crushed - remus lupin

-twenty-seven-

The Lupin's dark grey house on top of the hill was more silent than ever.

Hushed whispers from the next room could be heard faintly.

"He hasn't left his room this whole week, I'm getting worried, Sirius."

"I'm not surprised. 'Leste sure had a hold on him."

"Is it really today?"

"Yep, I'm heading over there with the rest of the guys in ten, I just wanted to offer for him to come one last time."

Steady footsteps echoed down the hallway, stopping in front of his dark blue door.

"Moony?"

He said nothing.

"C'mon, I know you're in there."

The door creaked open, revealing a miserable looking Remus Lupin.

"Damn Moony, you've looked better after your transformations."

Remus simply leaned on the wall and sunk to the floor.

The two were quiet for a minute or so.

"It's really today, isn't it?" Remus croaked, like his voice hadn't been used in ages, because it hadn't.

Sirius could only nod.

"Why?" He asked quietly. "Why is she marrying him?"

Sirius took a moment to think, not wanting to say the wrong thing. "You know she doesn't have a choice."

"You always have a choice."

"That might be true, but some choices aren't really choices, not if you care about the people in your life. Sure, she could just refuse to marry him, but the consequences would be huge. She's doing this because she doesn't want to screw up her family more. As much as she pretends like she hates them, this was one of the last things her parents wanted, and I think she doesn't want to disappoint them even after they've dead."

"Didn't know you were a poet, Pads."

"You do know that she wasn't trying to hurt you by breaking up with you, right?"

"I know she was trying to protect me, but she was so wrong. Ending it then wouldn't stop me from falling harder for her every single day. I wish I had just one more day with her. I don't care how much it'll hurt me in the end, I just need her. I cant fucking breathe knowing she'll be married to ... that. Maybe I could've stopped it if I hadn't been such an asshat. Why does it hurt so much?"

"Cause you love her, Moony."

"Damnit."

Sirius stood up and started rummaging through Remus's closet. He pulled out some dress pants and a polo shirt and handed them to Remus.

"What's this for?" Remus asked, thumbing the edges of the fabric.

"You're going to the wedding, Remus." Sirius insisted.

"There's no way in hell."

"Remus, this is the last day on this earth that you can see her before she's married off to that slimeball. If you don't go, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Remus thought it over for a moment. He sighed. "She doesn't want to see me."

Sirius whipped a dark green envelope out of his pocket and handed it to him.

"Then why did this come to your house? Your mom said it came last week, but she didn't want to upset you further by giving it to you."

Remus sat in disbelief.