And Then There Were None
lone astronomer
Summary: LALALA!! Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express, 6th year for James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, etc, etc, ad infinitum. We see the return of Sirius' conscience and of Remus' depression… but it doesn't last long in Sirius' case. The shit hits the fan, there are two McGonagalls, we meet the King of Swing, Remus confesses.
Disclaimer: Sadly, it's J. K. Rowling's. Well, it had to be someone's. No infringement is intended. No profit is being made. No point is being made either. Let's get on with it, shall we?
I'd like to add that I don't know a thing about swing dancing… but it looks like fun, so everything I've invented is just that- invented.
* * *
And Then There Were None
Part One- The Shit Hits the Fan
* * *
Lily Evans was more than just frustrated. She was supposed to be meeting her friends in Diagon Alley in half an hour- and she could not find her shoes.
Of course, that wasn't all that was bothering her. School was supposed to start the following day, which meant (to her) that she'd lived through almost the entire summer- far too long- without James and was practically dying to see him again. Well, more than just see him. She grinned, yanking her shoes out from under her sister's bed. "Success," she murmured. "Wonder what Mrs. Dursley was doing with my shoes?"
In the midsummer boredom that came with vacations, Lily had taken to reading Petunia's pathetic diary- apparently she'd had some, er, intimate experiences with this Vernon fellow, and was secretly (or not secretly, once Lily let it slip to their Mum and Dad) engaged to him.
"Time to go, then," she decided, running down to the living room, lighting a fire in the fireplace (which had just recently been connected to the Floo network, courtesy of one of James' friends at the Ministry), and tossing Floo powder into the flames. "Diagon Alley!" she shouted, and squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
"Speak of the devil."
Jame's eyes narrowed as Severus Snape appeared around a corner, followed closely by two useless lumps of flesh (otherwise known as BFU - Big, Fat and Ugly- One and Two).
"Forget about him," Remus ordered testily, forcibly turning James around. "He's below you. Besides," he added with a grin, "Sparky just walked out of Flourish and Blotts."
"Sparky?" James asked, immediately searching the immediate vicinity for Flourish and Blotts. "Where? Remus, I don't see her any-"
"Looking for someone?" a familiar voice asked from behind them. Remus almost jumped out of his skin, but James turned around and enveloped Lily in a hug.
"Just you," he said, feigning indifference.
Lily shot him an amused look. "Funny."
"I thought so."
"So, have you seen Sirius, Mioré, or-" Lily's gaze turned on Remus- "Allya?"
"No," Remus answered shortly, surveying the surrounding area. "They're not due here till eleven, and it's only ten to. Shall we get some ice cream?"
"At eleven o'clock in the morning?"
Remus shrugged. "Whatever."
Ally and Mioré showed up shortly, and found their friends munching contentedly on ice cream outside Florian Fortescue's.
"So where's Sirius?" Mioré asked after a few moments. "I mean, I know he's not the most punctual guy in the world, but-"
Mioré's words were cut off by a steadily growing roar and a loud crash- suddenly, where there had been wizards and witches a few moments before, there was a large motorcycle topped by two men- an older one in a black trench-coat with long hair, and a younger one, who looked just as seasoned on the bike.
"Thanks, Kor," Sirius called back as he hopped off the Harley, doffing his helmet and grabbing the chair between Mioré and James. "'Lo, everybody."
Mioré just looked at him, then back to where the Harley was taking off again. "Who was that?"
Sirius caught the look, interpreted it correctly, and answered simply. "Korax. Older brother. Why?" he drew out the word, knowing that he'd catch her this time.
"That boy has a fine ass," she breathed, almost inaudibly. She added, "Must run in the family," before she caught herself and turned an unflattering shade of maroon. "Was that out loud?"
Lily nodded.
Mioré pounded her head on the table. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…"
The overnight at The Leaky Cauldron went smoothly- the only pranks the boys played on poor old Tom was hiding his false teeth inside a jar of pickled beets. Of course, when he finally found them, they were stained a brilliant shade of pink, and for all the magic in the world he couldn't get them clean.
But Tom was a good sport- during the night, he crept into the boys' rooms and dyed their hair different colors- orange for Remus, blue for Sirius, and green for Prongs. In the morning, the girls could barely contain their laughter.
