NOTHING GIRL || Remus Lupin

-Eighteen: Hope and Lilies-

"Don't think this is going to be some Aslan thing. I'm just here to prove a point. Either of you try and get on my back and you'll wish I let my sister deal with you."

"Understood, sir."

Remus and Kyle were walking side by side in less than amiable silence. Awkwardness hid in the air around Remus, though the sphinx looked unaffected. Helia was walking slightly ahead, and Remus didn't try to catch up, sensing her need to be alone. She was humming a tuneless song as she moved, making no attempt to lower her voice.

"Do you want to be attacked?" Kyle asked, lazily examining his claws as he addressed Helia.

The girl turned around, walking backwards and somehow managing to flawlessly avoid the maze of tree roots that criss-crossed the earthy ground. "I'd rather know something was going to come running at us than not know if we're  going to run into it  sleeping around a corner."

Kyle made a noise that suggested what he thought of that idea.

"Isn't it better to just hope for neither?" Remus piped up.

Helia pulled a face. "Ah, my poor, innocent little Wolfy." She sighed "I gave up on hope a long time ago."

................................................

"This is the end of our territory." Kyle announced like a bored tour guide about two hours into their walk. Remus was starting to realise that school uniforms were not made to be worn outside on a freezing cold night. His teeth chattered against the icy air. He thanked Merlin that there was still no snow this year. Helia, apparently oblivious to the cold, took notice of his condition and reached over to take his hand, her warm palm providing relief against his. She offered him a half smile in return for a grateful grin. It didn't do a lot, but Helia's heat stopped his numb fingers from freezing off. "Your discriminatory, elitist, weirdo school is about half an hour in that direction."

"Thank you, sir." Remus said, noting how the sphinx held himself higher when he was addressed as 'sir'.

Kyle grunted and turned around, disappearing into the forest with a majestic flick of his tail, lithe body moving fluidly as he broke into a run, leaving Helia and Remus suddenly feeling a lot less safe. 

"Well," Helia was grinning as she released Remus' hand to swing herself around a tree "That was exciting."

Remus snorted. "A bit too exciting. Not really my definition of fun."

Helia swung full circle, turning to face him as she hung off the bark. Something glimmered in her eyes. "Liar."

Remus appeared fake-shocked "Excuse me?"

"I think James and Sirius aren't the only ones who get a kick out of a bit of danger." Helia said, grinning ear-to-ear "Are they?"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about." Remus declared, starting the walk back to Hogwarts.

Helia detached herself and practically bounced over to him. "Mmmm Hmmm" She mumbled in sarcastic agreement.

A quick glance told Remus that Helia was still smiling.

"The difference between us," Remus said, still smiling, though it occurred to him that what he was about to say was not as funny as it had sounded in his head. Yet he kept talking anyway, "Is that I don't want to die."

Helia paused in her step for a moment. The smile faded slightly. If it weren't for Remus' werewolf hearing, he doubted he would have heard her at all. "No." she said quietly. "No, you don't."

Remus turned around to look at her, frowning with concern, but Helia had already spotted something and was wandering over to the base of another tree, where a small cluster of flowers was gathered, grinning again.

"Look," She said, grabbing one of the white flowers by the stem and showing it to Remus.

He frowned. "A... Lily?"

Helia pulled it back to her, smiling down at the closed petals. "In a video game my brother likes, there's these flowers called Silent Princess flowers. We Googled them, but they don't exist. I was so disappointed. So Dean said we should make our own Silent Princess flowers. We went out to the forest and the first flowers we saw were, well" she gestured to the lily "I guess I couldn't be bothered to go looking for something more imaginative."

She smiled up at Remus, and he felt his heart melt a little for tiny Helia, playing conjuring games with her older brother. "How old were you?"

"Eleven, I think." She replied. "It was a couple of months before I came to Hogwarts."

"You sure changed a lot in that time." Remus observed. Helia froze.

"Not really." Her voice was stiff. "I was always an obnoxious little shit."

"You aren't obnoxious." Remus assured her.

"One thing you'll learn as you get older is that when people tell you something unpleasant about themselves, it's usually true." Helia quoted.

Remus didn't have a response for that.

...............................................................

Lin watched as Helia and Remus emerged from the Forbidden Forest, leaning over the window ledge of the third floor and grinning maniacally. Jade, next to her, grunted.

"That's five sickles, I believe." Lin said happily, holding out her hand to her friend as she indicated the pair.

"Nuh uh!" Jade protested "Wait. You had bets on a kiss. If that doesn't happen, I win."

"Fine, fine." Lin turned back to the view. Helia and Remus had stopped just at the edge of the ring of light that Hogwarts cast. If you didn't know where they were, you wouldn't be able to see them at all. They were close. Unusually so. Lin saw something glimmer across Helia's face and it took her a second to process what it was: A smile.

Seeing Helia smile was so odd. Lin had known her for six years, and she and Jade had both spent all of that time trying to get their friend to show even the smallest flicker of happiness, and here the girl was, grinning like a little kid at Disney land. All because of Remus Lupin.

Lin wasn't sure if their was anything romantic there, no matter where she placed her bets, but she knew that the Gryffindor had accomplished something that neither she nor Jade had, and that earned him her respect. 

She furrowed her eyebrows as Helia seemed to be preparing to move away from Remus, casting a spell under her breath. Jade shot her a look as Helia tripped forward into Remus. They both knew Helia never tripped. Every step was measured and accounted for, like she plotted her route extensively before walking, unless of course a well-meaning Hufflepuff happened to give her a *cough cough* helping hand.

"That's cheating." Jade whined as Remus blushed red, almost falling as he rushed to catch the Ravenclaw girl.

Lin shrugged "Perhaps. But I'm going to win."

Helia pulled herself to her feet, glancing suspiciously in the direction of Hogwarts. Remus' hand was still on her arm, as if he expected her to fall again. Lin grinned, knowing that they were well camouflaged in the darkness of the room, although it came at a bittersweet price. Helia, aware now that she was being watched, gave Remus a quick goodbye and began a steady pace back to the castle. Jade looked at Lin triumphantly.

Lin, Helia and Jade seemed, on surface level, to be so very different. Most people couldn't see the invisible ties that held them together and were too tangled to ever cut. In Greek mythology, three of the sons of the Titan Cronus played dice for the different parts of the universe. Zeus got the good deal in the from of the sky, Poseidon came in second and earned the seas, and Hades, ever the unlucky one, was left with the Underworld.

Lin often felt that the same dynamic applied to their group. Lin lived with her head in the clouds, so far above anyone else. Jade's groundedness that kept the other two stable in the real world. And Helia, with her secrets and guarded expressions, cast out from society. The three were indispensable to each other. Without one, the others would fall apart.

Out the window, Lin saw Remus stand for a moment, watching Helia's retreating form, before shaking himself and begin the journey back to his side of the castle.

Maybe it was possible for Hades to be happy too. Maybe, if he had waited, Persephone would have come to him.