Author's note: reminder for this chapter is that unless I say otherwise all tarot cards pulled in this story are what my partner or I pulled in real life for the situation. The cards in this were exactly what our decks pulled for the questions.
-x-
Remus's aversion to touch lasted all through Wednesday, making it especially difficult after supper when the other Marauders and the girls wanted to play tag. The running around part wasn't so bad, but the thought of anyone having to tag him sent a curl of misery in Remus's stomach; he declined, insisting he needed to go to the library for research for a sound-related spell he was curious about. That kept the Marauders off his back, though Lily gave him a suspicious look.
As it turned out, it wasn't going to be a lie. As he wandered up and down the charms section he found Sonorous, Susurrus, and Similar Sound Spells; it was a rather slim tome dedicated to a variety of sound spells. He began reading through it, sliding absentmindedly to the ground as he did until someone nearly tripped over him, complaining about him sitting in the middle of the aisle.
"S-sorry!" he got out, shutting the book, blushing at the realization he had been sitting there. He scrambled to his feet, pressing back to let her by. The older Hufflepuff shot him an irritated look as she wandered off. Remus thought he heard 'Loopy' but couldn't really be sure.
Since checking the book out would point the finger at the Marauders, Remus tucked himself into a back corner of the library to carefully copy down all information about the spells he thought would work for what James wanted. Once that was done, he put the book back then went to find some books on Occlumency that might help James and Peter. When he turned down the aisle where they were, he nearly ran into someone. For a second he was worried it was the Hufflepuff girl again and she'd snap at him, but then he stiffened when he saw it was Snape. He stood there with one finger hooked onto the spine of a book on Legilimency and Occlumency, his black eyes a little wide as he stared right back at Remus.
"What are you doing here, Loopy?" he spat out, withdrawing his hand.
"L-l-ll-looking for a book," he replied, keeping his chin up. Snape was, like every single other student in Remus's year except for one girl, taller than Remus. He was about five inches taller, and Remus hated having to look up at his stupid face. Neither of them moved for what felt like a very long time. Remus could feel the hatred emanating from Snape. It sort've surprised him, with how intense it was, and he found himself saying, "Wh-why do-d-do-do you h-hate me?"
Snape looked rather shocked Remus asked that, and for a second he didn't know what to say. His mouth opened and closed a few times then he snapped his jaw shut, eyes narrowing and going all glittery with more hatred. Suddenly, he grabbed Remus by the collar and whirled him around, shoving him against the bookcase. The bookcase rattled and a few books fell off the shelf. One struck Remus's shoulder before thumping on the ground.
"You're nothing but an insane, diseased little bug who needs squashed," Snape hissed out. "You don't deserve to be at the school. And one day I'll make sure everyone here knows how much you don't belong."
Then he disappeared around the corner in the blink of an eye, and Remus stared after him, dimly aware of Mr. Farrow's appearance at the other end of the aisle. He heard the librarian asking him about the fallen book and Remus mumbled a lie about tripping, apologizing as he picked the book up. Farrow would normally rage at a student dropping a book on the floor, but he liked Remus; he knew Remus would never purposely damage a book. So instead he made sure Remus was all right, gently told him to be more careful, and then left.
Remus brushed himself off, grabbing a book on Occlumency without even really seeing it. What did I even do? he wondered as he went to the front to check the book out. He hadn't done anything to deserve this. None of the Marauders had! Not yet, at least. If they had pulled a prank on Snape or done something to him—unless it was the whole Royal Snakeness thing from the other day, which Remus knew several students were still calling Snape that. Maybe it's that, he thought as he left. He hoped that's all it was, and not Snape growing suspicious of anything. Don't belong. The same feelings Remus had for so long. Coincidence or suspicion? It was hard to tell since Snape was a stupid git who said stupid gitty things.
He was a little lost in thought but quickly shook that off, knowing he needed to be cautious. With Snape in such a vile mood there was every chance he was waiting to waylay Remus. Thankfully, he made it to the Gryffindor tower without trouble, and disappeared up into his dorm to do some studying.
-x-
Thursday also held a sort of new class for the students: Astronomy, during the day. The previous two years Astronomy was only held once a week up in the tower, however now they'd have an additional lesson in a classroom. This was in the afternoon, taking up the free period between Charms and Divination. Professor Spring obviously disliked teaching this way, often grumbling about how Astronomy is best learned through a telescope not under a quill.
