I Already Know | Remus Lupin | Marauders Era

29

A pale morning glow lit the worn down garden shed. Slithers of newborn sunlight crept along the haphazardly laid floorboards and climbed across the pale skin of two bodies. Robyn's face was warmed by the sun as the rest of her was heated by the body she was laying on, his scarred arms clutching her tightly as he let out little, snuffled snores. Robyn's eyes fluttered open and she was greeted with the sight of a sleeping Remus, his sandy hair messy and falling over his forehead and his parted pink lips brushing her cheek. She smiled and tried to wiggle out of her boyfriend's strong arms, hoping not to wake him so she could attend to the couple of scratches on his torso...his naked torso. Robyn scrambled up and covered her eyes, she forgot that Remus was naked after a transformation. She tried to steady her breathing and was surprised to find the boy still fast asleep. She peeked briefly through her fingers - she couldn't help herself, he was her boyfriend after all - and found herself nodding appreciatively. Naturally, that was when Remus woke up and caught her staring at his unclothed body. He involuntarily smiled as Robyn failed to notice his eyes being open and he cleared his throat,

"Once you've finished perving on me," he muttered in his deep morning voice and Robyn's eyes widened, "Could you pass me my decency?" he gestured to a pile of clothes laid on a shelf in the corner of the shack and Robyn rushed to them, passing them over as she looked the other way. Remus seemed to regain his senses as he pulled on his trousers and he suddenly froze, "Robyn..." he started and she turned, guessing he had finished changing. Her cheeks reddened as she saw he wasn't wearing a shirt but she didn't look away, entranced by the lean muscles lined down his abdomen that ripples sensually as he lifted his arm to scratch his head, "What are you doing in here?" he asked and she feigned surprise, realising she had been caught out,

"What do you-"

"Did you come in this morning?" he asked seriously. Robyn blinked and nodded her head very unconvincingly, humming slightly in eager agreement, "So you definitely haven't been here since last night?" he confirmed and Robyn nodded again, avoiding his eye. "You're such a shit liar."

"You didn't hurt me!"

"I could've done!" Remus shouted and covered his face with his hands as Robyn bit her lip, eyeing the particularly deep scratch just above his hip bone. "For fuck sake, Ro! Why can't you just listen to me!?" he dropped his hands and she was glaring at him. "I ask you not to fucking come in a shack with a fucking werewolf and you can't even do that! Do you just do this shit to piss me off or something?" Robyn didn't say a word as she fetched a small first aid kit she had seen beside the clothes and pulled out some bandages. She silently started patching him up as he seethed, breathing sharply through his nose and tensing his jaw. After a while Remus grabbed her arms to stop her and started turning her around so he could look at her. He lifted her shirt and she tried to pull away from him,

"What are you doing?" she asked, panicked and Remus looked guilty as he dropped the bottom of her shirt,

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." he said genuinely before he started to search up and down her arms, "I'm making sure you're not hurt."

"I told you I wasn't."

"I don't believe you anymore - you've developed a habit of lying to me." he said cooly and Robyn felt a pang to her heart.

"Don't do that." she whispered and, hearing the pain in her voice, Remus looked up at her. She pulled her arms sharply from his grip and tried to stop her eyes welling up with tears, "Stop doing that." she shoved his chest lightly and he stared at her, shock filling his features as she began to cry, "You make it sound like I'm a meddlesome child! Like I'm too nosy or trying to be too involved! I just want to help you! I just want to take some fucking pain away from the boy I love! And I did!" her voice was shrill and her fists were clenched at her sides, "As soon as I came in here you calmed down! You stopped savagely injuring yourself and we fell asleep together! I tamed Moony! I saved him...you!" Robyn breathed heavily and looked at Remus as he said nothing. His eyes flickered to the shackles on the wall and he shook his head slightly, not saying a word but communicating enough with that single head shake so that Robyn knew he wasn't going to change his mind. Robyn wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a deep breath to compose herself, "If you can't let me in, Remus," she faltered but straightened up and looked him in the eye. He looked worried and she tried to swallow the lump in her throat, "Then I'll just go." her voice cracked but she turned on her heel and started to walk out of the door. She half expected Remus to follow her but he stayed completely still. He didn't move a muscle as she walked back to the house, as she packed her bag, as she flooed away. He didn't move until his mother came to tell him she was gone, and then he fell to his knees and cried.

———

Robyn sat on the sofa in the sitting room with a cup of tea and a letter in her hand. She had been crying since she returned and, after getting over the shock that Robyn had left Remus, Tim was getting very worried about her. She read the shit handwriting that sloped down the parchment and she smiled for the first time - courtesy of Nathan Kennedy.  The pair had been exchanging letters all summer and she was happy to say he was one of her very best friends and the first person she had told about the break up. He had got back to her in less than a day and had miraculously managed to make her feel better. His nonsensical sayings and slightly warped sense of humour, paired with the fact that Ara was to be arriving to her house at any minute, lifted her lips into a smile. Her best friends had almost made her forget about Remus...almost.

There was a knock on the door and Robyn's head snapped around.

"She's here! Red! Red, Ara's here! I'll get it, don't worry!" Tim thundered down the stairs and practically fell into the door as he flung it open, "Your Majesty!" he bowed deeply and Robyn strained her neck to see Arabella returning it with a curtesy,

"Fair jester." she grinned and Tim bounded forward to hug her, talking to her so uncharacteristically quietly that Robyn had to eavesdrop using their thoughts.

'She's going to need Ara now more than ever. There's only so much a dad can do for a girl with a broken heart.'

Ara walked over to the sofa and Tim took her case, taking it upstairs and leaving the girls alone. Robyn put down her mug and the letter and look at her best friend before beginning to cry. Ara sighed and sat down, pulling Robyn into her and stroking her hair,

"I know," she whispered and Robyn sobbed into her chest,

"H-he-"

"Shhh, I know." Arabella had her own tears on her cheeks as she held her friend and they cried together, oddly comforted by their mutual pain. "Fucking boys." Ara muttered, "Why couldn't we all just have a Sirius? Sexy and unproblematic."

"He's not a boy, he's a man."

"Lucky fucking Eloise."

will it make it better if i tell you i didn't plan for them to break up...it just happened?