so it's my 18th birthday today! i got the tattoo i have been begging for - it's the last line of the Great Gatsby on my shoulder blade: "so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." i also bought my first pack of cigarettes! i was too excited. the old man selling them to me sang happy birthday and i almost died. let's see... my brother rolled me a joint for my birthday.. he's a funny boy, but i love him to death. i hope you enjoy this filler chapter (:

THE REUNION.

Darcy woke up around six in the morning. She laid in bed for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling. She had gone to sleep early last night, probably around nine. It was the first time in a long time she had slept so peacefully all throughout the night. But since the full moon was now gone, she knew that Lupin would be back soon and that meant the five of them would be leaving very shortly.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had already spoken to Ollivander. Darcy, not approving of the search for the Deathly Hallows, wanted no part of it, respectfully. She was more focused on the Horcruxes, ready to end the mission and end Voldemort and his army for good. That brought up another thing. Would destroying Voldemort mean destroying his army?

Of course, after the First Wizarding War, the Death Eaters who hadn't been sent to Azkaban lied about being controlled by Voldemort unwillingly. If Voldemort was dead, the Ministry would be sending wizards and witches to Azkaban daily. The Death Eaters were sure to lie low, right? Darcy was worried that they might still actually fight and if that was the case, her and her friends could not take on a whole army. But as long as Voldemort was gone… It didn't matter what happened to her after that because anyone could defeat a Death Eater… right?

Darcy closed her eyes again and sighed. She wanted to go back to sleep and sleep as much as she could before they were ready to leave, but there was a loud bang and Darcy sat up, realizing she was not the only one awake. It was probably Bill or Ron looking for something to eat, but then she remembered that Ron didn't wake up until around noon.

She stood up quickly, grabbing her wand just in case it was an intruder. As quietly as she could, she tiptoed to the door, opened it silently, and made her way to the top of the stairs. She couldn't see anyone in the kitchen from the staircase, which led her to believe they were now in the living room.

Darcy jumped down the stairs and held her wand out towards the living room. "Don't move!"

Whoever was there was bent down, facing away from Darcy, picking up the stack of Hermione's books they had dropped all over the floor. They froze in place and Darcy looked them over. There was something oddly familiar about the back of the body she was observing. The wide, broad shoulders and the thin waist. The short, but muscular legs that were covered by – what looked like – brand new blue jeans. Slowly, she lowered her wand and her eyes widened.

"Darcy?"

The red-headed man rose and held his hands up in sign of surrender. When he turned and noticed Darcy's wand wasn't pointed at him anymore, he put his hands on his hips and smiled brightly. Charlie Weasley was standing before Darcy, looking fantastic, as if he hadn't aged a bit. To be fair, it hadn't even been that long since they last saw each other. A few months, but Darcy had definitely changed and aged and Charlie noticed it right away.

Darcy looked much older and terribly exhausted. Her green eyes were not as bright as he last remembered them and her cheeks were sunken in. Charlie could compare her to Sirius Black's mugshot – almost vampiric. Her skin was waxy from not eating properly and due to lack of sleep. Her chin was pointed and her face was thin. Though she wasn't ugly, she wasn't the prize beauty Charlie thought her to be anymore.

"Charlie," she breathed. Charlie held his arms out to hug her, but she didn't move towards him. His smile faded quickly as she took a step backwards, shaking her head. "What are you doing here? You – you aren't supposed to – who told you I was here?"

Charlie moved closer to her cautiously, not wanting to scare her. She reminded him of a puppy who was frightened much to easily. "Doesn't matter," he replied, backing her into the kitchen and up against a counter. He gave her enough room to run from him, but she didn't move. She pressed herself up against the counter, holding onto it so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. "Darcy, you have no idea how worried I was about you. We all thought you were –" He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence.

"You shouldn't have come here," she said to Charlie and he looked at his feet, quite upset. She hesitated. "I think you should go. Tell everyone that I'm alive. Please don't tell them I was here. Don't tell anyone that Bill and Fleur were involved in this."

Charlie paused. "How come?" he shrugged. "Why can't anyone tell me what's going on?"

"I told you I can't," said Darcy, shaking her head. "It's secret, Charlie, but I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." Then she hastily added, "Not from me."

"I thought you'd be at least happy to see me," argued Charlie, swallowing the lump in his throat. Darcy watched him. He could hardly keep eye contact with her and it broke her heart. She didn't want to be telling him all this stuff. "I thought we were best friends and when you just up and left – I didn't know you'd be gone for so long. Everyone is looking for you, Darcy. Why can't you just tell me?"

