"I'm sorry Fae. But I can still run with you after classes?" James said, looking like a kicked puppy.
Fae shrugged and waved him off easily. "It's fine, James. Seriously. You're quidditch captain! That's great!" she reminded him proudly. He'd been talking about it all summer, post-entrance-exam, and she was so glad he got it. James had been a chaser on the team since second year and was a damn good one. One of the best, Sirius relented, as long as Sirius was the best-looking on the team.
Her brother beamed. "Thanks. I just wish I didn't have to leave you on your own," he said.
Fae grinned sharply at him and their friends. "Well why don't Peter and Remus come with me?"
Steamrolled by both of the Potter siblings, Peter and Remus were reluctantly press-ganged into getting up at 6 in the morning to go run with Fae. She'd come get them from their common room and if they weren't up and ready, James and Sirius had given her permission to wake them as creatively as she wished.
"Lucky you guys. You get to enjoy a lovely morning run with Fae. Meanwhile, I'm going to get stuck running drills over and over with James," Sirius joked.
James and Fae shared a look before busting out into laughter. "Oh Sirius, trust me. You got the easier end of the deal," James promised.
Remus and Peter paled.
Excited as hell to get her boys running, Fae was up and at Gryffindor on Monday morning in record time. Wisely, they were waiting for her. This is perfect, she explained to Remus. With the full moon coming up at the end of the week, starting some running would help attune his body with his wolf instincts and help keep him from being too restless as the week went on. He'd given her an uneasy smile and nodded. Fae just kept right on going - he'd come around soon enough.
Fae was surprised how well they kept up, even with her going a little slower and easier on them. Peter made it at least a mile and a half before taking a break and watching the Gryffindor practice. She wasn't sure if he came back because he wanted to run with her or if James told him to, but he did rejoin them for the last loop even if it nearly killed him.
"That was amazing Peter! You did really well, especially for someone who has just starting running," Fae praised.
"Well what about him! He had no trouble," Peter wheezed, pointing at an out-of-breath Remus who was drinking water like his life depended on it. He'd been so drowsy and quiet at the start of their run, but she bet he was wide awake now. There was a thin sheen of sweat on him, his hair was fairly damp, and he was drinking enough water to satisfy a horse on a hot day, but he had kept up with her the whole time. She was impressed.
"It's the werewolf thing," Fae told Peter. The blonde boy shrugged it off and left for Gryffindor tower, eager for a shower before breakfast.
Fae turned to Remus who was starting to calm down. When he noticed her looking, she grinned as wide as she could at him. He grinned just as widely back. She could see the pride and surprise in his eyes - nobody thought Remus could do this less than Remus did. And here he was, a complete 5 kilometers before breakfast. Fae made sure he stretched his legs properly and warned him to keep it up through the day lest he be extremely sore for tomorrow's run. To his credit, he didn't look completely horrified at the prospect of tomorrow.
By the end of their run on Tuesday morning, where Peter once again joined for majority of the run, Remus had a completely incredulous and awestruck look on his face. She knew exactly how that felt and wasn't surprised when he showed up to run with her after classes that evening. They finished a second 5K plus some that night and Remus stared down at his own body in shock.
"I thought I'd be terrible at running," he said.
Fae nodded sagely. "I was when I first started." Which was true. She'd started, what, two years ago now? Obese, could barely run for five minutes without needing to stop, never dreamed she could clear 5k in 25 minutes, let alone run the length of a half marathon in one day. Remus was in for a very fun, exhausting, and eye-opening ride.
"I don't want to jump out the window in class or climb the walls or curl up and die," he said, voice awed.
"You what." She got restless, but damn.
"I could've been doing this the whole time," he laughed.
"So the future is looking pretty bright huh?"
Of course, it was Remus and lycanthropy, so it was never easy and straightforward. Where he gave and jumped on the running bandwagon, he was disinclined to join her for the Tuesday night music session that Fae held in the Hufflepuff common room.
"Come on, Remus. Singing is good for you! And I found that the more I sang during the week, the less likely I was to lose my voice on the day after."
He looked thoughtful at that, but eventually shook his head. "Sorry, I'm just….not much of a singer."
"Please, I bet you've got a great voice. And besides, who cares? I sing songs way too high or low for me all the time and my house buddies have only thrown things at me twice," Fae insisted, toeing the line between pushy and bossy.
"I'm sor-"
Remus was cut off by Sirius butting into their dinner discussion. "He does have a great voice, you should know. Not as good as mine, but he can sing a few bars."
Before Remus could say something, Sirius cut him off again. "And you were holding out on us mate. It wasn't until James was playing music constantly in our room last year that we even heard you sing," Sirius pointed out.
