Epilogue

It was spring, and the weather was perfect. Or at the very least, as perfect as English weather could get.

Remus was resting on his favorite wooden bench on his favorite hill just on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole. He liked this particular spot for a few reasons, for one the view. To his right he could just make out the tall and crooked architecture of the Burrow, facing forward if he strained his werewolf eyes hard enough he could make out the small and peacefull village, and to his left some ways away was the Lovegood house. It was a perfect spot to sit and contemplate on his life, on the bench decorated with the many intricate depictions of moons and stars that Luna had painted many years ago.

Remus smiled at the thought of his wife. His incredible, intelligent, kind, and beautiful wife. His.

He'd never thought that he'd be so lucky to have been able to call something so beautiful his own. By some kind twist of fate, Remus had been granted her. For a while many years ago he'd thought that he'd lost her permanently, although that was many years ago and a time that Remus rarely thought on those few dark months. It was brief, and long in the past, a striking difference to the loveliness that was his life now.

It hadn't been all easy of course, as any relationship it had taken work and dedication, but for Luna Remus had been willing to do anything. It was incredible to think how far they'd come.

It was to Remus' surprise that not long after he'd proposed to Luna that Remus had finally gotten a response on his manuscript. He remembered the shock when he'd opened the letter to find that there were actually people who wanted to help him publish his book and what's more, pay him a hefty pound in advanced. Remus very well may have remained still in shock had Luna not hugged him and cheered in congratulations.

Together, he and Luna had agreed that rather than use the money for the wedding, which they'd already agreed would be a small and intimate affair shared only with family and close friends, they'd saved the money away. They were doing alright by themselves anyway, with Remus' and Luna's meager wages. And after having decided that once they were married they would be moving into the Lovegood House, neither of them would have to worry about paying rent anylonger, so that was a weight of their shoulders.

Remus and Luna married, and not long after Slug and Jiggers' owner died, leaving everything to Luna. Luna took on ownership of the shop gracefully and transformed it into her own. Her work had been starting to get some excitement after many had seen what she was capable of creating for Harry and Ginny's wedding, and once she had her own shop, business for Luna was booming.

Remus had been ecstatic for Luna, glad that his love was flourishing in a craft she enjoyed. It made him begin to think on what he wanted to do for a living as well. Since the publishing of his book, a steady stream of money was coming in, and he was still working on the day to day at Flourish and Botts as well as the occasional article he was asked to write for The Daily Prophet and The Quibbler.

Remus' calling didn't come to him until one night when he'd been forced to go through his "fan mail" by Luna that he came across something interesting. He'd received a letter from a young wizard who'd been bitten by a werewolf as a young boy, similar to Remus. In his letter, the young man thanked Remus for writing his book as it had helped him work his way through his understanding of who was now. The boy had expressed his wish that he'd had such a book when he was younger to help guide him after having been cast out from his family. It was as Remus read this letter that it occurred to Remus that he could have done something better.

After many nights of encouragement and consultation with Luna, Remus decided to get to work on opening a school: a school for werewolves bitten young in an attempt to help guide them through their new existences as werewolves and perhaps prepare them for Hogwarts. Remus spent countless nights writing drafts and drafts of proposals for The Ministry, and finally after a year of work and convincing, and with support from Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus was allowed to create his school for young unwanted werewolves.

The school was constructed and with Bill as his partner, Remus taught. The two men offered the young werewolves a warm place to sleep, good food, education, safety, love, and guidance. It did not take long after Bill and Remus put the word out that the school was ready that a stream of young scared werewolves came to them, eager for a place to belong. Remus and Bill were, what one could call the headmasters of the school but they were also professors teaching their students how to control their accidental magic, some basics necessary for their success upon entering Hogwarts, and of course the many intricacies of what it meant to be a werewolf. Bill and Remus even managed to bring in frequent guest professors such as Luna, Kingsley, Harry, and others who had something to offer. Remus was also starting to venture into finding homes for his students outside of his school. So far he'd been successful twice, and soon to be a third time as he was currently in the process of helping Kingsley Shacklebolt and his wife adopt one of his younger students.

It was surreal for Remus to think that little over a decade ago, Remus was nothing more than a poor and lonely werewolf, fighting in a war he thought he had little chance of surviving and even if he did that he had no prospects for a happy life. He'd lost so much over the course of his life, friends, family, love, opportunities. Over a decade ago, Remus would have never believed that he would one day be the headmaster of his own school, was a published author, an occasional lecturer at Hogwarts, had more money than he knew what to do with, had helped changed magical decrees so that werewolves could be admitted to Hogwarts and attain good employment afterward, and be living in a beautiful home with his adored wife Luna Lovegood.

