Author's note:

Dear readers,

another update for you to enjoy. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting and/or following my story. Over 5k views already, it really means a lot to me.

Have a nice weekend,

Vani12

Chapter 9 – Heartbreaks can be healed by the love of your soulmate!

Remus's flat, Montmartre, Paris, December 1978

Remus Lupin sipped on his café latte and gazed at the newest issue of the Daily Prophet. He read it every day to keep up to date with the latest news in the Wizarding world of Great Britain because he missed his home country and feared the increasing power of Voldemort and his masked followers. A huge smile manifested itself on his scar-covered face when he looked at a magical picture of the blissfully happy newlyweds, Severus Prince and Olivia Prince-Fawley. Remus was a romantic at heart and a sucker for happy endings. Thus, he felt a warmth shot through his veins at seeing Severus Prince happily married to his Hogwarts sweetheart. Merlin, Severus really deserved to have some happiness, luck, and love in his life. Remus still regretted that he had been a silent bystander in the bullying attacks of his Marauder mates. His conscience had screamed at him to stand up to his friends, call them out for their bullshit and punish them with points lost and friendship detachment. Their attacks on Severus hadn't been some harmless, juvenile pranks on a loathed Hogwarts rival. They had been unfair, mean bullying attacks on a lonely teenaged boy with the intent to hurt, humiliate and break him.

Remus sighed heavily. He knew that it had been his task as the Gryffindor Prefect to put an end to their cruel bullying and protect Severus Snape. Hell, the most important tasks of a Hogwarts Prefect were to look after the welfare of every student, stand up against bullies and take points from rulebreakers. But out of fear to be abandoned by his troublemaker friends, Remus had turned a blind eye to their rule-breaking, bullying, and nefarious pranks. James, Sirius, and Peter had been the first peers who had accepted him completely despite his Lycanthropy. They had included him in their pranks, hung around with him in the Gryffindor Common Room playing Exploding Snap and chatted with him about their hopes and dreams. Naturally, they hadn't been fans of long study hours in the library or Common Room and hadn't been able to understand his enthusiasm for books and academic debates, but they had made him feel like an ordinary wizard. Merlin, they had even learned how to become Animagi to help him through his painful, heartwrenching transformations. Remus had felt indebted to them and feared a life where they wouldn't accompany him during the full moon and leave him to a life of poverty, loneliness, and despair.

The Marauders had made his life colorful, adventurous and livable. Thus, he had acted as the mute bystander in their attacks on Severus Snape. Remus scoffed disgusted with himself. Although the Marauders had been his only friends, how could he have looked on when they tormented a visibly lost, sad and abused teenager? He knew that their attacks on Severus were unfounded, inhumane and inexcusable. Hell, they had cornered him in a hidden corridor four on one, hexed him with humiliating curses and accused him of being the aggressor whenever a teacher caught them. Their actions were despicable for any Gryffindor, for they mocked the qualities of their house. They attacked Severus cowardly behind a corner, four on one and bombarded him with shady curses. Merlin, Sirius, and James stated that they bullied Severus because he existed and was a slimy, cunning and evil Slytherin. How had he been able to cover up for his friends for so long? What did it say about his personality that he had practically worshipped teenagers who tormented someone because he had the audacity to live and be different?

Remus asked himself if he would have been their favorite bullying victim when he had been sorted into Slytherin. Severus and he weren't so different after all. They were both studious, socially awkward and different Half-blood boys with an interest in the Dark Arts and dislike for Quidditch. He also preferred to bury his nose into a good, fascinating DADA tome to flying around the Quidditch pitch on a broom. Besides that, he also loved to observe his peers, make sarcastic remarks about them and spend his free time in the library. Naturally, he enjoyed the Common Room parties or game hours with his mates, but he wasn't a social butterfly like Sirius who entertained a crowd with his funny stories and reckless Quidditch moves. Remus knew deep down in his bones, that Severus and he could have been best mates if they had only bothered to get to know each other and let their house prejudices rest. He would actually count Severus Prince to his close group of friends now, for he worked with him on breaking the Death Eaters Dark Magic wards for the Order, talked in friendly chats about his studies and private life with him and got supplied with a freshly brewed Wolfsbane Potion daily in the week prior to any upcoming full moon by him.

