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Collide
by Hestia Hesperus
Inspired by Howie Day's "Collide". As with "I Dreamed a Dream", this was beta-ed and co-written by and with Anne. This takes place in chapters 4 and 5 of LwD.
Collide
March 17, 1982
Sunlight trickled in through the half-open curtains, alighting upon two sleeping figures. A woman slept on the couch, her wild hair splayed all about her and a small smile upon her face. Her arm fell off the couch and touched the bare skin of a man on the floor.
The dawn is breaking…
A
light shining through
His eyes opened and flickered around the room, surveying the cluttered mess, the shabby furniture, the musty smell…but above it all was the sight of this woman—this remarkable woman who had saved his life, who had calmed his mind, who had loved his heart, who had tamed the beast inside of him.
You're barely waking…
And I'm tangled up in you
Moaning softly, she turned her head, her face in the light, as though taking on the very form of an angel. She couldn't know that his eyes were on her, watching her every move, breathing in her every scent…but he didn't care.
She was his savior.
Yeah…
Before, the day had been overcast, as nearly as stormy as his thoughts. He was drowning in his sorrow, in the emptiness that filled his fiber of his being. He couldn't feel any more, couldn't breathe, couldn't see…
Couldn't see the point in living any more. He wanted it to end. He wanted it all to end.
I'm open, you're closed
And then he found him. He found his Harry—he was running towards him, unable to stop himself, knowing he must look completely mad, and not caring at all. The rush of emotion…joy, happiness, love, relief…it all washed over him, wiping away his sorrow and emptiness.
Where I follow, you'll go
He turned to this stranger—to the one who had unknowingly brought them together. He tried to explain his actions, tried to help her see that he wasn't just some raving lunatic snatching up children in the park. But when she saw him, her face turned pale, her eyes grew wide and her words stopped him in his tracks.
I worry I won't see your face
“I married you last night.”
Light up again…
Everything went by so fast. She told him of her dreams of him and his life, of his friends, of his school, of his condition…she knew his name, she knew what happened to him and the one he now called traitor…
Even the best fall down sometimes
But what was more was that she knew something he didn't know. He thought it was Sirius…they all thought it had been Sirius all along. But it wasn't. Sirius hadn't done it. Remus’ best friend…was innocent.
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
She showed him what she dreamt. It was a prophecy…of what was to come in the future. Black to red and red to brown/Shall truly bring the darkness down. A way to end all of the suffering and bring justice to their world. And it all started with them.
Out of the doubt that fills my mind,
With her magical ability, she showed him what no one else knew, and gave him what he needed to believe again. To believe in himself and the good in the world…
I somehow find—
She gave him hope.
You and I…collide…
He had always been the quiet one. Alone with just his parents in their small house in the woods, he had grown up without any real friends or brothers and sister to play with. But he had his parents, so he was happy.
And then it happened. He remembered the terror, the pain…his parents’ faces when they told him that he was different from everyone else. That he had the ability to transform into a monster.
His whole life had changed.
And as he stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, he
didn't expect to become a friend to anyone, to become close enough to
them…because he didn't want to hurt them. He didn't want
to hurt anyone. They were all safer off without him.
But he hadn't bet on James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.
I'm quiet, you know
He kept his secret from them the best he could. He tried to keep a distance and, for a few months, it worked out. They didn't find out about what he could become once a month. And during the transformations, he kept far away from them.
He still beat and tore himself up every month. He still had to be kept in hospital for several days at a time…but he was happy because he had friends.
He had the Marauders.
You make a first impression
In those few short years, he found that they knew everything about him. They were best friends, for better or for worse. They went on adventures together, took detentions together, pranked teachers and students together…
And then, slowly yet surely, they came to the truth.
I've found I'm scared to know
They followed him to his hide-out and watched him transform. And instead of running away and severing all ties with him…
They helped him.
Together, they made a potion that would turn them into animals so that they could be with him on the nights of the full moon. So that those times he once dreaded more than anything else…soon became the best times of his life.
For the first time in his life, he knew what it meant to be truly loved.
I'm always on your mind…
And they were happy. They grew up to become men and two of them found the loves of their lives. The war was around them and they enlisted to help fight. But there were weddings, still, and joyfulness amidst their grief. And then came the birth of a special baby and, as he held his almost-nephew in his arms, he knew that nothing could possibly be better than this.
But that was where he would be wrong.
