Queen of Disaster | 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝐿𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑛

Chapter 124

Over the course of the day, Hope went out of her way to make Diana feel welcome. She helped her settle into Remus's room with a spare mattress on the floor, seeing as they had no guest bedroom for her to stay in. Although surely that mattress wasn't going to be of much use. Diana couldn't help but feel a sense of belonging in the Lupins' house that had been absent from her life for a long time.

As the night settled in, Diana, now comfortable in Remus's room, was suddenly stirred awake by a faint noise.

     "Remus?" Diana mumbled sleepily, raising her head from the pillow. "Remus, did you hear that? I think someone's downstairs."

     No reply.

Diana blinked a few times, burrowing light from the moon to be able to see the room faintly. But that was when she realized Remus was missing from the bed.

The noises got louder downstairs.

Instinctively, she grabbed her wand and silently made her way downstairs, her heart pounding.

"Remus?" Diana whispered cautiously as she followed the noises toward the kitchen.

To her surprise, she found Hope in the kitchen, surrounded by bowls and her nightgown covered in flour. She had a wooden spoon in her hand, stirring something at the kitchen table.

"Oh," Hope said in surprise as she saw the girl. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"No, it's all right." Diana gave her a faint smile, lowering her wand. "Are you baking?"

"Oh, yes. Pie." Hope nodded excitedly. "It's a habit of mine. I always bake in the middle of the night whenever I can't fall asleep or when I'm stressed."

"What are you stressed about?" Diana asked.

A moment of hesitation. Her question was left unanswered.

"Would you like to join me?" Hope said kindly, offering her a wooden spoon.

Diana laughed nervously. "I don't know how to bake — or cook. I've never tried it. I'll probably ruin yours."

"Oh, don't worry about that. There's always a first time for everything. How else will you learn?" Hope drew out the chair beside her at the table, and so Diana sat down. "Here. Stir this bowl slowly while I crack an egg inside it?"

"Wouldn't it be easier to just use magic?"

"Perhaps. But I can't do magic."

"Oh... right..." the realization suddenly hit Diana that Hope was a Muggle. How could she forget?

For a second, Diana shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but she was quick to come to herself and realize that she was no longer her old self. It had been years since she had gotten rid of the rotten ideas that her parents had rooted in her head. Muggles weren't dangerous. They weren't cruel. They are just humans.

Except for Hope, perhaps.

She looked more like an angel than a human.

"By the way," Diana spoke, as she slowly stirred, "do you know where Remus is? He wasn't in his room, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't in the bathroom either; its light was off."

Diana looked at Hope, but it seemed as though she was even avoiding catching her eye.

"He'll be back soon," said Hope, but her voice sounded unsure.

"I mean, it's not the full moon either," Diana went on. "That's two weeks away."

"Yes, yes..." Hope mumbled the words. She looked pale. Sick in worry.

Was she stressed because of Remus? Because of where he was right now?

But why was she avoiding talking to Diana about it?

"He was heartbroken, you know," Hope remarked as she poured milk into the bowl, breaking the silence after what felt like minutes. "I could see how much he loved you. How much he was hurting."

"So was I," Diana said quietly.

Hope finally looked up at her. "Of course. It wasn't easy, what you did. I tried imagining myself in your place, you know. But even in the world of my imagination I wasn't brave enough to leave everything behind. It had to take a lot of strength."

"I can't possibly think what I would be doing now if I hadn't left," Diana admitted, trying to push the images out of her head.

Living in Evan's house... Sharing his bed... Bearing his children...

Diana shuddered. She couldn't bring herself to even think about the horrors.

"I'm probably never going to see my parents again. Or my brother," Diana said thoughtfully.

Hope placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about that."

"Oh, don't be. I know I'm not. Maybe that's what's sad; that I'm not feeling sorry about not being able to see my parents again. I might miss them, but... I'm happier without them."

"Well, I've said this before and I'll say it again," said Hope, smiling, "you can count on us. We might be a sorry bunch, but we do make a pretty good family."

Diana laughed, but right at that moment, someone began banging on the back door inside the kitchen.

"Oh, God!" Hope took a sharp breath and she jumped from her seat, the chair falling to the floor from the rush as she ran toward the door and opened it.

Diana gasped and jumped to her feet — her wand already in her hand — when she saw Remus stumbling inside, blood running down his forehead.

Diana rushed forward to help. His mum had one of his arms in hand and Diana the other. Quick footsteps followed from the stairs and moments later Lyall was there too in his pajamas, running into the kitchen to help Remus toward the living room.

They laid him down on the couch. Diana watched in horror as Lyall took a vile out of his pocket and quickly began putting drops of it onto his son's wound.

Remus winced in pain, his eyes closed, his whole face covered in blood. Hope was holding her hands together tightly while she was sitting on the floor beside the couch, as though praying.

"Where else?" Lyall asked urgently.

"My head — just that!" Remus groaned miserably in pain as his father attended to his wound.

"Tell me what I can do to help!" Diana said quickly, not sure of herself anymore. Her whole body felt numb.

"Bring a bowl — fill it with water," Hope said briskly, running to the kitchen with Diana so she could grab a cloth.

They quickly made their way back to the dim living room. Remus's wound was healed. He had his eyes closed, resting. Hope grabbed the bowl of water from Diana and soaked the cloth in it. She ran it gently over his head, cleaning away the blood.

Lyall had gone outside with his wand, looking all around, making sure they weren't followed before closing the door and putting protective charms over it. Diana still felt too panicked to do anything useful, the shock of it all still fresh on her.

     But something still didn't make sense to her.

     Lyall seemed too prepared. Even Hope looked like she had been somehow expecting this to happen.

What the hell is going on?