Remus had endured a rather tedious two-hour long Charms class and was ready to fall into bed and never wake up. He emerged from the classroom with Alice on one side of him and Peter on the other.
"Listen, I don't care how much bloody homework you have," Alice pestered him. "It's her birthday in a week! We need to do something." She was talking of Marlene, of course. In a week's time, the Gryffindor would be turning eighteen.
"Does Marlene even want a party?" Remus complained.
"Want is not a word in this discussion," Peter told him. "It's what she needs."
Remus looked forward, his eyes landing on a petite brunette waiting for him at the end of the hall. His breathing halted just the slightest. Leila's innocent gaze turned from Remus to Alice, growing dark.
"Hi Leila," Alice greeted her as they grew close. Leila stared at her, arms crossed, her lips turned into a scowl.
"Hi," she responded dryly.
Alice shared a look of amusement with Peter. "See you later, Remus," she commented before both turned to leave.
Remus looped his thumbs around the straps of his bag awkwardly, giving Leila a nervous smile. She didn't look pleased in the slightest.
"So," she began expectantly, "do you have anything to say to me?"
Remus wasn't quite following. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, just, you know, that you've been avoiding me for weeks now! You're always busy, never want to spend time together—"
Remus sighed heavily. He hurried off down the corridor, Leila following in his tracks, before slipping into a vacant classroom.
"It's a bad week for me," he tried to explain. If she'd given him another moment he would have mentioned that tonight was his transformation, but, of course, Leila never did give him time to explain himself.
"Oh, bullshit," Leila called him out. "It hasn't been one week, I haven't spent a solid ten minutes with you in nearly a month!"
"Well, this month has been a little unique!" he snapped. Why couldn't she just get off his back this once?
Leila's gaze softened. "Why won't you just talk to me about it then?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Remus told her, turning his head away. He couldn't tell her what was truly on his mind because it would only break her heart. That hurt him more than anything.
"You never want to talk about anything!" Leila exclaimed in exasperation. "It's like I'm the last one to learn about everything in your life. Do you know how that feels, Remus?"
He rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Clearly very poorly."
"What is wrong with you?" Leila howled. "Remus, LOOK AT ME!"
With a deep breath, he raised his gaze from the ground, meeting her chocolate brown eyes. "What do you want to hear from me?" he asked with a hint of irritation. "That I'm terrified? That two of my best friends are no longer speaking and it feels like my entire circle is crumbling? TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, LEILA!" It was an incredibly rare occasion for Remus – one to always keep his composure – to erupt like this.
"I want you," she admitted tearfully. "I want the shy guy who asked me to dance. The guy who spent hours helping me with my homework just to spend time with me, where is he?" she demanded, shoving Remus hard in the center of the chest. "I want you to be honest with me!"
Remus turned away. That was impossible. How could he tell her the truth? That he couldn't look at her the same anymore because he didn't know if he still felt that way? That the reason he never spent his evenings with her anymore was because he spent them thinking about another woman…
It was horrible. It was the worst thing Remus had ever done. He could barely look at Leila because the guilt and pain were overwhelming when he did. Meeting her desperate glance reminded him what a horrible thing he was doing. It made him hate himself all the more.
"I can't do this right now," Remus told her. He'd never felt like such a coward.
"What do you mean you can't—"
"This isn't a good day for me, okay?" He snapped cruelly. "Any other day but today."
Leila watched him in utter disbelief. It was as though she hardly recognized him. "Who are you?" she finally asked Remus' stomach sinking. "I hardly know you anymore." He bolted towards the door as quickly as possible.
When Remus threw it open Marlene stood behind it, her mouth dropped open.
"I'm so sorry!" she apologized profusely. "I heard yelling and I…" Leila stepped out from behind Remus, her cheeks blotchy and her eyes filled with tears.
"Perfect," she seethed. "This must feel really great to see," she said to Marlene, who still looked rather shocked by the situation she'd landed in.
"Leila, I'm sorry—" Marlene hadn't a chance to finish her sentence before Leila had shoved her way out of the room, running down the hall. Remus doubted his day could get any worse.
"I'm so sorry Remus, I swear I didn't mean to—"
"Don't apologize," he assured her, the pair beginning a slow walk down the hallway. "It's my own fault anyway."
Marlene watched him with great concern. "You guys are fighting?"
