Chapter 47

She was content, sleeping, the duvet pulled up to her chin, gripping it tightly, her hair sprawled over the pillow. Her dreams where filled with happiness, of her, of the boy she was on the fast track to love with, but not quite there yet, not for any particular reason other than the fact that she was scared to love someone, scared to be so vulnerable that she would give all of herself to someone, but she knew that at some point, she would have to admit it, have to admit to herself, and to him, that what she had thought multiple times was true.

The sunrise was slowly creeping over the horizon, the sky a painting, streaked with soft oranges, reds, yellows, even some purple, and a little bit of pink splattered over the blank canvas which wasn't so blank anymore. Summer clouds rolled by, floating contently over the home in which the girl slept. The morning was peaceful, the sky was a masterpiece on the summers morning in which Nora slept.

The birds chirped in the trees, singing the melodies of the morning, chirping songs to each other, waking for the day ahead, bringing in the sun with a peaceful tune to start the day ahead. In the room, just in front of Nora's lay Remus, awake on his bed with a letter in his hand, reading over it in a best attempt to start the day with a smile.

And merlin was he smiling.

Because the letter addressed to Remus was written by none other than Blair Kerr.

Downstairs in the cosy home stood Hope Lupin over the stove in the kitchen, cooking breakfast for the two teenagers who had yet to rise from their beds, pancakes cooking in the pan as she hummed tunes from the music she had heard Nora and Remus play on the TV, well, mostly Nora as she squealed in excitement when the band 'The Beatles' came on, seeing as they had already split up, but that didn't stop her from loving them with a passion.

She liked them a lot at the start of the year, she had heard a lot of their music to the point that she could sing every song easily, but with Adria's obsession with the band, Nora found herself liking them a whole lot more because of the girl that went on about them constantly, it was hard not to love them, and merlin she did.

Waking up to a peaceful house was something Nora wasn't sure she would get used to, usually in the mornings of her summer she could hear her parents arguing before her father went to work, seeing as her mother didn't have to leave for another two hours after him, so it was a shock when Nora's eyes fluttered open, a yawn escaping her lips from the rested sleep she had had.

Lyall had already left for work, completely silent until he bounded the stairs to see his wife which sent a wide smile onto his lips at the sight of her contently bustling around the kitchen, and soon did he move to her, his arms around her as she cooked, swaying with her softly in the kitchen, his head on her shoulder and his lips on her cheek as she prepared the cake mix earlier in the morning.

And soon did he turn her around, his hand on each side of her as his forehead rested against hers, and all he could hear in the back of his head was Remus if he ever caught them, "oh merlin can you wait until I leave?" the boy would say, shaking his head with disgust, but secretly, the boy was so thankful that his parents where in love, if he woke up to arguing, he thinks he'd go mad.

Lyall captured her lips before she could even speak, allowing the smile to erupt onto the beautiful woman's lips as she held her husband's face, breaking the kiss with a laugh, her beautiful eyes bright with delight as she stared back at him, a hand on his neck as she pulled him back into her lips, whispering, "I love you, have a good day at work."

And he nodded, stealing one last kiss, "I love you too, love, have a great day."

And he was gone for the day, all without making too much noise, no noise in which could wake Nora.

And waking up this way, whilst entirely odd to her that, she couldn't deny she preferred it greatly to arguing.

Her feet hit the cold floor as she stood up, a chill sent down her spine but she didn't mind all that much as she walked around the room, a content smile on her lips, wide and bright for the day ahead, her bare legs only hidden under the pyjama shorts that made sure she wasn't too warm in summer allowed the morning cold to breeze through them, but more than anything else, it was refreshing.

She opened the door of her room, entering the hallway, and soon did she knock on Remus' door, informing him that she was awake. He opened the door soon after, a bright smile on his own lips as he patted her head, his voice deeper than usual as he spoke, "morning."

"Morning," she greeted, a grin on her lips as she guided the two of them down the stairs at the end of the hall, the natural sunlight pouring through the window in the living room as they entered.

Nora was the first to enter the kitchen, the smell of pancakes hitting her nose instantly, and soon did Hope turn, her smile brightening as she saw the two teenagers, "morning!" she beamed, placing three pancakes onto two plates and handing them to the two.

"Morning!" the two spoke in unison, taking their plates through to the dining room that they had previously walked through to reach the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" asked Nora as she took a seat, watching Remus as he walked away, leaving the food on the table, alerting a confused Nora.

"To see if we have mail," he chuckled.

"Oh," she nodded, a sheepish grin on her lips, "okay, continue!"

