Chocolate Covered Strawberries [Remus Lupin]

𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

Chapter fifty-three; Emotional evening

▴ ◃ ▾ ▹

Jasmine's eyes were concentrating on steering the chocolate in the pot in front of her. The kitchens were engulfed in the sweet aroma. It was also very quiet as she found herself alone in there in the late evening. All of the things from earlier that day were constantly replaying in her mind and she felt overwhelmed in her dorm. So she went to the one place she always found peace and calm, while she could also stuff up on some needed chocolate. She needed a long time to calm down after Sirius hugged her. Because she was already feeling the weight of what happened and then there was Sirius who offered her a shoulder to cry on and she got overwhelmed with emotion knowing he was there for her. That's all that mattered at that moment.

When they broke apart she immediately locked eyes with Remus getting that dreading feeling of wanting to be close to him too. It's been too long since they were last alone together. In her mind, she already accepted that she can't in no way change what happened and it was already in the past. She still appreciated that they tried to help and deeply hoped they won't try anything like that again. In the end, everyone learned a lesson, the guys realised the darkness of Jasmine's situation and respected her own decisions while Jasmine found it was good to accept comfort and help for once.

Her thoughts were far away from what she was doing at the moment and she only awoke from the trance when footsteps echoed through the room. Her eyes looked up from the stove into the darkness and she watched with slightly widened eyes. She kept the glance on the same spot as Remus stepped into the light source. His face was contorted in worry as his eyes quickly flickered across Jasmine. Neither knew what to say as they could almost feel how the atmosphere thickened.

''Hi,'' Remus said quietly with an unsure voice. He fiddled with his hands as his eyes never left her.

''Hey,'' Jasmine replied just as quietly and smiled for merely a second.

She was then the first to look away as she continued stirring the spoon in the pot, watching the pieces of chocolate slowly melt away on the heat. Out of the corner of the eye, she saw Remus getting closer, though he still looked quite reluctant. She stopped paying attention to him as her thoughts from before returned and were circling around in her mind. Then her heartbeat picked up as she felt the presence of Remus right behind her. Her brain didn't realise it but her body responded to his closeness as she could almost feel the warmth radiating off of him.

In the next second Remus wrapped his arms around Jasmine's waist and pulled her closer, so her back was pressed up against his front. Jasmine stiffened at first as the action was unexpected but she slowly relaxed, cherishing the feeling of being close to him. Remus leaned his chin on her shoulder as Jasmine leaned her head back with a small smile. Just like that in simple moments, Remus was able to make Jasmine smile and forget all the bad things. His thumb was caressing her as his hands stayed tightly circled around her not wanting to ever let go.

''I'm sorry,'' Remus murmured into Jasmine's shoulder.

Chills ran up Jasmine's spine, the good ones when she heard his deep sleepy voice. His hair slightly tickled her as he nuzzled his head in the crook of her neck. Jasmine moved the pot off the stove before she unwrapped Remus' hands from around her. Then she turned around and hugged him for real. Both of them sighed out of relief in each other's embrace.

''It's alright, you don't have to apologise. All is already forgiven and we can't change what happened.'' They were of course talking about the whole William and Mr Pearson ordeal.

Remus' guilt deflated only a little after he heard her calm words. He slowly released from the hug, but his arms stayed around her waist not letting her turn around again. He wanted to see her face and she looked content. She wasn't sad nor angry at him, the corners of her lips were just barely turned up. Her smile would've been bigger if Jasmine didn't see the expression Remus was wearing. His eyebrows were drawn together in worry and a frown was very prominent.