James and Lily Potter : Sixth year

Chapter 19: summer of sixth year

Remus couldn't stop grinning as Sirius told him the whole tale of what happened so far in the summer. Lily and James were almost together. Those words sounded unbelievable until now.

"Remus, be a gentleman and show the girls their room," said Mrs. Lupin, giving a critical eye on her son.

"Yes, Mum." He whisked away the girls and told them their room was right next to the Marauders'.

"Have fun," he added with a wink, and went downstairs again.

"Never knew Remus had it in him," said Violet, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, he is wonderful, isn't he?" said Jennifer dreamily.

The other three girls sighed at their best friend's dreamy state.

Back downstairs, James, Sirius, Remus, and Jackson were all in Lupin's family room, listening to Sirius' so-called "chilling" tale, continued.

"—and now they're going out," he finished triumphantly, amid claps and cheers by the other two boys. James was too busy blushing.

"We're not going out, Padfoot," he said, annoyed.

"Yet," said Sirius, grinning.

"That's quite a story," said Jackson, genuinely interested. "Your children will be drooling by the time you finish it, James."

"Yeah, but I'll probably be the last to get married. After all, Lily still needs to think about it before we go out. You'll probably be the first to marry, Padfoot; you're already thinking of proposing to Arabella."

"Yeah, but what about Moony? He seems more like the husband sort, not me."

"I—er—" Remus stuttered awkwardly.

"You're not going to break up with Jennifer, are you?" said James, thunderstruck. "We thought you were joking last time!"

"I wasn't. I'm quite serious about it now, guys."

"Why would you break up with Jennifer?" queried Jackson, perplexed.

"Our relationship isn't working out too well," he replied quickly.

"You guys look fine to me. Besides, you'd break the poor girl's heart if you break up with her. After all, Remus, you and Jennifer look pretty cosy and happy together."

James sighed. He knew that they couldn't tell Jackson about Remus being a werewolf, even though he was nearly part of their group now. But he had to take sides with Jackson. Breaking their long relationship that lasted for nearly all of their years at Hogwarts would break Jennifer's heart into pieces. He had a feeling it wouldn't do justice to Remus as well.

"You are not going to do it," said Sirius angrily. "If you do it, Moony, I will hex you into oblivion."

"It isn't much of a choice," said Remus resignedly.

"I still don't understand," said Jackson impatiently. "Why would you do this, Remus? I mean, look at the facts: you and Jennifer are totally in love with each other. Why spoil the relationship when you don't even know why yourself?"

"I know why," said Remus, starting to get angry as well.

"Then tell us!" roared Jackson, standing up. Remus followed suit.

"What in Merlin's beard is going on?" demanded the girls, coming downstairs toward them. "Remus, Jackson, what are you doing?"

"He—" Remus pointed an accusatory finger at Jackson. "He insulted me, the prat!"

"I did no such thing!" shot back Jackson furiously.

Lily rolled her eyes and sighed. "Look, what happened?"

"None of your business!" the both of them shouted at once.

"Jackson, you're acting a bit too aggressive now," said Violet, eyeing her boyfriend warily.

"You, too, Remus," stated Jennifer, clearly in shock. "You're usually not like this."

"Dinner, kids!" called Mrs. Lupin from the dining room.

The Lupin's house wasn't as large or as ornate as the Potter mansion, but it was still nice and cosy to be in. They also had a chandelier right above the table, and Mrs. Lupin was also an excellent cook like Mrs. Walker was when they visited last summer.

"Very delicious pie, Mrs. Lupin," complimented Sirius. But unlike Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Lupin didn't blush or giggle.

"Thank you, Sirius," she said graciously, smiling at the boy. "Have you had enough? There's plenty more where that came from."

"Oh, yes," said Sirius quickly. Everyone chuckled at his eagerness. Sirius was always one for food.

James shook his head. "Sirius always likes to flatter Mrs. Lupin, but it never works," he explained to the girls and Jackson.

"I was not," protested Sirius, "I was merely stating the truth."

"Yeah, right." He snorted. "You've had that same pie for at least one hundred times, Sirius. Your charm may work on your girlfriend and your numerous fan clubs, but it doesn't work on Mrs. Lupin."

"That's right," agreed Mrs. Lupin. "I am a married woman of twenty-four years with two children, Sirius. I don't fall for your 'charms', as you call them, as twenty-year-old women do."

"Though I don't understand why," added Jackson, who was considerably calmer by then.

Mr. Lupin laughed lightly. Lily thought of him as a very nice man and very like Remus: quiet, yet kind. Mrs. Lupin, however, seemed the gregarious type; she laughed with the boys and shared jokes with them. Remus' younger sister, Rebecca Lupin, who was going into her third year at Hogwarts, was more like her mother in those ways.