Chapter 13

Throughout dinner, Wendy did her best to keep her thoughts from drifting to the man sleeping in her bed. Even with the extremely handsome, and still randy, Lucius sitting beside her at the table, she found her thoughts drifting to Remus. You are a Slytherin. You do what needs to be done to accomplish the mission. You are not a foolish and sentimental Gryffindor, she chided.

As they finished the last of the wine, Lucius said smoothly, "Now that we have finished dinner, my dear, are you ready for dessert?"

"I should check on my patient, make sure he doesn't need anything." She hoped to get rid of him without seeming too obvious.

He rose and stood behind her chair so that he could nibble on her neck. "And what of my needs?"

She could feel her body reacting to his expert touch. "Lucius, he really shouldn't be disturbed. Perhaps another night? I'm terribly sorry."

He continued to nibble at her neck. "You would deny me my dessert? Have you forgotten what it means to be my mistress?"

She was finding it very hard to maintain her focus; there was something about him she found irresistible. "Not at all, but these are special circumstances." Saying no to him had always been incredibly difficult.

"Were my sources wrong? Do you have a lover? You know, I don't like to share," he drawled.

She lied, "No, I don't have a lover. It really would be better another time." This time I will be strong. I will send him away, she repeated to herself.

He pulled her out of the chair, making sure to grab hold of her wrists so she couldn't reach her wand. "I don't think that it would."

She could tell from the tone of his voice that he would not take no for an answer. "Lucius, please, you're hurting me. We both knew this would be difficult. Please, he'll be gone in a few days or we can meet somewhere else." He had never hurt her before, and she hoped that he had not changed in that respect.

He loosened his grip, not wanting to hurt her. "You're telling me no?" he asked coldly.

She knew this was a dangerous situation. Her answer could easily drive him away and, with it, her opportunity to get information from him. "Not 'no', just until later. After all, you wouldn't want to be discovered here, would you? I know that Narcissa has been tolerant because you are discreet." She did her best to be charming and seductive. "My friend might be prone to let slip that you were here should he wake." She hoped this bit of logic would be enough to convince him to leave.

He frowned. "You do have a point. I will let you know when I'm in London again." He pulled her close for a rather passionate kiss. "Next time, I won't take no for an answer." There was cold menace in his voice.

She sank back into her chair as he left. What have I done? How did I let the situation get so out of control? She found herself wondering if he was using some sort of potion, but as an Auror, she had been trained to recognize signs of manipulation. Besides, he hadn't had access to anything she had drunk or eaten, but it had to be something. She had not had any intention of doing what she did; it had just...happened.

After Lucius left, she spent a long time in the guest suite shower washing away his scent, trying to make sense of the evening's events. Once she was sure she was clean, she turned off the tap and quickly dried herself. She dried her hair magically, not wanting to wait for it to occur naturally. Slipping on the nightgown Cappa had brought her, she left the rest of her clothes for the laundry.

Quietly, she crept into her room and slipped into bed behind Remus. As she nuzzled against him, he rolled over in a state of half-alertness and wrapped his arm around her. She rolled onto her other side to spoon against him. His embrace was exactly what she needed, though a part of her felt she didn't deserve it. She lay awake for a long time as her mind toiled with the conflicting emotions; emotions she hadn't been aware she felt.

She woke to a shower of kisses on her neck. The sun was just peeking through the partially drawn curtains.

"Good morning, beautiful," Remus said softly when he felt her stirring.

She snuggled into his embrace. "Good morning, lover," she replied.

"Mmmm. I like the sound of that," he replied as he continued to nuzzle into her neck.

She giggled as three days worth of stubble tickled her. "Nice to see you are feeling better," she said as she rolled over to look into his warm brown eyes. She was touched by the adoration in his expression and started to feel her guilt creeping to the surface.

"Yes, I feel closer to my old self. I thought you might like to have breakfast together before you left for work." He rubbed her back, just enjoying the way she felt in his arms, hoping his fears of the previous evening had been unfounded.

"That would be wonderful. Join me in the shower?" she asked as she rolled out of bed.

He looked at her sadly. "Normally, I'd say yes, but my strength is not up to it. I'll meet you at breakfast." While she went into the bath, he pulled his clothes out of the wardrobe. Since he had no intention of going anywhere today, he chose his own clothes. While he appreciated her giving him her husband's old clothes, he preferred to wear his own clothes as much as possible.

When Wendy joined him at breakfast, he was halfway through his first cup of tea. In the full morning light, she could see that bruises had developed under some of his deeper cuts. "I'll bring a healing potion home tonight to help with the cuts."

