CLAUDIA CAME BACK to the tent with the ice. She also came back with emptiness inside of her.

She wasn't ready to leave them. Not at all.

She had counted. In just 16 hours time, all she knew would be torn apart. Everything she knew would be gone. And she would become the person she most feared. The person who was cruel and vicious and evil to her favourite people.

In just 16 hours, their story would be over.

Claudia honestly didn't even understand how she was functioning. Her body was on some sort of autopilot mode, because she walked and sort of talked, even though she felt nothing but the essential need to disappear and never come back.

The anxiety was worse than ever before, and the worst part was that she would soon be going home with Remus. She would say goodbye to her friends soon.

And then, the next morning, she was going to break the beautiful, beautiful heart of the boy who immediately kissed her on the temple as she sat back down at the table.

She had no idea how she was going to approach it. Was she supposed to tell him that she didn't love him anymore?

No, that wouldn't work. He knew that she did. Of course he did, she had told him several times already that day! And, besides, things were like they used to be between them except for the fact that Claudia was more anxious and clingy than normally.

And then, she wondered what would happen if she told him the exact reason why she was leaving.

But that, as she had already realised, would only cause him to do his own thinking. He would beg on his knees for her to run away with him, and she would eventually agree because all she wanted was to be with him. And then he would leave the wonderful and unlikely life he was living where he was as loved as he was.

She just couldn't allow herself to let him make the decision this time, despite how much she hated it.

She also wondered what would happen if she made sure that he knew that she still loved him, and that she always would. It wouldn't be a surprise, but she knew that he would ask.

And she knew that she would say yes.

So, Claudia figured that the one way she could do it was by telling him how it was, but leaving Evan and Nolan and all that shit out of the explanation.

She was going to tell him that he deserved better. That she was a threat to his safety. That he would be happier and better off without her. And that everything was going to be fine; for both of them.

"You're shaking," Remus whispered to her as she disappeared in deep, anxious thoughts.

She forced a small smile, "I'm cold."

"I've got a jumper inside if you want me to get it?" He asked, receiving a nod in response. "I'll be right back!"

As Remus left, Claudia fell back into her thoughts, that seemed to be eating her up. She looked over at the dance floor, however, and she was met by the sight of James, Sirius and Peter doing some weird dance that reminded her plenty of the time she had met the boys in the Room of Requirement that day when she told them the truth and they agreed to be friends.

It made her smile. Just like her boys always could make her smile.

"Oh, she's smiling again," Remus noticed as he came back and handed her the jumper, only to lean down and kiss her on the temple.

She nodded, "I couldn't help it when those idiots are dancing like that. What even is that dance?"

"It's a secret," he grinned, taking her hand absentmindedly.

And she let him.

"Between us boys."

"Oh," she said with a roll of her eyes.

He laughed, and then he whispered, "I love you."

And she let him.

And she loved him too.

So she said it back.

Because she couldn't decide what would hurt more for him; knowing that she did or not knowing that she did?

Hope and Lyall sat down on their chairs after that, both fairly sweaty since they had been dancing for what must've been almost an hour.

"God, I've missed going to weddings," Hope smiled. "Haven't you, Lyall?"

"Oh, I have," the man laughed, and Claudia could tell that he definitely had had some to drink that night. "But I bet we'll be going to them a lot more in the future, if you know what I mean. Especially considering these two."

Claudia stiffened and laughed nervously as Hope smacked Lyall lightly on the arm.

"What?!" He laughed. "I'm just making an observation. I bet these two will be married in no time!"

Oh, how it felt as if someone was twisting the knife in her chest by now.

Claudia tried her hardest to hold in the tears that filled her eyes; because she knew that they would never marry.

They would never have kids.

They would never get to travel the world.

And you know what hurt the most?

They would never grow up together.

The group all laughed however, Claudia doing so nervously, and then the conversation quickly drifted into something different as Claudia decided that she needed to get out of there for just a moment.

"I need some air," she said quickly in a weak voice as she stood up and left. It was a voice that definitely scared all of them, so Remus stood up.

But, so did Hope.

"I'll go," she smiled to her son.

Claudia was laying down in the grass by the little pond in the garden a fair distance from the tent. With her face in her hands, she cried silently as she begged the universe to give her a miracle.

She begged the universe for just a tiny little miracle; something that could make everything better.

And, weirdly enough, the universe would listen.

"Claudia?" She heard Hope's concerned voice say.

And that's when Claudia started sobbing.

Like, sobbing.

Hope immediately rushed towards her, taking her in her arms and rubbing circles on her back. She whispered soothing words to Claudia, but nothing really seemed to work. And that was because nothing could make the pain go away.

"What's going on, dearie?" Hope whispered eventually after what must've been several minutes of Claudia sobbing uncontrollably in her arms.

