Fire and Water

I'm keeping my promise to update often - Please review to tell me if i should keep bothering! Ta!

Starting to get into the good stuff now - i love anticipation!

Chapter Four



“Krys, he’s really sorry,’ said Lily, curling her legs up under her. She was sitting on the end of Krystal’s bed, while Krystal lay on her back, propped up against the headboard.

“Nope,” said Krystal, flicking over the page of her new Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook.



There were only 2 days left of the school holidays. Krystal had turned thirteen, and had a small party with some of her Hogwarts friends. She’d spent a lot of time with Lily as usual, but also some with Remus, whose parents had let him come and visit a couple of times, as well as allowing him to attend her birthday party. They had also invited Krystal to visit, Remus thrilled that his parents seemed to be lightening up.



Lily looked exasperated with her friend and stood up, walking over to the neat desk. “You are a freak - look how tidy everything is in here,’ grumbled Lily.

Krystal ignored her, turning another page of her book. Lily picked up a letter off the desk. She glanced at the signature at the bottom and smiled slyly.

“Remus writes a lot doesn’t he?” she said, with an air of innocence.



“Does he?’ Krystal murmured, standing up and waving her wand, trying to copy the movement shown in the book.

“He likes you,’ Lily teased, sitting back down on the bed and watching Krystal.

She’d started to suspect Remus had a bit of a crush on Krystal; she’d caught him watching her when he thought no one was looking.

“I should hope so. He wouldn’t be a very good friend otherwise, would he?’ retorted Krystal, refusing to be drawn into Lily’s teasing.



Looking a little grumpy that Krystal wouldn’t discuss her friendship with Remus with her, Lily returned to the subject she’d raised earlier.

“Can’t you just go and see him; let him apologise?’ she asked. Krystal looked up from the book, frowning at her best friend.

“Severus would never apologise, Lily,’ she said.

“He’s really sorry,’ Lily repeated, looking at Krystal with round, green eyes. “Please go and see him. I can’t stand having my two best friends fighting.”



“We’re not fighting,’ Krystal mumbled, closing the book and tossing it into her half packed trunk. “We’re not speaking at all.”

She sat heavily on the bed next to Lily, who could sense a chink in Krystal’s stubborn refusal to speak to Severus. She knew that behind her friend’s obstinate stand, she felt bad about the fight with the Slytherin.

“I promise, I will do anything you want if you will just go and see him,’ she said pleadingly, seeing Krystal frown and knowing that she had won.



“Fine!’ Krystal said, standing up and tucking her wand into her jeans pocket, looking down at Lily.

“You’ll do anything?” she asked, grabbing her jacket off a chair. Lily nodded, also standing, now looking a little worried about her rash promise. Krystal put on her jacket and looked back with her hand on the door knob.

“Don’t keep on about Remus, ok? We’re friends, nothing more,’ she said, her face serious.

“Are you sure he knows that?’ asked Lily, her own voice losing it’s teasing tone.

“Yes. So just lay off, ok?’ she said, turning to leave the room.



Lily came with her to the end of Severus’ street, which was in a poorer, run down part of town.

“I hate coming here,’ said Lily, screwing up her nose. “It’s so creepy.”

Krystal didn’t say anything, but she agreed with Lily. The girls said goodbye, and Lily promised to call later to find out what had happened.



Krystal approached Severus’ house, stopping in her tracks when she heard a man yelling. She couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she heard Severus’ distressed voice pleading with the man to “Stop!” Krystal hesitated only a second before walking up to the door and knocking softly.



The man continued to yell, his voice louder and his words distinguishable now.

“Useless moron,’ he yelled, and Krystal heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Anger now overtook her fear and she pushed open the front door of the house. She heard the man screaming again, and the unmistakeable sound of someone being punched. A second voice, Severus voice, sounded weak as it again begged the man to stop.



Krystal walked slowly down the hall, breathing quickly now. She rounded the corner into the living room and saw a thin, dark haired man standing over a skinny boy, who was curled up on the floor. The man was screaming, and Krystal watched in horror as he raised his foot and kicked Severus in the ribs.



“Hey!’ yelled Krystal. The man spun around and glared at her.

“Who the hell are you?’ he snarled at her. Krystal looked down at Severus and saw him look through his hands at her, his face bloody.

“Leave him alone,’ she demanded. The man looked at her for a moment, then burst out laughing.



