The summer sky was bright as always, making it almost impossible to guess it was reaching nighttime. The first night of July, when it was supposed to be warm and the people free from the clutches of responsibility. 

But for the witches and wizards of Britain, the responsibility seemed to grow ever larger. People were becoming frightened, because only the night before had Albus Dumbledore, the only man feared by a wizard so dark they didn't dare speak his name, had been killed. 

People were frightened, scared so much that they did not dare leave their homes unless they had a good reason. Nobody knew what would come next. The ones who'd already lived through a war could feel it brewing once again, warning those who had not. 

That's what made it strange that the shape of a woman, one with long, light auburn hair on top of her head and a fringe covering her forehead, moved throughout a small wizarding village. Some looked out their windows as they watched someone pass by, hoping it was no Death Eater out to kill their family. Many had already lost family to them before. 

She reached the outline of a shabby house, which almost looked abandoned. The lights were on,  so somebody was home and living there. But whoever that was, they hadn't been much home lately by the look of the state of the house. 

The auburn-haired woman reached the door, her green eyes glancing around like she was checking if somebody was following her. Once she was seemingly satisfied, she knocked on the door. 

It only took a moment for a man to open the door. He looked aged beyond his years, with grey hairs and deep scars across his face. It was obvious that if one checked, they would find it all over his body. But they were overshadowed by the look of pure surprise on his face. He obviously hadn't been expecting the woman to come over. 

She quickly brought a finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet as he was obviously about to speak. She then tapped her ear, signalling that they didn't know who was listening. They had to be wary. 

The woman plastered on a fake smile, speaking with an American accent that sounded odd with her voice. It didn't sound natural,  but it could surely fool some. "Moony, how great to see you again!"

Remus Lupin, alias Moony, racked his brain for something to call her that wouldn't bring suspicion. If she had come to his doorstep as she had, telling him that people could be listening, then he was sure saying her name was the last thing he should say. "Oh, hello, Cassie. Come on in."

The woman he had called Cassie raised an eyebrow at him, obviously surprised at the nickname. He took a step into his house, gesturing him to walk through the door. She did so happily, though casting another glance behind her to make sure nobody was following her. 

The moment he closed the door, he took his wand out of his pocket, quickly casting the silencing spell so that nobody could listen in on them if they wanted to. He could see how paranoid she was, and supposed she must have had a reason to be. "Muffliato."

The moment he put his wand back in his pocket, the woman grinned widely. And in that moment, with that familiar smile, that woman, Cassie, could only have been Lyra Malfoy, the best friend he had missed for so long. 

It didn't take her more than a few seconds to run into Remus's arms, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek into his chest. She took a deep breath, as if trying to breathe in the smell of him, to remember what it was like when he'd hold her. 

He was surprised, as if he had expected to actually talk before they'd do anything like this. But she must really need him, like he needed her. He then wrapped his arms around her, pressing him closer to her. Neither of them smiled as they hugged, only keeping one another close, clinging to each other. 

It seemed like a couple of minutes where Remus and Lyra just held one another. It had been a year since they had last spoken, since they had last seen one another, since they'd last hugged. And they needed the reminder that the other was still real. They hadn't lost everyone yet. 

Lyra pulled away from him for a moment, though he put his hands on her shoulders as a reminder that she was still there. She grinned for a moment, raising her eyebrow once again, this time speaking with her usual English accent. "Cassie, really? That one's new."

He chuckled, shrugging. He hadn't had much time to think of a name to throw any eventual Death Eaters listening in off. He'd quickly thought to use her middle name and shorten it. "I had to think quickly. Short for Cassiopeia."

"So clever of you," she drawled sarcastically, though obviously only teasing.

He didn't mind, only smiling softly. He used one of his hands to touch the hair on her head, pulling parts of it away from her face to see the short, blonde strands underneath. "The wig's a nice touch."

She smirked slightly, shrugging. "Thought it would make me harder to recognize, and the American accent, too. You never know who's listening. Doesn't hurt having a clever code-name such as Cassie either."

"Oh, shut up. It'll do the job if need be," he defended himself from her teasing. He put both of his hands on either side of her face, make sure he could look at her for as long as possible. His best friend was in front of him once again, after all. He'd hate to forget what she looked like after a while, especially as he didn't know how long it would be until the next time they'd see one another.  "I missed you. I've really missed you."

