As Remus left Defense Against the Dark Arts with his friends, he realized that what he really wanted to do was silence Sirius and Peter so they could no longer laugh about what had happened with Camellia Norewood and Evan Rosier. At the very least, he wanted to hit them with a tripping jinx so they would shut up.
James was choosing to act like an adult in the moment, though Remus assumed that was because Lily had come up and started angrily ranting about what had happened. He wasn't entirely sure when the redhead had started caring about Camellia so much, but Remus welcomed the change. "I mean honestly what kind of person does that to his girlfriend? And he knew-he knew-that she didn't like the spell. I heard him say she was afraid of it. I-"
"Evans," Sirius snapped from in front of them. "Shut up about that stupid Slytherin, will you? If you ask me she got what she deserved,"
Remus opened his mouth to yell, most likely, about Sirius being wrong but to his absolute surprise James beat him to it. "No you shut up, Padfoot," he said, his voice taking a serious tone that they rarely ever heard. "You've no idea the kinds of things he says and does to her, and if you did you wouldn't be as quick to start laughing at her,"
Lily had stopped and was staring at James as if she'd never seen him before. "I-" Sirius tried.
"Come on Remus," James interrupted. "And you, Lily, if you'd like,"
Of course they followed James into a side corridor, leaving Sirius and Peter confused. "Where, exactly, are we going?" Lily asked after they'd taken a few steps.
"To find Max,"
"Max?"
"Well he is her brother. He can tell us why she would have gotten so upset and then we can find her and try to cheer her up,"
"You'd do that for her?" Remus asked, surprised.
"Well someone has to,"
He'd never seen James so willing to care about a Slytherin before, and Remus was starting to wonder if James would actually be okay with the fact that he was sort of friends with Camellia. She really was a good person, once you got past her scowl and her defensive nature. He really was enjoying getting to know her and maybe if James started to like her too then everything could be more out in the open. At least with his friends, because maybe there was a chance that the friendship could be better. He would like that, he thought.
They found Max sitting in the great hall with a Hufflepuff girl and studying for Charms. There were people surrounding them, but the two weren't paying them any attention. Remus hurried over, leaving any misconceptions of interrupting the pair behind. "Max can I-Can we," he corrected himself, "maybe talk to you for a moment?"
The younger boy looked up with a smile, but it quickly faltered and fell away. "What about?"
"It's about your sist-"
"Cassandra do you mind if I-"
"Of course not," she smiled. "I know how you feel about your family. Just promise you'll come back to help me?"
"You know I will," Max said before he hurried off the bench and to where James and Lily were standing, and of course Remus followed him. "What do you three want with my sister?"
The two boys both looked at Lily, as she would probably be the best at explaining. Lily was already looking at Remus, as was Max, but then Lily sighed and began talking. "There was an incident in our Defense class," she explained. "We were practicing the Impediment Jinx and, well, it seems like she was arguing with Evan Rosier. They were partnered and when he tried to use the spell on her she fought back and-"
"Is this the one that throws you back?" Max interrupted.
"It can be used that way, yes,"
The young boy sighed heavily and frowned, looking back at his Hufflepuff friend. "Where is she?"
"Max what's-"
"Look I know people make fun of her for it," he said angrily. "But that spell terrifies her,"
"But why?" Remus asked quickly.
He looked confused, as if the reason should be well known to everyone. "The day our parents died my father used that spell on her and locked her in a closet. She had to listen to them being murdered before she passed out because she hit her head. I thought… I mean it was all over the Daily Prophet when it happened, so I thought everyone knew,"
"Your parents are-"
"Didn't I tell you? I thought I had. It was three or four years ago and I wasn't actually there, neither was Vaughn. It's… well, you know. But Cam was there, and she had to listen to most of it. It's worse for her," He sighed again and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I'll try and find her later. When she really, really remembers it and gets upset then she usually needs a while to cool off before she wants to talk to anyone. But… Thanks for telling me,"
Max gave them all a sad smile before hurrying back to his friend and sitting down. "Oh my God," Lily said quietly, her eyes wide and shocked.
"She had to listen to her family die-I don't know how she can be so normal after that. I don't remember her changing at all," James muttered.
Remus, on the other hand, remained completely silent and just stared blankly at his friends. He was fighting the urge to simply run out of the great hall then and search the castle for her. He knew she would be fine, but he wanted to be there for her. And not because they were best friends or anything like that, but because there were only two other people he could imagine doing that. Regulus Black wouldn't if Evan Rosier had pretty much caused it, and Max didn't seem overly concerned.
