When Lisa was back in her dormitory all she could think about was Remus. How brave he was to be facing life as a werewolf. How he always seemed happy and how he didn't let his condition bring him down. She knew how hard is must be to keep a secret like that. Being the smart girl that she was she figured that Dumbledore had made special arrangements for him. Her admiration of Dumbledore increased by a tenfold at that realization. She also came to another realization that made her breath catch in her chest.
"Lisa?" Lily asked. "Are you ok?"
She nodded and continued to change into her night dress. Remus had been a good friend to her since she started Hogwarts. Though he ran around with the two coolest guys he had always paid special attention to her when usually guys just looked her over. She had feelings for Remus. No matter how she looked at it, it always came back to that conclusion. But Sirius, she thought. What about the tingling feeling she got when he touched her? She could tell that he really liked her and that last things she wanted was to hurt him. What if Remus never thought about her in that way? She was so confused that her head was aching. She pulled the curtains around her four poster bed and tried to go to sleep.
Little did she know that in the boys dormitory Remus was thinking about her. He thought about her often. He always thought about how easily they got along, how he admired her brilliance, how she always made him feel the most comfortable and himself. Right now he was thinking of the way she took the news of his secret. As scared as he was, somehow he knew that she would be the most understanding. He thought that he had feelings for her, but it wasn't until he confided in her that he knew for sure. He thought about how wonderful it felt to be embraced in her hug. The kiss she brushed across his cheek. But he couldn't be thinking about her like this now. Not when Sirius had been going on for days about how much he likes her.
He tossed and turned in his bed unable to clear his mind of thoughts. After a few more trashes under his covers Sirius' head suddenly appeared between the curtains of his four poster. Remus sighed when he saw him. Sirius made it his duty to know the routine of each of his dorm mates, he always knew when one of his friends was unhappy, feeling sick, or not sleeping. Sirius thought it was his duty to fix everything. If someone was unhappy, he'd cheer them up, if they were sick he'd take them straight to the hospital wing, not sleeping, he'd figure out why. Only this time Remus couldn't tell him why.
"Moony, what's wrong?" Sirius whispered not wanting to wake the others up.
"Nothing Sirius," he said. "I'm just worried about this essay I'm battling with."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"No Padfoot, I'll get through it. Thanks though."
Sirius gave Remus a smile then disappeared. Once he was settled back in his bed Remus gave a sigh of relief. He wished more than anything that he could tell Sirius exactly what he was thinking about. But there was no way he could do that. He had to keep this secret to himself.
The next morning Lisa and Remus saw each other in the Great Hall for breakfast. They both looked as if they hadn't gotten enough sleep. Sirius noticed immediately that his girl had not slept well. He questioned her as he did Remus. Remus gave an inward chuckle as she told Sirius the same thing Remus had told him last night. Remus thought that her comment showed that him and Lisa were made for each other, but he quickly wiped that from his mind as he saw Sirius lean over to kiss her cheek.
Remus and Lisa went through their classes together. Both of them were trying so hard to act like they didn't have those thoughts in their head that they didn't notice that both of them were trying a little too hard.
"Library tonight at the usual time to finish our essays?" Lisa asked Remus after their last class.
"Of course. We need to get this done tonight," he said.
"I'll see you later then!" She replied and disappeared down the hallway. Remus, watching her go, shook his head. Trying to keep his thoughts off her was harder than he thought it would be.
The entire group ate dinner together and after Lisa and Remus headed to the library together. They worked hard, comparing notes and proof reading each other's paragraphs. Sooner than they had thought, they were both finished.
"Well," Lisa beamed, happy to be done with her essay. "That certainly went better than last night."
"Much better. I didn't think I'd ever get through that," Remus said. Before he gave a second thought about it he was asking her, "Want to get out of the stuffy library and go for a walk outside?"
Lisa agreed and soon they were sitting on the same stone bench in the courtyard. Lisa looked up at the sky, at the moon just visible over the top of the forbidden forest. She glanced over at Remus to find that he was looking at it too.
"I bet your favorite time of the month is when there's no moon at all," she said quietly.
"Yes," he said just as quiet. "It makes me feel like I'm almost normal."
"I don't want you to be normal. I want you to be Remus."
He looked at her with questioning eyes.
"Normalcy bores me," she told him with a smile.
A cold breeze swept across the courtyard making Lisa shiver.
"Here," Remus said draping his arm around her and pulling her closer. She rested her head against his chest. She didn't get tingly when he touched her but she did feel something. Something that told her his touch was right.
"We should probably get to the common room, we might get sick out here," Remus told her. She nodded and they both stood.
As they turned towards the entrance they saw Sirius standing there, Marauder's Map in hand. His mouth was opening for a greeting until he saw them. Standing close and up against one another. His handsome face twisted into an angry expression and his lips were pressed tightly together. Without a word he spun on his heels and fled as fast as he could away from the courtyard.
