Lockwood Part 4

For weeks she cried and there was nothing anyone could do. Angie wouldn’t get out of bed, she wouldn’t work, she wouldn’t even eat some days or let anyone see her. Without Remus, she was more lost than she’d ever been. Benji had come home one evening to tell Jocelyne about Black’s invasion of Hogwarts, having been seen in the castle and attacking the Fat Lady. She hated hearing that Harry was in such danger, but there was no place safer, Dumbledore wouldn’t let Black get that close again.

Jocelyne visited Angie every chance she got, but her friend wasn’t really there anymore, it was worse than when Jack died, it was a different kind of hurt that Angie had never felt before. Jocelyne had gone through something similar, a feeling of loss when she realised she would never go out with Darren, it was the first heartbreak she’d ever experienced and even though it was just a crush, it still hurt the same.

She tried to give Angie something to look forward to, bringing the twins over every other visit, but after a while, even her godchildren couldn’t get her excited enough to get out of bed.

‘I suppose she never thought she’d have to live without him.’ Anna said, making Jocelyne some tea. ‘I don’t think any of us thought Remus would leave her, not for any reason, but I suppose we all have our limits.’ She sighed.

Jocelyne loved how like her mother Angie really looked, the same ocean blue eyes and thick blonde hair that curled around her womanly features.

‘Do you think anything will bring them back together?’ Jocelyne asked, a faint hope that her best friend would be okay again.

‘Possibly,’ Anna nodded, she never seemed to lose faith in love, much like her daughter. ‘One of two things will happen, either Angie will prove Black is innocent, or he will make an attempt on Harry’s life and Remus will prove Black’s guilt.’

‘So this all hinges on the actions of a man who we all know to have betrayed his friends?’

‘No,’ Anna shook her head and smiled kindly. ‘We don’t know and that’s the point. Jocelyne you’ve grown up with Angie, how many times has she given up when she knows she’s right?’

‘Never.’ Jocelyne half laughed. ‘That’s what was always so frustrating about her, during the tournament she nearly drowned saving Fleur’s sister. She even sent Jack to the surface before she looked after herself.’ Jocelyne laughed a little more, thinking on the memory. ‘And in the maze, she tried to get them all to work together, knowing that if she just reached the cup, she could save them from the Mist.’

‘And with Nakamura, she knew her wand wouldn’t cast the spell to kill her, she stood her ground.’ Anna beamed pride and a little fear for her daughter. ‘She knew she was right. If my daughter is anything, it’s stubborn and unfortunately, it’s that exact trait that will save everyone from Voldemort’s return, but I fear it will cost her more than Remus and she may not survive that.’ Anna’s eyes filled with tears for a moment, but the truly heart breaking thing was how easily she held onto them, like she was more than well-practised in the act. ‘Promise me something?’ She suddenly said. ‘Promise me that no matter what, you’ll be there for her, no matter what she says, how insane it might seem, my daughter needs all the help she can get in the coming years to fight against something she knows is coming, I’m just not sure she knows quite how difficult it will be.’

‘Wait, what’s coming? What does she need to fight?’

Anna just smiled a sad smile. ‘When the time is right, she will tell you. Just promise you’ll believe her. Promise that you will come to her aid when she calls for you.’

Jocelyne thought for a moment, she knew Angie was special, but maybe she never understood just how special. ‘I promise.’ She said and Anna breathed a little relief.

‘Good, because you know how carried away she can get.’

The two women laughed a little more at Angie’s antics and hoped that she would eventually emerge from her bed to join in. She never did.

George hated the growing tension between himself and Lily, but they were professional enough to settle any dispute quickly despite their differences of opinion on his daughter. He believed Angie, he needed to believe her, she needed him to believe her, he needed to give her courage where others were failing. He hated Remus for causing her such pain, but his understanding of why Remus had decided to end things, kept him from acting on his hatred. Angie had never been too sharp when it came to the emotional, but George had hoped Remus could be the answer, he never imagined that she would come to rely on him so heavily.

