A wavy, brown haired girl by the name of Marlene had herself perched in front of the couch which was near the crackling fire in the common room. Her eyes were slightly shifty, as she would flinch at every noise that she heard.
Her eyes fell upon the small puppy that rested on one of the couch cushions. Marlene smiled meekly at her pet Beagle named Lexi. This same little dog who she had smuggled into Hogwarts. Marlene cringed slightly at the thought, as she rested her head in her hands.
Marlene wasn't one to act out, but thought maybe, just maybe, no one would find out about her little secret about bringing Lexi with her for her sixth year at Hogwarts.
Her friends, Lily, Taryn and the other sixth year girls knew about it but had all sworn not to tell. It was like their own dirty little secret.
It was hard for Marlene, hiding Lexi like this. Lexi still was a puppy and a noisy one at that, so Marlene was forced to bring her to the common room early in the morning, hoping that everyone would be sleeping and wouldn't notice.
Biting her lip, she looked around to make sure no one was around. It was five in the morning after all. And it was a Saturday. It was still very risky for her to bring Lexi down. Anyone could come down and see her. So, Marlene figured bringing Lexi with her to the common room on a Saturday morning would be safe enough.
She petted Lexi's head and stifled a yawn. Lexi let out a bark at the contact, startled and was immediately shushed by Marlene.
She suddenly heard footsteps coming down the guy's dormitories steps. Marlene's eyes widened as she scrambled to take a seat on the couch and threw a pillow over her puppy. Lexi merely tried to get it off of herself but to her dismay, was unsuccessfully.
Peering over to see who was walking down the steps, she watched as a boy with light brown hair and grim expression bounded down the steps. She recognized him to be the Lupin boy. Thinking for a bit, she remembered his name. Remus.
He paused short as he caught Marlene's eye, furrowing his eyebrows together in confusion.
She, on the other hand, hesitantly brought a hand up and gave a meek wave.
He shot her a curious look but waved back nonetheless.
Without saying anything, he walked over to her and opened his mouth to speak but shut up, absorbing what he was seeing.
The pillow that was on top of Lexi was scrambling around slightly and Marlene's awkward smile was none to comforting. It was a weird site to see in the early morning. He paused as he tried to piece together his words.
"Why is..that pillow moving?" he asked slowly, watching as her expression suddenly dropped.
"Uh, it's uh..a new spell I learned.." she withdrew slowly as she grabbed hold of the pillow.
He rose an eyebrow. "Are you uh, sure about that, Prince?" he asked, eyeballing the pillow.
"Yeah, uh huh, positive. Um, isn't time for breakfast? Gee I'm famished!" she murmured quickly.
He paused and shifted his weight to one foot, most likely in thought.
"Um..the pillow's moving again," he pointed out.
Marlene let out an exaggerated sigh. "Really, it's just a new spell is all.."
He sent her a look showing he wasn't convinced, releasing another sigh from her.
"Why ..why don't you just bugger off, Lupin?" She mumbled with a slight whine.
The boy blinked, craning his head slightly. "Well..I uh guess I should go to breakfast."
She nodded her head, feeling giddy on the inside that she got away with it.
She was proven wrong, as Lexi suddenly barked outloud.
Color drained from Marlene's face as she snapped her head towards the pillow. Biting her lip, she let out a cough. "Woah, excuse me. I just had a horrible cough."
Remus opened his mouth to speak but Lexi suddenly popped from under the pillow and leaped off the couch. Without hesitation, she approached Remus and sniffed his feet for a moment, and began whining and pawing at his legs, begging to be pet.
Marlene put her face in her hands and groaned.
Remus's eyes shifted from Lexi to Marlene then back at Lexi. He bent down and gingerly patted Lexi's head. "How'd this dog get here?" he asked in a quiet, slight teasing voice, giving Marlene a knowing look.
She let out a defeated sigh and sat down in front of him, smiling sheepishly. "I had to bring her with me. I just got her over break. It was instant chemistry!" She said softly. He let out a laugh and stopped petting Lexi. Lexi, however, let out a sound of disappointment.
Marlene bowed her head slightly and went to pick up Lexi. "Please don't tell?" she practically begged as she got Lexi in her arms. The pup yipped and yapped, jumping out of Marlene's arms as she sought after Remus again. She seemed to love Remus. Marlene sent him a strange look and tried to grab Lexi again.
"She's usually shy around new people, but she seems to love you. I wonder why.." She mused, trying to keep Lexi from bothering Remus. She again jumped away and growled at her, while seeming to rub against Remus like a cat.
Marlene seemed taken aback slightly at Lexi's growling and looked up to see Remus who seemed very uncomfortable.
"I uh, better go to breakfast. You know, I don't want to miss out on the food," He said, standing up. Marlene stared up at him.
"I doubt anyone ate anything, it's still early. You can still sit with me if you'd like." she offered as Lexi whimpered, pawing at Remus's legs. He brought a hand up and scratched the side of his head, beginning to walk backwards.
"Thanks but..I'm pretty hungry and well I want to be first," he sputtered and quickly walked out of the common room, shutting the door behind him. Lexi howled, pawing at the door afterwards.
Marlene stared at the door for a moment and went to grab Lexi. "What has gotten into you?" She asked out loud and looked at the door. "Why do you love Lupin so much?" She mused mostly to herself and looked down at Lexi, who seemed to be a bit anxious.
Stopping to look around the room, she heard that people were beginning to wake up and were on their way downstairs. Quickly, she ran up the steps to the sixth years girls dormitories and paused, seeing all the girls asleep.
Quietly, she walked to the loo. Opening up a trunk that sat near the back of the room, which had holes through the top, she put Lexi inside.
"It will only be for a while, I'll let you out after breakfast." Marlene said and patted Lexi's head. Shutting the trunk, she stood up.
Walking back to the room, she sat down on her bed. She was still wondering why Lexi loved Remus so much. It took Lexi a few days to actually let Marlene's roommates just pet her. What was so different about Remus? The thought remained with her as she found herself laying down and snuggling under the covers.