The Watcher
Chapter 8-The Silence of our Friends
By Magoo
"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
-Dr. Martin Luther King Junior
~*~ Arabella walked slowly through the cemetery, observing the names of those she knew on headstone after headstone. There were so many names, all of them victims of the long and bloody war. Michael McKinnon, Ruth and Jonathan Bones, Orin King, Kylie Ranier, Jay and Joan Garick. so many people who had never fully lived.
She passed grave after grave until she found the ones she was looking for. Prewitt. Three names: Geoff, Victoria and Jane. Parents and child. All of them dead on the same day. One year ago exactly.
April 20th had been a full moon, Arabella remembered. That had been the sole reason that Remus wasn't lying in the ground with the Prewitts as well. The only reason they'd ever had to be thankful for his curse. But now.did the fact that he had survived truly matter, when she knew deep down that he would be happier in the ground with Jane?
That had been the start of all the suspicions. That had been the first time that anyone had dared voice the ever present thought that there was a traitor within their group. And, the first time that Sirius had begun to claim that it was Remus who had betrayed them. And, Arabella thought, it may have been Sirius' first act as Voldemort's spy. To murder one of his friends to prove his loyalty. Arabella tried desperately to push the thought from her mind; the ever present idea that Sirius had betrayed them that long ago; that he'd been planning this last and worst betrayal.
Could I have been that bad a judge of character? Arabella thought desperately. That I could live with a man for six months while he was actively working against us? Against my friends? Against me?
But I suspected Remus. I listened to Sirius. After Jane, I should have known that it wouldn't be possible for Remus to be the spy, to be the traitor. After Jane, we should have known he was innocent. Her death almost destroyed him. How could we have thought that Remus could kill his fiancée? We were such fools, thinking that every act had the opposite meaning. Dead girlfriend equals spy. What fools we were, and how we paid for it. With our lives, our hearts, and our souls.
Arabella stared at the gravesite again, and nearly turned and fled. No, she admonished herself. You must do this. You must face this. Jane deserves to know the truth - especially now.
Settling herself down for a long talk, Arabella stared at the grave of her childhood friend. No, not just friend, almost-sister. Jane and Lily were her sisters, if not by blood, then by choice. There was nothing that could ever drive them apart. Nothing except the war.. and death.
Yet friendship was supposed to transcend death. But could it survive betrayal?
By betraying Remus, I betrayed Jane as well. The thought repeated over and over again. I should have known better. I was played for a fool.
Arabella curled her knees up into her chest. This was going to be difficult. "Jane," she began. "There's no easy way to say this. I'm.I'm so sorry."
Nothing happened.
Arabella glanced at the sky. "Don't I at least get a sign or something? Maybe a crash of thunder?"
There was no response.
"Guess I can't get out of this so easily." she trailed off, and desperately fought her urge to run. "Jane, I know that.that towards the end, we had our differences, especially after you and Remus. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I let my prejudice get ahead of me. Me! You know, Ms.-I-won't-ever-judge-you-Remus herself. With the war, things changed. We all let our prejudice take charge of us. And Sirius took full advantage of that." Arabella paused, and wiped a tear from her eye. "All of us except for you. You always believed him. Well, after you understood that he wasn't an evil monster who was going to kill you in your sleep anyway."
Arabella grinned in memory. The summer after their second year, she had invited Remus to stay for a week at Star Manor, and had confronted him on his lycanthropy. His reaction to her knowledge had been.unsettling to say the least. She had, after all, spent most of the end of the spring term distancing herself from him, unsure how to handle the knowledge of his horrible secret. Confronting him had been a great relief on her part, and a shock for him. To this day, Remus' words still haunted her.
Do you have any idea what it's like? Knowing that you have no control over yourself? That you could one day cause somebody else to live like this? To go through all this suffering and pain, once a month for the rest of their life? To know that you can never be considered equal, and all you are is a freak, and a monster. That something is just wrong with you, and you'll have to live with it for the rest of your life.
And then he had broken down into tears.
"After seeing that, how could I have thought so badly of him?" Arabella asked Jane's grave. "I should have known better. I knew better in our third year, so how did I forget as an adult?"
