A/N: For Quidditch League, round 7, Chudley Cannons chaser 1. I had the pairing Remus/Lily (Moon Petals). Note: There is no optional prompts in my story because I was struggling with it and the Pride beaters had blocked them all anyway so...
AU: Where Lily is a Slytherin because she wanted to be with Severus and where Remus blocked out any potential friends.
Thank you so much to Queen (Queen Bookworm the First) for beta-ing!
Word count: 961 (by Google Docs)
The girl in the library was odd.
She was a Slytherin, but she didn't act like one. Remus had seen her protect multiple first years against her own classmates. They scoffed at the redheaded girl, but they still backed away every time.
Remus could see fire in her eyes. And that was what drew him in.
Remus didn't like friends. He wanted to separate himself from other people—he couldn't let them find out. His secret had to be kept. He had already separated himself from the other three boys in his Gryffindor common room, and he didn't see any reason to reach out to anyone else.
The girl in the library was different, though.
He sat at her table one day, the same table she always had, the one right next to the library entrance. When he sat down, pulling out his Potions assignment, she gave him a fleeting glance with her striking green eyes. He began to write.
The boy in the library was starting to annoy Lily.
He sat at her table and took out his work, with no intention to leave. Then he paused writing after a while and started to tap his quill loudly.
Lily groaned inwardly and tried to focus on her Transfiguration book. It really was quite fascinating, reading about the dangers of consuming something that was transfigured into food.
Lily wished that she could transform the boy's stupid quill into a pancake and shove it down his throat.
Trying to not let out a growl, Lily finally looked up and said, "Do you need help with something?"
The girl in the library was talking to Remus.
For a long moment, Remus didn't know what to do, how to respond. He stared at her for a while before clearing his throat and moving his essay over to where she could see it.
"Yes, actually. You see, I don't know how to state this here. Look, I want to say that—"
"Give me your quill," the girl interrupted, holding out her hand. A bit startled, Remus complied, handing his white quill to her.
The girl make a few marks on what he previously wrote then scribbled some more notes at the bottom.
"Here," the girl said, handing the parchment and quill back to Remus.
"Thanks," Remus said, unsure of why the girl was being so nice to him.
The boy in the library had scars covering his face.
Some looked old, some looked new, and Lily didn't know where any of them came from, but she did know that scars had to come from somewhere, and that somewhere was probably not good. Lily took pity on the boy, because she hated to see anyone suffer, even if she didn't know them. The scars on his face was proof enough to Lily that the boy had gone through something terrible.
When the boy asked for her help, it was too much for Lily. She already felt pity for him, and she also never could pass up an opportunity to increase knowledge. The few friends Lily had all agreed that the Sorting Hat messed up, and Lily belonged in Ravenclaw. It was also easy mistakes, things that would take Lily next to no time to fix.
When she handed the boy's parchment and quill back to him, their hands touched, and Lily felt something.
She pulled away almost immediately, but by looking at the slightly bewildered face of the boy, she could tell he felt something too.
The girl in the library made Remus nervous.
He didn't exactly know why, but he saw her beat up seventh years before, Muggle style, and that could have factored into Remus's nervousness, but Remus had felt nervous before, and it wasn't the same. All Remus could do was identify the emotion: nervousness.
Remus wondered if there was a good kind of nervousness, a kind that was different than what he would feel when he had to hide his secret from people once again, a kind that made Remus feel connected with this girl.
The boy in the library had Lily's head hurting.
When she came to Hogwarts, Lily had made a promise to herself to not get too close to anyone. She didn't exactly have a reason for it, but it just wasn't like her to form close relationships with people, and there was a castle full of people she would spend the next seven years with. She just didn't want to get hurt.
Lily had only made close relationships with two people in her entire life, and one of them had turned rotten. She was constantly on the watch for the other relationship to break.
Yet the boy in the library made Lily feel an urge, an urge to become his friend.
Lily wasn't one to believe in superstitions, or beliefs, like love at first sight, but meeting the boy in the library made Lily believe that people could feel connections as soon as they met.
The girl in the library and Remus stared at each other for a good minute, at least, before turning away.
Remus coughed awkwardly and extended a shaking hand to the girl. She really made him nervous.
The girl hesitated for a second before taking it and letting out a small, "Hi."
"Hi," Remus told her softly, their hands still interlocked.
"I'm Lily," the girl said, studying Remus's eyes.
"I'm Remus," Remus told her.
"This may sound weird," the girl, Lily, started, "but did you feel something?"
Remus wondered if he was obvious about it, but he still nodded his head and said, "Almost like a connection."
Lily nodded and released Remus's hand. She turned away and walked out of the library, leaving Remus alone.
"Goodbye," Remus said to no one, raising a single hand.