Disclaimer: Wouldn't it be lovely if it were mine?
Author's Note: This is a work that I am doing for a friend. In return, I get a charming illustration of a scene from Corsa di Tempo. I think that this is an excellent bargain!
Remus Lupin, the only werewolf currently attending Hogwarts, was sitting quietly in the Gryffindor common room. The room was blissfully quiet for the first time since September; the snow had melted, and all of the students had gone out to play in the sun.
Remus, however, was the exception to every rule about students. He actually studied when there were no exams coming, he preferred reading to Exploding Snap, and he was, above all, not interested in the opposite sex. At least, that was what the teachers said. It was also what most of the students believed.
There were only a very small pocket of students who saw anything else. Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew all knew him better. They knew that Remus actually liked strawberries better than he liked chocolate, he liked to wear brightly coloured boxers (he thought they made up for the blandness of the rest of his appearance), and he was interested in girls; one girl, in particular.
All of this was quite different from what passed through the young man's mind as he read the book nestled in his lap. He was sprawled across the couch in front of the fireplace, but the room was too warm for the thing to be lit. His caramel eyes moved from side to side rapidly as he read the lines across the page.
Eventually he looked up, as he was wont to do these days. He was unable to focus on much of anything when she was on his mind. She was there permanently, like a heavy fog that won't blow over.
His mouth quirked up slightly at the whimsical thought and he moved towards one of the windows. He looked out over the grounds and allowed his thoughts to run free with thoughts of her beauty and, best of all, brains. He was no Sirius. He fell for the women with brains in their heads.
That, of course, was the moment that the portrait door opened, and a pretty red head by the name of Lily Evans walked into the room with an armload of books. She glanced around the empty room with satisfaction. The look changed to surprise when she saw Remus, but she maintained a cautious smile.
She and James had been together for a little while but things had not worked out. For all of the effort that James had put into winning her in the first place, he had been willing to admit that perhaps they would be better off as friends. She had agreed, as had the Marauders' ear drums. Never before had such hollering filled the hallowed halls of Hogwarts.
Remus smiled again as he thought of it. He looked at Lily and let her see the smile. She relaxed. Sirius and Peter were furious that all of the work that they had put into helping James catch Lily in the first place was a waste. They had decided that the least the two could have done was get married and have at least one child (a boy, as they would not know what to do with a little girl), who would be fabulously famous in the wizarding world, and would save them all from some great destruction.
Remus was not angry. By contrast, he was actually relieved. Somewhere along the last six and a half years, he had decided that he wanted Lily. It had torn him to see her and James together and when the fighting had gotten bad, he had been forced to spend more time in the library so that he would not have to see his friend in pain over something that made him happy. He had always been a terrible liar.
Lily had sat down in a squashy armchair near the fireplace. She opened a book and began to read in silence. Remus turned back to the window, determined not to stare at his best friend's ex-girlfriend.
Finally she sighed and looked up. "I like this weather," she said, dreamily staring out the window.
"Then why are you not out in it?" Remus asked curiously.
She smiled at him, tearing her gaze from the window and the beautiful azure sky beyond it. "I like it because it gets everyone else out of here. Personally, I prefer to go out in the rain."
Remus grinned. "Same here."
The two of them smiled at each other a moment more before she returned to her book and he continued to look out of the window. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps he should go back to his book, but he knew he would not be able to concentrate and Lily would be observant enough to notice and want to know why.
Soon, she looked up again. This time she got up and moved to where he was standing. "What are you looking at?"
"I'm watching the clouds," was his whimsical reply.
She nodded and was quiet as she looked out at the clouds herself. Then she pointed. "Look, it's a bunny!"
He smiled and nodded before pointing himself. "And there's a broom."
"A wolf," she said after a pause. Then she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. While she was dating James, Remus had told her that he was a werewolf. She had been working on her animagus form ever since. She wanted to run with him like his friends did.
"Indeed. And there's a horse." She glanced at him again. How could he know what her animagus was? He was either getting back at her for seeing a wolf, or he really did not know. She suspected that he did not know, as he did not seem angry with her.
Truly, Remus did know, but he was not angry with her. How could he be? He knew she was not perfect, but she was more than perfect enough for him.
He brushed his light brown hair out of his eyes and then laughed as he looked out the window towards the ground. Lily looked down, a confused frown marring her forehead. Then she too began to laugh. Sirius and James were on brooms and were headed for this very window. The two boys were grinning maniacally as they zoomed towards the window at breakneck speeds.
When they saw that Lily was with Remus, they put on more speed and gave a mighty whoop. At the last moment before they would hit the window, they pulled up and flew away.
Lily had screamed.