"I know the original plan was to try and make her feel better about what happened, but Max knows her better than any of us, and if he's not rushing off then I think we should follow his lead and give her some time," Lily said.
Arguments popped into his head about why they shouldn't leave her alone, but in the end he knew Lily was probably right. So instead of running off like he wanted to, Remus simply followed his friends back to the common room, growing slightly surprised with the fact that Lily was still hanging around them. She usually would have left by now, because James would have made a fool of himself by trying to flatter her, but so far he hadn't said anything like that.
Remus lasted for about an hour before he couldn't stand just sitting in the common room. He left James and Lily chatting amicably with the excuse of needing to get a book from the library. They didn't even think that he was lying, and Remus knew it was because he so often went to get a book. The only problem was he didn't know exactly where she would be. He'd never really gone looking for an upset Camellia Norewood before, so he decided to wander around the quiet spots in the castle. There was always a chance she was in her dormitory but Remus sincerely hoped that wasn't the case.
The library was the third place he checked, and Remus was glad to find her at her usual table. The one that she sat with him at every time they spent the afternoon together. She was laying with her head on the table, her reddish brown hair falling in a way that shielded her face from his view. He carefully sat down across from her and waited. He'd noticed her shoulders tense when he walked up, so Remus knew she wasn't sleeping.
Five minutes passed in silence before Camellia finally lifted her head, a cold expression on her face. "If you're here to judge me in any way or act like a Gryffindor, I will not hesitate to hex you," she threatened.
Remus simply thought she sounded like him after a full moon. "I'm just here," he said quietly, offering her a sad smile.
"Why?"
"You're upset. When people are upset they need someone to just be there. I don't see anyone else jumping at the chance to do that for you," The words were along the lines of what James and Sirius had told him whenever he ended up in the hospital wing. Over the course of his time at Hogwarts he'd realized they were true, and in that moment he thought Camellia needed to hear them too.
They stared at each other and Remus saw something flicker in her blue eyes that he couldn't recognize. "We're not even that good of friends," she said quietly. "I...I don't understand why you're doing this. People don't do that for people like me. I-I don't understand,"
She'd never seemed so small to him before, and Remus didn't know what to think. "There doesn't have to be a reason for everything. But I think that maybe we could be good friends one day. However for that we have to start somewhere, so why not here?"
There was yet another silence for a few minutes before she sighed heavily and frowned at him. "I suppose you want to know why I-"
"Max explained it to James, Lily, and I,"
"Why the hell did Potter and Evans need to know?"
"Lily was actually very upset about how Rosier had treated you. James was upset as well, but more so about the fact that people were laughing. I've never seen those two work together before, but they were hell bent on finding out why you'd reacted that way and they wanted to cheer you up. But then we talked to Max and he said you might need some time. I don't think they'll tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about,"
"Max wasn't supposed to tell anyone,"
"We did ask him,"
She sighed again but smiled slightly, and Remus was sure she was thinking about her younger brother. "He never was very good at keeping secrets. I don't… I know people usually suggest talking about it, but I really don't want to. I don't even want to think about it,"
"Well come on then," Remus said after a slight hesitation. He stood up and extended his hand, wondering if she would actually take it, and found that she was simply staring at him warily.
"Where are we going?" she asked suspiciously.
"To take your mind off everything. Besides, if we're going to be friends we should try to get to know each other. Don't you think?"
"I promise you there's not a lot to me. I'm honestly not very interesting," she said as she stood and followed him out of the library.
"Neither am I,"
Three hours later they were still in the empty classroom they'd first gone into. Remus was on his back on the floor, looking up at Camellia, who was laying with her head hanging off the edge of the desks she was on. At the beginning they'd started with lighthearted questions that would be too personal, like their favorite colors. Camellia had laughed upon hearing that his was red and had muttered something about Gryffindors. He'd had the chance to laugh at her though, when she explained that she actually had a favorite type of tree-it was oaks that she was fond of. But after questions like their birthdays-she was about three weeks older than he was-it turned. He found that she was named after her mother's favorite flower and that she was upset with her older brother, though she wouldn't say why.
As more time stretched on, they fell into silences more often than not, until Camellia glanced at him and asked, "I don't mean to sound rude and you don't have to answer, but where do all your scars come from?"
She sounded genuinely curious instead of rude, but Remus still tensed up. "I-I-" he managed.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just curious, honestly. I'm not saying their bad or anything like that, they're just there,"
He wanted to answer her though, to show that he trusted her, even though the truth was out of the question. "I was in an accident," he blurted. "A-um-a car accident with my father when I was young. There was a lot of glass and it…" he trailed off, unsure of where else to go with the lie.
