Ineffable | Remus Lupin

VII

"You still staring at her, Moony?" Sirius quipped cheekily, "Don't you think she's a bit out of your league."

Remus rolled his eyes and finally broke his gaze over towards Ingrid. "I think she's out of all of our leagues." He retorted, elbowing the shaggy-haired boy in the side.
"Ow!" He yelped, drawing the attention of James and Peter to their discussion, "Nobody is out of my league."

"What's going on?" James asked, eager to not be left out.
Remus quickly quipped, "Nothing."

Sirius chuckled and threw his arm around the boy's shoulders. "Moony has a little crush, right?" He teased playfully.
"You know," Remus folded his arms and looked down at his empty plate, "That nickname is not as discrete as you think."

"I just tell people we call you that because you mooned Mcgonagall last year." James laughed as he started putting chocolate profiteroles into his mouth.

"What?" Remus exclaimed.
"Ha!" Sirius guffawed, "So that's where that rumour came from!"

"Ew, that's gross." Remus recoiled as James opened his mouth to reveal a half-chewed mess of cream and chocolate sauce, instantly forgetting what they'd been discussing.

Peter patted James on the shoulder as he said, "No, what's gross is how pathetic that is, James. Can you really not fit more than four in at once?"
"Oh, are you looking for a little competition, Pete?" James raised an eyebrow.

Sirius snickered, "Yeah, you would only be a little competition, James. Pete is going to wipe the floor with you!"
And so began the competition of who could ram the greatest number of profiteroles into their mouth without being sick.

Remus propped his elbows up on the table and rest his head in his hands. He glanced across the room again to look at Ingrid, who now appeared to be talking to whoever sat opposite her.
Then his head turned to cast his gaze down the Gryffindor table, where a little way away sat Lily Evans.

"Oh." He remembered.

"Pete is wiping the floor with you!" Sirius egged the boys on, "Well, someone is going to have to wipe up the floor when you throw this all up."
The three boys didn't notice as Remus quietly gout out of his seat and hurriedly dashed down the table. Silently, he slid into a seat beside May Macdonald and opposite Lily Evans.

"Lily." He greeted abruptly, causing the strawberry-haired girl to jump slightly as she looked up at him and then choke on some of the drink in her mouth.

"I-er..." She coughed slightly, clearing her throat and setting down her goblet on the table, "Remus, are you alright?"
He nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you? Wait, sorry, that's not the point. Sorry. I wanted to ask you about the Thestrals."

"Oh, yeah..." She tucked some hair behind her ear, "Well, I've only seen drawings of them in books."

"Thestrals?" Remus turned to see Alice Fortescue, sat beside Lily, had asked the question. She had thick, dark brown, almost black hair and a blunt cut fringe that nearly masked her eyes. But she smiled sweetly and Lily, then Remus, blushing slightly as she realised she'd interrupted their private conversation.

Lily clarified, "They're the creatures that pull the carriages."
"What?" Alice frowned, "Nothing pulls the carriages."

She explained, "Thestrals do. They're invisible to most people. Not many people at all can see them."
"But who can?" He persisted, "What makes them visible?"
"Can you see them?" Alice asked with a nervous laugh as she realised she'd spoken over Remus.

"No," Lily shook her head, "I can't. I read about them last year. Thestrals, they... They're only visible to people who've seen death."

Remus leant back in his seat as any sign of a casual, lighthearted conversation was instantly extinguished.
Alice gulped, "Oh."
An uneasy silence fell between them for a moment. That was until Marlene Mckinnon and Mary Macdonald shattered it.