𝕿he first couple of days of the Christmas holidays passed and I would say i'm more in the acceptance stage now. She's in a better place, no pain, not sick, she wouldn't be seeing what's happening in the Wizarding World at this moment and she wouldn't be a target. It seemed awful to admit, but it was probably for the best, as much as it hurt for us all. I had spent a lot of the time with Mia, being close to her brought me an extra sense of comfort like she did, and she knew that, which is why she stopped everything she was doing with missions and working whilst we were off for Christmas, just to be there for Remus and I. I had been more open with James about it now, telling him how I felt about it all and what was going through my head, the boy being there for me the whole time, holding my hand and kissing my forehead or temple.
At the moment, I was sat in the living room, snuggled into James' side, Mia on the opposite couch with Monty, reading over the Daily Prophet as I thought to myself. Memories. Happy memories. James kissed the top of my head every couple of moments, holding me close to him.
"Moony, don't she-" We heard Sirius voice rush out, just before Remus stormed into the living room with a letter in his hands.
"He's gone. He's fucking gone, El. Left us, his children, his house, everything. He's left" Remus laughed bitterly, handing me a letter that I scanned over, another part of me breaking inside.
Mums gone and we lost dad.
The Lupins are falling apart.
How many more people do we have to lose? That will go away?
"She just got better" Sirius mumbled sympathetically as sobs racked my body again, the three Potters exchanging a glance before James scooped me up, placing me inbetween Monty and Mia, as Monty wrapped his arms around me.
"Where's he gone?" James quizzed quietly, trying not to look at his girlfriend because he knew his heart would shatter into tiny pieces. He hated seeing her so upset, he loathed it, he wished he could take the pain away from her so she would never have to feel it again.
"Fucking Ireland" Remus answered, his eyes twitching and his fists clenching, "Stop crying El, he didn't want us anymore, he's not worth your tears, he left us, he doesn't want you"
"Moony" Sirius whispered, shaking his head, tugging on his arm to take him out of the room, Peter joining, the three boys managing to move Remus out of the room, leaving Monty, Mia and I. The two of them comforting me. Remus and I were obviously having different feelings towards the situation at this time, he was angry about dad and I was upset.
"I-I don't understand, w-what did we do?" I cried into Monty, Mia rubbing circles on my back from the other side.
"Nothing, Melody, you did nothing wrong. People grieve in different ways, maybe he just needed some time on his own" Monty replied softly, "We've got you, you'll be okay, little wolf"
"P-Please don't leave me" I sniffed, my eyes stinging from the amount if crying i've done, red and raw.
"Never. We will never leave you" Mia promised, as Monty planted a paternal kiss on the top of my head.
"The ones that love us never really leave us, they are always here, in our hearts"
"And we love you"
"I love you both too" I mumbled, feeling a wave of tiredness washing over me, my eyes resting closed as my face was buried into Monty's chest, his arms wrapping around me.
Once they had realised the girl had fallen asleep inbetween them, they looked into each other's eyes the both of them displaying the same expression. Their hearts broke for the Lupin twins, to go from a whole, loving family to just the two of them left, children, in a matter of weeks. It was tragic. They vowed to themselves though, they would be there for the both of them. James, Sirius, Regulus, Melody, Remus...their family seemed to be growing more and more, Peter may as well be with them at this point. Yet, they wouldn't change it for the world, these children were their family, always will be, they couldn't imagine it any other way.
"She asleep?" Regulus murmured, walking into the living room, taking a sight of the girl he'd grown to care about in the middle of the two Potters. He ran his hands through his hair, placing a blanket over the three of them, "Do you want some tea or something?"
"We're okay, thank you Regulus" Mia returned kindly, a loving smile on her face.
"Good, I think Peter's rather busy at the moment and i'm awful at making tea" He replied, small chuckled emitting from the two adults' mouths. "Coffee, I can make, tea is another story......coffee?"
"We're good at the moment, if we need some tea, we know not to ask you and we know if we want coffee, we can ask you"
"Okay" Regulus nodded, pondering for a few moments, "By the way, if Mcgonagall owled-"
"We know they dragged you into it" The Potters simultaneously spoke, finishing the comment, Regulus grinning, "Yes, they do that unfortunately. However, that means they class you as one of them because when one of them goes-"
"They all go" Regulus finished, a small smile on his face at the thought. They classed him as one of them, years ago he would have hated the thought, but now it warmed his heart. He was apart of something, people that really cared and loved him.
•••
"Moony, we understand you're angry but M's taking this completely differently to you, y-you can't just say these things to her" Sirius said as the four boys sat in Remus' room in the house, taking him away from his twin.
"He fucking left us, Sirius, she should know-"
"Yes, but it's making her upset, she's not feeling the same anger as you, she needs you to hug her and be with her when she's upset" James responded, "Take your anger and frustration out on us, don't give it to Elody"
"How can he fucking leave us?! You don't just abandon your children because your wife dies! She was our mum too! He should be with us, being more loving and trying to be a family and fucking left us. That stupid, stupid bastard" Remus spat, completely infuriated, smashing his fists into the wall, his jaw locked, "She doesn't fucking deserve to be left! What did she ever do to him?! She did nothing wrong!" He growled, more infuriated that their dad left his twin instead of him. He didn't have the closest relationship with his dad in the first place, he loved him but he was always closer with his mum, but Melody was close with both of them. And she lost both of them.
