𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀 // Remus Lupin

(𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝟏𝟐) questions and snowball fights

"That he's insane" Athena replied.

"Well he is" Melissa nodded, "but he wasn't always"

"What was he like?" Athena asked, never feeling more curious about anything in her life.

"He was a charmer" Melissa began, "girls fell for him like that" she indicated speed with a click of her fingers, "he was funny... hilarious actually, rather handsome and tall... not the type to go mad"

"Anything else?" Athena asked, almost on the edge of her seat now"

"Actually... in some ways you're a lot like him"

"What do you mean?" Athena asked as her throat went dry,

"Nothing bad I assure you" Melissa smiled, "he... well he was very outspoken, if he didn't agree with something he'd let everyone know and he wouldn't stand to be made a fool of, he was intelligent of course but there was something else... he had impeccable common sense and sometimes I see that in you"

"If he was so smart" Athena began, "if he was so sensible then... why did he think it was my mother who killed his wife"

"As I said, he went insane, lost his touch on reality I suppose" Melissa shivered, "he was very awful to be around after that... I think I only saw him once after he lost it, arguing with your mother"

"What did he look like?" Athena asked,

"Um" Melissa frowned, "tall, shaved head, dark eyes, looked a bit like your mother, skin like mahogany... strong frame and when he was angry... he had the coldest stare but when he was happy... his smile could light up an entire room".

Athena just nodded as she tried to picture him in her mind. Any picture that had existed of him had been destroyed by Mary. All Athena had was her imagination.

"Anyway" Melissa smiled as she downed her glass of water in one, "enough of this morbid talk... it's Christmas after all, let's go do some shopping"

"Good idea", Athena nodded as she finished her drink, the imagined image of her uncle still lingering in her mind.

☽☽☽

Remus arrived on the evening of Christmas Eve. He and his parents came bearing gifts and Athena was so happy to see him despite it only being a week. Remus' smile was slightly strained and Athena knew this was because the full moon was in a couple of days. Nevertheless he still pulled her in for a hug and let the happiness of Christmas overcome his worries of the transformation.

They'd had a dinner of pizza that night and ended up watching 'It's a wonderful life' while the fire crackled throughout the room. Melissa didn't have a glass of wine nor did she critique Mary's decorations in any way. In fact the two women didn't argue at all which made a change in comparison to past Christmas times.

Athena shared a room with Remus (which had taken a lot of persuasion with her father who wasn't having it). Athena promised that Remus would be sleeping on the sofa in her room and she also pulled the 'you trust Remus' card which seemed to play out well every time.

She was definitely fortunate in her choices of boyfriend not just because Remus was her favourite person ever but also because her father had known him since he was born. Since then Remus had never done anything which would lead Henry to believe that he was a bad influence on Athena.

Remus did not stick to the promise and it hadn't even been twenty minutes of them lying silently in the darkened room before she felt the covers move and someone slide into the bed beside her. Immediately she moved over from her warmed space onto the crisper and colder sheets so she could be closer to him.