger as if they were something precious. When he finished, he pulled me slowly up in a sitting position. "I promise you that." He pressed his lips to my cheek, but I continued to cry. His eyes found their way to my lips and then back up to my eyes.

"Are you going to kiss me?" I asked softly and he raised his eyebrows.

"No," he told me and I felt my heart sink. "Not when you're like this. Crying and depressed. You just need to sleep."

My forehead creased. "No."

"Do you really want me to kiss you right now?" he breathed, his face getting closer to mine.

I nodded. "It'll make things better."

Lupin's lips twitched and then ends of them turned upwards into a small smile. His lips met mine and the kiss was hardly one at all, but it was the best one I had ever shared with him in my opinion. There was absolutely not lust, but simply love. He pulled away slowly and wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me tight. "Are you going to cry again?" he asked me sweetly.

I buried my face in his chest and took in the scent of him. "Can I?" I asked, my voice muffled by his shirt.

He chuckled. "Yes." And so, my tears stained one of his new shirts and he stroked my hair, pausing every so often to kiss the top of my head. He hummed in my ear an unfamiliar tune and I eventually stopped crying, listening to the steady beat of his heart. It was soothing. When I stopped crying, he laid me down in bed, kissed my temple and I fell asleep right away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You've got to forgive her," Lupin said quietly, putting his shoes on. "Sooner or later. She keeps asking me what you're up to and I keep making up excuses. You promised me you would and I know you haven't."

"I will," I replied, sinking lower in my armchair, flipping a page of my book. Lupin took it out of my hands and I protested, jumping to my feet and reaching for the book. He held it up in the air and I crossed my arms. "I will forgive her, but why do I have to apologize to her?"

"Because she's been trying to apologize and you won't listen!" He skimmed through the pages of my book and backed away before I could try to snatch it from his hands. "And you've been avoiding her."

"Give me that! I was reading that!" I stopped and looked him over. "Where are you going?"

"Hogsmeade."

"Why?"

"I'm going with Tonks."

"You bastard!" I shouted.

"I was going to invite you," he said with a smirk, holding out my book. I grabbed it from him. "But you seem to just want to stay here and read, so I suppose I'll just go by myself."

"Oh no," I jumped to the side, slipping my shoes on and Lupin held up my coat, helping me into it. I grinned, pulling a hat on and I grabbed his hand. "You come before reading."

"I'm glad you've got your priorities in check."

Lupin opened the door for me, but I hesitated. "I'm not sure about this… you know I'm still hurt by what happened."

Lupin closed the door and stuffed his hands in his pocket. "Darcy, she didn't do anything wrong. I've already taken the blame. Besides, I didn't want to resort to this, but do you remember what happened when Tonks and I were dating? We kissed, yes, but we did – other things. We made love while I was with Tonks and imagine how Tonks would feel had she found that out."

I bit my lip. I hadn't even thought of that. I was worse than Tonks. Guilt gnawed at my stomach and I looked up at Lupin with wide eyes. "Oh my God… I'm a horrible person."

"Apologize for avoiding her. Apologize for not forgiving her right away. Thank her for apologizing to you and then forgive her. It's that easy."

"O – Okay." Lupin smiled weakly and opened the door again for me and I walked out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hi, Darcy. Hi, Remus."

Tonks stood up and when we both sat down, she sat down awkwardly. Lupin ordered three butterbeers, but I asked for a firewhisky instead. Lupin gave me a suspicious eye and Tonks cleared her throat as our drinks were set down on the table not two minutes later. I looked up at her and breathed in deeply.

"I'm sorry for not talking to you," I told her sincerely and she smiled slightly, sipping at her hot butterbeer. "I meant to, but I just got busy and never really got around to it."

"It's alright," Tonks nodded. I grabbed my firewhisky and drank it all at one time. The drink seared my throat on the way done and I shuddered. Lupin pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow at me. "I just wanted to apologize. I didn't want anything to happen between us. I didn't want our friendship to be ruined, you know? I didn't realize it would be weird. You're my best friend, Darcy."