Speaking of Luna, the faint smell of eucalyptus drifted to his nose as well as the stronger scent of a young child, still not grown enough to have acquired a signature scent. It took a couple of minutes, but finally as the scents grew stronger Remus opened his eyes to see Luna climbing up the hill, her hand grasping that of a much smaller and younger figure besides her. Remus smiled at the sight of his wife and daughter approaching, and grinned after his little girl caught sight of him and laughed excitedly, letting her mother's hand go in favor of running wildly up the hill to where Remus waited for her with outstretched arms.

Remus caught his daughter in his arms and held her close to his chest, the younger girl laughing and squirming in his hold.

"Hello, Poppy darling," Remus growled playfully into his daughter's belly. The girl squealed with laughter, her long blonde hair swirling every which way, not unlike her mother's.

"Papa," Poppy laughed, her small hands gripping the hair on Remus' head. Remus carefully removed her hands from his hair and settled Poppy on his lap.

"Were you and mummy on a stroll?" Remus stared mesmerized at Poppy, still a little wave of pride in his heart at seeing his own amber eyes looking back at him in his daughter's lovely face.

Poppy nodded. "On a quest to find you mummy said."

"A quest, eh?" Remus asked, impressed his four year old could pronounce the word correctly.

"We were wondering where papa had run off to." Luna sighed happily, plopping herself on the bench next to Remus, her head resting on Remus' shoulder and her hand enveloping his after he placed it affectionately on her thigh.

"Just needed a little breather." Remus explained, kissing Poppy's forehead who then proceeded to wiggle out of his grasp to entertain herself picking flowers on the hill within her parent's view. "Were the others wondering where I was?"

"I think they were too distracted chasing after Victoire and James." Luna giggled.

"They're little hell-raisers." Remus chuckled. "How are Adam and Bee?" Remus was asking after two of his students who didn't have homes or relatives to go to for the Easter holiday, so Remus and Bill had decided to have them be included to the Sunday lunch being held at the Lovegood residence amongst their own friends and family.

"They're fine, having just as much fun with the other children. Bee's stuffed herself silly with jam crackers though, so I'd prepare for some belly aching tonight."

Remus grinned, "Do you think she'll learn her lesson?"

Luna smiled and tilted her head to look up at him. "Absolutely not."

Remus smiled softly down at his wife. It seemed not so long ago that she'd been nineteen and they had married on the start of a new year, two years after they'd first begun their romantic relationship. Luna was twenty-eight now, and as beautiful a woman as she'd ever been. Remus had been unsurprised to see what a wonderful mother she had become, and yet he was still in awe of her every day he saw her with Poppy. He couldn't believe there had ever been a time when he'd thought he could live without her. All that he and Luna had now had been a labour of love, nurtured and cultivated by both of them.

Luna raised an eyebrow questioningly, her left hand raising to touch his cheek. "What is it darling?"

Remus took her hand in his and kissed her palm. "Nothing. Just thinking about what a fool I was all those years ago."

Luna's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, confusion marring her face before realization hit her. "Oh, you mean those few months in which you thought you could live without me? Yes, you were quite the fool."

Remus laughed and leaned in close to press his lips to hers, only pulling away after he'd let Poppy squeal in disgust for a few moments.

"Shall we be heading back then? Before we let those Potters and Weasley's tear our house down?"

Luna laughed. "I think so."

"Let's go Poppy." Remus stood, standing and smiling at his daughter grinning up at him amongst the flowers and tall grass.

Luna sighed as she stood, accepting Remus' offered hand gratefully to help her stand. Remus pressed a kiss to the side of Luna's head and wrapped his arm around her as they followed Poppy to the other hills were the Lovegood house stood, his hand brushing against Luna's belly, only barely beginning to swell with her second pregnancy.

Remus smiled softly to himself, in awe of how it had turned out that he was someone good things happened to after all.

oOo

Finite. My hands are shaking as these last few words are written. Thank you so much to any and all of you who took the time to read, favorite, and/or review this story. Your encouragement has truly been inspiring and encouraged me to continue writing more for this community. I hope that you all enjoyed this story and will continue to follow me as I make my way through more stories. Read on to my final author's notes in the next post to chat a bit more and learn about my plans.