Chapter 2

Remus: Did I notice her? Of course I did. Werewolf or not, recluse or not I am still made of skin and bone and human blood still runs through my veins like everyone else. Perhaps I didn't react the same way Sirius had and maybe it was also because at that very moment I didn't feel much more than a simple two minute attraction to Audrey. Nothing more than just the sight of a pretty girl dancing in the rain; I wasn't the kind to drool all over the floor over that. Not to mention I'd known Audrey all my life, or at least since I'd started Hogwarts and I'd never seen her as anything else than just a friend.

We'd talked several times, but it'd been nothing more than a simple "Could you pass the rolls please?" or "What did Sprout just say?" nothing out of the ordinary.

That night was no different. I'd known of Audrey's obsession with dancing in the rain. Unlike my friends, James and Sirius I tend to be a bit more aware with what's going on around the school rather than just myself and how to make Snape want to feel sorry for himself. When I saw her running outside I knew what she was going there for. I didn't give it much thought. A girl bathing in the rain, sure it's every guy's fantasy, especially if he gets to join her. What stopped Sirius from doing so, I'll never know. I hardly looked at her twice; Sirius on the other hand was mesmerized. I knew from that moment who Sirius's next victim would be. I'd rolled my eyes and sighed, thinking to myself as I made my way back to the Gryffindor common room that there was just no helping Sirius. He was the only person I knew that could fall in love so instantly, or so he liked to claim.

It was always the same story with him. He saw a pretty girl and immediately he had to be with her. I never felt the need to chase after girls helplessly or desperately. Then again I'd never had a girlfriend while Sirius had had too many to mention them all. I guess I just hadn't met that one girl who would blow my mind away and make me act and do the stupid things I'd seen Sirius do over and over again. I could already see Sirius following Audrey around, asking to carry her books, sneaking around with her after class.

I woke up the next morning and the first thought that came to mind was an image of Audrey. My eyes flew open as I frowned to myself. I quickly discarded the thought. At that moment I didn't make anything of it. What was there to deduce from it besides the fact that I'd just seen her the day before and had thought quite a bit about how silly Sirius had acted. Of course, there was also the reason that maybe she could've made an impression in my mind but that was out of the question. I was sure then that to me Audrey was still nothing more than just a classmate.

I began helping myself to some toast later that same morning when I looked over at Sirius. He was unconsciously staring at Audrey who sat not too far away from us. I glanced at her but noticed that she wasn't looking at Sirius. Her blonde hair fell over her eyes as she smiled at her friend across the table. It was clear to see why Sirius had been so taken with her. She had a unique beauty that no other girl seemed to possess. If looked at closely one would notice a certain natural glow to her face. She always seemed happy. In fact, I didn't remember ever seeing Audrey mad at anyone or upset.

She must've felt my eyes on her because she looked up to look at me. I quickly looked away and focused on my breakfast. I pretended to be deeply consumed by the bacon on my plate. I hoped that she didn't think I was checking her out because I wasn't. After seeing her drenched in rain a couple of days ago it surely would've been the most obvious thing, considering the fact that that was exactly what Sirius was doing. Not me. I was not checking her out. Now if I could only get my hands to stop shaking.

Sirius: Audrey was consuming me little by little. I could not take my eyes off of her wherever she went. My eyes followed her at breakfast, lunch, and dinner; during classes, in the common room, in the halls, everywhere. I could not explain to myself why my fascination with her had reached such lengths. She knew all of this too. I was so obvious that there was no way she couldn't know. She'd caught me looking at her several times from where I sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. I wouldn't look away either. I'd stare at her boldly and smile only to feel victorious at receiving a smile in return from her.

"If you look at her any longer you may actually begin to scare her," James said bringing me back to reality.

I looked at him and after registering what he'd said and smiled. Lily took a seat next to James and frowned.

"Audrey Miller?" she asked looking across the table at Audrey then back at me. "Your new target is Audrey Miller?"

I eyed Lily skeptically. There was something about her tone of voice that I didn't like. "What's the matter?"

Lily looked at Audrey once more who was chatting with her best friend Amelia Bones. "I just…well, she wouldn't be my first choice if I was in your shoes."

