Disclaimer: Anything that rings a bell belongs to J.K Rowling

Chapter 3: From the outside looking in

The air of hostility was beyond palpable, more potent than the exchanging of glares between opponents in that five seconds prior to a start of game whistle, and still the more unsettling considering the uncharacteristic nature of the source of all the layered tension in the small classroom.

The sound of midday whistled through the opened windows, bringing with it the soft scent of nightshade which Professor Sprout had been nurturing four floors down, but the calming aura did nothing to still Remus' nerves as he glanced from his left to his right.

Remus couldn't comprehend how, and why he was in this situation.

Five minutes ago, anticipation shivered over his skin as he walked into the fourth-floor classroom. He stilled momentarily as his eyes landed on Severus Snape, who occupied the first of the three double seated desks that filled the room in a straight row.

He nodded a greeting at the boy which went predictably unreciprocated and slid into the desk behind the greasy haired Slytherin.

Snape's lucid hatred that shot across the room for the infinitesimal fragment of time did nothing to detract Remus from the excitement of today.

Two minutes later Edward White walked in, the Ravenclaw's thick black eyebrows like an overhanging hedge to his dark blue eyes, his pointy nose crowned with a bulbous mole on its right. White offered Remus a nervous smile and lowered his lanky body into the last desk.

It was almost amusing, the nature of boys. Perhaps if it were girls they would file in next to each other, working their way to the back.

It would appear a man simply did not encroach on another man's space unless absolutely necessary.

Remus' musings were interrupted by a familiar floral scent, and he felt soft skin brush him as Lily Evans settled into the seat next to him, bumping his elbow gently as she pulled out her inkwell and quill.

His brows furrowed at the fact that Lily hadn't even greeted him, which was highly uncharacteristic of the usually friendly girl, and he wondered if perhaps James had finally annoyed her to the point where she refused to even associate with his friends.

Her emerald green eyes searched out her textbook amongst the thick tomes in her scarlet backpack and Remus averted his eyes, knowing that it was rude to glance into a woman's bag, irrelevant if it was just full of school things.

Just then the fine hairs at the back of his neck stood on end as a familiar scent strolled across his nostrils and his heartbeat accelerated to a fast-paced dribble in his ear drums, "You're in my place, Lily."

"It's not assigned seating, Aiza." Lily stated in a matter-of-fact manner, the roommates' tones edgier than Remus recalled ever being when addressing one another.

Aiza's bright brown eyes were clamped on Remus, bathed in the sunlight from the nearby window it shone a dull red, the almond outline bordered by dark thick lashes that were lowered as she stared at him.

He continued staring back, unsure what Aiza expected of him?

To ask Lily to move?

He wouldn't. He was actually much more comfortable with Lily next to him than the alternative.

He glanced from one lioness to the other, feeling very much like an insignificant prey that the two were squabbling over, yet this squabbling of death stares and dead silence was much worse than threatening roars and sure pounces.

With an indifferent sigh that momentarily lifted the tanned skin stretching over her collar bone, Aiza Shafiq straightened to her full impressive height, "Fine."

The word was like a swing of a knife and Remus glanced at Lily, finding his neighbour apparently engrossed in her textbook, uninterested in her friend's demands.

Remus swallowed thickly as Aiza sauntered to the front of the class, shrugging off her black robe like she did every lesson and hanging it on the back of the chair, momentarily exposing her slender neck as she flicked her thick raven curls up to dislodge the few locks that snuck into her collar.

He quickly lowered his eyes as she pressed the back of her skirt to her half-exposed thighs and descended into the seat next to Severus Snape.

Snape, much like when Remus had greeted him, offered neither response to the change in the atmosphere nor the introduction to a new occupant at his desk.

"Good afternoon, Severus." The words like a song danced across the room and Remus felt Lily still next to him. Snape however remained indifferent, and Remus couldn't help grinning at the slight hitch of surprise in Aiza's dark brows, her profile just visible from his diagonal vantage point.

