All rights remain.

Hope was a firm believer in many things albeit magic was not one of them. When she was working at her job as an accountant in Cardiff, she had the world at the palm of her hand. Freshly out of college and prepared to take on the world, she had nothing to stop her from doing anything. Hope pushed her hair over her shoulder, those green eyes looking around her office with a sense of satisfaction.

"You've got a conference in two hours, Hope," came a soft voice from the door of her office. Arlene, a kind woman and a generous co-worker, smiled at the young Howell. "Mr. Bordon would like to speak with you beforehand about propositions and budgeting."

Hope smoothed down her shirt and smiled back, nodding to show she understood. Arlene gave a quick cough before departing, disappearing out of sight, and leaving Hope to her thoughts once more.

"Oh, Miss Howell," a new voice said as a fist pounded on her wooden door, threatening to break it down. "Guess who it is?"

"I can only guess," Hope murmured as she leaned against her desk, knowing this mystery person would come in regardless of her permission. "Rowan..."

Rowan Parr was a man a few months older than Hope, who had seemed to taken a particular liking to the woman. Although he was rather short, what he lacked in height, he made up in personality. Loud, opinionated, and quite rude at times, Rowan made sure people noticed him whenever he was in their presence.

"Did you miss me?" Rowan asked, walking over to her desk and leaning against it. He had no respect for the items on the surface, pushing it out of his way so he could rest properly. "It's hard not to, right?"

"You're always here," Hope replied cheekily, hoping her sarcastic attitude would not be taken the wrong way. As much as she disliked this man, she was taught against disrespect. "It is not a bad thing."

"How about you and me tonight? Can I treat you to dinner?" Rowan asked with a crooked and slightly shy smile. He looked at her curiously. "I'll pay and everything."

"I'm sorry, Rowan," Hope said with a shake of her head. "Dinner isn't a good night for me. I have so much work to do, but maybe we can meet for a film around 8:00 tonight?"

Rowan beamed at this and nodded enthusiastically, pulling a pen from her cup holder on the desk and tearing a corner of paper off from a legal contract, he wrote down his home phone number and handed it to her for keepsake. Hope thanked him before he headed out.

However, that night, no matter how long Hope waited, Rowan would not show up. They agreed to meet at the park at 7:30 and make their way back to her house to watch the film together. However, it was soon to be 9:00 when she decided to call it a night and go home.

Unfortunately, her way home included a short walk through the park's woods in the back behind the children's playground. As she was passing a line of trees that she swore she passed five minutes ago, Hope heard the heavy breathing of someone not too far behind her.

Panic flooded through her system, but she remained calm on the outside, craning her hearing to catch any noises she could. All she could hear was the footsteps of this person walking closer and though she did not want to assume the worst, Hope began to fear for her life.

"Hmm."

The hum had sent her senses into overdrive and before she realized what she was doing, Hope broke out into a run, dropping out of her heels but taking one to use as a weapon just in case. She sprinted in one direction, not even sure if it was the right direction; the footsteps behind her followed, closing the distance, and making a grab for her shoulder.

Something yanked on her hair and with a wild swing, Hope lashed out with the heel, instincts telling her to fight since flight was no longer an option. She whirled around wildly, unable to see anything through the darkness of the thick undergrowth. She tried to hold her raspy breathing so she could listen, but her pounding heart made the blood roar in her ears.

"Hmm."

Hope swung again on instinct, screaming until she began to lose her voice. She stayed on her feet, but she was trapped, unable to see whoever her follower was or where they were, she could run the risk of running right into them. It did not take long for this...person to make themselves visible.

"Hello."

It was the first time the person spoke; Hope watched in horror, eyes wide and terrified, as a man much taller than she stepped out from behind the bushes, smiling at her with unusually sharp teeth. His eyes, piercing blue, stared at her with an icy glare. Hope screamed once more and lashed out, swinging her heel at the man in hopes of driving him off.

"Back off!" she screamed shrilly, getting into a defensive pose. "Don't come any closer!"

"Hmm."

Hope screamed.

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Lyall, knowing the best route to finding the best quality Cheeseweed Mallow, heard quite the commotion not too far from him. The shrill scream seemed to rattle his eardrums, but he jumped into his defensive mode rather quickly, yanking out his wand and forgetting the task at hand.

He hurried to the source of the noise, hoping he would not be witnessing some sort of crime or murder; at first glance, Lyall swore that was exactly what he ran into. He spotted a tall man in dark clothing to match the night sky standing before a woman, who was waving her heel as a weapon.

