𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐙𝐄𝐒 ☾ r. lupin

₁₄ pasts and presents

"BEING THE only eagle in a house full of snakes isn't all that great," Thalia said. She opened the door and stepped outside, shutting it behind her. Remus watched as she stepped out of the kitchens, catching one last glimpse of her bright magenta hair.

He sighed and leaned back on his hands as she left, keeping his eyes on the door. He was still trying to piece together her story from earlier - how she said she understood how Sirius felt. It confused Remus for a bit, wondering how, but his thoughts eventually did a 180 and he figured it out.

Thalia's family was exactly like Sirius'.

It made sense to him. The way she was guarded. The way she only smiled around certain people. The way her words were perfectly articulate. The way she knew exactly what to say. The way she acted out - dying her hair, getting her nose pierced in fourth year. It was all just her way of coping.

Remus sighed again and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes, pressing so hard that white dots surrounded the edges of his vision. They were assholes. The whole lot of them.

They knew how to handle situations like this, too. They had to do it with Sirius since he was 13. Why didn't they help her then? They understood what was happening, Sirius more than the rest of them, so why were they turning a blind eye? But Remus remembered that he wasn't supposed to know. No one was supposed to know - he assumed, at least.

He wiped his face with his hands and looked around the kitchen, watching as Annie ran up to him with a coffee mug and a plate full of food. She stopped for a second and looked around the room; looking for Thalia.

"She left a few minutes ago," he said, smiling a bit at the house elf.

"Oh, should Annie bring it up to her?" She asked, looking up at him.

Remus shook his head and reached down, grabbing the plate from her hands. "No, don't worry about it. I'll do it," he told her.

"Are you sure, Mr. Lupin?" She asked, her eyes growing wide.

"It's okay, Annie. Have a good night."

Remus smiled and turned around, leaving the kitchen. As soon as he shut the door behind him he slumped his shoulders and sighed. He seemed to be doing a lot of that recently. So, he started his journey towards the Ravenclaw Tower, trekking through the hallways of Hogwarts. The sun was shining through the open windows; light cascaded down onto the floor through them, lighting up his path.

His eyes followed the rays, watching as they disappeared above the stone of the ceiling. It was probably mid-afternoon at this point. The sun was high in the sky and it was warm, causing Remus to sweat a bit through his long sleeve shirt.

The tapping of his shoes echoed around the hallway, along with other students' as they walked around. Remus had finally made it to the stairs of Ravenclaw tower, sighing at the thought of having to climb all of them. He took a breath and began walking up, taking a sip of his coffee as he took each step.

One, two, three, four...

With each step he took he counted, trying to distract himself from the slight burn in his thighs. He looked up and sighed in relief when he saw the Ravenclaw door. Remus walked a little faster as he came up to the door, taking the knocker into his hand and hitting it against the door 3 times.

The eagle on the door blinked a couple of times before it spoke. "What question can you never answer yes to?" It asked, blinking at Remus.

He had heard this riddle before, a couple of Ravenclaw's were discussing it at breakfast yesterday. They always complained that there was a new riddle every other day; that they could never keep up with it. Remus smiled a little to himself as he said, "are you asleep yet?"

The eagle went limp as the door clicked, letting Remus open it. He had to maneuver his coffee into his arm but, he managed to get it. Once he stepped inside the room, he shut the door and stared around in awe. He never really got to admire the common room at the party - there were far too many people and he was locked out for most of it.

When he looked up, the ceiling was charted with stars and constellations, spreading all across it. He pinpointed a couple of them, smiling to himself that he remembered all of it from his second year. The room itself was dark, with mahogany wood being the main color throughout the room. There was a fireplace up against the wall with a fire roaring inside of it, popping every few seconds. His gaze followed the line of the fire until he reached the blue, velvet couch in the middle of the room with matching arm chairs next to it. There was an old globe in the corner of the room, worn with age as well as as a bookshelf tucked into the left wall of the room.

Remus smiled to himself at the extravagance of the room, wondering why the Ravenclaws would want to be anywhere but here. He shook the thought away as he looked up the stairs, finding the girls dorms. Remus prepared himself for what was to come as he walked over, placing his foot on the stair. He waited for the stairs to become a slide, but it never came.

He sighed in relief as he made his way up, griping Thalia's food in his hand as he trekked his way up the stairs. Once he made it to the top, he walked down the hallway lined with doors, searching for her name. Remus' eyes followed each door, reading each name until he came across Thalia's. He set the food down on the floor and knocked before quickly making his way back downstairs.

Remus broke out into a slight jog, managing to make it out of the Ravenclaw common room. He sighed as he began walking down the stairs of the Ravenclaw Tower before he realized he was empty handed again. He had left his coffee next to Thalia's meal.

_____ A/N _____

hiya loves ! i'm sorry i haven't updated in awhile, i had a bit of a writers block but, let's hope i fixed it lmao. anyway, i hope you guys are having a lovely weekend and have a good day

remember to eat and drink water !

<3