Chocolate and Books

I'm sure this will end up being much longer at some point, because I've wanted to use this title for an awesome Remus fanfic for a while now...but right now I'm too sleepy and sick to write much more of it. So you get what you get for now. Haha. It's Remione and AU. Yep yep.

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"You know I've told you before, Mr. Lupin. No food in the library." An old, snippy looking librarian stared down at him, arms folded tightly across her thin chest.

The eighteen year old looked up at her and blinked, a piece of chocolate poised halfway between his lips. "Oh." he mumbled, popping the piece of chocolate the rest of the way into his mouth. "Sorry."

The librarian sniffed, giving him a warning look and turning away to disappear amongst the many stacks of books in the public library. It was an old, smelly place, rarely visited by those who had better things to do than sitting on old rickety chairs, sneezing every few seconds from the thick dust that covered every surface.

Remus Lupin, on the other hand, had nothing better to do - considering it was a gloomy sunday afternoon, with clouds gathering outside in early warning of a coming storm -and no where better to go for the day. He loved the library - had loved it since he was little - and being there was better than being at home. Staying at home meant dealing with his parents; meant dealing with his parents who were about to get divorced, and there was nothing fun about that. He preferred to be in a happy place, thank you very much.

Not that the old building could be considered 'happy'. It was gloomy - depressing, really. Just looking around he could spot three other people besides himself - an older man who was reading some newspaper from several years ago, a kid who was sitting in the lousy children section that barely had even 20 books (barely, because half of the books were falling apart), and a girl with a crazy amount of bushy hair who had her back towards him. She had a huge stack of books sitting next to her and was flipping through pages at an amazing rate. Remus generally preferred to go through his books slower, to enjoy them more he always thought.

A loud rustling noise coming from the entrance disturbed the three others from their silent thoughts and Remus caught a glimpse of the girl's face - which was quite pretty actually - as it turned towards the doorway, before he felt two strong arms thrown around his neck and a loud voice shouting 'hello' to everyone.

"God, Sirius, can't you ever keep your voice down? We're in the library for god's sake." Great, now everyone was watching. Remus was too embarrassed to even look up and get a better view of the girl with the crazy hair.

Sirius Black, nineteen and hardly capable of keeping his voice below shouting volume, gave Remus an offended look. "Keep my voice down? As if! That old bat can hardly hear a thing. Oh hey, doesn't that girl look kind of squirrel-y to you? Especially with that hair...sheesh. Get a comb to that mop." He chuckled, running a hand through his own shiny, well kept, straight hair.

Remus could hear a book slamming shut and a chair shuffling back and looked up in time to see the girl storming out of the library. Great. He might have even been able to work up the courage to talk to her, considering at least they'd have a common interest - books - to talk about. It wasn't every day Remus found a girl he might actually be able to talk to. Generally he was just very nervous around girls.

He turned back to see Sirius giving him a curious look. "Oh man, you weren't actually interested in that chick, were you? Dude, you can do way better..or, well, you could if you got out of this place once in a while. Honestly, do you always waste your time in here? James, Peter, and I were starting to think you died or something."

Remus didn't know why he still agreed to hang out with Sirius' gang sometimes. Ever since the start of high school they'd been the same - constant partying, constant pranking on others, and constant breaking the rules. All of which Remus was not. He suppose they must have just felt sorry for him, after all he was just the quiet, shy new kid who sat by himself and read all the time. They must have thought it would be amusing to try pulling him out of his shell and get him to join their little group. Even after going through high school together they had pretty much failed with that. Yes, Remus had participated in maybe one or two pranks, but, no, he hadn't really left his shell and, no, he hadn't really joined their little group. And yet James, Sirius, and Peter still insisted upon following him around on occasion, or just finding him whenever to bug him to hang out. Sirius especially. It seemed like wherever Remus went in this town Sirius was sure to follow. Unfortunately it wasn't easy for Remus to stand up for himself and tell Sirius to quit following him - and it really didn't have much to do with the fact that he was a tiny bit afraid that Sirius might beat him up if he tried...okay, so maybe it did. Who would blame him? The guy was 5'8'', had dark hair, piercings and tattoos aplenty, and generally wore biker jackets and ran around in combat boots. Sirius was pretty intimidating - especially to someone like Remus Lupin, someone who was generally afraid of everything.