Fae smiled. Now there's an idea.
So Fae deviated from her music session at Hufflepuff and hung out with the Marauders in their room that Tuesday night, singing loudly and obnoxiously to Sirius' cassette player. Stubborn, Remus refused to join in for the first half and hour or so, but they wore him down. His voice was lovely, no surprise there. Melodical and intense and sweet. Fae nearly fell asleep to it, surrounded by his blankets and scent. They floated her body and then let her drop onto the bed to wake her up and she only screamed a little bit. They got off easy, she was almost late to Astronomy. Remus asked to borrow some of his favorite tapes of hers.
By Wednesday, the morning and evening running wasn't cutting it for Fae, nor was the occasional strength training session with the equipment on the quidditch pitch. Suddenly very thankful for the map, Fae began to take advantage of the secret passageways and of the precious ten minutes between each class period. She started running between classes. Sometimes, it was necessary with how far apart they were, but Fae was literally almost doing laps. If she thought the looks she got last week for wearing James' clothes were strange, they had nothing on the looks she got this week.
It was hilarious too, some people saw her running and immediately started running too, assuming she was being chased by something. Only upon striding into her destination did Fae reveal that she was running for fun. For fun, everybody whispered. Crazy.
An added benefit of running between classes and taking advantage of every second was that she began showing up just shy of late to classes and her seat choices became limited. Which meant, she didn't have a choice to sit next to people who would want to talk her ear off. Sometimes it was nice, but not this week. So she ended up next to a quieter Ravenclaw, a frosty Slytherin, and on several occasions, her roommate Eleanor Rigby.
Fae still couldn't get over that name. After the third class of sitting beside each other, it occurred to Fae that Eleanor didn't talk very much, if ever. She never raised her hand in class. And she didn't really talk to anybody at mealtimes. She certainly wasn't in the common room or the library or even in their rooms very often.
When she did speak it was simple and direct things like saying hello back, collecting the homework and passing it down the row, letting Fae know she'd dropped her pen, or passing the materials for the charms practical lesson. Her voice was low and smooth. It was calming and Fae thought she might be very good at reading books on audiotapes for a living one day. It was during their last class on Thursday that Eleanor actually spoke to her unprompted.
"Aren't you cold?" Eleanor had asked this while still looking at her textbook during some work time near the end of class. Fae hadn't even realized she was talking to her at first.
"What?"
"Without your robes," the tall girl clarified.
"Oh," Fae said. "No. They get in the way when I run and my temperature is usually fairly warm anyways."
"Oh." There was a moment and then, "Why do you run?"
Fae wanted to laugh. Nobody had asked her that yet this week. She smiled at the other girl happily. "Because I like to run. And because I get restless."
And that was that. Eleanor just nodded and went back to reading and not talking so Fae did the same, planning her next move with Remus. Fae was doing her best to play it smart. He was obstinate and like Peter said, Remus didn't really do many things unless it was Remus who originally decided to do them. That, and after the fiasco with her brother's meddling, she wanted to be transparent about trying any lycanthropy-related things with him. And if he said no, she didn't want to make him feel bad like they had either. It was hard. She knew it would help so much. And yet. He just. Ugh.
Fae and the Marauders had officially settled into sitting all together for most meals and alternating nights between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Sitting next to Remus every night, she fought the urge to place meatier foods on his plate and instead just suggested he have some more or offered sharing some of hers. James had done something similar apparently, so Remus caught on fast and just starting eating more without prompting, which he said wasn't hard to do after all the running.
He said no, unfortunately, to enhancing his senses. Forgetting the badass increased ability to see, smell, and hear better, it was still great for being more attuned to the wolf traits and could help him gain awareness. He insisted that what he could see, smell, and hear was plenty and making them stronger would surely drive him insane. Fae insisted that once he learned, he'd be able to suppress it if needed, and his vanilla tip actually worked really well. Still a no. For now.
On one night, comfortably shoved into their hidden library den, they'd gone over her notes and theories about meditation. That, he found interesting. Her results had been inconclusive. For her, meditation didn't work, but getting close to her wolf attributes did. Now, James had suggested intensive exercise as her meditative act which had worked, but it was also an attribute of wolves so she wasn't sure if it worked as both or one or the other or just as a way to exhaust her before the moon. Remus was interested though, and decided to do some reading of his own on meditation and inner-awareness.
Push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and any other related strength-training exercises were a no. When she asked why, he just said it made him feel weak and silly. Fae had rolled her eyes and pointed out that the only way to get out of that stage and state of mind was to just do it and get used to it. But nope, running was plenty for him at the moment. And singing, stretching, and eating properly. It was a good start and James, Sirius, and Peter were quick to assure her that it was definitely working. Never seen Remus in such a good mood or looking so well this close to the moon before. Fae felt very happy about that.
