Chapter 4
Jealousy Attacks
"G-Gloria, can I have a word?" Severus Snape asked bluntly, looking as though even the faintest sight of Gloria's face would kill him. He tried desperately not to look at Remus, whose eyes were slowly getting narrower and narrower as he spoke.
"Uh. sure, Snape," Gloria replied, standing up. Flicking her gaze down to Remus, who had stood up just as she did, "Calm down. I'll be right back," she muttered in an undertone. Snape looked greatly relieved that Gloria was coming alone and that Remus wouldn't be giving him any more dangerous looks. it almost seemed as if Remus would eat him if he took a step closer.
Leading Gloria to a more secluded corner of the Great Hall (a popular make- out corner of the Hall, so Gloria noticed. the thought made her cringe). "Uhm. White, I just want---wanted to ask---if you finished the essay about Wolfsbane potion. You know, since it was. I mean, since it'll be due next class," he said quietly, barely managing to get out the words.
Gloria stared at him, studying his facial expression. "Of course I finished it, Severus. I assume you have as well, you have a better Potions grade than me, we both know that, so if you're trying to ask for my help in making something, you know I won't be as. able to do it as you would, so I'm the wrong person to ask," she said slowly, cocking her head.
Severus blinked, "Well. er. I mean, right, but you managed to produce a better Sleeping Draught, and the Professor mentioned that it'd be on our next test, so I was wondering if you could h-help m-m-me with th-that," he stammered, feeling increasingly stupider by the minute.
Looking rather thoughtful for a moment, she exhaled slowly. "Fine, I'll help you. What d'you say about next Saturday? It's a Hogsmeade weekend and we can meet at the Three Broomsticks and we can go over the whole Sleeping Draught thing."
"Great! Thankyousomuch!" he said happily, his greasy face breaking out into a cheesy grin. Pulling her into an awkard, one armed hug, he failed to realize the mildly revolted look that was slowly creeping upon her face. Practically skipping as he departed, Gloria stared after him in utter confusion. Getting over it in a couple minutes, she headed back to the Gryffindor table, sitting back down in her spot next to Remus Lupin.
"Well?" he demanded, giving her a very stern look.
"Well what?" she asked blankly, helping herself to a large portion of mashed potatoes.
"What did he say? What did you do?" he asked icily, his eyes flicking over Gloria's face.
"Oooh, actually, I must be off. Eat my food, I don't care. I promised I'd meet him, so I'll see you in the common room!" she lied, her face breaking out into a grin as she leapt up from her seat and departed the Great Hall with fake happiness.
Remus Lupin was fooled. Staring after her in utter silence, his eyes flicked down to her uneaten dinner of potatoes.
Might as well.
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~
He couldn't take it anymore. He'd been sitting in that chair for what seemed like hours, and had gotten up every now and then to pace the common room floor. Where was she???
Outside the common room, Gloria kept ruffling her hair repeatedly, trying to make it look somewhat messy. Hitching her skirt somewhat higher, she tilted it to the side. Unbuttoning the first and last two buttons of her blouse, she then ran against the wall so her hair would be messier. All to just convince Remus she'd had a little "fun" with Severus Snape.
Entering the common room nonchalantly, she grinned as she saw Remus. "Oooh, guilty pleasure. Serverus Snape. God he has great hands," she said as if she were exhausted, flopping herself onto the couch.
"WHAT?!!!! YOU DID WHAT WITH SNAPE? SEVERUS SNAPE? GOOD LORD, GLORIA, HAVE YOU GONE MAD? OH, MERLIN, SNAPE, GLORIA? SEVERUS SNAPE? WHERE DO YOU STOP? CERTAINLY NOT AT ME! AND IT SURE AS HELL DOESN'T LOOK LIKE YOU'RE STOPPING AT SIRIUS! WHERE'LL YOU GO AFTER SNAPE, HUH? JAMES, GLORIA? ARE YOU GOING TO PLAY THAT LITTLE "I'M SO DEPRESSED, COMFORT ME!" THING LIKE YOU DID WITH ME? ARE YOU GOING TO MANIPULATE HIM INTO THINKING THAT YOU CARE FOR HIM? ARE YOU??" he roared, lunging at her. Gloria ducked, running to the girl's stairs so she could run upstairs to escape his rage. She'd never guessed that he'd react this way; it was a joke. Catching her before she could escape, he pulled her arm violently, jerking her roughly towards him.
"LET ME GO!" she screamed, trying to wrench her arm away from him. This only made him pull harder on her arm. She gave a small cry of pain as she felt her arm crack, kicking him in the shins. Remus lost his balance, falling back onto the stairs, hitting his head against them, though as he fell he pulled Gloria down with him.