"James!" Lily howled, rolling on the floor. "James, did you realize…your hair is green…"
"Matches your eyes," James said disinterestedly, picking imaginary fluff from his robes.
Sirius cackled.
"Y'know," Ally said, a few moments into breakfast, "your hair looks really sexy orange… Pumpkin-head."
They tried to hold back the laughter… but in this case (OK SW FREAKS!!) there was no try.
Platform nine and three-quarters was as busy as it usually was on September the first, with children and adults and in-between-ers bustling about doing their business (not that, you foul-minded scum!!). When the Marauders plus two finally found an empty car, the train was already moving. They stowed their trunks and settled in for the ride.
Lindsay, who had joined them a few moments into the journey, let loose a yawn that nearly swallowed the rest of them. "I'm bored… what were you guys doing last year at this time?"
Sirius grinned. "Watching Snape do a little jig through a transparent door and laughing our asses off. What were you doing?"
Lindsay sighed dreamily. "Fawning over Brady Graves…"
Sirius and Mioré exchanged looks, sharing their opinion of Brady- he was a stuck-up, good-for-slightly-more-than-nothing, rich smart-aleck. This was crushed into an agonizing little ball with the fact that he was tall, dark, handsome, and knew it. (In other words, he was Sirius, only a goody-goody and in Ravenclaw.)
"I don't like him much," Lily said thoughtfully after a moment's silence. Sirius winked at James, but luckily Lily missed it entirely.
"I'm bored," Allya announced.
"Me too," Mioré chimed in.
"Ditto."
"Yep."
"Um… Shall I teach you how to play Poker?" Lily asked finally, tired of the mounting silence.
"Poker?"
"Isn't that some weird Muggle old-lady game?"
Lily scowled at Remus. "That's Euker, Pumpkin-head." The emphasis on the words was almost too much- everyone in the car grinned (it was especially funny coming from a redhead), but luckily this time they were able to contain themselves. "But I suggest we make it more interesting…"
Lily outlined her plan.
Sirius smirked at James, who was doing his best to hide his awe.
"Strip poker!" Lindsay yelled, and people poured in from the other cars to watch.
The Great Hall at dinner time was probably one of Sirius' favorite places to be, and not without good reason. The food was excellent, entertainment level was high- especially since it was such a great place to work a prank from- and being surrounded by friends was definitely not a down side.
James and Sirius were rather more excited than normal, as they'd planned their first prank and carried out the preliminaries already. All that remained was to watch from afar…
The school song being sung, the sorting finally ending, and the food having appeared, their attention was turned raptly to the Head Table…
Professor Snape took one bite of the pork chop he was supposed to be consuming and turned a perfect shade of white, then red, spitting out his food all the while. Too late- within seconds he was turned into a look-alike of…
Professor McGonagall.
In front of him, a business card popped up-
Boring school stuff got you down? Have no fear, Padfoot and Prongs are here. . .
Professor McGonagall- er, Professor Snape, looked mad enough to spit nails. "Potter!" he/she yelled. And, as an afterthought, "Black!"
"Oh, no," Sirius said. "Jamie, I think the shit just hit the fan."
The McGonagall look-alike dragged James and Sirius by the ears into Snape's office. "I have never…" he/she began, breathing deeply. "Never in my entire career…"
Just then, the real McGonagall entered the room. "If you don't mind, Professor, I'll be taking my students back now…"
James and Sirius exchanged looks one more time. "Yes, Sirius," James said, "The shit really has hit the fan this time."
"Detention!" McGonagall yelled. "I can't believe this, not from students in my House! And Prefects, no less!" Having vented her rage, she sat, trembling still with anger or perhaps shock, staring at them. "You two are going to be scrubbing the trophies for a month of Sundays, you realize. Dismissed."
But when they left, and after she'd checked that the door was shut, Minerva McGonagall had a laugh like one she hadn't had in years.
The next night, Sirius and James didn't make it back to the common room until nearly one o'clock in the morning. "I'm so dead," Sirius groaned, flopping backwards onto his bed. "I think my hand is going to fall off."
"Shut up and sleep, Sirius."
No luck. Sirius was the same restless spirit that he'd always been. "James?" he whispered into the darkness. "You still awake?"
"I was having nightmares about cleaning trophies and decided not to sleep tonight. What do you want, Sirius?"
