Stronger (Harry Potter fan fiction)

6. Bloodier

Shay's mouth hung open as Remus smirked at Landon who growled back at him. This wasn't going to be good. Landon moved forward, wand in his arm with an angry look on his face. Shay gulped as Remus also stepped forward with his wand by his side. They looked like two men ready to go into a full wizard duel instead of two teenage boys about to jinx one another and maybe throw in a curse.

"Stay away from her, Lupin," Landon said through gritted teeth as he was finally right in front of Remus. Remus just smirked his smirk once again, going up and down on the heel of his feet whilst his hands fiddled with his wand. Landon didn't seem to like Remus' attitude towards the situation as he began grinding his teeth together and his face became a shade of red so dark that any rose would have been jealous.

"Oh yeah? And what if I don't?" Remus questioned and Shay inwardly groaned at the fact that he was making this harder on himself. Why the heck was he teasing Landon? Landon was smart, everyone knew that and he was damn good at dueling as well. Remus was already in a tricky spot with him so why was he purposely digging himself deeper into this situation?

"If you don't, Lupin," Landon said through clenched teeth, spitting out Remus' surname as if it was a disease. To Landon, his name was a disease. One that came up to often for his liking. He had used to think Remus was alright but now he was beginning to acct like a right git in front of everyone and Landon knew better to trust him near Shay. "I will beat you to a pulp, no wands, the muggle way."

"Then go on. Do it," Remus said. It sounded like he was teasing Landon, like he was daring him to punch him. Shay still couldn't understand why he was putting himself in this situation but she was actually scared for his sake. She remembered in back to third year when Regulus Black kept picking on Fae for being a Hufflepuff and Landon had walked straight up to him and punched him causing Regulus' nose to break. Sure, Landon had got a week's detention with Filch but to this day he still declares that the whole thing was worth it because Regulus never teased Fae or Lace or Shay again.

"Both of you stop it, now," Shay warned, trying to put some space between the two seventeen year old boys. Her attempts seemed to fail as Remus lightly pushed her away. Shay was once again standing, watching them and she knew she couldn't just pathetically stand there as she watched her friend punch someone for reasons beyond her. She needed to stop them but each time she tried, one of the two would push her away.

"Come on, Patil. Hit me with your best shot," Remus teased, putting hi wand up his sleeve and holding his hands up in surrender. He knew exactly what was about to come and he assumed correct as he felt Landon's fist connect with his jaw. He inwardly smirked but the pain from the punch was telling him it would be a bad idea to actually smirk.

Landon hadn't broken anything but there sure was a lot of blood. Remus held his nose in his hands as he cursed to himself about how sore it was. He didn't notice Landon was coming back to hit him again. Landon had soon gotten over the shock of actually punching him and realized his anger was still there. How dare someone tease him like that after trying something on one of his best friends?

"Stop!" Shay screamed, grabbing Landon's arm, preventing him from hitting Remus in the gut. If there was one thing Shay had always hated, it was violence. Lanodn's head shot in her direction, seeming to completely have forgotten she was still there. Remus was still holding his nose and groaning in pain but he was also watching the exchange between the two friends.

"What? He was the one doing the teasing!" Landon said, pointing a finger in Remus' direction. He sounded a bit like a bratty four year old, blaming their sibling for something they took part in, Shay thought to herself. She walked over to where Remus was crouching and grabbed his upper arm, pulling up from the crouching position.