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valentineforlemonandcherry · 3 years

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Foxtail & Wolfsbane Part 10

Summary: Your lifelong obsession to hunt down the Nine-Tailed Fox has not gone as expected, and seventeen years later, you find yourself coming back to the place where it all started: Hogwarts. However, with Sirius Black’s escape from Azkaban and Headmaster Dumbledore’s hire of a certain Professor R. J. Lupin, you suddenly find yourself intertwined in the fates of those with whom you thought you had parted ways with long ago. [Multi-Post Story] [Rowan Scamander x Reader] [Remus Lupin x Reader] [Young Sirius Black x Reader] [Tristan Graves x Reader] [Severus Snape x Reader] [Warning: Story Contains Explicit Smut.] *Note: Rowan Scamander and Tristan Graves are OC characters. *Please do not repost or copy my work without my permission. Thank You!

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The next morning, you and Remus unpleasantly jolted awake to the sound of the dormitory door crashing open. To be fair to your dormmates, it was well past ten in the morning, and they had no idea that there was a certain brown-haired boy in your bed.

Somehow, the first thought in your mind was not of yourself, but of Remus. You just knew with absolute certainty, even with the morning fog of over-slumber weighing heavily on your mind, that Remus would not want to be caught in this situation.

You quickly turned to your side, and you hurriedly yanked your blanket up to cover Remus’ head.

Remus, for his part, woke up fumbling and was immediately re-introduced to your breasts. Yes, the poor boy woke up to being smothered by a faceful of breasts.

Sputtering, Remus started to grasp the back of your jumper to pull you away, but you whispered furiously, “Sh.”

Then, trying to pretend like you were still asleep, you very carefully kicked your feet out, so that your blanket would cover Remus’ absurdly far-away feet. Literally, the boy was so tall (and he’d snuggled down to be able to hug you around your middle) that his feet were nearly dangling off the end of the bed.

“Merlin! Are you still asleep?” Eliza Edgecombe, one of your dormmates, had spotted you shifting under your blankets.

Remus’ eyes grew wide, as he realized what was happening.

You very carefully lifted your head up, and you mumbled back, “Hi, Eliza.”

“You didn’t even go out last night, sweetie,” Jemma Goldstein said to you. “Why are you sleeping in so late?”

“I stayed up late,” you said softly.

You felt Remus’ arms tighten around you just a little.

You smiled in reply, even though Remus couldn’t see your face.

But Irene Boot caught your expression, and she said in an astounded voice, “Wait! Wait a minute. You never smile, and now – I know that look! That’s afterglow!”

“What?” you sputtered out.

“Did you have a man in here last night?” Irene demanded, pointing her finger at you dramatically.

“Oh my God! Who?” Jemma asked you, her face brightening at the news.

While you weren’t close with your roommates, they were all quite kind-hearted and thought of you as some sort-of eccentric pet, and they were genuinely happy whenever something good happened to you.

But, as grateful as you were for their kindness, this was not a conversation you ever wanted to have with them, and especially not now, not when Remus was lying there, wide awake, under your blanket with you.

“What? No!” you replied helplessly.

Irene tsked. “You can’t fool me. Besides, it’s written all over your face. Anyone could tell.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” you mumbled, fidgeting a little. Remus hugged you even tighter.

Then, Irene put it down so simply, stating it as though it were some fundamental principle of science, “That you got laid.”

Your mouth fell open.

Remus was blushing furiously against you, and now, he was glad that he could bury his face against your breasts, because it spared him the horror of having you see him react to this terrible, humiliating conversation.

“Anyways, in case you ever decide to get your rump out of bed, breakfast is ending in ten minutes!” Eliza told you. She reached out and grabbed her friends’ hands, and she pulled them out of the dorm room.

Once the door had slammed shut, you very slowly peeled back the covers, and Remus, wide-eyed and yet still somehow sleepy-eyed, too, blinked up at you, in a kind of amused and embarrassed daze.

“Um,” he mumbled, his voice husky from just waking up, “good – good morning.”

“Yes,” you agreed awkwardly.

You both paused.

Then, you couldn’t help it. You started to giggle.

Looking down at Remus and seeing how disheveled his hair was, and how befuddled he was to have woken up smushed under the cover and up against your breasts, and hearing immediately three strangers’ voices screeching excitedly about how you must have gotten laid, how there must be a man that stopped by last night – all while Remus was trapped under your sheets – it was all too much, and impossible not to laugh at, even if it was embarrassing.

You tried to apologize for what had happened between your fits of laughter. “I’m sorry for – for – aha – what happened, Remus. I know my – my roommates can be a bit much to – aha!” You cut off, laughing heartily now.

Remus stared up at you, completely bewildered. But a slow smile began to spread on his face, as he took in the sight of you laughing, while sunlight streamed down on you from the high windows in the dorm room.

Without meaning to, he gave you a little squeeze in his arms, hugging you closer, and your laughter quieted down, as you let Remus pull you even closer to him.

Remus mumbled again, “G’morning, lovely,” and he really meant it.

You smiled, feeling Remus nestle against you and hug you just around your middle, and so tightly and warmly, too, and you replied back softly, “Good morning to you, too.”

* * * * * * * * * *

However, as Remus got up from your bed and awkwardly brushed his hair back into place, he wondered how he was going to tell you that he wasn’t going to be around for the next few days. Tomorrow night was the full moon, and then he’d need a couple of days to heal…

Remus fidgeted at your doorway. “I may not be around for a few days.”

You looked up at him as you pulled on a new jumper.

Remus cleared his throat a bit nervously before he said, “Um, prefect duties.”

You both immediately felt the lie escape and expand into the room, into the air between the two of you.

But you simply nodded. “Okay, Remus. Come back to me when you can.”

* * * * * * * * * *

So, you found yourself alone for the next few days. You busied yourself quite easily, however, learning about the natural flora and fauna of Japan.

However, to your dismay, you discovered that you were having trouble in your own little garden, because after about five days, you noticed that the little potted foxtail ferns weren’t doing so well.

You changed the plant’s position besides the window, watered it more, then watered it less, blew on it in case it needed more carbon dioxide, tiptoed around it so as not to disturb it – and still –

“Determined to die, you little fools,” you growled angrily, as you realized that the ferns had begun to turn brown and crumple up at the edges. “Can’t you seeing I’m trying to save you?”

“Save who?”

You turned to see Remus’ head poke up through the entrance.

“Remus!” You started to push yourself up to go greet him, but Remus hurriedly stopped you.

“Watch your head!” he shouted, but he was so intent on reminding you that he forgot to take his own advice, and his head went bonk against the wooden beams.

Remus groaned and fell back onto the floor.

“Oh, Rem,” you said sympathetically, but you couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Right, yes, take my own advice,” Remus muttered to himself.

You crawled over to him on your hands and knees. “You okay?”

“I think I’ve just forgotten everything I learned in Transfiguration this morning,” Remus groaned softly. “I just felt it all woosh away through my ears.”

You laughed. “Well, you can always ask Black to teach you again. Isn’t he really good at Transfiguration?”

“Yes, Sirius is good at Transfiguration - well, at everything, really. Although I think James might beat him with Transfiguration. But wait - how’d you know that Sirius was good at Transfiguration?” Remus asked curiously.

