As we all know by now, I only own Larkime.

Chapter four:Unexpected.

Lark jerked awake on Saturday morning, as suddenly and as fully as if someone had thrown ice cold water on her. It took her a minute to remember why today was so exciting, and when she did, she grinned. She was going to Hogsmeade with Remus! Lark threw the covers off of her and was about to step into the shower when she heard the unmistakable rush of wings. She poked her head out of the bathroom and saw her snowy owl North sitting on her bed. Lark raised an eyebrow. Why had the owl come now? It was only about 45 minutes until the mail at breakfast... Frowning, she walked over to her bed and deattached the scroll tied to her owl's leg. She stroked North fondly before she took flight to the Owlery.

Lark turned her attention to the scroll. It had to be urgent. She unrolled it carefully and her breath caught in her throat.

Lark,


I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but your grandmother Cantrell died last night in St. Mungo's. As you know, she was very ill for a long time...the Healers say that her life went a few days longer than expected. They tried everything they could. There was no saving her. Your father, your brothers and sister and I will be coming to get you by Apparating into Hogsmeade tomorrow. We will be informing Professor Dumbledore of this by this afternoon. Please bring enough things to last you a week at home. You'll be going back to Hogwarts on Friday. I know you were very close with your grandmother...I can't really offer much sympathy in a letter...but the pain will pass.

Love,

Mum.

Tears were starting to burn her eyes. Why? Why did her grandmother have to die now? Lark didn't even get to say goodbye to her. She reread the letter, and, though she didn't feel them, she saw tears spalshing onto the parchment, smudging the ink. How could she explain to Remus? They'd both been so excitied, but Lark couldn't feel anything but shock and pain at the moment. She set the letter carefully aside and went back to her shower, wiping tears away.

Thirty minutes later, Lark went down to the Common Room, not sure if she wanted to go down to breakfast. She had purposely been in the shower until all the girls who shared her dorm wnet to breakfast. She didn't even really want to tell Lily. Lark stared at the brightly burning fire. She had to find Remus. She had to tell him right away. Lark turned away from the fire and wove through the tables and armchairs until she reached the portrait hole. She swung it open and found herself face-to-face with a very concerned looking Remus.

"Lark? What's wrong?" Remus said immediatly, noticing her red eyes and blank expression. Lark's eyes began to fill with stinging tears again.

"Lark?" Remus promted. Biting her lower lip to keep it from trembling, Lark pulled Remus into the Common Room and closed the portrait hole behind him.

"Remus...Remus I'm so sorry but..." Lark's voice cracked. She swallowed and went on. "I...can't go to Hogsmeade with you today." Lark's voice shook and she turned away from a very confused and hurt-looking Remus. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why?" He asked quietly. Lark turned to him. She couldn't explain...no...saying it would make it to real for her to handle right now. She put up a finger to tell Remus to wait, and walked quickly up to her dormitory. The letter was right where she had left it, laying face down on her unmade bed. She picked it up and walked numbly back down to Remus.He was waiting, still looking confused and quite hurt. In a far, distant corner of her mind, she wondered what Remus thought. Maybe he thought that she was just forbidden to be near him because, as he had told her once in fourth year, he was a werewolf. That really didn't matter to Lark. It would never matter. He was still Remus.

Lark walked slowly up to him, holding the parchment in a slightly shaking hand. He took it and looked at her concernedly. She waved a hand towards the parchment. He turned it over. Lark watched his eyes fly from side-to-side, taking in the information that she couldn't handle. Once he had finished, he looked at Lark, sympathy burning in his eyes. Quite suddenly, Remus' arms were around her in a hug. She found this was exactly what she needed. She leaned on his shoulder and began to cry. Lark could feel him gently stroking her hair, which was wild and wavy, considering she hadn't done anything to it but brush it. Somehow, today, she didn't feel the need to straighten it. Today, things such as apparence mattered little more to her then if it was snowing or not.

"Lark," Remus whispered. "I know how you feel. Family members of mine have died too. I'm here for you, okay? I won't go to Hogsmeade...I'm going to stay here with you for as long as you need me. Even if you need me to just be a body sitting, standing whatever next to you...I'm there."

For those of you who have lost a loved one...you understand how it feels. The sinking feeling of hurt deep in your heart and stomach. People who haven't...you could never quite understand the pain of knowing that someone you once loved is gone forever. You can no longer speak to them, laugh with them, or have any more memories with them. It is, quite possibly, the worst thing to ever happen in someone's life, the loss of a loved one.

Lark stopped crying after a few minutes. She wiped away the remaining tears and looked up at Remus, who seemed to be near tears himself. The sight of his pain because of her pain was too much for Lark. She sank down, slowly, gracefully, onto the carpet and buried her face in her hands. She felt Remus beside her and the next thing she knew, Remus had lifted her up and helped her onto the only sofa in the room. She had hardly noticed. All she did was curl into a pathetic ball and sob.

Remus sat next to Lark on the couch, watching her cry. Remus fought back his own tears. To see her in so much pain hurt him deeply, but he couldn't let Lark see his tears. He had to be strong for her. He couldn't watch her anymore. He averted his eyes from the weeping, heart-broken girl next to him.

After about three minutes, Lark sat up, wiping tears off of her face. She noticed Remus wasn't looking at her.

"Remus." She said quietly. He turned to her and looked immesly relieved to see that she had stopped crying.

"I'm sorry to have fallen apart like that." She said in the same quiet voice. Remus shook his head. He understood. Subconciously, it seemed, Lark moved closer to Remus. Thinking of what he would want in the situation, he helped her into his arms. He wrapped them tight around her waist, suddenly realizing how thin and fragile she was. He loosened his grip a bit. He heard her laugh quietly.

"I'm not made of glass, you know." She whispered. Remus couldn't help but smile faintly. He tightened his grip again and inhaled the scent of strawberries resonating from her hair, and the faint smell of jasemine and rose coming from her clothes. He gently coiled her hair around his finger. She was so beautiful...he wished he could take away all her pain and go through it for her. She leaned her head against his shoulder and looked up into his eyes. He stared down into those amber eyes of her's before doing the only thing that seemed to make sense. Remus leaned his head down and, for the second time, kissed the girl he loved.