𝐿𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒

On a Late September Night

**Remus' thoughts are in italics

In the midst of a war, one of the keys to staying alive and not just surviving, but truly living was to love. One must love in order to fly away from their problems every once in a while.

So, if you traveled to Hogwarts and visited the heads common room, you could see two teenagers with Charms textbooks and rolls of parchment long abandoned.

"Someone needs to teach you how to properly fly on a fucking broom," he says as she laughs.

"You can," a suggestion that could've meant more if one was looking into things.

"Someone with patience, I do not have patience," he drew another tic-tac-toe board onto the piece of parchment they had sacrificed.

"Yet, you're the Quidditch Captain and have been for the past three years. What do you do with the young kids at tryouts, it seems like they've never touched a broom sometimes?"

"They usually get eliminated after the first flight around the pitch, but other times they're promising," he mused while drawing a thick o in the middle square.

"Are those the ones who did well in the first-year flying lessons?" She smiled as she spoke, brightening the darkroom only lit by the fire.

"Those flying lessons taught us nothing! I mean, shouting 'up' at your broom when you're trying to mount it in a real quidditch game doesn't work!"

"We were in first-year, James!" Lily laughed at his dramatics once again.

"Age doesn't matter in quidditch! My kids will be able to ride a broom as soon as they can walk!" He got up to add more wood to the diminishing fire.

...

Love can be expressed in many different ways, whether that's shouting about how to properly fly on a broom or patrolling in an empty corridor.

Mary and Remus were different from James and Lily. For one, they are actually a couple, and two, James's loud tendencies trump Lily's quieter ones, while Remus's quieter ones trumped Mary's louder ones.

So, they patrolled empty corridor after empty corridor until they reached the astronomy tower to find a sky of glistening stars.

"Are you surprised there's no one out in the corridors tonight?" Mary said still staring up at the sky.

"No, after Dumbledore scolding everyone at dinner, nobody taking the risk of going out isn't surprising to me," he responded almost simultaneously.

Remus pulled her hand in hers and started to gain her attention by beginning to go into a slow dance.

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words

Remus watched in fascination as the words floated out of Mary's mouth because he had never heard her sing before.

Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song

"I didn't know you could sing, you have a very nice voice," he said when she paused for a breath as they swayed under the stars. She responded by continuing the song.

Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

Her singing voice was a stark contrast to Lily's as hers was softer, more delicate, while her friend's was louder and more powerful.

"Who knew Remus Lupin was such a softie at heart?" She asked teasingly with a broad grin.

"Literally ask anyone, Mary, everyone knows that."