Chapter 4! Thanks so much to BooksMakeMagicForMe for reviewing, I'm glad you like it! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)

The next morning I slept in rather late. There was quidditch practice that morning, so I knew no one would bother me. When I finally woke up, I layer there for a few moments, thinking. Tonight I had detention with Lupin. Alone. Stop thinking about it, Ella. He's a bloody teacher for Merlin's sake. Argggh.

I finally got out of bed and spent longer than I should've picking out an outfit. I tried to tell myself that it was just because I was sick of being in my school uniform, not because I wanted to look nice for Lupin. Hmmm, I wonder which of these shirts he'd like better? I don't want to look like I'm trying to hard. Dammit, Ella! Stop thinking about him! I finally settled on a white, off the shoulder tee, light blue skinny jeans, and teal low-rise converse. After I had showered and dressed, I braided my curly hair off to one side. Immediately some random curls fell out and framed my face. I shrugged and made my way down to breakfast.

As I walked in, I purposefully avoided looking up at the staff table. I took my seat and piled eggs, bacon, and toast onto my plate. I grabbed the book I had brought along- "Pride and Prejudice," a classic-and began reading. I could feel a pair of eyes on me and it took all of my will not to look up. After all of my food was gone, I stayed a little longer to finish the chapter I was on. When I was done, I closed the book and stood up, taking a quick peek at the staff table. I noticed Lupin right away. He was in the middle of a conversation with Professor Dumbledore. I looked away before he caught me and walked out of the Great Hall and back up to the common room.

I spent the rest of the day goofing off with Fred and George. I mean, it's not like I was gonna do homework. That's saved for late Sunday night, come on now. I was lying on Fred's bed while the twins were lounging on George's bed.

"Hey guys," I smirked, "Remember that time you forgot to put a silencing charm on the common room when we were trying to have a party?"

They groaned. "I thought Fred was going to do it."

"And I thought George was going to do it."

I face palmed. I feel like I do that way too much in their presence. "And now we're stuck with detention on a Saturday night."

"Yeah well, at least you have yours with Lupin. George and I get bloody Filch!"

"That's what you get for being dumb-asses." I grinned as they glared at me. "What time is it anyway?" I asked, too lazy to look at the clock for myself.

George rolled his eyes and looked at the clock on the bedside table. "6:40."

I sat up, "I'd better get going. I have to be there at 7. What time do you guys have yours?"

"8:00." they answered in unison.

"Well good luck with Filch," I called as I made my way to the door, "Lord knows what he'll have you do." I faintly heard a sarcastic response as I walked down the stairs.

I arrived outside Lupin's office and for some reason my heart was beating weirdly. I was almost…nervous. I shook off the thought, straightened my shoulders, and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

I opened the door and stepped in. Lupin was sitting behind his desk with some papers and looked up with a smile when I walked in.

"Ah, Miss Cooper, right on time." He continued smiling in my direction. "All I really have for you to do is grade these first year essays, will that be alright?"

"Yeah, that'll be fine." I answered as I took the stack of papers he had gestured to and sat down at a desk near the front.

We worked in silence for a little while, with only my quiet chuckles every once in a while when a first year made a particularly stupid mistake.

I was absent-mindedly playing with my braid when Lupin spoke up, "So, you like to read then?"

I wasn't expecting him to speak, so it startled me a little and my head snapped. "Sorry?"

He gave me an amused smile, one I noticed he gave me a lot, and said, "I noticed you reading this morning at breakfast."

"Oh, yeah. I love to read." I smiled.

He returned it and said, "So do I. What were you reading?"

"Pride and Prejudice. It's a muggle book, but it's one of my favorites."

"Hmm, I've heard of it, but never read it. It's quite good then?"

"It's brilliant. You should read it, I think you'll really like it."

He smiled, "Alright then."

I smiled back and looked back down at the paper I was grading. I looked back up at him and said, "You know, you're pretty cool for a teacher. Much better than our last one, anyway."

He chuckled and said, "Ahh yes, I've heard some horror stories about Lockhart."

"You don't know the half of it. The second day of class, I stayed after to try to ask him a question about the reading and he thought I wanted him to autograph my book. He grabbed it, signed it directly over the passage I was asking about, and handed it back before returning to whatever it was he was doing." I said, sounding unamused while Lupin was trying to stifle a laugh. "So yeah. Much better than him." I concluded with a smirk.

"Well that's good, then. Thank you." He smiled.

I looked back down at the essays and noticed I was all finished. I stood up and brought them to his desk. "All done." I handed them to him and our hands touched briefly.

"That's all the work I had for you to do. You can go now."

"Okay." I walked to the door and glanced back at him to see him watching me. "Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Miss Cooper."

"You can call me Ella, you know. Miss Cooper makes me feel far more mature than I am." I grinned as he laughed.

"Okay, Ella." he replied, saying my name as if trying it out on his tongue for the first time.

I smiled softly and walked out the door, shutting it securely behind me. I began my trek back to the common room, thinking about tonight's events. When I was about halfway there, I stopped dead in my tracks. Ah crap. I'm developing a crush on my professor.