He was touched by her concern. "You shouldn't worry so much about me. This isn't too bad. How was your dinner last night?"

"It went as well as can be expected. He's a difficult man to work with." She tried to keep a light and airy tone.

"And you think you can renew your friendship with him?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"It might take some time to gain his confidence, but yes. I only hope I will be able to glean something useful out of it." She took a sip of her tea. She knew she had to tell the whole truth, but right now her time was limited. She was sure this would not be a short conversation.

He had the impression she was not being entirely truthful. "What are you offering him in return?"

"What?" She hadn't expected him to ask questions.

"Malfoy is not the type of person that provides something for nothing. What are you offering him in return?" He found the she was not meeting his gaze. The color drained from his face and he asked weakly, "You aren't, are you?"

She had no idea why she suddenly felt guilty, but she did. She knew she was doing what was necessary in order to accomplish the mission. Feeling uncomfortable sitting at the table with him staring at her, she rose and stood before the window. "As you know, most of those I went to school with were pureblood aristocrats. We used to get together for various holiday balls and over the summer we generally met at someone's house every weekend. Our parents didn't provide too much supervision; children were expected to entertain themselves while the adults talked politics or the latest fashions. Even as we became older teenagers we weren't well supervised. No one would notice if we weren't around, so we used to get together in the evenings and have drunken orgies." She paused, trying to find the least painful way to continue. "I was Lucius Malfoy's favorite. Even after he was married, he used to seek me out." She knew this should be nothing, but why did it hurt so much to tell him the truth.

Remus felt detached from what he was hearing. It sounded like a nightmare, something that couldn't possibly be happening to him. She was entertaining using sex to get to Malfoy. Or perhaps she already had. "Have you?" he could barely hear the words escape his lips.

She heard the pain and disappointment in his voice and found she couldn't answer. In an attempt to maintain her composure, she bit her lower lip. He had awoken emotions in her she hadn't even thought she possessed. She had never realized what getting involved with a Gryffindor would mean; their damned sense of honor complicated everything.

He saw her shoulders slump slightly. "You have." Anger was starting to supplant shock. "And last night? Did the two of you fuck each other while I was asleep?"

She had regained control of her emotions. "Yes, and that's all it is. It's a business arrangement, nothing more. There is no emotion between the two of us. I fuck him to earn his trust and learn his secrets."

He was infuriated. "I can't believe you would have sex with another man. I thought we had something."

She turned to face him, doing her best to control the tears she could feel welling in her eyes. "We do. Remus, I care deeply for you. Lucius means nothing to me. I'm Slytherin and we will do what is necessary to get the job done."

"Including cheating on me!" he shouted. "You could have at least had the common courtesy to bring this up before you fucked him."

She flinched as though struck. "You weren't exactly around to consult." Why doesn't he understand? Why is he making this so complicated? I'm simply using the resources at my disposal to get information for the Order.

He stared at her in shock. "You mean this is something you decided in the last couple of days? What kind of slut are you? Perhaps you really are a whore? Who else are you selling yourself to?"

She tried not to let his words sting. "I hadn't expected things to move so quickly. I had intended to feel out the situation, see if he was amenable to being friends. After all, it's been more than a decade since I've spoken with him. But whatever you may think, I'm not a slut. I was his lover for eight years. It's not like he's a complete stranger. He made a business proposition, I saw it was a great opportunity for the Order, and I took it," she defended.

He ran his hand through his hair and was most definitely feeling physically ill. "I need some time." He turned and limped out of the dining room.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Out," he replied shortly as he grabbed his cloak from the hook.

"When will you be back?"

He slammed the door on his way out without answering.

Wendy collapsed onto her chair, picked up a butter knife and threw it across the room, embedding it to the hilt in the wall. Damned Gryffindors and their damned sense of honor. She knew he had a right to be hurt and angry. Only now, did she realize how deeply her decision would hurt him. The worst thing about this whole situation was that she had no one she could discuss this with. "Fuck!" she screamed and decided to just go into work, though she wasn't sure how much work she would get done. There couldn't possibly be any worse way to start the day.

Remus found himself aimlessly wandering around the park. There was no one he could talk to. If he told Sirius, he was sure his friend would say, "I told you so." Sirius had repeatedly warned him that getting involved with Wendy was a bad idea. Not just because she was a Slytherin, but based on the things she had done her past. Up until today, Remus had thought she had changed. He had obviously been wrong and the pain was almost unbearable.