The closer Lyall got to the scene, the more he knew; this was no man. It was a boggart. How could he not recognize a boggart when it was right in front of him? He faced boggarts on the daily whenever he went to his childhood residency. The house was old and crawling with them.

He pulled out his wand and whispered under his breath.

"Periculum."

Red sparks flew from the end of his wand and into the air, whistling loudly enough to get the woman's attention off the man for the briefest of moments. With another wave of his wand, Lyall aimed it at the boggart.

"Ridikulus."

The man began to sprout mushrooms all over his body until he became one in a fraction of a second; the woman, who was still looking in the direction of the sparks, shrieked loudly when she realized there was no one after her anymore. The woman put a hand to her mouth and began to weep, shaken and terrified.

Lyall, wanting to be a good person, decided to reveal himself and try to comfort her. What he did not expect was a heel to the face. As soon as he approached the woman, she clocked him in the side of the head with a dagger-like shoe. Heels were, in fact, a very effective weapon...

Lyall woke to the sound of heavy breathing; for a split second, he wondered if he was in any imminent danger. Cracking his eyes open, his skull seemed to split right in half all while he was greeted with an avenging angel. She stood before him, heel raised and a scowl on her face.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she demanded, slapping him across the face with surprising force. It took a while, but Lyall realized it was the very same woman he had just helped out.

"I'm on your side," he said; it was the only thing his muddied brain could come up with. He threw his hands up to protect his face in fear of getting smacked again. "I'm Lyall Lupin, I was looking for Cheeseweed Mallow, and I heard you screaming and saw you were being attacked and I tried to help."

He stopped in the middle of his explanation due to the lack of oxygen he was taking in when speaking. The woman stepped back and narrowed her eyes before her eyebrows drew inward.

"You were the one who shot off the sparks, weren't you?" she asked suddenly before gasping and putting a hand over her mouth. "Oh my! I am so, so sorry, sir! I was so scared, I thought you were going to hurt me!"

Lyall, deciding it was safe to stop peeking at her through the cracks of his fingers, lowered his hand and looked at the frazzled woman with a crooked smile.

"You were just attacked, I don't blame you," he said and sat up, rubbing his head; he could feel the dry blood cake his recently washed hair. "I am just glad you are okay, miss."

"Hope," the woman said and stuck out her hand, the one not holding her shoe. "My name is Hope and thank you for helping me back there. I sincerely do appreciate it, sir."

"Call me Lyall," he said, getting on his knees and playfully kissing the back of her hand. He could hear the woman stifle a soft giggle. "What, may I ask, are you doing out here?"

"I was...walking," Hope replied, trying to sound sure of herself, but her voice was still shaken and trembling. Lyall rose to his feet ever so slowly, making sure his vision would clear before any sudden movements. "And...someone was following me. They must have run off when you came round."

Lyall gave her another crooked smile before rubbing his temples again, his headache growing increasingly worse. Hope seemed to have noticed for she immediately lent a helping hand, trying to steady him on his feet.

"Oh, my," she said sadly, her voice softer now. "I am so sorry, Lyall. I didn't mean to hurt you; I was scared but I should have been more careful. Are you feeling dizzy? Do you need to sit back down? Should I phone someone?"

Hope looked around desperately, breathing turning ragged.

"Oh, but there is no phone booth around and I can't leave you here alone," she said to herself, trying to remain calm in this situation. "I could find the nearest house, perhaps, and ask to borrow their phone. I could ring the hospital and try and take you there..."

"Hope," Lyall said in amusement, unable to hide his smile. "Stop panicking; it won't help you think clearly. Secondly, I am okay. I may need a glass of water, but I will be fine."

Hope sighed in defeat.

"I will be fine," Lyall repeated firmly, still leaning against her; ever so smoothly, he lifted his arm to pat her on the shoulder. "I do quite fancy that swing of yours, but maybe I can admire it when I'm not the receiver."

"Oh, my," Hope said again, shaking her head. "I am so sorry. We are near my house, Lyall. Please, may I take you there and get you some ice? Perhaps I can get you some ibuprofen as well."

When he first heard that word, all Lyall could do was blink dumbly; what was this eye-a-bee-proof-en that she spoke of. Was that a sort of spell or charm? He took Charms for seven years and not once has he come across a spell anywhere close to that pronunciation.

"Lyall?"

He shook his head clear and nodded.

