Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 56 - Remus the Gardener

A/N: Welcome to 2024. What a way to start the year off. You know, the idea for this story came to me in 2017 in my sophomore year of high school while I was sitting in my creative writing class, and  I haven't been able to let it go since. It's come in many forms and versions, and I've got hundreds of little excerpts of writing in the notes app on my phone, on napkins, in little notebooks, or on scraps of paper, and some of these you have never seen because they didn't make the final cut (but maybe you will some day). Of course, I didn't start writing the story in its original form until 2021, and I really thought it'd never see the light of day, or that I'd never finish it. But here we are, and I'll be honest... I see the end in sight, as sad as that is. However, I'm not ready to let Selene go just yet, and I hope you aren't either.... but more on that later.

Thank you for all of the comments, the reads, the votes, and most of all, the support and hype that you all are so diligent to give me. You're all so, so awesome, and I can't wait to see all of the adventures that 2024 will undoubtedly take us on.

But for now, at this very moment, on to the chapter.

Talk to you soon Xxx

Remus sat anxiously in the hall, fingered drumming on his knees, the chair, or anywhere else he could get his hands on.

It had been two hours since he had last seen his friend.

People passed up and down the hall, but Remus paid them no mind. He was completely consumed with thoughts of Selene and whether or not she was alright.

He remembered how only just a few hours before, they had been asleep, wrapped together tightly. It was their usual arrangement. They'd cry together for a while, and then lay together quietly until they both drifted off to sleep. They'd then wake up the next morning and begin another dreary day, waiting to repeat the process the next night.

This past night had been different. Remus couldn't push the memory of being woken up to Selene's anguished screams out of his head.

"Mr. Lupin?"

Remus' head snapped up.

A Healer was standing before him, his hands folded behind his back, his face solemn.

"Is she alright?" Remus asked immediately.

The Healer's face didn't change. "Mrs. Black is fine. We had a rough few hours, but she's resting now."

"And the baby?"

There was silence. The Healer bowed his head.

Remus stood suddenly. "Can I see her?"

The Healer nodded. "I think that might be what she needs right now."

Moments later, Remus was entering Selene's private hospital room hesitantly, looking around.

Selene was sitting up in her bed, propped up on pillows, staring at her hands in her lap.

"Hi," Remus said quietly.

"Hi," Selene said. She didn't look at him.

Remus sat on the chair at her bedside. They were quiet for a few moments. He couldn't even begin to know what to say to her.

And then a sniff next to him caught his attention.

Remus took no time at all to jump up from his chair to the bed next to Selene. She clung to him as she sobbed.