Symphony || Remus Lupin

XLII

The anniversary of Myra's relationship was slowly approaching and she couldn't wait. She had enjoyed her birthday more than she thought. Her friends had gotten her a clothing piece each. Lily gave her an overlapping pale pink jacket with brown buttons, Marlene got her a sweater that faded from a brown-red to a light beige, and Alice got her mid-calf length brown leather boots and an almost white woolen hat.

"It has a poof ball!" She exclaimed joyfully, grabbing the hat and rubbing it against her cheek. "It's so soft!" Myra giggled, taking it from her and putting it on top of the jacket and sweater.

"Thank you," Myra said, starting to fold the clothes. Lily cleared her throat.

"We wanted you to wear this outfit when you went on your one-year anniversary with Remus."

"We thought that we should choose your outfit for you since you would probably end up panicking an hour before," Alice started to which Marlene continued.

"And I didn't want you looking like a newly grown mushroom." Myra rolled her eyes but thanked Marlene nonetheless.

At this point, she was sure that the Marauders and her were close enough to give each other useless things as gifts. Because that is exactly what they did. She wasn't expecting to get a box full of glitter and a note saying 'To make your day all the more shinier!' but that's what she got.

Remus, though, gave her a scarf. His scarf.

"Alice told me that girls like it when they wear their boyfriend's clothes," He said bashfully, looking down and rubbing the back of his neck. "I wasn't sure what you'd want, so I have you a scarf. I was going to give you a charm for your necklace but-" He stopped abruptly.

Myra laughed and hugged the dark brown scarf close to her. "Thank you, Remus. And Alice was right." He had given her a beaming smile before enveloping her in a soft but firm hug.

"Happy birthday, Myra," He said softly, mumbling against her hair.

That night, she had spent almost half an hour just holding the scarf to her nose and taking deep breaths, ignoring how the wool scratched at her nose and made her want to sneeze. It smelt like winter and chocolate and something musky that she couldn't identify.

∞-∞-∞

On the day of her anniversary, Myra had gotten up early. While she was getting her clothes on, she could hear Marlene groaning from outside as Lily and Alice pestered her to get up.

"You have to do Myra's makeup!" Lily yelled, "Or have you forgotten?"

"Oh right!" It hadn't been much trouble after that. If Myra had to choose any one thing that would get the girls out of bed, it would probably be the chance to see her squirm while Marlene applies makeup on her. They loved seeing her discomfort and loved gushing about it afterward.

After Myra had gotten out of the bathroom, she was not surprised to see the muggle products laid out in a row on Marlene's dresser with a chair right in front of it. None of them had to say anything as they watched her sigh and make her way to them.

Myra blindly trusted Marlene to essentially paint her face, but what scared her the most was the steel contraption that Marlene brought to her eyes.

"This is to make your eyelashes look curlier," She said but Myra wasn't sure.

"I'm sure what you've done so far is enough. I don't need... whatever that is."