AN: Happy late Halloween and Happy Día de Muertos!
Mariana made her way down the hallway on the third floor, walking as fast as her boot-covered feet let her and stopped in front of Remus' closed classroom door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on it, but didn't hear anything from the other side. After knocking a couple of more times, she sighed and gave up. Turning around, she walked away, going down the stairs and walked towards the entrance hall wearing a coat and a hat, the weather getting colder with each passing day.
She wanted to ask him if he'd like to go with her to Hogsmeade, maybe have a butterbeer with her as she had heard from other teachers they're good and she'd never really tried one. She also wanted to go to Honeydukes because last time she went she saw they sold sugar skulls all year round, and her little Mexican heart sang. Real Mexican sugar skulls, in Scotland, in October? She bought 3 and ate them already.
Being around Remus was nice. Underneath that shyness, he was a bit bold and had a spark of mischief to him. And he was funny, which she wasn't expecting. He was considerate. For the past month, he made sure to bring her some chocolate to wake her up during their night patrols. And he had somehow memorized how she had her coffee, because every Friday morning he greeted her at the Great Hall with a cup of the dark liquid (She wasn't a morning person and he knew it). And he was handsome. God, was he handsome. Those green eyes captivated her every time he looked down at her, that small smile he sent her when she said something witty or when she tried and failed to do a British accent. And those scars. She really liked how the scars added to his persona, how they weren't just there, but gave him something she couldn't put her finger on.
Yes, Mariana was falling for her coworker.
She was about to leave when the door opened, Harry standing next to the open door.
"Professor Mondragon?" Harry asked.
"Oh, hi Harry!" She smiled. "I didn't know Re-Professor Lupin was busy. Am I interrupting something?"
"Not at all." Remus said as he stood next to Harry. "We were just having some tea." He smiled at her.
"Oh," She said, "I'll leave you to it, then."
"I was about to leave, actually." Harry said.
"Really?"
"Yes, I've got to finish some homework while Ron and Hermione come back from Hogsmeade." He turned to Remus. "Thank you for the talk and the tea, professor." He said, making the older man smile.
"I'll see you in class, Harry."
Both adults watched as the teenager left, then turned to face each other.
"How are you?" He asked her.
"I'm fine. How are you?" She replied.
"I'm fine, a bit tired. But I'm good."
They stood in the hall, quietly smiling at each other, not knowing what to say but it wasn't awkward.
"Hey," Mariana started, "I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me?" She bit her lower lip, her hands behind her back. "Honeydukes' got sugar skulls, and with Día de Muertos being in 3 days, I want to get some." She looked him straight in the eye, a coy smile on her face. "And maybe we could go get a butterbeer or something? I've heard they're really good."
He looked at her with a shocked face, eyes wide in surprise at her question. As he took longer to reply, the more nervous she became.
"Only if you want to, of course."
Remus cleared his throat. "I'd love to, Mariana,"
She winced inwardly. There was a but coming.
"I'm not feeling too well. Maybe next weekend?" He said while scratching the back of his head.
"Oh yeah, totally." She said quickly. "I, uh… I hope you feel better soon." She replied as she started to slowly walk backwards. "I'll… I'll see you later, then. Bye."
The moment she turned a corner and went down the stairs, she groaned and hit her forehead with her palm. "¡Pendeja pendeja pendeja! ¡Eres una pendeja, Mariana! Tenías que hacer las cosas incómodas, ¿verdad?" (Dumbass dumbass dumbass! You're a dumbass, Mariana! You just had to make things awkward, didn't you?)
That night, Mariana didn't see Remus during dinner at the Great Hall. She wasn't really hungry, not after eating her feelings in sugar skulls. She sat down in bed reading when, about two hours after dinner had ended and an hour after curfew had started, her stomach started to growl.
"Ahora si tienes hambre, cabrón." (Oh now you're hungry, asshole) She mumbled to herself. Groaning, she put on a robe over her pajamas, grabbed her wand and slipped her slippers on.
With a faint whisper of "lumos", Mariana walked down towards the kitchen, apologizing to the portraits that woke up from her light.
