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Post by Coralie Rianne Lupin on Aug 23, 2009 15:46:00 GMT -5
Coralie shut the apartment door behind her, being still for a moment. It didn't sound like anyone was awake, but then again, it was four in the morning. She didn't really want to be awake either- she had talked one of her coworkers into covering the bar for her so she could go home.
Cora sighed and kicked off her shoes, heading towards the living room. She eyed her makeshift bed on the couch and shook her head. It had been two sleepless nights since she had fought with Remus, and tomorrow would be the third. Two days without speaking to the love of her life were too many, and scooping her pillow off the couch and clutching it to her chest in a fascimile of security, Cora headed down the hallway to the master bedroom. She shut the door silently behind her and stared at Remus. She thought he was asleep, but his back was to her, and her night vision wasn't the best. She dropped her pillow on the bed and pulled out her favorite pajamas, changing and shaking her long, curly hair out before sitting on the bed, clutching the pillow again. "Remus?" She asked, her voice soft and hesitant.
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Post by Remus J. Lupin on Aug 23, 2009 21:20:56 GMT -5
Remus lay on his side, like he had been for the past 5 hours. He had sent the twins to bed then wandered into his own bedroom and lied down, not even bothering to remove his regular clothes. And he hadn’t moved since then. His grey-blue eyes stared at the wall. Even in the dark he could make out the bookcase and some of the family portraits hanging. Selena and Shawn playing together. Him and Cora. He sighed. As non-confrontational as he was, he wasn’t sure how they would work this one out because this time there was no middle ground. She had made up her mind that the twins should not return to school this year. He had made up his mind that going back to school would be the best thing for them. No compromise.
A small groan escaped him. He hated fighting with his wife. It depressed him.
He could hear the door unlock even though he had locked it multiple times and stiffened for a moment. He quickly relaxed though when he heard Coralie’s walk. Yes, she had a walk. He could clearly distinguish it from the rhythm and sound each step made. Though he was happy she was home safe, he only grew further disheartened as she stopped by the couch and tucked his legs further up to his chest. He could hear her get up again and walk down the hall but was not encouraged, even as she opened the door and rummaged through the bedroom. She probably was retrieving something she’d left in her.
“Remus?”
He immediately perked up and turned over to his other side to see her sitting on the bed. He sat up looking a little dumbfounded. She did not seem angry. Exasperated but not angry. “Hello Cora,” he said gently.
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Post by Coralie Rianne Lupin on Aug 23, 2009 21:30:25 GMT -5
"Remus..." Cora sighed, running her hands through her curls. She wanted to say so many things, that she loved him, that she thought he was wrong, that she was so scared she would lose her children that there was no way over her dead body that she'd let them leave her sight again, that she needed him. But none of that was enough. "I'm so, so sorry." She finally finished, her fingers absently playing with the pillowcase. She looked so small and incomplete when she was unhappy, and she had been unhappy without him for the last few days. She never would have known it until she experienced it herself, but thirteen years of sleeping next to the same person, sharing meals with the same person, when they went away, their absence was like part of yourself was missing.
She took a moment before she reached out with her left hand and gently took his, giving it a gentle squeeze as if asking for his permission to move closer. Cora wasn't usually hesitant when it came to others, only those she really really cared about did she give such thought to their response. She didn't want him to be away from her again, but she didn't want to fight, either. But this... this had to be solved.
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Post by Remus J. Lupin on Aug 23, 2009 21:46:39 GMT -5
He waited patiently as she took her time to speak. It wouldn’t have mattered exactly what she would say at that moment anyways. She could say she hated him, that he needed to move out onto the couch, or whatever. He was just happy to see her. To look at her. It had been hard to avoid her in the small apartment. But he had gone the last few days with only tiny glimpses of her. He’d been out of the house more often than usual and when they were home together, he had felt unwelcome and confined himself to the bedroom. She had probably wanted him out of her hair anyway and he had been obliging her.
“Cora…I’m really sorry too,” he said with a sigh as he watched her play with the pillowcase. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I’m sorry.”
He looked down at the sheets unsure of what to do. He missed her and hated that he wasn’t enough for her. He couldn’t provide for her and now he had upset her. She felt his fingers reach into his and he gave a small smile. Perceiving it as an invitation, Remus released her hand for a brief moment, crawled over to her and sat on her right side. He took her left hand into his right and putting his left around her waist, holding her beside him.
“What are we going to do Coralie?”
