promise
Lily kept her promise. It was now four years later. Lily is sixteen. It was now four years after she had last seen Severus. He hadn't come back. He moved to the capitol right after he visited all the districts. His family had moved with him. They had bid their goodbye's. They had promised to come back some day, but everyone knew they never would. Why if you had the chance to escape the lowest district would you ever come back? And just like expected they had never returned, never once in those four years.
Severus was often seen on tv after he won the hunger games. He had become a mentor for district twelve. He had matured a lot in the years they were separated. But Lily still saw a bit of the old Severus in him. They had the same just a bit too long greasy hair. He still had his cold stare. He had never looked at Lily that way though. And lastly he still had that way too cocky walk. Like he always had somewhere to be. Even tho half of the time he would just be wondering around doing nothing.
Lily had also made a new friend, she would even consider him her new best friend actually. His name was Remus Lupin. He lived with his mom and dad. He was super long and had blond brownish curly hair. He had scars on his face but Lily saw past them. He loved reading books and a good mug of tea. They had grown close pretty quickly. Remus had won the 74th hunger games. Just the one after Severus. Lily hadn't seen him around that much before he was picked. Remus didn't talk about his hunger games all that much, he did get nightmares tho. Sometimes he would walk to Lily and they would talk about nothing and everything all night. Lily could always calm him down.
Remus wanted to become a librarian and Lily a teacher. Together they had planned their whole future. They could start a small school. It would be cozy. Remus would be the librarian of the school and teach english. Lily would teach maths and arts. Sometimes Lily would think back of when she and Severus would fantasize like that. But she stuffed him away, if he could play the 'I don't know you' game, so could she.
Lily was waiting for Remus. She was sitting on a hill, leaning against a tree. This was the tree where she and Severus had carved their initials. She was reading a small book her teacher had lend her. The wind hummed in her ears. It was almost like Lily could only ever find peace in her books. Her books were her escape for reality. She would jump straight into fun and exciting story's. She could escape district twelve. She would travel to every fantasy world and she would be everyone but her true self.
Then someone tapped on her shoulder and she was out of her trance. She looked up to a smiling Remus. He plopped down next to her. "Hi," He said with a slight smirk. "What did you do?" Lily asked teasingly, she shoved slightly at his shoulders. He pulled his bag into his lap and rumbled through it. Eventually he pulled out a small box. It was red with a small white bow on the lid. Lily gave him a questioning look but he laughed it off. He opened the box to reveal two small necklaces. One had a moon and the other a small flower. They were both silver. Lily gasped at the jewels. "I found these in the attic, it's almost like they were made for us." He chuckled a bit.
Remus motioned for Lily to turn. She obeyed while he carefully put the necklace with the flower around her neck. When Lily turned back around she embraced him. She put her head on his shoulder. He smelled like candles and chocolate. "Thank you," She muttered into his shoulder. He patted her on the back. "You're welcome," He said back. It was almost like the time stood still in that moment. That was the first time Lily realized Remus was her best friend. He was her brother and the one who stood by her side through everything.
Lily cried a bit. "Don't cry silly, you'll get my jumper wet." Remus said half heartedly. Lily gave him a watery laugh. "You're sweaters deserve it." She teased back. Remus only squeezed her harder. They broke apart. Now Lily motioned for Remus to turn. She took the other necklace from the box and put it around remus his neck. She smiled down at her feet. Her long skirt flowed with the wind. When she looked up at Remus again he was looking at her too. He was smiling his real smile, Lily could tell.
It wasn't the smile he had when confronted about the games, or the smile he had when talking to his father. No this smile was real. Remus deserved better than this, then district twelve. Lily thought to herself. "I can't help but love you." Remus whispered. "Even tho I try not too." He finished. Tears flowed down his cheeks. Remus had never cried like that before. At least not where anyone could see. "And why is that so bad, remus?" Lily asked carefully. They stared at each other, they both knew the answer already. "I don't want to lose you too." Remus said eventually. They both knew about the people he killed. They both knew about all the trauma he held to himself.
Lily grabbed his hand. She wouldn't let her best friend crumble, not again. The reason Remus still lived in district twelve was because he was considered a failure. In the games, he had killed a boy. Named grant. They had been best friends and it had been an accident. Remus had given him berries, he hadn't known they were poisonous. Remus had never gotten over that death. Remus and Grant had been ally's in the games. He was from district eleven. But, Lily knew something nobody else knew. Remus had loved Grant. He had been in love with Grant. Nobody had liked Remus because of the grieve. They wanted a victor, not a survivor.
The people in the capitol would never understand. They were manipulated. They saw the games as actual games. They cheered when a capitol favorite would kill another child. They didn't see the pain in their eyes. They didn't realize anything like that. When remus hadn't cheered but broken down when he had won, everybody lost interest. Except for the districts, they saw him as a real winner. When he had gone around every district they had cheered. People wanted to get to know him.
"Remus, you wont lose me." Lily squeezed his hand. "I wont let you go through that again, you don't deserve that." She whispered. She shuffled closer to Remus, so they were pressed side to side. Remus was staring into the distance. Into the deep forest. "I solemnly swear." remus knew Lily ment it. You don't lie about that sort of things. the games had changed him but Lily had helped him change for the better. Lily put him back on his feet when he fell down. Lily was there by his side. Lily had been a better family than his dad ever was in those 16 years of his life. Lily hadn't seen him as a monster. She had seen through his walls.
The moon and the flower, they hadn't always had each other but neither would let go now. They grounded each other. Distracted each other of the harsh and unfair world around them. Maybe they had countless flaws, and maybe they were problem children. But if you asked the one to describe the other they would never answer with that. They sat on top of the hill till the sun went down. Together they watched the stars dance above them. They counted them over and over again. They fell asleep there, on top of the hill under the tree. But nothing like that mattered if they were together at the end of the day.