Four

Remus stared, awestruck, as James dropped his grip around her. Lina looked quickly to the ground. Remus' mouth was hanging open in pure shock and utter disappointment.

"Remus, my friend, it's not what you think," James cried.

"What else could it be, James? You heard my confession. How could you?" Remus exclaimed, massaging his head.

"Come on, Remus. Everyone deserves a chance at love," James tried.

"Yeah, and so do I!" Remus retorted. "Besides, you're not supposed to be out here!"

"Well, Remus, you're out here. What are you doing anyways?" Lina asked cautiously. Remus shot her a look, telling her that that was not an appropriate question to ask.

"I think I should leave you guys alone for a minute," Lina said. And with that, she turned and walked into the woods, hiding behind a tree to listen to the conversation. Remus reached out to stop her, but her mind was made up. She also figured that they would say a lot more if they thought she wasn't listening.

"Remus, I am so sorry you had to see that," James whispered.

"As well you should be. James, you know that whenever I like someone I'm serious about it! I never have those stupid crushes like you did! You were just so lucky – no girl can keep their hands off of you. Look at Celina! She was kissing you like you were married!"

"Come on, Remus. Trust me on this, she doesn't like me. She barely said a word to me the whole night. And when she did speak, she said that she felt bad, like she was betraying you," he said. "If she liked me, she wouldn't care about your feelings so much." However, James added quickly, "Besides, that kiss didn't feel as real as it looked."

"Just goes to show how much you know her. I know her enough to know that she would care about everyone, no matter whether or not she liked them. She's a kind person, James. She wouldn't be like that," Remus said, shaking his head.

James walked around Remus and sat back on the bench. "You don't get it. The way she talked about you was like she was mad about you. I feel like shit right now, because I know she doesn't like me."

"Oh, don't be stupid, James, of course she does. Nearly every girl in the school is crushing on you. Nobody likes plain, boring Remus, which the only interesting thing about him is something he can't tell anyone," he snapped.

"Oh, but Remus, you don't know the half of it. I know, like, five girls who have confided to me that they like you. So they didn't include Celina. But Jesus, mate, she's been here a grand total of one whole day. She doesn't know you well enough yet. And even so, just because she hasn't come out with it doesn't mean she doesn't like you. She probably didn't want to hurt my feelings.

"And you should know that I'm not low enough to pick a girl over one of my best friends. I've known you since my second year, Remus, and I've only known her for barely twenty-four hours. I promise, I won't let her get in the way of anything."

"How can you be so sure?" Remus asked uneasily. James paused, thinking of what to say.

"Because that kiss made me realize something," he said quietly.

"What?" Remus queried, his interest peaking.

James lifted his head and looked Remus straight in the eye. "I need Lily back."

Lina's heart stopped. What was he talking about? Lily was with Sirius.

But then her mind snapped back to the conversation earlier in the night.

"Yeah, I'm dating Sirius. But I'm not sure if it's quite right."

Lina smiled to herself. She liked being all-knowing.

"Then do it, James! Just go up to her and tell her how you feel!"

"But what about Sirius? I can't break his heart for Lily. It's not worth losing my best friend to like a girl and tell her, but not knowing if she liked me back. Then I may end up friendless and loveless," James said, sighing.

"Come on, mate! Now's my turn. I know that Sirius isn't really happy with this relationship. He told me. He said she's just not the one for him. And he didn't want to tell you because he was afraid you would get mad at him and defend Lily!"

A huge smile broke on James' face. "You mean it?"

"Yeah. Now, you get back there and tell Lily how you feel," Remus said.

"And Lina's all yours," James replied. They smiled at each other and drew each other into a huge hug. Lina thought this would be the perfect moment to walk in.

"You guys done yet?" she asked innocently. They ripped away from each other. Remus ran his hands through his hair. James put his hands on his hips.

"Yeah. Um, you ready to go?" he asked.

"Actually, James, I wanted to talk to Lina first, before we go," Remus said. Turning to her, he added, "May I have a word?"

"Yeah, sure."

James turned and went to Honeyduke's, where he would wait for them. Remus took her to the bench and sat her down. She looked up at him and smiled. He sat next to her.

"So . . . I just wanted to ask you something," he said.

"I heard you yesterday," Lina blurted out. "And I thought what you said was really sweet."

"You heard me?" Remus inquired, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah."

"Well, then, I suppose that I don't really have to say anything," he said.

Lina pursued, "Well, you don't have to, because I know what you'll say, but it's still nice to hear it every once and a while."

Remus beamed. "In that case, I will," he said. He sighed and dreamily stated, "The moment I saw you, when you were walking up to the Sorting Hat, I thought you were beautiful. And when you were Sorted into Gryffindor, I was the happiest guy alive. And remember in Divination, when Professor Trelawney said" – he screwed up his face and did an impression of the glittering bug – "Oh, I see you have feelings for someone, but don't worry about that, dear, I thought she meant that you didn't like me. I was heartbroken. I tried as hard as I could to get you to like me. But I guess maybe that's not what she meant."

"No, it wasn't. Because I thought the same thing, when I saw you the first time." Lina saw a smile curl on to Remus' lips.

"I guess that all I'm trying to say is . . . I love you, Celina," he whispered.

She said nothing. There was nothing more to say. She hoped that the look on her face would explain it all.

"I really want to kiss you," Remus said in barely more than a whisper. His hand caressed her face. Her eyes closed.

"You may," she replied. She felt him drawing closer. But right when he was about to do it, she remembered something.

"Just don't touch the hair."

Remus smiled. His forehead was against hers, their noses almost touching. His arms locked around her waist, her arms around his neck. He stroked her face. But then he tilted his head and sank his lips into hers. His hands pressed on her back, drawing her closer, deepening the kiss. It was different from James' kiss – it was truer, more real. And it meant something more than James' had. Much more.

When they withdrew from each other, Lina blushed. Remus was looking at her like a miracle had just occurred. For them both, it had – Lina had found someone who truly loved her and accepted her, and Remus had finally found someone who wasn't obsessed with James.

Lina looked at the ground, still smiling. He reached up and kissed her head.

"Come on. Let's go meet James."