Remus shrugged. He didn't really want to discuss the whole thing. He was afraid he might admit the truth to Marlene and he wasn't sure he was ready to do that quite yet – not out loud at the least.
"Everything's just gone to shit hasn't it?" Remus asked sadly. Marlene knew it was true better than anyone else. Despite the fact she had endured tragedy worse than he could imagine, she still looked at Remus with pure worry. She clearly wanted so badly to fix whatever was broken inside of him.
"Tell me what I can do," she begged him.
Remus gave her a small smile. "Tell me it will all be okay," he asked her. Marlene stared at him apprehensively, her eyes turned away.
"Maybe," she responded hopefully. "Maybe this is the worst of it, you know?" Remus wished it were true, he wished they only had better things in their future, he just doubted such a thing was possible.
Sirius had lain himself out on a long rock down below the bridge, nothing but blue skies above him. He had a cigarette between his lips and he blew white puffs of smoke into the air as he watched the clouds float by above.
"I thought you were making your way to the Quidditch pitch."
Sirius turned his head to see James Potter beside him, grinning. He jumped up, his legs hanging over the side of the rock.
"No," he replied flatly, although the answer was obvious. "I like it out here, it's peaceful."
James nodded, his hands dug into the pockets of his jacket. He looked uncomfortable as he leaned beside Sirius, watching the pine trees in the distance bristle in the wind.
"I've been a bit of a dick, haven't I?"
Sirius stared down at James in awe. He'd known him for seven years now and never once had he heard his best friend admit he was wrong. James was the most stubborn person he knew.
"No," Sirius assured him. "I'm the one he needs to be apologizing—"
"No, you aren't," James sighed. "I was wrong."
Sirius tossed his cigarette aside, too shocked to continue smoking it. "How do you figure that?" he asked casually.
"Because you love her," James determined, staring up at Sirius with knowing eyes.
"What?" Sirius asked as though it were the most absurd thing he'd ever heard. James smirked.
"I shouldn't have made you make that promise," he admitted. "It wasn't fair, to either of you." James ran a hand through his ruffled hair. "I can't protect you guys from everything…I want to but…it's not very realistic, is it?"
"I never meant to lie to you, James," Sirius blurted out guiltily. "It was never supposed to happen and when it did…well, it was only supposed to be once. Suddenly, though, she wasn't just Marlene anymore she was…" Sirius' voice cut off. He was afraid to say anymore.
"I knew," James told him. "It's why I made you promise. I knew that summer I wouldn't be able to stop it but I tried."
"I should have listened to you," Sirius confessed. "You were right, all I've done is hurt her." Sirius laughed at himself humorlessly. "I can't love anything."
"Don't," James told his friend with a stern tone. James turned to face him, their eyes locking. "I was wrong to ever suggest that. It was selfish of me."
"Look at where I come from," Sirius scoffed. "How could you ever expect me to be anything less than cruel?"
"The world isn't split into good and bad people Sirius," James informed him with a matter of fact tone. "What matters is what side you choose to act on. You're a good person," James told him surely. "She knows it too."
"It's too late now—"
"I heard you two, that night that Snape attacked me." Sirius' face dropped.
"Bet you thought I forgot that, didn't you?" James smiled proudly. "I've been thinking about it all week you know…what you said to her."
"It was just heat of the moment thoughts…"
"If you love her don't give up," James prompted him. "Not for me, not for anyone." Sirius didn't know if it was that simple. So much had happened, so much he couldn't repair. Henry was dead. Marlene was broken. The simple moments had passed faster than he would have liked.
"What about us?" Sirius asked his friend, a little afraid of the answer. He turned his head away as James fiddled with his response.
"Oh, you know," he began. "I suppose I should keep you around, just to make sure I have someone to wreck havoc with."
Sirius' eyes lit up and he hopped down from the rock. "You git!" he proclaimed, jumping onto James' back and messing up his hair. The two boys wrestled around for a few moments, chuckling. For a little while, they were just kids again.
"Thank Merlin," a familiar voice echoed from up the hill. Sirius looked up to see Peter and Remus approaching. "I was afraid we were going to have to lock you two in a room together until you made up," Remus admitted. He smiled, but there was something fake about it.
"So you're friends again?" Peter asked hopefully. "Everything's back to normal?" Normal…what a funny word, Sirius thought.
"Everything's back to normal, Wormtail," James assured his friend, his arm wrapping around his shoulder.
