Just another Tuesday evening at the Gryffindor dining table.
The dresses were purchased. I had narrowly managed to escape the dresses Bridget and Kenna tried to force me in, which were sexy but bordering hooker-esque.
Don't get me wrong, the dress was still sexy. I couldn't escape that aspect.
As I was contemplating if the dress was too much for prudish old Marcia for the fifty-thousandth time(hey, almost every dress was), Adrian suddenly stood from the table, causing the people around us to stare.
"Um... something wrong, Adri?" Kenna asked, staring at him oddly from big hazel eyes.
He paused, as if contemplating her question, before shaking his head. "No, nothing's wrong. Just an idea. I need... I need to go out for a moment."
Another pause. Then he turned to me. "Marce, would you mind coming with me? Please?"
I blinked in confusion and caught Bridget's eye for a split second; she was suggestively raising her eyebrows at us. Ugh.
"Ah... alright," I relented, standing. He smiled and, without saying anything more, turned and walked briskly out of the Great Hall. I cast a helpess glance over my shoulder at my friends before hurrying to catch up with him.
"So, where exactly are we going?" I asked, my voice shaking as I jogged to keep his pace.
"Outside," he answered. I wondered if I heard a trace of sharpness or irritation in his voice, or if it was just my imagination. In any case, I was silent the rest of the journey to the doors.
Once there, I said, "Are you sure it's alright to be out this late?"
He turned and smirked at me. If he was irked before, it wasn't showing now. He could be so weird sometimes. "No idea."
He began walking, seeming to know exactly where he was going. I just followed; sometimes, when it came to Adrian, that was all you could do. Thankfully, he had slowed down a bit.
Adrian came to a sudden halt as the trees thinned, and I almost crashed into him. I realized we had stopped on a rock that overlooked the lake.
I looked at him from the corner of my eye; he was nodding slowly. "This is good," he mused, "this is good." He sat down heavily and crossed his legs out in front of him. When I hesitated, he looked up at me expectantly.
I didn't really have a choice, so I took a seat next to him. We didn't talk for a while.
Silences with Adrian were never awkward. When there was nothing to say, there was nothing to say. Sometimes just being in his prescence could be the most soothing thing in the world.
Other times, though, he could be so jumpy and on edge that he could snap into a rage in a split second. As his friends, we'd grown use to it.
That was Adrian. Black or white. Hot or cold. Friend or foe. Mostly he was the friend, though. The funny, charming friend.
The night grew older. There was no trace of sun left. Now the sky was a dark, velvety mass, jeweled with stars that glinted coldly like eyes peering down on us. The moon, round and glowing and beautiful, occupied the middle of the sky. Her twin gleamed up at her from the black surface of the loch.
I was shocked from my admiration of the night by a sound like a quill scribbling on parchment.
It turns out, my prediction was pretty accurate.
I turned my head and saw Adrian had somehow produced a notepad with thick, yellowed parchment and an inky black quill and was drawing something with swift strokes.
He seemed to sense my eyes and when he looked up at me and paused in his work, I quirked an eyebrow and asked, "Where'd you get that...?"
"I pulled it out of my arse," he responded with a smirk. I laughed and he admitted, "Silent Accio."
"Very nice," I commented. "May I see your drawing?" He handed me the note pad. "It's... me."
His sketch depicted me, just as I had been sitting a second ago. My arms hugged my legs to my chest, and my hair streamed down my back and pooled over my shoulders, with some stray curls falling across my face. The lines were etched sharp and jerky like someone had drawn it on a caffeine rush, but in a way that was purposeful like he knew exactly what he was doing.
"This is very good- it's brilliant," I said, handing it back to him. "Did you bring me out here just to do that?"
"No. Actually, yes," he told me. I asked, "Why me?"
"Becuase. Your facial features are the most... interesting. I wanted to draw you."
I felt my lip twitch at his description. I already knew I wasn't the prettiest girl around, so I guess he was pretty accurate. My nose was a bit long, but it didn't look too bad with my other features; deep set eyes, lips on the larger side, a long, heart shaped face. I wasn't beautiful, not ugly either. I'd never cared much what I looked like.
"No, that's not a bad thing. Good interesting," He amended, thinking I was offended.
"Thanks, I guess," I mumbled, smiling. His grin reflected mine.
"Mr. Edevane, Miss McFlint. What are you doing out this late?"
The snappy and irritated voice caused us both to jump, as if we were guilty.
I turned around and saw Remus walking through the trees towards us.
"R- Professor," I greeted, springing to my feet to face him. Adrian followed my lead.
Remus looked... different. He was still the same man, sure, but his face appeared paler, the bags under his tired eyes more defined than ever. An unexpected pang of fear shot through me seeing my friend like this.
My Professor, I reminded myself. He's my Professor as well.
"Well?" Remus pressed, his brow furrowing deeper.
I opened my mouth. Couldn't find words. Closed it.
"I'm sorry, Professor Lupin. It's my fault. I needed some fresh air, and I made Marcia come out here with me," Adrian said smoothly. They locked eyes and for a moment it wasn't a look between a teacher and student. It was like each was daring the other to look away first, and I'll admit, the intensity in those few seconds freaked me out a bit.
"Alright. Don't do it again. Five points from Gryffindor," Remus said. Adrian dipped his head, breaking eye contact and starting back to the castle.
When he was reasonably out of earshot I said in nothing more than a hushed breath, "Remus, why are you doing this? We weren't near the Forbidden Forest or anything. There's nothing out here to harm us."
His eyes glinted as he rumbled, "You might be surprised by how wrong you are, Miss McFlint."
The words and the use of my surname stung more than I expected. "Remus, what's wrong?"
For a split second, some of the tense lines of his face disappeared as his expression softened. He murmured, "You're ok, Marce. You and Mr. Edevane are alright. That's all that matters."
He cleared his throat and said, more sternly, "Off you go, then. To your dorm."
His briskness hurt. I stared up at him one second longer before I whipped around and walked stiffly back to the castle. He didn't follow me, and I didn't wonder why until much later.
Back in my dorm room, I was flooded with questions from my friends. I hadn't expected anything less.
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened. We talked. He drew me."
"He drew you? What, like, naked or something?"
"What? No! You're awful."
"Did you snog?"
"There was no snogging."
"Skin-to-skin contact?"
"No. Negative. Nada. Nothing happened," I said, climbing under my covers and ending the conversation with, "Good night."
Silence.
"...Skin-to-thin-layer-of-clothing-contact...?"
I raised my middle finger in the air. There was laughter then, finally, silence.
Adrian and I hadn't snogged, or even touched for that matter.
Then why did it seem so much more intimate?
I sighed and rolled over.
Boys are too confusing.
Men are too confusing, I added mentally, thinking of Remus.
That's the male gender for you.