"I can't believe you're going to Hogsmeade with James Potter!"
Lily rolls her eyes at Guinevere, passing her the strawberry preserves.
"I told you days ago," she points out.
Guinevere spreads the strawberry preserves over her toast, shaking her head in exasperation. She has no idea how Lily can be so casual about this. Of course, she saw this relationship coming. She's seen it coming since last year. But she didn't think Lily would agree to a date with him so quickly. Though, she supposes, it had to happen eventually. The game of cat and mouse Lily and James played throughout the years was like the Holy Roman Empire; it crashed hard, but oh was it glorious while it lasted.
"Are you going with anyone?" Lily asks nonchalantly while reaching for the butter. Guinevere snorts in response and shoves a bit of her toast in her mouth. Of course no one asked her, and she didn't expect them to either.
Guinevere isn't one to wallow in self-pity. She knows she's not beautiful by any means, at least not in the conventional way, but she likes her quirky appearance. Her nose leans a little too far to the left, her hair is a little too straight, her eyes a little too big and too brown, and her thighs a little too thick. She isn't ugly, just… normal. Normal enough to be overlooked by most boys in her year. At least, by all the ones she's interested in.
"I'll take that as a 'no'," Lily laughs. "I guess you'll be hanging with Marlene and Alice?"
Guinevere sighs dramatically and shakes her head.
"Nope," she replies, popping the 'p'. "Alice's boyfriend Frank has a day off of Auror training so he's meeting up with her at Honeyduke's, and Marlene will probably be off snogging with that boy in her Herbology class the entire time."
Lily gives her a sympathetic look and pushes her empty plate away.
"Go stag, then," she insists. "You'll have just as much fun on your own. Maybe you'll meet a nice bloke who will chase after you for seven years."
Guinevere barks out a laugh and nudges Lily hard with her shoulder. Though she loved watching James and Lily's romance grow from hatred to a mutual crush, she'd rather swallow a fatal dose of botched wolfsbane than deal with the constant push and pull routine for so long. She's not a patient person. If she wants something, she'll jump on it immediately and without thinking of the consequences.
As if sensing the line of conversation was about him, James Potter plops down in the spot next to Lily with a large, toothy smile on his face.
"How are you ladies doing on this fine morning?" he asks in such a cheery tone that Guinevere can hardly believe it's really James Potter. He's got that same twinkle in his hazel eyes, as he always has when he's looking at Lily, but it's somehow brighter. Guinevere didn't think that was possible. Every inch of him seems to vibrate with excited energy. Even Lily, who's normally so cool around him, smiles in response.
"Well, we were doing good until we were so rudely interrupted," Lily teases, taking a sip of her tea. James pouts, looking remarkably like a puppy in Guinevere's eyes.
"Oh come on, Lily Flower. I've waited years for this date. Let me be excited."
Lily rolls her eyes, but there's a tinge of a smile in her eyes. Guinevere smirks and looks down at her plate. She feels as if she's intruding on a private moment.
"How're you doing, Guin?"
Guinevere looks up and smiles at James. The two have never talked much, but after 4 years of calling her Driscoll every time their paths crossed, he started calling her Guin midway through 5th year. She assumes he's heard Lily referring to her by the nickname. She's just grateful he doesn't copy his best friend's habit of embarrassing nicknames.
"I'm doing pretty good, thanks for asking," she responds, pushing her plate away next to Lily's. "I'll be doing better when you finally take this one off my hands."
James eyes flit over to Lily and he gives her a big grin. Guinevere snorts when he extends his hand to her like a knight offering his hand to a young maiden to lift her onto his stead. She can almost forget he's not a brave knight but instead a nervous seventh year who has finally nabbed the girl of his dreams.
James positively beams when Lily takes his hand. He was obviously expecting a response along the lines of "sod off, Potter".
"You'll be okay with me skipping out on you, Guin?" Lily asks quietly. Guinevere smiles at her friend. It's just like Lily to always think of the needs of others before her own. But Guinevere just waves her off.