Aiza Shafiq had probably never been ignored by a single boy in all her life and Remus knew that this was akin to a stunner to the face for the girl.

Her chocolate orbs met his briefly, as if sensing his delight in her failure and the corner of her full lips twitched.

She straightened in her chair, her white shirted back to him now and Remus could hear the sound of her inhaling deeply, "Sprout's begonia's have really taken off this season."

For a moment it was as if Aiza was speaking to herself and Remus shook his head amused, if she was hoping to flirt with Snape for whatever reason Aiza wished to flirt with every post-pubertal male in this castle, she was most definitely searching for flutterbies in the wrong bush.

"It truly has." Remus looked over his shoulder, whilst the dark-haired girl twisted about in her chair to see who spoke.

It was Edward White, whose slight face held a friendly smile, "It smells like home to me, you know. My mother has a begonia bush right by my room window. I wonder why Sprout's growing them, she doesn't seem the type to plant a bush for decorative purpose solely.

Lily glanced up from her textbook and swivelled slightly in her seat to face White, "My sis…mother also has begonia's in the garden! It does have that very distinct scent of home… I'm not entirely sure this scent is begonia's though… it smells sort of more…pungent?"

"It's nightshade." Snape looked over his shoulder and stared straight at the redhead.

Lily made no motion to acknowledge Snape's response, except for the somewhat slight stiffening of her neck. She remained with her back to the chalkboard, still staring at White who seemed to be going red from the attention.

"I thought nightshade only bloomed… well in the night."

"Common misconception." Remus and Snape glanced at each other as they answered Aiza in unison.

Snape returned his attention back to the front of the class and Remus glanced away, uncomfortable at having the same line of thought as the ill-tempered Slytherin.

"Well then they shouldn't have named itnightshade." White added, obviously eager for this idle chit chat with the two prettiest girls in Gryffindor house, "It makes no sense really, what kind of shade do you expect to find when it's night-time anyway!" He laughed and Remus rolled his eyes as Snape glared at the boy.

"Perhaps it's because it doesn't bloom in the night. It's named for its colouring, like a darkshadeof thenight'ssky."There was a definite edge to Snape's voice as his onyx eyes flickered to Lily's back, but the redhead continued chatting to Edward White.

"Is your mother's name really Lily as well!" Lily laughed but it sounded odd. Not entirely forced but not entirely effortless, a confusing middle ground that made Remus stare at his fellow prefect with slight concern.

What was wrong with her?

"It is. I promise. Weird, isn't it?" White chuckled.

Weird? Remus refrained from scoffing; Lily might be one of the most common names in Britain.

"I don't suppose your mother's name is Aiza." Aiza turned in her place, her mischievous eyes solely on Snape as she laughed airily at her own jest.

Suddenly Remus felt like a fifth wheel. Weren't there two girls fighting to sit next to him mere minutes ago and now they were completely ignoring him?

Snape didn't find her joke funny, turning to the front so that Lily did not even enter his periphery.

Remus could make out the constriction in Snape's shoulders from his place behind the scraggy boy.

Aiza glanced back at Remus, and he smiled at her triumphantly, he didn't know why but it was awfully nice to see her not get her way for a change. Who thought Snape would be the one to bring him such joy?

There was a sound of footsteps and suddenly everyone straightened in their seats, the forgotten anticipation resurfacing with a vengeance in all of them and Lily snapped her textbook shut as their eyes stared at the door.

They could hardly be blamed for their excitement; it was not every day that a bunch of sixteen year olds are taught Alchemy by a six hundred and forty nine year old French wizard who happened to be the most notable researcher in the field.

"Professor Dumbledore?" White exclaimed in disappointment as their silver haired Headmaster entered the classroom alone.

"I do so share your sentiments Mr. White, I glanced upon a mirror in the morning and was quite disappointed myself. It's my beard I fear, split ends!"