“Oh, he sits next to me in Potions, and he’s always going on about himself. This morning, he kept bragging about how he’d beaten me on the Transfiguration exam,” you replied, rolling your eyes at the memory.

“Sirius sits next to you in Potions?”

“Yeah.”

“So, you see him every class?”

You gave Remus a strange look. “Yes, I sort-of have to.”

Remus paused, trying to figure out how to ask his next question. “Well,” he said finally, “what’s it like sitting next to him?”

You snorted. “You have to ask? He’s a right menace. He gets me in trouble all of the time. Slughorn loves him, for some unfathomable reason. Although, Slughorn does seem to have forgotten that I owe him a detention, so there’s that…”

“Oh.” Remus was still trying to make the connection as to how you went from hating Sirius to letting him have you at the New Year’s party, but he decided to just let it go. It’s not my business, anyways, he told himself. But then, his mind cruelly conjured up the time he’d found you in the Quidditch Supplies Shop, buying a Beater’s bat – for Sirius.

Should I ask her? No, it’s rude. But I can’t stop thinking about it. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Meanwhile, you wandered back to your little fern, hoping irrationally that it would have turned back to being a vibrant, lively green again. It hadn’t. Your face fell.

Remus finally said to himself, once and for all, No, you can’t ask her that. She said it meant nothing. So, just trust her. And it doesn’t matter, anyways.

You let out a soft sigh, and you came meandering back to Remus.

Remus caught a glimpse of your forlorn, defeated expression. “Bad day?” he asked you kindly.

“Yes,” you sighed out. “Remus.”

“Yes?”

“Can I have a hug?”

Remus paused. My chest is bandaged up pretty heavily. If Prongs told the truth (which is always a fifty-fifty chance – not that he means to lie, he’s just always so dramatic), then apparently, I was so distracted by the little bow that Wormtail managed to sneak onto Padfoot’s tail last night that I tried to bite it off. But Padfoot, not realizing what Wormtail had done, leapt to the side, and I rammed myself straight into a tree.

“…Or not.”

Your voice brought Remus back to the present moment.

Remus carefully lifted up his arms, opening them for you. “Come here, then.”

You barreled into Remus’ arms, just as he knew you would, and he winced a little. Ow, that hurts. But he nonetheless wrapped his arms tenderly around you, and he felt a wonderful warmth in his chest as you nestled in close. You tucked yourself in against him, sitting with your legs open, spread on top of his thighs, and your arms tightly around his shoulders, and your head nestling into neck.

You inhaled softly. Yes, this is Remus’ scent, mmm. But… there’s a slightly medicinal scent, too,. Like peppermint, but not the sweet kind. You glanced down, and you spotted the soft border of gauze peeking out from beneath Remus’ long-sleeved shirt.

You wanted to ask what had happened (that he kept getting hurt, honestly), but Remus got there first. He asked you, “What’s bothering you?”

Unwilling to quite admit it, you mumbled into his neck, “It just doesn’t want to stay alive. I’ve tried everything.”

“Huh?”

“I keep trying to save it, but it’s a stubborn little shit.”

“You’re, uh, going to have be clearer about what you’re talking about. Who’s being stubborn?”

You sighed and sitting up a little, you turned your head and nodded over your shoulder. “The foxtail ferns, Remus. They just won’t stay alive.”

Remus’ concerned expression cleared. “Oh, that’s what you were talking about? That’s it?”

“What do you mean, ‘that’s it’?” you said indignantly, drawing your head back to give Remus a little glare. “D’you how hard I’ve been trying to keep that plant alive?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean ‘that’s it’ as in, you didn’t try. I just meant that it’s not a big deal compared to, I don’t know, you getting hurt or something,” Remus said quickly.

“But it is a big deal,” you pushed back. Your eyes dropped down to his chest. In a quiet voice, you reminded him, “You gave it to me, Remus.”

“Yes, but it was to make you happy,” Remus replied. “It’s not worth anything if it’s just going to make you sad.”

Remus reached up with one hand and cradled your cheek in his hand, tilting your head slightly up. “So, it’s nothing to worry about, all right?”

You didn’t meet his eyes, but you nodded a few times. “Okay.”

“Good girl,” Remus murmured softly.

You blinked. Wait, what did he call me?

“What did you just say?” you asked Remus, more than a little stunned.

Remus stiffened. Then, he quickly drew his hand away from your face and he turned his head, hiding his expression from you. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t.”’

“You did,” you insisted. “I want to hear it again.”

Remus was blushing scarlet by now, not that he would show his face, but you could see the side of his profile taking on a pinkish hue for its outline.

You gently leaned forward and pushed your forehead against his cheek a little. “What do I have to do to hear you say that again, hm?”

“N-Nothing.”

Remus’ hands had now fallen to your hips, and he held onto you, almost holding you out and away from him, to stop you from leaning in too far and seeing his face.

Oh God, he thought, I’ve only just come back to you. At least give me a chance to breathe.

But you had never been one to wait. “I’ve saved a piece of chocolate for you. May I bribe you with that?” you asked politely.

“Er – no bribes,” Remus told you.

“Damn.” You sat there for a moment longer. Then, you said, “Well, maybe you’ll change your mind when you see it.”

Remus expected you to get up to go get it, but you merely shifted so that you were still sitting on top of Remus, but now you were sitting on one thigh only, with your own thighs sandwiching his leg. This allowed you to reach around him. Straining a little and reaching with your very fingertips, you managed to drag the piece of chocolate from the little basket of food sitting against the wall.

“Got it!” you crowed victoriously, sitting back up.

But when you sat back down, you sat down a bit too quickly and too forcefully because you could suddenly feel how Remus’ knee came right up between your thighs.

Your eyes widened, as you felt the pressure of his knee press up against a very particular sweet spot of yours.

Remus felt you freeze on top of his leg. Frowning a little, he finally turned his head back to look at you. You were still frozen, perched on top of his leg, now holding up the piece of chocolate between your fingers.

“If you keep holding onto that so tightly, it’ll melt,” Remus told you.

You saw the way Remus’ eyes flickered over the piece of chocolate. Relaxing again, you said knowingly, “You want it, don’t you?”

“I don’t know,” Remus replied. “Chocolate or dignity, it’s hard to choose.”

You laughed. Then, you said softly, “Well, you can have both, Remus. Here.” You held out the piece of chocolate for him.

“But you said it was a bribe,” Remus responded, puzzled.

You shook your head. “I’ve changed my mind.”

“How noble of you.” Remus’ tone was mildly sarcastic, but he held out his hand nonetheless to receive the piece of chocolate. Madam Pomfrey never lets me have any sweets when I’m healing.

You smiled and dropped the chocolate into his hand. “Well, just because I’m having a not-so-great day doesn’t mean I should ruin yours.”

Remus looked up at you. “Does it really bother you that much that the ferns are drying up?”

You were still for a moment. Then, you shook your head. “No. Like you said, it’s not a big deal.” You leaned forward and rested your head on his shoulder as you murmured, “I know that.”

