Tuesday, 7 September 1976
It had been nearly a week since Lena and Remus had spoken on the train and she could happily keep it that way. At least, that's what she tried to tell herself. She couldn't face him and, in her opinion, he couldn't face her. She had caught him glancing at her from across the Great Hall during meals. He seemed apologetic. But apologetic looks are not the same as an apology and Lena refused to be the one to reach out. She may have overstepped, but Remus had been the one that was unkind. And if he ever did apologize, she doubted it would be anytime soon. For the past two days, Remus had been perpetually annoyed and angry even with her brother and his friends.
She watched out of the corner of her eyes as Remus rose for the Gryffindor table, leaving Peter, James, and Sirius alone. She made her way over and plopped herself in the seat that Remus previously occupied.
"Hey, Lena," Peter spoke, his mouth full of mashed potatoes.
'Don't talk with your mouth, Peter. It's bad manners," Lena scolded.
"Yes, mum," Peter said sarcastically, swallowing the rest of his food.
"It's been a while since we've seen you Lena. What have you been up to?" James asked jovially.
"You know, the usual. Fighting with centaurs, sneaking out to Hogsmeade, making first years cry," Lena joked.
"Naturally," James said.
"Anyways, Peter, could you help me tomorrow night. Binns assigned us fifty pages of readings and is giving us a pop quiz on Friday. Can you just tell me what's actually relevant to know. You know how he is! Only two pages of what he assigns is actually on his quizzes. And the information isn't even that important in the grand scheme of history! I mean last year he had a question on his exam that asked when did the last surviving goblin of the Goblin Rebellions die! Who does that?" Lena said in exasperation.
James, Peter, and Sirius looked at each other discreetly, and quickly. It didn't go unnoticed by Lena.
"Uh, I can't do it tomorrow night. We're busy. But I can do tonight," Peter offered.
"Yeah, tonight works, too I guess. So why can't you do tomorrow? Do you guys have some secret full moon ceremony?," Lena laughed.
"Yep, we dance naked in the Forbidden Forest and pray for increased strength and wisdom," James joked back.
The slight tension the boys had released when Lena didn't inquire further upon their full moon activities. Insead she asked, "So when and where do you want to meet, Pete?"
"Ha, that rhymed," Sirius interjected.
"We can meet at the library at 6 o'clock," Peter offered.
"The library. What are you going to do at the library? It's not like you to go there," Remus said as he sat beside Lena, having returned from wherever he had gone. He turned to face her and greeted her softly. "Hi, Lena"
"Hi, Remus," she said with a slight smile. She did, after all, miss speaking to him.
"I'm helping her study for Binns. She's got a quiz on Friday"
Remus was prepared to offer an olive branch to Lena, "If you want, I can—"
Remus was cut off by Rajesh Daas, a fifth year Gryffindor, putting his hands on Lena's shoulders. "Lee, we're still on for Friday night, right?"
"Yeah, come around 9, Raj."
"Sick, I'll bring some Firewhiskey," Raj grinned and walked away.
"Oooh, what's happening on Friday night that involves Firewhiskey and a boy?" Sirius teased.
"You're not going out with him, are you?" Peter questioned with narrowed eyes, his protective side coming out. Remus was glad Peter asked the question and not him. It's generally considered strange to be concerned about someone's dating life after you proclaim that you don't consider the previously aforementioned someone a friend, Remus thought.
Lena rolled her eyes, and tucked her brown hair behind her ears. "No, Peter. Raj and I are just friends."
Sirius raised his hand. "You still haven't answered my question."
"If you must know," Lena sighed "We're having a party on Friday in the Hufflepuff common room."
"And you didn't invite us?!" James cried indignantly.
Lena held her hands up "I'm sorry. I didn't think a party with a bunch of fifth years would be your thing. You guys can come if you want, though."
"Oh, we'll be there," Sirius said.
"Alright, I've got to get going. I'll see you at six, Peter."
Lena arrived early to the library and waited for Peter to arrive. Even though Lena had said that they would just review the material, both siblings knew that Peter would read Lena the remainder of whatever she had not read.
Lena was thankful that most of the professors at Hogwarts were accommodating to her dyslexia. McGonagall, Slughorn, Sprout, and Flitwick were among the professors that gave her the reading assignments a week in advance so she could complete them in time. They also would review her essays in advance to check for spelling and grammatical errors. They did not give her the unfair advantage of assisting with the theory or the information she was writing about. Slughorn was the sweetest, though. He was kind enough to place all the measuring cups and spoons in decreasing order for her, ensuring she knew the correct size to select. During her first year, he added pictures of the bottles of ingredient bottles so she could easily identify what she needed.