Remus folded his lips into his mouth to refrain from laughing aloud at their eccentric Headmaster as Lily smiled politely at the ancient wizard, "Professor, I thought Nicolas Flamel was going to take us for alchemy. Not that I wouldn't be absolutely privileged to be taught the subject by yourself of course… I just thought…"

"Alas Miss Evans, bad news I do come bearing. It seems that it would not be possible for you to take Alchemy this year. I know, I had promised that if you had at least four people, which you lacked in third year, the subject could be taken up. But it seems that the school rules are stringent and ironclad. I was reminded that in order for a subject to be re-instated in the curriculum, there need to be an average of fifteen students willing to take it, inclusive of third years and up."

Remus could hardly think of anyone who could make Dumbledore do something he didn't want to do, after all, the Headmaster had a teenage werewolf amongst his student body, and he doubted he consulted with any advisors on the matter. Then again, the governing body loved to entertain themselves with minor details such as this.

"All of you will of course be allowed to choose another subject, please let your respective heads of houses know of this decision." He bowed in farewell and exited the room.

Lily sighed in frustration and pushed her alchemy textbook back into her bag, by the time she was packed Edward White was standing by her side, "So, will you be taking on another subject instead? I heard Ancient Runes is interesting."

"I'm already taking that. This was going to be my ninth subject… so I suppose I will just leave it at eight."

Remus shook his head and stood, Lily and Snape were the only students crazy enough to opt to do nine subjects, where it was considered reaching doing seven.

"Walk you to lunch?" White's blue eyes were bright with expectation and Remus glanced at Lily whose faced blanked momentarily, but then she smiled.

"Sure." They walked out; Snape followed soon after, practically knocking into Aiza in his desperation to leave the room.

"Walk you to lunch?" Aiza mimicked White with a laugh, holding out her hand for Remus to take, smiling up at him teasingly.

Remus sighed, she was positively mercurial, one moment she'd completely ignore your existence and the next she'll glance up at you with that beatific face as if you were the sole living being through all of time.

So of course, he slipped his featherlight charmed bag off his shoulder and looped it onto her proffered hand, walking passed her shocked face with a smirk in response, wondering just where he got the confidence from, if it were perhaps contagious, something that the statuesque figure at his back exuded, "Chop chop, Miss Shafiq. My bag won't carry itself down to lunch."

-x-x-x-

Peter's snores echoed through the quiet dormitory as Remus scribbled away on his parchment. His ears pricked as he heard approaching footsteps and glanced up, his eyes so attuned to the dull moonlight that had chained him for such a long time found the waxing crescent luminescence in the dark night's sky.

He glanced to the door, "James?"

His friend's hazel eyes flickered to him momentarily as he entered the room, his face unusually pale as he crossed to the bed nearest the bathroom, "Moony."

Remus watched with furrowed brows as James tossed his book bag on the floor and grabbed his broom from under his bed, "How was Astronomy?"

James' only response was a small shrug as he crossed the room, shouldering his broom, "I'm going out for a fly."

"It's almost ten, James?"

"Funnily enough, I am capable of telling the time Moony." And with that snarky comment he left the room.

Remus barely had time to ponder his friend's odd behaviour as Sirius entered; glancing back in confusion at what Remus suspected was James' retreating figure, "You know, I'm beginning to REALLY dislike Evans."

"Well, she's not your biggest fan either. They get into it again?"

Sirius reclined across the foot of Remus' bed, "I have no idea why he even bothers! She's being a bigger bitc-"

"Padfoot!"

"Well, you can't deny it! The way she snapped at him yesterday outside Runes and now again during Astronomy. She's in a caustic mood."

"Not like James is in the best of moods either. He has been a bit odd lately, hasn't he?"

"Of course he has! And it's all Evans' fault!"

Remus sighed and pushed his work aside, "You can't keep blaming her for James' behaviour… it must not be nice… being so in love-"

Sirius let out a bark of laughter that cut off Remus' sentence, "Love? Love? Prongs does not love Evans! She treats him like the worst sort of scum, and I dare you to fall in love with someone who treated you that badly."

