A/N: Thank you for all the lovely supportive reviews. Despite what any nay sayers might post in reviews, this story will continue on. It's my pride and joy. ;-)
Chapter 17: Unpleasant Realizations
The weeks went by slowly that fall. The fifth years of Hogwarts could feel themselves being harassed by mountains of homework. The teachers all said it was to prepare them for their O.W.L.s in the spring, but the students thought the teachers were attempting to torture them. They were desperate for some type of break from the normal barrage of homework. Luckily for them, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
It was only five days before the first Hogsmeade weekend, and the week after that was the first Quidditch match of the year, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. While many of the students were excited about these upcoming events, Sairina couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed and nervous about it all. Remus had asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him, she of course agreed readily, but she couldn't help but feel that she was driving a wedge between Remus and the other Marauders. He claimed that she wasn't, but she still felt guilty, not only about Remus and his friends, but she also felt like she was abandoning Lily.
"How about this," Remus said after she expressed her guilt and worry to him during lunch one day, "We can start out with our friends in the morning, meet for lunch and then spend the rest of the afternoon together." Sairina agreed feeling far less guilty than before. Once she had finished lunch, she gathered her bag and began making her way to the dungeons for her Potions lesson with Hufflepuff. Adrian Baine caught up with her however outside the Great Hall. It was his final year, and he was the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain.
"Practice tonight," he reminded her. She nodded in response.
"Five 'o'clock, right?" she asked.
"Yep," he said, "before dinner because somebody has to do their prefect rounds tonight." He teasingly gave her a punch in the arm. She swatted him back.
"I can't help it if I'm smarter and more trustworthy than everybody else on the team," she said sticking out her tongue causing Adrian to roll with laughter.
"Oh, that's rich, Telcontar," he said before going into the Great Hall to look for the other members of his team. Laughing to herself, Sairina made her way to the potions dungeon.
/0/0/
"C'mon, Brody" Adrian yelled, "be aggressive with that bat!" The Ravenclaw team was flying hard and doing complex drills to help them prepare for their upcoming game. Adrian was more involved with watching the overall performance of the team while relinquishing chaser commands to Sairina.
"V pass," Sairina called out as the chasers formed a v and zoomed towards the goal posts. They rapidly exchanged the quaffle from one chaser to another until Marcus Wright, the newest chaser (a third year), took it and hurled it towards the hoop. The keeper, an outstanding second year by the name Samantha Whithers, knocked it off its path. Sairina, however, was quick to rebound the quaffle and slammed it through a hoop while Whithers was attempting to steady herself from that last block.
"Good job Telcontar!" Adrian shouted as Derrick Hunnington, their fourth year seeker, went into a dive for that snitch. The rest of the team, slightly distracted, attempted to do another play, but Hunnington raised his hand triumphantly holding the snitch in it.
"Ground, team," Adrian yelled as their seven brooms sunk to the ground. After about ten minutes of attempting to recapture the bludgers, the balls were safely placed back in their trunk and Adrian met the team in the center of the pitch.
"Good practice you guys," he said smiling at his young team. "I think we have a real shot this year at the House Cup. We just have to watch out for Gryffindor next week, they've won it for the past few years, but they're not unstoppable." He looked at their tired smiling faces. The team had changed so much over the years. When Sairina had joined the team, they were an old team, most of the players being in their sixth or seventh year. He and Sairina were the only ones left from the Ravenclaw dream team that had nearly captured the House Cup in his fifth year, Sai's third.
"Go on, you guys earned yourself a good meal," he said shooing them off towards the locker rooms.
"How about a nice, hot shower?" Samantha quipped back and she and Sairina shared a laugh.
"It is so great having another girl on the team, finally!" she exclaimed as they walked back to the Ravenclaw locker rooms to get changed. The rest of the boys just shook their heads.
"Women," Adrian muttered as the team filed in.
/0/0/
"Are you guys up for another practice again tonight?" James asked sitting down with his three friends. Remus shrugged as he propped his History of Magic book up against the water pitcher.
"Doesn't matter to me," he said, "I'm there more for moral support." James looked to Sirius and Peter.
"Sure," Sirius said piling food onto his plate. Peter nodded.
"We're getting so close," Peter said as he began to shovel mashed potatoes into his mouth.