Darcy eyes flooded with tears. She wasn't about to cry in front of Charlie – she didn't want to appear weak to one of her good friends. "I wish I could tell you, Charlie, believe me." She bit down on her lip. "But I just can't."

Charlie put his hands on his hips and took a step away from Darcy, finally understanding that there was no way she was going to crack. She must have given the same speech a million times. But then why was Lupin returning. Why did she accept Lupin into their group doing whatever the hell they were doing? Why Lupin and not him? "I get it," he nodded. "I'll go."

Charlie turned, but Darcy grabbed onto his hand. "Don't. Not yet."

His eyebrows raised. Darcy threw her arms around Charlie's neck and Charlie smiled, hugging her tightly around her small waist. It was so much different. Darcy could have been a completely different person. A smaller and sharper body type, a more serious personality – he didn't like this new change. He was worried that stress was taking over Darcy and that soon, she'd just fall over dead one day because of it. "God, I've been so worried about you," he sighed, kissing both her temples, her cheeks, and then her forehead.

Darcy giggled softly as the smooth feel of Charlie's lips tickled her slightly. "I missed you so much," she laughed. Charlie lifted her feet off the ground and spun her around in the air, making her smile blissfully. When Charlie finally set her back down, he kept his arms around her waist, pressing her to him. "Charlie? Are you going to let me go?"

He blushed and laughed quietly, retracting his arms quickly. "Er – sorry," he ran a hand through his hair. "I just missed you is all."

Darcy smiled and then pursed her lips, seeing how embarrassed Charlie was. Her eyes widened as if remembering something. Charlie watched her bound off to the back of the kitchen, where there was some tea ready to make. "Fancy a cuppa?" she asked Charlie in the most posh accent he ever heard.

He smiled and sat down at the kitchen table, nodding. Charlie watched as Darcy, mostly without magic, made his cup of tea. She tapped the kettle twice with her wand, making it boil quickly, and then poured it in a cup, dropping a tea bag in it and letting it sit. She then poured herself a cup and brought both mugs over to the table. Darcy sat across from Charlie and let her tea cool down slightly before sipping at it.

She scrunched her nose. "I've never really liked tea," she admitted, laughing to herself. "But it's all I've been drinking lately."

Charlie nodded, fingering the lip of the cup in his hands. "Where have you been?"

Darcy stared at him and smiled. Charlie knew she wasn't going to answer. "You'll never know," she replied dramatically.

Frowning, Charlie was growing frustrated. It was one thing that Darcy wasn't even telling her best friend where she had been, but she was acting like it was a complete joke. "Don't play games with me, Darcy."

Darcy's smile did not fade from her face. They stared at each other for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Don't pretend like you didn't see this coming," she told Charlie seriously. "If you were supposed to know – if I wanted you to know – I would have told you before I left. I would have come visited you to let you know, but I didn't. I wasn't about to tell you before leaving and I'm not about to tell you now. So let me ask you a question now."

Charlie looked down at his cup of tea and drank it slowly.

"How did you find me? How did you know I was here?" she asked. "Bill told you, didn't he?"

Charlie shook his head. "It wasn't him. It wasn't anyone here." He paused. Darcy leaned in closer to him, ready to hear who told him. "I can't tell you that, either."

Darcy licked her lips. "I don't think you understand, Charlie," she answered. "No one can know that I'm here. If someone finds out and tells more people that I've been spotted here, I could get everyone killed. Death Eaters are out looking for me and my brother and my friends everywhere right now. If they knew Bill and Fleur kept us here, they'd be dead. Do you understand me?"

He nodded slightly.

"So you have to tell me," Darcy said, taking his hand from across the table. "Who told you, Charlie?"

"Tell me what's going on and I'll tell you who told me you were here."

A tear fell from the corner of Darcy's eye. "I swore not to tell!" she protested. "I'm protecting you right now, Charlie, okay?"

"Protecting me? Keeping me in the dark while my brother is off with you, endangering his life or whatever, is not protecting me!"

Darcy groaned. "You don't understand!" she shouted again.

Charlie stood up, knocking his chair off its feet. Darcy remained calm, sipping at her watery tea and looking straight ahead, not meeting Charlie's eyes. "Then help me understand," he pleaded, placing his hands on the table. "I need to know what's going to happen to you and everyone else. I need to know what's going on."

There was a popping noise outside and Darcy grabbed her wand off the table, jumping to her feet and pointing it at the door. Charlie did the same, waiting for someone to walk through the door, unsure of whom. When no one entered, Darcy moved slyly towards the door and looked through the peephole.

"Oh my God!" she screeched and she whipped the door open. Charlie followed her outside, where Remus Lupin was convulsing in the sand, his shirt bloodstained, his luggage lying next to him. "He's been splinched – Charlie – go – get the bag – by the books you knocked over."