Claudia hiccuped, and then she whispered the truth.

"I'm leaving h-him."

Hope frowned, "What?"

"I'm l-leaving Remus," Claudia continued to say as she fought to even make sense of herself. "I'm leaving everyone. I-I...I have to leave."

"Why do you have to leave, sweetheart?" Hope whispered, but she knew that she maybe knew the answer to that.

"They said they were going to hurt him," Claudia said with a sniffle. "I can't let them hurt him."

Oh.

Hope nodded, and now she was crying as well simply because it hurt so much to see what the person who had practically become her own daughter so broken and unable to be fixed.

"Oh, my sweet, sweet girl," Hope breathed, holding Claudia even tighter to her chest as if she was her little girl.

"I-I love him so much," Claudia cried.

"I know, I know," Hope whispered in the saddest of voices. "I know you do, sweetheart."

"I have to do it," Claudia replied. "I need to protect him. But I want to stay so bad. If only I had gotten some more...t-time."

"Are you sure you have to?" Hope asked in a hopeful tone.

Claudia nodded strongly, "I've tried everything. I've tried compromising. I've asked my grandmother for help. I've even threatened to bloody kill myself, but they say if I don't leave him and everyone behind they'll...hurt them. They'll hurt him."

"And he doesn't know?"

"No," she said in a broken voice. "I should've just told him, b-but I got so bloody scared and I know that he'll try to escape with me and he can't do that! Not when he has his friends...not when he has you."

"He would pack his bags without another word," Hope said calmly, still sniffling.

"I can't make him do that, Hope."

Hope nodded, and then she kissed Claudia on the head, "So...so what does it mean?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow," Claudia replied. "And...and you will probably not see me again. For a long time, if not never again. And I..."

"You'll marry another boy, won't you?"

Claudia nodded as her face scrunched together and she cried a waterfall again, "He's h-horrible. I hate him, and I...I just don't know how I'm supposed to go on."

"Oh, Claudia-"

"Am I horrible?"

"What?"

"I didn't tell him...I haven't told anyone. I'm about to hurt them all. I'm going to break his heart in just a few hours and just thirty minutes ago I told him that I loved him. And James and Lily just got married. What kind of person does that? What kind of person does that to their friends? What kind of person does that to someone they love?"

Hope paused for a moment as she continued to stroke Claudia on the head, "Someone who loves them. Oh, you love them so much. You're so good, Claudia. So, so good. You're...you're doing the right thing by protecting them. But, there has to be a another way-"

"There isn't," Claudia interrupted. "I know you want there to be, but there isn't. I have to go."

Hope sighed, and a few moments went by until any of them spoke again. But, when it happened, it suddenly seemed so real that goodbye was close.

"I need you to promise me a few things," Hope whispered, still holding onto Claudia just as tightly. "I need you to promise that you won't give up."

"On what?"

"On life, dear," she said. "You've faced too much for your young age. And I know that it hurts. I know that you probably don't see a point in any of it. But you've got to hang on, okay? You've got to be strong. For Remus. For your friends. For...for me."

Claudia nodded briskly as the tears continued to flow, "I will continue."

"And I need you to promise one more thing, okay?"

"Okay."

"Don't give up on him," she whispered.

"Hope-"

"A love like that doesn't come easy," she said. "You two...you two are so in love that it baffles me every day. I can't see it ending here. It doesn't end here. It won't end here! Not on my watch. I need you to promise that even if you marry that awful boy, you don't give up. Now, I know that as his mother I should probably tell you to move on so that he can. But, as a bystander, I know that he never will. I know that you never will. You're young. So young. But I know that this love doesn't happen to just anyone. It's a love worth patiently waiting for. And if that takes years, fine. But you have to make sure that you don't give up on each other. Not yet. You're not finished."

"I promise."

Hope kissed her on the head again, still crying just as much as Claudia was, "You're so strong, my sweet girl. So strong. You're going to get through it. I know you will."

"I'm so tired," Claudia whispered, baffling Hope completely. "I just wish that I could stay. I just wish I could be with him."

"You will one day," Hope whispered. "One way or another."

"I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too, dearie. So much. So much that it'll hurt. But I'm always a letter away if you need me, okay? With or without Remus."

Claudia nodded, sniffling again as she hugged Hope tightly, "Just don't..."

"Tell him? I won't," Hope assured. "I'll tell him how much you loved him, though. I always will. That's what matters, okay?"

"Can you be there tomorrow for him?" Claudia asked. "I just...I couldn't bear with the thought of him being alone-"

"I'll be there," Hope whispered. "I always will."

And so, they got to their feet and wiped their tears, and cried again.

Hope couldn't believe what was going to happen. You see, her son had been talking about marrying her. And now she was going to leave him the next day.

