Chapter 126: July 1998

"A real friend is someone who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

-Walter Winchell


"I am so fucking tired."

Remus looked over his shoulder to see Mika taking a seat on a log that was sitting a ways off the trail. He turned around and crossed his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow.

"We've barely gone five kilometres," he said.

"Remus, mate, we haven't eaten a solid meal in a week and we've slept maybe three hours a night? I know you've got this whole...desperate soul agenda going on—"

"—I do not—"

"Buuut," Mika continued, raising her voice and drawing out the word to talk over him. "Not all of us fancy the idea of droppin' dead from exhaustion. We need food."

Mika was right. Remus knew that. But, food was scarce and the faster they made it to London so he could begin researching, the faster they could find a way to get food and shelter.

"It's not that much further," Remus promised.

Mika let out a hearty snort. "You said that two days ago."

"Well, we don't exactly have money to get a ride there so unless you have a better plan?"

"Can't you fly? Or at least magic us some food?"

"I can't just fly," Remus chuckled, taking a seat next to her on the log. It did feel good to sit. Perhaps they could take a short break for a while. Maybe even find something edible in the woods surrounding them. "And I can't conjure food, it doesn't work like that."

Mika huffed, "What good is it to be a wizard if you can't fly or magic food?"

"I can fly, but I don't have a broom. And we can't conjure food because it's part of Gamp's law."

"Well, I don't really give a fuck about Gamp or his ruddy laws. I'm starvin' over here! Who's gonna stop you from spelling us up a meal? The fuckin' magic police?"

Remus closed his eyes and shook his head, the corners of his mouth twitching to give away his amusement. "Have you really not spent any time with wizards? Aren't there other werewolves who have magic?"

"I mean, yeah, they did," Mika said. "But, once they were turned they either lost their wands or gave them up. A lot of those idiots went to follow that Dark Lord a few years back and he took most of their wands. Wouldn't let them use magic. My friend Nikolai was one of them that thought the grass would be greener in a black cloak. Though, he wasn't magical—just a fuckin' idiot."

"I'm sorry," Remus whispered. "Losing your friend like that must have been really difficult."

She shrugged, "Life isn't exactly easy in the dens. I get why he left…they were promising all sorts of shit."

"You weren't tempted?" Remus asked.

"Of course, I was," Mika laughed, "Who wouldn't be? But, have you seen Greyback? That big scary bastard—not to mention, I'm pretty sure that's the arsehole that turned me. I didn't want to be subject to him again, no thank you."

"Wait—you were bitten by Greyback?"

Mika nodded, "Yeah. I mean, you saw the bites, I was bitten by a few of them. But, I assume that's the one that stuck. Seems like most of the kids that survived the bites were bitten by him."

Pack, Moony supplied.

I gathered.

She can help. More than just talking to you about your pathetic problems.

Yeah, I've spotted that on my own, thanks.

Remus blinked a few times, giving his head a small shake. When he opened his eyes again, he could see Mika staring at him curiously from his peripheral, a coy smile on her face. Almost like she was holding back a laugh.

"What?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You talkin' to it?" she smirked.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on now, Remus. You know exactly what I mean, don't play stupid. You're talkin' to that wolf in your head. No shame in it—we all do."

"I…" Remus sighed, "Yeah. I talk to him from time to time."

"Oh, go on then. What's yours look like?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your wolf. Have you given it a face or anything or is it just a weird, disembodied voice in your head? Mine looks a lot like me, I think. Prettier though. I know Nikolai used to say his looked like his actual wolf, but like, could talk? Like a children's film character or something..?"

"No, it doesn't...he looks like me, yeah."

"Wicked," Mika smiled. "Is he nice to you? Mine's mostly sweet, although she can be a bit pushy at times."

"No, mine isn't...he's rather rude," Remus admitted.

"Rude? How d'you mean?"

"He doesn't like me much."

Mika let out a loud laugh, clapping her hands over her mouth as her shoulders shook. "He doesn't like you?"

"Stop laughing at me," Remus demanded, his voice sounding petulant even to his own ears.

"Remus, of course, he doesn't like you. You hate him! Why would he be kind to you or helpful when you do everything in your power to deny that he's even a part of you?"

"I don't—"

Mika slapped a hand over his mouth, giving him a pointed look. "Don't even finish that sentence. I literally cannot allow you to just lie to my face like that."

Remus glared at her, wrapping his fingers around her wrist and pulling her hand from his mouth. He enjoyed Mika's company most of the time. He couldn't deny that the girl talked incessantly. Honestly, he thought Sirius never shut up and Mika talks twice as much as Sirius ever did. Regardless, she was clever and funny and she had a good head on her shoulders. But it was moments like this, where she would shut Remus down without a thought to it, where she'd touch or prod at him like a zoo animal, that he really regretted his decision to allow her to accompany him.