But Remus could feel your sadness radiating off of you. Oh no, it was supposed to make her happy. However, an idea sprouted in his mind just then. “Well,” he told you, “maybe the ferns will make a magical comeback, you never know.”

You gave him a brave little smile. “Maybe. Thanks, Remus.”

Remus kept one arm around you, holding you around your waist, while with the other hand, he expertly unwrapped the chocolate and pushed it into his mouth.

“Does it taste good?” you asked him curiously.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“You have some on your fingers. Can I lick it off your fingers?” you asked, nodding over at his hand.

Remus paused. “If you want chocolate, I can go get you some from the kitchens…”

“No, I have what I want already,” you told him, reaching out to clutch his wrist in your hand. “But I’ll only do it if you say that I can, Remus.” Lifting your head up from his shoulder, you sat up and brought his hand just in front of your mouth. You eyed the melted chocolate on his fingertips.

As you did, you whispered, “‘Cause I want to keep being your good girl, Remus.”

Remus groaned softly when he heard you say that, both because he realized that in a haphazard way, you’d tricked him, and because your words made him suddenly feel quite flushed.

You smiled at him knowingly. “I heard what you said, what you called me,” you whispered teasingly. “Sir Lupin.”

“You said I could have the chocolate and my dignity,” Remus mumbled, feeling a bit wronged.

“You? You have your dignity,” you fought back. “It’s me that’s paying the price. I’m sitting here begging for you to let me suck chocolate off - ”

“Okay, yes, yes,” Remus said hurriedly. I don’t think I can take it if she starts talking like that.

“Okay!” you said brightly, and you wasted no time.

Glomp went your mouth onto his fingers, and you deliciously and meticulously sucked all of the melted chocolate off of his fingertips.

Remus blushed when he saw the way your little mouth worked fervently all around his fingers, but he couldn’t seem to look away from you. He was mesmerized by you.

“Thanks,” you said, swallowing a little and licking your lips to make sure you didn’t have chocolate on your face.

“Um, no – no problem,” Remus mumbled. And once again, he found himself wondering if you were aware that you were shifting your hips on top of him.

It was barely noticeable, really, but Remus could feel it – how soft and warm you were right between your legs, and – and – you were so softly rubbing yourself on top of his knee.

“Erm…” Remus coughed lightly. “Lovely, I think you’re – you’re…”

“What?”

“Getting a bit warm on my knee.”

“Oh!” You hurriedly started to get off of Remus, but Remus suddenly grasped your waist and sat you back down on him.

“Ah!” You shivered when you felt yourself bounce lightly against Remus’ thigh, your clit stimulated by the friction created when your pussy lips spread atop Remus’ thigh, and you could feel the soft fabric of your boyshorts pushing against you, and beyond that, the fabric of Remus’ trousers rubbing against you…

“Hah… Ah…” you breathed out, a little harshly.

Remus watched you with curious and gentle eyes. “You know,” he whispered to you, as his eyes remained on your lovely face, “you’ve been leaving little wet patches all over my pants…”

Your eyes flashed open in surprise. “W-What?”

Remus nodded softly. “And I was wondering… why.”

“Well, um,” you stuttered out. Oh God, I didn’t realize I was doing that, you thought, embarrassed.

“Is it because this - ” Remus suddenly lifted his knee up a little –

“O-Oh,” you mumbled out –

“ – feels good to you?” Remus wondered aloud.

You blinked, in a bit of a haze, as that lovely pressure coming from Remus’ thigh took a minute to filter through your pussy, and up into your tummy.

“If you don’t want to say anything,” Remus murmured softly, “then – can you show me?”

Your brow furrowed a little. Show you? You cocked your head at Remus.

Seeing the question in your eyes, Remus smiled a little. She’s looking at me like I’m a map she has to decipher. Meanwhile, the sunlight was coming in through the large window to the left of you, casting a beautiful golden glow on you, and making you look radiant.

“You look so cute,” Remus murmured.

“Only to you,” you replied. “And only because you’re so gentle with me.”

“Good,” Remus said softly. Then, he whispered, with his voice dropping into a lower octave, “But, I still want to see how you cum. Will you show me, sweetheart? Please?”

Your little jaw dropped open. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. True, while the words coming out of Remus’ mouth right now might be a mere matter of course for any other man, when it came to Remus, just hearing him whisper the word “cum” sent your mind spinning.

“It’d be kind-of embarrassing, though,” you protested. “I mean, you’d just have to deal with me, um, shifting on top of your thigh. It wouldn’t do anything for you.”

“But it feels good for you?” Remus asked.

After a moment, you finally admitted, “Yes.”

Remus nodded. Leaning forward, he gave you a soft little kiss. Then, he gently nuzzled your nose with his. You inhaled slowly, trying very hard to still your heart as it insisted on beating faster and faster. You felt Remus’ stray curl on his forehead brush against your forehead.

Remus softly opened his mouth, and you instantly parted your lips, too.

For a second or two, the two of you simply shared quiet breaths together, until Remus, grasping your waist in his hands again, leaned further forward and caught your little mouth in his for a proper kiss.

“Mmm,” you moaned out quietly against his lips.

After a moment, Remus pulled back a little. “I missed you,” he confessed. “These past days, when I didn’t see you, I missed you.”

“You – You did?” you breathed out, and you felt your heart open up, and an indescribable sense of quiet, but soulful happiness bled into your heart.

I always do, Remus thought, as he felt you hug him tighter, pressing your own body flush to his, so that your shadows were inseparable on the wall behind you.

Then, with your chin resting softly on Remus’ shoulder, and still straddling his thigh and feeling the sturdy warmth of Remus’ thigh nestled between your legs, you slowly and softly began to move your hips, just a little, on top of Remus’ knee.

Remus immediately held your breath catch, because your face was propped up gently on his shoulder, so that your mouth was right at Remus’ ear.

To your surprise, Remus breathed in sharply with you. You hugged him tighter, and you pressed a soft kiss to his cheek as you gently rolled your hips forward, pushing yourself against his thigh.

Remus, who was grasping your waist, felt your hips moving forwards and back, and he felt you rubbing yourself on his thigh now.

She said it wasn’t going to do anything to me, but – uhn – I think she was wrong about that, Remus found himself thinking.

Your skirt was slowly making your way up your thighs; your shifting kept pushing it up as it came into contact of Remus’ thigh both in front and behind you, and when Remus glanced down briefly, he could catch glimpses of your boyshorts, and of you shifting back and forth, more and more fervently against him.

“U-Uhn,” you mumbled out a soft, yet desperate moan.

Very wrong, Remus thought, and he gulped softly.

You were starting to feel your little clit catching against his thigh with every back-and-forth shift, and you began to roll your hips forward, to feel more of Remus’ thigh spreading you out. Pressing your clothed cunt down onto his thigh, you appreciated every bit of friction you were subjecting your little pussy to.

“Ah… Ah… Ah,” you panted out, directly into Remus’ ear. Remus was learning that your voice became a little raspy when you were chasing pleasure, and he softened at once when he heard that slightly textured quality enter your voice. He knew what it meant – it meant that you were slipping, slipping into that floating, bright world of sublime pleasure. And perhaps you could not have imagined the high it would give Remus to see you losing yourself simply by riding his thigh, but it certainly made Remus an intense feeling of satisfaction.