Remus just shrugged, toying with the edge of a page in the dusty old volume he had been trying to read before Sirius had shown up. "I like it in here. It's quiet." He puts emphasis on the word 'quiet' to hopefully make a point that Sirius should be a bit more quiet, especially in the library.

Sirius had already lost interest in whatever Remus was saying and was busy making faces at the young kid who was still sitting in the children section. The kid looked up, spotted the older, scary looking teenager making gross faces at him, and quickly made his escape out the front door with a terrified look upon his face. Sirius grinned, laughing to himself, and got up, clapping Remus on the shoulder. "Well, this place is dull, SUFFOCATING EVEN, so I make my escape. You can stay here with your silly books. I bid you adieu!" And with that, Sirius took off, his heavy combat boot making loud thumping sounds as he purposefully stomped towards the exit.

Remus groaned and smacked his forehead down upon the table. He wanted more chocolate.
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Yeah..I'll continue this later. *skips off*

Wow..later wasn't really all that later as I thought. Ah well, votever.
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By the time Remus leaves the library, gray storm clouds are well and truly clustered above the town. It had to be around five or six at the least, yet he still didn't want to make his way towards home. Always, always he wanted to spend whatever time he could away from that house. His parents wouldn't even notice he was gone until it became really late anyway.

Hearing thunder overhead and starting to feel a few drops of rain, Remus ducked into his favorite cafe, figuring he'd take cover for a bit, glad the rain gave him an excuse to stay out later than usual.

The rain started coming down heavier as he made his way over to the counter. Ordering his favorite drink - triple chocolate hot chocolate, topped with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle, guaranteed to be a favorite of any chocolate lover - he took it over to the window, intent upon sitting at his favorite little table where he could watch people walk by outside, when he realizes it's already occupied.

"Oh, sorry." His face suddenly felt terribly hot and he was sure it was redder than the cup he was holding - which was quite red.

The girl with the bushy hair from earlier looked up at him with a none-to-pleased expression. "Quite alright. I apologize if this is where you usually sit, but I don't plan on moving. As you can see I'm reading and the light's the best right here. Where's your friend?" She asked, clearly sounding glad to see the noisy guy from earlier was no where to be seen.

Remus was stuck. He was standing there, sure his face was about to explode it was so hot. Why did he have to be this way? Especially around prettier girls, and this girl, no matter what Sirius said earlier, was definitely pretty. His mind couldn't form very coherent thoughts and the first thing he could think of to say was "I don't think you look squirrel-y." Smooth, Remus. Smooth. Maybe he should have just gone home instead. He was about to die of embarrassment in front of the one of the most attractive girls he had ever seen.

The girl blinked. "Well," she replied in a quiet, smooth voice, "I appreciate that, thank you. Your friend should learn to keep his thoughts to himself though, especially if they aren't very nice ones. Care to sit? I don't think we're going anywhere anytime soon in this rain, unless you like running through the pouring rain."

Remus doesn't know what to say so he just sits down across from her. Luckily he had the decency not to stare - Sirius always would stare at pretty girls until he got a reaction of some sort - but it was hard not to. Everything about her just said pretty - her hair, her eyes (from the brief glance he'd gotten of them, he was trying not to stare too much), her voice, everything...but especially her hair - Remus was sure he was about to turn into a statue and wouldn't be able to respond to her at all...what was she asking? Oh, his name, right. "Er, Remus Lupin."

The girl grinned, giving him a thoughtful look. "Remus? Like the one from Roman mythology? Were your parents interested in that sort of stuff? I've read all about it, myself, but that was ages ago." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Lightning flashed outside the cafe, illuminating the inside for not even half a second. Thunder quickly followed loudly behind. The girl eyed the outdoors warily, tapping a finger quickly upon the cover of her book.

