A/N: Sorry I've been slow lately about updating. I promise the pace will pick up—mainly because I am determined to finish this fic before Half Blood Prince is released. :D

Chapter 50: Kabul Khan Kabob House

As Remus downed the last of his wolfbane potion, he shuddered. Absolutely disgusting. It left a foul taste reminiscent of vomit in his mouth. He looked down at the smoking cauldron, and wished very much that he could chuck the remaining contents out the window. But he knew that was unwise. Reminding himself of the painful transformation he would have to undergo if he neglected his potion, he carefully placed the cauldron in a corner of the tiny kitchen. Not that transforming into a wolf wasn't painful…but transforming into a werewolf was ten times the pain.

Remus leaned forward in the kitchen sink and rinsed his mouth to get the horrid taste of wolfbane potion off his tongue, but to little avail; the sickening taste lingered in his mouth. Beginning to lose his appetite for dinner, Remus went instead to his room and opened his briefcase, which was sitting on the floor. He pulled out his lesson plan, and began to look over it. Discussing other protective charms… write theory quiz on using the fidelius charm. He stared blankly at his notes for several moments. It was no use. His heart wasn't in it. Remus sighed and dumped his planner back in his briefcase and shut it. Perhaps a nice long walk would do him some good. He could certainly use some fresh air and exercise. Besides, he thought to himself as he grabbed his cloak and headed for the door, it was only 6:00 p.m. He had the whole evening to get his work done. He'd do it when he got back from his walk—when he was fresher, with his mind clear.

Twenty minutes later, Remus found himself walking once more down Fait Alley, the street along which he and Kierra walked after work—the street Kierra lived on. It had begun to drizzle slightly, but Remus took no notice of it. Kierra's flat was two blocks away. He could see the street lights glowing down the street, which led a path to the building she lived in. Remus decided not to walk by it. He would make a left turn after the first block, on to Hyde Haven Street—he hadn't been that way before. It wasn't nearly as well lit as Fait Alley, but that hardly mattered. He didn't care much to be seen anyway. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts, to sort them out. He thought back of Edmund, who had come to his own flat with the wolfbane potion only an hour ago. He said he was looking forward to the wedding being done with. He thought of Sirius, who seemed to hate Edmund's guts for the simple reason of his engagement to Kierra. "He's an idiot" Sirius had said a few weeks ago. Remus smiled inwardly as the rain began to pour harder. He did seem a bit unintelligent—no—he wasn't. Remus frowned, slightly ashamed at the thoughts that had begun to form in his mind. He had no right to judge Edmund. They had only had a few brief encounters in the past month, and he had no right to judge Edmund's character and abilities. At least he can brew wolfbane potion, Remus thought to himself. You can't even do that. He has to do it for you...

Remus grimaced as he looked up. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that not only was he finally feeling the cold from the rain, but he had also passed Hyde Haven Street, and was still walking along Fait Alley. In fact, he was quite close to Kierra's flat now. So much for taking alternate paths.

The building in which Kierra and Edmund lived did not stretch very high--it could not have been more than six stories high. Just as Remus had begun to wonder which floor they couple lived on, a deafening screech could be heard from inside the building that caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. It sounded vaguely familiar...

"THERE IS NOTHING TO DISCUSS!"

Remus looked up, wide eyed at the top story, where a window had popped open, and a large chest came hurtling down, clothes spilling out of it as it went. Remus gasped and jumped back, and the chest crashed onto the sidewalk pavement on the spot where Remus had stood only moments before. He took a few more steps backward and looked up again. Several lights in the building had gone on, and he could hear the excited murmurs of several passerby on the street. Though the street was well lit, he could barely make out the sillhouettes in the window on the top floor.

"Come on! Don't do this, Kierra...don't be difficult!" came Edmund's voice which, in comparison to Kierra's booming voice, seemed quiet and timid.

"DIFFICULT?" Kierra's voice boomed. "DIFFICULT? YOU'RE ACCUSING ME OF BEING DIFFICULT? NOTHING WAS DIFFICULT, EDMUND...EVERYTHING WAS EASY! EVERYTHING WAS FINE UNTIL ALL OF THIS!"