It was true, after their last practice all three of the boys could almost completely transform, but they either couldn't hold the shapes or finish transforming. They had an idea of what animals they were to become, but Remus had held off on the dubbing of the nicknames until each boy had completely transformed and could hold the shape. He did, however, have a few nicknames he was considering at the moment . . .
"To bad we've missed the full moon for this month," Sirius sulked and looked sympathetically at his studying friend. Remus looked up and shrugged his shoulders. The full moon had been three days prior and Remus had vanished for his usual day and a half, his friends covering for him saying that he was visiting a sick relative.
"Next time I'll tell the moon to wait a few more weeks before it decides to become full so my friends have time to perfect becoming illegal animagi," he muttered dryly. The comment wasn't intended to hurt, but his friends knew he was always a little grumpy after the full moon.
"Who has rounds tonight, Remus?" Peter asked taking a break from filling his mouth with food. Remus pondered this for a moment.
"I believe Sairina and Merric make their rounds tonight," he said nonchalantly. His three friend exchanged looks, which did not go unnoticed by him.
"Perhaps we should follow them tonight instead of practicing," James said slyly, "Just to make sure Moony's girl is being true." Remus sighed and rolled his eyes.
"I have nothing to worry about," Remus said looking up from his book to glare at his three friends, "I've already had a nice chat with Merric about the consequences of any attempts he might make to woo Sairina."
"When did you have this 'chat'?" Sirius asked arching an eyebrow. Remus shrugged.
"After the last Prefects' meeting," he said blandly. His friends laughed.
"Wasn't it the night before the full moon?" James asked quietly, "So it was more of a string of threats rather than a nice chat." Remus looked up and a wicked grin spread across his face.
"Something like that . . ." he said lightly causing his friends to laugh all the louder. Their conversation drifted and they began talking about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend.
"What are your plans, Moony?" Sirius asked his friend who had, by now, abandoned all hopes of studying during dinner.
"I'm going to start off in the morning with you guys," he explained before taking a bite of Shepherd's Pie, "Then Sairina and I will be meeting for lunch and then spending the rest of the afternoon together." The other boys nodded.
"Sounds like a good plan," James said smiling, "That means Lily will be on her own in the afternoon . . ."
"Good luck with that one, James," Remus said smirking. "She would have been free all day, but Sairina insisted that I spend time with you guys. For some odd reason she thinks that she's driving me apart from you." The other boys stared at him in disbelief before laughing.
"We're probably spending way to much time together," Sirius snorted into his plate, "What with classes, studying, pranks, and our latest little endeavor to help you out." Remus nodded.
"I know, I know," he agreed, "I just don't want to bring the wrath of a princess down on me." He suddenly froze. I did not just say that. Please, if there is someone up there; tell me that I did NOT just say THAT!
"What did you say?" Peter gaped at Remus along with James and Sirius. Remus dropped his fork with a clang.
"I-I-I . . . um . . . uh," he stammered attempting to think of a lie. His friends' eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Damn, damn, damn, double DAMN! His mind was reeling, how could he just let that slip?
"She's not really a . . . you know . . . is she?" James asked looking intently at his floundering friend. Remus could feel his face grow red hot with embarrassment and shame.
"Um," he murmured. His mind was still unable to come up with a line he could feed his friends and cover up his mess-up. His friends stood abruptly and dragged him from the table. Remus was in so much shock from betraying Sairina's secret that he didn't protest as the other Marauders dragged him up to the seventh floor to the Room of Requirement. Pacing three times the door appeared with the usual arrangement for their practices, but with a few more comfortable chairs.
"Spill it all, now," Sirius said pushing Remus down into one of the chairs. "Is she really a princess?" Remus sat trembling looking at the floor.
"You guys can't breathe a word of this to anyone," he said eventually looking up, "And I mean anyone." His friends looked at him in astonishment. They had never heard Remus sound so firm, not even when he was doing his prefect duties.
"She is then?" James said running a hand through his hair, "Sairina is really a princess? This is unbelievable! There hasn't been any magic in royal blood for over two centuries." Remus rolled his eyes.
"She's not from this time," he said. Sirius stopped his pacing, James stopped running his hand through his hair, and Peter appeared to stop breathing.
"WHAT?" they all demanded at once. Remus sighed as he buried his head in his hands.
"Just listen to me," Remus said before he launched into the information Sairina had told him at the beginning of their fourth year. The other three Marauders just stared at their friend in unabashed amazement. Sairina Telcontar, a princess, from another time? It was unbelievable.