"Eager to see if you have a letter from your boyfriend?"

"Maybe I am!"

-

"Are you excited to read your letter from your girlfriend?" asked Nora, wiggling her eyebrows as she sat with Remus on her bed, a stack of letters on the bed in front of her.

"Oh, shove off and read your boyfriend confess his love," Remus scoffed, rolling his eyes and shoving a letter towards Nora.

"Alright, alright," Nora giggled, excitement bubbling inside of her as she ripped open the letter.

She had multiple letters in front of her from her friends, and whilst she wanted to keep James' until last, she simply couldn't wait, she had awaited this letter ever since she left him at the platform, she was far too excited, her hands shaking, a wide grin on her lips as she pulled the parchment out of the envelope.

She glanced at Remus quickly, seeing him scanning over the words of someone's letter she wasn't sure of, and soon did she look down at hers.

Dear Nora,

Merlin Nora, I didn't realise it was possible to miss someone as much as I miss you now. I know you're probably rolling your eyes at me for starting this off cheesy, but it's true, I've missed you since I let you go on the platform - a terrible decision really - and selfishly, I wish you were with me right now, I don't care where we are, or how we got there, all I wish is for you to be in my arms.

I've thought of you ever day, Merlin, all I do is think of you, I simply can't help it, I feel terribly soppy but I don't care, all I care about is you, and seeing you soon, I'm counting down the seconds until I'm able to see you again.

Until I can hold you, and kiss you, and hear your voice, merlin your voice, and your laugh, I just can't wait, I wish I could see you now, right now, I wish you were in my arms right now. Before we leave for our adventure, I have a surprise for you, I can't tell you what, but I really hope you like it.

I'm extremely excited for it, ecstatic.

But let's get back to you.

I'm so happy that you're having a great time at Remus', well at your house, I was worried about you, Nora, worried about your nerves, I couldn't stop thinking of it. I knew that Hope and Lyall would love you, it's impossible not to, but seeing the fear in your eyes, I just wanted to hold you, kiss you, tell you that everything would be alright, I wanted to be there for you so painfully, so badly, I'm just happy now that I know you're happy.

My mum keeps going on about you, dad too, they met you for all of five minutes and they already love you, "when's Nora coming over!" mum asked the other day, and I told her she would be able to see you at some point, but that didn't satisfy her, "write to her, James, ask her when she's coming!"

You're always welcome here, Nora, always, no matter what, if you showed up, it would be a dream, but the fact that you're having so much fun at Remus' house warms my heart. I like this whole writing thing, I think I'm pretty good at it.

I've always wanted to be able to tell you how much you mean to me, and it's so much, a whole lot, from this spot I'm in now until the end of time, and well, the end of time is endless, so really, there is no way to measure it, because it's just far too much.

I hope you're smiling right now, Nora, I really do, I'm picturing it, the smile in my mind, the grin you have, showing your perfect teeth behind the perfect smile, your eyes crinkling with happiness, with delight, shaking your head at something that I've did probably, but who really knows, all I know is that I hope you're smiling, and I hope those cheeks of yours are red.

Because merlin, Nora, that's adorable.

I don't have much more to say, just that I'm looking forward to seeing you again, to holding you, and expect me to never let go, Nora, because I won't, I simply won't be able to.

I'll see you soon baby girl,

Love, James.

Her smile was wide as she stared at the letter, re-reading it multiple times over and over, a shaky sigh tumbling from her lips as she tried her best not to cry, she missed him terribly, it had only been a few weeks but she missed him with a passion, she would see him in two weeks, only four weeks from the platform, but right now, with the letter clutched in her hand did she have to wipe her tears, because it was odd without him, she had never went this long since she met him where she didn't have to see him, and because of it, it was entirely odd that she had to sit here without him by her side.

She rose her head to Remus, seeing the small smile playing at his lips, wrapped up in his own little world as he read over the letter so clearly from Blair, and soon did she stand, leaving him to it, deciding that going for a walk would be better than staying trapped in the room.

She called to hope of her leaving, making sure to inform her aunt that she would only be going into the village to clear her head, and soon was she off, closing the front door behind her, a sigh leaving her lips as she stared over the flowers in the garden.

She reached for the lock of the gate to open it at the same time someone else was, a frown on her lips as she lifted her head, eyes wide, she gasped, "James?!"

And with a wide smirk on his lips, and a backpack on his back did he stare at his girlfriend, with the reaction he hoped he would get, the look that was entirely adorable, he spoke, his voice barely a whisper, "surprise!"