The Marriage Law // Remus Lupin

xxxvi. swear i'd love you right

Aurora sat down on the sofa that was occupied by Lily and Remus, sitting on the other side of Remus—close to the arm rest. She found herself in a deep conversation with Lois, not really paying attention to what everyone else was saying, much like what it was when they were growing up.

It was because of this, she didn't realise how her body had started leaning closer to Remus, or how he was leaning closer to her. She only did when she felt their legs press against one another, snapping her out of the conversation with her sister and rotating her head to look at Remus who was staring at their legs as if in a trance.

Slowly, Aurora lifted her hand to grab his, keeping her gaze solely focused on their entwined hands, biting her lip nervously. She could feel the weight of his eyes on her, but chose not to look back at him again and instead turned back to her discussion with Lois, even though she wasn't paying that much attention. She could still feel him looking at her, but she couldn't help to keep the smile off of her face when she felt him tighten his hand around hers.

Eventually, everyone started leaving; Peter and Emmeline going back to their house, Regulus crashing in a spare room upstairs, James and Lily going to check on Harry and then to bed. Lois shot a look towards her husband, causing Sirius to sigh loudly, but took Remus upstairs so the only ones left were Aurora and Lois. Despite Remus' hand having just left hers, she already missed the feeling of his palm against hers, not enjoying the emptiness of her hand.

"Are you alright?" She asked Lois, curious as to why her twin wanted to speak with her alone.

"Yes, I'm...I'm fine." Lois responded, looking nervous, her fingers tapping against the surface of her thighs.

Aurora reached her hand out, placing it on top of Lois' drumming fingers in an effort to calm her down and stop the irritating repetitiveness of the tapping.

"I'm pregnant."

There was an awkward pause as Aurora tried to register the words in her head. "I'm sorry. Did you just say that you're pregnant?"

Lois nodded slowly, a vulnerable expression on her face. "I know that we're young, and only married a couple of weeks ago—." She rambled.

"Lois, I am so happy for you." She smiled brightly at her sister, before getting up out of her seat and pulling her into a hug. "How long have you known?"

"Since Friday."

"Told anyone else?"

Lois shook her head. "Just Sirius. I wanted to tell you before everyone else found out."

Aurora continued asking questions about the pregnancy, like when is she planning on telling their parents. They were sat down on the floor of the lounge for what must have been an hour after everyone had gone up, but eventually Aurora declared that they had to go to bed, as Lois had work in the morning.

Once she was up the stairs, she paused, hovering outside Remus' door. She wondered if she should go in, but decided against it, as she didn't have any good reason to be waking him up, even if it was only just to talk. So she carried on walking to her room, changing into her pyjamas and sliding into her bed, picking up the book on her nightstand.

She wasn't aware of how much time had passed until she heard a faint knock on her door, so faint that if she had been sleeping she wouldn't have heard it. Quietly, she placed her book down and stood from her bed, walking over to the door and opening it with the least amount of noise she could manage, not wanting to wake anyone else up.

It seemed like she opened her door at the right time, as the person standing in front of it had turned around, probably thinking of leaving her alone. "Remus?" She asked quietly, startling him as he hadn't expected her to answer. "What are you doing?"

Remus smiled sheepishly at her, his nervousness written clearly on his face. "I couldn't sleep."

Aurora looked at him. She wasn't sure of he was telling the truth or not, but she opened the door wider for him anyway, wandlessly casting the silencing charm once she closed the door. For a brief minute, neither of them knew what to do. Aurora folded and unfolded her arms whilst Remus rubbed the back of his neck nervously; they both avoided the other's eyes.

She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what. This wasn't something that they had ever done before, and it made her nervous the only way Remus Lupin ever could. Trying to ignore the rapid pace of her heartbeat, she walked back to her bed and went under the covers again, resting her back against the headboard. She lifted the other corner as a silent invite to him. "You coming?" She asked after he hadn't moved, just continued standing and looking at her, bemused.

Her question seemed to dispel the confusion on his face as he sat down next to her. "Do you remember the beginning of fifth year?" Aurora attempted to distract him from whatever was clearly on his mind.

"I remember." He said, a ghost of a smile starting to cover his face. "We were both prefects and we were partnered together for patrols." He filled in for her.

Aurora smiled softly at him, lowering herself so she was now laying down instead of sitting, and Remus copied. "Do you want to know a fun fact?"

"If it's about animals sleeping..."

"It's not about animals sleeping." She playfully rolled her eyes, but the smile stayed. "Maybe I won't tell you anymore."

"No, tell me." Remus said, reaching an arm out to pull her closer to him.

"Ducks can sleep with one eye open." Aurora grinned up at him, amused by the exasperation he showed.

"I might just go sleep in my own bed."

"You'd miss me too much, won't be able to go to sleep."

AN:
woo pregnant lois!

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
— dance of thieves - the ROMANCE in this book, wow, i loved it.
— a thousand ships - the story of troy through the perspective of all the women.

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fuck, marry, kill: regulus, lily, james