you are loved. - r.lupin (ft. THE s.black)

anniversary

"Class dismissed," Remus announced. The class of Gryffindors packed up and one of the girls, Ginny Weasley, just shook her head at Remus, still not over the fact that he cheated on Caroline. Caroline was very close to Harry and since Ginny fancied Harry, she was obligated to hate Remus.

The Gryffindors filed out of the classroom and passed Caroline on the way out. "Don't give in," Lavender Brown advised, grabbing both of Caroline's arms and shaking her as if it were going to make Caroline come to her senses. "Stay strong, professor."

Caroline sent the girl an awkward smile and entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "Everybody still hates me," Remus said.

"Everybody loves me even more," Caroline sheepishly grinned, causing Remus to chuckle. Their laughs subsided and Caroline walked a bit closer. "Listen, I didn't come here to talk about that. Halloween's coming up..."

"Yeah, I know," he nodded. 

"We could go together if you'd like," the blonde offered. "I think we'd run into each other anyways and it would be... easier to handle with someone else."

"Yeah, okay," Remus agreed. "I could meet you in the Great Hall after breakfast."

"Sure."

---------------

Caroline wore a black dress and black hat while Remus wore a clean black suit. Caroline held a bouquet of white roses and nicely placed it in front of the headstone that James and Lily shared. It was the anniversary of James Potter's and Lily Potter's death. (a/n: she'll always be Evans in my mind but whatevs)

There were stormy grey clouds covering the sun but it didn't dare rain. It was like even the weather knew today was a dark day. 

Remus just stared at the headstone with his hands in his pockets, still fazed that his best friends weren't here with him. He never expected his family to pass so quickly, they'd barely graduated from Hogwarts when it happened. 

Caroline felt tears forming in her eyes as she read the headstone. "Do you think they're with us?" she asked quietly, her voice cracking slightly. "That they're watching over us?"

"I think they are," Remus answered. "They're here with us right now. James and Lily and Marlene and Peter, they wouldn't leave us."

Hot, wet tears rolled down Caroline's rosy cheeks and she suddenly flung her arms over Remus, hugging him tightly. She couldn't look at the headstone any longer and she faced the other direction, her back facing Lily and James.

Remus was dazed at first, still not believing the death of his friends, but he eventually hugged Caroline back tightly. A few tears fell from Remus' hazel eyes and he sorrowfully gazed at the headstone, sniffling.

He wished they weren't gone and they could come back. That they would appear back at Hogwarts and yell 'surprise!' like they were only joking this entire time and it was just one of James' awful awful pranks. But when Caroline and Remus finally arrived back at Hogwarts, the rest of their family still wasn't there.

---------------

"So, let's say, hypothetically," Harry huffed while laying on Caroline's bed. He seemed to always use Caroline as a therapist or the mother he never had but Caroline didn't mind one bit. In fact, she enjoyed it. Of course, she wished that Lily could've been here to do that but it was nice that she could be there for Harry. 

"I wanted to kiss a girl," he said slowly, narrowing his eyes as the words rolled of his tongue. "And the girl I fancied was giving me all the signs. Now, hypothetically, let's just say that I decided to kiss her. And hypothetically, she ran away and hasn't talked to me for days. So, hypothetically, what does that mean?"

"This is all hypothetical?" Caroline clarified, trying to cover her amusement.

"Yes, yes," Harry confirmed, "all hypothetical. Not true, because that would be embarrassing. Like, imagine a girl running away from you after you kissed her? Pff, couldn't be me."

"Right," Caroline replied. "Well, Harry, believe it or not, when I was younger, I kissed a boy and I ran off."

"No way!" Harry laughed. Caroline let out an airy laugh and she nodded. "Aunt Caroline, that's so embarrassing!"

"Yes, well I was a pathetic little Gryffindor, wasn't I? My scenario was a bit different than yours though. I kissed him and his eyes were closed, so when I pulled away, I ran away before he could open his eyes," Caroline explained. "I think that hypothetically, if a girl did run away, that probably meant that she was scared."

"There are so many things that could've gone wrong if she stayed," the blonde continued. "You could've insulted her snogging or you could've told her you made a mistake. And if you haven't approached her in a few days, she probably thinks that you were only trying to do a one-time thing, where you just kissed her and left her."

"Hmm," Harry hummed, deep in thought. 

"But this is all hypothetical, right?" Caroline teased.

"Yes, of course it's all hypothetical!" Harry huffed. "You act like you don't believe me! It's hypothetical!"

"Alright, whatever you say."

"It's hypothetical!"

"Calm down," Caroline laughed. "You sound just like James when he jumped off the Astronomy tower for Lily!"

"Hold on, back up!" Harry demanded. "You never told me about the time my father pitched himself off the Astronomy tower!"

"It would've changed your perspective about him," Caroline shot back.

"I still want to hear it."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. 100 %."

"Right. Well, we were in our sixth year and James was asking Lily out for the thousandth time this year," Caroline drawled. "And he said something like 'my Lily-flower, when are you going to give in and just go out with me?'"

"Lily just had to say, 'when you pitch yourself off the Astronomy tower, Potter'. So," Caroline laughed, "that afternoon, Lily was dragged to the Quidditch field, which has a perfect view of the Astronomy tower."

"Oh, my father was pathetic, wasn't he?" Harry asked. "My father was that desperate?"

"He thought Lily was his soulmate," Caroline shrugged. "Love can make you do stupid things. Now, let me finish my story. So, there James is, at the very top of the Astronomy tower. He waved at Lily and I was just sitting next to Lily in absolute awe."

"Lily's shouting at James to get down but he can't hear her since they were so far away. He used a charm on his wand so it amplified as a large microphone and before he jumped, he shouted into it. 'Anything for my Lily-flower'."

"And I have no idea how he survived," the blonde said, only knowing part of the story. "But I knew I saw him jump off the Astronomy tower. Lily thought he was dead."

In reality, James had his Quidditch broom under his Invisibility Cloak so when he jumped off the Astronomy tower and disappeared from the sight of Lily and Caroline, he boarded his broom and landed safely.

"But, it turns out, he was somehow perfectly safe and uninjured. Lily whacked the back of his head so harshly when he showed up to the Quidditch field."

"Did it actually work?" Harry asked.

"Oh God no," Caroline giggled. "She didn't talk to him for days and still refused to date him. I saw James moping around in the common room about it once."

a/n: i keep updating sm and i literally need to stop