𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 ❧ remus lupin

VII. Family Holiday Nightmare

"A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep."

Juliet's POV

After sneaking back into the girl's dorm and sleeping for about an hour, I was woken by Lily shaking my shoulders violently until I woke up and stopped her. Every time I sleep late, Lily has done this as a joke since our first year. Back then, I was extremely annoyed by it, but now I find it laughable that Lily does it every single time.

"Alright Lily, I'm up!" I joked with her, Alice and Marlene laughing at the both of us.

Quickly I got dressed, fixed my hair, and put on the slightest bit of makeup as usual, and went with Lily down to the common room. Within a few minutes, the boys joined us and we casually walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. On this early December morning, there was a fair bit of snow dusted on the ground, which filled the castle with a larger wintery feeling than before.

Even that gorgeous wintery feeling couldn't distract me from what happened this morning with Sirius and Remus. Oh, that unfortunate moment might've seriously cost me. I just hope Sirius doesn't put two and two together and realize that I was with Remus this morning because I too am a werewolf. But Sirius didn't ever strike me as the type of guy that would tell anyone if he found out, hopefully.

Anyways, after breakfast, we all finished up our few classes for the day and got ready for the winter holiday. Of course, since the first term was coming to an end, it was time for our course exams. Ugh! Why does the 'most wonderful time of the year' need to be interrupted by the lousy course examinations? Honestly, these finals drive me up a bloody wall.

This afternoon I have my last exam in Muggle Studies, which should be pretty simple. After all, it's not a very hard subject. And since I've been studying around the clock with Remus, I think I'll do fine on it.

After that last examination, which did end up being relatively easy, I walked with Remus back to the Gryffindor common room, where I said goodbye to my friends before leaving for the winter holiday. Zoe was waiting for me by the exit of the common room; meanwhile, I had my trunk in hand to bring home and was giving hugs to my friends before leaving.

Even though the winter holiday was only until early January, I would miss my friends greatly, Remus especially, after everything we've been through throughout the fall. I think that after all, I can really trust Remus more than any of my other friends, which is something I didn't admit to myself until now. After the first full moon and the most recent one, Remus seems almost different to me, even though he hasn't changed one bit. It's kind of weird, actually.

Anyways, after saying goodbye to the boys and Lily, Zoe and I walked out into the corridor with our suitcases, about to take the Hogwarts Express back to Kings Cross Station, where we'd meet Uncle Oliver and Aunt Helena Fletcher.

And as we were walking through the corridor, Zoe tapped on my shoulder to get my attention. "Which one of your friends is the tall one with brown hair?" she asked.

Slightly confused with what she was leaning towards, I replied with, "Um, Remus. Why?"

"Oh because I'm pretty sure he fancies you."

"What?"

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

"Zoe!"

"For the thirty seconds that I was waiting for you to say goodbye to your friends, he was looking at you with wonder and mystery, like you're as pretty as the moon!" she cried.

Oh, the irony.

First of all, what has Zoe got tangled in that sixth-year mind of hers? How could Remus, the same Remus I've known since our first year, and the same Remus that nearly exposed me to Sirius, possibly fancy a girl like me? Especially since I'm a werewolf! Merlins Beard, sometimes I just don't understand Zoe.

And with Zoe's last statement I continued to think to myself about that. That slight possibility that someone that I'm very close to might thinks of me in a way that's more than a friend still baffles me. The last time this happened, I was a third year student, and Amos Diggory told me that he fancied me. But of course, third-year me knew absolutely nothing about relationships and decided to ignore Amos altogether. We haven't spoken since.

But if I'm being technical, the way he's acted around me has changed in a somewhat weird way.

Anyways, anything boys, fancying, or feelings related should be the last thing on my mind, since I was heading home with Zoe for the holidays. All I wanted to focus on was building snowmen, baking cookies, wrapping presents, and singing Christmas carols. The holiday season always excited me the most.

Just thinking about the fun holiday activities that Zoe and I were to be doing made my stomach do a barrel roll as I walked down the corridor. We walked through the corridor and outside to the main entrance to the castle, where we boarded the Hogwarts Express. The train would then take us to King's Cross Station, where we'd meet Helena and Oliver, and read home for the holidays.

Me and Zoe's time on the train felt longer than usual, and I wished for more people to talk to, or something interesting to do. Within minutes, my boredom took over, and I fell into a deep post-exam sleep.

While sleeping, I dreamt of the Christmas holiday with the Fletchers and imagined myself enjoying the break from school with my family. But soon something drifted and my mood shifted from happy to upset, and the bright Christmas colors faded to grey.

I blinked and ended up moved from the Fletcher home to a small, beat-up home that I had never seen before. I was standing motionless in the middle of a small living room. It was dark, and the furniture was just as dirty and worn out.

"Help me! Help me!" I heard a woman's voice scream from another room. But I couldn't move and felt useless. It was if my feet had been glued to the ground.

And suddenly, the woman burst into the room that I was standing in. It was my mother as I had last known her, and she was calling my name, asking for help. There was a man whose face I couldn't see holding a knife to her throat, and tears were streaming down my mother's face. I still couldn't move and could feel myself begin to rustle in my sleep, and I felt myself sweat in the dream.

"Juliet!" she cried, the man still holding a sharp knife to her throat while she perished. The unfamiliar man, whose face felt blurry and unrecognized, laughed in an uncanny way and looked at me as if I would be his next target.

I could feel myself getting nervous, and heard a faint voice of a young girl calling my name as I grew even more scared. I screamed in my dream, and my mother screamed as the man began to wiggle the knife.

"Juliet!" I heard Zoe cry, realizing that she was the voice of the young girl who had woken me from my frightening dream. I opened my eyes to see my cousin shaking my shoulders and wiping the sweat off of my forehead with a tissue. "Are you alright Jules?" she asked me, as I sat up, watching people get off the train through the glass doors of the compartment. I quickly rose, and brushed the fear from my dream off my shoulders, and exited the Hogwarts Express with Zoe by my side.

We met Helena and Oliver and drove away in the old station wagon while listening to the radio hits. Helena and Oliver spent most of the time on the ride home shooting Zoe and I questions about our first few months of school. But, I was distracted by my conflicting dream, and couldn't get it off my mind for the rest of the day.

Word Count: 1383