Author's Note: Hello! This is a rather fluffy RemusXOC one-shot that takes place during the time of the Marauders. This was actually a flashback in another fic I wrote a looong time ago. I just added a couple things and rewrote some parts. Not one of my best works but hope you guys still like it!

Warnings: The fluff bunnies from hell were running rampant in my head when I wrote this fic so it might be a little too fluffy - Oh well, it's fluff that makes the world go round sparkly eyes LOL!

Disclaimer: Is my name J.K. Rowling? No? Then I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters!

Love and Hate

Remus let out an exasperated sigh as he turned to glare at the blond girl a few seats away from him. It was a rare sight to see Remus annoyed much less glaring at someone. He was usually the peacemaker and the kindest one of the Marauders, but he just couldn't tolerate the giggling blonde.

"Aww how sweet. Moony can't keep his eyes off the princess," snickered Sirius as he put an arm around Remus' shoulders.

At this James let out a laugh and immediately jumped into action. It wasn't often that they got to tease Remus. "Our Moony is becoming a man," he said pretending to wipe a tear and taking the pose of a worried mother. "I don't think I am ready to let him leave the nest yet. But they do make a lovely couple, don't they, Sirius?"

Remus gritted his teeth. On top of the girl's stupid yapping now he had to endure his friends teasing. "I wouldn't be with her even if she was the last woman in the universe. I can't stand her."

"Hatred is but a type of love," said Sirius in a singsong tone. "Come on, go give her a kiss. We'll be cheering for you, lover boy."

"I would rather kiss a manticore than even touch her," replied Remus shaking Sirius' arm off his shoulders. "Leave me alone. I'm busy."

With that he turned his attention back to the book he had been trying to read before the stupid girl's giggles had distracted him.

Ever since Clara Franco had come to Hogwarts as a third year transfer student, her and Remus had become sworn enemies. Even though both of them were in Gryffindor and they were both in the same year they just couldn't get along. Actually none of the Marauders got along with her very well. They had nicknamed her the dimwitted princess, "Dim" or "princess" for short.

The "princess" part fitted her perfectly since she was the daughter of a wealthy and very important member of the Ministry of Magic and she constantly bragged about it. Now, the "dimwitted" part didn't suit her very well because, even if she wasn't the brightest student at Howgarts, she did very well in all her classes. The reason why the Marauders called her that was because all they ever saw was her shallow exterior. No one could blame them; all she seemed to care for and talk about were clothes, shoes, make-up, and money. Clara wasn't one to show her sweet and caring side to strangers. The only ones who knew the sensible girl behind the mask of frivolity were her father and her best friend Lily Evans.

For three years the "Remus vs. Clara war" hadn't gone beyond snide comments and a few pranks, but it was during the end of their sixth year and the beginning of their seventh year at Hogwarts that Clara and Remus' relationship worsened. The main reason was that James had begun to date Lily, which meant that she spent more time with the Marauders and of course she often brought Clara along. Lily had been easily accepted by the Marauders as a friend, but Clara hadn't.

Remus and Clara's relationship reached breaking point one day when Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter were, as usual, horsing around in the Great Hall. While dodging one of Sirius' hexes Remus accidentally spilled a bottleful of "Never-b-gone indelible ink" on top of Clara's Arithmancy essay.

"You idiot! I've been working on that paper for days!" roared Clara.

Remus rolled his eyes, "what a crybaby. I'll fix it."

He touched the stained parchment with his wand and muttered, "evanesco," but to his surprise nothing happened. He tried once more saying the incantation louder. Then with a frown he turned to look at James who was wearing the same confused look on his face. The black blotch was still staring brightly at them from the parchment.

"Would you care to read the label on the bottle?" said Clara throwing the bottle at Remus' face.

The bottle hit Remus' forehead. He caught it before it bounced back to the floor and read the label. "Never-b-gone ink? Well, it's not my fault that you had that ink bottle laying around like that."

"Yeah, Dim, you have to be more careful," offered Sirius shaking his head. The amusement in is voice was evident.

Clara was furious. All she wanted to do was to wring Remus' neck or curse him, but both actions would mean detention. She had never had a detention in her life and she wasn't about to stain her school record with one because of him. Then she saw Remus' favorite sweater neatly folded on one of the tables. Without thinking twice she seized the sweater and ran out of the Hall with it. She knew it was a childish revenge but she didn't care. All that was in her mind was getting back at him no matter what.

"Hey, give that back!" called Remus after her.

