Chapter 53 – Love Gets Difficult

"Oh Potter, got yourself a new boyfriend! What will wolf boy say?"

Anna sighed this night was turning into a nightmare. She turned around slowly and found herself face to face with Malfoy and Nott. Chris stopped, too, standing slightly behind her.

"I'll meet you back in the common room," Anna said to Chris.

"Erm—Remus, Lupin and Sirius are up there and besides if I leave you here by yourself they would probably kill me," he said slightly nervously.

"Right, well don't interfere with this and you can stay," she said.

"Are you going to take orders from a girl?" Malfoy asked Chris.

"Malfoy I've got your homework done for you," Anna said directing the focus off Chris.

"Yeah and we've got some more for you to do."

"Look I don't have any time to do it anymore."

"You had better otherwise you know what we will do. Besides you still haven't done that Ancient Runes Project for us yet."

Anna hoped the smug smile that was itching to come out would stay off her face. She had done the project and found out something exceedingly useful but she had changed it in Malfoy's report so it didn't say what it really meant.

"And what if I say no."

"Then we tell everyone what we know."

"And what do you know?"

"Everything," Nott said, and Malfoy shot her a look Anna found very interesting.

"You know I am surprised at you two you always taunt me about anything you can think of, but when you have inside information you don't even use it to taunt me privately. I bet you don't know anything."

"Of course we do—"

"Go on then tell me, tell me what your father did to me, what they all did, tell me how they tortured me, how they made me scream," she said in an almost whisper her anger already boiling. Nott made movement with her mouth that made her look like a fish and Malfoy glared at Anna. However, before Anna could utter another word Malfoy spoke.

"Furnunculus,"

"Expelliarmus," Chris shouted from behind her. Anna wiped her wand out and raised her hand, taking a deep breath she shouted,

"Petrificus Totalus,"

Malfoy and Nott stopped in their tracks. Anna turned to Chris, "don't tell anyone what you just saw and I will stop Remus, Sirius and Lupin from killing you."

Chris nodded in what seemed like shocked disbelief. Anna threw their homework next to their still bodies and leaving the two girls in the hallway Anna and Chris walked back to the common room in silence. For the first time in a very long time Anna let herself smile she was free of them she was sure.

"Hey, Potter," someone shouted behind her as she walked out of the library a week later. Why couldn't people call her by her first name?

"What," she said turning around not in any mood to talk to anyone, the same way she had been feeling all week. She found herself face to face with Eric McManus from Ravenclaw. The same Eric who had embarrassed himself last year because she had told him to tell Alison how he felt about her.

"I just wanted to know if you have the notes?" He said shuffling his feet.

"Err what notes?"

"The notes for Arithmancy," he said blushing.

"I don't take Arithmancy," Anna replied getting a bit confused.

"Actually, I knew that… I was -- I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend." Anna felt sick; she was planning on spending the Hogsmeade weekend researching. She knew she didn't, she only wanted to go with Lupin. Unexpectedly she found herself talking.

"Ok."

"Really," he looked quite scared now. "Right, I will meet you in the Entrance Hall after breakfast."

"Ok," she didn't know why she was saying yes, but the tingling in her stomach felt a relief from the grief she had been feeling for too long now. Somebody it seemed still wanted to be around her.

"You're going on a date?" Remus said as they sat in the common room the night before the Hogsmeade visit. Lupin looked on with a sour expression on his face.

"Yeah," she said, vaguely. She was reading one of the books she was researching from.

"With who?" Asked Lupin sharply.

"Eric McManus," she said.

"I don't like him," Lupin said at once and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Didn't think you would," she said.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean, what am I going to do? I am going to go to Hogsmeade and have a nice time with an interesting boy," Anna said airily.

"Interesting? That's rich! He wanted nothing to do with you until now, have you even spoken to him since you convinced him to tell the whole school he went out with my girlfriend, at the same time I did?"

"I can't believe you just said that, would you rather not known? And besides he doesn't seem to be the only one playing the avoidance game," snapped Anna angrily. She had lost her patience with Lupin now.

"And what in Merlin's name is that supposed to mean?"

"If you don't know by now then it is not worth me telling you."

"Whatever," Lupin huffed and went back to pretending to do his homework. Anna wanted him to take her aside and declare his love for her and tell her not to go because it would break his heart, but she knew that would never happen so she was going to go on this 'date' and enjoy herself. She wanted to be happy even if it was only for a little while.

Lupin lay in his bed later that night annoyed. He really didn't understand girls they confused him to no end. No not all girls just a certain one. One he was completely and hopelessly in love with, and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't know when he fell in love with her or why their relationship had been nothing but one big mess. But he new he couldn't live with out her. He needed help and Remus seemed to always have good advice for someone who never had a girlfriend.

"Remus?" Lupin whispered trying not to wake Sirius up. "Remus?"

"What?" came the groggy, slightly annoyed answer.

"I need help," Lupin said sitting up and pulling the hangings back from his bed.

"Finally realized that have you?" Remus asked sarcastically.

"Shut up," he said and got up and pulled Remus's hangings away and sat on the end of his bed. "You know what this is about, don't you?"

"I could take a guess and I would probably be right, but why don't you tell me so I have your version of it?"

"Alright so there's this girl—"

"Anna."

"Shut up and this guy who –"

"You."

"I am trying to tell this story, anyway this guy really likes this girl but he doesn't know what to make of her. She says she needs time to forgive him so he gives her time he waits patiently while all these other girls flirt with him, and he ignores them. He asks if they can still be friends and she says sure then it looks as though she is about to kiss him but she runs away. Now she's going on a date, and he thinks she still likes him but sometimes he's not to sure—"

"Lupin, shut up--,"

"You just told me too—"

"I know," Remus said rubbing his head as though he had a headache.

"Ok so what should the guy do?" Lupin asked. Remus looked at him and rolled his eyes sighing he answered.

"You tell her you love her and ask her why she won't forgive you and if she wants to go back out why can't you go out and make her trust you again. Life is too short for all this drama, you never know if you will die tomorrow." From where he was sitting Lupin could tell his best friend was crying. Lupin knew how much he missed his brother. Lupin knew because James was like a brother to him as well.