Aunt Rose

58.

Rose knew Remus like the back of her hand even after all those years away. She found him carrying the same bag she'd seen on the train, all of his belongings snugly inside, and ready to leave the school without stopping to see Rose first. He knew she'd be hurt, knew she'd try and change his mind, and wanted to leave before she had the chance to try. Always avoidant, Remus was. No matter how many times he'd been shown he didn't have to be.

She was waiting for him with her arms crossed by the door. Rose knew she'd likely be too late to catch him in his office, especially since when she returned to the hospital wing he was already gone, so that was her next best bet. He looked like a kid caught stealing from a candy store, form slouching and mouth pressing into a line when he found Rose waiting for him.

"So you were going to leave without saying goodbye? Again?" Rose asked when Remus was stopped in front of her, eyebrows rising up her forehead and arms crossed firmly across her chest. The last time he left, Rose hadn't heard from him in years. She wasn't going to let him run off and distance himself again.

"Red..." Remus said, frame dropping and eyes closing as he took a breath. There wasn't much of a defence other than that he didn't want to deal with the immense guilt he was feeling. Running away was better, easier, for everyone.

"Were you just going to leave without saying goodbye to anyone? Not even Harry? He's loved getting to know you." Rose knew it was the truth; Remus was the best DADA teacher since Harry started at the school and the fact that Remus knew his parents, knew Rose, was enough for Harry to want him to stick around and continue teaching. Always kind, her boy.

"I already spoke to Harry. Left him with a certain... gift," Remus said, putting nuance on the very last word. Rose knew what he meant, that he'd left the Marauders Map for Harry to keep after confiscating it. Leaving it with him only felt right as he was the only descendant of the group at that school. It would be useful for someone like Harry, there was no harm in it. Hell, probably less harm since it was out of the Weasley twin's hands.

But it didn't escape Rose's notice that Remus said he already spoke to Harry. "So it was just me that you didn't want to say goodbye to, then?" Rose challenged Remus, made him face what he was actually doing instead of what his intention. She knew his intention was a quick and easy scale and to leave Rose and Harry the way he found them. But that wasn't what actually happened when he disappeared.

"No, you know that's not it, Red. Everything is just... easier. This way. If it goes back to how it was and I don't mess anything up," Remus said, shifting his posture and looking pleasingly at Rose. For such a smart man, he really could be stupid.

"It's not easier, Moony. I don't want them to be easier if you're not around. For the first time since what happened to Alice and Frank, I have friends. My friends. And I don't want to go back to being alone," Rose spoke without breaking eye contact with Remus. Her features were set, sharp, and he'd seen the look before. She took a step to stand directly in front of him. "If you want that, fine. I'm not going to chase you around. But I'm going to fight to have Sirius' name cleared and let Harry grow up knowing people who care to be in his life."

That was his choice. And he had one. They weren't children anymore; Rose wasn't going to follow him around and send letter after letter to him begging him to speak to her. To see Harry and help her tell him about his parents. If Remus chose to distance himself again, he could do that. But she didn't think that's what he wanted.