You Only Live Once

CHAPTER 5

The last three weeks had passed with a speed that left Mira breathless. If someone had told her a month ago that she would be living in a cozy cottage with the Lupin family, she would have called them mad. When she first learned she would be staying with them for four weeks before moving to the Potters for a more permanent stay, a heavy sense of dread had settled in her chest.

It wasn't that she didn't like the Lupins. It was the opposite. She knew them too well, yet she didn't know them at all. Reading about someone in a book was safe. You could see their thoughts and feel their pain from behind a paper shield, never having to worry about what to say or how to act. Now, the shield was gone. She had to be a real person, not just a reader. She had to navigate real conversations and look into eyes that held real history.

Thankfully, Hope and Lyall Lupin were absolute sweethearts. They treated Mira not like a strange girl from another dimension, but like a daughter they had simply been waiting to welcome home. Lyall was quiet and kind, often found tinkering with magical objects, while Hope was a burst of warmth, always making sure Mira had enough to eat or a warm blanket.

And then there was Remus. He refused to leave her side for a moment. It was as if he felt responsible for her, or perhaps he just enjoyed having someone around who didn't look at him with pity. That changed, however, the day after they arrived from Hogwarts.

The full moon was approaching, and Mira could see the transformation happening before it even began. Remus grew pale. His movements became stiff, and his temper, usually so calm, frayed at the edges. He became incredibly uncomfortable, his eyes darting to the windows as the sun began to set.

"Stay away from the windows tonight, Mira" he had told her, his voice tight with a pain he was trying to hide. "Lock your bedroom door. It would be best if you just slept through the night like nothing was happening. Please."

Hope and Lyall had to leave , leaving the two teenagers alone in the house. Remus had locked himself in the reinforced cellar, a place Mira wasn't allowed to go. But Mira's heart couldn't handle the idea of leaving him entirely on his own. She knew what happened in that cellar. She had read the descriptions of the wolf tearing at its own skin out of loneliness and frustration.

So, she didn't sleep. She spent the entire night in the kitchen, illuminated only by a small candle. She moved like a ghost, preparing bandages, cleaning cloths, and the healing potions Hope had left out on the counter. She boiled water and sat in the silence, listening to the distant, muffled sounds that made her blood run cold.

At six in the morning, the cellar door finally creaked open. A wounded, exhausted Remus stumbled into the hallway. His clothes were torn to rags, and new red scratches lined his pale arms. His eyes were half-closed, hooded with a fatigue so deep it looked like it belonged to an old man.

Mira had read about his condition a hundred times, but the books had never prepared her for the smell of copper and sweat, or the way his hands shook as he tried to steady himself against the wall. She didn't hesitate. She rushed to him, throwing one of his arms over her shoulder to guide him to the sofa. She cleaned his cuts with a gentle hand and held a cup of water to his lips.

From that morning on, something shifted. Remus became even more protective of her, but in a way that felt like a deep, unspoken bond. They spent every waking moment together. As the final week of her stay approached, they were inseparable. They would even drag their blankets into the same room, propping themselves up against the pillows and talking until the stars faded and their eyes finally gave out.

"What time is she getting here, Remus dear?" Hope's voice called out from the kitchen, breaking the quiet of the afternoon.

"At six, Mom!" Remus shouted back from the living room.