Nearing the end of January was Lily's eighteenth birthday, and her first birthday while she was in a relationship with James. Because of this, the week leading up to her birthday, James was going crazy with elaborate ideas.

"You do know her birthday will be on a Monday, right?" I said to James, and he nodded.

"Of course I know this! I still need to do something special! I love her!" James cried, messing up his already messy black hair.

James continued stressing about Lily's birthday up until the weekend before her birthday, which was a Hogsmeade visit.

"Alright," he said that morning in the dormitory. "Today's my chance to get a good birthday gift for Lily! Let's go to Hogsmeade right now."

"Uh, we have to go to breakfast first," I reminded him. "We can't go to Hogsmeade until ten o'clock, remember?"

James rolled his eyes as us four marauders made our way from the Gryffindor common room down to the Great Hall.

"Good morning, Potter," said Lily as James sat down across from her.

"Morning, Evans!" James said, his voice chirpy.

"Hey, I was wondering, do you want to go on a date today? For my birthday, since it's on Monday?" Lily asked.

"Oh, um..." James looked directly at Sirius, who shrugged, and then he looked at me desperately.

"I bet Prongs would love that," I said.

"Great!" said Lily, as James gave me a death stare. "I was thinking we could go check out the Shrieking Shack? It's so creepy and mysterious in there, and it would be great to go there with you."

On impulse, I spat out the pumpkin juice I had just sipped, spraying it all over Peter.

"Eugh, gross!" Peter cried.

"Are you alright, Remus?" Lily asked me, handing a serviette to Peter.

"Yes, but remind me, why would you want to go to the Shrieking Shack, of all places?" I asked Lily, grabbing my own serviette and wiping my mouth.

"Well, it's a common place for people to visit," said Lily. "Did you not know this? People want to look for the ghosts."

"Oh, um..." I said. "The blood stains don't creep you out?"

"No, they're quite fascinating, actually," said Lily. "I one hundred per cent believe that it's haunted, and the blood is the victims of the ghosts. But in the daytime, we'll be completely safe."

"Oh," I said. "Well, uh, I get you believe there are spirits and whatever in there, but um... you know how I'm a you-know-what?"

"A double W?"

"Erm, sure, if that's what you want to call it," I said. "Well, on full moons, that's where I go. It's not haunted."

Lily gasped. "So the bloodstains in there...?"

"Yep," I responded.

"Oh, Remus," said Lily. "I'm so sorry... it's not fascinating, I thought it was..."

"It's fine," I said. "But uh, it's maybe not the best place to go for your birthday date."

"Yes, of course," said Lily. "Oh my gosh..."

"Well, um, about that date, would we be able to meet around lunchtime?" James suggested. "There's just something I need to do in Hogsmeade this morning."

"Oh, of course," Lily smiled.

"Thanks, Lil," said James, standing up and leaning over the table and kissing the top of Lily's dark red hair. "Well, I'd best be off. The sooner I get this, the sooner we can go on our date!"

"Love you, Potter," said Lily as James began to walk away, blowing kisses to her. "Oh my god, though... Remus, I'm so sorry about bringing up the shack, and the whole idea of it, and..."

"Don't worry about it," I said, quickly. I really didn't want her to worry about it because I didn't want to think about it. "Enjoy your date."

Only a week after Lily's birthday, the idea of Valentine's Day began to enter many people's minds, in particular a certain boy with messy black hair and glasses. Since he was now finally with Lily, James wouldn't shut up about how he was intending on taking her out to Madam Puddifoot's after class for Valentine's Day.

"I can't believe we're going to be spending Valentine's Day together!" James cried, skipping around in the dormitory. "What gifts shall I get her? We have a Hogsmeade trip this weekend, right?"

"No, it's Quidditch this weekend," said Sirius. "Do you not remember Quidditch anymore?"

James gasped. "Quidditch! Oh my god! I've spent so much time thinking about Evans that I forgot about Quidditch! That's not like me, oh my god! I need to go train right now..."

"James, it's dark outside," I said to him.

"Don't worry, mate," said Sirius. "We still have a few days until the match. You can train tomorrow."

"Right, right," James said, still looking flustered. "But what about Lily? What should I get her?"

"Just get her some flowers and a box of chocolates," Peter suggested.

James looked at me incredulously. "Flowers and chocolates? That's so typical! I need to do something special."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Just make sure you don't do anything too over the top, mate. You don't want to scare her off."