"Hey, you guys," Peter, said suddenly. "This is the last transformation we'll ever all have at Hogwarts." Everyone's faces seemed to drop at the mention of the comment. The thought put a lump in Sirius throat that made it rather difficult to swallow. Peter was right, never again would they all be together exactly as they were.
"Suppose we better make it a good one then, huh?" James smiled. Remus shrugged, still looking a little under the weather.
"You know, I always love the loss of control I experience when I become a rabid werewolf for an evening." The four boys laughed, heading back up towards the castle.
"I always knew you had a little humor in you, Moony," James teased his friend.
Mary and Reg sat across from one another on his bed, the pair deep into a game of Wizard's Chess. Mary was winning – which Reg was clearly not very happy about – and she couldn't help but brag.
"Remind me, didn't you say you were good at this game?"
Her boyfriend glared at her from across the board. "You're winning off pure luck," he whined. Mary simply shrugged, still grinning.
"Keep telling yourself that, my friend." She knocked another one of his pawns off the board, making her winner. Reg scowled at the game, shaking his head.
"I demand a rematch."
Mary stretched out her arms, cracking her knuckles tauntingly. "Perhaps another day," she said with a sly smirk. Mary lay out across the bed, her legs hanging over the side.
"What're you thinking about?" Reg asked lightly.
Truthfully, Mary had been getting horrible anxiety about the approaching end of the school year. What the hell was she going to do? In the past, she'd needed only worry about two months that she'd need to spend at home. Now she was going to go out and find herself a home and job, all without the support of a family.
"What happens next," Mary admitted. She took a deep breath, her eyes studying the ceiling. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing with my life."
"Does anyone?" Reg suggested helpfully.
"I don't even have a home, Reg," she reminded him dejectedly. "My mother kicked me out, my dad's a deadbeat. I can't keep mooching off of Emmeline." Mary felt like her insides were going to burst with anxiousness. Every time she thought about where her life would be in a month she felt on the verge of being sick.
When she was younger she'd imagined that by seventh year she and her father would have reconnected. He would have found her and told her that he'd spent years searching for her. They'd go back to their cottage by the sea and Mary would spend her mornings drinking a cup of tea by the seashore. What a silly dream…
"Move in with me," Reg said quietly. Mary almost thought she'd imagined it. She turned her head to the side, watching him with curiosity.
"Sorry?"
"I'm serious," Reg, urged her.
Mary shook her head. "No," she told him certainly, sitting up on the edge of the bed now. "I'm not going to just jump from house to house. I'm not your family's burden—"
"We'll get our own place," Reg told her with excitement. "I've already got a job lined up at the Ministry once I'm out of here. It's not amazing pay or anything but…it's enough to live off of." There was so much joy in Reg's eyes.
"You'd do that for me?" she asked in shock. It never ceased to amaze Mary when someone truly wanted to take care of her.
"Of course," Reg answered obviously. "I love you."
Mary's eyes rounded and welled with tears.
"Shit, I'm sorry I didn't mean to—"
"I don't deserve you," Mary blubbered, sniffling back her tears. "You realize that, don't you?"
"Oh shut up," Reg told her, motioning for Mary to crawl into his arms. He pushed the chessboard aside, letting her lie down across his chest.
"We haven't really talked about where we want this relationship to go," Reg said as he slowly stroked Mary's hair. The truth was, she'd been afraid to bring up the topic. A part of her was always a little afraid of discussing the future – she'd never been very good at doing so positively.
"I'm going to say something and I don't want you to take it the wrong way," Mary began.
"I don't know if I like the sound of that…"
She sat up, looking Reg in the eye. "I can't live with you," she told him honestly. His whole face dropped, overwhelming her with guilt. "Not because I don't love you or because I don't take this relationship seriously. I just…I'm not quite there yet? Does that make sense?"
Reg looked at her with disappointment but nodded all the same. "You're scared," he nodded. Mary hated to admit that it was true.
"I've never seen someone stay," she explained. "And I need to learn how to make it on my own for a little while."
Reg ran a hand along the side of Mary's cheek. "As long as I still get to see you," he said agreeably.
"Of course," Mary grinned, leaning over to press her lips to his. Reg's arms wrapped around her, Mary lying flat against him.
"Anything you need," he told her in-between kisses. "I'll always support you." How the hell had she gotten so lucky?
