A/N: Sorry to leave you guys hanging! Thank you as always for your awesome reviews. Eventful(ish) chapter ahead :)

Chapter Twenty: Only Second Best

With just over week until the Christmas holidays, I was finally feeling a bit better about the state of my life and those of my friends. Remus and Emmeline were going to Hogsmeade together, Sirius and I hadn't fought, Lily and I hadn't discussed Archie's controlling nature and so far, I hadn't got a detention. McGonagall had even read out the better parts of my rewritten essay in Transfiguration as an example of a respectable effort, and I was feeling pretty good about myself.

I had just stopped in the loos after morning lessons before heading down to Lunch, when two chattering girls entered. Feeling a little stage shy, I waited inside the stall hoping they would leave quickly so I could do my business in peace. When I finally gave up and decided to go for it, I heard them talking. The two girls were discussing the Christmas holiday and it seemed like they were family friends because apparently they were spending it together. As I finished up, their conversation turned to lessons and I began to recognize one of the voices – the first girl was quite clearly Greta Catchlove.

"I swear to Merlin I'm going to ask McGonagall if I can switch seats – I can't handle much more of Hopkirk."

The second girl also sounded familiar, but I couldn't immediately place her voice.

"Why? What did she do?"

Greta sighed laboriously. "More of the same – her melodramatic speeches and cocky laughter. She's got everyone in this school playing up to her every demand and they can't even see it."

How rude. And misinformed. She clearly had never seen me around my friends. Just that morning, when I had suggested that Dorcas only pack the relevant books into her almost split-open school bag, she had snapped at me and said that she would take my advice when she wanted to fail out of Hogwarts. Lily hadn't slept well either and told me off for leaving a puddle of water on the bathroom floor. And Sirius had completely ignored me when I asked if I could have his last piece of bacon at breakfast. I had no one wrapped around my finger. If anything, I usually had a very rude finger gesture in return to most of my comments.

"Yeah, I guess she thinks because she's pretty and dating a Marauder, the rest of us ought to bow down to her," said the other familiar voice.

Wow. Tell me how you really feel, mysterious girl.

"I know! She's got everyone fooled – the Marauders especially. Sirius is one thing, she's obviously sleeping with him, but I thought Remus and James would see how fake she is," Greta continued with a loud sniff.

Merlin, someone get that girl a tissue.

"Aw, I don't know. They do seem to like her and Remus was friends with her before she even started going out with Sirius," Mysterious girl replied.

Well, at least she wasn't a total bitch.

"I bet she's leading him on too – she obviously tries to keep him on a leash. I bet she's keeping him as a backup incase Sirius decides to dump her for that Lizzy girl in your year."

Okay ignoring Greta's severely delusional theory about me leading Remus on…at least she'd given up some clues – Mysterious girl was in the same year as Lizzy, not a Sixth Year like me and Greta. Why did her voice sound so familiar? I must know her.

"Do you reckon Remus likes her though? She's been trying to push me into going out with him for weeks."

Emmeline! What? How? Urgh. I shouldn't even be surprised – she did have a reputation for talking behind girls' backs, but somehow I'd thought I was exempt from that because we got along.

"No, I doubt that. He's obviously smitten with you!" Greta replied with a little giggle.

"Honestly," Emmeline continued, hesitantly. "He's nice enough, but I'm not sure there's much attraction there. He's not really my type - he's nothing like Sirius – Merlin, I wish he was single."

Greta harrumphed her agreement. "Well, he and Kate have clearly been having problems – maybe you have an in."

Like hell or high water! Godric, my stupid boyfriend was too popular for his own good.

"I don't know, he dumped me last year – I thought it was because he didn't want a serious relationship, but now he's been with Kate for almost six months. I guess it must have been me," Emmeline sighed.

YES. It was her! Her and her manipulative, underhanded, ridiculous thoughts! Urgh, how could I have thought she was right for Remus? Lily had been right – she was all-wrong. Whatever friendship I thought I'd had with Emmeline was clearly a farce and so was her supposed interest in Remus. What could I do? How would I get him out of this mess?

"Don't put yourself down. Kate has everyone fooled – the Professors, the Marauders, everyone. But I can see what's going through her head – she thinks she's better than everyone. But you're much better than her."

"I don't want to steal her boyfriend though," Emmeline replied, finally saying something that sounded like she gave a damn about me. "I'm supposed to go to Hogsmeade with them and Remus – maybe he'll change my mind and I'll start fancying him properly. He is such a nice lad, and he does seem to like me."