‘How is she?’ Nathan asked, he was still a little intimidated by George, but his concern for his idol overpowered that.

‘Still heartbroken.’ George poured Nathan some coffee from the pot in the staffroom in preparation for the early start they had together. The young Healer in training took the coffee eagerly, apparently not having time to brew his own at home. ‘She’ll be okay in the end, she just needs to find the right thing to get her motivated again.’

‘That’s good.’ Nathan nodded. ‘I heard Professor Lupin is struggling as well.’ George nodded, not really having much to say, but trying to appear interested. ‘The full moon is taking more of a toll on him and he’s needed a few days off here and there. He’s not needed a day off in the last seven or so years… why can’t they just put aside their differences and be together?’

‘Because it’s not as easy as that.’ George sighed. ‘Angie and Remus are not all that they seem and I believe that Black’s escape was simply the breaking point after a long run of issues they’ve had. It’s not to be unexpected… but I agree, I do hope they can resolve their issues soon, for all our sakes.’

Nathan nodded and thought on something that made him smile. ‘They’re the whole reason I asked out my girlfriend, Millie. I remember when she left for Tibet, she said goodbye and you could feel how much they loved each other and I remember asking him for advice. He told me hard work, commitment, patience and a sense of humour was the key to a happy relationship. I guess he was wrong.’

George half laughed, forgetting how wise Remus could be. ‘No, he wasn’t wrong, those are some strong pillars for any relationship. They’re both just incredibly lost right now, their focus is out of place and they’re unable to see past the pain they’re in. I just hope they get through this dark time soon, hopefully before it gets any worse.’

George soon stopped talking, not feeling exactly comfortable anymore, he got into work and hoped that whatever was happening beyond the walls of St Mungo’s was not causing his daughter anymore pain than she could handle.

It was quite a surprise when he went home, apparating to his back garden and turning to see that at that exact moment, David Wales had just done the same. He looked like the same handsome young man he’d always been, if not a little more life experienced. His chiselled face was a little tired, but he still had his wonderful smile lines around his eyes from years of laughing with Angie.

‘Professor.’ George smiled and gestured to David to head into the house first.

‘George, how is she?’ He got straight to the point, taking his long navy coat off of his much more muscular frame and ran his slightly scarred hand through his dark, wet hair.

‘Same as ever.’ George sighed and began making tea. ‘And Remus?’

‘Miserable. He’s a mess.’ David was annoyed, he rolled the sleeves of his beige linen shirt up and began drying his hair by the fire. ‘I’m sorry I haven’t come by in a while, with the attack on the castle, Dumbledore wanted all the teachers to stay to help look after the students.’

‘Don’t worry, we’ve all got out priorities.’

‘Speaking of which,’ David suddenly dug around in his coat pocket and brought out a couple of jars of what looked to be blue-green Puffapods. ‘I brought these for Angie to mess around with, give her something to do while she’s moping about.’

‘That’s good of you.’

‘Has she managed to get out of bed yet?’

‘Once or twice.’ George brought down a couple of mugs for the both of them and poured some tea.

‘Well, that’s not nearly enough.’ David shook his head. ‘I’ll put these in her lab and see if I can get her to get up for some food.’

‘Good luck.’ George called, knowing that if anyone could get his daughter out of bed it would be David.

Angie was a mess, she was sprawled on her stomach over her bed with the curtains closed, no light was getting into the room and she clearly hadn’t showered in days, whether she even showered properly then was hardly a mystery.

‘Angie, get up.’ David said, whipping the curtains open. Angie didn’t move, she didn’t even acknowledge that anyone had entered her room, she just stayed still.

David hated to see his friend in this state, her hair was greasy, her face was pale and wet from where she’d woken up crying before presumably falling asleep without much care for how she looked. She wore a grey t-shirt that looked like it didn’t belong to her, in fact, he was almost certain he’d seen Remus wearing the same t-shirt a few months previous when Angie was still in Tibet.

