In a Bad Mood

[Remus Lupin]

Remus was sitting by the lake, staring angrily at the water. A few weeks ago, he had thought things were going well for him. He had a girlfriend, he had werewolf friends that actually made him feel good about himself, he had other friends like James, Sirius, Rori, and Landon, and school was going OK. Now, however, he had lost Sabrina, he hadn't heard much from the pack, and some weird girl was telling him she was his sister.

Although he was sure the girl had to be delusional, something about it really freaked him out. He couldn't understand why, but something about it triggered a long-ago memory in his mind. He had been hiding because he didn't want to go to bed, and he had hid in a closet. But the closet latched behind him, and he was trapped inside. Something in the back of the closet had smelled like lavender, he remembered the smell so distinctly that he almost felt like he was reliving the moment again, the fear, the closeness of the air, the feel of his mother's fur coat brushing against the back of his neck, and the pain in his hands as he pounded on the wooden doors with his two hands, begging to be let out. Then there was the strange sense of relief at the sound of a familiar girl's voice on the other side of the door. It was her voice. Then an instant later, the door had opened and he launched himself into the girl's arms.

The memory ended there, and he never saw the girl's face. Remus shivered at the thought of it. His father had told him when his mother died that they were on their own. Why would he have lied? It just didn't make sense. Remus dug into the pocket of his robe and pulled out the letter he had written to his father about the girl. He still hadn't had the guts to send it. Now he almost didn't want to. He didn't want to know that his father was a liar. He sighed to himself, trying to decide what to do.

[Sabrina St. Clare]

Sabrina was wandering out by the lake and spotted a figure sitting in front of the water alone. As she got closer, she realized it was Remus and she felt a pang of sadness. She cared for him even more than she had realized. It hurt even more, knowing what was supposed to happen to her, when she had to go through it alone. She remembered what Uncle Alastor had said to her and she felt a tear spring to her eyes. Wasn't it better to spend what might be her last days alive with the people she cared about? And wasn't it better for Remus to know how much she cared for him before she died?

In that second, Sabrina made up her mind. She wiped away a tear and ran over to Remus. Before he even had time to notice she was there, she sat down next to him, then put her hand on his cheek. "Remus, I'm sorry. I was an idiot. Will you take me back?"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus was taken by surprise. He widened his eyes and looked at her. "Well, yeah, of course, if that's what you want," he said. "But will you please tell me what's going on?"

[Sabrina St. Clare]

Sabrina sighed. Part of her didn't want to tell him, so he wouldn't feel the way she had been feeling since she found out. But she knew that she would have to level with him now. Maybe if he knew what was coming, it would soften the blow a little. "I'm... I'm going to die," she said bluntly. "My sister... Natalie... she's something called an Empath. She can feel what a person is feeling, and she can see the path they will take. She's not like a Seer, who makes prophesies... she sees things as they will be. She can't change them. And she saw me dying, by the same person who killed my parents." She sighed. "I don't know when it will happen, but it's probably soon. I was trying to protect you before, because I didn't want you to be sad when... when it happens. But I realized I was just making us both miserable now, instead of later. I mean, if I'm going to die, maybe I should be enjoying the time I have left and spending it with the people I care about, right? And I do care about you, Remus. More than I ever realized." She pulled back and looked at him, waiting to see how he would respond.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus was shocked. Once again, it all felt like too much information to process at one time. "You're... you're going to die? Someone's going to kill you? But why? You're only 13..."

[Sabrina St. Clare]

"I don't know," Sabrina said sadly. "I think he's got something against my family or something." She sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it anymore, or even think about it. I just... I want to forget all of it and just... be. Come on, Remus, let's do something fun. Just the two of us."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus smiled. "Yeah, OK," he said. "I could do with some fun." He was still upset to hear that she believed she was going to die, but he silently hoped that she was wrong. It didn't make sense to him; who would want to kill a young girl? But then, Greyback had attacked him as a little boy just to get back at his dad. That didn't make much sense, either. He started to put the letter, which he was still holding in his hands, back into his pocket.

[Sabrina St. Clare]

Sabrina caught the movement and pointed at the letter in his hand. "What's that?" she asked.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus shrugged. "It's nothing. Just a letter I was gonna send my dad. I have to ask him about something, but I really don't want to..."

[Sabrina St. Clare]

Seeing the look on his face, she knew she should probably let it drop, but somehow she couldn't. "Is it about that girl? Kris?" she asked.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus frowned. "Oh, great. So then she got to you, too, huh? I bet she told you my secret, too, right?"

[Sabrina St. Clare]

"If by secret, you mean that she's your sister, then yeah, she told me," Sabrina said.

[Remus Lupin]

"Oh... yeah. That's the secret," Remus said, relieved that she hadn't told Sabrina about him being a werewolf. "And she's not my sister. She can't be. How could I have a sister and not know it?"

[Sabrina St. Clare]

"I don't know," Sabrina said. "Sometimes grownups keep secrets from us, because they think it's for our own good. But it usually makes things worse." She pointed to the letter. "I think you should send the letter. You won't feel better until you do. You need to know what's going on." Leaning in, she kissed him on the cheek. "I think you should do it right now. Just run up to the Owlery and send it, and I'll go and get changed. Then we can go to Hogsmeade and have fun, OK? What do you think?"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus sighed. She was right, of course. He needed to do this now. He needed to know. "OK," he said, standing up. "I'll go send this now, and then I'll meet you back here in a half an hour, OK?"

[Sabrina St. Clare]

"OK," Sabrina said. "That sounds like a plan." She took his hand. "Come on, let's walk up to the castle together."