13 December 1975
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Remus mumbled, tugging his Gryffindor scarf straight and grimacing at his reflection in the dormitory's full-length mirror. "This is mad—I can't believe I let this happen."
Sirius snorted, rolling his eyes at Remus in the mirror as he buttoned up his cloak. "Bloody hell, the way you're talking, you'd think we were forcing you to take Peeves to Hogsmeade. It's just Macdonald, mate—you know, the girl you actually fancy."
Remus's stomach lurched. Swallowing, he reached up and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. Then, releasing a slow breath, he straightened his shoulders and studied his reflection in the dormitory mirror again.
It had been a slow change—so slow that Remus hadn't even noticed at first—but now, the change was thrillingly obvious: His collarbone, chest, and forearms were less scarred than Remus could ever remember them being. The shadows under his eyes were lighter—practically nonexistent. And his cheeks weren't pale and sunken—no, they actually had color in them.
Remus blinked at his reflection for a moment. Then, unable to resist, he smiled slightly.
The past few months had felt like something out of someone else's life. For the first time in Remus's memory, he felt truly in control of himself—truly in control of his feelings, of his mind. His memories of the full moons were still very fragmented, of course, but somehow, the mere knowledge that he hadn't been alone—that his friends had been there with him, protecting him, accepting him—was like a tonic. He no longer woke up the mornings after feeling broken, and exhausted, and alone. During the last moon, Sirius and James had gotten even bolder; after an hour in the Shrieking Shack, they'd managed, with Peter's help, to actually smuggle Remus out of the Whomping Willow and onto the grounds. The four of them had spent the night running through the Forbidden Forest together. Remus had been absolutely horrified in the the Hospital Wing the next morning when his friends had reviewed the night's events with him—until they'd indignantly thrust a mirror in front of him. He had escaped that night's moonrise without a single scratch.
"Ready to go, mate?"
Remus jumped, glancing over his shoulder. Sirius was leaning against his bedpost, arms crossed and smirking. James and Peter, who were standing next to him, were grinning, too.
Remus flushed under his friends' gazes, but he nodded quickly. "Yeah…yeah, I'm ready."
"All right, then," James said loftily, waggling his eyebrows. "Let's go."
James led the way out of the dormitory, down the spiral staircase, and into the common room, which was abuzz with excited chatter—it was the final Hogsmeade visit of the term.
"I don't see Mary," James frowned, craning his head to see over the swarming common room.
"She said she'd meet me in the Entrance Hall," Remus explained, his heart racing slightly as he pushed his way toward the portrait hole. James, Sirius, and Peter followed.
They walked down the marble staircase in silence, Remus's legs feeling more and more like jelly with each step. Swallowing, he stumbled down the last few stairs into the Entrance Hall—and then, he saw her: Mary, looking extraordinarily pretty in a vibrant red winter cloak, was standing a few feet away from the oak front doors with Lily, her friendly dark brown curls loose around her shoulders. Suddenly, she looked around and caught Remus's gaze—and her face split into a brilliant, beaming smile.
Remus's heart—and legs—stuttered to a stop.
"C'mon, keep it moving," Sirius hissed in Remus's ear, jabbing Remus's back. "Don't keep your girl waiting."
Remus couldn't think of a clever retort, so he clamped his mouth shut and led his friends across the Entrance Hall, toward Mary and Lily.
"Hi," Mary greeted him breathlessly, her blue eyes shining and her rosy cheeks slightly pinker than usual.
"Hi," Remus replied softly, unable to meet Mary's gaze, which was so radiant that it was rather like looking into a bright light.
"Hi, Remus," Lily beamed at him. "I really wanted this to be a double date, but Bertram wants to stay in and study for that Arithmancy test today."
"Bertram?" James blurted out, perking up at once. "Bertram Aubrey, the Ravenclaw Beater? You—you're not dating him, are you?"
Lily turned around to face him, narrowing her eyes. "And what if I am?" she asked coolly.
James mouthed soundlessly at her, and Lily narrowed her eyes further, lifting her chin. "That's what I thought," she said icily. With a sniff, she turned back to face Mary and Remus. "Have fun, you two." She grinned and winked, before heading off toward the marble staircase.
James watched her go, his mouth hanging open. "She's dating Aubrey?" he demanded finally, his hands curling into fists.
"They've been dating since October," Mary said, raising her eyebrows. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed."