Clara didn't even look back. She kept running past the front doors and across the grounds with Remus, James, Sirius, Peter, and Lily also running after her. She finally stopped in front of the lake.

"Give it back or I'll hex you," roared Remus pointing his wand towards Clara.

"You want it back? Well, go get it!" yelled Clara hurling the sweater into the lake.

Remus stood there gawking at the spot where his sweater sank irremediably. Clara was waiting for him to yell at her but he just gave her a withering look, turned, and walked away.

"Hope you are happy now, bitch," said Sirius before he went after Remus.

James, the only one of the Marauders who seemed to dislike her the least, was looking daggers at her. "I can't believe this is the kind of people you hang out with, Lily." He walked away too.

"James, wait!" cried Lily running after him.

"What about my essay?! Doesn't anyone care?" called Clara furiously after them, stomping her feet on the ground.

That night when Lily entered the girl's dormitory she found Clara sitting on the floor redoing her essay.

"I can't believe what you did, Clara."

"What's the big deal about that stupid sweater? James and all his good for nothing friends are looking at me as if I just murdered someone and now, you too," replied Clara not bothering to look up from her essay.

"I can't believe everyone is making such a big fuss about that sweater. If he's going to be such a baby about it, I can buy that moron ten sweaters much better than the one I threw in the lake."

Lily sat down next to her friend. "Clara, the sweater doesn't really matter. What matters is that inside one of its pockets Remus had a locket."

"So what?" she said giving Lily a very annoyed why-should-I-care look.

"This locket was very important to Remus because it was his mother's. You know that she died during the summer vacation and that locket was one of the few mementos he had of her."

Clara's eyes widened. "I-I d-didn't know," she stammered hanging her head.

"I know you didn't mean to do it, Clara, but I think you should apologize to Remus."

"Yeah, I'll apologize to him tomorrow," said Clara, her voice dripping regret.

The next day Clara was looking for an opportunity to talk to Remus in private but he was always accompanied by his friends and every time she went near them she would only receive glares and cruel remarks. She finally got her opportunity at the end of classes when she bumped into Remus in one of the hallways.

"Remus," she started nervously.

"What the hell do you want?"

"I…I n-need to talk to you for a minute."

Remus' reply was a cold stare. She breathed deeply and began, "I am terribly sorry for what happened yesterday. I didn't know that you had that locket in there. Lily told me about it. I'm really sorry."

Clara was looking at her shoes waiting for Remus' reply but when none came she raised her head and added, "You don't believe me, do you?"

Remus held her gaze and sighed heavily. He wasn't one to hold grudges for too long. "Yes, I believe you are sorry."

"I wish I could do something to make it up to you."

"Nothing can be done now. Don't worry about it," and he walked sadly away.

"There must be a way," thought Clara to herself and then something clicked in her head. "Gillyweed!" she said excitedly and she went running towards the dungeons.

One hour later Clara and Lily were standing in front of the lake. "Are you sure about this, Clara? That water must be really cold."

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm going to get that locket back. It is the least I can do."

"Clara, be careful. Remember that the gillyweed only lets you breath under water for about an hour."

"I know. I don't think it'll take me that long," said Clara before she swallowed the gillyweed and dived into the cold water.

Fifteen minutes, half an hour, forty five minutes… and still no signs of Clara. All the while Lily paced nervously in front of the lake muttering, "come on Clara, come on."

When the one hour mark hit Lily's watch and there weren't any signs of Clara, she decided that it was time to go get help. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her until she reached the Great Hall.

"James, help," she panted trying to catch her breath.

"What happened?" asked James planting a kiss on Lily's cheek.

"It's Clara."

"What did Dim do now?" asked Sirius nonchalantly without looking up from the game of Wizard's Chess he was playing with Peter.

"She ate some gillyweed to go into the lake, but now she's been there for more than an hour and you know that the effects of the gillyweed wear off after an hour," said Lily sounding close to tears.

"What in the world did she go into the lake for?" asked Remus, concern written all over his face.

"She went to get your locket."

"What?! Is she crazy?" Remus dashed out of the Hall followed by Lily and his friends. Without thinking twice Remus jumped into the water and began searching for the princess. A minute later he came out of the water carrying an unconscious Clara with him.

"Is she alive?" sobbed Lily.

"She's not breathing and I think she drank too much water," said Remus taking out his wand and pointing it to Clara's chest. "Respiro," he said and a blue light came out of the tip of his wand and spread all over Clara's chest. She stirred in Remus' arms and began coughing as her eyes flickered open.

