⚯͛ Unfortunate - Remus Lupin ⚯͛

93.

After the Order eventually retreated from the fight with the Death-Eaters, everyone was exhausted (and rather annoyed, too). Along with the newly married couple, James, Lily, Sirius, Marlene and Dorcas all apparated to Maeve and Remus' place.

The mood was cold again, no one was smiling.

"I'm gonna go check on Harry," Lily said softly after a moment before disapparating again.

"I'll make some tea," Maeve said, walking over to the kitchen.

She put some tea leaves in the strainer in the tea pot before boiling some water and pouring it inside. As it was brewing she went to the bedroom to change out of the wedding dress. She felt ridiculous with it on now.

She quickly slid on one of Remus' jumpers and a pair of leggings before going back to the kitchen and sorting out the tea. She was constantly trying to wipe tears from her eyes, not even really caring about the ruined makeup anymore because there was no more wedding. And that was all her fault, wasn't it?

Lily apparated back into the kitchen and sat beside James. The group was silent, partly trying to recover and partly because what they had to say wasn't pleasant. The tension was thick. Someone had to say something.

"Is Harry okay?" Maeve asked Lily softly as she brought the tea pot over.

Lily avoided her eye, "he could have died back there."

"Well thank God you were there, Lils," Maeve said lightly, before summoning over some mugs.

"Maeve..." Sirius started, looking at her in a sort of disapproving way she hadn't ever really gotten from him before.

"Does anyone want a cigarette?" She asked, turning round.

Remus sighed, going over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, "I'll get you one, but you have to apologise to them now."

She closed her eyes and nodded as he kissed her cheek. As he walked away she opened her eyes again and turned round to her friends who were looking up at her tiredly. She sat down.

"I'm really sorry that this happened," she said quietly, trying to swallow the lump in her throat away. "I didn't think that Cissa would ever betray me like that-"

"But she's a death-eater, mate," interjected Sirius.

"I know-"

"What if they had apparated nearer to us? With this prophecy bullshit, I...we're doing everything we can to protect ourselves and Harry, so is Sirius," James said, beginning to raise his voice slightly. "How could you be so...so..."

"Stupid?" Lily finished for him. "Selfish?"

Remus had come back and sat beside Maeve on the sofa, handing her a cigarette and a lighter, "look, guys, don't be too harsh. It was a mistake."

"A mistake that nearly killed all of us," James said.

"Hey-"

"No, it's okay," Maeve said, stopping to light the cigarette and exhaling out a puff of smoke before continuing. "This was my fault, they're right to be angry. I was just naive. She was my absolute best friend for my whole life until I was seventeen and I...I just wanted her at my wedding."

"And for a moment you forgot who she was?" Dorcas said gently.

Maeve sniffed, "yeah. I'm honestly so sorry, guys."

The room lulled into a silence for a moment before Lily stood up and disapparated.

Maeve felt her eyes fill with tears. This isn't how things were supposed to go. Cissa betrayed her, her Cissa. And now her friends hated her too.

James stood up too and looked at Maeve and Remus in an angry haze, but just said softly, "I knew...I knew something like this would happen eventually."

That stung.

"What's that supposed to mean-" Maeve started but he had apparated away.

"It's okay, I think they just need time," Marlene said gently to her. "We'll see you guys later."

Marlene and Dorcas disapparated.

"God I feel sick," Maeve said, placing her head in her hands.

"It'll be okay," Remus sighed, stroking her hair comfortingly.

"Man...I know weddings are supposed to be dramatic but this was...this was something else," Sirius tried to joke, to which Maeve laughed tiredly.

"You can go if you want, mate," she said, looking up at him. "Everyone else has."

"Look, I'm here for you," he said, before looking to the kitchen. "You guys hungry?"

"Not really," Maeve said.

"I just feel like sleeping to be honest," Remus admitted.

"Alright, I'll leave you be, but I'll see you in the morning, okay?" Sirius asked.

"Okay," Remus nodded.

They watched him leave before both sighing. Maeve shifted to rest her head on Remus' lap.

She wanted to say what a shit day but the truth was it wasn't at all. She had gotten married to her best friend, the love of her life and all that. Until it all turned south, it had been the best day of her life. If only she hadn't ruined it.

So she said, "I loved marrying you today."

He chuckled and began to play with her hair, "I loved marrying you too...can you believe we're..."

"No, I can't really," she said with a soft smile. "I think that - until things went bad, of course - today was the best day of my life."

"Until things went bad," Remus repeated.

Maeve sighed, "I just thought that she wouldn't do that...she has a baby...and maybe that made me go soft."

"Aw," Remus laughed and looked at her. "I love you."

She stared up at the sky in a sort of daze, just thinking, until something hit her, "uh, love, can I ask you something really random?"

"Sure..."

"You know that night we were round James and Lily's and we all got really drunk, even I was a little bit, do you remember that?" She asked.

"I remember some of it," he snorted.

"Do you remember us having sex after?" She asked.

He gave a start and looked down at her, "what's this about?"

"I can't remember if you used the protection spell or not."

"Oh...well I can't remember either..."

"Oh."