Tuesday, 12 October 1976

Lena and Regulus had worked out a system in order to sit next to each other in potions. Lena would always let Maggie and Ava sit together, leaving her to sit alone without a partner as the fifth-year Hufflepuffs consisted of an uneven number. Regulus always made sure to be the last Slytherin to enter the classroom. Since the Slytherins also consisted of an uneven number of students, Regulus would be left without a partner and it would appear to the rest of the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins that Lena and Regulus had no choice but to work together.

Potions class was one of the opportunities that Regulus and Lena had to talk. They valued spending that time together as friends. People tend to become friends after stealing from Death Eaters, fighting a Manticore, sharing secrets, and admitting their love for other people. Lena and Regulus never looked at each other though when they spoke to each other as they did not want to alert Slytherins of their friendship.

"How did your History of Magic exam go yesterday?" Regulus asked as he stirred their potion.

Lena sighed. "I doubt it didn't go well. I hadn't been able to finish the three chapters he assigned us to read on Friday. So I'm sure I got a few questions wrong for that reason. I didn't even get to the last two questions because it took me too long to read the other questions."

"I'm sorry, Lee. I'm sure the next will go better."

"Thanks, Reg. So how's your friend been?"

Layla Burke, Regulus' girlfriend, was only ever referred to as his friend when Lena and Regulus spoke about her. They both felt that it was too risky to mention her name in case someone overheard.

"My friend is great," Regulus said.

Lena could see him smiling out of the corner of her eye. "We're going to meet up this weekend at our spot."

"Wonderful."

"You seem closer to Lupin recently," Regulus commented.

Lena turned red. She had been doting on Remus ever since he had gotten injured a few days earlier. Whenever she saw him, she'd ask him how he was feeling and give him pieces of chocolate.

"Well, our idiot brothers got him hurt when they tried doing a prank. I just want to make sure he's okay."

"Oh, so it's not an excuse for you to talk to the guy you're in love with?"

"Shut up, Reg."

Friday, 15 October 1976

Just as Lena suspected, her History of Magic exam had not gone well. She had prayed for an A, expected a P, and received a D. Lena could feel bile in throat and she pushed it down. She had never done so badly on her exam. If she wanted to get at least an A in the class she'd have to get A's on the rest of her assignments for the class. She could maybe afford to get another P if she could muster higher than A. But that was essentially impossible considering Lena's dyslexia and the amount of work Binns assigned to read.

After class let out, she, Ava, Maggie, and Raj made their way to Gryffindor tower to hang out. Lena was in a trance and could not even hear what her friends were saying. She broke from her trance when she was violently shaken by Maggie.

"Lena!" Maggie said loudly.

"Hmm…Yeah."

"So what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About going on a picnic tomorrow?"

"Oh. I can't. It sounds fun, though"

"Why can't you go?" Raj asked.

"I need to study."

"No you don't! We've got loads of time before our next exam!" Ava said.

Lena squeezed her eyes tightly before reopening them. "I know. It's just— I want to get ahead.

"Whatever," Ava said.

Raj looked at her in disappointment and Maggie rolled her eyes in annoyance

"I'm sorry," Lena genuinely mumbled.

Her friends said nothing as they entered the Gryffindor common room. The room was buzzing with noise as Gryffindors of all years conversed. There were no seats available so Raj and the girls were about to go up to Raj's room when they heard some call out "Lee!"

Lena and her friends spun around and found Sirius Black eagerly waving at them to come over from the armchair he occupied. Opposite the armchair was a couch. James had his back against the arm of the couch and his legs were stretched over the rest of it. On the other side of the couch, Remus sat with a book in his lap.

Lena gave a slight wave back and proceeded to head upstairs with her friends.

"Come over here, Lena!" Sirius called.

"You can meet us upstairs when you're done," Raj said. He began walking upstairs. Maggie and Ava, who flanked him on either side, followed him and remained silent. Lena sighed. Her friends were upset with her for not agreeing to hang out the next day. Lena approached Sirius, James, and Remus.

"Hey," Lena greeted softly and unenthusiastically.

Remus looked at her concern and frowned. In his opinion, Lena did not seem like himself and looked like something was weighing on her mind "Are you alright, Lena?"

Lena awarded him a small smile. "I'm fine. I'm just tired. It's been a long day. Thanks for checking, though, Remus."

James moved his leg. "Sit down next to Moony, Lena."

Lena nodded and sat beside Remus. She smiled at Remus and he smiled back.

"So, Peter's birthday is coming up," Sirius said.

"I'm aware of that. I'm his sister after all," Lena remarked.

James grinned. "We're gonna have a little thing for him on his birthday. Ya know, cake and presents and all that."

"And Firewhiskey!" Sirius interjected excitedly.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I was wondering, I mean, we were wondering if you'd want to come."

