Kiss From A Rose

**My first Harry Potter fic ... though I doubt its as good as some of the other fics out there ...**

It was just a dream.

Remus Lupin woke up nearly screaming. He was panting, taking long, deep, heavy breaths. "It's just a dream. It's just a dream", he kept reassuring himself. Just a dream ....

He hadn't had a dream like this in years. He hadn't had a dream about /her/ in years. He hadn't seen her in years. But he remembered her. He remembered every bit of her. Her name. Her appearance. The way she tossed her hair. The way she smiled. They way she looked in his eyes. The way she kissed him ...

** I look through the broken glass I watch the storm go through my mind**
**There's so much I had to say I know the words I left behind**
**And now I'm caught in a daydream with nowhere to run and hide**
**The world rushes by me, it's leaving me here all alone**
**I would change everything, but I can't do anything**
**I would give all that I have to know where you are**

**I'll always carry you inside my heart and you**
**You'll never know how much I wonder where you are**
**I always knew that you would take a part of me away with you**
**And I never got to say good-bye**

**I look in the mirror now and all I see is yesterday**
**At night I hear your voice and it is calling out my name**
**And with every hour just hold on to what you can**
**They're lost in a moment and fading away in the night**
**I would change everything, but I can't do anything**
**I would give all that I have just to know where you are**

Now, everywhere he looked, every time he closed his eyes, all of his thoughts ... were about her. It almost brought him back to his childhood years, when he had the same feelings. But here he was, 36, nearly sobbing because of old memories and of ...

The dream.

God, he had always hated to see her in pain. He always remembered how when she would cry, and there was nothing he could do about it, he would be tortured in the worst pain imaginable. But this was worst. He imagined her in Azkaban, slowing suffering there.

It was just a dream though. Just a dream. But somehow, reality seemed crueler. Though it was just a dream, she was still dead. Dead for nearly fifteen years now. How he remembered how he used to hold her in his arms ...

And he never got to say goodbye.

He looked in a dim mirror and looked at his appearance. He would have been quite good looking actually, if only he had gone out more, and if he didn't have to hide his secret. He had light brown hair with specks of gray, that was pretty neat with dark brown eyes. He was kind of tall, taller than average, but still, there were taller. He had become quite pale now, not really pale, but his skin tone had definitely lightened. He was a bit skinny, but his muscles couldn't really hide that. But the only reason he had muscles was because of-

Being a werewolf.

It was a nightmare hiding the fact that you were a werewolf, or having people know you were. Everyone wanted to stay away from him, and he was quite alone most of the time. He had no friends, except for- Sirius.

Sirius was a best friend that he knew was the most cherished of them all. He was always there for him, and he never for once, cared about the thought that Remus was a werewolf. In fact, he himself became an Animagus, and transformed in the big black dog. But even now, he couldn't get in contact with his friend, because he was still running. He was still wanted for the "murder" of James and Lily Potter.

Everyone else, well, they just wanted to stay away from the werewolf, the freak. Why did everyone seem to treat someone who was different so cruelly?

But he remembered her, who never cared about his "werewolf" situation. She never minded that, and she cared about him. She really did. And now, he regretted having losing her.

He didn't go back to sleep. He didn't wish to see her in pain again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus Snape watched the television screen carefully. There, the Daily Prophet was making it's usual announcements, but today, it was different.

"Today, the criminal who is believed to be the right hand of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, has escaped from Azkaban. She just escaped five hours ago, and is on the loose. If you have seen this woman, please contact the authorities immediately. She is extremely dangerous." The reporter announced.

A picture of her came up on the screen. She looked about 36, with auburn hair coming down past her shoulders. She wore black-rimmed glasses, although broken, and it hid her blue eyes that were behind. She wore a torn pair of black robes, and her boots were ripped as well. Severus looked at her closely, and gasped. He was surprised and realized who it was at once.

It was Artemis McConnell.

He knew that he would keep an eye out on her wherever he went.