Musical mood: Crown - Seulgi
Staying away from Lux was easier said than done for Remus, when his best friend was insistent on dragging her along to absolutely everything they did. He almost felt pity for the girl, the way Sirius pined over her like a lost puppy. To Lux's credit, she didn't put up much of a fight when Sirius would force her to join them at meals and sit with them during classes, though he could tell she was simply trying not to be rude.
So, when Sirius came trudging out into the courtyard, where the group of students were convening to go to Hogsmeade, with Lux at his side, Remus wasn't surprised. Disappointed, sure, but not surprised at all. He'd been hoping to have some quality time with just his mates, but no, the blonde girl just had to ruin it.
"Lux." James greeted her with a nod.
She responded with a half smile, though Remus noticed her lips were trembling, and when Sirius went to grab her hand, she dodged it with ease.
Good, a weird, selfish part of him thought, though he couldn't pinpoint where the satisfaction came from. He should want Sirius to be happy, and he did want him to be happy. Just not with Lux.
"It took a hell of a lot of convincing to get Luxie to come." Sirius nudged her arm with his elbow, not at all phased by her avoiding holding his hand as though her life depended on it. "But she folded, as they always do."
"Sirius Black, winning over the ladies since 1959." Peter mused with a smirk.
"Shut up. He has done no such thing." Lux hissed, and Peter flinched at the harsh tone. Remus resisted the urge to attack, despite every nerve in his body telling him to pounce on her. Instead, he took a deep breath, and listened as she continued, "I only came with you boys because I have nothing better to do. I've finished all my homework, and Fu—my father has papers to grade."
"Ouch." Sirius held a dramatic hand to his heart. "You wound me, Luxie."
She muttered something under her breath, too quiet for Remus to hear.
"Come on, we don't want to be late to the Three Broomsticks. They might run out of spots to sit." Peter urged, and with a sigh, Remus watched as Lux followed after him, Sirius trailing after her, and James at his best mate's side. He hesitated, watching for a moment, before going after them, though the entire journey to Hogsmeade, he kept his eyes locked firmly on Lux, as every inch of his brain screamed at him to attack.
Danger, his brain screamed at him. Danger. She was a danger — not to him, necessarily, but perhaps to his friends. His Marauders. Lux was already tearing them apart at the seams, with Sirius lusting after her instead of spending his free time with the boys like usual. Was that her intention? Did she mean to split them up, then hurt them, one by one?
No, Remus swiftly scolded himself. That was ridiculous. He was being ridiculous. Lux was just…just…
He shook his head, in an attempt to chase any thoughts of the pale girl out of his mind. However, this proved to be futile, and he spent the entire walk ruminating on her.
Just as they were approaching the Three Broomsticks, did Remus fully exit his thoughts, as Lux let out a strange sort of squeal.
His eyes grew wide, his head jerking towards her, where she was crouched on the ground, a woman hovering over her. Shit, had she gotten hurt somehow? Instinctively, he rushed over to her, though he wasn't quite sure why. Though as she grew closer into view, he realized she wasn't hurt at all — instead, she was booping the nose of a small child in front of her, whose hand was still entwined with his mother's.
"What's your name?" Lux asked him, her blue eyes wide and a smile on her lips. Not her typical half smirk, no, it was nothing of the sorts. Instead, she wore a genuine, bright smile, and Remus's stomach lurched. With a smile like that, Lux looked like the sun had been poured into a jar, and she'd consumed it all in one mighty gulp.
"Allen." The boy responded, showing off a bright smile with tiny teeth, not yet old enough to have lost any.
Remus watched in awe as the little boy showed no fear in front of her, no primal urge to run away like children would often feel around something that could harm them. Children were all instinct, and this boy wasn't afraid, not in the slightest. Perhaps Remus had been wrong this whole time, perhaps Lux posed no threat at all.
And with a smile like that…well, he wondered why she didn't smile more often. It was bright enough to light up a room, no, an entire castle. Maybe she didn't have much to smile about, he thought, oddly solemn at the idea.
"Well, Allen, I quite like your jumper." She then poked him in the stomach, right where a small horse was located, knitted into the fabric of his shirt.
"My mummy made me it for me." Allen said proudly, and even Remus's heart melted a little at this. "I like your ring." He pointed at the ring she wore on her middle finger, the one Remus had never seen her without. "It's pretty."