Of course, she was struggling a bit herself. People tended to bother her easily, and with her senses on high alert, super close to the moon, a little extra restless, and done with having students making so much damn noise all the time, it wasn't that surprising that she snapped a bit on Friday.
"Quit it. They don't like it," Eleanor said, talking to two Gryffindors girls who were madly cooing over some of the puffskeins they'd been studying in Care of Magical Creatures that day. They had been annoying as fuck, squealing every five seconds. Puffskeins were cute, but not that cute. And Fae had to agree. As soon as they had been able to touch and interact with the creatures, the two girls had scooped up the nearest ones and held them so tight that they made a noise suspiciously like a squeaky toy.
Eleanor clearly had a problem with it, but the two girls decided to ignore her.
"I said, stop it. That's not how you treat them," the blonde girl tried again. This earned twin dirty looks from the girls. And that was it - that was all it took and Fae just wasn't having it. Slamming her textbook shut loudly, she let it drop to the dirt and stomped very threateningly and angrily over to the two girls, who quickly froze in fear.
"Did she fucking stutter? Knock it off, you're terrifying the poor things," she said, voice crystallized like ice. The two girls squeaked worse than the puffskeins, put them back in the pen, and hurried off like there was fire on her heels.
Eleanor moved in quickly, inspecting the puffskeins and petting them gently. She was speaking to them quietly, trying to calm them down. Fae frowned her.
"Speak louder next time."
Eleanor looked up at her in surprise and Fae felt some of her rage recede.
"You have a good voice. Speak louder and more aggressively. They won't ignore you again," Fae said, and then walked off.
Her crowning achievement of the week was that Remus agreed to waking up at 4am with her and spending the whole, entire day together leading up that night's main event. Their first full moon together. In her excitement, she forgot herself a bit and let her legs and joy carry her towards the forest.
"Fae! Wait up!"
Circling back, she found Remus bent over panting hard. She grinned at him and tugged affectionately on his hair - a gesture she often received from the boys, but could never return on account of being so much shorter. She apologized cheerfully and then turned to the forest. Remus did not follow. Instead, he looked uncertainly to the side and did that thing where he twiddled with his sleeves.
Not wanting him to be unhappy or uncomfortable at all today so as to ease his transformation, she smiled softly and took his hand, tugging him around the forest. "Come on slowpoke," she said. "I've wanted to check out the trails around the lake for a while. Come adventure with me."
That agreed with him much better. He grinned brilliantly and raced forward, startling Fae before she barked out a laugh and took off sprinting after him. He was nowhere near as fast as she was, but the fact that his strides were nearly twice as long in length definitely helped make it up for him. They ran and walked and skipped around the lake three times, easily taking up nearly half of the day before they realized that James, Sirius, and Peter were probably waiting for them at Hagrid's for their weekly picnic.
The three boys were indeed there, pouting that they'd nearly been stood up, but eventually understanding. She gave them big hugs for not having started eating before she and Remus got there. Then she told them they were foolish for waiting because they were liable to lose a hand as she and Remus dug in to satiate their ravenous appetites. Sirius, with his brilliance, had wisely charmed the basket with extension charmed and so there was just enough food. Barely. Remus looked mildly horrified afterwards when he burped loudly and realized he'd just eaten nearly an entire turkey to himself. Fae burped louder and polished off her 8th ham, egg, and cheese sandwich.
After lunch, Fae went with the Marauders down to the quidditch pitch. Thankfully, nobody was using it at the time. Sirius, James, and Peter went flying while Fae took advantage of the beams and basic, metal gym equipment near the locker rooms. Remus, suddenly very quiet, refused to partake in chin-ups or anything of the sort, but for a while he was a good sport about it and kept time or count for her. Fae may have worked herself a little harder that day, showing off her strength and growing biceps.
An hour or so in, Remus only got more quiet and sullen. She could see it in his hunched shoulders and shifting eyes, his distracted thoughts, sad eyes, and bouncing knee. He nearly jumped when she came up to him and flicked his nose playfully.
"Galleon for your thoughts?" she asked.
He just shrugged and continued bouncing his knee. Clearly, he hadn't burned enough energy yet. Grabbing his hands, she heaved him off the benches and shoved him toward the exit. "Off you go then. Go take a few laps, see if that helps clear your mind," she said.
When he came back an hour or so later, he was completely covered in sweat and clearly had a good run. He was smiling again, but she could see the restlessness. And, that something was definitely bothering him. The sun was beginning to set though, so they went back to the castle to get ready for the night.
