Reading Between The Lines ~ Remus Lupin ~ Book 1

chapter 24

Thursday, 6 January 1977

Lena looked at the library's clock. She was worried. Remus was fifteen minutes late to the study session they had arranged and he was never late. Lena was about to leave to look for him when her brother walked up to her.

"Hey, Lena."

"Hey, Pete. Is Remus alright? He's late to our study session and he's never late."

"It was a rough one last night. He's missed class all day and he's still tired so we're making him rest."

Lena frowned. She hated it when Remus was hurt. "Tell him I hope he feels better."

"I will when he wakes up. But for now, let's get some studying done for...?"

"Mostly History and a bit of Transfiguration."

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Remus yawned and lifted his back from his bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked down at his watch.

"Shit! I'm late!" he cried, leaping up from his bed.

He has blocked a wall formed by James, Sirius, and Frank.

"Get back in bed," Sirius ordered.

"But I'm supposed to study with Lena. I'm already thirty minutes late! She's gonna be so mad at me."

"We sent Peter to tell her you couldn't go and he's gonna study with her," Frank explained.

"And I'm a hundred percent sure that she's worried about you, not mad at you," James told Remus.

"Well, I feel a lot better now. I'm gonna go see her," Remus lied.

"No, you're not, Moony. You need to look after yourself. You can be there for Lena when you are better," Sirius chastised him as if he was Remus' mother.

Remus groaned as he fell back onto his bed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle against his friends. "But I want to be there for her even when I can't."

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Friday, 7 January 1977

Layla and Lena walked down the corridor together after Charms, their final class of the day. Layla had just finished telling her how Regulus had snuck out of his house to see her during the break and even spent Boxing Day together. She said he had felt a bit uncomfortable at first because he wasn't used to how families could be so loving and accepting. Layla was rather pleased that her mum and dad found Regulus quite charming and liked him. Layla's nine-year-old brother Aaron, who was already displaying some magical abilities, had taken quite the shine to Regulus. Regulus treated him like a younger brother, playing games, giving him advice, and teaching him about magic. Layla supposed that the relationship Regulus had with Aaron, a close and loving one, was the one he wished to have with Sirius and Lena had to agree.

Layla and Lena turned their heads around as they heard someone call Lena's name.

"Hi, Remus," Lena said with a smile. She was pleased to see him out of bed.

Layla turned to face Lena and waggled her eyebrows. Since there were no secrets between Regulus and Layla, Regulus had told her about Lena's crush on Remus. "Have fun," she said suggestively. "Bye, Lena."

Lena shook her, amused. "I'll see you later, Lay."

Lena turned her attention back to Remus, who was now standing next to her.

"How are you feeling, Rem?" Lena asked softly.

"I'm fine now," he said before launching into an apology. " Lena, I am so sorry about yesterday. The full moon was rough and I was sleeping the whole day. I didn't mean to miss our session. I tried to come but the guys didn't let me. And now you're probably behind and stressed out about that. And yo—"

Lena shushed him. "Calm down, Remus. Don't be sorry about yesterday. Peter went over most of it with me and Maggie and Ava helped with the rest. I'm just glad you're feeling better."

"I feel bad, Lena. I let you down."

"Remus, you didn't let me down when you didn't show up. I was just worried about you. I thought something terrible had happened. And you shouldn't feel bad for taking care of yourself."

"But I want to take care of you."

Fuck, why did I say that?! Remus thought as he looked at the ceiling, preventing him from seeing the blush spreading on Lena's face. This is so embarrassing. She's gonna laugh at me. I have to get out of this.

"Oh, um, that's so swe—"

"I've gotta pee!" Remus cried a bit too loudly considering Guinevere Rowle, Aurelia Zabini, and Enoria Greengrass glanced back at him, with the latter Slytherin snickering.

"What?" Lena asked.

"I've got to pee. Bye, Lena," Remus said quickly and swiftly walked away from Lena.

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Remus flopped on his bed, buried his face in his pillow, and groaned.

James and Sirius looked at each other.

"What's wrong, mate?" Sirius asked.

"I made a fucking fool of myself," Remus moaned into his pillow.

"What happened?" James asked.

Remus lifted his head and looked around the bedroom. He didn't see Peter.

"Is Wormtail in the bathroom?" he whispered.

Sirius laughed. "No, he's hanging out with Emmeline and Mary. Why does it matter if he's here or not?"

"Well, Pads, I think it has something to do with Moony's crush on Wormtail's sister."

Remus groaned again.

"So what happened?" Sirius asked. "It can't be that bad."

"I told her that I wanted to take care of her."

Sirius looked at him. "...Sexually?"

James burst out laughing.

"No, Padfoot. I meant I wanted to take care of her in like life," Remus said flatly.

"See, that's a lot better than what Pads thought," James offered.

"But when you and Lena do start dating and having sex, you should take care of her, ya know... sexually," Sirius commented

"Thank Merlin, Peter's not here right now," James said as Remus responded to Sirius. "Thanks for the advice on a situation that would never happen."

"Anytime, Moony. Anytime."

"So, what did she say?" James asked.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Sirius asked

"I mean I told her I had to pee and then ran off."

"You told her you had to pee and then ran off?" Siriuus repeated.

"Yes, yes, I did! And now I don't know what to do."

"Admit your feelings."

"Hilarious, Prongs. And why don't I just tell the entire school that I'm a werewolf while I'm at it!"

"I'm not kidding. You should admit your feelings."

"You know what? I'm just going to act like nothing happened," Remus declared.

James and Sirius looked at each other and silently agreed they needed to interfere.