Life choices (Remus Lupin Marauders era)

Chapter 30

I've finally brought myself to go back in the greenhouse since the incident. But sadly I'm going back to school tonight and my plants are left to fend for themselves. The token plant that I have decided to take with me is a small, potted, spiked thing that Arthur proudly gave to me on his most recent visit, as a good luck symbol, he said. I just hope that it works.

I have yet to name it, or find its actual botanical name.

I make sure that everything I need is packed up properly in my trunk before heading downstairs to the kitchen. Mum and dad stand around the table, their backs facing me and their heads bowed down, talking lowly and softly. I cough to signal my presence and they spin around in fright.

"Immy! You scared me. How many times have I told you to not creep up on me like this?" Mum scolds but it quickly turns into a warm smile. "Got everything ready?"

I nod and she grins.

"Now, I know that your pet died a while ago, well, recently your father and I have been talking and we both think that it's high time we got you a new one." Her grin grows wider and after a minute of waiting for something to happen, she hits dad with her elbow. He jumps into action and picks up a small box from the table, handing it to me. "Go on open it." Mum urges.

I open the lip up cautiously, trying not to startle anything that might be hiding inside. My eyes widen in shock and happiness as I see a small, ginger and blonde ferret lying in a bundle of daily prophet shreds.

"We thought a ginger one would be good, part of the family, and blonde, as part of you." Dad explains, smiling proudly at his logical decisions. "She's only a couple of months old, doesn't have a name yet either. We though you could pick one out."

I bite my lip in thought and lift the ferret out of the cramped box, looking into its dark brown eyes for inspiration. She definitely has a mix of all of us, blonde fur that turns ginger at the ends. A perfect combination of both me and my family.

Biscuit. I confidently write after a minute of silence. She reminds me of a cross between a custard cream and a ginger nut.

They look down at me in confusion.

Muggle biscuits that Lily likes to bring for our dorm. I explain, clearing the befuddlement from the air.

Their heads bop up and down in a nod as they smile down at me and carefully stroke the little ferrets head. She falls asleep straight away in my arms and I smile in joy. Mum and dad show me her cage, which I honestly don't think she'll be staying in much, and give me a load of food, saying that they'll send more if I need it.

I smile and thank them again before heading back upstairs to show Biscuit my bedroom. People would be lying if they say that they haven't ever given their pet a tour of the house. Unless it's a goldfish, or something that can't be easily shown around.

Gideon and Fabian suddenly appear in the doorway of my sanctuary as I'm mentally talking to the sleeping ferret. They join me on my bed and coo at it, running their fingers across it's soft head and admiring it's tiny features. I explain the thoughtfulness behind my name choice and they nod in understanding, knowing about the type of biscuits and everything else that I needed to explain to my parents.

I make sure that absolutely everything I need for school has been taken out of my room before heading back down to the kitchen. The twins wait for me, their (almost) identical rats cuddled in their arms.

We say goodbye to Molly and dad as mum escorts us down to the station. I relax into the hustle and bustle of students returning to school. I say a quick goodbye to mum and she promises to send food for both me and Biscuit. Before shooing us away she pulls me into a tight hug.

"Don't let anyone get to you, ever. You are beautiful and incredible. You don't need a hundred and one fans following you around. You have true friends, and that's better than anything."

I nod in gratitude of that little rant and she plants a firm, yet still somehow soft, kiss on my forehead. She smiles down at me, trying to pass her confidence through to me in her expression. I give her a reassuring smile back and she wipes her lipstick print off my forehead with the heel of her hand before pushing me into the crowds.

I manage to locate Lily by her fiery red head and run up to proudly show her my new pet. She admires it and tells me how lucky I am, her own owl hooting in its cage for attention. I carefully stroke it's feathered head through the thin metal bars and smile, happy that I now have a pet along with everyone else.

We head onto the train, meeting up with the others in our dorm for the journey. I'm so thankful that we're able to avoid a collision with the marauders through the whole journey. I introduce them to biscuit and Lily is happy and surprised that she had a hand in the creation of the name.

We head straight up to our rooms and I place the plant on my desk and ask anyone if they know what it is. Lily smiles, telling me that it's a cactus and they're a fairly common muggle plant. I thank her and we get everything ready for the next day of school, chatting about Christmas and what happened during the break. I leave out the part about what exactly happened on the 25th and make up some happy memories that I wish had happened.

I want to crawl under my covers and die as soon as Lily starts talking about how she, James, Sirius and I were at my house, plotting how to get Lupin and I. In return I tell them all the lovey dovey stuff about her and James which she tactfully left out.

I fall asleep that night with a firm smile fixed on my face and hope that things might be looking up for me.

---

Hallo everyone, oh my gosh I've just started watching supernatural and ITS INCREDIBLE, but I'm only on the third episode so I might be jumping the gun a bit. Oh well.

Anyway, your comments can make my day so thank you people who ever do comment or vote.

P.S. I want to know how many of you actually read this, at the start, it was literally a dream to have people comment on my writing and everything, I still don't get that many compared to some others but hey, I'm pleased.

QOTD : what countries are you all from?

I'm English

~ Molly xxx