Chapter 4
“What do you reckon was in that letter?”
Remus watched as Sirius picked at his nails, a nervous habit that was rarely shown these days.
James spoke up, “Why does it matter? Shouldn’t she be used to getting letters from her own parents?”
“She looked unnerved!” Sirius snapped, raking a rough hand over his face.
“You’re just thinking about it to hard, Pads.” Peter said, wincing when Sirius shot him a glare.
The small boy added, “I thought you didn’t care….?”
Sirius snarled, “I don’t.”
Remus frowned, knowing that was far from the truth. Sirius could say whatever he wanted, insult his family as much as he could, but at the end of day; he cared way more than he would ever admit.
However, the boys would never say that out loud to him. He was right to leave that house.
Remus drowned out whatever Prongs was saying to calm him down, inspecting the small vial of Wiggenweld Potion. It was a shade darker than the picture in the book, but had the subtle sparkle to it. Would it be good enough for her?
He wasn’t sure why he even cared. Lyra would probably hit him with a slashing hex and make him take the potion to see if it worked.
But at the end of the day, approval was approval and praise was praise. The one thing Remus had been chasing his whole life.
“You think this will help after transformations?” Remus joked.
“Shit.” Sirius said, his face falling. “I forgot the full moon was coming up.”
Remus shrugged, not expecting any one of them to keep up with his monthly schedule. He had also gotten better at hiding his fatigue, thanking Pomfrey for the extra calming draughts in his head.
“Sunday, isn’t it?” James asked, propping his head on his knee.
“Yup.”
Peter rubbed the back of his neck, “Are we going to leave the shack again?”
James and Sirius grinned widely as Remus held back a groan.
Monday was absolute hell for Remus. He had fought with Pomfrey to leave the hospital wing early, wanting to at least be able to attend half of his classes. But eventually, the nurse had given in with the promise that he would return if he wasn’t feeling well.
And he wasn’t feeling well, but he was not going to miss Defense Against the Dark Arts.
He walked as fast as he could to the classroom. He was already ten minutes late and was glad the Professor liked to dawdle before beginning his lectures.
Wincing at his unsavory pace, he finally spotted the door.
“Lupin.”
Remus stopped, recognizing that soft spoken voice. Turning around, he caught Lyra just a few paces behind him, her arms tucked tightly around her as if she was uncomfortable.
“Yeah?”
Lyra didn’t say anything for a few moments, the small crease in her forehead deepening, “Are you unwell?”
Remus ignored her question. “Did you need something?”
He watched as she raised her chin higher as her arms tightened even more around her ribs.
“I’m busy tomorrow night and was wondering if we could move the tutoring to tonight.”
Remus frowned, “I have Astronomy tonight.”
“At ten, yes. Our sessions take place at seven.” She countered.
He clenched his jaw and looked up at the ceiling. He was hoping to rest a bit before the late night class.
“Alright.”
Lyra nodded slowly, her arms loosening. “Do you have the Wiggenweld potion with you?”
Remus nodded.
“Take it.”
As if she could sense the confusion on his face, she continued, “You obviously don’t feel well. It will help, if only a bit.”
And with that, she turned around and stalked away. Remus watched until she disappeared around the corner.
He swung his ratty bag off of his shoulder, settling it down into the floor. He dug around a bit, battling the loose papers until his hand wrapped around a cool, glass vial. He held it up to his face, studying the swirling green liquid.
“Here goes nothing..” He muttered, uncapping the vial and dumping the contents down his throat. He really doubted a measly potion would help him.
But then suddenly, his bones didn’t feel as tight and his throat had suddenly lost the hoarseness it held. It hadn’t fully taken away the pain, but he could feel a weight being lifted off his shoulders.
Glancing up at the spot Lyra once stood, he had almost wished she would have stayed so he could have thanked her.
Standing up, he made the rest of the way to the classroom and the limp he usually sported after transformations was barely noticeable.
The rest of his classes had gone smoothly and he ignored his friends stares as he ate a good sized dinner. Usually after the night of a full moon, he could barely stomach food.
“Did Pomfrey make you take a new potion?” Asked Sirius.
Remus smiled lazily, “Something like that.”
Once he finished, he swung his bag over his shoulder and waved goodbye to his friends. He decided he didn’t want to be late anymore. He at least owed that to the girl.
He had tried to catch her eye at dinner, but had only received a harsh glare from Regulus.
He was five minutes early this time, spotting her sitting at her the usual table in the back corner. Lyra didn’t notice as he approached, until his bag hit the floor.
“You are amazing.”
Okay, he didn’t mean to come off that strong, but the fact he felt slightly better after a full moon was enough for him to want to sing her praises.
Lyra stiffened and glanced up at him with a weird expression.
Remus continued, “The Wiggenweld potion! You were right, I felt horrible and right after I took it I felt.. well…decent!”
She nodded slowly, “I didn’t invent it…”
Remus waved at the words, “Maybe, but you told me to take it. I would’ve never thought about it until you mentioned it.”
“I’m glad it worked.” She replied tightly, “That means you brewed it right.”
Remus smiled, finally plopping down into the seat across from her. As he finally glanced up, he noticed her already staring at him with an odd expression. “What?”
Lyra shook her head, “Nothing.”
She pulled out the usual potion book and opened it between them.
“We will be making an antidote to poison today.”
Remus nodded, leaning over a bit to look at the book. He barely noticed the way she pulled back.
Lyra continued, “Very useful to keep on you. A lot of poisons are undetectable, but the symptoms are quick. You won’t have enough time to brew any in the moment so having one on your person can come in handy.”
“Who’s going to poison me?” Remus said, looking back up.
“I might, if I tire of these lessons.”
Remus raised a brow, “Did you just make a joke?”
Lyra shrugged as Remus let out a small laugh, noticing the way the corner of her lips threatened to lift.
She shook her head lightly, returning to that usual mask of nonchalance. “Let’s continue.”
But Remus could barely hear her as he thought about how nice she looked when she wasn’t wearing her usual frown.
“Lupin?”
“Hm?”
Lyra shifted uncomfortably, “Did you bring your cauldron?”
“Oh- yeah.” He stuck his hand in his bag, pulling out his worn down cauldron.
He settled it in front of him, awaiting her instructions as she pushed the ingredients towards him.
“Try to follow the instructions in the book, and i’ll correct anything you’re doing wrong.” She said.
Remus nodded and got to work. He was halfway through crushing up the bezoar when he started to grow bored.
“How did you get so good at Potions?” He asked, wondering if she would answer.
Lyra was silent for a few moments, “I used to watch my cousin when I was younger.”
Remus waited for her to continue.
“She would explain all of the instructions and ingredients to me, sometimes she would even let me help. Then when I arrived here, I had a friend who was equally as enthralled with potions as I was. He shares his tips with me sometimes.”
“I bet your parents are proud of you having top marks in your year.” He commented absently as he added the crushed bezoar powder to his cauldron.
Lyra looked away, “My parents prefer buying already made potions.”
Remus made a mental note to not mention her family again. The tightness had returned to her face.
“Well, it’s a gift.” He murmured in a light tone.
“No, it’s hard work.” Lyra straightened her posture.
Remus didn’t answer and continued his potion, cursing his words that brought that uncomfortable silence to wrap back around them once again.