For in the space of one night, it was all taken away from him. One friend betrayed them all. The Dark Lord came and murdered his friends and tried to kill the little boy.
The war was over. And he had been left standing in its ruins.
Even the best fall down sometimes
He locked the door behind him as he had done so many times. He fingered the cracks in the door and realized that it wouldn't survive the onslaught. Not tonight. After six months of living here on his own, with no friends to be with him to tame the monster, it was now going to come back and bite him in the arse. And he deserved it.
Feeling the transformation beginning, he fell to his knees seconds before they buckled under him completely.
He felt the pain, the anger. He had gone through this transformation so many times, but each time he lived through it felt like the first all over again.
He cried out, his screams turning into roars, grateful for the Silencing Charm placed around the room so no one could hear him…but also regretting that he had to endure it all by himself.
Even the stars refuse to shine
Thump.
The werewolf wanted what had been denied to him all of his life. And now, there was no Packmate to stop him. He used to run in delight with the strong one, the small one, and the large one. But they had left him long ago. And now, he was going to run by himself.
Thump.
He threw himself at the door, again, again, and again. He could feel it giving way, could smell the fresh blood behind it which made him howl with hunger and strive harder, harder to reach it.
Thump.
He could smell it…he wanted it…
Crash!
Out of the back you fall in time,
The door gave way and he landed on all fours in the other room amidst the flying splinters, howling in triumph. Then he saw his prey.
She stood there. He gave a fierce growl and rushed at her, gathering his hind-legs and preparing to jump, his eyes on her throat—
I somehow find—
She dropped. He snarled down at her as he passed. A hand connected with his paw. A sharp jolt coursed through him. He was barely aware of collapsing to the ground before his vision went black.
You and
I…collide…
He awoke in half-darkness, a small room, but not any in his house. The walls were rough stone, the floor smooth under his feet—shod feet, two of them, holding him upright. He was human again. Human and…dress robes? This doesn't make sense…what's happening to me?
Don't stop here…
“You look like your dog just died,” teased a voice he knew far too well. A face he hadn't seen for six months, had thought he would never see again, sported its old cheerful Marauder grin, and Sirius grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door. “Just like in rehearsals, Moony,” but he didn't remember the rehearsals, and the Great Hall beyond was a blaze of white and filled with people…could I be any more lost?
I lost my place…
He looked towards the doors just as they opened. A woman stepped through, draped in white, her face veiled. She was the light drawing everyone's attention, the sun on a dark day, and he suddenly knew the face waiting behind the veil…
I'm close behind…
She glided down the aisle, her pace so smooth he couldn't see individual footsteps. The whole Hall was focused on her, and that struck him as very right. Everyone should look at her. She was worth looking at. And then she was there, beside him, her veil back over her hair, and her hands closing around his…
“I was so happy to see you that I forgot that I
didn't know anything about you. And suddenly, I did know all
about you. Everything.”
Even the best fall down sometimes
A life rushed through his mind, as though he were living it with her in fast-forward. An impetuous bookworm, never knowing when to quit or give up on anything…trying on roller skates for the first time, and the horrendous crash that earned her the nickname, Danger Granger…
Even the wrong words seem to
rhyme
School, teachers’ smiles, classmates’ dirty looks, a friend with a familiar face suddenly gone, the loneliness salved with more books and more…a woman now, still studying, still searching, until one day she opened the door and there they lay, her parents, her whole life, dead on the floor of their home…her scream filled the room, her pain filled him, and he reached out and touched it and soothed it away…
Out of the doubt that fills your
mind
Days of work and trying to raise a headstrong toddler, nights filled with dreams of things that only existed in stories, until the day a little boy with green eyes walked out of her dreams and into her life, and nothing was the same again…because if one dream person could be real, certainly two could, and all she had to do was wait until he found her…
You finally find—
You and
I…collide…
Four words, and their lips met, a kiss indescribably sweet for the knowledge that filled both sides of it.
You finally find…
You
and I…collide…
You finally find…
You
and I…
…Collide…
The notes dwindled away. Remus opened his eyes again. Danger lay on the couch still, her hand dangling just enough to lay her fingertips on his skin.
She is my world.
A small sigh passed Danger's lips, and her eyelids fluttered.
And my world is about to see far more of me than I really want it to yet…
He grabbed for a blanket, almost laughing aloud for joy at the sheer wonder of it all.