"I've missed you, too," Lyra answered, smiling softly. "I'm sorry that I didn't answer your letter this Christmas. I'm just so sure that somebody was looking through the mail I sent, but not the ones I received. Whether it's You-Know-Who or the Ministry doesn't matter."

Without properly knowing, he still had known. He understood her situation a bit more than she thought. Then again, Remus had always been a generally understanding person, especially when it came to her. "I'm just glad you got the letter. Did you read the book?"

"Oh, yes. I've forgotten how insightful we were at fifteen, reading the notes in the margins and everything,"the usually blonde woman said, smiling. She reached into her pocket, and for a moment, Remus thought she was going to take her wand out. He was surprised to see her bring out a pack of cigarettes. "You don't mind if I smoke, do you?"

He frowned, surprised. "Since when do you smoke?"

"I don't usually. At least not regularly," she informed him, walking over to sit down in one of his two armchairs. She pulled a cigarette out of the pack, only holding it between her fingers as she stared at it wistfully. "I was sixteen the first time I did it. With Sirius."

Remus could faintly remember Sirius writing a letter, telling him about it. He smiled fondly at the memory. "Padfoot did say it sounded like you were going to cough up a lung when you tried it."

"He was over-exaggerating, as always. Bloody dramatic." She shook her head and chuckled, though in obvious fondness. She didn't take her eyes off the cigarette, as if it reminded her painfully of Sirius. " I haven't done it in years. I only did it a few times over the years, in the moments when I missed him the most."

Remus pursed his lips for a moment, looking a bit concerned. "And is that why you're doing it now?"

She finally took her eyes off it, and looked at him. She didn't bother trying to fake a smile to fool him into thinking she wasn't still moping about his death. He knew her too well. "Well, I do miss him very much at the moment. You make me miss him more. You remind me of him."

"I miss him, too," the werewolf responded quietly. He looked ready to change the subject, to get through as much as he could in what was probably only a short time together. "But go ahead and smoke if you want. I don't care, honestly. I'm not going to be living here for much longer so the smell won't bother me."

Lyra grabbed a lighter from her pocket, which she had picked up at a muggle gas station (using muggle money! It was very exciting!). She flicked it, and allowed the flame to light up her cigarette as she inhaled the smoke. "Oh, really? Why not?"

He hesitantly smiled before telling her the big news. "Because I'm getting married."

Lyra couldn't keep herself from gaping in surprise. Her eyes had gone comically wide. She had sort of come to terms with the fact that Remus would never get married and start a family. He was too insecure for that because of his lycanthropy. "You're what?"

Remus seemed unable to subdue his smile as he told her. He didn't think he'd get to tell her the news at all, but he was glad she came to his doorstep. "Next week. Dora and I are getting married. She finally wore me down last night. We decided to go through with it this morning."

"I thought she would. I love the girl to death but she can be rather annoying when she wants to be. Guess it worked out in her favor this time." Lyra grinned widely. It was genuine. She had smiled genuinely more times in her short conversation with Remus than she had the whole year prior.  "I'm really happy for you, you know that? If it were any other time then you know I would be jumping up and down in joy for you."

"I know." He smiled grimly. The dark atmosphere surrounding the Wizarding World made it hard to be happy. He was trying to focus all his happiness into his upcoming marriage and the fact that Lyra sat in front of him once again. He had missed her so much.  "I'd invite you but..."

"It's not like I'm gonna be able to be there anyway," she finished his sentence, inhaling the smoke from her cigarette. They both knew it wouldn't be possible, not even if she went there with an auburn wig and called herself Cassie. "I always imagined I'd be there at your wedding. Especially as you are marrying my baby niece. Are Andy and Ted going to be there?"

He nodded, watching as she turned her head, blowing smoke from her mouth. "Yeah, it'll be a small affair. But of course they are. Can you imagine Andromeda letting Dora get married without her there?"

Lyra couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. "I'd love to see you try to convince her. It'd be a fun sight. I mean, you know I adore you but you're no match to Andy. I grew up with her, I know how difficult she can be when she disagrees with you."

Remus snickered to himself. He had gotten to know Lyra's sister rather well in the past year, though it was always odd to think of her as her sister. He usually thought of her Nymphadora's mother. "I'll show you pictures of the wedding if I can. I'm sure we can manage some kind of way."

"I'd love to see it," Lyra said kindly, tapping her cigarette on top of an empty water glass Remus had left out on his coffee table, letting residue from it fall in. "I would have shown you pictures from mine but I wouldn't say it was that good of a day."

