In the Present

A HariPo fanfic

by mew-tsubaki

Note: I haven't finished To the Future and already I'm starting its second companion story. AGH! However, J.K. Rowling's characters are in good hands by now, so I hope everyone enjoys this Rena story. But to reach the present, one must glance at the past, where our story begins… READ & REVIEW!!!

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The Fifth Harvest (& the Sixteenth Wax)

Remus hanged his head in shame for Sirius the next day. "Please tell me you haven't…touched her, mate," he told his friend.

Sirius whistled. "In any other situation, I might be expected to say, 'Oh, I wish I could tell you that.' Not only is that not true, but I wouldn't dare spout that nonsense." He displayed a wry smile. "Damn, that girl-"

Remus turned sickly green. "Oh, Merlin! Don't go giving me details!" That was the last thing he needed!

"Yes, well, I'm sure you can make an estimated guess since you know of the birds and the bees," he stated, changing his tone to a sing-song one. "Remus knows of the birds and the bees, and the Whomping Willow tree…"

"Stop that terrible singing!!"

"All right, all right…" Sirius finished retrieving the books Remus was lending him for the fourth years' class. He paused for a moment. "You really hadn't caught on, had you?"

Remus's cheeks turned cherry red. "In all honesty…no." He grimaced. "I guess I haven't been much of a friend to not have noticed a change in you. I just-" He ran a hand through his hair; he really hadn't seen much of Sirius at all. "Must've been preoccupied with my own life."

"As well you should be," Padfoot commented. "When someone is involved in all lives but their own, they're just running away from their problems."

The werewolf glared at him. "What's with all of the common sense you've been driveling these days? You're not much of an academic."

"I ascribe it to too much free time on my hands," Sirius answered flatly, suggesting his lack of time spent with Ginny. Another moment passed in silence. "Erm… You don't think that you could possibly set up a little meeting with Gin for me?"

"I'm not much of a rule-breaker, Sirius," Remus stated.

"Please…?"

He sighed. "…Fine. But I'll be present. The Charm's effects are more like…side-effects, really. I don't think you'd want to experience them."

Sirius looked triumphant. "Yes! Wait. What side-effects? You mean it might do more than just keep us away from one another? Remus! Tell me!!"

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That Sunday, Remus went and found Ginny. He pushed the Charm's effects out of his mind –well, he tried. Dumbledore had told him the morning after the discovery of Sirius and Ginny exactly what the Distance Charm would do if pushed to far.

"It is the only Distance Charm in existence," Dumbledore had said. "And rather unforgiving it is."

"Then why place it on them?" Remus had asked.

"Because something had to be done." Dumbledore had walked behind his desk, pacing, like he did so often. "I tell you this, Remus, because I hope you can keep them behaving while the rest of the year plays out. The Charm does not merely separate them, professor."

Remus had stared at him then. "I beg pardon?"

"This Distance Charm was created a long time ago, and thus has additional effects due to the time period. If pushed too far, the two star-crossed lovers will begin to forget. Little things, at first, just a few memories of each other. If they manage to come within arm's reach of one another, their memories will be Obliviated. Yes, you heard me correctly, Obliviated," Dumbledore had repeated at Remus's shocked expression. "Their minds won't be completely erased, but everything related to their relationship will be forgotten. They will have never known that they had once loved the other."

"And yet you still insisted on placing this- this hex?!" Remus had exclaimed. He was still astonished that Dumbledore would ever agree to something so hostile, so emotionally violent. Dumbledore had merely met Remus's accusing eyes with sad ones.

And now here he stood, next to Ginny, breaking the rules slightly. He tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"See you in my classroom?"

His words were few, but he hoped Ginny got the gist of things from just that much. She nodded, and he almost breathed his sigh of relief. He moved on in the hallway, heading for his classroom. Okay, well, it was Sirius's classroom with the other students, only Remus's classroom when he had the seventh years, but that didn't really matter right then. He knew Ginny knew where to go.

"She's coming," he burst out when he reached the room.

Sirius looked up from the book he had been perusing. "She is? Really?"

Remus nodded and went up to the desk. "And I would appreciate it if you stopped taking my books, Padfoot." He returned it to the bookcase when Ginny entered the classroom. She and Sirius were staring lovingly at each other. His cheeks pinked. "Erm, I'll, uh, be right over here and I'll Charm myself so I won't listen in, but just remember to stay on opposite sides of the room, okay?" He faced the bookshelf and Charmed both the room and himself.

A few minutes later, Remus's Charm was broken when Ginny left. Remus judged it was safe to turn around now, so he did. But Sirius didn't look happy. He looked shell-shocked. Again.

Sirius closed her gaping mouth and stood. "Well… It was nice talking to her." He gave a small nod in Remus's direction. "Thank you, Mooney."

"Sirius, what-"

"I'll see you later." Sirius left it at that and left the classroom, but Remus didn't like seeing his best mate look that way. What the hell had happened?

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They gave Ginny some distance, until Sirius voiced his concern that she was avoiding him. May was tough on Sirius, and Remus spent most of his free time hanging out with his friend. Before, he barely saw Sirius; now, Sirius was the only person he saw, because he still hadn't seen Luna.

The first week of June, Remus approached Ginny three times, but each time Ginny came up with some sort of excuse. Whether she actually had Quidditch practice or a History of Magic essay to write, it didn't matter. The werewolf was smart enough to realize that she was avoiding Sirius, and Remus didn't bother trying to make excuses for her. It was as plain as day to Sirius.

At supper, Sirius had lost his appetite. "Life is unfair," he commented.

