Chapter 21

Remus hadn't given his ex-girlfriend, Camille, much thought since he and Sirius had gotten together. He couldn't really remember what he had ever seen in her. It seemed like ages ago. She would usually look uncomfortable and avoid eye contact whenever they passed each other in the corridors, and Remus found that he didn't much care.

One day, however, in early March, she walked up to him after lunch. She cast a quick glance around to check that Remus was alone.

"Hi, Remus," she said, fiddling with the cuff of her shirt.

"Hello, Camille," Remus replied with a kind smile.

"I, um, wanted to talk to you about something..."

Sirius caught up with Remus at that moment and stopped abruptly at the sight of Camille. His lips tightened in a thin line and she didn't look any happier about his presence than he with hers.

"Yes?" said Remus, seemingly oblivious to the cold air between the two others.

"Well..." she said and scowled at Sirius, trying to signal to him that he was intruding on a private conversation.

Sirius stepped closer to Remus and glared back at her, making it very clear that he had absolutely no intention of leaving Remus alone with her.

"I wanted to tell you that I broke it off with Craig..."

"Oh," said Remus, not knowing if he was supposed to say I'm sorry or good for you. There was an awkward silence.

"I thought I owe you an apology. I wasn't very nice to you. I didn't... I mean... I've realized that I was an idiot for letting you go. You're so much better than he ever was."

Sirius let out a bark-like contemptuous laughter. "Took you long enough!"

Camille hesitantly reached out for Remus' hand but Sirius jerked him away by his robes and she pulled her hand back.

"I just wanted to say that if you ever..." she cast a fleeting glance at Sirius.

Sirius' hands curled into fists and he took a swift step in her direction. "Excuse me," he growled into her face, "have you not SEEN me standing here? Are you completely devoid of tact or are you just plain stupid?"

"Calm down, Padfoot!" said Remus and pulled him back.

"You don't own him, Black!" she spat.

"You have SOME NERVE coming here, hitting on my boyfriend right in front of me! And after what you've done to him - YOU RETARDED BINT!"

"Sirius, BEHAVE!" scolded Remus and got a firm grip on his jumper with both hands, keeping his fuming boyfriend back.

"Camille, I'm sorry, but I'm really happy where I am, and that's not going to change."

She nodded. "I thought as much. No harm in trying, though, is there."

Sirius glared at her as if there really was.

"How did he take it?" asked Remus.

She shrugged. "Not too well. Not that I think he cared that much about me, but I don't think he liked the idea of being dumped. He was kind of possessive. He could be really mean, too."

"Remus, we need to get going," said Sirius, tugging at him. Remus ignored him.

"I'm sorry about that. Good thing you got out of it," he said.

She bit her lip and took a small step closer. "He scares me sometimes..."

"What do you mean? Why?" asked Remus concerned.

"He says some really nasty things, sometimes, him and that group he hangs around..."

"What do they say, Camille?"

"You know, badmouthing Muggle-borns, Muggles -" she said, ticking off on her fingers, "- blood traitors, Gryffindors, Dumbledore, and so on. And all that talk about the Dark Arts..."

"Have you heard anything that can incriminate them?" asked Remus, frowning.

She shook her head. "Not exactly. When they look like they're discussing things, they always clam up when I get near."

Sirius stepped up to her and she winched. "Camille," he said in an almost whisper, his hostility momentarily forgotten, "is Regulus part of that group?" He already knew the answer, but he felt he needed confirmation.

She nodded slowly.

Sirius stepped back, sighing and tried to hide the hurt on his face. Remus grasped his hand and gave it a consoling squeeze.

"Do you think Bracken will leave you alone?" Remus asked Camille.

"Yeah. He didn't seem that upset..."

"But you're afraid, anyway, that he might try something?"

"Maybe. A little bit."

"Right. Listen, Camille, if he threatens you, come straight to me and I'll deal with it, okay?"

She looked surprised and grateful at the same time. "Really? You'd do that?"

Remus nodded. "Of course. And Sirius too - won't you, Padfoot?" he said and squeezed his hand again.

Sirius groaned. "Well, all right," he muttered, looking down at his feet. "But only for you, Moony."

Remus smiled and showed him with a deep kiss that he had absolutely no reason to be jealous, and Sirius melted completely.

"All right," he said again. "We're stupid Gryffindors, after all."

"I love spring," said Remus, gazing out over the lake. He was sitting with Sirius at their favourite secluded spot by the Black Lake, The Forbidden Forest behind them and the magnificent Scottish mountains towering up behind the shore in front of them.

"So do I. Everything's so fresh and new. It's beautiful."

Remus nodded.

"Remus... "

"Mmm?"

"Have you thought about what's going to happen after we finish here?" asked Sirius.

"I was sort of counting on us staying together..." Remus said, a smile pulling at his lips.

"Yeah - of course! I mean more specific. Where are we going to live? What are we going to do?"

"You're right. We should start thinking about that. I don't really know, Padfoot. It's not going to be easy. None of us have any money or family to help us get started."

"My Uncle Alphard left me some gold in his will. It's not an awful lot, but probably enough for a down payment on a flat or something."

"You should save that. It's your gold."

"Shut it, Moony! Why on earth should I do that? I want to put it to good use, and I can't imagine a better one."

"You know it will be difficult for me to keep a job. Not many will employ a werewolf. I'm afraid I'm going to be a burden for you."

"Don't start on that. You will NEVER EVER be a burden for me! I know you don't like it, but I would love to take care of you. I wouldn't mind even if you didn't make a knut and I had to work night and day to keep us afloat. I would do anything. You know that. I wouldn't even care if we had to live on the streets. As long as I have you. It's the only thing that really matters."

Remus smiled and kissed Sirius' temple. "I feel the same way. But I don't think it will come down to that. I could probably get a Muggle job."

"It would be a waste of your talents, though. It's SO unfair, Moony. It makes me so angry!"

"I know. But don't get yourself worked up about that. Like you said - the only thing that really matters, is that we're together."

Sirius leaned into Remus and lowered his head to his shoulder. Remus put an arm around him and rested his chin on Sirius' head. They sat like that for a long time until Sirius broke the silence.

"Remus?"

"Yes?"

"I'm... I'm scared."

"What? You're the bravest person I know! What are you scared of? The future? "

"I'm scared of losing you," he whispered.

"You don't have to be. You will never lose me."

"You can't guarantee that."

"I can guarantee that I'll never leave you. No matter what stupid things you might do."

"But something could happen. You might... die or something."

"Sirius, stop that. That can happen to anybody at any time. Death is the only thing that's certain in life. But I really have no plans on going anytime soon, so don't worry. I'm young and you're taking good care of me on full moons, so it's very unlikely that I should drop dead all of a sudden."

"Hmmmm..."

"Padfoot, it's a completely irrational thing to fear."

"I know. But I can't help it. It keeps eating away at me. It's always there underneath all the happiness."

Remus turned Sirius' head and cupped it with his hands. "I'm not going anywhere, all right? I'll never leave you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"How can I be sure?"

"I always keep my promises. Prongs said so, remember? And when is Prongs ever wrong?"