"I'll be fine. You two run along now. And don't forget, I want to be the maid of honor at the wedding!"
James laughs and gives her a thumbs up with his free hand as he stands with Lily.
"You'll be the first one to know when I propose!" he promises. Lily smacks him upside the head.
The soon-to-be couple standing up and leaving the Great Hall seems to set off a chain reaction. A massive amount of couples take this time to skip off with each other, leaving the Great Hall mostly abandoned, save for the few slow eaters.
Guinevere drags a finger across the rim of her tea cup and idly wonders whether or not it's worth it to go to Hogsmeade this weekend. She still has some candy leftover from her last trip to Honeydukes, she's not one to frequent Zonko's, and she has no one to sit back and drink a butterbeer with at The Three Broomsticks. Still, it seems like a waste to spend her weekend in the common room with no one but some first and second years to keep her company.
Fur grazes her leg as Stevie Wonder decides to make his presence known. Unfazed by the plates and glasses still on the table, he leaps up to walk across it. His strides are graceful and calculated as he stalks across the messy table. When he makes it to the other side, he leaps into the lap of a very stunned Remus Lupin.
Guinevere glares at her traitor cat. Ever since the train ride, Stevie Wonder has decided that Remus Lupin is his new favorite person, trumping even her. As long as she wants to keep the backstabbing cat, it seems that Remus will be a permanent fixture in her life.
An idea occurs to her, getting her to stand to her feet. Maybe Stevie Wonder is onto something.
Before she can talk herself out of it, she walks around the giant table to approach the remaining Marauders. Remus is reluctantly petting the content feline on his lap, Sirius is laughing at his friend's position, and Peter is glaring daggers at the tabby. He must not be a cat person, Guinevere supposes. She finds that funny, considering she always thought he looked like a rat.
She stands behind them and clears her throat politely. All three boys turn their heads to face her. Remus and Peter both give her polite smiles while Sirius just raises an eyebrow.
"Do you need something, Gwen-Of-Air?"
She clenches her fists.
"Not from you," she shoots back before turning her full attention to his scarred friend. "Remus, would you mind accompanying me to Hogsmeade?"
The boys blink at her in unison, and for a second, she's scared she may have implied a romantic interest in Remus. She has none, and truthfully, she doesn't see herself ever developing one.
"Just as friends, of course," she rushes to say. "I mean, I don't have anyone else to go with. Lily is going with James and Marlene has a 'date' and Alice is meeting up with her boyfriend and Dorcas has to stay behind to study Divination because she did awful on the last –,"
"Of course I'll go with you," he cuts her off.
Sirius and Peter turn to their friend, their jaws dropped in an almost comical manner. Guinevere can't help but feel slightly smug. If James can steal away Lily, then she can steal away Remus. It's only fair.
"But Moony!" Peter sputters.
"We always go together!" Sirius finishes for him.
Remus smiles at his friends as he carefully removes Stevie Wonder from his lap, stands up from his seat, and offers Guinevere his hand. It's not nearly in the same way as James offered his hand to Lily. It's more reserved, more friendly. It's a gesture for friendship as opposed to romance. Guinevere smiles as she takes it. His hand is warm, calloused, and very much to her relief, dry.
"After you, Miss Driscoll."
The two spend most of the walk to and around Hogsmeade in silence. It's not awkward for Guinevere, and she doesn't sense any tension coming from Remus as well. Neither are the type to speak thoughtlessly. They save it for when they actually have something valuable to contribute. She admires that quality in Remus. He has a silent strength whereas most Gryffindors choose to be loud and brash. It's one of the reasons why she's remained on friendly terms with him these past few years, more so than the other Marauders. He's easy to get along with.
"Want to stop at the Three Broomsticks first?" he asks, breaking the silence.