Remus stopped chewing his mouthful of roast. Watching his best mate, he was reminded of his own…situation with Luna. But that was different, since Remus knew he hadn't really fallen for –oh, who was he kidding? He had fallen for that lovely oddball, he had confessed to her as much, but he still didn't know her feelings for him. He wished fervently that he did. Sirius, he thought, was lucky, because Ginny loved him. Although, that idea wasn't definite these days.

"Let me try her tomorrow. I'll tell her she has to come, no matter what. Hopefully, she'll show up," Remus offered.

"After that, my last shot will be the upcoming end-of-the-school-year Hogsmead trip. Otherwise, I'll back off until after this school year, when the stupid Charm wears off. Then, it'll be her decision. Maybe I've done something…" Sirius was lost in thought. He numbly pushed back his chair. "Goodnight, Remus."

"'Night, Sirius," the were answered, and he watched Sirius leave.

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That weekend Remus met Ginny in the hallway. She must've been waiting for him, he supposed. A few minutes after he reached his classroom, Ginny appeared. She stayed near the doors like last time, and Remus worked the spells. The couple was now basically alone.

Again, it felt like only a few minutes when the Charm not merely voided. It was shattered. Remus turned around in time to see the doors swinging, evidence that they had been thrown open. He looked at Sirius.

"She…flew off the handle at me," Sirius said, gaping at the floor. "I'm…to blame."

Remus blinked. "You're to blame? What did you do? You've barely seen her, let alone said much of anything to her." He looked from Sirius to the doors and back. "What… What did you say to her?"

And again, Sirius was not up for questions. "Look… Remus. I've… I've got some things to catch up on, essays to grade, y'know. I'll see you later, okay?" Sirius didn't wait for an answer. He hastily left the room, but Remus had to rub his eyes. He wasn't sure if he saw Sirius's eyes as glassy or if it was a trick of the light.

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Two days later, Remus got a small break.

Well, he meant to. He was walking around the castle during lunch time, tired from the stuffiness of the Great Hall. Remus walked downstairs, tempted to take his stroll outside onto the bridge. He paused at the top of the staircase.

Luna was down below, talking animatedly with Neville.

Out of the blue, Luna's Christmas card came floating to the front of Remus's mind. It was still cryptic to him. Someone whose mind would fuzz only around him? He felt his sweater pockets. Yes, they were still there. Remus pulled the Spectrespecs out and put them on, though a little embarrassed about wearing something so…goofy.

With them on, he looked down at Luna. He didn't see anything special with the glasses on. He took them off and inspected them. So are they broken? he wondered. Or do they not work?

He felt eyes on him and he looked at them. Luna smiled up at Remus, and her cheeks pinked a bit. She returned her attention to Neville to wrap up her conversation.

On a whim, Remus put his spectacles back on and peeked at the two again. This time, there was something. This time he saw things flitting about inside Luna's head, judging by where they appeared to be. He removed the Spectrespecs and put them away when Luna turned away from Neville and made her way up to Remus.

"Hello, stranger," Luna said with a flirty, mysterious smile. She shifted her messenger bag on her shoulder.

"Hello, Luna," he responded with a weak smile.

Her brow crinkled in concern. "What's wrong?"

He sighed. "It's been a while."

"I know. I've been swamped in the paper. Today was the first day I've had to get away, so I thought I'd come and see you."

"A lot of things have happened," Remus mumbled.

Luna frowned, something she didn't usually do. "You should get outside. It's gorgeous. In fact," she said, tugging on his arm, "you can tell me everything while we go for a walk. Let's go to the bridge."

They left the castle and Remus did as she suggested. He told her everything: The potion, Tonks, twins, the divorce, Ginny and Sirius and his new class schedule… When he was done, he felt more tired than before. He was reliving all those events again just by talking about them.

The reporter slowly shook her head. "Remus…" Luna leaned back against the railing, and he leaned with one hand on the railing. "I should've come sooner. I felt something was wrong. I should've come."

Remus shook his head. "Actually, I think it's better that you didn't. I've been really out of it. Only until recently when I had to help Sirius out have I finally gotten out of my funk." He looked her over. "How have you been? The bracelet hasn't had to come in handy, has it?"

She smiled. "No, it hasn't. Did you ever try out your gift?"

"I wanted to ask you again, though. What did you mean when you wrote about someone's mind fuzzing around only me?"

"Remus, really! You still didn't solve that one?" She sighed exasperatedly, but she still smiled. "Those Spectrespecs will show you the person –or persons, maybe –who can't think when they're around you. You're all they think about, i.e.…"

"In love with me," he finished.

She nodded, and then paused. "So is anyone in love with you?" Luna asked, and she stared at the landscape.

"I, uh, still haven't tried them," he lied. She gave these to me, knowing this and…

"Oh," Luna breathed. She looked at him again. "I'll try not to stay away for so long again, Remus."

Remus's senses came back to him. "Yes, that would be nice." He smiled. "I worry, as you know."

Luna patted his cheek. "Remus…"

He had the sudden urge to kiss her, and he did. He pressed his lips to her plush ones and then pulled back. A smile brightened his face. "Sorry. You said to do what I wanted, remember."

She laughed, blushing a little. "Yes, I remember." She turned around and leaned on her elbows on the side of the bridge. "You are a womanizer, Mr. Lupin." Luna flicked her eyes to him as he, too, leaned on the bridge with both hands, though his arms were now on either side of her. The witch looked up. "Flirt."

"You know, that only makes me want to kiss you some more."

So what did he do? Made out with her, of course. What? He was following his heart.

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YAAAY!!!! Oh, Merlin, I can't wait to write some of the next stuff! Please stay with me…

AND REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-mew-tsubaki

P.S. –Last chapter dedicated to: ashleyahh and TranslucentDarkness. You guys were my first two reviews, and I love you for it!! Next review gets the next dedication!