“Is this one of your weird friends, boy!’ he said loudly, walking slowly towards Krystal.

“Leave him alone,’ she said again. “Sev, are you alright?’ She saw Severus trying to get to his feet. The man also saw him, and kicked out again with his foot, knocking Severus to the ground. Krystal screamed when she saw him hit his head hard on the coffee table. The man turned on her, moving fast and grabbing her hair.



“You shouldn’t have come in here, girl,’ he said nastily, as Krystal felt some of her hair come out in his hand. He pulled her towards the couch and threw her down. She tried to get back up, but he pushed her down again. He laughed again, as he reached over for a bottle of FireWhiskey. Krystal jumped up again, and ran for the door. But the man was faster, grabbing her arm and pulling her against him.



Krystal felt anger and fear bubble up in her and, without thinking, she bought her hands up. The man flew across the room, hitting the opposite wall. He roared as he struggled to his feet, and Krystal bought her hands up sharply, sending him high up into the air, until he hit the ceiling, dropping like a stone to the floor.

Krystal heard a knock at the door, and spun around to see two Muggle police officers standing in the doorway.



“In here!’ she called. “Help us!” The officers moved quickly into the room, taking in Krystal’s wild look and the two people on the floor.

“What’s going on?” the female officer asked.

“My friend, he was hurting my friend,’ Krystal said frantically, turning to see Severus stirring on the carpet. She sank down next to him, holding onto his hand as the police officer got onto her radio.



Three hours later, Krystal was home in bed. She had been checked at the hospital, the doctor pronouncing her well, before her parents took her home. She had received a short lecture from her father about never seeing ‘that boy’ again, and why on earth would she place herself in danger like that, before her mother sent her off to bed so she could calm her husband down. She lay in bed now, thinking about Severus.



He had lots of broken bones and cuts, as well as a concussion. He would be getting transferred to St. Mungo’s as soon as possible so his injuries could be healed the magical way. He told the police officers what had happened and his father, a Muggle, was arrested. Krystal had told the police that she had pushed the man and he had fallen over the coffee table, and that is how he got his broken arm and bruises. They didn’t really believe her, but there was no other explanation as to how a thirteen year old girl could fight off a grown man.



Lily rang that night, but Krystal told her that Severus hadn’t been home. She lay on her bed, rereading some of the letters from Remus. Despite the fact she knew Severus’ father would have hurt her if he‘d been given the chance, she felt dreadful that again she’d hurt someone with her magic. She wished she could talk to Remus; he always made her feel better, but it was late now, and she was sure Sev wouldn’t want anyone to know what had happened today. A soft knock on the door distracted her, and she put down the letters as her mother sat on the bed.



“Are you feeling alright?’ she asked, stroking her daughter’s hair.

Krystal smiled, and said, “I’m fine, mum. It’s Sev that got really hurt.” Her mother frowned.

“He’s my friend, mum. It’s not his fault his father’s a nutcase,’ she argued, reading her mother’s mind.

“I understand, Krystal and I admire your loyalty, but I want you to promise me that if you want to spend time with him, that you will invite him here. I don’t want you to go near his family again, alright?’ she said, smiling as Krystal nodded. “And don’t you read my mind again, young lady. Put your block up.”

Krystal smiled. “Sorry, mum,’ she said, stretching on the bed and knocking the letters to the floor.



Her mother stood, picking up the letters as she did. She glanced at them quickly and smiled.

“Remus is a very nice boy,’ she said, handing Krystal the letters. Krystal blushed under her mother’s probing gaze, wondering why no one believed she and Remus were simply friends.

“Mmm,’ she said, taking the letters and standing, putting them on her desk.

“You two seem to be good friends,’ her mother continued.

‘We are,’ Krystal said with a tone of finality, flopping back onto her bed.

“Ok, I can take a hint . Goodnight, honey.’ She leant over and kissed Krystal.

‘Night, mum, Krystal called, as her mother turned off the light and left the room.



Just over twenty four hours later, Severus approached Krystal before she stepped into a compartment on the Hogwarts Train.

“Krystal, can I talk to you for a minute?” he said quietly, interrupting a conversation between her and Lily. She nodded and he drew her away, ignoring Lily’s curious look.

“I just wanted to say thank you for your help,’ he began, but she interrupted him.

“Are you alright?”

