Chapter Four:

Planning

"So, what are doing here?" Torie asked her three friends, "What's happening at this party?"

"Dancing, snacks, nothing special," Lila said, "Come at 9:30, leave at…"

"One," Torie said, "I asked Mum."

"What kind of music?" George asked, "That's about three and a half hours. I don't know that if together, the four of us don't have that much music."

"What if we got everyone to bring a CD or two? That has to be enough," Jaime said.

"What would work," Lila said, "Just make sure we call everyone. Torie, you're in charge of Lupin. Is he going to come?"

"I'm not sure. But, I know that he's definitely thinking about it. He's on the hook."

"Now there's just the line and sinker," Jaime said.

"What are we going to do for food?" George asked, "Pizza, ice cream, cake soda pop, what else?"

"That should be good," Jaime said, "We can always bring in things at the last minute."

"I can't wait for the prank on Lupin. It's going to be good," Lila said, grinning.

"What are you going to do?" Torie asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but you don't have to worry about it. Your job is making sure he comes. And, making this party is the best."

"But, make sure you tell me what you're going to do."

"Of course we will, Torie," George said, "It's your party."

Torie nodded.

"So, what are we up to today?" Torie asked Remus. It was their second 'date' and the heat from the last day of July was insufferable.

"Well, it's way too hot out here for me. I don't want to be looking like a cooked lobster, so I thought we could go to my place for the day."

"Er-well-"

"If your nervous about my parents, don't. They're not home today."

"Okay then, let's go."

"What do you want to do?" He asked her.

"I dunno, do you have any board games?"

"Er-yeah. Let me go get them." He ran to the linen closest and dug up all his muggle games, stashing the magical ones under a pile of sheets. "Here we go, Monopoly, Scrabble, Yatzee-"

"Ooh, I love Yatzee! Let's play that!"

"Okay, but you'll have to refresh my memory. I haven't played in ages."

"I give up! This is too hard!"

"All you have to do is roll the dice."

"Then make decisions! This is just like Chess! Way too complicated for me."

"So, you're not a Chess player."

"Nope, that's Sirius. He's undefeated."

Torie laughed. "I like Chess. It's all strategic and everything. Makes you think."

"So, what is your favorite class in school?"

"Nice subject change. Probably Science-Chemistry, to be specific."

"Ah, lovely choice."

"Your favorite class too?"

"Not at all. I'm hopeless. That's James' class. I think my favorite is Arith-Maths."

"Arith-Maths? What's that?"

"Well, Arithmancy. It's what we call Maths at Hogwarts."

"Weird."

"I know, that's what I've been saying all along. But, it all goes together correctly. That's what I like. Order."

She grinned at him. "I realized that in your room. But, enough about school."

"And enough with Yatzee."

"Then, what are we going to do?"

"I dunno."

Torie's eyes brightened. "Let's cook."

"Huh?"

"Let's cook. Back cookies or something."

"I don't know how to though."

"Well, you learn something everyday."

"But I already learnt how to play Yatzee. And, I learnt that I hate it."

"What are you going to do when you move out? Or will you just live with your parents forever?"

Remus bit his lip. He'd use magic, of course, to do all his cooking. And, they'd teach him that at Hogwarts. "Fine. We'll bake-something."

"Great."

"Now, get a cup and a half of flour and put it in the bowl," Torie read from the book.

One half, Remus poured, then another. And, his last half.

"Okay, now a tablespoon of water."

He took the water and dropped it into the water. To his surprise, it flew back up at him, into his face.

Torie took one look at his face and burst out laughing. "Oh my God! You're all white!"

Grinning, Remus scooped up some flour and dropped it all over her hair.

Immediately, she stopped laughing. "Oops," He said innocently.

"This means war."

"What is going on here!" Mrs. Lupin cried, walking in on the flour fight.

"Er-hi Mum," Remus said nervously, coming out of his hiding spot behind the table.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Well, you wee-er-we were baking. And it got a little messy."

Mrs. Lupin raised an eyebrow. "A little messy?"

"I'm really sorry, Mrs. Lupin," Torie said nervously, "It didn't mean to get this much out of hand."

Mrs. Lupin's eyes softened at the sight of the girl. "It'll be alright. Don't worry about it. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. The flour is supposed to stay in the bowl."

