𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸, remus lupin

˗ˋ 39

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH REMUS IS DRUNK

. . .

She didn't know what to say. Really - what could she say to that? Pandora didn't even know how to react to what Remus had just said, let alone actually say something in reply to it.

Pandora, up until then, had been under the impression that Remus was forcing himself to spend time with her - or at least it had started that way. Her suspicions had grown that perhaps it had been Dumbledore had prompted him to do so as a result of her less than amicable and normal behaviour at the beginning of her schooling at Hogwarts.

Maybe, at some point, there had been a moment that Remus's perspective of these meetings changed and that they didn't become a chore - and perhaps they had fought on multiple occasions not because they had clashing personalities but they just didn't know each other all that well and there was some sort of connection that they had which he needed to fight for.

Oh.

Pandora binked once, twice, at that. For some reason, she got a feeling that her thoughts weren't just exclusively about her hypothesising over Remus' reasons for returning as her friend, but also her own.

She shook it from her mind. That couldn't be right. It didn't make any sense at all that she would fight for this strange connection they had. But then again, he was the only one who bothered speaking to her despite her treatment of him on the very first day they met. It was strange; she would have thought she would freeze Remus out for saying the things he did to her, even though they could have been far worse. But somehow, for some reason, she hadn't.

And now she was watching him, back pin-straight, as he slumped on the sofa beside her, humming a Muggle song that had been playing upstairs to himself as he picked at a feather sticking out of one of the decorative cushions.

He hadn't drunk that much - from what she could remember anyway, but perhaps he had drunk more when she went away. That could be the case - or he might just be a light-weight. Either way, Pandora was now staring at him like she would a scuff on her shoe, and Remus noticed.

"Yes?" He asked, a rather stupid smile on his face as the humming came to a stop and he pushed himself up on the sofa, leaning just a little too close. "You didn't answer me." Remus added suddenly.

"Hm?"

"You didn't answer me - I asked whether you would miss me too."

"You never asked me that." Pandora replied, her focus on his messy hair before reaching up to comb it backwards, eyes widening as a drunk Remus took this as an invitation to lean into her, the Rosier girl freezing as his head ended up on her shoulder.

"I didn't?" Remus exhaled, and if she could have seen his face she would have seen the smile sitting upon it brighter than any she had seen for a long while. "Well... would you?"

"I..." Pandora paused. "I suppose so?" She wasn't sure if he was still referring to the comment about her leaving the party or not. "But why are you so insistent of bringing me to these things? First the Quidditch match.. now the Gryffindor Halloween party."

Remus shrugged, his shoulders moving against Pandora's body. "I dunno." He shrugged, and she shook her head at the practically empty answer.

"And you're so nice to me." She pushed slightly, wondering whether or not the drunkness would get him to open up or close off further. "Why are you so nice to me? All your friends hate me... all of the school hates me."

"That's not true." Remus was sitting up in an instance, finger pointed towards the girl. "I... I'm here - and I like you.""

"Alright.. okay." Pandora patted his shoulder hurriedly, watching as the finger lowered. That was strange - everything about this night was strange. "But why, Remus?"

"I don't know." The Lupin boy replied. "I guess I just think about you a lot.. and your pretty.. scary." He added, when his eyes flickered up to his face, seemingly becoming more and more sober as each second passed. "Pretty scary." Remus repeated, before hesitating. "And pretty as well."

Pandora didn't know whether it was because she herself had had a little to drink, but she bit her bottom lip to fight back a smile, hand covering her mouth as she laughed - just a small sound that was just enough to make Remus's heart soar.

"What?" She asked, once she saw him staring. The smile dropped. "It looked strange, didn't it?" Pandora asked, in such quiet words that Remus was under the impression he wasn't supposed to hear it.

But he did, and he shook his head rapidly. "No - no, you looked pretty. Really pretty." He repeated his previous words, and whether he was drunk or almost sober once again, he would find himself looking at Pandora Rosier a little differently from then on.

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