"I...I really don't know. I think they just wanted to go for something creative and uncommon." Remus is surprised he even managed to get a reply out. It feels like there's something stuck in the back of his throat, trying to prevent him from speaking. He tries to calm himself down, telling himself that back at the library he was almost prepared to just walk over and talk to her just because of books. Books. What he says instead is "You don't like the thunder, don't you?"

Her finger stops tapping for a second as she looks down, suddenly noticing that it's doing so. "Oh, I suppose...it isn't that bad, but, yes, I'm really not a fan. Sorry, was it bothering you?"

Remus shook his head. "No, not at all. If it helps go right ahead, please."

"Thanks," her finger resumes its nervous tapping, "anyway, I'm Hermione Granger. What is that you're drinking? It smells really chocolate-y."

"Hermione? Like Queen Hermione from Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale' or the daughter of Menelaus and Helen in Greek mythology?" Remus grins, glad to see he might be able to actually pull off having a conversation with her. "Oh, and this," he points to his mug, "is their special triple chocolate hot chocolate. It's my favorite. You can try it if you'd like." He holds it out to her.

"Ah, yes! My parents happen to be big Shakespeare fans - we're all heavy readers, you see. Oh, I'm so glad I'll actually have someone else besides them to talk to in this town who knows literature. We just moved here the other day and it has been dreadfully lonely." She stares at the mug, taking it carefully from Remus' hands, trying to ignore the weird yet pleasant tingly feeling she got when their fingers briefly touched. "Triple chocolate?" She holds the mug up close to her face, taking a deep sniff of warm liquid. "It smells heavenly. You really don't mind if I try it?" Remus shook his head, telling her to go ahead. Smiling, Hermione closed her eyes and took a small sip. "Oh, it is heavenly. Thank you." She smiled, handing it back to him, taking care to not let their fingers touch again. It had been such a weird feeling and she didn't know what to think. "I do recall hearing the librarian berate you for eating in the library earlier - chocolate, right?"

Remus blinked. He had kind of gotten transfixed, watching Hermione as she took a sip of his drink. He was also trying to figure out what that odd feeling had been that he had felt when their fingers had briefly touched. Maybe he was just imagining it, but it seemed like she had felt it too...either that or she just didn't want to touch him, because he could tell she took extra care to make sure their fingers had not touched when she handed his mug back. "Er...yeah, chocolate. I know I shouldn't have been, but I couldn't help it. When I read I eat chocolate. Well..generally I'll eat chocolate whenever, but especially when I read. Where did you move from?" Thankfully conversation was becoming easier, because the storm didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon and it would be entirely too awkward if they had to sit here together in silence.

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Yeah, yeah. I'll continue this later. *sneezes then skips off*

I love you.
JS.

*skips in* I wrote, like, up to several more pages of this last night. XD
*huggles Mya*
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Hermione smiled brightly. “And you’re a chocolate lover too! Well, we’ll get right along then, won’t we?” Remus has learned from experience that even with having common interests you don’t always get along with someone, but he really wants to be friends with this new girl so he nods in agreement. “Good. Well, we were actually just living in the next town over, but mum wanted a change in scenery and I had heard the university here was brilliant, so we just had to move. I was quite surprised at how dilapidated the library looked – it was the first place I had to visit, considering I knew I’d be spending all my time in there – but it really does have some interesting older books so I don’t mind. Do you go there often?”

“Yeah...every chance I get.”

“Brilliant! Well then, maybe we could meet there tomorrow and you could show me around the town? Oh, but I’m being much too forward, aren’t I? I mean, we’ve just met and all. I apologize.” Hermione flushed lightly, looking slightly embarrassed.

“It’s no problem.” It really wasn’t, Remus didn’t mind in the least. Even if he did mind and it was a problem, he probably still wouldn’t say no to her. Granted he generally couldn’t say no to most people in the first place, that was how he was.