All of this? Remus's heart raced as he heard the couple's shouting. What had happened? He looked down at the broken chest that lay on the sidewalk and the contents that had spilled out of it. This had obviously been the work of Kierra--men's clothing was scattered all along the sidewalk. The next thing that happened made Remus jump back a second time. While he had been staring up at the commotion the door on the ground floor had swung open and Kierra, wand in hand, tore out of the building, not even noticing the pouring rain, or the fact that Remus stood only a few feet behind her. He stared at her disbelievingly. Should he call after her? Just as he decided that was the wisest thing to do and he took a step forward, he stopped in his tracks when he saw Kierra point her wand over her shoulder without looking. She had seen him? But why would she hex him?

But just then, the door swung open again, and Edmund dashed out onto the street after Kierra. It happened extremely fast. Edmund extended an arm out and called out Kierra's name, and in less than a second later, a jet of orange light shot out from Kierra's wand, and Edmund was thrown backwards, landing himself at Remus's feet, looking quite unconscious. Kierra had stunned him. Remus looked down at the still Edmund, briefly marveling at Kierra's precision in timing. But the prospect of Kierra's figure disappearing into the distance caused him to forget Edmund and hurry back down the street from which he came. He saw her turn onto Hyde Haven Street, which was still a good distance from him. Remus sighed and stopped in the sidewalk. He glanced around, making sure no one was watching, and immediately disapparated.

Remus apparated at the intersection of Hyde Haven and Fait, and immediately rushed forward. But he did not have to go far, as Kierra was sitting on a bench along the sidewalk near the intersection, her face buried in her hands. She looked up quickly at Remus's sudden appearance. She was breathing heavily, and even in the darkness, he could see her eyes glassy with tears. Remus opened his mouth to speak, but words could not come out. The same seemed to occur with Kierra as well. Her mouth fell open slightly, yet nothing came out. The rain was pouring very hard now, and Kierra, though only being outside for a few minutes, looked thoroughly soaked. She looked so miserable. Remus took a deep breath and decided to risk speaking.

"You're soaked"—

"I can't believe this is happening to me..." Kierra murmured, not bothering to ask how he had gotten there or if he had witnessed the scene in front of her flat.

Remus sighed. He wasn't sure if he should ask what happened. But then again, couples fought and argued quite openly in France. It wasn't that big a deal here. But even so, it still seemed awfully serious...

"Can I ask you what happened?" Remus asked gently. "You don't have to say, of course..."

Kierra shook her head. "No, it's alright..." she replied quietly, "You'd find out sooner or later..." But she did not elaborate. Remus waited for a few moments. When she did not say anything, he took a seat next to her on the bench.

"Let's get out of the rain, Kierra" he said finally. They were both thoroughly soaked from head to toe. "My flat is only a block away, if you don't want to go to yours..."

Apparently, this had been the wrong thing to say. Kierra sniffed heavily and began to sob loudly.

"I'm sorry," Remus stammered. "I'm sorry"—

"It's not my flat anymore!" Kierra bawled.

"What do you mean? He kicked you out?" asked Remus, looking at her incredulously.

Kierra shook her head, still sobbing. "I left it…I'm leaving it…I have to…"

"Why?" he asked uncertainly.

Kierra opened her mouth to reply, but instead shut her eyes and sneezed.

"Maybe you should get inside first…" Remus said, pulling her to her feet. "Come on." And with that, the two set off to Remus's flat. Kierra continued to sob quietly, occasionally putting her hand to her face to wipe her tears. Remus glanced at her briefly, frowning slightly. He put an arm around her for comfort, though it seemed to do little. She only leaned her head against his shoulder and began to cry even more.

"Come on…everything will be alright." he said quietly to her as his flat finally came into view, though he wasn't quite sure if it would, considering he didn't even know what had happened.

As they reached the flat, Remus removed his grasp from Kierra to look for his keys.