Reg's hands wandered up her shirt, grabbing onto her breasts as Mary's lips pressed into his neck.
"Mary," he breathed heavily. Her stomach tinged with disappointment. It was time to stop… "I think I'm ready."
Mary stopped abruptly, staring up at Reg in utter shock. "Really?" she asked, her boyfriend grinning back at her.
"Is that such a surprise?"
She shook her head quickly. "No! I just…are you sure?"
He nodded, his grip on her tightening. "I love you," Reg replied surely. "I love you for letting me wait until I felt comfortable…"
"You're sure?"
"Can you shut up and kiss me?" Reg demanded playfully, Mary leaning in once more. It was perfect – or as close to perfect as one could get in the real world.
James wandered into the Gryffindor Common Room after his final class, his shoulder aching from the weight of his book bag. He had more studying to do than he thought humanly possible.
His hazel eyes wandered the room for anyone familiar, landing on a familiar blonde sitting at the corner table, her nose buried in a scowl of parchment.
With cautious steps, James approached Marlene. It wasn't until he stood right before the table she took any notice of him. She looked up curiously, her gaze hardly warm.
"Hi," she greeted him flatly.
"Mind if I join you?" James asked, looking towards the empty chair. Marlene hardly appeared pleased by the request.
"I'm just doing homework…" she responded apprehensively. James dropped into the seat despite her hesitation. His conversation with Sirius had gone so well in the afternoon he was pleasantly optimistic about approaching Marlene now.
"I want to talk," James began.
Marlene's whole face seemed to fill with dread. "I'm really busy right now—"
"You can't just freeze me out, Mar," James protested. Marlene stared over at him with a glance that could kill.
"I'm not freezing you out," she assured him, "we just aren't friends anymore."
"I wanted to thank you for helping me that day outside the library."
"Don't do this," Marlene begged him. James felt as though he couldn't do one bloody thing right.
"I spoke to Sirius—" Marlene slammed her textbook shut, cutting him off.
"For fucks sake," she snapped beneath her breath. "Don't you get it? I don't want to do this with you!"
"What can I do?" James pleaded with her, a few heads turning in their direction with looks of curiosity. "I'm sorry Mar, I didn't mean to fuck it all up."
Marlene rolled her eyes. "Oh, you never do," she said bitterly. "Yet, time after time you screw with other people's lives. We're not just pawns in your game James, don't you get that?"
"Of course!" James cried out defensively. "I'm not perfect, Marlene…I'm just doing my best."
"I - don't - care!" she yelled at him, half the common room watching the pair now. James' head bowed with embarrassment. "Stop trying to talk to me, or fix things, or give me apologies that are months late," she informed him harshly. "It's too late."
Marlene grabbed her books and went flying up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, everyone's eyes still on James. He felt as though he could just sit down and cry. He looked towards the couches to see Lily, Alice and Emmeline sat together, their jaws dropped open. James took one look at them and went bolting up the stairs towards his room.
He sat on the edge of his bed, facing the window. Despite his restraint tears rolled down his cheeks, blurring his already weak vision.
"James…" a familiar voice spoke sympathetically from the doorway. In a matter of seconds, Lily had come around the bed, taking a seat beside her boyfriend.
"I'm a bloody git, aren't I?" he asked in despair.
"No," Lily told him surely, her thumb swiping away a few tears. "Well, sometimes." That got a halfhearted laugh out of James.
"I've screwed it all up with her," he decided. "She's never going to forgive me."
"She's deflecting," Lily promised him. "She's in pain babe, no one deals with pain very well."
It didn't make James feel any better to think that he was the root cause of some of that pain. It was what he'd never wanted. He'd selfishly wanted Marlene to stay the curious and joyful blonde haired little girl who used to spend hours running around the forest with him; mud on her knees, leaves in her hair, ready for whatever adventure came next.
"I can't lose her, Lily," he admitted tearfully. "She's my family."
"I know," his girlfriend comforted him, her arm wrapped around James. "She'll come around, just give it time, okay?"
"I always thought…when I got engaged she'd be the first one to know…" James bit down hard on the inside of his mouth to stop any more tears from flowing.
"Oh, James…" Lily cooed.
"She doesn't even know."
"The news kind of got ahead of us with everything that's been going on, huh?"
"I can't get married without her there."
Lily threw her arms around James, holding him in a tight embrace. "Don't think about that right now, okay?" James exhaled deeply. "She'll be there. We won't do anything without her."
