Unforgivable Lies (Remus Lupin)

III

Mauw! I just decided to keep writing right after I finished the second chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Please comment and vote. It's my first HP fanfic so please be patient with me......

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As I dashed down the stairs I felt like I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Feeling the salty liquid stream down my cheeks I couldn't help the sobs that racked my body. And just as I ran down the stairs and reached the bottom, intent on sprinting down the corridor, I nearly run into Lupin again.

Barely avoiding the collision I see the shock register on his face as he sees me, and I can only imagine the sight I must be. Face red and eyes puffy from the continuous torrent of tears, hair loose and looking wild and untamed from my rush down the stairs, and the pain etched in my features.

He tries to stop me, then, by reaching for my arm. I don't know why he does it, maybe because he pities me. It doesn't matter. I jank my arm free and continue running, my lungs burning from the effort as I continue to push myself to run faster. Harder. Because maybe, just maybe, if I keep running, the pain will dissappear. Fade away. Sobs rack my body, and the constricting pain in my chest only seems to be getting worse, but even then, I don't stop. I continue running until I feel like my legs will give way underneath me. Until my lungs burn with each ragged breath and I nearly can't breath. Until I really can't run no more.

I let myself sag against the wall then, my body sliding down the wall until I'm stitting on the cold marble floor. Pulling up my knees and hugging them to my chest I rest my chin on them, and in that moment I feel overwhelmed. Hypersensitive. Hopeless. Pained. Beaten. Broken. Every emotion I have tried to push back down for the past six years comes rushing back to me in an overwhelming torrent that engulfs me and tries to break me down into a million little pieces.

It feels like hours, but I was probably sitting there only for about thirty minutes when I sensed something. I got the feeling that someone was watching me. The hall I'm currently in is deserted, only a few torches illuminating it faintly. Looking up I wipe my cheeks clean of the fresh torrent of tears that threatens to spill. There, from the shadows behind an armour standing in a niche in the wall, Lupin appears. He looks concerned, almost unsure as to what to do.

"Are... are you okay?" he finally asked, his voice so low I could barely hear it.

That almost made me smile. It must have looked like some sort of grimace.

"No. Not really" I managed, my voice hoarse as I eyed Lupin carefully as he approached me.

"...Want-Do you want to talk about it?" Lupin said after a brief silence. I saw him wring his hands as he stood before me, and somehow the fact that he was so uncomfortable made me feel slightly better. He defenitely wasn't used to comforting crying women.

I shook my head, feeling very tired all of the sudden. When Lupin sat down beside me, I couldn't have been more suprised.

"What are you doing here?" I asked tiredly, pinching the bridge of my nose with my fingers.

"I'm just making sure you're okay" he said with a small smile "Dumbledore came down from his office about a minute after you did. He was pretty worried after you left in such a hurry"

"So you came to babysit me" I muttered, to tired to even sound angry.

Lupin shook his head. Before I even realized it, he was reaching for me, his hand brushing away a wayward strand of hair and pushing it back, behind my ear. He was looking at me intently, his eyes seemingly full with genuine concern. Which was off-putting to say the least. Why would he care? Who was he to appear out of the blue and try ro comfort me?