The only professor that wasn't accommodating was Binns, her History of Magic professor. It was beyond frustrating to be assigned fifty pages of Goblin Rebellion material twice a week. Lena could usually struggle through twenty-five, maybe even thirty, pages a night. But fifty pages was too much, especially when taking into account the complexity of the Goblin language with its intricate characters.
Lena was beyond grateful for brother Peter. He wasn't the smartest person at Hogwarts, but he was always there to help her with her studies. He never complained that it took time away from his friends or his own studies. He never showed his frustration when she stumbled over the words when he helped her read The Hobbit. He was the only student at Hogwarts who knew about Lena's dyslexia. She hadn't dared tell Maggie and Ava. Even though she knew that they would help her and wouldn't care, she was embarrassed to admit. The last time she had told someone about her dyslexia was when she was ten. She had told her best friend at the time, Ivy Williams, about it. Lena wasn't sure what she had expected at the time, but it definitely wasn't Ivy laughing in her face, giggling in delight that Lena was "too dumb to read," and announcing that Lena has dyslexia during maths class.
Peter plopped down across from Lena, making a loud thud as he threw his rucksack on the floor beside him. Madam Pince shot them a look and shushed them. "Let's get started, shall we?"
Remus stood in the kitchen staring at Marauder's Map, waiting for Lena's footsteps to appear in front of the kitchen entrance. He felt awful about the incident on the train and all he wanted to do was apologize. He left the Gryffindor dormitory under the pretense of getting chocolate to satisfy his craving. It was the only way James, Sirius, and Peter would be allowed to leave the dorm. They always insisted he had a good night of sleep the night before the full moon. None of them would sleep the next night. He hadn't lied to roommates, he did intend on getting chocolate. It just wasn't his main objective of the night.
As he saw Lena's footsteps get closer to the kitchen entrance, he flung the painting open, grabbed her by the waist, pulled her in the kitchen, and let the door close behind them. She let out a scream that was cut off by Remus putting his hand over mouth. She reacted quickly, grabbing his hand and moving it away from her mouth.
"What the bloody hell, Remus! You can't just grab a girl from behind and pull her into a secluded place!" Lena yelled, her arms flying and her eyes wide.
"I'm sorry, that was a bad call on my part," Remus said apologetically. This was not going the way he wanted.
"Yeah, it was!"
Her tone softened as she saw the shameful look in Remus' eyes, as he stared at his hands. "So, why did you pull me in here?"
Remus reached out, taking her hands. "I wanted to apologize about what happened on the train. I shouldn't have yelled at you. You were just trying to help. I overreacted and I was embarrassed about my scars. And I didn't mean what I said…about you not being my friend and you just being nice because you're Hufflepuff. You're a kind person, no matter what house you're in. And you are my friend. Not just because you're Peter's sister…but because you're…and you're wonderful… and—"
Lena delicately moved her thumbs over the tops of his hands. Remus could not remember the last time someone touched him so gently. "It's alright, Remus. I was just worried about you and I shouldn't have overstepped. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Her voice grew quieter. "And you shouldn't be embarrassed about your scars. You're quite, um, goodlooking, with or without them."
Neither of them could see how red their cheeks were as they stared at their feet. Remus broke the silence. "So, do you want some chocolate?"
"Yes, please."
Remus nibbled on his bar of chocolate as he stood in front of Lena, who was sitting on a table, dangling her legs over the edge.
"So, are you excited for tomorrow night?"
Remus nearly choked on his chocolate. "What?"
"Merlin, Remus, don't go dying on me"
"I, uh, sorry. What about tomorrow night?"
"You know, the mysterious thing you're doing tomorrow night. And I believe I know what you guys are doing."
Remus' voice cracked. 'You do?"
"Not really. I'm between two options. You're all smoking weed or you're sneaking out of Hogwarts."
Remus relaxed. "The latter. But that's all you get to know."
Lena pouted. "Fine. We should get going. It's getting late."
"Yeah, we should."
"So, I'll see you on Friday, then?" Lena asked as they stepped out of the kitchen.
"I'll see on Friday." They both smiled.
Friday, 10 September 1976
Lena did not see Remus on Friday. According to James, he was feeling under the weather and could not make it out of bed. Lena asked her brother to tell Remus to "feel better" as they left the party.
"Hey, Rem," James yawned, supporting Sirius, who was practically asleep.
"Had a good time, eh?" Remus said weakly from his bed.
James nodded "Hufflepuffs throw surprisingly good parties."
Sirius groaned in agreement.
"Oh, Moony."
"Yeah, Wormtail?"
"Lena says 'feel better.'"
Remus smiled contently and drifted off to sleep.