Chapter 22: The Silver Orb.
Today.
"Do you think something happened to him?"
"The moon isn't even half yet, maybe he's sick…" Lavender's voice made Hermione roll her eyes as they walked towards the great hall.
"Better that muggle lover then the half breed monster!" Draco Malfoy spat, pushing Lavender and Parvatti out of his way. Harry gritted his teeth but prefered not to pick up a fight right before his lessons with Snape.
"Git…" Parvatti mumbled. "Maybe we should check on him." She offered.
"Don't be ridiculus!" Hermione snapped. "He's allowed to be sick once in a while, he is human after all."
"Well…not exactly." Parvatti grinned. "He is a dangerous creature." She said in mock fear and Hermione and Harry laughed. "That's why Lavender adores him so much."
"I do not!" Lavender exclaimed and blushed when Ron looked at her with shock.
"You fancy professor Lupin?" He asked. "But…he's old."
"He is not old and no I do not fancy him! Stop that, Parvatti."
"You do wear lots of makeup today." Hermione observed and Harry hid his laughter behind his hand.
"He is old enough to be your father." Ron ranted.
"Alright, alright…I think he's handsome." Lavender admitted. "Come on, Hermione, he's got those great grey eyes with golden streaks."
"That's a lychantropy feature." Hermione responded dryly and Lavender pouted.
"You're no fun."
"Besides, he has a wife."
"What?"
Lavender screamed so hard Harry winced and Hermione's hand flew to her mouth as she gaped with horror at Lavender and Parvatti. "Oh, dear…" She mumbled.
"He has a wife!" Parvatti asked again and Hermione nodded. "Is she pretty?"
"Maybe she's ugly." Lavender mumbled still looking quite shocked and Harry laughed outloud this time.
"No, Lavender, actually she's quite pretty." He said and Ron nodded.
"She reminds me of someone." Ron added thoughtfully. "I can't figure out who, though."
"Oh well…" Lavender shrugged. "No need to look nice for Professor Lupin anymore."
The others laughed and entered the great hall for dinner.
Then. June 1980.
"Oh, Merlin…I feel like a whale. Look at me! I even crave fish and chips and I HATE fish and chips…I want to die."
"You do not want to die." Remus answered dryly, trying to keep his face straight while glancing at his wife above the 'Daily Prophet'.
"You are not helping!" She sneered at him and he mentaly added another tone she never used against him before to the list that grew quite long. Now, people told him that women tended to be emotional during pregnancy but his wife was practicly moving from north to south in a matter of seconds. He heared her sniffing and raised his head to see her wiping tears from her eyes.
"Rose." He sighed and went to sit next to her. "Stop that. You are not a whale, you are beautiful and I love you very much. I'll always love you."
"Even when I'm fat and ugly?" She asked in a small voice and he smiled.
"Yes."
"So you do think I'm fat!" She exclaimed and he smiled and hugged her.
"That's not what I said and you know that." He whispered. "I know you're tired and upset, but I'm here for you, okay?"
"I know." She leaned her head against his shoulder and he softly inhaled her scent, relaxing. "Thank you. I know I'm a pain right now." Remus laughed softly. "I love you too, Remus, very much."
"You wanna lay down for an hour or so? You haven't slept last night."
"My back is killing me." She answered, moving away from him.
He helped her to get on her feet and they headed upstairs to the bedroom. It was noon and Rose felt like she hasn't slept in days. She glanced at her husband when he took off his shirt. Suddenly, she felt ashamed with herself for being such a little girl. He tried really hard not to snap at her, especially since it was the night of the full moon and he was already upset and edgy. She bit her lips and then reached out for his hand, he raised his head and she saw the golden orbs staring at her. He was obviously upset or angry. "I'm sorry." She said, not breaking eye contact. "You can't be angry with me…" She teased. "After all, it's your child's fault."
Remus blinked a few times and Rose breathed a sigh of relief when the grey overcame the gold and he smiled gently and enveloped her in his arms. "Let's rest for a while." He said.
And so they slept peacefully. Rose's head rested on Remus's shoulder and their hands were joined together. Remus turned to his left and yelped when a sudden pain gripped his chest. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times, trying to get used to the dim light. It looked awfully dark for the afternoon. He groaned again when another pain wave hit him and panicked when he realized it was no longer the afternoon.
The red shadows confirmed his worst fear. It was sunset and he fell a sleep and missed it.
"Rose!" He turned towards her and shook her, trying to wake her. "Rose! Wake up!"
"What?" She mumbled, refusing to open her eyes. It's been so long since she slept.
"Rose, Get up! Come on!" He screamed and groaned again when the pain attacked him. He couldn't stand anymore and collapsed to the floor, shivering. The room grew darker.
"Remus!" She was suddenly wide awake and kneeled beside him. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment when he fell to the ground. What happened to him? Why was he shivering? "Remus, what's wrong?"
"Get out!" He bellowed and she remembered…the full moon.
