selenophile || remus lupin

chapter eighty eight

8 July 1977

2:14 am

All four boys' heads shot up at the sound of Mia coming into the kitchen. They all had terrified looks on their faces. Sirius, seeing the tears on Mia's face, assumed the worst and started crying harder than he had been, putting a shaking hand up to his mouth.

"What happened? Can I see her?" Remus said, standing up from the table quickly, nearly hitting the chandelier above him.

"She's alive. That's all that matters. But no, she needs rest, and as much of it as possible. I've given her a sleeping drought, but with all that she's been through, she'll most likely sleep through it and after. She'll be out for quite a while if I had to guess."

Sirius looked up through watery eyes, "She's alive?"

"Yes, Sirius. She is alive. She's in a lot of pain and she lost a lot of blood, but she is breathing and she is stable."

"When will we be able to see her?" James asked.

"Tomorrow, maybe. She won't be awake by then, but if you three are quiet and respectful, you can see her."

Remus stumbled over to where Mia stood and pulled her into a tight hug. He buried his face into her shoulder, whispering "thank you," over and over again.

✩☾✩☽✩

11 July 1977

4:49 pm

Ophelia woke up, having barely any recollection of what had happened before she passed out. She remembered being at Grimmauld Place, forced into a betrothal with Evan, and being punished for speaking against it all. But when she opened her eyes, she was met with soft sunlight pouring through translucent curtains and the quiet hum of birds out the window. This wasn't Grimmauld Place, anyone could tell you that. At Grimmauld Place, when she woke up, it was dark and quiet, and Ophelia could feel the dark magic surrounding her at all times. There was no dark magic where she was, and as odd as it sounds, it made her uneasy. She was used to the feeling of evil coursing around her, and it felt unnatural to wake up over the summer holidays and not feel that. Of course, she was relieved to not feel the awful aura of Grimmauld Place, but she became restless knowing that she wasn't there. If she wasn't at Grimmauld Place, where would she be? Rosier Manor, maybe? Possibly Black Manor with her Aunt Druella and Uncle Cygnus?

As she looked around the room more, she saw a figure in the corner, reading in an armchair by the window. Startled by the man, she quickly sat up, gasping in pain at the sudden movement. The man looked up towards her and once recognizing her consciousness, stood up and quickly started walking towards her. Ophelia fumbled around the sheets for any sign of her wand, but she came up empty handed and the man was walking closer. In a panic, Ophelia lifted her hand and muttered out a hex towards him. He narrowly dodged it but swore in the process.

"Shit, Ophelia!" he said. Ophelia recognized that voice. While she was overjoyed to hear the voice of Remus Lupin, she became utterly terrified at his presence, still unsure of where she was, and still assuming it was at one of the Sacred Twenty Eight's Manors.

"Remus? You- you shouldn't be here!"

"It's okay, Fia. You're not-" he started to say, still moving slowly towards her.

"It's not safe here, Remus. What are you doing?"

"Is it okay that I come near you?" he said, slowly lifting his hands up towards his head to where she could see him.

"You should be finding a way out of here."

"You're not at Grimmauld Place, it's alright."

"I can see that, but where are we? Do you know where we are? Is this my Aunt Druella's house? Rosier Manor?"