One night as the pair sat close together in the cool night air, no longer on opposite sides of the fire from one another, they talked easily, falling into comfortable banter with one another.
"When you act like that, no one likes you," Remus teased as Wynonna recounted a story for Remus from the time between leaving Hogwarts and the night of her attack.
"That's the idea," she replied, her fingernails tapping idly against the bottle she'd been magically refilling since the night Remus had given it to her. "Doesn't seem to work so great on you though," she added, turning her gaze upon him, the orange glow of the fire reflected in her blue eyes in the darkness.
Remus didn't bother to hold back his scoff at her words, following it up with a roll of his eyes. Of course that was the idea behind her standoffish demeanor. Not too much had changed since they were kids. "Not everyone has the level of tolerance I do," he said, taking the bottle from her idle hands.
"Oi!" She hissed, making a half-hearted grab for the bottle as he drew it out of her reach. "I was drinking that," she added, scowling as she shifted in her seat beside him, still so uncomfortable in her own scar-riddled skin.
"I didn't say you couldn't have it," Remus said offhandledly, pouring some into his own glass, freshly conjured from thin air before setting it back down close enough to her where she could grab it herself.
Teeth grinding, Wynonna rubbed at the side of her nose and glanced out into the darkness, knees pulled up under her chin. "Yeah, yeah, bloody angel of a man, you," she said, repeating the phrase she'd taken to saying to him every chance she could over the past few weeks.
Taking a sip of his drink, he eyed her carefully over the rim of his glass as she settled into a comfortable position beside him, wondering what was going on in that head of hers as she stared out into the distance. "How is it you manage to make what ought to be a compliment sound like an insult?" He questioned, though admittedly, if she'd said it sincerely, he'd have to disagree with her.
Picking up the bottle from where it sat by her feet, she brought it directly to her mouth for another sloppy swig. Her blue eyes settled then on his face as she dragged her sleeve across her chin, his question inspiring a snort and something dangerously close to a true smile, the one where her dimples showed. "Practice," she replied. "Lots and lots of it. Why?" She added, the bottle moving back to her lips, pausing just short of resting against them. "Hoping for a lesson, Lu?"
Remus laughed good-naturedly, shaking his head, amusement glistening in his own stageringly blue eyes. There was that somehow endearing thing about her when she made her endless jokes, though no doubt he was one of the few who might think so. But he'd always had a habit of finding beauty in things other didn't.
"What makes you think I need one?" He asked, a cheeky sort of grin accompanying his words as he slowly brought his glass to his lips for another sip. His grin was barely concealed behind the glass as he took the smallest of sips-it wouldn't do for them both to get drunk, and it was clear once again that Wynonna had graciously and enthusiastically taken up that role fo the evening.
As Remus's laughter reached her ears, a warmth washed over her at the sound and she cocked her head to the side, eyeing him curiously-the laughter lines of a much older man lingering at the corners of his eyes. These were the sorts of things that drew someone to a person; she'd always known that much, but had never been able to emulate any of it, not even for Waverly's sake, or to placate her aunt. (I love you, Wynonna, Gus had said, but you're as broken as they come.)
Licking her lips, she squinted at him through the half-light, noting the way the shadows from the flame danced across his features, accentuating the hollowness to his cheeks. "Hm, imagine it's those angelic dimples of yours," she finally answered. A hint of a smirk flickered at the corner of her mouth before retreating, quick as a passing shadow.
"Oh, that's it, is it?" Remus's own grin widened and those blue eyes shone with amusement as he swallowed further laughter. She's one to talk, he thought, her own dimples making that hardened expression she tried so hard to keep up slip away to reveal the person that lay beneath. It was funny almost, the way she perceived herself as this broken, haunted thing, yet he rarely saw a trace of what made her feel that way.
"My evil plan is working then," he added with a look of forced coolness and mystery, negated by his inability to keep it in place longer than a second before his smile cracked back into place.