A smile graced Lena's lips as she looked into Remus' eyes. "I'd love to. Should I bring anyth—"

Lena gasped and stopped talking. She rose slightly and leaned in, pressing her body against Remus' arm. The side of her face was in front of his own face. The scent of Lena's apple shampoo filled Remus' nose as her soft hair tickled his face. Remus loved seeing the blonde and auburn streaks running through her brown hair. His nose was nearly touching her cheek and he had the urge to press his lips against her jaw and trace her jawline with his mouth. He resisted the urge and studied her side profile. Lena had a few freckles on her nose. She had a flat beauty mark above her right eyebrow. Remus knew she had another flat beauty mark high up her left cheek, about an inch below the outer corner of her left eye. There was a faint, white scar on her right cheek. It was not like the many scars that littered Remus' face— long, noticeable, and raised. Her scar was only an inch in length and was flat. Remus was surprised he had never noticed it before; he had studied her face hundreds of times.

Remus did not notice how red his face turned. He was too mesmerized by Lena too. Sirius and James, however, did. They shared a knowing look and silently decided to ask Remus about Lena.

Somehow Remus managed to regain his senses. "Lena," he croaked out.

"Shhh! I'm trying to hear what they're saying," Lena hushed, putting her hand to his chest as if to tell him to stop talking.

Remus followed the gaze of her eyes and turned his face to see what Lena saw. They were now cheek-to-cheek. Remus found himself looking at Frank and Alice chatting on the bottom of the stairs. Both were blushing furiously as Alice smiled sweetly at Frank, who was wringing out his hands as he spoke. The conversation was inaudible to Remus' ears but Remus assumed Frank was asking Alice out based on how nervous Frank was acting. Alice said something in reply and a smile was plastered on Frank's face. Alice leaned him and hugged him and pecked him on the corner of his mouth.

Lena squealed and fell back into her seat. "Finally! They're perfect for each other, don't you think?" Lena said gleefully, squeezing Remus' arm.

"Yeah, perfect…" Remus trailed off, looking into Lena's eyes. He was not talking about Frank and Alice though, though he did think they would make a lovely couple.

Lena turned pink and rose. "Right, so I'll see you on Peter's birthday. Bye, guys."

"Bye, Lena!" Three boys called.

James, Sirius, and Remus watched as Lena walked up the stairs to meet up with her friends.

James and Sirius whip their heads to look at Remus. "You turned pretty red there when Lena leaned over you," Sirius smirked.

"Yeah, I think you said something about her being perfect. Ya know, someone may think you like," James grinned.

Remus held his book to his face in an attempt to prevent his friends from seeing the red spread across his face. "Of course I do. She's a great friend."

"She is a great friend, but I think you know we meant you like her as more than a friend," James spoke.

Remus groaned. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" Sirius asked.

"Because I know she won't see me the way I see her."

Sirius stopped him. "I highly doubt that, Moony."

"And, well, she said my scars didn't matter but she said it as a friend. She's not going to want to date a person with scars. She should date someone like her— beautiful."

"Remus," James said firmly, "Lena is not like Eloise. Lena wouldn't care about your scars. She's not like that. And she should date someone beautiful— you."

Eloise Meyers was a Ravenclaw girl in their year who Remus had asked out on a date the previous year. She said yes and they had gone on a date that went quite well in Remus' opinion. It was only a few days later when Remus and James were using the Invisibility Cloak to pull a prank did Remus discover that Eloise only said yes to him out of pity and hoped he did not ask her out again because his scars were too ugly and distracting.

Remus swallowed. He wanted to believe James, but he could not. "Besides, Peter would not be pleased."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Peter is a good friend and he just wants all to be happy. He may not be okay with it at first, but he would get used to it. Besides, I'm sure Peter would rather Lena date one of the people he trusts the most than someone he doesn't."

Wednesday, 20 October 1976

Lena and Maggie were sitting in their dorm room and studying. Ava was not with them as Marlene had invited her to hang out in her room. The four friends were trying hard to work and study together.

"What do you use to defend yourself from a Devil's Snare?" Maggie asked, looking up from her Herbology homework.

"You need to use a fire or light spell since the Devil's Snare thrives in damp and dark environments," Lena said with her eyes trained on her own work.

Thirty minutes passed or so when Lena began to study for Transfiguration. "Hey, Maggie. I just realized I'm missing some notes on the Switching Spell. Can I borrow your notes?"

Maggie said nothing.

"Maggie?"

Maggie remained silent.

Lena looked up and found Maggie staring at her notes with a starry look in her eyes. Lena smirked and walked over to Maggie and lightly shook her.

"Huh?"

"Where'd you go, Mags?"

Maggie sighed wistfully. "Oh Alex wrote this next to my Puffskein notes: 'We can get a whole brood of Puffskeins when we get our first house together.' Isn't that sweet?"

Lena smiled. "That's very sweet of him."

"I really love him and I know he loves me. We've been talking about living together after we graduate and that we can only imagine ourselves with each other."

Lena smiled, a bit less genuine than her previous smile. As much as she liked Maggie and Alex together, Lena was a realist. People change as they grow and growing means changing their thoughts and minds. When people change their minds, things do not always last or work out, Lena thought. Couples break up when they are young because they and there is nothing wrong with that. It still hurts, though. The odds of Maggie and Alex being one of the few couples that do not change their minds and stay together forever seemed slim to Lena.

"Sounds like you and Alex have it all figured out."

"We do."

The final scene alludes to "Breathe (Taylor's Version)" by Taylor Swift featuring Colbie Caillat. I think the messages and idea are incredible and can relate to many real life scenarios and feelings people experience.