The littlest Marauder

Part 4

    She woke the next morning a little sleepy but very happy. Lily was up too and already dressed, she was a force of nature Lily Evans. "Morning Lily" Aoibhe smiled over at her and she returned the grin in kind, "morning Aoibhe." Marlene and Alice didn't stir and Aoibhe got up and began to try and make herself presentable. First there was a nice hot shower and then she began to dry her hair using the charm her aunt taught her, much quicker than a hairdryer. She then applied a small amount of makeup, just a little foundation and some pink lip gloss to try and freshen up her face. Her robes were warm from where she'd left them over the stove before grabbing her new black cloak with the Gryffindor crest and the gold and red tie. She threw her bag onto her bed before throwing herself back and waited for the other girls. They only took about fifteen more minutes and then the girls made their way down the staircase and met a very bored looking Remus leaning against the wall. "Good morning" he smiled at the girls and they all smiled back before winking behind his back at Aoibhe and leaving them alone. "Are you hungry?" he asked and she smiled largely, "simply ravenous Remus dear." He held out his arm and she gladly took it leaning her head on his arm slightly, "if I fall asleep in potions I will kill you" she stated matter of factly and he had the audacity to chuckle, he felt the threat was empty judging by the way she was leaning against him. "I'd like to see you try" he chuckled under her breath and she smacked his shoulder,"I heard that" though she bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. They entered the hall and Aoibhe flopped down on her seat and grabbed a slice of golden buttered toast before ramming it into her mouth. "You weren't kidding were you" Remus shook his head softly and the others tittered at her and she blushed like a berry, "sorry" she mumbled and they all simultaneously grabbed slices of toast and shoved them in their mouth. All Aoibhe could do was laugh at their stupid yet endearing show of solitude. "So what's first up" Peter asked cramming another sausage into his mouth and Aoibhe took out her timetable, "we have double potions first, then a free period and then transfiguration before lunch". People gradually began to file out of the hall and Aoibhe stood but the others just gave her an odd look. "I'm not being late for class, do what you want" she sang and walked off with her book bag in tow,"she's brilliant" Peter smiled and the others had to agree with him. They arrived to class the usual five minutes late but professor Slughorn didn't even acknowledge them, much to Aoibhe's surprise. They moved and stood behind her listening to the end of Slughorns yearly speech about the art of potion making before he began to separate them off into partners. Aoibhe prayed silently she would not be paired with a Slytherin who also happened to be taking the class,and she was in luck as Slughorn paired her and Remus together. "Oh fantastic"he bit out sarcastically, "you", "I'm not ecstatic about this either Lupin but let's just get on with it" she growled but couldn't keep her composure and cracked a smile. "I'm a terrible liar" she giggled and shouldered him slightly and he in turn wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "Of all the seats, at all the desks, in all of this room, she sits beside mine." Aoibhe looked at him with a mixture of shock and unadulterated affection, he quoted (with some minor changes)Casablanca...to her...oh fuck was she screwed. They sat down and Aoibhe noticed with a smile that he angled his chair towards her, Slughorn began to write on the board and Aoibhe took out her horn rimmed glasses to get a clearer picture."That's new" Remus tapped her lenses and she sighed, "I only need them to seethe board, they are the bane of my life" she scrunched her nose up in annoyance. "I think they're beautiful, they bring out your eyes" Remus smirked at her awed expression and shuffled slightly closer to her again. Aoibhe's first potions class was a rather boring experience, the only thing livening it up were James and Sirius' comments about Remus' hair from behind them causing Remus to turn a rather interesting shade of pink. "Remus when did you sign up to foster orphaned birds", "Padfoot come on, it's a wonderful cause give the man some credit" When Slughorn dismissed them Remus made a dive for Sirius and James, Peter and Aoibhe watched on. "What do ye usually do during a free period" Aoibhe asked swinging her bag over her shoulder and James winked at her, "you'll just have to see." She followed James and Peter out of the dungeon and up the staircase as Sirius and Remus filed in behind. Suddenly the marble staircase lurched slightly and Aoibhe grabbed onto the closest thing possible which unfortunately happened to be Sirius. She had buried her head in his chest and was holding onto his neck very tightly but got confused when none of the others freaked out. She glanced up slightly out of Sirius' chest and found the others trying to hold in laughter on her account. Once they had managed to pry her off Sirius she looked a little pale but no worse off, "so you're telling me that they do that all the time" she mumbled and scrunched her eyebrows up."Don't worry about it, when Sirius first got on them he nearly cried" James wrapped his arm around his scowling friend's shoulder who in turn stuck the middle finger up. They made their way out of the castle and down a windy path surrounded by trees on all sides; the path was lit in oranges and yellows as the sun filtered through the canopy of leaves. Once they had broken the tree line, Aoibhe gasped at the sheer size of the clear lake stretched out before them under the shadow of hills. The boys walked ahead and sat below a willow tree on the bank of the lake, Aoibhe followed quickly and sat in the spot Remus pointed to behind him. "I'm sorry you're being drafted as my new pillow" he shuffled back and Aoibhe was confused until he lay back, his head resting against her stomach. "The others refuse to let me do it any more" he said factually before opening his book and beginning to read. She laid her own head back and listened to the sound of lake water lapping the shore beside her, the wind shifting the tree, the other boys discussing something with hushed voices and the pages of Remus' book being turned methodically. This was the life, she was finally happy with her lot for what seemed like the first time in months."Penny for your thoughts" Aoibhe opened her eyes and found Remus' amber orbs staring up at her, "it's nothing, go back to your book." He put a bookmark in the book and left it in the grass beside him, "no book, so tell me" he asked sincerely and Aoibhe bit her lip and decided she'd prefer all this out in the open now. "Well I may have lied a little on the train yesterday, I did live in France just not with my dad. My mum was a muggle; she was French with gorgeous chocolate wavy hair, kinda like Audrey Hepburn, that's the main reason why dad was interested, not one for internal qualities my dad. He is one of the ministry officials for foreign affairs, an Irishman and at the time he was on business in Paris." Her eyes grew hard and Remus grabbed her hand and rubbed soft circles on it easing her on. "He never loved my mother, it was only a fling to him and he left as soon as he found put she was pregnant. Said having a half blood child was worse than having a mud blood. Mother was a romanticist though and she always thought that dad would realise his error and come back, when he didn't she closed the gap and moved to London.He ignored her and in the end I think she died of a broken heart. I was ten and he wanted nothing to do with me and so I was shipped off to France. I lived with my mother's sister and her husband in Nice when I wasn't in school, up until the summer when my father came looking for me. He took parental rights and pulled me away from the only family left that loved me, to live with him in his pokey apartment in the city, and I hate it, we don't even speak, I was so lonely. Then I met you yesterday and for the first time in weeks I'm having fun and smiling again." Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes and Remus felt his blood boil, she was so lost and it was all one man's fault, though a tiny voice in the back of his head reminded him that he was the reason why she was herewith him. "As long as you're here with us you've got family" he reached up and cupped her cheek and she immediately tilted her head into it, "thank you" she breathed softly and pressed a kiss to the palm of his hand before leaning down and kissing his forehead. She stood then and pulled her cloak tighter around her waist, "I'm going for a walk, I'll be back in a few" she smiled and he nodded, knowing she wanted to be alone he let her go.