"Evil plan?" Wynonna had to chuckle at that, studying his face as if trying to find anything remotely hard in his features, let alone evil. The experiment was a complete failure, just as it always had been during school. Remus Lupin had, by far, the sweetest face and the kindest eyes she'd ever seen-two things that had royally pissed her off when they were younger, for some, inexplicable reason.
"Please, I think I've met hamsters more menacing than you," Wynonna continued, once again bringing the bottle to her lips, savoring the burn as the liquor snaked down her throat to coil in her belly. "At least outside a full moon, eh?"
Once more, his lips turned upward in a smile. Half of him was tempted to argue that he could in fact be very menacing, a downright monster, but he knew there was no use. The very fact that he wasn't any of those things was his only solace in this life, the only thing that kept him going when his darkest thoughts prodded his idle, tired mind, haunting him with the knowledge of what he was. Though he did try to throw a scowl at her in jest, but just as he'd failed to look cool and mysterious before, he failed to look menacing now.
"Save it for the stray wolves, sparky," she said, catching sight of his attempted scowl. Even if he'd pulled it off properly, she would have taken it seriously. He could screw up his face in any scary way he liked, but it'd never reach his eyes, and it was in his eyes she could always see his true intentions. There was just something about them, a gentleness that never seemed to leave him, one that calmed every fretful urge within her.
"All right, all right, so I'm a big softie," he said with a shrug, wiping his feigned scowl away, "there's enough evil in the world as it is, I think."
Wynonna inclined her head in agreement. He certainly had that right, she thought, her fingernails tapping again idly against the bottle in her hand, and she was suddenly struck with the thought that she'd have to be more prudent about trimming them from now on. They were weapons now. The thought had her bringing the bottle once again to her lips, followed by the back of her hand swiping across her mouth.
"You weren't always so soft on me, as I recall," she said as she brought the bottle away from her lips-a half-teasing remark, as they both knew full well she'd done everything in her power to ensure he wouldn't be. "Dunno if evil'd work on you anyway-that hair," she added, leaning in toward him without thinking about it, ruffling his hair, a lopsided grin on her face, "don't exactly scream bad guy either, you know."
Remus's indignant protests at her suggestion that it had been him who hadn't been soft on her, were all but forgotten the moment her fingers threaded through his hair, her nails scratching gently against his scalp, sending a shiver down his spine and the hairs on his arms and neck to stand on end. When she drew her hand back, his sense came flooding back and he looked at her indignantly.
"Oh, you mean between being flipped the bird or being knocked into the corridors any chance you got? I think it was you who wasn't soft on me."
His brow arched accusingly, though his voice went a little softer at the end, as a memory slipped to the forefront of his mind, propelled by drink and that familiar feeling still lingering from when she'd touched his hair.
"Except that one time, anyway," he added, recalling the one and only time she had been soft on him. She'd run her fingers through his hair then too.
When he met her gaze then, he'd intended to have a playful smirk in place, flirtatious and confident, but he wasn't sure he'd managed it, too busy still fighting off that odd, warming feeling he had that had nothing to do with the alcohol nor the fire beside them.
With a grin, the kind Remus could never pull off, Wynonna replied, "I remember that." Her hand came up to brush his shoulder then as she shifted positions, pretending to use him for balance as she did so. Getting more comfortable, she closed her eyes, recalling the warmth of his eager hands sliding past her waist to press against the small of her back-the sound he'd made when her mouth moved down a line to his throat had certainly been one to remember. A smirk curled her way across her mouth and she flushed briefly in the darkness remembering her dream from a few weeks before.
Remus watched, his heart beating faster as she rested her hand against him again, eyeing her curiously as she closed her eyes. She sighed and blushed and he found himself dying to know what she was thinking about. But before he could ask, the blush slipped away and her eyes opened again, now harboring a mischievous that made him blush in turn.
