A/N: Only a few more left! Then on to Becoming Hermione ; )

These characters aren't my magical doing; they're J.K. Rowling's.

Cricket and Max Mann (and their parents), Emily Steele, Charlie Ashfield, and Professors Mac, Shore, and Zinski are part of my spell :)

Adjusting to live in Gryffindor Tower was a lot harder than Cricket imagined it would be. It took half a week to bribe a house-elf to bring her belongings back to her room. Although Lily and Emily were semi-reluctant at first to welcome Cricket back, they ended up being a big help to Cricket, along with James and Sirius. Peter seemed slightly miffed at her still, but she didn't mind not having an overly-attentive Peter. The reason Cricket was glad for all their support: Remus Lupin.

Of course it was to be expected for him to be hesitant in their relationship, but there was still a part of Cricket that craved for the way things used to be. After their reunion in the hospital wing, Cricket didn't think the transition would be that hard, but she was sorely mistaken.

Things were slowly starting to get better, though. Malfoy left her alone as he was always found in the company of Narcissa Black as she clung to his arm. Apparently the late-night snog Cricket walked in on was more than it appeared. Malfoy leaving her alone was one less thing to bring Remus and Cricket closer together.

Who am I kidding, Cricket thought bitterly as she sat in the library studying. Or at least she was telling herself she was studying, but she was really drumming her quill on her book as she stared out the window. The moon was starting to fade into the blackness of the night, which meant Remus and Cricket just had their first transformation 'together' since before break. The whole delightful, urge-filled week before the full moon Cricket never saw Remus once outside of class. He had carefully planned it so the boys would keep him away and the girls would keep her away. The werewolves never broke out in each of them that month.

If that isn't a rejection, I don't know what is, her quill stopped slowly at the gloomy thought. I thought I'd be happier with my freedom, but I was happier with Malfoy. Cricket scoffed and her quill resumed its staccato rhythm, Never think that again, Cricket Mann.

She was startled out of her thoughts as a hand came down on her own, stopping the quill's frantic movements. If the tingling up her arm didn't reveal who it was, the voice did, "Don't you know you're supposed to be quiet in the library?"

Cricket looked up at Remus' face and saw a smirk. She looked back at his hand as he pulled it away and thought it was the most contact they'd had since the hospital wing.

Remus sat down next to her but didn't say anything for a while. "I'm sorry," he finally said, "for how I've been treating you lately. I had the others keep us apart because I don't want us to be that kind of couple. I want us to be us, not them, "he said meaning the werewolves inside them. "I wanted to see if it was more than just them."

Cricket found her voice, "And do you think we are?"

Remus finally looked at her, "I want it to be."

Cricket smiled weakly, "I want it to b, too." She covered his hand with hers.

Remus brought her hand to his lips and smiled, "Just to make sure, there aren't any more insane relatives or extreme depts. to pay off, are there?"

"No, we can finally start fresh. No more outside interference."

"Good." He suddenly turned serious, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

=-=-=-=

"So I see you two are back to normal," Lily grinned at her friends.

Both Remus and Cricket blushed from the couch. Although they weren't as close as they could be, they had their hands linked on Cricket's knee. Remus cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, but he didn't release her hand. "Not quite, but we're taking it slow."

"We think we rushed it too must in the fall," Cricket continued.

"That's good," Lily smiled, leaning into James.

"Please don't give the girls any more ideas," Sirius pleaded as he covered Emily's ears. "They're already going on about how cute and perfect you two are."

Remus and Cricket blushed again and Emily swatted his hands off her ears. "They are cute, silly."

With that, the two marauders started bickering with their girlfriends. Remus looked at Cricket and saw her staring back. They slouched a little to slide closer together, content with their situation.

=-=-=-=

"Study with me?" Cricket asked one weekend. Their NEWTS were coming up and they had to be prepared.

Remus nodded and walked his love to the library. They found a secluded table and sat across from each other. While Cricket was serious about studying her potions notes, Remus was serious about studying his girlfriend.

She had her hair up in a high ponytail, which allowed him to see her neck. At the collar of her shirt, he saw the faint marks of a few scars, which almost made him growl out loud as he remembered the scars that covered her body. He then moved up to her face and saw her nibbling on her lower lip. That time a low growl slipped from the back of his throat.

Cricket looked up at Remus and saw his face redden. "Are you alright?"

"Fine; sorry!" Remus looked down at his unopened book and almost groaned in embarrassment. As if I could make it more obvious. Okay, focus on the book, focus on the book! It wasn't until he had read the first sentence for the hundredth time before he thought of something to help him concentrate. His hand slowly slid across the table and finally found Cricket's. He mentally sighed in content as his eyes finally made it past the first sentence.

Cricket looked up when she felt Remus' hand on hers, but he was deeply focused into his book. She felt his fingers drawing circles on the back of her hand and smiled. She turned her hand in his and gently rubbed her fingertips against his palm. She looked back at her book and found she could finally concentrate on her book.

A/N: Hope all is well :)