A/N: Well, it's with a heavy heart that I present to you the final chapter of "Last Mile". (wipes tear from eyes) And without further adieu, Chapter 55:

Chapter 55: A New Mile

Kierra stared blankly at her lesson plan book, cupping her cheeks with her hands as she propped her elbows on her desk. She was wasting her time. The lesson plans did not have to be submitted for review until next week. She should work on it later, when the deadline drew nearer… Kierra shut her book and glanced to her left, frowning as she stared at the wall that separated her room from Remus's. They hadn't spoken to each other all day—except in the morning when the post arrived and Remus had handed her a letter from Harvey saying "Your mail" and Kierra responded with a thank you—it was driving Kierra mad. He wouldn't even look her in the eye when he gave her the letter. He had practically shoved it into her hands before retreating to his room.

Well if he wants to be a baby about it all, fine by me… Kierra mused as she began to busy herself again with tidying her room. Sure, he's rightly upset with me…but he doesn't have to give me the cold shoulder!

And yet a part of her knew he had a right to. She had messed up big time, and he was right to call her selfish. She hated that. But what could she do now about it? Though she hadn't openly admitted anything to Remus the night before, he had to know that she was attracted to him. For God's sake, she had kissed him! Surely he wasn't that thick to not pick up on her feelings. He had to know how she felt, yet he didn't seem to care. No acknowledgement of her feelings, no forgiveness…she had apologized after all. He could've forgiven her and swept her off her feet, telling her it was alright…but he did nothing. And he probably would do nothing for some time. Not that she had expected anything of him… She had invaded his privacy and told ridiculous lies about him to Sheila to get them to break up. She probably would ignore herself too if that had been done to her…

Kierra sighed as she abandoned her laundry and headed out of her room. Perhaps it was time she took matters back into her own hands…

Remus sighed as he crumpled up the response he had written to Dominique. It was no use. He imagined her refuting every possible argument he could think of for not forgiving Kierra. He looked over Dominique's letter again and frowned. He had been expecting a bit of an alliance from her…

15 June 1995

Dear Remus,

Thank you for your kind letter. Well, at least the well-wishing part. I just finished moving all my stuff to the castle today, and I have to admit, it's so strange being back! It'll be even weirder when the students come pouring in a couple of months. I went and visited all the places I was familiar with—Gryffindor common room of course, the dormitories (I found "KN loves RL" etched against the post of a bed that a certain someone used to sleep in! Oh, and after reading your letter—I have a lot more to say about her than that!), the QUIDDITCH PITCH…I felt like crying and laughing when I came out there…just imagining Sirius and James flying on their brooms, waving cockily at the audience…and Frank and Alice, the amazing duo…Oh Remus, this move has certainly been bittersweet.

Well, before I get too nostalgic, I ought to pull myself back into present-day reality. I can't believe this has all happened. How come you never told me about your feelings for Kierra? Did you tell Sirius? I mean, since he always made jokes about you two…I didn't think there was any truth to what he was saying, but now I'm having second thoughts… Anyway, that's neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is you like her. Or liked her, as you put it…though I'm disinclined to believe that. You don't suddenly become void of all the feelings you have for a person simply because they upset you or hurt you. I understand Kierra did a terrible thing. I imagine if she had read my diary back when we were at Hogwarts, I would have bitch-slapped her and then hexed her to no end. Of course, you're not really in a position to do that to her, and I wouldn't recommend it anyway. And lying to get that Sheila woman to break up with you…that was pretty nasty. Though I have to add here, Sheila seems a bit dim for your taste…Kierra just told her you were gay and she didn't even question it? She didn't even say anything to you about it? That's just…well, either Kierra's extremely conniving and manipulative or Sheila is just very dumb. I suppose it doesn't look too nice either way…

But listen, can you honestly say you hate Kierra for what she did? Yeah it was awful…but she didn't act arbitrarily—much as it seems she did. There were reasons for her behavior—reasons she might not have even been aware of herself. She read your journal. It could just mean she's very nosy (she didn't seem like it when we were at school together—hardly even aware of her own business let alone others') or maybe she's just interested in you. Of course, there are so many levels of interest. Mothers are interested in reading their daughters' (er—and sons') diaries, just as friends and lovers are. She wanted to separate Sheila from you, and she lied to do it. And this was a friend of hers, you say. And then she kissed you. Come on, Remus. Put 2 + 2 together! I'm sure you already have…you just don't want to admit that you and Kierra are working at the same equation. I'm rolling my eyes right now, Remus. And you know why. This is ridiculously elementary. You've fancied her all this time, and now she's suddenly going for you. Of course there's the matter of her doing some horrible things along the way, but just set that aside and move it! She might change her mind and resent you for being such a prick about this!

