Chapter Text
- You’re an acquaintance of Lily’s
- Ordinary and decent; looks that guys flashy guys like Sirius would’ve described as plain
- well actually, Remus doesn’t know whether Sirius would describe you as plain;
- he doesn’t want to know
- because he’s infatuated, enticed on the first time he meets you on James’ and Lily’s wedding
- you are one of their honored guests
- both attending as a friend but as a photographer as well
- and the werewolf is convinced that someone as gorgeous as you would definitely go for someone as witty and funny as Padfoot who’s charming and charismatic
- not people like him
- especially people like him
- but this whole evening
- he barely gets a glance of you
- only sees your face hidden behind a lens; sees the camera and a beautiful suit, but almost never the face
- catches glances of your tied up hair where messy strands of hair hug your neck; loosely and playfully
- it looks cheeky
- wild
- “Who are you looking at, Moony?”
- “Yeah Moons, which of these gorgeous single ladies here have caught your attention?”
- Sirius grins and tosses a charming smirk towards a woman that his eyes locked with
- She blushes and giggles before her friends pull her away
- “The photographer”
- “The photographer?”
- “There is a whole room full of beautiful women and you go for the only one who is working?”
- “She’s a guest too, Padfoot. I think Lily invited her?” Peter gives a soft smile, totally understanding his friend
- “Speaking of Lils, I think they’re starting the dance now?” Upon Sirius comment, the two remaining young men turn their heads as well
- Lily looks dashing, her flaming red hair tied up in an elegant hair style, pale skin hidden behind a dream of white
- Independent, strong, fierce despite of her feminine appearance
- And James, their Prongs, wearing a black suite and a white shirt
- Simple, yet extravagant
- He’s tall and calm
- But the impression deceives
- Beneath this image, he’s goofy and stupid and sarcastic
- Who would’ve guessed that he’d be the first to settle down?
- Remus has always thought that Peter would be the first one to do so, with his sweet and gentle nature, always the gentleman, always the attentive young man that he was
- But he’s happy, happy to be able to witness his friends slowly going steady
- Even though he knows that he won’t, can’t due to this curse, this curse that ruined the chance of a normal life
- The brown haired isn’t going to complain though, being already used to the circumstances
- Yet, sometimes he looks at his friends and former classmates – his second family – and he envies, hates them a little for being able to lead such a life
- Maybe this is exactly why he decides to go for it
- Just appears next to you and slightly reaches out to touch your shoulder, gaining your attention
- “May I have this dance?”
- Turning around, youstare at him, the wine glass set against your lips, wanting to drink; wanting to taste the red liquor before you’d resume with taking pictures
- The world halters
- “Sure.”
- And he lets you put the glass down, softly leads you to where the bride and groom were dancing
- “Thank you for asking me. I am actually working.”
- “But you’re a guest too,” he comments sharply
- Because he’s noticed the way you laugh with Lily, the way James acts around you when you leaned over to show them some pictures on your camera – so familiar and close
- “Yes. How did you know?”
- “You seemed close to Lily. And you’re looking pretty”
- He blushes, when realizing that he had just unintentionally complimented you
- And you blush too, both surprised and flattered
- “This suit? Ah, no.”
- He strengthens his grip around your waist, closes his fingers a little bit tighter around your fingers; doesn’t really want to let you go yet – when the song ended, when these four, wonderful minutes came to fade away
- The brown haired keeps dancing, keeps talking
- Coaxing more words, more information out of these pretty lips
- He asks you for your contact details that night and you shyly
- It’s a first, the mark of many meetings that follow
- The werewolf takes you to libraries and hidden remnants of civilization that he has discovered in these full-moon nights – long forgotten and hidden in the forests
- He shows you ancient ruins, of stone fragments and shattered glass windows that was already claimed by nature
- With moss and grass and wildflowers
- All so you can take beautiful photos
- There’s a period of time where you travel together, aimlessly walking through unknown streets and countries were foreign languages were spoken like a song
- And laughs are spilling over your lips and they feel like snow petals touching his skin
- He laughs and jokes
- Is plain happy
- It’s never more than a week or two though; with Remus carefully minding the moon cycle
- So you would never find out his biggest secret
- Yet you know that something is off; notice his sad and tired expressions that he sometimes pulls when he thinks you’re not looking; are well aware of his inaudible sighs and the longing, the yearning in his eyes
- As if he was intending to tell you something, something of upmost importance
- He’s visited your exhibitions, has supported you in your career while he was aspiring to be a teacher
- One day, he finds them
- Discovers the photos that you had secretly taken of him, when the sun kissed the sky for the first time of the day, blushing until the world awakes
- Flips through them as he finds trapped in photos, a never ending laugh on his lips while Sirius dropped a lame joke after another
- Yet, he misses something; misses you in a all these images
- Because the photographer always goes unnoticed, always seems to be forgotten by the rest
- And he realizes, that you’re not a friend anymore
- Had never been and would never be
- It’s love
- Remus picks up the camera, plays with the strange buttons, tries and explores
- Settles in the shutter speed and rearranges the focus
- experiments and attempts to shoot something better than blurry moments
- Studies this device secretly
- Because photos had become something much more than moving pictures
- “I am too plain” you once whispered in one of your late night talks; around the time where morning wasn’t quite here yet, still enveloped in the darkness
- “You’re not. You just haven’t met the guy who knows your real value yet.”
- “Will that ever happen?” a small laugh; sad and slightly bitter – but yearning, so much yearning
- “It will. And he’ll prove it to you.”
- “Shit,” he curses when realization hits in
- “Shit,” he says again, remembers that he never could have you with him being a dangerous, savage werewolf; uncontrollable and violent
- But for the first time, Remus was greedy
- And so he takes photos of you; captures the precious moments of a photographer’s life
- There are photos of you holding your camera, already experiencing the world through the eyes of this device that always accompanies you whenever you’re leaving the house
- Twilight and morning glow painting your profile when you’re giggling with Lily
- Sirius slinging his arm around your smaller body, a smug grin on his face
- They are proof, proof, proof for your beauty that you cannot see
- And Remus says “I love you”
- With each of these pictures, his heart overflowing with so much love
- Conveys, and whispers and screams these words that you’ll never hear before he leaves the stack of developed photos on your doorstep, neatly enveloped together with a small letter
- Before he leaves for good and doesn’t intend to go back after he confesses about his illness
- Remus is weak
- Yet one day, you’re flying into his arms, hugging him tightly – your scent dizzying his senses
- The werewolf dies a little, before his heart revived with a start, only to beat faster
- And you look at him with the most affectionate gaze he’s ever seen, whispering the words that would be his doom and his salvation at the same time
- “I don’t care what you are.”