"Yes Mum."

"Now, go outside and stay out of trouble. If you can manage that, Remus."

"Of course Mum."

"I'll keep him in line, Mrs. Lupin," Torie said, smiling.

Once they were outside, Torie said, "Wow, your mum let off easily enough."

"She's not at al strict with me. Not since-" He stopped, his eyes widening.

"Not since what?"

Remus bit his lip. How could he lie his way out of this one. "Er-when I was seven, and my brother ten, he-er-he died of leukemia." He let out a breath, amazed at his ability to lie under pressure, once again. "She went through a pile of therapy, and there, she realized that life is too short. So now both she and my dad are pretty lenient."

"Oh Remus, I'm sorry. I never even knew you had a brother."

"It's not something you parade around though, is it?"

"I guess not."

"So, what do you want to do, now that we're both banished from the house?"

"Get cleaned off. This flour smells really gross."

Remus chuckled. "Then let's go."

"You do realize that our clothes are soaking wet now, don't you?"

"Just leave them in the sun with mine. They'll dry soon enough."

Remus picked up his shirt and shorts and laid them next to Torie's. Torie propped herself up against a tree and grinned. "You know Remus, this is the best summer I've ever had."

"Really?"

"Really. And you've made it like that. If you hadn't been here, I would have been going to the beach everyday, tanning with my friends, as they all hate actually swimming, and try to ignore all the guys. But, I've truly had fun these past few weeks. But now, what I'm really looking forward to is my party. Hey, by the way, can you come?"

"Er-" Remus stumbled. He had a problem. He wanted to go, but it was the day after full moon, and he would be 'indisposed'. "I'm not sure. You see, my grandma's sick, up in London, and on the verge of-erm-death. So, we are going there, though I'm not sure when. But I want to see her before I go back to school."

Torie looked at him sympathetically. "I'm so sorry to hear that, I really am. But, please try to come. I'm really looking forward to it-and you." She leaned in closer to him. He watched her lips apprehensively, but then leaned into them, slowly getting closer.

Their lips met, and they held them there for a second. Torie's lips parted, and her tongue slowly crept out. Remus allowed her in, and they began to kiss in the grass in the sun.

Pulling away for breath, Remus said, "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." She leaned her head against the tree and closed her eyes. "God, it's just beautiful out here." She yawned widely. "I think-I'll-nap-for now."

Remus smiled as he watched her petite form relax, with a small smile gracing her lips. He leaned against a different tree, and soon, unwillingly, fell into nothingness himself.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Remus slowly opened his eyes to the soft sound. He glanced at his watch, and became wide awake. '5:30! Oh Merlin! We've been out here for four hours!'

He walked over to Torie, who was still smiling. After admiring her for a minute, he gently shook her shoulder. "Torie, Torie, come on, wake up!"

"Don' wanna," She mumbled.

"Too bad, it's time to go home."

Her eyes flttered open, then widened. "Er-Remus, why are you only in boxers? Did we-er-"

Despite the seriousness that situation could have held, Remus chuckled. "Oh, no, we didn't sleep together. Well, we did, but not in that way. Our clothes were wet, remember? Come on, let's get ready to go. It's already half past five."

Walking home, Torie subtly and slowly slipped her hand into Remus'. He looked surprised for a minute, but then relaxed and smiled, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

A week later, three days before the party, Torie sat outside Lila's house, listening in though the window. "We can't tell Torie about this. She'll freak!"

Her friends had just finished making plans for the prank on Remus that she was going to call off. Her feelings for him had grown too much to ignore, and she didn't want to see her get hurt. She hadn't heard the plan, but from what she had heard, it didn't sound good.

"But why Lila?" Jaime asked, "We told her we would."

"I know, but we'll just make something up. There's something going on between them, much more than her just pretending to become friends with her. She's been disappearing for whole days, not telling anyone where she's going. Not even Jared knows. She just says she's 'out with a friend'."

"But, forget about her for a bit. This is going to be bloody brilliant. It'll get both of them. Her to stay away from him and come back to us, and for him to stay away from here," George said, "We'd better get at it though. We're supposed to getting ice cream with her right away."

"Just remember, don't tell Torie," Lila said.

Torie ran to the ice cream parlor as fast as she could.