Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 35

"A pact?" Remus repeated, raising a brow at her.

     Jenna nodded in response, taking another large sip from the Fire Whiskey. She could tell that she had had enough, but that didn't stop her. She thought that if she drank more, it could help her forget about her pain.

     "We were in our fifth year, right after the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L exam," Jenna explained with a faint smile. "The four of us had come down here after the test. The weather was... amazing. Warm, sunny... so we just came here and took out our shoes and put our feet in the water to cool ourselves."

     Remus remembered that day perfectly. It was when James and Sirius had decided to pick on Snape as always, though this time it had ended worse than ever and they had taken it way too far, starting a fight with Lily. But Remus decided not to say anything and remain quiet to let Jenna go on.

      "I don't remember who it was who suggested it," Jenna continued, her tearful eyes upon the lake, "but we all promised to come back here ten years later, just so we could be reminded of all the good time we'd had here."

     She then paused for some while and remained silent, trying to blink the tears away. Jenna knew that if she went on, she would burst out. So after she found her strength to speak again in long seconds, she carried on.

     "It's funny, how more that ten years has already passed and I'm the only one here. I'm the only one left to be able to come here." Jenna scoffed bitterly, taking yet another sip from the half empty bottle. "Lily and Marlene are gone... Alice can't even recognize her own son..."

     Jenna went quiet. She couldn't go on anymore, for it brought her an immeasurable pain that she could not bear.

      "I'm... so sorry, Jenna," Remus whispered as he watched her worriedly, not knowing what else he was supposed to say.

"Don't be," Jenna said coldly, drinking once more. Her throat had gone sore to this point and her head was slightly spinning. "It's not like if we feel sorry for what happened to us in the past, it would magically fix everything and give us our loved ones back."

A long silence fell between them, none of them knowing what they were supposed to say.

     "I'm sorry I'm being such a bitter company to you tonight," said Jenna, breaking the silence. "I've been having a bad day. Or rather... a bad decade."

"Tell me about it." Remus mockingly sighed miserably, making her smile.

"Here," said Jenna with a grin, handing the bottle of Fire Whiskey to him.

      "Where did you get that," Remus asked, looking at the bottle suspiciously.

     "Ask no questions, hear no lies, Moony." Jenna laughed darkly, pushing it back toward him.

     Remus chuckled, getting the bottle from her and taking a small sip.

      "Ugh!" He grimaced, almost spitting it out. Jenna laughed. "How on earth are you even managing to drink this? It's disgusting!"

"It helps, trust me." She smirked, taking the bottle back from him.

Jenna could already tell that she was drunk, because she was feeling more open and free about speaking what was on her mind. Things that on a sober day, she would have never said out loud.

     "Did you read the Daily Prophet today?" Jenna questioned blankly.

     Remus glanced down, although at first he didn't answer. He couldn't bring himself to talk about it. But at last he nodded.

     "I don't think anyone deserves such fate," he whispered, glancing at her sideways.

     "Actually there are a few people on my mind that deserve it, but he isn't one of them," said Jenna as she mentioned Sirius, shaking her head.

     She then took her feet out of the freezing water and winced when she saw that her skin had slightly turned red from the cold. So she just wore her shoes and put them back on.

     Jenna then tried to get up to her feet with the bottle of Fire Whiskey still down on the grass, but she felt so dizzy that she nearly dropped. But Remus was quick enough to get to his feet and threw an arm around her, preventing her from falling.

     "Oopsie!" Jenna sang, giggling.

     "I think it's time for you to sleep —"

     "You know what I think?" Jenna said with a chuckle, cutting him off as she tried to move away from him tipsily. "I think that things could've been different if I had done things differently."

     "Jenna —"

     "If I hadn't been an idiot to run away just because an old man had told me so, then Harry wouldn't have had a miserable life with the stupid Durse-cows or whatever the heck their names are."

     "Please don't blame yourself —"

     "But I do blame myself, Remus!" she said loudly. "If I had insisted that James and Lily would make me their Secret Keeper, they would be alive right now! And you know what else? That maybe if I had told Sirius about myself, then maybe he wouldn't have left me... but how could I have known it myself? See the irony in that? Things would've been different then."

     Jenna laughed miserably, running a hand through her brown hair. But not only Remus couldn't see the irony or the funny part of that story, he also had no idea what Jenna was talking about.

     "You know what else I also think of?" Jenna whispered, looking up at Remus. He was still holding onto her arm, afraid that she would stumble down if he let go. "I sometimes wonder how different things would've been if you hadn't turned me down when we were fifteen."

      Remus gaped down at her, his mouth going dry. He remembered that day vividly. They had been in the Shrieking Shack. Jenna had only learnt about Remus's condition, but instead of pushing him away and running from him like he had expected, she'd stayed.

     Once Jenna had confessed her feelings to him, Remus found himself scared. True, he liked her, but he had always known that because of his condition he was better off alone. But more than that, he had turned her down harshly because of Sirius.

     Remus knew that Sirius had always liked Jenna, ever since their second year when her crush for her had started. So as his friend, he couldn't allow himself to be with Jenna, because he would feel guilty.

     But at that moment, as he was holding her in his arms, it was as if they were fifteen again. Although he thoughts that maybe this time he wouldn't feel as guilty, considering what Sirius had done twelve years ago.

     "Remus?" Jenna whispered, her eyes gazing into his chocolate brown ones.

     Maybe it was the way she was looking at him, or maybe the small amount of Fire Whiskey in his system that had made him more courageous, or perhaps it was both.

     But just then, caught in the heat of the moment, Remus found himself leaning in toward Jenna, until he finally pressed his lips down against hers, suddenly bringing her into a kiss.