Sirius leaned over the bed next to his, making sure that Remus was still asleep. He was. "How long do you reckon Moony and Redwood'll last this time?" he asked, careful not to wake Andy either.
James snorted. "With Remus' attitude lately? They'll break up again before Halloween and be back together by Christmas. It's their strange relationship that'll kill them in the end, honestly…"
Sirius snickered. "Yeah. Eventually their brains will stop comprehending it all and explode."
Deciding that this conversation was going exactly nowhere, a common occurrence with Sirius, James pulled his pillow over his head and promptly fell asleep- but he still had nightmares of polishing trophies.
"Things are not going well," Dumbledore confided to his Transfiguration professor one night in his study. "The Dark Lord is taking over… dark times are upon us."
McGonagall looked distinctly nervous. Although she didn't hold with that Divination nonsense, there was something about the way Dumbledore said it… she knew it was true. Minerva swallowed hard. "Three more students disappeared over the summer, Headmaster," she began quietly.
"I know," he answered softly. "I know…"
"But what are we to do?" the Professor asked. "What can we do, when people are afraid even to speak his name already?"
"We must keep our spirits high," Dumbledore said wisely. "We must not give in to despair… a Diviner friend of mine told me something recently… it has given me hope. We must not lose hope, Minerva… we must never lose hope."
"And how to keep our spirits up?" McGonagall inquired. "And those of our students? In such dark times, I should hardly feel right being happy…"
"We'll think of something, Minerva," the Headmaster answered. "We always think of something."
During the next few days, things resumed their old pattern- Potions was still horrible, Quidditch practice was difficult, History of Magic was a bore. Lily, James and Sirius got top marks, Remus and Ally trailing close behind (it seemed all Remus did was study), except in Defense Against the Dark Arts, where they were tops. By the time the beginning of October rolled around, everyone was quite used to their new schedule.
At breakfast the morning after Ally and Remus got back from the Shrieking Shack (Remus was especially withdrawn this year, for some reason), Dumbledore stood up, looking especially grave. James turned to Sirius. "What do you suppose it's about this time?" he asked. Sirius merely shrugged.
"After much deliberation," Dumbledore said without preamble, "we've decided to hold the Halloween ball again this year, despite the disaster of last year. The student responsible, as most of you know, was eventually caught and expelled. I expect there will not be a repeat episode of last year. That is all."
Sirius, Remus and James blinked at each other. Finally, James spoke: "Well. That was unexpected."
"Okay," Allya said, plopping her books down beside Remus in the nearly empty common room the evening after. "What's eating you?"
Remus flinched at her choice of words, but didn't look up from his DADA textbook. "Nothing." The tone of his voice indicated otherwise.
Ally sighed, reading him like a book. "Bullshit."
He finally looked up. "When I say it's nothing, I mean it, okay?"
She leveled 'the look' at him. "If it's nothing, why can't you talk about it?"
The Defense Against the Dark Arts book slammed shut. "Honestly, Ally, shove off. If I don't want to talk, I don't want to talk, okay?"
"Not okay. I'm serious- no, I'm Allya," she corrected herself, "You need to talk about it. That's what I'm here for. To listen."
"Then maybe you shouldn't be here." Remus just walked away, doing his best to ignore the pained look upon his (once again) ex-girlfriend's face.
* * *
And Then There Were None
Part Two: Sirius and the King of Swing
* * *
"He didn't." The conviction in Sirius' voice belied the truth- he had.
"He did," Allya said miserably, staring blankly at the wall of the dormitory. "He did. He just- he just walked away." A fat, silver tear traced a path down her cheek. Sirius reached out to wipe it away.
"Don't do that… don't cry…" He found himself unable to say more. Something was troubling both of his werewolf friends. He wanted to know what it was. God, I can't stand it when they cry. Why can't I stand it when they cry?
Ally straightened, wiping the last trace of misery from her face. "You saw that?" she asked, a bit shakily.
Sirius was more than a little confused. "Plain as the nose on Snape's face," he said in a vain attempt to be funny.
Allya swore to herself. "Oh no… Sirius, maybe you better leave… before the third years start thinking up rumors of us shagging up here…"
The rumors never started, mostly because everyone knew that Remus and Sirius' friendship would be ruined if any such thing ever happened. This was a lucky thing for everyone concerned- try explaining to your best friend that you shagged his ex-girlfriend moments after they broke up. Sirius didn't think so.
