What Love Is

Remus Lupin had to be the luckiest boy alive.

At seventeen years of age, he had everything he wante: a good, stable family, great group of friends, top marks in his class, his looks were certainly improving, as he no longer looked like a goofy little boy, and on his arm he had the best thing of all, the thing that lit up his life. The most beautiful girl on Earth.

Everywhere he went, he walked with a smile. The sun seemed to shine down on him, and him alone. It seemed like he was made for walking around with a bounce in his step, with a smile on his face, with a tune at his lips, with the whole wide world looking at him and saying "There goes Remus. He's always happy!"

He always knew when she was coming, always could sense it, always could tell it was her when she crept up on him from the scent of magnolia, that gently wafted over to him. He knew she was there as he sat beneath the old oak on the sweeping lawn of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, reading a book, usually a heavy old tome on the many languages of the magical creatures throughout the ages.

Today was no exception. Remus could smell her, sense her. He felt as though she was a part of him, despite the short period they had been together. He hoped more than anything that they were perfect together and would spend their lives which one another forever. Remus's cheeks turned a slight shade of pink as he reminded himself that he was the boy she had come to see.

He felt her hands wrap around his eyes, and his own face twisted into a beaming smile as he felt her hands, soft yet slightly moist with sweat from the heat of the day.

"Hey, gorgeous," she said, in that gorgeous Southern accent of hers. She sounded so posh, he just wanted to eat her up! "Guess who?"

"You know what?" he replied, as he tried to prise her fingers off of his eyes. "I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. But whoever she is, she sound gorgeous! It is a she, isn't it? 'Cause if it isn't, I'll feel a bit silly!"

He turned around, and looked her right in the face. Merlin, he thought, she looks so beautiful today. He knew that, really, she was nothing special, an ordinary girl, an ordinary boy, sitting under an ordinary tree. Somehow, it never managed to sink in that she was just like every other girl in the school, as to him, she meant the world.

"I was right!" he whispered into her ear. "She is hot. More than that, she's beautiful!" He pulled her close to himself, and kissed her on the lips, tasting her as though he had never tasted anything quite so delicious in his lifetime.

Lily Evans eventually pulled back, and glared at her lover, an evil smile on her face, her eyes tinted with amusement. "You're a bit keen, aren't you? Here, I brought you a present. An apple for teacher."

She handed him an apple, red and shiny. This girl, thought Remus, had to be the most extraordinary creature alive. Don't know where the 'apple for teacher' thing came from. What am I teaching her? Then it struck him. Oh! That! Remus blushed, his skin turning a gentle shade of peach.

Raising his eyebrows, he lifted up the few strands of hair that had fallen from the grip of the silver clasp that was fixed to the back of her head, with the intention of keeping it in place, and moved his face closer to her neck, closer, closer, so close that he could feel his own breath reflecting onto his own face, so close he could almost taste her peachy skin.

BOOM!

Close by, Remus could hear hysterical laughter. Two of the voices rose higher than the others -- two voices he recognised well, and another, not quite so distinguishable amongst the very many, could just about be made out, chortling along with the crowd.

Lily sighed and pleaded silently with Remus, but he didn't give in. Instead, he gave her a kiss on the lips, sighed, and pulled himself to his feet, Lily following him. He grabbed her hand, and together they ran down the hill, along the grassy pathway tread by hundreds of students a day, especially when the sun was out, and the heat was practically throbbing on a day such as today.

Before they reached the bottom, a vile smell closed around them, enveloping them in a cloud of rich, black smoke. It was putrid, a ghastly mixture of every toxic gas ever to be known to mankind, and the rest. Lily was visibly disgusted, and wrinkled up her nose.

"Remus, for once can't you leave them to fight their own battles?" she asked, her voice taking on an almost pleading quality. She looked desperate, but he wasn't entirely sure why that was. Was it because the smell was so foul, or was it merely because she was lusting after him so much, and couldn't bear the frustration of not having him all to herself for just one minute? How selfish, he thought. Then again, selfishness isn't always a sin. But he had no time, or chance, to give in.

"No, Lily, I don't want my friends, or even that old slimeball, to end up dead. It's the last thing I need."

Lily sighed, but she no longer argued. It seemed as though she had no option but to follow Remus through the thick, black fog, and reemerge on the other side only to find Remus's friends going through yet another relentless bullying session.

