Lupin awoke the next day to realise he had enough food to last him a week, which was good, for in a week he would be strong enough to go out and buy more. A week passed and Lupin headed to the convenience store three streets down. After an hour he had bought enough to fill a shopping trolley. He bought a lot so he wasn't seen too often in the store, but also because every time he used the store, he bewitched two bags to be able to take all his items and still be as light as if he had just bought a paper. He went early today, as he always did, so there were not a lot of Muggles around and he was served by a trainee, who assumed that all items could fit into two bags.
About the same time he arrived home was the same time a tawny owl landed on the splintering table next to him. It placed the Daily Prophet on the table and waited expectantly. Lupin put the bags on the floor and rummaged for a Knut. When he found one, he held it out to the tawny owl, which grabbed it and flew away in one swift motion.
Lupin turned on a light which shone dimly, lighting up the tops of things and casting faint shadows. The front page had a picture of Cornelius Fudge talking to many reporters, looking flustered. It was all about Sirius' magnificent escape right under Fudge's nose. Lupin smiled and hoped the Sirius was alright, wherever he was right now. The rest of paper contained nothing but the usual articles about Ministry triumphs and tragedies, scandals and gossip. If it wasn't so downright normal, it could've passed as a second Quibbler.
And this is how it was for a few months, with articles on Sirius' whereabouts getting progressively further away from the front page and an increase in scandals and gossip and Lupin recovering from his monthly and involuntary metamorphosis. He began to wonder whether he was imagining it, or whether his howls and barks were getting louder than the sirens and tire screeching. And the dreams were still just memories that came out at night.
'She said yes!' James' told them that night in the boys' dorms, overjoyed. Lupin congratulated him while Sirius bundled him up in a bear hug.
'That's fantastic, mate!' Sirius cried.
'See, it wasn't that bad,' remarked Lupin, grinning.
'Yeah, well, that's our James,' laughed Sirius, 'He'll risk his neck trying to catch the Snitch any day before he'll ask out a girl.'
They all laughed and that laughter stayed in their minds as they fell asleep.
The next day, Lupin was walking to Charms. Sirius and James had left earlier for class so he was on his own. A Slytherin ran past him and knocked him over. Lupin's books went all over the stone floor and he sighed and bent to pick them up. As a prefect, he could've given the Slytherin student a detention or maybe some line-writing, but the kid was gone before he could yell anything. He was just about to get up when he saw a book was floating in front of his face. Then he looked over the book and saw a hand holding the book. Looking up, he saw it was the Ravenclaw girl who was friends with Lily.
'This is yours?' she asked in a gentle voice. It had a melodic tone.
Lupin got up quickly and relieved her of the book. 'Yes, thanks.' His heart beat a little faster as he looked into her blue, blue eyes.
She smiled and held out her hand. 'I'm Selene Yari.'
Lupin took her hand after a moment's hesitation and they shook hands. 'I'm Remus Lupin. My friends call me Moony.'
Her smile grew wider. 'Well, am I a friend now?'
He chuckled. 'I suppose you are now. What class do you have now, Selene?'
'Charms,' she replied in that melodic tone.
'So do I. I've never noticed you in there before.'
'Maybe because we weren't friends before, Moony,' she said mischievously.
They laughed and headed off to Charms together, later finding that they shared most of their classes. It was a new-found friendship Lupin was sure would last.