Watching you work your little hips, grinding that plush, wet cunt of yours all over his thigh, and even feeling how your breasts were straining against your jumper and pushing up gently against his chest as you panted heavily and clutched onto him, Remus was so intensely affected by you. He wanted to see what might happen if he were to move his thigh even a little higher for you -

You had quickly become quite wet between your thighs, and you had already been well on your way to making yourself cum on Remus’ thigh, when you felt Remus lift his knee up ever so slightly, pushing his thigh flush against your already wet and sensitive cunt.

“Ah!” you cried out, right into Remus’ ear.

By now, the middle of your boyshorts were absolutely soaked through, clinging to your wet, wet cunt, and Remus pressing your shorts up harder against your clit and your pussy hole only made you wetter.

Oh – Oh no, you thought to yourself feverishly, I think I’m going to soak through onto his trousers, and I haven’t even cum yet.

When he heard you cry out like that, Remus’ protective instincts over you kicked in immediately. Even though the rational part of his mind knew that you were feeling pleasure and not pain, Remus also thought, How can I feel anything but protective, when you’re whimpering and letting out little muffled cries directly into my ear? You sound so unbelievably precious, lovely.

Remus pulled you even closer, until you were nearly sitting atop his hip. His long arm wound around your waist easily, and his hand fell onto the higher part of your skirt, which was still covering your thighs. Remus extended his fingers to grasp onto as much of the skirt as he could, and then he fisted your skirt and pinned it up at your hip, giving you more freedom to move without your skirt being in the way.

Feeling the pressure of his hip, as well as his thigh, pressing into you, you ended up desperately wiggling your hips, now suddenly shifting, dragging your pussy from side to side, smearing the cum leaking through your boyshorts on top of Remus’ trousers, as you frantically tried to withstand the sudden tension that you were feeling, so tightly coiled up inside both your cunt and your tummy.

When you shifted side-to-side, however, you could feel how your pussy lips were spreading against Remus’ thigh, and the cum in your pussy was now leaking from you even more readily, until Remus could feel your wetness drenching through even his trousers.

“Mm, ah…” you breathed out feverishly.

Remus, feeling you beginning to shiver, reached his hand up between your torsos, forcing you to break your tight hug around his shoulders. You whimpered a little as your arms fell away from Remus, but just then, you felt Remus’ hand slide to the back of your head, and he gripped your hair at the very roots, at the nape of your neck, quite tightly.

Keeping your hair in his tight grip, Remus pulled your head away from his shoulder, which you’d been moaning into all this time, and he drew you away from him, just enough to be able to see your face.

You were blinking, as you had closed your eyes the entire time you’d buried your face against his neck. Now, the sunlight streaming in through the window was making your vision a bit fuzzy, as you struggled with the sudden light flooding your vision.

Meanwhile, the fuzzy and vague sensation of tension and pleasure between your thighs was becoming more and more intense.

“Re – Remus,” you moaned out, clearly as a plea for permission to lean forward and hide your face against his chest again.

But Remus softly shook his head. “I told you,” he whispered, “I want to see you…”

A part of you wanted to stop yourself – this was too embarrassing – but you were too close to your climax to reject it anymore. No, you had to chase after it even harder, faster –

Uhn, uhn, uhn! you moaned loudly in your mind. You were now shifting back and forth more and more frantically, chasing that intense pleasure that was starting to make you throb, as though your cunt had a little heartbeat of its own. You gritted your teeth as you grinded your pussy hard into that wet patch on Remus’ thigh, making it even wetter and darker.

“Uhn, Remus,” you begged aloud, and Remus knew, he must have known, that you were asking for him to hold you as you came, but Remus still only shook his head lightly, and his fingers remained laced deep into your blue locks, keeping your head away from him.

Remus’ eyes mostly remained on your face, drinking in every sweet expression you were giving him, but his eyes did fall momentarily down your body, and Remus breathed out heavily when he saw how busily you were working yourself on his thigh. Your own thighs were shifting everywhere, your hips stuttering, and Remus could feel your little pussy pressing itself down onto him, all wet and hot and needy…

“Mm,” Remus bit down on his lower lip subconsciously, and he let out a soft moan of satisfaction and appreciation. She’s so pretty like this.

“Ah! Remus!” you cried out just then.

Your mouth fell open, and you began to lean forward, when Remus, suddenly snapping his head back up to look at your face, instinctively jerked your head back by your hair so that he could see your face when you came.

You felt the sudden tug in your hair, and you gasped involuntarily as your head fell back, and your back arched to accommodate Remus’ yanking you back. Your hands reached out for Remus, scrabbling wildly at his chest for a long moment before finally finding the collar of his shirt to hold onto. Then, as your eyes fluttered shut, a string of soft cries, the nonverbal synonyms of pleas, tumbled out of your soft, open mouth. Oh God, I’m going to cum!

“Remus, please!” you moaned out. “I’m – mmm!”

Suddenly, Remus felt your thighs shivering. Your little feet were trembling against the wooden floor, on either side of Remus’ thigh. Your toes curled up inside of your sneakers. One of your shoelaces had come untied somewhere in the midst of all this.

With how desperately you were now clutching onto Remus’ collar, your hand was now sliding down the front of his chest, and you were dragging the front of his shirt down. For once, Remus didn’t notice, for he was too busy gazing at you. He was watching you with such tender, and yet quite possessive eyes. His eyes glinted a deep, lovely brown-green, as he took in this beautiful sight of you pleasuring yourself and cumming on his thigh.

All at once, you let out a loud sob. Because your head was held back like that, the sound erupted loudly in the small room, as a wanting, nearly primal half-cry and half-moan.

You trembled all over, with your back arched so beautifully, abs straining, thighs shuddering inwards all around Remus’ thigh – and ah…

Remus finally let your hair go, as he realized how much you needed him close to you now, to hold you up, for you had fallen forward and slumped into his chest. You were still feeling little jolts twitching inside your throbbing, wet pussy, and little tremors ran through your body. Remus, feeling you shiver, hugged you to him as tight as he could.

You let out a strained, last huff of breath against his chest, and a second later, Remus could clearly feel that damp spot on his thigh growing.

“Oh, lovely,” Remus whispered in surprise, “you’re so wet.”

It’s ironic, Remus thought wryly, that when I can’t scent her anymore, I can now feel her all over my thigh.

“Mmm…” you breathed out tiredly. Then, you pressed a kiss on his chest, right over his bandages.

Remus suddenly realized that his shirt had just about been yanked open, and his bandages were out in plain view. But you didn’t comment on them at all. You just carefully rested your head where his chest was undamaged, right above the bandages.

After a moment had passed, in which you could hear Remus’ heartbeat in your ear (because of how you were lying your head against his chest), you murmured, “Your heart is beating really fast, too.”

Remus merely nodded softly. In truth, his heart was not only pounding, but his cock was stiff with desiring you.

However, just at that moment, you brought one hand over to his chest and softly traced right over where his heart was.

“What are you doing?” Remus asked you, a bit anxiously.

“Drawing a heart within a heart,” you murmured softly. “An outer, heart-shaped shell, to protect your heart, Remus.”

