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Chapter 5

Romance in the Kitchen

"This is all my fault."

"Would you stop saying that, Dorcas? She knew that she was afraid of heights. It's not like you forced her to get onto the broom."

"But I begged her to do it!"

"The important thing is that she's all right. It's a good thing that Remus managed to slow down her fall. She doesn't have any broken bones."

"Hey, I think she's waking up!"

The voices, which swam around chaotically in Jessica's head, soon became clearer as she slowly opened her eyes, and found herself looking up at a wide number of faces. Before she could speak, she was crushed instantly in a hug.

"I'm so, so sorry I made you do this!" Dorcas wailed.

Jessica reached around to pat her friend on the back. "I forgive you, but can you please let go? I can't breathe," she wheezed.

Dorcas loosened her grip. "Sorry."

"It's all right." Jessica sat up slightly. "How long have I been out?"

Remus leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. "Not too long, only about twenty minutes. How are you feeling?"

"Well, considering I fell a thousand feet through the air, I think I'm doing all right."

James laughed. "The hoops aren't even close to that. But since you're not exactly used to flying, I guess they would seem about that high."

"I don't think I'll be getting back on a broomstick for a while," Jessica muttered, slumping back against her fluffed pillow. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that I didn't make the team. So, who did Wallanby choose?"

Dorcas and Amos looked at each other, before Amos spoke up. "He er...decided on that Jackson bloke for Chaser, and Hale for Keeper."

Jessica felt an overwhelming sense of relief. For a brief moment, she feared that the Captain might have taken pity on her and put her on the team just because she was friends with Dorcas and Amos.

"Well, at least Snape and his posse weren't there to watch me make a fool of myself."

"Trust me, if they had laughed at you, we would have taken care of it," Sirius said dangerously.

"No you wouldn't have," Lily scolded. "That's something he would expect you to do, just to get you into trouble."

"Come off it, Evans. Snivellus is a git, who deserves every bit of trouble we give him."

"But you guys are always looking for reasons to pick on him! I mean, just yesterday you bewitched those erasers to chase him around and beat him over the head for a solid half hour!"

Sirius opened his mouth to argue, but Sophia chimed in. "Look, let's just leave it at 'Snape is a greasy-haired git' and be done with it." She patted Jessica's hand. "I'm glad to see you're all right. Come on, Sirius. Let's go finish that Goblin Rights essay."

She led Sirius away by the wrist, despite his protests. After they walked out of the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey approached. "That's enough. I allowed you all to stand over Miss Merton until she woke up. Now, I need you all to leave so that she can get some rest."

"I feel fine, Madame Pomfrey," Jessica said. "Can I please go?"

Madame Pomfrey assessed the young Hufflepuff for a moment before reaching into the pocket of her apron and pulling out a wrapped chocolate frog. "Be sure to eat this, and then you can leave."

James clapped Remus on the shoulder after Madame Pomfrey left. "We'll meet you in the common room a little later, mate." He left with Lily and Peter. Dorcas and Amos left afterwards as well, to go visit the library.

"Right," Jessica said, throwing the thin pale green blanket off her legs. "Let's get out of here."

Remus gently put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Not so fast. You sit there and eat that chocolate, young lady," he scolded teasingly.

Jessica grimaced. "Fine." She unwrapped the chocolate frog and stuffed the whole thing into her mouth. "Now, can we go?" she asked with her mouth full.

Remus helped her up and, holding onto her hand, walked with her out of the Hospital Wing. Jessica managed to swallow the frog. "What were you doing trying out for the Quidditch Team, by the way?"

"I honestly don't know what I was thinking. I thought that maybe, once I was up there, near the goalposts, it wouldn't be so bad. But then I saw the ground and everything sort of became blurry. Who stopped me from breaking my neck, by the way?"

"I did," Remus replied. "I just slowed down your fall."

Jessica bit down on her bottom lip shyly and smiled. "Thanks for catching me."

Remus leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "You know I'll always be there to catch you."

"Or just press the slow motion button," Jessica said teasingly.

He lightly tickled her side, causing her to giggle. "Okay, Miss Smarty Pants. Anyways, the rest of the Marauders and I are going to sneak into the kitchens tonight. Do you want to come with us?"

"The kitchens? Couldn't you get caught for doing something like that?"

Remus shrugged. "We haven't gotten caught, yet, and we've been doing it for a few years now."

"Oh, right, James has that Invisibility Cloak. I don't know..." she trailed off uncertainly.

"You don't have to go, but the House Elves make a mean cup of hot chocolate."

Jessica perked up. "Did you say Hot Chocolate?"

Remus crawled through the portrait hole that led into the Gryffindor common room. James was playing round with the Snitch that he almost always carried around, while Lily had her head resting in his lap and was reading The Great Goblin Battle Of Urzog.

"Hey, Moony," Sirius said from his place on the floor near the fireplace, where Sophia and he were working on their Goblin Rights essay. Remus sat down in one of the red and gold patterned chairs.

Remus said hello to Sirius, then turned to James. "You don't mind if Jessica comes with us to the kitchens tonight, do you?"

James caught the Snitch for a third time, then lowered it. "She actually agreed to come with us? What did you do, bribe her?"

Remus scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I might have promised her a steaming mug of hot chocolate if she came with us."

"Honestly, Remus, have you no shame?" Sophia asked impishly. "You know the poor girl can't resist the temptation of anything chocolate."

