It was November. The first frost hadn't come yet, but it was chilly. Chilly enough to need a thick sweater and a scarf, if you were sitting in the window ledge of a hallway in the South Tower. Which is exactly what one Remus J. Lupin was doing this night.

It was his favorite place to think. Not about anything in specific. His mind often wandered, ranging from why he had been bitten, to why pears were such a weird shape, and everywhere in between.

But today, he was thinking about unrequited love.

Lily and James, for example. James was head over heels with Lily, but she didn't seem interested in him at all. He pined for her, and it was sometimes even sickening how obsessed he was. That kind of pleading, loud love. Remus wished he could have that.

Instead, he was a quiet follower. Not in life, because he came up with the most brilliant prank for anyone going through the third floor corridor, but in love. He sought after the object of his affection silently, and from a distance.

For example, in his second year he had the biggest crush on Amy Macmillan, and didn't do anything about it until stupid Sirius told her. Not that it went anywhere, since they were only twelve, but if it weren't for Sirius, his life would be just him, sitting in a couch, reading.

Sirius Black. The bane of his existence.

Ok, not in a creepy way, though. It wasn't like if he didn't have Sirius, he'd throw himself off a cliff, because that would be crazy. It was the kind of longing, the kind that you can push away into the corner of your mind. When he was away, Remus was fine. But as soon as he stepped in, he felt stupid and inept. Which, really, was stupid, since it was now their sixth year, and they had been friends since the day they met. They knew everything about each other, because they told each other everything. Remus confided to Sirius about how he thought he might be gay, and Sirius told him about how much he hated his family and how music was the only outlet for his anger.

But the longing was there. And Remus knew it was unrequited, so he let it be. He slipped out of the ledge, and started to make his way back to the common room when he crashed into someone running towards him.