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Post by Coralie Rianne Lupin on Aug 23, 2009 21:53:52 GMT -5
Cora blinked when he pulled away for a moment, her eyes getting a vacant, dead look that instantly vanished when he moved closer to her. She rested her head on his shoulder, her whole body leaning into his. He smelled so good, so familiar... so safe. It was rare to feel safe in times like this, when war was emminent and one never knew if they would come home to find their entire family dead or not.
"I can't lose them, Remus. I can't." She shuddered and closed her eyes, thinking of the other time when she had lost them- when Selena was bitten. It had been her fault- Remus had entrusted her with their children, that she could keep them safe, and she had lost Selena. Better yet, she had not only lost her, but let that horrible monster Grayback get her. Just the memory made her eyes sting with tears, and she squirmed closer to her husband. She would never forgive herself for failing as a mother. "I can't be there... if something goes wrong."
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Post by Remus J. Lupin on Aug 30, 2009 20:43:22 GMT -5
As she lay on his shoulder, Remus lay under his chin on top of her head, bringing her that much closer to him. He felt complete as they molded together, like a key to the lock, and wondered for a moment how on earth he would survive without her. There was hardly a him without her. Yet they lived in a world where she could so easily be taken away. He listened to her. Knowing she was scared. They were all scared. He could hardly remember a time where there was not fear. But Cora had been different. She’d always been paranoid. But every since that night, the one night he could not be there, she had been terrified. Sometimes he was frustrated with himself. He should do more for her. He should have been there. But fighting the past was like battling shadows.
“I can’t either Cora.” Losing a child would be just as painful as losing her. They were his own flesh and blood and he loved them very much. “But Cora, look at this place. Look at this city. Or even this apartment. It’s just sticks. I’ve tried warding it as best as I can but I don’t think it’s enough anymore. They aren’t safe here. None of us are safe here.” There was truth in his words. The city was becoming increasingly dangerous and with the strength the death eaters were gathering, the little door that shielded their home from the rest of the world wouldn’t hold much.
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Post by Coralie Rianne Lupin on Aug 30, 2009 20:55:55 GMT -5
"That's not the point!" Cora said vehemently, supressing a shudder as she buried her face in his shoulder. It took her a moment to continue, as if she was blocking all emotion from her voice in order to stop from either disolving into tears or to begin screaming at him again. "It's not about the house, or the city, or any of that. Here, Remus, there's us. I trust Dumbledore with my life, but he's one man with hundreds of kids to care for at Hogwarts. Here.... here it's just us, and the twins. We have a better chance of protecting them."
Cora pulled away to meet his eyes, her own appearing almost black in the darkness of the night. She placed her shaking hands against his face, taking a deep breath. "I can't." She repeated.
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Post by Remus J. Lupin on Aug 30, 2009 21:03:34 GMT -5
He tried not to get annoyed as she took such a forceful tone with him, waiting for her to calm down. She was upset and after the past few days, it would be pointless to fuel the fire again. He knew without a doubt that the twins needed to go back to Hogwarts. But he did not know how to get Cora to see what he was saying. Remus watched her pulling away, feeling her tense up as she did so. “Coralie,” he said gently, trying to calm her back down and putting his fingers on her wrists.
“Coralie, you know that’s not true. You work too much. And I won’t be here as much anymore. You know that don’t you? You know the Order is going to demand more and more of my time this year. And I’m trying to hold this job at Flourish and Blott’s as long as I can. Once it is gone, then the Order will definitely be sending me out. At Hogwarts, they will constantly be surrounded by people. Both their classmates and other Order members. If they stay here, then soon they will be left by themselves.”
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Post by Coralie Rianne Lupin on Aug 30, 2009 21:14:35 GMT -5
Cora blinked when he touched her, falling silent as if she was focusing every single molecule of her being on just where his fingers were on her skin. She took a deep breath again, then nodded, ever so slightly, willing herself to calm down. Freaking out was not appropriate right that second. She could freak out in private later, when she wouldn't wake her children and scare the crap out of her husband. Yes, that sounded like a great idea.
"I'll make it work... I always do... I can.... I can cut my hours back." Despite trying to be calm, Coralie sounded like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. While she had always been the more suspicious of the two, she had never been so bad before Selena was attacked. Now anything she saw as a threat to her children was targeted and destroyed immediately. For the things she couldn't target and destroy, Coralie got angry because she felt helpless, and took a break from her angry spells by freaking out completely. Her husband was the only one that could calm her down, because the most rational responses made her freak out even more. "The Order?" Coralie repeated vaguely, then she frowned. "Screw the damn Order!" Coralie got to her feet and began to pace restlessly. Why didn't Remus see that the only way their children would ever be safe was when they were at home, with them?