So we aren't supposed to write our discoveries and findings down? Remus wrote out, using a spell to flick the note at James who gave a quiet snort before passing it to the other Marauders. When he got the note back, Sirius had doodled a caricature of Professor Spring trying to look at the stars through a quill while attempting to write with a telescope.
"Hey, Remus!" Lily rushed out of the classroom afterwards, catching up to Remus before he went to Divination. "Me and the others are meeting in the library after supper to sort out what to do about Study Group. Meeting times and all that."
"Ooh, er, I can't make it," he said rather anxiously.
Lily glanced over her shoulder towards the other Marauders. "Pranking?"
"No, no. I'm—well, James and Sirius have detention, actually—but I'm meeting with Jean-Marie," Remus explained.
"Detention already?" she sighed. "How did they manage that?"
"They got it on Sunday," Remus said, hoping she wouldn't press for details, but of course curiosity pushed her into asking how they got detention their first day back. "Er. They were trying to enchant the toilets in the dungeons to make retching sounds whenever a Slytherin used them."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course they were. Well, if you have time after meeting with—er—Jean-Marie, come by the usual table, all right?"
He wanted to tell her then and there he was considering quitting, but he only had ten minutes to get to the Divination classroom which was on the other side of the castle. "Um, if I c-can." He'd have to tell her later. "See you."
He took off, tripping a few times as he tried to make it to the North Tower in time. He reached the ladder with one minute to spare, and was the last one to climb up into the room. Hawkwood asked Remus to shut the trapdoor and he stared at the silver handle for a second before nudging the door shut with his foot. Hawkwood frowned at this and Remus slunk to the table with David, Magpie, and Nettle. At least they weren't doing any spreads this time around, though Hawkwood did talk at length about the different kinds, different things you could think about, different ways to get an answer. He talked a lot about a single card to help you, or even pulling a card for the situation and a second card for advice. Finally, he reminded everyone to get to know their deck. To ask questions. To use the cards.
I'll have to try some questions soon, Remus thought after class. He dreaded flipping cards for himself, terrified he'd get the moon for anything he asked. At least his deck didn't show a werewolf under the moon. Instead it was a flowing river with a shining full moon rising above it. But still.
"I hate there's a ladder!" Nettle complained as she and Magpie used simple sticking spells on their skirts to pin them between their legs, so they could climb down without flashing anyone waiting below.
Remus silently agreed, especially when he was descending down and Darius Wicket started climbing quickly down, stepping on Remus's fingers.
"Oh, sorry, Loopy, didn't see you there," Wicket laughed.
Remus hopped off the ladder, nursing his sore fingers, pretending the pain continued even after they healed.
"You're so mean, Wicket!" Magpie complained. "What is your problem?"
Wicket and Fox finished their descent and began snickering. "Ooh, Loopy, sending in the girlfriend to fight your battles?"
"I'm n-n-not his girlfriend!" Magpie squeaked, face going brilliantly pink.
"None of us did anything to you, why don't you move along," David suggested.
Fox made an annoyed face. "Now the Mudblood's giving us orders."
David's nostrils flared and his hand curled into a fist, like he might punch the Slytherin. In fact Remus thought there might be a fight, but there were more students coming down the ladder and the little landing was getting too crowded. Nettle seized Magpie and hauled her off, while Remus considered doing the same with David, though he didn't think they were close enough as friends for him to dare to do such a thing. Intense he stammered out a suggestion they go, and David turned, storming down the stairs, Remus following and both of them ignoring the Slytherins laughing at them as they went.
Before Remus could go down another flight of stairs, Magpie was suddenly in front of him. "How are your fingers?" she asked, her face barely three inches from his. They were the same height since she was on a lower stair, and that made him feel embarrassed.
"Oh, er, f-fine—"
Magpie reached out. "May I see them?"
Her fingers brushed against his hand and he jerked back, nearly falling backwards. "N-no, I—they—I—they'll b-b-be fine!"
He was worried Magpie might be annoyed he reacted so harshly but instead she got a small smile, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. "You should at least see Pomfrey, if you won't let me look at them. I can go with you."
"Er, n-no, I—I c-can—you—you should g-go to supper," he stammered out.
She shook her head. "This is more important. Your fingers could be broken!"