"I don't know. You treat half the female population just as bad, yet they all seem to love you."

Sirius shot up, clutching his chest in exaggeration, "Oh you wound me Moony." Suddenly his deep grey eyes lit up, "You're doing my Arithmancy homework! Godric, you're the best!"

Remus jumped from his bed and dodged Sirius' embrace and the dark-haired boy plopped onto Remus' bed once again, "I did not doyourArithmancy homework. I didmyarithmancy homework." He glanced down at the parchment that was still in his hand, littered with numbers and symbols, "We didn't get enough numbers for Alchemy, so I changed my seventh to Arithmancy-"

"So I won't be alone!" Sirius jumped up, "You're the best!"

Remus let out an exasperated breath and shook his head, placing the finished assignment on his bedside drawer knowing Sirius would need access to it at some point that night, "You truly do believe the sun rises to shine on your face."

"You sound like Evans." Sirius pouted, jumping up and crossing the room to his bed, "You sure you haven't fallen in love with her too."

Remus couldn't help but smile, Sirius sounded like that might be the worst possible thing in the world. For a boy who was almost off age, months from being an adult wizard, he was completely childish in certain aspects of life.

The dark-haired boy fell back onto his own bed and smiled at Remus unsettlingly, "So is Shafiq going to always have lunch with us?"

Remus looped his tie back onto his shirt and slid it into place, readying himself to leave.

If there was anything he disliked more than discussing other peoples love lives, it was discussing his own. "No. She just needed to lick her wounds a bit. She actually tried flirting with Snape, and he of course ignored her. I think she needed your and Peter's gawking to boost her up on her high horse once again."

Sirius scoffed, "Oh yes. She had lunch with us because of Peter and I. Moony… you don't seriously-"

"I'm late for Prefect Duty." Remus bent and pulled on his shoes, his eyes catching the unfamiliar parchment atop his bed sheet.

He picked it up, looking at it in confusion. It was obviously Sirius' Astronomy assignment, but it wasn't his writing. "Sirius, did you do any of this work on your own?"

Sirius' dark brows pulled together as he stared at the large parchment spread out on top of his bed.

"Padfoot?"

Sirius glanced up as if just remembering that Remus was still in the room, "Of course. Look at the last constellation. How deep do you think the basement goes? I'm positive the Puffs entrance is down there… I've brought Bones up here a hundred times; he should at least return the favour, shouldn't he?"

Remus complied with Sirius' first request and found his familiar script titling the last diagram,Centaurus. "You drew one constellation out of fifteen. Does that seem fair to you?"

"I didn't ask the little creep to do it, he went and did it all on his own, it's not my fault."

"Little creep?" Remus' brows rose, "You have a funny way of showing your gratitude to someone who saved you hours of time on homework."

"What? Moony? You didn't see the guy; he was all scrawny and odd. He didn't say a word, he just was there and then he wasn't."

Remus frowned, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen any new faces in our classes. What house is he in?"

Sirius shrugged; his attention consumed by the creased parchment atop his bed. Remus knew it was the map that they were working on, "Haven't a clue." He glanced up in thought then, "You know, we really need to get into that common room. We've been in every common room except the Puffs, and I don't care what Bones says about it not been breached by a non-Puff for a thousand years. We can't claim to know every bit of the school if we don't get into the Puff basement of all places!"

"What was odd about him?"

Remus couldn't keep the edge from his voice as Sirius glanced away from the map, slightly annoyed, "Just odd Moony. Odd. Something off about him. He didn't speak-"

"But he did all of your work?"

"And? Does that make him less odd? No!" Sirius shook his head as if Remus was not getting the point at all.