Hermione smiled happily and thanked him. “We can meet in the afternoon. Oh, I think the rain’s letting up. I should probably get home. Don’t want my parents to think I’ve gotten lost already! Thanks for sitting with me, Remus.” She picked up her bag and book, waving farewell as she headed towards the door. “See you tomorrow!”

Remus waved bye, watching her as she exited the café and started down the street. She even walked nicely. Realizing she was out of site by now, he shook his head, grabbing his stuff as he left the café for home. It was kind of confusing, yet exciting at the same time, he’d always been too nervous around girls to actually notice them in any other way besides the fact that they were girls and they terrified him. Sirius had always teased him about it and said it was because he fancied boys instead. Remus never believed him, because he knew he honestly wasn’t interested in guys. Besides Remus wasn’t the one caught snogging David behind the school gates, was he? Sometimes he still liked to tease Sirius about that one.

Hermione, on the other hand, was one girl that he had taken notice of, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t interested. Of course the thought of actually being interested in a girl sort of terrified him as well, because, honestly, he knew nothing about being involved with girls and he was pretty sure he would mess everything up if he even tried. It would probably be just safer to try and become her friend. Thank goodness she was into books and chocolate, because otherwise he wouldn’t know what to talk to her about at all.

The house Remus lived in was on the end of the street, surrounded by a white wood fence and well-kept bushes. Flowers lined the short walk to the front porch and there was a lovely little two-seater swing on the porch near the front door. Remus loved the house; it was perfect for their small three person family. His mother was very particular when it came to her plants, the inner/outer décor, and her family. She was definitely a controlling person, but Remus loved her anyway because she took the time to get to know him. Unlike his father on the other hand, who preferred silence to arguing and generally took no notice to his son’s whereabouts or activities. Remus couldn’t even remember the last time he had had a proper conversation with his father, but he wouldn’t let it bother him; he always tried to not let any of it bother him, except for the divorce.

His parents had told him about it two weeks ago. Whether they were expecting some sort of outburst or other crazy reaction, Remus didn’t know. Either way they were to be disappointed, because Remus would say nothing. All he had done was reply with a short ‘okay’ and then he had left, spending several more hours than usual in the library. Experience long had taught him it was sometimes better to just act okay and feign normality than act out, cry, or just sit about all gloomy. He was perfect at it by now and whenever instances like this occurred – this divorce that he should have seen coming anyway – the walls came up and he was ‘fine’; always just ‘fine’. No one outside of the situation would suspect a thing, because, to them, he would look like a regular, teenage boy, albeit a bit shier than most.

Mrs. Lupin was waiting just inside the door when Remus walked in. He got a quick glance at the clock – 9:23pm – before his mother was in front of him, holding him tight. “Oh, Remus, I was worried! You know there was a flood warning and everything? Anyway, at least you’re home now, and not too soaked I see. They said on the news it wasn’t supposed to rain as hard as it did...you must be hungry, I have dinner on the table already so go wash up and we’ll eat.” And with that Remus was rushed up the stairs to get washed up for dinner, not so much as getting a word in edgewise.

Meals eaten together with all three of them at the table had been quiet the past couple of days. Remus preferred things to be quiet rather than loud, but the lack of any conversation at all was unbearable sometimes, especially when it was with family.

His father stared intently down at his plate the whole meal, eating without as much as a sound. Remus caught his mother, on the other hand, occasionally sending short glares towards her soon to be ex-husband. It was ridiculous. A tiny part of him, hidden somewhere in the back confines of his mind, wanted to just yell out to them to stop being so damn ridiculous. Stop making things so awkward. It wouldn’t happen though. That tiny part was kept suppressed, just like all the other more assertive thoughts he would have but never say. It sucked being so weak all the time, so afraid to come out and say what he wanted, yet he let things continue being that way because it made life easier. He hardly ever had to deal with making others angry or upset, even if all it did was make him even more miserable. It was worth it if he could keep things well for others and make them happy.

Quietly excusing himself from the table, Remus stood to take his dishes into the kitchen when his mother finally spoke. “We’re going to your grandfather’s tomorrow.” Remus almost dropped his fork.

“What?”

