The Werewolfs Heart | Remus Lupin [EDITING]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔

Evelyn couldn't stop thinking about him. The warm eyes. The fine hands. Lupin.

How could this happen? Sure, he was nice and fun and interesting, and she greatly appreciated their conversations and walks. But now it was MORE than that. She felt a longing. A longing to be close to him. Every second she wasn't with him was wasted time. Every moment should be spent with him! She longed for Defense Against the Dark Arts classes just to see him and listen to him, and if she was lucky, talk to him a bit. She longed for every meal so she could see him up at the teacher's table. She couldn't stop watching him then, and sometimes she thought he looked back at her unusually often, but it was definitely just her imagination. Most of all, she longed for their walks. But there hadn't been any since the tea incident in his quarters. Lupin only responded with, "later, I have a lot to do right now," and similar remarks; it was almost as if he was avoiding her. He was still kind, but it felt as if he now treated her like any other student, unlike before when he had seemed to see her as more than just a student, as if he saw her as a friend. It was somewhat depressing, and Evelyn wasn't as lively and happy as she used to be.

It was so typical. Sure, she had always enjoyed spending time with Lupin, but now when she really, really wanted to see him, she couldn't! It was like an unbearable itch that wouldn't go away, this longing for him. What was she to do?

Then she worried about her feelings. After all, he was her teacher. It could never lead to anything between them! But oh, what she felt... something... for him. Something strong.

Yes, how could this happen?

In recent days, Evelyn had experienced an increasing sense of frustration and confusion. Every time she approached Lupin, she noticed how he became more distant. It was as if an invisible barrier had risen between them. If she tried to have a conversation, he would give short and polite answers and quickly turn away to handle something else. His previous moments of kindness seemed to have vanished, replaced by a distance that was hard to understand.

On one occasion after class, when Evelyn had carefully tried to talk to him about a homework assignment, she met his gaze, but he was quick to cut off the conversation and say he had an important task to attend to. Her heart sank as she saw him walk away without giving her so much as a smile. It was as if she had become an invisible shadow in his world, and it was painful to realize that he might not feel the same way about her.

It wasn't just during classes that he seemed to avoid her; even at meals, he seemed to avoid eye contact. If Evelyn happened to catch his gaze, he would quickly look away, as if she was a distraction he would rather avoid. It felt like a personal punishment, even though she knew it might not be.

Evelyn struggled to keep her disappointment from showing to her friends. She tried to clear her thoughts and focus on her studies, but every time she passed his office or saw him from a distance, she was reminded of the painful distance between them. The feeling of being forgotten by someone she truly cared about was almost too much to bear.