Chocolate Covered Strawberries [Remus Lupin]

𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚒𝚡

Chapter ninety-six; Professor of the year

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''Good morning, sleeping beauty!'' James said loudly as he jumped on the hospital bed next to Sirius. Sirius groaned and moved out of the way so that James wouldn't end up sitting on him. ''How are you feeling?''

''Tired. Otherwise, fine.'' Sirius grumbled.

Out of the corner of his eyes came three other figures; Peter, Lily and Robyn. He glanced briefly at Robyn and she smiled at him before averting her eyes to the floor. Sirius looked back to the scene in front of him, where Jasmine and Remus were sitting on the opposite side of the room. An open chocolate bar was on the bedside table and the two of them were quietly talking while holding hands. Their sweet smiles weren't hard to miss either.

''What's up with them?'' As Lily spoke, Sirius tore his eyes away from them. She joined the side of the bed where James sat and placed her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.

''They were like that since I woke up.'' Sirius shrugged.

''Let's go ask what happened.'' Peter stepped away.

''No!'' Both Robyn and Lily whisper shouted to not disrupt the quiet room.

Robyn forcefully grabbed the smaller boy by his arm and kept him in place. ''They are clearly having a moment so we're not going to ruin it.'' She scolded.

''It's too late for that now,'' James said under his breath.

The whole group turned their heads first to him and then to the other side of the room. Remus and Jasmine both looked up as professor Smirnitsky joined their side. Both their postures stiffened at whatever Smirnitsky was saying while waving his arms around and making the large black coat flail around him. They were too far away for the group to hear anyway, but they all stood (or sat) silently and watched what was happening.

''Wait a second.'' Robyn clicked her tongue and stepped from one foot to the other. She then pointed at Sirius. ''I get why you and Jasmine are here. But why is Remus in a hospital bed?''

Sirius uncharacteristically widened his eyes and locked them with James beside him. Peter automatically slowly backed away as if he wanted to escape the conversation.

''Uhm, well...'' Lily broke the silence but she didn't meet Robyn's eye. Then she looked at James pointedly as if he was supposed to say something.

''Why are you looking at me for?'' He asked defensively. ''I'm not going to tell.'' Then he bumped Sirius with his elbow and the raven-haired boy let out a loud 'ow'. James apparently hit him in a sore spot.

Robyn sighed. ''If you think I haven't noticed something weird is going on whenever I hang out with you, you must be stupid. I just thought I'll figure it out by now, but whatever you're hiding, you're good.''

Her lips turned into a frown as she, like multiple times before, felt so excluded from this group. Lily was with James, Jasmine was with Remus, Sirius was James' and Remus' best friend and her ex. She felt even worse than Peter, he did everything for their attention but Robyn was seriously considering abandoning the group altogether and not bothering anymore. Her head turned to the professor and the couple across the room and observed as Jasmine hopped off the bed and followed Smirnitsky as he walked away, understanding that he asked her to talk privately.

''Come on, let's go.'' James got off the bed and stepped in the direction of where Remus was. Everyone followed, Robyn walking behind everyone else. Remus looked up with a content expression as they all circled his bed.