Much Love (despite your idiocy),

Dominique

Remus sighed. Dominique didn't always have such a foul mouth. He folded up her letter and tucked it inside the top drawer of his desk, deciding to postpone a response until he could think of something better to say than Kierra is nosy and deceptive—that's enough reason to void myself of any attraction I might've had towards her. He knew he was right about that, but there was no point telling Dominique that—she would just send him a foot long letter, lecturing him and calling him immature, amongst other names. He would just tell her to get over it and look past it. He hated to admit it, but she was right. Sooner or later he'd be able to come to terms with what happened, and he wouldn't feel as vexed with Kierra as he was now. Perhaps though, he ought to break the silence he had been keeping with Kierra…

He knocked lightly on her door. No answer. He knocked harder.

"Er—Kierra?" he asked uncertainly. "You in there?"

He slowly opened the door and peered inside, only to find the room empty. Remus frowned, and closing the door he headed out to the living room and then to the kitchen, only to find them vacant as well. She had left, just like that? No notice or warning… Remus hurried into his room and retrieved his wand from his desk and tucked it inside his robes. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember if Kierra had any appointments or plans for the day. She had none. She couldn't have gone for groceries, as she had already gone yesterday. School was out, and most of her friends were on vacation. He sighed, and keeping his eyes shut to concentrate on the deserted Alleyway that intersected with Aveyron's wizarding commercial street, Avenue Creuse, Remus disapparated.

Without stopping to breath, Kierra burst into Remus's room upon apparating back into their flat.

"Remus, we need to—er—Remus?"

His room was empty. She circled their tiny flat, which took approximately five seconds, and found it completely empty. He was gone. She plopped onto the futon in the living room and sighed tiredly. All the apparating around town and verbal abuse she had taken, and he wasn't even home to hear about it. Great. She wondered where he could've gone…

After checking the last store in Avenue Creuse and receiving his fourth glare from a shop clerk for not making any purchases, Remus fell resignedly onto a bench. She wasn't even in the art supply store—the place she tended to go to when she felt depressed. Or at least he figured so. She had mentioned once that buying art supplies always made her feel better when she was feeling down. Perhaps she had meant muggle stores…she was fond of both types of art, after all. Remus frowned, trying to remember where the store was. Kierra had taken him once…It was a large crafts store, full of papers of every texture and color, odds and ends like buttons and feathers (which couldn't be used as quills, according to Kierra) and aisles upon aisles of paint, which Kierra had once spend well over fifteen minutes standing in front of before settling on a small bottle of black paint. La Maison d'Art. That was the name of the place. It wasn't that far from their flat. A few twists and turns in the streets…he remembered passing by three cafés on the way—cafés—Remus sighed—of course, she also liked those places. Feeling slightly renewed at having a few more destinations to check out, Remus disapparated, deciding to check the art store, and take a look into all the cafés that were on the way…

Kierra grimaced as the short, mousy looking librarian who had told her off pushed her out of the library, snapping at her in French. As the double doors slammed behind her, she winced. How rude. As she made her way down the steps and onto the street, she made a mental note to tell Remus that the library wasn't the wonderful place he always made it out to be. They had just kicked her out—out of a public institution—they had no right. Sure, she might have snatched books away from a few people who were reading in the library, but that was only because she had thought them to be Remus. Serves them right, Kierra thought, burying their faces in books like that…they were straining their necks and their eyes. Stupid librarians…they were always old, batty looking women with glasses and grey hair done up in tight buns. And she couldn't understand how on earth her peering at people between bookshelves made her 'lurking about creepily'…