Lily, James's girlfriend was a very likable person. Someone with a great sense of humor, and friendly to everyone, but at that very moment every word that was coming out of her mouth was beginning to sound annoying to me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, she just broke up with her last boyfriend about a month ago," Lily replied.

"And?" I asked still not getting her point.

"Well, she changes boyfriends as often as she changes her undies," Lily said making a face.

James burst out laughing. "Actually, she sounds like the perfect match for Sirius. They've already got one thing in common."

Lily rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. "She's not a bad girl, honestly. She's just...very…free spirited if you will," Lily continued.

"Lils, if you're trying to change Sirius's mind you're going about it the wrong way," James said.

"Free spirited is what he likes…I don't think he's ever dated anyone prude." Peter joined in.

Lily scowled at Peter. "What exactly do you mean by prude?"

"Yeah, he has Peter," Remus said obviously trying to avoid confrontation. "He dated that Ravenclaw girl Crystal; she was a prefect last year."

"Oh don't remind me, please!" I begged throwing my head back. "I swear the three weeks we dated was like and eternity stuck in Professor Binn's History of Magic class!"

"You dated her for two weeks," Remus said.

"Well, Moony, you sure seem to be up to date on Sirius's love life," James said.

Remus shrugged, "I'm just observant and I remember things."

I smirked and nudged Remus with my elbow and wiggled my eyebrows teasingly. "He's just trying to learn from the master, aren't ya, Moony?"

"Right," Remus said rolling his eyes.

In the midst of our laughter I glanced in Audrey's direction. While she and her friends chatted avidly she looked at me. I smiled and she lowered her eyes but I could see a smile creeping upon her lips. She turned towards her friends and muttered something. She then stood up and looked at me, a playful smirk plastered on her face. Strands of her golden hair fell on her face and she lifted a hand and swept them away gracefully. She picked up her bag and turned to leave. She then flipped her long straight hair over her shoulder and began walking away.

"I'll be right back," I didn't even realize when I'd said it but something was driving me to her. I knew she was leaving so that I could follow. She wanted me to join her and I was more than willing to oblige. I raced towards the gates of the Great Hall to catch up to her.

"Audrey!" I exclaimed just before she began climbing the marble staircase. She turned to look at me innocently, almost as if she hadn't been expecting me to pop up. I looked at her and my mind went blank. How stupid could I look? Here I was looking for the perfect chance to talk to her and once I had it I ended up looking like a complete moron.

"Yeah?" she said raising her dark brown eyebrows.

"Where are you off to?" I asked.

She laughed. "Arithmancy class."

"Oh," I said feeling foolish. Duh, where else could she have been going? "I don't take that class."

Audrey bit her lower lip obviously trying not to laugh more. "Yeah, I already knew that."

What was wrong with me? That was not the way I usually acted when trying to get a girl's interest. Why Audrey made me so particularly nervous I had no idea, but I knew I had to suck it up. I had to say something cool, something smooth, something…me…

"It's a pretty sunny day today, I bet you're upset because it's not raining," I said taking an anonymous deep breath and walking closer to where she stood.

"Yeah, well not every day can be a rainy day, can it? It's alright I enjoy sunny days as much as rainy ones," Audrey said leaning against the banister. Good that meant she was relaxed and wanted to talk. I hadn't freaked her out as James had said I would.

"Well, I sure was upset when I saw the sun come up this morning," I said.

"Really, why?" Audrey asked her lips twitching as they returned to her smirk.

I stood closer to her and spoke in a lower, hopefully sexier tone, "Was kinda hoping to see you out there again."

"Well, maybe next time it rains I'll invite you to watch," she said matching my tone. "I've never had an audience before; I suppose it'll be fun."

"For you or for me?" I asked.

Audrey pretended to think about it. She then looked at me and said, "For both."

My face must've shown every bit of surprise from her response because her smirk only widened. I had been completely taken by surprise. Never in a thousand years would I have expected her to reply in that manner. No girl, in her right mind would ever respond like that. The mere thought of it would be too shameful and to tease a guy in that manner…it was unthinkable…I loved it!

She smiled and winked as she resumed walking up the stairs. I suddenly realized how fast my heart was beating and I grasped the banister tightly feeling as though I could pass out at any second. Oh God, I hope it rains…very soon.

