selenophile || remus lupin

chapter sixty

8 January 1997

10:12 am

It was the first Saturday back at Hogwarts. Ophelia had two days of classes already, which already gave her work to do. She groaned as she remembered and got out of bed. She saw that Lily and Alice's beds were already empty and made, most likely somewhere off in the castle. Marlene, however, was still sound asleep and snoring in her bed. Ophelia knew better than to wake her.

She went into the bathroom, showered, cast a few concealing charms, and got ready for the day. She walked down the great hall, feeling hungry. But as she neared the hall, the smell of all of the rich food started to make her sick to her stomach. She quickly lost her appetite but went into the hall to search for her friends.

She didn't see the marauders or maraudettes, but saw a few other kids on the Gryffindor quidditch team and went over to talk to them. She sat next to Arthur Brown and Geoffrey Fawley, one of the beaters and one of the chasers. They welcomed her, talking about quidditch strategies for the new term. She grabbed a biscuit to eat, ate a few bites before not being able to take any more. She quickly felt sick to her stomach and stopped, not wanting to throw up.

She stood up to leave, ignoring the two boys' looks of confusion as to why she wouldn't eat more than half of a biscuit, said a quick goodbye, and left for the library. She already had a heavy amount of homework, due to it being sixth year, even though it had only been a few days back. The teachers gave no mercy when you get to fifth year and above.

She walked into the library, said a quick hello to Madam Pince who smiled at her tightly and went to grab a few books. She scanned the rows and rows of bookshelves until she found what she was looking for, and searched for a place to sit.

Ophelia saw a familiar head of hair sitting facing a desk in front of a bookshelf and walked over there. She set her books down gently, not wanting to frighten the focused werewolf. Remus looked up at her in annoyance for disrupting his studies, but his face relaxed and formed a wide smile when he realized who it was.

"Hey, Phee."

"Moonboy," she smiled. "Is it alright if I sit here?"

"Ew no," he shot her a disgusted face.

"You're rude," she said, pulling out a chair next to him and sitting down anyway.

"Hey, when someone asks me a stupid question, I feel as if it's my legal obligation to respond with a sarcastic remark. I can't control it, Phee."

"And you would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

"How do you want me to respond to that?" he asked, laughing a bit. "Howl?"

"Go for it."

"Madam Pince would kick us out faster than you can say Irma."

"Chicken."

"I am not a chicken! I just don't want to get kicked out of the library."

"Oh yes, I'm sure." Ophelia took out a quill, ink, and a piece of parchment and opened a book about the gargoyle strike of 1911. She crossed her legs to focus, in which her jeans rode up her legs a bit.

Remus, out of the corner of his eye, saw this and noticed slight discoloration. He looked at it subtly, not wanting to bring her attention to his staring. It was a purple and blue contusion soaking through her pale skin. He knew what it was from, he was able to put two and two together but wanted to see if she would open up to him. He knew not to push too much, but wanted to push a bit, out of curiosity and wanting to help her on her own terms.

"Fia, what happened there?" he asked, pointing to the bruise on her calf.

"Oh, I fell down the stairs," she said. Remus noticed that she didn't hesitate or pause to think of what had happened, almost as if she had prepared and rehearsed it in her mind.

"You... fell down the stairs?" he repeated.

"Yeah, at Grimmauld Place. You know, the floors are all marble and I was wearing socks. It was a bit slippery and I slid a bit. It's only a bruise, Rem. It's not that big of a deal."

Remus sighed sadly, knowing not to push her any further. He wanted nothing more than for her to be safe and healthy. He knew that she was hiding something, but couldn't figure it out. But things had to come out sooner or later right? He knew better than to push his boundaries and decided to push little by little until she felt comfortable enough to tell him the full truth.

After a few more minutes of silently working on homework together, Remus turned to look at Ophelia.

"I have a proposition."

"And what is your proposition, might I ask?"

"I want to try something that we've never done before. What if we had a picnic the next time it snows."

"Hate to break it to you, moonboy, but I think you'll get a bit cold."

"I'm not an idiot-"

"Could've fooled me."

"Shut up, Black. I know it'll be cold, but it seems kind of fun. I mean, if it gets too cold we could use a heating charm. Plus I think it would be really cool to have one of our picnics with the snow falling down on us, and looking out at the snowy grounds."

"How poetic of you, Remmy."

"Are you in?"

"Of course I'm in, I couldn't let you die of the cold alone, could I?"

"Your life would be absolutely miserable without me in it."

"Underestimate me, that'll be fun."

"You can disagree with me all you want, I can't force people to be right."

"I hate you, you know that?"