AN: So, after almost a year, here's the Epilogue for Another Point Of View. I don't think I'll continue the siquel, but who knows... antway, thanks for everyone for the reviews, it really meant a lot to me to know you loved my Fic. I hope you'll enjoy reading this as well as the rest of the Fic. So.. Enjoy (:
oh, and don't forget that my english isn't very well, still... cause I'm from Israel and stuff... you know... well, nevermind. just don't judge me.
Epilogue
"Lily, we need to talk." Lily raised her eyes from the book she's been reading, and met the eyes of one James Potter. It was Thursday's evening, and she'd just meant to finish reading and get ready to bed. She was so tired; she could have barely fall asleep that week. She couldn't stop thinking about poor Remus who laid in the Infirmary. She knew no one was allowed in the Hospital Wing but she had seen Sirius sneaking in more then once. She thought she knew what it had been all about, and what had really been Remus' 'sickness', but she wasn't sure.
Lily sighed and closed the book. "James, I'm a little tired. Can we talk about it in the morning?" she asked. Since their double date with Remus and Sirius, Lily and James got closer. But during the week Remus had been in the Hospital Wing they had drifted apart. She didn't know what to think about James. For years he'd been trying to impress her, and for years she'd been avoiding him, but then all of the sudden he had changed. He became generous, considerate and polite. He'd seemed smarter than usual and he'd listened to what she'd said, instead of just trying to ask her out all the time.
"No, it's important." James grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the boys dormitory, but she stopped him.
"James, I'm not going up there with you."
James frowned and looked at her straight in the eye, "I'm not going to try to do anything. I swear. I just want to talk. Sirius is in the Hospital Wing with Remus, and Peter's asleep. I'll leave the door open and you can sit as far away from me as you want."
He seemed serious and she believed him. "Alright. But if you'll do anything I'll stop going out with you." She knew he wouldn't want to risk it.
But James' smile seemed sad and he said quietly, "I think it's going to happen anyway."
Lily followed him upstairs until they reached the seventh years' dormitory. When they got in Lily sat on Remus' unused bed, and James sat on his own, after leaving the door partially open, as he'd promised.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"You already know I love you," he said, and Lily felt herself shivering. He'd said it many times before, but now the sentence got a whole new meaning. "I'm probably going to do the most stupid mistake I could ever make, and lose any chance I ever had with you forever, but you deserve to know the truth."
Lily looked at him, confused, but James went on.
"During the week- two weeks we've been dating… I wasn't myself."
"Yeah, I've noticed." She agreed. "You really changed this year. I think it's for the best.
James shook his head, "No, that's not what I meant. I wasn't myself, it wasn't me… it's hard to explain." He ran his hand nervously through his hair. "Do you remember one Charms lesson we had about a month ago? The one when we learned about the Switch spell?" Lily nodded and James continued, "I don't know if you remember, but in that lesson Peter sat behind me and Remus and while he was trying to cast the spell, he accidently hit us."
Lily nodded again," I remember. They took you to the Hospital Wing, and you missed one lesson after that. But then you got back to the Common Room and everything was fine, wasn't it?"
"Yeah… not really."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'not really'? Does this have anything to do with Remus being sick?"
"Um, sort of, yeah…" replied James, and ran his hand through his hair again. "What happened is that the spell made me and Remus switch bodies, I was inside his body and he was inside mine. That's why you thought I changed, but I didn't, really. You were just going out with Remus, not with me." His gaze wandered to the floor, away from her eyes.
"What?" Lily looked at him, doubt in her voice. "Are you serious? Or is it just another one of your stupid jokes?"
"No, I mean it. Professor Dumbledore swore us not to tell anyone. I agreed to help Remus with Sirius, and in return he said he would try to make you go out with him… I mean, with me. Turned out he was better in being me than me, if he succeeded to convince you."
