WHEN WE WERE YOUNG : marauders era

31. slughorn's invite

"You don't think my opinion's weird, do you?" Mareena asked with a smirk. But Remus noticed that she seemed a bit nervous.

"Of course not," Remus replied quickly, shaking his head. "I think it's brilliant."

Mareena felt her heart lift as she heard those words. There weren't many people who supported her views on the matter, except her family, and although she usually wasn't bothered by it, it felt good to be understood. Xenophilius had often told her to stand up for her beliefs no matter what and she knew he was right. But it did make her feel sad when her friends didn't support her. Evangeline and Grace had often ridiculed her for her opinion on werewolves and it was a bit disheartening. 'They probably didn't want to be friends with me because of this,' she realised.

But she didn't care. Remus didn't think her opinion was weird and it meant the world to her. She was grateful for having made such a great friend.

"Thanks," she said softly with a smile, giving Remus a huge hug, unable to control herself. Remus, who was caught off-guard, felt his heart race as he hugged her back. When she pulled away, Mareena caught a glimpse of Remus' face.

"Your face is all red, Remus. Are you having a fever?" she asked, touching his forehead to check his temperature. Remus' face turned, if possible, even redder. He could feel his heart beat loudly; so loud that he was afraid Mareena would be able to hear it if she came closer.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just the heat I guess..don't worry," he said quickly with a smile to convince her. Luckily, it worked and Mareena didn't ask any more questions on the matter.

They continued talking about all sorts of random things that was happpening in the school, laughing and discussing about their studies as well.

"You got that letter from Professor Slughorn, didn't you?" Remus asked after a while.

"Oh yeah. I completely forgot about it," Mareena replied and began rummaging in her bag to find the letter she got at dinner that night. "I still can't believe you didn't get one. That's so not fair!"

"I don't mind," Remus said with a shrug. "I'm not a fan of dinner parties."

"Me neither," Mareena replied, making a face to show her displeasure, which made Remus crack up. Mareena hit him with her book playfully as she scanned her letter. "Dinner's tomorrow," she said with a groan. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Nope," Remus replied with a smirk. "But don't worry. James and Sirius will be there. And Julie and Lily too."

Mareena shook her head. "You should've been invited too. You're great at potions. Every subject, in fact."

"Let me remind you. I've only been doing good at potions because you are my partner. Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to do it."

"You're just being modest."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes you are."

The two friends went on bickering playfully, throwing cushions at each other and laughing. Neither of them noticed that there were other people in the common room, watching them with amused expressions. And even if they did, they didn't care. They were having a great time together and that was all that mattered.