Remus: Sometimes I wonder if there really is such thing as fate. I've never been a devote believer in Divination, one of the reasons I chose Arithmancy over it. It seemed more believable. (Unlike Peter, James and Sirius who dropped both Arithmancy and Divination in their 6th year so they could have extra time to fool around.) I've always thought that persons make their own luck and that everything that happens is as consequence of our actions, but there are certain instances in my life in which I have deeply pondered fate. People say everything happens for a reason, and other's like to believe that things where meant to be. Basically the complete opposite of what I believe in. That we have absolutely no control in what happens to us.

It was obvious Amelia Bones had no control over her sickness when she almost threw up on her Arithmancy book. Right in the middle of a very heated class discussion that had me hanging on every word Amelia began coughing and made this really weird croaking sound as she covered her mouth and turned sideways in her seat while holding her stomach with her free hand. Students sitting around her made faces and groaned as they dragged their chairs away. Audrey Miller, Amelia's best friend and Arithmancy partner, stood up abruptly then leaned down towards Amelia and patted her back. Professor Vector looked disgusted but tried her best not to show it. She asked Amelia what was wrong and Audrey explained that she'd had too many bacon strips during breakfast.

Professor Vector instructed Audrey to take Amelia to the Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing. Soon enough the two girls were out of the class and Vector continued her lecture. Audrey returned quickly and caught the final bit of the lecture before Professor Vector assigned us all an in class project. Professor Vector always makes us pair up in groups. Now because the class has an odd number of students Vector usually pair up with the one student left over. Today, though, there was an even amount of students, and two who had no partners.

"Ms. Miller, you can join Mr. Lupin today since Ms. Bones is ill. Mr. Lupin, make sure you explain to her what she missed while she was out," Professor Vector said as she put her reading glasses on and sat at her desk.

I looked over to where Audrey sat as she turned to look at me briefly then began gathering up her books. I cleared my throat trying desperately to remove the knot that had formed there. I wiped my hands on my robes and quickly began to rehearse in my head what I'd say to explain the part of the lesson she'd missed.

She walked over to my desk. I glanced up and she gave me a small smile. I cleared my throat again as I watched her sit next to me out of the corner of my eye. She began placing her books on the table and opening up to the page we were on. I realized that my leg had been bobbing up and down underneath the table and I stopped. I took a deep breath as I twirled my quill in my fingers while I waited for her to settle down.

"So, Professor Lupin, I'm all ears," she said.

I turned to look at her only to find a friendly, bright face with a grin spread from ear to ear. Her blonde stringy bangs fell over her eyes. Looking at her welcoming face made me feel more relaxed. Why had I gotten so nervous? It's not like I'd been paired up with Bellatrix Black who would've for sure insulted me every minute of our session together. I felt my muscles relax and I almost laughed at myself. There was no reason for feeling so tense.

I decided to stop acting foolish and began explaining to Audrey the rest of the lesson. She caught on quickly, which I was thankful for. I don't know if things would've gone as smoothly if I'd had to explain myself over and over. I proceeded to tell her what our assignment was. We worked quietly for a few seconds as she hunched over her parchment and began writing furiously. I felt a bit intimidated considering she was already working while I was reading the problem for the second time and still not understanding.

Audrey sat up straight and I sneaked a glance at her paper. She'd written her name, the date, her house, the subject name, the teacher's name, the topic of discussion, and a number leading a blank space in which she would write the answer to the first problem.

"There," she said cheerily. "What now? Do you understand it?"

I felt my lips forming a small smile. Here I was worrying that Audrey had turned out smarter and better than me in Arithmancy; that she would solve it in one second and make me feel stupid and embarrassed while she'd done nothing but write useless information.

"What's so funny?" she asked frowning.

"Nothing, never mind," I said as I began to write my name on my parchment.

"Oh no, you can't. I won't let you," Audrey said her tone of voice turning serious.

"What?" I asked once again feeling tense as I looked up at her.

"You can't sit there smiling to yourself, with me sitting next to you and then tell me it's nothing."

My smile widened. "It was nothing important."