He looked a bit taken aback, but he answered her, saying, “Yes. I’m fine.’ He paused, looking back at Lily.

“Did you….” he began, but she knew what he wanted to know.

“I haven’t told anyone anything about what happened,’ she said. “Only my parents because I had to. I won’t tell anyone, Sev. It’s no one else’s business.”



She looked at him with a frown. ‘It’s not first time that’s happened, is it?’ He looked down at the ground.

‘No,’ he said softly. ‘It’s not. But it was the worst.’ He looked up at her, frowning slightly himself. ‘He could have really hurt you, Krystal. You shouldn’t have come anywhere near him.’

Krystal smiled gently at him. ‘Yeah, so my dad has told me - over and over,’ she said. ‘I’m fine, Sev.’



He nodded, looking at her gratefully. “I ….I owe you, Krystal,’ he said quietly. “If you need anything, ever, I promise I‘ll do everything I can to help.”

Krystal smiled. “Well,’ she said, slyly. “I do need help with my potions work.” He smiled back at her.

“Yeah, alright. I’ll help.” Lily couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer.

“Everything alright?” she called.

“Yep!,’ said Krystal. “Sev’s going to help me with my potions.’ Lily smiled as Krystal and Severus sat down either side of her.



Krystal sat down next to Remus at Gryffindor table. “Hi! Sorry I didn‘t see you on the train, Lily just talks and talks sometimes. God, I am starving,’ she said.

Remus grinned. “Me too,’ he said. ‘I hope the sorting doesn’t go on.”

Sirius turned away from James to smile at Krystal.

“Hi, Krys!” he said, enthusiastically. Krystal and Remus both looked at Sirius with bemused expressions.

“Hi, Sirius,’ replied Krystal, somewhat cautiously, glancing sideways at Remus, who was also looking questioningly at her.

“I like your haircut, it looks really pretty,’ Sirius said, with a grin. Remus frowned, and Krystal looked confused as she blushed a little.

“Um, thanks,’ she said, uncertainly. Sirius turned back to talk to James, and Remus looked over at Krystal, disturbed to see a little smile on her lips.



“Remus seemed to be in a bad mood tonight,’ Lily said to Krystal as they got ready for bed.

“Mmm,’ Krystal agreed, wondering too, about her friend’s bad temper that evening. Sirius had been particularly chatty with her all through dinner, startling Krystal. They were friends but he was being unusually attentive to her tonight. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Remus barely spoke, and when he did it was obvious he was unhappy about something.

‘Boys! Why can’t they just behave like normal people?’ thought Krystal, with a frown.



“I heard something interesting from Frank Longbottom tonight,’ said Lily, climbing into her bed and looking at Krystal with a smug smile. Krystal yawned as she climbed into her own bed.

“And what’s that?’ she said, rolling onto her side to look at Lily.

“Frank said that Peter said that Sirius said that he’s going to ask you to go to Hogsmeade with him next month,’ Lily said, bouncing a little excitedly on the bed.



Krystal looked confused, exhaustion making her brain slow.

“So, who’s asking me to go to Hogsmeade?” she said, frowning.

“Sirius, of course,’ said Lily. “Although, you wouldn’t want to go with him, would you? I mean, he’s a bit of an idiot….:”

Krystal rolled onto her back. Well, that explained Sirius’ attentiveness at dinner. “He’s not always an idiot, Lils,’ she stated, yawning again.

“So, if he asks, you’ll go with him?’ Lily asked.

‘Dunno,’ she said, pulling the sheets up higher. ‘Maybe. I’ve never really thought of him like that.’

Lily grinned. ‘I’ve heard he’s a good kisser…’ she said with a giggle and she puckered her lips, making a sucking noise.

Krystal closed her eyes with a grimace. “Eww!‘ she said, trying not to let that mental image into her mind. ‘Shut up, Lily.”



Remus lay in his bed, feeling his bad mood increasing as James and Sirius mucked about.

“Could you two cut it out, please?’ he snapped, annoyance obvious in his voice. “I’m trying to sleep.”

The boys stopped talking immediately, but Remus was not to get any rest. He felt something bounce onto his bed, and opened his eyes to see Sirius sitting on the bottom of his bed.



“What’s the matter, Remus?’ he asked, bouncing up the bed until he was sitting next to Remus.

