Camellia was waiting on Sirius' sofa. Sirius was in his bedroom, shouting at Remus who'd shown up in the middle of the night. He was supposed to have been back a month ago, but had gotten delayed every time he thought he'd be able to come back. Sirius was furious, not because he minded having Camellia stay with him, but because he thought Remus should have come back the moment he found out that Camellia and Evan Rosier had an altercation in Diagon Alley.

She couldn't hear what they were saying because Remus had immediately put up a silencing charm after Sirius had demanded to speak. They'd been locked in his bedroom for a good half an hour now, and Camellia really just wanted to go home. She'd slept on a sofa for the past two months, and she missed her bed. It was probably really dusty there, but at least it was home. She was too afraid to go back there alone, but it was still home.

Eventually, though, the door opened and Camellia was met with two very upset boys. Sirius looked angry, still, though even more tired than he'd been when Remus had first knocked on the door. Remus, on the other hand, looked like someone had told him he wasn't worth anything. Which, Camellia suspected, Sirius had said. He'd done a lot of talking in the time that Remus was away, and Camellia knew he was furious with him.

Still, she'd been relieved to see Remus walk through the door. She wanted to see him alive and whole, and when he'd walked in the door she'd been pleased. She'd wanted to jump up and hug him, but Sirius had pulled Remus back to his own room. Needless to say, she'd been a bit disappointed.

But now she was able to stand up and throw her arms around his shoulders. Remus let out a small sigh but he hugged her back, and he tried to hug her as tightly as possible. Remus' arms immediately went around her waist, and he pulled her close until they couldn't really be separated. "I've missed you," Camellia said quietly, her face pressed into Remus' shoulder.

"Believe me when I say I've missed you too," Remus mumbled, and Camellia pulled away to see him looking relieved.

She stepped away fully after that, and began gathering her things. They were in one place, but she had a few books on Sirius' end table. She wanted to go home, and sit in bed with Remus until she fell asleep. She wanted to have her relationship back instead of missing him constantly. She realized after her books were packed away that Remus and Sirius were both staring at her. "I didn't realize that staying here was that bad," Sirius said, a bit of a smile coming over his face.

"It's not awful, but you know… I do love Remus, and you're just, well, you're just okay," she teases, and Sirius smiles wider.

"Just go home; I'll see you later. I… I am glad you're back, Moony,"

Camellia wasn't surprised when Remus smiled widely at Sirius. "I'm glad too, Padfoot,"

Within five minutes they were back in the living room at their flat. It was dusty, which made Camellia want to clean it, but it was nearing two in the morning and Camellia knew she could clean later. Really, she just wanted to sleep.

Remus gave her a quick kiss once they were standing firmly on the floor, and said "I really did miss you, Camellia. I'll… I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Before she could stop him he started walking to his room. Camellia hesitated for a moment before she hurried forward and grabbed his hand. Remus turned and looked at her in surprise, and Camellia said, "Do you have to run away?"

"I-I assumed that you'd-"

"My… I won't be able to sleep for a while. We could talk for a bit? Maybe?"

Remus is quiet for a moment before he nods. They walk to Camellia's room instead, neither caring that Remus is in three day-old clothes that smell. Camellia's just glad to be with him again. For a few minutes they just sat against the headboard, Remus' arm around her shoulders and Camellia's head leaning against his shoulder. "I'd have thought you'd want to go to bed, seeing as I'd woken you up,"

"Who's to say we can't go to bed?" Camellia asked softly, glancing up at him. Remus blushed and looked back down at her. The comment definitely surprised him; Camellia hadn't wanted that before.

"But you-"

"My bed's big enough, I think. I don't… I don't want you to leave,"

"Camellia you're just saying that because you missed me,"

"I'm saying that because I've been without you for two months, Remus. And unless you change your mind I… I'd want to stay with you for however long we have left. So I don't… I guess I don't see a problem with lying in a bed with you. Besides, you're warm,"

Her face was warm from the words, but she found that Remus was smiling nervously at her. "I-I could go change or something so I don't-"

"We'll worry about that later," Camellia mumbled, starting to grow tired again. "Can't we just go to sleep for now? I… It is the middle of the night,"

Soon enough they found themselves lying down, Remus' arm draped over Camellia's stomach as her back pressed against his front. It was probably one of the most intimate positions she'd found herself in, and that made her nervous, but it was Remus and she knew that he wouldn't take advantage of her. He'd be respectful, and that was what she wanted.

It was hot though. She was used to being warm, but with Remus' added body heat she felt like she was going to sweat or something. She'd be mortified if that happened. But eventually she did fall asleep, the sound of Remus' breathing comforting her. She loved Remus; she really did love Remus. He was kind, and he was everything she'd ever wanted. Camellia knew that she was incredibly lucky to have him.

