Falling, Fallen || Remus Lupin

Chapter Eighteen

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A couple of cold days passed since the news spread about the disappearance of Rosemary's parents.

After all, it was only a matter of time before the Daily Prophet published an official coverage of the story, reporting that Hogwarts was now the next wizarding school in line that had fallen victim to the disappearances.

Though Rosemary's name and identity was concealed within the article, it evidentially made no difference given that Dumbledore had practically announced it during an official school meeting later that afternoon.

During his typical speech, Dumbledore had appointed to all Hogwarts students that a new rule on school grounds had been imposed.

Each student must now keep constant owl communications with their families and that all letters exchanged will be "reviewed"... for safety purposes.

The Headmaster ended his speech with the usual "stay strong during these dark times, Hogwarts is the safest place to be..." spiel, and mentioned briefly that his thoughts go out to Rosemary Eloise Merlow, who was the only student not in attendance.

It was safe to say that this had definitely been the most torturous week for the young witch.

All Rosemary wanted to do was to clear her mind of the constant stress for her parents' well-being, attend her classes and avoid everyone's constant stares. However, that was rather difficult when every minute a brand new student she had never spoken to would stop her in her tracks and give their condolences, as if her family were already gone. 

Each time that happened, Rosemary grew more and more somber, wanting to hex anyone that approached her even before they opened their mouths, resulting in her isolating herself from everyone's pity.

Remus and the others could tell their friend was succumbing to the hopelessness that kept inching its way closer and closer to Rosie's psyche, feeling helpless themselves whenever she would leave a crowded room to be alone with her thoughts.

This pained Remus the most particularly, as he couldn't get her out of his mind. He knew they needed to still talk about what "us" really meant for the both of them, though now was not the right time to do so.

It seemed like there never was a right time. Something always managed to stand in the way, he thought bitterly.

Nonetheless, he realized that was a selfish thought to have, and that all he truly wanted was the old Rosemary back... whether it was through friendship, or something more. At this point, he didn't mind which.

"How many words do you think she has exclusively spoken to us this week?" Peter announced loudly to the others as they all sat around the Gryffindor common room, pondering about their friend's current emotional state.

"Confidently speaking... two." James deadpanned, frustratingly tossing his leftover orange peels from his afternoon snack into the fireplace ashes.

"I don't blame her, honestly." Sirius mumbled underneath his breath, as he looked back at the stairs leading to the girls dorm solemnly, wishing she would simply come out of her room and talk to them again.

"Me neither." Lenna added grimly.

Remus was listening intently to everyone's open thoughts as he quietly sipped on his dark, sweetened coffee. It always calmed his nerves to drink a cup of black coffee with about ten spoonfuls of sugar. However the more his friends spoke about Rosie, the more agitated he felt.

"Godrick knows I wouldn't want to talk to anyone if my family went missing and everyone started treating me like some delicate little thing that needed saving." Marleen announced defensively, tossing her Quidditch gloves on the pillow resting beside Sirius' head.