“Nothing, I just want some sleep,’ Remus replied, turning over and closing his eyes again. Sirius looked at him for a moment, then nudged his back until Remus rolled back over.

“What?’ he asked impatiently. Sirius looked over his shoulder to see where James was, then turned back to Remus.

“I was going to ask Krystal to go to Hogsmeade with me next month,’ he confided. “I just wanted to check that was alright with you.’



Remus frowned. “What’s it got to do with me?’ he asked defensively.

Sirius stared at him. “Well, I thought you might like her. You spend a lot of time together….”

Remus shook his head. “We’re friends, that’s all,’ he said, ignoring the twisting feeling in his stomach.

“So, you don’t mind if I ask her out?’ Sirius said, “I mean, she’s pretty and nice and funny….”

Remus interrupted him. “No. I mean, fine. Go ahead, ask her out if you want. It’s nothing to do with me.”

Sirius grinned. “Well, if you’re sure!’ he said, brightly, jumping off the bed and sliding into his own. ‘Night!”

“Goodnight,’ said Remus, rolling over but his eyes were wide open.



‘It’s none of my business who Krystal goes out with,’ he told himself firmly. ‘She’s my friend, that’s all.’

He sighed. Sirius was right. Krystal was pretty, and funny, and smart and kind…..and not likely to go unnoticed by other boys for much longer. Remus didn’t want to upset their friendship by revealing what he now realised was a crush, and secretly felt that there was no way someone like Krystal would look twice at him anyway, so he remained silent.



Sirius did ask Krystal to go to Hogsmeade, but she said she’d prefer to go with a group of friends - hiding behind her dad‘s refusal to let her date until she was at least sixteen (her mother having talked him into changing it from twenty). Remus, Krystal, Sirius, James, Lily and Peter spent the day getting their first look at Hogsmeade’s large variety of stores; Lily tolerating James’ presence as a favour to Krystal, who’d begged her to come with her.



Krystal rebuffed Sirius’ attempts to hold her hand, although she did laugh at his jokes and didn’t comment on how close he stayed to her throughout the morning. They were joined before lunch by Mary and Alice, two Gryffindor girls, much to Sirius’ further disgust at the growing group and lack of opportunities to get Krystal by herself.



He did finally manage to get Krystal alone, when he took her to the Post Office to see the owls. The others didn’t want to go, so they went together, Krystal reluctantly agreeing. Sirius didn’t tell anyone what had happened in there, but after they came out, he was pretty cranky. That was until Heather from Ravenclaw started giving him the eye in the pub at lunchtime.



Lily went off with Mary and Alice after lunch, and James and Peter snuck away to Zonko’s. Sirius, having finally realised Krystal was not falling for his charms, wandered off towards Heather and her friends, Krystal giggling as she saw him sit down next to the flirty girl.



“He shouldn’t be flirting with someone else if he asked you out,‘ said Remus a little angrily. Krystal smiled at his indignation.

‘I think I finally made it clear I didn’t consider this a date,‘ she said. ‘I’m happy he’s out of my hair now to tell you the truth. Heather’s welcome to him.‘

‘He gave up when you came back from the Post Office,‘ he said, watching her face. She bit her lip, holding back a giggle.

‘What did you say to him?’ Remus asked, sipping his Butterbeer. Krystal couldn’t hide her mischievous smile.

“Just let him know he wasn’t my type,’ she replied, not wanting to embarrass Sirius by telling his friends the truth - that Sirius had tried to kiss her and that she’d told him that she really didn‘t like him in that way; that she really liked being his friend.





She took a sip of Butterbeer as well, glancing back over to see Sirius put his hand over Heathers‘. She nearly choked on her drink; Remus also coughing up some liquid as he saw what she was giggling about. They watched as Sirius used his best moves on the girl, touching her hand and shoulder, and sitting very close. Remus watched Krystal as well, and felt ridiculously pleased that she seemed amused by Sirius’ behaviour rather than upset.



“Want to go for a walk?’ she said, unable to sit and watch Sirius in action without wanting to laugh out loud. Remus nodded, and they edged around the room, seeing Sirius leaning over to kiss Heather as they left. Krystal began to giggle loudly, and was shushed by Remus, who was laughing nearly as hard. He ushered her out of the pub, and they laughed loudly as they walked aimlessly through the streets of Hogsmeade.