She sighed. "Never mind, that was a rhetorical question. I guess the two of us just switched places, eh Jane? For a while, I think Gran was afraid that Remus and I would end up together. Not that there was ever a chance of that," Arabella spat out bitterly. "I was too scared of hurting Gran. I think the happiest day of her life was the day that Sirius asked me to Hogsmeade in fifth year. I wonder.if Remus had asked me first, would things have been different? Would James and Lily still be alive? Would you still be here Jane?" She sighed. "I sound like an idiot. Going on about how I had two blokes fawning over me. Remus and I. it never would have worked. He was just so grateful to me for sticking up for him, after we all found out. But I'll be honest Jane, I never did see the two of you."
Arabella glared at the gravesite. "Well, what do you mean I should have more faith in you? You're the one who thought Remus was going to eat you!"
~*~
Saturday, September 15, 1973
"Why are we doing this again?" Remus asked sourly.
"Because you need to tell them Remus, we're your friends. They're growing suspicious, you know. You can't keep making excuses for why you constantly disappear once a month. I can't keep covering for you. And as you've just recovered from a transformation-"
"Yeah, a bad one," Remus interrupted.
Ari winced. "Remus, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize that your emotional state affected your transformations."
"I've gone through worse," was all he would say in response.
"But, this should help," Ari said, trying to force a smile. "None of us would ever do anything to hurt you. Honestly, I don't care that you're a werewolf. And knowing the other boys, they'll probably think that it's a great cause for mischief."
"But I don't want that Ari," Remus said in frustration. "I don't want your pity. I'm still me-- and I'm not a prank. That.that's honestly the most awful idea-- the fact that I'm a werewolf isn't funny," he entreated. "It's serious, do you understand? And it has to be treated seriously. But I don't think you can..."
"You know we are," Ari said gently. "You're our friend, and that will never change."
"You'd be surprised Ari," Remus said quietly. "Most people aren't willing to trust a monster. Even our group of friends," he paused briefly, "I'm not sure how they'll react."
"Well, you'll never know until you try," Ari said brightly. "And you really will feel better after telling them. Didn't you feel better after telling me?"
Without waiting for an answer, she hopped off the couch and went in search of her friends, barely hearing Remus' soft "no".
Sometime later, the seven friends had gathered in the third year boys' dormitory. Remus sat on his four poster bed, trying very hard not to look anyone in the eye. Jane and Peter sat on the floor, laughing about something that had happened in Transfiguration the day before. Sirius was pacing back and forth, and James and Lily were sitting on James' bed. Ari cleared her throat. "Um, I think Remus has an announcement," she said quietly.
Remus glared daggers at her. "Oh no Ari, this was your idea. Why don't you say it?"
"Are you sure?"
"I didn't want to bring it up in the first place," he replied.
Ari took a longer look at him. Obviously this was affecting him badly. The strain that was showing on his face couldn't just be from his transformation earlier in the week. "Remus if you don't want to tell," she began, but he cut her off.
"It's too late for that now, isn't it?" he asked sarcastically.
"Come on Remus, what's the big deal?" Peter asked, looking up from his conversation from Jane. "It's not like you're going to tell us you're transferring into Slytherin."
"No," Remus began. He sighed. "I'm a werewolf."
The group burst out laughing. "Very funny Remus," James snorted. "I almost believed you. Nice joke you two." Yet his voice was off, and there was a change in his eyes. As if some suspicion had been confirmed.
Jane backed off and put her hands up in an x. "Stay away from me werewolf!" she said, laughing hysterically
Remus flinched, and turned away. Silent tears were streaming down his face. The only ones to notice were Ari and Lily. Everyone else was still laughing too hard over the "prank" that Remus had played on them. Ari was struck by the severity of what she had done. Remus hadn't wanted this, hadn't asked for it. Yet she'd been convinced that it would make him feel better. Instead, she'd hurt him.
Lily stood up and walked over to Remus. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she asked him gently, "You were telling the truth, weren't you?"
At Remus' nod, she pulled him into a hug.
A deep silence spread over the room. Eventually, it was broken by Sirius, who asked, "You aren't serious about this, are you?" Remus didn't respond.
