The night with my new friends had gone well. Remus tried being mad at me for a total of three minutes, which I thought was extremely funny. He finally gave up when I continued poking him, and he just sighed in exasperation and laughed.
Sirius continued to try to flirt with me, and when he saw that wasn't working, he went for a "serious" tactic. It completely failed, and he went back to being playful and yes, you guessed it, flirty.
James is quite the prankster I must admit, and I have decided to get together sometime and plan a prank on some poor innocent bystander, which we all know is always fun.
I am not completely sure if Lily approved of my friendship with the boys- not counting Remus, who she seems to like- but I plan on getting her to like these guys, and appreciate their, er, humor, per se.
I found out within ten minutes that James is absolutely and positively in love with Lily. I also found out the reason for Lily's scowling earlier in the evening. Apparently, James has been trying to go out with Lily for ages, but she just always turned him down. That is, until last week, when she finally agreed to go out with him, just to, as James put it, "see how it went, and to see if they were 'compatible in any way.'"
I thought James would be a perfect match for Lily, because while she was always up for a good laugh, she seemed a little serious, and James would be the perfect thing to keep her always smiling, even if she couldn't see it now.
The other girls I had met at dinner drifted off to see other friends, and I spent most of the night with Lily and the boys. I don't know why, but it had always been easier for me to make friends with guys than girls.
I welcomed sleep gratefully at around midnight, and before I knew it, it was time to get up and get ready for the school day. I groaned as a pillow hit my face- I had absolutely no idea who threw it though. I got up and made my way for the showers, and a half an hour later, I walked with Lily down to the common room.
Only Remus was there, and he stood from the chair he was sitting in as we approached.
"Good morning, you two, I was just about to go down for breakfast. James, Sirius, and Peter have already gone down, naturally." Remus rolled his eyes. There. Now, see, was that so hard? I liked this non-suspicious, sarcastic, funny Remus better than the worried one I had met last night.
As we made our way down to the Great Hall, Remus whispered to me, "Hey, Juliet, I was wondering, after classes are done for the day, maybe you and I should go and talk to Professor Dumbledore about some…things…"
I contemplated this for a moment. No doubt Remus would also try to figure out my real story, but the thing was, could I trust him? He seemed perfectly trustworthy, but if he had let slip to three-no four- people about his affliction already, I wasn't sure I wanted him to know everything about me. But, then again, I reasoned, he already knows about my affliction, so there's not much left to lose besides my real story, if he does decide to tell the school about my secret.
Remus saw my hesitation, and he smiled. "You can trust me you know. And if it's any consolation, if I tell your secret, you can tell mine." I smiled, and nodded in consent.
Lily, who was a few paces ahead of us, turned around and smirked at us. "Come on, you two, stop flirting, I'm hungry!"
Remus' cheeks reddened, and he protested indignantly. I laughed, and grabbed Remus' hand, and skipped towards the doors of the Great Hall, tugging him along.
"Let's go, my furry little rabbit, let's make an entrance!" I threw my head back and laughed again at Remus' expression. If possible, his face got even redder.
We entered the Great Hall, me skipping and still holding Remus' hand, Remus walking quickly with his head down, and Lily slightly behind us, laughing hysterically at Remus' situation.
People's heads turned as we entered, and whispers broke out. Some of the onlookers were none other than my dear friends Sirius and James. James whistled, and Sirius had a mix of outrage and pride on his face as he saw what was happening before him. I plopped down next to him, and smiled sweetly in his direction.
"Something wrong, Sirius darling?" I said, whose eyes were still locked on Remus. His eyes snapped towards me, but then just as quickly, back to Remus.
"How'd you do it, mate? Even I couldn't win her over, which is saying something! I mean, no offense to you, or anything…but still!" I just shook my ahead; I would have to teach this boy some manners before the end of the year was here.