Severus had invented the potion with the Head Potioneer of Prince Potions, Damocles Belby, in 1976 and asked Remus to be a test subject in their trial. Remus had been ecstatic and overjoyed at the prospect of keeping his mental faculties after his transformation as well as reducing the pain during his transformation and agreed to the trial phase with a grateful smile. He hadn't been able to believe that his Hogwarts nemesis was gracious enough to let bygones be bygones and help him through his transformations. The Wolfsbane Potion was a complex and expensive potion and required a Potions genius to brew it. Thus, he was utterly speechless when Severus had offered him to brew this potion for free as compensation for his efforts as a test subject. Due to Severus's generosity, Remus would receive the potion lifelong for free and Severus had even added some dark chocolate flavor to it after Remus had complained about its awful taste. But Severus hadn't only helped Remus in making his transformations less difficult. He had also promised him to work on a cure for Lycanthropy and include Remus in his trials.

Besides that, he had offered him a position as a Dark Arts expert at Prince Potions after he had finished his studies in DADA at the renown Le Fay Institut de la Magie in Paris. At first, Remus had declined his offer for he didn't want to be treated as a charity case and only get a job thanks to vitamin B. But Severus had assured him that he only wanted to hire Remus due to his expertise in DADA and academic mindset. Furthermore, it would make their efforts of finding a cure for Lycanthropy easier, if Remus moved back to Britain after his studies and was always available to the researchers at Prince Potions. Thence, Remus had accepted his job offer with tears in his eyes and vowed to get top marks on his DADA degree at the Le Fay Institut de la Magie in Paris. Remus still couldn't fathom what a happy turn his life had taken after his Hogwarts graduation. Thanks to his excellent grades, his fluency in French – his beloved mum, Hope Lupin, née Howell, was a Half-French Muggle girl who had fallen head over heels in love with his dad, Lyall Lupin, when he had rescued her from a Boggart in a dark forest in Cardiff – and the tolerance policy for werewolves by the French Ministry for Magic, Remus had been able to get a studentship in DADA at the Le Fay Institut de la Magie in Paris.

His dad, who was a world-renown expert on Non-Human Spiritous Apparitions, and his mum, who worked in an insurance office, were overjoyed that their son could fulfill his dreams despite his infection with Lycanthropy. It had been especially hard on his dad that he had provoked Fenrir Greyback with his investigations into Dark Creatures and his insult of his existence as a werewolf – "soulless, evil, deserving nothing but death" – to bite his four-year-old boy and infect him with Lycanthropy. He never forgave himself for his actions and hoped to find a cure for his son's disease. Thus, he was ecstatic to hear that his son got supplied with the Wolfsbane Potion by Severus Prince and worked to develop a cure with him. Naturally, his overprotective, loving parents had also been a bit sad to see him leave Britain for Paris, but the fact that he was kept safe in a hidden dugout at the Le Fay Institut under the impact of the Wolfsbane Potion during full moon and could live a happier, non-discriminatory life in France warmed their hearts.

And Remus new life in Paris was like a dream come true. He could study in DADA at a world-renown university, venture into the cultural life of Paris and earn some money as a clerk at a Magical Bookstore in the Place Cachée. Remus loved to venture the French museums, theaters and art galleries with his new friends as well as to enjoy some relaxed evenings in a nice French restaurant or laughter-filled hours in a Parisien café. Naturally, he missed his Hogwarts mates and exchanged weekly letters with them. But he had never felt so carefree, happy and accepted. He thanked his lucky stars that he had met the love of his life, Amélie Delacroix, at the Le Fey Institut de la Magie. He had fallen in love at first sight with the stunning, green-eyed brunette who enchanted every male with her cute dimples, smooth caramel-brown skin, and womanly figure.

Remus had met her on his first day at the university when he searched his lecture room in a hurry. He hadn't looked where he was going and collided with the beautiful brunette who captivated him with her friendly smile, honest jade eyes, and wildly-curled mane. The werewolf had felt his heart skip a beat, energy buzzing through his veins and his cheeks blushing. He had outstretched his hand to help her up and mumbled an apology with a cheeky smile. Amélie had taken his outstretched hand, pulled herself up from the floor and giggled sweetly at his awkward apology. She had stated that she had never been run over by such a handsome, polite young man before and that she had read in the stars that she would meet her one true love today. Thus, they would have to share their lives from now on.