They wandered off to the edge of the village, ending up staring at the Shrieking Shack, where Remus was due to spend the night the very next week. Krystal looked over at her friend, seeing his slight frown.

“Are you sure there is no potion or spell that could make it easier for you?’ she said, pretty sure there wasn‘t, but hoping she was mistaken. He looked at her and smiled.

“No. There’s nothing. Maybe one day…” He let his voice trail off as he turned back to the house.



They stood in silence for a minute, before Krystal said, ‘You’re so brave.”

He turned to her in surprise as she continued talking, still staring at the shack.

“You never talk about it with me anymore, but I know about what happens to you when you transform, and it sounds so painful.’

She shook her head in awe. “I can’t even stand going to the dentist. I could never go through what you do every month.’

Turning to look at him with worried eyes, she gave him a little smile. ‘You’re pretty amazing, Remus.”



Remus felt a wonderful warmth spread through his chest as she spoke. But as much as he liked that she thought he was brave, he couldn’t let her keep believing that. He blushed, unable to look at her, as he told her the truth about himself.

“I’m not brave,’ he admitted. “I’m scared every month. Every time I change, I feel like I might die from the pain, and I worry I’ll hurt someone one day, and not even remember doing it.‘

He sighed. ‘There’s a reason werewolves are hated amongst normal people, Krys. We can’t be trusted.‘ Shaking his head, he felt tears sting his eyes and blinked rapidly. ‘There’s nothing amazing about someone like me.”



He was still looking at the ground, so he was startled when he felt her arms wrap tightly around his shoulders. He hesitated a moment, a little shaken by the warm feeling that spread over him, then put his arms around her waist. When she pulled away, he was surprised to see her blue eyes had lightened until they looked silver.

“You are brave, and don’t ever say otherwise,’ she said, almost angrily. “You didn’t do anything to deserve all of this, but you don’t complain. You just accept it. You’re the kindest, gentlest person I know, Remus, and I trust you. I trusted you with all my secrets. I think you are the most amazing person I know.’



She still had her arms around his neck and his arms were still at her waist. She hugged him to her again, saying near his ear, “I don’t like it when you talk like that, Remus. Please don’t put yourself down again. Promise me?”

He could smell the shampoo she used on her hair when he nodded. ‘She smells really good,’ he thought.

’I’ll try, Krys. I promise I’ll try,’ he managed to say, thinking that he would have promised her nearly anything right now.



They broke apart, their arms dropping back to their sides. Her eyes were blue again, and Remus wondered if he’d imagined the silver flash in them earlier.

“Come on,’ she said, pulling at his hand. “You spend enough time here, lets go somewhere a bit more fun.”

He smiled as she led the way back to Hogsmeade.



The weeks flew by: Christmas came and went, and James, Sirius and Peter seemed to be keeping secrets from Remus. Each time he entered their bedroom, they would stop talking or put away the books they were reading. After several weeks of this, Remus decided to confront them.



“What’s going on with you lot?’ he asked James as they got ready for bed one night. James looked at him then, sneaking a glance at Sirius, he answered, saying, “What are you talking about?”

Remus frowned, noticing that Sirius and Peter had stopped dressing to look at he and James.

“Look, if you don’t want to be my friends anymore, then just tell me - don’t ignore me,’ he said, his voice rising as his temper flared. James looked at him, shocked: Remus rarely showed signs of anger.



“You’ve got it all wrong, mate,’ cut in Sirius, his words earning him a hissed warning from James.

“No, James,’ he continued, turning to the messy haired boy. “He thinks we don’t like him, we have to tell him.” Peter watched the three boys, his mouth hanging open slightly.

James looked exasperated, but threw up his hands. “Fine, tell him then,’ he said, throwing himself on his bed and glaring darkly at Sirius.

“Remus, we are your friends,’ Sirius began, sitting on Remus’ bed and looking up at the lycanthrope. “We’ve been learning more about your…..problem, and we want to help.” Remus looked confused, as he sat down next to Sirius.

“There’s nothing you can do to help,’ he said, appreciating the sentiment but unsure about what Sirius thought they could do to help.



Sirius looked over at James, who had moved and was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the two of them.

“We know there’s nothing we can do to stop it or make it hurt you less,’ said James. “But we can make sure you aren’t alone when you change.”

