Author's Notes: Thanks go to Peggy (Medieval Mystic: USER ID: 796384) for doing such a wonderful job beta'ing.
Chapter Three: Uncommonly Stupid.
Finally, and much to my relief, Professor Trimble announced that class was over and that we could all make our way to the Great Hall for dinner. Before we were dismissed, she assigned our homework; which was to write a fourteen inch essay on the benefits of non-verbal spells, to be handed in at the start of the next lesson.
Still giggling over my shrinking ears, and how much fun the class had been, Stephanie, Heather, Michelle and I made our way to the Great Hall.
"I like Professor Trimble," commented Michelle, as we took seats at the Ravenclaw table.
"Yeah, me too," I agreed, helping myself to a chicken leg. "She seems like a good teacher."
"Did you see Snape's face when you hit him with that cheering charm?" inquired Heather. "It was priceless."
"I don't know about priceless," I returned. "You did catch the way he was looking at me afterwards. I think what happened is going to have bad consequences."
"Rubbish," argued Stephanie. "You worry too much, Jenn. What's Snape really going to do about an accidentally miss-aimed curse, especially with so many teachers around."
"I don't know," I returned shaking my head sceptically. "But he's a Slytherin and was friends with Lucius Malfoy. And we all know what Malfoy is doing these days."
"Do you really think he's one of those 'Death Eaters'?" asked Michelle, a slightly horrified tone in her voice.
"What, Snape or Malfoy?" Heather cut in.
"All I know is that You-Know-Who is gaining supporters everyday, and that security is being tightened," informed Stephanie, whose parents worked for the Ministry of Magic.
"Can we stop talking about this please?" I asked with a small shudder. "It's giving me the heebie jeebies."
My friends nodded in agreement, and then Heather asked, "So, what are we doing tonight?"
"Well, I said I'd meet Remus Lupin in the library after dinner, so that we can work on our Arithmancy project," I informed her.
Michelle nodded her head, then added, "Yeah, I arranged to meet with Lily Evans. We can work on our assignment, too."
"Oh, can I join you?" inquired Stephanie. "If Lily and Remus are there, maybe the other Gryffindors will be, too."
"You are not coming to the library with us, just so you can watch Sirius Black," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Haven't you got some homework you can be doing or something?"
"Well, I suppose I can start on my Defense essay," Stephanie returned with a shrug, before asking, "How about you, Heather? Coming to the library with us?"
Heather nodded in agreement, as we all finished off our dinner and left the Great Hall. On our way up to the library, we ran into Lily, her friend Amy, Remus and the rest of the Marauders.
Stephanie almost squealed in delight when she saw Sirius and then she made a bee-line over to him, to ask how his summer had been.
"She's got it bad for him, huh?" Remus asked, with an amused smile and a raised eyebrow, as he came to walk beside me.
"Yup, and I have to constantly hear about it," I replied with a fake pout. "You don't know if Sirius is interested, do you? Maybe if Stephanie knew she stood a chance with him or not, it might shut her up."
"He hasn't really mentioned," shrugged Remus. "But I can always find out, especially if it means giving you a little peace."
"Thanks, I appreciate it," I returned with a small giggle. "So, any more thoughts on the project since class this morning?"
Remus launched into all the ideas he'd come up with during his free period, and we were so engrossed with our plans for the assignment that we walked right passed the library.
"Ops, silly me," I said, suddenly feeling uncommonly nervous, as we turned back around and entered the library just behind the others.
We all found a table together in the center of the room and then got to work. As Michelle, Remus, Lily and I worked on our respective Arithmancy projects, Heather and Stephanie pulled out their Defense text books and the other Marauders began working on their own homework.
After a little while of pouring over New Theory of Numerology, and making some notes on our parchment, Remus and I began browsing the library's shelves for other useful texts to assist us.
"Here, let me get that for you," Remus offered, reaching up to take hold of Numerology and the Divine Triangle, which was just out of my grasp.
"Thanks," replied with a smile, as I took the book from him and our hands brushed. Despite the fact that I'd known Remus for a few years, and we'd worked together on a couple of occasions in the past, a jolt ran through my body from the contact and the library suddenly seemed to grow very warm.
'Get a hold of yourself, Jenn,' I silently chastised myself, as I pushed my giddiness away and we returned to the table to continue working.
Thankfully, as soon as we'd sat back down, my moment of uncommon madness had ended, and Remus and I were able to continue making notes for our project.
As we scratched furiously with our quills, only stopping to take out a new ink pot or roll of parchment, the library slowly emptied. Michelle, Stephanie and Heather, having apparently finished all their homework for the evening, said they'd meet me back in the common room. Likewise, Lily and her friend Amy had also departed. Finally, along with Remus and I, only James, Sirius and Peter reminded.
Peter Pettigrew – the small, watery-eyed boy who made up the final member of the Marauders – was desperately begging James or Sirius to allow him to copy their History of Magic notes, as James and Sirius lazily tossed a golden snitch backwards and forwards.
