Fated - Remus Lupin Fanfic

Chapter 25 | Sunshine

Remus woke up on a grassy plain, but very quickly he realised he was in the middle of the quidditch pitch.

He stood up, the blinding sun glaring at him.

At the entrance of the pitch, was a figure staring at him. The light was behind them, and he couldn't see who it was without getting closer.

Very slowly, he walked over to the figure.

"... Violet? What are you doing here? What are we doing here?" He frowned. He looked her up and down, before realising she was in a white nightgown. "And why are you wearing that?"

Violet didn't reply to him, not even with a smile. Just with an expression that was enough to help him relax slightly. 

She held out her hand, which he promptly took.

"Violet? What's going on? Where are you taking me?"

Violet stopped for a moment, turning around and smiling gently, putting her finger to her lips as to tell him to be quiet.

He did as she told him, and continued walking. He noticed there were flowers in her long hair. They looked like daisies.

But when he managed to pull his eyes away from her hair, he looked back at his surroundings.

He was no longer on the quidditch pitch, and now some... beach? No, not just any beach. Remus recognised it. It was a bit bleaker than he had remembered, but it was the beach.

"This is where we used to come when we were kids!" He laughed, leaning down to touch the sand.

He stood back up and looked at Violet, "Why are we here, Vi?"

Violet passed him a jar and finally spoke. "Join me when you understand."

She then turned around and began to walk towards the ocean, sitting down just as the waves met the shore.

Remus did the only thing he could think of, which was to capture the sunshine like he had when they were kids. He opened the jar, and as if like magic, he could see it.

He could see them.

Every single memory of them at this beach was unravelling right in front of Remus' eyes.

"You know, it's impossible to catch the sunshine!" A 9-year-old Violet smirked, cockily tilting her head.

"Oh yeah? I think you're wrong." Young Remus shook his head and took a jar of strawberry jam from his mum's picnic basket. "And I'll prove that you're wrong."

Remus laughed at the two of them but turned away to look at another memory. He didn't have to look far, because promptly Violet and Remus came running past him holding two kites.

He jogged after them and watched as the kites became closer in the sky. The two stopped running for a moment, clearly out of breath.

Remus' kite fell victim to the wind and ended up getting entwined with Violets.

"Shoot! I'm sorry!" He apologised, trying to unravel them.

"Hey, no worries," She grinned and tied them to her bag handle, placing it on the sand so they wouldn't fly away. "They'll unravel on their own soon enough. Wanna go for a swim?"

They began to race each other to the water, as Remus went to look for another memory.

He looked over to see another on the sea bank. He didn't remember this one.

They look about 5.

She's crying, hugging him tightly. "I don't want you to die!"

Remus isn't speaking, just wailing loudly in her arms.

He knelt in front of the two, crying softly with them.

But soon enough, those younger versions turned a bit older, and now Violet was the one crying in Remus' arms.

"He's dead," She sobbed.

Remus instantly remembered this. The day Violet's dad died. The day everything changed.

He remembered this because he specifically remembered not knowing what to say. Wanting to tell her that her dad was 'in a better place' like you would to any grieving person.

But he was speechless yet again, just like he had when she was crying over Remus all those years ago.

"You always said it," He spoke to the memory of her. "You always accepted death for what it was. You always understood death."

Suddenly, the sunniness of the beach began to fade greyer and the memories faded lighter.

He looked around and realised what this was about. He began to walk back to where he was as everything grew bleaker by the second.

The last memory he saw was him and Violet sprinting to the water with the jar in their hands to clean.

But then it stopped.

It faded to normal, and the shadow of where the memories had just run was filled by Violet, still sitting at the water's edge. He walked closer.

"So you understand now, don't you?" Violet asked him, not looking away from the horizon.

Remus stood beside her. "I understand."

"... You know, I never forgot. Not a single memory with you did I forget."

"I forgot some. That's bad, isn't it?"

"That's luck." She looked up at him before standing.

Offering her hand again.

He took it.

"Are you ready?"

"Is there any way for me to go back?"

She gently shook her head.

"I'm ready then."

They both walked further into the water, hand in hand.

"Kneel, please." She asked of him.

He kneeled. The rocks didn't hurt him.

Violet put one hand on his chest and the other on his back.

Just before she pushed him back, he looked up at her with worried eyes.

"Does it hurt?"

Violet offered him the smile she had before, which was calm and gentle. "You can rest now."

Remus trusted her, and closed his eyes, allowing himself to be submerged into the water.

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