Now a block away from the library, Kierra stopped and glanced around. Now where would she go? She had already checked out all the nearest bookstores, including the one in Avenue Creuse. Where else could he have gone? Well, it had been a little over an hour since she had left the flat…perhaps he had returned home. Kierra turned around and headed in the direction of their flat, opting to walk back instead of apparating back, in hopes that she might suddenly remember another place to check for him…

Remus shifted the weight of his bag from one hand to the other as he crossed over a bridge in the neighborhood park that came along the way to his flat. He had given up on his search for Kierra and opted to buy her a 'sorry' present for being so angry with her. He just hoped she was home by now. He also hoped she liked her present. He shifted the heavy box again back onto his other arm. He had no idea art supplies could be so expensive. He knew that she was constantly running out of paint, so he had decided that the most practical gift for her was a large supply of paint bottles. He glanced down into the bag to make sure the ribbons that had been elegantly tied around the box had not been smashed or undone. The saleswoman had raised an eyebrow at and looked at him strangely when he asked if they would put his purchase in a box and gift wrap it for him, saying that they generally did not wrap gifts. But after a fair amount of coaxing, and a bit of flirting (he smiled sadly—Sirius and James would be proud of him), she stuck the paint bottles in a cardboard box, wrapped it up in newspaper, and tied up the package with white ribbon from a spool that sat in the bin marked 'returned items' at the checkout counter. Despite the less than high quality materials used, the lady had done a wonderful job with the wrapping. Much better than he would ever be able to do without magic anyway…

He just hoped that he wasn't too late. Dominique had warned him that Kierra might start to resent him for being angry too long. But it had just been a day…that wasn't too long, was it? She couldn't be mad at him…just yesterday she had been apologizing, looking positively miserable with herself. He frowned slightly as he passed by the playground where several children and parents ran about noisily. He shouldn't have been so harsh with her. He had felt bad about it the moment he turned his back on her. And now he was missing her…not having spoken to her since yesterday, except to give her a letter this morning. He tried shaking the feeling off. He was letting this all get to his head. He was actually seeing her now, emerging from another pathway that intersected his. She was staring off in different directions, looking distressed and…very real. Remus blinked. It was her…

The moment he had opened his mouth to call out her name, Kierra looked up at him, her eyes widening slightly as she hurried over.

"There you are!" they said at once. Remus looked relieved. Kierra still looked distressed.

"I've been looking all over you!" Kierra said.

Remus raised an eyebrow at her. "You were looking for me? I was looking for you! I wanted to apologize for being so mean yesterday, and you disappeared from the apartment! I didn't even hear you disapparate…"

Kierra smiled sheepishly. "Oh, sorry…I was just sort of in a rush…and when I came back to tell you where I had gone"—

"Where did you go?" Remus asked.

"To Sheila's…" she replied with a heavy sigh.

"Sheila's?" Remus repeated, looking positively bemused.

"Yeah…you gave me quite the guilt trip, Mr. Lupin." Kierra said, smiling ruefully at him. "I was a complete cow. I wasn't even thinking when I…well…when I acted the way I did. So I thought I'd try to set things straight…"

Remus's eyes widened slightly. "You didn't"—

Kierra nodded. "I told Sheila everything. How I made up everything to her because…well…because Ireallylikeyou…" she mumbled.

Remus couldn't help but smile. "Oh my. How did she react?" he asked, deciding to shift the conversation a bit since he was feeling slightly sympathetic for Kierra when she blushed.

"Not well. She yelled quite a bit even though I apologized so many times. But she won't any of it—understandably, I know. It's going to be very awkward next term. And I reckon she's going to start spitting in my morning coffee. I should invest in a flask like Moody…" Kierra said thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Remus said, smiling slightly at the image of Kierra carrying around a bent-up, old hip flask like Moody's.

Kierra looked up at him and laughed lightly. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It was all me. I seriously messed up… I remember when I left Edmund, you told me that I respect the ones I love too much to hurt them…and I just hurt you. I shouldn't have…I greatly respect you, Remus…I did a horrible thing to you…I'm so sorry"—

Remus smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "Stop apologizing. It's ok"—

"It's not! I'll never be able to forgive myself for being such an idiot…for causing this mess…and…and…never noticing anything! I wish I had picked up on your feelings…I'm just always so oblivious to those things"—

"It's alright"—Remus had started, but immediately stopped mid-sentence when he saw Kierra crying—"Kierra?"

