𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙦𝙪𝙖 ➪ 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗎𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝐹𝐼𝐹𝑇𝑌 𝐹𝐼𝑉𝐸

➪ BILBAO ➪

"HEY, NIC! MORNING!"

Loki jogged up to her best friend, wrapping her arms around his torso. Shocked, Nicolas stared at the girl. When Loki finally pulled away, all she did was smile at him.

"I heard you and James made up the other day?"

"Yeah," Nicolas bit his lip, holding back a grin. "But I don't want to talk about that right now. How are things going for you? You look like you've certainly been through a fair bit in the last 24 hours."

"Yeah, well, I'm preparing myself for the upcoming exams," Loki replied with a shrug. "And I also had an unfinished Runes assessment I managed to get done last night." She thought back to the night prior, a grin creeping up on her lips. "I was also a little distracted last night. Sirius kept sending me owls."

"Owls?" Nicolas laughed. "What for?"

"Answers," Loki spoke, her eyes flicking over to the Gryffindor table where the Marauders were chatting together. She cocked her head, tucking her hair behind her ear. "And he kept telling me a bunch of things, trying to keep up a conversation no matter how many times I told him I was busy."

"Did he stop eventually?" Nicolas knowingly grinned at his friend. 

"At around two in the morning, yes. Remus sent the final owl telling me he'd put Sirius to bed, then apologised," Loki giggled slightly.

"You really like them, hm?" Nicolas commented. He and Loki were heading up the space between their house's table and Gryffindor's, with Nicolas prompting the girl closer to the group.

"Of course," Loki replied, feeling her cheeks flush at his question.

"Great," Nicolas smiled, "then sit down."

"I-what?" Loki didn't have another moment to question Niclas before he pushed onto the bench seat. "Oh, good morning, Remus," she greeted the boy she was already looking at, her confused expression replaced with a grin.

"I was wondering when you were going to notice us," Remus smiled.

"Morning, Princess." Loki's head turned to Sirius. "We were waiting for you."

"Do you save this seat every day?" Loki inquired. She fixed herself, so her body was facing the table she sat at.

"Just about," Remus smiled. He leant closer to Loki, lowering his voice. "I'm sorry about Sirius, love. Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"I did," Loki responded, "thank you."

"Good."

"Loki, I was thinking-"

"That's never a good sign," James joked, causing Peter and Nicolas to snort. Sirius shot a glare his way.

"As I was saying," Sirius turned his eyes back to Loki, "I thought that maybe, we could study together when it gets closer to exams? Like, the three of us on -what do you call it, Remus?"

"A study date?" Remus sipped his tea and glanced over at his friend. "You had a smart thought for once, Pads. I'm proud."

"Yes, well, it does happen occasionally," Sirius puffed out his chest, ignoring the insult. "Wait. Moony!" Remus was already laughing at the boy. "I have smart thoughts all the time!" He whacked Remus's arm from around Loki, then turned to her. "So, Princess, what do you say?"

"Loki's already started studying," Nicolas grinned at his best friend. Loki narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, come on, it's not that much of a surprise, to be honest. You probably already have next years curriculum."

Loki struck up an argument with Niclas out of embarrassment, which the four Marauders found amusing to watch. They continued their banter, with Nicolas laughing more as time went, and Loki becoming more frustrated. They left once it was time for their classes, with Remus taking Loki's hand and leading her out of the Great Hall, walking to their Care of Magical Creatures Class.

"Are you going home for Easter next week?" Remus inquired.

"No, my father's gone on another business trip," Loki sighed. Remus dropped her hand and wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulders comfortingly. She smiled. "Are you going?"

"Yeah," Remus looked down at his shoes. "But I can ask my dad-"

"No, no, Remus," Loki shook her head at the boy, "you go and see your dad. I'm sure he misses you terribly. I'm sure I'll have some friends staying. And even if I don't, it's not like I can't send owls. And it's only two weeks, anyway. I'm a big girl, Remus, I can handle myself."

"I'm just worried, love," Remus spoke. He dropped his arm, taking her chin between his thumb and finger, and both of them paused in the hallway. Loki's breath hitched at his action. "You've got some chocolate spread on your cheek," he chuckled. "Here."

He brought up his other hand, cupping her face and wiping his thumb over her cheek.  He pulled it back, checking for any missed spots before nodding in satisfaction. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and pulled away, continuing to the classroom. Loki blinked several timed, unsure of how to react to what just happened. Her heart thumped in her chest as her gaze lingered on the Gryffindor.

"Are you coming?" He queried innocently.

I-I, uh, yeah," Loki stuttered, collecting herself before jogging to him. "Thanks for that."

"It's no problem," Remus replied, connecting their hands once more.

The couple walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, only exchanging a few sentences with each other at times. Remus couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face as he held Loki's hand. They walked into class together, taking their usual seats at the front of the classroom together.

"What do you think we're going to be learning about today?" Loki asked Remus as she pulled her book out of her bag. Her eager grin was infectious. "Ooh, I hope it's some more about chimeras. Kettleburn had to stop at just the worst time."

Remus listened to Loki go on about what parts she liked the most about their previous lesson with a tender smile on his face. After he'd gotten out this books and other necessities, he propped up his head with his hand, watching the girl beside him. He stayed quiet as she spoke.

"Oh! And then there was the... Remus?" Loki finally noticed his gaze after a few moments. "Is everything alright?" Loki internally panicked she still had some breakfast remnants on her.

"Yeah," he smiled, "just admiring the view. You can keep going." He gestured for her to continue.

"Oh, okay," Loki's mouth quirked up before continuing.

➪ AUTHOR'S NOTE ➪

I hope you've been drinking water and having some food. I also hope you've been having a good day, and if not, I hope it gets better from now on.

The next chapter will be the Gryffindor v Ravenclaw quidditch match. Then there's probably going to be a chapter for the easter holidays where it'll be small snippets of the two weeks in one chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Vote, comment if you wish, and I'll see you later! Farewell :)