"Ah, well, as you'll soon start to see, Macdonald, James here spends most of his time with his head up his arse where Evans is concerned," Sirius said dryly, clapping James's shoulder bracingly. "It'd be a bigger surprise if he had noticed, to be honest."
Mary laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. Remus shook his head in amusement.
"What kind of a name is Bertram, anyway?" James muttered, still glowering in the direction of the marble staircase.
"It's better than Nymphadora. I still haven't forgiven Meda for that one," Sirius told him darkly. "It's no wonder her baby's first bit of magic was charming her name off every blanket, mitten, and sweater in the nursery. Now, c'mon—let's leave these lovebirds to it and get to Hogsmeade before everything becomes crowded."
James looked around and caught Remus's eye—and he smirked. "Right," he said airily. "Let's get out of here. C'mon, Wormy."
Peter smiled at Remus, before following James and Sirius across the Entrance Hall and out through the front doors, along with a crowd of other Hogsmeade-goers. Remus waited for them disappear. Then, swallowing, he finally looked at Mary. Her face was alight in a warm, expectant smile.
Remus cleared his throat, which had, of course, chosen that very moment to become horribly dry. "Er—shall we?" He nodded toward the doors.
Mary nodded, blushing slightly. "Yes, let's."
Remus pushed open the double doors, allowing Mary to step out into the chilly winter air before following suit. Together, they joined the queue of people waiting to be signed out by Filch. James, Sirius, and Peter were a few ways down the line, and Remus was privately grateful. He was having a difficult enough time thinking of things to say as it was—he didn't think he could've survived James's and Sirius's pointed nudges and winks.
Within a few minutes, Remus and Mary had reached the front of the line—and with a grunt and the usual look of mingled suspicion and dislike he reserved specifically for Remus and his friends, Filch chivvied Remus and Mary onto the grounds, in the direction the village. Remus took deep breaths, focusing on not tripping over his feet as they crunched across the snowy grass. He glanced sideways at Mary; her faced was slightly flushed from the cold, but she was still smiling.
At last, they reached Hogsmeade. The High Street was overflowing with students, and shop windows were festively decorated for the holidays, garnished with garlands of holly and wreathes of gold. The scents of cinnamon and gingerbread mingled with the sharp wind, filling the air. Remus took it all in blissfully. Hogsmeade always looked like a Christmas card this time of the year. As he and Mary stepped onto the pavement, Remus found himself thinking about how he could never hope to live here. He and his parents had to work impossibly hard to conceal his condition while living in remote areas like the outskirts of Cornwall and the foothills of Yorkshire. To live in a place as populated as Hogsmeade…it would be a fail-safe way to land himself in trouble with the Werewolf Registry—the registry his father had once helped create, Remus remembered, with a blow to his chest.
The thought sent a jolt of familiar panic jolting through him. He was a werewolf—he was a werewolf—what the hell was he doing on a date—?
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Mary sighed, wrapping her arms around herself and gazing around at the crowded street. "There's nothing like this in Muggle world."
Remus blinked, distracted by a couple snowflakes that had caught in Mary's long lashes. "No, there isn't," he agreed softly.
Mary looked at him in surprise. "You—are you Muggle-born, too? I thought Lily and I were the only ones in Gryffindor—"
"No, I'm a half-blood," Remus shook his head. "My dad's a wizard—but my mum's a Muggle, so I've always known quite a bit about the Muggle world, thanks to her. More than any of my friends, anyway. It's why I didn't take Muggle Studies—it felt a bit like cheating."
"How did your mum react when she found out your dad was a wizard?" Mary asked with interest, as the two of them began walking down the High Street, toward the distant outline of the Three Broomsticks.
"My dad never had to sit down and tell her, actually. She just…always knew," Remus said, smiling slightly. "My parents met when my dad saved my mum from a Boggart."
"Oh, how romantic," Mary gasped. Then, she blushed pink. "Er—I mean—that's a lovely story."
"Yeah," Remus said, embarrassed. "Er—how about your family? What're they like?"
"Not terribly interesting, really," Mary shrugged. "My parents are greengrocers in London, and I haven't got any siblings. I went to a Muggle primary school before I came to Hogwarts, but I didn't have a lot of—" Mary's cheeks grew pinker still. "I had some trouble getting along with some of my classmates. Of course, it became a lot clearer why I was such an oddball later on, when McGonagall showed up at the house to explain what I was. My parents weren't sure at first about sending me to Hogwarts, since it's so far from home, but I managed to convince them in the end. It was…pretty lonely before, most of the time." She glanced at him, biting her lip. "I must sound pathetic—"
"No," Remus said at once, stopping in his tracks. Mary turned to face him, and they stared at each other for a moment. Then, Remus took a deep breath. "I…I didn't really have any friends before Hogwarts either," he said in a low voice. "I'm an only child, too…and I spent most of my childhood…moving around."
