𝙂𝙊𝙇𝘿 𝙍𝙐𝙎𝙃 - 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙪𝙨 𝙡𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙣

𝟒

Theodora Fairchild was done with moping, she decided. Absolutely done. She was not going to let a boy whom she never even dated damage her emotionally at such a level. She refused. This morning she woke up feeling better about herself. She showered, did her hair, and even applied some makeup. She liked the girl that was smiling back at her in the mirror. Lily and Marlene wore matching grins as they watched Thea get ready for the day. They missed their friend.

Truth be told, it had only been three days since what the girls dubbed 'The Remus Incident'. But three days was too much time for a boy who didn't even care. The three girls made it to breakfast and opted in sitting down as far away from the marauders as possible which lead them to their current situation.

Fabian Prewett, a Gryffindor seventh year, was shamelessly flirting with Thea. He was sitting beside her while resting his head on his hand, a dumbstruck smile on his face. Marlene was sitting next to Dorcas, a seventh year Gryffindor as well, and flirting nonstop. Lily was chatting with Gideon, Fabian's twin brother, seemingly having a nice conversation.

The marauders watched from the other side of the table as the girls lived it up with the seventh years. Sirius was pouting as he pushed his food around with his fork, James was glaring holes into Gideon's head, Peter stared longingly at his friends, and Remus... was Remus.

He couldn't lie and say that he didn't feel bad after his conversation with James, because he truly did feel like shit. And it's not like he could blame it on the moon–the full moon is not due for another two weeks–he was just miserable. Miserable at the thought of him actually getting what he wanted and it being ripped away the second she found out he's a werewolf. He didn't think he'd be able to survive it.

"If someone just apologized, we could be sitting with the girls right now, just saying," James muttered as he angrily chewed on a grape.

"I second that notion," Sirius hummed and turned to Remus. "Stop being a dickhead, Moons, it won't make her like you."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I don't want her to like me, Sirius. It's actually the last thing I want."

"What?" Peter turned to him in surprise. "Why? You two would be absolutely amazing together!"

"Pete's right, you know." James nodded. "She could be it for you."

Remus clenched his jaw. "I don't want her to be it for me, James." He sighed through his nose. "She deserves better than what I'll be able to give her in the future. She deserves better than a monster."

The mood between the four friends turned solemn all too quickly. Sirius gulped and spared a glance at James. The bespectacled boy was absolutely fuming. Peter shuffled away from him just in case.

"Don't you dare talk about yourself in that way, Remus. I forbid it." He said through gritted teeth. "And do you truly think she'll see you any differently than how she does now when she finds out? Do you even know her at all?" Remus met James's challenging gaze. "Thea would never, and I mean never, hold prejudice against you because of something you cannot control."