AT FIRST, CLAUDIA CONSIDERED just ripping off the bandaid. She considered just leaving Remus before even more time passed. But then, she realised that he was always going to be as in love with her as he was, and that she was always going to be as in love with him as she was. So, doing it as soon as possible wouldn't make it hurt less.

Then, Claudia considered telling him the truth about the threat. This seemed, at first, like the best idea of them all - because if he knew maybe they could keep their relationship hidden.

But then, she realised that that would be selfish of her. Forcing him to hide with her, that was. Never being able to have an actual future with marriage and kids, because she would already be married to someone else.

And there was also the simple little fact that Evan's words wouldn't leave her mind. He told her that she wasn't good enough for him. That she was never going to be enough.

That she couldn't give him what he deserved.

And, honestly, the more Claudia thought about it, the more she believed it to be true. He was, after all, constantly forced to put up with her mess of a life. He always had to hold her when she cried, and he always had to worry.

And, well, she rarely ever held him as he cried as much as he did to her.

So, she came to the conclusion that maybe leaving Remus would be good for him. Maybe he would finally be free of her, and maybe he would be the version of happy she believed he wasn't with her.

Yet, Claudia ignored the voice in her head that told her that Remus would never be able to get over her. And the voice that told her that she would never be able to get over him.

The voice that told the truth.

Claudia had decided to be selfish for a little while. She decided to love him with everything she had in her for the little time she had left, and she decided not to worry him.

So, she ignored it, and hoped that summer was far away.

Yet, after returning to Hogwarts after a wonderful Easter spent at Lupin cottage after the horrible lunch at Maple manor, time seemed to pass quicker than ever before, and they were heading into the last two busy months of their Hogwarts careers.

They had N.E.W.T.s left to complete, quidditch matches to take part in and loads of seventh year activities to have fun with.

After a day filled with classes and studying, Claudia was in the Gryffindor common room with most of her friends.

She was sitting in an armchair, cuddled up with Remus as they read a book together in silence. It worked so that they would read, and then Claudia would feel Remus' eyes on her which would cause her to nod so that he could turn the page. This was something they did often, and it was, in all honesty, one of Claudia's favourite things to do with him.

As for the others, Lily and James weren't there. They had a knack for that as of recently; sneaking off and disappearing for hours.

And, well, they were madly in love, just as Claudia and Remus were.

Sirius took the sudden constant disappearing of James quite personally, but Peter and Betty had a knack of distracting the boy from noticing it. That proved itself since the three were playing a very livid chess tournament as Marlene and Inez sat in another armchair and talked about their plans for the summer.

Suddenly, however, all of their activities were interrupted as James and Lily entered the room with nervous yet happy smiles on their faces, something that immediately caught everyone's attention.

"Hey guys," Marlene greeted. "What're you smiling about?"

The two shared a look as if they were asking each other "right now?", and then James cut to the chase.

"You guys might think that we're crazy right now," he said. "But, please remember that we've thought very carefully about this, okay?"

"Okay," they all nodded, expecting some ridiculous ideas about a prank or something.

But that was definitely not the case.

"We are getting married!" The pair chorused.

And that, well, felt like a punch in the gut to Claudia.

"Oh my god," was the first thing someone said in a voice that was clearly caught off guard. It was Betty. "Really?"

"Yes," said Lily, smiling nervously at them all.

"Already?" Peter asked with a small smile.

"Well," James shrugged. "We figured since it's so bad out there with the war and everything, why not just do it as soon as possible, you know? I mean, we know that we want to either way. It feels right. So, we might as well just do it. We're thinking late June! As soon as possible-"

"OH MY GOD!" Sirius suddenly yelled, cutting James off and practically falling over as he made his way towards them, hugging them both even tighter than he had when they got together.

Everyone else followed suit, congratulating them and hugging them. And, as for Remus and Claudia, well they were both smiling.

But, they both wanted to die.

Because it hadn't hit Claudia until now that she were to leave Remus.

She was going to leave him.

For some reason, she had somehow always believed deep inside that she would marry him and possibly even have a kid or two with him. She honestly thought that, and that was what made it hurt as bad as it did.

You see, even though she too got to her feet and hugged the happy couple, her eyes were filling up with tears.

And they weren't happy ones.

As for Remus, he too felt more sad than he ever thought he would at a friend's engagement announcement.

It all came so sudden and quick. One minute Lily hated James, and the next they were getting married.

And they were so young. Only eighteen. And they had only been together since early November.

So, Remus wouldn't deny that he felt as if it was supposed to be Claudia and him. They had, after all, been together longer.

