Part 2,

Tapestries

Saturday night arrived, and Remus waited nervously by the Whomping willow, having touched the knot at its base to make it still. He wrapped his tattered cloak around him, and watched as the sun faded behind the mountains, shrouded in purple and bright orange clouds. Then he saw her, a slight figure silhouetted by the clouds, coming down the stone steps of the Hogwarts grounds. Lily, his love, his life made flesh. When she spied him at the base of the willow, she ran to greet him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Lupin buried his face in her sweet scented hair, and took in her essence. It was musky, powerful, yet undeniably Lily. He kissed her passionately and looked at her, his scarred hands on either side of her face, taking in her beauty. It was the same face he remembered from many months ago, but a little softer. Remus reached down and touched the budding roundness of her stomach. He felt the baby kick. "Lily, come with me, there is something you have to see."

"Remus, where are we going?"

Lupin smiled impishly "You'll see!"

Together they vanished into the hole at the base of the willow. "Lumos!" Lupins wand glowed faintly at the tip, yet it lit the earthy corridor like ten candles.

After twenty minutes had passed Lily felt hard wood under her feet. She realized she must be in a house of some sort. The house seemed to sway, and creaked ominously. They climbed a narrow staircase to a long corridor. The walls smelled faintly of mold, and the paint was worn and peeling. Moth eaten tapestries lined the walls of the narrow hallway. Lily noticed several of them were ripped, barely clinging to the surface they were fastened. She shivered. The baby kicked her just behind her navel, sending a jolt of pain down her legs. "OUCH!"

Remus paused, still holding her hand. "Lily, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Remus, just the baby kicking."

He squeezed her hand and smiled. She noticed the newly formed scars on the side of his face. It only made him more handsome. His amber eyes shone in the glow of his wand. He was so beautiful to her, so perfect.

"Must have been some kick!" he teased.

Lily rubbed her stomach. "The hardest one yet."

"Well, we're here!" Remus opened the door at the end of the hallway. "Now close your eyes, my love, and don't open them until I say!" Lily's heart quickened in anticipation. When she opened her eyes, she stifled a gasp. She was in a large room lit with many candles. Tapestries were hung around the room, covering each wall. Each of the tapestries featured animated romantic scenes, fairies and cherubs cavorting around lovers embracing, kissing, in various stages of love making. She breathed in the scent of the room, Roses, honeysuckle, cinnamon and vanilla, every beautiful fragrance she could imagine caressed her senses. There was an essence she couldn't quite place. It reminded her of earth, grass, the smell of your loved ones neck when you are just this close to kissing.

In the center of the room was a large four-poster bed, draped in gauzy fabric that flowed like water. The bedspread was the same material, and several large, fluffy pillows rested against the intricately carved headboard.

"He sure knows how to impress a lady!" She smiled to herself.

He took her to the bed and sat down beside her. He sighed. "Just let me look at you, I do believe you have become more beautiful." He took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly, first the lips, then the tip of her nose and the corners of her eyes. Lily closed her eyes and a tear made its way down her cheek. Lupin touched the salty drop with his tongue, tracing feathery circles around her cheek and just behind her left ear. He kissed the fold of her neck, and then breathed in her scent. "Why are you crying, Lily?

"I am so happy right now. This feels so perfect. Remus, I don't care about your transformations, we can find a way around them!" Her voice trembled with emotion.

He looked into her pleading eyes and pressed his finger to her lips. "No words now Lily, I didn't invite you here to make polite conversation." She smiled weakly and traced the faint red scar on his right cheek. He grinned mischievously and started unbuttoning her blouse. He slid the silky fabric off her shoulders and it fluttered to the floor. He took in her beauty, smothering her porcelain skin with insistent kisses, stopping now and again to lick and nibble. Her nipples had turned a dark brown during her pregnancy, and he admired the new fullness to her figure. He ran his hands down the contours of her back, pausing to caress the fine brown hair that had grown there. She paused, and looked at him quizzically. He just grinned and continued his affections. She arched her back and brought her nipples closer to his hungry mouth and he devoured them, sucking each deeply into his mouth and tugging with his teeth. Lily untied the lace at the top of his shirt and lifted it over his head. Her shaking hands caressed the contours of his young, scarred body, so graceful and sinuous, so strong. It was as she remembered, every little scar a familiarity, every contour, ripple of muscle a story she never tired of hearing.

The cherubs escaped the tapestries and gamboled around the room as they embraced and melded into each other, a savage, graceful dance of limbs, flesh and souls. His back arched with his release, and he screamed, a deep primal roar that penetrated the fabric of reason. She tensed underneath him, her fingernails tearing at the flesh of his back, and joined him in his song. For most of the night they made love, making up for the time they had been apart.

Remus collapsed on top of her, his breathing coming in short gasps. Their bodies were sodden with passion, their heartbeats nearly audible. He rolled over on his side and captured her face in his hands, covering it with gentle kisses. Lily ran her hands through his damp hair, tracing every contour on his face, that face, her only love. She rested her head underneath his chin and he held tight to her, stroking her hair, not wanting this moment to end, in the back of his mind knowing it must. Lily fell asleep long before he did, and he felt the baby kicking against him. He wondered: Had she taken her forestalling potion today?

The lovers awoke to a bright shaft of sunlight that had somehow made its way through a crack in the wall. The tapestry that had covered it was askew, the occupants reveling in the post joining bliss. Remus stirred first, and lay there listening to Lily breathe against his neck. An odd mixture of sadness, love and regret washed over him, as he felt the baby kick against his stomach. He looked down at his lover and noticed with a twinge of panic that her abdomen seemed much larger than last night. He put his hands on her shoulder and shook her gently, to wake her. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, not half believing he was there beside her. She smiled mischievously and whispered "I'm hungry!" Remus laughed and held her close.

"Of all the things you could have said to me at a time like this, 'I'm hungry' was most unexpected!"

Lily gently bit his earlobe. "Well hungry, can mean so many things, my dear werewolf!" Remus flinched at the mention of this, but smiled in spite of himself. They made love again, less frantic this time, not closing their eyes, staring deeply into each other, enjoying the closeness of their bodies.

Again they drifted asleep, only to be awakened by a loud rumbling noise. It turned out to be Remus' stomach. For all the preparations for last night, he hadn't taken into account they had to eat.

He whispered in her ear "Well, now, I'm hungry, and I don't mean for you!" He playfully kissed the tip of her nose as he disengaged from her embrace, and put on his clothes. She propped herself on her elbow and watched him dress, his lean muscled body moving gracefully against the brilliant vein of sunlight. She thought he looked like a young god in the early morning light.

He kissed her forehead. "I, am going to find something for us to consume, you beautiful creature!" he laughed as he left the room.

She could hear his footsteps going downstairs and instinctively put her hands on her stomach. She was startled to find how much she had grown during the night. As human gestation goes she would have compared her self to seven months. "But I have been pregnant for over a year, so this is not so unusual." She whispered, to no one but the room. She tried to calm herself with these words, but felt a small knot of worry. She lay down on the bed and pulled the fluid fabric over her bare skin. She turned over to the pillow that Remus had shared, and breathed in deep, the smell of him comforting her. She fell into a light sleep, plagued with disturbing half dreams about blood, pain and sadness.

One of the figures in the tapestry by the window opened its eyes and shook its lover awake. The male figure whispered to his companion, and then he disappeared past the edge of the hanging. The woman in the tapestry pulled a light sheet around herself and watched Lily as she slept fitfully.