In a universe where Voldemort never became powerful enough to terrify people for decades after the first Wizarding War, Peter didn't betray his friends, and Remus Lupin fell in love with his best friend's twin sister.
Marauders era
Remus Lupin × fem...
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July 1977
The day of the funeral, it was yet again a sunny day. Quite expected to be honest, it was summer after all.
Far from the cliché some of them were expecting. It wasn't raining, the sky was not crying with them, their dark outfits did not match the angry clouds.
The twins could not sleep that night. They've barely slept at all after Fleamont died to be honest, only fainted due to the exhaustion at some point. It was worrying, but not much could be done.
They weren't dealing with one, but two losses, and the best everyone could do was to be there and make sure they wouldn't give up on everything else.
Sirius had moved out of their house after they graduated, he had his own apartment, yet him too, was staying with them. He was heartbroken too, having lost the people who loved him more than his actual parents, but he knew his pain was nothing compared to the twins'.
Though pain was not to be compared. All were suffering. There was no degree when it came to the aching hearts.
~
It was time. But someone had lost all notion of time.
Juliet was gasping for air, her throat feeling sore, she was ransacking her parents' room, throwing everything out on the floor, searching everywhere for something that she knew nothing about.
Hearing the commotion, Remus was sent upstairs to get her so they could leave for the cemetery.
But when the werewolf's eyes fell on his girlfriend's figure emptying her mother's drawers, his heart dropped.
"Juliet." He called softly, causing her to freeze. "What are you doing, love?"
"It's here somewhere. It has to be. I know it is." She mumbled, resuming the search.
Her frantic state was extremely worrying to her boyfriend, he didn't know how to calm her down anymore, and he was fearing she would succumb to the pain and lose her mind.
She had lost her parents but he felt like he was losing her.
"What are you looking for?"
"I don't know." She replied, observing a little box for a moment before also throwing it away.
"You don't know?"
"She said to complete it. But complete what? She didn't say it. She didn't tell me anything else. She just gave me the key. She didn't say what it opened. I thought it'd be a box but there's no boxes. So what could you possibly open with a key?" She rambled, agitated, violently kicking a drawer shut.
"Juliet!" Remus called a bit louder, walking towards her, grabbing her wrists to keep her put. "Stop, please stop."
She looked at him, eyes still wide as she was trying to control her breathing.
"What key, what are you talking about?"
"I need something I can open with a key. Mum gave me the key." She muttered.
Staring at her with a sad expression, Remus sighed before loosening his grip on her.
"I'll help you look for it later, alright? We need to go now, love, everyone's waiting for you."
Blinking slowly, she nodded, letting her boyfriend lead her out of the room, her free hand still clutched on the key.
~
Juliet had isolated herself. Sitting against a tree in the backyard, staring up at the sky. She knew James must have also isolated himself in his room.
They were tired. Of people commenting on the beautiful day and the even more beautiful ceremony, presenting their condolences and telling them that their parents would always be with them.
She didn't want to hear it anymore. It made it worse. People telling them that their parents would never really leave their side, yet all they could feel was the void.
It was so normal to have them around. Their presence was barely felt, as they were just part of the daily routine. But now, their absence could be felt.
To fill the empty space, Juliet was trying to imagine her dad drinking a cup of coffee by the window, as her mother was gardening--
Gardening? Her mother hated gardening, she hated getting dirty. She let Juliet take care of their flowers.
But why did gardening cross her mind? She let her eyes fall on the flowers planted near their house, all in great shape thanks to Hope, who had cared for them when Juliet was too occupied with her own thoughts.
Three plants stood out next to her own. She stood up, walking towards the plants and sitting in front of them, eyebrows furrowed.
There, next to her beautiful Gardenias, was a red Poppy, a Cinquefoil and a Vervain. It looked terrible next to her own flowers, but she knew there had to be a reason for these three specific plants to be there.
She knew there was a reason her mother suddenly decided to join her daily gardening sessions.
The Cinquefoil plant, also called Potentilla, with its few adorable little yellow flowers, had a very specific meaning. For Beloved Daughter, Maternal Affection.
Her eyes immediately fell on the Vervain next to it as she started to understand that it was a message her mother knew Juliet would easily decipher. The tiny purple flowers represented the request for a prayer. Pray for me, protection against evil.
Confused, she finally looked at the red Poppy, knowing it to symbolize both remembrance and hope for a peaceful future.
The meaning of each flowers were repeating themselves in her head, as though the flowers themselves were muttering to her repeatedly.
Once clicked in her head, she froze for a second before letting her gaze fall on the ploughed soil hidden behind the three symbolic plants.
Hurriedly reaching to dig with her bare hands, she didn't even care about how dirty she was getting, she simply continued digging until her fingers felt something hard burrowed under all that soil.
Drawing it out forcefully, she saw a box. A box that one could open easily if they possessed the key.
Without hesitating a second more, Juliet took the box in her arms and rushed inside the house, past the guests and up to her room. She made sure to close the door shut before taking her key out and inserting it in the small keyhole.
A small sound resonated when she managed to unlock it, and slowly she opened it, staring at the notebook laying inside.
It called for a long reading session. One that would reveal more secrets than imagined.
