Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters, creations, and such belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing except Eve Pankhart, Dawn Pankhart, Mrs. Sternstone, Anna Twitter, Cynthia Young, Derek Gotter, and any other character not of J.K. Rowlng's creation that are original characters of my own creation, and my plot idea for this fanfiction, which comes from my imagination. The Phantom of the Opera and all its characters, creations, and such belong to Gaston Leroux and/or Andrew Lloyd Webber. I have not written this fanfiction to benefit me in any way, shape, or form; I am merely using my imagination in addition to J.K. Rowling's and Gaston Leroux's and/or Andrew Lloyd Webber's characters, creations, and such to produce this fanfiction for my entertainment and enjoyment, nothing more.
Author's Note: I'd like to take the time to thank everyone for bearing with me as my updates aren't being posted as frequently as they used to be. Life is getting a little hectic and busy, but I will continue to try to post as often as I can; for right now, and perhaps for the next three weeks, the updates may only come once every other week. The week following those three weeks should not be as busy for me, so I'll try to write as much as I can in that time in order to be able to post weekly again. Once again, I'd like to thank all my loyal readers for continuing to favorite this fanfiction and put it on their alerts, as well as for reading and reviewing. Thank you all!
There have been over twenty-three thousand hits to this fanfiction!
Publish Date: Sunday, October 26, 2008.
Written in the Stars
Chapter Thirty-Six: Trial Week: Day Two: Christmas Bliss
Eve's hand trembled lightly as she applied a light layer of pink lipstick to her puckered mouth. She needed to look her best for Remus that day, especially because it was Christmas day. The two had agreed the night before to meet at the Room of Requirement, where they could have some alone time to exchange gifts and, at least Eve hoped, snuggle, kiss, and get used to being a couple all over again.
When she was satisfied with the make-up she applied- mascara, eyeliner, and shimmering eyeshadow to highlight her eyes; light pink, glossy lipstick; and a light spritz of perfume that smelled of pine special for the holiday- she turned this way and that before the mirror to check her outfit. She wore a cream-colored, soft turtle-neck sweater that hugged her frame and a knee-length maroon skirt that had several underskirts to make it seem to float around her legs. The ballet-style slippers that adorned her feet were the same color as her sweater.
"Ooh, don't we look nice this morning?" Lily noticed as she stepped out of the shower in her crimson robe.
Eve glanced up in the mirror and smiled at her fellow Gryffindor's reflection. "Thanks. I'm meeting with Remus this morning, so…" She gave a small wave of her hand and left it with that.
"Ah, I see. Well, go make Remus's jaw clatter to the floor," Lily said with a wink.
After giving the witch a hug, Eve grabbed her present to Remus and practically skipped to the Room of Requirement. She paced by it three times, imagining what she'd like the room to appear as, and waited within until she heard a knock at the door.
Walking slowly over to the door, Eve drew in a shaky, nervous breath as she smoothed down her sweater and turned the doorknob.
Remus lowered his hand from the door and felt his face fall from one that was looking forward to meeting with Eve to one of awe. Merlin, he didn't realize she could be even more beautiful than she already was! Her make-up looked natural and flawless, and her outfit was adorable- and he couldn't help but notice that she had a cute taste in fashion whenever she could wear her own clothes in place of her uniform and robes.
Leaning against the doorframe, Eve twirled one of her curls and welcomed with a smile, "Happy Christmas, Remus."
Remus opened his mouth, but no words would come, and he was so distracted by Eve he dropped the neatly-wrapped package in his hand, the clattering breaking his silence.
"Oi," he muttered, reaching down to pick it up as Eve covered her mouth, worrying whether the object within the package was fragile. "See what you do to me?" He lightly teased as he straightened up, adjusting the collar of his forest green button-down shirt.
She grinned before he pushed against her shoulder to lead her into the Room of Requirement while playfully exclaiming, "Quick! Get inside before my girlfriend catches us!"