"I don't like it when you touch me like that, you know that," Remus reminded her.

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes. Sensitive, old Remus can't stand human touch. I haven't forgotten. Unfortunately for you, I'm not human."

"Don't say that. You are human you're just—"

"Mate, with all due respect, I've been livin' in a cave for the better part of my life and I sleep in the woods. I've eaten more small woodland creatures than I have actual food. Oh, and let's not forget I turn into a fuckin' wolf once a month. I hardly count as human."

"That may be true but—"

"But, you didn't let me finish," Mika interrupted, again. "I like being a werewolf. I mean, yeah the circumstances that I was turned were rubbish, but no amount of pissin' and moanin' about that is gonna change it. I'm a werewolf and I'm gonna remain that way until I die. There's no sense in wishing I wasn't. That doesn't do anything but make me a sad fool. We can't change the past or the hands we were dealt. But, we can make the best of them."


After another three long days of walking and listening to Mika complain, they finally made it to London. Remus didn't have much of a plan from here—only to get to the Central Library of Magic and get his hands on anything leading to the Fountain of Fair Fortune. He thought about visiting Diagon Alley at some point, making a trip to Flourish and Blotts to find a few texts that might have something of value in them. He knew eventually he'd need to go back to the cottage in Godric's Hollow and go through some of his books there, but for now, they needed to find shelter for the night and food.

They made their way down a busy street that was bustling with tourists. Remus quickly became aware of how horrible they must look—filthy and exhausted from spending the last few weeks in the woods. He was certain he probably smelled just as horrid as he looked, but his nose had gotten used to it.

"Right," Remus whispered, pulling Mika into an alley behind a diner. "We need to clean up. People are staring at us."

"Let them stare," Mika replied. "I'm not fussed about it."

"We can't just walk around looking like we're homeless. They won't let us into the libraries if they think we're just there to try and bathe in the sinks."

Mika folded her arms across her chest, "What do you suggest then?"

"I can clean us up a bit, but we'll need to figure out how to get some new clothes. Repairing charms were never really my strong suit, as I'm sure you've noticed."

"Is that why your robes look like they're a hundred years old? Because you're rubbish at repairing charms?" she laughed.

"Be serious for a moment, won't you?"

"Yeah, yeah," she waved him off. "Give me five minutes, okay? I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Remus asked.

"Do that fancy cleanin' spell on me, yeah?"

Remus pulled his brows together and gave her a puzzled look, "What?"

"That one you did the other day," she explained. "Just, clean my face up a bit."

Remus took his wand from his pocket, waving it over Mika. "What do you have planned?"

She smirked, "Don't worry about it. I'll be right back."

Mika slinked out of the alley and Remus sighed, sitting down on the rough ground, his back against the brick of the diner. He brought his legs up to his chest, folding his arms atop his knees and resting his chin on them. He wondered what Hermione was doing right now. If she was still celebrating their perceived victory or if she had decided to lock herself away, finding the next big thing to study and research and plan. He hoped she'd take a bit of a break. Enjoy the few short months of peace he knew they'd all have before Dolohov and the remaining Death Eaters made their reappearance.

He closed his eyes, picturing her face. He could still make out every freckle on her cheeks, every lash that framed her eyes. Her curls that fell wild around her head, a mass of chestnut brown with little highlights of gold from the summer sun. He missed her like a limb. Like his arm had been lopped off or a lung had been pulled from his chest. Not even three months ago, he'd just resigned himself to the empty feeling. Assumed that he was just hollowed out, that decades of loss and grieving had ruined him completely. And then Moony woke him up and dumped years of his life back into his head and now…

Well, it wasn't really any better. But, at least he could think of her. At least he knew the reason he felt so raw and broken.

True to her word, in five minutes time, Mika appeared in the opening of the small alley. She plopped on the ground next to Remus, nudging his shoulder lightly. He opened his eyes and twisted to look at her, a brow raised in question. With a smile on her face, she produced three wallets and handed them to him.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Wallets, Remus. You know, where people who have money typically keep it."

He deadpanned, "I know what a wallet is, thank you. I'm just trying to figure out how you've got three of them."

"I nicked them," she said in a slow, patient voice usually reserved for explaining something to a very thick child. "Obviously. Now, let's open them up and hope to God that one of those idiots have heavy pockets."

"You...Mika! You can't just—"

"I can and I did. You might be too self-righteous to nick a wallet off a bloke, but I am not," Mika said, yanking them from his hands to open them. "Oh, look! This one has a credit card! That's rather lucky. Oh, and fifty quid. Open the other one, let's see what we've got then."

