ᴅɪsᴘᴇʟ ᴍʏ ʙᴏʀᴇᴅᴏᴍ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴅᴇᴜʀs' ᴇʀᴀ

Epilogue 2: Remus and Emily, November 1980

Remus entered Mungo's third building, looked around wearily, and headed for the massive marble staircase.

The hall smelled of purity, hope, and a mix of herbs making Remus terribly sick. On the second floor, the smell seemed to be chopped off, everything was sterile. The wolf inside Remus grunted, thinking that the owner had lost his sense of smell.

The corridor was wide, long, and connected two wings. Patients were in the right wing; the labs were in the left. The second floor looked like an experimental menagerie where dozens of scientists brewed potions to pour them into the throat of resisting patients to see how the medicine would work. Remus knew that if you turn right through the massive iron doors, squeals, screams, groans, and curses will immediately replace the silence.

Remus turned to the left, walked past wide, square windows in white frames, closed and curtained. He went under the sound of his own steps, trying to make as little noise as possible. He knew that no one was following him and there was no need to hide from anyone, but he couldn't do anything with the habit. Since they left Hogwarts, he has always been on the alert.

Remus reached the last door, a snow-white flat rectangle with a silver-plated handle, hesitated for a second and entered without knocking, resolutely crossing the threshold. The door behind him silently closed.

Here the light was replaced by the twilight and subtle multi-colored vapors, phosphorescent over the whole guard of test tubes, flasks, and bottles. Two windows, a desk littered with papers, a lonely mug with old coffee (Remus smelled it) and tables of various types, cabinets cluttered with metal and glass appliances and tools.

It was quiet in the lab. A girl with black hair dressed in white robe bent over a flask of golden liquid. Remus didn't see her face, but he knew that now her sharp eyes were watching the smallest color change, and a weak twitching of her arm and her wand were the result of a writing spell. The workbook, rumpled and thick, lay beside her and with every second was filled in with new rows of numbers, which for Remus were just numbers, but for Emily Parker - another step towards scientific breakthrough.

Remus fell on a chair at the side of Emily's desk, folding his hands on his knees and continuing to observe her. The robe was short and did not hide her thin legs in black stockings. Emily wore high heels, and it was rather strange, because he couldn't imagine Emily Parker would wear uncomfortable shoes for work. There was no one she could boast of her body to, and this idea was soothing to Remus. He was madly jealous of her even after they broke up.

Remus had to wait long enough before Emily straightened up, ruthlessly sent the contents of the tube into the sink and pulled off her white gloves. All her manipulations fascinated Remus. She was never particularly careful, but when it came to science, Emily had no equals. The unthinkable chaos of the flying dishes reigned around, but in this chaos, there was an order known only to Emily.

Emily turned around. She looked at Remus with no surprise, actually with no emotion at all.

"Hi," he breathed, and tried to smile despite the cold that emanated from her. "I missed you," he blurted out, for no reason at all, and her face softened.

"Hello, Remus," she replied, turning away again.

Emily looked like an adult. She left behind all her dark clothes, giving way to adult grace. She had a large, clean forehead, attentive dark eyes and combed hair without hanging curls. The Mungo healer's snow-white robe suited her. Sometimes Remus dreamed of her in it, and then he had to spend an hour under the icy morning shower before leaving the house.

"How are you?" he asked from behind her.

"I'm close to completion," she responded, putting the ingredients in the transparent, named drawers. "Just like Severus. I don't know which one of us will achieve a potion that will allow you to control the transformation earlier, but eventually we will both come to success."