Mary frowned. "Why?"
Remus swallowed the truth, even though—horrifyingly enough—a small part of him wanted to tell Mary everything. "My dad's work," he shrugged, averting his gaze. "He—er—he works for the Department of Magical Creatures at the Ministry, and they were…always assigning him to new cities, to study new…creatures."
Mary's eyes were wide. "Wow," she breathed. "So you never—you never had a…home?"
Remus blinked. "Well, I…I lived in Wales until I was five. That's the longest I've ever lived anywhere, I reckon—well, until now." He glanced at Mary. "Honestly, Hogwarts is the first place I think of when someone says 'home.'"
Mary smiled at him. "I can understand that," she said softly. Then, she grinned. "You know, I thought I heard some Welsh in your accent the first time I talked to you."
"It used to be a lot stronger," Remus returned the grin, and they turned simultaneously and began heading back down the High Street. "Nothing compared to my mum, though. She lived in Cardiff her entire life before she married my dad—her accent hasn't budged a bit."
Mary's eyes sparkled. "So, you're the one responsible for all the Welsh passwords to the Gryffindor common room this year. I should've guessed. That first one was especially impossible, I used to just wait outside the portrait hole until someone opened it from the inside—what was it again? Cwm—cwms—?"
Remus chuckled. "Cwmystwyth."
Marry shook her head. "Incredible how it just rolls off your tongue, consonants and all."
"Well, I originally wanted to make the password 'Remus Lupin is My King' as punishment for all the ragging my friends put me through when I got my prefect badge, but Lily, understandably, vetoed that one. I figured Welsh was the next best revenge."
Mary burst out laughing, and Remus felt his entire body relax. He was amazed at how easy it was to talk to her—it was no more difficult, in fact, than talking to Lily. Chatting and laughing, they ducked and wove their way through the busy lane. Mary slipped her hand into his, linking their fingers together—and Remus's chest surged with contentment. It was with an unfamiliar, exhilarating confidence that he squeezed her hand, relishing the warmth of her fingers and the weight of her frame against his.
As they walked by the post office, they passed a group of Slytherins. Remus didn't spare them a second thought, until he felt Mary tense next to him. He glanced at her—her face had paled slightly, but she was staring straight ahead, her jaw tight.
Suddenly— "What's the matter, Macdonald?" Remus heard Mulciber's voice float up from the group, leering and malicious. "Don't look so glum—you've actually tricked a wizard into thinking you're a real witch."
Remus glared over at the thickset Slytherin fifth year. "Ignore them," he muttered to Mary, even as he felt his own blood begin to boil.
Just then, there was a brilliant flash of light, and Mary let out a piercing scream. Remus whirled around to see Mary dangling upside down in midair as though an invisible hook had dragged her up by the ankle. Her coat and skirt slipped downwards, exposing her pantyhose. Her purse had swung off her shoulder and fallen to the ground with a clatter, the contents spilling all over the street.
Remus lunged for his wand, but before he could put a finger on it, the hex on Mary had already been lifted, and she crumpled back to the ground—hard—with a gasping sob. Ignoring the Slytherins' obnoxious laughter, Remus immediately dropped down beside her. "Mary! Mary, are you all right?"
"My skirt," she whispered, tears slipping down her cheeks. "They—they turned me upside-down. I couldn't even—my wand—"
Remus's stomach swooped nauseatingly; he wished he could tell her that she had never been in real danger, but he had never seen a hex like that before, had never even heard of it. Heart pounding, Remus silently began to gather her belongings. Glancing up, he saw that Mary's body was trembling, her expression frozen. Remus's heart fell.
"Stupid mudblood."
Dimly, Remus suspected that had he already had his wand in his hand, the damage he might have inflicted on Mulciber would be far worse. Luckily, the split-second it took him to whip his wand out of his cloak allowed him to focus—and with a single twirl of his wrist, he sent Mulciber stumbling backwards nearly ten feet.