“Your grandfather’s. You and I will be leaving in the morning to spend the day there while your father moves his stuff out of the house.” There was an awkward silence, broken by Remus finally taking a step away from the table.

“You could have told me this. Did it occur to you that I may have plans for tomorrow? I really don’t see, if it’s just for a day, why I can’t just spend the day in town. Please? This just really is-“

“Remus!” His mother snapped abruptly. “Please don’t argue, okay? I’ve already made the plans and my word is final. I’m sure whoever you have plans with will understand. Now go to bed, we’re leaving quite early in the morning.”

Stopped by his mother’s harsh tone, Remus had frozen, any ounce of him that had wanted to argue, to plead to be allowed to stay tomorrow, had fled and, without a word, he turned and left the dining room, setting his dishes in the sink before going upstairs to his room. He wouldn’t even slam the door. Sirius would have slammed the door. Remus was not Sirius though, and he was unable to express his anger like he wanted to.

Of course something like this would happen. Of course, after he had finally managed to have an actual conversation with a girl, had made plans with a girl, his parents would ruin them. Remus did not like to agree to do things that he knew he wouldn’t be able to follow through with; he had known – or thought he had known – that he would be able to meet up with his new friend and show her around town so he had agreed to it. Now he felt terrible because she would be waiting for him and he wouldn’t show up. He only hoped that she would forgive him.

As he fell asleep that night all he could see, staring back at him, were Hermione’s gorgeous brown eyes.
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Grandfather Lupin’s house was stuffy. There weren’t even any good books...well, any books at all, to keep Remus entertained as waited out the hours till he could go home. The day dragged by painfully slow, and all he could keep thinking about was Hermione. Was she angry? Upset? Annoyed? He couldn’t stop worrying about it. His mother noticed.

“So who exactly had you made plans with for today, Remus, sweetheart?” Mrs. Lupin was sitting at the kitchen table in Remus’ grandfather’s small kitchen.

Remus was staring at the walls, counting all the different patterns he could make with the lines of the checkered wall paper. “Oh...just a new friend.”

“Hm,” his mother turned the page of a magazine sitting on the table in front of her, “was it a girl?”

“What?” Remus blinked, hoping his suddenly much warmer face wasn’t turning too reddish and betraying him. “Mum, you know I’m practically incapable of making friends with girls. Remember Olive?” Olive had lived in the house next door for a few months until her father had decided the town was too small for them. Remus’ parents, wanting their son - 16 at the time – to actually start making friends that were girls, had decided to set him up on just a friendly date with her. It was not a night Remus liked to remember.

“What happened with Olive doesn’t determine how every friendship you’ll have with a girl will go. I’ve just thought that by now you would have made a few more female friends, and maybe would have had an actual girlfriend or two by now. You’re a handsome guy, Remus. I’m sure there are plenty of girls out there that would love to go on a date with you.”

Not that Remus would know, considering he’s never really talked with any girls before except for Hermione.

Mrs. Lupin gives up after several minutes of silence from her son and looks up at the clock. “I suppose we can head back now.” She watches as Remus jumps up, a relieved look on his face paired with something else...something she can’t exactly place but helps convince her that the person her son was supposed to hang out with today was more special than just a ‘new friend’. Well, it was about time he showed interest in a girl. Hopefully it wasn’t a bookworm like him. Mrs. Lupin wanted her to son to get out of the library more often.
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Things didn’t bode well for Remus. He was dragged over to his father’s new apartment the next day to help unpack and get Mr. Lupin all settled in. Therefore he didn’t get to go to the library and apologize to Hermione. He didn’t get to go the next day either because his mother insisted upon him coming with her as they finalized the divorce papers. By the time they got home Remus was refusing to talk to her and determined to sneak out first thing the next morning so he wouldn’t have to worry about getting dragged off to do something else that would keep him away from seeing Hermione again.

Sneaking out was a success. Remus left a note on the kitchen table letting his mother know that he had left for the library and wouldn’t be back all day. Hopefully she wouldn’t come after him. He was eighteen, for goodness sakes. He did not need a babysitter.

