𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐏A𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄, jp

The Fight.

Please comment queenies I'm lacking heavily on motivation for this fic xx

"You're sitting in my spot."

Isabelle didn't look up immediately. She'd already read the same sentence three times, and Remus's voice was the final straw. She slowly raised her eyes from her textbook and blinked at him, unimpressed. "Are you joking? Remus, I don't have time for this."

Her voice was flat, calm. She wasn't in the mood. Christmas exams were breathing down her neck, and the library had become her sanctuary. Her corner table - tucked away behind shelves of ancient magical theory and mostly ignored by other students - was the only place she could think clearly. It had been hers all term. Every single day.

"I'm being serious," Remus said, stepping closer. His tone was clipped. "Move."

"No," she said simply, not even glancing up again. "I was here first. Shove off and find somewhere else."

"I always sit here."

Isabelle rolled her eyes, flipping the page of her book with forced patience. "You do not always sit here. You just show up whenever it suits you, and now suddenly you want to play territorial?"

Remus's jaw clenched. "It's the day before the full moon," he said, a little quieter, but no less tense. "I need somewhere quiet."

"It's a library, Remus," Isabelle said sharply. "The entire point of the room is that it's quiet. If you're looking for somewhere to wallow and be dramatic, try the Astronomy Tower."

He exhaled, his voice tight. "You don't understand."

"You're right," she snapped, her eyes flashing as she finally looked up. "I don't understand why you always think your problems override everyone else's. I've got two essays due tomorrow and three exams next week. I've been here every day for the last month, this is where I'm sitting and I'm not moving."

Remus's jaw tightened. "You just always have to push it, don't you?"

"Push what?" Isabelle demanded. "You're the one who came over here acting like the bloody king of the library."

He folded his arms. "You don't belong here, Isabella."

She blinked at him again, slower this time. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He folded his arms, voice bitter now. "You don't belong here, Isabelle. Not at this school. Not in this house. Not in this library. You don't belong anywhere, and you know it."

Something in her expression hardened, but she didn't rise to it, not yet. "So now I'm not even allowed to study in peace without you turning it into a territorial pissing contest?" Her chair screeched as she stood, slow and deliberate. "You've been a complete arse to me from the second I got here, and I've ignored you. I've tried to stay out of your way. But if you think I'm going to take that—"

"You only came here to spite me," Remus snapped. "You knew I was already at Hogwarts. You knew what it would be like. And you came anyway."

"I was forced to come here and you know it! You know I didn't want to be in the same country as you, let alone the same school as you!" she shot back.

"You've been trying to one-up me since we were kids," he said, voice rising. "Ever since Maisie died, and you know what? You're not doing a very good job. Mum and dad know you're the failure child. The one that ruins everything. Your education. Your reputation. My life. Maisie's life. Since we were kids, you've ruined everything you touched. You ruin people, Isabella."

"Maisie is dead, Remus! Get a grip! Stop going on about it!"

"She's dead because of you!"

"Say that again," her tone was calm, but the anger was building up in her chest quicker than she could imagine. She didn't understand how a simple argument about a table had come to this, but it had and she was seconds away from getting herself in a lot of trouble.