She was horrified with herself. James Potter had never really hurt her and she doubted that he planned to start, so why had she been so frightened?
She had, indeed, screamed. Then she had leapt at Remus, apparently subconsciously thinking that he might save her from his suicidal friends who seemed determined to take her with them.
When she tried to pull away in embarrassment, it took him a moment to let him go. She noticed but thought it was nothing more than him being surprised that she was so frightened. She flushed brightly and hurried over to her books.
"I think I might go read in my room. That's a novelty as well, as the girls are always chatting," she rambled as she gathered her things and hurried away.
Remus stared after her, wondering if he had held on long enough that she had noticed.
The next weekend, it rained. It was no mere drizzle, either. It was a torrential downpour of epic proportions. It was the complete opposite of the previous weekend's weather.
It was also the opposite of the previous weekend in that all of the students were cooped up inside the castle.
"I'm bored," Sirius groaned for the eighty second time.
"Me too," Peter agreed for the eighty first time. He had been in the loo when Sirius had complained the forty third time.
Remus rolled his eyes. James groaned and covered his ears.
Suddenly Sirius looked up. "Evans, where are you going dressed like that?"
Lily turned around and smiled slightly. "I was going to go out and play in the rain," she replied. Her yellow slicker and rubbers clashed awfully with her red hair, but she looked as if she would be warm and comfortable enough.
"Eww," Sirius declared loudly. Peter immediately echoed him.
James rolled his eyes this time while Remus looked at her for a moment. Suddenly he closed his books and walked over to her. He said quietly, "If you wait a moment for me to get my things, I'll come with you." She nodded and watched as he strolled to his dorm to fetch his rain gear.
Soon the two of them were suited up and headed out into the storm. Lightning cracked down and thunder roared at them, but they just smiled at one another and turned their faces up to the rain. Lily opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue to catch some of the drops.
Remus grinned and walked closer. He yelled over the torrential rain, "Did you know turkeys have died doing that? They drown."
She laughed. "It's a good thing I'm not a turkey, then." He merely arched an eyebrow, but she saw it. "Why you little…"
He never did find out what Lily thought he was, as she flew at him in a giant tackle, bowling him over into the mud.
"You've got to be kidding me," he sighed and pulled a face before he rose and shoved her off of him and into the mud with him.
She began to laugh hysterically. "Your face!" she managed to gasp out between wheezing howls.
The rain seemed to be letting up and a fog was rolling in. Remus was reminded of his analogy to Lily from the week before and smiled as he watched her laugh.
Finally she managed to compose herself and she smiled widely at him. "The look on your face was quite priceless," she teased.
He found himself rolling his eyes yet again. "I'm sure it was."
The two of them pulled themselves out of the mud and looked out at the lake, crashing its waves against the shore. It was furiously rebelling against the sun and the students who so desperately wanted to be outside. The rain itself was rapidly settling into a drizzle, while the fog rolled in so thick that…
"I can't see my hand in front of my face!" Lily declared with a large smile scrawled across her face.
"Maybe," Remus replied, "you would be able to see better if you did not have your hand in front of you face." He was clearly mocking her.
It really was true that the dense fog prevented them from seeing anything. Lily reached out and grabbed his hand and pulled him towards a nearby tree. "We can wait out the worst of it here, I suppose."
Remus used his other hand to attempt to brush off some of the mud all over him. "I suppose," he repeated in agreement.
Sadly, Lily chose that moment to let go of his hand. She plunked herself down on the ground with no grace whatsoever, and laughed as he did the same. Her soft giggles made him smile at her.
Her green eyes lingered on his brown ones for a moment before she turned away. "I love the fog. It's so peaceful; like you're the only one in the world."
"Unless, of course," Remus added sarcastically, "you have dragged someone with you."
"I didn't drag you!" she protested, turning to look at him again.
A mischievous smile leapt to his lips as he said, "Of course you did. You grabbed my hand and pulled me towards this tree. I don't know what you call that, but I call it dragging."
"Of course you do," was her reply. She smiled warmly at him until he dragged his eyes away.
"Do you realize that we graduate in two months?" she asked sadly.
Remus turned and looked back at her. "Yes. Sad isn't it?"
Lily looked out into the fog. "What are you worried about? You have the Marauders."
"And so do you."
Lily sighed and continued to stare at the white wall before her. "No, I don't. The Marauders are James' friends that I was allowed to spend time with for as long as I dated him."
Remus felt his heart melt (and wanted to grimace at the femininity of it) but he put on his best affronted scowl. "And what am I then? Hippogriff dung?"
It had the desired effect. She laughed. "No. It's just that you are all so close that you know you'll see each other again after we all graduate. I have no one like that."
