Don't own anything recognisable from JK Rowling's Harry Potter books
Chapter 15.
Telling Stories and Playing Games
"I was led to understand that you might be coming in to see me today." Albus shut the door on the prying eyes of the rest of the group and turned to Remus, his usually jolly eyes reflecting sadness.
"Was I?" Remus asked in confusion, then comprehension dawned. "Oh yes, of course. The job offer." He coughed. "Sorry, with all of the recent events, I forgot all about that." Remus glanced towards the door distractedly, and he seemed to lower his voice as he added. "I take it you wormed the details out of Severus?"
Albus laughed. "No, Severus was a lost cause. Katrina though was very happy to help me." He paused. "Why Alaska Remus? Why so far away?"
"I decided that I wanted a change." Remus said neutrally and shrugged.
"Have you accepted the job offer yet?" Albus asked kindly.
Again Remus glanced at the door and replied hurriedly. "I have yet to decide, there are some things that I have to work through first."
Albus nodded. "Please tell me if anything changes."
.....
"I wonder what they're talking about." Sirius reflected as the door of the study shut. He picked up a biscuit off of the plate and bit a chunk off, then gagged. "What are these biscuits made of?" He asked nobody in particular.
Lunar sat in a chair, uncomfortably aware that all eyes had swung towards her as the door shut. In a desperate bid to get rid of the attention she started clearing away the table and asked in a falsely bright manner. "Anyone for tea? Or coffee?" Having taken down mental notes at their orders she went towards the kitchen, but paused outside the study and put a hand to her mouth as she heard the words "Job offer." Shuffling, as quietly as she could towards the door, she placed her ear millimetres away from the hard wood and listened intently. She gasped at the word "Alaska" being mentioned, and her heart broke at the deliberate evasiveness of Remus' voice. She moved her head closer to the door, and realised that they had stopped talking. Footsteps headed towards her.
Lunar became conscious of the fact that at any moment Albus and Remus would leave the room, and that she would be caught eavesdropping, she hurriedly left the hallway. Grabbing her jacket she headed out of the door, as her heart broke into pieces.
.....
He knew that she had been there, knew that she had heard the conversation. Even if he hadn't heard the soft footsteps stopping in the hallway, he would have been able to smell her scent haunting the space outside the door. He had wanted so much for her to be waiting for him as he emerged. Waiting to beg him to stay. Waiting to finally declare her everlasting love for him, and the perfect moment that would last forever. But that was the stuff of dreams and fairy tales told to impressionable children who would eventually realise that everything in the story told did not, in reality, happen, that there was no dream Prince, but a broken man with a half-life shared with a werewolf. He smiled cheerlessly. This was no Sleeping Beauty, merely a rendition of Little Red Riding Hood, and everyone now knew who the Big Bad Wolf was. But all wasn't lost to him. If he could only prove to Lunar that he was worthy of her love and trust. One act could be enough to win the affection he had longed for, all these years.
He stared blankly at the door for a moment, and then, as if struck by some remote force he headed for the door. In fairy stories there was only one way for the Prince to prove his love: to defeat the evil nemesis. It wouldn't be hard to track Avery down again….
"And this time I will not fail." Were Remus' last words before the door slammed shut.
"Remus?" Albus called out from the living area, after hearing the loud bang. "Was that…."? He trailed off as he entered the deserted hallway.
Katrina followed him out into the hallway and headed towards the kitchen. "Lunar is not in the kitchen either, and it doesn't look like she started to prepare any tea. There are no cups and the water is still cold."
"Maybe they've gone somewhere together? You know to work out their differences?" Sirius suggested tentatively.
"Yes, of course, and Grindylows might fly" Severus suggested acidly. "I thought pregnancy was supposed to affect the woman's capacity for rational thought?"
Albus frowned. "Now is not the time Severus. We have to find them both, and quickly. I have a terrible feeling."
.....
She hurried down the pavement, uselessly wiping at the never-ending tears that obscured her vision causing her to collide with several people heading in the other direction. Apologising more by habit than from real remorse she gave up on walking and dejectedly sat down with a bump on a bench overlooking a children's playground. She felt faint, and as if she was about to vomit, but this was a malady that even the expertise of Madam Pomfrey couldn't cure. She sniffed back the engulfing tears and stared into space trying to blank her mind from the heart-breaking knowledge that she possessed, but one stray malicious thought devastated her mind. He was leaving her. Going so far away that even Floo networks would be useless.
"What is Remus thinking?" She half-whispered to herself. Rashly wiping the tears from her eyes she took a deep breath. "Okay, I can do this. Why is Remus pulling away?" Pulling all her strength, and ministry of magic training, she began looking through all the facts. "Remus probably… no scratch that … almost certainly has feelings for me, possibly since Hogwarts. He is a werewolf. Sirius and Albus have known that he's a werewolf… and possibly Severus.. for a long time." She paused. "Sirius and Severus haven't been in contact with him since Hogwarts.. So he must have been one back then." She frowned as a thought struck her. "He couldn't possibly be that blind?" Years of acting the blonde bimbo, in it for good looks and money came crashing down on her. "He can't possibly think that I can't love him because he's a werewolf? Because he isn't perfect?" She jutted her jaw, and sighed exasperatedly. "That's why he wouldn't tell me, and why we're playing this stupid game of kiss chase. Well it's going to stop here." She stood up and headed purposefully towards the house. "You aren't getting away this time Remus. Oh no."
"Lunar!" She heard someone call out her name in relief and turned to see Katrina head towards her. "Lunar wait! Thank Merlin I found you!" Katrina grabbed her arm and started heading back towards the house with her. "Remus has gone missing again."
Lunar stopped dead, and looked at Katrina in disbelief. "What do you mean "gone missing"?"
"Come on!" Katrina continued to drag Lunar towards the house. "I mean what I say. Albus was the last person to see him."
She waved at Sirius, who had appeared in the distance, and he walked towards them. His face was a mixture of sadness and relief. "I think he's gone after Avery."
Loosening her arm from Katrina's, Lunar strode into the house and up the stairs. She grabbed her wand from its place on the bedside cabinet, and ran back downstairs to see everyone arrive at the news that she had been found. "We're going after him." She stated, and looked into everyone's eyes, daring them to argue.
Albus cleared his throat. "How are you intending to find him?" He asked subdued.
Frowning at everyone she pointed a finger at Sirius. "He's going to track him down. He's been friends with Remus forever, surely by now he can track his scent."
Albus took it upon himself to be the voice of reason and argued quietly. "And then what?"
"We fight." She grit her teeth together and growled. "Remus is not dying, understand. It's about time we showed him exactly how much he means to us, and exactly how stupid this going it alone attitude of his is."
Sirius looked at her with a mixture of astonishment and admiration. "I'm with you Lunar."
She nodded. "I never expected you not to be."
.....
A/N… Sighs.. I expect the torch and pitchfork mentality at this posting, and don't expect anyone to read after this long absence from
In my defence (and if anyone cares) I have passed my degree and graduate soon, leaving my life open to job hunting and fan fiction. My dissertation was handed in about three minutes before the deadline and also passed.
So I am truly sorry for ignoring this part of my life for such a long time and for leaving you hanging as to whether Lunar and Lupin truly belong together.
(although if you have gathered anything from reading my stories then you should know that a sad ending is not on the cards!)
Thankyou to litanya1, Ingenious, Rogue Misfit Marauder Jedi, and Annoriel and I hope you have persevered in checking up on my postings.
Thanks to anyone else who might be reading this!
Again forgive me and enjoy!
Until next time. Krusty.
