Heart Scars ||| Remus Lupin

Eleven

It was two days after her birthday, and a Saturday. She was in the hospital wing, helping Madam Pomfrey.

Remus had given her lots of sweets from Honeydukes, and a card that sang when she opened it. It was nothing extravagant, but she loved it more than any present she had gotten.

Adhara came in just past nine, and helped organize the shelves of potions and medicines. She helped bandage up a first year who cut his hand, and she grew back the eyebrows of a fourth year girl who had singed hers off playing exploding snap.

When she got to a bed with the curtain around it closed, she grew curious. She walked over quietly, trying not to alert Madam Pomfrey, who was in her office. She pulled the curtains back-

"Remus?" She asked, startled as she saw the boy sitting there with a book and a bar of chocolate. His eyes went wide as he saw her.

"Ara, what the hell are you doing here?" He sat up quickly, and then flinched in pain. She was quick to push him back down. He didn't protest.

"Never mind that, what happened?" She traced over a new scar on his cheek with her index finger, and she ignored how his cheeks flamed pink.

"I-I had an accident." He murmurs, not meeting her eye. Her stomach dropped as he lied to her.

"One day you're going to tell me that secret of yours." She mumbled as she gently brushed her fingers through his hair. He let his eyes flutter closed, a content look on his face.

"Remus? Black?" Adhara jumped away at the same time that Remus' eyes shot open. They both looked to where James Potter was standing with a few books and some homework, his jaw wide open.

"Prongs, mate, what-"

"What did I just interrupt?" He looks between the two of them, his eyes wide. He dropped the books and papers onto Remus' bed.

"Nothing." Her and Remus say at the same time. James takes another step forward, disbelief in his eyes.

"Well then, if it's nothing, I'm sure it would be fine if I informed Sirius about what I just saw." He folds his arms over his chest, both Remus and Adhara immediately protest.

"Potter, you can't tell my brother." Adhara immediately says.

"I don't think you're in any position to be making demands, Black." He says coldly, and Remus furrows his brows.

"James." He scolds. James' features soften slightly as he looks at Remus.

"I won't tell Sirius if someone, preferably Remus, explains what the two of you were doing." He says calmly, completely opposite of the obnoxious James Potter she'd seen around school.

"We're friends. We have been since school started. She's the girl from the bet, and the one who sent the note." Remus reluctantly says as he looks guiltily at Adhara. James' jaw drops.

"Black- Adhara Black is your secret girl?"

"Well, not- not my girl persay-" Remus turns red once more as he talks, and Adhara grins as he finds himself at a loss for words.

"I can't believe it! She was right under our noses this entire time." James throws himself onto the end of Remus' bed. Remus scoots over and pats the spot next to him, signalling for Adhara to sit down.

"Pads and Wormy are still asleep. Last night was rough for all of us, you were particularly aggressive." James rubs a crease in his neck, and Adhara's eyes go wide.

"Jame-"

"What's he talking about?" She asks quickly.

"Wait, she doesn't know?" James looks at Remus dumbfounded. Remus quickly shakes his head.

"Potter knows?" She rounds on Remus, who looks at her, a guilty look in his eyes once again.

"No and yes." He answers their questions, and then he takes a large bite out of his chocolate bar, signaling that he can't answer any other questions because his mouth is full.

"Remus." She yanks the chocolate bar away from him. He looks at her with wide eyes, which flash between her and the chocolate in her hand.

"Ara-"

"Damn Moony, you just let her grab your chocolate. You know Black, the last person who tried that was your twin. It didn't end well for him, he ended up in that hospital bed right over there with a broken nose." James points to the bed across from Remus'.

"Please." She whispers, so that only Remus can hear her. He looks at her, his brown eyes gentle and caring. He sighs and gently takes her hand.

"Later, I promise." He whispers back, she grins and goes to hand him back his chocolate, just to realize he had ready taken it when he grabbed her hand.

"How'd you do that?"

"Ignore that. You guys are disgustingly cute." James says as he stares at them, his face scrunched up in annoyance.

"Sod off, mate." Remus groans, but James just grins.

"C'mon, this is the first girl that any of us have brought to the group. Sirius doesn't stick with any girl, Peter doesn't date, and I-"

"Won't get serious with a girl unless it's Lily Evans." Remus finishes for him.

"You get me Moony. There's something about redheads-"

"I've got a redhead you can have." Adhara cuts him off with a scoff of laughter, but he makes a face of disgust.

"Absolutely not." He says quickly, and both Adhara and Remus laugh.

James looks at the two. Adhara was leaning on him, and Remus would look at her every couple of seconds, and then blush when she caught him looking. They really were cute, but James couldn't help the worry that was nagging him in the back of his brain.

Adhara was a Black, and not a Black like Sirius, she was a Black like all the other Black's. She was loyal to her family, and by extension, everything they believed in. He was worried about how she was going to take it when Remus told her his secret.

"Mr Potter, leave Mr Lupin alone. He needs rest, Miss Black, you are dismissed for the day." Madam Pomfrey shoos them away, and Adhara has no choice but to walk with James.

"Look, Black, I'm not going to pretend I know you or anything, but I know your family. I've heard stories from Sirius. What Remus is going to tell you, you can't tell anyone, no matter how bad you may like t-"

"I wouldn't do that to him." She says softly. James closes his mouth and studies her for a moment.

She was an attractive girl, her black wavy hair and stormy grey eyes being the object of many boys obsessions, along with her hourglass figure. If he wasn't in love with Lily Evans and she weren't his best friends sister, he probably would have went after her years ago.

"Remus is a good guy, the best actually. We'd do anything for him. Him telling you his secret means he really trusts you. He didn't even tell us, Sirius figured it out, and then he thought we were going to hate him-"

"Get to the point." She snaps as they near her turn. She'd prefer to walk the quickest way back to her common room, but she'd take the long way and talk to James if it meant he trusted that she wasn't going to tell Remus' secret.

"Once he tells you, you're in. I don't know how far in, but you're in. Whether that be on the marauder level, or on your own level, you're in the know. And you can't leave the know, you know?" He says quickly.

"I'm starting to not know." She says as she studies him. She didn't even realized that he had stopped at her turn.

"When Remus explains it, all of it, you'll know the extent, and if you want to be on our level, come find me. No matter how bad you may want to, you can't go to Remus about it first. Just me." He says sternly.

"Potter, I don't even know what we're talking about right now." She snaps.

"You will, it'll all make perfect sense when he tells you. Just remember, support him, and then find me if you want to be on my level. See you later Black." And then he was walking away from her, leaving her more confused than when they had started the conversation.