Save Me: Professor Lupin x Student!OC

Chapter Five

     I must've spent hours debating whether or not to go to dinner, because once I made my decision it was already time to head down to the Great Hall. I hadn't seen Fred or George since that morning, and I wasn't sure what I would say or do, but I decided to go anyway.
      They weren't in the common room, (which I had spent avoiding for the two hours of free time), so I assumed they were already eating. I tried not to think about the boggart I had seen, but this was to no avail. It was hard to get something like that out of your head.
     The Great Hall was packed full like always, a few students, like me, were just arriving, but everyone was far too focused on their food to notice. The twins saw me and waved, laughing about god knows what, and so I headed towards them.
     "Hey Quinn, you alright?", George asked, his smile being replaced with concern. Evidently, my sadness was blatantly obvious, either that or they could just read me that well, after all the years we've spent together.
     I nodded my head in answer, which they took as a sign not to press any further. I focused on the food on my plate, sighing at the meal of steak and potatoes. Was it obvious that I didn't feel like eating?
     Not wanting the twins to worry, I picked up my fork and spooned some mashed potatoes into my mouth. I tried not to grimace at the bland taste. Normally, I quite liked the buttery, salty-ish taste, as the Hogwarts house-elves were excellent chefs, but my taste buds remained unsatisfied.
     Surprisingly enough, I finished all of my food, the steak being the only thing I really liked. I almost got some dessert, but decided against it. After all, I wouldn't want to get too used to eating again, or I might want to eat tomorrow as well. I shudder at the thought of it.
     The Hall was only about half full now, which I was thankful for because I had started to get a headache from all the loud chatter. Fred, George and I still sat at the table, the twins of course talking to one of their other friends, until they turned to me.
     "So, Quinn," Fred began, taking on a serious tone, "We heard about Defense Against the Dark Arts, are you okay?"
     It seemed they were always asking me that question, are you okay?
     "Yes, I'm fine." I said, not really meaning to sound so annoyed.
     "We had no idea..." George started, but I didn't let him finish.
     "I said it's fine, George. It's not that big of a deal." I lied, feeling my eyes well with tears.
     "Quinn..."
     I wiped my eyes quickly, not daring to look up at the two identical boys. I could tell they had gotten up by now, moving around the table and sitting on either side of me. George wrapped his arms around me, my head now buried into his shoulder, while Fred did the same.
     "I'm so afraid to lose you.", I muttered, appreciating the temporary closeness. It had been a very long time since I last hugged them, and I felt bad because of it, knowing they deserved so much more than me.
     "You'll never lose us, Quinn.", George said quietly, finally letting me go, along with Fred.
     "Yeah, we'll always be here to annoy you and play pranks," Fred added.
     "And get into trouble together.", said George.
     "A lot of trouble." Fred corrected.
     "I love you guys." I admitted softly. They definitely deserved to hear it.
     Without skipping a beat, they both ruffled my hair, while pulling me in for a side hug.
     "Yeah, we love ya' too." Fred replied.
     "And all that other cheesy shit." George said, making me laugh a little.
     After that, I made a promise to myself not to push them away ever again. As I said before, they deserved so much better than that. In fact, they deserve the whole world, at least in my opinion.
     I slept better that night, better than I expected, with the day I'd had. I bid the twins goodnight, changed out of my robes into pajamas, and hoped upon hope that tomorrow, my day would be better.
Just tomorrow, that's all I ask. After all, my life has been hell the past few months, so is one day really too much to ask?

                         ~

Finally, the weekend had arrived at last.
I could hardly believe I'd only been back to Hogwarts for a week. Though I had an extremely long and exhausting week, I knew I was in for a much longer year.
I woke up this morning, surprisingly not tired despite waking up at 7:00 a.m. Normally, I slept in for as long as possible, but today my brain was ready to start to day. Unfortunately, my body was not.
I'd been laying in my bed for a good hour, glancing at the book that lay in my lap every now and then. I decided to close it, knowing I was to unfocused to pay attention to it anyway.
The cover was worn, the peeling gold letters read : The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. I smiled, remembering Professor Lupin's battered suitcase, that had similar peeling letters on its side.
In a matter of days my crush on the Professor had grown immensely. I couldn't say this was my first crush ever, in fact, I had a tendency to get attached very easily to people. Usually, it was with anybody who showed me kindness or love or appreciation, because I didn't exactly receive that sort of attention on a regular basis.
The twins, (as well as the rest of the Weasley family), were two of the first people to show me that people could be both caring and incredibly kind. Before I met them, I had no one, not even my parents.
My relationship with my family, well...I guess I didn't really have one. They were always busy with the ministry and left me with a babysitter until I was old enough to be home alone. When I befriended the twins during their second year, I had no idea the impact they would have. The Weasleys became the family I never really had.
I suppose that's why my parents' disappearance didn't really effect me. Of course I was upset and worried, but that's because they're my only blood relatives, as my extended family was long gone. Other than that, it wasn't much different than before they disappeared.
Maybe that's why I'm attracted to Lupin, because he doesn't seem like the type who would disappear on me so suddenly, like my parents did.
I sighed in my bed... god, I was making myself depressed again, well, more depressed than I already was.