Remus tossed the sheet on his drawer and hastened to the door and his Prefect duty, stopping at the exit without turning, "You know, I honestly expected better from you. If there was any reason to take interest in the guy's life it would bebecausehe was scrawny and odd, can't be too nice having to change your school in your sixth year just to have the guy who you helped a great deal describe you as scrawny and odd. Especially when there is a whole bunch of people just ready to lead astray all the scrawny and odd kids that they can get their hands on. Hmmm. Real nice Padfoot."

And with that he descended the staircases to the common room.

Remus knew he was being too hard on Sirius, but it was times like these that he felt he needed to be. He appreciated everything, every sacrifice his friend made for him, and he knew there was a goodness that Sirius guarded within him, but sometimes he could be painfully exclusive.

Just like Aiza. Those two were so much alike in that case, when you were one of them, when they allowed you into their circle, they embraced you wholeheartedly. But if you fell just short of that circle, if you were on the outside looking in…

Perhaps this was all too close to home for Remus. Most of his childhood he was the scrawny and odd new kid. Always the new kid, considering his parents were practically nomads in their effort to keep his condition a secret.

For all their kindness, friendship and loyalty, Remus couldn't help thinking if it were not for the convenience of being dorm mates, Sirius and James might not have been his friends… he knew how ungrateful he sounded, but the two of them made so much of sense, where as he… the werewolf…

"Remus? I mean…Lupin?" Remus glanced up, he had walked all the way onto the seventh-floor corridor, and he turned to the small voice, finding a short girl with wild blonde hair standing at the top of the sixth floor steps. "I'm… I'm Evelyn O'Byrne."

"Oh…" Remus walked forward hastily, holding his hand out in greeting, he completely forgot that he agreed to chaperone a first-time prefect tonight. "Hi. I'm Remus, well you know that already."

She laughed and her cheeks flushed with the action, she had a rosy pale complexion, with a full, healthy face that suited her frame, which Remus couldn't help noticing was quite buxom, if not a tad on the plump side. "Shall we?"

He gestured to the stairs, and she twirled about in excitement, she smelt like cocoa butter and there was something soothing in the humbleness of the scent.

The next few minutes were spent exchanging pleasantries, how she was finding being a prefect, advice on how to manage the duty with the growing workload of a fifth year. Her soft voice with a charming Irish lilt to it had Remus opting for silence in the hope that she would fill it.

Despite the thickness of the lock of hair that framed the outline of her face, Evelyn kept trying to restrain it behind her ear in something Remus realized was a nervous tendency, something he found very endearing.

It had been such a long while since he spent significant time with someone who wasn't completely sure of themselves, who didn't have him holding his back so straight to feign confidence in an attempt to just fit in with them.

Such a long time since any girl looked up at him with a blush on her face…

Did any girl ever look up at him with a blush on her face?

"You know, we actually met before." She mumbled as they made their way back to the seventh floor, having circulated the designated route, it had been a quiet patrol.

"Really." He frowned, "When?"

"First year. Well, my first year, your second. Well of course it was mine, I wasn't around for your first year." She laughed awkwardly; her apple green eyes glossy with embarrassment. "Gobstones club. You attended a meeting."

"Ohhh…" Remus realized the one time he attended a Gobstones Club meeting, just to see what it was about. His father was a collector and was on the Hogwarts team in his time, and Remus contemplated continuing the tradition, but the game was just not for him. "Are you still on the team?"

Her eyes lit up momentarily, but then she licked her lips and shrugged nonchalantly, "I attend a meeting now and again." She stilled, "Did you hear that?"

Remus did, his eyes flickering to the floor length portrait of Bridget Wenlock at Evelyn's back and realized precisely where they were.

"Eve-" Remus reached forward to stop her taking the step back that would knock down the bust of Valeria Myriadd, but it was too late.

Evelyn hit the grey stone bust but instead of falling over and breaking, the stone structure hovered at an angle just as the portrait at its side swung open.

The bright blue eyes of Garrick Mulciber glared at Remus as he turned about and something bitter spread through Remus' throat as he fleetingly took in the shirtless image of Aiza Shafiq, but he swiftly averted his eyes.

