maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

161. see you later

HAVE YOU EVER WOKEN UP with an immediate dread over the day that was to come? Scratch that, of course you have.

Claudia had done so what felt like most of the mornings in her life. Wether it was because it was too early to go to class, or that she had an exam, or that she was waking up in Maple manor or something else. Basically, Claudia knew just what it felt like to wake up with nothing but dread.

But nothing could ever compare to the dread she felt when she woke up on that sunny morning on the first of August 1978.

It reminded her so of the aftermath of her mother's death. That emptiness inside of her was the same; and it scared her to death.

Remus was alive, and he was right next to her, so she wouldn't have expected it to feel as if she was grieving him in the way she did. But no, it felt as if he had passed on just like her mother - and that feeling was the worst one she knew.

Remus was holding onto her in his sleep; both arms draped around her waist. She lay there for a while in the silence as she tried to get herself to remember what it felt like.

She made mental notes of how he held her, how the room looked, how the early morning sun looked as it hit his skin. How she felt deep inside.

How loved she felt. She figured she wouldn't feel that way ever again.

With an aching chest, stomach, heart and head, Claudia somehow managed to get out of Remus' grip after what must've been over an hour. She couldn't sleep practically all night, so she was exhausted yet too busy with other thoughts to even think about that.

If she could chose, she would stay right there in his arms forever. She wouldn't even hesitate doing so if it was possibly.

But, she couldn't. And so, she began packing.

Clothes, books, socks and photos. It was strange how she wasn't just packing up her essentials, but that she was also packing up her entire life. She put away records she had gotten from the boys, heels she had gotten from Betty, and notebooks Pandora had crafted and gifted her. The bracelet Mary had given her and the necklace Remus had given her.

The ring he had given her however, was tucked away in her trunk. She felt selfish and stupid for it, but she wanted to keep it.

She packed photos of her friends and her. Photos of her and River. Photos of her and Hope.

Photos of her and Remus.

And soon enough, as the world began waking up around her, Claudia Maple had packed up her entire life in a simple little trunk.