The Marriage Law // Remus Lupin

xvii. found wonderland (you and i got lost in it)

Deciding it was better to brush off the comment than spend the rest of the day thinking it over though, she followed after him, Harry in her arms still looking around the aquarium in childlike awe.

"We're going to see the snakes." She told him, a kind smile on her face, that Harry copied, taking it one step further and clapping his hands together.

Aurora manoeuvred quickly around the crowd, the very opposite of her younger sister—not wanting to disturb anyone—and found herself stood next to Remus again.

Harry's head turned to face him, and made grabby hands towards him. The smile that was on Remus' face was almost like he couldn't believe that the child wanted to be around him, and it was one she knew she wouldn't forget.

Aurora lifted Harry up and placed him into Remus' arms, who could probably hold Harry a lot longer than she could anyway.

"Did you ever want children?" She asked, the question slipping out of her mouth before she had the time to think it over, and pointedly not looking at him once she had realised, instead, choosing to observe the snake in front of her. She did not know the species of it, and didn't really care to learn, but was enamoured by the way it gracefully moved from one place to the next.

"I've never thought about it." She knew he was lying.

"Liar." She stated, still watching the snake as it moved.

"How do you know if I'm lying or not?"

"You get this—," Aurora paused, thinking her words over. "Anytime children are brought up, you get a sad look on your face. It's the same face you make when you look at Harry," She turned to face him now, meeting his eyes. "As if you want a child of your own, but are too shrouded in fear of the thought that any child would want you to be their father."

Remus didn't answer her. Just turned his attention to the snake, much like she had done. "It doesn't matter now if I want children or not," He finally said. "It's not like we're going to have any."

Aurora pressed her lips together, copying him by looking at the snake. Not wanting to look at her fiancé. "I think you would be a great father." She said, walking away from the snakes and taking Rosie's hand—choosing to not look back at Remus.

They spent the rest of the day going in between the exhibits, Rosie wanting to see everything. Her and Remus hadn't acknowledged their talk from earlier—just ignored it, which seemed to be a reoccurring thing for her now.

By 3 o'clock they left the zoo and got back into the car, driving back to her parents' house to drop Rosie and the car off.

"You know," She said, trying to fill the silence of the car. "Benjy once tried to see if he could make the car fly. He gave up after three days. Said that it took too much effort."

Remus snorted. "Aren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be determined and hard-working?"

"I don't think he really wanted to do it, though," She smiled. "I dared him to try, and he did. He also pointed out that I never said he had to complete it."

"Hmm. Sirius got his motorbike to fly." He told her.

"He what?!" Aurora exclaimed. "Why haven't I seen this?"

Remus looked over at her, confusion and amazement painted on her face, and laughed.

"This is not funny! I need to see this flying bike!" But her words only sent Remus into more bouts of laughter.

Aurora pulled into the driveway, and quickly entered the house with Rosie, wanting desperately to see Sirius' flying motorbike.

"Hi Mum!" She said, walking over to where her mother was sat on the couch, and giving her a sort of hug.

"Hi darling. Have fun at the zoo?"

Rosie instantly took the opportunity to talk about all the different animals, and how Remus let her sit on his shoulders to look at the monkeys properly.

Aurora was aware when Remus came up behind her, holding Harry, mainly due to the grin on her mother's face.

"Hello Remus," She said. "Thank you for joining my daughters today."

"It was no problem," He smiled. "I enjoyed it very much."

The three of them continued to listen to Rosie's stories about her day, until her mother decided that her and Remus should head back to put Harry to sleep.

When Aurora was back in the Potters' living room, she was certain that they weren't the only ones in the house, like she had suspected they would be.

"Who is it?" She whispered to Remus.

"Why do you assume I know?" He asked her.

"Well...," She gestured her hand towards him. "Werewolf senses?"

Remus shot a disappointed look towards her, and then sighed. "It's Lily and some of our friends."

Aurora grimaced. She didn't really want to talk to any new people. "I'll put Harry to bed." She told Remus, reaching for the toddler, but he moved him out of her reach.

"If you think I'm willingly giving up my chance of freedom, you are wrong." He said, walking up the stairs with Harry, leaving her alone.

"Traitor." She muttered under her breath.

Reluctantly, Aurora entered the kitchen, knowing they probably heard them floo in, and it would be rude to not have one of them greet them.

"Aurora! Hi!" Lily smiled at her. "How was the zoo?"

"It was...good." She told her.

Aurora, instead of furthering her statement, looked around the room, noticing five other people in it.

Standing next to Lily was Marlene McKinnon. She was smaller than Lily, maybe 5'4", and her curly blonde hair tied into a high ponytail. Marlene was a year older than them, and had been one of the beaters on the Gryffindor team for the entire time Aurora was at Hogwarts. Aurora was sure that now she was a professional quidditch player, but couldn't be certain.

Her wife, Dorcas Meadows, was sat on top of the counter of the island, swinging her legs back and forth as if she was bored and searching for some form of entertainment. Dorcas was a Hufflepuff with Lois and Benjy, and had been fascinated by Divination, believing in crystals and astronomy. Aurora remembered Benjy being ecstatic because she was his astronomy partner once, and she did all the work for them. Her dark hair was left down, reaching just beneath her collarbone, framing her face. She acknowledged Aurora by giving her a soft smile, which she returned.

Mary MacDonald was the next person Aurora saw, standing next to her fiancée, panic evident on her face. It must be something to do with the wedding, Aurora thought. Mary, like Marlene, was in Gryffindor, but was in their year. Aurora knew that her and Lily were close, as during their first years, wherever one went, the other would be close behind.

Mary's fiancée, Georgia Reid, stood next to her, both matching in a height of around 5'5". Georgia's straight blonde hair contrasted with Mary's, hers being dark and wavy. Georgia had a reassuring smile on her face, trying to calm Mary down from whatever she was panicking about.

The last person in the room, was someone she had not expected to be there. He looked slightly out of place, wearing only the colours black and dark green.

AN:
another chapter? within 2 days? heh
i had no idea where to end the chapter, so i thought why not at Regulus' entrance?

reading all of your comments really made my day, so thank you again for all of them, have a great day!! :)