Luckily, neither did Ally or Remus.
And so, with the week of the ball rapidly approaching…
Naturally, the Shrieking Shack was hell. Neither Ally nor Remus spoke a word. When James and Sirius came to pick them up, Ally stayed close to Sirius and raised the fur on her neck in a catlike fashion whenever Remus got too close, whether by design or accident.
James noticed the change too, but said nothing- it was not his place to interfere. He wasn't the resident peacekeeper. Usually, the role fell to Allya or Remus. The irony, he thought, oh, the irony.
Sirius caught up with Ally in the common room the day she got back. "Ally- Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Uh oh, something inside Allya seemed to scream, You know what's coming… run. While you still can… She silenced that tiny voice with an inward glare. "I'm listening- talk."
You bastard, Sirius' conscience yelled at him. You know it's going to hurt Remus, and you're still going to do it. I'm telling you, walk away. WALK AWAY! No. Run. Run, Sirius… she's gonna kill you…
'Shut up,' he told it promptly, and then… "Want to go to the Halloween dance with me?" he asked finally.
Allya looked vaguely confused- but not shocked. "I thought you were going with Mioré?"
Sirius sighed. "Waited too long. She's going with Amos Diggory."
Ally's eyes widened in surprise. "The Hufflepuff seventh-year who thinks the world turns just for him?"
Sirius nodded ruefully. "That's the one. So… what do you say?"
"I say… meet me in the common room at seven-thirty on Halloween."
As things turned out, by Halloween there were no sixth-year Gryffindors left without a date, not even Remus, who was sulking, or Adrienne, who was generally so annoying that nobody could stand her. Ally and Remus were officially not speaking- again- and their love-hate relationship was beginning to annoy the odd person here and there.
Mioré was beginning to regret her decision to go with Amos Diggory, though- no matter how good-looking, he was exceedingly arrogant and kept trying to parade her beauty around his seventh-year friends. Whenever this happened, Sirius and Allya did their best to keep straight faces- but decided that, in the end, Mioré deserved it for saying 'yes' in the first place.
The feast was held early on Halloween- around six o'clock- because no food was to be served at the dance afterward. It was impractical, especially after what had happened last year. Ally shuddered. Vague, indistinct images that came from being very, very drunk ran through her brain.
At seven-thirty in the Gryffindor tower, people assembled to go to the dance. Remus Lupin was not present- he had already gone to pick up his date from the Ravenclaw common room. Erina, or something, Allya couldn't quite remember- or was pretending she didn't care.
The costumes she and Sirius had decided on were Muggle-ish and matched perfectly- almost Spanish in style, her dress was blue and short, matching the sash on Sirius' black tux. The party started in just a few moments- everyone rushed to the Great Hall.
Everyone concerned, even Slytherins, agreed that Hagrid had really outdone himself this time. The decorations were simply spectacular, complete with live bats, man-sized jack-o-lanterns, and orange and black fireworks that shot off every three minutes precisely.
Only water was served- there was no use having a repeat of the year before, as Dumbledore had said. When the jazzy, up-beat music started, Sirius got a manic glint in his eye. He turned to his 'date'- "Do you swing?" he asked, the 'doggy grin' making an appearance.
"Do I!" Ally exclaimed, jumping up… and sat back down again warily, chancing a glance at Remus- he was resolutely ignoring her, Sirius, and his date. "Wait a minute… I thought you didn't dance?"
If possible, Sirius' grin widened. "Baby, I may not dance, but I am the king of swing."
Allya laughed. "I'll give you a run for the royal title- I've taken lessons since I was four."
As the majority of the students hadn't a clue how to swing dance, the floor was mostly empty- and all the better, too. When Ally and Sirius hit the floor, most who did know how stopped to watch, keen to take hints from the obvious masters of the dance.
They whirled, twirled, and whorled around the dance floor, pulling off complicated moves like trained professionals. "Think you can handle a flip?" Sirius asked, spinning Allya off and away again before she came right back.
"Can you?" she retorted, and he flipped her over his arm as if they'd been practicing their entire lives. "Sirius, where'd you learn to swing?"
"On the road this summer," he answered, concentrating on a complicated set. "Dance club in Whales…"
Allya grinned. "Okay, who was she?"
