Thicker than Water (Marauders Era)

7 January, 1987- Moving On

It took Lavinia nearly six months to realize that the nice young man who worked at the record shop a block off mainstreet was flirting with her while they talked about every shallow, useless thing in the world without bothering to speak about anything that mattered. Anything about their lives. And it took her another three months to realize that for some time, she had been flirting back, reveling in this space where he knew nothing but her name and the music she liked and the books she'd read and the insignificant details of a life that suddenly seemed like one worth talking about. Worth having.

The realization of this didn't sit particularly well at first and the ring on her finger started to feel like a deadweight every time she made excuses to go to the record shop when she didn't particularly need to. And yet... she kept making those excuses. Because he was kind and he saw the world with eyes that seemed to skim over all the bad. With eyes that were bright and innocent and made her wonder if maybe, just maybe, the world might actually be even a fraction as beautiful as he seemed to think it was.

Lavinia was mulling this over late one night, listening to an album Ethan had recommended and not paying any attention whatsoever to the music when Remus sat down on the couch next to her.

For a moment, he was quiet, the notes of the song drifting through the living room without either of the people present really listening to it. Remus because he was staring at Lavinia and trying to figure out what to do or say and Lavinia because she was busy being frustrated by life in general.

"Spit it out," Remus suggested eventually, keeping his eyes firmly on Lavinia's face.

She shot a glare at him, yanking out of her thoughts with mixed annoyance and surprise. "Spit what out?" she asked, even as her head caught up to her and she realized that Remus, of all people, would know when Lavinia was trying and failing to come to a decision about some matter or another.

Indeed, Remus just rolled his eyes. "I've known you for how many years now, Vin?" he pointed out drily. "I know when you're struggling with something and need to talk it out. So lets talk it out."

Lavinia glared at him for a moment, trying to decide whether or not she at all wanted to talk about this. But of course, Remus of all people was in the best position to understand her struggle. So she sighed and relented.

Over the course of the next few minutes, she told him about the young man she'd met in the pouring rain who had offered her an umbrella simply because she'd been upset by the rain. About how when she'd returned, she'd accidentally spent three hours walking around the record shop with him, comparing notes about their favorite albums and hadn't even noticed the time passing or the smile on her face that had felt... natural. Normal. She told him about the time they had gone on a walk along the beach after Ethan's shift ended and he had stopped at every shell and bit of polished sea glass and showed them to her, each time pointing out their little differences and subtle beauties. About how he had made her think there might actually be small things in the world that were worth looking for. Worth living for.

Remus had been silent for a long moment, his eyes fixed on the mantle where all their many photos stood, where Sirius's face grinned down from James and Lily's wedding photo and old school pictures and a few laughing moments caught by Mrs. Potter way back when.

Those photos were a pain and a balm to Lavinia's heart each time she saw them. On good days she could look at them and smile. She could laugh at the state of James's hair, or the lopsided grin on Sirius's face. She could smile at the wedding pictures and remember how happy she had been that day. How happy they had all been. On good days, they reminded her that no matter how far gone those moments were, the memories of them lingered and if she held onto those... she could smile through the bittersweet ache in her chest and remember how it had felt to love them. And to be loved by them.