"I'm sorry!" she wailed loudly enough for the parents and children playing nearby to look up from their swing sets and see-saws. "I wish we never broke up…I like you, Remus. I"—she swallowed the next word, realizing it would be a rash declaration—"I really like you…and all that stuff about us not being able to last…because it was lust…that's a load of bullocks. I realize I was the one who had first said it all those years ago…but I was completely wrong. It was love that kept us together. I mean"—she felt her cheeks redden. Why did she say 'love'? There were a million other words she could have used. Adoration…affection…but she had to use the strongest of them all—"well…whatever emotional equivalent you want to use there…" she said quickly. "That's what it was. And that's how I feel…and I think that's how you feel too. But I don't know….maybe you changed your mind, or you never felt that way in the first place, and you're just being dramatic in your writing…but…just…whatever you feel, don't fight it. Please…just…just tell me honestly how you feel."

Remus watched her wipe her cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt. "Are you done?" he asked. Kierra nodded, and watched him expectantly. He leaned forward and kissed her.

He had meant to make it soft and brief, but Kierra had wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him against her, deepening the kiss significantly.

"I told you zey were shacking up!"

Kierra and Remus parted immediately and glanced around, only to find Jean-Benoît Gustave and Julie Nadeau, two of their students, observing them with great amusement. Remus felt himself blushing what was probably a ridiculously bright shade of red. Kierra however, looked unabashed.

"Detention, Gustave. First day we get back!" Kierra said sternly, though a smile crept along her mouth. Jean-Benoît protested while Julie burst into laughter. Kierra turned to Remus and grinned. "Let's get a move on. I reckon by the time school starts again, rumors will be flying that I'm your transsexual lover or something…"

Remus grunted in pain as his tailbone crashed against the doorknob of their flat. "At least wait until we're inside." Remus said quietly as he gently pulled Kierra away from himself. She frowned at him, and he smiled in return as he pulled out his keys. "I'm sorry, I just don't think this is something for our neighbors to watch through their peepholes…"

Kierra rolled her eyes at him as opened the door and led the way inside. She turned around to shut the door behind her, and just as the door locked with a clicking sound, she felt him whirling her around to face him. They looked into each others' eyes, but only for a moment. They leaned towards each other at once and began to pick up from where they left off. After a minute though, Kierra felt her legs growing tired from standing up. She pulled away and opened her mouth to suggest that the move to a more comfortable place, but Remus seemed to read her mind.

He heaved her against the wall forcefully, and pressed his mouth against hers, putting his hands to her hips, allowing for her to rest against his grip as well as against the wall. Remus felt his hips push against hers, causing her to let out a muffled groan. A moment later, a sharp knocking sound came from the wall they were leaning against, causing Remus and Kierra to jump back and gasp.

"Mrs. Danglars…" Kierra muttered.

"Er, right…" Remus said, looking around uncertainly.

"My room…" Kierra muttered, grabbing his hand and pulling him into her room… "my bed's not made anyway…"

"Your—your bed?" Remus stammered. "Are—are you…did you want to"—

Kierra's eyes widened slightly as they entered his room and she had let go of his hand. "Oh! Did you not want to?" she asked, feeling herself blush. "I'm sorry—no, we don't have to. I mean"—

"No, it's ok…if you want to…" Remus said quickly.

"Only if you do…" Kierra replied with equal speed. "Er—do you?"

"Oh—well"—Remus felt himself blushing darker than Kierra. How does one say 'yes' without sounding desperate? He swallowed. "Yeah, ok…" he said, feeling rather stupid.

Kierra laughed as she led him to her bed and through off the covers. "Stupid question."

"How long have you been waiting to do all that again?" Kierra breathed an hour later. She glanced sideways and smiled at Remus, who was pulling Kierra's blanket over his waist.