"So, her family that came here for the match back in third year," James said once Remus had finished, "Were royalty. No wonder Goyle's punishment was so harsh . . ." Remus nodded to his friend.
"It all makes sense now," Sirius murmured, "the fact that she hardly ever rode the train . . . because her room is basically linked to Hogwarts."
"When she did ride the train," Remus elaborated, "was when she had stayed the last few weeks of summer with Lily." A look of dawning realization broke across James's face.
"Lily knows," he stated as opposed to asked. Remus nodded.
"She was the first student Sairina could trust with her secret," Remus confirmed, "I was the second. Although I've probably lost that trust now . . ." He looked glumly at the floor.
"Moony, you worry too much," Peter said. "We won't breathe a word of this to anyone." Remus looked at his friends in relief.
"You had better not," he warned. His friends laughed.
"We've been able to keep your condition secret since second year after finding out," Sirius laughed, "We won't spill about Sairina. I do have one question: Why did she want to keep it secret?"
"Her parents didn't want her to receive unnecessary attention and she didn't want any special treatment," Remus explained, "When she was born, her great grandmother made predictions concerning her future, they were predictions about her stopping the rise of Dark Lord, that had fallen years ago, with her magic. After Dumbledore explained the impending war with Voldemort to her parents, they thought it best that her royal blood be kept a secret. Lest Voldemort attempt to harness the more ancient magic she can use."
"This is just too crazy," Sirius muttered one last time before clapping his hand, "On to practice. Shall we, gentlemen?"
It was an interesting friendship that the boys had, the true depths of it finally sunk in for Remus as James took his spot in the center of the room. Any discovery that they shared, no matter how significant, dangerous, or life altering, they treated it as if it were an everyday occurrence. They had treated Remus's lycanthropy and Sairina's true royal background as if they were of no consequence. The logic behind their passiveness was maddening to dissect, so Remus pushed the issue out of his mind for the moment and concentrated on what his messy haired friend was doing.
"I'm going to try to go all the way," James announced before closing his eyes and pulling into himself. His body steadily began to change. He was completely covered with rich tan fur before he collapsed onto all fours. His hands melded together as his limbs lengthened. The other three couldn't necessarily hear his bones shifting and reforming, but they could see it happening. James's face elongated, developing a snout and large hazel eyes. Antlers began to sprout and quickly grew and divided forming an impressive rack.
Their friend, James, no longer stood in front of them, but a fully grown stag did.
"Wicked," said Sirius in awe before James rapidly transformed backing into his normal fifteen-year-old self. He seemed a little winded, but not as exhausted as he had been in the past.
"I couldn't hold it," he said weakly, "but I did it." He stood and walked over to his notes.
"What are you looking for?" Remus asked as Peter went to the center of the room, "Most of the notes are only on the transforming aspect."
"I know," James said, "But we took a few notes on maintaining the Animagus form. I need to start looking over them." Remus nodded as he turned back to Peter who had closed his eyes and was rapidly covering himself in fur.
He had begun to shrink and his face grew very pointy and he sprouted a tail. His stature continued to diminish before he suddenly shifted back into normal looking Peter. He was panting and seemed to be very much shaken.
"You alright there, Peter?" Sirius asked going to his friend. Peter nodded weakly and seemed greatly discouraged.
"Hey, that was far better than what you did last time," James said attempting to boost his friend's pride. Peter smiled weakly before sinking into a chair. Sirius strutted into the center of the room. The other three boys rolled their eyes.
Without a word, Sirius pulled into himself and began to rapidly transform. He was going double the speed that James had done his transformation. Before the other boys could say, "Galloping Goblins," a large bear like, shaggy haired dog stood playfully in front of them. He began barking and running around the room, before coming up and resting his head on Peter's lap. The other boys laughed and Sirius transformed back.
"Did you transform back on your own?" James asked and Sirius nodded.
"Yeah, but I could feel my stamina waver a bit," Sirius said scratching the back of his head, "I think it's all a matter of endurance now." James nodded and looked over the notes once more.
"That's what I can gather from the notes," James said looking up at Sirius before glancing at Peter, who was sulking in his chair, "Don't worry Pete; you'll get it before the next full moon." Peter shrugged nonchalantly, and his friend could tell he was rather upset.
"Hey Pete, don't stress about it," Sirius said sitting on the arm of his friend's chair, "We know transfiguration isn't your best subject, but you are doing great compared to your normal performance in that class." Peter looked sideways at his friend; he wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment or insult.
