The Sun and Her Moon- Remus Lupin

Around the corner

The familiar lug of the train whirled Aveline's mind into her various daydreams and meditations. Usually buzzing with life, the train ride home for spring break left the marauder compartment so silent the sound of each others breathe could be heard.

Maybe it was due to the absence of James Potter and Lily Evans— patrolling the halls as head boy and head girl. Or maybe it had to do with Peters's lingering cough and Remus' s poor mood.

Or maybe it was everything. Their upcoming graduation, Remus's dying mother, the war that was no longer a distant fear but knocking on their doorsteps with enough force to break down the door of provided Hogwarts provided them with.

The daily prophet was clutched in Aveline's hand, an article of yet another dead muggleborn family. She vaguely recognized the last name, and as much as she wished she could control where her mind wander, it always ended up thinking about her twin brother and the role he no doubt was playing in these deaths. Evan didn't grace the halls of Hogwarts with his presence very often nowadays. In fact Aveline couldn't even recall the last time she saw him.

Could she have done more to try and save him from a fate of murdering and darkness?

She wondered this nearly everyday, and everyday she came up with new conclusions to the same pestering questions. Sometimes she was certain that yes, if she would've sticked by him and forced him out of trouble perhaps his head wouldn't be screwed on so loose. Other times she would remember the madness that overtook his eyes like a disease and was certain the darkness was built into him. She often worried if this madness was genetic, and one day she'd fall to the same fate of becoming hell well still walking mortal planes.

From beside her Peter was treating himself to a load of sweets he purchased from the trolly lady. The boy had purchased nearly half of the cart, shoving a handful of coins to the woman like he was a rabid, starving animal.

Aveline could see the war was effecting Peter more than he would ever tell them. She could see it in his jumpy disposition, and the way the tension never did seem to fade from shoulders nowadays. It was often during the dark of the night she would catch him shoving his face with more sweets than his body could handle to numb the pain.

She watched as the boy dusted the sugar off his pants before reaching for another bag of sweets.

He was scared — always always scared. She could tell by the way he always flinched when someone opened the paper, always terrified he'd see familiar names and faces plastered on the front.

"Any fun plans for the holiday Pete?" Aveline asked him, trying to make conversation that would ease his anxiety.

The boy shrugged. "Probably will hang around my Mums for a bit before going to the Potters."

Peter didn't talk much about his family, but from the little he did Aveline could tell his parents weren't full of love and support like the Potter parents. Between a Mother who could care less about him and a step-dad who wished he could just stay at Hogwarts forever, it was true that the marauders and friends were the closes to thing Peter had to a loving family.

Yet still, Aveline watched how much love Peter had for his mother. The cookies he'd sneak into the kitchen to bake her and send them in the mail with a loving letter only to receive nothing in return. All the years he'd drag them to Hogsmeads to pick out the perfect Christmas presents.

The older Aveline got and the more time she spent out of the haste and drama of the Rosier family, the more mental power she had to think of her friends and their own issues of family and pain.

"How is Mary?" Aveline asked Peter, with a knowing wiggle of her eyebrows.

It was commonly known that Peter fancied Mary ever since first year. The better part of the last year Peter had spent sending shy flirts to Mary and even earned himself the occasional kiss from the pretty brunette.