Life choices (Remus Lupin Marauders era)

Chapter 36

I flick through textbook after textbook, trying to make sense of what my mind is trying to tell me. After I've seen more paragraphs on werewolves in half an hour than I have in my whole life, I'm still none the wiser but even more agitated. I sigh loudly and rest my head on the desk in frustration. I clench my fists and dig my nails into my palm, a habit I've picked up for whenever I'm angry, and try to sift through all the information that's swirling around my aching head.

How could he have done it? How could he have hidden it from everyone all this time?

How did I not notice?

Then again, no one has ever noticed me at all. I've kept hidden all this time and no one knows even a tiny little detail that I don't want them to.

A muffled crash startles me and I jump up, looking wildly around for anyone. I see a sliver of a person crouching down next to a shelf, running their hands over the top of the books whilst looking for a particular title. I quickly pack everything away but leave the books where they are, if I look at the word 'werewolf' again, I might just scream.

As I'm going, something snaps in my mind. What if someone else looks through the stack of books I collected and puts two and two together? I don't want anyone else suspecting anything. Imagine if he was found out because of me, he would hate me forever, I would hate myself for it.

Dumbledore was right, as usual, there is always someone who can understand you, I just have to work out how I should approach the situation. There's no denying that it's a strange and awkward position to be in, I don't think that anyone else has been in the same situation as I'm in now.

I walk down the empty corridor and by some happy coincidence there stands James, bunking out of his lesson and wandering down the corridor with his hands in his pockets. I race towards him, my bag knocking against the back of my legs as I go and tap his shoulder. He spins around to face me and frowns in confusion.

"Imogen? What's wrong? What do you want?" He says.

I roll my eyes, a sudden burst of confidence and questions bubbling to my mind. What do you think? I want an explanation. I write quickly.

His expression drops to a shocked and unhappy frown. I roll my eyes in frustration at him and wipe away the words.

Sorry, but what did you think that I'd say? That lily is in trouble and she needs you to be her night in shining armour? Sorry, but I don't think that that's going to happen at this moment in time.

'Damn.' I think. 'When did I get so sassy?'

He tries to hide his disappointed expression and looks down at me through his glasses.

"But lily is ok?"

I hit his arm and frown, making him purse his lips up in thought before grabbing my arm and dragging me down the corridor and into the Gryffindor common room. There's no one around us but he even makes sure to check in all the nooks and crannies for students who might be hiding for some reason unbeknownst to me.

"What I say here goes no further than these four walls and us two." He says sternly, catching me off guard with a searching look in his eyes.

I nod, if there's one thing that I'm definitely not, it's a snitch. (No pun intended)

"So, erm, we're all animagi, and we were helping Remus with his first transformation last night." He stumbles over his words and I can practically see his brain going overtime as it tries to find an excuse that doesn't sound like a mess of words strung together.