When she woke the next morning, Camellia almost screamed. She hadn't remembered that Remus had stayed with her, and all she'd really known was that there was an arm draped over her stomach and her face was pressed into a shoulder. It was an awkward position and she'd definitely overheated in the night. But she was warm and when she knew that she was in bed with Remus she was happy. Despite being too warm she was safe, and she was with the person she loved.

Camellia had woken up first though, and it didn't seem like Remus would wake soon. So, she laid next to him, shifting until her body was facing his. He looked calm and innocent when he slept, which made her smile slightly. And then she realized that he really did stink, which almost made her laugh. He didn't seem to have showered in days and his clothes were dirty and wrinkled, though she didn't know why he'd be so disheveled. His shirt had even ridden up enough to where she could see the scars on his lower stomach.

She didn't care that he was dirty and smelled and she definitely didn't care about the scars. Because she loved him, and she only wanted to stay close to him. Remus made her happier than anyone else; she wouldn't want to be with others.

To her surprise, Remus' eyes opened a few moments later. "You know that you're staring, right?"

"Somehow I figured that out," Camellia mumbled, smiling slightly. "Good morning Remus,"

"You're sure you didn't mind me staying?"

"I asked you didn't I?"

"I...I know, but I didn't think you'd want to sleep in the same bed unless...unless we were…"

"Married?"

Remus turned red, but he nodded. "Exactly,"

"You see, you were gone for two months, Remus. And I… I really did miss you, and I know that I want to stay with you, and I know what that usually entails. I... I don't want to go farther than this for a while, but I...and you're hot and you take up a bit of space, but I love you, and I wouldn't mind it if you stayed in my bed at night,"

Remus turned a bit red at that, but he smiled as well. "I… I think I can handle that," he said, and Camellia let out a breath of relief. She'd been a bit worried that her actions had been too forward, but Remus didn't seem to mind.

"Tell me how it went?" Camellia asked, trying to make morning conversation seem normal to them both.

Remus sighed and ran his hand over his face. "It wasn't terrible, honestly. I couldn't get anyone to tell me that they wanted to go against him, but their leader was all for You-Know-Who and some mentioned that they weren't all too happy with their leadership. I think there's still hope there,"

"I'm glad you got at least that, Remus,"

"It's really not such a bad place to be," he explained. "The last few days were rough though. The people there don't have a lot of money, and they lost access to water. Hence the smell; showering wasn't going to happen,"

Camellia laughed and said, "I think I'm getting used to it actually,"

"Don't," Remus said, chuckling. "As soon as I leave the bed I'm going to the bathroom,"

"You don't have to stay here with me, you know. You didn't have to stay last night if you didn't want to,"

"I do want to, though," Remus shrugged. Then he asked, "Do you want to tell me what happened with Evan Rosier? The Order managed to get word to me that something had happened, but I couldn't leave yet and they couldn't tell me anything else,"

It was Camellia's turn to sigh. "Sirius and I were at Flourish and Blotts, because I wanted to pick up some more things for research, and well, I do enjoy reading. Sirius got distracted with flirting so I went to wait outside because it was crowded and he… he was there. He made some comments about you, and some nasty things about me, and I sent a hex at him. He decided to respond, but he was worse with his curses. I got hurt, Sirius had heard by then and was running out. I… I don't know, Remus; it was really stupid. And I'm fine, anyway,"

"How did you get hurt?" He sounded worried, though Camellia wasn't surprised by that.

"Like I said, Remus. It was really stupid,"

Camellia watched as his eyes narrowed, and she immediately hated his expression. She knew he was angry but in her defense she didn't have to tell him everything, did she? "Camellia, how were you hurt?"

"It… It really was stupid. He'd used some kind of spell and I… well, it was like there were hands around my neck, and I couldn't breathe, and… Okay, I may have blacked out for a few minutes but I-"

She was a bit shocked when he closed the small distance between them and quickly kissed her. He started to pull away, though Camellia instinctively reached out and pulled him closer until they were kissing again and Remus was making a surprised noise. Still, he didn't pull away from her, so she assumed he didn't mind too much. When she pulled away a bit later, Remus stared at her with wide eyes. "What...What was that?"

"Was it wrong?" she asked nervously, trying not to let him down. She'd never really kissed someone like that before, and she didn't want to upset Remus.

"It's just… you've never… you've never wanted something like that before,"

"It was just a kiss,"

"A brilliant one, and… different,"

Camellia blushed and quickly pressed her face into a pillow. "I… It felt right to me, I… I'm sorry,"

"Don't be," Remus said quickly. "Just… Don't be sorry, I didn't mind. It was nice, actually,"

A few more minutes passed before Remus climbed out of bed and went to go shower. Camellia got up as well, though she had to wait to get ready. They only had the one bathroom, and Remus always used it first. Camellia didn't mind waiting because usually Remus would be running off to a job and she had nowhere to go. Even if he did, Remus didn't take long. And true to form about fifteen minutes passed before the water stopped. She waited another few minutes before hurrying to use the bathroom herself.