Lily kept looking at James, not sure what to think. The fact that Remus was the one she'd been dating all this time explained a lot of things, like why James'd been acting so strange for the last past month. But Remus was her best friend, and she never felt anything towards him beside deep friendship. Who she really wanted was James. It took her a long time to admit it to herself, but in the summer before their last year she'd finally accepted her feelings.
When James- no, Remus- had asked her out two weeks ago in the Library she'd said yes because she thought he'd finally got matured.
"I'm really sorry I lied to you," James said and woke Lily out of her thought. "I just wanted… wanted a chance to get close to you and show you who I really am. I know we never really spoke before, but I have changed since our third year and you wouldn't have let me a chance any other way. I planed to keep lying even after I got back to my body, but then I realized that it wouldn't be fair of me to do this to you. I don't want to be with you unless it's me you're really wanted to be with, James Potter, and not Remus."
Lily didn't know what to say, so she just sat there in silence and let James talk.
"I'm not sure if you know, but Remus isn't really sick. It was just a side effect of the spell, sort of. He could choose to stay in my body and save himself, but he chose to return to his own body and save me… I don't think I ever appreciated him enough. And now I can't tell him, because I don't know if he's going to wake up. I realized that if I have something to say, I should say it right away, because maybe later it would be too late. That's why I had to tell you the truth."
James looked away and wiped his face with his sleeve. When he did that, Lily's eyes got wider with surprise. James was crying.
"What if he'll never wake up? He sacrificed his life for me, and I… I can't even thank him. It's not fair, I was supposed to die, not him."
"James…" Lily murmured. She got up and sat beside him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure he'll wake up. It's Remus, he's strong. I know he can make it."
James shook his head, "You should have seen him… his whole face are full with wounds, and his stomach is ripped apart. And he has a big cut in his head."
Lily felt sick at the description. She didn't want to think about Remus in that condition. But still, something bothered her. "How did it happen? It can't be the spell; otherwise you would have had the same reaction."
James looked at her through shining eyes. "I can't talk about it. It's not my secret to tell."
She bit her lips and asked in concern, "Is it because of Remus being a werewolf?"
"What-" James stared at her, surprised, "How-?"
"So it's true," she sighed. "I suspected it for a while now, ever since Remus and I became good friends. He kept disappearing at the strangest times, and his excuses didn't fit together. But I never had the courage to ask him about it."
James stared at her, his face unreadable. "Yes, it's true. On the last night of the full moon I… I had to be the wolf instead of Remus." A shiver passed through him.
"For how long do you know about him?" Lily asked, trying to change the subject and make James to stop thinking about that night.
"Since second year," he said, "we noticed his disappearances and after we checked the dates we found out he always went when it was a full moon. We told him we know, and even though he thought we wouldn't want to be his friends anymore, our friendship only got stronger."
Despite all the pain she held, Lily felt a strong attraction towards the boy who sat beside her. He was different, but still similar to the one she remembered from only a month ago. It had been very humane and mature from James to accept his friend as he was; despite of all the things he was told from youth.
And besides, he was considerate enough to tell her the truth instead of using the fact that she had agreed to go out with him without knowing it hadn't really been him.
"Anyway," said James and wiped his tears again. "I think I better check on Sirius now. His not doing so well at the moment…" he stood up and went for the door, but before he reached it he turned around and looked at her. "Thanks for listening. You can go back to hating me now, if you like."
"Wait a second, James!" she stood up and approached him, placing her hands around his neck. James looked at her straight in her green eyes. "I- I think I'm going to give you another chance, if… if you still want one."
His eyes winded in shock, and for a few moments he just stared at her, not breathing a word. In the meanwhile Lily used his silence to get even closer to him, and kissed his lipped tenderly.
"So, what do you say?" she asked, and James' smile finally got back to him.
"I say," he said and pulled her closer, "Will you go to Hogsmeade with me next month?"