"Left you with a little love bite, didn't I?" she asked, her hand sliding down from his shoulder, plucking aside the collar of his shirt so her thumb could ghost along his collar bone. "Right about...here."
She stopped just short of the hollow at the base of his throat, letting her hand rest there, her smirk suddenly blossoming into a smug, knowing little smile. "Oh, you were definitely hard on me then."
"I'm flattered you remember so vividly," he replied, trying again to come off as cool and collected, but with her fingers still resting against his skin, tracing circles ever so gently, he knew he hadn't done so successfully. Though he was proud to say that it wasn't her comment that had him ruffled and blushing, but her touch instead. He was past the days where having been attracted to her embarrassed him. It wasn't a crime for him to enjoy himself, especially as she appeared to have enjoyed it quite as much as he did.
"Especially considering all that firewhiskey you'd had...do you remember all of your drunken liaisons so well?"
"Oh, I never forget a satisfying brand," she said, her fingers still absently tracing along his collar bone, catching the edge of his shirt, thumbing the fabric. "And, well...yours?" She trailed off, biting her lip, eyes fluttering closed again for a few brief moments, recalling how it'd felt to leave that little purpling bruise on Remus Lupin, the thrill of knowing it was there the next day, hidden beneath his beat up button-down and Gryffindor tie. She'd enjoyed that more than she was entirely comfortable admitting in any sincere capacity.
Turning to look up at him, she met him with a smile that was nothing less than coy. Why pretend, really? It was no different than any time she'd caught some guy unawares and given him something to remember her by. Except you don't remember their names, do you, Wynonna? An annoying voice prodded in her mind.
"Yours just happened to be a favorite of mine," she nearly purred, her face shifting then to something a little more indulgent and she let go of his shirt, instead cupping his cheek in her hand.
Remus hoped and prayed Wynonna couldn't feel the heat in his cheeks as her hand lay there while at the same time still hoping she wouldn't take it away. Her hands were slightly calloused but felt soft against his cheeks, warm and welcoming in a way he was quickly getting addicted to.
"But I think it's adorable you still believe I was actually drunk." As if a shot and a half of firewhiskey and a few butter beers could ever be enough to make her so much as light headed. One foot dropping away from her seat and back to the floor, Wynonna braced herself to leaned closer. "I've been drinking since age thirteen," she finished, patting his cheek with her hand as she let it drop away.
Remus nearly groaned aloud as her hand fell away. She'd been a tease when they were young too and had known it then as well as she knew it now. Time hadn't changed her knowing what sort of effect she could have on people, especially him.
Her eyes moved then to the glass in his hand, adding another splash of booze to it without asking if he wanted more. "Cheers." A clink of glass meeting glass resounded as she gave a mocking toast.
But as he sat there, reveling in her compliments, his ego padded with her words of remembrance, it began to fade as it sunk in that she hadn't really been drunk. All these years he'd believed she was drunk and for some reason, finding out that hadn't been true left him feeling disappointed. Disappointed knowing that he could have gotten more.
Though there was one thing that pleased him, and as he took another drink, he flashed her a victorious smile over the rim of his glass.
"You wanted to kiss me," he pointed out-a statement, not a question. Though over the years the memory of that night had faded, it came back now with startling clarity. He remembered thinking the only reason she would have ever kissed him was because she was drunk. The thought had never occurred to him that she would have done so willingly, consciously, intentionally. But knowing she hadn't been drunk...well, that changed things a bit.
Wynonna's eyebrows rose so high at his words, they almost disappeared into her hairline, the beginnings of an indulgent smirk curling its way across her sharp features. He sounded awfully sure of that for someone who hadn't known until a few moments ago that she'd barely been tipsy at the time. Smirk in place, she tilted her head as she looked at him, eyes traveling lazily down his body, tongue darting out to wet her lips as her eyes traced their way back up to his face once more.
Remus followed her gaze with his eyes, feeling a heat in each place her eyes rest. That's all it took-one look and she could leave him reeling.