James gripped onto Lily a little tighter. For now, she was his life raft.
Remus had skipped dinner that night – as he did any he had a transformation – and wasted a few hours in the dorm room, doing what little homework he could. It was incredibly hard to keep concentration when you knew that in just a few short hours you would turn into an uncontrollable wolf. It was seven, twenty minutes from sun down, when Remus started his journey down to the Shrieking Shack.
He'd slip in first, as usual. The other boys would join soon enough, to keep him company in his last few moments before the transformation. Then they'd spend the evening together, each earning the occasional scrape or bruise. He couldn't believe this would be their final night together like this…
Remus reached the Hogwarts grounds to see the sun just dipped below the horizon. He was cutting it close this evening.
"Remus!" Oh, this was not good.
Leila was rushing down the hill after him, a look of sure determinedness in her eyes.
"Leila—"
"You know what I realized today?" She asked him. "You are acting exactly as you did before you told me the truth."
Remus could feel his legs tingling, begging him to start moving towards the Whomping Willow.
"Now is not a good time—"
"Am I not good enough for you anymore? Is that it?" she challenged him. "If you don't want me anymore, say it."
It was clear to Remus that Leila was not going to back down easily without a simple explanation from him.
"It's complicated Leila…"
"No," she shook her head. "It's simple Remus, really bloody simple. You want me or you don't. You're in or you're out. I am sick of this, you treating me like I'm some kind of accessory to your life!"
Remus' gaze fell. He'd never wanted to make her feel that way…if anything, he spent so much of his time trying to prevent Leila from being hurt by him.
"All I've ever wanted is for you to be honest with me," she stressed.
"Well if you remember, that didn't go so great the first time," Remus grumbled. Leila's face fell immediately.
"That's not fair…" He knew she was right. The words felt dirty the moment they'd slipped from his mouth.
"I cannot do this right now, Leila."
"When can you ever?" She pushed him. "It seems as though anytime I need you you'd rather be anywhere else."
He wished he had the ability to explain to her now all the ways in which she was wrong but dusk was quickly falling and Remus could feel himself growing more and more anxious the longer he stood there. He needed to get inside the shack…and she needed to be safely tucked in the castle.
"Leila, tonight is—"
"You don't even know what's been happening in my life recently," she continued. "You don't even care."
Remus wanted terribly to reach out and comfort her but he couldn't, his muscles were already beginning to tense up. He was afraid he'd never make it to the shack in time.
"Leila, you need to go," Remus told her desperately.
"Not this time." She shook her head. "No—"
"LEILA!" he bellowed at her. "YOU – NEED – TO – GO."
It was though realization had dawned on her. Her face broke. "Oh no…" she said softly, looking up into the night sky. The moon had already begun to shine. The two shared looks of horror, Remus collapsing to his knees.
X
Remus woke up to the sight of Marlene beside his hospital bed. She smiled meekly, reaching a hand out for his.
"How you feeling, buddy?" she asked kindly. He stretched out his sore limbs, his eyes still droopy.
"Oh you know, just like I turned into a gigantic, rabid beast last night. You?"
Marlene laughed. "You had quite a night, huh?" Her hand stroked his dirty blonde hair from his forehead. When her eyes paused on his they were filled with concern. Remus knew from one look the night had gone badly.
"What?" he asked, filled with anxiety as he forced himself to try and recall the night.
"Leila, she was…"
Remus felt as though he were about to be sick. "Oh no, oh no, no, no," he repeated over and over. Remus sat up suddenly, pulling the covers off from around him.
"Remus, I don't think that's the best idea—" Marlene attempted to stop him. She couldn't though. All he could think about was Leila. His tiny, delicate girlfriend, coming face to face with him in wolf form.
"What happened?" Remus asked, slowly growing hysterical. He couldn't stop the tears, which bubbled to the surface, moistening his eyes.
"You guys got into some argument before class?" Marlene suggested unsurely. "She cornered you on your journey down to the Shack…"
Remus' insides contorted painfully as his memory slowly began to clear.
"The boys got down there before anything bad could happen," Marlene assured him. "Peter got her upstairs while James and Sirius calmed you down."
Remus sat on the edge of his bed, his head clutched in his hands. He felt like he was about to be sick. Marlene edged forward very slowly, her hand finding his lower back.
"It's okay," she promised him. "She's a little shaken up but it's nothing a little time won't heal..."