"What did you just call her?" Remus snarled, blood pounding, ears ringing. His anger was so sudden, so full of hatred that the group of four Slytherins looked momentarily stunned. Mulciber was struggling to his feet, assisted by Avery. Wilkes was frozen to the spot, his mouth open. But Snape looked the most uncomfortable of all—and Remus was fairly sure he knew why. When Lily heard about this, she was going to be furious.
"Which one of you arseholes hexed her?" Remus demanded, pointing his wand from one stunned-looking Slytherin to the next.
No one responded.
"I said, which one of you hexed her?" Remus repeated, slowly this time, his hot rage melting into cold fury.
Avery was the first to regain himself. Hastily, he drew his wand—but Remus disarmed him without hesitation. Apart from Snape, none of the fifth year Slytherins were particular clever with their wands. Avery was too clumsy, Wilkes was a coward, and Mulciber…well, Mulciber was just cruel.
"Remus," Mary said shakily from behind him. "Remus, leave them be. Let's go—they aren't worth it."
The sound of Mary's voice brought Remus back to Earth; his heart rate relaxed slightly as he glanced at her over his shoulder. She had climbed back to her feet, and she looked slightly shaken but otherwise unharmed. Reigning in his anger at last, Remus nodded and lowered his wand, bending down to retrieve Mary's purse for her.
"Yeah, listen to your girlfriend, Lupin," Remus heard Mulciber sneer from behind him. "We all know you haven't got a spine of your own."
Before Remus could so much as turn around, Mary had whipped out her wand. "Furnunculus!" she screamed, and a jet of blinding gold light burst from the end of her wand, hitting Mulciber square in the face. Remus's jaw dropped as the Slytherin's broad face began erupting spectacularly with bright red boils.
"Let's go," Mary told Remus, white-faced yet looking very satisfied with herself. Swinging her purse onto her shoulder with conviction, she seized Remus's wrist and began dragging him down the High Street, away from where Mulciber was now bent double on the snow, surrounded by his lackeys.
"Are you all right?" Remus asked Mary immediately, as they stumbled to a halt outside the Three Broomsticks a few moments later. He studied her face concernedly. "Mulciber—I'm pretty sure it was him—did he hurt you—?"
"I'm fine, Remus," Mary said reassuringly, placing her hands on his shoulders and gently guiding him into the Three Broomsticks' deserted side alley. "I—I don't know what happened back there. That spell he used—I've never—it was—" she broke off, swallowing.
"It's something dark," Remus said angrily. "It must be, knowing that lot. It's definitely not from any textbook I've read."
Mary was quiet for a long moment, staring down at her feet. Then, finally, she looked up and met Remus's gaze, and Remus was stunned to see that she was smiling.
"You called them arseholes," she said, eyes gleaming. "I've never heard you say anything like that before."
Remus felt his face flood with heat. He wondered if next week's full moon was already preying on his emotions. Replaying the confrontation with the Slytherins in his head, Remus realized the intensity of everything he'd said and done.
"I'm sorry," he said awkwardly. "I…I have no idea what came over me."
"Don't apologize," Mary said softly. "I'm not complaining, am I?"
Remus stared at her. Suddenly, he was extremely aware of how close she was—her hands were still resting on his shoulders, and her face…her face was only inches away…
"Thank you for standing up for me," Mary whispered, her bright blue eyes shining, lighting up her entire face. "You didn't have to. That word stopped bothering me years ago."
Remus shook his head. "Doesn't matter," he said firmly. "If we keep letting them get away with it, they'll never stop—"
"Remus," Mary murmured, leaning forward. "Stop talking for a moment."
Their first kiss was horribly aimed—Remus was so taken aback by what was happening that he quite forget to move. Their noses bumped, leaving Remus utterly mortified and apologizing profusely.
But the second time…Mary's arms rested so snugly around his neck, and her lips felt so right on his, and Remus lost himself in the normalcy of it all—gently, he drew his arms around her and kissed her—he kissed Mary Macdonald, and she kissed him back, just as soundly.
Author's Note:
"I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary Macdonald the other day?" One of my favorite things about writing this story is tying in all the tiny details we get about the Marauders' era in the books. I have a very interesting future planned for Mary Macdonald. In fact, if you paid extra close attention in this chapter, you could probably figure it out already. ;)
ANYWAY...I'm so sorry for the long break between this chapter and the last! I'm back at college now and I'm working about 60 hrs/week on top of that, so my life's been a bit of a whirlwind lately. I hope this chapter made up for it somewhat. Remus really deserves some happiness, don't you think?
Do drop me a line! I've missed you all.
Ari
