you are loved. - r.lupin (ft. THE s.black)

rapunzel

Remus fiddled with his wand, feeling the rigid and smooth parts, during Potions class. He should've been paying attention to Professor Slughorn's lecture about hair growing serum but his attention drifted over to the ethereal girl beside him. Potions was the only class he had sitting next to Caroline and he wasn't about to waste it.

"Caroline," he whispered. Caroline tensed up slightly when he leaned closer and whispered again. "It's been four days. Please forgive me."

Like all the previous days, Caroline pretended she couldn't hear him and silently hummed to herself. She furiously scribbled words on the parchment and a few of her golden locks fell in front of her heart-shaped face.

Remus reached his hand out to tuck the strands behind her ears but then flinched when he realized what he was doing. The sandy-haired boy pulled his hand back and Caroline frowned slightly. "Look, Caroline, I'm sorry. Please just forgive me," Remus begged quietly.

Caroline's head turned towards him and the rest of her long hair swayed with her. Her clear eyes searched his darker ones, searching for an answer that Remus didn't have. "Okay."

"Okay?"

Caroline started rolling up her parchment and capped her jar of ink. "Okay," she repeated in confirmation. Some students had already started filing out of the small classroom and Caroline was finishing packing up while Remus sat in his seat, unable to move.

"Why now?" he finally asked. Remus started to slowly roll up his unused parchment and cap his unused ink bottle.

"My Divination crystal ball said I would forgive you on the fifth day," Caroline shrugged, throwing her small shoulder bag over her left shoulder and letting the bag rest right above her right hip.

Lily impatiently waited at the doorway for Caroline and tapped her black 1-inch heel against the tiled floor. "Now or never, Care," Lily drawled.

Remus watched the girl skip away without sparing him another glance or a goodbye.

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Caroline wore a white halter dress and her hair was thrown into a messy braid with tons of flowers entangled in them. She decided not to wear her shoes after classes and in her right hand was a basket of goods.

She was very strange but also breathtaking at the same time. So you can say that it surprised Sirius Black when she walked out of her dormitory and into the common room looking like that.

"Sirius," Caroline's lofty voice floated into the nearly empty Gryffindor common room. Sirius' attention drifted towards the girl walking down the stairs and he nearly fell off the crimson red couch.

"Blimey, Care. Where are you going dressed like that?" Sirius gaped. "I mean, you look good, bloody hell, you always look good. Beautiful, actually." Sirius recomposed himself and stomped out his cigarette with his boot before turning his attention back to the girl standing before him.

"You look like bloody Rapunzel," he breathed out. Caroline simply smiled at him with a look of innocence that only she could pull off.

"I'm going on a picnic with food for two. Would you care to join?" Caroline offered.

"I wish I could but James-

"is chasing after Lily so he shouldn't be back for a while," Caroline finished his sentence.

"How do you know that?" Sirius asked, standing up. "James told me he was getting more pranking supplies."

"Lily and I were supposed to go on a picnic together," Caroline explained. "She saw James coming in our direction and sprinted in the direction of the Astronomy tower. I was thinking about not going on a picnic but I would hate if the house elfs' work goes to waste. So would you like to go on a picnic with me?"

Sirius didn't have anything better to do and decided that waiting around for James to come back was a waste of the afternoon. "Okay," Sirius agreed.

Caroline mindlessly grabbed his hand and they continued on their way. Sirius tried his best to ignore the stares he received from other guys and Caroline was completely oblivious to the hateful and envious glares that petty girls sent her way.

The thing about Caroline Pettigrew that made her so special was that she was untouchable. For a strange reason, no one dared to touch the beautiful Gryffindor unless she touched them first.

She was delicate but at the same time, unbreakable. Caroline was something everyone watched from afar until she let someone watch her close up. There was no simple way to describe Caroline Pettigrew. Everyone wanted her or wanted to be like her. She was like a gold rush.

The two arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and Caroline set down a nice checkered blanket. Caroline went through the basket and laid everything out in a nice manner. "Blimey, you've got everything!" Sirius exclaimed, sitting down next to Caroline.

Laying on the blanket was treacle tarts, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, candies, sandwiches, pasta of all sorts, Butterbeers, sodas, waters, and fruit salad. "I didn't really know what to bring so I brought everything," Caroline sighed. "I hope it's not too much."

"No, no, no," Sirius shook his head repeatedly. "Nope it's fine. I'll eat it."

Caroline smiled at Sirius fondly and Sirius didn't fight the urge to smile back. Caroline opened a bottle of Coke and started picking at the fruit salad. Sirius ate some of the chocolate chip cookies and took a bite of a sandwich.

"Care, can I ask why you're not wearing shoes?" Sirius asked while taking another bite of the sandwich. Caroline shook her head 'no' and continued eating the salad that consisted of strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, and pineapples.

Sirius laughed at the blonde and she glanced up from her food, smiling. "You're very strange, Pettigrew. Did anyone ever tell you that?"

"The only other person who's told me that is Lily and that was in first year. She's my best friend now so I would assume that's a compliment," Caroline said hopefully.

Sirius shook his head but couldn't keep his smile off his face. "You are so strange" is all he could say.

They ate in a peaceful silence for ten more minutes or so until Sirius asked a question. "Why did you ask me to go on a picnic with you? You could've asked anyone," Sirius insisted. "Anyone else would've been beyond happy. So why me?"

Caroline took a sip of her Coke and her brows knitted together. "Professor Trelawney says I'm a Seer. I looked into my crystal ball and I saw Lily and James together. They look around the same age as they do now so I can assume they'll be dating by the end of next year," Caroline said.

Sirius opened his mouth to ask what that has to do with his question but Caroline continued on. "Lily is my best friend and my only friend really. When she starts to drift away from me and gravitate towards James, I assume James will start to drift away from you as well. I think that when the time comes, we should be able to keep each other company."

"Did you actually see them together?"

"It was an adorable yet disturbing sight for me to watch from my crystal ball," Caroline sighed. "They were snogging. I am happy that they'll have a future together but it was a quite unpleasant way to find out. Would you like to go back to the castle now?"

Sirius gazed at the girl in the white dress sitting next to him. "I think we should stay a little longer, princess."