Sirius smiled, but didn't answer, and before he could even think of anything to say, amazingly enough, Ally had flipped him.
"Gonna answer me, or do I have to try something that will really be painful?" Now Allya was the one with the manic glint.
"I give," Sirius laughed, "I'll tell you all about it later."
"Promise?" Allya quirked an eyebrow.
Sirius laughed again. "No."
How A.J. managed to give 'the look' in the middle of a complicated dance sequence was pretty much beyond everyone's comprehension… but, then again, many things about many people were beyond comprehension. Finally, Sirius gave in. "Fine…"
After a number of less complicated dance moves, the song ended. The masters' final pose was somewhat awkward for both of them- but the crowd was loving it. Ally was bent over backwards, breathing heavily, Sirius supporting her waist with one arm while holding her hand with the other. He, too, was breathing heavily, but neither of them could contain the grins threatening to escape onto their faces. Finally they stood, clasped hands, and bowed to much applause (or booing and dirty looks, from the Slytherins).
"Encore, encore!"
"Bravo!"
"Brava!"
"Bravissimo!"
Catcalls and cheers soon overcame the "boo"ers and dirty looks, but Sirius and Allya were too tired to continue, and sat back down at their table, exhausted.
"We have to do this more often," Allya said when she was again capable of intelligent speech.
"Agreed," Sirius said, still a bit winded. "Although next time we should rehearse first and really blow them away.
"You don't think we blew them away?"
"Point taken."
Back in the Gryffindor Tower at around midnight, James, Sirius and Ally were discussing ways of initiating the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Quinn.
"I'm telling you," Sirius was saying, "a fake wand isn't good enough! I mean- we have to prove ourselves… more capable of pranking than those Beauxbatons… erm, gits."
Ally grinned, careful to note Remus' sullen entrance through the portrait-hole but not to acknowledge it. "Careful, Sirius… some people consider the fake wand bit to be classic."
"Classic, shmassic," Sirius said, "we need something original."
"Original, eh?" Prongs smiled his most devilish grin. "I have just the thing…"
And so Remus went up to bed unnoticed… James had had his back to him the entire time, Allya was ignoring him as he was her… and Sirius was still angry with him for hurting Ally in the first place. He and A. J. had always been close, after all. And Remus had hurt her badly.
* * *
And Then There Were None
Part Three: Green With Envy… and Blue With Guilt
* * *
The next day's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson was one of the more colorful experiences to be had with Professor Quinn… the man had a great love of Quidditch, and tended to favor the Gryffindors a bit, as they were generally the bravest ones while tackling his creatures.
Sirius' journey to the front of the classroom and the small vial he emptied on the teacher's chair went unnoticed at the beginning of class… but everyone remembered by the end. Once Professor Quinn stood up again to write the spell for detecting Dark forces in the area, the chatter started- the professor was wearing white underwear with little red hearts.
Sirius, James and Allya clasped hands- the vanishing solution was perfect in every way. Welcome to Hogwarts, Professor Quinn.
Other than that incident, November started as Novembers often do, and before anyone knew it, the first Quidditch match was upon them.
"Hufflepuff," James began, and then, "Hufflepuff. They've got Diggory as Seeker, all we need is a mirror and we'll win hands down…" He grinned dryly. "Don't suppose it's a conventional tactic, but it ought to work. C'mere, Allya."
A bit bewildered, Allya stood. James turned her so that her back was to him, and a few minutes later, a portion of the back of her robes was transformed into a lightweight, flexible mirror. "Perfect. Now, you get to play diversionary- fly around in front of him till he notices, then just keep him entertained… shouldn't be too hard. Warren and Arika can play extra hard for you. That's all… let's go!"
Ally and the rest of the team were sure, of course, that James hadn't meant what he'd said- they knew it for a fact. Nonetheless, when Allya got onto the field, she couldn't help but smirk in Amos' general direction before she mounted her broom and soared into the sky.
It was soon apparent that there was no doubt in the crowds' minds as to what the purpose of the mirror was. In fact, Amos was already following Ally around the field… Sirius was laughing so hard he was having a hard time wielding his club. Even Remus, who had been in the sourest of moods lately, almost smiled.