Jane turned pale and repeated her earlier words. "Get away from me werewolf!"
Ari crossed the room and slapped Jane smartly across the face. "How dare you," she said quietly. "How dare all of you. I cannot believe you would say that. Remus is our friend, nothing has changed." Turning to face Remus, who was still holding onto Lily, she spoke two words. "I'm sorry."
Remus didn't answer her. He just turned and ran out of the room, Lily following close behind.
"Why!" Ari shouted at them. "Why didn't you defend him? He's your friend!"
"He's a monster," Jane said softly. "Even the textbooks classify him as such."
"He's.I mean, werewolves are dark creatures Ari," James said quietly. "You and Lily couldn't understand that. You didn't grow up hearing what those beasts can do."
Sirius nodded. "No respectable wizard would associate with one Ari."
"They're right," Peter added. "It's just too dangerous."
Ari just stared at them. "What is this," she finally managed. "The famed Marauders going on about purity of blood? About something being too dangerous? What are you, a bunch of Slytherin cowards? How dare you talk about Remus in that fashion. I won't allow it! I...I won't let you!"
"But Ari, you couldn't understand, he's not-"
"He's our friend! This is the same Remus who helped us break into Honeydukes last year. The same friend who bailed you out of detention. The one who helps you with your Defense homework. How has he suddenly changed?"
"Ari, listen to me," Peter said quietly. "There was a man in my village who was a werewolf. He killed people. He drank their blood. He-"
"Only vampires drink blood, Peter," Ari snapped at him. "Get your facts straight."
"Listen Ari, at least I-"
"Don't say it Peter," James snapped. "She's right. We are being gits. Remus is still.Remus."
"Exactly," Ari said. "He's our friend, and we've all hurt him badly. What was said here never leaves this room. Is that understood?" she asked harshly, catching each of their eyes in turn. The group nodded, first James, then Sirius. Peter hesitated, then nodded as well.
"Jane?" Ari asked quietly.
Jane had lowered her head, desperately avoiding Ari's gaze.
"Jane, look at me," Ari pleaded. "I know that your parents think that you should be this proper lady, but this is more important. This is a friendship. Are you going to risk that over something your parents said? You know us better than that. Please Jane, think about this."
Jane nodded quietly, but still refused to meet Ari's eyes.
"Well," Ari snapped. "If you'll excuse me, I have a friend to apologize to." She swept out of the room in anger, and was shortly joined by the others, as they made their way to see Remus.
~*~
"We forged a bond that day that was deeper than anything we ever thought possible," Arabella said quietly. "Remus was so shocked that we could still trust him and like him that we still were speaking to him that our previous hesitation seemed to be forgiven. Yet Lily and I always were closer with him than the rest of you..through sixth year anyway. That time that you had a bad case of the flu, and Remus was recovering from a particularly bad transformation. It wasn't only a few months after that.that idiocy of Sirius'. And you two spent an entire day in the hospital wing together, while the rest of us were in Hogsmeade. I was feuding with Sirius after. after what he had done. So everyone else had come along to keep the two of us from killing each other. Which they managed to do, but just barely. I'll never forget how shocked I was to walk into the hospital wing afterwards though. Sirius had a spectacular bloody nose, so we had to return.
"What? So I hit him. He deserved it. Don't look at me that way Jane Prewitt, he did and you know it.
"Anyway, so we walked into the hospital wing, and there you are, sitting right by Remus' bed. And you two are just talking. You'd always been friends, but never as close to each other as the rest of us. That was the start of it. Within three months you were dating. And by the time we finished Hogwarts, we just knew you were meant to be. Neither or you ever told us what was said that day," Arabella added. "And that drove me up the wall. I always loved knowing what was going on, and I couldn't stand the fact that my two best friends were sharing something that I couldn't be a part of. Although it made you both so happy."
By now, tears were streaming down Arabella's cheeks. "And then you died. You had gone to visit your family. Remus was supposed to go, but your parents had chosen the day of the full moon. Luckily for him. I'll never forget. James had Apparated to the flat Sirius and I were sharing in shock, and told us to head over to your parents home. When we did.there it was, the Dark Mark. Flying there overhead, for all the world to see.