But when he finally looked at her again, Remus found that she was looking at him, her eyes warm and soft. "You shouldn't be so ashamed," she said quietly. "Everyone has them,"
"Not like this," he muttered defensively.
She stared at him for a moment before saying, "Come here," Remus obeyed almost immediately, curious as to why she needed him closer. Without saying a word she gingerly took his hand and threaded it through her hair until he felt something that felt a lot like the scars he had. "We all have accidents," she said softly. She very quickly pulled their hands away as her face when a light shade of pink. "Everything about me is hidden, including that,"
"But-"
"The difference is, you actually have the courage to walk around with things out in the open, and everyone knows it. I'd never be able to do that. One of the bravest things you can do is bare your soul to those who don't deserve to see it, as you so often do. No wonder you're a Gryffindor," she said, chuckling lightly at the last part. She smiled at him, though it was very small, and then laid back down on the desks.
"Thank you," Remus murmured.
"It's what I do. Haven't you ever wondered why they call me Slytherin's Mummy?"
"I just assumed you made everyone do their assignments or be well behaved. I didn't realize you do this kind of stuff,"
"You'd be surprised of how many younger students need it. I've seen scars a lot worse than yours, Remus,"
They fell into a calm silence after her comment, and Remus found himself pondering the things he'd learned about her that night. She made Slytherins seem more human now, because he knew things about her that didn't fit into the Slytherin stereotype. Like the fact that her favorite book was by an American muggle woman, and the way she seemed to try to keep her house peaceful and out of confrontations, even if those efforts often failed. He wondered if she was thinking the same about him, but with Gryffindors, but he didn't want to ask and interrupt their silence.
What did end up interrupting it was Remus realizing he was late for his patrol with Lily, and the fact that he knew the redhead would be furious if he made her wait much longer. He'd bade Camellia a quick goodbye-later he'd remember that she actually called him by his first name-and then run off to the Gryffindor common room.
Not many days after their time alone in the empty classroom, Remus was boarding the Hogwarts Express, pleased to be going home like everyone else was. As much as he loved school, Remus enjoyed the Christmas holiday even more. His friends provided much entertainment in their carriage, as James and Sirius couldn't stop joking around and trying to figure out what kinds of pranks they would pull on James' parents once they arrived at his home. Peter was even adding in suggestions of what they could do, while Remus watched on in amusement and chewed thoughtfully on a Chocolate Frog.
He was a bit relieved for the holiday, if he was being completely honest. While there was always a chance she would have to see him, at least Camellia wouldn't have to spend every day with Evan Rosier around and listen to him be rude to her. The Slytherin boy had been almost unbearable since getting detentions for causing a duel in Defense, and almost all of his anger was taken out on Camellia. Remus had witnessed his cruelness in the past week or so only a few times, but that didn't stop him from getting upset every time it happened. He'd actually spent the entirety of his Ancient Runes class glaring at the back of the head in front of him, which had probably looked odd to some, but it was because he was so frustrated with Rosier.
When they arrived back at King's Cross Station, Remus waved quickly to his friends who all smiled back at him before hurrying to the spot he usually met his parents at. He scanned the crowd of people for Camellia and Max, though he didn't spot them so he simply continued walking.
The holiday, for him, was quite enjoyable. It was always a quiet affair in the Lupin home though Remus thought that was far better than anything else. Besides, he got all the noise he needed at James' Christmas party, which was far more interesting that year because Lily had actually shown up instead of declining the invitation. But Remus couldn't help but think that there was another person he'd enjoy seeing there that would make the party better too.
For the life of him Remus couldn't understand what had possessed him to send her a Christmas present. As she'd said on many occasions they still weren't that great of friends, but he'd had a feeling that she wouldn't be receiving too many from anyone else. It was a simply gift anyway, and it's not like it had cost a fortune. Not that Remus actually had a fortune to spend on anyone anyway. But she did love history, he knew that, so he'd gotten her a few history books. Two of them were about muggle history because he was curious to see if she'd enjoy those too.
He'd sent her the gift five days before Christmas so her brother-he'd remembered that she'd seemed upset with him and didn't want him to know much about her-wouldn't be as likely to see it. And two days later Remus hadn't been able to stop smiling because of the pristine copies of Defense books she'd managed to send him, along with a rather nice quill. He'd momentarily felt bad because there was no way the books were inexpensive, but Remus didn't want to send them back and risk hurting her feelings. They were now displayed proudly on the top shelf of his bookcase, along with things his other friends had gotten him over the years that he held most dear.