Lollipop Kisses
Story Idea I go while eating a Dum-dum on the way back from the Dell. Weird how you get a story epiphany while looking at half a lollipop covered in spit?
Remus Lupin had a problem. Not of the furry kind, or the Padfoot kind. But of a kind Remus had never faced. The girl kind.
A crush.
A big one.
Her name was Cassandra (a/n my alter ego so it's likes me. Just a witch.) and she was 14 and in his year. She was a good friend of James and had a funky dress sense, wearing enchanted shirts that reflected her mood. She had no real personality, but if people had to describe her, she would be considered a "bookworm with taste and flair," as James put it.
Remus was attracted to her, not by her looks or bookish nature, but by something else.
What she did in class.
Cassandra had recently developed a liking for muggle lollipops ever since Lily had given her one. She could often be seen with them in her mouth or being held by her as she talked to friends, and the teachers didn't mind, as long as she kept quiet.
Remus was watching her in DADA, silently debating with Moony, the wolf.
Go for it. What's the worst that could happen?
I can't. It might wreck everything between us.
Or, she might like you back.
What if she doesn't? What happens then? What if she dumps me after she finds out I'm a werewolf?!
I kick her ass?
Remus sighed and went back to taking notes, failing to notice Cassandra watching him out of the corner of her eye. Only one person did notice. Moony.
Later…
Remus was sitting by the fire, thinking about Cassie and slipping into erotic daydreams.
He really wanted to ask her out, but was scared. He had never dated a girl before, and had never cared too, really. But recently something had happened to him and his friends. They had shot up in height and their voices were deeper. He recalled his mum telling him about puberty and how it would happen, but he hadn't figured so soon!! It happened so fast, it seemed like yesterday he was short and squeaky and never giving a thought about the girls. Now, he was tall, he sounded less squeaky and more tuba-ish, and he noticed girls. It frightened him a bit. Sighing, Remus headed upstairs to sleep, trying to clear his fogged up brain.
"He was swimming in the Black Lake, floating, waiting for someone, someone important. He sat up as he heard someone call his name. "Remus!" she said, swimming towards him.
"Cassie…." He breathed. She reached him and snuggled in his arms, running her fingers up and down his chest. She looked up at him and kissed him. Slowly at first, then harder and faster while sliding her tongue into his mouth, slipping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer…."
Remus woke up immediately, noticing the wet, sticky stuff he seemed to leak in his dreams.
"Oh yuck!! What is this?!" he said. He heard someone shuffle and realized he had woken someone up.
"Remus what is it?" James said looking disheveled. All Remus could do was mumble incoherently and stare at his lap.
James came over, took one look at his wet bed, and burst into hysterics. A thump, followed by a "What the Hell?!" told Remus Peter and Sirius had woke up.
James kept laughing so hard he had tears running down his face, and tried (unsuccessfully) to swallow his laughter when Sirius sent a death glare his way.
"Jamsie, what the hell do you mean by waking me up at 2 am. I need my beauty sleep."
Still chuckling, and despite Remus's attempt to stop him, he blurt out, "Remus had a wet dream."
Sirius stopped shooting daggers at James long enough to check, and, sure enough, he burst out laughing as well. Poor Remus was trying so hard NOT to blush and was failing miserably.
"So? I bet it's happened to you too…." He mumbled, glaring at James and, for some very odd reason that I can't comprehend, having a desire to hex them all.
"Ahhh. It has Moony. But for you this is major, you have the emotions of a brick wall when it comes to dating!" said Sirius.
"Do not"
"Do too"
"Do Not"
"Do too"
"Do NOT"
"DO TOO DO TOO!!" finished Sirius, kicking his legs like a two year old having a tantrum.
"Fine. I do. How do I get rid of this?" he said, gesturing to his bed.
"Scorgify" said James, rising his eyebrows at Remus, who blushed and said, "Oh right, I knew that."
He got off his (now clean) bed and looked for clean pajama bottoms and underwear.