"I never did work out why it was your family who died that night, unless it was strictly aimed at you. Your parents, while they were Gryffindors, cared far too much about the purity of blood. While they might not have supported Him outright, they didn't necessarily support the Ministry either. Yet they were still killed.
"Your death really was the last straw you know, that was the first time that Sirius dared suggest that Remus was the spy. Remus.he was heartbroken after your death. His next transformation almost killed him. It took him nearly two weeks to recover. Sirius claimed it was from his guilt of murdering you. That it had been on the full moon only clinched it. It would have placed him above suspicion, because it gave him an alibi. Yet it just supposedly proved his guilt. I didn't believe Sirius then. I never should have believed him. You were so in love with Remus, as was he with you. A happy couple, and your lives both destroyed." Arabella took a deep breath. "I don't know why I'm sitting here telling you all this Jane, today is your Remembrance Day. I'm supposed to be discussing happy things, the good parts of your life, as is the custom. Yet all I can think of is the pain. So, all I have to say is, I miss you, and I love you. Goodbye my friend, my sister of my heart. May you move well through the next world. I'll be here next year."
Pulling herself off the ground, Arabella walked out of the cemetery, tears still glistening on her cheeks.
Author's Note-Many thanks to all of those who believed in me, especially my sisters, Anne, Paula, and Runechild. Rune, if it wasn't for you I would have given up on this chapter. Also thanks to the all the GT Queens, the NY GALs, Dr. C, Jaime, Sweeney, StereoM and everyone else who has been listening to me ramble. Julephenia is a lifesaver. She ROX. I'd like to especially thank Joyce for making Remus sound like he's 13, since I can't. Once again, 4 am is a good time to write. Everything Remus is dedicated to Liz, although I don't think this is how she wanted him. Overall, the chapter is dedicated to Ali, who does know the value of friendship, unlike some of the people in my chapter.
About Remus telling his friends-I happen to think it's a valid canon interpretation. (
In chapter 9-More adventures in babysitting. Plus, we see how Neville Longbottom is doing after the attack on his home.
Chapter 8-The Silence of our Friends
By Magoo
"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
-Dr. Martin Luther King Junior
~*~ Arabella walked slowly through the cemetery, observing the names of those she knew on headstone after headstone. There were so many names, all of them victims of the long and bloody war. Michael McKinnon, Ruth and Jonathan Bones, Orin King, Kylie Ranier, Jay and Joan Garick. so many people who had never fully lived.
She passed grave after grave until she found the ones she was looking for. Prewitt. Three names: Geoff, Victoria and Jane. Parents and child. All of them dead on the same day. One year ago exactly.
April 20th had been a full moon, Arabella remembered. That had been the sole reason that Remus wasn't lying in the ground with the Prewitts as well. The only reason they'd ever had to be thankful for his curse. But now.did the fact that he had survived truly matter, when she knew deep down that he would be happier in the ground with Jane?
That had been the start of all the suspicions. That had been the first time that anyone had dared voice the ever present thought that there was a traitor within their group. And, the first time that Sirius had begun to claim that it was Remus who had betrayed them. And, Arabella thought, it may have been Sirius' first act as Voldemort's spy. To murder one of his friends to prove his loyalty. Arabella tried desperately to push the thought from her mind; the ever present idea that Sirius had betrayed them that long ago; that he'd been planning this last and worst betrayal.
Could I have been that bad a judge of character? Arabella thought desperately. That I could live with a man for six months while he was actively working against us? Against my friends? Against me?
But I suspected Remus. I listened to Sirius. After Jane, I should have known that it wouldn't be possible for Remus to be the spy, to be the traitor. After Jane, we should have known he was innocent. Her death almost destroyed him. How could we have thought that Remus could kill his fiancée? We were such fools, thinking that every act had the opposite meaning. Dead girlfriend equals spy. What fools we were, and how we paid for it. With our lives, our hearts, and our souls.
Arabella stared at the gravesite again, and nearly turned and fled. No, she admonished herself. You must do this. You must face this. Jane deserves to know the truth - especially now.