The walk there was not as long as he anticipated, but his head went from throbbing to pounding in the span of the hike. He was now leaning quite heavily on her, depending on Hope to keep him upright. The last thing he wanted was to fall unconscious in the middle of these woods, so he did his best to keep it together.

"We're here," Hope said after a while, sounding slightly out of breath (after all, he was putting most of his weight on her). "Let's get you inside and laying down, Lyall."

Walking up to a brick building with a white front door, Lyall realized this poor woman had to walk without any shoes on...in the forest. Before he could say anything, however, he had passed out.

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A few merry months have passed and Lyall soon began to see Hope on a regular basis; he learned she was an account for a very important insurance company. He may not have known what her job was exactly, but that did not dampen his admiration for her, who never ceased to impress him.

He had told her that he worked as a "ghost hunter", which earned a skeptical look; at first, he thought Hope was going to cast him away for being such a loser, but she accepted him with an open mind and heart. She began to invite him over to her house more and more often.

It was their first night together; Hope and Lyall were staying together at her quaint flat. After a few drinks of some Muggle alcohol, his tongue became significantly looser, but not enough to sound incoherent. However, Lyall found himself stealing little glances at the beautiful lady sitting adjacent to him on the couch.

"What?" she asked when she caught him at one point. "Is there something on my face?"

"No," Lyall said with a shake of his head, trying to clear away the fuzzy feelings fluttering about in his head and in his chest. "I was...no, I was just—remember when we met?"

"It was around four months ago, Lyall," Hope said and offered a small smile.

"That man—he—no, it was a boggart," Lyall blurted out, deciding to get to the truth before he would not have the courage to later. "It was a boggart. It would not have been able to hurt you either. You were safe from it—"

"Lyall," Hope said, now a bit sterner.

"A boggart is common in the Wizarding World, I promise—" Lyall said but was interrupted once more.

"The what world?" she spluttered, now looking at him with a sharp gaze. "Is this some practical joke? I don't understand you, Lyall."

Lyall sighed and shook his head. "The Wizarding World is real. It's my world...the world I grew up in."

Hope looked angry but before she could say anything, he pulled out his wand from the breast pocket of his jacket and gave it a wave. A beautiful stream of light erupted from the end of it, mimicking the infamous Northern Lights he had always heard Hope talk about. The streams turned from green to blue to white to pink. The display was—

"Magic..." Hope gasped softly, her expression lit up by the lighting display. Her eyes had widened but her lips curved into a beautiful smile. "How is this possible?"

Lyall looked at her with the same, adoring expression he always wore when looking at her.

"Magic."

The rest of the night was just as magical for the couple; Hope and Lyall had fallen in love.

Around two years later, Lyall and Hope were wrapped in each other's arms, sheets sticking to their bodies as they embraced one another's company.

"I love you," Lyall stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I can't imagine my life without you in it, Hope. I met you and I can't go back."

Hope smiled at that, pressing a soft kiss to his soft lips.

"I can't believe you proposed to me over a bowl of soup, Mr. Lupin," Hope teased lovingly, poking him in the stomach. "That was quite romantic."

"Your sarcasm and wit are two things to be jealous of," Lyall chuckled and rolled over to face her, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Your beauty and divinity are two things to worship."

Hope's face broke out into a wide smile.

"I love you, Lyall."

"Welcome to our world, Mrs. Lupin."

Hope spun around, her pretty, white dress twirling and brushing the leaves on the ground. She beamed at the bearded man and even gave a slight bow.

"Thank you for attending, Mr. Dumbledore," she said politely, beaming happily.

"I would not have missed it for the world," Dumbledore replied and looked over at the newly wed husband, smiling softly. "I have watched Lyall grow up into the man he is today."

Hope knew of Lyall's past and his tendencies and habits to get into some trouble, legal and illegal activities included, but she was proud of the man he had become.

"It is an honor to be here tonight," he said and turned those twinkling, blue eyes to the more-than-half-eaten cake and smiled. "I do quite enjoy the theme of your wedding cake topping—a boggart, I presume?"

Hope and Lyall both smiled at that.

"Enjoy your night," Dumbledore said as new guests approached the two newly weds and congratulate them. Dumbledore had left them to mingle while he went to get some more of that cake.

Remus Lupin bit his lip. "You knew Mum and Dad..."

"That I did," Dumbledore murmured softly, the warm fire reflecting in the lenses of his half-moon spectacles. "And I have always regretted the death of your father. I will always regret the death of your mother, but as long as you are with me, I will keep you safe, Mr. Lupin."

Tell me what you think please :)