Chapter Nine
Iris POV
As Mel, Reg, and I strolled down the corridor arm in arm (with Regulus fake grimacing but secretly enjoying it) we came upon a cluster of Gryffendors. We try to sidestep them but the apparent leader blocks our path.
“Mudblood,” she growls at me. “What do you think you're doing here?”
“It’s a public hallway,” I say pleasantly.
“You shouldn’t even be in this school to begin with. And you,” she says, turning to face Mel. “Pathetic. Associating with people of their kind.” She turns her head towards her gang-friends. “Imagine being sorted into Hufflepuff. I’d drop out from the sheer humiliation of it. Everyone knows it’s just the house where all of the people who aren’t brave, smart, or clever enough get put into.”
Regulus steps forward but I put out my hand to block him. Throughout this whole interaction the girl hasn’t even looked at him.
“Yes, very interesting theory,” I cut in breezily. “Now, if you don’t mind, we have a class to get to. Enjoy your day, though. Oh, and it’s supposed to rain this afternoon so you might want to bring an umbrella!” I add over my shoulder as I break rank and push through the crowd.
Mel pauses, pulls her very own umbrella from her book bag and hands it to the girl. “Here, take mine. I’ll be inside for the rest of the day anyway.” Then she catches up to me and links her arm through mine.
We both first bump as Regulus catches up to us and this time it’s him blocking our path.
“What?” I say.
“We need to go back there!” he splutters. His face is flushed and his eyes dart around dangerously as if he’s ready to start a fist light at the slightest provocation.
“Want to defend your honor properly I suppose? How very masculine,” I say dryly.
“Not my honor! Yours!”
“Oh, ours doesn’t need it,” Mel assures him. “It’s very resilient.”
Regulus looks completely outraged so I pull him over by the arm, loop mine through it and say, “Listen. We’ll explain everything, but first you have to promise that you won’t go hunt them down later.” He just growls. “Come now. It isn't the first time and won't be the last.”
I turn to Mel and in synch we say, “If I had a penny every time…” but we can’t finish the quote because of giggling. This is our little routine we do to cheer us up after an incident such as the one that just happened. Regulus is not amused.
“Everyone knows that the best revenge is to be better than your enemies, Reg,” Mel says practically.
“That’s stupid,” he mumbles.
"If I held a grudge against everyone who called me a mudblood or made fun of me for being a Hufflepuff I'd be trying to get revenge on half the school!” I exclaim.
"But don't you care what they think?" he asks, his eyes boring into me.
“Not really,” I say.
“How very Hufflepuff,” he says, but looks as if he takes it to heart.
“Excellent point. See, it’s only half the school, not the whole school who acts like this. ‘Said Hufflepuff 'I'll teach the lot and treat them just the same.' That's kind of our thing, you know. A minimum of prejudices, a minimum of barriers. They don't care who's pureblood or muggle born or anything else. So once I make it to our sacred common room, I’m safe!" I explained.
Within the Hufflepuffs there was an unspoken understanding that any form of bullying would not be tolerated. We got enough of that from all the other houses. So inside the commonroon there was a safe space; a truce that whatever our differences, we were a team. Whatever our faults, we were badgers.
After a moment Regulus asks, "Doesn't it ever hurt you?"
"It always hurts,” I admit. “But that doesn't mean you have to show it. Ever heard of a brave face? Cuz you're looking at them," I say, pointing to Mel's and mine and grinning.
"And here I thought those were loyal faces,” he says, amused.
"Touché. Besides, as the muggles say, you can catch more bees with honey than with vinegar.” Regulus snorts.
“That’s quite an ideal.”
“I caught you, didn’t I?” I say, eyes twinkling up at him. Reg blushes, looking away.
“Alright, that’s enough preaching for one day. Let’s go rehearse the Pride and Prejudice proposal scene.”
“You guys are nut cases,” Regulus says, looking slightly embarrassed for our sake.
“It took you this long to realize that?” Mel asks, grinning.
Lyla POV
I couldn’t help but add a skip to step as I headed out into the crisp fall air. I still had a couple more plants to collect before Friday.
So far I've been enjoying my job immensely. It gets me outdoors, and I’ve actually been learning a lot. Fructus gryphi was the next item on the list, found on the branches of the Volans trees located on the far west side of the forest. By the time I reached the location my hair was thoroughly wind blown and my socks dripping with mud. I peered up the tree and spotted the bright purple fruit dangling from the higher up branches. I grinned. There was nothing quite like climbing up the branches of a tree.
I rolled up my sleeves and scaled the Volans tree, breathing in the smell of growth and life. When I reached the top, I scooted across the branch. I knew I could have just accioed it down, but where was the fun in that? Two fruits were hanging on the tips of the branches. One after the other I pulled them towards me and plucked them.
As I scooted back to the trunk, my hand slipped. Gasping I lunged for the trunk, managing to wrap my arms around it. Doing so, however, I dropped one of the precious plants. I whipped my head downwards, watching the fruit tumble towards the ground.
Straight into Remus Lupin’s hands.
He looked both mildly surprised and mildly amused. “Hello, Lyla,” he greeted, looking up at me.
“Hello, Remus,” I replied.