He changed into some boxers as all his bottoms were dirty or…wet.
"Promise me one thing Prongs."
"Yeah?"
"This NEVER leaves this room."
James merely chuckled and fell back asleep.
Next morning, in breakfast, somehow Cassandra had come to be sitting next to him. He had a hard time eating as Moony was trying to take over Remus in order to kiss her. It didn't help that Moony kept noticing Cassandra was watching out of the corner of her eye again.
Remus's arm twitched and he knew he needed to leave before doing something drastic like jumping on the table and declaring his love for her, or something of that sort. He hurried to his first class, Potions.
He was the first one to arrive, which surprised Professor Slughorn.
"Oho! What's this? You're 15 minutes early! Are you feeling alright my boy?" he said
"Fine, just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night." Remus replied. This much was true. There were dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, Remus had been terrified to fall asleep in case he had another dream.
Slughorn looked at him skeptically and shrugged. Turning to write today's lesson on the board, he kept Remus under surveillance.
The dungeon started to fill with people, including Cassandra who looked curiously at Remus, asking with her eyes why he had disappeared. He shrugged indifferently. Cassandra blinked and nodded but joined Slughorn in keeping him under radar.
"Everybody here? Good!! Today we will have a contest. Make whatever potion you can fully complete within two hours, and whoever has made the best will be the winner!" He clapped his hands once and looked around the room. "Partners! Remus, Cassandra. Sirius, Peter. James, Lily. Snape and Abbot." He looked around the room once more and clicked a time watch. "Begin…NOW!!" he said.
The scrap of cauldrons and people hustling to get ingredients filled the dungeon, but Remus was still in shock. He was supposed to work with Cassandra? Although she was one of the best potion makers in the school, rival Snape, he could barely eat with her, let alone be with her for two hours?! Was Slughorn nuts?
"Remus? Are you ready? I figured we could make the Draught of Sunshine. Gives anybody happiness for a short period of time and leaves them feeling more optimistic afterwards."
He looked up from his shock. Cassandra was standing there, with her book open. "Oh yeah, sure go ahead." He mumbled.
"Great! I'll get the ingredients while you light the cauldron." She bubbled and bounded off. Remus shook himself out of his haze and set up the cauldron. He waited while Cassandra picked everything they needed from the store cupboards.
She bubbled back and started chopping up mallow root. "Remus just hand me what I need and cut up a few tings her and there. This is a very hard potion that needs all my attention, so please try not to screw it up." She was in student mode and Remus decided to listen to her. She had a very big temper if things weren't done just right. Especially in her best subject.
That was how they worked for the two hours, Remus handing her things and sitting there, her adding everything (even things that weren't on the list) and stewing it to perfection. It was better then the nightmare he had imagined.
Sometime later while Slughorn was checking potions
"Ahhh! The Draught of Happiness! A very complex potion you have chosen Miss Jenkins, but, expertly done. I see it is better then most peoples results. What is your secret?"
Cassandra smiled. It seems she had beaten Snape, although it was a friendly rivalry. He had needed to tutor her in Potions, first year, when she was just as bad as Remus. She grinned, remembering….
Cassandra was doing her Mid-year potions test, determined not to screw it up. She smiled as she finished, confident she had a least scraped an E. It was a tad greener then it should be, but otherwise it was perfect, a change of events considering most of her potions blew up or turned to poison.
She turned to put her scales away, unknowingly knocked some hemlock seeds in the cauldron. It started to bubble and fizz, turning purple, them BAM!! It completely blew up, showering the class with purple goop.
Cassandra watched, befuddled. How could this have happened? She had done everything she should of, to the book. She then noticed the missing seeds and groaned. Cassie knew she had knocked them in somehow, but no matter how she told it to Professor Slughorn, he just shook his head.
"However, Cassandra, I won't fail you if you do some tutoring with Severus. You could meet twice a week and re-take your final. How does that sound?"