"Thank you." Lux's grin expanded even more. Remus watched as she ruffled the boy's blonde hair, and rose back onto her feet. "I'll let you and your mummy go back to shopping. It was lovely to meet you, Allen."
The mother and Allen walked away, the latter glancing back at Lux as they walked away, eyes wide as he stared at her, as though he was seeing something magical — well, more magical than the rest of them, anyways.
"Do you like kids?" Peter asked, tilting his head.
Remus expected her gaze to darken, and to snap with something along the lines of "obviously", but she didn't. Lux still wore a remnant of that sunny smile, as she nodded. "Love them."
"You'd be a good mother, I reckon. If you want kids, that is." James commented. "Do you? Want kids, I mean."
This time, Lux's smile faded, and her posture stiffened, like she had let her guard down for a brief moment, and was swiftly picking the pieces back up before anyone would notice her momentary weakness. But Remus did.
"Let's go inside. I'm getting cold." She said, directing her attention towards the Three Broomsticks.
"It's bloody hot out, what do you mean?" Peter frowned, but she didn't answer him as she stepped inside the pub, not bothering to hold the door open for the rest of them.
The five of them sat down around a circular table, Sirius sandwiched between Lux and Remus. When Lux rested her hand on the table, absentmindedly playing with her ring with her thumb, spinning it around, Sirius placed his own hand next to hers. He didn't touch her this time, it was as though he was waiting for an invitation to do so.
As if she could somehow sense his eyes on her, Lux looked up, staring at Remus with raised eyebrows and a silent question written into her expression.
Remus swiftly looked away, turning to the waitress and ordering a butterbeer.
"I'll get a firewhiskey." Sirius said with his charming Sirius grin. "What about you, Luxie?"
"A firewhiskey as well, thank you." She gave the waitress a polite nod, as she scribbled their orders down.
"Brilliant. They'll be out in a moment." The waitress said, before walking off.
"So, Luxie, how are you liking Hogwarts so far?" Sirius broke the short silence that fell between them, leaning on the table and propping his chin up with his elbows.
"It's fine."
"Are you making any friends? Besides us, of course."
She didn't say anything. It was as though she answered him, but without speaking, simply giving Sirius a funny look that had his mouth clamped shut in an instant.
"Are you liking your classes?" Peter asked. "If you need any help with coursework and the likes, Remus is brilliant at all things academic."
"Wow, way to throw Moony under the bus." James laughed, as Remus's posture stiffened.
Though before anyone could say anything else on the subject, Lux suddenly rose from her seat, and stepped through the pub. At first, Remus couldn't tell where she was going, until he followed her gaze, which was fixed directly on a red haired boy, who's back was turned to her.
"Luxie—" Sirius began, rising from his stool as well and walking towards her. Remus sighed, and did the same, going after Sirius, who was going after Lux, who was going after…who?
"Elias?" Lux breathed, quiet enough that Remus initially thought he'd imagined it, until she repeated the name, louder this time. "Elias?"
"Who's Elias?" Sirius frowned, turning to Remus and asking.
"How would I know?" He responded in a low voice, eyes fixed on the girl.
She reached over with her left hand, tapping the redhead on the shoulder, causing him to spin around. "Elias, is that you?" She asked him, eyes wide as she eyed him up and down. Though when their faces met, her expression disintegrated, and her cheeks went red. "Oh…I'm sorry. I thought…I thought you were someone else."
"No matter." The redhead man gave her a wary smile. "Cheers."
"Yeah, cheers…" She nodded slowly, turning around to find Remus and Sirius both staring at her expectantly.
"What are you looking at?" She snapped, more at Remus than Sirius, and he frowned.
"Who's Elias?" He asked as Lux pushed passed the boys, and back to the table, where James and Peter were engaging in a conversation, paying no mind to what was going on between Lux and Not Elias.
"None of your business, that's who." She said as she reached the table, grabbing the firewhiskey that had just arrived, and taking a swig out of the bottle. "Good Merlin, that burns."
"It's called firewhiskey for a reason." Remus said, rolling his eyes.
She sent a fierce glare his way, but it didn't last long, as she swiftly returned her attention to the bottle she was nursing, and took another long, drawn out sip.
Sirius grinned as he stepped towards her, snagging his own bottle and drinking out of it as well.
"You two might want to slow down." Peter suggested with a grimace. "We don't want you getting too drunk to walk, do we?"