Protect my heart? Remus mused. The only thing my heart needs protection from… is you.

Remus let out a soft sigh, but he didn’t say anything as he continued to cradle you in his arms, rubbing your back soothingly, and giving you gentle kisses on the top of your head every few seconds. And though he was far too shy to ever say it aloud to you, in his head, he whispered adoringly down to you, good girl.

* * * * * * * * * *

The next day, when you came to your hiding spot after class, you found Remus leaning over your potted plant.

“Remus?” you said curiously. Remus was rarely up here before you were.

Remus jumped in surprise, and his head narrowly missed the wooden beam above him.

“What are you -?” Your eyes fell onto the plant behind him.

The little ferns in the plant were all green again – fresh and vibrant with life.

“Did you just replace the ferns?” you asked Remus.

“No! They came back to life, all on their own! Like magic!” Remus said, trying to act cheerful and astonished. “Whatever amount of water you gave them yesterday, it must have been just right.”

You raised a most skeptical eyebrow at Remus, an eyebrow so stern that McGonagall might have awarded you House Points for it.

Under your disbelieving and scrutinizing gave, Remus’ face fell, and he shuffled uncomfortably from side to side for a few seconds. “Well… Yes, I – I might have given the ferns a hand,” he finally admitted.

“How much of a hand?” you asked him.

“Just, you know, here and there.”

“Let’s see this ‘here and there.’ Hands out.” You nodded at him, clearly indicating for him to stop hiding his hands behind his back.

Remus sighed, and he brought out his hands and opened them. In both of his hands lay the old, clearly dried-up and dead, ferns.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I thought I could pull it off, but…”

“What were you going to do if I kept killing them off?” you asked him.

Remus shrugged. “They’re not hard to grow…”

You looked up at him in awe. “You were going to keep growing them and replacing them?”

“Um, well… yes, yes, I was.”

“Remus.” Ducking your head a little, you walked up to him.

“Sorry,” Remus repeated, his face a bit flushed from embarrassment. “I know it was a stupid idea. I just hated the thought that it was my fault that I’d dumped these ferns on you, and you felt sad that they wouldn’t grow properly and - ”

You reached up, grasped his face gently in your hands, and pushing forward onto your tiptoes, you kissed him.

Remus froze. For a moment, he was unsure of himself, and he certainly didn’t know what to do with his hands, as they were full of dried-up ferns. Finally, he closed his hands back into fists and he wrapped his arms around your waist, almost lifting you off your feet.

You kissed Remus for a long, long time, only falling back onto your feet after you’d given him a soft bite on his lower lip, and gently swiped his tongue with yours.

“Um, what was that for?” Remus asked you, feeling a bit foolish to be standing in front of you, still holding a bunch of dead ferns.

You gave him a little smile. “Oh, I don’t know,” you said breezily. “Maybe for being the most thoughtful person I’ve ever met?”

Remus didn’t know how to respond to that. It wasn’t in his response arsenal to reply to such a genuine, yet blatant compliment. “Oh, uh… I wouldn’t – That’s quite the – the statement - ”

“Come on,” you told Remus, sparing him from the horrible business of replying to a compliment. “Let’s get rid of all of those dead ferns in your hands.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Ten minutes later, you and Remus were standing under the willow tree by the Great Lake, scattering the dead foxtail ferns in the calm waters. You could see the little guppy fishes swimming up to eat the ferns.

“Do you… You’re not sad anymore about the ferns dying, right?” Remus asked you quietly.

“No, I’m all right now, thanks to you.” You looked over at him, and smiling, you shook your head. “In fact, I’m really happy, Remus.”

“You are?”

“Yes. Maybe for the first time in a truly long time.”

Remus hesitated. Your words tugged at his heartstrings, for it was exactly how he felt, too. Yes, there were flashes of happiness in his life, especially thanks to the other Marauders, but when was the last time that he had felt truly and purely happy? He couldn’t remember.

For, when the other Marauders had accepted him and even become Animagi just to protect him and be with him, Remus had, of course, been extremely happy and grateful, but the amount of guilt he felt at betraying Dumbledore’s trust, and his total trepidation for what might happen if something went wrong, with either the Animagus process or when they went on their monthly romps in the forest, injected those memories with a very real and intense sense of apprehension.

Yes, this is the closest moment, Remus thought. Standing here with you, watching the waves ripple out on the glassy surface of the lake… This must be happiness – true happiness, the kind associated with peace instead of chaos.

Just then, you murmured softly, “You know, Remus, I think this is the first time we’ve been out on the castle grounds together. I mean, just out, not going to visit Hagrid and Artemis, not bumping into each other accidentally in the village, but just… together, and out in the open.”

Remus thought about it for a moment. She means that we don’t ever do things together in public. We don’t even say hi to each other in the hallways, let alone go on dates… But, I don’t have the courage to promise you more.

Remus replied quietly, “Yes, I think you’re right.”

I’m sorry, Lovely.

Remus came closer to you, and when you reached out your hand, Remus took it into his own, and the two of you stood on the shores of the Great Lake, watching the last of the foxtail ferns vanish into the darkness of the cold lake water…

* * * * * * * * * *

Winter was finally passing, in favor of the milder winds and vibrant blossoms of spring.

However, the last remains of frost still lay thinly on the ground, and whenever you took Artemis out for a walk, the impression-less ice made it difficult for you to track her, while the crunching sound your feet made whenever it hit the ground made it very easy for Artemis to escape you.

“This is pitiful. I’ve got to practice more,” you groaned to yourself, after hours had gone by without finding Artemis.

You lifted your wand and you murmured, “Corusco.” A soft, twinkling sound of a bell rang out in the hushed forest air.

A moment later, a responding twinkle, almost like an echo, only a tad bit brighter in sound, began to ring out in the forest, somewhere out to your left.

Then, Artemis came bounding out from behind the trees, with the magical bell around her neck ringing brightly.

You lowered your wand, and the bell fell quiet.

You held out your arms, and Artemis leapt into them.

“Good job, Artemis,” you praised her, stroking her fur. She gave you a little yelp and pawed at your chest.

You couldn’t find me today, she was saying. I win!

You smiled at her. “Yeah, I guess you did. C’mon, let’s head back. Your little paws are cold, Art.”

Artemis merely gave you an unimpressed snort, as if to say, You’re worried that my paws are cold? Hmpfh, I’m built for this, y’ know.

* * * * * * * * * *

Remus was gone again.

You no longer stayed in your hiding spot when he decided to spend days away from you. You just didn’t like being in that space anymore without him.

Instead, you took increasingly long walks in the forest now, especially because the weather was becoming slightly warmer. You didn’t mind the slight sting of cold across your cheeks, either. There was something about you that savored the feeling of freedom, and feeling nature – whether it was the dirt beneath your feet, or the wind brushing across your face, or even the sting of the cold on your skin – helped you to feel free.

You promised yourself not to think of Remus, or Rowan, when you were out on these walks. But, inevitably, when you returned to your hiding spot, only to see the strange nest-like structure Remus had quietly built in his little corner, you would be reminded of him.