Today was another long day. Things seemed to move in slow motion, more so than when I have classes to bide my time. The twins and I hung out much of the day, planning pranks, sometimes pulling them. We didn't get caught once. When we went our separate ways, sometime in the afternoon, I wandered the quiet and empty halls, while many other students were outside in the sunshine.
I enjoyed the silence of the castle, that is, until something, or rather, someone, interrupted the quietness. Three Slytherins, the ones from my Potion class, in fact, came around the corner, talking loudly and obnoxiously about something.
I froze, not knowing what to do...there was nowhere to run if they tried to attack me. I was completely alone, and not a single teacher was in sight. Just as I feared, they stopped when they spotted me, whispering something to one another before returning their attention to me.
The three boys sneered, and the one standing in the middle, a brown haired boy with pale skin, stepped towards me, a devilish smirk taking over his features.
"What's a pretty thing like you doing in the hallways alone?", he questioned, backing me towards the wall, "There's a killer on the lose you know, it's not safe to be on your own."
I backed up to the stone wall, which felt cold, even through my robes. I glared at him, trying to hide my growing fear... yes, even Gryffindors get scared sometimes.
Of course, I could hex him, run off and find a teacher, but I wouldn't be able to get my wand out fast enough to use it. That, and the boy was too close to me, and would notice if I made to grab my wand, potentially putting me in more danger.
"Can't you talk?", he said angrily, moving swiftly and pinning me against the wall, "I suppose that would be a good thing then... no one can hear you scream, huh?"
He flashed that same evil grin, and I opened my mouth to speak, but he clamped a hand over it, leaving me unable to make a sound. I squirmed underneath his grip, but his two cronies came over and held my arms down against the wall. I was unable to scream, unable to move...I was, however, screwed.
The boy licked his lips, causing me again to squirm, as I knew exactly what was about to happen. Tears pushed their way out of my eyes as the boy trailed a hand up my skirt, his hand stopping suddenly, for some reason, but that's when I saw him, when I heard his voice...

It was Lupin.

"What's going on here?", he questioned, though he knew exactly what was happening. My heart was beating rapidly, scared at what would happen next. Lupin's wand was held out toward the three boys, motioning for them to back away. Now who was screwed?
Lupin rushes over to me, I was still shaking and eyeing the boys carefully. He looked at me and placed a gentle hand in my shoulder, but I couldn't find it in myself to look at him. I was almost afraid to look into those soft green eyes.
"Hey...", He said, in attempt at getting my attention, I forced myself to look at him, tears falling onto my cheeks, and he looked back with concern, "Are you alright, dear?"
The nickname threw me off for a moment, but slowly I nodded my head. He nodded back in understanding, turning to deal with the three boys.
"As for you three, I suspect this is your last night at Hogwarts. I'll be reporting this immediately.", he said, his voice stern and angry, "Go back to your common room, if you're not there within twenty minutes, you'll be in much more trouble than you already are."
He sent the boys off, watching as they grumbled and walked away. Once they turned the corner, he returned his attention to me and now seemed worried and frantic.
"Quinn, did they hurt you? Are you sure you're okay?", he said, now gripping both of my shoulders. I let more tears fall, avoiding his intense gaze. I didn't like people seeing me cry, I also didn't like sympathy in situations like these, so I felt uncomfortable and exposed.
I couldn't help myself, I hugged him around his middle tightly, like a scared child during a thunder storm. He seemed stiff and shocked at first, but gave in as he felt me shiver and shake with fear. He wrapped his long arms around me gently, mumbling quiet and calming sympathies to me as I let out a few sobs.
Eventually, he let go and took me straight to Dumbledore's office where we could deal with the situation. I told, in detail, what had happened, still sort of in shock at how quickly the whole thing had started and ended.
When Dumbledore sent me off to go get some much needed rest, I took one last look at Lupin, who still had that sympathetic look in his eyes. I walked down the stairs out of the large office, wondering why such terrible things had to happen to me all the time.

Now I definitely know how Harry feels.

~

[2087 Words]

[A/N] I'll keep this short but I just wanted to say, what a crazy chapter! Sorry to any Slytherins who took possible offense to this chapter. I'm perfectly aware that not all Slytherins are evil, so I did not intend on offending you, if you took offense to that. Anyway, have a nice day as always, and please comment and vote!

~Ren /*