"Speaking of, how are things at home?" Remus asked, as he had had a feeling that was why she had come. "Dora told me there was a break-out from Azkaban last night when we were at Hogwarts. One of the escapees were your husband as far as I'm told."

"Home... Well, things aren't going very well there," she admitted, taking another drag of her cigarette. "Azkaban is a horrible place. I've never seen Lucius as he is right now. I feel awful... Especially because..."

Remus raised his eyebrows at her as she looked relucant to say what made her feel awful, and guilty by the looks of it. "Because what?"

Lyra took a deep breath, knowing that Remus wasn't going to like the answer. But she always felt like she could talk to him about anything and that hadn't changed now. "Because I've spent the last year sleeping with Rabastan Lestrange while he was locked up."

Remus's eyes widened in surprise. He stumbled a bit, reaching over to his second armchair and leaning on it. He then plopped down in it, looking like he was in shock. "Oh no."

The woman in the wig scrunched her nose up and nodded. "Oh yes."

The werewolf looked absolutely disgusted, as if he had eaten something that had gone bad ten years ago."You do know that both James and Sirius are rolling over in their graves right now, right? Hell, I'm doing the same and I'm not even in a grave."

"I'm well aware." She stared at a spot on the wall where the wallpaper was peeling off. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep puff smoke as it reminded her of Sirius once again. "So while you've been falling in love and you're getting married and doing jolly fine, I've been out ruining my relationships with everybody I've ever known. Sounds about right."

Remus frowned, leaning forward so that his elbows were supported by his knees, entertwining his hands to lean his chin on them. "You haven't ruined your relationship with me."

"Yes, I have," Lyra said softly, sighing as she put her cigarette out in the water class she had been using as an ashtray. "I haven't seen you in a year. All because I cut all contact  with you again."

"We managed fourteen years without one another once and yet we still came back better than ever. We can survive the one year that's passed," Remus reminded her. He knew their friendship was strong enough to survive anything. They'd proven that time and time again. 

"But I don't know when I'll be able to see you again," she told him, glancing at the door like she was afraid someone would rush in and stop them, even though they'd used the silencing charm to keep someone from listening in and finding out Remus wasn't alone. Someone could have seen her enter that she hadn't noticed. "I've basically risked everything to come here. If Lucius finds out that I was lying about going out to buy tea then I'm screwed."

Remus couldn't resist teasing her a little bit, even though he thought her judgment had been off. What were best friends for, after all? "Sounds like you've been screwed all year."

Lyra grimaced, letting out a disgusted sound as she blushed bright red like she was a teenager once again. Remus was the only person who could still get that part of her out anymore. "Oh, shut it, you!"

He smiled slightly, still snickering to himself. He barely cast a glance to the clock on the wall, making sure it wasn't getting so late that it'd be suspicious for her to come home from tea shopping. "Well, why did you come here if it's so dangerous?"

Lyra's cheeks still had a red tinge from his previous words, but she shrugged as it started fading. "Because I missed you. Because I need you. Because I love you. Is that enough of an explanation for you?"

"It always will be," he assured her, returning her smile. He then started stroking his chin as he jokingly pondered over her predicament. "So that's what's bothering you? The fact that you've sleeping with that disgusting git and now your husband, who's also a disgusting git, has come back and will definitely figure it out because they're both disgusting gits?"

Lyra wasn't sure how she felt about him calling them both disgusting gits. But she wasn't going to argue with it at the moment. Remus had every reason to feel that way about them. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, if I was you then I'd leave them both and coming live with Dora and I. But I know you're not going to do that," he stated, though sounding disappointed that he was right. "So... I'm going to give you the least helpful advice that exists.  just do what your heart wants you to do."

"My heart wants James. But that's not possible, so I guess my heart will have to figure out what it wants soon so I'll finally get some peace." The blonde sighed, resting her forehead in her hands. "And, that's only one part of it."

"What about the other part?"

Lyra looked up, resting her chin in her hand instead of her forehead. She hesitated, not wanting to speak about what had happened the night before more than she needed to. The look on Draco's face still haunted her. "What do you know about what happened at the Astronomy Tower last night?"

Remus knew more than she thought. He had been at Hogwarts that night, after all. He had fought the Death Eaters. "I know Harry was there."

"What?" She looked at him with alarm. If he had been, then it would have been another traumatizing experience. Merlin knows Harry didn't need more of those. But the logical part of her said that Remus must be mistaken. Someone else would have known, someone she'd spoken to. "No, he wasn't. Draco would have mentioned it, or Snape would have."

