The Green Flame Torch
By: maraudette_luna
Chapter 1: An Invitation
A lovely core where friendship meets,
Beneath the earth, love controls it's beat,
A place where feelings never fail,
How I tell and describe my interesting tale,
Now let us begin way back in the past,
And towards the future, where we'll end up at last…
~*~ Marauder Era ~*~
"Luna! Hey Luna! WAIT!" Luna turned around to find Patty, running towards her out of breath. She smiled, trying to capture this picture in the back of her mind. To see Patty run was a treat. She would never run for anything – unless when trying to find her friends before curfew.
"What now Patty? Did the house-elves in the kitchen refuse to give you food again, because I agree with them? You should save some food for the other students," she paused," I still don't understand how you stay skinny; eating that much."
Ignoring that last remark, Patty sighed, "No. That is not the problem, though I would fancy to visit the kitchen's; would you like…"
" No Patty. I'm busy at the moment. Anyway, what do you need?" Luna cut her off, slightly annoyed.
"I need you to help with my potions homework." She explained quickly.
Luna sighed and nodded, "Alright. I'll help you when I get back to the common room, but I must hurry to the library so I can find some extra information on werewolves."
Patty smirked, "Trying to get bonus points, are we?"
"What do you mean?" Though Luna smiled.
"Oh, come on… you know very well that you have all the information you need," Patty whined, while a grin spread across her face.
"That's why I said 'extra' information," Luna looked at her watch and the smile vanished, "Shoot! I only have ten minutes! I'll see you a bit later!" She ran down the corridor, towards the library. Turning the corner, she saw a figure rushing towards her. Luna tried to swerve out of the way, but was too slow.
"Oww!" Luna cried, clutching her ankle.
"Oh my! I'm so s-sorry. Are you o.k?"
Luna was about to yell that she bloody well wasn't, but when she looked up, she decided against it, "Oh! I-I'm fine." She was staring at Remus Lupin, who was reaching out his hand to help her up. His eyes are gorgeous, she thought, examining them closely. As his golden-brown eyes locked with hers, she blinked and looked at the ground, for she felt her face getting hotter. Luna touched her cheek for a moment, when she realized that he was talking to her.
"I r-really didn't mean to… I was heading to the library to… to…"his eyes widened, "Are you sure you're O.K.?…Y-your ankle! Let me take you to the hospital wing." He bent down to examine the wound.
"No! I mean no…no, I'm fine." Luna exclaimed, shifting her foot away from him. The last action was quite unexpected. She tried to stand, but collapsed in a cry of pain. "I g-guess you're right." She said, holding her ankle tightly. Luna tried to hide the awful colour of the bruises, which were appearing quite quickly on her skin.
Remus smiled slightly and helped her stand up. She rested her arm on his shoulders, letting out a small 'Oh', when he put his hand on her waist to support her. They then started their way towards the hospital wing.
"As I was saying, I'm terribly sorry. I'm Remus Lupin. I've never fully introduced myself to you." He looked at her with a definite smile. Luna smiled back and winced as she accidentally stepped on her sprained foot.
"I'm Luna Moonglade," she replied. Remus mouthed something that looked very much like, 'I know.' "Anyway," she continued, "the whole thing was an accident. There is no need to say sorry." She felt her face burn hotter, wondering if it was as red as a quaffle yet. If Siria or Jamie saw me right now, they'd burst out laughing. Not because of how red my face is, well partly that, but because of my situation. Luna grinned happily at the thought.
"What are you smiling for?" Remus' voice interrupted her thoughts, though she didn't mind, because of the circumstances…
"Oh, nothing. I was just…" Luna snapped out of her dreaming. She didn't want him to know what she was thinking, after all, "…never mind." She decided to change the topic. "So what were you rushing to the library for?"
"I needed some information for my potions homework, but I'll just go tomorrow. I mean, your ankle is much more important." Luna looked at him, and was quite surprised at what she saw. She had never seen a boy blush before.
"I-I have a really great book you can use. It has excellent information, and I'm done using it." She told him. Patty can copy off my notes. She'll understand…hopefully.