He kept up the silent act all the way to their common rooms and then all the way past the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack, even with James, Sirius, and Peter following along with their usual lively antics. Remus just got more pale and tetchy. She hugged James, Sirius, and Peter at the Whomping Willow and promised to see them in the morning and that everything would be fine. Remus didn't say goodbye as much as waved awkwardly and weakly.
Using a quick spell, they tapped on the specific knob on the tree, and then ducked into the hole at the base. Resolving to sort this out before they transformed, Fae was eager to get into the shack and settle down with Remus, hopefully set him at ease. Apparently, Remus had the same idea, but had stopped her just inside the entrance with a hand on her sleeve.
"What is it?" she asked. He stayed silent, so she stepped in close and peered up at his extremely worried and nervous face. "What's wrong?" she asked again, reaching up on tip toes to rub her cheek against his jaw affectionately. She took his hand and realized he was shaking like a leaf.
He looked away from her and then spoke, slowly but not slow enough to hide the tremor in his voice. "I'm afraid," he said.
Fae took both of his hands and held them close, looking him in the eyes despite his efforts to avoid her gaze. "What of?"
"I'm afraid I'll hurt you," he admitted, voice nearly breaking. He looked like he might cry. "I know I told your parents that it was safe here and I meant that. But, you're only safe from hurting other students. You're not safe from me," he said in a rush, voice breathless in a way that suggested an oncoming panic attack.
That was about all Fae could hear before she decided she just wasn't having it. Letting go of his hands, she gripped his forearm in one hand, gripped his shoulder in the other, settled her ankle by his feet, and pulled hard. He twisted past her and fell to the ground where she used her grip on him to keep the impact from being too hard. Then she ranger-rolled him onto her shoulders and sprinted up the path to the Shrieking Shack.
"Notice how it's pitch black and I can see where I'm going? A fantastic benefit of enhanced sight," she yelled over his panicked shrieking to put him down. His wiggling and struggling was annoying so she paused for a second in her sprint, jumped to adjust him more securely, and then kept running. There was a light at the end of the tunnel and she kicked the door open harshly before stomping over to the nearest couch where she threw Remus over her head onto the cushions. Then she stood over him menacingly, hands on her hips, and a smug smile on her mouth.
"And that's why strength training is awesome," she said as he got his bearings and kind of freaked out a bit. Then she settled a hand behind his head and brought their faces close together, foreheads touching, eyelashes nearly brushing, eyes locked. Quietly and forcefully, she said, "There's no need for you to worry about hurting me because clearly, I'm the stronger werewolf of the two of us."
She let go and gazed cooly at his horrified, bewildered face. "I won't lie and say that we won't probably scratch each other at least a bit at first, but it's absolutely nothing either of us haven't handled before. Werewolves are pack creatures and we will get used to each other fast. I promise you, nobody is going to get hurt. You won't hurt me, I won't hurt you, and I won't let you hurt anybody," she said.
Then she smiled sweetly and held her hand out to him to help him stand. "This is going to be wonderful, I just know it. Now come give me a grand tour and we can start on my pre-moon ritual."
Remus looked at her with wide eyes for a solid minute before he nodded, took her hand, and stood. She squeezed his fingers and he stopped shaking.
Fae's time of awareness jumped from 25 minutes to a full hour that night. Remus was magnificent when transformed; sleek, grey, strong, and sure of every movement. He also followed her everywhere, like an adorable little puppy. The house was confining, but they made it work - racing up and down the hallways, rolling around in playful wrestles and nipping at each others' ears like puppies, howling together in joyful harmony. Remus had been settling down onto the mattress on the ground, clearly almost completely tired out already, before Fae lost consciousness.
When Fae woke up, she could smell blood, but that was kind of a given. The good news is that there wasn't very much of it. She could smell wood, rising sunshine, vanilla and books and fresh laundry. She opened her eyes and Remus was lying on a rug a few feet away from her, curled away. He seemed to still be sleeping and she just knew he'd be all blushy and embarrassed about both of them being nude if he were awake. With a hardy stretch, she called her wand to her, flicked it, and settled a blanket over Remus. The feeling of fabric must've woke him because he groaned then, moved a bit, and then rolled over sluggishly.
Their gazes met and Fae grinned at him. "How are you feeling?" she asked softly. Remus smacked his lips a bit, curled the blanket closer, blinked his sleepy lids, and twisted a bit. Then twisted again and blinked some more.
"Not bad," he said in surprise. Then smiled a little and relaxed into the ground. "Not bad at all actually."