"Bloody hell, Lupin," she groaned, "I suppose this would be a horrible time to tell you it was a joke?"
Remus stared at her, his eyes widened. He had just hurt her. For. what?
"Gloria? Remus?" spoke a blank voice, tinged with pain. Sirius.
Remus gave a low grown and shoved Gloria off of him, rubbing the back of his head gingerly. Gloria gave a small whimper of pain as she cradled her injured arm.
"What we you doing?" Sirius asked in disbelief, looking from Gloria to Remus.
"Don't ask me. go and ask Snape," Remus muttered. Gloria stared at him, her eyes glinting with anger.
"Snape. what about Snape? Snivellus?" he hissed, looking at Gloria questioningly.
"Of course, he was a joke. Just like I was a joke. Just like you're a joke. We're all a bunch of jokes in the world of Gloria White, aren't we, Glory?" Remus asked coldly, shooting an icy glare at a mortified looking Gloria.
"But I---" she began to protest, but Remus held up a hand to silence her.
"But what you didn't know is that your current precious has been getting cozy with Aryanna Wood. you know, Jonathan's sister. I saw them up in the Astronomy Tower. stargazing I presume?" Remus growled. Sirius's eyes widened as Remus spoke. He stole a quick glance at Gloria, who had gone pale, her face expressionless.
"Now, Moony---" Sirius started, but Remus stopped him.
Sirius rounded on Gloria, looking quite enraged. "You do get around don't you? First Moony, then me, then Snivellus. I can't believe you," he said quietly.
"I guess I was girl of the week, then. And by the way, if you need to know the truth it was Remus then you. I never touched Snape. And I wouldn't. And Remus, what I said earlier, I was joking. You know, sarcasm. There's no reason you had to take it that seriously and practically beat me up for it," she said shakily, her arm throbbing with pain.
Sirius blinked and looked at Remus. No words were needed.
"Lupin, I think my arm's broken," she added in an undertone. With that, she left the common room for the Hospital Wing, leaving Remus and Sirius standing there motionless in her wake.
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~ Gloria hadn't been back from the Hospital Wing that night. For a good portion of the night, Remus stared up at the sky from his bed. A stone sank to the bottom of his stomach.
Full moon in two days.
Jealousy Attacks
"G-Gloria, can I have a word?" Severus Snape asked bluntly, looking as though even the faintest sight of Gloria's face would kill him. He tried desperately not to look at Remus, whose eyes were slowly getting narrower and narrower as he spoke.
"Uh. sure, Snape," Gloria replied, standing up. Flicking her gaze down to Remus, who had stood up just as she did, "Calm down. I'll be right back," she muttered in an undertone. Snape looked greatly relieved that Gloria was coming alone and that Remus wouldn't be giving him any more dangerous looks. it almost seemed as if Remus would eat him if he took a step closer.
Leading Gloria to a more secluded corner of the Great Hall (a popular make- out corner of the Hall, so Gloria noticed. the thought made her cringe). "Uhm. White, I just want---wanted to ask---if you finished the essay about Wolfsbane potion. You know, since it was. I mean, since it'll be due next class," he said quietly, barely managing to get out the words.
Gloria stared at him, studying his facial expression. "Of course I finished it, Severus. I assume you have as well, you have a better Potions grade than me, we both know that, so if you're trying to ask for my help in making something, you know I won't be as. able to do it as you would, so I'm the wrong person to ask," she said slowly, cocking her head.
Severus blinked, "Well. er. I mean, right, but you managed to produce a better Sleeping Draught, and the Professor mentioned that it'd be on our next test, so I was wondering if you could h-help m-m-me with th-that," he stammered, feeling increasingly stupider by the minute.
Looking rather thoughtful for a moment, she exhaled slowly. "Fine, I'll help you. What d'you say about next Saturday? It's a Hogsmeade weekend and we can meet at the Three Broomsticks and we can go over the whole Sleeping Draught thing."
"Great! Thankyousomuch!" he said happily, his greasy face breaking out into a cheesy grin. Pulling her into an awkard, one armed hug, he failed to realize the mildly revolted look that was slowly creeping upon her face. Practically skipping as he departed, Gloria stared after him in utter confusion. Getting over it in a couple minutes, she headed back to the Gryffindor table, sitting back down in her spot next to Remus Lupin.
"Well?" he demanded, giving her a very stern look.
"Well what?" she asked blankly, helping herself to a large portion of mashed potatoes.
"What did he say? What did you do?" he asked icily, his eyes flicking over Gloria's face.