"What about you?" Peter piped up softly, "He left you too, not just Mel. You don't deserve that"
"I'm fine" Remus murmured, calming down considerably and holding his hands on the wall, allowing Sirius to wrap his arms around him to console him.
"Moony it's okay to be upset" James joined in, also wrapping his arms around the boy, Peter doing the same, "We wouldn't think of anything more or less of you. It hurts, let yourself feel the pain otherwise it will never go away"
"I just don't understand" The werewolf muttered, letting the four boys hug him, "Why did he leave us alone?"
"I don't know but I do know you're not alone. We're going to be with you always, mon amour. You can't get rid of us that easily" Sirius uttered, reaching up to kiss his cheek, wiping the stray tears, "We are your family"
"Thank you"
"Always"
•••
I woke up a few hours later, stretching out, realising I had moved places. I'd fell asleep on the couch with Monty and Mia and now I was in a bed, my clothes were changed and I was warm and extremely comfortable. I sighed softly, rolling over, cinnamon, liquorice and broom polish immediately filling up my lungs.
"Hey" James mumbled sleepily, enveloping me into his arms, kissing my forehead a few times. I lifted my head up, resting my forehead on his, closing my eyes briefly,
"I love you, I-I know I've barely been here and like a burden on you because you have to look after me but i-i'm going to try, I-I- I love you, so much" I told him almost silently, feeling his hot breath projecting onto my lips, mine probably doing the same to him.
"You're not a burden, Lunes, please don't think like that, my love. You're going through a tough time, you're allowed to grieve the way you cope the best. I'm going to be with you every step of the way because I love you, okay? I'm going to look after you" He whispered, my heart fluttering as I gazed into the hazel eyes I deeply adore, before joining my lips to his, pouring all the love I felt into him.
"I don't deserve you" I murmured, raising my hand up to cup his cheek, trailing my thumb over, closing my eyes again to listen to his soft breaths.
"Exactly, you deserve so much more, Elody"
"I'm not too sure about that, there must be something wrong with me if people keep leaving..."
"There's nothing wrong with you, you're perfect the way you are. I'm here to stay, everyone else is going to stay, darling"
"Thank you" I replied when he locked his pinky finger with mine, symbolising a promise between us, "James?"
"Mhm" He hummed, slipping his hand up my tshirt to my back, trailing his fingers up and down.
"I don't know what I'd do without you"
"You would be very bored Lunes, I provide all the entertainment" He returned, recalling the words from the astronomy tower when that awful Professor Brindle was teaching about werewolves. "Moony wants to go to the cottage, to collect a few things tomorrow. Do you want to go?"
"N-not yet, it's too soon"
"Okay, love" He nodded, kissing me lightly again, "It's probably time for dinner, do you want to go down? It's roast beef, your favourite"
"Mhm" I nodded, the both of us sliding out of the covers of his bed, his hand finding mine and leading me out of his bedroom. I glanced down, realising I was wearing a long sleeved ribbed t-shirt and tartan pyjama pants, "Did you change my clothes?"
"Yes, I wanted you to be comfortable. Is that alright?"
"Yeah, adorable. Thank you"
"You don't have to thank me, Lunes, you're my girl, I look after you" He said as I lifted my head up, brushing my lips over his cheek as we entered the kitchen, the delicious smell of roast beef filling my lungs.
"Little wolf, how are you feeling?" Monty greeted, smiling at me as I slid into my seat beside James.
"I'm okay, Monty, thank you"
"You just tell us if you need anything, my dear" Mia told me, placing her hand on my shoulder as she stood behind me, an appreciative smile on my face for the two Potters.
"There is a tree in my room" Regulus voiced in wonder, walking into the kitchen and sliding into his seat across from me.
"It's a Christmas tree, Reg, you know, that people decorate in colours with tinsel and ribbons-"
"I know what a sodding Christmas tree is James, I don't know why there's one in my room"
"It's to decorate, Reg, we all have one"
"And how do I decorate one exactly?"
"You've never decorated a Christmas tree?" James and I gasped, just as the other three boys entered the kitchen, "Bloody hell, Reg. Well you're in the right place, we're the best decorators there are"
"Here, here" Remus, Sirius and Peter agreed, holding their hands up, sliding into their chairs. Remus made eye contact with me, the two of us having a separate conversation with our eyes. He was asking if I was okay. I nodded, smiling half heartedly at him, James kissing my temple affectionately.
"What colour scheme do you want?"
"Don't say black, we don't have black Christmas trees-"
"Why not?!"
"Black isn't a very Christmassy colour. What about purple, you like purple hm?" I suggested, wiggling my eyebrows at the tousled haired boy.
"Purple is good"
"Purple it is" We all chorused, nodding our heads. Regulus' tree was going to be purple and we would help him decorate, show him the true meaning of Christmas.
"What's all of yours? Wait- let me guess, red"
"Of course, we are Gryffindors after all"
"Bloody lions and their pride"
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