And the worst part was that Claudia didn't want to. She would rather die, Hope knew. And it hurt so much that she couldn't do anything about it.

"When I found out about...your family," Hope said as they slowly walked towards the tent. "Remus explained that they could hurt any of us at any given time. I just didn't believe that it would...lead to this."

"I think I knew," Claudia said in a raspy voice. "I think I always knew things were going to end up like this. I've been so stupid, Hope. I shouldn't have even been with him in the first place. If only I would've stayed away, it wouldn't hurt so much-"

"You be quiet right now before I curse, Claudia," Hope said in a stern tone. "Letting him in was the greatest thing you could've done for both of you."

Claudia nodded as if she was embarrassed to have said what she said. "He's the greatest thing that has ever happened to me," she confessed.

Hope smiled as they stopped by the entrance, and then she hugged Claudia again as she whispered, "Hold on to that. I know he will. Now, be selfish. Enjoy this night. Give him your everything for as long as you can. I'm telling you this because I love you, sweetheart. He'll manage. It's better if you deal with it tomorrow and have fun tonight, okay?"

And so, Hope kissed her on the forehead and walked inside before Claudia.

Hope.

Claudia walked inside as well, only to feel someone grab her arm and immediately drag her towards the dancefloor. It was Pandora, who immediately started dancing in the weirdest way Claudia had ever witnessed (yes, even weirder than the boys earlier).

"Claudia! Dance with me!" The blonde girl exclaimed and, following Hope's wishes, Claudia allowed herself to do so. They laughed and they danced for a while, and they had the time of their lives; just like they always did with one another.

Pandora.

After a while, though, a slow song came on, and Claudia suddenly saw Pandora and Xenophilius get to dancing together as someone came up to her and asked her to do the same.

"May I have this dance?" Peter asked with a grin, extending his hand for her. Claudia immediately accepted, smiling like an idiot as well as they started swaying around.

It was clear to her that Peter had no idea what they were doing. But she absolutely didn't care because she loved it.

She loved dancing with him, and she loved him.

"You know what, Pete," she said.

"What?"

"Don't ever change," she smiled. "I mean, you're allowed to change, of course, but please just stick to being the nicest and sweetest person there is. The world needs more of you."

He smiled sheepishly, and a blush came over his face, "Why are you telling me this right now?"

"No reason," she shrugged. "I just got to thinking about you, I guess. You know, you're the first one of you that I got to know. In Potions, you remember?"

"How could I forget!"

"Well, I'm grateful I got to know you, you know that right?"

"I'm grateful I got to know you too," Peter smiled as he spun her around, only for someone else to take over.

It was Sirius.

Peter.

"You know," Sirius said. "I don't think I ever truly believed that I'd be dancing with you at Prongs and Lily's wedding, and here we are!"

Claudia laughed, "You're still gonna call him Prongs?"

"Til the day I die," Sirius smiled. "So, how's my lovely lady?"

"Your lovely lady is great," Claudia smiled. "How's my second knight in shining armour?"

"Second?" Sirius gasped in an offended tone. "Who could possibly beat me?!"

"Remus..."

"Oh, right, that makes sense," he grinned. "I'm splendid, thanks for asking."

"Good to hear, Sirius," she smiled. "So you're not overly emotional about your best friend getting married?"

"Of course I am," he said as if it was obvious as he spun her around in a much better way than Peter did considering his better experiences with formal dancing. "But I think we all are. Even you. I mean, I can see that you've been crying."

"You can?"

"Claudia, I've known you forever by now," he smiled. "Stuff like that doesn't go unnoticed by me anymore."

"Thank you."

"For what?" He asked in a confused tone.

"For being you," she laughed. "For listening to me, for noticing things, for getting to know me. And, also just for being you! For wearing eyeliner, lending me leather jackets, having brilliant hair-"

"Keep going, I like it," Sirius grinned, causing Claudia to jokingly roll her eyes.

"I mean it, Sirius! You're one of the very few people who can understand me, and I love you for it."

"I love you too, darling," Sirius smiled, kissing her on the forehead. "But it's James' turn to dance with you right now, so I better go!"

Sirius.

As it proved, all the boys had decided to each have a dance with their girl. The girl who had flipped their worlds upside down in the best possible way.

Their fifth, slightly unpredictable and uninvolved Marauder.

"Hey, Claude!" James exclaimed in his good old happy ways. "How're we doing this fine evening?"

"Great," she smiled. "And how's my newlywedded brother doing?"

"Ah, I love it when you call me your brother," he smiled. "I'm having the best day of my life, thanks for asking! Just wanted to spare a little dance with my third favourite girl. I had to bump you down a little after my first date with Lily, but you understand that."