"Oooh, actually, I must be off. Eat my food, I don't care. I promised I'd meet him, so I'll see you in the common room!" she lied, her face breaking out into a grin as she leapt up from her seat and departed the Great Hall with fake happiness.
Remus Lupin was fooled. Staring after her in utter silence, his eyes flicked down to her uneaten dinner of potatoes.
Might as well.
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~
He couldn't take it anymore. He'd been sitting in that chair for what seemed like hours, and had gotten up every now and then to pace the common room floor. Where was she???
Outside the common room, Gloria kept ruffling her hair repeatedly, trying to make it look somewhat messy. Hitching her skirt somewhat higher, she tilted it to the side. Unbuttoning the first and last two buttons of her blouse, she then ran against the wall so her hair would be messier. All to just convince Remus she'd had a little "fun" with Severus Snape.
Entering the common room nonchalantly, she grinned as she saw Remus. "Oooh, guilty pleasure. Serverus Snape. God he has great hands," she said as if she were exhausted, flopping herself onto the couch.
"WHAT?!!!! YOU DID WHAT WITH SNAPE? SEVERUS SNAPE? GOOD LORD, GLORIA, HAVE YOU GONE MAD? OH, MERLIN, SNAPE, GLORIA? SEVERUS SNAPE? WHERE DO YOU STOP? CERTAINLY NOT AT ME! AND IT SURE AS HELL DOESN'T LOOK LIKE YOU'RE STOPPING AT SIRIUS! WHERE'LL YOU GO AFTER SNAPE, HUH? JAMES, GLORIA? ARE YOU GOING TO PLAY THAT LITTLE "I'M SO DEPRESSED, COMFORT ME!" THING LIKE YOU DID WITH ME? ARE YOU GOING TO MANIPULATE HIM INTO THINKING THAT YOU CARE FOR HIM? ARE YOU??" he roared, lunging at her. Gloria ducked, running to the girl's stairs so she could run upstairs to escape his rage. She'd never guessed that he'd react this way; it was a joke. Catching her before she could escape, he pulled her arm violently, jerking her roughly towards him.
"LET ME GO!" she screamed, trying to wrench her arm away from him. This only made him pull harder on her arm. She gave a small cry of pain as she felt her arm crack, kicking him in the shins. Remus lost his balance, falling back onto the stairs, hitting his head against them, though as he fell he pulled Gloria down with him.
"Bloody hell, Lupin," she groaned, "I suppose this would be a horrible time to tell you it was a joke?"
Remus stared at her, his eyes widened. He had just hurt her. For. what?
"Gloria? Remus?" spoke a blank voice, tinged with pain. Sirius.
Remus gave a low grown and shoved Gloria off of him, rubbing the back of his head gingerly. Gloria gave a small whimper of pain as she cradled her injured arm.
"What we you doing?" Sirius asked in disbelief, looking from Gloria to Remus.
"Don't ask me. go and ask Snape," Remus muttered. Gloria stared at him, her eyes glinting with anger.
"Snape. what about Snape? Snivellus?" he hissed, looking at Gloria questioningly.
"Of course, he was a joke. Just like I was a joke. Just like you're a joke. We're all a bunch of jokes in the world of Gloria White, aren't we, Glory?" Remus asked coldly, shooting an icy glare at a mortified looking Gloria.
"But I---" she began to protest, but Remus held up a hand to silence her.
"But what you didn't know is that your current precious has been getting cozy with Aryanna Wood. you know, Jonathan's sister. I saw them up in the Astronomy Tower. stargazing I presume?" Remus growled. Sirius's eyes widened as Remus spoke. He stole a quick glance at Gloria, who had gone pale, her face expressionless.
"Now, Moony---" Sirius started, but Remus stopped him.
Sirius rounded on Gloria, looking quite enraged. "You do get around don't you? First Moony, then me, then Snivellus. I can't believe you," he said quietly.
"I guess I was girl of the week, then. And by the way, if you need to know the truth it was Remus then you. I never touched Snape. And I wouldn't. And Remus, what I said earlier, I was joking. You know, sarcasm. There's no reason you had to take it that seriously and practically beat me up for it," she said shakily, her arm throbbing with pain.
Sirius blinked and looked at Remus. No words were needed.
"Lupin, I think my arm's broken," she added in an undertone. With that, she left the common room for the Hospital Wing, leaving Remus and Sirius standing there motionless in her wake.
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~ Gloria hadn't been back from the Hospital Wing that night. For a good portion of the night, Remus stared up at the sky from his bed. A stone sank to the bottom of his stomach.
Full moon in two days.