His kiss was thunder. All the hot and cold between us colliding like solid metal into a brick wall: crashing, crumbling, falling. I felt myself melting, my frozen walls – built upon foundations of self-preservation and fear – collapsing in on themselves as the storms inside me raged at them. Warmth pulsed from my chest out down my arms and feet, spilling out of my fingers and toes into the ground as though I'd been struck by a Remus-shaped lightning bolt.

He tasted like trees (not that I go around licking trees, but he tasted the way forests smell, especially after storms. His taste emulated Earth almost as much as his mere existence did) and chocolate blended perfectly into something I could only describe as Remus. I'd kissed a few boys before: Monty Fryer had taken me to Hogsmeade in second year – he was my first kiss – but this was different. This was… Real. For the first time, I understood how the moon must feel, trapped in rotation around the Earth, never being able to pull back long enough to leave. In that moment I knew if he'd be my planet, I'd be his moon, no questions asked.

They say kissing stops time, but they're wrong. It slows it down and speeds it up at the same time, it confuses the hell out of you, because it feels as though it's lasted a millennium, but as soon as it's over you want another. And another. You want an infinite amount of time to relive that feeling, and however much you have it's never enough. Or, at least, that's how I felt when Remus pulled the fuse and cut the electric sparks between us.

"Never say that again. Promise me." He whispered into my mouth, his nose pressed against mine. I promised, even though I'd completely forgotten what I was promising. It was as though he'd wiped my mind clear of anything that wasn't him. This must be what latching feels like for him and Arlo.

Behind me, I heard a pair of hands clapping slowly, sarcastically. As I turned, I saw Remus stick his middle finger up at Black. I laughed.

"Well finally, Moony!" He exclaimed with a mock-dramatic edge to his voice. "Does this mean no more moping about whining that no one will ever look at you because of your little issue?" Sirius chortled. I turned back to Remus, smiling.

"Don't worry, Rem. I don't care one bit if you're a werewolf." He returned my smile, arms loosely hung around my waist. Sirius barked a laugh.

"Oh, I know you don't care about that Star. I was talking about his erectile dysfunction." He and Potter high-fived before sprinting away, Remus close behind, all three screaming obscenities at the top of their lungs. I sighed, shaking my head, and Peter turned to me.

"Star," he began, "did you like Remus before today?" He looked at me intently, obviously expecting a legitimate answer.

"Um… Well, yes, I did. Quite a lot actually." I was uncomfortable answering this; why did he care?

"How did you know? Did you think Remus felt it too? How?" He was spitting out questions way quicker than I could answer them, and suddenly I understood. I put my hand on his wide shoulder and we began walking back up to the Castle.

"Breathe, Peter. This is about Leda, isn't it?" He was only an inch or so taller than me, so I could practically look him square in the eye. Peter looked down at his feet, fiddling with his thumbs.

"Yes. I think she's great, really far out, but I don't know what to do about it." I stopped, turning to face Peter completely.

"Have you considered telling her?" He pulled a face like I'd just suggested he take her to Jupiter. "Trust me, Pete, I know girls. She likes you too. Go talk to her at dinner, invite her to Hogsmeade next weekend. Yeah?" I smiled encouragingly, and Peter's face lit up.

"Ok. Thank you, Star!" He beamed and ran off to catch up with the boys.

Later that day, after many odd looks and a lot of explaining away the scar I'd acquired, I was perched on a log attempting to listen to Professor Kettleburn's speech on how to identify knarls when they're hiding in a group of hedgehogs, but my tired mind kept crawling back to Remus and the kiss we'd shared that morning. I was desperate to go and visit him in the Hospital Wing, but at break and lunch I couldn't quite convince my feet to walk me there…

The class finished, meaning the day was over. My eyes lingered over the distant castle window that I knew Remus' bed would be positioned next to, so he had a view of the lake.

"For Merlin's sake, Star, you're not a baby. Stop being so scared and talk to that boy!" I thought, shaking myself slightly. I took several deep breaths before walking back up towards the castle, but instead of turning towards the place that saved lives, I went to the place of the dead.

"Helena?" I called, tiny droplets of rain settling in my hair, creating little cobweb-like patterns. Mist gathered in the far corner of the tower and drifted lightly towards me, slowly metamorphosing into the ghost I knew so well.

"Miss Stella," she beamed, "how may I be of assistance?" She reached out, taking my pale hand in hers and walked side by side with me, arms linked. The view from up here was immense: masses of deep green forest strewn across the landscape in a million shades; the sky grey and bleak, streaked with white, creating the illusion of rolling snowy hills, hung upside down from the galaxy; the orange glow of Hogsmeade in the far distance, reminding me always of Christmas.

I turned back to Helena and began to explain everything that had happened to her. She listened intently, nodding and looking thoughtful. When I finished, she creased her brow and looked at me, head cocked like Sirius'.

"What?" I asked, sounding dumb and blunt. She sighed gently, clearly exasperated.

"I'm not sure what you're asking me to help you with. Surely Master Lupin's proclamation of love is a good thing? Surely it makes you happy?" We were in the middle of our 23rd loop of the tower.

"Firstly, it was a kiss, not a 'proclamation of love' and secondly, I am happy about it." Even as I spoke I was aware how childish and whiny I sounded.

"Then why on Earth are you here with me, a lost soul stuck in the tower for eternity, and not with him, the boy who will not be there forever. You can come back to me, but you must go to him." I looked at Helena with a pained expression.

"I'm scared, Helena." I whispered my confession, tears filling my eyes. "I'm scared that I can't love him, because everyone I love gets hurt. Arlo, and in turn both of my parents. What if there's just too much at stake for me to risk it all?" My words dripped down my skin like freezing rain drops, turning it into a person-shaped mountain of ants, crawling and creeping over me.

"Oh, Star," she said, using my real name for the first time. "I think this boy understands you and your situation, and you feel the same connection to him. I don't think you're risking anything by loving him; I think losing him should be your biggest worry."

….

The last ribbons of light were being pulled from the sky as I walked into the hospital wing. I looked around, beds filled with snotty first years whimpering away to themselves filling the room. There'd been a bug going around the first year Slytherin dorms, and (as most of them were vile at best) the rest of the school had quite enjoyed their absence. Madame Pomfrey noticed me and nodded towards a door in the far corner of the room. I smiled my thanks and sped over.

I barged through the door and there he was: blankets piled around him, pyjamas hanging loosely from his frame, pillows propped up.

"Star," he exclaimed. "I – "

I guess I'll never know what he was going to say, because before he'd even really begun his sentence, I cut him off by kissing him.

I'm kissing him.

I'm kissing Remus Lupin.

Double figures! Yay! And we're nearly at 2000 reads which is immense, thank you all so much! The new HP game was released onto the app store and I'm totally hooked, I love it!

And so the true love story begins… Tune in next time, keep reading! Also, katiejeanrose please consider this your chapter, it was your review that motivated me to write this! Reviews truly are what shows me people are interested, even just a few words is so helpful!

Love and positivity,

DoO xoxox