𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 || 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧

•𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓•

It was past midnight in the Gryffindor Common room, and two friends were sitting in a sofa close to each other, having a conversation. Almost everyone had gone to sleep except two fourth-year students who were working on their assignments. Lilly glanced at them with a smile on her face before facing Remus, whose head was laid on the arm of the sofa, and his eyes were closed. "It feels weird to think that they used to be us two years ago."

"Are you getting sentimental, Lilly?" Remus asked, smiling without opening his eyes. He was feeling more tired than normal these days. "Do you need me to hand you a tissue?"

"Don't be a jerk." Lilly hit his left leg, laughing. Remus grimaced slightly with pain. He had a bruise on his leg that Lilly didn't know about. He had a lot of bruises on his body that his friends didn't know about. Lilly noticed the pain on his face, "I'm sorry. How are you, Remus?"

"Not dead."

"Those are your standards?"

"Could have been worse," he shrugged before switching to a sitting position. He wanted to change the topic. "Don't worry about me. What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Nothing remarkable. Why do you ask?"

"I thought maybe you could join us in Hogsmeade," Remus offered before swiftly adding, "And Martin, of course." He knew Lilly wouldn't agree if Aurora was not invited.

"No, thanks." The girl rolled her eyes. She knew why Remus was asking her to join them. "I'm not stupid, Remus. I knew this was coming."

"What do you mean?"

"First, Matt's allergy acts up because of a prank on Malfoy, and then you ask me to join you in Hogsmeade. Everyone with common sense can guess who is responsible for this prank and the real motive behind it."

"Explain," Remus said, although he already knew Lilly's point. However, it was necessary to let her speak for his plan.

"You and your friends pulled that prank because of the quarrel me and James had, and now you are asking me to come for James."

"I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the prank. Even though I only contributed to a small part of it, Peter's descriptions of the incident amused me enough." Remus laughed as he remembered how Peter relived the moment, again and again, every time the boys had recalled the prank. "Still, you are wrong. I don't want you to come with us because of James."

"You don't?" Lilly questioned in disbelief.

"No. I want it for, uhm..." It surprised Remus to see that he was struggling to voice it. He felt so uncomfortable that he decided not to think about it anymore and just spit it out. "I want it because of Martin."

"Rory? What does she have to do with this?" Lilly was now more puzzled than ever. She couldn't think of a reason why Remus would want to be in the same atmosphere as Aurora.

"I want to get to know her. She doesn't need to know this, though."

Remus had never thought his pride would be such an obstacle for him till now. He disliked the girl, so sitting there in front of her best friend and telling her that he wanted to know Aurora was embarrassing and humiliating to him. He could strangle James for putting him in this situation if he had the chance. Lilly was speechless, still looking at Remus with wide eyes.

"I never thought I would hear that from you."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Maybe you guys have been at each other's throats for 5 years?"

"Well, since I'll be sitting next to her for the whole year, I thought I may try to get along with her." the boy shrugged, looking down. He never thought he would hear himself saying these words, either.