In a universe where Voldemort never became powerful enough to terrify people for decades after the first Wizarding War, Peter didn't betray his friends, and Remus Lupin fell in love with his best friend's twin sister.
Marauders era
Remus Lupin × fem...
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TW: death
July 1977
Fleamont and Euphemia Potter at least had the opportunity to see their children successfully graduate from Hogwarts before they died.
The abrupt death was totally unexpected, and it almost felt like a curse.
The twins' parents went away one more time, for work, they said. They came back terribly ill.
They had Dragon Pox.
Monty's condition was way more concerning than Mia's from the beginning, and both gradually got worse as the hopes for survival were fading away.
Against their wishes, they had been separated. The healers feared they would make each other more ill by staying in the same space for long.
But nothing really stopped a Potter. They would still sneak in each other's room, as if they were grounded teenagers in love.
It was a sweet sight, but they couldn't focus on that, when everyone knew that they were dying.
The healers, the twins and Sirius did everything they could but they knew it to be inevitable. Juliet didn't leave her parents side, she would go from her dad's side to her mum's constantly, yet she wasn't worried of getting sick herself as the healers had taken precautions for the three children not to catch Dragon Pox while attending their parents.
The day Monty died, Juliet was by her mother's side, making sure she was taking the disgusting medicine. The girl was in so much shock that she was almost unresponsive, hence they deemed her the only one composed enough to go and take care of her mother.
"He's gone, isn't he?" Euphemia's voice sounded feeble and Juliet would have believed it to be far away, had she not been right next to her mother when she spoke.
Unable to lie to her mother, Juliet kept quiet, continuing to arrange the ingredients on the table. But she paused when she heard a gut-wrenching sob that tore through her chest.
She could fell her throat tighten and her lips began to tremble but she refrained herself from breaking down, and simply walked to her mother, taking her hand in her own, reassuring her as she sobbed and screamed, begging her daughter to tell her that it wasn't true, that her husband was still alive and he was recovering.
Juliet squeezed her mother's hand for a whole hour, her own tears tickling her cheeks, until her mother fainted from the amount of crying. The brunette seventeen year-old sniffed, getting up and quietly leaving the room.
In the hallway, she saw James sitting there on the floor, against the wall opposite to their mother's room. His eyes were red and his stare empty. Juliet was trembling yet she made her way to him, settling down next to him.
They were quiet. They had just lost their father, and they knew they were going to lose their mother too, they were way past the denial stage now, already grieving something that wasn't totally lost just yet.
"It's just you and me." She whispered.
An innocent sentence that represented their sibling love had turned so dark because of the now literal situation it described. The healers said Euphemia would not make it through the week, and it'd be just the twins left.
~
The Lupins and Pettigrews were at the Potters. Despite the time being dangerous, especially Hope, they knew they needed to support the grieving children.
Remus had held Juliet the entirety of the night, letting her tears wet his shirt without a care in the world. His heart broke more at the mere sight of her. She looked pale, lips constantly curved downwards, tear stains all over her cheeks. James was in a similar state.
And a household that used to be so lively, with people so loud and joyful was now awfully silent. No one knew what to say to them, but really, what could they possibly say? No words would make it better for them.
~
As Hope was encouraging the twins to eat their breakfast, they all turned around when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It was a healer.
He looked at everyone, shaking his head sadly. The twins' eyes widened as they hurriedly ran past him and up the stairs.
Once in front of the room, Juliet froze, unable to get inside. But James didn't stop, he went in and she could hear him exchange words with their dying mother.
Though she could hear them, it was like she couldn't understand them. Her vision was getting blurry, the sounds were fading away. She was feeling faint but something was keeping her wide awake.
It was barely a few minutes later that she saw James exit the room, covering his eyes with his hand, but by the frown on his lips, Juliet could tell he was crying.
With hesitant movements, she pushed the wooden door open, her eyes automatically falling on the pale woman laying on the bed, staring out of the window.
"What a beautiful day." She heard her mother say, suddenly having regained her hearing. Euphemia then turned her face towards her daughter. "Come in."
She felt as though she was moving in slow-motion, as she closed the door behind her and moved to the chair next to the bed.
Her blue eyes were shining brightly due to the tears that were ready to fall.
"Mum." Her voice cracked as she whispered. "Don't leave me."
Her mother smiled, but her smile was neither sad or reassuring. It was true, and proud.
"Don't be sad. It's a beautiful day." Euphemia looked out the window again. "The sky looks different when you got someone you love up there."
"I need you." Juliet said. "James needs you. Please don't go."
As her daughter kept begging, the dying woman turned back her head towards her and hushed her sweetly, pushing a strand of the girl's hair behind her ear.
"Listen to me." Mia silenced her cries. "The ones we love never go away. We can't see them, we can't hear them, but they're always near. Still loved, still missed, and very dear."
Despite more tears making her way down her cheeks, Juliet found a certain comfort in her mother's words.
"I know you will be fine." She paused. "I wish I hadn't worked so hard, then perhaps I would have been there more. But you surrounded yourself well. Rely on those around you, they can help with what's to come."
The brunette girl was starting to get confused, as she watched Euphemia reach for a key that she had hidden under her pillowcase, handing it to her daughter with trembling hands.
"Complete what I couldn't."
It seemed as though she wished to add something but life faded from her eyes, and she gave in.
Juliet never knew grief before. She was told it was the loudest silence to be ever heard, the weight that none could carry on their own, the love that wished to live on.
All she could hear, was her own heart screaming in pain as she clutched onto the key in her hand.