Remus looked from James to Sirius to Peter, who had crept up to sit next to James. “You can’t come with me,’ he said, a note of panic in his voice. ‘I could kill you - I probably would kill you.”

Sirius put his hand on Remus’ shoulder. “Not if we were animals too,’ he said quietly.



Remus grew more and more disbelieving as James and Sirius explained their idea. They would become Animagus - wizards who could turn into animals at will. Remus paced, as Sirius told him that they had discovered that werewolves were more dangerous to humans than animals. They thought that, if they turned into large animals who could look after themselves, that they could join Remus each full moon. Remus shook his head, telling them that he wouldn’t let them take this chance, but he was shouted down. James told him they had already begun learning how to become Animagi and that they were doing it, no matter what he said.



As he sat down again, Remus was on the brink of tears, touched by his friends’ eagerness to help make this difficult time easier for him. “I don’t know what to say….” he began, but was interrupted by Sirius.

“Don’t mention it,’ he said, breezily. “Just don’t start crying, or we’ll change our minds: we’re not going through all this for you to turn into a Hufflepuff.”

Remus grinned, and hit Sirius on the head with a pillow, sparking an instant rebuttal from the boy. With a loud war cry, James and Peter joined in, the boys game continuing until one of the prefects came to tell them off.



End of year exams crept up on the Third years, sending Peter especially into a panic. Remus helped as best he could, assisting the chubby boy with his revision. But Remus had his own problems, the full moon was due right before his first exams.

“Professor Dumbledore will let you out of exams though, won’t he?’ asked Krystal, as she lay on the grass next to him one Saturday.

They had just finished practicing for their defence practical exam, and were watching the clouds float gently across the sky, trying to find shapes in them.

Remus shrugged, saying, “I don’t think so. He’ll let me do them later, but I ‘m just so tired after…..Look, a dog!”

He pointed to a large cloud, describing how he could see a dog in it when Krystal seemed sceptical.



“Do you want me to talk to him; try and get him to postpone it even more…..”

Remus shook his head. Krystal had confided in him that the Headmaster was a relative of hers, one that she had become close to over the years.

“No, thanks anyway. I get enough special treatment as it is.” Krystal glanced at him, then turned back to the sky.

“A lion,’ she said, pointing up to a cloud overhead.



Remus squinted as he tried to see a lion in the cloud. “There’s it’s head, and it’s mane,’ Krystal said, looking over at him to see him still looking doubtful.

“Look,’ she said, wriggling across the ground until her side was pressed up against his, their heads touching. She held up her arm, indicating each part of the cloud as she spoke.

“Eyes, nose, mane, ears. See, a lion,’ she said, turning to look at him to see if he had seen it too.

He shrugged slightly, suddenly unable to think clearly. “Sorry, can’t see it,” he said, trying to keep his voice light.

She sighed in exasperation. “That was a good one too - you’re hopeless, Remus: no imagination.”

He laughed softly, and she joined in. She moved slightly so she wasn’t so close to him, and Remus found himself able to focus again. They lay there a little longer, occasionally calling out some of the shapes they found in the clouds, teasing each other and laughing a lot.



Finally, as it got darker, Krystal stood up, brushing herself off with her back to Remus. His eyes slid involuntarily to her bottom as her hands brushed the grass off her pants, and he was startled to feel his heart speed up.

“Can you help me?’ she asked, turning around to look at him.



Averting his eyes quickly, he stood as well, getting the grass off her jumper. He reached around to brush himself off, and felt Krystal’s hands on his back, helping him. He jumped a little when her hands skimmed lightly over his butt by accident, and he turned around quickly.

“Thanks,’ he said, feeling a little warm and wondering what exactly was wrong with him. She smiled and they walked up to the castle, talk turning back to the safe subject of their exams.



The rest of the term flew by and soon they were getting off the train at King’s Cross Station. Krystal, Lily and Remus waved to James and Peter, and laughed at Sirius’ face as his sour faced mother dragged him through the barriers. Severus waved to Krystal and Lily, looking back at Lily with a strange expression on his face, as he met his mother and they disappeared after Sirius. Lily’s parents arrived and the girl hugged her two friends, making sure Remus knew to write to her, and telling Krystal she’d see her in a day or two.



Krystal looked around again at the rapidly emptying platform. She sat on her trunk, wondering where her parents were. Remus too, was surprised his normally overprotective parents had not arrived.

