fox - r.lupin

- c h a p t e r - t h i r t y -

edited.

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October

"Okay. When I said we should dress up as the Beatles, I didn't mean the actual bug."

"...Are you being for real right now?"

"DID YOU REALLY THINK I MEANT, SIRIUS?!"

"THE BLOODY BUG OBVIOUSLY! IT MAKES SENSE NOW THOUGH!"

Violet was losing her mind–her laughter ringing through the common room as half of the boys were dressed like bugs, and the other two were dressed like Muggle band members.

She herself was covered in fake blood and dressed in a mock blood-covered white dress–going to run around Hogwarts for the night as Carrie. The rest of the girls had all picked their own horror female protagonists, mostly covered in fake blood.

Except for Lily, as she said she shouldn't dress up so scary so she didn't scare the first-years.

But Violet went all out for her costume, having scared at least four first years already.

And her laughing like an idiot must not have been any better because many kids skirted around her on their way out to gather sweets from different places in Hogwarts–as the tradition had been kept up by the group of teens.

"You lot look amazing," Violet wheezed as she took in Sirius and James's ridiculous shiny beetle costumes. "You could go as assorted beetles. Like the fake plastic bugs you can buy at the drug store."

"I could punch you right now," Sirius muttered–his ears going very, very red.

"You wouldn't dare," Violet snickered–tapping him on the nose. "I'll blow your brains out."

Sirius rolled his eyes before confidently explaining, "Screw it! We shall be assorted beetles for the night. And whoever comments will be tricked!"

"Yeah!" James declared. "Bring me sweet or die!"

Violet watched them leave, still laughing, as she looked up at Remus, dressed like John Lennon, and tilted her head at him, "You promise you won't pour pig's blood on my head?"

Remus just scoffed, "Let's go get some chocolate."

The two hurried from the common room and prepared for the sugar high and crash that was yet to come.

Present

Well...the year was going so well–until that fateful moment when Lily said, "Have you started putting together flashcards for your exams yet? O.W.L.s will be coming up before we know it."

Violet had been mortified.

And with her mortification, her already heightened stress skyrocketed through the proverbial roof.

Even before it registered that the exams were that year–Violet had been determined to ace every O.W.L., so she had a great chance at getting any job she wanted in the wizarding world. She hadn't entirely decided what she wanted to do yet–but in order to be prepared, she had to pass everything. But that also meant that Violet was studying nearly every moment of every day. Even more than Lily Evans, the genius herself.

Violet was getting all high grades in her classes, but it didn't feel like enough. She was still worried she would fail–and it was like a bottomless pit in her stomach that never seemed to go away. And the anxiety that thrummed under her skin made her busy herself even more.