He looked into her brown eyes, closely observing her emotions. Guinevere didn't back down of course, in fact it was almost like she was challenging him. "Test me again, I dare you." he spat, not breaking their eye contact.
"Or else what?" she repli...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Remus felt the cold air blow against him as he mindlessly walked through the muggle streets of London, not paying the slightest bit of attention to where he was going. It was not until he bumped someone when he noticed how far he's gone from Grimmauld Place.
Taking in his surroundings, Remus came to the conclusion that he must've ended up at a muggle park. He chuckled, although he wasn't so sure what was funny. Walking through unfamiliar places has slowly started becoming a habit of his, that sometimes he'd find himself lost.
As it was already past midnight the park was empty, except for the occasional bird perched on the benches.
Remus settled down on one of the benches, feeling a sense of serenity overcome him as he watched the moon shine above. He continued to admire the night sky, the countless stars, and constellations above him. The sky looked so beautiful it almost made him forget his petty musings from earlier. Almost.
In fact, the sky was so beautiful it reminded him of her. The way she looked under the moonlight that night she was playing the piano, the way her smile would brighten up a room, and the way she was just her. But he also remembers the way Charlie's hands held her sides, how he pulled her closer to him, and how their lips met.
The small smile on his face dropped.
"May I?" A voice startled him out of his thoughts.
Remus looked up to see Grant gesturing to the spot next to him, a questioning look on his face.
"Merlin, you startled me," Remus said, then patted the space beside him. "Don't do that again."
Grant gave him a small smile. "No promises."
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, none of them making any sounds except for the slight noise from Grant as he picked the paint off the bench; as if it was a nervous habit of his.
The silence only broke when Remus decided to speak. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at headquarters?" He asked curiously, briefly looking at the hand that was ruining the park bench before glancing at Grant.
"I could ask you the same thing." Grant responded as he turned to him, eyebrows raised.
"Guess I just needed to get away from all of that." he shrugged.
"That being?"
Remus thought for a second. He reckons it wouldn't be a good idea to tell Guinevere's brother that he wanted to get away from her - and well the whole snogging business with Charlie, of course.
Deciding not to answer, he shook his head softly and looked back up at the sky. He crossed his arms before clearing his throat. "And you? You're not stalking me, are you?" he says cockily, tilting his head. "You wouldn't be the first one though."
Grant choked —though Remus was too busy with his own thoughts to even notice— but laughed as an attempt to cover it up. "Not over my dead body, Lupin." he jokes.
The taller man laughs and turns to Grant, looking at his smile. Even a visually impaired person would see that Grant and Guinevere had identical smiles. The thought made him blush, as he found himself thinking about Guinevere for the millionth time tonight.
Grant's brows furrowed for a second when Remus looked at him. It was night time and dark sure, but the moonlight made it evident that Remus was blushing. And for some reason this made him want to scream.
Why is he blushing? Grant thought, confused but also rather flustered. Did I do that?
Feeling a bit bolder, Grant speaks up. "So, do you have your eyes set on someone in particular? It is Valentines after all."
Remus raises a brow, clearly not expecting the question from the younger man. For a moment, he thinks of what to say but only comes up with, "No.. can't say I do." he says shortly, but without thinking adds, "Although I s'pose there is someone who sparks my interest."
Grant makes an 'oooh' sound as an attempt to lighten up the atmosphere, especially for what he's about to ask.
"And might I ask who?" he asks in a fake nonchalant tone before quickly adding, "I don't mean to pry though, you don't need to tell me anything." he states, his nonchalant tone now gone.
Remus chuckles at Grant's nervous tone, but mostly because of the irony. Never in a million light years would he have thought that he'd end up 'interested' in Guinevere and be having this conversation with her younger brother.
"Oh you know them very well," he chuckles, turning to look at Grant with his head tilted, as if he was stating the obvious.
Suddenly, it seemed as if everything around them disappeared and to Grant, they were the only ones who existed in the world. He looks at the taller man's face and notices his smile, as if Remus was amused with the situation.
With his heart beating fast, and stomach filled with butterflies, Grant decided it wouldn't hurt to try something new. After all, Remus was talking about him.
Right?
He was so sure he wasn't imagining all the signs, that he slowly started to lean in, he closed his eyes, waiting for Remus's lips to touch his, until—
"Grant? what are you doing?" He says, clearing his throat, awkwardly moving away and breaking the trance-like state Grant was in.
And just like that, the butterflies turned to moths, buzzing around filling him up with embarrassment, shame, and humiliation. Grant wanted to bury himself under the ground, not wanting to stay under Remus's pitying gaze any longer.
Of course he wasn't talking about me, how could I be so stupid? Grant mentally berates himself.
"Grant, are you alright?" Remus asks hesitantly, looking at the unmoving wizard beside him.
"I-" Grant can't seem to get the words out of his mouth.
Remus didn't say anything else not wanting to further humiliate the younger man; He knows how dreadful rejection is.
Grant suddenly stood up, not making eye contact.
"I-I'm sorry," He choked out. "I didn't mean to do that."
"It's alright, Grant." Remus said, using a tone one would use when speaking to a small child, making Grant want to disappear right then and there.
"No, it's not– Stop saying it is." He snaps, not on purpose, as he brings up his hands to his hair, messing up his put together look. "Shit, I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap at you."
Remus stands up to be on the same level as him, even though he was a lot taller. "Don't worry about it, it's fine." he says, as he tries to move closer to Grant to give him a comforting hand.
Grant slightly moves away, enough for Remus to get the memo that he didn't want him close to him. "I have to go." He says, quickly looking at the older man before taking his leave abruptly.
Remus watched him walk away and walk into a dark alleyway before hearing a light crack. He's left now, and for some reason Remus found that unfair. Did he do something to lead him on? Surely he hasn't been too kind to make Grant think that he could do that whenever he pleases.
He went out to clear his mind in the first place, but somehow he ended up with more on his mind.
What a day.
—
A/N HI WE'RE BACK <33 how is everyone? sorry for taking sooo long to update. anw, we hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. (also please tell me you guys noticed the chapter name! demi and i are both all too (un)well, thx sm taylor)