"Dumbledore stunned him and made sure he was hidden underneath James's Invisibility Cloak," Remus explained, watching it dawn on her. She clenched her jaw, but she listened. It was probably the last thing she needed to know, making her worry about the Potter boy more than she had already done the past year. "He saw everything. He heard everything. He told me a little bit. He said Dumbledore mentioned you."

Lyra had to push Harry out of her mind, though she so desperately wanted to know if he was alright. But he had the Weasleys, Hermione Granger, Remus, Nymphadora and the whole Order. Draco only had her, and he was pushing her away. That's who she needed to think about. "So you know that Draco knows everything?"

Remus nodded briefly, not wanting to show any more emotion until she made it obvious how she felt. He would adapt accordingly. "How did he take it?"

"Not very well." Lyra smiled bitterly, scratching her nose to keep herself occupied so she wouldn't cry again. "He was screaming and crying, saying he didn't even know who I was anymore. I've never seem him like that."

"It must have been a hard night for him," he said sympathetically. He was young boy and had no chance of understand everything that was going on around him. He knew that he didn't at his age and he had been a rather mature seventeen-year-old. "Harry told me he's a Death Eater."

"Yes, he is. And that's why I had to leave the Order, leave all of you," Lyra admitted bluntly. There was no need for more lies. Remus knew everything, just like Draco did, just like Harry did. "I couldn't tell you. I hope you get that. Well, I'd like one person who still trusts me and doesn't call me a liar and a horrible person."

"I knew there was something," said Remus. "I hope you're not forgetting that... with Sirius and James both gone, I'm easily the person who knows you best in the whole world. You don't do things without a reason. They can be stupid reasons sometimes, but they are reasons."

"This one wasn't stupid," the Malfoy woman defended herself coolly, narrowing her eyes slightly at him.

"No, it wasn't," he agreed. They both knew she had made the wrong decision the last time she'd left when they were eighteen, but this time it was the only thing she could have done. "I get that you have to protect him. I think Dumbledore wanted Harry to get that, too. He'd taken it very hard when you cut contact."

"I'm aware, trust me," Lyra laughed a bit to herself without humor. He had looked so angry and betrayed the last few times she'd seen him, which had been few and far between. She just hoped he understood better now, that something good had come out of the previous night. "He shouted at me at Madam Malkin's. He made quite the spectacle of it."

"He does have a bit of temper," he agreed, pursing his lips as he allowed his mind to wander to what was going on with Harry. "I think Dumbledore wanted him to know that if push comes to shove, you'll be there to help him, even if you can't do it on a regular basis."

"Well, if need be, sure," Lyra said, though she knew she couldn't go out of her way to help Harry in whatever he was going to do in the upcoming war. "But... Part of me's glad that Draco knows now, that he can understand me better. He's an Occlumens, just like myself so it's not like You-Know-Who can find out and kill me. He promised to keep his mouth shut."

Remus looked impressed that she had gotten him to stay quiet. He'd always struggled with doing that back when he was his professor. "I'm surprised. He's always had a bit of an issue with his mouth."

"I'm sure he wasn't an easy student to deal with." She laughed, as she always seemed to forget that Remus had actually known her son, seen him often throughout a whole school year. But Draco hadn't outright complained much about him, which meant he must have been a good teacher. Lyra always knew Remus had it in him. 

And yet, no matter their differences, Lyra couldn't keep herself from smiling as she thought about her son. She could feel her eyes burning, though she blinked to keep herself from crying.  "But, I'm sure that no matter how angry he gets... he still loves me. You know what they say, the bond between a mother and her son... That's something special."

Remus didn't have a child of his own, so he didn't understand that bond as well as she did. But he hoped her bond with her son was strong enough to withstand this setback. "So you think the two of you will be all right?"

"I hope so," she said, not sounding too optimistic. She knew he'd forgive her eventually, but with a war looming, the question was if they could do it before either of them would get hurt. "If there's any time to mend relationships, it's when we're on the brink of a war. I'm sure he'll realize that soon. He's been thrown in the middle of it, just like Harry has been. Just on the other side."

Remus studied her intently for a moment, noticing the dark circles underneath her eyes, the way her nails had been chewed at, the pained look on her face. She looked tired, just so extremely tired. "Are you okay?"

Lyra frowned, as if the question was unfamiliar. "What?"

"Are you okay?" he repeated himself, not reassured by her reaction to such a simple question. 

