swim || remus lupin

secrets of the lake

The week was finally coming to a close. I stared at the clock as Defense Against the Dark Arts ticked away, feeling quite jittery in my seat. The girls and I were all free during the last block on Fridays and we had planned a little picnic.

After an agonizingly long double session, we were set free for the weekend. I was extremely relieved, feeling overloaded and fried from the rush of new knowledge. I found that the majority of my free periods and nights were spent cramming in extra readings and proofing assignments so that I could make my best attempt at catching up with the rest of my class. James, who was the only person who truly knew about my lack of background, expressed his pride a bit backhandedly, saying I was "Almost talented enough to make up for the cluelessness."

Nevertheless, I had decided that the following days would be restful and spent bettering my relationships with the fascinating array of teenagers around me.

"Ugh, I thought that old bat would never let us leave," Marlene said. We mumbled agreements. Even Lily seemed considerably less stressed, having no immediate duties to tend to.

"Baubles," Alice stated, stepping back as the portrait swung open to reveal the common room. We climbed the spiral steps and found our room, dropping our heavy bags down with a general thud.

"So, Marlene and I will grab a blanket and set up down by the Great Lake. Alice, you brought your basket, right?" Alice held up an empty, woven basket and nodded eagerly. "Perfect, you and Sydney can bring it down to the house elves and see if they'll give you some food. They like you best," shecolored slightly.

After changing out of our robes, Alice and I headed down to the kitchen, floating through the empty halls and soaking in the autumn sun.

"So that boyfriend of yours? He's cute!" She smiled brightly.

"Oh yes, Frank, he's very handsome and such a sweetheart. We had a bit of a rough patch in fifth year when Marlene and Dorcas each caught him kissing that Carlotta Meloni," she scrunched her nose as if there was a bad taste in her mouth. "But he made it up to me with the nicest surprise last summer so that we could celebrate my birthday together," her sweet smile returned.

"I just can't believe you hadn't mentioned him," I said, truly astonished. Alice was never short on words, she gave me a detailed rundown of each meal she had, I was shocked the subject of her boyfriend never even came up.

"Marlene doesn't like him much. She's only being a good friend, doesn't want him to hurt me again. But he's changed, honest! He's much more attentive now, it's different," I smiled.

The sunny brunette seemed to shine as she spoke of him. She rambled on about their first encounter in third year when they were paired up in Potions and he greatly misjudged his estimating skills, exploding their potion and landing them both in detention with Slughorn. By the time we made it to the kitchens I knew her relationship timeline inside and out.