"You're so lucky!" Greta said.

"Yeah, I don't want to lead him on though. We'll see how it goes."

"What are boys, if not to something to play with though?" Greta laughed and Emmeline chuckled uncomfortably.

I heard them throwing things into their bags and spritzing on perfume, and wondered if I ought to go out and confront them. Normally, I would – but I wasn't sure if I should really call Emmeline out for this. Sure, she hadn't been particularly kind about me, but at least she seemed like she didn't want to treat Remus badly. In the end, my pride got the best of me and I swung the stall door open.

The reaction was exactly how I'd imagined it. Emmeline's jaw dropped and Greta accidentally let the tap spray her with water. She muttered the drying spell to herself and tried to look casual, but both sets of their eyes widened anxiously in the mirror as I hummed to myself and headed to the sink next to Emmeline to wash my hands.

"Hi," I said, meeting their gaze in the mirror.

"Kate…" Emmeline looked horrified – embarrassed, regretful, scared – but I would deal with her later. For now I just wanted to watch as Greta sniffed and stuttered and bit her lip.

"So, Greta – I didn't know you were a Legilimens," I said conversationally as I dried my hands. "Reckon you can tell what I'm thinking, do you?"

"I don't have to be a mind-reader to know you're fake," she said stubbornly.

I smiled grimly. "Read my mind now, why don't you?"

She wet her lips and stared at me before she finally huffed and averted her eyes.

"I'm going. See you Emmeline."

And then there were two.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a comb, running it nonchalantly through my hair as Emmeline gaped at me.

"Kate, I'm really sorry," she said.

"Sorry you were bitching about me, or sorry I overheard?" I replied stiffly.

"Both! You know I don't think you're fake. Greta just…I've known her ages – her mum's my mother's best friend. Greta just goes on and on and sometimes, it's just– it was…just…"

"Easier to go along with it?" I provided, putting away my comb and turning to face her.

"Yeah, I guess," she mumbled.

I sighed. "Emmeline, I thought we were mates. What good does it do if you talk behind my back? If you have a problem with me – why wouldn't you just tell me?"

She shook her head furiously. "I don't have a problem with you! Not at all!"

"Did I push you into this with Remus?" I asked.

She looked close to tears now. "No! I don't know why I said that. I am so sorry."

I nodded and patted her shoulder, so she wouldn't fall apart. "Look, I get it – sometimes we can't help but get swept up with other people's opinions. It doesn't make you a bad person. I used to be the same way until I figured out that if people were happy to bitch with me – it probably meant that they were happy to bitch about me too. I don't care if you think I'm fake, but what I can't deal with is you hurting Remus."

I stared at her intensely and she cowered under my gaze.

"I'm not going to hurt him. I don't even know if he actually likes me - I just said that in front of Greta so she wouldn't start in on him! Remus and I are just seeing how it goes for now." She looked at me pleadingly and though part of me wanted to slap some bloody sense into her, I just nodded.

"Sure."

"You're going to tell him, aren't you? That I was talking behind your back and what I said about Sirius." Her lip quivered and I closed my eyes.

Why was everything so supremely annoying? How come everything I touched exploded in a fiery crash? My plans were useless – and now I'd dragged Remus into things, I was responsible for how people treated him. How could I tell him that the girl who he'd been so excited to take to Hogsmeade, might prefer Sirius? I obviously wouldn't tell him that she'd badmouthed me – that would make me sound petty. But how could I allow this to go on when Remus – wonderful Remus – was only second best in her eyes?

"I don't know," I said truthfully and she turned away to wipe her wet eyes. "But it's a problem if you're just going to go after Sirius and ignore how brilliant Remus is. That's just going to hurt everyone involved."

"I really didn't mean it," she said, with a little whine in her tone.

I didn't say anything in reply - just picked up my bag and exited the bathroom feeling miserable. So much for my better week.

I wrestled with my decision for the rest of the day. I didn't want Remus to be hurt, and I definitely didn't want to be the one to do it. I also thought that maybe Emmeline just needed a chance to ease into her relationship with him. She would see that there was no way to compare Sirius and Remus – they were both lovely in different ways and in the end it boiled down to who she wanted to be with. Maybe she wanted to be with Sirius right now, but something might change and she'd want to be with Remus. Feelings switched on and off and changed constantly. It had only taken a moment for me to decide I fancied Sirius last year. I'd just thought of him as Remus' surly friend until he'd made one particular joke – one I couldn't even remember – and suddenly all the feelings came rushing to me at once. I didn't buy into all of that 'meant to be' crap – love was more complicated than that. You had to work at being with someone you liked – you had to choose to be with them and be open to the possibility of falling in love with them.