She fingers the end of her robe as she opens her mouth to respond, but a bump against her shoulder causes the words to catch in her throat. Her other shoulder rams into Remus, and she has to grab onto his robes to steady herself. She feels him grip her shoulder on instinct so neither of them will take a tumble to the ground.
Guinevere gains her bearings and searches for what knocked her down. She sees a boy in Slytherin robes temporarily stopped in front of her and Remus. She recognizes him from her Defense Against the Dark Arts class. His head is turned to face her, his lips curled into a nasty sneer.
"Watch where you're going, mudblood."
The word being spat at her doesn't make her blink twice. She just gives the boy a wide smile. In the past few years, she's found that being kind to those who are cruel to her is the best way to unnerve them. Sure enough, the Slytherin boy crinkles his nose in distaste and continues walking.
She lets go of Remus and dusts herself off, giving him an embarrassed smile.
"Sorry about that," she apologizes. He waves off her apology. It's only now that she notices how much the incident seemed to bother him. It's a subtle difference, but she can sense the tension rolling off him in waves. His fist is clenched at his side so hard that his knuckles are entirely white.
"How are you able to take that so well?" he asks. "All those ignorant prats who hate you because of who you are?"
She blinks. It's not something she's thought about much since the first time she heard the 'm' word so many years ago. The first time the insult was hurled at her in 2nd year, she cried for nearly the rest of the day. In her 3rd year, she would just frown deeply. In her 4th year, she would snap back at her tormentors with something along the lines of 'sod off'. In her 5th year, she would ignore them completely. It was in her 6th year that she discovered that smiling at them threw them off.
But she doesn't know where along the lines it stopped getting under her skin.
"It's not the word that bothers me," she admits. "It's just a word. It only has the power you give it. What bothers me is what it says about my future."
Remus furrows his brow in confusion.
"What does it say about your future?" he asks.
Guinevere purses her lips and tries to collect her fragmented thoughts into words. At least, words that won't terrify the good natured Remus Lupin.
"It says that my future is bleak," she responds quietly. "He's gaining more followers with each passing day. Every year, I hear the word more than I heard it the year before. It says that if our world continues down the path that its been on, I probably won't live to see my twenty-first birthday."
She can feel Remus's gaze, but she can't bring herself to look over at him and see any sadness in his eyes. She hates when people dwell on things that cannot be changed.
"But things can only get better, right?" she rushes out. "There's no use worrying about life's 'maybes' or 'what ifs'. That's what my mum always says."
Remus chuckles softly next to her, and the two continue walking side by side. The tension is lifted.
"To answer your question, yes," she quips. He gives her a quizzical stare.
"What question?"
She grins and grabs his hand, stopping him in front of The Three Broomsticks.
"Yes, I want to stop here first."
His eyes briefly flit down to where their hands are joined, before he looks back up to meet her eyes. The corners of his eyes crinkle in a smile. It's a large, teeth baring, genuine smile; it's unlike the small, restrained grins he's been giving her all day.
Guinevere has a feeling there's much about Remus Lupin that he keeps hidden.
"After you," he murmurs, politely outstretching his hand for her to enter.
She doesn't have to be told twice.
She immediately darts inside and breathes in the familiar scent of spice and firewhiskey. The inn is filled with lively chatter coming from all directions. The tables are full of wizards in the middle of animated conversations by the dim candlelight. The sights, smells, and noises should be enough to overwhelm her, but it proves to be a comfort instead. It feels like coming home from a long trip.
She and Remus make their way to one of the few free tables in the pub, smack dab between two tables full of Hogwarts students. It takes her aback when Remus pulls a chair out for her. She sits down slowly and gives him a mumbled 'thank you'.
"Would you like a butterbeer?" he asks. "I was about to order one myself."
She nods and looks down to dig into the small purse she brought with her.
"Sure, let me just get a few sickles out of my bag," she tells him. She briefly wonders how much money she brought with her. She wants to make a quick stop at Honeydukes before the day is over.
"No, I'll pay for it, I insist," he responds quickly.
