INVISIBLE STRING, marauders era

CHAPTER SIX - Annabelle forces Nashira to Have a One on One With Remus

- 1975 -

October 11th 75' : Hogwarts Library - fifth year

Nashira had not expected to go very far. She thought perhaps moving to a secluded corner of the library would suffice. After all, it was still the beginning of term, and she could count less than 20 students gathered in the area. However, it seemed the pair had a different idea, and Nashira found herself following the two as they exited the library, making their way towards the north wing of the castle.

The air was thick with tension and after 5 minutes of walking in silence, Nashira was tempted to slip away. She was grateful when Annabelle slowed down, falling in step beside her.

"I heard Pandora Rosier got detention for a whole month, what did she do?" Nashira looked blankly at the brunette. She felt as though she was being walked to her death, and she couldn't recall a time she had ever seen Remus so serious, and yet beside her, her best friend was acting as if they were just heading to the kitchens for ice cream and a good gossip. "Peter and James are convinced she hexed a first year, but that just sounds so unlike her."

Dora hexing a first year? Nashira smiled at the ridiculous thought. However, the truth was just as bizarre. "Have you noticed McGonagall hasn't been showing off her Animagus trick recently?"

The story was, Pandora got bored in transfiguration. The class had been learning the same spell to turn ice into boiling water for past three lessons, and Pandora thought it was the perfect opportunity to try a new spell she had been working on. It went as well as most of her experiments, with the ice cube exploding, yet this time McGonagall's tail was caught in the crossfire.

"Oh, poor Minnie. I actually feel bad for her." Annabelle's initial worry soon disappeared, and she cracked a grin. "But Merlin do I wish we were there, that would have been hilarious."

Remus stop sharply in front of an empty classroom, and Nashira almost walked into him. He finally turned around and smiled at Nashira, although the smile was so forced it made Nashira even more worried. She wished he would go back to being serious.

"Well then, I'm going to get going. You two have a lot to talk about. I'm going to go to the kitchens, you guys want anything?" Seriously what was going on?

Nashira had to bite her tongue from immediately begging her to stay. She couldn't think of a single thing she had to talk about with Remus, and she didn't have enough time to prepare herself to be alone in a room with him.

"Could you please bring me back a cornish pastie while you're there?" Nashira didn't want a Cornish pastie, but she needed a reason to minimise the time Annabelle was gone for. She hoped that by asking for something hot, the girl would rush back to give her the food before it went cold, hopefully returning before Remus had the opportunity to kill her. The more she looked at his creepy smile, the more she was convinced Remus was planning to kill her. If only he could stop making it look so forced, then perhaps she would have something pretty to look at in her final few moments.

Annabelle grimaced. The first and last time she had tried a pastie was first year, and she spat it out after one bite, not realising it was filled with vegetables. "One lot of pig food in pastry, got it. Remus?"

Remus shook his head, finally dropping the forcedness of his smile, as Annabelle nodded before making her way to the kitchens.

The tension had returned and Nashira hesitated at the door before following Remus into the classroom, wondering if she was going to regret closing the door to her only means of escape.