"I haven't won anyone over, Sirius," said Remus, who's cheeks still had a pink tinge to them. "Our new friend here likes to attract unwanted attention to herself and the others around her. Because God knows we needed another one of those in our group," he finished sarcastically, but with a slight smile on his face.
"Oh, come on you guys, you know you love me! See, even Lily thought it was pretty funny! Right, Lily?"
Lily smirked a little, and said, "I just want one morning, one, that goes without interruption or a big scene. But will I get that? No. So, I have to accept that fact, and admit, that yes, it was pretty hilarious." I smiled triumphantly. If this was any indication of how my daily life would be here, then I could tell already I was going to enjoy it immensely.
The day flew by, and I got a lot of homework, but nothing too bad. I still felt like learning magic was a hobby, and it just never got old. Fortunately, I had my last class with Remus, so I didn't have to worry about searching for him after class so we could go have that chat with Dumbledore.
"Ready?" I asked, and we made our way towards Dumbledore's office. I knocked, and Dumbledore's voice responded with an "Enter."
I pushed the door open, and upon seeing me and Remus together, Dumbledore's smile widened incredibly. "My, my, that was fast. But then again, after this summer, I expected no less from you, Miss Bell." I smiled politely, while Remus frowned.
"Pardon me, sir, but do you think you could tell me what's going on? I know about Juliet and I's shared…problem, but other than that, Juliet refused to tell me anything." Remus gave a pointed look in my direction.
Dumbledore chuckled and I said, "Well, I figured I'd leave the explaining up to you, sir." I pushed my hair behind my shoulder, and took a seat in the same seat I sat in the first time I ever met the old headmaster.
"As you have already guessed, Mr. Lupin, Miss Bell shares the same affliction as you do, much due to the same reasons. However, she has only had this problem for a short amount of time. Earlier this year, her father, a very capable wizard who turned away from magic so as not to get involved in the inevitable war coming, was asked to join Voldemort's ranks. Naturally, Mr. Bell turned down this offer. And well, I think you know what happens from here." Dumbledore's face looked very grave. Remus, on the other hand, had gone pale; remembering his past, or imagining mine, I wasn't sure.
Dumbledore continued. "As I said, Juliet's father turned away from magic. This meant that Miss Bell was kept from knowing the truth for her own safety. But, after the events that caused her to have an unwanted problem, her parents decided that it would be safer for her to be at Hogwarts. And as she had no magical education up until this point, she had to come to Hogwart's over the summer, and with a lot of grueling hard work and much effort on Miss Bell's behalf, she caught up to her classmates in sixth year." I beamed at Dumbledore's praise.
"So…" Remus was processing everything, "So, is that why I saw her coming in with a man, who I'm guessing was her father at the end of last year?"
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Hmm, I suppose I was wrong in assuming no one would notice you entering the castle, Miss Bell."
"Well, how could I not notice, I mean I surely would've noticed her before if she-" Remus broke off, embarrassed once more. I grinned widely, understanding what he had said, or should I say, almost said, if he hadn't caught himself in time. Dumbledore pretended as if he hadn't noticed the slip.
"Oh my, look at the time. You two had best be getting to your common room. Good evening."
And with that abrupt dismissal, we left and made our way back to the common room in somewhat awkward silence. I broke it suddenly.
"You know you can't tell anyone that. What happened, I mean." I looked at him intensely, to see his reaction.
He was surprised. "Of course I won't tell anyone. It could get you hurt. It's no secret that there are Voldemort-follower wannabees here, and if they knew you weren't a friend of the "Dark Lord" as they call him, that would not be very good for you."
"Thanks Remus," I said. "For everything. Especially for being such a good friend to someone you hardly know." We had stopped walking, and I gave him a hug. He stiffened at first, but then he relaxed.
As he pulled away, he said, "It's nothing. That's what we Gryffindors do." We both smiled, and finished our walk to the common room.
Little did I know that someone had been listening to me and Remus talking…
Someone I wouldn't exactly say was a friend.