"Remus," was all she managed to whisper in between coughs.

"We better take her to the hospital wing," said a concerned Sirius.

"Yeah, let's go," said Remus getting up and carrying Clara on his arms.

When they got to the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey told them that Clara would be fine but that she rather had her spend the night in the hospital just to be safe. Remus asked if he could stay for a while and the nurse agreed hesitantly.

"Okay, but don't tire her and don't stay here for long."

After his friends left, Remus sat down next to Clara's bed. Her eyes were closed and strands of her blond hair framed her small face. Remus' eyes wandered over her petite form. It was the first time he had actually had a chance to observe her carefully. Usually he was too busy arguing with her to pay much attention to her appearance. First his gaze concentrated on her closed eyes and her long lashes, then on her nose: it was a bit pointy, but pretty nonetheless. Then his eyes traveled down to her lips and lingered there for a while wondering if she had ever been kissed.

"With her mouth shut she almost looks like an angel," thought Remus, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Clara opened her eyes when she heard him sitting down.

"Why did you do it? You almost got yourself killed," whispered Remus.

"I wanted to get your locket back. Lily told me how important it was for you and I felt awful for what I did. Here," she said straightening up a little, reaching up to her neck and taking off a gold chain with a heart-shaped locket dangling from it.

"I got it just before that stupid grindylow grabbed my ankle. I tried to use the spell we learned in class but then I remembered that I had forgotten my wand in the dormitory."

Remus took the locket from her hands and said reproachfully, "thank you very much but, listen to me, don't ever do something like that again. You scared all of us to death."

She grinned. He felt rather awkward because she had never smiled at him before, so he joked, "I guess you do have a heart after all."

Clara laughed. "Yes, I do have a heart and a brain too for your information."

She looked at him straight in the eye and blushed at the memory of how warm and protected she had felt in his arms.

"Friends?" Clara offered a trembling hand that Remus took in between his.

"Sure. Now you better rest," said Remus getting up while Clara squeezed his hand tighter.

"Thank you for saving my life," she said looking up at him.

"Don't mention it." Before he could think about it, he found himself bending down to kiss her forehead. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Remus."

After that day Remus and Clara did become really good friends. They got to know each other very well, and even the other Marauders began to like her. Dim even became a pet name rather than an insult. The more time Remus spent around Clara the more he wondered if James and Sirius were actually right all those times they had teased him about hate being a kind of love.

Remus even became Clara's tutor in Defense Against the Dark Arts, the only class that she had trouble with. It was Clara's least favorite class mainly because of its instructor, Professor Calypso. He was the most severe and loathed teacher at Hogwarts. Although he practically disliked all of his students for some strange reason he seemed to dislike Clara the most. The professor's glares and sour disposition only served to make Clara nervous and clumsy, which didn't help at all her already low grades.

Usually Remus and Clara would study in the Gryffindor common room, but that day Remus suggested they did it outdoors since it was "such a nice day in spite of the cool wind." The real reason behind this was that Remus wanted to be alone with Clara away from the noisiness of the common room. He needed to tell her something.

They had been studying for a while when the cold made them call it a night. They both stood up from the bench they had been sitting on and began gathering their books and parchments.

"Thanks for tutoring me, Remus. If it weren't for you I would've failed the test."

"No problem. You are a really good student," replied Remus with a smile.

"Why, thank you," she sighed glancing around the castle grounds.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, it's just that I was thinking that in about 5 months we'll be leaving the school forever. I'm going to miss Hogwarts so much."

"Even Calypso?" laughed Remus.

"Well, maybe not him, but I'll miss everybody else," grinned Clara.

As Remus observed her, he was trying to gather all his determination to tell her what he had been rehearsing the previous night or attempted to anyways. After James and Sirius wrenched the truth out of him they both had offered to help him confess his feelings to Clara. Remus groaned inwardly. Sirius using a spell to make his hair blond like Clara's and calling him "Moonykins" in a high pitched voice while batting his eyelashes and James laughing his head off hadn't been much help.

"Moony, don't be nervous. Just tell her how you feel. Piece of cake," had been their sound advice and the night before it had seemed easy enough to follow but now that he actually had Clara in front of him he couldn't help but panic.

"Come on Remus, tell her," said a voice inside his head. "What's the worst that could happen? If she says no, well, that'll be the end of it. Yeah and then I'll have a broken heart. Come on, you have to do it."