"Excellent," Fae said. She crawled over to him slowly and knelt over his limp form, petting his hair softly. He made a happy noise and pushed into her hand. Then Fae called their bags over to them with a soft 'Accio'.
"Don't fall asleep, darling. You'll be sore later if we don't try and stretch out the growing pains now," she said.
He groaned and didn't open his eyes, shifting his body closer to her. "M'sore already. Too sleepy."
"What's sore?"
"Everything," he said.
Rolling her eyes fondly, Fae pulled her lotion out, rubbed some onto her hands, and started smoothing it over Remus' bare shoulders. She could see the bruises on them and figured that was as good a place as any to start. He made another agreeable, happy noise and curled tighter into himself.
It was a perfectly calm and happy moment. She couldn't help it. As she alternated between petting his hair and rubbing his shoulders, her eyelids got heavy, her hands got slow, and she eventually slumped over, curling up right around him.
She distantly noticed James carrying her later, piggyback as he followed Madam Pomfrey out of the shack. She could feel Remus beside her and when she peaked through slitted eyes, she saw him stumbling and half-asleep, an arm over Peter and Sirius' shoulders.
Next time she woke up, light was flooding the bright white covers of the infirmary. She thought it was strange that they'd put Remus and herself in the same bed, but certainly wasn't arguing. He was sitting up, back against the pillows headboard. There was a book in his lap, pages between his thin fingers. Fae's forehead had been pressed to his hip, legs curled up and hooked around one of his knees. She hummed contentedly and one of his hands petted her hair.
"Good morning sleepyhead," he said softly.
"Five more minutes," she said back, causing him to laugh.
Eventually she did get up, but that was only because her brother, Sirius, and Peter had shown up with tea, coffee, and food. They spent the afternoon and went over the results. Fae had a scratch on her calf, no idea who did it, not that it mattered. Some bruising on her shins. Soreness, everywhere. Remus too, but his only injuries were the bruised shoulders, a faintly cracked rib, and a stiff ankle. It had been a brilliant success, although Remus complained far too much of being sore.
Madam Pomfrey was very happy and very pleased to be able to clear them for dinner. Wanting a quiet night, they sent Peter and Sirius to the kitchens and spread out on the floor in the boys' room for dinner, playing some soft music and card games. Fae was almost falling asleep when James nudged her and sent her to her dorm before curfew. Remus had tried to walk her, but he was pretty much already asleep, an adorable tired smile on his face. She was just so happy that he was smiling, and judging by the looks on their friends' faces, so were they.
Peter had the honor of giving her a piggyback ride this time, walking with James while Sirius got Remus to bed and bothered and badgered him into stretching and applying the scar lotion. She gave them drowsy kisses on the cheek and entered her common room, only to be immediately startled by someone yelling.
"I said, stop calling me that! And stop leaving your half-empty mugs all over the common room!"
Fae frowned. That was Eleanor. What was going on? She entered the room and saw Eleanor sitting on the couch, yelling up at one of the sixth year guys. Logan or something. Was he the bastard that left mugs of tea everywhere? She'd nearly spilled one all over her notebook the other day. And he never used coasters either, the uncouth heathen.
"Quit being such a bitch, Eleanor. That's what house elves are for, duh!" he said.
Eleanor stood up to face him, nearly the same height as him. She slammed her book closed with a loud snap, got close, and said, "Quit being such a fucking dick and clean up after yourself, you're not two," in a strong, icy cold voice. Then as she passed him by, "Although, you sure as hell act like it."
Curiosity piqued, Fae followed her into their shared room, grateful that neither Ellorie or Marley were around. "Hey, you alright?"
"Fine," she snapped.
"Right then," Fae said awkwardly. Eleanor did not seem to want to talk. Or maybe she did and just wanted someone to show interest and prod it out of her. Fae was too tired to figure out which, so she just said 'Logan is a dick', tossed her bag to the foot of her bed, and started changing to go to sleep.
"Good night, Eleanor," Fae said, faceplanting onto her bed.
"My name isn't Eleanor."
There was a minute of silence. Then Fae's face popped out of the pillow. "Come again?"
"My name isn't Eleanor. They just call me that because of my last name," Elea- shit. Rigby explained.
"Oh," Fae said embarrassedly. "What is your name?"
"It's Romilly. My name is Romilly Rigby," the tall girl answered sharply. And then she sighed. Fae felt so guilty then.
"Shit, girl. And I've been calling you the wrong name all this time? My bad," Fae said, glancing at her roommate as she was settling onto her own bed and gazing at her hands thoughtfully.
"It's okay," Romilly said quietly and it made Fae wonder just how long this had been a problem. Clearly, far too long.
