ROSIER

16

Constellations
...

Gwen was the first to leave the dorm room after hours of patiently counting the minutes it took for the curfew to end. She concurred the sunrise when she hurried through the empty and cold hallway. The portrait of the fat lady guarding the entrance to the Gryffindor common room was still asleep as Gwen strutted circles before it. The wait seemed to take an eternity until the first Gryffindors left their tower and even longer until Remus showed his tired grimace.

It had been Lily Evans who recognized her first as she came through the portrait hole. She looked at the Slytherin with wide eyes, soon forming a smug grin before finding an excuse to swiftly go back inside. Out came a few onlookers who took a peek at Gwen, choosing to linger in the front row until Remus came rushing out. He was quite surprised to see her as though he didn't quite believe the talk.

"Hey," Remus uttered as he was quick to brush his hands over his messy hair. He had his school uniform on, a few buttons wrongly closed, and his tie brutally discarded in his satchel. "Did I forget something?" His eyes glanced to his friends around them who had comments and teases waiting on their lips.

"No, but I won the bet," Gwen told him excitedly.

"What bet?" Sirius asked as he peeked out of the entrance with Peter. He hadn't bothered to change into his uniform yet. It was clear that he only cared to be here to still his curiosity.

"Yeah, what bet, Lupin?" Came from Marlene McKinnon whose friends failed to hush her.

Gwen rolled her eyes at the looks they received. Fifteen was a terrible age to be friends with a boy. It seemed someone always projected more into the most innocent interactions. She looked at Remus' bright red face as he stammered annoyed arguments. But there was a better way to deal with teasing rumours, especially of this kind.
The blonde grabbed Remus by the hand and swiftly pulled him away from the scene. All leftover words got stuck in his throat, and all embarrassment in his cheeks was accompanied by a perplex grimace as he followed along without questions.

She caught the look of her cousin, who seemed as though he discovered something he didn't know existed before disappearing from her sight as he rushed back into his common room. The girl didn't understand much of it, and soon enough, the strange look on her cousin's face was overshadowed by the prospect of the newest hint in her investigation (and the warm hand holding hers).

They reached an empty corridor. Something that was not too hard to achieve so early in the morning. The blonde glanced at their intertwined hands a couple of times as an odd sensation rushed from the touch. She wasn't sure if she ever held the hand of a boy before (not counting those who were related to her). Not like this, at least. It felt different. Comfortable but exciting at the same time.

They sat down in one of the windowsills. The glass quickly fogged up as their warm breaths fought the cold morning air. Her hand felt empty as she used it to sort her papers, swiftly avoiding to look into the boy's eyes. She told him about the numbers and how they connected to stars, leaving out the dream, which brought her this conclusion.

"That's brilliant," Remus remarked, a little disappointed in himself for not thinking of it first. "And it makes sense. He was a Ravenclaw. They all have some kind of obsession with astronomy, for who knows what reason." He thought for a moment. "Clarisse talked about it all the time."

"Probably because she gave you unneeded tutoring in astronomy," Gwen scoffed, drawing a sun into the condensation of the window. Clarisse Donnavan was a girl from Ravenclaw a year above them. One, Remus was rather fond of in past years.

"It wasn't unneeded. I was just not so good in astronomy." The boy argued, rubbing his neck when the girl raised one of her eyebrows. "Okay, maybe I was a little better than my grades, but she was helping me become even better than before. She and I had a connection."