As she looked him over, she had to admit he wasn't entirely wrong. At the time she would have denied it but Wynonna has long since made peace with the fact that her interest in Remus Lupin hadn't been entirely based on hatred. She'd always found him cute in his own particular way and most days she'd resent him all the more for it. That much hadn't changed with time either. She still felt the same heavy warmth in the pit of her stomach, snaking out into her veins each time he smirked or smiled. He was a good looking man and she was only human.
Well, maybe not only human anymore but who's to say the part of that's not wouldn't make a perfect excuse for any further weakness shown his way? I'm only human-but I'm also the wolf. She wondered if he could see the thought in her eyes. Part of her almost hoped so, she just wasn't sure which part.
"What I wanted," she began again in response, trailing off and finding herself leaning in close to him again, "was to shock you." Smirking, she took another swig straight from the bottle in her hand without breaking eye contact for a second. "And to see what you'd do it I leaned all over ya like I was making to fall down the stairs. And what you did-" Again she trailed off, threading her fingers through his hair again, moving to settle her weight more comfortably beside him.
Her hand then slid down to rest in a loose grip around the back of his neck, leaning in to let the tip of her nose rest between the strands just above his ear as she finished in hushed tone, "was smell my hair and snog me back." Leaning back, she eyed him with a mischievous, knowing glint in her eyes. "So who wanted to kiss who, really?"
Remus furrowed his brow at her cocky expression, letting out a breath of laughter. "You say that as if I wasn't supposed to want to snog you. Of course I wanted to." Apart from being a boy like any other, itching to snog girls, it had been her, the one person he had ever really wanted to snog. Whether that had all been due to her deliberately enticing tasing or an actual crush on her, he didn't care to think on too much, but it was probably a bit of both.
Wynonna's brows raised in surprise again, having not expected him to be so honest. It was refreshing in a way, though she couldn't help eyeing the glass in his hand, wondering if that may be the root of such honesty. Part of her, however, the part that had gotten to know him better over the past few weeks knew that was simply how he was sometimes, honest. It was a rarity, especially from the sorts of men she usually attracted.
Laughing, she shifted again, further away from him now, for the time being finished with her teasing like the old days. "Oh, I bet you couldn't wait to get back to your dormitory and tell all your friends. Sirius probably had a field day, didn't he?" She asked, remembering how Sirius had been chief among his friends trying to push Remus further into her path any chance he could. Even to this day, he seemed to have known there had been something between the two of them.
"Actually," Remus began, cocking his head to the side, another breath of laughter escaping him as he swirled the glass in his hand. "I never told them. They still don't know," he finished, words punctuated with another sip of his drink.
"What?" Wynonna asked, her surprise evident. "Really? Why?"
Remus shrugged, looking away shyly for a moment before he met her piercing blue eyes with his own. "It wasn't only my business to tell."
A girl like Wynonna had enough careless boys spouting about her to their friends, treating her like some sort of conquest. He hadn't appreciated hearing talk about her like that then and he certainly wasn't going to take part in it himself. Though altruism hadn't been his only reason. Selfishly, he had wanted to guard that moment all to himself. He hadn't wanted anyone to taint that moment for him.
Wynonna in response actually felt her cheeks warming and she knew there must be a faint red tint to them as she glanced away. Remus Lupin was just full of surprises for her tonight. Surprises that ought not to have been as surprising as they were. Turns out she didn't know him quite as well as she thought she had. All this time she'd thought she'd had him pegged, thought she knew all she needed to know. Well, she was dead wrong.
"Keep it up, Lu, and I might have to kiss you again," she said, willing herself to look him in the eyes and keep that tingling warmth that was pooling in the pit of her stomach at bay at the same time. It proved to be a very difficult task when he looked at her with those stupid blue eyes of his. And his stupid dimples.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," he replied with a shrug, raising a brow at her, his meaning clear-if she wanted to kiss him, he would do absolutely nothing to stop her. In fact, he'd welcome it quite willingly.