“Make sure you write again,’ she said, looking up at him. He turned and smiled, sitting down on the trunk next to her.

“I will,’ he promised.

“And you’ll come and visit again, or I could come and visit you,’ she suggested, bumping his shoulder with her own. He smiled again.

“Yeah,’ he said. “Mum and Dad seem to be easing up a bit now I’m at Hogwarts.”

She smiled sympathetically. “You can’t blame them for being a bit….”

She stopped, trying to find a polite word. “Suffocating?” suggested Remus, with a grin.



Krystal laughed, as she saw Remus’ father come through the barrier. “About time!’ Remus called out, standing with a smile.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ he said hurriedly, hugging his son and greeting Krystal.

‘Krystal, I think that’s your mum coming now,’ he said, picking up Remus’ trunk and smiling at the two children, just as Krystal’s mother came through the barrier.

‘God, parking is a nightmare…’ she said, hugging her daughter distractedly and saying a quick hello to Remus. Their parents introduced themselves, and Mr Lupin insisted on helping Krystal’s mother out to the car with the trunk.



Remus and Krystal walked together and hung back a little as their parents loaded the cars.

‘See if you can come over next week and we can go to the pool,’ Krystal said, bouncing a little on her feet. Remus laughed at her and put a hand on her shoulder.

‘Stay still,’ he said, with a smile. ‘You make me dizzy.’

She laughed, and suddenly, he did feel a little odd. He didn’t have time to wonder about the strange sensation for long, as his father called out to him.



‘See ya!’ Krystal said, hugging him tight. Remus put his arms around her as well, a little more sedately and was alarmed at the heat he felt spreading under his skin.

‘Bye,’ he answered, swallowing hard.

Krystal kissed his cheek and ran over to her mother, waving as they drove off. Remus heard his dad chuckle, and as he got into his own car, thought he heard him mutter, ‘Ahh! Young love.’



The holidays flew by. Remus and his parents went away for a few weeks, Remus writing often to tell her about where they were and what they were doing. On Krystal’s fourteenth birthday, a package arrived from him, containing a card and a box of chocolates. Lily and Severus and Krystal spent a lot of time together, usually at Krystal’s house, as Lily’s sister hated Severus and, even though his father was now gone, Krystal’s father absolutely forbid her going near his house.



One day, near the end of the holidays, Lily left early, leaving Severus and Krystal to eat their lunch together. They talked about their potions lessons, in which Krystal had greatly improved - thanks to Severus’ tutoring. The discussion then moved to their defence lessons and they spent the afternoon in Krystal‘s room, chatting and trying out some spells from the new textbook.



Krystal left to get some drinks, returning quickly, catching Severus looking at a photo of her and Lily on a noticeboard. He looked up when she returned, and hastily moved away. Krystal gave him his drink, and sat down on her bed, bouncing a little. He sat on the chair at the desk, and opened his can of drink.

“So, are you going to ever tell her?’ she asked, leaning back against her headboard and drawing her knees up.



His can froze on the way back from his mouth, as his dark eyes met hers. “What are you talking about?’ he asked, cautiously, lowering the can to his lap.

“Lily,’ she said, indicating the photo board behind him. “I know you like her, Sev. Why don’t you tell her?” He clenched his jaw, a muscle jumping as he looked down at the can of drink.

“She would never like someone like me, not like that,’ he mumbled, his face colouring. “You don’t know that for sure,’ she said gently. “Not unless you ask.” He shook his head vigorously.

“No. I don’t want her to know.” He looked up at her. “You won’t tell her, will you?’ he asked urgently.

“Course I won’t. Not if you don’t want me to,” she replied.

“I don’t,’ he said with finality.



She eyed him curiously, and he looked away, spying Remus’ letters on the desk.

“So, what about you and Lupin? When are you two going to be announcing your engagement?’ he said, his eyes lifting to look at her.

She frowned, saying, “What are you on about, Sev? Remus and I are friends: we don’t like each other like that.” He raised an eyebrow, and gave her a disbelieving look. “Really? You spend so much time together…” She sat up.

“No more than I spend with Lily, or you, for that matter,’ she retorted, getting cranky now. “Just drop it, will you?”

He grinned at her, and copped a pillow in his face for his cheekiness., sending it back hard, nearly knocking her off the bed. She laughed and stood up on the bed, hitting him with the pillow over and over until he begged for mercy.