"Well, for what it's worth, I think your actual name is stunning. Unique and rolls off the tongue way better than Eleanor. And uh, I like Queen better than The Beatles anyways. So."
A small huff, kind of like a laugh, escaped Romilly's mouth. Her frown twisted up a bit.
"Thanks. Your name is strange too," she said.
Fae giggled. "Thanks, my mom gave it to me," she said. "I like it much better than 'Little Potter' at any rate. Damn Gryffindors."
Romilly actually laughed at that one. Then she flicked her wand with a soft 'Nox' and the two girls went to bed. Fae wondered about her elusive and aloof roommate. She had a feeling it was less 'aloof' and more 'how the hell do I people' and kind of just rolling with the punches and awkwardly doing her best. It was endearing. Seconds later, Fae was out.
For the following week, the two girls kind of just drifted together naturally. Fae didn't feel so restless that she had to run in the halls anymore, so she dropped in on the Marauder's at random instead, sneaking notes into their bags and popping out from behind tapestries. Showing up to class right on time allowed her to claim the seat next to Romilly more often than not. Romilly, for her part, was more likely to smile a little bit or actually say hi when Fae greeted her.
In Care of Magical Creature, Professor Kettleburn sent them in pairs to collect some berries for the puffskeins. Fae gave a shrug and a winking smile to her usual companions and went over to Romilly instead. The two girls walked into the Forbidden Forest and Fae told her all about the cool things she'd seen in there and how it compared to her woods at home, which she missed so much. Fae found herself extremely chatty, actually. It wasn't to fill the silence, it was just nice to have someone listen casually and kindly.
Near the end of their adventure, Romilly asked her "What's the name of it? Your woods?"
Fae scrunched up her nose in thought and then laughed. "You know, I have no idea."
Fae kept noticing more things about the girl over the next few days. She wasn't a vegetarian although she refused to eat white meat and Care of Magical Creatures was the only class she was likely to speak up in. She liked the spiky, dangerous creatures just as much as the cute, fluffy ones. She often pulled at her sleeves to cover her hands, but her sleeves were a tad too short and never stayed. Her eyes were usually squinted beneath her curly hair.
There wasn't anybody in any house that she talked to very much, but she talked with the house elves a lot. In fact, Fae used the map to stalk her one night out of curiosity. She never saw Romilly anywhere after classes until bedtime and it bothered her. So she got out the map and followed her and found her sitting in the kitchens, reading or knitting or, once, painting her nails. Under the bright kitchen lighting and unsheathed from her sleeves, Fae couldn't help noticing the criss-crossing and smattering patterns. Romilly talked a lot with house elves, telling them about the people who had annoyed her that day, the trouble she was having in Arithmancy, how excited she was to learn about jarveys in the next class. She asked about them too, asking how their day was, if anything new or exciting had happened, what kinds of things they liked to do when they weren't working.
Fae found it incredibly sweet and adorable, and hoped one day Romilly would be comfortable enough with her to talk so easily. She cursed a lot, tripped over her words, bitched about people, and trailed off on her thoughts frequently. She was sassy and crude and imaginative. Fae's kind of person, really. After all, she drank coffee far more than she drank tea.
So when Fae saw a chance to get closer to the girl, she took it. During potions class, she had been fiddling with the wheezeroot and dazing off into space when something occurred to her. Staring off into space, yes, but staring in Romilly's direction and she noticed that Romilly was especially finicky about her sleeves as she and Harvey worked on their potion. Then their hands accidentally touched and Romilly flinched back violently, knocking the cauldron over.
"You stupid bitch! Look what you did!"
Harvey Oliver was haughty, acted like he had a chip on his shoulder for being poor and in Slytherin, and apparently had the gall to yell at the blonde girl who was looking quite disgruntled.
Before it could escalate, Fae flitted over and vanished the mess with a quick wave of her wand. "Problem, Oliver?" she asked.
"Yeah, clumsy Eleanor here-"
"That's not her name," Fae interrupted sweetly.
"Excuse me?"
With a bright grin, Fae said, "Her name is Romilly. It's a great name and you should use it. Now go work with Jill, we're switching partners from now on."
"What?"
Fae's voice suddenly turned cold and her smile became razor sharp. "Did I stutter? Or should I tell the Klein brothers that it was you who sneezed in their potion last week and caused it to foam over and turn pink?"
Harvey ran off and Fae casually set to work gathering the materials needed to start the potion over. "I hope you weren't depending on that asshat, because potions are not my strong suit. Like whatsoever."
"It's okay," Romilly said after a few moments. Much later, halfway through their potion, Fae heard a whispered, "Thanks."
