Falling, Fallen || Remus Lupin

Chapter Sixteen

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It had started out innocently enough.

First, Remus and Rosie had both agreed it would be best if they kept their newly formed... intrigue with one another solely between themselves. At least for the moment, as to not take away from James' attention and care during his recovery.

The last thing they wanted to do was announce to every single one of their friends about last Saturday night's revelation and leave James ignored from the spotlight.

Though, once James was beginning to feel like himself again, having acquired the best unofficial nurse ever, Lily of course, Remus and Rosemary were struggling to figure out how they were going to spill the news to their very overly insane, slightly invasive group of friends... if at all.

It was now the following Tuesday, and an entire week had gone by without anybody realizing what had occurred between Remus and Rosie, and hopefully, they wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. Though, with detention and studies taking up most of their time, Rosemary and Remus had not one single second alone since that night to even talk about what they were going to do next entirely.

Yesterday evening, Madame Pomfrey had instructed Rosemary to be present at the Hospital Wing at exactly Noon sharp once more the following day. An act that she was all too familiar with by now.

Pomfrey made sure to explain how crucial it was to finally remove Rosie's leg brace in the "proper manner"... whatever that meant. Nonetheless, Rosemary was extremely excited about the entire thing. So much so, that she hadn't even been able to focus her attention in Advanced Transfigurations at all this morning.

As soon as Professor McGonagall had finished announcing the requirements for next week's presentations on the art of vanishing matter at will, the clock for Lunch in the Great Hall had rung, signaling Rosemary to waste no more of her precious time.

As she sprung up from her desk, she tried her best to limp as fast as she could through the classroom doors in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

"Aren't you coming?" Remus had asked her curiously, picking up his things from his desk beside her.

Though, Rosemary was so enthusiastically distracted that she had almost knocked over Professor McGonagall's cherished Black Walnut podium when leaving the classroom.

"No time! Need to take off my brace!" She had expressed full of excitement, dashing out of the room as she straitened the podium back upright with a quick flick of her wand before it hit the ground.

Rosie's smile was practically bursting at the seams, and anybody within a two mile radius could see it. Although, after almost getting completely dazed from her delightful little grin, it had just occurred to Remus that with every possible distraction happening all week, he had actually forgotten about Rosie's brace entirely. Or at least, blocked it out of his mind.

He still couldn't quite forgive himself for giving her that scar, for putting her and the others in serious danger, and for almost ruining his friendship with her over it. In fact, the last time he had a good look at her scar was the morning after it all went to hell that night in September.

Still, as strong and as tough Remus appeared on the outside, he couldn't find the strength to watch her remove her bandages and get a look at the scar itself once again. Seeing those scars on his own skin every single second of his life was bad enough...