Ficlet: Remus Waits
Title: Remus Waits
Summary: Pre-war and Post-Azkaban musings by one Remus J. Lupin
Characters/pairings: R/S, L/J
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG
Word Count: 617
He watches as James Potter attacks the mold on the wall of his new flat in Muggle London, skinny arms flailing as he yells spells that ricochet and fizzle ineffectively against the pesky intruder. It is moments like this that Remus Lupin feels hopeful, the warmth of it crashing over him like a balm. The world is at war, but he has all of his best friends here, in this flat, destroying mold and repainting walls. Sirius Black wheedles the location of a chocolate cake from Lily Evans, who is red in the face from laughing so hard at Sirius' charm. James, though he should be paying attention to the mold, is captivated by Lily's laughter and Remus is captivated by Sirius' smile.
Lily relents, giving Sirius his cake, and meets Remus' gaze, her clear, bottle green eyes knowing and bright. Maybe it is selfish to think that right here, right now, matters more than whatever will happen in days to come because Lily is laughing, Sirius has cake on his face, and James can't figure out the right spell to kill mold. He feels guilty that he is not thinking about the war, or Voldemort, or anything of substance. He feels elated that his friends are all here, all together. Remus watches, feeling old and young all at once, and is so overcome for a moment that he feels he could burst.
The world is on its' axis, and finally Remus smiles back at Lily, a rare, genuinely happy smile. He does not care about the scars bisecting his face. Remus waits, and when the other shoe does not drop, he goes to get his cake.
~*~
It all falls apart.
~*~
He watches as Sirius Black attacks the sofa's doxy infestation brazenly, with all the bravado in the world, brandishing his wand, straight backed and proud. It is moments like this that Remus Lupin feels happiness creep into the fog of his mind even though two of his best friends have been dead for fourteen years, he has not had steady pay in at least that long, and the world is once again at war. Then he feels guilty and elated all at once because Padfoot, his Padfoot, is back from from the dead and yelling at doxies.
Maybe the world is right again, now that Sirius has returned. Maybe it is selfish to even think that the world could be right again, in the absence of James, Lily and the youthful, hopeful exuberance that had permeated the air at Hogwarts. Still, he cannot escape the fact that the world feels more right than it has in the past fourteen years. He watches Sirius again, an old man in a young man's body, or a young man in an old man's body, it matters not because there he stands in the living room of his childhood home, long hair barely white but still in his eyes -- suddenly it is overwhelming and Remus feels he could laugh or cry or explode and all of it would somehow make sense.
Sirius stops shrieking at the doxies, looks at Remus with his clear, timeless gray eyes, and grins. "You'd think," he says, matter-of-factly, and Remus feels his heart start to race as he hopes that whatever Sirius says will make the last fourteen years worth the pain just for this moment. Remus waits.
"...that in fourteen years, they'd have found a better way to kill doxies. Really, Moony. These spells have to be decades or even centuries old, and the little bastards still think that they own the place."
Remus sighs, and shakes his head. He smiles. The world is back on its axis.
Summary: Pre-war and Post-Azkaban musings by one Remus J. Lupin
Characters/pairings: R/S, L/J
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG
Word Count: 617
He watches as James Potter attacks the mold on the wall of his new flat in Muggle London, skinny arms flailing as he yells spells that ricochet and fizzle ineffectively against the pesky intruder. It is moments like this that Remus Lupin feels hopeful, the warmth of it crashing over him like a balm. The world is at war, but he has all of his best friends here, in this flat, destroying mold and repainting walls. Sirius Black wheedles the location of a chocolate cake from Lily Evans, who is red in the face from laughing so hard at Sirius' charm. James, though he should be paying attention to the mold, is captivated by Lily's laughter and Remus is captivated by Sirius' smile.
Lily relents, giving Sirius his cake, and meets Remus' gaze, her clear, bottle green eyes knowing and bright. Maybe it is selfish to think that right here, right now, matters more than whatever will happen in days to come because Lily is laughing, Sirius has cake on his face, and James can't figure out the right spell to kill mold. He feels guilty that he is not thinking about the war, or Voldemort, or anything of substance. He feels elated that his friends are all here, all together. Remus watches, feeling old and young all at once, and is so overcome for a moment that he feels he could burst.
The world is on its' axis, and finally Remus smiles back at Lily, a rare, genuinely happy smile. He does not care about the scars bisecting his face. Remus waits, and when the other shoe does not drop, he goes to get his cake.
~*~
It all falls apart.
~*~
He watches as Sirius Black attacks the sofa's doxy infestation brazenly, with all the bravado in the world, brandishing his wand, straight backed and proud. It is moments like this that Remus Lupin feels happiness creep into the fog of his mind even though two of his best friends have been dead for fourteen years, he has not had steady pay in at least that long, and the world is once again at war. Then he feels guilty and elated all at once because Padfoot, his Padfoot, is back from from the dead and yelling at doxies.
Maybe the world is right again, now that Sirius has returned. Maybe it is selfish to even think that the world could be right again, in the absence of James, Lily and the youthful, hopeful exuberance that had permeated the air at Hogwarts. Still, he cannot escape the fact that the world feels more right than it has in the past fourteen years. He watches Sirius again, an old man in a young man's body, or a young man in an old man's body, it matters not because there he stands in the living room of his childhood home, long hair barely white but still in his eyes -- suddenly it is overwhelming and Remus feels he could laugh or cry or explode and all of it would somehow make sense.
Sirius stops shrieking at the doxies, looks at Remus with his clear, timeless gray eyes, and grins. "You'd think," he says, matter-of-factly, and Remus feels his heart start to race as he hopes that whatever Sirius says will make the last fourteen years worth the pain just for this moment. Remus waits.
"...that in fourteen years, they'd have found a better way to kill doxies. Really, Moony. These spells have to be decades or even centuries old, and the little bastards still think that they own the place."
Remus sighs, and shakes his head. He smiles. The world is back on its axis.