Crime of the Century | Remus Lupin (o.h)

Chapter Seven

Estrella Quinn had loved Quidditch for as long as she could remember, well really ever since she first learned about it in her first year. She had loved the flying lessons throughout her first year, excelling ahead of her other classmates, and she had never missed a single Quidditch game at the school ever since. 

The only dark spot on her love of Quidditch was the fact that she would never get to tryout or play with the Gryffindor team. McGonagall had wanted her to try out ever since the beginning of her second year, not understand why the girl hadn't yet but soon realised why after Estrella explained it all one afternoon. 

Although Estrella had fenced most of the things she stole in order to have money, it was still hardly enough to get her through the school year most of the time even with the Professors help and the extra expense of Quidditch robes and a broom was one that Estrella would never be able to afford. So Estrella was forced to resign to buying second-hand Quidditch books, her passion never wavering once. 

The energy in the Quidditch stadium was pulsating, the murmurs of the crowd beating with Estrella's heart. The Gryffindor vs Slytherin matches always seemed to have a higher energy than the other games, the two houses long-standing rivalry boosting the excitement levels. Besides, it was also the start of the season which held its own energy as the cup was anyone's game. 

But Estrella was decked out in full head to toe Gryffindor gear, cheering loudly every time the Gryffindor chasers scored although deep down in her heart she secretly knew that due to the Slytherin's brutal strength they were going to win. Gryffindor hadn't had a Quidditch cup win in years, the Cup going to Slytherin year upon year but Estrella hoped that the day would come eventually and hopefully before the end of next year. 

But as the game continued in front of her, Estrella's thoughts wandered once more, mainly focusing on her study meeting with Remus after school. She had initially been quite shocked that Remus Lupin had come to her to ask for help with his studies. It was obvious to most that the boy who most often found reading would excel in his studies, but what Estrella didn't understand was how Herbology was the contender for his worst subject. She had always thought that he did fine in the subject and wasn't in the need for help but as usual, she wasn't the one to judge someone, especially when they had the courage to ask for help in the first place. 

Such thoughts continued to plague her for the remainder of her Saturday afternoon, through Gryffindor's defeat by Slytherin, through Bridget and Alastair's account of their day in Hogsmeade and eventually through her loss of appetite at dinner that night. It was only by the time that Estrella entered the library only to see Remus already sitting at an empty table, head already stuck in a book, that such thoughts left her head. 

"You're early," Estrella observed as she placed her own books down on the table. 

"Well, so are you," Remus replied with a small smile. His nervousness from the previous day had dissipated for the moment.  "Just keep this between the two of us but I had to get away from my dormitory, James is too busy sulking about Gryffindor's loss today."

"Well, he's not alone in that." 

"I can tell. You've still got some gold face paint in your hair." 

"I get very into my Quidditch, thank you very much. Besides I thought I might want to change up my hair colour a bit."

"You shouldn't your hair looks nice just the way it currently is," Remus said, the blush creeping once more across his face as he looked down at his hands in embarrassment.

"Um. . . thank you." Estrella replied, fiddling with her books in front of her, her own blush obvious for anyone to see. 

"Why don't you play then?" Remus suddenly blurted out.

"What?" Estrella replied looking towards the sandy-haired boy in confusion. 

"Quidditch? If you love the game so much, why don't you play it?"

"I'm afraid of heights," Estrella replied, the lie falling off her tongue easily. She really didn't want to lie to Remus, she was forced to lie to her best friends too often, but she really didn't have much of a choice. 

"Oh, that makes sense," Remus replied, the awkwardness creeping back into the conversation again. 

"Why don't we just start?" Estrella asked. 

"Yeah that's sounds great," Remus replied quickly, diving back into his Herbology textbook.