"Oh my god, relationships are so much pressure!" James cried. "I need to talk to a girl other than Lily about this. I'll talk to Mary tomorrow morning..."

"OK, well, you do that," I said, yawning. "I think it's bedtime for me..."

The others all nodded and we went into our separate beds. I waited a few minutes before quietly getting out of my bed and heading towards Sirius. Even now when James and Peter knew about Sirius and I, I still felt awkward about going into Sirius's bed, and the whole situation.

"So, what do you want for Valentine's Day?" Sirius asked me, kissing the top of my head as I snuggled in next to him.

"Chocolate, obviously," I said. "What do you want?"

"Your love," Sirius responded, and I laughed.

"God, you're such a romantic," I said. "But I love you for it. You're perfect."

"We're perfect," he smiled.

The next day, James was excitedly chatting to Mary about what he should do for Lily for Valentine's Day, while Sirius and I were trying to focus on our classes. I couldn't help but smile at James's enthusiasm, but at the same time, I was grateful for Sirius's simple and romantic gesture of wanting my love for Valentine's Day. As much as I loved James like a brother, I was glad I wasn't in his shoes and had to come up with something extravagant for Lily.

Although the funny thing was, knowing Lily, she probably wasn't too fussed about having an extravagant display of affection from James for Valentine's Day. Mary was probably the sort of girl who wanted something big, so she probably wasn't the right girl for James to talk to about what he should do for Lily.

As the day of Valentine's Day approached, the castle began to be filled with love potions, heart-shaped confetti, and pink and red decorations. James was still stressing about what to do for Lily, but it seemed like he was overthinking it. In the end, he wrote a song for her and made Sirius, Peter, and I be his backup singers during his performance on the morning of Valentine's day.

He flew his broomstick into the Great Hall as he started the song, and it was hard not to laugh at him and be a good friend.

After our classes for the day had finished, Sirius and I spent Valentine's Day lounging in the common room, eating chocolate, and exchanging small gifts. It was a peaceful and relaxed afternoon, and I was grateful for it.

For once, everything seemed to be going well in my life. I was safe at school with my best friends, the N.E.W.T.S wasn't for another four months, and I had spent Valentine's Day peacefully with the love of my life. Everything was going great.

Until it wasn't.

I shouldn't have gotten used to the false sense of happiness I'd been experiencing for the first three days after Valentine's Day. I should have known something bad would happen.

I should have anticipated the letter.

The letter destroyed that temporary happiness I had experienced. That I received on the eighteenth of February, caused me to spiral into yet another state of depression. My negative emotions just always seemed to creep back on me, like a large, shadowy figure I could run from but never hide from.

The letter stopped me in my tracks, leading to the figure catching up to me. The letter read:

Dear Remus,

Your mother is unwell. I have organised with Professor McGonagall for you to come home through the Floo network as soon as you receive her letter. Please approach her now about it.

From Dad

I felt my stomach flip and my throat clench as soon as I read the first sentence of the letter. And when I was finished reading, I placed the letter on the table and slowly stood up.

How could my mum be unwell? She'd always been in good health my entire life. She had healthy habits, she'd always stayed in good shape, and she rarely even got the flu. How, now, could she be so unwell that I needed to return home for her?

"Are you alright, Moony?" Sirius asked me.

I nodded, unable to even open my mouth because it was clenched so tightly. I walked over to the teacher's table and to McGonagall, who stood up and nodded when she saw me.

She walked over to me and placed her hand on my back, leading me to her office.

"You mustn't panic, Mr Lupin," she said to me. "I promise you that your mother will be alright."

I nodded, dazy, as we entered her office and she handed her the floo powder and unlit her fire. I stepped into the fireplace, trying to breathe.

"I will send you any schoolwork that you miss, so don't worry about rushing back in time to do your work, alright?" said McGonagall.

I nodded, then called out my address throwing the floo powder down before I was engulfed with blue flames.

I arrived in my own fireplace, covered in soot and ash. The living room was dark, empty, and cold, causing a chill to run down my spine.

"Mum? Dad?" I called out, my voice quivering. There was no response.

I walked through the flat and went into my parents' room. My dad was in there, sitting beside the bed where my mother was lying. He turned around to look at me, but I wasn't focusing on him.

I was focusing on how ill my mother looked.