Chapter 2
The morning came far too quickly for Remus Lupin. After hours of forcing sleep, he'd only managed 3 hours before the sun came up and shone through the scarlet curtains that draped over the windows. The dorm was cold, indicating that summer was coming to a swift end and autumn was creeping in slowly. It was the 1st day of September, a day most students dreaded. Around him, he could hear his friends grumble their complaints about 'bloody school' and 'piss-boring lessons', but to Remus, it was possibly the best day of his year.
It was no secret that he adored his friends. They all did. But to Remus, he didn't think he could find a finer group to stick with. They knew, of course, about his lycanthropy and his 'furry little problem' that plagued his mind each month. But it made no difference to them. In fact, he thought they rather enjoyed the night of the full moon - after all, it meant that they could transform into their animagus', and for three 16 year old boys, what could be more fun and exciting than that?
As feet began to shuffle along the wooden floorboard, Remus decided it was high-time he joined them. Of course, Sirius was the first to make a comment.
"Moony, you look worse than Peter. Did you drink a litre of Firewhiskey before bed or something?"
Remus gave him a sharp look, finding his voice too loud for 7a.m.
"Something like that. Where the hell did James run off to?"
"He ran to the Hall. Thinks he'll get a chance to pester Lily if he gets there early enough." Peter giggled, sounding more like a little girl than a 5th year student.
Remus nodded, rolling his eyes a bit, but left the subject alone. Unlike the others, he found James' obsession with Lily rather endearing. As Gryffindor's star player, he could have any girl he wanted at Hogwarts. Yet he always pined after the red-headed one.
"Speaking of girls, what's your game plan this year Moony? Last I heard, Sasha Monnet was talking about trying it on with you in time for the Christmas Ball." Sirius winked, referencing the dark-haired girl that had been obviously infatuated with the werewolf for an embarrassing number of years. Remus knew this, but something always stopped him from pursuing her. He wasn't quite sure what.
"We'll see." was all he replied.
"C'mon Rem, she's fucking hot. Have you seen her this year? Something must've happened over summer, she's grown a massive pair of-"
"Yeah, mate, she's hot, I know!" Remus interrupted, wanting to stop his Sirius from finishing his sentence. He wasn't like James and Sirius in that sense.
"You'd better hurry up and start cracking on with her then." Sirius shrugged, pulling on his uniform and combing his hair in the mirror.
"Yeah, else you might end up having to drag Y/N around at the ball." Peter piped up, laughing at his own cruel joke.
"Hey, none of that Wormtail. I've been thinking of a few ways to get 'Little Miss Genius' out of her shell. Won't tolerate any slander about my love." Sirius announced. Remus' interest suddenly peaked at the sound of her name. Images of last night came flooding back to him, reminding him of how she kept him awake for far longer than she should've.
"What's that supposed to mean, Sirius?" he asked, feeling weirdly apprehensive. He ignored the feeling.
"Nothing a shag won't do to get rid of shyness." the dark-haired boy grinned. "Sasha's not the only girl that's grown up this year."
Peter snorted loudly, but Remus stayed quiet. Why would Hogwarts' very own womaniser set his sights on Y/N? What was he planning? Did he really want to sleep with her, of all people?
And why the fuck was he so concerned about it all?
...
In the Great Hall, Y/N sat chewing slowly on a piece of toast, with her head buried (as it usually was) in a book about advanced DADA. Unlike Lupin, she'd slept well the night before, and felt good about the year to come. She was developing a keen interest in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and had already created a study plan for her OWLs that was tucked away neatly in her bag.
Her hair was tied up into a slightly messy dutch braid, and coating her eyelashes was a thin layer of mascara - something she didn't usually wear in school. She wasn't particularly sure as to why she'd taken an interest in makeup this year, but after seeing the other girls in her dorm apply various cosmetics before leaving for breakfast, she thought she'd do the same. After all, she was 16 now, and what better way to acknowledge this than by acting like a normal teenage girl?
"Y/N, what are you reading?" a girl's voice drew her away from the words on the pages in front of her, and she looked up to see the undeniably gorgeous Lily Evans beaming at her. Lily had always been accepting of Y/N and her more closed off ways, and Y/N appreciated it more than anything. It took her by surprise that she was talking to her so casually this morning, but she didn't mind.
"Just some stuff for DADA. Nothing interesting." she lied. She'd been wrapped up in her book all morning.
"Come and sit with us, you've been reading for hours now!" Lily smiled, beckoning Y/N to slide over and sit with her small group of girlfriends. Y/N hesitated for a second, taking in their faces to gauge their reactions, but after a millisecond of analysing their genuine expressions, she decided to move closer to them. She was at least going to attempt to socialise this year, even if it pained her. "You do anything fun over summer?"
"Honestly, no. Just practised some charms and visited some cities nearby." Y/N lied again. Her summer had been anything but uneventful, but she'd rather spend a night in the Shrieking Shack than open up to the 4 girls sat around her.
"That sounds nice. I tried practising charms, but I nearly burnt the house down and my dad confiscated my wand for a week." Alice Fortescue laughed from across the table. Alice was a sweet, harmless girl. She had short, spruce coloured hair that sat just above her shoulders, and large eyes that seemed to notice everything. As a pure-blooded witch, it surprised Y/N that she struggled so badly with charms. Of course, blood status meant nothing, but with two magic-using parents, Y/N thought she'd be able to practise until her heart was content.
"That doesn't surprise me Alice. Y'know Y/N, you might have to tutor her this year or she won't make it past the first term." Teresa Berlitz giggled. Teresa was well-known as the niece of Professor McGonagall. Not that it made any difference in school, as McGonagall never showed any favouritism towards her. Y/N hadn't really spoken to her before, but she knew that her and Lily were best friends, which made her automatically 'popular' in school. Not that she wouldn't have been popular without Lily - she had a certain sparkle in her personality that made her loveable to the average Hogwarts student.
