Chapter Forty-Two
Moonlight
Deep in the dark
You'll surrender your heart
But you know
But you know that you can't fight the moonlight
(Can't Fight the Moonlight - Leann Rimes)October 31st, 1975"I don't understand," Remus said as he walked into the Room of Requirement—
which was no longer a room, but rather what looked to be the outskirts of the Forbidden
Forest. Everything felt so real: the smell of the grass beneath his shoes, the breeze moving
through the leaves in the trees ahead of them, even the bright moon reflecting off of the
water on the Black Lake.
Moon?!
Remus took in a sharp breath as his focus turned up. Painted across a sky of black
velvet was the brightest, fullest moon he had ever seen with his own, human eyes.
Something tightened in his chest, and he closed his eyes as he waited for the itching, the
aching, the pain to come, but instead of sharp stabbing against his skin, he felt something
soft, pliable, and warm.
"Love, look at me."
Remus opened his eyes, still breathing heavily. A hazy mixture of chocolate brown
and amber looked back at him, and he could read the love in their depths. Mia's soft hands
touched his face, beckoning him toward her where she placed a kiss full of promises against
his mouth, chaste and sweet.
He looked skyward again, and only then did he realise that he was still shaking
against her, a hand firmly gripped on her arm as if he needed it to steady himself. "I don't
understand. Mia, what did you do?"
"This is where I trained to become an Animagus," she told him. "I asked the Room
of Requirement to place me in the forest where I could see the trees, touch the dirt, and
smell the air. I asked to be able to see the shack―" She pointed to the shadowy silhouette