" Really? You don't mind?" Remus looked as happy as a puppy. It's only a book! Then again, if he offered me one of his books…
"Nope!" She said promptly.
"Great! That'll save me a lot of time," he paused, "So what were you going to the library for?"
"Oh! I was just going to search for extra information on werewolves, but I have enough anyway," Luna's smile vanished as she watched his face turn slightly pale. "Are…are you alright? You don't feel sick, do you?"
She made to feel his forehead to see if it felt warm, but he quickly shook his head and stated, "No. I'm quite all right. There's nothing wrong. I just thought I…I heard Peeves. That's all."
"Hmm…" Luna glanced at him quickly, but decided not to say anything.
~*~
When they showed Mme. Pomfrey Luna's ankle, she began to lecture them on hallway safety. She muttered things like, 'clumsy' and 'I would be rich if I was paid for healing every little injury in this school.' Remus and Luna just glanced at each other every once and awhile, wondering if they were supposed to say something, but decided against it.
Luna finally broke in, "So how long will I have to stay here, Mme. Pomfrey?"
"Just a few seconds. Luckily for you, you didn't crack your head open!" Mme Pomfrey took out her wand and pointed it at Luna's ankle. "Mendium flourishio. There you go. Healed! Now please leave while I tend to the other students." She promptly left them and continued her muttering.
"I-I guess we should g-get going. I mean it's already past nine…and…and…"
But Remus cut her off, "Yes. I q-quite agree." He stood up, looking at his watch to confirm what she had said; "I'll walk you back to the common room. You know…um…just to be sure that you can walk o.k." he turned slightly red for a second, "We wouldn't want you to collapse on your way back…plus…I need to borrow that book from you anyway." He looked at her, but she felt this odd feeling in the pit off her stomach, so she quickly stood up and looked away.
The walk back to the Gryffindor Tower went quickly and quietly, until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew were just exiting the portrait hole, when they spotted Remus and Luna.
"Hey Moony! I see you've finally got yourself a girl, mate!" Sirius grinned, striding towards them, " 'bout time." He patted him on the back.
Remus paused, looking stunned, but Luna broke the tension, "I don't see you with any girls Black," she said coolly, and then added, "Anyway, Remus only wanted to borrow a book of mine." She glanced at him quickly, and smiled, "That's all."
" Oh, he wants a bit more than that, I can assure you." Sirius smirked, his eyes narrowing. Luna blinked, not knowing what to do next. Her eyes shifted to James and Peter, who were gazing at her and Sirius as if they were watching a movie: a very enjoyable one. She then looked at Remus. He was staring at Sirius, horrified, though blushing madly. She wished that she could say something cool or funny, but when she opened her mouth to speak, no sound came out. Her mouth was too dry. Sirius turned to Remus again and sighed dramatically. " I see Moony is showing his sensitive side tonight. Hopefully, he'll snap out of it soon, or we might as well go to bed.
"But I wanted to visit the kitchens!" Peter whined. Luna was instantly reminded of Patty and started to giggle. Remus looked at her and shook his head slightly, which made her instantly stop.
She was still grinning though when she began to speak. "You really must meet my friend Patty. I could see you two getting along quite well together." The boys looked flabbergasted; especially Sirius. Luna began to laugh again at their expressions. He had definitely not been expecting that, she thought happily. She noticed now that she was not the only one laughing. James, Peter, and Remus had joined her, as they watched Sirius' surprised face turn steadily redder with anger.
"ENOUGH!" he roared. The laughing quickly subsided. It took a moment for Luna to realize that he was pointing his wand at her.
"Now, now Padfoot. No need for magic." Remus stepped forwards, frowning. Sirius glared at him viciously, but pocketed his wand anyway. He muttered something that sounded very much like, "Love; who needs it," which made James snicker. "Shut up, Prongs," he sneered, as he made his way towards the stairs. "I'll meet you guys in the kitchen's."
Luna felt a bit queasy and held her stomach, "I think I should get going. I can tell when I'm not wanted…" she drifted off, eyeing Sirius with dislike. "Butterbeer."
