Time in a Bottle (A James Potter Love Story)

Chapter 6

Autumn faded into winter as the Christmas break approached. James, being James, stood up on the table in the Great Hall with a flower in hand. A lily. He yelled in front of all of the students, "My dear Lily Flower! It would be my pleasure to have you as my date for the annual Potter Christmas Ball! What do you say?" He bowed down and extended the flower to the redhead.

"No, I don't think so Potter." She shoved the plate of food in front of her away and marched out of the Great Hall.

Visibly deflated, he turned back to his seat with a pout. Quickly, he shook it off when Aurelia patted his back to try and comfort him. "What about you Rellie? You want to come with me to my parents' ball?"

"Who all is going?" She took a sip of her orange juice and looked around at her friends.

"Mum told me I have to go to the Malfoy's event." Sirius wrinkled his nose and shuddered.

Peter wiped the crumbs from his mouth with his sleeve, "My grandparents are visiting for Christmas."

Remus shook his head, "I'll be staying home with mum." Aurelia narrowed her eyes as he winced when he adjusted his position. She turned back to James who had his hands clasped in front of her with big puppy eyes.

"Please Rellie?!"

Aurelia sighed and nodded, "Fine, but I'll have to write to papa and make sure he's okay with it." She pushed herself up and James tried to hand her the flower that was starting to droop. A frown formed on her face and she shook her head. "Keep it." He watched as she left the Great Hall with a stack of books.

"I thought girls liked flowers." He shrugged, not noticing a Slytherin had followed after Aurelia.

On her way to the owlery, Severus had caught up to her. He cleared his throat when he reached her side to alert her of his presence. The witch jumped, nearly dropping her books. "Oh Severus! You startled me!"

His cheeks turned red in embarrassment as he grabbed the books from her hands and walked next to her. "My apologies."

She raised an eyebrow at him but smiled, "How are you?" Aurelia opted to open the door to outside since he carried her books.

"I'm alright, I just wanted to check on you. You seemed troubled." The brisk air whipped their hair around and Aurelia shoved her hands into her coat pockets.

"I'm alright," she shrugged. He looked at her with a wary look. She giggled, "Truly, I am." Noticing his worn winter wear, she grabbed her books back, "Thank you for walking with me, I'm going up to the owlery. You should go back to the castle."

He hesitated before giving her a wave and turning back around. Aurelia continued her trek up to the tower to write her letter. When she finally reached her destination, she pulled out her parchment and quill, scribbling down her message. She tied it to her owl before sending it off. Knowing she was alone, she pulled out her books and sat down near a window. For about 2 hours she flipped through pages trying to find the answer to the question bothering her.

With a groan, she opened her last book to a random page. A picture of a werewolf stared back at her. She blinked a couple times before reading the selection, jotting notes onto a scrap of parchment. After she finished, she compared her notes to the notes she had taken of Remus over the past two months. See, Aurelia had noticed a pattern with the lanky boy. Every month, he had some sort of medical issue, causing him pain for a couple days, and then to miss classes for one or two days. Then he would always show back up with new scars. Her eyes widened, and she checked the calendar of her journal. Shaky hands dropped her supplies when it dawned on her that the full moon would happen in 2 days.

With a gasp, she gathered everything and took off running. The witch didn't stop until she made it all the way back to the Gryffindor boys' dorm. She tried the handle, and luckily they had it unlocked. The room was empty, aside from a lump in Remus' bed. Aurelia pulled aside the curtains quietly and whispered, "Remmy, are you awake?"

He hummed a response, not moving from his position. "The boys are in the courtyard if you were looking for them." She tiptoed to the empty side and slid into the bed.

"I'm here for you Remmy." He squinted his eyes open barely.

"I don't feel well."

She ran a hand through his hair softly and started humming a song. At first, he closed his eyes and enjoyed it. But a moment later, guilt pooled in his chest and he reached for her hand to stop her.

"Rellie, you are too good to be friends with me." He whispered. His eyes were now open, staring directly into hers.

She shook her head, "Don't be daft Remmy, what makes you think that?"

The boy huffed, "Because I'm just not good. I could hurt you." Aurelia's eyes softened, and it was at that point Remus knew that she had it figured out. He tried to sit up in a hurry, groaning in pain. "I'm a monster, and you know it!"

Aurelia sat up and took his hands in hers, tightening her grasp when he tried to pull away. "You're not a monster, you didn't choose this. Now lay back down and let me take care of you."

Hesitantly, he did as he was told and his eyes searched her face. "What do I have something on me?" She wiped her cheek furiously with her hand.

"No," his brows furrowed, "You aren't scared of me?"

"Terrified," she deadpanned, "I'm quite literally shaking in fear."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm being serious!"

"Well you aren't doing a very good job, he's more dramatic if we are being honest." She giggled when a smile threatened to break out on his face. "I'm not scared of you Rem." He settled back into bed, and she continued to hum a song while running her hand through his hair.

When the boys returned from the intense snowball fight they were having, they were surprised to see two members of their group snoring away. James slapped a hand over Sirius' mouth when he was about to start talking. "Let's just go get them some food." All three boys tiptoed backwards out of the room and left the other two to sleep.