Try as you might to keep your gaze on your maps, your eyes would wander over to Remus’ make-shift corner in the room, where, over the months that he had now occupied this space with you, Remus had slowly began to gather some items around him – spare quills, books on magical spirits that he thought you might find interesting, chocolates, old jazz records he was scared to leave in his room for fear one of the others might trample over them, and single socks that he couldn’t bring himself to throw away but also for the life of him could not find out whether the other sock went. Your eyes lingered over one particular book called “Greek Mythology Reimagined into Magical Myths.” And then, in the middle of all of this neat-but-messy hodgepodge of items, there was one of his cardigans that he’d left behind from last time he was here. When you saw his cardigan, you were reminded of the patch on the back of your jumper…

It was odd. In some ways, you trusted Remus completely. You didn’t want to pry where he didn’t want you to pry. You didn’t need to, anyways, to love him, you thought.

But on the other hand, it felt like every time the two of you started to get closer, Remus would announce that he wouldn’t be around for at least a few days.

Last time, right after he had touched you all over and kissed you and fell asleep in your bed with you, with his hands still slipped up onto your bare back, under your jumper, and his head buried against your chest, Remus had said he couldn’t be around for five or so days because of “prefect duties.”

This time, after Remus had so patiently held you and helped you cum all over his thigh, and the two of you had gone out to the Great Lake together, where you subtly mentioned that you wouldn’t mind going on an actual date with him some time, he had remained around, but he’d never taken you up on your hint that maybe the two of you could spend more time together out of your hiding spot. And now, again, Remus told you that he was going to be away for another five or so days, this time because of “his mother’s health.”

You didn’t want to question him, so you just accepted it and tried to smile as you waved good-bye to him. And then, when Remus saw you waving at him, he’d stutter to a stop, turn around, and come back to give you a sweet hug before leaving, tucking your head softly against his shoulder and cradling you with his sweater paw.

The warmth of his hug would last you for days, and you’d hang onto it desperately in your mind, but eventually, it would vanish as nothing more than a wisp of memory. At that point, however, a doubtful little voice would rise up in the back of your mind and whisper to you, “He’s trying to set boundaries. He wants to be close to you, but he doesn’t want to be in a relationship with you. Take the hint. He disappears after every intimate encounter, and he doesn’t seem open to taking you out on dates or even greeting you in the hallways. He only likes you as his little pet, his little secret. Why won’t you just admit that to yourself?”

You shoved the voice away, deep into the recesses of your mind. You’re wrong, you argued back. Remus isn’t like that.

“But even if he was,” the voice argued back, “would you have the courage to stand up for yourself and push him away?”

At this, your heart faltered a little. You slowly scooted over to Remus’ little nest and plucked out the cardigan. You brought it up to your face and inhaled. Yeah, it smells just like Remus – earl grey tea, antique books, chocolate…

Was I braver before I met Remus? you wondered. More focused, certainly, on myself and on finding the Nine-Tailed Fox. Well, maybe I should regain some of my old focus, and make more of an effort to sharpen my tracking skills. After all, there’s not that much time until I graduate, and the real hunt begins.

* * * * * * * * * *

Later that night, you were crouched outside of the back window of Hagrid’s hut. You were trying to coax Artemis to jump through Hagrid’s window without waking Hagrid or Fang. Artemis recognized your scent at once, and, with her ears flickering curiously, she came to the window almost at once.

“There you are, pretty thing,” you cooed. Then, pulling out your wand, you tapped it on the windowsill, murmuring, “Alohomora.” The window sprang free, and Artemis slunk out easily.

“Okay,” you whispered. “I’ll get you back here soon. I just want to try something with you tonight, all right?”

Artemis mewed softly, settling in against your shoulder.

You gently closed Hagrid’s window shut, so that the chilly nighttime breeze wouldn’t infiltrate his cozy cabin. Then you crept away, deep into the Forbidden Forest, just as the full moon was beginning to rise.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Now, listen here.”

Artemis perked up her ears and looked up at you.

“I’ve been wanting to have a serious talk about this with you for a while now.” You stopped and still holding the fox carefully in one arm, you pulled out Remus’ cardigan from inside of your cloak.

Artemis immediately shrank away from it. You frowned. “No, you’ve got it wrong,” you told her. “I keep telling you - Remus was trying to help me save you. He wanted you safe.”

The fox gave an unhappy mewl at you and pawed at the cardigan, as if to push it away from her. But you pushed it back towards her, insisting, “Friend.”

Artemis glanced down at the cardigan again, almost worriedly, before looking back up at you.

“Friend,” you repeated, trying to gently nuzzle her with Remus’ cardigan.

She was still for a long moment, but then reluctantly nuzzled Remus’ cardigan back with her nose.

You smiled. “There we go. Now you won’t go biting at Remus’ fingers whenever he tries to pet you, I hope.”

Artemis gave a soft, indignant yelp, as if to say, Hey, it’s not my fault I’m wired this way…

But just then, you swore you heard a rustling in the leaves behind you. You froze. So did Artemis.

What was that? you wondered. I’ve been in the Forbidden Forest at night several times before, but I’ve never heard a sound like that.

Heart thundering, you slowly drew out your wand. Then, whirling around, you cried out, “Who’s there?”

There was no response, only the faintest breeze rustling through the forest. It was so dark now that night had properly fallen, and you couldn’t make out anything beyond ten feet in front of you, if that.

Suddenly, Artemis growled and bared her teeth. You looked down at her, whispering, “What?”

But then, to your surprise, she leapt out of your arms in an explosion of fur and claws. Yelping loudly, she raced through the trees without you.

“Wait, no! Artemis! Come back! There are dark magical creatures out here! Art, stop!” You sprinted after your fox for all you were worth, but it was impossible for a human to keep up with a fox, especially at night, in a forest filled with trees and hedges.

A low branch caught your shin. With a gasp, you tripped and fell hard onto the forest floor. “Ugh!” you groaned. But just then, somewhere off in the distance, you heard a small yelp, and you instantly knew that Artemis was in trouble. Breathlessly, you pushed yourself up from the ground and went running off again, pushing yourself to sprint as fast as you could to reach Artemis.

* * * * * * * * * *

Though you didn’t know it, of course, Artemis had always been able to smell the faint traces of a werewolf on Remus, as well as his cardigan. So, it confused Artemis greatly when you kept pushing the cardigan at her and repeating, “friend, friend.”

But then, when you’d been busy smiling down at her, Artemis had caught glimpse of a most unusual creature over your shoulder – a great big stag, with huge antlers.

Artemis immediately went on autopilot. Yelping, she raced out of your arms, scared for her life.

But her fear only intensified and worsened the further into the forest she went. Artemis began to regret leaving your arms, but she couldn’t have helped it, as her every instinct had been screaming at her to run, for she recognized at once that that was no normal stag. A normal stag wouldn’t even be in this type of forest in the first place. She immediately recognized that.

But then, Artemis paused. Sniffed. Stopped. Wait… Wait, that’s the scent of “friend”… Yes, “friend.” Friend! Safety!

Running so fast she looked like a blurred arrow, Artemis ran eagerly towards the scent that matched the cardigan, though the scent was somewhat muddied, but she figured that was just the scent of the damp forest all around her. Artemis ran and ran, thinking of how proud you’d be of her that she knew to run to “friend” – smack!