Eve laughed loudly, amused by Remus's joke, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He led her backwards into the room and shut the door behind them before folding his arms around her waist and gazing down at her. "You look stunning, Eve." He ran a hand up her back and tenderly tugged at a few curls.
"Thank you." Eve wrinkled up her nose gaily and lightly nibbled on her lower lip. She bounced on the balls of her feet and her eyes sparkled with mirth as she silently egged him on to ask her…
"What is it?"
She glanced shyly up toward the ceiling, and Remus followed her line of vision until he found, dangling by a thread, a sprig of mistletoe. He swallowed loudly; he hadn't initiated a direct kiss to her mouth since moments before he confessed to her his secret; he just couldn't bring himself to force her to kiss him, or, at least, he wasn't sure if she'd have to force herself to kiss him back.
Remus lowered his warm brown eyes to her gray ones blinking hopefully up at him. He didn't want to become even more of a disappointment to her, so he slowly leaned down and… smooched the corner of her mouth.
At this, Eve was mildly disappointed, but she didn't want to pressure him into initiating an actual kiss if he didn't want to.
He pulled away from the kiss and buried his face into the curve where her shoulder met her neck, and Eve immediately forgave him. Reaching up and ruffling back his hair, she felt at that moment that his feelings were restricting and impacting him as much as they were her, and so they would need to work through them together as a team.
Eve nuzzled his ear with her nose before pulling away and holding his hands in hers. "Come on." She led him into the Room of Requirement, and Remus saw that it had been transformed into a cozy carpeted room with a dip in the floor to create a pit with multicolored and varying-sized pillows and throw blankets in front of a fireplace. Off to one side of the fireplace was a Christmas tree with twinkling white lights and a crystal star on top.
"Wow," Remus murmured as Eve stepped down into the circular pit with him. "You really outdid yourself, Eve!"
Feigning arrogance, Eve flipped her hair over one shoulder and jested, "I try." Raising up on her knees, she reached over Remus and toward the Christmas tree, beneath which her present lay.
"'Scuse me," she muttered, but Remus didn't mind in the least. In fact, he quite liked being close to Eve… Mm, especially because she smells so good… Is that… pine? Mm…
"This is for you," Eve shyly stated, her lower lip worrying between her teeth, hoping that he'd like her gift. She extended her hand to him so he could take the lumpy present.
"Nice wrap job, Evie," Remus couldn't help but tease with a smirk, waving the poorly-wrapped present in the air.
Smacking him lightly on the shoulder, she replied, "Shut up! It's a very difficult gift to wrap!"
"Relax, I'm only teasing!" Remus reassured her as he leaned against a pillow. As he unwrapped the gift, Eve pulled a throw blanket over her knees and hugged a pillow to her stomach, watching intently for his reaction.
He first unwrapped a folded portion of parchment to reveal a scratchy drawing of a slightly-lanky boy with shaggy hair and stubble who he assumed was him.
"I've been practicing a little," Eve offered quietly. Swallowing, she added, "I know it's still not great, but-"
"You're doing so well," he encouraged with a broad smile. Sure, it was a pretty poor drawing, but it was still better than the one she'd drawn of his hand when she asked her to teach him. And besides, she was trying, and it was the thought that counted, right?
"I love it. Tonight I'm going to hang it by my bed in the dormitory. Thank you."
He kissed her brow as she pointed out, "Er, there's one thing more…"
Looking down at the still-full package, he grinned. "So there is." His nimble fingers deftly undid the last string, and he pulled from the wrapping paper a memory he thought he'd never see again.
"Woofie," he whispered, and Eve smiled lightly.
"He… He missed you," she offered, using her hand to make the stuffed animal bob its head, and created little whimpers for it.
Remus chuckled and patted what was once his stuffed animal on the head. Then, the mischievous Marauder couldn't help but turn this into a playful moment by making sniffing and then growling sounds, as if the stuffed animal were the one producing them.
"Uh-oh," he said with concern in his voice. "It's been so long, he doesn't remember me!"
Eve giggled a little before Remus put on a show of the small stuffed animal pinning him down and barking at him wildly, rolling through the pit of pillows with it.