Remus had stared open-mouthed at her, turned beet-red and felt the oxygen escape from his brain. Only after she had burst out into infectious laughter, his brain decoded that she had been joking and he joined in on her laughter. He had introduced himself as Remus Lupin, a Britain freshman in DADA at the Le Fey Institut, who was searching for his lecture room and was pleased to meet her with some friendly smiles. She had returned his smiles, introduced herself as Amélie Delacroix, a freshman in Astronomy at the Le Fey Institut from Orléans, and greeted him with two pecks on his cheeks. Amélie had uttered in a joyous tone that today was his lucky day, for she was an expert on the room plan of the Le Fey Institut thanks to her preparatory class in Astronomy during the summer and her neurotic, perfectionist best friend, Marielle Delacour, a freshman in DADA from Paris, who had forced her to memorize the function of every room in the building. Thus, she had guided him to his DADA lecture room and they chatted pleasantly about their excitement, hopes, and fears for their freshman year. Remus had felt as if he had known Amélie for years, admired her beauty and basked in her humorous, intelligent nature. Before she could leave him for her Astronomy lecture room, he had blurted out if she would meet him on a café date in a cute café some blocks away from the University at 4 PM. Amélie had gifted him with a beaming smile and husked that it would be her pleasure to get to know him better on their café date. They could meet in the auditorium at 3:50 PM. Remus had simply agreed with a nod, happily smiled at her and waved her goodbye.

Remus chuckled happily in remembrance of his first date with Amélie. They had both ordered a café latte and a chocolate crépe, for they both admitted to being chocoholics with cheeky grins, and placed themselves at a cozy two-seat table. Like a true gentleman, he had pulled out her chair for Amélie and complimented her for her fashionable dark red floral dress and jeans jacket. Amélie had only joked that she had inherited her colorful fashion taste from her mum, Lucille, and that he didn't look so shabby himself in his blue jeans, green t-shirt, and jeans jacket. It would seem that they also shared their love for Muggle denim. Remus had laughed at that and confessed that he preferred to wear Muggle clothes to Wizarding robes because they were more comfortable and his Muggle mum, Hope, vowed that they could transform the snobbiest wizard into a relaxed-looking man. Amélie's jade eyes had twinkled with humor and she uttered that she could understand his mum's restraints for Wizarding fashion, for her mum, Lucille, was a Muggle fashion designer who urged her dad, Martin, to abandon his Wizarding dress robes for Muggle suits. Her dad worked as the head of the Muggle Relations Department at the French Ministry of Magic and had fallen in love with her mum on the dancefloor at a night club in Orléans.

Her mum loved the Magical world and encouraged her elder brother, Simon, who was a professional Quidditch player, and her to train their magical powers and explore the miracles of the Magical world. Whenever she had accompanied them to the Place Cachée in Paris to shop for their Beauxbatons supplies or familiars, she had jumped happily around like a kid in a candy store and infected them with her excitement. Her brother Simon had only rolled his eyes at his mother but entertained her with some Firework Charms nonetheless. Remus had been delighted to hear that Amélie was a Half-blood like him, for she knew the perks and quirks of both worlds. It was refreshing to meet someone who was familiar with electricity, cars, and TVs, for Sirius and James had always questioned with skepticism how so many humans could fit in a TV screen and how his mum could bake cookies without fire. He opened up to Amélie about his dad's work as an expert on Non-Human Spiritous Apparitions for the British Ministry of Magic and his mum's work as a clerk in an insurance office.

They talked about the shenanigans of their friends and their current study projects. Remus admitted that he hoped to live a non-discriminatory life in France, for he had been outcasted as a child and teenager for being different in Britain, complete his studies in DADA with top marks and currently researched how the negative effects of a confrontation with a Dementor could be minimized. Amélie confessed that she could sympathize with his feelings of being discriminated for something that you couldn't change, for she had been attacked at Beauxbatons by a group of racist, white-supremacist older students for her bi-racial heritage and skin color. They had insulted her as a "stupid caramel witch" and hexed her with Skin-Lightening Hexes. She had only escaped their racist bullying due to a course in self-defense and strong body language, her best friends support and an Anti-Racist-And-Anti-Bullying-Campaign at Beauxbatons. Whenever she had been targeted by the racists, other students stood up to them, called them out for their bigoted, inhumane ideology and reported their behavior to the teachers. With time, the attacks of the white-supremacists had stopped, for they had noticed that they only demasked themselves as intolerant and cruel individuals and lost all of their friends. Some of them even re-evaluated their past actions, apologized to her and renounced their racist ideology. Thus, she hoped that Remus and she would have a fresh, non-discriminatory start at their French university.

