maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

82. exes & coats

"SO..." HENRY CHANG said sheepishly after having taken his last sip of butterbeer. He and Claudia had ended up with two glasses of the drink in the Three Broomsticks, which is where they were sitting in that very moment.

So far the date had been fun. Henry was sweet and Claudia felt safe - but something was still off.

To put it simply, he wasn't Remus.

"So..." she repeated, the silence being comfortable yet a bit awkward. "I actually wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you two things."

"Alright, what?" Henry chuckled.

"Why is that girl staring at us?" She asked, referring to the pretty girl who was staring right at them with a sad look on her face as people around her laughed.

"Oh," Henry sighed. "That's Jia Li. She's kind of my...ex, I guess."

"Your ex?"

"Yeah...things didn't exactly end that great," he shrugged with a look on his face that Claudia couldn't quite read.

"What happened?" Claudia asked bluntly. "Sorry, you don't have to say."

"Don't apologise," Henry assured. "I, uhm, I told her that I loved her and she kind of lost it, I guess."

Sounds familiar.

"Lost it?"

"She wasn't ready, or something. She didn't know how to handle it so she left. She probably hates me now."

"I'm sorry," Claudia said comfortingly. "If it makes you feel any better I don't think she hates you. She wouldn't be looking at you like that if she did."

"I guess not," Henry said, meeting her eyes as they both thought about a boy whose name started with an R and ended with an S. "Tell me, what happened between you and-"

"I'm not done!" Claudia laughed. "I've got another question."

"Right."

"Uh, so this might be a bit blunt," she warned. "But don't you think it's a bit inappropriate for us to be here? Like, on a date?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're the team captain, I'm a member of your team," she said. "I don't want the rest of the team to think I charmed my way in there...because I didn't do that, right?!"

"No," Henry said with an amused smile. "You made the team because you were the best seeker there. Not because you're cute."

Claudia didn't know what to reply to that, so she merely shook her head with a small laugh, "So, should I be worried?"

"About what?"

"About what they would think?"

"Don't worry about it," Henry assured. "It's none of their business. And if you're referring to Mary glaring at us over there, she'll get over it."