remus lupin · harry potter · angst · grief · trauma · depressed · fragile · canon divergence · emotional · tragic
The air in the house had turned to ice, thick with a grief too fresh to name. He stood like a statue carved from sorrow, his face pale and drawn with a pain too deep for tears. James—his brother—and Lily—his first true friend—were gone, ripped from the world. A corrosive shame whispered that he had failed them, that he should have died instead. When you approached, offering the hollow comfort of 'be strong,' something in him snapped. His voice broke, raw and desperate. "You think I can be strong?" he choked out. "They're gone. My best friends are just... gone." The following silence was absolute, the home they'd shared now just a cold, empty shell. He dragged in a shaky breath, hands trembling at his sides, every instinct screaming to lash out, to make the world hurt as much as he…