Whisper Courage

Filth

            After eating the food that Sadie had prepared, dancing, and shoving cake at each other, Aurora and Lupin prepared to go back to their flat for their wedding night.

“So how does it feel to be Mrs. Lupin?” He teased Aurora as they walked into their kitchen. He placed the large helping of wedding cake they had leftover into the fridge.

“When you say it like that, it makes me feel old,” she grinned.

“Old is one thing you most certainly are not,” he assured her. She put her arms around his neck once more. It was like they had just begun dating- she was filled with butterflies and nervous anticipation once more and she just could not stop touching him.

“I can’t lie; I was terrified,” he admitted, managing a smile. He knew she would understand.

            The night was perfect as they enjoyed their honeymoon together. It didn’t matter that they weren’t somewhere else, on vacation, as most people liked to do. All the nervousness they’d had before was gone and in its place was passion. The night seemed to last forever and yet it was over too soon. They were still awake, lying together, when the sun rose and began to shine through their window. It was only then that they finally drifted off into a peaceful slumber, not waking until the afternoon.

            Aurora smiled at him and they finally decided to get up and eat something. Her stomach was suddenly ravenous, and they strolled into the kitchen to throw something together for lunch. She was just about to rinse off some salad greens when an owl appeared at the window. She walked briskly to let it in. She recognized the owl as belonging to the Weasley family, and returned Remus's anxious glance before untying the parchment from its leg. She opened it carefully and brought a hand to her mouth unconsciously as she read the words, written in Molly's neat script. Sadie was in hiding. Death Eaters had come early...early? They had said they would wait until the next week, didn't they? She realized that she never heard Yaxley say that specifically, and kicked herself for not telling Sadie to leave Saturday. It was okay though, right? She got away. She was safe.

She walked slowly back into the kitchen, her eyes still trained on the letter before looking up. Remus was looking at her expectantly.

"It's Sadie...the Death Eaters came earlier than we thought they would. She managed to get away," Aurora said, her voice a mixture of emotions, but worried and relieved. Something else struck her- if they had stormed her apartment, they would have seen all the decorations. But how would they know who it was getting married, if they even realized that's what it was? She tried to convince herself that it was all right- if anything, they would have thought that it was Sadie's wedding, wouldn't they? She knew she was kidding herself; Sadie was not seeing anyone.

"I just hope she's all right," Aurora said softly.

“I’m sure she is fine,” Lupin tried to reassure her, “after all, the letter said she was. I’m sure Molly will check up on her.”

“Yeah,” Aurora agreed, though her voice was not filled with any conviction. Lupin knew she was still worried and he was, too. How long would it be before they had to try to hide?

Aurora was able to relax more as the day went on and she heard nothing bad from Molly and she tried to convince herself that no news was better than bad news right now. She and Remus went to bed earlier than usual, partially because of the lack of sleep they'd had the night before. She didn't fall asleep for a long time and for a while, just laid there curled up in Remus's arms, listening to his breathing. The slow, steady rhythm comforted her somehow, as well as his warmth. She finally drifted off into a worried sleep, and awoke in the morning after tortured dreams in which Sadie died, and told Aurora it was all Kinsey.