Disclaimer: I only own Larkime.

Chapter Two : Charms Homework

"So, Remus, will you help me with my Charms homework?" Larkime Cantrell asked Remus Lupin. All four of the Marauders exchanged glances.

"Of course Lark." Remus replied, smiling warmly. Lark felt her heart skip a beat and smiled just as warmly back.

"I'll see you guys later." Remus said, getting up from the Gryffindor table and grabbing his Transfiguration book. Lark and Remus walked out of the Great Hall and, when Lark looked back, she saw the remaining three Marauders put their heads together. She figured they were talked about Remus and her. She rolled her eyes and continued to follow Remus, who stopped at the foot of the marble staircase.

"Can I just drop off my Transfiguration book? It's a bit of a bother to carry around...while I'm up there you can get your Charms book and then we can go to an empty classroom." Remus said politely. Lark nodded and together they made the long trek up to Gryffindor Tower, which was located on the seventh floor.

Remus entered his dormitory and grinned very broadly, doing a little dance. The girl of his dreams, Larkime Cantrell, was asking him for help for her Charms homework! They might even spend the whole day together! Maybe if things went okay, he'd ask Lark to go with him on the Hogsmeade trip. Suddenly, Remus remembered Lark waiting for him in the Common Room. He threw his book onto his bed and hurried down the stairs to meet her.

Lark hurried up the spiral staircase to the fifth year girls' dormitory. She threw herself onto her bed and punched the air. She was going to spend the whole day with Remus! She'd make sure of it too...even if she had to pretend to not get Charms at all, she would spend the whole day with him. Sighing happily, she got off her bed, grabbed her Charms book, and scurried down the stairs.

The Common Room was empty, so Lark just stood in front of the small fire, picking up bits of parchment off the floor and tossing them in. She heard someone coming down the boys' stairs and turned, There was Remus, smiling slightly.

"Ready?" He asked. Lark nodded and followed him out of the portrait hole. Remus began to lead her down the stairs. She followed and soon they arrived outside of an empty classroom. Remus held the door open for her and she smiled at him before going in.

The classroom was large and it had a clear space in the middle. It didn't look like it was ever used. Remus followed Lark in and shut the door behind him. Lark began flipping through pages of her Charms book until she finally got to the page she wanted. Remus looked at the book.

"Banishing Charms? I have a lot of trouble with those too. I might not be much help." Remus said, smiling sheepishly. Lark grinned.

"Well, at least we'll get better together." She said. Remus smiled and conjured up a box of chalk.

"We'll start small." He said, lining up the chalk into a neat row. "But first, shall we see if our Summoning Charms are up to scratch?" Lark shrugged.

"We've got all day." She said, and Remus' mouth opened in surprise.

"You're devoting a whole Saturday to this?" He asked incredulously. Lark shrugged.

"As long as you don't have something to do." She said quietly. Remus shook his head and pulled out his wand, his mind reeling. She wanted to spend the whole day with him. It was amazing. She was amazing. He cleared his throat and said, "Accio Chalk!" The chalk nearly made it to his hand. He kicked it.

"That's okay Remus, but let me try." Lark said, smiling. "Accio Chalk!" The chalk zoomed neatly into Lark's outstretched hand. She gave it to Remus.

"I'm good at Summoning Charms…I just don't get why I can't do Banishing Charms." She said, a note of frustration in her voice.

"Maybe you're the type of person that, once you have something, you don't want to let it go." Remus said quietly. Lark looked at him. She studied his profile for a moment before he looked at her. They just stood there for a moment, wands held loosely at their sides, staring into each others' eyes.

"You're right." Lark murmured, taking a dream like step forward.

"Does anyone ever let go of anything, especially people or love, willingly?" Remus whispered, also moving closer to Lark.

"I don't know." She said, almost silently. They were so close now, she could count the flecks of green in Remus' blue eyes. Their faces were only six inches apart…now five…now four…now three…now two…

It happened in a millisecond. One moment Lark was staring into Remus' eyes, the next, her dark eyes were closed and Remus' lips were pressed against her's. Every thought she had seemed so very far away…all she could think about was Remus. They both broke away and looked at each other, a stunned look in both their eyes.

"Banishing Charms!" Remus said, and Lark smiled nervously. They got their wands at the ready.

"Okay, now you want to do kind of a sweeping flick…" Remus said, putting his hand over her's and doing the motion. Lark looked down at their hands and so did Remus. They smiled shiftily.

"Okay. Try." Remus said. Lark swept her wand across the air and the chalk Remus held in his hand went soaring off.

"I did it!" Lark cried. Remus laughed.

"Try again." He said, picking up another piece of chalk. Lark Banished that too.

A few hours later, Lark and Remus had abandoned their Charms work and headed out onto the snow-covered grounds. Remus kept staring at Lark. It was snowing, and Lark's hair looked like she had tiny crystals in it. The snowflakes also clung to her eyelashes, giving her eyes a beautiful, dreamlike shimmer. Remus could not believe he was out here, walking beside the girl he'd loved since third year, and she was laughing at his jokes and talking very enthusiastically about every subject he brought up.

"You're a prefect aren't you?" Lark said quietly, when the silence had stretched to long. Remus nodded.

"It's not like it does me any good. The main rule-breakers are my friends, and I help them at it, so, really, it's entirely pointless for Dumbledore to have made me a prefect." Lark laughed.

"You know, I've smiled and laughed more with you today than I have in a long time." She said thoughtfully. Remus smiled faintly, trying not to appear to pleased, even though he thought that Lark might've figured out he was in love with her by now.

"So is that a good or a bad thing?" Remus asked. Lark turned to him ,smiling.

"It's a very good thing." She whispered, staring out over the grounds.