Crescent Moon (A HP fanfic and a student/teacher romance)

Chapter sixteen: Lovemuffin

Lovemuffin

He pulled back. I opened my eyes. Closed them. Opened them again. I didn't know what to say or what to do. His hands still rested on my neck and he seemed equally as lost for words as me. His eyes were wide open like he was seeing me for the first time. Surprise flickered across his face and he lifted one hand to brush my hair behind my ear. His fingers traced along my locks all the way down to my mid-upper arm.

„It's red," he finally said.

„What is?" I replied, still in a haze from the kiss. His face seemed softer somehow. The scars paled in comparison to his kind eyes and blended more with the rest of his face. I realize he was blushing slightly. Like a teenage boy.

„Your hair. It's red now. The blue is gone. What is going on with your hair?" I jerked back so his hands fell down to his sides. I reached for the lock he had just touched and held it in front of my face. He was correct, it was bright red, like Rudolf's nose. I dropped it shock and stared at Lupin, my eyes filling with tears.

„What is happening to me? Why is this happening?" I was scared. Panic-filled teardrops started threating to run down my cheeks. I made a failed attempt to blink them away but two escaped. Why am I so fucking sensitive these days? In stead of waiting for an answer I took a step back, gave Lupin a forced smile and walked away. He called out my name again but this time I didn't stop. This time stopping wasn't an option.

I walked towards the lake and when I reached the edge of it I sat down, right were the surface of the water met land. With my legs crossed I leaned forward until I could see my broken reflection in the water's uneasiness. My heart pounded. My hair was back to it's brown colour with hints of blue. Why on earth was my hair changing colours? I decided to make a mental list:

Number one: It seemed to change colour when something was happening, but what did these events have in common?

Number two: My hair didn't only take natural colours

Number three: It had twice become blue, once red, once blonde.

I went over that list about a dozen times before I made a connection: my hair was blue when I was, well, blue! It got blue highlights when I thought Lupin had rejected me and again now when I was crying. It went blonde when I had the panic attack, and red when Lupin kissed me. I guess to match my face? The question hovering in big bold letters in front of m face though, was why? Why was my hair changing colours to imitate my emotions? Is it like a Wizard-PTSD thing? Or some sort of a bi-hairal disorder. And more importantly, could I change it at will?

I kept staring at my reflection in the lake. I cast a simple spell to make a small part of the water stiller so I could see myself clearly. I had always wanted to try out green hair, for the sole reason of me being obsessed with the joker when I was younger. I tried thinking of the colour green and then somehow directing it at my hair. God, I felt stupid. When it didn't seem to be working I tried to just imagine myself with green hair. I looked at my reflection and mentally dyed my hair with a dark green colour and I thought, for a split second, I could see my roots start to match the grass I sat on. I was so surprised I lost my concentration and the green faded away. I sat there all afternoon, looking at myself and trying my very hardest to get my hair to turn green but the furthest I got was the first two inches from my root. The rest had changed back to it's usual brown.

"Hey, lovemuffin," I heard Fred say behind me.

"Hello, cuddlybear," I replied and smiled. We had started calling each other stupid pet names to mock couples that do. He plomped himself down on the grass beside me. He put his hand on the small of my back, moved it in soothing circles and gave me a quick peck on the lips.

"I've been looking all over for out, where have you been?" He smiled his goofy smile and pulled at the grass.

"I just took a little walk to clear my head a little. Checked out the greenhouses," I said truthfully.

"All by yourself?" Fred does not realize the importance of alone-time.

"Yeah," he also didn't need to know the entire truth. I suddenly realized what I had done. I had basically cheated on my age-appropriate boyfriend with a middle-aged teacher! I don't deserve such a wonderful person like Fred. He stopped pulling at the grass and his smile dropped a tad bit.

"Oh," he said. "I thought I had seen Lupin heading out after you." He looked off into the distance. I needed to save my butt.

"Well... yeah, he did. I went there to be alone but he just showed up. Stupid teachers always with their nose in everybody's business." I let out a nervous, one-syllable laugh. Fred gave me a strange look but quickly plastered his smile back on. He jumped up and pulled me up with him. We walked together towards Hogwarts, headed for dinner in the Great Hall. As we entered the front hall he took my hand and squeezed it tightly as he stopped walking.

"Dinner's that way, cutiepie," I said and attempted to pull him to join the stream of hungry students.

"I know. I just need you to know something," this sounded serious, so I stopped pulling and let our hands fall between us, still intertwined. "I am there for you. I can see that you are in pain, and I can see you are hiding something from us... from me. And you don't have to tell me right away, I respect that, we have barely been dating 15 minutes, but I am there for you, Cassy. I really am. Please don't shut be out before your even get to know me." He seemed serious. There are few occasions on which Fred is seriously serious. And he meant every word. And I was a bitch for wanting him to take them back. I didn't want him to be there for me. I didn't want to drag him into the mess that is me. It seemed easier to cry on Lupin's shoulder because I knew he had seen pain. Again, I am a selfish brat and I promised myself to cut Fred some real slack. I smiled and he seemed relieved to see it. "I really like you, kittenface." He finally said and gave me a deep kiss, right there in the front hall.

"I really like you too, bunny," I said back. We walked together into the big hall. I bumped into one mister Lupin, of course. He looked at our hands which seemed welded together. He stared me straight in the eye, not showing any emotions.

"Oh, good evening, Professor!" Freddy said cheerily.

"...Yes, good evening Mr. Weasly," he answered after a moments hesitation and kept on to the teacher's table. This is going to be fun.