"Did you see everything?" Kierra asked so suddenly that Remus had looked up and jabbed the key at the door instead of the key hole.

"Er…no, I don't think so," he said at once, trying again with the keys. "I was taking a walk and passing through your neighborhood, and I heard some shouting…"

Kierra made no reply to this. Remus opened the door and showed her in. The wooden floor squeaked as they entered, water from their clothes dribbled sloppily onto it. Remus pulled out his wand, but then replaced it. While he knew more household spells than most males in his acquaintance, he could not think of a drying one.

"Er…I don't know any drying spells," he said truthfully. "Let me get you some clothes."

Kierra nodded and not surprisingly, said nothing. Remus hurried into his room and pulled open the top drawer of his bureau, and grabbed the top two pairs of trousers and shirts from the stack of neatly folded clothes. When he reentered his living room, he found Kierra standing in the place where he had left her. She was taking in her surroundings—not that there was much to take in. The room was small and practically bare, save for a rickety old coffee table and a shabby looking sofa. Few decorations adorned the walls—he only hung up a few replicas of paintings by various muggle artists whom he found interesting. Kierra's eyes were currently set on a painting by Salvador Dali.

"I didn't know you liked art." She said dully.

"Oh…I'm no connoisseur or anything…but I enjoy a good painting…"

Kierra nodded, and fell silent again.

"Er—clothes?" asked Remus, extending out a pair of trousers and shirt for Kierra. "You can change in my room."

"Thank you." She said, taking the clothes and retreating to Remus's room.

Remus had changed quickly out his wet clothes in the study, and hurried into the kitchen to make some tea for Kierra. Just as he pulled out two cups from the cupboard, he heard his bedroom door open. He looked over his shoulder to see Kierra slowly walk into the kitchen, but immediately turned around fully to get a better look at her. Though Kierra was almost as tall as him, his khakis seemed to be rather long on her, dragging under her heels. His dark gray shirt, which he thought must have been at least ten years old, was a faded cotton blend, and was missing several buttons from the bottom. He should have taken the time to find her a shirt that had all of its buttons...it would have taken him thirty seconds longer. It then occurred to him that since she had been soaked through, she didn't have any clean undergarments to change into, and of course he was not equipped with spare bras and panties for her. Suddenly, the idea that Kierra was going commando in his clothes caused a jolt in the pit of his stomach.

"Tea!" he said abruptly. She looked up at im, looking slightly startled. "I...I made tea..." he siad quickly, returning to the stove to pour drinks for them.

"Oh." said Kierra, as Remus handed her a cup and ushered table for a seat. "Thanks..."

Kierra took a sip of tea and closed her eyes. Remus watched her intently, momentarily forgetting about his own cup. Their eyes met briefly when Kierra set her cup down. She immediately averted her eyes to another direction--there was a cauldron sitting on the kitchen counter. There had been a slightly putrid smell to Remus's flat, and she guessed now that it had come from the cualdron. Wolfbane, she thought grimly.

"Edmund cheated on me." She said finally, looking down at her half empty tea cup.

Remus, who had just taken a sip of tea, looked up so startled that he choked on his drink, sending some of his tea splattering out of his mouth and down the front of his shirt. He coughed fitfully for a few moments, trying to clear the passageways to his lungs. When the coughing subsided, he looked at Kierra increduously.

"He...cheated on you?" He repeated.

Kierra nodded, her eyes welling up with tears again. "With..." her voice cracked.

"With...someone you know?" Remus asked.

Kierra nodded again. "Best friend...Jude..." she muttered.

"Jude? Are...are you sure? How do you know?"

Kierra swallowed hard. "Remember earlier today, Jude was talking about that lost bra?"

Remus frowned. "Yes, and the detailed description that came with it...oh my...did you...did he..." He did not finish his sentence, for he felt like he knew what was coming.

