maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

150. double date

CLAUDIA WOKE UP on her 18th birthday with a content smile on her face, that quickly fell as she noticed that Remus wasn't there any longer.

Her cold was practically gone at this point, and now she was only left to do one thing: celebrate her birthday by doing absolutely nothing.

She headed down the stairs of the boys' dormitory - where she had spent the night - after having gotten ready, only to find no one but students she didn't know in the common room.

Attempting to find Remus or any of the boys, the girl frowned because they had seemed to head down to breakfast already, despite Remus leaving her a note telling her to meet him there.

"Fucking gits," she mumbled to herself, preparing to leave only to finally catch sight of a familiar red head standing there with an equally as annoyed look on her face.

"Hi, Lils," Claudia greeted with a smile and a hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday!" Lily mirrored, smiling happily at her. "So..."

"He asked you to meet him here, right?"

"Yes," Lily nodded. "You too?"

"Yes," Claudia nodded. "But he's not here."

"Neither is James," said Lily. "Guess you and I can get breakfast together instead."

"Geez, you make it sound like hanging out with me is a chore-"

"Merlin, no!" Lily exclaimed. "I love hanging out with you. In fact, you're like one of my favourite people of all time. I just wanted to...you know, see my boyfriend-"

"Me too," Claudia chuckled as she began to walk, Lily following along. "And by the way, am I really one of your favourite people of all time?!"

"Yes, of course!"

"Good, because you're one of mine!" Claudia smiled as her and Lily failed to notice the two boys who were standing right by them as they walked out of the portrait hole and down the first flight of moving stairs.

"Hey, you two-"

"So, I was thinking about reading that one book about-"

"Lily!"

"Oh, that book is bloody great! I've got it in my dorm if you want to-"

"Claudia!"

"Oh, thank you!"

"Are they ignoring us?" James asked Remus as the two boys quickly walked to catch up with them.

"That or we should give them hearing aids instead of our original gifts," Remus responded, and then he finally placed his hands on Claudia's shoulders, causing her to jump and turn around with a shocked expression on her face.

"Remus!" She scolded, hitting him in a joking way on the arm. "You need to stop scaring me all the time!"

"Sorry," he chuckled, showing her the flowers he was holding.