Who I Really Am (A Remus Lupin Love Story)

Chapter Twenty

Tears streak down my face as I touch the leather on the couch. I'm home.
I don't contemplate how this could be real for much longer. Instead I walk around my house.
I start in the living room, trailing my fingers along the couch. I stop when I get to the place Serenity was sitting in before she died. I sit down there, and more tears come when I realize that the seat's still warm. Like she just got up from it.
I get up and walk to my dad's chair. The book he was reading is sitting on the cushion, and I pick it up. He was reading one of his old textbooks, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. Mum and Dad both loved Defense Against the Dark Arts, that's why they became Aurors. And Dad always loved to re-read his old Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks. I slide the book into my bag carefully, and I sit down in his chair. Still warm.
I walk to the dining table. Mum's letter is still sitting in the same spot, the ink not dry yet. The envelope still sits by it, along with her quill and ink bottle. I leave the letter there for now. The ink's not dry, I don't want to ruin it. But I do sit in her seat. Still warm.
I walk to the kitchen, smiling a bit when I see that the water for spaghetti is waiting to boil, the noodles sitting next to the pot on the counter. The plates and silverware are stacked next to it, waiting for Serenity to set them on the table after Mum's done writing her letter.
Next I walk to my room. The walls the shade of my favorite color, dark blue. The drawings are still taped to the walls with Spello-tape. I look at some of them, and I remember painting them.There's paintings of our owl (Athena), the view from my window, the sky, and many other things. I used to want to be a painter, even though I was horrible at painting.
Then I go to my parent's room. The four-poster bed was still there, with the sheets made in a way only my Mum and House Elfs can make them. I touch the curtains on the four-poster, and I realize that they're the same curtains that are on my four-poster at Hogwarts. I wonder where they got them...
Last I go into the most painful room of all. Serenity's room. The walls are still dark purple, decorated with posters, my paintings, and Gryffindor things. I look at Serenity's bed, which still has some of her textbooks and homework laying on it.  I walk over and see a copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I wonder why the Ministry lady didn't give me these too... I take them and put them in my bag, which is getting a bit stuffed. I turn and walk over to her nightstand, where there's still a cup of water and half a cookie sitting on top next to a to-do list. I pick up the list, and I read it.

~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~To Do~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                                                                    

*Finish Herbology essay 

*Finish Care of Magical Creatures essay

*Ask Mum and Dad about how well we're hiding.

*Finish writing Bria's letter

*Put Bria's letter in Hogwarts, a History

*Keep Hogwarts, a History somewhere so that Bria should be able to find it

*Relax, Enjoy what little time you could have left with Bria

I put the to-do list into my bag, even though it's a stupid thing to keep. It reminds me of Serenity.
I walk over to the thing in her room I've been avoiding. The wardrobe. I turn the handle. Inside are the same clothes, and the same shoes. I step inside, just like I did ten years ago. I close the doors, looking through the crack in them.
And the memory floods back to me. Serenity kneeling on the floor. Telling me she loved me. The Death Eater yelling. Serenity being dead in the flash of a green light.
I step out of the wardrobe, and I walk back to the living room. I sit in Serenity's spot on the couch, and I sob. I don't know how long I sat there for, but it was for at least an hour.
At least I was at home.