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Remus sat in the window of his dorm room, watching the sun set over the Forbidden Forest. It had been a quiet Saturday; he had spent most of it reading. Lily and James of course had gone to lead the prefects and other students into Hogsmeade Village, Sirius was setting up the last of the prank the Marauders had planned (involving water that would never evaporate without the right spell), and Peter was off somewhere with Dorcas.
When Remus had finally emerged from his corner of the library, he’d been starving and rushed to the kitchens, whereupon the House Elves took pity on him and piled about 30 sweets onto a tray for him to take upstairs.
Looking out the window, he could see the faint light of the stars appearing in the slowly darkening sky. The stars always made him think of Sirius. He blushed, thinking about their encounter after Arithmancy yesterday. Sirius had met him outside of the classroom, which was fairly common now that they had told their friends about their relationship. Sirius was more of a romantic than Remus and was always going out of his way to make Remus feel special. Sirius had grabbed Remus’s hand and tugged him into a little alcove that just barely fit the two of them, before planting a sparkling kiss onto Remus’s lips. It had brought a bright blush to his face that made him want to hide away, but Sirius caught his eyes and very slightly shook his head. They had grown accustomed to their shared intimacy enough that even the smallest of gestures and facial expressions sent more than enough information. And Remus, still shy even at 17, was slowly learning that he needn’t hide the feelings he had for Sirius when they appeared like that.
Just as the fond memory of that kiss settled into a soft glow in his mind, Remus heard footsteps on the stairs and a knock on the door. He got up, wondering why anyone would be knocking, as the Marauders always burst through the door with an energy that could create its own wind if it wanted to.
To his surprise, it was Lily he found standing outside. She smiled up at him in a way that made his chest warm.
“Remus!” she beamed. “I was hoping I’d find you here.”
“Hey, Lily, everything okay?”
“Yes, of course! James is leading the group back to the castle but I wanted to run ahead and catch you before everyone got back.”
“D’you want to come in?” Remus realised he’d been standing in the doorway, as though he was trying to hide something, which he wasn’t. He moved to the side and opened the door wider.
“Oh, sure, thanks!”
The two Gryffindors made their way to Remus’s bed and sat comfortably next to each other on the end.
“How was Hogsmeade?”
“It was great! James and I went to The Three Broomsticks for a bit and then he insisted on buying me this gold chain from a shop nearby.” She showed Remus the dainty gold bracelet that sat gingerly on her wrist. It was beautiful and complimented her eyes and hair nicely.
“S’lovely, Lily. Really.”
“Thanks!”
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Comfortable silences had grown more common over the last few years between the two of them. Lily was different from the Marauders (for all the obvious reasons) but something about her was just so calming to Remus while the Marauders were always so exciting and energetic. He liked sitting with her while they studied––not together, but at the same desk––or when they sat in the common room reading, every once in a while glancing up and sharing the latest exciting thing happening in their current novels. And of course, Lily always had great advice for Remus’s relationship with Sirius. And of course, Remus had always been there for Lily when she didn’t know what to do about James.
Lily broke the silence. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Hm? The bracelet?”
“Yes. I… how do I put this…” Lily tucked some stray strands of auburn hair behind her ear. “I’m not ungrateful for it, don’t get me wrong––I love it when James buys me sweet things like this––but sometimes…” She laughed briefly. “Sometimes I want to get him things like this, too.”
“You want to get James… a dainty gold bracelet?” Remus asked, while Lily laughed, bending over and putting her hand on his arm.
“No, not a ‘dainty gold bracelet.’ Something nice, like a small, precious gift that he can have to look at and think of me.”
Remus understood, but wanted to joke just a bit longer. He loved it when Lily laughed, especially when it was because of him. Her laugh was so bright and warm.
“Pretty sure he thinks of you all the time as it is. Sometimes I hear him go ‘hi, Lily’ in his sleep.”
This made Lily laugh even harder, her face turning a bright shade of red. This just spurred Remus on. “One time he had a whole bloody conversation with you in his sleep, and we had to cast a quieting spell just so we could get some sleep.” Remus had started laughing too, and they both fell back on the bed giggling until they held onto their stomachs gasping for breath.
“You made that up,” Lily said, turning her head to face him. Remus looked at her and shook his head. “Nuh uh, s’true, every word.” The laughter threatened to come back, but Remus forced it away and it appeared in colouring his cheeks an extra fiery red.
She smiled at this, knowingly, and sat up. “Anyway, if you’re done making jokes then maybe you can help me pick something out for him.”
Remus sat up too, watching as Lily pulled out her wand and cast accio. A second later, something came sailing through the bedroom door and landed ceremoniously on her lap. It was a muggle magazine with bright colours and a man in a suit posing on the front. Remus didn’t recognize the name––he’d never been one to pick up a magazine back at St. Edmunds for obvious reasons. But this one looked intriguing, and he glanced up at Lily for an explanation.
“I wanted to order him something from here! He’ll need to be able to blend in with muggles once we finish school, and I want him to have something nice like my bracelet. I was hoping you could help me choose, since you know what men want more than I do.”
Remus doubted that, half the time he had no idea what James and Peter were on about, and Sirius was even more confusing. But he wanted to help, and decided to do his best. If anything, Lily’s confidence in him gave him more confidence in himself.
They flipped through the pages together, stopping and glancing at colourful ties, sturdy rings, and even cufflinks, until they came across a page dedicated to watches. At what seemed like the exact same time, their eyes landed on a gold watch with tiny emeralds inlaid on either side of the watch face.
Lily’s breath caught. “It’s beautiful.”
“I think we’ve found the one.”
“It’s so expensive, though… I knew the stuff in here would be, but I didn’t budget this much.” Lily ran her finger over the image of the watch.
“I’ll help you.” Remus knew from experience that people wouldn’t accept charity, but this was Lily. Aside from the Marauders, she was his best friend, and he knew that he’d do pretty much anything for Lily if she asked. He thought of stepping into his vault at Gringotts for the first time and seeing just how much his father had left him.
“Oh, Remus, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t want your cigarette money.” She looked up at him, and he could see that she was thinking about the time he told her how he’d spent one of his summers stealing for a group of boys at St. Edmunds, and how he’d sold those fags to various students around Hogwarts the following semester.
“No, I meant with the money my dad left me. I can sneak out to Hogsmeade tomorrow and convert it into muggle money.”
“Would you?” Lily pulled him into a hug. “That’s so lovely of you, Remus.”
Remus hugged her back. He always loved hugs from Lily. “Of course, Lily,” he said, reluctantly pulling back so he could show his genuinity. “Anything for you.”
At that, Lily looked like she might cry, but quickly hugged him instead. “Thank you,” she breathed.
They stayed like that for a while, comfortable and safe in each other’s embrace. When they finally pulled away, Lily leaned her head on Remus’s shoulder as they settled into another comforting silence. And if Remus knew anything at all in that moment, it would be how eternally glad he was to just be right there with one of the most wonderful people in the whole world.