Arriving at the library minutes before it opened, Remus sat on the step, wondering what time Hermione would show up...if she showed up at all. Well, he would spend the whole day there just in case. He was determined to apologize.

It wasn’t until half way through the day that Hermione finally showed up in the library. Remus spotted her as she determinedly sat as far away as she could, her back towards him as it had been the first day they had met.

Normally Remus would, at this point, back off and just give up, but not this time. One of the things he couldn’t stand besides people getting mad at him was people staying mad at him, and in this case he really didn’t want the person involved staying mad at him. He liked Hermione and wanted to be friends.

So Remus got up and quietly made his way over to where the girl was sitting, her nose buried in a large book. “Hey...I’m sorry about the other day...”

Hermione didn’t respond; the only response Remus got was her finger twitching slightly at the edge of her book.

“Can I at least explain why I couldn’t make it? Please?” He tried to hide the slight desperation from his voice, but it was difficult. He wanted to make this work out. He didn’t want to lose his chance at friendship with this beautiful, kind girl.

Maybe it was the tone in his voice that did it but whatever it was it worked slightly because Hermione shifted over a bit, allowing Remus to sit beside her. She still refused to look up, her eyes focused on her book. “Fine.” She replied shortly.

“A few weeks ago my parents told me they were getting divorced. I haven’t spent a lot of time around them since then, preferring to spend all my time in here, so I hadn’t realized how close things were getting to the end. When I got home after leaving the café the other night my mum told me that we were going to spend the next day at my grandfather’s while my dad packed and left the house. I tried to convince her to let me stay, but...well, you don’t argue with my mother.”

“I’m sorry about your parents.” replied Hermione, her voice still cool but Remus could tell she did indeed mean it.

“I had to spend the next two days helping my father move into his new apartment and mum insisted I go with her the next day when they finalized the divorce papers. I’ve felt terrible about not being able to apologize sooner. So...I’m sorry.” Remus bit his lip, hoping she’d be able to forgive him.

Hermione closed her book, finally looking up at him. “It’s okay...honestly you shouldn’t be the one apologizing, I should be. You shouldn’t have to apologize for something you couldn’t control, especially something as sad as what you’re going through. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset about it. I was just afraid that...” she looked down, toying with the edge of her book nervously, “that you might not want to be my friend.”

“Oh! No, not at all.” Remus shook his head, wanting to reach out and take her hand comfortingly but afraid to do so, instead leaving his hands in his lap. “One of the reasons I wanted to apologize so much was because I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be my friend. I’ve never really had any female friends before, honestly.” He ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed. “Generally I freeze up around girls and can’t say anything at all.”

“You’re talking to me just fine.” Hermione points out.

“Yeah...but you’re different.”

“How so?”
Remus reddens, unsure of even how to respond to that. “Er...well, I mean, we actually have something in common, so I know I’ll have something to talk to you about...though I still freeze up occasionally or just don’t know what to say...like right now. I’m just going to stop talking.” He shut his mouth.

Hermione giggled, getting up out of her chair and looked down at him. “Well I’m glad you can actually hold a conversation with me. It’d be kind of weird just sitting here in silence together, cause I do like having your company, Remus. Let’s go somewhere.”

Remus was just hoping his face wasn’t going to melt. “Where?”

Hermione put her book away then came back over to the table, tugging Remus by the arm up out of his chair. “You’ll see.” She linked her arm with his, leading him out of the library and down the path onto the main street.
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Remus was in half panic mode. A girl was touching him. Yes it was only in a linking arms sort of way, but still. A girl was touching him. It was not something he was used to and the only reason he hadn’t panicked and ran was because his brain had almost shut down so he was letting Hermione just lead him to wherever their destination was.

“Here,” Remus is snapped out of panic mode and he found himself sitting at the small table in the café they’d first talked in. Hermione set a warm mug down in front of him then sat down across from him with her own mug. “Triple chocolate hot chocolate, your favorite.” She smiled, taking a sip of her drink. “And apparently now mine too.”

