Who I Really Am (A Remus Lupin Love Story)

Chapter Thirtynine

        I was released from the Hospital Wing the day after my bandages were taken off or changed, as promised. I ran immediately to Remus, who was eating breakfast in the Great Hall with Lily and surprisingly, the other Marauders. None of them seemed to be objecting to this fact. I didn't know which was more strange to me: Lily sitting with the Marauders or Remus back with them.
        We made a bit of a scene. I walked into the Great Hall tentatively, trying my hardest not to be noticed. I scouted the Gryffindor table from the doorway, hoping to see Remus from there. Luckily, I did manage to (with a small gasp of surprise when I realized who he was sitting with), so I slipped between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables with ease, keeping my head down until I came to where Remus was sitting.
        Once I had gotten there, he still hadn't noticed that I had arrived. None of them did, in fact. They were all chatting and laughing. I was even more confused by that, but I let it go.
Instead, I tapped Remus very lightly on the shoulder and whispered, "Hey."
His eyes widened when he saw me, and I flashed him a smile. "Hey." He muttered back quietly, and then he turned around.
        Wait. He turned around on me? My smile fell, and my shoulders drooped. This wasn't the meeting I expected. I was about to take a step forward to look for another seat at the table, when Remus grabbed my arm.
I whipped around, looking at him with an eyebrow raised. "Yes?" I asked politely, in the gentle way you might as someone you don't particularly like.
His words come tumbling out all at once. "I missed you." Once he said them, I have to take a few seconds to unscramble the syllables. 
        I opened my mouth to reply with something along the lines of either, "I missed you too." or "Well, it didn't seem like it a minute ago." But instead Remus kissed me like he's never done before. Like the last time we saw each other was years ago, not yesterday. And I kissed him back, of course. 
Well, until we got interrupted. "Mr. Lupin! Ms. Noble!" I heard Professor McGonagall shriek, but I didn't pull away.
        Not until I felt the power of a nonverbal spell knocking me flat on my ass. Everyone in the Hall laughed. I looked up and saw that Remus ended up the same way, ten feet away from me. I smiled sheepishly, and he did too. 
"Inexcusable!" McGonagall shrieked, and all the laughs died out. "Disgusting! Intolerable! Defiance, too!" She strided forward so that she was a few feet behind Remus. "Detention, both of you! Tonight, seven o'clock, my office!"
        Some of McGonagall's words sunk in. But most of them didn't until later. Instead I just smiled stupidly at Remus, and he smiled back.