She crossed her arms in front of her and stared at me defiantly, her brown eyes raised upwards waiting indignantly for me to yield. She resembled a five year old who'd just discovered Santa Claus wasn't real and refused to give in to her parents' attempts to make her think otherwise. The sight made me laugh out loud and I realized I must've made things worse.

"You laughed, now you have to tell me."

I looked at her and smiled. "It's just…when you were writing I was kind of scared that you'd already started solving the problem and I still hadn't figured it out. Then I saw your paper was still blank."

Audrey furrowed her brow but smiled. "That's crazy; everyone knows I suck in Arithmancy."

"I'm sure you don't," I said trying to sound optimistic.

"Wow, you're a lot nicer than Amelia as a partner."

I laughed. "Why?"

"Well, you know she's all smart and usually does most of the work when we're paired up."

"I see."

"Yeah."

That was it. Just as easy as the conversation had started it'd ended. I felt one of those uncomfortable silences coming on. I looked at the textbook once more and read the problem for a third time.

"So how about your friend Black?" she asked all of a sudden and I was a bit taken aback by the blunt question.

"What about him?" I asked pretending to be in pondering deeply over the problem as if it wasn't obvious why she was asking.

"What's he like?"

I sat up straight and looked at her. "Um…I don't know…" I replied stupidly.

Audrey smiled as she played with a strand of her hair. "He seems kind of …interesting…"

I scoffed. "Yeah."

"What's your point of view on him?"

"Audrey," I began trying my best not to sound preachy. "Don't take this personal...it's just, we really should get working on this."

Audrey's face fell and I could see her nose and cheeks begin to turn a light shade of pink. She sat up straight and pulled her books closer to her. I could feel my ears getting hot as I read the problem a fourth time still not taking any of it in. I read it again and suddenly something clicked. I began making notes on my parchment and the problem began to come together in my head.

"Audrey, I think I've got it," I said. Audrey scooted over but didn't say a word. She seemed to listen attentively as I explained the process of solving the problem. She then moved back to her own paper and began working quietly. The tension had returned and I looked at the back of her head. I turned to my own work and began writing down several points. I bit my lip as I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. I squeezed my eyes shut, reopened them and rolled them.

"He's okay," I finally said.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked lifting her head off the desk to look at me. Her face showed no interest but her brown eyes were filled with a shimmer of curiosity.

"Sirius; he's okay. Interesting person indeed. A bit of a hot head, but loads of fun to be around."

She smiled. "Cool."

"He seems pretty taken with you, you know," I added feeling the urge to continue the conversation now that I'd gotten her interest again.

She let out a soft laugh as she looked away her cheeks turning pink once more. "Yeah, that's sort of obvious."

I gave her a crooked smile. It wasn't like me to pry in other people's personal lives, even that of my friends, but I found myself asking the questions without hesitation.

"Is the feeling mutual?"

Audrey's smile widened and there was something playful about it. "Oh sure, like I'm going to tell you so you can go running to tell him."

I laughed. "So is that a yes?"

"No, it's not a 'yes'," she replied. "But it's not a 'no' either so don't get excited."

"Oh, no…I wasn't…I'm not…it really doesn't matter, I was just curious."

Audrey giggled. "Don't be so tense, Remus, I'm not reprimanding you for asking."

It was my turn to blush. The redness on my face must've been obvious because Audrey only laughed louder almost calling Vector's attention to us. Here I was trying my best to act cool when she could probably smell my tension from a mile away.

Professor Vector's chair squeaked as it was pushed back. I flinched and thought we were done for. She was going to tell us off for not doing our work. "Class, there's only a few minutes left so we'll finish this up next time we meet. But do try to think about the problems until next time."

I let out a sigh of relief as I sank back into my chair. I closed my eyes and rubbed my face with my hands. Suddenly the bell rang somewhere outside.

"Do you want to meet later and discuss our work?" I began to ask Audrey removing my hands from my face, but when I looked the seat next to me was already empty and the table cleared. I looked around and saw her about to exit the classroom. She'd picked her things up and left without so much of a "See you next class." What was I expecting, for her to put her world on pause and stop a moment to acknowledge me? She had probably been dying for class to end so that she could be through with me. She had better things to do. She had her own friends and her own life. I was only her Arithmancy partner for a day. Why should that make the slightest difference in our lives whatsoever?