“You didn’t have to-“

“My treat. Besides,” she looked down at the table, “I feel bad that you didn’t get to show me around town. I ended up just going on my own, though your friend Sirius tried to help.” She snorted, rolling her eyes.

Remus about chokes on his drink. Coughing slightly, he blinks up at her. “He did?” Sirius generally didn’t help girls out unless he was looking to get laid, and Remus didn’t have any good feelings about Sirius helping Hermione out anyway considering the first time Sirius had saw he he’d called her squirrely.

“Yes. Well, as I said, he tried. I was still quite unhappy with how he made fun of my hair and called me ‘squirrely’ the other day, so I mostly kept telling him to bugger off until he finally took the hint. Stubborn guy, isn’t he?”

“Mostly only when pretty girls are involved.” Remus replied.

“Well that’s funny then, considering he called me squirrely and generally people aren’t attracted to squirrels. Unless there’s something your Sirius friend isn’t telling you.”

Remus shrugged, not entirely sure what to say. He wasn’t one to say bad things about people half the time, and especially not about his friends – he was generally a very loyal person to those he cared about.

“I’m sorry if I’m badgering you about this stuff. We can totally change the topic if you’d like.” Hermione took another sip of her drink. “I was just wondering why you’re friends with him and his friends. You seem so different from them.”

Remus took a sip of his drink, taking in the rich scent of the heavy chocolate. “I don’t know if you’d call it friendship, honestly. We moved to this town when I was just starting high school, so I didn’t really know anyone. I was pretty much known as the shy, quiet kid who was smart but sat in the back of all his classes and always had his nose stuck in a book.” Hermione giggled.

Seeing Remus’ confused look, she explained herself. “Sorry...it’s just, that sounds like just how I was in high school. We really do have a lot in common. Anyway, go on.” She mimed zipping her lips so Remus would know she didn’t plan on interrupting anymore.

Remus smiled before continuing, secretly really happy that they seemed to have so much in common. “Well, Sirius and his little gang – James and Peter – came up to me one day during lunch and asked if I’d sit with them. Honestly I have no idea why they bothered, but since then they’ve always tried to get me involved with their pranks and parties and whatever. I’ll admit I participated in a few of their less harmful pranks, but other than that I refused to get involved with pretty much everything they do. They still follow me around though, Sirius especially. It’s like I can hardly go anywhere without him showing up at some point.”

Hermione gave him a thoughtful look. “Well, why don’t you just tell them you’re not interested and to leave you alone?”

“I would...but it’s not easy for me to do that, to tell people no like that.” To defend himself.

“Sounds like just an excuse to me.” Hermione shrugged, giving him a soft smile. “You can do it. You may not be strong enough to now, but if you believe in yourself then it’ll become possible. The only one standing in your way is you.” A muffled ringing came from Hermione’s pocket and she pulled a cell phone out. “Oh! It’s my mother. Sorry...” she pressed a button and held the phone up to her ear.

Remus watched silently as Hermione talked to her mother on the phone. He was thinking about what she’d just told him and he knew she was right. He knew he couldn’t blame his cowardice on anyone but himself, but getting over something like that...trying to convince himself that he could get stronger would take a while. Determination was something he was good at though – if he set his mind on something, and he was determined to do it, then it would get done. So Remus decided he would be determined to become stronger, to not let people walk all over him anymore. Hopefully.

“Alright, love you, bye.” Hermione hung up, sighing. “Sorry about that. Apparently there are a few things she wants me to look at for some schools so I have to head back home.”

“Can I walk you back?” Remus surprised himself when he asked, but he knew he didn’t want to leave her just yet and was relieved when Hermione smiled and nodded. “Of course you can. Let’s go.”
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Yay. I'll write more of this later. *skips off*

*squee* I love it I love it I love it!
~flails~

Thaaaaaaank youuuuu!!! *huggles*
I already know how this one ends. It's going to be lovely! *squeals and coughs* Hehe.

YAYAYAYAYAYAY! *is a sucker for a happy ending*
~flails~