This was why he had never given his heart to anyone before. He had not yet told her he loved her, but the truth was that he did. The only reason he had not told her was the fear that she would not reciprocate his feelings. He had thought that perhaps in time she would grow to love him. When she had called him lover this morning, he had gotten his hopes up that the time was near, that she did love him in return. Apparently, he had been wrong. There was no room for love in her cold, reptilian heart. Or was there? She had arranged a part time job for him with one of her coworker's Muggle sister. It wasn't a lot of hours, but it gave him the flexibility to have full moons off, still do work for the Order without drawing a lot of attention while gaining a sense of financial independence.

I care deeply for you, he mused. What the hell does that mean? As his anger subsided, it was replaced by grief. He should have known better, should have listened to Sirius, and should have listened to his own doubts. A woman like her had no need of a man like him. He had been nothing more that plaything, and obviously he wasn't good enough. Of course he wasn't good enough. He didn't compare to Lucius Malfoy.

Malfoy was better looking and had money. The fact that she might also get some information about Death Eater activity was probably a bonus. Well, he wouldn't get in her way. Though, now that he thought about it, might she have decided to switch sides? Malfoy could offer her a way to return to the aristocratic society she claimed to hate, but did she really? She had told him she didn't have a good time at the Ministry Ball, but he had heard Tonks describing Wendy as appearing to have fun while socializing with all her old high society friends, flirting with most of the men in attendance. How much of it had been an act? Most Slytherins were excellent liars and the ease with which she slipped into character when they went out looking for information began to make him wonder how much of her relationship with him had been an act.

Come to think of it, she had mentioned being Malfoy's lover for eight years. Quick mental arithmetic led him to conclude that not only had she been Malfoy's lover after he was married, but also after she was married. True, she admitted that she didn't love her husband, but this showed she had no respect for a monogamous relationship. He had truly been played as a fool.

Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was well past time she should be at work. He decided he had no choice but to move back to Grimmauld Place. There was no possible way he could continue to live under the same roof as her.

Mercifully, she was gone when he returned. He went upstairs and pulled out his tattered suitcase. Since he had few possessions, it didn't take him long to finish packing. Taking one last look around the room, he tried to hold onto the smallest bit of happiness. As he was closing the suitcase, he heard a small voice behind him.

"Master Lupin, where is you going, sir?" Cappa asked.

"Away," he replied sadly. There was no point in taking his anger out on the elf.

"When is you coming back, sir?"

"I'm not."

"Sir, Mistress was telling me to ask you to stay. She says she has more to tell you." Cappa was clearly agitated that he was leaving against her mistress' wish.

"You tell her that I don't want to hear what she has to say. She's said enough. Thank you for your hospitality, Cappa," he said before heading down the stairs.

Remus stood before the door of Number Twelve, steeling himself for Sirius' reaction. He hoped that Sirius would see his heart had been crushed and this was not the time to gloat. When he opened the door, he could hear happy voices coming from the drawing room upstairs. He had no interest in joining in the merriment, so he went down to the kitchen. Seated at the table was the last person he wanted to deal with.

"You're still alive? Pity that other werewolf didn't kill you. Though, judging from your appearance, I would say that he made an excellent effort," Severus said dryly.

"Not now, Severus." He was in no mood for verbal sparring.

This was, of course, exactly the prompting Severus needed to continue. He appraised his opponent trying to choose the best course of attack. Noticing the suitcase, he sneered as he recalled a recent conversation with Lucius and extrapolated a likely course of events. "So, she has finally come to her senses and realized what a poor choice you were. I was surprised that someone from my house would even have been remotely interested in a Gryffindor," he sneered.

Remus drew his wand. "Shut up!"

Severus knew it was unlikely Remus would actually attack him. "It seems I've struck a nerve. I'm glad she has finally kicked you out. It was demeaning to know that a Slytherin was consorting with the likes of you."

Remus was on the verge of hexing Severus. "Just so we are clear, I left, she didn't kick me out."

"Because you knew she has found someone better. You are no competition for one from my House. I'm glad to see she has regained her senses." This was shaping up to be an enjoyable day. "You do realize she was only using you? You were so clearly desperate for female companionship that it made you such easy prey. As if someone like her could ever care about someone like you," he snarled.

Remus was seething with anger, but he still realized that Severus was goading him on purpose. "Believe what you want." He grabbed his bag and left the room in a huff.

Severus had a satisfied smirk on his face as he heard Remus stomp up the stairs. It seems this trip to this pathetic excuse for a house had not been a complete waste of time.

