REMUS HAD HAD HIS fair share of panicked moments in his life. Being apart of the Marauders and causing mischief had contributed to that.

However, he had never been as panicked as he was in the moment that his father ran off, only for Claudia to do the same. He tried to go after the girl, but he couldn't.

Because someone had grabbed him out of nowhere and shoved him into a room, that person whispering a quick "stay here", only to leave again as they shut the door behind them.

Of course, Remus wouldn't listen to that, because both Claudia and his father were out there, and Claudia couldn't even defend herself if a moment of having to do so would come.

So, he tried to open the door. And, when that didn't work, he tried again.

And, when he heard two forbidden words being called out outside, he yelled and cursed and did everything he could in his power to open the door.

But it still didn't open, and Claudia and his dad could be dying without him being able to do anything about it.

So, he didn't have any last resorts but to do all he could to open the stupid door as the image of Claudia's dead body laying outside flicked through his mind.

But then the door opened from the other side, causing the boy to leap backwards as a million things rushed through his mind.

Where was he?

Who was he with?

Where was Claudia?

It was clear to Remus that the person who had dragged him in there was a woman as she spoke something to the other person she had apparently dragged inside.

And that person was indeed Claudia.

She was alive. Though, Remus could barely tell if she really was.

Because when the woman, who seemed to be an old lady, turned on the lights, Remus found his girl looking like a complete ghost.

Like, a pale in the face, gone in the eyes, and stiff in the body kind of ghost.

Remus had seen her in all her states, but that one was different than all the others.

"Claudia," the boy breathed out of pure relief despite the look on her face, because she was alive. He walked towards her and placed his hand on her arm, only for her to back away and look up into his eyes with a completely different light in them.

"Claudia, what's wrong?" Remus asked worriedly as the girl's eyes quickly flickered back to the floorboards they had been resting on ever since she had come inside the unknown place.

Why was she like this you may ask?

Well, Claudia had just witnessed a murder for the second time in her life.

During the mere 16 years of living, Claudia had witnessed her mum die, as well as an old man named Alvin, who had a short five minutes ago given her a free book.

And, as her father aimed his wand to his chest and coldly murdered the man, Alvin had looked Claudia right in the eyes, with a small smile on his face almost as if he knew that his time had come.

That he would be back with his wife again.

But Claudia couldn't think about that.

All she could think about were the eyes that went from lit to unlit, the eyes that went from warm to cold.

The body that had stopped functioning simply by two words, and the books that hadn't been sold.

And, most of all, she couldn't help but to think about how she had just witnessed her own father kill someone.

It wasn't as if she didn't know that he was capable of it. She wasn't stupid. She knew that her father had most likely murdered someone before.

But, to see it live and in action only made it all worse. It was real, and it wasn't just some strong suspicion anymore.

Because of this, Claudia felt that she couldn't go back to Potter manor.

And she felt that she couldn't be in love with Remus Lupin.

Because maybe one day Remus' warm eyes would turn cold as her father murdered him, and she just couldn't take the thought of that.

"Claudia? Hey, what's going on?"

"I think I'm going to vomit," the girl whispered, causing Remus to frown and the stranger to, as if prepared for what was to come, handed her a bucket.

"What did you say?" Remus asked, clearly not needing an answer any longer as the old lady flared at him.

"Oh, love," Remus then said with a frown as he noticed how much she was shaking, walking towards her again to comfort her somehow by drawing circles on her back or holding her or anything at all. "You're shaking. Hey-"

"Don't touch me," said Claudia, backing away again and causing the frown on Remus' face to only deepen as he shared a weary look with the stranger, who he, for the record, recognised plenty.

The old lady looked between the completely ruined girl and the confused boy, nodding to herself as she opened the door and went to search for someone else to save.

Thank Merlin the woman's intentions were good, because with the messed up situation the two were in Claudia and Remus could barely even think about where they had ended up.

"Claudia, what the hell happened out there?" Remus asked worriedly as the lady had left.

"Don't," the girl mumbled, putting the bucket down. "I don't want to-"

"You have to tell me," Remus spoke. "Right now, okay? Please. I want to help you-"

"You can't help me!" Claudia scoffed. "My father just fucking murdered someone right before my eyes! He just fucking killed Alvin there and then as I watched!"

Remus went quiet.

"I knew this was going to happen," Claudia said, her voice shaking.

"That what was going to happen?" Remus asked hoarsely, already knowing what was going on inside her mind.

"Remus..."

Remus knew that Claudia was thinking about leaving him again.

Because she was purely panicked, and Claudia Maple did stupid things when she was panicked.

"No," Remus said, shaking his head. "No, no, no."

"Think about it," said Claudia, tears welling her eyes. "We've been here before."

"And every time I've told you that I don't care," Remus said, the panic apparent in his voice. "I didn't care then, and I still don't care now."

"Not even when we both know what he's capable of?"

"No," Remus said without missing a beat. "Don't do this."

"Remus, I can't do this to you. I've already told you a million times. All this darkness just rubs off on you, and I-"

"What darkness?"

"Me," said Claudia. "There's something wrong with me, and we both know it."

"There's nothing wrong with you," Remus scoffed. "Don't say that, Claudia. You're perfect. And there's no darkness that you're rubbing off on me. The only think I feel with you is happiness."