It had been a week since Sirius found out the truth, but Remus still hadn't woke up. His condition got better, his wounds on his face started to heal, and the cut on his head looked a lot better than it had two weeks ago, when he'd only entered the Hospital Wing.
Sirius sat by his bed at any possible moment he had; between his classes, after short walks to the kitchen and till the nurse drove him out late at night.
The possibility that Remus might never wake up didn't even crossed his mind. He couldn't think about living without Remus, not after he'd found out Remus had really loved him.
"Moony," he kept whispering to him at night. He wanted to believe that Remus could hear him, even if he couldn't reply. "Moony, wake up, please. It's been two weeks since I last saw your eyes, two weeks since I last heard your voice… please, wake up."
Even though he believed Remus will wake up, he was afraid. In a few more weeks it was going to be the full moon again, and Sirius didn't know if Remus would be able to make it. The transformation might make his wounds worse and that couldn't be good.
"Remus, you have to wake up," he stroked his lover's pale face. "Please, before the next full moon. You have to get better before you'll have to turn into a wolf again."
He returned to eat again, after a whole week of barley toughing his food, because he knew Remus wouldn't want him to stop living his life. He and James had made up (Sirius just hadn't told him about the punch he'd given him, and James hadn't asked), and Peter had got all the details he'd been missing from the story. The three of then was concern about Remus, but Sirius was the one who sat by his bed on Saturday night, two weeks since the full moon.
It was late, and Sirius leaned on Remus' mattress, looking at the fainted boy. His chest moved up and down steadily. The moon light came through the window and lighted his face, and Sirius thought of how beautiful he looked, and how lucky he was that Remus loved him.
Slowly his head sank onto the mattress, until he fell to a deep sleep.
In his dream he stood in a long and dark corridor. He started to walk towards a weak light at the end of the corridor. When he finally reached the end, he found himself in a small room. In the middle of it, he saw two figures. One of them was tall with muscular body. His hair was short and red. The other one had short hair as well, dark as the night, but he was shorter than the first.
Sirius noticed they both stood very close, and after a longer look he realized they were in the middle of a kiss. After a few moments they broke apart, and the shorter one, who stood with his back to Sirius, stroked the other man's cheek fondly.
"I'm so glad you agreed to go out with me, Sirius," said the tall one, and Sirius took a step back when he finally realized the black haired guy was in fact himself.
"I love you," said the man with Sirius' voice, and the two started to kiss again.
Sirius stared at them, not quit understanding what was going on, when a voice made him jump and turn around.
"Sirius."
The corridor vanished and instead he found himself on some kind of a roof.
"Sirius." said a familiar voice. Sirius couldn't connect the voice to a name.
Another figure started to form in front of him. It was a boy with tawny hair and shining amber eyes. "Sirius, what are you doing here?"
Sirius looked at Remus, who stared back at him.
"I don't need you anymore, Sirius," said Remus, and took a step back. "You lied to me, you played with me! How could you!" he took another step back, which made him reach the end of the roof. Just one more step and he would fall… "You don't care about me at all. Goodbye, Sirius." And before Sirius could do anything, Remus fell back and disappeared from his sight.
"S-Sirius…"
"No!" Sirius ran forward and fell on his knees on the edge of the roof. He looked down but all he could see was blackness.
"Sirius-"
"Remus!" he called, searching for his friend, but for no vain.
"Sirius- I-"
"Remus! Remus, where are you?"
"Sirius!"
Someone shook him and made him open his eyes in panic. He still sat on the dark Hospital Wing, his face between his hands on the mattress. He raised his head and found himself staring at big eyes that looked back at him with concern. "Sirius, are you alright? You kept screaming like you were crazy or something…"
Sirius' mouth dropped. He didn't know what to say. Even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to talk anyway. "R-remus?"
"No, Santa Clause," the boy on the bed grinned at him.
For a few more seconds Sirius kept staring at him, not sure if he was still dreaming or not. He decided to pinch himself to find out if he was awake. That what people usually did in the storied Remus had used to read to him. So he pinched his arm strong and was shocked when he felt the pain. "Ow!"