Eventually, after both falling over several times due to restricted sight, they appeared at the other side of the cloud, covered from head to foot in a disgusting sticky black substance which clung to their bodies like treacle.

"Hey, Remus! Come to spectate?"

"Sirius Black, one of Remus' best friends, had spotted them. This quite surprised Remus, as, although he had not appeared far from the spot where Sirius had been standing, they were usually so enthralled in what they were watching that they barely noticed anything else, especially old Professor McGonagall as she made her way around the grounds."

"Spectate?" Lily spat, anger gleaming in her eyes. "Do you think this is all a sport? You make me sick, Sirius Black!"

"Hey, she knows my name! What can I say? It's really great today, you know. Snape was attempting to make up some great new potion, and his cauldron exploded. Quite funny, really, because it landed all over him, and it's got something in it that reacts when in contact with skin, and it's tied him up and blinded him. I think he's cottoned on that we're watching him now, though. We're trying to keep quiet, but it really is hard."

Remus and Lily peered towards the group of people who were gathered around something on the ground. Through a gap in the crowd, Remus could just about make out a grate, leading straight down into one of the Potions dungeons where Severus Snape spent his weekends, creating new potions and testing out old ones.

Sirius looked at Lily, who was clearly disgusted.

"What's up, Lily? Don't you find it funny? Remus here would probably at least smile if it weren't for you, you know. You have him eating out the palm of your hand!"

Remus felt a pang in his heart, mainly because he knew what Sirius was saying was right. He looked over to James, and felt even worse. For years, James had been asking Lily out, he had been madly in love with her, but the moment she showed some interest in Remus, he had acted the same way, and they had got together almost instantly. Remus knew, however, that he had to respond or Lily would not speak to him for a matter of hours.

"Oy, Sirius. That is out of order. I am acting of my own free will, and if I don't find you torturing Snape very funny, that's my choice, okay? She does not have me eating out of anywhere. Well, barely anywhere, but not the palm of her hand. Not very often anyway!"

"So," James called over to Remus, unable to keep his eyes off Lily, as she watched the entire scene with a growing dislike for James and Sirius. "What are you two doing here? Is your tree uncomfortable?"

What was up with James? Usually he was fine with the fact that Lily and Remus were seeing each other, but today he seemed a little...different. Off, perhaps. Maybe it was the fact that the sun was shining and all he had to do was torment Severus Snape, or that she looked so astonishingly beautiful. He didn't know.

"We're here," Remus replied, a slight waver to his voice, "to stop you from killing or getting killed. Who knows what Snape might do if he eventually loses his rag? And it really isn't fair, you know."

Remus felt great inside. Never before had he really had the confidence to stand up to Sirius and James, despite what he felt about their persecution of Snape.

Naturally, Snape wasn't Remus's favourite person on Earth. He was sarcastic and bitter, with lank, greasy hair and a large nose, but it wasn't fair to use these facts against him, and publicly humiliate him, time after time.

"Right, whatever," Sirius said, his face blank and expressionless. "Why don't you go off with your girlfriend? I'm sure she'll make you feel better."

Peter, who stood in the crowd of people, watching both Snape and his friends, turned to face Remus.

"Wait a second, does she know yet?"

Remus raised his eyebrows, silently willing Peter to shut up now before it's too late. Why did he do it? Remus knew that Peter hero worshipped James, and anything that upset James was considered a crime, yet Remus was as good a friend as any to Peter. He turned to Lily, her face filled with confusion and wonder.

"What?" she asked, her usually calm voice wavering slightly. "What is it, love?"

Remus frowned, attempting to pull his face into a confused expression.

"Nothing, I don't know what he's on about."

"Oh," said Lily, seeming more confused than before.

But Sirius was right. There really was something he needed to tell her, something she'd need to know if they were to make it work. He hated admitting it, even to himself, so it would be even harder to tell his girlfriend. Girlfriend, she's his girlfriend. He smiled inwardly, but then remembered.

Okay, he was going to have to tell her he was a werewolf. There was nothing else he could do. They'd probably end up telling her if he didn't, and that would make it all a lot worse. How would she react, though? How would anyone react to something like that? Finding out that the love of your life has a rather vicious reaction to the full moon can't be the most appealing thing on Earth.

For now, though, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Remus looked at Lily, saw her green eyes peering from behind her red fringe in curiosity. He grabbed up her hand, and made for the grassy hill, disappearing into the thick, black cloud.