"People don't ask me that very often anymore," she admitted, attempting to force a smile but it came out as more of a grimace.

The tears she had been attempting to hold back finally sprung to her eyes, but she still managed to keep them from falling. "And honestly, I don't know the answer. I don't remember what it's like to be okay. I don't know if I've ever been okay. There's always been something gnawing at me, even when I was at my happiest - something evil living inside me, stopping me from being okay."

Remus almost wanted to cry himself. He had watched her hate herself on and off for as long as they had been friends, which was a long time. He just wished she could see herself as he saw her. "There's nothing evil within you."

She sniffled, wiping at her eyes with her sleeves of her robes. The last thing she needed was to cry more. She felt like all she did nowadays was cry. "You just say that because you love me. It's blinded you."

"Don't insult me by acting like I'm stupid enough to be blinded by love," he said firmly, and rather coldly as well. She seemed surprised at his tone of voice. 

While she saw herself as cruel and inherently selfish, he saw that all her bad decisions came from a place of love, from kindness and compassion she seemed to have forgotten she had. But he hadn't. he could still see it. "I know you. You're not evil, nothing inside you is evil. You can be dumb as shit, yeah. But evil? No way."

Lyra wasn't sure if she'd ever agree with him, but it always made her heart flutter to know that somebody out there loved her like Remus did. If he, who was so good and kind to everyone, thought the world of her then she couldn't be all bad. Maybe most, but not all. "You're still too good to me, you know that?"

"If you think that then you're more messed up then I thought," the sandy-haired man retorted, a strict expression on his face. It looked like he was scolding one of his students. "I must be the only one who's been good enough to you."

Lyra looked at him with wide, innocent eyes, the way she used to look at him when they were young. Pure, unadulterated love for someone without needing to lie to them. She could tell him all the awful truths in the world and he'd still love her. "I don't understand how I've gone a year without you. I mean, I just... I've missed you - missed this - so much."

"Me too," he said with a comforting look on his face. He glanced at the clock once again, surprised at how much time they'd spent talking. "Look, I hate to ruin a good moment but maybe you should make sure you're not out too long. I'd love to stay and chat forever but not if it can cost you your safety."

"I wish you didn't have to remind me," she groaned, whining like a child for a moment. She just wanted to stay, to talk to Remus for the rest of eternity, to forget there was a war looming over their heads. But reality could not be easily ignored, even if the fantasy was more captivating. 

She forced herself to get out of her armchair, readjusting the wig on her head so it would sit properly. "I'll be seeing you, Remus. And good luck with your wedding. Tell Nymphadora I wish the both of you all the happiness in the world. And make sure Ted and Andy know I love them."

"And Harry?" Remus asked, standing up from his own chair. He could see that she had tried to push him out of her mind. While he understood, he wanted to have something to say that might comfort him in such a dark hour. He could see how much Harry cared about Lyra. "Is there anything you want me to tell him?"

"Tell him..." Lyra hesitated, obviously not sure what she could say to avoid giving him too much hope. He needed to understand that while she cared for him very much, it was still not safe for things to go back to the way they were. "Tell him I'm sorry for everything, that it's never been my intention to hurt him. And that I hope he understands now, that I've never stopped caring. But that's it's still too dangerous. Once the war's won... Well, then we'll talk."

"I'll relay the message," Remus promised, earning a quick upwards tug of her lips. He walked forward, pulling her into a brief hug, making sure to kiss her fake hair to remind her of the affection he held for her. "I love you. No matter what."

"I love you, too," she responded, her voice soft. She knew that if she tried to speak any louder then her voice would break and she wouldn't be able to keep herself from crying, which she had forced herself to do their whole conversation.

Lyra pulled herself away from him, chuckling as she wiped her eyes once again. She couldn't look like she was close to tears when she left the house. She straightened up as she approached the door, make sure she looked strong and slightly intimidating. It would make it less likely that someone would approach her with threats.

"Hey, Cassie!" Remus called out once she opened the door. She looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. He grinned at her, throwing a bag at her head. She barely caught it, stumbling back at the impact. "Don't forget your tea!"

She winked at him, ducking her head out the door as she called out with her obviously fake American accent once again. "Thanks, Moony!"

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A/N: I can't believe I thought I was going to fit the last chapter and this one into a single chapter. Hope you guys liked a little Lymus. I love my sweethearts. But also the fact that Remus is the only person who knows every single one of her secrets >>>> But also Draco and Harry being the only ones who knows almost every single one of her secrets>>>>