He didn't know how else to tell her no, so she wound up walking with him to the hospital wing. She chattered as they went, not seeming bothered by the fact he barely responded to anything she said. She seemed content enough to fill the silence. Remus kept his hand withdrawn into his sleeve, not sure if the fact his fingers looked fine would be suspicious or not. Surely there'd at least be bruising, right? He wasn't sure.
In the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey took him behind a curtain to 'examine' his fingers. For Magpie's sake, Pomfrey declared his fingers fine. Remus tried not to roll his eyes at having to perform this charade.
"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey," Magpie said when Remus exited the curtain. "Wicket stepped down so hard I wasn't sure if they were broken or not. I didn't think he ought to risk not coming to see you."
"That was a good thing, Miss Magpie," Pomfrey said. "Have a good evening."
Magpie stuck by his side on the way to the Great Hall and Remus was vaguely aware he should probably thank her for keeping him company. Sometimes it was hard for him to tell what would be the right thing to say, or the polite thing, or whether he should say something or not. So he awkwardly thanked her and she giggled, promising it wasn't that big of a deal. She said she'd have worried if she hadn't gone with him. Remus really didn't know what to say to that since they didn't really know each other that well, though he supposed if Magpie's hand had been stepped on he might have worried too. Maybe not to this extent though. Either way, he thanked her again, feeling relieved when he was able to disappear back among the Marauders.
"What happened?" Sirius asked as soon as Remus dove into the seat next to James. "Struthers said you went to the hospital wing?"
"Wicket stepped on my hand coming down the ladder," Remus grumbled, dropping his satchel to the floor between his feet. "Everyone saw it happen and honestly, I have no idea what the right sort of response is for that so I wound up going to the hospital wing. Would it be strange if nothing happened?" He flexed his fingers, looking at them.
"If nothing happened?" Pete asked, confused. "What do you mean?"
"If someone stepped on my fingers and they weren't injured," Remus explained. "Would that be odd?"
"Er, I'd say it depends on the situation, but I think it's possible," James said, adjusting his glasses. "Is that what happened or…?"
Remus began piling food on his plate. "No, they hurt for a moment. I just wasn't sure how to react, whether I should act if they were broken or not."
"I am very confused," Peter said.
"Me too," admitted James.
Remus frowned, thinking about what he said to figure out if he misspoke. "I wasn't sure if I would have to go to the hospital wing or not so I figured it would be safer if I did, in case."
"I think what Remy is trying to say is because he heals quickly he didn't know what sort of injury to fake," Sirius explained. "He didn't know how—er—non-healing fingers would be if someone stepped on them."
Remus gave him a grateful smile. "Yes, that."
"OH!" Peter smacked his forehead. "Oh Merlin, I'm so dumb!"
James snickered. "Yeah, sorry about that, I had no idea why you were asking us whether you should be injured or not. I thought well, you would know if you were!"
They discussed pranks for the rest of the meal then Remus left to go to the library a bit early, or so he thought. When he arrived at the doors he was surprised to see Jean-Marie already there. He was on a bench with a book open in his lap, curly head bent down as he read. He lifted his gaze at the steps and a smile broke across his face. Remus hesitated, hating that his brain automatically went, he looks so cute. He squashed those words down deep, trying to shove everything back under the box where they belonged. Just because he suspected the truth didn't mean he had to admit it or welcome it.
Actually if he could get rid of it entirely, that'd be great.
It hovered in the back of Remus's mind the entire time he worked with Jean-Marie, helping him slowly translate all his notes into both English and French, which Jean-Marie said did help a lot. His own English notes were already remarkably better than they had been Monday, and at least this time Remus had some Divination and Arithmancy under his belt even though the fourth years were focusing on more than just tarot cards.
"You are the great help," Jean-Marie said after about forty minutes of work.
"I'm sure th-th-that, er Lu-Lucienne is a big help t-too," Remus said as he stretched his arms out, rolling his shoulders to get the knotted muscles loose.
Jean-Marie made a pffft sound, waving his hand through the air. "Ehhh, peu," he said. Little. "She… ahhh… would like to spend the time…" He made a face, trying to think of the right word. "Séduire?"
"Sé…" Remus frowned. "Se… sedu-duce?
"Oui?" Jean-Marie then put on a falsetto voice, clearly imitating Lucienne. "Oh Jean-Marie you do look handsome today!"
"Flirt," Remus said, trying not to giggle at Jean-Marie's exaggerated eyelash fluttering.
"C'est très fatigant," he said as he got up. It's very tiring. "Will we meet Monday?"
