he's the reason | james potter. remus lupin.

study dates

Shannon was sitting in the common room, trying to finish her paper for History of Magic. Usually she could focus even with all the chatter in the common room, but she couldn't help her mind from racing. She couldn't stop thinking about if she would make the Quidditch team or not, and how being on the team would change her life at school. Maybe the quiet of the library would force her to focus. She was about to close her textbook in frustration, when someone sat down across from her. She looked up and smiled when she saw it was Remus Lupin.

"Hi." She said simply, looking back down at her textbook, even though she had been reading the same sentence for ten minutes now.

"Hi." He said back just as simply, gazing at her. "Is that the paper for Professor Binns?" He asked.

"Yes." She pushed her hair behind her ear and looked back up at the boy. "Although I was about to give up. I don't know how I can write that many more words about the Gargoyle Strike of 1911." She sighed.

"Well, do you want to work on it together?" Remus asked, lightly tugging at his sleeves as he talked. "I always find that bouncing ideas off of someone else helps. James, Sirius and Peter are no help. They'll all start it the night before it's due." He rolled his eyes at his friends.

Shannon was surprised, but not upset by the offer. She had always thought Remus was nice, and he did very well in his classes. He wouldn't be a bad study partner at all. "Yeah, that sounds great." She said, Remus smiling at her in reply. "I think I'm done with this for tonight though. Tomorrow after lunch, during free period?"

~

Shannon, Lily and Marlene were again joined by the four Gryffindor boys during lunch. They all joined in polite conversation, in which Shannon was even included. She really started to feel that maybe this year was different.

"You still want to study?" Remus asked Shannon at the end of lunch.

Shannon nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Sirius Black. "You two are studying together? First Prongs won't shut up about how good you are at Quidditch, now you're stealing Moony?" Sirius asked in fake outrage, immediately being shoved by James.

"You can't say that." James shushed, and Shannon pretended not to know what he was talking about. James hadn't announced who made the team yet, but now she was convinced the spot was hers.

"Whatever." Sirius grinned at James, apparently unbothered. "Enjoy your date." He squeezed Remus's arm before leaving them alone.

"Ignore them." Remus apologized, a slight blush on his cheeks. Again, Shannon pretended not to notice.

"Don't worry, I usually do." She laughed, walking with him to the library.

It turned out to be the perfect study session. They both finished their paper with time to spare. She even felt like the had gotten to know the boy better. By the end of the free period, they were laughing together as if they had been friends the entire time.

"Remus, I don't know why we haven't thought of this before. I've never had more fun writing a paper for History of Magic." She said as they gathered their stuff to leave the library.

Remus looked pleased. "I reckon it's usually not fun at all. So, it's a low bar to beat." He laughed. "But I agree. We should do this again." He glanced at her hopefully.

Shannon nodded in response, pulling her bag onto her shoulder. "Definitely. Every Wednesday?" She suggested as they left the library, walking to their next class together. And so they agreed, every Wednesday during free period, Shannon and Remus would study in the library together.

~

"Shannon!" Marlene called and ran up to the girl, grabbing her arm.

"What? I didn't even know you were awake." Shannon said to her friend, the two walking to the Great Hall together.

"I must've left the common room a few minutes after you, but I've been running to catch up." Marlene started, Shannon laughing as she knew this was a common occurrence. "I think Potter was breaking the news to the people who didn't make the team. I saw the fourth year crying." Marlene shared.

"Oh-" Shannon began to say interestedly, but stopped herself. She didn't want to celebrate a fourth year crying, but she couldn't deny that it was good news for her.

"Yeah, so I think you should be expecting a visit from Potter very soon. Maybe during breakfast?" Marlene smiled at her, causing Shannon to blush. She hoped her friend wouldn't read much into it.

"I hope so." Shannon said, entering the Great Hall with Marlene. They spotted Lily, already eating with Remus. The two seemed to be having a serious conversation, as they were leaning towards each other and whispering.

Shannon and Marlene sat down across from the two, who both immediately stopped talking once seeing them. "Morning." Marlene said, either not noticing or caring that they were interrupting something.

Shannon picked at a piece of toast, eyes trained on the doors to the Great Hall. She was barely listening to the chatter from her three friends. "Shannon, are you okay?" Remus asked after a few minutes.

"She's waiting for Potter. He's announcing who made the team." Marlene answered for her giddily.

Shannon nodded and shrugged, pushing her plate away from her. She had mostly just been ripping the bread in pieces, anyway. "I'm okay. Just-" she stopped talking once she saw James enter the Great Hall, walking with Sirius and Peter. Usually she tried to avoid looking at him, but today her eyes stayed glued to him as he walked towards the table.

"Thompson!" James greeted, sitting down on the bench next to her. "Welcome to the Gryffindor team!" He announced, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into his side briefly.

She felt like her brain short circuited at the physical contact, only barely hearing her friends cheer for her. "Thank you!" She eventually said, as James removed his arm from her and started helping himself to breakfast.

"Of course. You were the only true contender, should've just told you last week." He grinned, then looked at Lily. "Now I know you'll always be cheering me on at the games." He winked at her.

"I'll be cheering for Shannon." Lily rolled her eyes but smiled at her friend.

Shannon tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach when James spoke to Lily. She really, truly did. She didn't understand why she couldn't just ignore it after so many years. But she couldn't help but feel jealous. She would die to have his attention, yet Lily rejected him time and time again. She wished James would like her as much as he liked Lily. Hell, she wished any boy would like her as much as he liked Lily.

Still, things were already going well for Shannon this year. She made the team, made some new friends, and even had dedicated a time each week to studying. After breakfast she went back to her dorm and started a letter to her parents, telling them all about how she was having the best year at Hogwarts yet. And, it was only September.