Bejeweled

Bellatrix Black didn’t think about Remus Lupin again until the next Thursday. She was sitting bored in Transfiguration when she remembered she would be seeing him that night if he wasn’t sick. She hoped he was. 

Not because she wished him to be horribly ill, just because she always wanted to have rounds alone. 

But when she was standing by the doors of the Great Hall, he came to join her ten minutes early, just like the previous week. 

“Hello,” she gave a short nod. 

“Evening,” he gave a short nod back. 

They went up the steps together in silence again, but this time once they started making a loop around the fourth floor he politely asked, “How was your week?” 

“Boring, mostly,” she shrugged. “Yours?” 

“Mildly annoying,” he admitted. 

“Oh. Why’s that?” Bellatrix asked. The story might pass the time. 

“I don’t know how much you know about 6th year Gryffindor drama, but typical nonsense,” he shrugged. 

“Then tell me what’s typical, because unless it has to do with Snape and his mudblood, I don’t know much at all.” 

“Don’t call Lily that,” Remus said firmly. 

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” 

“No, not whatever,” Remus said, stopping his stride. “Lily is my friend. She’s a good person, a talented witch, and if we’re going to be civil you’re not going to insult my friends.” 

Bellatrix was surprised at his backbone. The previous week she’d thought he was a complete pushover. But just because he wasn’t didn’t mean she wouldn’t push. “And I’m a pureblood. I’ll speak how I’d like about the filth.” 

“I’m warning you,” he said in a low voice that almost felt like a growl. 

Bellatrix realized she’d found some sort of line. She could keep pushing, but he would push back instead of toppling over. She knew she could win in a fight, but she found it interesting this was what he was willing to fight about. 

”Warning me?” she raised an eyebrow, smirking at him. “What will you do? You can’t win a duel.” Bellatrix saw him slide his wand into his hand. He would lose, but he would try. “But you know that, and you’re willing to fight anyway. Typical Gryffindor. But…why? Don’t tell me you fancy this girl like Snape, huh?” 

”I don’t need to fancy her to be a good person,” Lupin replied, still glaring. 

Bellatrix felt a wide smile spread across her lips. She liked this side of Lupin. It was like a little puppy thought it could intimidate a Rottweiler. 

She rolled her eyes. “You’re so easy to rile up. Calm down, tell me what happened. Does it involve Miss Evans?” 

Sometimes it wasn’t worth the fight, better to let the puppy think it won. 

She saw the calculations in his eyes, figuring out if it was worth it to keep pushing the subject. Eventually he landed on the smart thing, taking a deep breath and then beginning to walk beside her once again. 

”It does, actually. Pron-James, one of my friends, is obsessed with her. He’s convinced that if he just keeps pushing it she’ll eventually go out with him,” Lupin explained. 

”Don’t all men?” Bellatrix scoffed. 

”I would hope not. I keep telling him to let it go, but he won’t listen to reason.” 

”Typical Gryffindor,” Bellatrix cut in. 

Lupin gave a little smile at that. “Typical Gryffindor,” he agreed, partially in jest. “Well, Lily seems to be sick of it too. She hexed his head to grow every time he looks at her. It took him three days to finally go to Pomfrey.” Lupin rolled his eyes at the thought. 

”Sounds like someone who would be friends with my cousin.” 

“Those two are…certainly interesting,” Lupin chuckled. 

“Then why are you friends with them?” she asked curiously. 

”They’re good people. Sometimes annoying, and they have a tenuous relationship with following the rules at best, but no matter what happens I know they’ll be there for me,” he explained. 

Bellatrix could understand that. Loyalty. It was one of the most important things, actually. Also one of the most important things to the Dark Lord, which was why she was his favorite. One of the reasons. 

“I’m surprised I didn’t see them tailing us last week,” she quipped. 

Lupin laughed. “They wanted to, but I told them you’d never go easy on them if they got caught.” 

”Surprised they didn’t do it anyway. I’m so scary after all,” she gave him a small playful grin. 

“They almost tackled me the moment I got back to the common room,” he answered. 

“I’m surprised they were willing to stay up so late.” Genuinely. None of her friends in Slytherin ever bothered to stay up to make sure she got back from her rounds. Then again, they all knew she was the scariest thing in the castle. Maybe it wasn’t that they didn’t care, but just that they didn’t worry. Yeah, that was it. They had no reason to worry about her. 

”They’re always happy to sleep in class instead,” Lupin laughed. 

“Well, that’s why you’re the prefect,” she shrugged. 

“I suppose it is." 

They sank into a comfortable silence for a bit, ending up chatting off and on again before they made it back to the Great Hall after a particularly long pause in conversation. Bellatrix was pretty lost in thought when out of nowhere he said, “Thank you for earlier.” 

”What?” she asked. Thank her for what? 

“I know we…have different beliefs, but thank you for calling her Evans earlier. It’s really hurtful for me to hear my friends referred to as that.” 

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. “You…you know I’m just going to call her that when you’re not around, right? Like this doesn’t change anything.” 

Lupin shook his head in disagreement. “It means you respect me enough not to use it around me. It’s a start.” 

Bellatrix was still confused about the whole exchange when she laid her head on her pillow that night.