Reading Between The Lines ~ Remus Lupin ~ Book 1

chapter 25

Saturday, 8 January 1977

"So how does that Mandrake leaf taste?" Sirius asked as he sank into the seat next to Lena.

"Bad, but not as bad as yesterday," Lena responded, not looking up from the drawing she was sketching.

"Well, it'll be worth it in the end when you're able to help Remus," James said, sitting next to Lena's other side.

"Speaking of Remus," Sirius said, "have you seen him since the full moon?"

"Yeah, I talked to him yesterday. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just wondering. We know he felt bad about missing your study session and we just wanted to make sure that you didn't say anything to make him feel worse," James asked.

Lena threw her sketchpad down and looked at James and Sirius wildly. "Did he say I said something mean? Or did he think I was gonna say something mean? Because I was just gonna say he was sweet but he left to go pee before I could tell him."

"Why were you going to tell him that he was sweet?" Sirius asked, even though he knew.

Lena blushed. "He said that he wants to take care of me— not that I need him to."

"Of course not," James agreed. "He knows that you're very independent."

"I think he just likes to be there for you," Sirius said.

"Oh," Lena said softly.

<><><><><>

James and Sirius walked back into their room. Peter was fast asleep and Frank, Alice, and Remus were sitting on the floor, playing a round of Magical Creature. James and Sirius winced as Alice threw down her Manticore card to battle Frank's Flobberworm and Remus' Chizpurfle. The winner was clear.

"Hey guys," Alice said as her boyfriend collected the cards.

"Merlin, Liss," James said. "You destroyed 'em."

"I know," she grinned. "I like to win."

"Mind if we play a round?" Sirius asked as he and James joined the others on the floor.

"I'll deal you in," Frank said as he shuffled the cards.

"Maybe Alice will finally lose, then," Remus said.

"No, Alice is the best," Frank said proudly. "She's a great strategist."

Alice blushed. "Thanks love."

Everyone kicked up their cards and began playing.

"Oh, we ran into Lena today," James said.

"That's nice. I haven't seen her since we left for break," Frank said as he threw down an Ashwinder card to fight James' Jarvey.

"Lena's great, isn't she?" Sirius said.

"Definitely. She's always so nice," Alice agreed.

"Right? She was just telling us how sweet Remus was to her the other day," James said nonchalantly as he and Sirius looked at Remus out of the corner of their eyes.

"She did?" Remus said, his voice a bit higher than usual as he threw down a card. He frowned. James' comment distracted him and he accidentally put down a Mooncalf instead of the Graphorn.

"She did," Sirius nodded as he put a Golden Snidget into the mix. "She wanted to tell you, but you left to use the bathroom before she could."

Remus' cheeks turned and Alice let out a quiet gasp. "You like Lena!" she whispered.

"No, I don't," Remus said, panicking.

"You totally do," Alice said excitedly, not taking her eyes off of Remus as she put down her own card.

"Are you gonna ask her out?" Frank asked.

"No," Remus said flatly.

"Why not?" Alice demanded.

"Because she doesn't like me like that."

"You don't know that," James said.

"You should ask her out soon, mate. Another guy could ask her out any minute now and you'll never get the chance to go on a date with her," Frank said, recalling what Lena had said to him in October.

"He's not wrong, Moony," Sirius nodded in agreement.

Remus frowned, letting Frank's words sink in. Alice interrupted him from his thoughts.

"I win again," Alice said happily as her Kappa stood victorious.

"How?" Remus cried. "You weren't even paying attention to the game half the time."

<><><><><>

Tuesday, 11 January 1977

"Hey," Lena whispered to Regulus. "You never told me how your Christmas was. I only heard about Boxing Day."

Regulus groaned quietly. "It was hell."

"What happened?"

"The Black family got together."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah. I was freaking out the whole fucking in time. My cousins Bella and Cissy were there with their husbands. I had to celebrate Christmas with three people— sorry, Death Eaters— we stole from! And my Aunt Druella saw my cousin Andy and her kid Nymphadora in Diagon so that's all we heard about for an hour. She kept going on and on about how the Black line is tainted."

"Your cousin named her kid Nymphadora?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I don't know? Because she likes Greek mythology?"

"Well I like art, but I'm not gonna name my kid Van Gogh."

"Who?"

"Nevermind."

"Oh and then Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Lucius told me after dessert that they were gonna take me to a Death Eater meeting in a few days.

"What happened?"

"Well, they took me to the meeting. And it was fucking insane. They were in charge of the meeting and they started planning all these attacks on Muggle-borns and their families."

"What?" Lena whispered, thinking back to the attack on Zoë and her family.

"I wrote a letter to Dumbledore, telling him what was said at the meeting. He said he would handle it as best he could."

"Were you there? For the attacks?"

"No. Bellatrix wanted me to but my mother wouldn't let me. She said I was too young to participate in attacks."

"How old do you have to be for it to be okay to attack people?"

"According to my mother, sixteen."

Despite what Walburga Black said, Lena knew any age was too young to attack someone.

<><><><><>

Thursday, 13 January 1977

"What cha reading?" Lena asked as she sat next to Remus at their usual spot in the library.

He was pouring over a large book with the font so small Lena was amazed he didn't need a magnifying glass. He smiled at Lena and closed it. "Just a charms book."

"Oh, you've got a charms project?"

"Nope, personal research."

"What for?" Lena asked curiously. "Is it Marauder-related?"

"No, it's not Marauder-related," Remus laughed.

"So what are you researching?" Lena asked again, her interest piqued.

"I'll tell you when I'm done researching it," Remus said with a slight teasing tone.

"Fine," Lena said. "Have it your way."