It was only when Artemis ran smack into “friend” in a dark clearing, that she realized that “friend” turned out to be a terrifying, bristling, and growling werewolf. Artemis yelped and skidding to a stop, she fell hard on her little rump. She whimpered pitifully, ears sinking right back until they were pointing backwards and flat on her skull. She was done for, and she knew it.

But then, the little bell on her neck started ringing loudly. Her eyes flashed open in surprise, but her tail instinctively thumped, because she associated that sound with you.

Besides that, the bell sound was so startling and out-of-place in the deep, dark forest that even the savage, growling, yellow-eyed werewolf before her paused, narrowing its eyes in puzzlement.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Artemis! Artemis!” You were still running and yelling for your fox, even though you knew you were far behind her. The thing was, though, that your wand was dragging you to her so long as you kept it out in front of you, because of the little bell you’d hung around her neck. See, the spell acted not only to activate the bell sound, but also as a compass, to direct you towards wherever she was. So, even knowing that you were likely far too late, you kept going.

You burst into a dark and completely unfamiliar clearing that was deep in the forest, deeper than you’d ever gone before.

As you raced towards the middle of the clearing, you swore you heard a growl somewhere behind you. You stopped dead in your tracks. You tried to breathe quietly, but your heart was racing so fast and your lungs were aching so much with want of oxygen that it was impossible to be totally silent.

Still, you did your best to silence yourself, and for a long second, there was absolutely no sound. The forest felt deadly still, which was odd, in itself.

You whispered, in a trembling voice, “Artemis…?”

“Rrrrrroarrrr!”

A ferocious and hideous roar shattered the night air all at once.

You screamed and stumbled backwards, only to trip over a rock hidden beneath the foliage. You landed hard on your butt. A flash of pain ran through your body, and you groaned. But the adrenaline was winning out over the pain, and you still had enough sense to raise your wand up, even if you were sprawled out on the ground.

At that moment, the most eerie pair of yellow eyes came out of the darkness of the trees, accompanied by a low, rumbling growl deep in the creature’s chest.

Your breath halted. What… is that? Oh God, oh God, oh God, your mind chanted furiously.

You croaked out in a raspy, barely audible voice, “Lumos.”

Producing light in that moment was both the stupidest and smartest thing you could have done. It certainly alerted the werewolf as to where you were, but the werewolf knew already because of its incredibly heightened night vision. However, it also enraged the werewolf, which did not bode well for your survival. On the other hand, it forced the werewolf to look away, and in that instance, your survival instincts kicked in and you got up and began to run for your life.

Unfortunately for you, a werewolf is easily thrice as fast as a human, and you were overtaken in no time. You screamed when you felt the werewolf’s hot breath on your neck, and a second later, it sharp claws dug into your back. You cried out in pain – arms sprawled out, you were falling – you hit the ground hard again, this time on your front - you shut your eyes tightly, waiting to die – but then –

“Ruff, ruff! Grrrrr….” Two sharp barks sounded out from just behind you, followed by a growl. You felt a blast of hot air go over your back and you heard the sound of two animals ferociously colliding into each other.

You gasped and managed to turn yourself over onto your back and onto your elbows. Is that a black dog fighting… a – a werewolf…?

Suddenly, the adrenaline crashed in your system, and the pain of falling hard twice and of having claws rip into your back all caught up with you. Before you knew it, your vision was blinking out, and you were falling back onto the forest ground.

Your wand began to slip from your fingertips. A jumble of thoughts blurred together in your mind. No… you thought, I can’t die yet. I have to go to my – my brother’s graduation… Is Artemis safe? Remus, where are you? Mom, I’m sorry I’m not a good enough daughter for you. My Nine-Tailed Fox, where are you? Then, an intense buzzing sound rang out in your mind, until it was the only thing you could hear.

The last thing you saw was the night sky high above you, and though most of the stars were blocked out by the tall trees, you could spot the brightest star – the Sirius star, you thought hazily - guiding you home. Home…

* * * * * * * * * *

You suddenly jerked up. A flash of pain ran through your head, and you were instantly dizzy and nauseous. “Ow!” You brought you hand up to your head immediately.

“Whoa, easy there.”

You cracked open one eye to see –

“What the hell are you doing here?” Your voice came out hoarse as chalk.

“Yeah, you might want some water there.”

A soft yelp agreed with him.

You blinked, and opening both your eyes, you took in the most unexpected sight of Sirius Black sitting next to your hospital bed, and with none other than Artemis in his lap.

Your jaw fell open. “What’re you - ? Artemis?” Then, you choked – and coughed.

Sirius grimaced. He reached over and tapped his wand on an empty glass, murmuring, “Aguamenti.”

It filled with water, and he handed it to you.

You downed it, but as soon as you did, you asked, “What happened? Why are you here? And why are you holding Artemis?”

“Is that her name?” Sirius said casually, scratching Artemis behind the ears lazily. Artemis purred with happiness.

You squinted at Artemis questionably. “I’m glad you’re okay, but how can you cozy up to Black?” you asked her, stunned and feeling betrayed. “Do you have any sense of who he is? He’s the one who put you in my dormitory in the first place!”

“Sh, keep your voice down!” Leaning forward, Sirius hurriedly clamped his hand across your mouth. “Pomfrey doesn’t know Artemis is in here. And besides, I never got caught for that prank, and I’d rather you keep quiet about that.”

You immediately shook your head to get his hand off of your face, but as you did, you felt rivers of pain come alive and melt down your entire back.

“Ow…” you groaned.

“Yeah, you might not want to make any sudden motions right now,” Sirius said, a bit ruefully. “Especially if it’s going to strain your neck or back.”

“What happened to me?” you asked Sirius, as you carefully lifted your arms one at a time to stretch. You winced when you heard your shoulders crack.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Sirius asked you. He lifted Artemis up with both hands until the little fox was face-level with you. “You broke the rules and went into the Forbidden Forest in the dead of night with this little fella - ” Artemis’ tail swished happily when she realized Sirius was talking about her – “but she took off and ran into some other creature in the depths of the forest. You went after her, all panicking, and then you fell and lost consciousness.”

You frowned. Your memory was quite blurry, but that did seem to make sense and add up to the parts that you remembered except…

“How would you know all of that?” you asked Sirius suspiciously.

Sirius sighed and placed Artemis back on his lap. “You never trust me, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” you responded immediately. Then, you gave him a look that clearly indicated that you were still waiting for his answer.

“Hagrid came up to the castle to report that Artemis was missing, and James, as the Head Boy, ran back down with him to help Hagrid find you. He told me all about this morning.”

You stared at Sirius with a skeptical look for a while longer. But then, something clunked in your brain. “Wait. This morning!? What time is it now?”

Sirius gave you an exasperated look. “It’s lunchtime. What? D’you think I was skivving off class to come see you?”

“Anyways.” Sirius got up, dumping Artemis onto your bed. “You missed Potions today, so Slughorn asked me to come tell you that you’ve got your detention with him tomorrow at six.”

“He’s not going to cut me any slack?” you asked half-indignantly and half-desperately.