Sirius thought he heard someone going up the stairs. That was odd, especially since he hadn't heard the doorbell. Since he was not enjoying the festivities, he slipped out of the room and decided to investigate. When he reached the third floor landing, he noticed that the door to the bedroom Remus had used was closed. Checking the doorknob, he found that it was locked. He knocked on the door.

"Go away!" came Remus' muffled shout.

"Remus, let me in," Sirius replied. It was more of a request than an order. As he stood outside the locked door, he began to suspect that Remus was not going to let him in. He was just about to leave when he heard the door unlock. One look at his friend showed that Remus was incredibly distressed. "What is it?"

"I don't want to talk about," he replied tersely and threw himself into the armchair.

Sirius saw the suitcase. "It's about her, isn't it?"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Remus snapped.

Sirius involuntarily pulled back. He couldn't remember seeing Remus like this before. "What did she do to you?" He had known she was trouble and she could pay for whatever she did to Remus.

Remus could tell that Sirius was not going to leave him alone. "Fine, you want to know? You were right."

"Right about what?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"Right about her. She was the wrong sort of person for me. She used me. Okay, are you happy? You were right," he replied bitterly.

Sirius found that he wasn't happy. The last few months he had seen Remus change for the better. At least one of them had found happiness. Sirius had found his prison here at Grimmauld Place even worse than Azkaban. At least there, he knew he was a prisoner. Here, it was a bit of a gilded cage. He was constantly tormented by his contact with the outside. "No, I'm not. I had hoped that you were right, that she had changed. What happened?" he asked gently as he took a seat in the desk chair.

Remus had been thinking about this for hours. He knew he would have to explain it at some point. "Right before New Year's, she got a message from Dumbledore encouraging her to make contact with her former classmates. She was incredibly successful at that." He had to pause before continuing. "It seems she and Malfoy have a past, a rather sordid past." He didn't want to go on and hoped that Sirius could make the connection.

"Why, that bitch!" Sirius shouted as he realized what Remus was hinting at. "I'll kill her."

"No, don't do that. I just want to move on."

"What are you going to do when you see her?"

"I'm just going to ignore her. I think it'll be easier."

Wendy checked her watch; it was nearly seven. If she left now, she should have time to stop by her house, though she doubted Remus would be there. The lift seemed to take forever to reach the lobby. At least no one tried to stop her on her way out.

Shortly after she Apparated to her foyer, Cappa was standing nervously in front of her.

"Mistress, Master Remus has gone. He was saying he was not coming back."

Wendy ran upstairs and pulled open the wardrobe door. Remus had packed all his belongings and left. Everything she had given him was still there, though. In anger, she pulled out her wand and hexed the door, blowing it to bits. There was no time to sulk now; she was going to be late as it was.

As she had expected, the meeting had started without her. She saw Remus on the far side of the room, avoiding making any eye contact with her. Hopefully, she could get him to listen to the rest of her explanation after the meeting was over.

She was only half listening until it was her turn to report. "I've made some progress in befriending Malfoy. It will take some time to gain his confidence, but I know he would love to have an Auror on his side. He's always liked to boast about how well things are going for him. I can also get an idea of his schedule and hopefully extract some important information from that. I did have to bend some rules, but in the long run I think it will serve us better that I didn't find anything when we raided his house. He's somewhat in my debt because I protected him from embarrassment and possible prosecution." She scanned around the room as she spoke and could see the hatred Remus was directing at her as she glossed over the fact she had chosen to become Lucius' lover. She also thought part of it may be due to the fact she had never mentioned raiding Lucius' manor.

"He's also hinted that my brother's influence is waning and that I might find some acceptance within my old circle of schoolmates. It's definitely an opportunity worth exploring. I know it's a fine line I have to walk so I don't get drawn into the Death Eater circle too deeply, but I'm up to the challenge."

"Excellent. We can use your information to corroborate what we receive from Severus." Minerva then turned her attention to Moody.

Severus leaned over and whispered into Wendy's ear, "Glad to see you finally came to your senses."

"What?" she whispered back.

"It was truly inspired. Making the werewolf your lover before crushing his heart. Far more effective than any torment I could have devised," he whispered smugly.

She chose to ignore him rather than making a scene. She felt truly miserable about her actions.

Remus and Sirius were talking quietly after the meeting broke up. Sirius nudged Remus. "Here she comes."

Wendy stopped in front of Remus and did her best to ignore Sirius. "Remus, we need to talk."

