JULIET {remus lupin}

ONE HUNDRED AND SIX

Anne and James stood outside the Romilly Manor on Christmas morning, both gawping at it.

"And here I was thinking your London flat was fancy," she muttered to him.

He leant into her, "my family home is much fancier," he whispered in her ear, joking. The muggle woman rolled her eyes and elbowed him, not taking her eyes off the huge, beautiful house before her.

"Does Juliet have a single fault?" Anne asked, laughing.

"She'd say no if you asked her," a voice spoke from behind them, and Anne swirled around and grinned widely at the sight of Remus Lupin holding a crate of wine. The man put the box down and embraced his old friend, who hugged him tightly, whispering that she had missed him enormous amounts.

"Merry Christmas, Roberts," Remus said once Anne had let him go, shaking the man's hand with a friendly nod. He noticed the blonde woman still looking at the house in awe, "crazy, isn't it?" Remus asked her, following her eyeline.

"It's the nicest house I've ever seen," she muttered.

"Me too," Remus said. "Come on, come in, you're the first here."

"Who else is coming?" James asked, following the man down a tree lined path leading up to the house.

"The Tonks', I believe. Not sure if you remember Kingsley, year above us in Gryffindor? I believe Nymphadora extended the invitation to him. I told Molly and Arthur they could come round if the kids drive them too insane, Bill, their eldest, was keen to accept."

"Nice," Anne smiled, not remembering, or having any clue, who any of the people mentioned were. She only cared about being with three people on Christmas day, and the third stood on the doorstep of the house, in a sparkling green dress, smiling widely. The blonde woman jogged toward her, and the dark haired witch stepped forwards, her arms outstretched, and pulled her friend into a hug.

Anne pulled away, holding the witch at arm's length, "Merry Christmas, Juliet."

Juliet grinned, "Merry Christmas, Annie, thanks for coming." The dark haired witch smiled as James Roberts pulled her in, watching how Remus' face lit up as Anne embraced him. The witch stepped aside, letting Anne and James enter her house first, holding in a laugh as the muggle woman squealed at a disgusted looking elf. Remus and Juliet followed in behind the pair, he quickly put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her, "Merry Christmas, Romilly." The witch looked up at the man and smiled, "you too, Lupin."

The four sat in the middle of a very large, long table, with Anne giggling frequently at the elf as she begrudgingly filled the muggle woman's quickly drained wine glass. Remus had enchanted the ceiling with floating candles, and the three former students couldn't help but grin widely when they looked up at it. Anne remarked on how pretty Esmeralda Romilly had been, and began to ask questions about the witch's parents before Remus changed the subject quickly, Juliet wouldn't ever mind telling Annie anything, she was probably one of her best friends.

"How's it been then?" The blonde woman asked, her cheeks tinted pink and her eyes a little glazed as she sipped the wine. "Working together?"

James grinned at his girlfriend, they had both wondered, but both felt they needed a few drinks before getting into it.

Juliet and Remus looked at each other, both hesitating to speak first, the witch cracked a smile and drew away from his eye contact, smiling at Anne.

"It's nice. Hogwarts has always been home, but now it's even more familiar. It's good to have each other."

Remus nodded, "I'm glad Juliet's there, she's certainly made settling in a lot easier."

"Like a marauder would ever struggle to settle back into Hogwarts," James grinned, not noticing the man's smile falter a little.