"We should head back, gents," James announced organizing his notes. "It's nearly curfew, and we don't have the map or the cloak." The other three boys nodded and left the room practically sprinting back to Gryffindor tower. They climbed into the portrait hole just as the chimes struck.
"I don't know about you three," Sirius said yawning loudly, "but I'm tired." With that he waved goodnight to his friends and vanished up the staircase. The rest of the boys quickly followed suit.
/0/0/
The weekend didn't come fast enough as far as the students were concerned. Their last classes on Friday were sheer torture, because many of the students could see the beautiful fall sun shining on the rusty colored tree tops of the forbidden forest. The students could tell that this could be one of the last decent days left of fall and they'd rather be out enjoying it as opposed to stuck in their lessons. The final bell for the day rung, and the students ran from their classrooms before any teacher could cram one more fact into their already full heads.
Sairina was chatting with Merric as they walked out of Transfiguration together. They were discussing the lesson and how McGonagall was obsessing over perfection when Sairina felt an arm wrap around her waist.
"Hey," Remus's familiar voice filled her ear. Sairina smiled and Merric rolled his eyes at the two.
"C'mon, Sairina," Merric groaned, "You're flirting with the enemy. What would Adrian say if he saw this?" Sairina and Remus laughed.
"Oh yes," Remus said voice oozing with sarcasm, "The only reason I've been dating Sairina for the past year is because I'm part of a ploy to keep her distracted so Gryffindor can win the House Cup."
"See!" Merric exclaimed. "He admits it!" The three Prefects began laughing. Merric waved goodbye to them before heading in the direction of the Ravenclaw dormitory.
"What's up?" Sairina smiled at Remus as she laced her fingers with his. He shrugged.
"Nothing much," he replied, "Double potions with Slytherin, however, is the worst class to have on a Friday afternoon." Sairina laughed as the continued to amble through the hallway, "I also wanted to confirm our plans for tomorrow."
"With our friends until lunch," Sairina confirmed. "Then the rest of the afternoon together." Remus smiled.
"I can't wait," he said and planted a light kiss on her forehead. Sairina couldn't help but notice the worry in Remus's eyes.
"Something wrong, Remmy?" she asked kindly as she gently squeezed his hand. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"No," he said squeezing her hand back. She nodded and the two continued to walk on when the other three Marauders suddenly jumped out in front of the couple.
"C'mon Remus," James said with at mischievous glint in his eye, "We've come up with the perfect prank to get back Snape for what he did in potions." Sirius and James grabbed Remus and pried him off of Sairina and dragged him off. He shot a look back to Sairina that clearly said, "I'll stop them before they do anything." Sairina just shook her head and laughed.
Those boys were something else.
/0/0/
The day of the Hogsmeade visit dawned pleasant enough. The sky was filled with large fluffy white clouds that drifted lazily across the azure sky. The wind blew, but it was not biting and cold; just a gentle autumn breeze that carried the scents of autumn through the air: pumpkins, cinnamon, and apples.
Lily and Sairina strolled through the streets of the small wizarding community chatting and talking about nothing in general. They window-shopped, ducked into an old used book store (but left without buying anything), disappeared into Honeyduke's where Sairina bought several bars of the traditional Honeyduke's chocolate.
"I made the mistake of splitting my last bar with my little sisters," Sairina explained to Lily after she asked why Sairina had bought so much, "Instead of saying goodbye, they demanded that I supply them with more chocolate." Lily laughed long and hard at this, and the two friends casually made their way to the Three Broomsticks. Ducking inside the building, the two girls found a small booth by the door and quickly made themselves comfortable.
A waiter came up eventually and handed the girls two butterbeers. As he did so, the girls exchanged questioning glances.
"Excuse me, sir," Lily spoke up, "But my friend and I didn't order anything to drink yet." The young man smiled.
"Compliments of the four strapping young gentlemen at the bar," he said before walking away. Both the girls looked over to the bar and let out a peal of laughter. The four Marauders had smug looks on their faces and were waving brightly to the two girls.
"I should have known," Lily muttered, twisting the top off of her bottle, "Potter and his band of misfits."
"Excuse me," Sairina said giving her friend a playful glare, "I happen to be seeing one of those 'misfits.'" At this, both of the girls began laughing again. They were so distracted by their mirth that they didn't notice the four troublemakers saunter up to their table.
