fox - r.lupin

- c h a p t e r - f o u r t e e n -

 edited.

______________________________________________________________________________

After laying down for a solid hour in her and Lily's tent (James had brought it for her and Lily in his enchanted bottomless backpack), Violet was still awake, wide awake–her thoughts shouting and being distracting in her head.

So she snuck out of her tent and was now stoking the fire, her mind loud but her body still.

Her dark eyes watched the flames dancing around the burning wood–a little relieved that she was alone as her thoughts screamed and scared her.

It had gotten worse since her parents died.

She had always had racing thoughts, and sometimes she would feel sick. She would sit in them for so long–but her dad, who had similar issues sometimes, always knew how to calm her down.

But he was gone now–so Violet would just sit in silence while everyone was asleep and try to calm down her thoughts herself.

"Lottie?" A voice called gently–startling her from her thoughts.

Lifting her eyes from the fire, Violet spied Remus climbing out of the guys' tent, dressed in a jumper and some flannel pajamas, similar to her current outfit.

He looked wide awake–but his bedhead told her that he had just woken up or had been fighting sleep.

"Why are you up?" Violet asked gently.

He smiled shyly, "Because I knew you would be–and I didn't want you to be alone."

She was slightly taken aback at the concern in his voice before she nodded and said, "Sit with me?"

He bobbed his head before padding over and sitting next to her on the blanket from earlier.

Violet scooted closer to him, wrapping her arms around her knees as she placed her head on his shoulder, sighing, "How has your summer been?"

"Not fantastic..." Remus admitted after a few moments. "I've been too worried about my friends."

She groaned–lifting her head and peering at him sternly, "You should be enjoying your holidays, not–"

"Violet, I care about all of you–and after what happened, I couldn't help but be worried. The world is changing, and it's not for the better."

She pinched her lips, silencing at the maturity in his young voice.

And he wasn't wrong.

The world was falling apart–and it had been before her parents were taken away by the Dark Lord and his followers.

As her mind raced, Violet's hands violently fiddled with the fire stick–her thoughts overwhelming her.

The motions must have either annoyed Remus, or he sensed her anxiety because he pried the stick from her hands and replaced it with his hand instead.

Despite being shocked by his actions, Violet's heart jumped into her throat at the feeling of his hand in hers.

Hesitantly, she tightened her hands just a little bit, and when her fingers brushed over a rough part of his hand, she flipped it to inspect it.

Her lip wobbled as she looked at the deep scars embedded in her best friend's skin–scars that disappeared under his jumper sleeve.

"Oh, Remus..." She whispered, her fingers barely touching the darkened patch of skin. "Did they hurt?" It took Violet ten seconds before she realised how insensitive her question was and stammered, "That was rude. Oh, Merlin–Remus, I am so I'm sorry! I–"