"Too long." Remus replied in an equally tired voice. "Been dreaming about it for too long…"

"You dreamt"—

Remus stopped adjusting the blankets and blushed. "Er"—

"Have you been dreaming of me?" Kierra asked, smiling coyly at him.

"No"—he said at once—"No…I wouldn't say"—

"Were they dirty?" Kierra cut in, rolling onto her stomach and propping herself against his chest. "Oh, tell me they were dirty!"

"Never mind that." Remus said quickly, leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead. "It does not do to dwell on dreams"—

"Oh cut the crap, Remus!" Kierra said. "Come on and tell me…maybe I'll make them come true! After all"—Kierra put on a face that was all too familiar…he winced, knowing quite well what was coming—"A dream is a wish your heart makes…" she started in a sing-song voice, if it could be called that…

"Kierra"—

"When you're fast asleep…"

Remus laughed despite the horrible sounds. "Kierra, are you drunk?"

"In dreams you will lose your heartache"—

"Oh please stop, Kierra. You're a terrible singer…"

She laughed, and leaned against him, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"So…tell me…what did I wear?"

Remus groaned, letting his head fall back against the pillows.

"Was I even wearing anything?" She asked, hitting him on his arm as her eyes widened in moch-surprise. "You dirty man! Tell me! Don't be such a closed book!"

"I am not a closed book…" he replied.

"Oh you are too." She said. And after a moment's hesitation, she added "and the one time I opened your book, you had a tantrum…"

As expected, Remus scowled at her while she laughed.

"Come on…I know you've got a wild, untamed beast inside you…"

"Yes, but he's not coming out for another two weeks…"

Kierra hit him again and laughed. "You know what I mean…"

"Yes, I know exactly what you mean." Remus replied, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the top of her head. "But that is for me to know and you to find out."

Kierra looked up at him and grinned. "I better not have to wait too long to find out."

Remus merely smiled and leaned forward to kiss her on the lips, but Kierra pulled away from him, making a face. "Don't you even—I don't know where that mouth has been!"

Remus laughed as he leaned forward and attempted to make contact with her mouth again, only to be pushed away by Kierra, who proceeded to dive under her blankets for cover. Remus followed, and they continued with their game into the evening, until a dazzling white crescent moon rose to the night sky, shining through the window of Kierra's room, lulling them to sleep.

The End.

lyrics (that Kierra sung :P ) are from Cinderella. "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes."

A/N: Well…that's all! If you all enjoyed this story even half as much as I loved writing it, I would be very happy. Thank you for reading through all 55/54 chapters…While I honestly greatly appreciate each and every person who has read and/or reviewed (and I do read and enjoy every single one of them, though I generally don't reply to those on as I need the reviewer's email addy for that), I need to single out a few people who have made all the writing all-nighters I've pulled (including this one tonight..gaah! it's almost 4am!) worth it. Emma2801, I'm not quite sure what to say. You were my very first reviewer when I started writing HP fanfics, and you've hung around this long. I guess all I can say is that a chapter doesn't seem complete without a review from you! Holly, your reviews in French make me laugh out loud. Mainly because I don't actually know French…but it's all good…It takes a second to look things up ;) Lupin is My Hero—I thoroughly enjoy not being able to not reply to e-mails. And I love your long, thorough reviews :P PottersChick958, NovemberWind, A.K. Anonymous, Recreated (you seem to have disappeared, but if you ever come around…) who were regular reviewers on As with Emenem10 from hpff—you're one of the few who take the trouble to correct me! If I ever go back and edit, I think all I have to do is check out your reviews! Lol (that's a good thing!) who else…DEE, yes…I'm used to seeing your name too. And padfootwalksforeva—your reviews always make me laugh out loud…and babygohan of course with your animaniacs inspired goodbyes…;) Alright, I know there are so many more out there and the names are suddenly filling my head, but I really have to go to the bathroom now. Right, I don't think anyone wanted to know that…sighs…ah well. Far as a sequel goes—still on the maybe…(ok, most likely…I have so many plot ideas for it I probably won't be able to resist, even if it becomes discredited with info JKR gives us in HBP) but I will definitely continue to write, and I hope you stick around for the rest of the journey: )