Falling, Fallen || Remus Lupin

Chapter Twelve

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A week had already passed, and it was difficult for Rosemary to get out of bed on that brisk chilled Monday morning. Not because of her obvious uncomfortable injury, but because her bed felt exactly what she imagined a magical cloud of marshmallows would feel like, and she did not want to let go of her soft linen sheets just yet. Luckily, the Star Grass Salve that Madame Pomfrey gave her to apply before sleep worked absolute wonders. It was the first time in a while where Rosie actually had fallen asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

Remus on the other hand, had so many thoughts running through his head at once, it was nearly impossible for him to fall asleep so easily this past week. He had hoped that any of the romantic feelings for Rosemary that unexpectedly consumed him last Sunday was simply accidental. A fluke. Something that the lingering effects of the full moon had caused somehow. 

He kept asking himself if this could all be some kind of silly crush, something that was only a temporary occurrence. She was one of his best friends after all. That would be the only possible explanation he could find at the moment for constantly thinking about his best friend all week. Though, no matter how much he tried not to, every time Remus closed his eyes, she'd appear, flashing her stunning smile and twinkling her chocolate eyes in his direction. 

Was that something friends normally did... think about each other before falling asleep?

It must have been a rare circumstance, something that would only happen once in his lifetime, he repeated over and over again.

But he couldn't seem to ignore the way she made him feel in the Kitchens that night. Her tender words of comfort and reassurance made him adore every little thing about her even more than he ever thought was possible. No matter how much he tried to deny it, she was always there for him since the very start.  

For most of his life, Remus always felt like a dark cloud followed him everywhere he went. Then unexpectedly, it was like last night was the first time in all his years trapped in this dark abyss that the cloud above him had finally disappeared. So once her golden rays of sunlight poured in surrounding him completely in her warmth, drawing him in and blinding him all at once, he knew there was no turning back...

Still, Remus was afraid that he wasn't going to be able to hide these unknown feelings from her for much longer, especially when he caught a glimpse of her waiting for him and the other boys at the bottom of the main stairs to join them in the Great Hall for breakfast this morning, looking so casually lovely, as per usual.  

He quickly looked at the floor, hoping that if he didn't look at her soft wavy hair and perfectly rosy cheeks, she wouldn't notice him blushing himself.

"It's almost nine o'clock, you dimwits. Breakfast is over." Rosie spoke comically, holding her textbooks for Potions and Transfigurations, with the ingredients for the Amortentia lesson secured in little vials laying in a pile on top of her books, and a couple of apples stacked underneath her chin. It was honestly a miracle that nothing fell to the ground for how much she was trying to carry all at once.

"You can blame Moony for that, he wouldn't get out of his bloody bed." Sirius said elbowing Remus roughly in his ribs. 

"Really? Did you have a hard time sleeping last night, Rem?" She asked him gently, forcing him to meet her eyes and acknowledge her presence. 

"Uh, something like that." He nodded shyly, sending her a nervous smile. Thankfully, she didn't push any further as he didn't know what she would say if he told her he'd been losing sleep all week because he couldn't stop thinking about her whenever he closed his eyes before bedtime.