This Time- Chapter 5
(Authors Note)
Okay so title change next chapter (I'm still deciding). Hope you are all enjoying this (any criticisms, leave them in a review and I'll consider them). Please review, follow and fave because it's great to see that I'm not writing crap, and it encourages me to write more.
Anyway, onwards. Just a warning, this is where the story takes a massive turn.
The van hits a bump in the road. The ropes on my wrists burn as I try to work them free. Sirius sits by me, stone faced, looking over to her. She sits there with Lily, pale faced and terrified.
"How did they find us?" Sirius whispers to nobody in particular. The bruise on his forehead shines purple in the night light.
The van hits another bump. How did we even get here?
That morning...
"So you and he are now official?" Lily asks, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.
"Well he asked me, and I said yes, kind of."
"Kind of?"
"We made out a lot. I'd say that's a yes."
"Certainly implies so. Oh Remus, it's been so long, I'm really happy for you. It'll turn out better than last time, I swear."
"It certainly will." I say, slightly wishing she hadn't brought it up.
"Now, we've got to go. If you're lucky, he may come in for coffee."
"If only."
It's just Lily and I working there today. Lily goes around opening the shop whilst I start the machines up. Sirius doesn't come in throughout the whole shift, but texts me just before my morning break.
'Morning! :) You working today?'
'Yeah, just about to go on break. You in city?'
'Yep. See you in 3.'
Two minutes later, Sirius comes striding in.
"Morning handsome, morning Lily." he says brightly, giving me a kiss on the check.
"Morning." Lily says, equally cheerily from behind the counter.
"Morning Sirius." I smile. It's been a busy morning and has tired me out a bit.
"You okay Remus." Sirius asks, looking slightly concerned.
"Just tired. Busy shift, plus last night."
"You said. It was a good moon last night, from what I saw anyway."
"Remus has a thing for astronomy, especially the moon." Lily interjected.
"That so? You have a telescope?"
"I do. It's not great but you can just about see the stars and constellations. Orion, Canis Major..."
"Canis Major is a favourite of mine." Sirius says.
"Because it has a star called Sirius?"
"Maybe... Why do you like the moon so much."
"I used to spend ages looking up at it, with my parents, Lily and... other people."
Lily looks at me suddenly, surprise in her eyes.
"Other people?" Sirius asks, curiously.
"Just old friends," I pause, before continuing, "an ex. Those kind of people who aren't really around anymore."
Sirius can sense I'm not particularly keen on talking about this, as I did when talking about his family, so neatly steers the conversation away.
"By the way, you've got to come out with me tonight. Lily, you can come too, I've got three tickets and it's going to be great."
"Tickets for what?" Lily and I ask.
"It's a surprise, but I'm sure you'll love it."
"Sure, I'll come." I say.
"If I'm not in the way or majorly 5th wheeling, then sure." Lily says.
"You won't be, my cousin Andromeda is coming. What's your address, I'll come pick you up."
I give him the address of the apartment.
"I'll see you at six then, okay?"
"Sounds great."
Sirius kisses me goodbye, waves to Lily then hurriedly exits the shop. He comes back in, kisses me again, and then leaves for the final time.
"What do you think he has tickets for?" I ask Lily.
"Cinema, Theatre, that kind of thing probably, or a concert."
"He really treats me."
"That he does..." Lily pauses. "You know, you'll be able to tell him, tell him all about her. He'll understand."
"Lily, please I don't want to bring this up."
"I understand, but I can tell you're scared that he will do the same as she did."
"Lily..."
"He won't. That's enough said, now, we'll close up for fifteen minutes and have a drink then re-open, okay?"
The rest of the time at work goes on rather uneventfully, and at 4 o'clock we're handing over to Sev and Minerva who are taking over for the evening shift. Lily and I hurriedly walk back to the apartment to begin the going out ritual of getting ready.
"You think I look okay?" Lily asks me. Turning I see her standing, red hair in a bun in a leather jacket and jeans.
"Lovely Lily. Wait a second." I pause, my phone having buzzed. "You may want to change Lily, Sirius says 'dress formal'."
It takes another fifteen minutes but as the clock in the city chimes six, we're standing in the lobby of the apartment as a car pulls up outside.