Sirius smirked. "See, Moony, this is why you should let us cover you in chocolate syrup. Then Jessica wouldn't be able to keep her hands...and tongue off of you."

Remus' face immediately grew warm. Images of Jessica's soft body pressed against him provocatively as she licked the sweet milk chocolate off of him swam through his mind. He shook his head and mentally scolded himself for having such thoughts. Just the thought of seeing Jessica without a stitch of clothing on made him nervous. To this day, he still hadn't even appeared shirtless in front of her, fearing the reaction she would have if she saw his scars.

Lily set her book down and sat up. "How are the five of you going to fit underneath the cloak? Isn't it hard enough with just four?"

James put the Snitch back into the pocket of his robes. "Lily has a point. It might be hard with five. Tell you what, Moony, why don't I let you borrow the cloak tonight, and Jessica and you can go. It'll give the two of you a chance to spend some time together."

"Well, along with about twenty or thirty house-elves," Sirius pointed out.

"They'll disappear if Remus and Jessica tell them to," Sophia said as she rolled up her parchment.

Remus thought for a few moments before smiling. "Sure, I think Jessica might prefer it if it was just the two of us."

That night, around midnight, Remus stood underneath the Invisibility Cloak, holding the Marauders Map as he slowly slowly stepped through the portrait hole. The Fat Lady snoozed behind him as he tapped the map with his wand and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Once the lines completely filled the map, he perused the locations of the teachers who were patrolling that night. Once he had found a safe route, he tapped it and said, "Mischief Managed," before beginning to make his way down the many staircases and towards the Hufflepuff basement, which was also near the kitchens. As he neared the barrels, they opened, and Jessica stepped out, looking around.

"Psst, Jessica," he whispered.

Jessica jumped slightly. "Damnit, Peeves," she muttered. "Go away."

Remus chuckled and lowered the hood of the cloak, revealing his head. "Really? You think I sound like Peeves?"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot about the Invisibility Cloak. Where are the others?"

"They decided not to come. It would have been hard with five of us under here. So, it's just you and me tonight." Remus enjoyed seeing Jessica's entire face light up as she got underneath the cloak with him. Once they were near the painting of the fruit, Remus reached out to tickle the pear and the two of them stepped inside once the painting swung open.

Remus pulled the cloak off and stuffed it into his robes. Immediately, they were greeted by a swarm of small house-elves in small

"Mr. Lupin, such an honor it is to see you again," one of the elves squeaked. "Your friends are not with you?"

Remus shook his head. "They chose not to come tonight, but this is Jessica Merton."

The house-elves bowed low in unison. "Would the Miss like a cup of hot chocolate?" a particularly fat female house-elf squeaked.

Jessica smiled. "That would be nice, thank you."

The two were led further into the kitchen where a fire had already been lit. "It smells so good in here," Jessica said as she inhaled deeply.

"That's pretty much why we come here almost every night." Remus led her to one of the long tables. Two house-elves appeared with two mugs of hot chocolate with marshmellows floating in the steaming liquid and a plate of cookies. Jessica took a small sip, practically moaning in pleasure at the heavenly taste.

"It's good, isn't it?" Remus asked with a smile as he bit into a cookie.

"It's absolutely divine! I thought my mum was the only one who could make hot chocolate this delicious."

Jessica was glad that she had agreed to this. She had no idea that house-elves could be so warm and inviting. Soon, she and Remus found themselves sitting on small round poufs near the fireplace. Jessica rested her head against Remus' shoulder and played with his long skinny fingers as they stared into the flames.

"This is actually really perfect, isn't it?" she asked, closing her eyes blissfully as he wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her with his warmth.

"Being able to do this kind of thing with you no matter where we are is more than perfect." Remus kissed her temple.

Jessica looked up into his pale green eyes and smiled as he lowered his lips onto hers. She shifted to make herself more comfortable. Remus cupped her cheek while their tongues danced together. His other hand remained at her side at first, but then slowly slipped underneath her jumper to caress her skin. Jessica sighed softly as she dug her fingers into his thick hair, pulling at it gently and causing him to breathe shakily as his hand began to move upwards. However, once he touched the soft lace of her bra, he stopped and pulled his hand out from under her shirt.

"I'm sorry," he said breathing rather heavily. "I really shouldn't be moving so fast."

Jessica blushed and nervously began playing with the ends of her curls. "I don't think you were moving too fast."

"You just don't understand what you do to me, Jessica," he groaned. A brief glance in between his legs told her exactly what he was talking about. "I find myself wanting you too much, sometimes."

Jessica bit her lip as her hair fell like a curtain across her shoulders. "I-I sort of understand how you feel," she said, reaching out to put her hand over his. "But...I think we'll know when the time is right for...that." She had never felt comfortable discussing sexuality, but because she did have a boyfriend, it was bound to come up sooner or later."

Remus smiled and lightly kissed her hand, before helping her stand. "We should probably get back."

Jessica nodded, and they left the kitchen with the cloak thrown over them. Remus walked her to her common room, kissing her good night, before he turned and began making the long trek back to Gryffindor Tower. Jessica stared after him longingly before knocking on the barrels in rhythm and gaining access. Once inside, she tiptoed towards the seventh year girls' dormitory and quickly changed. She moved Paris off of her pillow before crawling into bed and falling asleep as her head filled with dreams of Remus.