"What? Oh…right." The portrait of the Fat Lady quickly swung open, so that Luna could enter the common room. She marched right over to the desk where she had been working earlier: quite annoyed that she had left all of her books sprawled out on the table, in her hurry of reaching the library before nine. Anyone could have copied her notes, she thought. Sighing at her stupidity, she pulled out her report on werewolves.
"Ahem." Luna spun around to see Remus crawling through the portrait hole, after her. She felt her temper rise slightly.
"What do you want?" She was surprised at how angry her voice sounded. It wasn't his fault about Sirius, she reminded herself, but she had too much anger gathering up inside her.
" I-I just wanted to…"
"Just take it! Take the stupid book!" She picked up a book entitled, 'Potions, Herbs, & Helpful Enchantments,' and flung it across the room. Remus flinched as it slammed against the wall and fell open onto the floor. Luna looked at his hurt face and hurried towards him. "Oh, I'm so sorry Remus!" she began to cry as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
Blushing furiously, he stuttered with surprise at this. " No, no, it was my fault. I mean…I mean Sirius is my friend and…and I should of said something." He looked at Luna's face and held her in a bit closer, "He was just jealous."
She eyed him suspiciously, "Jealous of what, exactly?"
"Oh! Um…well… you see… he's been wanting to find a…a…"
But Luna finished his sentence for him, "A long-lasting girlfriend?"
"Well, yes. H-he probably thought that I was asking you out or something…" Luna let go of Remus and stepped backwards.
" He's a git." She said angrily, crossing her arms.
"Well a bit…yes; but he was right about one thing."
Luna glared at him slightly. "What?"
He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I was wondering if you would like to go to the first Hogsmeade weekend with me?" he paused, "But if your not free next week, I understand."
"Oh, I'd love to go with you Remus!" she felt her face burn with excitement.
"Great! I…uh… I guess I'll be seeing you then. Goodnight."
"Yes," she said dreamily, "Goodnight Remus." He waved at her, picking up the fallen book, and quickly exited the common room, towards the kitchens.
Luna packed up her homework (no point in doing that tonight) and drifted up to the girls' dormitories. Hmm… I think his eyes are more amber than brown. She sighed happily at this thought, as she opened the door to her room. Instantly, she was bombarded with voices.
"Luna! Luna! Where were you? Jamie and I…uh… 'accidentally' set Narcissa's hair on fire! You should've seen it! Too bad Malfoy put it out though. I enjoyed watching her shriek and run around in circles." Luna's friends, Siria and Jamie were rushing towards her, laughing hysterically. They both loved pulling pranks on the Slytherins. You could say it was their way of entertainment. Usually, Luna would have loved to listen to them, as she'd helped them with many of the jokes herself, but tonight her mind was elsewhere.
"…and then when he broke out in boils…Luna? Hey Luna! Are you even listening to us?" Siria was looking at her strangely, "You're ok, right?" Luna strode over to her bed, sat down and sighed. She watched as Siria glanced at Jamie and Patty, and a smile spread across her face, "Did he catch up to you or did the library just close a minute early?"
Jolting back to reality, Luna felt her stomach do a back flip when she heard this. "Whatever do you mean?" she smiled rather weakly.
"Did Remus catch up to you? He said he wanted to ask you something." Luna nodded slowly, though quickly regretted it. "Ha! I knew it. Sooo…what did he ask?" Siria twisted a lock of her frizzy hair in her fingers, grinning.
Luna took in a deep breath and in finding her voice exclaimed, "Well… Let's just say, that I'm going to be meeting him in Hogsmeade next weekend."
Oooh!" squealed Jamie, "And on your birthday too! This is gonna be so much fun! Have you decided on what you wanna where yet?"
Luna smiled and shook her head, "No, not yet."
"Even more fun then," Siria giggled, "You're so lucky!"
" Yes, I quite agree," said a voice from the corner of the room. Sybill Trelawney, who had been listening to the conversation, frowned, " I've been asking Severus to go out with me for years, and still he runs away yelling 'bloody murder.'"
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lol! I liked that last line. I know that Sybill probably wasn't in their year, but hey it adds interest. Lily's in another dorm room…. so don't worry…. she'll be in the story soon enough. Anyway…. hope you enjoyed. Please R&R!!! Thanks for reading, and the next chapter will be up soon!