Lily changed the look, with her hair thrown over one shoulder and the jacket and jeans becoming a jade coloured formal dress. I've just gone for the smart trousers and jumper look. Leaving the apartment and getting into Sirius' car, I see he's done the same as I. Sirius' cousin, Andromeda, is a lovely woman. Dark hair neatly in a bun, she has a warm smile and gentle tone.
"Nice Car." I say, climbing into the front seat. It is as well, an old silver Aston Martin.
"Thanks. You all ready?"
"Yep." Lily and I say.
Sirius drives us through the city and back into the rich districts. The streets are busy and full of people moving around though the roads are relatively clear. Sirius parks in a public car park then walks Lily, Andromeda and I up. Sirius takes my hand as we walk, and Lily and Andromeda chat behind us, saying the typical "Oh I love your shoes." "No yours are much nicer" kind of thing. Sirius and I snort with laughter as we listen.
Sirius stops in front of an old hall.
"An Opera House?" Lily asks incredulously.
"Did Sirius not tell you?" Andromeda asks, "We're going to see Hämärä." Seeing the look on mine and Lily's face, see expands on what she said. "It's a Finnish Opera, well, Opera with a surprise. It's got rave reviews and it's taken a great deal of Europe by storm."
"Really? I never thought I'd see an Opera. I didn't realise they were still a thing." Lily babbles, excitedly.
"This okay with you?" Sirius asks me.
"More than okay, this is pretty cool." If only I knew what would happen that night.
We got in, bought some drinks and got seated. The opera house was packed. Sirius hadn't gotten us a box, but the seats had a fantastic view. People from all ages were here. Children, adults, elders and even teenagers.
"Big crowd. Not what I thought I'd see for an Opera."
"Like Andromeda said, it's not just an Opera." Sirius says.
It starts just like an Opera. Two men are singing angrily at each other. I'm just getting into the groove when the change happens.
Dance music.
"Electro Opera?" I ask, rather shocked, as the crowd begins to go wild.
"Yep. You should wait till you see the main act. Woman called Marlene McKinnon, sings crazy good."
"Marlene." I whisper to myself. Lily has turned to look at me, that same look on her face.
A woman strides out onto stage. She's tall, blonde, hair flowing around her figure. She opens her mouth and the pure tones of the mezzo-soprano resonate from her.
Reality has hit me suddenly, and I'm starting to feel dizzy.
"Remus." Lily asks, her voice urgent. "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah Lily, I'm... I'm fine."
"You're pale and shaking."
"Remus?" Sirius asks, looking concerned upon looking at me. Andromeda is sat beside him, totally absorbed in the atmosphere.
"I'm fine Sirius." I snap, "I need the toilet. I'll be back." I say, more calmly this time, standing up and edging along the row. Lily follows me out the row and into the foyer. I walk towards the men's but she catches me.
"Remus, it's okay. She doesn't know you are here."
"God Lily, why did it have to be her, and with him here."
"Shh, don't break down, you'll be fine. We'll watch the rest, then go."
"I want to go now."
"We can't go now. Think of Sirius, you have him, you don't even need to consider her."
"But Lily."
"You don't even have to look, or listen. Just ignore it, ignore her."
Lily helps me calm down my breathing, and we go back in.
"You okay Remus?" Sirius asks, looking so sad and worried.
I can't help but smile at his worried face. I kiss him. "I'm okay. It was nothing, okay."
Sirius rests his arm round my shoulder and I rest my head on his shoulder. With Sirius here, even the screechy noises of Marlene's singing don't faze me.
The opera ends with one fantastic dance song. The whole crowd are dancing in their seats as a rather large lady belches out a note as long as my arm.
"You enjoy?" Sirius asks Andromeda, Lily and I.
"Definitely." We reply.
"Good, because we're going backstage."
My stomach drops. What. I consider getting out of it, feigning illness or some other excuse.
Sirius leans in. "It's Andromeda's birthday and she loves this stuff. You don't mind do you?"
I sigh inaudibly, before swallowing the lump in my throat. "Of course not."
The backstage is full of people, all bustling carrying various costumes and such. The stars are all standing around together with another group who have backstage passes.