"I kissed Dorcas," Remus blurted out all of a sudden. Where the words came from he didn't know; he just couldn't stop them from flowing out. Maybe it was because deep down he didn't want to give things time. Slowly Remus raised his head to find Marlene in utter shock. She was standing above him, her jaw dropped open.
"Whoa," she finally exhaled in astonishment.
Remus nodded his head, his face soaked in guilt.
"I didn't realize there was even…" Marlene fell back down into her seat beside the bed. She looked faint.
"I don't know where it came from," Remus admitted. "One day she was just another person, an Auror, someone that was always around, then all of a sudden…"
"She was yours," Marlene said with understanding. Remus looked over at her, no judgment or confusion in her eyes. She knew exactly what he was talking about – she'd felt it too. In that moment Remus wanted so badly to say something. He wanted to tell her that he knew from one look that Sirius felt more for her than he had for anyone.
"It's so scary," she told him with a slight wobble to her voice, "when you start to realize that someone's changed in your eyes." He nodded, their gazes never parting. "Don't run away from it Remus," she told him pointedly. "Don't tell yourself it's wrong because of Leila."
Remus blinked back the tears in his eyes.
"It's a crazy fucked up world. The only thing worth holding onto is love."
Remus had just opened his mouth to reply when the Hospital Wing doors swung open, a small framed, dark-haired girl standing in between them.
Marlene looked from Leila to Remus, smiling comfortingly at her friend. "Be brave," she told him before standing up to go. A part of Remus almost wanted to beg her not too.
As the doors to the Hospital Wing swung shut behind Marlene Leila shuffled forward, her round brown eyes filled with fear as she stared across at Remus.
Oh no, he thought sadly, this would never work.
"I don't know what to say," he admitted shamefully as she took Marlene's seat. Leila ran her hands along the surface of her skirt anxiously, her gaze avoiding Remus' all the while.
"I don't think there's anything you can," she told him honestly, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
"I'm so sorry, Leila…"
"Don't," she begged him. "Don't do that."
Remus didn't know what it was he should do in a situation like this. He ran his hands through his hair, exhaling heavily. "You've changed my life," he told her honestly. Leila stared up at him in shock. "Really," Remus pressed. "Before you I…I just thought there wasn't a chance, you know? I'd given up on letting people in."
Leila's face crumpled as she held back tears. "I love you," she sobbed hopelessly. "I knew it that first time we danced at the Prewett's party. I knew you were trouble."
Remus smiled, despite the action paining him. "It's not fair though," he told her. "I feel like you're not that girl anymore. The excited, joyful one I met in that Living Room. Leila I…I feel like I've taken that from you."
A soft sob escaped her lips as mascara smeared beneath her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Remus," she apologized profusely.
"What do you have to be sorry for, love?"
"I wanted to be that girl," she admitted. "The one who proved to you that she could handle all of it, your condition and everything that came with that. I feel like I've failed you."
"You did your best," Remus assured her, his hand reaching out for Leila's. His heart broke a little when she looked down and didn't take it.
"It's too painful," she admitted honestly. Remus supposed he understood.
"I just want it to all be okay," he told her with naive honesty. "I can't watch you stand up and leave like this."
"I'll never forget you," Leila swore to him. "Ever."
Remus shook his head, tears flooding his eyes. "I'll never forget you," he agreed. He wouldn't. Leila would be ingrained in his brain forever. The first girl to show him he could be loved. The first girl to show him that he wasn't just his condition. That truth would linger with him forever.
"Maybe we can be friends?" he suggested optimistically. Leila stood up, her eyes filled with sorrow. She leaned down very slowly, placing a wet kiss on Remus' cheek.
"Goodbye, Remus." The words were so final they tore a huge slit through the center of him. He watched her turn, sniffling as she went, and left him behind. Remus realized, with a heavy heart, that she would never be his again.
A/N: Don't know how this update has come along so quickly but I'm quite pleased it has! A couple things. First, I posted a Marauders video I made a few weeks ago. If you're a fan of the fic you might enjoy it because it's got the central ships in it! (link in the bio). Secondly, if you haven't already seen them, the character descriptions posted on my blog give you a little more background on certain events (e.g. Frank's father's death) if you're interested in that kind of thing. Whew! Now that that's all out, hope you've enjoyed the chapter. Reviews, as always, are more than appreciated. Xx