Settling herself down for a long talk, Arabella stared at the grave of her childhood friend. No, not just friend, almost-sister. Jane and Lily were her sisters, if not by blood, then by choice. There was nothing that could ever drive them apart. Nothing except the war.. and death.
Yet friendship was supposed to transcend death. But could it survive betrayal?
By betraying Remus, I betrayed Jane as well. The thought repeated over and over again. I should have known better. I was played for a fool.
Arabella curled her knees up into her chest. This was going to be difficult. "Jane," she began. "There's no easy way to say this. I'm.I'm so sorry."
Nothing happened.
Arabella glanced at the sky. "Don't I at least get a sign or something? Maybe a crash of thunder?"
There was no response.
"Guess I can't get out of this so easily." she trailed off, and desperately fought her urge to run. "Jane, I know that.that towards the end, we had our differences, especially after you and Remus. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I let my prejudice get ahead of me. Me! You know, Ms.-I-won't-ever-judge-you-Remus herself. With the war, things changed. We all let our prejudice take charge of us. And Sirius took full advantage of that." Arabella paused, and wiped a tear from her eye. "All of us except for you. You always believed him. Well, after you understood that he wasn't an evil monster who was going to kill you in your sleep anyway."
Arabella grinned in memory. The summer after their second year, she had invited Remus to stay for a week at Star Manor, and had confronted him on his lycanthropy. His reaction to her knowledge had been.unsettling to say the least. She had, after all, spent most of the end of the spring term distancing herself from him, unsure how to handle the knowledge of his horrible secret. Confronting him had been a great relief on her part, and a shock for him. To this day, Remus' words still haunted her.
Do you have any idea what it's like? Knowing that you have no control over yourself? That you could one day cause somebody else to live like this? To go through all this suffering and pain, once a month for the rest of their life? To know that you can never be considered equal, and all you are is a freak, and a monster. That something is just wrong with you, and you'll have to live with it for the rest of your life.
And then he had broken down into tears.
"After seeing that, how could I have thought so badly of him?" Arabella asked Jane's grave. "I should have known better. I knew better in our third year, so how did I forget as an adult?"
She sighed. "Never mind, that was a rhetorical question. I guess the two of us just switched places, eh Jane? For a while, I think Gran was afraid that Remus and I would end up together. Not that there was ever a chance of that," Arabella spat out bitterly. "I was too scared of hurting Gran. I think the happiest day of her life was the day that Sirius asked me to Hogsmeade in fifth year. I wonder.if Remus had asked me first, would things have been different? Would James and Lily still be alive? Would you still be here Jane?" She sighed. "I sound like an idiot. Going on about how I had two blokes fawning over me. Remus and I. it never would have worked. He was just so grateful to me for sticking up for him, after we all found out. But I'll be honest Jane, I never did see the two of you."
Arabella glared at the gravesite. "Well, what do you mean I should have more faith in you? You're the one who thought Remus was going to eat you!"
~*~
Saturday, September 15, 1973
"Why are we doing this again?" Remus asked sourly.
"Because you need to tell them Remus, we're your friends. They're growing suspicious, you know. You can't keep making excuses for why you constantly disappear once a month. I can't keep covering for you. And as you've just recovered from a transformation-"
"Yeah, a bad one," Remus interrupted.
Ari winced. "Remus, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize that your emotional state affected your transformations."
"I've gone through worse," was all he would say in response.
"But, this should help," Ari said, trying to force a smile. "None of us would ever do anything to hurt you. Honestly, I don't care that you're a werewolf. And knowing the other boys, they'll probably think that it's a great cause for mischief."
"But I don't want that Ari," Remus said in frustration. "I don't want your pity. I'm still me-- and I'm not a prank. That.that's honestly the most awful idea-- the fact that I'm a werewolf isn't funny," he entreated. "It's serious, do you understand? And it has to be treated seriously. But I don't think you can..."
"You know we are," Ari said gently. "You're our friend, and that will never change."
"You'd be surprised Ari," Remus said quietly. "Most people aren't willing to trust a monster. Even our group of friends," he paused briefly, "I'm not sure how they'll react."
"Well, you'll never know until you try," Ari said brightly. "And you really will feel better after telling them. Didn't you feel better after telling me?"