"I found it...under the bed," sniffed Kierra, "and I confronted Edmund when he got home, and he admitted to it. But he lied...he said it happened last year, just one time...but Jude said she lost that bra a month ago...he's been sleeping with her for a year now!" sobbed Kierra. "And she was my best friend too. She was my first friend when I moved here...her and Edmund. How could he do this to me? I loved him..." Kierra buried her head in her arms that were resting on the table and sobbed. "I loved him..." she muttered again.

01 September 1995

Sirius,

I'm really sorry to have to burden you with this letter at the last minute, but it seems that I won't be able to make it to headquarters this week. Something has come up that prevents me from coming—Sorry—Kierra has just told me that it's alright to tell you. Well then...we found out tonight that Kierra's fiancé, Edmund, has been having an affair with a friend of Kierra's. She's really devastated at the moment, and is staying at my place for now. I think it would be best if I stayed here with her for a bit to help her in any way I can. Needless to say, she and I have postponed our dinner plans with Elinor and Jacques that were for tomorrow night. I've also written to Dumbledore to fill him in on that, as well as the fact that due to my absence I won't be able to stand in for guard duty and so someone will have to take my place. Once again, I'm sorry I couldn't make it this week, and I hope to see you and the others the following week.

Remus

Sirius stared down at the letter in his hand for several moments before tucking it away into his robe pocket. He glanced at Tonks, who was sitting across from him in the living room of Twelve Grimmauld Place and looking at him keenly.

"What happened?" she asked. "Everything alright?"

Sirius sighed, running a hand through his long, untamed hair. "You remember that Edmund bloke?"

Tonks nodded. "He just joined the Order, didn't he? With Kierra…they're getting married, aren't they?"

Sirius sighed again. "Not anymore. Er…I don' think so, anyway. The letter doesn't say, but I'm assuming not. Remus just wrote saying Edmund's been cheating on Kierra, so he won't be able to come this week to visit."

Tonks put a hand over her mouth, staring at Sirius wide-eyed. "That's terrible!" she exclaimed. "How do they know though?"

Sirius shook his head, and closing his eyes he balled up his fists. "The letter didn't say. Man, that Edmund…I warned Remus…"

"Warned him about what?" asked Tonks.

"About Edmund!" Sirius replied impatiently. "I never liked him…I told Remus there was something up with him…right from the start…"

Tonks frowned, staring down at the table. "I don't know…he seemed so nice"—

"Tonks, you think everyone is nice." Sirius snapped. "That guy was a complete buffoon. I could tell he was a good-for-nothing the moment I saw him. And to think, this could have been prevented…"

"How so?" asked Tonks, cocking an eyebrow at Sirius.

"I was telling Remus all about my suspicions that day they came. I told him I didn't like Edmund at all, and he was no good. But Remus kept saying that Edmund was alright, and a nice guy…and he and Kierra deserved each other, or something like that. If only he listened to me…he could've discouraged the engagement…"

Tonks rolled her eyes. "You're kidding me, right? You're not putting this on Remus, are you?"

Sirius shrugged. "Well, he is friends with Kierra. He could've warned her about him"—

"Oh come off it, Sirius. You're just mad because Remus isn't coming to see you now." said Tonks simply.

"I am not!" Sirius said hotly. "I don't give a damn if he can't come! I'm just annoyed that he let this whole Edmund/Kierra fiasco happen!"

Tonks smiled slightly. "Right now, Kierra needs Remus more than you do. And besides, you've still got me!"

"Oh, joy." Sirius muttered sarcastically. Tonks scowled at him in return. After a moment he added, "I still think Remus could have stepped in…"

"Oh come off it, Sirius. How could anyone have known?" said Tonks irritably.

"I did! But oh, that's right!" Sirius said sarcastically. "I'm known to be rash, therefore everything I say is discounted"—

"That's not true." Tonks said immediately. "Well, the thing about you being rash is pretty true, I'd say. But your words certainly aren't disregarded."