"You're my best friend, too," I sighed. "And I forgive you. I know you didn't mean to hurt me and I apologize for not talking about it earlier and making things go back to normal between us."

"No, you shouldn't apologize," Tonks started, shaking her head and held her hands on the table before her. "I know what you're going through and I know that I hurt you. I know what it feels like because Remus loved you when he and I were dating. It was stupid of me to kiss him back. I only thought that he would feel something for me. And I'm sorry, Remus, for putting you in this awkward position."

"It's not a big deal."

I looked at Lupin, who drank calmly and coolly. "I know that you two love each other very much," Tonks said. "And I won't ever try to break you two up ever again or do anything that would jeopardize your relationship in any way."

"I trust you," I nodded. "Until you give me a reason not to."

Tonks and I stood up at the same time and wrapped our arms around each other.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You feel better, don't you?" Lupin asked me as we walked up the path to Hogwarts again. Our fingers were laced and he swung our hands back and forth, smirking.

"A little bit, yes," I admitted, smiling at him. "It feels nice knowing that I've got my best friend back."

"Am I your best friend?" he said.

"Of course you are. You know everything about me."

He swiftly placed a soft kiss on my cheek and I blushed as some students trekking down to Hogsmeade or back up to the castle stared at us. "You know what's coming up, don't you?" he cleared his throat and spoke quietly. "Tomorrow night?"

I frowned. "The full moon."

"Yes. And I will be in the Shrieking Shack."

"But you took your potion," I protested. "I made it all up a week ahead of time! You've taken it… haven't you?"

"Yes, I took it," he answered me with a forced smile. "I just don't like you seeing me as a werewolf. I still haven't forgotten what I did to you a few years ago."

My shoulder with the scars twitched and Lupin glanced at it. "The scars don't bother me. How many times do I have to tell you? If we're going to be together for a while, you're going to have to get used to the idea of staying indoors while transforming. You won't hurt me or yourself if you've taken your potion."

"I know, but – come on, Darcy," he sighed loudly. "Just let me transform out there. You shouldn't have to see me like that. It's gross –"

"It's not gross!" I interrupted. "So don't say that again! You know I'm fine with you being a werewolf. Has it ever bothered me?"

"No, thank God." He hesitated. "Has it ever bothered you?"

"The only thing that bothers me is that it hurts you when you transform," I told him shyly. "I don't like seeing you in pain like that."

"But you'll be there the next morning to take care of me, won't you?"

"You know I will."

He pecked my cheek again. "Good. Now, I've been thinking," he said thoughtfully and I looked up at him. He looked awfully tired and as he began talking, I found myself completely zoned out. He shouldn't have been out of bed the day before a full moon. I knew how tired and sore he always was the week leading up to it and I felt bad. In the middle of speaking, I cut across him.

"Do you want to go to bed?"

He gave me a blank look as we stepped into Hogwarts, shedding our hats and scarves and gloves. "Darcy, it's five thirty." He blinked a few times. "Were you listening to anything I said?"

"Well, no," I blushed and he chuckled. "But I mean, you should be resting, not outside when it's this cold. Do you want to go to bed?"

"No, I think I am able to stay up a little longer, love," he replied and I nodded, looking away and blushing. "You didn't hear a single thing I said?"

"No. I was zoned out."

"I'm used to it. You did it in class all the time."

"Did not!" I hit him playfully on the arm.

"Did too!" he grinned.

"How would you know?"

"Because I always watched you in class," he smirked and I laughed, wrapping my arm around his waist. "For some reason, you were always staring at me when you were 'zoned out'."

"How could I focus on lessons when I had such a handsome teacher?"

That time, Lupin's cheeks turned a red and it was my turn to smirk. I smiled all the way back to our quarters because I was truly, honestly happy.

My relationship with Lupin couldn't have been going any better