Without waiting for an answer, she hopped off the couch and went in search of her friends, barely hearing Remus' soft "no".
Sometime later, the seven friends had gathered in the third year boys' dormitory. Remus sat on his four poster bed, trying very hard not to look anyone in the eye. Jane and Peter sat on the floor, laughing about something that had happened in Transfiguration the day before. Sirius was pacing back and forth, and James and Lily were sitting on James' bed. Ari cleared her throat. "Um, I think Remus has an announcement," she said quietly.
Remus glared daggers at her. "Oh no Ari, this was your idea. Why don't you say it?"
"Are you sure?"
"I didn't want to bring it up in the first place," he replied.
Ari took a longer look at him. Obviously this was affecting him badly. The strain that was showing on his face couldn't just be from his transformation earlier in the week. "Remus if you don't want to tell," she began, but he cut her off.
"It's too late for that now, isn't it?" he asked sarcastically.
"Come on Remus, what's the big deal?" Peter asked, looking up from his conversation from Jane. "It's not like you're going to tell us you're transferring into Slytherin."
"No," Remus began. He sighed. "I'm a werewolf."
The group burst out laughing. "Very funny Remus," James snorted. "I almost believed you. Nice joke you two." Yet his voice was off, and there was a change in his eyes. As if some suspicion had been confirmed.
Jane backed off and put her hands up in an x. "Stay away from me werewolf!" she said, laughing hysterically
Remus flinched, and turned away. Silent tears were streaming down his face. The only ones to notice were Ari and Lily. Everyone else was still laughing too hard over the "prank" that Remus had played on them. Ari was struck by the severity of what she had done. Remus hadn't wanted this, hadn't asked for it. Yet she'd been convinced that it would make him feel better. Instead, she'd hurt him.
Lily stood up and walked over to Remus. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she asked him gently, "You were telling the truth, weren't you?"
At Remus' nod, she pulled him into a hug.
A deep silence spread over the room. Eventually, it was broken by Sirius, who asked, "You aren't serious about this, are you?" Remus didn't respond.
Jane turned pale and repeated her earlier words. "Get away from me werewolf!"
Ari crossed the room and slapped Jane smartly across the face. "How dare you," she said quietly. "How dare all of you. I cannot believe you would say that. Remus is our friend, nothing has changed." Turning to face Remus, who was still holding onto Lily, she spoke two words. "I'm sorry."
Remus didn't answer her. He just turned and ran out of the room, Lily following close behind.
"Why!" Ari shouted at them. "Why didn't you defend him? He's your friend!"
"He's a monster," Jane said softly. "Even the textbooks classify him as such."
"He's.I mean, werewolves are dark creatures Ari," James said quietly. "You and Lily couldn't understand that. You didn't grow up hearing what those beasts can do."
Sirius nodded. "No respectable wizard would associate with one Ari."
"They're right," Peter added. "It's just too dangerous."
Ari just stared at them. "What is this," she finally managed. "The famed Marauders going on about purity of blood? About something being too dangerous? What are you, a bunch of Slytherin cowards? How dare you talk about Remus in that fashion. I won't allow it! I...I won't let you!"
"But Ari, you couldn't understand, he's not-"
"He's our friend! This is the same Remus who helped us break into Honeydukes last year. The same friend who bailed you out of detention. The one who helps you with your Defense homework. How has he suddenly changed?"
"Ari, listen to me," Peter said quietly. "There was a man in my village who was a werewolf. He killed people. He drank their blood. He-"
"Only vampires drink blood, Peter," Ari snapped at him. "Get your facts straight."
"Listen Ari, at least I-"
"Don't say it Peter," James snapped. "She's right. We are being gits. Remus is still.Remus."
"Exactly," Ari said. "He's our friend, and we've all hurt him badly. What was said here never leaves this room. Is that understood?" she asked harshly, catching each of their eyes in turn. The group nodded, first James, then Sirius. Peter hesitated, then nodded as well.
"Jane?" Ari asked quietly.
Jane had lowered her head, desperately avoiding Ari's gaze.