Sirius swept his hand through his hair and got up. "Yeah, right." He knew he was acting silly for being mad at Remus for not being able to come, and what's more, unsuccessfully hiding his annoyance for such a small thing, but he did not care. His day was off to a bad start anyway, what with his fight with Dominique over what the significance of today was. Might as well let out a bit more steam…

Tonks followed after him up the stairs. "Sirius, grow up, would you?" she said crossly, grabbing a hold of the banister to keep herself from falling when she tripped over her shoe lace. "Stop acting so tragically misunderstood! People care about what you think"—

"Really?" Sirius asked quite casually as he opened the door to Buckbeak's room. "I can't remember the last time someone wanted my opinion on something."

"What about your godson?" Tonks offered shrewdly. "He always writes to you for advice. You know he doesn't go to anyone else but you…well, except maybe Ron and Hermione."

Sirius glanced briefly at Tonks but did not say anything. The truth was that statement had made him feel much better, but he did not want to admit to Tonks that it had. It reminded him that he indeed had at least one person in his life who counted on him. No one ever really felt the need to consult him on any matters, as if he were too thoughtless to give sensible advice. Even Dominique, whom he had married many years ago, rarely came to him with problems or worries, or any need for comfort…

When Sirius made no reply to her question, Tonks smiled slightly, realizing victory. Fighting the urge to rub it, Tonks opted to change the subject instead.

"So, isn't Dominique supposed to be here about now?" she asked, glancing down at her watch. "I thought she was coming today…"

"She did come." Sirius replied dully as he pulled out his wand and began to clean up the mess of bones—Buckbeak's lunch leftovers—from the floor. "She came early actually, but then she left."

"Really? To where?" asked Tonks.

Sirius shrugged. "She had to cool down…" he replied, screwing up his face into a whiny looking pout as he said it.

Tonks folded her arms over her chest, and looked at Sirius, quite amused. "What did you do?" she asked.

"Me?" asked Sirius incredulously. "I didn't do anything! She came here hours earlier than she was supposed to, and starts acting all coy"—

Tonks had a look of revulsion on her face. "Wait, do I want to know where this is going?"

"It doesn't go anywhere…" replied Sirius irritably. "She asked me if I knew what day it was, and I said Monday…and she got all mad and left. I don't get her sometimes. I mean, sometimes it seems like she has PMS 24/7…365"—

"Oh, Sirius!" Tonks exclaimed, putting her hands to her head and shaking it wearily. "Today must have been something special! Was it her birthday?"

Sirius shook his head. "That was a few months ago. What other special days are there?"

"Wedding anniversary?" Tonks suggested. She looked at Sirius uncertainly, and saw that he had a look on his face that clearly read, damn. She rolled her eyes. "Oh Sirius, how could you forget something like that?"

"Well, you tend to forget symbolic dates when you've spent twelve years in Azkaban. I mean, what with all the preoccupation of dementors looming about everywhere…" Sirius replied. "And it was a long time ago, too!" he added.

Tonks sighed with an air of patience. "Right. Well, she probably didn't think of that. It's alright though. She'll come back soon enough. You can make up then."

Sirius sighed and leaned against the wall, watching as Buckbeak settled himself onto the floor to take a nap. "I should do something nice for her. She is quite good to me, you know. Coming here all the way from Paris every other weekend to see me…" Well, he was sure that she was also coming to Britain for Dumbledore and the Order, but it was more comforting to imagine her coming all way from France just for him…

Tonks leaned back next to him. "Well, there are the usuals…chocolates, flowers, jewelry…promises you don't intend to keep…"

Sirius moved away from the wall and began to pace around the room. "No, no…I've given her those things before. It has to be something more special than that…something really grand." Grand. Sirius grinned. "Tonks, would you be willing to run a few errands for me?"

Dominique quietly shut the door behind her as she entered number twelve Grimmauld Place, careful not to disturb any of the portraits. She picked up her shopping bags from the ground and tiptoed down the hall towards the kitchen, where she could hear the voices of Sirius and Tonks talking excitedly.