"I do," she laughed. "So, what's next in life for the marvellous James Potter?"

"Children," he grinned.

"Really?!" Claudia gasped.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "We'll have to see what I do next. Auror training seems to be the goal."

"That sounds perfect! I always thought you would be great for that, since you're so brave and determined. I bet you'll be the best auror around!"

"Well, I don't know about that," James said modestly.

"You, James Potter, are the bravest, most unlikely brilliant person-"

"Ouch."

"-Ever, and I think you're going to do great things!"

"Well, you'll just have to wait and see, Claude," he grinned. "I'm so glad you're here tonight, you know that right?"

"You are?"

"I know we always throw the word around and everything, but you really are my sister," he said. "I mean all of my friends are in some ways my siblings, but you're the only one who is the sister I never had. Truly."

She smiled, "You're the brother I never had. It's strange, because you truly feel like it. I know you'll always have my back. I know you'll always see the best in me."

"That's because you are the best there is," he smiled, spinning her around. "I love you, Claude."

"I love you too, Jamie," she said, and that's when she realised what was happening.

She was saying her goodbyes.

"I think Remus' dad wants to dance with you now," he smiled, kissed her on the temple and then ran off to Lily's mum, asking her to dance.

James.

"Hi, Ms. Pack-your-cat," Lyall said as she began dancing with him as well.

She laughed, but then she was sad again because she realised that she was leaving River too.

But, she smiled again soon enough, and continued to dance with Lyall for a few moments as he twirled her around and made silly dad jokes that suited Claudia's sense of humour just right.

After a while, though, someone tapped on Lyall's shoulder, which caused him to stop and grin, handing Claudia over to Remus.

"Bye, sweetheart!" He smiled as he walked off to his wife who was watching Claudia with a proud face.

Lyall.

"Hi, my love," Remus smiled, holding onto her cold and shaky hands with his steady and warm, yet scarred ones.

"Hi," she smiled back. "Where have you been?"

"I've been in the corner, waiting for my chance to dance with you, of course," he smiled. "The list was fairly long, so I had to wait."

She laughed, a laughter that soon died out as she just watched him watch her.

And piece by piece she broke; but he couldn't see it for her mask was too thick this time.

Yet, something flickered in her eyes as a familiar song started playing, and Remus could tell. But, that song did have a similar affect on him; so he didn't think much of it.

"You sheltered me from harm, kept me warm, kept me warm."

This was the song Claudia and Remus had sillily sang together in the hallway at that one party in fifth year. They had danced around with no music, and Claudia had began singing the one song she could think of.

Everything I own by Bread.

Back then, things were easier. Things were still hard for her, of course, but life was still easier. And at the time, the boy in front of her was nervous, awkward, bold and enchanting all at the same time.

He was the start of something great, and that was the night when Claudia had felt it.

Now, things were hard. They were almost three years older, a few centimetres taller, much more smarter and much more in love. And after everything that had happened, it was their final night.

It was strange how much had changed from the very first to the very last night.

"You gave my life to me, set me free, set me free."

Claudia leaned her head against his shoulder as they danced slowly to the song. It felt like the rest of the world was gone, and they were the only ones left; dancing in their own little world.

Another memory of Remus Lupin was made that night. One that Claudia Maple would never forget. They danced around and didn't care that people left and they were the only ones left there dancing as people sat and tiredly watched them.

They didn't care for anything but each other.

And Claudia didn't cry. But it ached so in her; especially because of that goddamn song.

"The finest years I ever knew, were all the years I had with you."

That was true, she thought. No time could ever beat the time spent with Remus Lupin.

"And I would give anything I own. I'd give up my life, my heart, my home. I would give everything I own, just to have you back again."

And hearing those words, Claudia knew that one day she would give everything she owned for him.

She knew that she already was doing that in some twisted ways.

It was funny how much music could be true. It was funny how a song once sung by silly teenagers was now a song Claudia could only feel love and sadness to.

But she knew she didn't regret any of it.

Falling in love with Remus Lupin was the greatest thing she ever did; and that wouldn't fade with time.

That night, before Claudia and Remus headed home, she hugged everyone she saw.

Her boys, Lily, Marlene, Alice, Mary, Pandora, Xenophilius, Betty, Henry, Jia Li, Inez, Fleamont, Euphemia...the list goes on.

And she told the ones closest to her that she loved them.

And that was her goodbye.

Remus and Claudia silently walked inside his - or their - room and got undressed. Claudia, however, stayed in his jumper that he had given her before.

Like any other night, they went to bed and immediately tangled up in one another.

"I love you," he whispered, thinking about the opportunities of the next day.

"I love you," she whispered back, thinking about the cage she was to be put in the next day.

"Goodnight, my love."

"Goodnight."

Remus.

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