"Er. Ah, y-yes, we—we can do that," Remus said, getting up as well even though he intended on staying in the library. "That w-will work for me."
After Jean-Marie left Remus sank back down into his seat, folding his arms on the table and dropping his head down against them. He could hear a lot of whispering around the library, including Study Group. He recognized their voices several aisles away, quietly discussing when they should meet up this year. Last year they had met up three times a week; this time around it sounded like most of the group wanted to cut down to twice a week.
Sighing, Remus got his books and papers out of his bag, then bit his lip when his fingers brushed against the box holding his tarot cards. Well, I'm supposed to be using it. He got his cards out, wincing as they slid out of his grip, scattering across the table. They were so slippery! He gathered them up, evening them out before shuffling them again and cutting the deck. He knew he was supposed to be focusing on a question, a specific thing he wanted an answer from, but he couldn't think of the words. Surely the deck would sense what he wanted out of it without him thinking the actual words, wouldn't it?
"Eight of cups, inverted," he said, gazing over the card. There were four cups on either side forming a short peak, and a line in the middle with a pyramid sort of thing at the top and a little sliver of a crescent moon in the middle of the line. Or at least that's how it looked normally. It was upside down for him. Remus thumbed through his book. "Right. Inverted, this can mean… great joy… happiness… feasting…" He frowned at that, shaking his head. That made no sense. "Alternatively…" He scanned down the descriptions, feeling like someone put an ice spell on him. Indecision, avoidance, fear of change; you can feel stuck or paralyzed, unable to make a decision. Then he wanted to scream when he saw: can also mean being in a state of complete denial.
"No." He shoved the card away, furious. "No." Obviously his deck didn't know him well enough yet. That was it. It was—it was random, that was all. To prove it he focused again on what he didn't want to name, cut the deck again and flipped a card.
Staring up at him was a major arcana card. A line going down the middle. A winged heart fluttering gently near the top with a yin and yang symbol inside, and what looked like a small sun sparkling in the middle of the line.
"Are you bloody kidding me?!" he hissed out, feeling blood draining from his face. He didn't even want to pick up the book to see what it meant but slowly, reluctantly, he flipped the pages feeling utterly numb.
The Lovers.
Attraction. Beauty. Love. Trails overcome. New romance. Relationships. Choices. Choices for a dilemma that needs resolved. Finding balance in yourself. Understanding yourself. Don't be afraid of the difficult path.
"No!" He shoved the card away too, resisting the urge to throw the entire deck as far from him as possible. Instead he slid the two cards back to put them in his deck, putting the cards angrily into the box. "Ridiculous, bloody damn ridiculous, absolutely senseless and means bloody nothing," he muttered to himself as he shoved the box into his bag along with everything else, not wanting to be in the library anymore. "Means nothing, bloody nothing, just random—completely random. Doesn't mean a damned bloody thing!"
With that he stormed out of the library, in a very foul mood for the rest of the evening. His friends noticed this and decided not to bother him. Sirius did check to make sure he was okay and after Remus promised he was 'bloody well fine, damn it', Sirius quickly retreated back down to the common room.
Forget Arithmancy. Divination was definitely the worst class.
-x-
In the morning he apologized to his friends for being in such a bad mood the night before, which they all accepted readily, reminding him he didn't need to be in a cheerful mood all the time.
"That's only for weird people like Peter," James joked and Peter swatted him with a pillow. "Blithe! Blithe, Blithe, Blithe!" he sang, ducking under the next pillow swing.
"You're a twat!" Peter complained.
"Yes, he is so evil for saying how nice and cheerful you are," laughed Sirius who promptly yelped from being smacked by the pillow too.
The four of them were laughing and joking about this as they headed down the stairs, and then they stopped when they saw a small crowd around the notice board. Sirius stood on tiptoes, peering over most of the heads of students to try and see what was going on.
"Looks like they posted the dates for the Hogsmeade visits," Sirius said.
"Why do people sound angry though?" Pete asked.
Sure enough, there were several grumbling remarks and annoyed voices. Remus couldn't quite tell what the problem was, not even when the Marauders reached the board to see the list. The first trip was in about five weeks, on the second Saturday of—
Oh, he thought, bitterness swelling up in his chest as he stared at the date. The thirteenth of October. Also the third night of the full moon stretch in October. He wouldn't be able to go. The first official Hogsmeade visit and he wasn't going to be able to go.
