It was late in the afternoon when Harry found Remi down in the Greenhouses. The sun was setting but it was still warm out, and much more inside the Greenhouse. Even from where he stood, he could see Remi's face was flushed as she worked behind a few plants. Her curls were tied down in a low ponytail that was failing miserably at keeping her face free.
"Remi, what are you doing here?" He asked her in a gentle voice yet still managed to alarm her enough to cut her finger.
"Wah—!" She popped her finger into her mouth and shot Harry a look for his imprudence. He smiled sheepishly at her. She rolled her eyes and eventually pulled her finger out and wiped the remnants of blood on her robe. "And they say I have no manners," she mumbled and picked up her knife. "What are you doing here, Harry? Oh, I get it," she said before Harry even opened his mouth, "You're sneaking out again, aren't you? The Greenhouse isn't a good place to hide unless you want to be surrounded by plants which, I suppose, isn't all that bad—"
"Rem," Harry cut in before she drove herself in circles with her rambles. He was more than used to Remi's ramble tangents, but he often worried she would talk herself out of breath if no one interrupted her.
Luckily, Remi never seemed to take offense. She just smiled and went back to cutting. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Just wandering," shrugged Harry and moved down the long table. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, just…wandering…" she mimicked him and looked up from under her lashes with a big smile. An infectious smile.
"Careful, people might think you're up to no good," Harry remarked. He stopped beside her and looked down at what she was working on. He was never a top student in Herbology so he had no idea what plants she was working with. As Herbology partners, that's why she always led and he followed.
"Well, are you going to tell me what you're doing here or not?" Remi asked him after another moment. She had finished slicing up a few green vines and moved them to the corner.
"I'm just trying to get away," Harry ultimately confessed. She hummed and moved onto her next cutting.
"Is it about the D.A.?"
Harry nodded.
"If you want to get away from all that for a while, I'm probably not your gal. I can and no doubt will talk your ears off," Remi said, offering him an apologetic smile for future incidents.
"I don't mind," he said easily. He never minded; she always had so much to say and people rarely bothered to listen to her.
"I'm just saying, there's probably a lot more sophisticated people you might want to hang out with if you're feeling low."
"Is this your way of telling me to get lost?"
Remi chuckled lightly. "I'm just trying to help you, Harry. You know I suck with words. I mean, I say too much and only 20% is viable. It's one of my many flaws that make me a less than desirable pureblood in the eyes of my family."
"That's not true. You're way better than all the pureblood lot here," Harry said immediately, and she blushed.
"You're always so nice to me…" she mumbled, intentionally diverting her gaze to the black stems she was cutting. It was very easy to slip away from reality when Harry was next to her, especially with his bright blue eyes. She, who was all but coherent and, in her opinion, competent. She was no Hermione Granger with brains, no Luna Lovegood with creativity, no Ginny Weasley with vibrancy.
"Everyone deserves kindness, Rem. I think you and I of all people would know that," Harry said, bringing her out of her thoughts. He was smiling at her with his usual charm.
His life outside of Hogwarts with the Dursleys spoke for itself. Her life with her grandparents, specifically her grandmother, was nowhere near the "prim and proper" life most purebloods boasted. Remi hated it and wished nothing more than to live away from that life. Harry felt privileged to know what Remi's biggest wish was — to live in a muggle neighborhood. He told her about his many grim stories living in Little Whinging and yet she always found a way to see the bright side of living in such a "cutesy" neighborhood. Harry didn't see anything about the damn block in that kind of light but he never burst her bubble. Remi just wanted to explore and most of all be free of the cruelty. He understood that so, so much.
"Least when you try to help, people don't turn to run," Remi bobbed her head. It happened on various occasions. Many people referred to her as 'Remi the menace' because of how much of a klutz she could be.
Harry laughed quietly beside her.
"Don't laugh, you jerk," she jammed her elbow in his side.
"Ow! Okay, okay, sorry!" Harry rubbed his side for a moment. "It's just kind of funny, you know."
"Oh, yeah, hilarious," Remi rolled her eyes. "People call you" — she abruptly pointed at him with her knife without noticing Harry dodging the sharp end — "the Chosen one and I get called 'Remi, the menace'! How's that fair? I mean, sure, I do cause a few accidents here and there…" She waved the knife on her side, her gaze still not where it should be. "And, yeah, I should probably work on my pace and all but…a menace? Really?"
"Erm, Remi…" Harry gingerly lowered the knife in her hand back on the table.
"Oh, God!" Remi let it drop completely and groaned. "Okay, fine, the name fits!"
"I think it's a…lovely…nickname…"
Remi deadpanned him. "Shut up, Harry."
"Okay." Harry smiled to himself. He was already forgetting the stress of the D.A. "You never told me what you were working on."
Remi crossed her arms and looked at the plants around them. "Just something for myself. I like to have a collection of plants even when I'm away from home. Like you, I'm trying to escape the daunting thoughts of what we're doing."
"You know…you know I would completely understand if you stopped coming to the classes," Harry said, meeting her eye. "I know how big of a trouble it would be if your grandmother found out."
"Sawyer and I know exactly what we got ourselves into, Harry," Remi said. She knew she spoke on behalf of her and her cousin when she said that they didn't regret it one bit. "It's just surreal knowing why we're doing it. But there is no one else we would rather trust than you."
Harry flushed at her words.
"I know being the teacher is probably overwhelming you so…just remember that you're doing great." Remi reached for the discarded knife and resumed cutting. She could feel Harry's eyes watching her movements and feared she would forget how to cut and end up slicing her fingers.
"You're doing amazing too, you know."
She almost got her pinky then. She stopped cutting to look at him and thanked him. "But I know I have a long way to go. I almost got Hermione's ear during one of those practice rounds. And let's not forget I still haven't quite gotten my Patronus Charm working yet."
"That's a really advanced charm, Rem. You're not the only one who hasn't gotten yet but I know you will. You always do."
"I sure wish I had your confidence," Remi admitted with a chuckle. "I know that I'm not all that great of a witch, no matter how disappointing it is to my grandmother. I'm okay with it, honest. You don't always have to be nice about it."
Harry disagreed with her. "You're a good witch. I think a lot of it just comes from your family and that is something I get, trust me. But you are amazing."
Remi felt something warm creep up her neck and didn't dare look Harry in the eyes. If she did, she was a goner and since she was currently holding a knife in her hands she could not afford something like that to happen.
"Listen, if you want, we could practice together…if that makes you a little less nervous about things?"
For her own safety, Remi put down the knife altogether. "Like…alone?"
Harry nodded. He was aware of how his proposition may sound but he didn't have the courage to make it more clear. He could pick fights with Voldemort himself but he still wasn't brave enough to tell one of his best friends that he liked her.
Remi considered the idea and how much she would internally panic about it later on. "Yes!" She blurted and instantly regretted it. She was definitely going to freak out about it later. Hopefully, Hermione would have some advice for her…along with a firewhiskey, although maybe that one might be more of Sawyer's and the Weasley twins' prerogative.
Author's Note:
Remi's an OC I'm working on so I'll be dropping one shots of her. Kind of helps me get to know her better too lmao.
P.S. As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)
