The Working Menace | H.P. Oneshot

The Working Menace

It was late in the afternoon when Harry found Remi down in the Greenhouses. The sun was setting but it was still warm out, and much more inside the Greenhouse. Even from where he stood, he could see Remi's face was flushed as she worked behind a few plants. Her curls were tied down in a low ponytail that was failing miserably at keeping her face free.

"Remi, what are you doing here?" He asked her in a gentle voice yet still managed to alarm her enough to cut her finger.

"Wah—!" She popped her finger into her mouth and shot Harry a look for his imprudence. He smiled sheepishly at her. She rolled her eyes and eventually pulled her finger out and wiped the remnants of blood on her robe. "And they say I have no manners," she mumbled and picked up her knife. "What are you doing here, Harry? Oh, I get it," she said before Harry even opened his mouth, "You're sneaking out again, aren't you? The Greenhouse isn't a good place to hide unless you want to be surrounded by plants which, I suppose, isn't all that bad—"

"Rem," Harry cut in before she drove herself in circles with her rambles. He was more than used to Remi's ramble tangents, but he often worried she would talk herself out of breath if no one interrupted her.

Luckily, Remi never seemed to take offense. She just smiled and went back to cutting. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Just wandering," shrugged Harry and moved down the long table. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just...wandering..." she mimicked him and looked up from under her lashes with a big smile. An infectious smile.

"Careful, people might think you're up to no good," Harry remarked. He stopped beside her and looked down at what she was working on. He was never a top student in Herbology so he had no idea what plants she was working with. As Herbology partners, that's why she always led and he followed.

"Well, are you going to tell me what you're doing here or not?" Remi asked him after another moment. She had finished slicing up a few green vines and moved them to the corner.

"I'm just trying to get away," Harry ultimately confessed. She hummed and moved onto her next cutting.

"Is it about the D.A.?"

Harry nodded.

"If you want to get away from all that for a while, I'm probably not your gal. I can and no doubt will talk your ears off," Remi said, offering him an apologetic smile for future incidents.

"I don't mind," he said easily. He never minded; she always had so much to say and people rarely bothered to listen to her.

"I'm just saying, there's probably a lot more sophisticated people you might want to hang out with if you're feeling low."

"Is this your way of telling me to get lost?"

Remi chuckled lightly. "I'm just trying to help you, Harry. You know I suck with words. I mean, I say too much and only 20% is viable. It's one of my many flaws that make me a less than desirable pureblood in the eyes of my family."

"That's not true. You're way better than all the pureblood lot here," Harry said immediately, and she blushed.

"You're always so nice to me..." she mumbled, intentionally diverting her gaze to the black stems she was cutting. It was very easy to slip away from reality when Harry was next to her, especially with his bright blue eyes. She, who was all but coherent and, in her opinion, competent. She was no Hermione Granger with brains, no Luna Lovegood with creativity, no Ginny Weasley with vibrancy.

"Everyone deserves kindness, Rem. I think you and I of all people would know that," Harry said, bringing her out of her thoughts. He was smiling at her with his usual charm.