Her eyes grew wide and she got up from the floor, stumbling towards the door. She heared him crying behind her and stopped, looking back at him. He was still shivering and moaning with pain and she was rooted to the spot. The thought of leaving him there was disgusting. She had to help him, there must be some way to ease his pain. She moved back to the room and he gave another strangled cry. "Get out, please…" He begged, tears running down his face. "You can't stay…"
"Rose!" Another voice shouted and she turned to see Sirius and James running up the stairs, both panting and sweating. "Get out of there!" James said.
"I can't!" She exclaimed, sobbing. "I have to help him."
"No, Rose." Sirius pulled her away from Remus. "It will be over soon, but when that happens he will no longer be the man we know, you have to get out." He pushed her out of the room and immediately turned to his animagi form and entered the room. James closed the door behind him and faced Rose.
"Go to our place tonight, stay with Lily." He asked.
"No, I need to be here in the morning." She insisted, still crying.
"Be here, if that's what you want but you shouldn't be here during the night. Please. I know it's hard but you must think of your own safety now." James smiled gently.
"Is it always so…painfull?" She asked.
James nodded. "He didn't want you to see him like that. He thought you might think less of him."
"I don't." She felt hot tears streaming again along her cheeks and her voice shook. "I only respect him more."
James nodded. "I know." He whispered. "That shoudn't have…what happened?"
"I didn't sleep at all for the last couple of nights and I suppose Remus was tired, he didn't wake up on time."
James nodded and then turned towards the bedroom where they both heared a loud whimper. "I'll get inside." He said. "Don't worry, Padfoot and I will take care of him."
Rose looked at the closed door for a moment before going down the stairs towards the fireplace. Her heart was aching and the tears wouldn't stop falling. She had no idea. He told her it was painfull but she never imagined…never…
Caressing her large stomach, she spoke softly. "You have a brave father and I love him very much…"
Today.
"NO!" Remus opened his eyes and pushed the air with his hands. "Get out!"
It took him a moment to realize he just woken up from a nightmere.
Shaking his head, he sank back to the sofa he was sitting on. It's been a while since he had this particullar dream. In that dream, he woke up too late, already in his wolf form. And he felt the joy, the hunger that grew inside of him at the sight of human flesh. The wolf paunched at her, sending her flying to the floor and she woke up screaming, begging for him to stop, begging for mercy. But the wolf had no mercy when it cut her flesh with his steeth.
Remus shuddered and inhaled sharply. Ever since that night he started to see a silver orb every time he encountered a boggart. He scolded himself for days afterwards for his stupidity. He never feared the moon before. Hated it, yes, but never feared.
"Remus?"
He turned to see Rose standing behind the sofa and smiled warmly. "Are you ready? Dumbledore is waiting for us."
"Yeah, are you alright?"
"I got lost in thoughts for a moment, I'm alright."
"You had a nightmere." She said, smiling.
"How long are you standing here?" He asked, grining at her. They were bantering, like they used to do. For a moment, everything seemed normal, but when they walked towards Dumbledore's office they were quiet again. There were so many things to be said the problem was neither of them knew where to start.
The headmaster welcomed her with a hug and she smiled warmly at him. They spoke for a while and Dumbledore updated her on recent events from the second war.
"Actually, Voldemort was too quiet in the last six months." The headmaster added. "Our spies revealed nothing."
"I should get a wand." Rose said. "I want to be a member of the order again."
Remus looked upset with the idea but nodded. "You'll need some exrecise before."
She nodded and was about to reply when the door burst open. "Headmaster!" Severus Snape nearly ran inside the room, a grim expression on his face.
"What is it Severus?" Dumbledore frowned a little. "You were supposed to be with Harry Potter right now, teaching Occlumency."
"I was called." He replied and then looked at Remus and Rose. "Maybe we should talk in private." He added hastilly.
"You are among friends. I suppose you remember Remus's wife."
Snape's eyes grew wide. "I didn't…realize it was you, It's good to see you on your feet again."
Remus's eyes narrowed at the potions master too kind words and the way he looked away from them as he spoke. Rose was startled for a moment. The moment he walked inside the room she felt hot waves surrounding her and it was suddenly hard to breathe, like all the air turned to heavy smoke. She couldn't find the power to answer him. She could only nod and smile a little, trying to overcome the feeling of panic that rose inside of her.
Snape tore his gaze from her and handed Dumbledore a few pictures. "This was taken yesterday night. The house wasn't there two days ago." He hesitated for a moment. "I'm not sure but…the area is obviously Godric Hollow and the house…"
Remus's rose from his seat and clenched his fists as he looked at the pictures. "This is Lily and James's house…right till the last stone…"
Dumbledore's frown was replaced with anger. "What is the meaning of this?" He asked the potion master.
"I don't know." Snape answered. "I don't know what he's planing."
It was his hopeless tone that made their hearts sink. For the first time in two years Voldemort made a move that they never anticipated.
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