Sirius smirked at you. “Nope. Actually, he’s quite furious with you. Apparently, he forgot about the detention you owed him, and you didn’t remind him.”

“Oh, and here.” He tossed a piece of parchment onto your bed. “That’s the make-up assignment for missing today.”

With that, Sirius started to head out of the hospital wing. Artemis made to bound after him. You grabbed her and held her back, and she whined and scratched at your wrist.

“No,” you told her firmly. “That’s a bad man. Foe. Enemy. Rival. Culprit. Criminal - ”

Sirius suddenly turned back on his heel to tell you, “Hey, miss-I-fell-in-a-forest-and-knocked-myself-out, I can hear you. Stop being a smart-ass, and stop confusing that poor fox. It’s not her fault she’s got better taste than you.”

“Wha -? Better taste?” you sputtered, irritated beyond belief – but Sirius was already out the door, gone.

Artemis let out a sad sound and slowly sat down on the bed again. You let go of her and with a sigh, you gently laid back on your bed again. I wake up to a pounding headache, to arrogant-as-ever Sirius Black, and to detention with Slughorn. Fantastic. On top of that, I feel like I got hit by a train, I’m sure Hagrid’s going to yell at me when I return Artemis to him, or be disappointed in me, which is frankly even worse, and I also think I lost Remus’ cardigan… Damn it. You rolled over a little and buried your face in your pillow, wanting to block out all thought.

* * * * * * * * * *

Later that evening, Madam Pomfrey released you, though she glared at you suspiciously when you insisted on changing into your clothes by yourself (which was essential in hiding Artemis from her, as you shoved Artemis into your jumper), but on strict orders to come back to change your bandages tomorrow evening.

Once released, you went down to Hagrid’s at once. Sure enough, he gave you a lecture on how he couldn’t trust you ever again if you kept sneaking out into the Forbidden Forest at night and how he thought you were smarter than to put yourself and Artemis in danger like that.

Feeling terrible, you figured that you might as well take the guilt train all the way to the station at this point, and you dragged yourself up to your hiding spot, expecting to see Remus there. I’ve got to tell him that I lost his cardigan, you thought, sighing heavily. I feel terrible, especially because I know how hard he works to keep his clothes for as long as he can. Maybe I’ll be able to buy him a new one at the next Hogsmeade trip, though I’ve been broke ever since I bought that stupid Beater’s bat and a cartload of alcohol.

But your apology went unsaid, because Remus never showed up to your hiding spot that night.

Or the next.

Right, he said he’d be gone for at least five days. It’s technically only been five days, so let’s just be patient and wait, you told yourself.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dragging yourself to Slughorn’s detention was the worst. However, when you handed him your note from Madam Pomfrey, Slughorn grudgingly changed your detention assignment from chopping liverwurt to grading fourth years’ homework. Slughorn provided you with a “sample key answer” and it took you a few minutes to realize that this was actually Severus Snape’s fourth-year work. Your jaw fell open when you realized how intelligently Snape had answered each and every question. He’d added diagrams and tables, but never just to show off; they genuinely presented the information in a more digestible way.

“Godric,” you muttered under your breath. So he’s not just all hook nose, he’s got some brain, too. Then, you winced at yourself. That was mean. Snape hasn’t done anything to you.

* * * * * * * * * *

The next morning in Potions, Sirius came in late. Slughorn shot him a look, but didn’t say anything. You snorted. If it had been you, you were sure that Slughorn would have said something.

“What’d I miss?” Sirius whispered to you, as he pulled out his textbook.

“Everything,” you supplied unhelpfully, as you were still annoyed from having to serve your third detention with Slughorn thanks to Sirius.

“Great, thanks,” Sirius deadpanned.

You rolled your eyes at him. You may not put up barricades of books between the two of you anymore, but that still didn’t mean that you were pleased to see Sirius.

“Oi.” Sirius nudged you with his shoulder. “How come you haven’t taken any notes?”

It was true. Your parchment was blank.

You looked over at Sirius with narrowed eyes. “Why, were you going to copy off of my notes by just looking over my shoulder?”

“Yep,” Sirius said unashamedly.

You scoffed and looked away, back to where you had been staring for the better half of the first ten minutes of class.

After a moment, Sirius followed your gaze – only to see you looking at: “Snivellus?” he whisper-shouted, horrified. “What’re you looking at him for?”

“Shut up,” you retorted at once, embarrassed that Sirius had caught you staring.

“Merlin,” Sirius said, shaking his head almost as though he pitied you, “Artemis really does have better taste than you, doesn’t she? I bet she could smell the grease coming off of Snape’s head from a mile away, and it would disgust her – as it should.”

“Why are you so mean?” you asked Sirius.

Sirius nodded at your blank parchment. “Why are you so useless?”

You stared sullenly at Sirius for a moment, thinking, It is not my responsibility to give you notes for your own damn absence! “Why are you such a prat?” The question left your lips before you could help yourself.

Sirius blinked once, taken aback, before his eyes narrowed at you. “Why have you got a stick shoved up your ass?”

The conversation quickly regressed in trading passive-aggressive insults for the next ten minutes, until finally, you murmured, in a mildly casual voice, “Why are you the way that you are?”

That simple, yet hard-hitting question left Sirius gaping, and you smirked, pleased at finally having the upper hand on him.

But the smile slid off your face when Slughorn announced a pop quiz, and both you and Sirius were still staring at two sheets of shamefully blank parchment.

* * * * * * * * * *

It had been eight days, and Remus still hadn’t come up to your shared hiding spot. You didn’t even see him in the castle anymore. He wasn’t in classes, and he never appeared in the Great Hall for meals.

Maybe his mother is really ill, you thought worriedly to yourself.

Finally, you decided to break your “no-prying” rule. You walked into Potions, plopped down next to Sirius, and asked straightforwardly, “Is Remus all right?”

Sirius looked at you with surprise. “You’re asking about Moony?”

“What?” you replied, confused.

“Er – no, sorry,” Sirius said. “You’re asking about Remus.”

“Yes.”

Slughorn walked in just then, so you pretended to open your textbook, but you immediately looked back at Sirius expectantly.

Sirius, however, had bent his head over his notes. You frowned at him, filled with well-justified skepticism. When was the last time I saw Sirius leaning over his notes? Never.

“Hey.” You poked Sirius hard in the shoulder with your quill.

“Ow,” Sirius grimaced, though he was still refusing to look at you. “That’s sharp, y’ know.”

“No kidding,” you retorted. “Anyways, Remus told me that his mother was ill, and that he had to take a week off to see her. Do you know if his mother is all right now?”

Sirius finally looked over at you. “Remus told you all that?”

You nodded.

Sirius sighed. “His mother is fine. But Remus was taking care of her, and now he’s caught whatever she had.”

You blurted out incredibly loudly, “What?”

The entire class and Slughorn looked over at you.

Slughorn paused. Then, he said icily, “Yes. Shrinking Solutions do make one shrink. The key, I believe, is in the name.”

The class let out a merry shout of laughter, and you flushed with embarrassment. But when the embarrassment faded away, all you could feel was worry for Remus. You gnawed anxiously on your lower lip, and though you held your quill in your hand, all you left were messy splotches of ink on the sheet of parchment in front of you.

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