Help Me || A Remus Lupin Love Story

Chapter 11

In the morning Remus went to get food, like berries and stuff, but I told him I would throw up everything I eat. "It'll be fine, okay?" I nodded and he disappeared into the woods.

He soon came back with the bottom of his shirt filled with strange berries. I looked at him, worried. "They're not poisonous." he assured me. I guessed after everything we'd been through together I should trust him. So I took the frozen strange berries from his shirt and popped them in my mouth.

To my huge surprise they were good! I bent over, ready to throw up. But I never did. I sighed happily, then realized something. "Remus?" I asked. "Huh?" he said, shoving berries in his mouth. "If I didn't throw up just now, was it St. Mungos making me do it?" "Probably. Since you hate places like that it was probably a reflex or something." "But then," I looked down at my skin that was already regaining color. "What did the claws do to me?"

He looked up and stopped eating. "I- I don't know." Maybe I was lucky. Maybe I had escaped the disease. But that was extremely hard to believe after all I'd been through. It had never been that easy.

"Ready to go?" Remus asked, standing up after we'd eaten all the berries. I shrugged, to busy thinking about a random sickness I could get. "Can you walk or do you need me to carry you again?" I looked up and a smile split my face. "Would you mind carrying me?" He laughed. "I wouldn't mind at all." And he bent down and lifted me into his chest.

"Wait." I said, stopping him. "Don't you want your coat back?" It was still cold out, but not as cold as last night. "Nah, you can keep it. Think of it as a souvenir of this grand adventure." he joked.

It was the first happy day I'd had in two months. I couldn't believe I was lucky enough to have a friend like Remus.

|~~~|

It was probably a couple hours later that seemed like a couple minutes when we arrived at Remus's house. It was kind of in the country and it was small. My style. Remus set me back on my own feet and let me lean on him for balance. Now it wasn't that I was tired or weak, it was my leg. Sure it was healing up slowly but surely, every time I put pressure on it, the pain was unbearable.

Remus raised his fist and knocked on the door. Almost immediately the door opened. A woman stood there, same hair color as Remus and same smile on her face. She opened her arms and pulled Remus into a hug. I lost my balance and fell sideways into the bushes. "Oh, sorry dear." Mrs. Lupin apologized. She and Remus helped me up. "It's fine."

She stood there for a moment, examining me before Remus cleared his throat. "Um, may we come in?" She laughed and stepped aside. "Yes, yes, sorry." Remus went inside first then lifted me over the little step up. As I observed the cozy living room of the house, I heard Mrs. Lupin whisper something to Remus. "She's cute. You two make a good couple." I turned around in time to see Remus start to turn red. "Mum!" he moaned. "It's not like that! We're just friends!" "Sure. Tell that to your cheeks." I laughed. Mrs. Lupin smiled and winked at me.

"Anyways, dear, Remus said you'd be coming home with him and explained the situation, so I got a few things ready for you." She walked into one of the rooms and came back carrying crutches. She handed them to me. "I think you'll find it easier to get around with these."

I adjusted them to my height and "walked" around the room, getting used to them. Once I had gotten a feel for them, Mrs. Lupin led me into the same bedroom she got the crutches out of. A twin bed (I think. I'm not to good with bed sizes) sat against the wall in the corner. Three pillows, a comforter, and a blanket lay on it. They were all different colors, but I didn't mind. A dresser was on the other side of the room.

"Sorry, it's a bit empty." Mrs. Lupin apologized. I shrugged. "It's fine." "I figure when you pick out some stuff to decorate, it'll be just like home." I sighed deeply. Home. The place where a family comes together to support each other. It doesn't matter where you are, cause home travels with you.

Remus stepped up and put his hand on my shoulder. "You alright?" he asked. I nodded, looking terribly wrong. "I'm- I'm fine. It's time I should be getting over it anyways." Mrs. Lupin looked sad. "I shouldn't have-" "It's okay, don't worry." I interrupted. "I'll just leave you to change. Everything's in the dresser. If you need me to adjust the size, I'll be in the living room." Then she left.

Remus stepped in front of me. "You don't have to try to be brave for me or anyone else, Bree. I can see it still hurts." I turned around, trying to ignore the fact that he was right. "No, I told you I'm fine." "You don't seem fine." I opened the dresser drawers, grabbed clothes out and slammed them shut. "I am, okay?" My face was starting to twitch a bit and I could feel the tears behind my eyes, but I wasn't gonna cry today. Not again. Nothing was going to ruin today. Nothing.

Remus could see that I was getting really upset, so he didn't push the matter any further. "Okay," he said, backing out of the room, "but if you need me, I'm not hard to find." And he walked out of the room.