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

apologies

Shannon woke up early the next morning, anxious about what Sirius had said the night before. Plus, she was still convinced that she had done something to upset Remus while they were in the library. She tossed and turned for a while before she just decided to call it an early morning. She got ready quietly and slipped out of her dorm, heading down to the common room. She was wondering to herself if she was too early for breakfast, when she saw James in the common room.

"Morning Thompson." James smiled at her. It looked like he was getting ready to go to practice.

"Did I forget to write a day down in my notebook?" Shannon asked worriedly.

"I was just going to do a few laps by myself before breakfast. You want to join?" James asked her.

Shannon was about to say no, when she remembered what this year was supposed to be about. One of her biggest desires was to really get James's attention. So she realized there was no reason to say no to any alone time with the Gryffindor captain. "Sure." She nodded at him and walked quietly with him out of the castle and to the pitch.

James was making small talk with her about classes and whatnot, but Shannon was thinking about what Sirius had said the night before. She was anxious about asking, but had to know. "James... Sirius said something about you and Remus fighting last night. Is everything okay? Remus kind of left the library in a hurry yesterday." She finally asked, glancing over at him.

Shannon could see the change in his face immediately. He looked to be thinking it over in his mind before he said anything. "Sirius, well you know how he is. He likes to stir things up." He explained away. Shannon was disappointed that he went with the easy answer, but she understood. "Remus is okay. He just gets that way sometimes. He's not mad at you or anything." He flashed a smile at her, and she knew that nothing more would be said on the subject.

Flying this early in the morning was perfect. The air was cool, but it felt nice against her face. Shannon kept close behind James, loving the feeling of the wind in her hair. She was lost in the feeling of flying when suddenly James lowered back to the ground.

"Think it's time for breakfast!" James called. Shannon sighed and followed him to the ground, hopping off her broom. She ran her fingers through her blonde hair, James watching her. "It's great, right? Flying in the morning is one of my favorite things."

Shannon nodded. "Yeah, I think I might have to wake up early from now on." She chuckled, walking beside him back to the castle.

"You know, it's a shame you didn't talk to us earlier." James said casually, unaware of how his words caused an explosion of butterflies in her stomach. "I'm glad you joined me this morning."

Shannon didn't know what to say, her mind racing for anything coherent. "Yeah, I. I've really enjoyed this year so far. Thanks for giving me the spot on the team." She finally decided on.

James turned his face towards her, laughing. "Did you see the other people who tried out? Thank you for wanting to be on the team. You really saved us." He laughed quietly to himself. "I try to fly early every Monday, if you're interested."

Again, she was trying to find the words to reply. The butterflies took over her stomach, once again. Alone time with James, every week? It was like a dream come true. She opted simply to nod so he would know she wanted to be there, but it didn't matter. They had entered the Great Hall, and James quickly found something else to hold his attention. "Oi, Evans!" He shouted as they approached their seats. Shannon's stomach dropped, the familiar feeling setting in. Lily ignored him, but he barreled on without a care. "I saw there's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up. I think you should go with me." He said, a smirk on his face.

Predictably, Lily shook her head no. "Not interested."

"Maybe next time then." James said, unbothered.

"At least she didn't call you a toerag, mate." Sirius said.

At this point, Shannon was checked out of the conversation. She had to be, for her own sanity. She chose to turn her focus on Remus, who was sitting directly across from her. Once she began looking at him, it became clear that he was avoiding eye contact with her. She was about to say hello to him, when Marlene asked her a question.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that." Shannon said, turning her eyes towards her friend.

"I asked where you were so early this morning. Me and Lily were worried when we woke up and you weren't there." She repeated.

"I had a hard time sleeping and woke up early." Shannon told her honestly. "I was planning on just hanging out in the common room until breakfast time, but I saw James there. He invited me to go to the Quidditch pitch with him." She explained.

"Ahh." Marlene wiggled her eyebrows at Shannon. She blushed and hoped no one would notice. Without a word, Remus got up and muttered some excuse before leaving the Great Hall.

Shannon didn't put much thought into it before she got up too, hurrying to follow him out of the Hall. "Remus, wait!" She called to him, feeling relieved when he stopped and turned to face her. "I'm sorry for yesterday." She said when she finally caught up to him.

"What... what are you sorry for?" Remus asked, looking confused.

"Er-" Shannon started, mind racing to find an answer. "Well, you seemed upset when you left the library yesterday. I thought you were mad at me for disagreeing with you, or something. And I just feel like you've been upset in with me in general." She rushed out, not wanting to lose her nerve.

"No. I'm sorry I walked out like that." Remus shook his head. "I wasn't upset about anything you said. I should've, well I should've explained better." He stopped, looking like he was searching for the right words. "A couple summers ago, I got really interested in the subject for really no reason. I read up on it a lot."

"Oh..." Shannon nodded at him. "I guess that's why James called you an expert then."

"Yeah. They like to make fun." Remus smiled tightly at her. "The way you think isn't necessarily wrong. It should be the way everyone thinks. Unfortunately that's not the case. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them references a book written by a werewolf about what life is really like for them. If you're really interested, I think it would help you understand."

Shannon was not expecting for Remus to say so much about werewolves, but if any of the boys were to be so passionate about something like this, it was him. "Do you have the book?" She asked, Remus nodding. "I'll borrow it. Although the way you're taking, I think it'll be a sad read."

Remus nodded and shrugged at her, as if to say 'What can you do?'. They walked slowly together to their first class. "I really do, er... admire the way you think." Remus said shyly to her.

Shannon blushed and looked at him, smiling to herself. "I dunno. The way I think is the way any decent person would think."

"Well, the world could use more people like you in it." Remus said, holding the door to the Charms classroom open for her.