‘Angie.’ David knelt down beside the bed and brushed away the hair that stuck to her face. He smiled sympathetically at the wet patch on her pillow from where she’d drooled, the memory of his own heartbreak was what made him the perfect candidate to help her get through the pain. ‘Come on, it’s time to wake up.’ David carefully shook her awake. Her eyes were red and the second she was conscious and saw David was trying to help, she began crying again.

David didn’t hesitate, he climbed into bed with her and brought Angie to cry into his chest, she needed the comfort, she’d probably not had anyone to hold her for weeks, not the way she needed anyway.

‘It’s okay.’ David whispered into her hair. ‘It’s alright. I know… I know.’

After a few minutes she eventually calmed down and took a few stuttered breaths. He could already feel Angie falling asleep again.

‘Come on, you need to take a shower and have some food.’ David said and tried not to acknowledge to her complaints. ‘Right, I’m not leaving until you’ve had a shower, some food and you’ve seen what I’ve brought you.’ He told her much more firmly and carefully drew back the duvet that clearly hadn’t been changed for a while. She probably hadn’t left her bed long enough for anyone to get in and help her.

‘David?’ George was at the door and looked a little exasperated.

‘This isn’t over Lockwood.’ David warned Angie, who just turned over to go back to sleep.

‘I need to go back to work, there’s been an accident and it’s all hands-on deck.’ George quickly explained. ‘There’s food in the fridge and you know where everything is, I don’t expect to be back until morning. Adrianna is away in Ireland for the week so unless Darren makes an appearance, you’ve got the place to yourself… make sure she eats something.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ve got this.’ David assured the greying and tired Healer. He remembered when George had a full head of dark brown hair and always smiled at Angie and her friends, those days seemed so far away now.

‘Thank you.’ He smiled and looked over at his miserable daughter. ‘I’ll be back soon Angie, I love you.’ Angie didn’t say anything and George looked faintly disappointed, before heading to work again.

‘Right, I’m going to put the shower on and you’re going to wash that hair of yours.’ David said firmly, knowing that by the end of their evening together, he will have gotten her to eat and maybe even crack a smile.

He wandered back into the room to see Angie staring at her trophies aimlessly. Her focus seemed to be on the Triwizard cup, the one Remus had helped her win, it sat next to her special award for services to the Pirin National Park in Bulgaria, the one she’d been given while Remus was with her helping a pack of werewolves. Her certificate that made her the world’s leading expert in Lycanthropy hung above the trophies and David realised how hard it must have been to stare at so many reminders of Remus, he needed to move them out of her room so that she couldn’t see them anymore.

‘Angie, the shower’s ready for you.’ David kneeled down next to her again and her eyes began to water.

‘Why does it hurt so much?’ She asked in a voice she clearly hadn’t used for anything other than screaming in a long time.

‘Because you loved him.’ David answered, pure and simple. He wiped away the tears that fell and smiled. ‘Trust me, I know that this is hard now, but you can’t stay here forever. While you’ve been drenching your bed sheets in tears, Remus has been getting on with life and his teaching. He’s moving on and you need to do the same thing. I’m here to help.’

Angie just watched her friend and nodded.

‘Okay, let’s get you out of that shirt and in the shower.’ David was aware that she was physically tired as well as emotionally and helped her to her feet. He led her to the bathroom and helped her take the t-shirt off. He made sure that everything was within reach while she stood under the water. ‘Right, make sure you wash your hair, you’ll feel better once you have, I promise.’

David left Angie to shower and he quickly went about putting fresh sheets on her bed. He put the grey t-shirt in the wash with the sheet and had a quick look in the fridge, he knew exactly what Angie needed. David quickly poured some tea and headed back upstairs to start moving the trophies and certificates out of her bedroom and into Darren’s old room. Finally, he was done and grabbed some black joggers and a fresh Falcons t-shirt for her to wear.

Eventually David went back into the bathroom to find that Angie was sitting on the floor of the shower, crying again. He unbuttoned his linen shirt and took off his black jeans to get into the shower with her. David wrapped his arm around her body and kissed the top of her head.