There was a deep masculine sigh followed by a drawling voice, "Well I suppose that's that."

"Hey… you can't just-"

Before Evelyn could even finish her sentence Mulciber was walking away.

Remus felt like he was undergoing a transformation, his pulse quickened, and his muscles constricted, and he had trouble breathing but he knew that that was impossible… yet somehow, he felt a shoot of uncomfortable pain sear through his body.

"Are you just going to… going to let him go?" Evelyn's voice bubbled with disappointment, he supposed this was not how she imagined her first time busting a pair of students playing out.

"Ten points from Slytherin. And from Gryffindor as well." Remus' voice was a whisper that carried down the corridor and Mulciber's only response was a derisive laugh.

Remus had to clutch his fist exceedingly tight to prevent him from following the boy.

"Will you put your shirt on!" He snapped, realising that he probably would do a better job of calming down if he could observe all the occupants of this corridor openly.

Remus heard the familiar sigh, it brushed his neck and somehow the heat that spread through him bubbled again, "Garrick's taken it. I suppose he thinks it's very funny."

He didn't respond, shrugging his cloak off and holding it somewhere to the right of him.

"I don't understand-"

"Oh, silly little girl. Everybody knows the rule, as long as both parties' pants are on, the matter is always left to slide. If we had to take every single person that got caught in the trysts of passion to their Heads of House, we'd not only be spurring on House warfare but there'd be nobody left unpunished. Except probably you, have you ever even been kissed before, little one?"

"Aiza!" Remus snapped but Evelyn blanched in embarrassment.

"Oh, good Godric you haven't!" The corridor echoed with her deep laughter and Remus turned to the fifth year Hufflepuff.

"Evel-

"I'm going back to the…dormitory."

"Let me walk you."

"No. no. It's okay." Before Remus could even respond the girl was off, a distinct whimper left in her shadow, and he started after her.

He stopped as the blonde scampered down the stairs and his throat constricted once more.

Aiza scoffed, the action jostling his cloak of her shoulder momentarily and Remus turned and thundered past her, "You're not serious! Her! I never pegged you for a chubby chaser!"

He crossed the corridor to the Fat Lady in unaccommodatingly long strides. "Flutterby." He snapped at the portrait who huffed indignantly but flung herself open.

"I was only joking, it's not my fault the little Hufflepuff has no sense of humour."

Remus spun around, "Sense of humour! You must be spending too much time with Mulciber because your judgment in humour has gravely dropped."

She rolled her eyes at him and at this proximity Remus could smell her sweat and that hint of Jasmine that had always been signature to just her but now it was convoluted, mixed with Mulciber's cologne making Remus almost want to wretch, "So this is what this is about. Garrick. You know," She laughed, letting his much too big robe slip down slightly and expose a caramel shoulder, "Jealousy is kind of cute on you."

"Jealous." He scoffed, laughing in a mocking way that would make Sirius proud, "Jealous of what? You made Evelyn feel bad for not kissing a single boy, but should it not be you who feels bad for kissing a hundred?"

Her eyes dilated momentarily as she froze at his words, and then with a jerky movement she threw off his cloak and flung it at him. "Take your cloak!"

With resolve Remus never knew he had, he held her stare, his hazel rays bound to her chocolate ones, at her flushed cheeks but not once glancing below her chin at the exposed skin that he knew would be there. Whether it was clothed in a bra or bare for him to take in every contour, Aiza Shafiq stood topless before him, and he did not dare give her the satisfaction of breaking eye contact.

Because this is what she did, when she couldn't fight back with words, she'd fight back with her body, but Remus won't be the loser this time.

"Put this back on." He flicked the cloak back at her and snapped around, storming to the boys' staircases and pushed the door open, disappearing through and slamming it shut resolutely on Aiza Shafiq and all the trouble that accompanied her.

So! What do you guys think of Remus/Aiza?

Feedback will always be appreciated!

Kalina