maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

152. the great protector

"IF I'M GOING TO TALK to you two, we have to set out some ground rules," said Claudia to Evan and Nolan, who had followed her all the way to her bedroom and asked to speak with her after the dramatic end to Easter lunch.

And she wanted nothing more than to curse their guts out.

"What ground rules?"

"You have to stay this far away from me," she said, backing off even more so that Evan wouldn't be near her as her hands and legs immediately began shaking, along with her voice. "And you have to put your wands down."

The boys nodded slowly, and then they put their wands down on the ground.

"Aren't you going to get rid of yours?" Nolan asked.

"No," Claudia answered without missing a beat. "I'm going to keep it right here in my hands in case you two have some stupid idea. So, what is it that you want to talk about?"

"Remus Lupin," Evan grinned.

And that's when a sinking feeling came over the pit of Claudia's stomach.

But, she tried to stay calm.

"What about him?"

"Are you still with him?"

Claudia paused for a moment, and then she nodded slowly, "Yes."

Evan and Nolan chuckled slightly, grinning at one another as they did so, which only caused Claudia to tighten her grip around her wand.

"What is it?!" She asked angrily.

"Nothing much," Evan shrugged. "But I have a proposition for you."

"What proposition?" Claudia asked, speaking in a clear voice that caused both of the two boys to be certain that she could be yelling at them any moment now.

Stay calm, Claudia, stay calm, she thought to herself. You're only talking.

"Well, I don't know if we should call it a proposition exactly," said Nolan. "What's a better word for it, Evan? Yeah, right; threat."

"No," Claudia said, shaking her head as she glared at them. "Leave me alone!"

The girl tried to move past them, but they only picked up their wands, which caused her to back off again.

"Put. Them. Down," she said sternly, and so they did.

"You listen to us very carefully now, sunshine," said Evan. "You're going to marry me."

"Absolutely not!"

"Oh, shut up," he sighed as if he couldn't believe that she had the guts to interrupt him. "You're going to marry me."

"No," she said, her voice shaking because she wasn't stupid.

She knew where this was going.

She had only hoped that it would never happen.