"You're just saying that-"

"Maybe if you were someone else," Remus interrupted. "But you're not. You're Claudia. And I love you. And these past few days have been the best few days of my life so you simply cannot and will not give up."

"Remus..."

"I don't want you to give up on us," the boy confessed in a whisper. "Not after everything. This is just one little scare, Claudia. But it's going to be okay. We're careful. We've been careful-"

"If we were careful we wouldn't be here," Claudia pointed out.

"Stop," Remus sighed. "You love me. I know you do. So why isn't that enough?"

"Because what if something happened to you just like it happened to him because of me?"

"It wasn't your fault. And nothing bad will happen," Remus said as the door opened, causing the two to grow quiet as the old woman and Lyall entered the random space that was clearly the woman's kitchen.

"Oh, Remus," Lyall said out of pure relief, bringing his son close to him and hugging him, only to pull away. "Claudia-"

Lyall was pulled back by his son as he attempted to go forward and hug Claudia, Remus giving him a warning look.

"What?" Lyall asked in a whisper.

Remus opened his mouth to respond something, but closed it again as the old lady spoke instead.

"Dear?" She said, referring to Claudia who was staring intently at the floor. "Come sit down, alright? I'll get you a glass of water."

Claudia, though slowly, did just what the old lady said. She sat down in a chair by the kitchen table, trying to comprehend where she was and who the lady was.

"What's going on?" Lyall whispered, once again, to his son.

"Uh..."

Remus didn't know what to say.

So, he decided to tell his dad half of the truth.

"Someone she knows is a death eater," Remus explained. "And the person just killed someone."

As Lyall grew incredibly concerned and Remus incredibly sad both over the thought of Alvin dying and Claudia leaving him, the old lady sat down in front of Claudia as she handed her a glass of water.

"What's your name, dear?" She asked Claudia after a few moments of Lyall and Remus whispering in the corner and Claudia staring at the glass of water.

"Claudia," the girl responded quietly.

"My name's Josephine," the old lady said in her sweet and comforting voice. "But you can call me Jo."

"Like in Little Women?"

"Yes," Josephine smiled. "So you're a reader?"

"Mhm," Claudia nodded.

"Then I think you'd like this," Josephine spoke, standing up and indicating for Claudia, who was still incredibly shocked, to follow.

Somehow Claudia followed Josephine into a different room, not managing to ignore the concerned stares she was getting from the two Lupin males, only to end up in a home library the size of Claudia's room back at the manor.

Which, for the record, meant that it was huge.

"Woah," Claudia breathed.

"You like it?"

"Yes," Claudia nodded. "It's, uh, beautiful."

"It's my greatest accomplishment," Josephine smiled. "With the exception of marrying my husband, of course. Let's sit."

Claudia started to feel slightly uneasy with the idea of being alone with a stranger, but suddenly she wasn't anymore as Lyall and Remus came inside the room and sat down at the same time as Claudia did.

"My husband was a wizard," Josephine smiled. "I'm not, clearly. It's a shame, though, I'd quite like to be able to do what you do-"

"How do you know?!" Lyall questioned. "About us? Actually, who even are you?!"

"Oh, my apologies!" The woman laughed as she reached her hand out to Lyall. "My name's Josephine Clifton. I'm 70 years old and I was married to my husband, a wizard, for almost 50 years until he...was murdered a few months back by death eaters."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Lyall, only for Josephine to brush him off. "But why are you helping us?"

"Because I saw you two speaking with Alvin just a few minutes ago as I passed by," she smiled sadly, looking at Remus and Claudia. "Any friend of Alvin's is a friend of mine. And I saw you hiding in the alleyway so there was only one thing I could do."

"Thank you," said Remus. "But, have I seen you before? I quite recognise you."

"Oh, I was at the cinema when you two were I'm pretty sure," she said. "I think we watched the same film?"

"Breakfast at Tiffany's, yes," Remus nodded, looking sadly at the completely off Claudia.

"Well, thank you so much but I think we have to get back," Lyall decided. "Before our families panic."

Lyall cursed himself for looking at Claudia as he said that.

"Of course," Josephine smiled. "But are you sure it's safe?"

"It's safe," Lyall nodded. "People are already here to help. And they're gone. The Death Eaters. I heard them say they had someplace to be in London so we don't have to worry."

"Good. Well, if anyone needs anything don't be afraid to find me again!"

Weird, Lyall thought since a stranger being so inviting wasn't something he experienced often.

"Of course, you too," he said despite having that thought. "Remus...Claudia, let's go."

And so, Claudia and Remus were apparated back to Potter manor by Lyall as Claudia thought about the way they were leaving dead bodies who could've lived if only their world wasn't so fucked up.

"Oh, you're finally back!" Euphemia exclaimed.

"What the hell happened?!" Questioned Hope as she saw the faraway look on Claudia's face and the way Remus and Lyall both were looking at her.

No one got the chance to say anything as Claudia bolted up the stairs.

"Lyall, what happened?" Hope asked once again, feeling extremely worried as the girl ran off, only for Remus to attempt to follow.

However, Lyall stopped the boy.

"Ask Remus," he said, giving his son a reassuring look, and then surprising everyone and himself as he ran up after Claudia.

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