But, he knew that marriage wasn't just as easily attained for Claudia as it was for everyone else. She couldn't get married just like that.

So, he understood why they weren't the ones getting engaged.

Still, his friends doing so made him want it even more, just because he finally realised that once school was over they could do whatever they wanted.

Or, so he thought.

He didn't know why Claudia was excusing herself from the happy group to go to the bathroom. He didn't know that what she was doing in there was crying.

Oh, how she cried. The poor girl just wanted him. So bad. She wanted him for every day she had left to live; and yet she knew that she only had a total of a little over two months left with him.

And, she hated herself for what she was going to do to him. But what else could she do?

She had no choice. She couldn't just allow him to die. And she also couldn't hope for the best and expect that some miracle would occur that maybe would cause Remus to protect himself from her father, or for her father to die out of nowhere or something.

She couldn't hope for the best. She had to protect him, with everything in her.

And if that meant hurting him in the process, it had to be that way.

All she knew was that she had to keep him alive; for he had a life worth living.

He wasn't like her. Sure, he was a werewolf, and that wasn't easy, but he also had so much more to live for than she did.

He was free. Happy. Maybe her leaving him would diminish that, but it wouldn't destroy him for good.

Claudia knew that her boy was as strong as one could get, and she knew that he would get through it eventually. Even if it would take long.

She just hated that she knew that she had to hurt him. She hated that she couldn't grow old with him. That she couldn't be with him.

Her greatest wish had for so long been to just be with him, so how was it fair that she couldn't?

If dreams could come true, she would stay there forever.

She just wished that her dreams would come true for once.

Just for once.

"You can do it, Claudia," she whispered to herself, drying the final tears off her cheeks and faking a smile in the mirror. "You can do it."

And then, she left the bathroom, wrote a quick letter to Evan asking him for more time, and then returned to the group with a fake smile and a positive and happy behaviour that was the complete opposite to how she was feeling.

•••

Evan had agreed on giving her more time. So, she would go to the wedding, and then she would leave.

Two months and nineteen days. That's how long she had left.

"Claudia?" Remus asked in a whisper as she lay in his arms that night, calculating in her head how many days she had left with the boy she loved the most in the whole world.

"Yeah?"

"It's great, isn't it? That they're getting married?" He asked, yet he didn't sound as if he believed it to be what he described it as.

He sounded sad.

"Yeah, it's great," Claudia said in her most happy voice.

"Yeah," Remus nodded, intertwining their fingers and taking a break from talking to kiss her on the head. "You know...I was thinking."

"Yeah?"

"Would you ever, hypothetically, want to get married?"

And here we go, Claudia thought to herself. She knew it was bound to come up, she just didn't expect it at two A.M.

Of course, Claudia and Remus had talked about the future before. But it was never like most couples did - because they were both so unsure about it.

So, they didn't really know where they stood. Well, they both knew that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with one another, but it's not like they talked and planned about it in a way where marriage or children were ever involved.

"Yeah, I guess so," Claudia replied. "If it feels right. What about you?"

"I'd say the same. If it feels right."

Claudia smiled faintly, kissing him softly on the hand over and over again.

"But, uhm, does it feel right with me?" Remus then asked, causing her to stop kissing him and freezing instead for a moment.

It feels perfect with you, she wanted to say, but she knew that she had to tone it down just a notch to make it hurt less for the both of them.

"Of course it does," she said, smiling up at him.

"Good. It feels right with you for me too," he said, and then he continued. "And, uh...I feel really weird for asking this, but have you ever thought about having kids?"

"If it's with you, yes," she confessed, because it was true. "I mean, I used to think that I didn't want them. That I didn't want to put them in a world like this. But then, you know, when I met you...I would honestly love to have one. I would love to raise one just as well as my mum raised me. And I would love to love a kid like my father failed to do."

Remus hummed in response, "I didn't want kids before either. But then I met you. I'd quite like at least one, to be honest. Just without them getting...what I have."

Claudia smiled, "What would you name it?"

"Pancake."

"Ha ha, very funny," she chuckled, causing him to do the same.

"And what would you name yours?"

She smiled, "If it was a boy...no idea. But, if it was girl, I'd name her Blossom."

"Blossom?"

"Blossom," she smiled. "I'm not sure if it's a real name, but I love it."

"It's nice," said Remus, moving slightly but still holding onto her just as tightly as he closed his eyes. "Blossom Lupin. I love that."

And with those final words, Claudia's heart broke into a million pieces.

And she cried quietly as Remus slowly fell asleep; too tired to hear her tiny sniffles.

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