Chapter Fourteen

Remus did not sleep for the rest of the night. He turned endless circles in his bed, but he could not rest. Finally, around six o'clock, he dressed and went down to the common room to read his book. That day went by slowly. Remus did not pay much attention to what he did. His carelessness resulted in sloppy work and half-finished jobs.

After staring at his dinner plate that went untouched, Remus decided to go out and walk around the grounds. There was a slight breeze on the wind that cooled down the hot temperature. It hadn't rained for a few weeks. Remus walked down the steep hill, half- conscious that he was making his way down to Hagrid's hut.

Remus did not know much about Hagrid. He had only met him a few times coming to and from the Hogwarts express. Hagrid was the games keeper at Hogwarts. The most apparent feature of Hagrid was his enormous size. The students would make up stories about him. Everyone wondered how he became the size that he was. Most of the stories revolved around Hagrid taking some kind of potion and becoming larger as a result of that. Remus tried not to listen to what they said. He did not like the fact that another person was made the center of silly stories and rumors. Remus ignored the fact that James and Sirius made up most of them.

Hagrid was sitting outside of his hut. He was rocking on his chair on the front porch. Remus waved to him, Hagrid looked up and waved back. Remus wasn't sure whether Hagrid wasn't aware of all the stories made up about him or if he chose to ignore it. Whatever it was, Hagrid was always kind to the students.

Remus walked up to the porch.

'Hello Mr. Hagrid,' he said timidly.

''agrid's fine, lad. Si' doon.' Remus did as Hagrid said.

"I'm sorr' lad, I don' thin' I know ye name,' said Hagrid.

'It's Remus. Remus Lupin.'

'Ah, so many names runnin' aroon' 'ogwarts. 'Ard te remembe' 'em all.' Said Hagrid. Remus smiled. 'Duh ye like creatures?' Hagrid asked.

'Creatures? Like beasts and things?' Asked Remus. 'Yeah, sure, I suppose so. I really like Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's my favourite class. I really enjoyed the lessons we did about animals and magical beasts.' Hagrid nodded.

'Yuh, I do too,' he said. ''Fact, I have tak'n some into me care,' he said.

'Really? What kind of animals?' Asked Remus.

''no'ing too ex'iting. 'Few doxies, Imps, got me 'hands o' a kneazil th' other day, no'ing came o' i' though,' Hagrid said disdainfully. ''got meself a mur'lap in th' back.'

'Really?' Said Remus. 'A murtlap? Could I see it?' He asked eagerly.

'yeh, sure. I'd be pleas'd te show yeah,' Hagrid got up from his large seat and walked into his cottage. Remus got up from his seat on Hagrid's hut.

Hagrid's hut was large. Everything seemed to be oversized. His table was larger than Remus' bed. Remus' head just barely grazed the bottom of the cupboards.

'Si' doon, I'll make ye soom tea,' said Hagrid walking over to a very large tea pot and pouring himself and Remus a cup.

'Thanks,' said Remus. He took the cup, but despite his hunger could not bring himself to drink it.

'Th' mur'lap's in the back,' said Hagrid, 'Coom an' take a look,' he said leading the way. Remus and Hagrid walked to the back of the cabin where there was a small dark tank.

'Eh fellow tha' I know asked me tuh take th' thing,' he said. Hagrid took out a long stick and poked a darker creature at the bottem of the tank. It stirred a bit, shuffled about and then settled back into the same spot.

'I's nuh as in'eresting as eh though' th' beasty woul' be,' Hagrid said. 'Dumbledore'll ge' ahold o' th' thing, eh supply th' potions lab wi' it,' he said.

'It's very nice,' said Remus. He could not see it very well, but he did his best to seem pleased with it.

Remus talked for a few more minutes with Hagrid about various creatures, then bid him a good evening. Remus wanted to get away and have some time to himself. He walked over to a beech tree facing the lake. To his right the sun was setting. Remus watched for awhile then looked at the lake. The squid had come out and was basking in the sunlight. The lake sparkled and glittered. The giant squid's slippery scales seemed to reflect the setting sun.

'Beautiful, isn't it?' Said a voice from behind. Remus turned suddenly. Lily was leaning against the tree looking at the sun set.

'I used to come out here and watch the sun set all the time. I hadn't done it for awhile though. It's nice to see it again,' she said.

'Yeah, it's really peaceful,' said Remus turning back around and looking at the lake.

'When I was young, my dad and mum took my sister and I out to Dover, to see the white cliffs,' said Lily. She walked up to Remus and sat beside him. 'I wanted to see them really badly. My sister however, didn't really want to. She pouted and complained the whole way there. It took us nearly all day. When we finally got there, it was sunset. Even though we could only see the white cliffs for about ten minutes or so, I think it was more special. I got to see the sunset on the white cliffs of Dover.' Remus stared at Lily. She kept looking at the lake.

'You are quite an optimist, Lily,' said Remus. 'It's refreshing.'

Lily blushed. 'Thanks,' she said. Neither said much for quite some time. The sun seemed to be suspended in the air. The lake sparkled and the giant squid rolled around the surface.

'You seem tired,' said Lily after awhile.

'I didn't get much sleep last night,' said Remus rubbing his face with his hands. 'I had a very strange dream.'

'I know what that's like. I'm having all of these OWL dreams. I have to write the test, but I didn't study, or I studied for the wrong subject, or something. It's really silly, but it's scary,' she said.

'Dreams are scary,' said Remus, 'I seem to be the only one in my room who every wakes up screaming from them though.'

'Yeah, I'm sure James isn't very sympathetic,' said Lily sarcastically.

'He's alright,' Remus said.

'Yeah, I'm sure he is,' said Lily shaking her head. 'Sometimes he annoys me so much, I can't stand it.'

'I know, I think he annoys a lot of people. He really likes you though,' said Remus.

Lily snorted, 'just because I don't like him and I'm hard to get. He doesn't like me; he likes the thought of having me. He sees other girls and me as possessions. He has no respect.'

'I know that's easy to say, especially if he has never shown any respect to you, but I think there's more to him that meets the eye,' said Remus.

'I know that people like him. I know there must be good qualities to him. Why can't he just be normal- nice?'

'That's not James,' said Remus. 'He really likes you. He wants you to like him, but you intimidate him. When he sees you, his mind shuts down and he just acts. I'm sure he doesn't mean to do half of what he does in front of you. It's just something that he does.'

'Well, I don't think I can take it any longer. He has to understand,' said Lily.

'I know. He will learn. Eventually.'

The sun finally disappeared behind the earth. The sky became a dark blue. The squid went back under the depths of the lake. Remus and Lily walked back to the castle.

A/N: Be kind and please review!