⚯͛ Unfortunate - Remus Lupin ⚯͛

44.

Maeve sat opposite Sirius in a hidden corner of the library, a piece of parchment on the table and a quill balanced between her fingers. She stared at him blankly as he squirmed, trying to think.

"Just tell me what you think you'd like," She said.

"I don't know! I just don't know," He said, "I just want it to mean something. Isn't that the point of tattoos?"

"You're such a girl," She teased, before starting to write something in the center of the parchment.

"What-what are you writing?" He asked nervously.

"What is Sirius Black about?" She read out to him, before adding, "We're going to mind-map, try and see what's going on in that little head of yours. It might help us figure out what you want to get tattooed."

"Okay," He nodded, "Doesn't sound like a bad shout, actually."

"So...what are the most important things to you?" She asked him.

"My friends," He said immediately, "And being a Gryffindor, I guess. I know it sounds stupid but it was the first thing in my life that separated myself to my family, and getting into Gryffindor was the first memory I have of being truly...happy."

"That's adorable," She said, scribbling the words 'friends' and 'gryffindor'.

"Also I like my animagus, and I like what it represents," He told her.

"What does it represent?" She asked, writing the word 'dog'.

"My friendship with Remus, and with the others too, it represents how we all care for each other and would risk it all for each other," He said, "It's silly really, but our friendship is so important to me. They're my true family."

She looked up at him, and they shared a look of solidarity, understanding. He grinned at her.

"You're my family now, too," He said.

"Oh shut up," She laughed.

"You get me, Iverson," He nudged her, "Really, you do! The other guys care so much about me, I can't fault them there, but none of them really...understand what it's like. The pressure we had to go through, the injustice, the cruelty. But you get it."

"I do indeed," She pursed her lips in a little smile.

"So, this tattoo," Sirius said, changing subject.

"Yes," She laughed, "I do have a few ideas,
actually, see here? I think we should-"

"Iverson."

She looked up, surprised to see Lily Evans, the fiery redhead, standing before them.

"I was wondering if I could speak to you...alone, please," She said, looking pointedly at Sirius who looked at her blankly for a second before realising.

"Oh, right," He stood up and swung his bag round his shoulder, "Catch ya later, Maeve. Bye, Evans."

He walked out of the library merrily, leaving Maeve staring expectantly at Evans, whose bright green eyes studied her own lighter green ones. She looked conflicted.

Remus' voice was in the back of Maeve's head: Be nice.

"Would you like to sit down?" Maeve asked gently after a moment.

"Yes, thank you," She said curtly, pulling up a chair, "I wanted to talk to you about something. Two things, actually."

"Go for it."

"I'm sorry that I reacted so badly seeing you at the Order meeting. I was quick to jump to conclusions and panic, which was stupid of me because I should know better than to question Dumbledore's choices," She laughed,
before continuing, "But really, I am sorry. And I'm sorry you've had to go through so much...but if you never needed anyone to talk to, you could always talk to me...if you wanted to, that is."

"Thank you, Lily, that's really very kind of you to say. It means a lot," Maeve smiled gratefully, "May I ask what the other thing was?"

"Oh, yes. James told me about you and Remus."

"Oh dear...that boy can't keep his mouth shut, can he," Maeve said, facepalming.

"I agree, I've had to deal with him talking my ear off for the past seven years, it's torture," Lily said with a small laugh, "But, anyway, I wanted to say that I'm really happy for you and Remus, but if you hurt him I will not hesitate to kill you, got it?"

"I would never hurt him, I promise," Maeve said seriously, "I'm being genuine here, Evans. He's the only person for me, I care about him so much and I would honestly do anything for him. I swear to you, I would never ever want to hurt him."

"Good," She grinned, "I am really happy for you, honestly. Remus deserves this more than anyone."

"I know he does," Maeve nodded, looking down with a smile, "I know you two are close, and I'm glad he has you. Apart from the fact that you just threatened to kill me, you seem really nice."

Lily laughed loudly, before being shushed by Madam Pince. Apologising quickly, she turned back to Maeve with a meek smile.

"You know," Lily began, "Remus has always been there for me, I guess that's why I'm so protective. I remember when my cat passed away, he was called Jacob, he was beautiful, I was so upset. It was during the holidays and because Remus has a muggle mum he has a telephone, so he called me without fail every day for a couple of minutes just to check that I was okay. It was so thoughtful."

"Did you say Jacob?" Maeve asked, a painful image of her brother suddenly exploding into her memory.

"Yeah, I always wanted to get another cat after him but I just never had the chance to," Lily shrugged.

"Would you mind waiting here for a second? I just need to fetch something," Maeve asked.

"Oh...sure," Lily shrugged, sitting back in her chair and grabbing a book, "I'll just be here."

Maeve nodded before rushing out of the library.

Ten minutes later the blonde bounced back in, holding something in her hand.

"Now you don't have to accept this by any means, but my cat, Sofia, had kittens a few months ago and...this one is so gentle and sweet, I thought you'd love her," Maeve showed Lily the small kitten curled up in her hand.

"Oh my," Lily stood up, "She's so cute! What's her name?"

"Her name is Nala," Maeve passed her to Lily, "You know, after the Lion King? Remus made me watch it."

"It's beautiful, she's beautiful," Lily cuddled the kitten close to her.

"If you want, she's yours," Maeve said.

"Oh, really?" Lily gasped.

"Yes! I hate to part with her, but I trust you'd take good care of her," Maeve said.

"Oh! Thank you!" Lily pulled Maeve into a hug.

"It's okay," Maeve patted her back awkwardly, laughing.

They sat back down, Nala the kitten settling sleepily in Lily's lap.

"Can I say something?" Maeve asked.

"Sure," Lily flashed her a gentle smile.

"My...my older brother's name was Jakob. He died when I was eight, it was this stupid magical disease..."

"Oh, Maeve, I'm so sorry," Lily placed her hand on top of hers.

"It's okay!" Maeve protested, trying to suppress the tears, "I'm okay, I promise. It's just, hearing that you had a cat and he was called Jacob...I don't know it made me emotional...it's stupid-"

"It's not."

"It just made me feel like I could trust you."

"You can," Lily said kindly, squeezing her hand for a moment, "I promise."

"Good," Maeve smiled, before exhaling loudly, fanning herself, "Excuse me, I'm not normally this emotional."

"Don't worry about it," Lily giggled, "I cry all the time."

"Comforting," Maeve remarked with a matching giggle, "So...why don't you tell me what's going on with you and Potter?"

"Oh goodness, don't even get me started..."