THE LOST AND THE FOUND // remus lupin

15. JULIET AND FAMILY REUNIONS

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉
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February 1978

James was completely out of it. He didn't realise his sister was under the same roof he was up until he actually saw her, laying on a bad, her back turned to the door.

Andromeda gave him an encouraging stare before turning to look inside the room herself, noticing her pink-haired five year old sitting on the edge of the bed, keeping the girl company. Hurriedly, she stepped forwards, picking her up, and getting Juliet's attention in the process.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did we wake you up?"

"She wasn't sleeping, mum! We were playing the quiet game!" Nymphadora rolled her eyes.

"What's that?"

"It's the game where the one that manages to stay silent the longest is the winner! She's really good at it." The girl smiled brightly at Juliet who forced a small smile in order to please the child.

Andromeda looked at James, then picked up her daughter, turning to Juliet once more before she took her leave to give them privacy. "There's someone here to see you."

Juliet didn't even watch them leave. She had barely been listening at anything, she barely felt like she existed. But, for once, the words didn't go unnoticed. She heard it this time. Someone was there to see her. Andromeda was chill about it, surely it hadn't been bad? They would protect her if Bellatrix came back for her, would they not?

She laid frozen, too anxious and scared to turn her head to look at whoever was standing there. Maybe it was Dumbledore. Maybe he had heard of her disappearance and he knew now that she was (barely) still alive. She didn't even want to think about that person being one of her loved ones. She missed them so badly and she was hurting, and she did not want them to see her in that state. Though she knew she needed them.

With a newfound courage, she switched positions, laying on her back, so she was able to face the door on her left. To her absolute shock, her brother was standing in front of the closed door, tears streaming down his cheeks.

It seemed he was simply awaiting for her to glance his way and make sure it was her, that she was still there. Barely half a second later he was already rushing to the bed, holding her tightly.

Juliet broke down into loud sobs just then. She let her brother get into the bed, and pull her into his embrace, both of them crying into each other's arms, while reassuring each other. As James patted her head, she was caressing his back. The twins were reunited, silently sharing their sufferings, sobbing the unspoken words and happily holding each other because they finally had the ultime confirmation the other was alive.

Because Juliet couldn't really know either. Xenophilius had given her a radio with which she would get informed about her beloved's state through ridiculous nicknames they had given themselves. She knew Remus was "Romulus" because of the Roman mythology, she knew Kingsley Shacklebolt was "Royal", but she didn't know who the two others were, nor did she recognise their voices. Xenophilius appeared a few times on Potterwatch too, taking the codename "Epimetheus". She knew it must have been because in Greek mythology, Epimetheus was Pandora's husband.

The constant sounds of the radio was the reason behind one of the many arguments she had with Regulus in that tent.

Andromeda ended up peeking in at some point, just to check that the twins were doing alright. It was a heartbreaking sight to witness, thought they had both calmed down by that point, and Juliet was fast asleep. James didn't let go though, he could tell she was having a nightmare and he wanted her to feel the reassurance that he was there. He didn't know if he even wanted to know what happened to his sister. She looked like she had gone through hell and back six times in a row.

~

Ted Tonks was getting confused with the many faces and many names in his home. Though they were mostly quiet. He didn't know what to say to them, and he knew they had questions. Instead, he stepped outside, noticing one of the young adults leaning against the wall. They nodded at each other and awkwardly just looked around.

"Don't you want to go inside?" Ted finally asked.

"It feels suffocating." The older male felt like that statement did not simply concern the lack of space.

"She will probably be good to meet the rest of you in a few hours, give it time, she's barely used to us." He tried reassuring.

"I don't know if I want to go up there."

"You two aren't that close?"

Ted studied the younger man's expression, how his pale expression dropped and how he just looked overall heartbroken. "She's not just friend, is she?" Remus didn't answer.

"It's understandable, no one wants to see their loved ones in a state like that." He still didn't get an answer.

Truth was, Remus was fully and madly in love with Juliet Potter. She, and she alone, was the mere reason he thought that perhaps, maybe, life wasn't so miserable. Then she disappeared and everything was dull again. He ached when he thought of the pain she was going through. And he was scared that once he saw her again, he wouldn't know who she was anymore. He knew everything had changed now, he hated it.

"What are you scared of? Falling apart? Being pushed away?" Yes. "You have more happy memories than scary ones, don't you? Why give the scary ones so much space in your head? If that's your love laying in that bed up there, run to see her, she needs you more than she ever had before."

There couldn't possibly have been a better push for Remus. He received a pat on the shoulder before Tonks headed back inside. That's true. He needed to stop being scared and selfish. With a confident stance, he walked upstairs. Andromeda was ready to stop him but she was held back by her husband who told her to let him go.

When Remus was in front of the door, just like James, he froze a bit. But then he quickly shook his head, entering the room. There, he saw James sitting up in the bed, holding his sister's figure firmly but gently. Considering her laying position, he wondered if she was asleep, and he couldn't tell, because she was moving.

"James?" He called, whispering.

James turned his head to him. His eyes were red, he looked tired and sad. "She's having her third night terror."

"What?" Remus frowned, walking around the bed to sit on the edge of the bed.

And for the first time after months, he looked at his girlfriend's face. His heart was quick to get back to the usual speed and ferocity it had whenever she was around. But he also felt it drop when he noticed the deep dark circles under her eyes, the stitches near the hairline that were probably Andromeda's doing, the scar above her eyebrow that felt way too fresh, the blue and greenish bruises on her cheekbone and jaw. He didn't even dare looked down at the rest of her body when he saw the visible traces of bruises on her collarbone.

What happened to you?

He sighed, caressing her hair gently. James was still holding her. And both of their souls left their body when she suddenly sat up with a yelp, panicked breathing escaping her lips and eyes shaky.

He didn't think of letting her know of his presence first, he was already holding her against his chest. She was scared at first because it didn't smell like James. She recognised the smell after a few seconds. The chocolate and pine were easy to guess but the nicotine had her confused for a moment.

She cried again, allowing the two most important people in her life to comfort her as they wished.

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MY HEART I NEVER FEEL I NEVER SEE I NEVER KNOW

you asked for a long reunion, you shall receive, sorry it's late, I got busy <33