"Come on guys," pleaded Peter. "If I don't get this essay finished soon, I'm not going to get to bed before midnight."
However, his request fell on deaf ears, as James and Sirius appeared to ignore their friend and continued throwing the small Quidditch ball about.
Not knowing if it was sympathy getting the better of me, or if for some unknown reason I wanted Peter and the others to leave, I turned to the Gryffindor and offered, "Give me your notes and I'll finish them off for you."
"Are you sure?" Peter questioned in awe, and when I nodded, he gleefully handed me his notes.
In less than five minutes, I'd completed them for Peter and handed the roll of parchment back to him.
"There you go," I said with a smile. "Now you can get to bed on time."
"Thanks, Jennifer," Peter returned happily, before adding, "Right, I'm going back to the common room now. Are you guys coming?"
Peter looked at James, Remus and Sirius for their approval, and then Sirius and James shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" returned Sirius lazily. "Are you coming Mooney?"
For a moment, I had absolutely no idea who Sirius was referring to, but then Remus looked up and answered him.
"Jenn and I still have a little bit of work to finish off," he informed, gesturing to the already enormous pile of notes in front of us. "So I'll be along a little later."
Sirius nodded, and then he, James and Peter left the library, chatting in an undertone about something-or-other, as guys often do.
Once they'd excited, Remus turned to me and said, "You know Jenn, you didn't have to finish Peter's notes for him."
"Well, I wanted to hurry him up and get them out of here," I replied, and then suddenly realizing the implications my sentence might have, I went on to explain, "Sirius and James were really putting me off throwing that snitch about. I don't know how you can concentrate with them around."
Remus laughed, and as the sound filled the now deadly silent library, I suddenly felt myself growing warm around the cheeks again.
'What has gotten into you, Jenn?' I cursed inwardly. 'You're just doing homework together, it's not like this is a date or something.'
I laughed out loud at the mere thought of Remus and I going on a date together. We'd been good friends since our third year, when we'd worked on a class project together. Since then, we usually sat with each other and a group of mutual friends whenever we were in the same lesson, and on a few occasions, had shared a couple of bottles of butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks.
"What's so funny?" Remus inquired, pulling me out of my daydream.
"Oh, nothing," I lied, feeling uncomfortable at having been caught out by him. "I was just remembering how Stephanie practically fawns over Sirius every time he's around."
"Yeah, he does seem to have that effect on girls," Remus agreed with a chuckle.
'He's not the only one,' I thought to myself, before I could catch the idea and stop it. This was just getting too strange for words, and I knew if we didn't leave the library soon, I'd say or do something uncommonly stupid.
"So, how much more do you think we need to do tonight?" I asked.
"Actually, I think we're all done here," Remus replied, even though we hadn't added any more to our notes since James, Sirius and Peter had left.
"Alright then. Well, I think I'm going to head back to the common room and make a start on my Defense essay before I got to bed," I informed, stifling a yawn.
"Yeah, it is getting pretty late," Remus pointed out, nodding his head to the clock on the library all, which now read half-past eleven.
"My goodness, where did the time go?" I questioned in disbelief of the hour.
"I know, doesn't time fly when you're having fun?" commented Remus with a raised eyebrow.
My stomach did a tiny flip-flop at the sound of his last remark, and I was once again forced to question what was going on in my head.
'Maybe I'm getting the flu or something,' I thought to myself. 'That would certainly explain why it feels so warm in here.'
"Do you want me to walk you back to your common room," Remus offered, as we both rose and began packing up our book bags.
"No, you're alright. I think I'll be fine on my own," I replied hesitantly, as I clipped shut my satchel. For some unexplained reason, I actually wanted Remus to walk me back to the common room, even though I'd strolled the castle's corridors at this hour plenty of times in the past.
"Are you sure?" pressed Remus, a slight flush creeping over his cheeks. "Because it would be no trouble, and I'd hate to think of you walking along all those dark passage ways alone, especially when then Slytherin prefects are patrolling tonight."
The sudden thought of Severus Snape lurking in some dark, unknown corner of the castle made me shudder, and that coupled with the sudden want to spend a few extra minutes with Remus made me agree.
Walking down the deserted hallways in near pitch-black darkness, Remus and I discussed what more we needed to do on our Arithmancy project – arranging to meet in the library the following evening - until we reached the stairway that led up to Ravenclaw tower.
"I think I'll be okay from here," I said, a slight smile curling my lips. "But thanks for walking me back."
"It was my pleasure," Remus replied softly, as he casually lent against the stone castle wall.
A few moments of slightly tense silence followed, while we were both absorbed in our own thoughts. Once again, I felt as though I was wearing three jumpers in the middle of July, as an unusual heat crept up my cheeks.
Finally, Remus broke the silence by saying, "Well, good night, Jenn. I guess I'll see you in Potions class tomorrow."
"Yeah, good night, Remus," I replied. "Sweet dreams."
"You, too," he wished in return, and then turned and strode off down the corridor, leaving me to stand by the staircase to Ravenclaw tower and contemplate when my feelings for a good friend had changed into something more.