Tickling the pear, she entered the kitchen and was surprised to see some house-elves still up.
"Oh, it's Miss! Miss hello!" Hospy, a female elf Mariana had kind of bonded with during her stay, ran towards the professor.
"Hospy what are you doing up so late?"
"Hospy still has to finish cleaning, Miss!" The tiny elf jumped up and down. "Why is Miss up?"
"I didn't have enough for dinner and I'm suddenly very hungry, Hospy." Mariana chuckled. "What do you have in the fridges? I wouldn't want to bother you with cooking."
"Hopsy is not bothered! Hospy likes Miss!"
"Thank you, Hospy, I like you too! But really, what leftovers do you have?"
Mariana let Hospy lead her down towards a table inside the kitchen, and waited for the elf to heat some spaghetti and meat loaf for her. She chatted with Hospy while she ate, and when she was done, thanked the elf and left.
Mariana was walking to her floor when she saw something moving outside the castle under the bright light from the full moon. No, not something. Someone. Gripping her wand tighter in her hand, she quietly walked outside the castle. She still didn't know who Sirius Black was or what he did to end up in Azkaban, but all she knew was that he was dangerous and on school grounds. As she walked and got closer to the figure, she stopped.
Remus? She thought. Is that Remus?
She watched as Remus walked down the hill, getting closer to Hagrid's hut. ¿A dónde va a esta hora, no sabe que hay un loco asesino suelto?(Where is he going at this hour, doesn't he know there's a crazy killer on the loose?)
"Re-"
"Mariana, what are you doing out here?"
She turned to see Pomona, wearing her pajamas, making her way towards her.
"I just…" Mariana started, turning back to where Remus had been, only to find him gone. "I thought I saw something."
"Well, let's go back inside. It's not safe to be out at this time." The plump woman said, leading Mariana inside. "With Dementors and Black out, we shouldn't be outside the castle."
Mariana searched the grounds quickly, but couldn't find Remus anywhere. Maybe she did imagine things.
Ahora lo alucinas. Te afectó el rechazo, ¿Verdad? (Now you're hallucinating him. Rejection hit you hard, didn't it?)
It was normal for students to sleep in on Sundays, and Halloween was no exception. Mariana walked to the Great Hall at 9 in the morning and had her usual coffee, and noticed that, again Remus had not come down for a meal.
She noticed that he got sick very frequently, and that he started taking a weird potion Severus brought him daily.
"It's for my immune system", he had said when she asked him one time over tea in his office.
Si, ¿pero que se enferme dos semanas al mes, todos los meses? (Yes, but he gets sick for two weeks every month?) Mariana thought as she took a sip of her coffee. Necesita tomar algo más para mejorar su salud. Esa poción claramente no está funcionando. (He needs to take something else to get healthier. That potion clearly isn't working.)
Mariana spent her Sunday the same way she did, reading by the lake. She had to take advantage of the fact that it still wasn't too cold for her to be at the lake, but her days by the body of water will soon be over for a while.
She returned to the castle for lunch and, again, didn't see Remus. After lunch she went back to her office to finish checking some essays and, by the time she finished, it was dinner time.
She was surprised to see Remus sitting on his usual chair next to hers, taking a bite of a sandwich. He turned when she arrived and smiled at her. "Mariana, hello."
"Remus, how are you feeling?" She asked as she took a seat.
"I'm better, thank you for asking." He replied.
"You know, I could ask my mom for some of her remedies. She might be a Naualiui- I mean, a muggle - but God knows the woman has her own potions." She said before taking a gulp from her goblet. "Maybe she's got something to boost up your defenses?"
Remus smiled fondly at the woman. She was worried about his health, how sweet can she be? And he couldn't forget how she asked him out to Hogsmeade. He hated himself for not going with her, but even with the wolfsbane potion in his system he still felt weak before and after a full moon.
"That won't be necessary, but thank you. I really appreciate it, Mariana."
Mariana blushed, averting her gaze from him and smiling. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but maybe, just maybe, he liked her back.