After the Chocolate
....
After the pair left the infirmary, Remus was once again left alone in his confinement. This time he had chocolate though, so he opened the wrap of the chocolate bar in his hands and had a taste.
It was rich, the taste. There was a milky sweet hints in it, but the chocolate was strong. Remus hadn't had a chocolate this yummy before. He took another bite and another one right after.
Munching his chocolate, his eyes glanced at the box of chocolate on the table beside him. Would it be as delicious as the chocolate bar? They had the same foreign brand, so Remus hoped they tasted the same.
James, Sirius, and Peter visited him long after he finished eating his chocolate bar. Upon their arrival, they quickly regaled him of the happenings of the day, a tutoring to help him catch up with the lessons disguised as fun stories to lift his mood.
Remus listened to them with undivided attention. He would never understand why they still befriended him after discovering his affliction. And the length they went for him - accompanying him, lying for him, helping him. When he first came to Hogwarts on Dumbledore's offer, it was hard for Remus to believe that he would have friends, least of all friends who accepted his condition. But now, as Sirius merrily shared a tale of how a transfigured rogue dragon hopped around everyone's head during class, Remus only felt an intense, deep-seated gratitude, gnawing in his chest.
When they finished, James jokingly asked whether he had anything interesting there at the infirmary besides yucky potions and Madam Pomfrey's charming company as per usual. He shocked them by saying yes, there was something interesting today.
"Someone gave us sweets," he pointed at the purple box on his table. "It seems that they admire our work at the return feast and feel fit to give us a present for it."
Their eyes widened. Remus smirked as he watched them all had that mirthful glint in their eyes as if Christmas had come early this year. Soon enough, James was reaching to the box and he took one chocolate from it, Peter and Sirius following him.
James groaned, his eyes shut hard as if he was holding back a cry.
"So good," he gushed. "We should prank the whole school more often if this is what we get every time we do it."
Peter nodded vigorously, a trace of chocolate was left at the corner of his mouth. "This is way better than honeydukes!"
"Don't even compare them, Pete," Sirius said, shaking his head as he stared the chocolate between his fingers. "This brand's chocolatier is top notch, only sold in the continent. Very posh too, the kind of chocolate my family would buy."
Remus was not surprised. Crouch was a pureblood after all, and many of the purebloods were crazy rich. He took one as well and was immediately greeted by the same heavenly taste he had previously. Remus felt strangely humbled. Rich people really were an entirely different lot if they could eat chocolate like this every day.
"So?" Sirius plopped down the chocolate in his mouth. "Who is it? Who is this generous admirer of ours?"
Ah, finally. Remus started to worry that they had lost their curious nature in the face of sweet delight. "We've met her once," he divulged.
"So it's a girl!" Sirius shouted in glee. He turned to Peter. "You might have a chance after all, Pete!"
Peter's cheeks went red. The next Hogsmeade week would be a couple days before Valentine day and both Peter and Sirius wanted to go with a girl. But while Sirius was successful in his endeavor to find a girl who actually wanted to spare some time for him, Peter hadn't been as lucky.
"Is she pretty?" asked Peter, his eyes hopeful as he waited for his reply.
The memory of deep piercing eyes, small nose, a pair of smooth pinch-able cheeks, and smirking pink lips resurfaced in his mind and Remus nodded. "Very."
His friends' eyebrows shot up in excitement, including Sirius who already had a date. "From the scale 1 to 10. How pretty?"
Ten, Remus wanted to reply. But he realized that his friends would tease him and he must consider the high possibility of Crouch becoming even prettier when she's older, so Remus lowered it, "a nine."
"That limits the scope by a large margin!" Yelped Sirius, buzzing in excitement. He snapped his finger. "Eyes. Brown?'
Remus shook his head.
"Green?" Asked James with hope. Remus shook his head and he deflated.
"Blue?" Peter asked, and he nodded. "Blue"
"Nice tits?"
Remus winced at Sirius. "She's a year below us."
"Ah.." Funnily, his eyes seemed to widen in realization right after it. "Oh."
James noticed, "You've figured it out?
Sirius hummed, eyeing the box of chocolate in a new light. "Is it Madeline Crouch?"
"Madeline Crouch?" James parroted, his head turning back to Remus, eyes wide. "Evans' Madeline Crouch?"
"Do you know her?" Remus asked to Sirius, tilting his head. It wouldn't be a surprise if he knew her. The pureblood society circled closely with each other, after all. Sirius proved this as he snorted.
"We've been introduced. My brother fancies her. It's hilarious, really."
Ah... He had wondered what that hostile glare was about.
"So she gave us this?" Peter asked, his eyes wide as he looked at him. They all had heard things about Crouch before, and none of them seemed to support the notion that she would stand by the side of a group of rule breakers. Peter's incredulity was well founded. "For the hair prank?"
"And a get well soon chocolate for me," he added helpfully.
Peter frowned, still visibly hesitant. "I didn't expect someone in Slytherin would appreciate our... deeds."
Remus grinned. Their 'deed' indeed.
James looked down at the box with a decisive nod. "Yeah, she must be great if Evans likes her."
At that, Sirius couldn't help but open his mouth, eyebrows arched at his friend beside him. "James, buddy, doesn't that logic make you shitty as Evans loathes you?"
James winced. "Yeah, well.. it shows she cares."
Remus snorted.
.
Right. So. Why didn't this interraction got included in the main strory, mightymight?
Well i don't know! I hate that i wrote it and then just decided 'nope.' Like, what a waste!
But it just doesn't fit the pacing, i suppose. I mean, marauders all about having fun before the war struck them dead in the chest (haha) but the slytherins were always right in the middle of the war, weren't they? And i want the first conflict between maddy and regulus to happen now, so entering Remus' pov in it... it breaks the momentum, i think? I mean, Remus isn't even one of the main character.
In any case, it's a nice addition but unnecessary to the plot.
But i feel it would be a waste to just delete it and so i'm putting it here. This fic is a dumpster and rats can freely feast here lol.
By rats i mean you. And i use the word rats fondly, so please don't be offended :D