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Post by Remus J. Lupin on Sept 4, 2009 17:34:49 GMT -5
Remus sighed and she got up and pulled away. He sat there and watched her. He didn’t want to fight. But he need her to listen. He was usually always there for her. To calm her. To get her through things. Times were changing. He loved her but he was unsure of how to handle her temper without submitting to her opinion in this case. He reached out without thinking to grab her hand as she passed.
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Post by Coralie Rianne Lupin on Sept 4, 2009 21:17:06 GMT -5
Coralie jumped when she felt Remus' hand in hers, and she stopped pacing, instead turning to face him with the slightest of frowns on her faces. She made a small, weak sound before climbing back onto the bed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Fine." She said, her voice only audible because of his werewolf hearing. "You win."
She couldn't help but feel resentful at that moment- Remus always knew exactly what to do to make her feel like a spoilt child he was humoring, and she hated it. No one besides him had ever made her feel that way, and she didn't even fully understand why she did. It wasn't as if she was denying her children an education at one of the best Wizarding schools because she was trying to bribe her husband into buying her a fur coat or something ridiculous like that, but because she honestly was scared for their wellbeing. Letting Remus win this time, however, did nothing to alleviate her fears. All it did was ensure the two of them could live in relative peace, which was a small consolation. Fighting with Remus was like fighting with a puppy- you felt so guilty for doing it that it didn't matter what had started it. Coralie sighed and moved to sit on Remus' lap, burying her face in his neck. She just wanted to be held for a while, to fall asleep next to him. That was the only thing that could make her happy right then, short of killing Voldemort and Fenrir Greyback by herself.
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Post by Remus J. Lupin on Sept 19, 2009 10:25:11 GMT -5
Remus did not reply. He smiled small in the darkness as she cuddled up to him. It was one of the times he felt like he could protect and take care of her. When she was this close. Even though they were in the dark, for a change there were no shadows to fear. No deatheaters. No Voldemort. It was just him and her. He kissed her on the head as he wrapped his arms around her, cradling her gently. They stood still for a few moments, Remus breathing in her presence.
“I love you,” he whispered, leaning his head on top of hers.
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Post by Coralie Rianne Lupin on Sept 19, 2009 14:40:07 GMT -5
blackbird singing in the dead of night [/size][/b][/color] take these broken wings and learn to fly[/font][/i]  all your life[/font][/i] you were only waiting for this moment to be free[/size][/b][/color] [/center]
Cora couldn't help but smile. "I love you too, Remus. More than I ever thought it was possible to love someone else." She took in a deep breath, feeling her tense muscles relax. She could worry about the twins tomorrow. She could worry about Remus tomorrow. Right now, she was content to just spend some quiet time with Remus, to let him be in charge, just for a little bit. Coralie was usually the one who controlled things inside the apartment, but she was more than happy to hand the reins over to her husband.
"I miss you." She said quietly, her fingers toying absently with his shirt. "I never get to see you anymore."
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Post by Remus J. Lupin on Sept 22, 2009 21:29:00 GMT -5
He kissed the top of her head again, deeply inhaling the scent of her hair, instantly feeling a whole lot more jovial. Coralie could just do that. No matter what mood she was in, she brightened his whole day. Remus forgot everything. He forgot about the order. About the full moon. About the argument they had just ended. All gone. It was just Cora.
“I’ve missed you too. Where have you been?” he added, lightly teasing.
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Post by Coralie Rianne Lupin on Sept 24, 2009 18:08:42 GMT -5
blackbird singing in the dead of night [/size][/b][/color] take these broken wings and learn to fly[/font][/i] all your life[/font][/i] you were only waiting for this moment to be free[/size][/b][/color] [/center]
"Trapped by ogres." Coralie replied with a slight smile. She kissed his neck lightly, not willing to move enough to catch his lips. "Remy?" She asked quietly, using the pet name that his friends had given him, and she had adopted. "After the children leave... what do you say to taking a week off? Just you and I. With the children gone, we should be able to afford it, and we can sleep in... and spend time together...." She raised her eyes to his. With every new order mission, there was a chance one of them might not come back. Coralie didn't want to miss an oppurtunity with him just because she had to work. They would be fine for a week, and it would give them some much needed alone time. No fighting, no kids, no full moon. Just them, the way it had been years before.
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