"Ah! Call off your guard dog, Eve; call him off!"
Eve threw her head back and laughed in earnest as Remus pretended to wrestle with the stuffed animal. It was particularly amusing because he was such a tall boy compared to the tiny puppy… and the latter appeared to be winning.
"Oh, Remus, stop! Too… funny!" Eve laughed as she clutched at her sides and rolled around by the edge of the pit.
Remus continued to make growling and barking noises for Woofie and cried out, "Oi, he's a yippy little fellow, isn't he?"
Eve, still in stitches, crawled over to Remus in an effort to "rescue" him from the stuffed animal, but he accidentally grabbed hold of her and flipped her over so she was lying back on pillows and he was above her. The witch's breath caught in her throat, and Remus heard her heartbeat quicken affectionately as clearly as if he had heard his own.
He was about to move off of her and apologize, but Eve tenderly reached up and caressed his stubbly jaw, smiling distractedly up at him. "Do you… Do you like your present?"
"I love my present," Remus whispered in return, gently brushing a couple of curls to the side of her face. "But… I think Woofie should stay with you."
"What?" Eve asked, her brows folding together confusedly. Hurt, she inquired, "Why?"
"Let me put it this way: I think Woofie is better displayed on a witch's bed rather than a wizard's. Do you get what I'm saying?"
With a sheepish grin, Eve replied, "Yeah, yeah, I get it; your friends would probably tease you to no end if you brought back Woofie."
Remus chuckled and, laying Woofie beside her head, assured her while stroking her chin, "Thank you for your presents; they're wonderful."
"I… I just feel bad that the only thing you're taking is my not-so-great drawing," Eve confessed embarrassedly.
Remus shook his head as if to say 'No, not at all', and then thought of something.
"No, keep Woofie," his younger self had once urged Eve.
"But… But I don't have a present for you," Eve responded, distraught.
"Well, there is something you can give me."
Smiling as he recalled what happened next, Remus rubbed noses with her and said, "Well… there is something you can give me."
Eyelashes fluttering, Eve asked, "What is it?"
"Well, maybe I could give you one and then you give me one back?"
"Well, maybe I could give you one and then you give me one back?" Remus offered.
Eve nodded her approval.
Eve bobbed her head.
"Close your eyes."
"Close your eyes."
Eve beamed before shutting her eyes, awaiting her first kiss initiated by Remus during their official relationship.
Remus smoothed his thumb tenderly over Eve's cheek and gazed down at her lovely, sweet face glowing in the firelight. He wished he could work up the courage to press his lips to hers, but his guilt held him captive and allowed him only the pleasure of pecking the side of her lips.
Eve released a small sigh of disappointment, but restrained the feeling from getting the best of her as she opened her eyes. Arching her neck, she leaned up to catch his lips with hers, cooing lightly when he reacted and kissed her in return.
"I adore your soft kisses," Eve whispered through their smooch before returning her mouth to his, feeling a smile blooming on his face.
A minute later, he caressed her side through her incredibly soft sweater and broke the kiss, grinning as he said, "And a happy Christmas to you, too! I'd wager that was the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten." He smiled down as Eve giggled modestly before telling her, "I have a little something for you, as well."
"Oh, you… you didn't have to," Eve insisted as he rose, allowing her to sit up.
"Don't be silly, Eve; I wanted to." Remus smiled gently and ran the back of his hand along the side of her face before reaching over to the lip of the pit and retrieving his gift for her.
"This…" Remus sighed as he turned the small, carefully wrapped package around in his hands. "This gift… may not be the most elaborate or… or expensive or…" He swallowed and shook his head. "But I want you to know that I put plenty of thought and time into it, so…" He gave her the green-wrapped box and sat up on a pillow, anxious for her reaction. "Happy Christmas."
