Symphony || Remus Lupin

XXX

"Are you ready?" Myra nodded, facing the small, low-lying cottage. My grandparents are there. I'm going to meet them. She nodded, taking in a deep breath.

"Yeah."

∞-∞-∞

Myra had forgotten the 'joys' of apparating until Uncle Monty guided her outside of the Potter mansion, held her arm, and twisted on the spot. As her feet ripped off the ground, everything around her seemed to push in on her, her grip on Uncle Monty's arm as she felt her stomach contract viciously. All the air rushed out of her compressed lungs and she couldn't take a breath in.

Mildly panicking, when she finally felt solid ground under her feet, her knees buckled and she collapsed on the ground. As her chest rose and fell, each breath burning its way through her throat, she thought sadly that this wasn't that different to her fits, her panic attacks. Of course, she never teleported anywhere, but it would've been nice to leave whatever had caused the attack.

But no one can ever escape their memories.

Uncle Monty crouched over her, his hand soothingly running over her back. "It's okay. Most people vomit the first time they apparate. You're doing well, relatively."

Myra weakly smiled, pushing herself to her feet. "It wasn't that bad." He smiled at her, standing up. He led her out of the alleyway they had apparated into and they walked to the street.

"Your grandparents live on the outskirts," Uncle Monty stated, making a turn. "Elizabeth said that Thomas bought the house on the money he had made by working in the military. She was very proud of him for that. She was always proud of him. She'd be proud of you too."

As the duo walked, Myra noticed that the buildings started to grow smaller and the distance between them greater. She figured that they were approaching the edge of town. Their house should be somewhere here.

Hopefully.

At last, Uncle Monty made the last turn and stopped, causing her to stand beside him in confusion. She didn't see what was wrong.

In front of them was a small, one-story cottage with brick walls, a wooden roof, and bordered by a white picket fence. The red chimney on top puffed out steam into the air, barely visible in the growing heat waves. Small, creeper-like plants crawled up the sides of the house, just barely reached the round windows embedded in the walls. The door was the dark burgundy of burned wood with a small gold knocker. Small bunches of wildflowers sprang up from the green grass of the clearly tended-to lawn. The entire house was straight out of the fairytales Myra told herself to escape her memories.

"What's wrong?" She asked tentatively, peering up at him. She saw her uncle's face harden for a moment before looking down at her.

"The last time I was here, I told them that their son was dead." He took in a sharp breath as he saw her face fall. "You'll find out the details later." And as soon as it came, the hard expression softened to a relaxed smile. "Come on. Let's meet your grandparents."

With a giddy euphoria, she followed Uncle Monty as he confidently walked up to the door. He wrapped in the door with his knuckles his grin widening as he saw the way Myra bounced on her feet.

There was a shuffle and clatter inside as the person on the opposite side of the door came closer. Myra wrung her fingers together, unable to contain her nerves of... now she wasn't sure if it was happiness or anxiety.