‘It’s okay, I’m here.’ He said and again tried to give her the comfort she needed. ‘Let me help you Angie.’ David moved a little to reach the shampoo and managed to get her into a position facing away from him so that he could wash her hair for her. He brought the shower head down and rinsed it out, being as careful as he could to avoid her eyes, though he was certain she wouldn’t care if she went blind. He went through the same procedure with the conditioner and hoped she was aware of him doing his best. ‘Right, I’m drawing the line here. I love you, but I’m not rubbing my hands all over your body for the sake of cleanliness.’

It was the sound of a scoff from her that had him smiling so widely, he knew the ridiculousness of the image of the two of them together would bring her around to the reality of where they were. He decided to allow her a moment to simply enjoy his joke before handing her the shower gel.

‘I’ll give you a minute.’ David kissed her now much cleaner hair and stepped out of the shower to dry himself and get dressed again. He knew that Angie couldn’t appreciate what he was doing for her right now, but in time she would look back and thank him for getting her out of her depression.

He heard the sound of the shower coming to a stop, but nothing beyond that. When he went back into the bathroom, she was still curled into herself on the shower floor. David sighed and grabbed a white fluffy towel, he carefully manoeuvred her into it and carried her back into the bedroom.

‘There we go, fresh sheets and some fresh clothes.’ He set her down on the end of her bed and helped her into her joggers and t-shirt. He then handed her some tea while he dried her hair for her. ‘Now, doesn’t that feel better?’

Angie nodded and gave him a twitch of a smile, it’s all he was asking of her.

‘Okay, let’s go downstairs and I’ll make you some dinner.’ David could see the resistance in her eyes. ‘I’m not asking you to do anything you can’t do on your own, I’m just asking you to do it with me.’

She eventually agreed and David encouraged her to choose what she wanted in an omelette, it was the one food that helped him get over Cassie, non-greasy yet comforting. Thankfully she had asked for peppers and chicken, making choices was a good sign, a sign that she was at least able to think of other things.

David made sure there was some music on while he told her all about his classes at the school, he steered clear of any subject that may have led onto Remus or Sirius Black, keeping her as occupied and interested in other things as he could.

‘Of course, Hagrid won’t change and he’ll keep Buckbeak for as long as he can get away with it.’ David laughed thinking about how much Hagrid loved that Hippogriff. ‘How you feeling? A bit fresher?’

‘Yeah, a bit.’ Angie sighed and picked at the last little bit of her omelette, at least the colour was coming back into her cheeks. She had always been beautiful and David owed her so much of his life, he was sure she never even realised. ‘Thank you.’ Her eyes were a little less bloodshot, but it was clear that any moment could be a breaking point for her.

‘You don’t need to thank me,’ David shook his head and placed his hand over hers. ‘I’m glad to do it. I’ve missed you, I’ve missed my best friend.’

Angie nodded and a new sadness washed over her. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me. I’m sorry I left… I feel like such a disappointment to everyone-‘

‘Hey, hey, don’t start crying again, I’ve only just gotten you to stop.’ David joked as the tears fell from her eyes, one by one. ‘You've never been a disappointment, not to anyone. Come on, Angie. This isn’t you, where’s the girl I used to hang out with in the courtyard making jokes and getting a kick out of getting in trouble?’

‘I don’t think she’s been around for a long time.’ Angie said sadly, still picking at her food, with no real intention to finish it.

‘Well, it’s about time she came back.’ David picked up her plate so that she couldn’t play with it anymore. ‘Now, do you want to see your present or not?’

David led her back upstairs and into her lab that was a little worn and clearly hadn’t been cleaned in a while. He showed her the fresh Puffapods and soon they decided to clean up the Puffapod tank to make room for the new ones David had collected. He was satisfied that this was a good night for Angie and it could only lead onto more good days. They didn’t talk about Remus and they didn’t dwell on the agony that still sat in her heart, instead, David turned her attention to her research, the one thing that could keep her focus like nothing else.

He stayed all night with her, letting her sleep against his chest and praying that she woke up just once without feeling the need to cry.