A week flew by, and another weekend of leaving her room at the crack of dawn to go running. To her joy, Remus kept running with her, every morning and every night. Unfortunately that meant she couldn't go in the forest which was by far the most fun. But, it did mean she got to spend more time with him, continue persuading him to try things to gain awareness, and she discovered dozens more places to run on the school grounds. Remus was a fantastic adventurer.
He was also, surprisingly, more protective than she realized. She found that one out during a run at night. They had been heading out to the courtyard when Fae found herself suddenly soaked by three big buckets in succession. Looking up, she had seen the Klein brothers hanging out of the balcony, laughing and high-fiving each other. She laughed and flipped them the bird. The boys' faces disappeared as they flew backward, dodging a sudden curse from Remus. The tawny-haired boy whirled on her, set a drying spell to her clothes, and began fussing. As a prefect, he had the authority to give them detention, he reminded her and for all intents and purposes, he looked like he would happily run off to hunt them down this instant and do just that. Fae had laughed and assured him it was all good fun. He didn't seem convinced and was suspiciously present to walk her between classes for the rest of the week, glaring at the Klein brothers and she swore, he actually growled once.
Not everything was sunshine and daisies though. She had her friends and her brother. Her classes were great. The prank wars with the Kleins kept her on her toes. But sometimes, everything was still too much. As the days led up to her birthday, her mind grew distracted. She tried to ignore it, tried to think of anything else, tried to distract herself. On the morning of September 30th, she knew it was too much, and made the choice to skip classes.
Not wanting to worry her brother, she left a note for Romilly to give to him, hoping that wouldn't be too awkward. Just a simple 'Need time and space to decompress today. See you tonight.'
She dressed in leggings, a tank-top, and a jacket that she hadn't worn in nearly a year. She took her phone from its hiding spot deep in her trunk, along with a specific notebook. Then she leapt out the window and was gone with the sunrise. Alone, she was free to run through the forest. However, she decided to walk. And walk. And walk, all the way to the far side of the lake, where she found a grassy hill, lied back, and stared at the sky. She played music from her phone out loud and every so often, she'd get up and read the entries in her notebook - snippets and paragraphs alike of everything she could remember from her old life. She laughed, and cried, and closed her eyes, trying to imagine like she was still in some of the moments.
When the sun began to set, she wrote a few words on a piece of paper, folded it into a boat, and let it float away on the lake. She imagined that as night became day, the boat disappeared in a green flash like in Pirates of the Caribbean, taking her message from one world to the other. She said goodbye and began walking back to Hogwarts, where her life waited.
While plenty asked where she had been that day, the people she cared most about knew better than to ask, and instead fielded questions, keeping close to her, keeping her coffee full and her plate full of chocolate pastries. When they eventually got her to laugh, they didn't say anything when she started crying too.
"Happy 15th Birthday Fae!"
As it happened, however, it was a good thing she had been missing for the day previous. Apparently, James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus had gone and planned a party for her, those rascals. She'd had no clue and was happy to celebrate a quiet birthday with letters and presents flown in from Euphemia and Fleamont. But nope, Remus had requested to take the lead on their evening run with James suspiciously not present. Then he'd led her around the castle twice, before they sprinted down to Hagrid's hut where a ton of people were waiting around a bonfire and Sirius' cassette player operating through a particularly effective Sonorus spell.
Fae was completely surprised and laughed delightedly as they all shouted happy birthday and the Marauders swooped in for hugs, explaining over each other how they had set the whole thing up to surprise her and they had totally got her. Fae rolled her eyes and smeared some cake on Sirius' face, which started a bit of a food fight, before Fae stopped it and insisted they not destroy any more of her glorious four-tiered chocolate and espresso cake, generously supplied by Romilly and the house elves. Fae was really touched. And impressed - it wasn't just Gryffindors. The Ravenclaws from the library, a good deal of her house, plenty of the members of the Gryffindor quidditch team, and even a few Slytherins, including the Klein brothers. It was an absolutely brilliant mix and Fae just had to dance to show her joy.
Later, after curfew and everyone returning to her rooms, Fae's arms piled with sweet little gifts and trinkets and treats, she collapsed happily in her room. Romilly followed close behind, generously holding a few gifts as well, which she added to the pile. Then, slowly and surely as usual, she spoke.
"You're not annoying, like the others."
Fae chuckled and fixed the girl with a bright gaze. "Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you."
Romilly milled around for a bit before walking over to Fae and dropping something quickly onto her stomach. "Here."
"What's-"
"It's your birthday."
"Oh," Fae said. It was a bag of chocolates. Score! "Thanks. Are these homemade?"