"Dominique!" Tonks said cheerfully as she spotted Dominique standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

"Hey Tonks!" Dominique replied, placing her bags on the table in order to give Tonks a hug. "Good to see you"—

"Good to see you too," Tonks said quickly, parting from Dominique. "Listen, I've got to run actually"—she glanced over at Sirius excitedly, who in turn gave her a warning look—"I've uh…got to go to my mum's….to er… trim the tail twigs on her broom…yeah! Well, see you!" And without further adieu, Tonks hurried out of the kitchen and could be heard down the hall, where she tripped over something, sending the portraits into their routinely screams.

"I'm sorry!" Tonks could be heard shouting. "Stupefy!" in attempts to stun the portraits.

"One sec…" Sirius said to Dominique as he hurried off to join Tonks. A few moments later, Sirius returned, tucking his wand away in his robe pocket.

"Sirius," Dominique started at once, "I'm really sorry I blew up at you today. I should've been more sensitive. How could I have expected you to remember…all those years in Azkaban, I'm sure you had more pressing matters to be dealing with. Anyway, it was just our wedding anniversary today…you have a right to forget about something as trivial as that."

She headed to the kitchen table where she had left her bags and began to unpack them. She pulled out several Styrofoam containers from the bag, which seemed to fill the room with a delicious aroma.

"I know how you love ethnic food, and I've been telling you about that great new Afghan restaurant that's a few blocks away…"

"Kabul Khan Kabob House?" Sirius asked at once. Dominique, as well as several other Order members, had been raving about this new restaurant, much to Sirius's dismay. He loved South Asian food, and hearing them talk about a place that served it, which he couldn't go to (thanks to Dumbledore) only annoyed him.

"Their food is excellent, and I thought well, if I couldn't take you to the restaurant, I should bring the restaurant to you!" Dominique said, bustling around to put the food on platters.

"You weren't kidding when you said this food was excellent." Sirius said as he popped another fried pastry into his mouth. "Then again, it might be because I haven't eaten restaurant food since I was twenty two. And these samosas are good...bet Molly couldn't even make ground beef like this..."

Dominique grinned slightly as she helped herself to another skewer of chicken kabob. "Er, Sirius, it's ground lamb, not beef."

Sirius raised an eyebrow and stopped chewing momentarily. "Oh..." he said simply, and continued to eat. When they had eaten all that they could, Dominique and Sirius packed away the rest of the food for later.

"Well, that was the best meal I've had in ages." Sirius declared as he wiped the table clean. He paused though in his cleaning and smiled slightly. "I should really say that tomorrow in front of Molly."

Dominique rolled her eyes. "Sirius, you two need to give it a rest. You always have something bad to say about each other, it's terrible"--

"That was an excellent meal," Sirius said, ignoring Dominique's comment and taking her hands in his own, "thank you. I know these sort of things mean a lot to you, so you were wrong, that I have a right to forget about our anniversary. I should have remembered. Our wedding was one of the happiest days of my life."

"Really?" Dominique asked, her voice squeaking slightly as she gazed into Sirius's eyes.

Sirius laughed. "Of course. Does that surprise you or something?"

Dominique blushed. "Well...there was that whole deal with me running away on the wedding day..."

"Well, notwithstanding that part then." Sirius said with a grin. "Listen, I have something for you too. Come on..."

And he led her out of the kitchen and into the living room, where Dominique stopped short when she saw the shiny, black grand piano resting in a corner of the room.

Dominique's jaw fell slightly as she took in its brand new appearance. "How…how...how did you...how?"

"Well, Tonks stopped by shortly after you left, and she sort of made the blocks fall into place for me. When I realized what an idiot I was, I had Tonks go and withdraw some money from my Gringotts account, and told her to get you a grand piano in black. She shrunk it down, made it feather-light, and brought it over here. I know you've always admired them. I mean, I know you already have one of those upright ones at your house in France…but you said it was rusty…so…you can take it back with you...or if you want, you could always keep it here…I mean, whatever you want…if you get bored here, you know…"

"I want to keep it here." Dominique said at once. She ran her long, delicate fingers over the shiny new keys, aching to make sweet love to them. They were so beautiful, part of her was afraid to even coax sound out of them.

"Yeah?" Sirius asked, looking quite amused at the look of yearning on her face.