"I have nothing further to say to you," he replied coldly.

"Remus, please." She hated demeaning herself by begging, especially in front of Black.

"He said he doesn't have anything to say to you," said Sirius snidely.

"Stay out of this, Black. It isn't your business." She knew that his presence would only make the situation worse.

"It is when you abuse my friend and that's exactly what you've done." Sirius was ready to make her pay for what she did to Remus.

"Remus, I didn't get to finish my explanation this morning. I was hoping we could speak more rationally this evening. I would appreciate it if you would join me in the library," she said politely.

After she left, Sirius looked at Remus. "You aren't going to go up there, are you?"

Remus sighed. "I have to. I have to know." He would at least give her the opportunity to finish her explanation.

"Good luck, mate," Sirius said. You're going to need it.

Remus entered the library and took a seat. "You wanted to talk? Talk." He crossed his arms, taking an adversarial stance.

With a wave of her wand, she locked and warded the door. "I apologize for not speaking with you first. I should have mentioned my past when I received the letter from Albus requesting I attend the Ball and try and renew old friendships. That was wrong of me. I was being selfish. I was thinking of what was best for the Order. I did not take your feelings into consideration. I also thought that I could resist him, if he would even still be interested in me. Truthfully, I thought I would be too old for that role. I realize, now, that was a monumental mistake."

"Those are pretty words and they flow so nicely off your forked tongue. I supposed you've been practicing this little speech all day, haven't you?" he replied sarcastically.

"Can we please be civil? I know that what I did hurt you, that you see it as betrayal. I know you are going to claim that what I say next is nothing more than a flimsy excuse, and perhaps it is, but I am going to attempt to explain. Growing up in an aristocratic family, I learned nothing of love. It's something that does not exist in that culture. It's not something that I understood."

"Very touching," he said with mock sympathy.

She tried not to get frustrated, but began pacing anyway. "Dammit, Remus, I'm trying. From a very young age, I have been taught to suppress positive emotions, that they are signs of weakness and others will exploit you if they get the chance. I was told from the time I was seven that my parents would select a fine husband for me, one that would take care of me. We were never told fairytales; those were dreams reserved for commoners, those that could never aspire to our positions of privilege. These teachings were only reinforced in the Slytherin common room. Promiscuity was never discouraged or encouraged, I was just taught that a lady was discreet and took care not to conceive a child. Sex was a physical pleasure; some enjoyed it and others chose to abstain from it. I think you know what type of person I was. I was raised in a very different world from you. I will be the first to admit that my morals are vastly different from yours; something I didn't fully appreciate until this morning."

"And now that you appreciate this, what are your plans? Have you suddenly decided that fidelity has meaning?" It was really quite an interesting story she told, but it did not earn his sympathy. She had only admitted to having hurt him, but had mentioned nothing about what she planned to do about it.

She continued pacing around the room. "This is where my dilemma is. Lucius' dissatisfaction with his marital relations, or lack thereof, and my past with him have given me an excellent opportunity to get close to him, and by extension, my old schoolmates."

"He would parade his mistress to his friends?" Even as naïve as he was to the world of the aristocrats, this seemed a bit too audacious.

She explained, "I would never be presented as his mistress, but I would have the opportunity to integrate myself back into that social circle. There are a few bachelors in that circle and, as I am the last with the Westin name, that does make me somewhat desirable from a social standpoint, not to mention a financial standpoint."

"Even the Leah family is influential, if there was such an attraction between the two of you, why did he not marry you?" he asked sarcastically.

She recalled a conversation she and Lucius had many years ago, shortly before his betrothal to Narcissa had been announced. "The Leah family isn't that influential. Politically, it was much better for him to marry a Black." That news had devastated her when she had heard it. Even though she knew that it wasn't likely he would marry her, she had foolishly held out hope. Now, she knew it had all been for the best.

"And your dilemma?" he asked, growing impatient with her lengthy excuse. While he was nearly positive he knew what her dilemma was, he wanted to hear her put it into words.

"The information I could learn by associating with him could make a tremendous difference in our efforts to thwart the Dark Lord. My dilemma is that you have taught me something of those positive emotions that I have suppressed for so long. I hurt you in a way that I never could have imagined and, for the first time in my life, I have felt remorse. I never had any intention of hurting you and it's not something I take pleasure in."

"Congratulations on taking the first step towards emotional development. Are you done?" For all he knew, this was an elaborate ploy on her part to gain his sympathy. He would not indulge her.

"No." None of what she said seemed to be making any difference. There had to be a way to help him understand.