"Are you okay Remus?" she asked snapping him out of his internal monologue.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I don't know. You look kind of worried and anxious, and you keep looking at me like I have pixies dancing on top of my head."

"I, I am f-fine," stammered Remus.

"Okay, let's go. I'm freezing," said Clara bending down to pick up her book bag.

It was now or never. "Clara?" Before he realized what he was doing his hand reached out and grabbed Clara's arm. Puzzled twin pools of blue darted from Remus' face to the trembling fingers wrapped around her arm.

Letting instinct take over he leaned closer to Clara and started planting small kisses along her hair and softly whispering her name. Clara felt her knees weaken and her heart beat faster with every kiss. Remus released his grip on Clara's arm and instead wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her closer. Slowly he made his way along her jaw line until his lips found hers. As he deepened the kiss Clara put her arms around his neck holding for dear life as her legs threatened to give under her. Her whole body was trembling and it wasn't from the cold anymore.

"What does this mean, Remus?" she whispered when he finally released her lips.

Remus' eyes widened as realization of what he had just done hit him, but he had gone too far already. He couldn't back down now. "It means that I'm madly in love with you," he said holding her tighter and closer to him.

"Remus," was all she managed to say before he gave her another magical kiss that sent sparks running down her spine. She pulled her lips away from his and sank her head in his chest feeling his rapid heartbeats through his thick robes.

"I love you too," she whispered putting her arms tightly around his waist.

That was the beginning of their love story. From being enemies they passed to be the perfect couple, holding hands wherever they went and sending love notes to each other. Everyone was delighted with their relationship. That is, almost everyone. Severus Snape, who hated Remus and his friends, just couldn't stand seeing Remus or any of the Marauders happy. He wanted to get back at them for a prank that Sirius had played on him a couple of years before, and now that Remus had a girlfriend, Severus saw the perfect opportunity to get his payback.

It came sooner than he had expected. He bumped into Clara and Lily in one of the corridors in the next full moon night. "Clara, Lily, what a surprise to see you two without your boyfriends... oh yes, I forgot what day is today. It's time for Remus' monthly escapade."

"What do you mean by monthly escapade?" asked Clara frowning.

"You mean you don't know, Clara? Please forget I said anything."

Clara's eyes narrowed. "What don't I know? What are you talking about?"

"Don't listen to him, he's just talking rubbish. Let's go Clara," said Lily sending Severus a death glare while pulling Clara by the hand away from him.

A few paces ahead Clara stopped suddenly and under the excuse that she had forgotten one of her books she ran back towards the library leaving a worried Lily behind her. She retraced her steps until she found Severus nearby the spot where she and Lily had bumped into him a couple of minutes earlier.

"Severus," she called after him.

Snape turned slowly to face her with a raised eyebrow and a wicked smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Yes?"

"What were you trying to tell me about Remus?"

"Nothing."

Clara put both her hands on his chest and pinned him against the wall. "Tell me now."

He shoved her hands off of him and hissed, "I don't think I am the right person to tell you."

"Tell me. I'm loosing my patience."

"I can't tell you. I can only advice you."

Clara was looking at him with narrowed eyes while he raised an eyebrow maliciously. His voice barely a whisper, he said, "go to the Whomping Willow, take a large twig and prod a knot at the base of the willow. That'll freeze it and then you'll be able to get into an opening in its roots. You'll find yourself in a tunnel, follow it and you shall find your answer."

Having said that Severus pushed Clara aside and walked away with a smile of triumph forming in his lips.

Later that night Clara got up from bed and after making sure that Lily was asleep she sneaked out of Gryffindor tower. She walked silently all the way to the Whomping Willow. Once there she did as Severus had told her. Clara followed the tunnel all the way through until she saw an opening. She climbed out of the hole and found herself in a room. The dim light of several candles was the only source of lighting as all of the windows were boarded. The candles illuminated weakly the disordered room casting overgrown shadows on the dusty floor.

She was startled by a growl that came from the hallway behind her. She turned around to meet a pair of glistening hazel eyes. She began trembling when she saw who the eyes belonged to. It was a wolf. And it all clicked in her mind, the full moon, Remus disappearing once a month.

"Remus," she whispered before she found herself pinned to the floor by the wolf.

She felt a stinging pain and then she felt her warm blood trickling down her arm where the wolf's sharp claws were sinking.

"Don't move Clara," James' voice was coming from the shadowy hallway and it was rapidly followed by Sirius' voice.

"Get Clara, James, I'll get Remus. Peter, go ahead so you can freeze the willow."