After that day, they spent a lot more time just laying in bed. Remus didn't have any more missions coming up so he'd found a new job. They didn't necessarily enjoy getting up in the morning, but they did and they'd started to go to bed early to make up for lost time. Camellia was surprised at how fond she was of laying pressed against Remus with his arm thrown over her stomach. Her parents certainly wouldn't have approved, as they were only dating, but Camellia chose not to think about that.

She was happy. And Camellia could tell that Remus was happy, which made her feel good. The longer that he was home, the closer they got, and that seemed to only add to their happiness. Remus had a steady job again, they often went out to dinner so they could have some quality alone time together, though they also made time for their friends. Friendship, according to Professor Dumbledore, was one of the most important things at the moment. Camellia had grown surprisingly lose to Sirius too, and she really did enjoy seeing him. She tended to thank him whenever she saw him, because she felt a bit guilty for staying on his sofa for so long.

But three weeks later there was another funeral that they had to attend. Funerals were never fun, though their friends were there so at least they weren't alone. It was a very somber affair, considering it was the funeral for two brothers. Camellia wasn't sure how they'd died, and she had no interest in learning. When she looked at pictures of the close brothers she was reminded of James and Sirius, and she didn't want to think about that.

Remus was sure to keep their fingers intertwined throughout the entire process. Camellia didn't like funerals, she never really had, though she wanted to support the families who'd lost loved ones. She wanted to support the young soldiers that they'd lost. Because, she realized, they were all soldiers no. They had a meeting the next day, and Camellia had a bad feeling about it. She was worried that Remus would get sent away again, and Camellia knew she wouldn't take that well. She loved Remus and she wanted him to be safe.

She didn't want him to end up dead, nor did she want to attend his funeral. She wasn't sure who would handle planning it, though she was confident she wouldn't be able to. His friends-their friends would surely be a mess. No one would really know what to do.

When the funeral was over, they ended up at James and Lily's flat. Camellia wasn't surprised; they always ended up there after a funeral. They'd sit and toast the fallen and pray that the next time it wouldn't be one of them. Camellia suspected that much of the Order had a similar ritual. And with the world the way it currently was, Camellia was almost glad that Max didn't have to see it. He shouldn't have been involved in such violent behavior; it would have upset him more than anything else. She wasn't happy for her brother's death, but simply for the ability of his innocence to stay with him. And sure some of that innocence had been taken away the night he died, but Camellia liked to think he still had some.

But when they got home that night, Camellia finally noticed that Remus looked terrified. So of course when they lay down in bed that night, she asked, "Is it the funeral that's upsetting you, or something else?"

Remus frowned, and pulled Camellia a little closer. "Partially, I guess. It just… It just hit me that the next person to die could be… it could be one of us, Camellia,"

She sighed, and found his hand before giving it a gentle squeeze. "It won't be. We'll look out for each other,"

"They looked out for each other too. They were brothers, Camellia, brothers. What's next? A husband losing his wife? A child losing a parent? Me losing you?"

If the situation had been different, and Camellia's mind wasn't filled with worry about losing Remus, then she might have found the statement to be very sweet. "Believe me, Remus, I'm not keen on losing you either,"

There was an exchanging of sighs before either of them spoke again. "I know it's scary," Camellia said gently. "The thought of losing you is one of the most terrifying ones I've had. But...But we're together, and that's what-"

"What if we got married?"

The question was so sudden that Camellia had no idea how to respond. "What?"

She turned to look at Remus and found him blushing and looking away. "I… I'm sorry, it's just… I love you, Camellia, I really do. And before you I never thought that there would be someone to accept me and love me back. And if… if we're going to die, I'd rather be able to say that the happiest time in my life was when we were married. I know… I know this isn't a romantic proposal, but would you at least give it a thought? I just… I don't want to miss out on what life has to offer and I'm completely in love with you, so…"

"I'll think about it, of course," Camellia said quietly, still surprised by the idea. She did love Remus and she would like to marry him, but they were only nineteen and that was still very young. Then again, she'd expected to be married off by this point anyway. And Remus, she knew, was probably kinder and more loving than anyone else.

They didn't talk about it again that night. Instead, Remus traced a pattern on her arm with his finger while his other arm was thrown over her midsection. Camellia fell asleep soon after the proposal, and her dreams were filled with images of weddings and a beaming Remus, and of flowers and a white dress. But it shifted to a funeral, where Camellia saw herself sobbing in the front row next to Remus' father and their friends. She didn't want to be a widow, that much she knew for sure.