"Jane, look at me," Ari pleaded. "I know that your parents think that you should be this proper lady, but this is more important. This is a friendship. Are you going to risk that over something your parents said? You know us better than that. Please Jane, think about this."
Jane nodded quietly, but still refused to meet Ari's eyes.
"Well," Ari snapped. "If you'll excuse me, I have a friend to apologize to." She swept out of the room in anger, and was shortly joined by the others, as they made their way to see Remus.
~*~
"We forged a bond that day that was deeper than anything we ever thought possible," Arabella said quietly. "Remus was so shocked that we could still trust him and like him that we still were speaking to him that our previous hesitation seemed to be forgiven. Yet Lily and I always were closer with him than the rest of you..through sixth year anyway. That time that you had a bad case of the flu, and Remus was recovering from a particularly bad transformation. It wasn't only a few months after that.that idiocy of Sirius'. And you two spent an entire day in the hospital wing together, while the rest of us were in Hogsmeade. I was feuding with Sirius after. after what he had done. So everyone else had come along to keep the two of us from killing each other. Which they managed to do, but just barely. I'll never forget how shocked I was to walk into the hospital wing afterwards though. Sirius had a spectacular bloody nose, so we had to return.
"What? So I hit him. He deserved it. Don't look at me that way Jane Prewitt, he did and you know it.
"Anyway, so we walked into the hospital wing, and there you are, sitting right by Remus' bed. And you two are just talking. You'd always been friends, but never as close to each other as the rest of us. That was the start of it. Within three months you were dating. And by the time we finished Hogwarts, we just knew you were meant to be. Neither or you ever told us what was said that day," Arabella added. "And that drove me up the wall. I always loved knowing what was going on, and I couldn't stand the fact that my two best friends were sharing something that I couldn't be a part of. Although it made you both so happy."
By now, tears were streaming down Arabella's cheeks. "And then you died. You had gone to visit your family. Remus was supposed to go, but your parents had chosen the day of the full moon. Luckily for him. I'll never forget. James had Apparated to the flat Sirius and I were sharing in shock, and told us to head over to your parents home. When we did.there it was, the Dark Mark. Flying there overhead, for all the world to see.
"I never did work out why it was your family who died that night, unless it was strictly aimed at you. Your parents, while they were Gryffindors, cared far too much about the purity of blood. While they might not have supported Him outright, they didn't necessarily support the Ministry either. Yet they were still killed.
"Your death really was the last straw you know, that was the first time that Sirius dared suggest that Remus was the spy. Remus.he was heartbroken after your death. His next transformation almost killed him. It took him nearly two weeks to recover. Sirius claimed it was from his guilt of murdering you. That it had been on the full moon only clinched it. It would have placed him above suspicion, because it gave him an alibi. Yet it just supposedly proved his guilt. I didn't believe Sirius then. I never should have believed him. You were so in love with Remus, as was he with you. A happy couple, and your lives both destroyed." Arabella took a deep breath. "I don't know why I'm sitting here telling you all this Jane, today is your Remembrance Day. I'm supposed to be discussing happy things, the good parts of your life, as is the custom. Yet all I can think of is the pain. So, all I have to say is, I miss you, and I love you. Goodbye my friend, my sister of my heart. May you move well through the next world. I'll be here next year."
Pulling herself off the ground, Arabella walked out of the cemetery, tears still glistening on her cheeks.
Author's Note-Many thanks to all of those who believed in me, especially my sisters, Anne, Paula, and Runechild. Rune, if it wasn't for you I would have given up on this chapter. Also thanks to the all the GT Queens, the NY GALs, Dr. C, Jaime, Sweeney, StereoM and everyone else who has been listening to me ramble. Julephenia is a lifesaver. She ROX. I'd like to especially thank Joyce for making Remus sound like he's 13, since I can't. Once again, 4 am is a good time to write. Everything Remus is dedicated to Liz, although I don't think this is how she wanted him. Overall, the chapter is dedicated to Ali, who does know the value of friendship, unlike some of the people in my chapter.
About Remus telling his friends-I happen to think it's a valid canon interpretation. (
In chapter 9-More adventures in babysitting. Plus, we see how Neville Longbottom is doing after the attack on his home.