Two hours later, Remus and Mika were in a motel room. It wasn't exactly a nice motel. In fact, Remus was certain he'd heard the scuttling of roaches along the radiator a few minutes after arriving but, there were two beds and a shower and Remus was warming up to the idea of hot water and a bed with a pillow. Despite the moral ambiguity of how they'd come to obtain the room.

"Oh look, they have telly!" Mika cheered, "I haven't watched telly in ages. You can have the first shower, I'm going to order us a takeaway. You like curry?"

"Erm, yeah. That's fine," Remus agreed. "We still haven't got any clothes though."

"Ah. I forgot about that," she admitted. "Okay, well, you go take a nice long shower and I'll pick us up a curry and stop and get us some clothes. What size are you?"

"I…" Remus scrunched his face up in thought. "I honestly don't know."

Mika frowned, "Okay well, I'll figure it out. Hopefully, they have something long enough for your legs. You're freakishly tall, you know that?"

Remus laughed, "Yeah, well aware, thanks."

"Shower," she pointed toward the bathroom. "I'll be back soon."

Remus obeyed Mika, making his way to the bathroom and locking the door. He stripped quickly, turned the knobs on the faucet and waited for the water to heat up. He stepped in the shower and sighed instantly at the relief the heat brought with it. The loosening of his muscles and the de-griming of his skin. He took his time, relishing in the mild scent of the motel issued soaps and shampoo and even gave himself a bit of a shave. His beard had gotten longer than it had ever been, well past the acceptable level of scruff.

After spending so much time in the shower that his skin felt soggy and pruned, Remus finally dried himself off, slinging the towel around his waist. Mika pounded on the bathroom door.

"It's been forty minutes, Remus," she called, "You done in there? I've got clothes and curry and I got a cake."

He stepped out of the bathroom, the steam billowing out behind him as he entered the room. Mika smirked at him, her eyes roaming over him.

"Looking good, old man," she shot at him, ending the strange compliment with a wink.

"Why do you have to make everything weird? I've literally seen you naked," Remus reminded her.

She barked out a loud laugh, her head falling back. "That was after the moon, that doesn't count! And it's only weird if you make it weird. Besides, you're not really my type." Mika chucked a bag at him, "I tried to find the longest pair of trousers I could with a small waist but most people that are your height are also a little thicker around the middle."

"It's fine, I can transfigure them a bit if I need to," Remus mumbled, digging through the bag and pulling out a pair of pants and trousers. "And what's your type, then?"

"Why? You interested?" Mika said, waggling her eyebrows.

"No," Remus replied, stepping into his pants before removing the towel from around his waist. "Just making conversation."

"Wow, how very friendly of you, Remus."

Remus rolled his eyes, pulling a polo shirt over his head. "Well?"

"Not as old as you, that's for certain," she quipped, pulling a couple of styrofoam containers from another plastic bag. "And also, I typically prefer partners with erm...different parts."

Remus paused, his hands on the button of the trousers. "Oh. I didn't...sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"You aren't prying," Mika assured him, opening one of the containers and tucking in. "I just didn't offer the information up right away because some people are arseholes about it."

"Oh, yeah," Remus said, lamely. "I mean, I don't...it doesn't matter to me if you prefer women."

"Good. Because it doesn't matter to me that you're old and ridiculously tall and incredibly hung up on a girl half your age that doesn't even know you're important to her yet."

Remus let out a loud laugh, grabbing his wand to shrink the trousers to fit his waist. He walked over to the small table that Mika had set up the takeaway on and grabbed a container and a plastic fork, his stomach growling loudly at the smell of the food.

"I deserved that," he chuckled, taking a bite. He nearly moaned at the taste, closing his eyes to savour the hot food. "Merlin, this is good."

"It was cheap too, which may or may not come back to bite us in the arse later. Oh, here," she opened the third container, "I got us chips."

They settled in on one of the beds, the food laid in the styrofoam containers before them. Remus worked to silently reject the voice in the back of his head that felt the constant need to remind him that everything he was wearing, eating, drinking, was technically stolen. But, Mika was right. The blokes who she'd pickpocketed probably wouldn't even realize they'd been robbed for quite some time and once they had, their banks would return the money to their accounts and they'd be none the wiser of the situation in a week's time.

With a full belly for the first time in months and a clean bed to lie on, Remus drifted to sleep to the sound of Mika singing some strange pop song completely off tune in the shower while she washed. Remus sighed in contentment, happy to at least have this night before spending the next four years searching for a fountain he had no clue truly existed and hoping to Merlin that Hermione would remember him when he finally returned.

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a/n: sorry this one took a minute to get out. life has been getting in the way, but I did warn that chapter updates would be a little more sporadic. Anyway, I hope you liked it. leave a comment and let me know? xo