Later that day, Sirius, Peter and I were sitting together in the Common Room during our Free while the others had Potions, with me flipping thoughtlessly through WME and the boys playing Snap. Eventually Peter got grumpy with losing and went off to the dormitory to clean up and Sirius threw an arm around me.

"What's up?" he asked with a yawn.

"Mmm."

"Fascinating," he muttered, stretching. "Spit it out – you look miserable."

I sighed and covered my face and he groaned.

"What did I do this time?"

"Not you," I mumbled through my hands. "Heard some girls bitching about me in the loos."

He chuckled. "Is that new?"

I glared at him through my fingers and he sighed.

"Sorry – that sucks."

"They said I was fake and no one – especially you and your friends – could see through me," I sighed, curling into a ball and turning in my place on the sofa to face him.

He peered at me closely and tucked some hair behind my ear. "Well, true – you are remarkably opaque," he said, poking my cheek.

I laughed and swatted his hand away from my face. "One of them was Emmeline."

His eyebrow raised and he let out a whoosh of breath. "Really?"

"Yeah, but I think she just sometimes gets caught in situations where she finds it easier to talk shit instead of actually saying what she thinks. That's not even that part that bothers me."

He shook his head. "Weird. I always thought she liked you."

I shrugged. "I'm more worried about her response to Remus. I think she might not like him as much as he likes her."

Sirius' mouth twisted a little. "Do you reckon Remus likes her that much?" he asked offhandedly.

"I'm not sure, but she said – in not so many words – that she'd prefer to be with you," I said with a moan and he chuckled uncomfortably.

"Yeah…not to sound bigheaded or anything, but I never did think she got over me."

"Sirius!" I scolded. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I've learned not to argue with you when you've got an idea stuck in your head. And you wanted to fix them up." He sighed and rubbed his face. "Remus is going to be pissed."

"So, I should tell him?"

He shook his head. "No. I will, I guess." He groaned again and slumped against the sofa looking annoyed. "Bloody hell, this always happens to him," he muttered quietly.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell him," I said, twirling my hair nervously. "I shouldn't have been eavesdropping anyway. I don't think she really knows how she feels – maybe we should let them work it out."

"No," Sirius said firmly. "He needs to know. He can make his own mind up."

Just then James barged into the Common Room looking thoroughly annoyed.

"Ugh," he said, flopping into the armchair next to us.

"Something wrong Prongs?" Sirius asked, lightly.

"It's bloody…it's her. It's so irritating. I – agh – I try to be nice and ffff!" He gritted his teeth and folded his arms.

"Don't take it personally, James. Lily's been in a bad mood all day since she slipped in a puddle in the bathroom this morning," I said. "I'm sure she didn't mean to be so mean."

Sirius laughed and James shook his head.

"Not Evans! Dorcas!"

I frowned. "Dorcas was mean to you?"

He huffed and leaned forward, looking over his shoulder before he spoke.

"She's trying to get me to ask her to Hogsmeade!"

Oh. Bollocks – I was hoping he'd just end up asking her as a friend. I didn't know he'd be annoyed about it. I certainly didn't think he'd tell me that he was annoyed by it. Poor Dorcas – maybe Sirius and I ought to invite her along to the group outing. If Remus was going to end things with Emmeline, we could all just go as mates.

Sirius was still laughing. "She's a persistent bird – hasn't she let up yet?"

James groaned. "No! She keeps hanging off my arm, boring me to death with textbook explanations of Quidditch plays. Why would she think I liked that?"

"Hey!" I said sharply. "Shut up. It's not that ridiculous – I once watched you read Quidditch Throughout the Ages cover to cover, twice in a row!"

James quirked an eyebrow. "Why do you always catch me doing weird things?"

"Because you're a weirdo!"

He rolled his eyes. "Look, Dorcas is usually cool – a mate. But she knows I fancy Evans – and she's nothing like her. Can you talk to her and tell her to back off, Kate? She's nice and all, but such a swot. Never has a laugh about anything."

"Oi!" I barked, kicking him. "Don't call Dorcas a swot!"

"What? You call her a swot twice a day!"

