𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 | remus lupin

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄

[ 𝐂 𝐇 𝐀 𝐏 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑  𝐓 𝐖 𝐄 𝐍 𝐓 𝐘  𝐅 𝐈 𝐕 𝐄 ]

𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓾𝓵𝓵 𝓶𝓸𝓸𝓷

WHEN WINNIE WOKE up, she woke up cold, alone and not in her bed. She knew these things immediately, without opening her eyes.

The cold pierced bone deep, making her feel achy and tense immediately. All around her, all she could feel was the lightweight blanket draped across her supine body. There were no familiar black curls tickling her chin, or Sirius' cold feet tucked against her own, or Peter's faint snores, or Lily's faint scent of floral shampoo, or Remus' slightly calloused and scarred hand pressed against her palms.

She was alone when she remembered what happened. When the cold came not just from the bitter air, but from herself, engulfing her.

She pulled herself into an upright position and swung her feet over the edge of the bed, wincing when her feet touched the cold ground.

"Accio shoes," she whispered, holding out her wand. "Lumos."

Newly equipped with shoes and light, she stumbled sleepily towards the window for fresh air in hopes it would blow away the knot of dreadful emotions twisting inside of her chest.

For a moment, it worked.

She closed her eyes and allowed the gentle wind and the soft light from the full moon wash over her. Winnie inhaled deeply and held it before exhaling. She did this multiple times, enjoying the feeling of her muscles slowly relaxing.

Eventually, however, the comfort was soon replaced with the building storm of emotions arising once more. She tried to swallow it back, like she'd done all night, but in the dark, all alone in the quiet, there was nothing to listen to except for the voice in her head.

The voice said it was her fault. She knew the relationship wasn't healthy, it wasn't good anymore. It hadn't been for a while. But she had hoped that it would blow away. That she could be like her parents and be so lucky that her first boyfriend would be the one. She'd held that hope so hard, it cracked under the pressure, and her along with it.

The storm inside her reared again when she thought of how cold she'd been to everyone. She'd pushed away her brothers, ignored her best friends, and isolated herself from Remus because of unnecessary guilt.

She'd handed the reins of her life to Everett and he had steered her awry.

Winnie wasn't sure she'd be able to find her way back, not alone at least.

With that thought, she went to go back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Maybe find James or Lily and distract herself. But when she started to turn from the window, she saw movement.

She leaned out a bit further and squinted her eyes. She rubbed them once more to make sure she wasn't mistaken, but the view didn't change. It was Severus Snape making his way across the yard.

Lily called it a Potter's sixth sense to tell when Slytherins were up to no good, particularly that Slytherin. At the moment, her sixth sense was going off like no one's business.

So with nothing to lose and not a moment to spare, she lifted one leg then the other over the window guard and began scaling her way down to the yard.

She knew if a teacher saw her now, they'd have a heart attack. But to WInnie, scaling the tower was second nature. It had been since she, James, and Sirius would sneak out and learn every inch and cranny of the school. Originally, it was to distract Sirius from the letters from home, but eventually it was something she loved.