The Phoenix in You • {Remus Lupin/Marauders FF}

3

We were completely piled up with homework by the end of the first week. I thought studying for the O.W.Ls was a lot to handle but I only imagined this year would get a lot worse. I was sat in the Gryffindor common room, huddled around a table with Lily as we attempted to finish the essay we had been given to complete for Monday. It seems easier to get it out the way today so that we we would have the weekend mostly to ourselves.

"Professor Slughorn is going to be the death of me." I groaned, flipping the page of Potions book. The words 'Everlasting Elixir' felt as if they had been scratched into my forehead. Within the hour, my brother and his friends had rolled back into the common room and luckily I only had my conclusion left. There was no doubt James would be coming over to talk to Lily, Sirius and Remus trailing behind.

"Hi Lily, what you doing?" James pulled up a chair and sat next to her. I smiled to Sirius and Remus, trying to keep my focus so that I could close this essay. I dipped my quill into the ink pot for hopefully the last time tonight and neatly scribbled the last sentence.

"I'm doing my homework, James." Lily said, not shy to tell him how it was so obvious what she was doing. James nodded, ignoring the chuckle from Sirius. I tried not to smile as I rolled up my parchment and put away my school stuff.

"I'm just going to ditch my books upstairs then shall we go to the Great Hall?" I asked the group and they all looked at me nodding. Lily quickly packed away her stuff and gave me her bag so I could put that in our dorm. I made my way up the stairs quickly, skipping a step each time.

Our dorm room was much tidier than the boys'. I shared with Lily, and two other Gryffindor's - Cara Moran and Chen Zhao. I had never gotten along with Cara too well. Upon our first meeting, she had made very clear that she was a very proud Irish girl which I had no problem with but she moaned about anything and everything that wasn't like home.

Chen, however, was a very sweet girl. In first year, she had just moved to Northampton with her family from Tokyo so that she could study with other witches and wizards. Over the years, her English had gotten better than mine. Although, she did have a slight Irish twinge to some of the words that Cara had taught her.

Cara and Chen were sat at opposite ends of Chen's bed, a pile of sweet wrappers atop the books they had previously been studying from. I politely waved to them, quickly dropping our bags onto my bed. I headed back down the stairs where everyone was waiting for me.

"Ready?" Remus asked me and I nodded, reaching forward to swipe the mischievous lock of his hair that always fell forward back behind his ear. He laughed and only then did I realise everyone had watched me.

"Sorry, can't help it," I laughed along, falling into the arm that Remus threw around my shoulder as we began to walk out of the common room. When everyone was ahead of us, he glanced down to me smiling. "What?"

"Nothing." He looked awfully proud of himself, adorable too. I rolled my eyes, tucking my arm around his back and squeezing him towards me.

"Bully." I muttered as we pushed and shoved gently against each other as we hit the bottom of the stairs. The sounds of chatter and plates clanging arose as we approached the Great Hall. It was already packed with hungry students so we walked down the Gryffindor table, Sirius, James and I on one side and Peter, Lily and Remus on the other.

We squeezed in towards the front, diving straight into the Friday feast that Dumbledore had clearly already started. He was never too worried about when we turned up for dinners on Friday unless we didn't turn up at all.

"Scarlett," I heard someone call my name from behind. I turned around to the Ravenclaw table where Freddie Fowlie was flashing me his pearly white teeth. He was ridiculously perfect, not a blemish on his skin. His hair was a glossy dark brown and I had no doubt that he cast a spell upon it to hold it so perfectly. He, alike Remus, had a lock that fell down but his was meant to be there. "You going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

"Yeah, are you?" I asked. Even though we came from different houses, Freddie and I had trained flying together in our early years at Hogwarts before I knew that I was going to be playing Quidditch competitively. Back then he was a scrawny boy, his hair a complete mess and his tie was always tied incorrectly. I would have to do it for him almost every morning at breakfast. Now he was one of the most well known Ravenclaws.

"Yeah," He said cooly, turning around on the bench and turning towards me, leaning his elbows on his knees. "A few of us are going to hang out in The Three Broomsticks, I wondered if you wanted to come and chill with us for a bit?"

"Sure," I grinned, feeling a little red forming in my cheeks. "I'll be heading down with this lot but I'll see you there?"

"Sounds perfect." He smirked back at me before turning back to his table. I turned back, the smile that was plastered on my face impossible to hide as each of the five friends around me were looking at me.

"What?!" I asked, picking up my knife and fork and focusing on my dinner.

"Did you just agree to go on a date with Freddie Fowlie?" Lily said excitedly, waving her hands at me as if she couldn't believe I was so calm.

"Not a date, don't you start. I'm just going to go and hang out with them for a bit tomorrow." I explained unnecessarily. They had all no doubt heard the conversation that just occurred and were making it a far bigger deal than it was.

"It better not be a date." Sirius stated, raising his eyebrow at me as he angrily bit into whatever mush he had formed on his plate. He had a habit of mixing everything together which disturbed the most of us but Peter had picked up the habit of doing it too.

"And what would it have to do with you?" I scoffed, looking at him whilst I put a sliced carrot into my mouth. He shook his head, turning to look over his shoulder at Freddie.

"Fowlie is a moron," Sirius laughed and I frowned disapprovingly. "I'm surprised he knows which way to hold his wand."

The boys all shared a laugh, Remus' was more contained and was hidden behind his fork before he took a mouthful. I didn't hold his gaze long before I looked at Lily who's face of contempt matched mine.

"Have you ever even spoken to him?" I found myself defending Freddie. I wasn't too sure myself why but I'm sure it was something to do with the fact it was Sirius that had said it.

"Don't you remember? He tried to hex me when I ran into the Ravenclaw changing rooms to annoy them before their game against us in third year and he accidentally hit their keeper and put him out for the game. Surely you remember beating them four hundred to ten. James was going to let him catch the golden snitch out of pity but he couldn't even do that." Sirius and James laughed heavily at each other. I did indeed remember that. I felt a large bout of second hand embarrassment for a brief moment. I shook my head, looking up to Remus who was staring over my shoulder.

"That was an accident," Lily interjected. James stopped laughing. "And three years ago."

"He's still a moron. Isn't he, Remus?"

Remus just shrugged, looking disinterested with the whole conversation. I knew he had at least one class with him and I had thought they knew each other. I looked to him in a hope of some sort of defence but he said nothing.