"Yeah—I can teach you how to play." She said, finally looking away from the piano to smile at Sirius.

"Spiffy! I want to learn the one by that crazy old guy…"

"Most musicians are crazy old men, Sirius…"

"The muggle one…"

"Oh, that narrows it down…"

"You know, the one you always gush about? The one who was deaf…"

"Oh—Beethoven!" Dominique laughed. "Sure, we'll get to him…let's teach you the basics first though. Oh! I actually have some music in my bag--let me go get it!"

And with that, Dominique hurried back to the kitchen to retrieve her music. As Sirius waited, he glanced at the grand piano and smiled inwardly. She loved it. He had gotten her the perfect gift...

"Oh, I can't wait to show this to Remus!" Dominique called from the kitchen. "I bet he'll want to have a go at it when he sees it..."

Sirius looked up abruptly as Dominique reentered the living room, music in hand. "Yeah..." he said with a smile. Today was their anniversary, and right now Dominique was extremely happy. He didn't want to spoil things for her by saying that Remus wouldn't be coming this week because Kierra's fiancé was cheating on her. He would tell her tomorrow morning, perhaps...

As the two sat together at the piano, Dominique turned abruptly to Sirius. "Oh, I almost forgot..." She leaned forward slightly and kissed him on the lips. "Thanks," she said with a smile, "thank you so much."

Instead of spending the rest of the evening doing his lesson plans as he had intended to do, Remus found himself bustling between the kitchen, where he was working on dinner for himself and Kierra, and the living room, where Kierra sat miserably with a box of tissues in one hand and a half-eaten bar chocolate in the other.

"...and I don't know what I'm going to do now..." Kierra sniffed. "I have to move out. But where am I going to go? I can't get a flat just like that..."

"You can stay here as long as you need to." Remus replied as he joined her in the living room and sat down next to her. "I mean, if you're comfortable with that."

"But it could take a few weeks for me to find a flat that's open"--

"When I said you could stay here as long as you needed, I meant you could stay here as long as you needed." Remus said with a smile.

"I don't want to be a burden"--

"You won't be."

"Are you sure? Because I could stay at a hotel..."

"I'm positive."

There were a few moments of silence. Remus watched Kierra, who in turn was staring off into space, apparently in deep thought. "It'd be so much easier if Elinor weren't married..." she said finally.

"Sorry?"

"She used to be my flatmate..." Kierra explained. "But then she went and got married and had kids...it would be nice to live with her again...and I'd just hate to live alone..."

"Living alone isn't too bad..." Remus said. "Well, I suppose it does get boring sometimes, but usually it's pretty nice. I like my solitude."

"See, I don't know if I could do that..." Kierra said grimly. "I've never actually lived alone...I've always had a flatmate. Well, except when I first moved to the States, I lived alone for about two months, and I hated it...I felt to lonely..."

"We all have different temperaments." Remus said, leaning over a bit to get a glimpse of the stove in the kitchen to make sure nothing was spewing out of cauldrons. "Perhaps you should get a flatmate then. Have you got any other friends that you could room with?"

Kierra sighed and bit off a large chunk of chocolate from her bar. "Elinor's married, Jude's obviously out of the question..." she said bitterly. "Katie's married, Denise lives with her boyfriend, Mary, Natalia, and Barb already have flatmates...there's Emile, but he smokes like a chimney...Pierre has an extra room and would probably let me live with him...but I don't think his girlfriend would like that..."

Remus looked at her with a slight frown as she continued to tally off her friends, wondering if she had considered him. He did have an extra room...

Kierra groaned. "All my bloody friends are married and have families! Great, so not only am I out of a place to live, but I'm single, and childless, and thirty four years old!"

Remus couldn't help but smile slightly as Kierra buried her face in her hands. He pat her gently on the back. "Hey, you're not the only one, if it helps." he offered. She looked up at him and smiled humorlessly.

Remus shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the words left his mouth. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get into a discussion of his spinsterhood...Perhaps he should steer them back onto the topic of Kierra's living dilemna...