A sprig of mistletoe decorated the present, and Eve grinned and wove it into her hair above her ear. "I should be getting plenty of kisses today," she winked playfully. Kissing his cheek, she told him, "I'm sure I'll love your gift," before moving to sit in his lap.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her while she gently pulled the wrapping paper off the box. On top of the box, she found a folded piece of parchment. Setting the box aside for the moment to focus on the parchment, she unfolded it and found a breath-taking drawing of her in her gown for the Yule Ball. She was perched on the steps and craning her neck as if searching for someone, and the quote, "Remus?" was scrawled in beautiful cursive writing at the bottom.
"Remus," Eve breathed in awe, turning to gaze at him over her shoulder. "Whenever did you find the time to draw this? It's beautiful!"
"I stayed up a while after we said good night last night. You looked gorgeous; I honestly couldn't help but draw you," Remus said while squeezing her in his embrace.
Blushing lightly, Eve gazed down at the drawing and whispered, "Thank you." A short time later, when she'd gazed at the drawing thoroughly, she turned and said, "I love it, thank you." After rewarding him with a kiss, she told him with a wink, as she was restating what he had before, "I'll have to hang it by my bed in the dormitory."
Chuckling, Remus told her, "I'd like very much for you to do that, Eve." He kissed her temple and handed her the box. "Here. I want to see what you think of this."
Eve smiled and held the box lightly in her hands. She opened the latch and found within a golden silk scarf wrapped around what she assumed was the gift. Eve felt Remus shift behind her and rest his chin on her shoulder, hugging her closer to him. She cooed lightly to him affectionately and snuggled back into his chest, encouraging him to continue.
Eve unraveled the package from the silk and held in her hands a brand new deck of tarot cards.
"Oh, Remus…" She gasped, allowing the silk to fall through her fingers. Noting the intricate designs of black, leafy vines decorating the back of the cards, she turned them over in her hands to find characters beautifully illustrated in black ink to personify each card.
"Oh, they're beautiful! I… I've never seen tarot cards like these before, I… I can't imagine how long it must've taken you to find them or… or how much they must've cost or… Thank you." She leaned back to kiss him, and he accepted it with a knowing smile.
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised you've never seen cards like these before. And it didn't take me very long to find them or cost very much money, as I said earlier." Eve's face folded into a thoroughly confused look, and he urged, "Look closer."
Turning slowly around, Eve looked through the cards until she came to the King of Chalices and the Queen of Chalices. Something of those two looked awfully familiar…
"Why… they look just like us…" Eve gasped loudly as a thought struck her, and she covered her mouth as she exclaimed, "Oh, Remus, you didn't!"
Remus smiled shyly and said, "Er… actually, I did."
"You… You drew all these? Remus, that's seventy-eight cards!"
"I worked on most of them when we were unofficially courting," he explained. With a grin, he jested sarcastically, "But my hands thank you for reminding them of that."
"No, it's just…" She bit her lower lip as tears stung at the backs of her eyes. "I-I can't believe you'd put so much effort into something for me, I…" She continued flipping through the cards, making all sorts of sounds of disbelief until she came upon the very last one, the one that Remus was most nervous of her seeing, if mostly for the negative reaction she could potentially have.
It was The Lovers card. On it, he'd drawn himself and Eve, radiant as ever, smiling down at the top of Remus's head as she clutched it to her collarbone. His arms encircled her waist and embraced her affectionately as he gazed out of the card as if he were the happiest wizard alive. Remus wasn't sure if drawing the two of them on The Lovers card was too forward of him, and so braced himself.
Remus gripped Eve tighter from behind and held his breath, waiting to hear what she had to say about the drawing.
"Oh," her shaky, breaking voice breathed. "Oh, Remus…"
Rubbing her sides, he quietly said, "You're… You're crying."
"Well, of course I'm crying, silly!" Eve chuckled through her tears. "Do you really expect me to be… unmoved by all these beautiful drawings? I love them! This tarot deck is so… so beautiful! And it's a one-of-a-kind deck. Oh, thank you, Remus!"
With that, she turned around in Remus's arms and fused her mouth to his, and the feeling she put into the kiss surprised the both of them. She couldn't help herself; Remus was an amazing boyfriend for her, and he put a staggering amount of effort into making her happy.