What the actual fuck! Wynonna thought as she looked at him, that warmth spreading to all parts of her body, especially the ones she was trying to keep it away from. She'd said it as a joke, or at least part of it had been a joke but she was beginning to realize she actually meant it. She could kiss him right then and there. She could take him to that stupid tiny tent of theirs and have her way with him and, unlike other similar encounters, not regret when she woke up the next morning.
Luckily she was spared the necessity to control that urge as Remus stood then, saying his goodnights before retreating into the tent for bed. Staring after him in a sort of daze she supposed it was for the best that he'd left when he did. While she wouldn't have regretted it if she had kissed him, nor if one kiss led to something more as she was sure it would have, and it would likely have been an experience worth having, it may have complicated things a bit. If she was to be out here in the woods with him at least for another week until after the next full moon, the last thing she needed to do was pull a Wynonna and fuck everything into a gigantic mess.
Wynonna waited a moment, contemplating sitting out by the fire and finishing the bottle in her hand, in the end deciding she didn't want to deal with that hangover and dropping the bottle at her feet before she too went inside the tent. She hadn't noticed how much or how little time had passed since Remus had gone in and had expected him to already be in bed, drifting off to sleep if not asleep already. But instead, she walked in just as he was changing into his nightshirt and this time she caught more than a passing glance at the scars she had known were hidden beneath his clothes.
Her eyes widened with shock-she knew he had scars, she'd seen some and he'd told her they were there, but the actual sight of them still took her by surprise. Looking at him, she hadn't realized herself walking over to him, eyes transfixed on the countless angry marks raised against his skin. She was imagining some harrowing scene like the night of her own attack, and she couldn't wrap her head around the thought of a pack of werewolves viciously attacking the man before her when he was only five years old.
"Don't look so grim," he said, starting her out of her thoughts, and she shook her head, surprised to find herself standing less than a foot from him. "I did most of these myself."
"You what?!" She asked, her eyes shooting up to look him in the eye.
"It's a long story. Don't worry, it won't happen to you," he said, dryly, almost clinically as he moved to turn his back to her. But without meaning to or choosing to, she reached a hand out and stopped him, her hand resting on his chest, her finger brushing against a scar just below his collar bone.
An inch above it was the spot she'd left that mark on him when they were kids. Had this scar been there then? If she'd moved his shirt just a little bit more, would she have seen these scars? Possibly kissed them instead? Or would he have stopped her before she could, in effort to keep his secret.
Deliberately avoiding her gaze, he moved her hand away from him with one of his own, turning quickly to throw his nightshirt on finally. Once dressed again, he turned back to her, trying to force a polite smile.
"I told you seeing my pale ass, scar riddled body wouldn't make things any better."
"Speak for yourself," she replied, the sarcastic, teasing remark falling like a bad habit from her lips. But it did the job, Remus let out a soft, genuine chuckle and Wynonna continued, trying to lighten the moment. "I definitely feel better now."
And she wasn't really lying either. While she felt a surge of emotion upon seeing the damage done to him and she felt bad knowing the pain he must have endured, she didn't find them unsightly. She could understand why he'd hidden them from others all his life as there were only so many things in the wizarding world that could leave permanent scars like that. But if he had hidden them from her because he thought they were ugly, he was misguided.
Whatever he may think, he didn't look any less handsome because of them. Quite the contrary, in fact. Maybe it was the broken part of her but knowing that a part of him was broken too only made him more attractive. Maybe that was wrong of her to feel that way, to want him to be as broken as her, but seeing his flaws, his imperfections, made her feel more secure in her own. Already being around Remus, she felt she was finally somewhere she belonged, was with someone who understood her in ways no one else had. Seeing him then, bared before her, that feeling only strengthened as she slipped in bed beside him, drifting off to an usually restful sleep.