Lupin closed his eyes and Darcy wiped the blood that was bubbling from his mouth. He didn't seem to recognize that it was Darcy beside him and he certainly didn't realize that Charlie was with her. He twitched madly and Darcy's shaky hands reached in the 'bigger-on-the-inside' bag and pulled out a small bottle of dittany, the same stuff Hermione used on Ron.

Darcy waved her wand in the air above Lupin and it tore his shirt in half. She ripped it off his body and unstoppered the dittany, pouring it slowly over the large gash in Lupin's torso, near his diaphragm. There was a sizzling noise and Charlie watched as Darcy worked her healing magic. They both knew that Lupin was far too weak to be Apparating anywhere. Usually, he needed at least a full day's rest before moving after a full moon. Lupin closed his eyes and breathed heavily out of his mouth.

Lupin's injury seemed to be healing itself and Charlie was very impressed with Darcy's ability to work under a large amount of pressure. Although she looked frightened, she did an excellent job at keeping her cool. He crossed his arms and held the door open as Darcy stood and waved her wand in a figure eight movement. Lupin's body rose from the ground, floating next to Darcy and through the door. His arms and legs hung limp. She let Lupin down on the couch, fetched some bandages out of Hermione's bag and proceeded to wrap his torso up so the bleeding would stop.

"Bloody idiot," whispered Darcy when she finished taking care of Lupin's wound. "Stupid, bloody idiot. Charlie, can you get his suitcase from outside and bring it in, please?"

Charlie nodded and did as she told him. Darcy sat beside Lupin for a little while longer, stroking his hair and noticing all the extra scars and scratch marks he had returned with. Darcy would take care of those at a later time. Right then, she wanted Lupin to rest. Charlie brought Lupin's suitcase over to her and Darcy instructed him to put on the armchair across the room.

"Thank you," she breathed. She kept running her fingers through Lupin's hair, but he was not reacting. He was definitely out cold for the time being. "He's an idiot, you know. He was much too weak to be going anywhere."

Charlie sat down in a chair and watched as Darcy made sure Lupin was okay. She went back and forth, putting a cold washcloth on his head and cleaning up his scratches before he woke up. She was gentle with him, very gentle.

"Did he tell you?" Darcy breathed, meeting Charlie's eyes, her fingers still combing Lupin's hair. "He told you I was here, didn't he?"

Charlie shook his head quickly and cleared his throat. "No, it wasn't him."

"Then it was Tonks, wasn't it?" Darcy knew it had to be. Charlie didn't answer, knowing Darcy already knew that she had guessed correctly. Who else could it have been?

"She didn't want to, Darcy, believe me," he added quickly when she looked away. "I – I kind of forced it out of her. I shouted – I didn't mean to."

Darcy nodded slowly and pursed her lips. "Did she tell you anything else?"

"She didn't know anything else."

Darcy looked Lupin over again. So he hadn't caved. He hadn't told Tonks everything they were doing. He kept the secret. He had acknowledged he was now part of the group and he knew that he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about the mission. Darcy smiled weakly. "Charlie?" He hummed. "You can't tell anyone we were here."

"I – I won't. I swear. I promise."

"You could be seriously hurt," she told him sternly. "They would come after you if they knew you had some type of contact with me. They'd go after your family and Tonks. Charlie, you don't understand –"

"Do you understand?" interrupted Charlie. Darcy's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at him. "I don't think you understand how much danger you're in. You're too busy worrying about everyone else being killed when you're five seconds away from death constantly."

"Look," Darcy said angrily, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "I know what I'm dealing with. I understand that I could die at any given moment, but that doesn't mean I need other people dying because of me, too."

"We're trying to protect you!" Charlie retorted. "Dying is a risk we're all willing to take if it keeps you safe in the end!"

"You don't have to protect me!" Darcy scoffed. "Just don't! I'm out doing this because I'm trying to protect you! And your family! And the world! Just let me protect you, okay?"

"How come I can't help you?" sighed Charlie. "You let Remus. Why not me?"

Darcy frowned, unable to answer that. Well, she was. But how was she supposed to stand there and explain to Charlie that she was completely and utterly in love with Remus Lupin and couldn't live without him by her side? How was she supposed to make Charlie accept the fact that she chose Lupin over him? Instead of replying, she shrugged. "He's been here through the whole thing. Every year that I've been in mortal danger, Remus has been right by my side. He knows what may happen to me – or all of us, for that matter – and still insists on fighting."

Charlie's eyes flicked to Lupin, whose eyes were closed and who was now breathing normally and slowly. "You really love him, don't you?"

