"Mrs. Malfoy."
"Mr. Lupin."
They exchanged polite nods and both glanced to the end of the aisle they were standing in – nearly identical gestures that she wished she had not noticed.
"What brings you here?" He asked, gesturing a little awkwardly at nothing in particular.
"A gift."
Remus nodded and they were silent.
"I suppose it's not worth asking you the same question?" She eventually asked, regretting the slightly colder than intended tone of her voice the instant she saw him tense up.
They both knew well enough that this was an upperclass bookstore – one he could never afford to use – and that she had a strict schedule that allowed her to visit once a week, always at this time.
Narcissa despised how much it flattered her that he was here still.
In silence she allowed herself to look at him – truly this time. His hair flattened more so than when they had been in Hogwarts, his skin paler than before and she swore he'd grown even skinnier as well.
Evidently, war was putting a strain on them all.
She caught his eye wandering down from her face and smiled. She'd never expected to be the only one looking, but a little confirmation never hurt.
"You look different." Remus told her. So painfully sincere – war had changed her like everyone around them – but with such pure kindness still that she could not be offended.
He had always been so kind.
He had been when she had given him a remaining honeydukes chocolate bar – the expensive kind he couldn't afford himself and she had cursed herself for buying in the first place. When his grin radiated a gratefulness she wasn't accustomed to but made her heart glow.
He had been when he told her news about Sirius after he was burned off the family tree, and as far she knew and trusted him never told his friends she even cared.
When he'd kissed her for the first time, but not before asking oh so nicely if it was alright for him to do so — and only briefly teased her about the blush he'd never seen on her before.
Sure they fought — in a relationship doomed before it had even started how could they not? But never had Narcissa doubted his kindness, his good heart, how much he cared about her. Angry, frustrated, but always understanding of her situation — of how some things just couldn't be chosen for.
Without processing it herself they had moved closer and involuntarily they both again took a careful glance at the end of the aisle — unnecessary, this shop was almost always empty aside from an old owner.
Then Remus' eyes darted to her lips and back to meet her eyes again.
It hurt how she wanted to kiss him — just once, for old time's sake, just this once — and it hurt more that she couldn't.
Narcissa's eyes lingered at his own lips and it took her a few moments to look away, shake her head abrubtly and take a step back. There was a line. She couldn't cross that, didn't want to anymore. Not even for him.
It was in the past. The first kiss and the last one, the midnight prefect rounds around the castle, the shared chocolate and the innocent gossip, the one time he'd seen her cry and never mentioned it again, the goodbye.
It was the past, and it would stay that way.
"Goodbye, Remus."