Ash and I sat together on a comfortable, yellow sofa in the Hufflepuff Common Room with fluffy blankets over our knees as we finished off our Transfiguration essay. Occasionally, one of us – which for the most part meant me – would end up staring off into the flickering fire and would need to be woken up from her thoughts but we both knew what was playing on our minds.

We were worried about Remus.

He really hadn't seemed to be his normal self for the past few days and always seemed riddled with worry. I felt horrible for him and I wanted nothing more than to make his pain go away. Sometimes I think that his fear comes from rejection. I think he doesn't believe we'll remain friends with him if he shows us an ounce of weakness. I hope that we'll be able to drill that out of him because truly: he's stuck with us and if I needed to learn the Permanent Sticking Charm to prove that to him – I'd do so in a heartbeat.

A nudging at my foot pulls me out of my thoughts and I see Ash staring at me a hint of playful annoyance in her eyes, "Lyra, this is the hundredth time! At this point I think Professor McGonagall will get a picture of a fire rather than the principles of Transfiguration!" She says tutting.

"Yeah, well I'm sure a picture of a fire would be far more interesting than reading her millionth 'How to actually do this' essay." I say picturing the professor just sighing at the children who seem to know nothing about the craft she's perfected for years.

"Just because magic is boring to you." She says smiling, although I know there's a hint of jealousy in her words as despite knowing about my less that warm-hearted family, she still longs to have had the magical upbringing that I got, however, I don't think it'd be as amazing for me because seeing her face light up like a child on Christmas every time she discovers something new about the Wizarding World will always be the highlight of my day, "I bet you knew all of this before you could even walk!"

"Oh, come on!" I say indignantly, "I was at least walking before I learned the Transfiguration Alphabet!" I add jokingly.

"Shut up." She laughs.

We fall back into silence with only the scratching of our quills, the crackle of the fire and the chatters of our housemates. It's peaceful. Nothing like the constant screeching and noise pollution I'm used to. London is so full of noise and sound; I much prefer calm, secluded areas like this; it feels far more homely.

I finally add the finishing touches to my essay before placing my quill down and flopping back into the squidgy sofa sighing. I try to stay quiet as I can still hear Ash working away beside me. I watch as her pale hand scribbles across the parchment only stopping every so often when she pauses with a slight hum wondering what to add next or to move a strand of her straw-coloured hair out from her face. I smile at her calmness and just settle back into my seat letting nothingness wash over me in waves of relaxation as my brain switches off.

Time becomes nothing as I just sit there, my brain a puddle of goop. I have no idea how long I've been sat like that before Ash pokes me in the side causing me to rocket up from the sofa, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" I shout suddenly crashing back to reality.

"Well, I couldn't let you stay so peaceful for that long." She says with a snicker.

I small smile creeps onto my face as I start plotting ways to get back at her for this, "Oh, no not that face!" She says in mock fear which is hinted with joy.

"You know me too well." I pout.
"You shouldn't be an open book, then." She says tossing a crumpled-up piece of parchment at my face.

"You should give people privacy." I mumble back. She shows no response to my comment but I can tell she heard me as the sides of her lips quiver as she desperately tries to hide a smile.

Suddenly a noise comes from above us, which is normal as our common room is underground. I give a questioning look around but the older students don't seem to care. It suddenly dawns on me, "The doors must've been opened." I whisper to Ash, "So it's probably…"

"Remus." She cuts me off finishing my sentence. I give her a slight glare for stealing my glory but I don't say anything.

"Let's go look." I say in a hushed voice motioning towards the window, which it only just above ground.

We both get to our feet and move towards the opening. By kneeling on the chair below we are able to look through the glass. Sure enough, our friend is walking across the grounds with Madam Pomfrey. We watch him go but he soon disappears out of our field of view as he heads off to visit his mother. There's a silent sympathy held between us as we sit on the chairs below us and relax before heading to our dorm.

~ 914 Words ~

I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to you all. Like I know it's sappy but it genuinely makes me so happy that people are using their time to read my work. And I know I'm slow to release and my chapters are sometimes a bit short and everything but you guys still use up your precious time to read it and I cannot express my gratitude more. It genuinely just makes my day! I love this story and I love what I have in store for you!

Sorry, again for the gross sappiness :D

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