"Don't think any amount of tutoring will help Alice, T. But you're welcome to try." Sasha chipped in, looking at Y/N with her piercing blue eyes. Sasha was known for being the most beautiful girl in their year at Hogwarts. She had long, cascading dark hair that reached her waist, and arched brows that reminded Y/N of the models she'd see on covers of Vogue at her local corner shop. Y/N was always a little more wary of Sasha. She'd heard some of her conversations about people that weren't in her immediate friend group, and more often than not it was something cruel about their looks or their mannerisms. Y/N didn't understand the point in bitchiness, but Sasha apparently did, so she tended to keep away from her.
"Well, Alice, if you do need help I don't mind. Charms are tricky." Y/N said quietly, smiling at Alice who looked noticeably forlorn at her uselessness.
"Oh Y/N, I don't think I've ever seen you mess up a spell once. God knows how you do it." Lily said, nudging Y/N in a playful manner. It was a funny situation for Y/N to find herself in. On her first day of 5th year, already she had spoken to 2 groups of people she didn't often associate with.
Nevertheless, as the girls delved deeper into their recounts of the summer and their hopes for the year to come, Y/N found herself genuinely enjoying it. For approximately ten minutes, she felt at ease - she laughed at the right times, listened carefully to everyone's short, silly stories, and even added a few of her own comments. Perhaps to anyone else it wouldn't have seemed so peculiar, but to every 5th year student at Hogwarts in the hall that morning, it was utterly bizarre.
Particularly to the Marauders, who happened to show up at their table just as Y/N was speaking.
"I don't mind Slughorn, he just seems a bit eccentric. Like, y'know, nutty. It could be so much worse-"
"Woah, woah, woah," an irritatingly Sirius-like voice interrupted, "Is Miss L/N actually chatting?!" he exclaimed, feigning a look of shock and hiding a smirk as he took an unwelcome seat next to Y/N. She sported a blank face as Peter let out an unattractive snort, fighting the urge between snapping back at the boy or getting up and never attempting to socialise again. But just as she was about to let the latter take over, Lily spoke up.
"Believe it or not, Sirius, Y/N's got far more interesting things to say than you. Can't you just be pleasant, for once?" she didn't sound particularly angry, but her tone was sharp. Y/N tried hard to disguise her look of surprise, having just experienced the first time anyone had ever stood up for her. It hadn't happened before at Hogwarts, and although she would never admit it, she knew it was because she thought she could handle herself just fine on her own. But to have someone speak up on her account was a good feeling, so she stayed put in her seat and watched attentively.
"I am pleasant Evans, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Sirius gasped, flashing an unwelcome wink in Y/N's direction, "And where's James? We thought he'd gone to find you."
As Lily began explaining to the dark haired trouble-maker that she had spent her morning rejecting 'Potter' for the 100th time, Y/N's eyes flickered over to Remus Lupin, who was taking a seat opposite her and next to Sasha. He had been watching the short episode between Lily and Sirius quietly, and offered Y/N a small smile as his eyes met hers. She responded with a slight nod, not wanting to reciprocate anything that could be translated as 'friendly'. Lily and her friends were once thing, but giving the Marauders a chance (in Y/N's books) was practically suicide. Especially Lupin, who confused her enough as it was.
"Lils!" Teresa exclaimed, "You didn't tell us this. Don't you feel bad for him? I mean, maybe it's time you gave him at least one shot." The girls all spoke up in agreement, clearly all feeling sympathetic for the lovesick boy.
"Really guys? C'mon, you know how I feel about this! It's just too much, he's been asking me out since the first day of 1st year." Lily argued. To this, Sasha let out a long sigh and flipped her hair behind her shoulder.
"But Lily, this year is different. We're older, and we have the Christmas Ball to think about," Sasha met Remus' gaze for a moment as she spoke, "Nobody wants to go to the Ball alone."
Y/N couldn't help but pick up on this, and watched curiously as Remus cleared his throat and shuffled away ever so slightly. She tried not to linger on it, but when Remus once again met her stare in a rather pathetic way to communicate his embarrassment, her eyebrows unintentionally furrowed. He pursed his lips and spoke up.
"It's still September, James has plenty of time to ask Lily to the Ball, and Lily has plenty of time to deny him. We have this same conversation every year," he said flatly - an honourable attempt at drawing Sasha's attention away from him, "My biggest concern right now it Potions. I've got Slughorn first period, and I don't think I have enough energy for two hours of his stories."
"Awww Moony, is it that time of the month again?" Sirius grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Remus chuckled and shook his head.
"God, how did you know Padfoot?"
Y/N remained virtually silent for the remainder of breakfast, feeling a little less comfortable now she was surrounded by boys that found their fun in picking on her. As she continued to chew on the same piece of cold toast, she was subject to the sounds of Peter's loud smacking lips as he shovelled piles of bacon into his mouth, as well as the girls' light-hearted giggles and of course, Sirius' obnoxious jokes. She watched Lily adjust her posture and fix her hair when James sauntered into the Hall (having clearly rebounded half an hour after he had his heart broken for the one millionth time), and fought against rolling her eyes when Sasha saw it fit to begin spraying herself and everything around her with sickly sweet perfume.
But, despite all of this, there was only one thing on Y/N's mind. And that was the sense of dread she felt when she realised that this year, herself and Remus Lupin were assigned the same potions class.
Little did she know, Remus Lupin sat opposite her thinking the exact same thing.