24
Late Nights and Lonely Rooms:
The next few weeks flew by in a blur. Doe was busier than she ever thought possible. She had Order Meetings almost every night and whenever she wasn't at work, Lily was bringing her somewhere to help her finish last minute wedding details. She was so busy, that she only saw Remus for a few passing minutes during lunch and at Order Meetings.
Doe was also becoming obsessed with stopping future Voldemort attacks. The murder of the Prewett Family had affected her worse than she had imagined and she had made it my mission to try and stop anymore from happening.
Tonight was a full moon, and in order to stop herself from sitting in an empty apartment worrying desperately about Remus all night, she had stayed late working. The auror office was empty. Everyone had left hours ago. She sat in her cubicle pouring over reports. She looked at the fake window in the office. Seeing as the ministry was underground, the 'weather' visible in the window was controlled by management.
They must be in good spirits she thought to herself, looking at the cloudless night and the large full moon visible.
" Meadowes?" Moody called from behind her., " What the hell are you still doing here, it's almost eleven"
She turned around quickly, Moody had left hours ago.
She jumped up and drew her wand on him. " What is my mother's name?" she asked him.
" Anne Leighton Meadowes" Moody answered correctly, a smile appeared on his face.
" I see that the idea of Constant Vigilance is finally starting to sink in" Moody commented.
" You can only be caught by Death Eaters so many times, before you realize you may be the problem" Doe told him.
" Well now that you have realized I am your boss, answer my question ' what are you still doing here?" Moody asked.
Doe looked down slightly, " I don't want any more unnecessary deaths"
" Come to my office, Meadowes. Let's have a spot of tea" Moody said walking towards his office.
Doe followed him, watching him raise his wand and unlock his office. He walked behind his desk and waved his wand. Two cups of tea appeared. He handed one to her.
Doe sat down in the chair in front of his desk.
" I'm very impressed with the auror you've become, Meadowes" he told her.
She blinked quickly at him. She hadn't been expecting that.
" Thank you, Moody" she said still slightly in shock.
She took a sip from the tea. It was warm.
" You and Black have both been working harder than some of the senior aurors I've seen" Moody said, " and it shows"
" Someone has to do it" she said.
" If you keep this up, Meadowes you'll have a long career ahead of you" Moody said, " But if you overwork yourself, you'll burn out before you can. Go home, I'm surprised Lupin has let you stay here this long"
Doe blushed slightly. She knew Moody knew that Remus and she were together, but seeing him mention it so casually was still odd.
" It's a full moon, I don't think he knows" she told Moody.
Moody nodded, " Ah, yes. I forgot. Well that explains it. Either way, go home and get some sleep Meadowes, that's an order"
Doe nodded, " I will, thank you Moody".
Moody nodded gruffly and opened the door with a flick of his wand.
Doe left the ministry quickly. It was pitch black outside. She apparated back to her apartment.
It was silent.
Lily had moved out a couple of weeks ago and Doe still hadn't gotten used to living alone. Her room was empty, and she hadn't even decided if she was going to do anything with it. She had just shut the door, and pretended she was still there.
Living alone felt wrong. Too adult.
She had spent the last eight years of her life sharing a bedroom with someone, and even before that her house had had both of her parents.
She wished it wasn't a full moon. She wished Remus was here.
He and Sirius were sitting in the cottage a fully formed wolf and dog. Peter was probably with them.
It made her feel useless that she couldn't be there. She loved him and there was absolutely nothing she could do to make this process any easier.
She went into her room and sat on the bed. She felt far too awake to sleep. She looked around the room. She hardly spent any time in here anymore. Besides sleeping, she was too busy.
Her Puddlemore United poster looked like it was falling down and my Gryffindor tapestry was covered with dust.
One flick of her wand and the poster reoriented itself and the dust cleared instantly. She laid back on her pillow looking at the full moon and trying not to think about the about the probable pain that Remus was experiencing in the cottage.