JULIET {remus lupin}

EIGHT

"You alright, mate?" James asked Remus as the boy walked into the great hall. He had been late to breakfast which, for someone like Remus Lupin, was highly unusual.

"Yeah... fine. I didn't sleep great, that's all."

"Think it's the cycle?" Sirius asked loudly, earning a confused glance from Lily Evans.

"Merlin, shut up Padfoot," James said.

"Nah," Remus continued. "It's not for a few days, just didn't sleep great."

"Apparently neither did she," Sirius said, looking up at Juliet Romilly who was walking into the hall alone. The witch yawned into her sleeve several times and rubbed her eyes before sitting beside Persephone Parkinson and Arabella Greengrass. "Think the death eaters gave a rough time last night?"

"What, for leaving her own party?" Remus laughed, staring between the girl and his friends.

"She's not with my brother," Sirius observed.

Remus looked up again and saw that Sirius was correct, Ophelia Rosier and Regulus Black seemed to be sitting as far away from Juliet Romilly as possible.

"Maybe she meant Ophelia Rosier last night," Remus said thoughtfully.

James nodded, "perhaps... but sorry... why do we care... she's a Slytherin."

Remus noticed Lily Evans roll her eyes at the boy's comments and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Pete cares," Remus said with a grin.

"No I don't," the boy said sadly.

Sirius smirked and put on a high pitched voice to mock the boy, "but... was she okay... after... Moony..."

James and Remus snorted and Peter sighed a little, "all I ever said is that she's pretty, you call girls pretty all the time Sirius..."

"Sorry, Wormy," Sirius grinned, "we've just never heard it from you."

Peter gave a defeated sigh and went back to eating his breakfast.

Juliet sat with Persephone and Arabella at breakfast but wished she was alone, the events of the night before had left a sour feeling in the Slytherin common room. No one had really spoke this morning, save Narcissa and Regulus, and Persephone and Arabella both seemed reluctant to bring up what had happened. So instead, they ate in an awkward silence, none of them really knowing what to say. She hadn't spoken to Regulus either, not since they had clashed over Lucius, and she wasn't sure that they could go back to the way that they were. 

He would just keep siding with Lucius, after all.

She looked up from her food and found that Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were staring right at her, she met Lupin's eye, raised an eyebrow and then looked back to her food. There was no doubt in her mind that they were speaking about the state in which the two Gryffindoors found her in, how embarrassing. She was only glad that there weren't any Slytherins around to see it.

"Romilly," a cold voice said from behind her. From Persephone's stiffened posture and Arabella's flirty grin, Juliet knew that it was Lucius.

"Yes, Malfoy," she said, not bothering to turn around.

"You'll be patrolling with me tonight."

"But, Ciss-"

"Me," he said sternly, "not Narcissa."

"Fine."

As soon as he left Arabella dissolved into giggles and it was as if the night before hadn't happened,