crushed - remus lupin

-epilogue-

Four young men were sat at a table in Downtown London, chattering excitedly about something that none of the muggles nearby could hear, due to the strange buzzing sound that would fill their ears if they came near.

This was because of the 'muffliato' charm, as you might've guessed if you were a person of magic.

They had cast this charm so that they could talk of the Wizarding World without fear of any non-magical person overhearing.

The four young men were named James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin.

James Potter still had the same untameable hair that he had possessed all throughout his childhood, but unlike his mane of curls, his heart had been managed to be tamed. By none other than Lily Evans, as a matter of fact. Well, I should say Lily Potter, for they had been married for about a year now. This came as no surprise to anyone, the two had been arguing like a married couple since their third year at Hogwarts. In fact, once, in their seventh year, someone had called for James by yelling, "Potter!", and Lily Evans had looked up at the sound, like it was her last name already. Let's just say that she blushed and didn't stop for the next few days after that.

Sirius Black, who was previously a cocky little boy, then a cocky teenager, hadn't changed all that much, except for the fact that he was now a cocky young man. Regardless of his sky high ego, he had still grown into quite the handsome guy. However, handsomeness didn't make up for the aching hole that was left inside of him. For he had developed a soft spot for a certain Slytherin named Ella Novak, but the two weren't currently speaking, due to the fact that he let his ego get in the way of his relationship.

Peter Pettigrew was still a fairly mousey (get it?) and small individual, and his love for anything edible hadn't ceased since their school years. Peter hadn't tried to get anywhere on the dating field since his longtime schoolgirl crush, Mary McDonald had been viciously killed by Death Eaters a year previously.

Remus Lupin was having some problems in the job field, but that was purely because being a werewolf and trying to get a job was a complicated task. Other than that, though, his life was as perfect as he could hope. Celeste Malfoy had been dating him for three years in a row now, four if you counted the previous time they had been together. They were currently living together, and Celeste was working at Hogwarts full time, but she came home at the end of the day and weekends so she could see Remus.

The reason these four were meeting on this Friday, most notably without Celeste, was because they were discussing a matter that involved secrecy.

Remus was proposing.

And he was freaking out.

"Dude, chill out. Celeste's been in love with you since we were eleven, you've got nothing to worry about." Peter said, taking a huge bite out of a scone.

Remus continued hyperventilating. "But what if she says no?"

Sirius rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "Why in Merlin's name would she say no?"

"Because she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life with a monster? Because she's only dating me because she feels bad? Because-"

James cut Remus off by throwing a muffin at his head.

"First off," Remus said, rubbing his head. "Ow. And secondly, why exactly did you do that?"

"Because you were being stupid." James grinned and took a sip of his coffee, but immediately spit it back out because it burned his tongue. "She obviously cares about you, so just save all of the 'I'm a monster, I'm a freak' shit."

"Hey, you can't talk, your engagement came out of the blue!"

When Lily and James had gotten engaged, it was very informal. James and Lily were eating breakfast, and Lily had been the one to ask.