Romilly hurriedly explained, turning away to tend to her books. "My great aunt likes to bake. She sends a lot and I'm not a fan of caramel filling… Not that- That's not why I'm giving them to you! Because I didn't like them, that is. I have others with different fillings, if you wanted. Something different," she babbled.
Laughing, Fae popped one into her mouth. "Nah, these are good. I love caramel. But you should show me your chocolate stash sometime. I'll show you mine and maybe we could trade," she suggested.
Romilly smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah. Okay, sure."
Friday hailed the second Hogsmeade visit of the year. James had claimed the first, predictably, but was still a little disappointed when Fae told him she had other plans for this one. No, for this one, Fae had dragged one quietly reluctant, but mostly compliant Romilly Rigby down to Hogsmeade and shoved her into a quaint store to get fitted for some gloves.
"You've a thing about touching right?"
"Y-yes. I do. I- um-"
"You don't have to explain. I just thought with winter coming, we both need some decent gloves and while we're at it we can get you some nice cloth ones for everyday use," Fae explained cheerfully, already rifling through the racks. In the past year, the fingerless ones that Fleamont had given her had pretty much worn out. She wanted some thicker ones this time.
So Fae pushed Romilly around and got her two pairs of gloves before dragging the tall blonde off to the optometrist, or magical equivalent. There, Romilly was tested for her vision, and received some proper glasses. They were round, black-rimmed, and had thick lenses that made her eyes suddenly go from squinty to blue-eyed bambi. Adorable. And Fae refused to hear about Romilly paying her back - other than treating her to some sweets at Honeydukes and maybe Pudifoot's if all the pink wasn't too horrifying. It was a good day and that afternoon in the cafe, Romilly talked to Fae like she was one of the house elves.
On the way back, Romilly was openly smiling. Mid-conversation, they were bowled over by a few third-years, racing each other back to Hogwarts.
"Ugh people suck," Fae groaned, dusting herself off and standing back up.
"Pft!"
"What?" Fae asked, smiling at Romilly's little snort.
"I just think it's funny that you said that. You seem like such a people person. Everybody is your friend," the blonde pointed out.
Fae shrugged. "Well I guess. I'm just chill, or at least I try to be."
"Chill?"
"Relaxed, understanding. You know, do no harm, but take no shit." Fae explained.
"Oh."
Rolling her now-sore shoulder, Fae huffed playfully under her breath. "People do suck though and can be exhausting," she said heatedly.
"Is that why you disappear every weekend?" Romilly asked.
Knowing she understood, Fae beamed at her. "Yeah, I need some time away so I run for the hills. Literally."
"I get that," Romilly answered.
Fae looked over her relaxed hands wrapped in new gloves, her big eyes floating around to all the new and clear sights, the content smile on her open, freckled face. Now was as good a time as any, she decided. "Are we friends?" Fae asked directly.
Romilly startled so hard, her glasses slipped halfway down her nose. "Huh?"
"You and me? I think you're cool, you at least think I'm tolerable," Fae joked. "Are we friends?"
Romilly looked down at her feet, chewed her lip, and then nodded with a pleased flush to her ears. "Uh, sure. I guess we are."
Fae grinned.
That weekend, Fae went for her regular early morning run. Remus was still uncomfortable with the idea, but she'd get him in there eventually. Since the extremely successful moon that past weekend, he was already much more receptive to her ideas and asking to read some of her notes. It was progress and Fae was thrilled.
The morning was chilly and frost covered the grass, giving it a lovely crunch as she stepped through it. When Fae met up with the Marauders after her run for their weekly picnic, they decided to spread it out in the Gryffindor common room instead. Before the fireplace, Fae happily munched on her sandwiches and listened to her brother and friends report the greatest pranks and events of the week. Unbeknownst to him, Lily Evans was giving them curious and slightly longing looks. Fae offered her a friendly wave and a saucy smile.
"How about you, Fae? How was your week?"
"And your mysterious Hogsmeade plans?" Sirius added with a wink.
"Excellent. I think I've made myself a friend," Fae said, absolutely shining. She gave them a run down of Romilly proudly.
James gave her a hearty hug and a noogie. "That's my sister, look at you all growing up," he teased.
"I thought I was your best friend," Sirius whined.
"You are, dummy. You, Remus, and Peter are all close friends to me. It's just nice to have a friend that's in my house and my year," she said. And then hummed vaguely. "And actually, I think there's one more person who I might want to be good friends with."
"Who?"
"Oh, just some guy. We have like four classes together and he seems smart."
"A guy?"
A/N: Fae as a werewolf - I'll kick your ass. I'll kick your mom's ass. I'll kick your dog's ass. I'LL KICK MY OWN ASS.