Queen of Disaster | 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝐿𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑛

Chapter 45

Remus couldn't possibly wipe his smile off his face as he walked up to the Gryffindor tower. He said the password and passed through the portrait hole, making his way up the boys' dormitory spiral staircase as he unknowingly hummed a song to himself.

    The moment he opened the door to their dorm, his smile faded quickly. There he saw Sirius, James, and Peter, all glaring at his direction.

     "Well, well! If it isn't Mr. Liar!" James said in a mocking cheerful tone, hopping off his bed and walking closer toward him in slow steps.

     Uh oh... Remus thought to himself miserably, already knowing what to expect.

     "So..." James started in a casual tone. "I talked to one of Lily's friends around an hour ago. Do you know what she told me when I asked her about Lily's date?"

     "No idea." Remus shrugged, trying to avoid their eyes as he placed his bag down on his bed. He bent down beside his trunk, taking his pajamas out.

     Of course he knew that this plan wasn't going to be free of consequences and that hanging out with Diana Greengrass on Valentine's day was going to cause problems. But back then he was hoping to face these problems later.

      "Well, she told me that Evans was in Hosmeade with her friends." James crossed his arms at this point, still glaring at Remus's direction.

    "Did she now?" Remus mused, getting to his feet. "Then why aren't you happy about this? She probably blew off her date."

     Remus then made a move to get into their shared bathroom, planning on never getting out of there until graduation, but James and Sirius were quick to walk toward him and block his way.

     "You have the Marauder's Map, don't you, Moony?" Sirius asked him, though from his tone it seemed that he was sure of it and there was no point in asking either way.

     "Yup! It's here!" Peter called out from behind them. Turning to look over, Remus saw that Peter had opened his bag and taken out a blank parchment.

     "Hey! That's not cool!" Remus said sharply, leaping forward to snatch his backpack out of Peter's grasp.

     He didn't want them to see the picture he had gotten of Diana in Madam Puddifoot's tea shop, or the one he had taken from her glittery state when they had gone to Three Broomsticks for some Butterbeer.

"No. What's not cool is that you lied to us," said Sirius, mirroring James by folding his arms. "The moment you left the common room today morning and said you didn't feel well and needed to go to hospital wing, we figured something was up. You had been lying to us for the first two years at Hogwarts about your condition. We can tell when you lie."

"Exactly." James nodded firmly in agreement. "Not to mention you didn't return for hours, and the Marauder's Map had gone missing. That was when we knew you'd gone to Hogsmeade without us. Evans's date was just a cover story to get rid of us, wasn't it?"

"Which means you've gone to Hogsmeade with someone," Sirius deduced.

"Precisely. Now the question is... who?" James said suspiciously. "It had to be someone you knew we wouldn't approve of, which is why you've been trying to hide it for so long now."

"Wrong. There is no one I like!" Remus retorted. "And even if there was someone, I wouldn't try to hide it because of your approval. It would be because I know you three can be nosy gits."

"Oh come'n, Moony," Peter implored. "We've known you like someone for ages. Why can't you just tell us who it is?"

"Yeah, Moony." Sirius nodded with a grin. "You know us well enough by now to know that we won't stop until we find out who it is. So why not save us the trouble and tell us yourself already?"

"There is no one!" Remus repeated himself for what felt like the hundredth time.

He grew worried when James smirked, saying, "Don't worry, Moony. We'll find out eventually. It's just a matter of time. They don't call us the Marauders for no reason."

***

"Oi! Wake up, you A-hole!"

Diana woke up with a start as she felt someone shaking her by the arm frantically. Her eyes shutting open, she saw Layla standing beside her bed with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'll be with you in five minutes," Diana mumbled, drawing the covers back over her head.

     But Layla dragged it away from her, causing the morning light to hit her across the face. "Ugh, what?" Diana groaned.

"What do you mean what!?" Layla snapped. "You went on a date with Remus Lupin yesterday!"

"It wasn't a date," Diana said tiresomely, getting up to a sitting position with difficulty.

"Yeah, right." Layla rolled her eyes, unconvinced. She then sat beside Diana on the edge of the bed. "Explain. Now. With details."

Diana sighed, rubbing her eyes to wash away the sleepiness a bit before explaining everything that had happened between her and Remus Lupin; from their Ancient Runes' test and bet, to all that had happened yesterday at their fake date at Hogsmeade.

Layla seemed a bit disappointed that it hadn't been a real date, but she didn't miss the fact that Diana had kept the flowers Remus had given her, keeping the small bouquet on her nightstand.

When the two girls met up with Regulus in the Great Hall for breakfast, his reaction was worse than Layla, if anything. While Layla kept teasing Diana, Regulus only scolded her with disgust.

"I'm surprised you even agreed to go with him in the first place," Regulus said bitterly, placing three pancakes on his plate and pouring a small amount of syrup on top of them. "Don't underestimate Lupin. He's just as bad as my brother and that James Potter. There's a reason they hang out with him. They wouldn't have, if he were innocent."

"Look, he's not that bad," Diana reasoned, though she tried not to sound too defensive. "I agree that he's definitely not as innocent as the teachers and some students believe he is, but he can be sweet."

"Sweet?" Regulus repeated grimly. "Don't fall for it. Who's to tell this is not another sick prank those four stupid Gryffindors are trying to pull on us? It won't be their first time."

"It's not a prank," Diana protested.

"How are you so sure? I personally don't trust him. There's something off about him and the scars on his face," said Regulus. "And even if it is real, don't go catching feelings for him. You'll just end up getting hurt."