Remus deepened the kiss, pulling Eve up even further up onto his lap. He buried his hand into her thick hair, and she ran her fingers lightly down his chest. Remus, wanting to hear her coo some more for him, tugged lightly at her lower lip between both of his own.
"Mm, that feels lovely, Remus," she cooed, sliding her fingertips along his stubbly jaw.
"Good," Remus replied as Eve smooched down his neck. "Mm, now that feels lovely," he said with a grin, rubbing the back of her head. She giggled and inadvertently moved down to where the scar from Fenrir Greyback's bite marred his skin. He felt a light, playful nip there and jumped at the sensation, causing her to jerk away from him, eyes wide.
"Did… did you just… bite me?" Remus asked in shock. Eve seemed like such an innocent girl, he'd be slightly shocked if she replied in the positive.
Eve blushed a deep purple immediately and regretted the action. "Well, ah, see… I-I was sort of… Um…" She grabbed an afghan and became suddenly interested in playing with the fringe, if only to divert some of her attention. "Well, um… uh… 'bite' is-is such a-a strong word, I… I only nipped, really, b-b-but I won't e-ever again, since you, um… don't seem to… uh… you, ah, don't… want… me… to… I'mSoSorry!" She blurted her apology as if it were one word and turned away from him. Sure, she'd gotten a little caught up in the moment, but it had taken a lot of courage on her part in order to show him something else she liked.
Merlin, he probably thinks I'm just… ugh, that I'm just disgusting! I can't believe I actually thought he'd… Oh, how mortifying!
"Come here," Remus said, holding out a hand to Eve.
Eve, keeping her gray eyes fixed on the pillows in the pit, obeyed and slid slowly toward him. He caught her chin and made her look him in the eye, causing her to sustain the deep coloration of her blushing. Keeping his eyes locks with hers, he leaned down and placed a tiny nibble on the side of her neck.
Eve's eyes were wide with surprise as he straightened up, and he said with a small grin, "I'm open to new things. Just… not on that side of my neck." He straightened his button-down shirt as he said this. She had bitten his scar, and the feeling there was tenfold what it would have been had she nipped him elsewhere, which was why he'd had such a strong reaction.
"I'm sorry, Remus," Eve said softly, the bottom half of her face hiding behind a pillow she'd pulled onto her lap. She was still flustered by the incident.
"No, don't be, Eve. I want you to feel comfortable with me," he insisted. He leaned forward to peck at her forehead, and caressed her stomach lightly, causing a loud coo to emit from her throat.
He rubbed her tummy once more, only to have the same result. "You like that?"
Eve looked just as surprised as Remus did, and admitted, "Yeah… I didn't even know my belly was so sensitive!"
Remus smirked; if Eve didn't know about it, then Vladimir certainly didn't, which made this discovery all the sweeter for him.
Remus continued tenderly caressing her stomach, delighting in the reactions she gave. She seemed to turn to jelly at the touch, and slumped against him as she practically purred in delight like a kitten. He chuckled slightly at the thought; his little kitten.
It was a few minutes before Eve lifted her head and melded her lips to his once more, and almost a half-hour until they emerged from the Room of Requirement, giggling and nuzzling their noses and smooching and murmuring tender endearments to one another.
It wasn't until they heard someone clear his throat that they realized that there was a world besides the one they'd been submersed in all morning, and Eve quickly buried her head into Remus's chest as Sirius smirked and said to his fellow Marauders (and Lily), "Ha! I figured you two were hoggin' the Room of Requirement! Well, you've obviously had your fun; it seems our dear Moony has forgotten the Christmas 'nog and gone straight for the Christmas snog!"
The Marauders laughed heartily while Remus whispered soothing words to the embarrassed Eve, telling her not to listen to them.
Suddenly, and without warning, Eve fainted in Remus's arms.
Author's Note: Questions to the Readers: What did everyone think of Remus and Eve's Christmas together? What does everyone think happened to Eve? Please leave the answers to these questions in your reviews!