"Well! She's my swot!" I snapped. "And if you have a problem with her – talk to her yourself! I've had it with all of this behind-the-back bitching! Grow an effing backbone and tell her that you're not interested. Be a bloody Gryffindor, Potter!"

Sirius' arm shifted away from me as I shook with anger, and James looked shocked.

"I…"

"She overheard someone having a go at her in the loos earlier," Sirius explained. "Bit sensitive."

I scowled and sighed indignantly. "Talk to her, James."

He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair embarrassedly. "Fine."

"UGH!" I exploded, stomping up to the dormitories. I might as well lock myself in there – everything sucked. The Christmas holidays couldn't come soon enough. Bah Hogsmeade – who needed it? Who cared if no one had done Christmas shopping – it wasn't as if there weren't shops in our towns back home! Hogsmeade – 'a treat,' they said. 'It'll be fun,' they said.

The next day, nothing was noticeably different. If Sirius had told Remus, it didn't show – I noted that they were friendly as ever with Remus rolling his eyes when Sirius ruffled his hair on the way to Herbology. Dorcas still seemed smitten with James, so I assumed he hadn't had a chance to speak to her either. I was going to burst with the amount of secret conversations I was holding in. Once we got to Herbology, Dorcas leaned in towards Lily and I.

"So, James asked me to Hogsmeade."

What? I was going to murder that bloody broomhead – at the very least; I'd have to completely destroy his life. It would have to be something drastic – like breaking his broomstick or shaving off his mop of hair – or making him believe that Peter was Lily or something.

"That's great!" Lily said with practiced certainty, but her eyes darted to me.

"Well, it's a group thing," Dorcas explained and I exhaled slightly. "With Peter, and you and Sirius, Kate."

I just nodded because I was still silently plotting my revenge on James.

"Oh and I guess Emmeline and Remus? Do you think it's actually more of a group date or what?"

I didn't want to give anything away, so I nodded again. So I wouldn't have to participate in her speculation, I pretended to be tremendously interested in my honking daffodil. Truth be told, it was an easy distraction. They were actually my favourite plant – what was not to like? Pretty flower – check. Hilarious sound – check. Potential for annoying everyone – check.

My daffodil gave a loud honk and I burst into laughter making Lily join in and Dorcas roll her eyes.

"You are so mad," Dorcas said rolling her eyes. "Kate, did he say anything about me?"

"Umm," I said, fiddling with a petal. "I don't know."

I glared over at James who was now grabbing hold of two daffodil plants and honking them repeatedly with very inappropriate innuendo. The Marauders were in stitches and he was grinning. He better laugh – he would be dead by the end of the week.

"Kate?" Lily prodded and I shrugged.

"Yeah, group thing," I said.

"You are so bloody frustrating," Dorcas sighed. "Can you tell? Does he like me?"

"Does he?" Lily asked.

"Merlin, I don't know!" I snapped. "Why don't you ask James, Dor?"

She reddened and mumbled down at her textbook. "I don't want to embarrass myself."

One of Dorcas' many talents – along with being an excellent student and knowing just how to annoy me most – was her ability to look so miserable; it was impossible not to feel sorry for her. I watched as she fiddled with the pages and sighed heavily. At this rate I was going to get myself involved in everyone's relationships and given the current worrying climate of my Operation "Go out with Remus Lupin" idea – I really thought that wasn't the best idea.

"Why don't you go and ask him, Kate?" Lily suggested and I glared at her. She gave me a look and tilted her head to Dorcas, who was still looking at the table like it was the body of her dead owl. Lily nudged me again, more obstinately.

"Fine," I grumbled, getting up. "But after this, I want nothing to do with anyone's love lives. I'm a bloody jinx."

"It's not your fault Emmeline and Remus didn't work out!" Lily said. "He liked her – you can't help it if she didn't feel the same way."

I nodded and Dorcas gave me a small smile of thanks before I headed over to the Marauders' workbench.

"Hi," I said, and one of the daffodils honked loudly in response. Even the hilarity of the sound couldn't make me feel good about coming over there.

"What's honking Kate?" James said, winking and I folded my arms and glared at him. His expression shifted and he glanced at Sirius, who shrugged.

"And what have we done to offend you today?" James asked, leaning on the back legs of his stool.

"You said you'd talk to her, James," I said in a low voice.

"I did! I made it clear that we are just friends," he replied, indignantly.

I frowned. "How clear?"