Guinevere snaps her head up and opens her mouth to argue with him, but he's already disappeared into the sea of people. She briefly debates getting up and tracking him down before she sighs and drops the sickles back into her purse, snapping it closed.
She hates owing people. Even when her friends insist there's no reason to pay them back five knuts, her pride prevents her from listening. Especially when those friends aren't in the position to be spending too much money.
From the second-hand robes he wears and the dusty textbooks he carries around, she gets the feeling Remus is one of those people.
She leans back in her chair, waiting patiently for his return. She tilts her head over to the right to peer at the students sitting at the table next to her. A Hufflepuff girl and a Gryffindor boy sit on opposite sides of the table. Both are red faced and scowling deeply. The girl throws her hands up in the air and yells at her companion,
"Well how was I supposed to know those were puking pastilles, Thomas?!"
Guinevere covers up a snort with a fake cough and turns away from the squabbling pair. She turns her head to glance at the table on her left.
Two Slytherin and a Ravenclaw sit with their spines rigid and pressed against the backs of their seats. Their faces are pale; it's the type of pale where Guinevere isn't sure if they're nervous, or if they're naturally lacking any pigment. They're whispering amongst themselves, so their voices are lost amongst the normal chaos of the pub.
Guinevere finds herself disappointed that she can't eavesdrop on the conversation, but she quickly scolds herself. Sneakiness is a bad habit of hers. Marlene sometimes like to tease that she should have been sorted in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor with how much she inserts herself into situations that don't concern her. It's a habit she's been trying to break. Still, she continues to stare at the boys in the most discrete manner.
None can be much older than 16. The only Ravenclaw is a tall blond boy with sharp, unforgiving features and cheekbones that Guinevere feels would cut her hand if she dared to touch them. His beady eyes are narrowed to slits. He gives off an air of unpleasantness and seems to be the only boy at the table who isn't nervous.
The Slytherin boy sitting opposite the Ravenclaw boy is a pudgy, stout, red faced bloke. Guinevere finds herself comparing him to a cherry red tomato. His hands are gesturing wildly, his brow furrowed. Guinevere can't decide if he's angry or if that is just his natural state.
The third boy is blocked by his chubby friend, and Guinevere has to crane her head around to catch a glimpse of him. When he leans forward and she finally catches his full profile, she nearly gasps.
For a split second, she could have sworn she was looking at Sirius Black.
The boy has the same fair skin, the same dark, glossy hair, the same grey eyes, and the same haughty good looks. However, she thinks better of her assessment when she realizes he's smaller and scrawnier than the arrogant Gryffindor she knows. Besides, Sirius wouldn't be caught dead in Slytherin robes. The doppelgänger's face is flushed and dark circles line his sunken under eyes. The poor boy looks like he hasn't slept since school began.
Doesn't Sirius have a younger brother? She asks herself. She swears she remembers another boy by the name of Black being sorted in her 2nd year. What was his first name again…?
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting for long."
Guinevere turns away from the table beside her and gives her full attention to Remus. Her cheeks burn in humiliation at being caught red-handed, but it doesn't seem to her that he noticed. He's smiling softly and carrying two butterbeers. Guinevere murmurs a thank you and politely plucks one out of his hands.
"I was about ready to get up and leave," she jokes good naturedly. Her mind is still racing with endless possibilities as to what those boys could be whispering about so fiercely.
"Sorry, I got side-tracked a bit," Remus admits with an amused grin. "I ran into James and Lily snogging at the bar."
Guinevere lets out a loud, bark-like laugh and sets her butterbeer down on the table. Lily won't be hearing the end of this when the two get back to school.
"Well it was about time, wasn't it?" she asks rhetorically. Remus lets out a breathy laugh and raises his mug.
"To James and Lily," he proposes jokingly. She taps their mugs together, echoing his toast.
Whatever those boys were planning is pushed to the back of her mind as she celebrates the newest couple at Hogwarts.