"This is NOT FAIR!" screeched a voice to his right. He glanced over, seeing Lily standing there with an expression of indignation. "Who—who did this? This isn't fair!"
It's not, he agreed silently. "Wh-what's wrong?" he asked, since even though it was a huge blow to him, the full moon wasn't exactly going to cause problems for anyone else.
"I think a lot of people were expecting it to be on the twenty-seventh," Alice said, pushing her glasses up.
"I certainly was!" Cassie growled.
"Me too," said Lily, and several other voices chimed in their agreement.
"What's the t-twenty-seventh?" Remus asked, feeling confused. Had he missed something? Judging by the way Lily stared at him, he was going to go with yes.
"The Hufflepuffskein concert in Hogsmeade!" she gasped out. "It's the twenty-seventh! We all thought there'd be a visit that day so we could go to the concert!"
Remus grew uncomfortable being around so many irritated people. Their anger was palpable, making him feel overwhelmed and trapped. He began making his way out of the crowd, staggering as he broke away from the semi-circle. His friends followed, the girls discussing what might be done about this. Cassie suggested loudly they sign a petition allowing for an extra visit, while Alice thought maybe they should just try talking to McGonagall. Lily agreed with that, and Cassie finally agreed; then they asked the boys if they wanted to come talk to McGonagall too. James, Sirius, and Peter all agreed to go too while Remus turned them down; he wasn't really all that interested in going to a concert. It'd be loud. And crowded. And sweaty.
The six of them disappeared after Defense Against the Dark Arts to ambush McGonagall while Remus went to the Great Hall for lunch. It was obvious from all the conversations that everyone was annoyed at the choice of Hogsmeade visitation dates.
"Well?" Remus asked when the Marauders and the girls trooped into the Great Hall ten minutes later, a look of defeat clearly etched on their faces.
"Professor McGonagall said there will be an announcement at supper tonight," Lily said, folding her arms and glaring at her empty plate. "She wouldn't listen to our arguments."
"I have the feeling we won't be allowed to go," said Peter.
"Probably not," moaned Cassie, "which is very unfair. They're going to be so close! This is just like last year, ugh! I'm probably never going to get another opportunity to see them again!"
"If you had been there," Lily said to Remus, "I bet she would have been more likely to listen to us. She likes you." Remus gulped, feeling a little guilty for not going with them. He was about to apologize when she added, "No, that's not really fair of me to say. I should say, we shouldn't have let them come." She motioned with her elbow to indicate James and Sirius.
"Oi!" James complained. "I didn't do anything—"
"You didn't, for once!" Lily interrupted. "Sirius was the one who ruined it!"
Sirius glanced up, frowning. "You can't blame me. I did my part."
"And your part was throwing yourself on her desk and flirting with her?" Lily demanded.
Remus choked on his food at that. Alice, sitting on one side of him, began smacking his back.
"Hey! I tried!" Sirius huffed out, tossing his hair back.
"You d-d-d-didn't!" Remus gasped out when he managed to get air back into his body.
"Oh, no, he did," Peter said.
"He shoved half the stuff off her desk and lay there with this look on his face," said James with a grin. "He looked like he was dying or something."
"It was supposed to be a languid and sexy look!" Sirius snapped.
"It was," Cassie promised. "Very."
"Thank you. I'm glad someone around here appreciates what I bring to the table—"
"Don't you mean what you bring to the desk?" Peter asked and Sirius lobbed a roll at him.
Remus rubbed his forehead, trying not to laugh. "You kn-knocked everything off her d-d-desk and put yourself th-there to flirt w-with her? Seriously?" He now regretted not going. Oh, how he wished to have seen that!
"Sirius-ly," Sirius said, winking, ignoring Remus kicking him under the table. "You know, she's a cat, isn't she? Shouldn't she appreciate it if I knocked over her things?"
"Oh my God," Remus moaned.
Alice gave a slight yelp. "There she is!"
He quickly looked up as Professor McGonagall came into the Great Hall. Her lips seemed to be pressed in a thinner line than normal, but other than that there was no indication that a thirteen-year-old boy had swooned on her desk to flirt with her a few moments ago.
"What d-d-di-did she s-say?" Remus asked after their teacher sat down. "To you, er, fl-flirting."