“What are you doing in a tree?” He asked, smiling.
“What are you doing so close to the forbidden forest?” I countered, frowning. Remus’s boyish smirk was back.
“Mischief.”
I leaned my back onto the trunk. “And your three musketeers?”
“Also doing mischief,” Remus responded. “I just happened to finish first.”
“I see,” I hummed. I had absolutely zero intention of descending the tree with Remus watching. Hogwarts’ uniforms for the girls were entirely unhelpful and more than somewhat sexist. While I had ditched the mandatory heels for sturdy boots to head out for my work, I’d left my skirt on. A skirt that would, with any big gust of wind, reveal more than I wanted to despite my pantyhose.
I wish that the Gryffindor would leave. He seemed to have other plants, leaning himself comfortably (and attractively) against the tree.
“There’s going to be a Ravenclaw and Gryffindor game next weekend,” he said. “Any strong feelings on who the winner will be?” I frowned, really not wanting to get down or to encourage my crush on him.
“Not sure,” I lied. “Don’t you have anywhere to be?” Remus shrugged.
“Nah, I got to wait for my friends.” I nodded. Rats.
“If not Quidditch, is there another topic of conversation that would peak your interest?” He questioned, lightly tossing the fruit from hand to hand. I tilted my head.
“Do you have a nickname?” I asked, genuinely curious. Remus laughed.
“Yes.” I raised my eyebrow questioningly.
“It’s Moony,” he relented.
“Moony?” I giggled but didn’t question the reason. “Any others?”
“No.”
“No? That’s lame,” I sighed, thinking. “Do you have a middle name?”
“John. Why?” He was looking up at me again.
“Remus John Lupin,” I tested the words on my tongue. “R.J.” I decided.
“R.J.?” Remus’s nose scrunched.
“What? It’s a perfectly good nickname,” I defended.
“Okay, Brains,” he smirked.
“Fine, Brawn,” I retorted.
“Alright with me, Beauty,” Remus winked. I blushed, my whole face heating and my heart pounding.
“You’re an idiot, Bighead,” I mumbled. Remus threw back his head and laughed rather than get upset for which I was thankful for. I thought it was a nice laugh; it sounded good. I studied him closely.
“You're not what I was expecting,” I admitted. Remus stopped laughing and became serious again.
“How so?” His expression showed honest curiosity.
“I don’t know,” I looked away. “I kinda thought you’d be mean or intimidating. Maybe stuck up and selfish, too.” I tugged at the hem of my skirt as wind whipped around my legs. “I mean,” I rushed to explain. “You’re famous and smart and hot.” I blushed again but plowed on. “It seemed a lot to ask for you to be kind and funny as well. I was wrong; you’re lovely.” I finally met his gaze again. His cheeks were flushed, but it could have just been the cold.
“Thank you, Lyla.” His eyes bored into mine, but I found myself perfectly at ease. “I’ll admit I underestimated you. You’re so much…more. I think it’s brilliant.”
He thinks I’m brilliant, I thought, feeling slightly lightheaded. I opened my mouth to say something, most likely something stupid, but, thankfully Sirius and James bounded out of the forest.
“Wormy’s already back at the castle!” Sirius shouted, running up to Remus and colliding with him. The pair crashed to the ground, and James vaulted himself towards them, practically cannonballing into their tangle of limbs. I stood there awkwardly on the branch while they wrestled. Finally, Remus managed to push them off of himself.
“Stop it, you maniacs,” he half growled, half laughed. “We’ve got company. Act like gentlemen.” Only then did James and Sirius see me.
“Oh,” Sirius cried, grinning up at me. “You’re the vomit girl! Lydia, right?” I hated that I would be known as ‘the vomit girl’ from now on.
“Lyla, actually,” I corrected.
“Right,” Sirius snapped his fingers. “Lyla. It’s like Lily. Two L’s, one Y, and four letters,” he said in a sing-songy voice. “That’s how I remember. I’m actually really bad at names.”
“Yup,” James confirmed, smacking his lips to pop the p. “Say, what are you doing in a tree?”
“Actually, I’m trying to get down,” I said. “I would, but I’m afraid to flash you.”
“Oh,” Remus gasped. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think of that. We’ll go.”
“Yeah we’re outta here,” Sirius swung his arms around James. “Minnie has eyes on the back of her head. I don’t want to be here when it all hits the window.”
“It’s ‘hit the fan’. I don’t know why you always insist on saying incorrect muggle idioms, Padfoot, ” James corrected. There was another unusual nickname. It must be some Marauders thing. It’s not like their team name wasn’t unusual.
“I’ll see you later, Brains,” Remus waved goodbye and followed his friends back to the castle.
I practically swooned. Not only did he use a nickname, but he said I’ll see you later. There was a promise there. We’d meet again.
I slammed my head onto the trunk of the tree until sense came back to me. This stupid crush. I reached out to pluck another fruit, the one I’d dropped down had smashed during the boys’ play fighting. I made up my mind to spend the rest of my time before bed writing my Transfiguration essay on why the Antarctic climate was best for the Gelida Caudatus dragons to live in. Boys weren’t anything that cold, hard logic couldn’t drive out.