"Look, why don't you just live here?" Remus said abruptly, before he could give himself a chance to chicken out. "I mean...if you're comfortable with that..." he added quickly.

She looked at him thoughtfully, and Remus began to wonder if it was a mistake to offer his place. Did his offer make her feel uncomfortable? It was certainly making him feel a bit uneasy, but that as probably because he was worried about how she felt...

"I mean...I know it doesn't exactly scream grandeur, but I've got an extra room that I've been using as a study, and I can easily move all of that out..." he added hastily, wondering what ever possessed him to ask his ex girlfriend to live with him. Who does that? he wondered. You don't ask your ex girlfriend to live with you...even if you dated sixteen years ago...you idiot...

"Oh...well...of course I'm comfortable with living with you..." Kierra said, smiling weakly. "But are you sure? I don't want to burden you"--

"No, it's no burden at all..."

"But you said you like to live alone...and you like solitude..." Kierra reminded him.

"But it does get boring sometimes...I doubt you're going to be popping in my face every few seconds."

Kierra smiled genuinely for the first time that night. "So you're sure you don't mind?"

"Of course not." replied Remus. "You can move in whenever you're ready."

Kierra, who had been smiling moments before now frowned. "Oh no..." she groaned.

"What's the matter?"

"How am I going to get all of my things from Edmund's place? Oh great...I don't want to see him..." Kierra muttered, burying her face in her hands again. "Maybe I'll move my things out when he's gone to work..."

Kierra sniffed heavily, and Remus knew that she was crying again. He watched her, thoroughly disheartened to see her so miserable. She didn't deserve this kind of heartache. Though rarely did he ever dislike people so much that he wished them ill, Remus sincerely hoped that Edmund was suffering. He hoped that Edmund was sitting all alone in his flat, staring at Kierra's posessions, and miserable over the fact that he had lost something so precious because of his own doings. He hoped that Edmund would have to live with that guilt for the rest of his life; that would be his pain. He hoped Edmund would have a long life.

"Why did he do this to me?" Kierra murmured as she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her borrowed shirt, as she had used up all the tissues. "I thought he loved me..."

Remus sighed and rubbed her back to comfort her as she continued to cry.

"I feel so stupid..." she muttered. "Here I am, crying my eyes out in front of you...and now you've taken pity on me and you're letting me live with you...this is so embarassing..."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Hey," he said, lifting her chin so they could see eye to eye, "don't talk like that. You shouldn't be embarrassed. You didn't do anything wrong"--

"I know, but I was stupid! That's why I'm embarrassed...because feel so stupid! He led me on for a year, making me feel like I was all special...and Jude! I hate her...I hate her ten times more than I hate him. I know I probably shouldn't, but I do...I hate her...she took him away from me...he was mine and she took him!" Kierra sobbed. "But who am I kidding? Maybe he was never even mine. I thought sometimes when we were going out that it was all too good to be true...he was just so...amazing...and he picked someone like me..."

When she thought she could say no more, she looked up at Remus, half expecting him to look sympathetic, patting her on the back saying it would alright. But he was looking at her quite disbelievingly, as if she had said something blasphemous. "Wh-hat?" she asked as she hiccuped.

Remus sighed and looked her squarely in the eyes. "You're putting Edmund on a pedestal and he doesn't deserve that. He's not even deserving of your admiration, Kierra..."

"I know, but"--

"There's a saying," Remus cut in, "that impure men deserve impure women"—

"Do you think Jude's bad too then?" she asked, looking slightly hopeful.

"She betrayed you as much as Edmund did...Again, impure men deserve impure women." And more gently he added, "and pure women deserve pure men. You would never cheat on your partner, Kierra. You respect the ones you love too much to hurt them. Edmund doesn't deserve someone as good as you. And you deserve someone so much better than him. Someone who has as much experience as you in love and life. Someone who's as strong as you."

He reached out and touched her tear-stained face, which bore a tiny hint of a smile. He wiped her tears with his hand and smiled at her. "Don't worry, it's not so bad...you'll see."