"Shove off." Lux murmured, more to herself than to the boy, as she sat back down on the stool. "I need to get shitfaced."
Remus snorted, unable to hold back his amusement. Lux was usually so eloquent, so sophisticated, hearing her say a word like shitfaced was enough to make anyone laugh.
"Why?" James questioned, eyeing her with concern. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's wonderful." She responded, her voice thick with sarcasm. "Just bloody wonderful."
"Is this about that bloke?" Sirius asked. "Elias-Not-Elias?"
"Who the hell is Elias?" James demanded.
"What kind of name is Elias?" Peter giggled.
Only Remus remained quiet.
"Shut up, all of you." Lux snapped, chugging more of her firewhiskey. For someone who didn't eat much, she sure could drink. Remus wondered how high her tolerance would be, considering her likely empty stomach, and the likelihood that she'd never drank before, or at least not much. He figured that Professor Ingelger would've been strict when homeschooling her. He didn't seem the type to let his children drink, anyways.
Sirius did as he was told, for perhaps the first time in his entire life, but instead slid his hand into Lux's free one, gripping her tight. His eyes shone with concern as he watched her drink and drink, eventually demolishing her own bottle and reaching for Sirius's still mostly full one.
"Luxie, maybe you should slow down." He said, breaking the silence that had fallen between the group as she sipped on his.
"Maybe you should leave me the fuck alone." She responded, voice slurred.
Remus sighed, running a hand through his hair. The last thing he wanted was to deal with a drunk girl, though he couldn't help but be intrigued at the same time by the state of her. She'd smiled in his presence for the first time since he'd met her, and then in the same span of time, decided to drink her problems away. It had to be something to do with this Elias bloke, he figured. But what could it have been? An ex boyfriend, maybe?
"You're pretty when you're mad." Sirius grinned at her. "You should snap at me more often."
"Gladly." She responded, and to Remus's shock, her lips had curled up in a small grin. Nothing like she'd worn around the child, but still prominent enough that he noticed. Was she…were they…flirting?
Remus felt a strange jolt in his stomach, a pang of something he couldn't quite place. Sure, Sirius was always flirting with Lux, but she'd never been a willing participant. But maybe drunk, she'd come around to his charms. But…if things got out of hand, she'd wake up sober the next day, regretting everything that had happened.
Something in him told him he needed to remove Lux from the Three Broomsticks immediately. Sirius would never intentionally take advantage of a situation like this, but the boy was getting drunk as well, and Remus figured he wouldn't be able to resist Lux if she came onto him.
Why he gave a damn, he couldn't figure out. But he knew he didn't want Lux and Sirius together, and it was about more than just saving his best friend from the strange girl.
Lux finished off Sirius's drink, and reached over for Peter's butterbeer, but he moved it away from her before she could take hold of it. "Oi, hands off. Get your own."
"Fine." She rose from her seat, stumbling over her feet as she went to move to the counter and likely order something stronger than a mere butterbeer. But before she could, Remus stepped in front of her, pure instinct corrupting him as he grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "Lux. We're going back to the castle."
"Why?" She moaned, trying to wiggle herself out of his grip. Though Remus was stronger than her, it wasn't by much, as he found himself struggling to keep her still. His werewolf strength should've made it easy to overpower such a small girl, but somehow, her strength nearly matches his.
"You're drunk."
"So what?"
"So, I don't want you to get hurt."
At this, her brow furrowed together, and she took a tentative step towards him. When she opened her mouth, the scent of firwhiskey wafted off of her, but he could hardly focus on that, instead his attention remained on how close she was to him, and how fast his heart was racing. He wanted to attack her, he wanted to sink his claws and his teeth into her skin, he wanted to…wanted to…
He wanted to kiss her, too, he realized when her mouth made its way towards his.
But Lux did not put her lips against his. Instead, only inches from him, she whispered, "Then why do I get the feeling that you wish to hurt me?"
His eyes bulged. "I…I would never…"
"Don't lie." She spat, and Remus obeyed, tilting his head to the side.
"How about you tell me something, Lux. How about you tell me why I feel the need to attack you every time I see you. Why when you come into a room, all I can feel is a primal fear."
"Maybe you're weak." She suggested. "Maybe you're paranoid. Maybe you're mad."
"Maybe you're dangerous."
"Maybe you're right." Lux took a step back, wobbling as she did. "Maybe you're bloody right, which will give you good reason to stay the hell away from me, Remus Lupin."