He looked puzzled and again looked at Sirius, who yawned. Honestly, did anything interest my bloody boyfriend? Other than snogging or two wheel car things and Fifth Years with fringes, I mean.

"I don't know, do I?"

I sighed. "Fine."

And then I turned to Remus. He was reading something in his textbook while his fingers played idly with the leaves of the plant in front of him.

"How are you?"

"See that?" James said to Sirius and Peter. "I get yelled at, and Remus gets pleasantries!"

Sirius chuckled. "You weren't the one who was scorned, mate."

Remus lifted an eyebrow and turned to the others. "You think I was scorned?"

"Heartbroken, even," Sirius grinned and I felt a jolt of alarm. He didn't look heartbroken. Oh Merlin, he was probably dying inside and I was too thick to notice.

"Remus, I—"

He rolled his eyes and turned back to me. "He's joking, Kate. I'm fine. I didn't care about going to Hogsmeade anyway."

"What? Aren't you coming? I thought we were going in a group!" James said in alarm.

"Yes, so you can so conveniently lead my friend on," I shot back and he scowled.

"Shove it, Kate."

"Oh kiss my ars–"

"Calm down children," Remus said tiredly, massaging his temples. "We'll all go as mates. Just a bunch of really, bloody, friendly mates." He suddenly stabbed his textbook with his quill and I jumped back.

"Yeah mate, you seem completely fine," Sirius joked and Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius' expression wavered a little and he glanced at me worriedly. Ah good – another thing that interested him – his mates being annoyed with him.

"You said you weren't pissed," he muttered and Remus' look of annoyance faltered.

"I'm not," he murmured back. "Not at you."

"Me?" I asked in anguish.

Remus laughed and the other boys joined in. He patted my shoulder and clicked his tongue.

"Not you either."

"It's me, isn't it?" James said, and we all laughed this time.

"So, what happened?" I asked, leaning on the table. Sirius gave me a warning look, but I ignored him. Remus shook his head too.

"Tell you later."

I surveyed him for a long moment as he returned to tending his plant, when it honked, I sighed and stood up straight.

"I'm holding you to that." I gave Sirius a similar look of 'I'll talk to you later' and he nodded imperceptibly.

By that evening I had already delivered the bad news to Dorcas – that James didn't see the outing as a date, and she was sulking up in the dormitory. Lily was in the Library with Archie, and Sirius, James and Peter were hanging out in the Common Room. Remus was missing – and I assumed it was because he was depressed and hiding. Sirius, useless fool that he was, had barely given me any info. He'd just said that he'd told Remus exactly what I'd told him Emmeline had said, and he'd seemed disappointed and annoyed – but not really upset. And I didn't believe that for a moment.

"Don't push him Kate – I think his ego's just a bit bruised," he said when I brought up my concerns.

"Remus has no ego! This is just going to push him off the deep end of the proverbial self-deprecation pool. And it's all my fault," I groaned.

Peter rolled his eyes. "We all told you it was a bad idea – but you insisted."

"Where is he?"

"Probably sulking somewhere by himself. Leave him," Sirius shrugged.

James, however, pulled out an old piece of parchment from his pocket and tapped it with his wand, muttering a few words. I'd seen them use the manky parchment before, although they'd never let me look at it myself. They used it to see if the corridors were clear when they snuck out after hours and they were very secretive about the mysterious thing. It took a few minutes, but eventually James nodded.

"He's in that hidden alcove near the kitchens – you know the really roomy one? You've got to tap the wall twice with your wand."

I grinned. "Thanks James – you are officially out of my bad books for now."

"Thank Merlin – I was devastated," James said drily, tapping the parchment again and reaching for the pack of Snap cards.

As James promised, the wall shifted when I tapped it twice and there, in the dark, enclosed but fairly spacious alcove, sat Remus reading a novel under wandlight. It was a thoroughly depressing scene. I felt a jolt of regret for not getting a teacher on high alert – he was miserable. He looked up from his book in surprise and then sighed, shaking his head as he turned back to his novel.

"You know," he said casually. "When someone isolates themselves in a secret alcove – it usually means they want to be alone."

"I was worried," I said, joining him on the floor and nudging his shoulder with mine.

He sighed and muttered something under his breath but didn't say anything else, just continued to read in silence.

"Remus, you said you'd tell me what was wrong," I said gently.

He slammed the book shut and turned to me. His eyes looked uncharacteristically harsh.

"Kate, I don't want to lose my temper but I am so sick of this."

