Stronger (Harry Potter fan fiction)

8. Fuller

The frosty cold air blew against Shay's shivering arms as she shivered once again from her lack of a decent sized coat.

Remus' arms wrapped around her torso as her lips broke into a smile. It had been one month, two weeks and five days to be exact since the two of them had started going out and every time Remus showed her even the slightest bit of affection, she broke out in a huge ear-to-ear grin. Remus, however, just wore the simple smirk that apparently couldn't leave his face.

It was December, almost Christmas, and everyone in Hogwarts were getting prepared to leave in two weeks time. The castle was decorated in Christmas trees, bits of mistletoe hanging everywhere. The knights were cleaned and shining and the grass covered in a thick blanket of white snow. The Christmas spirit was everywhere, people randomly bursting out in carol singing during Charms (no one dared to in Transfiguration in fear of getting in trouble with McGonagall but Shay was sure she had heard even her hum along to 'Come All Ye' Faithful' during class) and everyone bought Christmas presents on the last visit to Hogsmeade before everyone left.

Lace and Fae were no longer talking to Shay, not that she minded very much. She had Remus and that was all she needed.

Though she was quite worried with the fact that Remus only appeared to be talking to herself and Peter. He didn't even talk to Sirius much due to the fact Lily and James were no longer talking to him and after all, James was Sirius' best friend and everyone knew that would never change.

Shay would often see Lace when she entered the Ravenclaw 7th year girl's room but she just ignored her. Though she had noticed that Lace was beginning to change. It seemed as though she were more reserved, her clothes got bigger yet she wasn't gaining weight and the bags under her eyes just seemed to get bigger.

She seen Fae even less than that but every time she did, she just seemed more upset. Fae didn't seem to actually be spending much time with Lace, she actually spent a lot of time with Landon (who was also ignoring her due to earlier incidents). Lace just seemed to disappear at most times, as if she went to her own little world at these times.

Remus and her had been out enjoying the beautiful views of Hogwarts with two bottles of heated butterbeer, Remus' treat. He had somehow gotten it in the castle, though Shay was sure you couldn't get butterbeer anywhere in Hogwarts but she knew that Remus had his ways.

Though Remus seemed perfectly happy ẁith being here, in her presence, Shay couldn't help but worry. The marauders were acting like a band that had just split up. None of them were talking except two, who's friendship seemed to be perfectly fine and were still doing what they had always done whereas the rest were hardly ever seen anymore.

In truth, Remus could care less about James. He was going to get this money for his mother and that was what mattered. Well that and he was going to steal all of Sirius' popularity. He would become Hogwarts player after this, He would be the guy all the girls obsessed over and had crushes on. he wouldn't be the geeky, nice one that hardly ever did anything bad. He would become Sirius and to become just like Sirius, he had to destroy Sirius first and what better way to do that than by breaking someone's heart?

Sirius had never once properly broken a girl's heart on purpose. He only stayed with them for at most a week before they could have anything more than liking him and then he would break up with them. Though many girls claimed they were heart broken, none of them really ever had the amount of pain in their hearts that one should have after being in hopeless love with another that did not feel the same.

"Are we ever going to actually study?" Shay laughed as she took another drink from her butterbeer. Remus was still tutoring her in Charms but Shay was definitely far from a genius at it. It was probably the fact that each tutoring session seemed to be more of a date than a tutoring session.