𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸, remus lupin

˗ˋ 51

CHAPTER FIFTY ONE
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH PANDORA TELLS
THE TRUTH

. . .

"How much did you hate it, then?" Remus was beginning to feel weary again, both because of the time of night and the close proximity to another full moon - they seemed to come so quickly now, no matter how much he liked to pretend they didn't - but at least he had a couple more days until the excruiciating, tortureous pain, and until then, he would be wandering the halls of Hogwarts late at night with Pandora Rosier. "Tell me everything." He added, trying to add as much warmth into his words as possible.

Pandora's lips pursued. A curl of hair fell from her ear. "Hate what?" She asked, in response to the warmth found herself trying to not be so stilted or angry. He would like that.. he preferred it when she wasn't so spiky, like every pore on her body didn't have knarl quills poking out of it. 

It was strange. Since that morning, Pandora had found herself trying to remember each and every painstaking detail of the shouted argument that morning. Although there had been no such thoughts of her trying to please anyone other than herself since her mother being alive, Pandora didn't want to upset him, didn't want to feel the bristling panic of all the questions ever again.

"The hour-and-a-bit you spent in the Gryffindor common room with my friends." Remus continued, his eyes darting over the darkened corridor towards the girl. "How did you find it?"

After the free period, there had been one final lesson of the day before Pandora spent the time prior to dinner in the library, where Remus split his time between a homework group with James, Lily Evans and a couple of her friends. And now, hours later they had somehow met up once again - well.. Remus had used the map to locate her - and were spending their night with one another in the hallways of the castle. 

"It was.." Pandora paused. Her mind was on the argument again, the very beginning of it when she was pretending to have no idea what he was talking about.

He wanted her to be truthful.

"It was awful." She admitted. "I hated every second."

Remus nodded, dugging his hands into the pockets of his jacket. It was too cold at that time of night these days, but it didn't seemed all that bad now. "And now that you've spent some time with James, Peter.. and Sirius. What do you think of them?" He asked. 

"Sirius hates me." She said it plainly, honestly. "He will always hate me, and he should do. It doesn't matter too much though, because I loathe spineless halfwits." 

"And James and Peter?" 

"Peter Pettigrew is one of the most obtuse, dopey, vacuous, simple-minded seventeen year olds I have ever met." Pandora came to a stop, and Remus stared at her. "He hardly seems interested in any of the conversations taking place, and appears to be immobile as a dying rat at the best of times." She clasped her hands in front of her. "He doesn't fit into the group like the rest of you. At best, he's there to laugh at the stupid jokes you all make."

"What?"

Pandora's eyebrows furrowed only slightly. "I'm telling the truth." She said pointedly. "You wanted me to be honest... so I'm telling you everything that I think about your friends."

"Okay, Pandora, sometimes theres a line between being honest, and being too honest." Remus watched as she looked even more confused. "Sometimes, it can be better to keep some of your thoughts to yourself.. maybe it wasn't so nice for me to hear all that." 

"Oh. Right."

"So.. what do you think of James?" He asked hesitantly.

She was the same, fingers knitted together with a nervousness that Remus didn't think he would ever seen in her. "James is..." Pandora swallowed. "... he's nice." She finally said. "He can.. tell good jokes.. he knows how to tell a good joke."

"See!" Remus almost exploded with smiles, no matter how much it hurt to put that much effort into an action. "You can do it - that's good." He turned towards her, hands resting on her shoulders.

She stared up at him, bewildered by the unexplained praise. "Really." He repeated, hands reaching for the curve of her cheeks and allowing his thumb to drift over the skin. "Really - I'm proud of you, Pandora. Just keep it up, okay?"

"Yeah." Pandora replied, her eyes wide and filled with something so... pretty. "I will." She nodded, unaware of why she became so willing in his hands.

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