"She stared down at him with that look of hers," James said then imitated McGonagall's resolved face she gave whenever the Marauders did anything. "She asked him to 'kindly' remove himself from her desk and to pick up everything he pushed over. To which Sirius replied…" James trailed off, tilting his head towards Sirius.
Sirius beamed. "'Anything for you Professor!'" he breathed out in a rather seductive voice. "But all she did was take ten points off of Gryffindor. Hmph."
"Even if it was completely stupid, it was absolutely brilliant," Alice noted, smirking over his glass of water. "I'm very glad I got to witness it.
"I'm sorry I m-missed it," giggled Remus.
"I could reenact it for you," Sirius suggested then before Remus could do anything, Sirius was knocking plates and cups out of the way as he stretched out on the table in front of him, fluttering his eyelashes up at Remus. "Really, a witch of your beauty and intelligence could surely reach a hand out in aid of her despairing students!" He flung one arm across his forehead in a very melodramatic manner.
Remus laughed, pushing at him. "G-get off the t-table, you big oaf. You've r-ruined my lunch. Look."
Sirius lifted his arm, gravy dripping from his elbow. "Oops."
They had Herbology directly after lunch so Sirius didn't have time to change shirts, and lost them a few more points for the food smeared on his clothes. At least Professor Kettleburn didn't care when they went into Care of Magical Creatures, since everyone was covered in sweat and grime anyway from Herbology. Remus suspected Kettleburn wasn't the sort of teacher to care about the students' tidiness or untidiness anyway, regardless of what class they had before his. He was a fun teacher, very enthusiastic about the animals he talked about. Even Alice warmed up to him, even if she still didn't forgive him for using the dead ashwinders in the first lesson.
After a quick shower for Remus, and Study of Ancient Runes (which he thought was probably his second favorite class after Defense Against the Dark Arts; or rather, third, since Transfiguration was his favorite but that was mostly because of McGonagall… when it came to the actual subject, he preferred Defense), it was time for supper and Dumbledore's announcement. It was evident many students were put off by the Hogsmeade visit list. Remus had heard complaints in the corridors all day, and from his classmates in between lessons.
"Before we begin eating," Dumbledore said, standing up at the High Table, "I want to discuss with you something that seems to be on a lot of minds today regarding the choice of weekend for the October Hogsmeade visit." There were murmurs through the Great Hall which died down when Dumbledore lifted a hand. "I know many of you were eager to attend the Hufflepuffskein concert however it is being held at eight PM at night. As you all know, the Hogsmeade visits end at five PM. Even if we had chosen the twenty-seventh as the date to go into Hogsmeade, you would have been unable to go.
"Now. I do wish to pass on good news about the concert. Any student seventeen and up may attend the concert with permission from their Head of House." There were several excited whispers about this. "And any student in their third year and up may attend the concert if they have a guardian with them to go, and it will be treated like any other weekend away from school in that regard. If you have any more questions, please direct them to your Head of House, or the Head Boy or Head Girl. Thank you."
"Weekend away from school?" Peter asked as soon as the food appeared across the tables.
"Yes, you can leave the school for the weekend if you have permission from your guardian," Remus explained. "Usually if you're with your guardian."
"Yes!" James said excitedly. "Now that we're third years we can do that, and I'll get to go to a Quidditch game or two when the season starts up! OH!" His eyes lit up. "You guys can come WITH me, of course! The four of us, off to a game one Saturday! I'm sure my parents would be fine with it. We could make it an overnight trip one Friday night! Or Saturday night."
Peter's mouth hung open. "Th-that'd be amazing!"
"I think I could manage permission for that," Sirius said, sitting up straight. "Probably."
Remus slid down in his seat a bit, ducking his head. "I w-wouldn't be able to."
"Why not?" James asked. "I mean, I know you're not supposed to have friends but… maybe you could… I don't know, say it's for a museum trip or something. An educational trip."
"Maybe," Remus whispered, mostly to get him off his back. He didn't want to think about it, or deal with it at the moment. Although… perhaps it could work. He could say it was for his Study Group or something, or… well, maybe he could talk to McGonagall and see what she thought. Since they'd need her permission as well.
Remus tried not to feel excited about the thought of going on an overnight trip with the Marauders. It won't happen, he reminded himself, trying to squash his hopes. Yet, he couldn't help but hope despite himself. All right so a Quidditch game wasn't his idea of a fun outing but the idea of being with the Marauders outside of school, outside of Hogsmeade… that definitely was very exciting!