The boy in front of him started laughing until he nearly choked himself. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to make sure I'm not dreaming." Said Sirius, and touched Remus' arm gently. It was freezing, and Remus shivered when he felt Sirius' warmth. "You're freezing. Can I get you another blanket?"
Remus shook his head, "No, it's okay."
They sat in silence for a few long moments, and Sirius tried to decide if it was hallucination or if it was real. For two weeks all he could think about was talking to Remus again, and now when he finally got the chance, he didn't know what to say.
Remus looked at him, a stressed smile on his face, and Sirius wondered what he was thinking about. It must have been weird for him, waking up inside his own body again, after spending an entire month in James'.
Remus looked down, on Sirius' hand on his own. Sirius hurried to pull his hand back.
"No, don't-" Remus said, but stopped after Sirius' next action.
Sirius wrapped his hands around Remus' shaking body on the bed, pulling him into a hug. He felt Remus buried his head in the curve of his neck.
"You're awake," mumbled Sirius, and felt Remus' fragile hands gripping the back of his shirt. "I missed you so much." He let out a sigh and felt relief washing all of his worries away. Remus was fine, it was over.
"You're not mad?" Remus asked, almost whispering.
Sirius distanced himself so he could look Remus in the eyes. "How can I be mad at you? You were willing to give up your life to save James."
"But I lied to you."
"I don't care," said Sirius. "The only thing that matters to me is that you're okay now. Aren't you mad at me?"
Remus frowned in confusion. "Why would I be mad at you?"
Sirius looked away, biting his lower lip, "I wasn't very nice to you the week after the full moon."
Remus smiled and put his hand on Sirius' cheek. "Forget about it."
"Moony, I have something important to tell you," Sirius smiled as well now.
"Really? What is it?" Remus asked, trying to sound curious, but Sirius could hear a trace of fear in his voice.
"It's something very important," he kept going, and winked at his still confused friend. "It's something I've wanted to tell you for a very long time now." He stopped for a moment, to examine Remus' face. He looked so much better than a week ago. You could already see his soft skin and the few left wounds looked like his regular ones from after a full moon. Sirius looked at this face and knew that what he was about to say was real, and that he couldn't feel that way for no one else. He held Remus' hand in his own, like he had done in each day in the last couple of weeks, and smiled at him. "I love you."
Remus' breath seemed to be taken out of him, and he stared at Sirius with no ability to talk.
Sirius squeezed his hand and continued, "I want to be with you. Any way I can. You're everything to me, even if I'm nothing to you. I want to be there for you when you'll need me. I want to make you happy. I don't want you to ever be alone again. I want you to smile, and if you'll cry I want to wipe your tears away, and make sure you'll never cry again. I want to help you on full moons, and I promise you, Moony, that I will never let you go through with it alone again."
When he finished his speech, he turned to look at Remus' eyes. They were shining and several tears started to run down his cheeks. Sirius reached out his hand and wipes them away from his face. He waited for Remus' respond, and it weren't late to come.
"I- I w-want all these things t-too." Remus murmured, shaking, and Sirius' smile grew wider. He leaned forward and without looking away he pulled Remus' face closer.
"I love you so much."
"Me too," whispered Remus and a second later their lips met in a kiss. Sirius felt electric current flow through him, waking up every part of his body.
The kiss didn't last for long, since a few moments later Remus started to cough and had to break away from Sirius to breath. Sirius almost forgot that Remus' body still hadn't fully recovered yet, and he still needed to rest.
He smiled at his lover and knew that from now on, everything was going to be fine. "Our first kiss," he said with joy, which he hadn't felt for a very long time.
Remus laughed and shook his head, "well, actually, I already kissed you twice."
Sirius laughed to, and slid his hand into Remus'. "I rather think about this kiss as our first, and not about me kissing James, if you don't mind."
FIN.