I frowned. "Of what?"

"You! Checking up on me!" he snapped.

My mouth fell open and I twisted the end of my skirt. I bit back an angry retort because I knew he was in a mood – but I was still annoyed. I was just trying to make sure he was all right – his mates seemed completely unconcerned.

"The lads know I don't want to talk it to death – why don't you?" he continued, still in that hard tone.

"Remus, I care about you. And I feel like this is all my fault," I mumbled, looking away feeling the prickle of tears in my eyes.

He didn't say anything for a long time before finally he let out another huff of frustration.

"I'm sorry."

I shrugged.

"No, I just…I'm not in the best mood. I shouldn't take it out on you," he sighed.

I turned back to him, feeling my eyes dry up and gave him a small, sympathetic smile.

He chuckled bitterly and leaned his head against the wall with a thump.

"What happened, Remus?"

He shrugged. "Sirius told me that Emmeline might still be hung up on him and that she'd been bitching about you."

"I think that she just gets easily influenced by other people's opinions – I don't know if she really meant it. I wasn't sure if I should tell you, but Sirius said he had to," I muttered.

He nodded.

"She's not a bad person."

"No, she's not. She's a really fun girl, but I can't go out with someone who slags off my mates," he sighed. He looked like he didn't even mean the words. Maybe he'd really liked her more than he'd shown.

"You didn't end it with her just because she talked behind my back, did you? I don't care about that," I said.

He chuckled again. "That wasn't the only problem."

"Yeah – the Sirius thing. I should've checked – I just assumed she didn't care about him anymore," I sighed, running my hands through my hair. Ugh – from now on, any girl I tried to set up with Remus would have to go through the 'do you fancy any of his mates?' test.

"It's not your fault. To be honest, I'm not surprised it worked out this way," he said, thumbing through his book and opening and closing it. "I'm not much compared to him."

"Oh no – don't you do that self deprecating thing!" I said, punching his shoulder lightly. "You are just as good as him, Remus! You're just different!"

He smiled. "I'm not being self deprecating. It's just fact based on regular occurrences."

"How do you mean?"

He stared at the opposite wall.

"The girls I like – they always like him more."

"Not all of them!" I said lightly, touching his arm.

"I don't mind really," he said, shaking his head. "He's one of my best friends and he's been through a lot with his family and everything – I think he deserves every happiness he gets."

"You deserve happiness too," I said and tried to pat his hand, but he pulled it away and it settled in his hair.

"Maybe."

"Of course you do! You know you do."

He shrugged and I sighed.

"The next girl will work out better – I think Gemma Bl–"

His eyes widened and he shook his head furiously. "No!"

"But Remus–"

"No," he repeated firmly. "I can't. I don't want to go out with anyone else. I'm done with this project. I am fine being alone."

"I know but–" I protested.

"Kate," he pleaded. "Please. I can't take it anymore."

His expression was so hurt and frantic and it absolutely broke my heart. I should never have chosen Emmeline – she was too different from him. Quite apart from the Sirius factor, he needed someone who would take care of him and make him realize he was special – he needed someone who understood him. But he didn't want me to interfere anymore and even though I wanted to fix my mistakes, I couldn't very well ignore a direct request. Not from him – not when he looked like this.

"Maybe in a while? After you've had time to mend."

"I mean it, Kate. I'm done pretending – I can't just try with anyone anymore." And then he mumbled something so quietly; if I hadn't been right beside him I wouldn't have known he'd said anything else.

"What?"

He still didn't look at me, but his expression had become determined and stubborn. He repeated himself in an only marginally louder tone.

"I can't go out with anyone else, not when the person I like will never like me."

My heart imploded. Genuinely – it was shattered and throbbing in my chest. The pain was sharp, but it felt even less horrible than the look on Remus' face. I had ruined everything by picking Emmeline. Now he couldn't be with the person he liked – all because I hadn't had the sense to check that she didn't like his mate first.

"So – promise me: we're done with your experiment," he said gruffly.

I hesitated because promises were important between Remus and I. Sirius hardly ever kept his promises and I was sometimes just as bad – but Remus was different. He never broke his word.

"We're done," I said.

For now.

A/N: Next chapter will be Hogsmeade and setting up events that will take place over the Holidays. I'm going to try my best to post it before I leave on Friday - so the break will be quite appropriate timing. Thank you so much for reading and following and favouriting. By the way - if you haven't seen, I have a one-shot up based on Bottle-Specs.