Astrophile [J.P]

Chapter 14

~ We have no secrets, we are all as one,

What we have between us is forever on and on. ~

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Very cautiously Remus creaked open the door to their dorm. He had miraculously made it through the hoards of people clustered in the common room to ask Remus about his first date. But before he could even step in, he was tackled to the floor by the remaining three Marauders.

"Guys, can I get up now?" Remus asked mentally preparing himself for the outburst of questions.

"Unfortunately not," Sirius replied, getting off of the remaining boys and sitting cross legged on the floor. Soon enough they were all seated on the floor in a circle as if playing Spin The Bottle. "What are you, really? A snake charmer?"

He shook his head, "she's not a snake."

"Oh yeah, my bad. An eagle charmer then?"

A smile broke on to Remus's face, "I still don't think that."

"Seriously Moony, do you have any idea that the three of us had kept our fingers crossed the entire time and hoped you would survive this weekend safe and sound? We were all praying for your life," the words flew out of James's mouth in an effortless rush, "and yet here you are, entering the dorm stealthily as if you would succeed in escaping us all. Really? How could you?"

"And why did you tell her about the rat we use for eavesdropping?" Peter spoke as if slightly buggered, "you have no idea how fast I scurried off for my life. Do you know what could have happened if she caught me eavesdropping?"

James shrugged, "I may be wrong as this is just a wild guess, but I think she would have roasted you on a steak."

Peter's eyes widened in alarm while Remus simply shook his head in disappointment. "She's not a banshee, Prongs," he spoke, "and she's not even half as scary as you make her seem."

Peter nodded probably offended at his statement, "I could have died and yet you're still taking her side... Looks like Rem doesn't have the charm skills we were admiring him for earlier, in fact it's probably Latvia who secretly happens to be a wolf charmer."

"Nah, she can be anything else but a charmer. You haven't had the honor of being tutored by her yet," James rolled his eyes wearily, "she makes me consider suicide at times and you all know that's a big deal."

Of course, no one could make James Optimistic Potter so deluded as to consider suicide. But it seems like Latvia had been an exception.

"And what do you have to say for yourself? She admits that you are a virtual suicide for her each time she's forced to tutor you."

James's jaw dropped open in surprise, "what do I do? Nothing at all, I don't say anything to her because she doesn't spare the chance for it and still... Still... I'm on the wrong side?"

"Boys, boys, do you know we are all straying off the actual topic?" Sirius stood up banging his hand on the nearby table, just like a judge bangs his hammer in order to stop a court quarrel, eyeing them all just like a mother hawk. Turning to Remus he softened his gaze and spoke in a mockingly sweet voice, "we were supposed to ask Rem how his first date went."

"It was not a date," he replied slowly.

"Of course it was, the whole school is aware of that," Pete added.

At that, Remus nodded his head in affirmation, "well that is all your doing. I never said I was going to take her out on a date. We were just going as friends."

"You agreed to comply with our plan, right?" Sirius raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Of course I did."

"Then deal with it," he finished the sentence with a playful smirk on his face, "and spill the beans about exactly what happened. No omissions, understand?"

Remus knew there was no way out, he decided to just give them what they asked; an account of the whole Hogsmeade trip minus Felicity's confession that she had cleared it all with Lily.

"Well, first I took her to Hogsmeade..."

Peter nodded, "excellent choice. What did you get from there?"

"Chocolate eggs? And yes, I brought some for you all too but guessing by the way you fell on me in such a tumultuous heap, they must have cracked under the weight."

"What a shame!" James exclaimed in fake distress.

He resumed with the account, "she said she was eating chocolate for the first time in years. When I asked her how could that be possible, she said she had always feared that she would get diagnosed with diabetes if she consumed sweets."

"Dia-what?" Sirius spoke.

James interrupted again, "no wonder she's bitter than a cardamom, I bet even that dia-something would escape for it's life if it was made aware of her presence. She has no need to fear this diagnosis. It won't happen."

"Diabetes; it's a disease caused when there is a high level of sugar in your blood," Peter elaborated, "my grandmother had it."

Remus nodded in approval, "exactly. So as I was saying, after that we went to Tomes and Scrolls as I had to buy parchment and quills and she needed a few books, and then after a short tour we came to the Three Broomsticks."

Sirius spoke up all of a sudden, "why didn't you take her to Madam Puddifoot's? It is said to be the haunt of happy couples."

"Well, in case you are forgetting, we are not a couple and we hadn't gone on a date so there was no specific reason for me to take her to that godawful tea shop."

James nodded, "fair enough. Okay, what happened next?"

"Nothing, we finished our butterbeers and came back to the castle," Remus concluded with a repressed sigh, "now that I have recounted everything, can I go change now?"

The three of them exchanged dubious looks but at long last Sirius nodded, "yes, you can."

After Remus had disappeared into the bathroom, he turned to face both of them, "so what do you think?"

"He's hiding something," James gave the verdict, "definitely lying in some parts."

He shook his head solemnly, turning to face the other boy, "what do you think, Pete?"

Peter nodded as well, "he sure is. Or else he would never have told Latvia about our method of eavesdropping."

Soon enough, Remus stepped out and the three of them went silent again. "Did I miss something important?" he asked with an eyebrow raised quizzically.

"Absolutely not," Sirius replied with the most innocent expression he could manage, "your boring account really tired us so we were deciding to go off to bed."

Remus eyed them carefully but nodded, "okay then. Good night."

"Good night," the three of them replied in unison and climbed on to their beds for a convenient long sleep.

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