swim || remus lupin

on the horizon

The sun had vanished behind the horizon, its soft shades of orange and pink melting together like watercolors in the sky. Cool air invaded the cracks and crevices of our dorm room, as us four girls sat, circled around, playing a game of exploding snap. Though, the main focus was not on the cards, rather the events surrounding our male counterparts.

"I don't know, he seemed pretty fine to me," I stated with clear annoyance as I flipped over one of my cards. The subject of dinner had come up, in which our large group was divided in two by gender.

"He is not fine," Marlene scoffed, waving her small deck loosely in her hands. "Didn't you see his constant looks in your direction?" I hadn't.

"Forget that, what about his constant looks at Remus? I thought Sirius may turn him to stone," Alice added. Lily shook her head, her mouth pressed into a thin line of disapproval.

"I just can't handle their constant brawls, and all over a girl. It's just so immature," the redhead remarked.

"Geez Lil," Marlene said with a small laugh, "If you hate Syd you could just say that," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh you know that's not how I meant it," Lily said and I laughed.

"She's right though," I chimed in. "Sirius and I were together barely a week. I don't see why he'd get so worked up over this, it's only Remus."

"Unless Remus fancies you," Alice shrugged, wincing as her card burst into a flaming disappearance.

"Remus? No way," I said, grabbing the cards to reshuffle them.

"No wait, that would actually make the most sense," Marlene claimed, "Think about it."

The four of us were quiet for a moment as we pondered the thought. I flashed through the timeline of my time with Remus; the parking lot, the train station, the food fight, Charms, Divination, the night by the fire, then last night. I supposed it was possible that he may have developed a small crush early on, but I was sure that when Sirius asked me to Hogsmeade any trace of that would have evaporated. Before anything Remus was a loyal friend, especially to Sirius, James, and Peter, whom he'd known for nearly a decade. Seeing me spend every minute with his best friend had to have put him off.

"No, even if he had some sort of small liking in the beginning he would've dropped it after everything with Sirius," I recited conclusively.

"Sure, but it's like you said, you and Sirius were barely together for a week," Marlene observed.

"They have been fighting a lot," Alice noted. "Remember their fight last weekend?"

"Remus told me that had just been a petty argument that turned into a wrestling match," Lily stated. I thought back to breakfast when she had so quickly taken to his side.

"Sirius told me that it happened after Hogsmeade, he said Remus was in a bad mood or something," I recalled in attempts to fill in the gaps.

"See? He was mad because Hogsmeade was your first date with Sirius!" the blonde beside me exclaimed.