Sirius, Lily, Andromeda and I approach them. Andromeda begins congratulating them all and getting autographs and selfies. I'm standing somewhat behind Sirius, best to be unseen. That is until:
"Lily Evans!" A shrill voice yells out.
"Marlene... How good to see you after all these years." Lily replies dryly.
Sirius' face is confused, looking between Lily and Marlene, so much so he steps back, brining me into her view.
"Remus Lupin." Marlene says, her voice suddenly very cold.
"Marlene."
"Wait, you all know each other?" Sirius asks, very confused. Andromeda is not paying attention to any of this, still stuck in a bubble with the crowd.
Marlene's gaze unsettles me, as it did all those years ago, when she ruined my life.
"What are you doing now?" she asks, feigning interest.
"Nothing much." I reply, my voice weaker than anticipated.
"I see you managed to scrape a career." Lily says coldly, standing by me.
"So rude Miss Evans, but I guess I'm the successful one here. You still scrubbing tables for pennies?" she jeers.
Sirius is standing by not exactly sure what to say.
"No actually, I'm quite happy with my life, without you."
"That's nice to hear. Still fighting Remus' battles."
"Hey, that's uncalled for and not really professional." Sirius interjects, trying to keep the situation calm. Lily just continues over him. "Well you threw his life to shit and then walked off. I actually did something good, unlike you who did what exactly. Oh yes, went and whored herself out."
"You're one to talk. Tell you what Lily, go get us some Punch, I'm sure Remus wants to catch up."
I'm still silent, staring at the floor. I can feel the gaze of both Marlene and Sirius on me.
"I'm sure he doesn't."
"Lily, don't speak for him, he has his own voice."
"He did until you effectively stole it from him."
"Enough." Marlene half-yells shrilly.
I raise my head to look at Sirius. His eyes convey both confusion and understanding.
"Lily, take him to my car." he says handing Lily the keys. He's clearly unsure as of what to do, stuck between coming to my defence and ruining his cousin's birthday by causing a scene.
Marlene grabs me by the face before Lily can respond.
"HEY!" Sirius yells, moving to push her off me, "Don't grab him!"
"Remember this?" Marlene whispers to me, "you could never get away from me, and even if you did, I'd always find you, always have control over you." She lets me go, then strides off.
"What was that about?" Sirius asks, confused.
I still have no words to say, so I just slowly shake my head. Andromeda walks over.
"Everything okay?" she asks, brightly.
"Yeah, everything's fine." Lily says quickly, "Remus isn't feeling well, so I'm going to take him to the car."
"We may as well just all go." Andromeda says, her face changing as she recognises the change in jolly atmosphere, face dawning with realisation of the mood in the air, "they're all pretentious assholes anyway."
It's all I can do to look at her, to convey my thanks, for giving up a possible once in a lifetime opportunity for me.
We leave the backstage and enter the foyer of the Opera house. People are here waiting for the second performance of the evening. Sirius cuts us a path straight through the crowd to the outside.
The air has a biting chill, and the moon has already risen over the abnormally dim city. Everything glows with a ghostly light.
We walk towards the car before Sirius stops suddenly. The car is only about 10 metres away, but the sudden nature of his stop causes us to do the same.
"What is it?" Lily asks.
Sirius turns his head, listening intently. When he turns to face us, he's as white as I am. Seeing his face, Andromeda's eyes widen. She steps back, a look of terror on her face.
"What is it?" Lily asks again, now a whisper.
"They're here." Sirius says, not even bothering to whisper.
The lights on the front of the opera house cut out, leaving us in near darkness. It's only momentary, but as the light goes, running footsteps echo around us.
A collision. I'm thrown to the ground. A man. He's heavy. Lily's scream. Andromeda's too. The sound of a punch. Sirius yelling, colliding with the ground. Everything blurs. The ground moves below me, the man has picked me up. I'm thrown into what seems to be the back of a van. My hands are bound.
I'm sat down. Sirius and Lily are put next to me, also tied. A bruise is forming on Sirius' forehead. Andromeda is sat opposite us, next to Lily. She has tears in her eyes.
The van doors slam shut, and we begin to move off. All the while, the moon shines its ghostly light.