Cassie had almost screamed but grudgingly agreed, mainly because she had no choice. The following night, she met Snape in the library, preparing for torture.
It wasn't as bad as she expected. Snape was an excellent teacher, teaching her all about the different qualities of plants and how the effected the potions. She had cracked a joke at some point, and Severus had smiled.
"You have a nice smile. You should do it more often." She had said.
"Thanks." He said quietly, not meeting her eyes. "Now, pomegranate juice has several sorts of things in it that help with…."
This had continued for two weeks and on the day before Christmas break, Snape was pacing in front of the dungeon, waiting for her to finish. She finally stepped out, not meeting his eyes.
"How'd you do?" he demanded.
"Well, I'm sorry to say that I PASSED!!" she shrieked.
He shrieked as well and hugged her.
"I did a few minor adjustments and it was better then it was suppose to be." She told him….
This began their friendship.
"Cassandra? Did you hear me? I asked you a question." He surveyed her, like he knew what she was thinking. She pulled her mind out of the past and smiled.
"A potions master, or mistress, never reveals their secrets." She said. Cassie winked at Snape, telling him she would tell him later. He nodded back. Moony noticed and growled.
Remus just sat sulking. "Remus, you really need some of this. Here." Before he knew it she had conjured a spoon and force-fed some of it to him. He just sat in disbelief, and then felt more and more happy. Why not? It was a beautiful day, he had just aced potions, and Cassandra had spoken to him.
Slughorn noticed this and said, "Class dismissed." Remus practically bounced out of then dungeons, almost skipping to Transfiguration. His friends quickly caught up to him, and convinced him NOT to sing "I Feel Pretty" by Marvin Gaye. Instead he whistled a happy tune and skipped into the classroom, where McGonagall gave him a bewildered look. She decided to ignore him.
When everyone had arrived she begun to teach, although it was hard as half the class was talking, chewing lollipops, (Cassie) or looking deranged with happiness. (Remus)
She stopped teaching and merely sat down, grading papers.
Halfway through class, the potion wore off, and Remus decided to look at Cassie, who was chewing on a rather big pop. Class continued this way for the rest of the period.
As class ended Cassie felt someone watching her as she packed her things.
"Yes?" she inquired politely.
"Um…I've got to tell you something." He managed to say.
"Mmm-hmm." She replied, but felt a flutter of excitement, is it what she thought…?
"You, um…, you…"
"Yes?" she said again.
"You dropped your quill."
"Oh!" she picked up the quill, trying not to let the disappointment show on her face.
Remus and Moony noticed this. Remus wondered what it meant, while Moony knew exactly what it meant.
He hung back while she left the room.
"You should go for it." He heard a voice say. Professor McGonagall was watching him, almost sympathetically.
"Huh?" Was all he managed. Was his professor giving him dating advice? And McGonagall at that.
"I saw that interaction just as you did. You should try and go for it. You might be surprised Remus." She said.
"Um...yeah. OK." He said.
Remus hurried down the hall, and saw, not 50 feet from the classroom, Cassandra, leaning against a pillar.
"Hey, Remus, I thought we could…Mmph!" She was cut off as Remus, with a whole lot of courage, (and some help from Moony) leaned forward and kissed her. She replied by kissing him back and putting her arms around his neck while, he, simultaneously put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.
No one saw this. No one. Except for one very sneaky professor.
McGonagall stood in the doorway of her classroom smiling at the sight of the two teenagers. Outwardly, she stood as tall and quiet as a stone column, inwardly, she was jumping and cheering as loudly and immaturely as Sirius and James did when they found out about it. She shook her head and headed to her desk to wait for her next class.
Later, in bed when James and Sirius finally stopped partying, Remus reflected on one thing.
McGonagall had been right. He had gone for it by kissing Cassie and the result did surprise him. He now had a girlfriend, and one he could trust.
Smiling with this fact, he rolled over and fell into a deep sleep.