Clara was frozen to the spot, her mind racing as it tried to process what was happening. She felt someone's arms grabbing her and she caught a glimpse of a big black dog fighting with the wolf before she was dragged out of the room. Soon she was back in the tunnel with James and Peter.

"That was Remus, wasn't it?" she asked in between sobs.

Peter and James exchanged looks before nodding sadly. Clara was shocked. Her whole body was trembling as the recent events sank in her mind. Then, she realized something that made her stop abruptly.

"Where did the black dog come from? What if it hurts Remus?"

"Don't worry. That was Sirius. He won't hurt Remus. He was just trying to hold him back while we got you out of there," answered James.

"Sirius is an animagus?" asked Clara in disbelief.

"Yes, James and I are animagi too. James transforms into a stag and I transform into a rat. We did it so we could keep Remus company when he transformed," said Peter. "It's a secret between us and Lily and… now you."

By now they had reached the end of the tunnel. Peter transformed into a rat and touched the knot to freeze the Whomping Willow. James got out next and then helped Clara out.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this."

James and Peter let out sighs of relief before they escorted her back to Gryffindor Tower hidden under James' invisibility cloak. When Clara got back to her dormitory she was still trembling. She couldn't sleep so she woke Lily up to tell her what just happened.

"So what are you going to do? It isn't Remus' fault. He was bitten when he was a little kid. He's been dreading something like this could happen ever since he began dating you. He really didn't want you to know that he was a werewolf. He was afraid that you might run away from him," said Lily holding Clara's hand.

"How could he think that I would run away from him? I love him with all my heart."

"Well, you better tell him that tomorrow when you see him. Now, try to get some sleep."

The next day, Clara woke up determined to talk to Remus but she didn't see him all morning. He didn't go to breakfast and their first three classes for that day were different. She usually didn't see him until lunch, but he wasn't there either.

"Where's Remus?" she asked the other Marauders during lunch.

They just looked at each other.

"Please guys tell me. I need to talk to him."

"He said he was going to the library," replied Sirius. "Look, Dim, he feels really bad about what happened last night. Please be careful with what you tell him."

Clara nodded as she got up from her seat and then dashed across the hall towards the library. She didn't have to look for long. She found Remus just a few steps away from the library.

"Remus, wait! We need to talk," she said catching her breath.

"I can't talk now. I, I have something to do," stammered Remus evading her eyes.

"I know you have nothing to do. You have just been avoiding me all day. We have to talk NOW," she cried raising her arms in frustration.

What little color was on Remus' face drained the instant the sleeve of Clara's robes slipped down showing a bandage on her right arm.

"Did I bite you?" asked a shocked Remus.

"N-no, I… I burned myself with a cauldron."

Remus grabbed Clara's arm and ripped off the bandage. "This is not a burn. It's a scratch. I hurt you, didn't I?"

Clara opened her mouth to reply but Snape's drawl interrupted her, "shame on you, Lupin. You hurt your own girlfriend."

Remus' fists clenched as he stared furiously at Snape, but he didn't reply. After all, Snape was right. He had hurt Clara and that was something he wasn't going to forgive himself for.

"They should lock you up like the animal you really are because..." SMACK! Snape didn't finish his sentence because Clara slapped him across the face.

"I want you to understand something. Remus is not an animal and he would never hurt anyone," said Clara through gritted teeth. "And I believe Professor Dumbledore told you to shut your big mouth about this!"

Snape's only reply was a glare before he turned on his heels and stomped away rubbing his aching cheek. Remus watched his retreating back when he felt Clara's hand grasp his arm and pull him gently into one of the empty classrooms. Once Clara had closed the door behind them Remus sat down and buried his face in his hands. Clara knelt in front of him and took his hands away from his face so he would look at her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered.

Remus sighed heavily. "I… I didn't want to lose you. I didn't want you to run away from me when you found out that I am a monster."

"You are not a monster. I would never run away from you. You know I love you."

A grin slowly appeared on Remus' face. He took Clara's face in his hands and lowered his head until his lips met hers. After an enchanting moment she pulled away from his lips and got up. Remus caught her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders while he nuzzled the crook of her neck taking in the sweet scent of jasmines.

"You are the cutest wolf I've ever seen," whispered Clara kissing Remus' ear.

Remus looked up from her neck laughing. "You are crazy," he said before he kissed her again.

"But you love me."

"With all my heart."

Author's note: told ya it was sappy! Well hope you guys liked it - Thanks for reading and reviews are greatly appreciated!!