Knowledge Is Power ↣ Harmione

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter 23

Remus John Lupin sat drinking coffee on his balcony as the rising sun not only reflected off the gold band that adorned the ring finger of his left hand but the tears running down his cheeks as well. Remus had lived a hard life and, after many years of practice building his defences the werewolf practically never shed a tear. The difference here was that he had no defence whatsoever against tears of joy having only witnessed the phenomenon on others before now.

He had awoke this morning wrapped in his wife's arms with memories of their lovemaking still in the air, he gently left their bed and stood gazing in awe at this woman who was not only his wife but carrying their unborn son in her womb.

His tears had started then and now halfway through his coffee they still hadn't abated, it was then he felt her arms slip around his neck as she gently kissed his cheek while asking him if he was all right. Remus didn't know how to answer and found himself taking marriage advice from his fourteen-year-old married honouree nephew.

Harry had told him that no marriage could survive if based on lies as the four of them had sat down to a dinner, prepared by Dobby and Winky in this very house two days before their wedding. They had proceeded to tell Pomona everything that they had told Remus as he held his wife to be while she cried at what the fates held in store for people she loved.

Pomona had been hoping she could convince Remus that since he was going to be a married man and an expectant father he could be dissuaded from going along on any more 'missions'. Knowing the truth and the type of man her future husband was she realised it was impossible for him to abandon his post.

As Harry and Hermione were preparing to leave that night they hit the couple with one last shock by handing them the keys to the house as a wedding present. The house had five bedrooms and was one of six in a secluded cove overlooking the Mediterranean about fifty kilometres south of the Institute.

What Remus and Pomona didn't know was that the Potters owned all the houses in the cove and over the next few years their neighbours would include the Blacks, Longbottoms, Grangers and Potters.

The Italian ministry had a whole different attitude to the werewolf problem and treated the condition as an illness, marriage was actually encouraged as it meant that the sufferer would have support during their transformation. They had also looked extensively into children born to people carrying the disease and had yet to find a case of an affected child. It would seem the only way to propagate the species was by the transformed werewolf biting someone who wasn't one which explained why the compulsion to do so was so strong. The Italian ministry was trying to eradicate the disease with the use of wolfsbane to prevent any new sufferers being created, a decision that the werewolf population of the country gave it's wholehearted backing to.

It was an accumulation of these things that led to Pomona finding her husband of four days sitting with tears running down his cheeks.

He led his wife onto his knee and held her tight as he spoke, "I am so far beyond all right that it's scaring the living daylights out of me. What we have here is most peoples' dream but with my condition I couldn't even allow myself that luxury, the pain of knowing it could never be a reality was just too much to bear. Yet now we're married, sitting in our own home with our son growing happily inside you and today we go back to jobs we both love. I've had so little happiness in my life that it's all just a bit overwhelming sometimes."

Pomona kissed her husband, she had truthfully been worried about telling him she was pregnant but those concerns proved groundless, he had spun her through the air before stopping suddenly and sitting her on a chair. She was about to protest that she wasn't that fragile when Remus dropped to one knee and took out a ring, he'd apparently bought it days ago and was waiting on the right moment to pop the question. Their wedding had quickly followed and been a quiet affair at the institute before coming here for their work-shortened honeymoon.