He looked at her seriously. "I know at least one guy who would love to see you after school's out. He's loved you for almost five years."
"James?" she guessed drily.
"Of course not," Remus replied in amusement. "He loved you for six and a half."
Lily looked at him in curiosity. "Who is it then?"
"I'm not telling," was the smug reply.
She laughed at him. "You're becoming more and more like Sirius every day."
Remus fell over in mock surprise, covering himself in more mud. "I am not!" he cried in mock horror.
"Tell me who he is."
He laughed outright. "It's not going to happen. Tell you what. What if you ask me questions about this guy and I will answer them if I don't think they make it too obvious?"
"Alright," she replied, eyes sparkling with mischief and good fun. "What year is he in?"
"Seventh, like us," Remus replied as he leaned back against the tree and looked out at the fog, hoping she would not be able to read his face. He was sure that she would never guess him, as he tried desperately to keep his attraction to her quiet. James and Sirius were the only ones who knew and they had sworn, to their great annoyance, not to say anything about it to anyone.
There was a pause as Lily thought. "Is he tall?"
"Fairly," he answered, thinking of his six foot frame.
"Hmm. What colour is his hair?" she asked curiously.
Remus paused as if thinking about it. "Brown."
"Brown? Everyone has brown hair!"
"Not my problem," he said with a laugh, still looking carefully out at the fog to prevent himself from staring at her.
There was another pause and then, "Is he in Gryffindor?"
"Now, Lily. That's too specific," Remus teased, now turning to look at her. He caught the calculating look in her eyes and looked away, regretting ever having started this game.
"Is he in Slytherin?"
Remus turned and looked at her sharply. "Merlin, no! We wouldn't even be having this conversation if he was!" And it was true, because she would not be friends with a Slytherin. It would not work out, just like she had been unable to maintain a friendship with Severus, a Slytherin she had known before school had started.
"Do I ever talk to him?"Lily asked.
He thought if her Head Girl badge, which caused her to talk to a lot of people. "On occasion." He heard her sigh but he did not watch her do it, as he had turned to look at the fog again. It was beginning to lift.
"What's his blood status?" she asked suddenly.
"Half-blood," said Remus, not bothering to mince words. A large number of students in the school fell under half-blood. Anyone who had not been born to two pureblood wizards or anyone who had not been born to two Muggles qualified as a half-blood.
After a pause, Lily said, "The fog is lifting. We should probably go inside and change before we get sick." She pointed to their wet muddy clothes and laughed.
"Probably," Remus agreed, as he pulled himself to his feet and offered her a hand getting up. She took it and he felt a jolt run through his arm. Once they were both up, he offered her his arm with a small smirk on his face.
She took it with a grin. "Why thank you, kind sir. I was wondering how I should get inside without muddying my million dollar gown."
Remus grinned back and put on his best aristocrat accent. "Indeed. It is too nice a gown to spoil in such weather as this. Allow me to offer you some shelter from the fog and moisture," he added as he released her arm and opened the door for her.
"You live in a castle, sir?" she asked in mock surprise. "Why, you must be wealthy indeed to own a castle."
He laughed. "Yes, mi'lady. One cannot live in a hovel when one has the finances to do much better."
The two of them dissolved into a fit of laughter in the entrance hall. Tears streamed down Lily's face while Remus struggled to breathe through his amusement.
Finally, Lily looked up at him and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. "Remus, when we were talking about the guy who wanted to see me outside of school…"
She trailed off and he looked at her, suddenly nervous. Had she figured him out? "Yes?" he encouraged against his own will.
"Who were you talking about?"
"I already told you," he said with a small smile that did not reach his eyes. "I can't tell you that."
"Is it you?" she asked bluntly, looking at him with a great deal of perceptiveness, which made Remus feel distinctly uncomfortable.
"Why does it matter? It's not as if we could do anything about it."
Lily looked surprised. "Why ever not?"
"James is my best friend, Lily." He looked at her with sad eyes. So it was him.
She rolled her eyes. "I know that. I also know that you told him and he was fine with it." When he gaped at her, she shrugged. "You shouldn't have important conversations in the middle of the common room."
"It was three in the morning!"
"So?" she asked in amusement.
"Everyone was supposed to be in bed!"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Did you really think that people sleep on Friday nights, Remus? Besides, it's not like I suddenly popped out from behind a bookcase that night and asked you to marry me."
Remus stared for a moment and then he grinned. "Well that would have been amusing…"
She laughed. "Indeed. Mortifying, too."
He sobered up. "Lily, would you go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"
She smiled. "Of course."
That was all that was said before she rose on her tip toes and kissed him. All he could think of was how soft her lips were and how the storm brought not only rain, but love.