"Then do hurry up. I really have no desire to be around you."

She could hear the disgust in his voice. "Can you honestly say that?" she asked, barely holding her emotions in check.

It was his turn. He stood to face her, hoping to use his height to intimidate her. "I think that I can. I trusted you. I gave you my heart and you yanked it out of my chest and stomped on it as if it were nothing. You showed me absolutely no consideration whatsoever, and I somehow doubt your new epiphany will change that. After all, you were his lover for eight years, and by my calculation, not only was he married to someone else, but so were you. As you said, you were raised differently and have different morals. I should have listened to Sirius' warnings. There is no way that we are compatible. I was just a plaything for you, wasn't I? Someone you could dress up and play house with? You saw that I was vulnerable and alone and you took advantage of me and used me. And now you want to continue to do so? I think not." He was using Severus' statement against her because it seemed to ring true.

She was growing desperate and reached out for him. "Remus, no, I didn't use you. I am attracted you. From when I first saw you trying to pull the curtains back over Mrs. Black's portrait, I have been attracted to you. I feel absolutely wretched for what I did to you."

He pulled away from her grip. "But are you not also attracted to Malfoy?" He assumed this was true if she had been his lover for that long.

She stared into his eyes, trying to decide how to answer that question. The time for lying and deception was over. "It's purely a physical attraction; one that has a very strong physical memory associated with it. With you, it's more than that. We have spent evenings reading poetry to each other, discussing books, taking long walks, enjoying music, bonding at a personal level. I never did any of that with Lucius."

"But you don't deny you are attracted to him," he insisted.

"I would be lying if I did. There is too much history between us. He excites and frightens me at the same time." She thought back to how easily she had slipped into her old habits, even when she had not planned to. "And perhaps there is something more. I had no intent of doing what I did, but when I am around him, I find I can't resist..."

He interrupted, "You expect me to believe that an Auror, trained in the arts of not being controlled by others, would succumb to some sort of love potion?"

"I don't know what it is. I just know that I never wanted to hurt you, and I had no intentions of doing anything without first speaking with you. But once I was in his presence... it just happened. I know that he is morally reprehensible, but I don't share those morals. I would never go around killing or torturing innocent people."

"Unless they were werewolves," he said sharply. They stared at each other in silence for several long seconds. "I notice that you don't deny it. You don't feel any remorse for those innocent werewolves you killed, do you?"

"No." She was barely holding her emotions in check. She could hear the pain in his voice and it felt as though she were being stabbed.

He asked hoarsely, "Even now? You know that werewolves are people for all but a few days a month and you still feel no remorse for killing an innocent? None of us want to be werewolves or asked to be werewolves." He was starting to raise his voice again.

"Those werewolves were dangerous and irresponsible. They placed lives in danger. Those are the ones I have hunted down," she defended, her voice on the verge of cracking.

"For a personal vendetta!" he shouted.

She cringed at the truth of his words.

He sighed. "It can't work between us. We're too different."

"So that's it?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, I think so. I won't come between you and your information gathering, and I'm not willing to share you." He started to leave the library.

His words sounded very much like the ones Lucius had told her. "Remus, wait. I care about you, a lot." She couldn't just let him walk away. There had to be a way to heal this rift.

"But not enough," he replied sadly. He tried to open the door, but found it still locked magically. "If you wouldn't mind?"

She unlocked the door and watched him leave. It felt like a piece of her was leaving with him. She followed him out of the room and caught his sleeve as he was ascending the stairs. "Remus, please, don't go. I love you."

He stared into her eyes, trying to judge the sincerity of her words. "Had you said those words earlier, they may have meant something, though I do wonder if you even know what it means to love. Now, all I hear is a hollow plea to keep me around. You already have your love slave. What use could you have for me?"

"Because you took a piece of me when you walked out of that room. Before, I was feeling angry that you weren't able to understand what I was doing. Now, I feel empty that you won't be there." She could feel a tear running down her cheek. Never before had she felt such a sense of loss.

He looked at her sadly. "Wendy, I just can't trust you. How do I know that any of this is the truth?"

She pulled him close and gave him a passionate kiss. "Can you just walk away from that? I do love you. This is something I never thought I would ever feel."

Even though his heart was racing and his body was on fire, he looked into her eyes and said sadly, "Goodbye, Wendy."

She watched him walk up the stairs without even a glance back at her. Before leaving, she was tempted to kick the troll-leg umbrella stand, but thought better about waking Mrs. Black. Instead she left.