The overexcited Ravenclaw fifth-year that was commentating seemed to think the ploy was hilarious, although she never said anything that would tip Amos off, of course. Hufflepuff got the Quaffle early in the game, and scored a quick goal before Gryffindor could warm their Keeper up properly.
"And Hufflepuff takes an early lead, 10-0… an incredible interception by the Followed One, a pass to Arika Thompson of Gryffindor, who shoots- no, looks like the Keeper's got it- it's in, it's good! 10-10! Astounding!"
Sirius and Remus wove in and out of their competitors, watching James above them. Amos was still following Allya around the pitch. Bored, Sirius swatted a Bludger towards the Quaffle- and, amazingly, hit it straight through the goal.
"Exquisite play by Black of Gryffindor and they take the lead, 20-10! Have you ever seen anything quite like that?"
James took a dive so suddenly that nobody saw it coming- he was speeding towards the ground with incredible velocity- Amos finally took his eyes off Ally's backside and dove, too- they were going to crash- James had the Snitch! Gryffindor had won!
"Superb, brilliant, extremely risky catch by Potter, the Gryffindor Seeker…" the rest of the girl's commentary was lost in the cheering crowds converging upon the teams.
The victory party was dull- James, Sirius, Ally and Remus were found nowhere near it. James and Sirius were serving detention for the vanishing solution trick (Quinn caught them laughing) but Ally had gotten off scot-free… and gone looking for Remus. He'd been in hiding long enough.
The Marauder's Map showed that he was headed towards the Shrieking Shack… Allya folded the map and went in after him.
"What are you doing here?" The voice was accusatory and nearly hurt in nature… it belonged to Remus, but didn't sound like the Remus Allya knew.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," she said, searching his face for whatever possessed him. "But I see I won't be getting an answer any time soon."
"Why aren't you in there…" Remus swallowed, brow still furrowed, unmoving as ever on the sofa. "Why aren't you with Sirius?"
A million things in Allya's brain clicked together, forming one huge, complex, ridiculous puzzle. "You're jealous." Allya was totally amazed. So he was human after all. "Remus Lupin, tragically heroic superhuman figure from my strangest and often scariest dreams, is jealous." She sank onto the couch. "And that's not all."
Remus simply glared at her. You can't tell her, a voice said. You can't tell her… she'll know what a monster you really are. At the same time, another of those pesky inner voices decreed, She already knows you're a werewolf… "I am not jealous." It came out not as words, but as a barely comprehensible growl.
"Then tell me what the problem is." The angry expression was gone… Remus realized with a start exactly what he'd done and his heart sank to somewhere between his knees. All that was left in her beautiful sapphire eyes was pain, betrayed trust, misunderstanding… and something else.
Remus was quiet for a long time. It broke his heart, literally, to hurt Ally… but after what he'd done… she deserved better.
"I deserve to decide for myself," she said, as if reading his thoughts. "It can't be that bad."
"It is," he assured her quietly. Allya was astounded at the hoarseness of his voice.
"I deserve to decide for myself," Allya said again, looking into his eyes this time. "And I won't tell anyone else. You know that."
Remus nodded, gathering his thoughts. "August the twenty-sixth," he said. The date ran through Allya's mind- the full moon after the blue moon. "I got out of the basement," Remus continued quietly.
Whatever Ally had been expecting, that wasn't it. Her mouth hung open in shock. Remus resumed his tale, oblivious.
"I woke up in a strange wood… there was a strange calmness in the air… it smelled like death," he spat the word. "But the worst… the greatest sin against magic itself one can commit…" He swallowed, and when he started speaking again Allya had to lean forwards to hear. "I killed a unicorn that night," he said softly.
Oh, by all the Greek gods… Tears formed in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall, for Remus' sake. "Oh, Remus… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"
He turned away, afraid of her disgust.
But she wouldn't let him leave, and pulled him against her shoulder. Remus sobbed ashamedly into her, letting her absorb some of the pain… so that he could live his life once more.
Sirius was in the common room when they returned; a red-eyed Remus leaning heavily upon his ex-girlfriend, Ally herself looking like she wanted to cry, but couldn't do it in front of Remus.
He shot her a questioning glance- 'later,' she mouthed, before escorting Remus up to his bed and climbing tiredly back down again.
"So?" he asked quietly.
"I just need to cry," Allya said quietly, and she cried all her tears until there were none.
THE END
