lovesick || r. lupin

³¹common room

"Remus?"

"Ayla?"

The pair were casually walking down the hall, side by side, making their way to the Hufflepuff common room after their (now very frequent) study "playdate" as James insisted to call it. Ayla pulled her bags strap tighter and chewed the inside of her cheek.

"Can I ask you something?" spoke Ayla.

Remus glanced at her, eyebrows slightly raised. "Of course. You don't need to ask for permission."

Ayla nodded. She wondered if this was the best idea, if what she was going to ask was too private. Perhaps it was. It definitely was. But for some reason, the past few days she couldn't get it out of her head and her curiosity got the best of her. "What'd you see in that mirror? The Mirror of Erised or whatever it's called?"

Remus went a bit stiff and his jaw tightened. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out and he simply continued to walk as his lips opened and closed like a fish.

He'd make a pretty cute fish, though, thought Ayla.

"Nothing of much importance..." Remus murmured lightly.

"Well, I think your desires are pretty important, don't you? You don't have to tell me though, if you're not comfortable."

There was a long pause and Ayla assumed that was it, that that was the end of their conversation but Ayla heard his voice softly speak, barely above a whisper, "My scars and... Yeah, just my scars... Quite vain, isn't it?" He weakly chuckled.

Ayla studied him for a moment. Her eyes traced over his scars; the three great big hashes across his face and the skinny one that went through his eyebrow and the scattered marks that stretched up his hands and under his navy blue sweater. It was true, the poor boy was covered in scars from head to toe but Ayla didn't think that was a problem at all. He looked rather handsome with them, rather brave. However, this did peak Ayla's curiosity in another way. Werewolf...?

"That's not vain at all," Ayla had replied genuinely.

Silence fell again. Ayla spoke again, eager to stop how quiet it was. "Where did you get your scars from, if you don't mind me asking?"

Another long pause. "Chandelier broke on me when I was little and I got cut up. My family also had a few stray animals in our neighborhood that I would constantly poke at. I would get scratched by them because they weren't too fond of me..."

Ayla knew that wasn't the truth but she didn't push. She was already asking enough questions.

"If it helps, I think your scars make you look rather dashing, actually..."

She didn't know why she said it but it was the truth.

Remus shook his head, "Really, it's okay, you don't need to lie-"

"I'm not lying. You do look quite handsome..."

Remus looked up at Ayla in a way that she couldn't quite read. Then, "Thank you... That's very kind..."

"Anytime," answered Ayla, trying to cover the pink that was rising to her cheeks.

They had finally arrived in front of the barrel that led to the Hufflepuff common room and they stood face-to-face, both not very eager to let the other out of their sight. Remus stood, mouth popped open, grappling for something to say so they wouldn't have to leave each other as soon as their were going to.

"Thank you for walking me back to my common room," thanked Ayla.

Remus shrugged and gave a soft smile, "No problem."