"What pray tell, my dear ladies," Sirius said with a regal flare, "seems to be so funny?" Sairina and Lily rolled their eyes.
"Nothing at all, Black," Lily said as she stood up and winked at Sairina, "I'll catch you later, Sai. I'm heading back to the castle." James stepped in extending a hand to Lily.
"Would you allow me to escort you?" James asked kindly. Lily looked at his hand and then back at his face before laughing and walking out of the crowded room. James looked slightly downtrodden.
"Don't worry, James," Sairina said sympathetically, "I'll try to work on her for you." James shook his head.
"No, no," he protested, "I'm going to win her on my own." Sairina shook her head.
"Yeah," Sirius muttered, "At this rate you'll finally woo her when you're both old and gray." Everyone began laughing except for James who glared at them darkly before leaving the pub. Still laughing, Sirius and Peter ran after him while waving good-bye to Remus. Remus stared after his friends for a moment shaking his head and turning back to Sairina.
"Would you like to grab a bite to eat?" he asked taking Lily's seat. Sairina pondered this for a moment feeling her stomach do flips. It always did that when she and Remus were together.
"Actually," she said, "I'm not all that hungry. What about you?" He shrugged.
"I'll be able to last until dinner," he replied, "How about we go for a walk?" Sairina nodded and stood with Remus and left the pub. Offering his arm to her, the two wandered aimlessly through the small, student filled streets.
They talked about their mornings and what they had done with their friends. Remus and the other Marauders had stocked up on supplies from Zonko's for some prank they were developing. Sairina admonished Remus lightly for even thinking of pulling a prank as a Prefect. Remus just laughed and said, "It's nothing serious or life threatening." This caused Sairina to laugh.
"Sai," Remus said after a few moments of walking in silence, "There are some things that I . . . I need to talk to you about." Remus guided their steps towards the location of the Shrieking Shack. As Remus moved to go beyond the fence, Sairina stopped.
"Isn't this place haunted?" she gulped. Remus smiled weakly.
"Supposed to be," he replied, "but it's not . . . at least not right now." This last part he said darkly and Sairina could see bitterness cross his normally benign face.
"Are you sure?" Sairina said warily, "Why do we have to talk here in the first place?" Remus smiled once again.
"I'm sure that it is fine," he said extending his hand. "You can trust me. As for why here . . . I don't want anyone to disturb us." Intrigued and somewhat frightened, Sairina decided to follow him. They approached the house and Remus used an unlocking spell on one of the doors and ushered Sairina in. Sairina looked warily around the building as Remus closed the door behind him.
It was just as she had remembered it from the vision she had back in third year. The house seemed to sway and bend with the wind because it was so structurally unsound. The furniture was all in taters and the building was in a state of disarray and disrepair. Sairina jumped slightly and Remus took her hand and guided her towards the rickety stairs. He motioned her to take a seat, and she complied while he paced like a nervous wreck.
"Remus," Sairina asked worried, "what wrong?" Remus stopped pacing and looked to the girl on the steps. She looked so frightened and worried. Remus knew she had to deal with so much, and now he was only going to add to her worries. Sighing, he tried to figure out the best way to begin.
"Sai," he breathed eventually, "I'm sorry." Sairina looked at him surprised and confused.
"Wh-what?" she stammered confused by his apology. He had done nothing wrong to her knowledge. Unless . . .
"I am so sorry, Sai," he said, she could tell he was angry with himself, "I don't know how it happened exactly, but I-I . . . I let it slip that you were a princess." Sairina took a staggering breath.
"To whom?" she asked wringing her hands, "Not like the entire Gryffindor house or something?"
"No," Remus said quickly, "no, not quite that bad." This allayed her fears somewhat, but she kept thinking who . . .
"Your friends?" she hazarded to guess. Remus could only nod and run a hand through his hair. Sairina smiled at him weakly.
"It's not that bad, Remus," she said trying to cheer him up, "I was planning on telling them eventually, probably before the end of the year. I was just waiting until I was a bit more comfortable around them . . ."
"But I betrayed your trust," Remus said completely baffled that she was not screaming and yelling at him. "Granted it was an accident, but I let it slip when I wasn't supposed to. I don't how you can be so calm." Sairina smiled and stood from the steps and walked over to where Remus was standing. Taking his hands she looked into his eyes.