She revealed that she was currently researching how the magical energies developed themselves and shaped the universe. She hoped that she would be able to find some traces in the constellations and evolve a new theory on how the magic in the stars affected the lives of every magical being. They discussed for hours the challenges of their projects, the unfortunate effects of prejudices and discrimination in the Wizarding world and their hopes for a reunited, peaceful Wizarding world. At the end of their dinner date, Remus had walked Amélie on a romantic stroll alongside the Seine to her flat and thanked her for the lovely day. He blurted out with a blush on his face that he had never felt so at home with another woman and that she was the most beautiful girl on the inside and outside he had ever seen. Before he had been able to ask her for another date, she had looked him deeply in the eyes and kissed him passionately on the lips. She had husked into his ear, that she also felt at home in his presence, was deeply attracted to him and liked him for his boyish charm, studious nature, and opinionated character. Amélie uttered with a beaming smile that she would love to go on many dates with him.

Remus had been flabbergasted by her kiss and words, smiled sheepishly at her and mumbled that he must confess something to her before they could start dating. He wanted to explore the attraction and deep connection between them, but he needed to come clean about one aspect of his life first, for it wouldn't be honest and fair if he hid this aspect of himself from her. He had taken her delicate hands into his, locked her jade eyes with his amber ones, and stated in a calm voice, "I have been invected with Lycanthropy since I'm four years old. I don't want to hide any part of myself from you. And you should know that I turn into a wolf on every full moon. My best mates call it my "furry little problem", accept me despite my disease and even turned into Animagi for me. But I know from many painful experiences that some people can't handle the idea of being friends or lovers with a werewolf. Although I'm being supplied by a friendly potioneer with the newly invented Wolfsbane Potion, that reduces the pain during my transformation and lets me keep my human mindset after my transformation, I realize that I'm still considered to be dangerous by some people. I could totally understand if you don't want to date me thanks to this new information about me." Remus had broken off their eye contact, disentangled their hands and looked defeated to the ground.

He was utterly surprised when Amélie had touched his chin lightly, forced him to look her in the eyes again and caressed his face gently. She replied in a sweet, optimistic-sounding voice, "Remus, I'm not afraid of you. Your infection with Lycanthropy doesn't change the way I look at you. You are still the same kind young man who manages to make me smile like a loon, my heartbeat escalate inside of my chest and butterflies dance inside my stomach. You would make me the happiest girl in Paris if you agreed to date me. I only admire you more for your strength, honesty and positive outlook on life. Not everyone, who had been dealt with such a difficult fate as a boy, would be such a charming, kind and life-loving young man today. I'm overjoyed that a friendly potioneer supplies you with the Wolfbane Potion to make your transformation easier and safer for you. But in my eyes, you could never be a dark creature, Remus Lupin. You have a too gentle heart for that." Amélie whispered in his ear and kissed him sweetly on the lips. Remus was stunned by her acceptance, comfort, and love and returned her kisses with passion.

From this day on, Remus couldn't imagine a life without Amélie. They studied together in the Le Fey library, spent their lunch breaks chatting about their studies, chilling in each other's warm embrace and exchanging passionate kisses, and explored the cultural life in Paris on different dinner, theater, museum or musical dates. They were head over heels in love, snogged each other senseless at the end of every day and spent many days a week making love to each other. Remus longed to see Amélie's beautiful lips burst out in happy laughter, her unruly brunette curls thrown back in pleasure and her jade eyes blown with desire. Albeit that the only were a couple for a couple of months, Remus knew that Amélie was his own true love. He would introduce her to his friends and family come Yule, show her his Magical Britain and propose to her come spring. Merlin, Amélie intrigued him with her studies in the sources of all magical energies, attracted him with her stunning body and captivating jade eyes and made his heart overflow with love with her caring, sweet and tolerant nature. Hell, she accompanied him on his transformation trips every month, stayed close to him, stroked the fur of his transformed wolf, administrated a Pain Potion as well as Invigoration Potion to him after he had transformed into his human form again and dressed his naked body. He loved her unconditionally and thanked his lucky stars for having such a brilliant, beautiful and caring girlfriend. Sometimes, the heartbreak of being outcasted in one society could be healed by the love of your soulmate.