Past - Preparation for the last day of Hogwarts.

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P.s. This is the same day as the last chapter, in case you were confused.

Remus glared at me, sitting cross legged on his bed and wrapping himself around the posts; eyes hard and cold, evident traces of angry tears glistening in streaks down his face and glowing red about his eye sockets.

"Where have you been? It's been over an hour since you cut my hair and left..." he heaved, running his hand down the dark wood. "You're cheating on me again, aren't you?"

I shook my head and turned away.

"And where's the map? You had it when you left... you've lost it, haven't you?" He closed his eyes and slumped back into the cushions. "Ugh, I can't be bothered with this."

"You're too nervous, Moons," I laughed, sauntering over. "I didn't lose it – Filch took it."

He resumed his glare. "You're a terrible boyfriend, Siri."

"And you're a terrible liar. Now come on, I have something to show you."

A short moment passed when his hand quivered beside him, then he placed it firmly in mine and wrenched a tired smile across his face. "Please tell me you haven't killed someone and left their dead body in the woods."

"Aw, damn! You caught me out," I smirked, nuzzling my cheek to his. "Don't peep."

The common room was quiet as we entered; few people were still out of bed and those that were were mostly occupied with long letters written to their families and having hushed discussions around the fire place. To my great relief, the window was still slightly ajar, billows of sheets dangling downward to the grassy foot of the Gryffindor tower from their spot weaving around the legs and bodies of various pieces of furniture throughout the room, as me and James had fixed them an hour before.

I squeezed his hand, pulling us both on top of the window ledge. "You're not looking are you?"

"No."

"Good," I mumbled, "Because you're going to kill me when you do."

"What?"

"Nothing, just hold onto me as tight as you possibly can and don't let go."

I lifted the fabric and wrapped it in a loop round our waists, moving ever closer to the drop.

"This isn't something stupid and possibly life threatening, is it?" he hummed into my ear. "Like abseiling off the side of the Gryffindor tower with no precautionary methods of safety?"

"Nope," I beamed lowering us out of the window.

"This feels strangely like abseiling off the side of the Gryffindor tower with no precautionary methods of safety..."

"Well it's not, so keep your eyes closed and wait till I'm finished."

I shuffled slowly downwards, hands entangled in the sheets, gripping and loosening when necessary, and feet pushing firmly against the stone. Before we had even reached the half way mark, Remus dug his nails into my chest and clung to me as if the world were about to end.

"Sirius. Black. Stop. Right. Now."

I pulled to a halt and gritted my teeth. "You looked, didn't you?"

"Why are we abseiling off the Gryffindor tower?"

"...We're not...?" I muttered, gazing to the far corner of my vision where a golden flick of his hair was only just apparent, swaying in the wind.

For a short while, he didn't say anything, breathing quietly into my ear and holding tight onto me. Then a quiet sigh penetrated his lips and he untangled himself from me a little.

"Do you know what abseiling is, Sirius?"

I bit my lip and scanned my vocabulary. "Abs-sailing... abs-sailing... has it got something to do with... sailing... with no shirt on?"

"Sirius Orion Black, if we survive this, I am going to kill you!"

"Look, we will both get to the bottom perfectly intact."

"But our relationship might not do," he grunted behind me.

Remus was first to touch the ground, instantly fighting his way from his bindings and smacking me over the head as tried to disencumber myself from the fabric.

"You're a bastard, Siri!" He yelled, battering me as I turned to hold him, "How are we going to get back up now? Why are we even down here?"

"Well, if you just close you-"

"No. For all I know, you're going to lead me to a pack of wolves so I'll die and you can elope with someone cooler and more handsome."

I pulled him into a warm hug, ignoring his struggles, and leant into his hair. "Why would I want to kill something as soft and cuddly as you. We've already established that I'd die without my wonderful Remus Lupin around."

He turned his head away and sighed. "You could've changed your mind..."

"And why would I do that?" I smiled, "just trust me, you don't even have to close your eyes if you don't want to."

I took his hand once more, leading him through the long, swaying grass and round the tower to the tree that stood alone at the top of the slope. It had taken me a painful few hours to prepare and cost me the Marauder's Map, but I was sure that look on my darling's face when he saw it would be worth the world if that was all I had to give. As we drew closer, the faint glow of candles became ever more apparent, suspended in little clusters from the branches of the trees and illuminating with rich, golden light the splendid green of the summer leafs. Remus' hand tightened around mine, warm and soft, losing the drag he'd forced upon me earlier and almost walking on level with me.

"Siri," he whispered, freeing himself to dance upon the chequered picnic mat, "Did you do do this? Really? Honestly? All by yourself?"

I let a faint smile rest upon my lips and nodded, "Well, not all of it: James helped a bit and the house elves brought the food. But otherwise..."

He sprung into my arms, lifting himself over my head and beaming down like a rogue moon unto my awaiting features, before he touched back to earth and dragged me to a seat. He sat, for a while after, in utter silence; mouth, nostrils lost and still, barely alluding to the quietest of breaths; eyes fixed upon the glittering stars and tracing with the most delicate of touches Perseus, Horologium, Lupus – the last solemnly quivering upon his fingertips.

"They're all so bright tonight," he muttered, enclosing his hand around the moon, "so bright. It's like we're next to them... in them."

I rolled my head to his, watching the candlelight flicker about his face. "Then make a wish – maybe they'll hear you this time."

His eyes rolled shut and he mouthed something soft and restful into the air above him.

"What did you ask for?" I murmured, meeting his gentle gaze.

He enclosed his hand about mine and smiled. "If I told you, it wouldn't come true now, would it?"

Ok...

As some of you may have noticed, this story has effectively come to a stand still for me, so I'm just putting this here to inform you that I won't be writing this anymore as I have so much work to get done currently it's like death.

Andraste's gonna keep her side going for the time being and I may continue with her again once the work load has dried up a bit.

I'm still happy for people to send me reviews and messages and I'll try to answer to the questions and comments as soon as possible.

Lex

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