"I come from a line of understanding and calm people," Sairina said lightly, "My father has always told me that lashing out in anger and being blinded by rage solves no problem any person could ever face." Sairina leaned in and kissed Remus gently on the lips, but he pulled away sharply.
"I don't deserve you," he said looking at the ground. Sairina sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist, but he moved away.
"Remus?" she asked, hurt.
"I really don't deserve to be with someone as wonderful as you," he said crossly though his back was to her, "You have been nothing but completely honest to me, and I've betrayed your trust and kept things from you . . ."
"Remus, you're being irrational . . ." Sairina began.
"How can you be so calm about this?" Remus asked turning to face her, "I was expecting anger or bitterness, not this. Not for you being so calm." Sairina shook her head in confusion.
"What do you want me to do, Remus?" She asked with hurt in her voice, "Do you want me to scream and yell at you? It will solve nothing, but if you want me to, I can get angry." Remus could definitely hear the anger edging into her voice, but he shook his head.
"I-I . . . just," Remus said running his hand over his face, "I want you to be honest about how you feel. Not put on a calm front." He turned and faced her, but she was looking at the floor.
"Honestly," she said wringing her hands, "I am a little hurt that you told them, but as you said it was an accident, and I believe you. I'm sure they probably pestered you for more information though," She looked at him as he nodded, "How much . . ."
"All of it," Remus sighed sinking to the floor. Sairina took a deep breath.
"Continuing with honesty," she said moving towards a boarded up window, "I'm worried about if they'll tell anyone."
"You don't have to worry about that," Remus said through his hand.
"How do you know?" Sairina snapped a little too quickly, but couldn't hold back any more, "How do you know that they won't hold this over my head? How do you know that James won't use this as a means to force Lily to go out with him? How do you . . ."
"I just know that they won't do any of that," Remus said interrupting angrily. "These are my friends you're talking about."
"Yes," Sairina said bitterly, "the same friends, who play pranks on unsuspecting victims, terrorize first years, torture and belittle other students . . ."
"ENOUGH," Remus growled standing up, "I know they won't betray your secret, because they haven't betrayed mine," Sairina looked at Remus in confusion, "They've known my secret since second year, and they haven't told a soul yet, so I don't think they'll tell anyone about you."
"Wh-wh-what are you talking about?" Sairina asked walking towards Remus and cupped his cheek with her hand and gently forced him to look at her. His mournful cornflower blue eyes pieced hers. There was fear, pain, and sorrow in his eyes.
"I . . . I," he said weakly attempting to look away from her, but she wouldn't allow it, "Sai, I'm a werewolf." Sairina gasped and took a step back.
"What?" she asked almost hoping that this wasn't real. Remus sighed heavily before looking at her again.
"I am a werewolf," he said gesturing with his hand, "Once a month, I come here and transform into an uncontrollable blood thirsty beast," his voice sounded so defeated, "I can understand if you never want to talk to me again; I won't be hurt if you were to run from this house right now." It was a lie; he would be beyond hurt, but he wouldn't let her know that. He looked away from her in shame.
To Remus's surprise, he did not hear her run and the door slam behind her. Instead he felt her arms wrap around his neck as she pulled his head down to hers and captured his lips in a searing kiss. Remus was reluctant at first and tried to pull away, but Sairina wouldn't let him and kept her grip firm. Remus slowly circled his arms around her waist and pulled her slim body close to his. Remus hadn't thought that anything could feel so right, so perfect. Before the kiss could develop further, Sairina pulled back slightly.
"Wow," Remus breathed looking into Sairina's sapphire blue eyes, "Sai, I . . ." Sairina cut him off by placing a finger on his lips.
"Remus," she cooed softly, "you don't need to say anything. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. Valar, Remus, the visions I've had of transforming, they are horrible. I'm so sorry you have to go through that. It's so painful, so many untamed emotions . . ." Sairina trailed off as she buried her face into his chest and let out a sob, "I can't stay mad at you knowing what you have to go through." Remus calmly rubbed her back as she continued to cry quietly wetting his shirt.
"Don't cry, Sai," Remus murmured, "It's not your fault. There is nothing you could have done to prevent it. I was young and stupid; you shouldn't feel any guilt at all because it's not your fault." Sairina pulled away and looked up at Remus with a weak smiled. He smiled back. "I supposed that if you can look past my lycanthropy and I can look past your royal blood, we can get past anything." Sairina let out a small laugh before Remus pulled her into another breathtaking kiss.