She hesitated and looked at the ground. "Yeah, I really do."

Charlie licked his lips and took that as his cue to leave. He walked up to Darcy and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and swallowed loudly. "I should go," he whispered and Darcy pursed her lips. "Maybe you shouldn't tell anyone I was here."

"Okay."

He touched her chin, lifting her head. Charlie pressed his lips chastely to Darcy's forehead and they lingered on her skin for longer than usual. He then rested his forehead against her's and Darcy saw tears in his blue eyes. "Be careful, Darcy," he said with a shaky voice. "Please come home to me soon."

Darcy could make no promises. "I'll try."

Charlie pulled away from Darcy and she grabbed his hands, kissing his cheek before he walked quickly to the front door, opened it and disappeared.

Lupin woke up in extreme pain. He winced and looked down to his torso, which felt like it was on fire. He noticed that his shirt was missing and he was wrapped in a beige bandage. It was bloodstained, but still worked wonders. He ran a hand through his hair shakily and looked around, stopping when he saw the scene next to him.

On the floor beside the couch was Darcy, lying in the sunlight being casted through the window. Her red hair was all over the place and he noticed that it was much longer than he thought it was. Darcy normally put her hair up because, while "on the road," she didn't shower much. She was very insecure of the fact her hair was dirty all the time, but Lupin didn't care. His wasn't much better. No one's was.

Lupin reached down, touching Darcy's warm hand and trying to shake her awake. She gasped, sitting up and hitting her head on the corner of the coffee table. Lupin felt her pain. She cried out and held a hand to her head, her eyes watery. She bit down on her lip and breathed out deeply, rubbing her head and noticing that Lupin was barely awake.

"You're awake," she muttered. "How are you feeling?"

"Er – did you do this?" he asked her, nodding to his torso.

Darcy flushed. "That? Yeah – you, uh – you splinched yourself, but Hermione had some left over dittany. Is it better? Does it hurt? I can change it if you want – " Darcy put a hand on his chest, about to take the bandage off and change it, but Lupin shook his head and she flushed a bright red, removing her hand.

"I'm fine. It's fine, Darcy." He smiled weakly and took her hand in his. "Thank you."

"I – I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She cleared her throat, but did not move away from Lupin. He glanced at her lips and Darcy certainly noticed. "You know – so we could – move on – but after you rest up, of course. I know how sick you get. I cleaned your scratches, by the way."

Lupin winked. "I can always count on you."

"I knew you'd come back," smiled Darcy. "I knew you would."

"I told you I would," breathed Lupin. "I wouldn't lie to you, you know."

"I know."

"Do you?"

Lupin smiled at her sincerely, taking in the beauty of her. The green eyes so much like his son's and the red hair so much like her mother's. "Yeah," she replied.

"Not a day went by when I didn't think about you." There was a pregnant pause and Darcy sighed contently. "And I've been thinking – I think a lot, lately – I understand that… have you thought…? What if we don't… you know, win?"

She was silent.

"I've accepted the possibility of that, Darcy. But I want to continue on with you because I'd rather… die… with you," he stammered, struggling to finish his sentence. "Than live without you."

Darcy placed her hand on top of his. His hands were cold, freezing. It always happened after a transformation. Lupin's body temperature would drain, but he'd sweat like a pig. Darcy didn't mind the clammy hands. In fact, she loved them. They were calloused and worn out as if he had worked every single day of his life.

"I missed you." Lupin touched his lips to her hand, kissing her fingers. Darcy felt chills run up and down her spine as each kiss was electric.

"Do we kiss now?" asked Darcy hesitantly and Lupin smiled at her.

"Come here," he chuckled, pulling her gently towards him. As he leaned in slowly, asking permission with her eyes, Darcy heard the clunking of feet running down the staircase. She closed her eyes and pulled away, looking over her shoulder to see her brother standing in the doorway to the sitting room.

"Remus –" he stuttered. "You're back."

Lupin nodded at him, saluting Harry without saying a word.

"Um, I heard voices," Harry scratched the back of his head embarrassingly. "I didn't know who it was… But if you two are done and rested, we've got a plan we want to speak with you about. We're planning on carrying it out soon, if that's all right?"

Darcy nodded and stood up, helping Lupin to his feet. She wanted to move him to a bed so he could be comfortable, as the couch was nothing but an itchy, old rock. He limped, his arm around Darcy's shoulders and her arm around his waist, supporting him. He was much heavier than she and she struggled, but gladly helped him up the stairs with Harry making sure no one fell.

Harry led them to the bedroom he and Ron were sharing and before opening the door, he patted Lupin on the shoulder and grinned. "Glad to have you back."