AUTOPHOBIA - G. WEASLEY

Summer, 1994: The letter

✯ CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE ✯

July 25th, 1994.

Estella woke up early. 8am to be precise -- and that was rare for her, in the summer holidays.

She thought about lying down and trying to go back to sleep, but considered it kind of pointless and decided to just allow her body to work its natural ways. There was a sound of rustling and moving from the kitchen, and Estella wondered if perhaps this was what had woken her up, so decided to head down and investigate.

It was Remus. He was stood in the corner of their small kitchen, several grocery bags, placing things in different cupboards. This wouldn't have bothered Estella normally -- but it was 8am, and Remus had gone to bed after her. Late.

"You went out already?" she asked.

Remus jumped. He clearly had not noticed her, and she felt just a little guilty at the fright she'd given him when he clutched his chest. He looked at her.

"Stella. Did I wake you?"

"No," she said, though he might have, she wasn't really sure what had woken her. "I was awake."

He turned, looking less taken aback now, and started putting more of the groceries away. "You're up early," he mused.

"So are you," Estella pointed out. They weren't looking at each other. "And you went to bed after me."

She didn't have to be looking at Remus to know that he had rolled his eyes at that. He hated when Estella showed any form of concern towards him, but she quite frankly could not help herself and also found it slightly hypocritical that he was allowed to go off at her about getting enough sleep and other things when he didn't do so himself. There was silence between them until Remus spoke.

"I had to get up early today to go grocery shopping, since I never ended up getting the chance yesterday."

This was honestly probably the poorest excuse Estella had ever heard. It was almost laughable, and at the same she almost wanted to congratulate her godfather for coming up with something so creative.

"All the shops around here are open late," she said.

"They close at 4pm on Sundays," Remus pointed out. Estella wanted to laugh again.

"Still, it's 8am right now."

He didn't have a response for this, and honestly, she'd expected that. He continued putting things away; placing tins in one cupboard and then moving to the fridge and freezer and putting the required things in there.

"I wish you wouldn't worry so much about me," he said eventually. "It's really not your job."

Estella simply stared at him. "It's important to sleep. You tell me all the time."

"I did sleep."

"For how long?"

"Long enough." Remus had a hint of frustration on his face, his eyebrows furrowing. "Estella, please."

She gave up. Arguing was useless with him, anyway. "Fine. Do you need any help putting the shopping away?"

"You can put these in the bathroom," he said, handing her a packet of soap, some toothpaste, and a bottle of mouthwash. "The rest is pretty much done. I'm going to make breakfast -- I thought we could all eat together, but I don't know when he'll be up."