The Wolf's Den [Remus Lupin]

34 - The Wolf and The Rat

CW: Contains smoking marijuana and mentions abuse

-Alula-

My mind was racing. How could Gemini feel right to practically drug me? She was unbelievable. I was pacing up and down the entrance hall trying to keep my head level so I bummed a cigarette from a sixth-year and lit it. I was walking around for a while before I heard someone call my name.

"Hey!" I looked up and saw Marlene and Alice walking toward the Great Hall. "'ave yer already eaten wivout us?"

I puffed on my cigarette and shook my head. "No, I was just about to go in."

"What's got you down in the dumps?" Alice chuckled and nudged my side. I explained as we made our way to the Gryffindor table. I made sure we sat away from the others. I didn't want to keep talking about this but I couldn't stop answering everyone's questions. It was getting exhausting.

I ate mostly in silence and stayed downstairs for as long as I could, even after the girls went back upstairs. I wanted time to digest. I hadn't even had any time to think about what had happened with Remus. I finally knew how he felt about me! Well, sort of. Last year, I was the one that kissed him but I guess he never talked about it because I shut him off so soon after. Then this year, he made the first move and kissed me! This is incredible. If you don't factor in how much my family would kill me for dating him. Especially after everything that happened with Thorfinn—which everyone is still blaming me for even though he's so full of shit.

I looked at the clock and saw it was almost 8. The house elves would be here soon to clean up. Maybe Remus and I could go to the Den and smoke. That always makes me feel closer to him. I made my way upstairs and found the Fat Lady's painting. "Annus Novus." She swung open and I climbed through the portrait hole.

Surprisingly there were very few students in the common room. One of the few I could see was Remus sitting in a corner with his wand in his hand practicing spells. My heart felt warm and jittery. He must have noticed me coming toward him because he looked up before I got to the table. "Hey," he smiled, standing up.

"Hey, any chance you can take a break from your super important wandwork?" I felt my heartbeat quicken and I swallowed, suddenly very nervous.

"Yeah, of course. What did you have in mind instead?" Remus asked, closing his book and picking it up.

"I was thinking...how about a bit of grass before bed?" I raised my eyebrows and Remus quickly nodded.

He sent his things to his dorm and smiled at me. "Let's go now before it's time for curfew." We walked out of the common room to the seventh-floor corridor and found the tapestry across from the Den. I paced 3 times in front of it thinking we needed to get to a safe place to smoke.

The door that appeared was ordinary and almost boring looking. Wooden and ambiguous next to the other rooms nearby. We climbed inside and found the room covered in couches, blankets, and side tables with cigarettes and ashtrays–the room was asking to be smoked in.

"You wanna roll?" Remus asked as we made ourselves comfortable.

"No, you can," I offered with a smile.

"Alright," he chuckled, sat down in front of a mahogany table, and started picking apart the bud. "A skylight, huh." Remus huffed and I looked up.

There was a large skylight above us showing none other than the moon gleaming bright. "I wish we had some music," I suggested, trying to change the topic.

"Well, maybe the room can give us some," Remus laughed before continuing. "Hey, how long do you think the Veritaserum will be in your system?"

I shrugged. "No idea but hopefully by the time classes start tomorrow I'll be okay."