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The snow no longer fell, but the air was crisp, and the ground was white, and she was beautiful. She was wearing Remus's jumper and his coat, both at least two sizes too large, and the sleeves were enough to cover her hands if his gloves weren't. Her hair was tucked behind her ears, which were a pinkish-red color that matched her cheeks and nose. And she scraped her feet as they walked, drawing loops in the half-plowed roads of Remus's hometown.
"What's this one?" she asked, motioning towards another rundown building.
The street was filled with them. Stone houses only half built up. The top halves were lost to some sort of fire or explosion – the stories had been reformed greatly over the years. Remus liked walking by them all, picturing the way they might've looked before they crashed. What colors they might be, who might've lived in them.
"I think it was a schoolhouse," Remus answered. He didn't really know, but that's how he pictured it, anyway. Either way, Sydney seemed to believe him.
She suddenly let go of his hand and turned to her left, towards the building. She had to walk through a thick layer of snow, leaving deep footprints up the hill, but she made it up to the gap where the door would have been.
"Coming, bitch baby?" she asked with a smile. Remus rolled his eyes and then followed through the steps she made in the snow.
Sydney walked through the door hole and looked around like an investigator. She walked to one corner, holding her hands out to form a rectangle to look through, and then she smiled.
"I can see it," she said
"See what?" asked Remus.
"The classroom. See, here are the desks," – she motioned along either side, as though she and Remus were right in the middle of the rows – "And up there would be the blackboard."
"Up here?" Remus asked, walking through to stand along the other broken wall. Sydney nodded.
"You look good up there," she said, holding her hands up again and looking at Remus through them.
"Yeah?" Remus asked, grinning, and standing up straighter. Sydney nodded.
"Teach me something, Professor Lupin," she said. She walked sideways to where she said the desks would be and sat crisscross in the snow.
"What subject am I teaching?" Remus asked. Sydney shrugged.
"You decide."
"Okay," Remus said. "We're in Care of Magical Creatures."
"Indoors?" Sydney asked.
"Yes, watch yourself," Remus said, Sydney put her hands up in defense. "Anyways," Remus continued, motioning to the imaginary blackboard. "Today we're learning about cross breeding. Specifically of the mermaid kind."
Sydney smiled and rose her eyebrows. "Getting a bit far ahead, aren't we Professor?"
Remus scooped up some snow from the ground and threw it at her. "Stop interrupting the lesson!" he said.
Sydney laughed and said she'd have him reported for student abuse, but she didn't move from her spot at her "desk", so Remus continued on.
"As I was saying," he said, glaring pointedly at her. "When mermaids have children with witches and wizards, there's a rather odd occurrence, in which the offspring is both entirely sarcastic and annoying," – Sydney's mouth dropped open – "And in which these same offspring for some reason, still unknown to man, refuse to find clothing of their own!"
The wall directly to Remus's left was suddenly hit with a chunk of snow.
"This just in!" said Remus. "They also have terrible aim!"
Sydney was standing now, scooping up snow from the ground and launching it at Remus. He ducked to dodge a particularly large piece, and then fired back at her, nailing her in the chest. She gasped and slammed a hand over her heart, and then she threw her arms to the side and fell dramatically backwards. Remus ran to her side and fell to his knees beside her.
"This is it for me," Sydney said, her voice ragged and breathy through her smile. "I see the light."
"You do?" Remus asked, full of extremely sincere concern. Sydney nodded.
"It's so close," she said. "And the last thing I'll have heard from my one true love was a list of really hurtful insults." Remus laughed.
"Yeah," he said. "Well, maybe it's best you just go to the light and get it over with."
Sydney scoffed and swiftly shoved a handful of snow into Remus's face. His mouth dropped open as the powder melted into his face, and Sydney broke out into laughter.
"Consider us even," she said. Remus shook his head.
"No way," he said. "You'll have to pay for this."
"You'd never hurt me," she said, smiling extra big.
Remus narrowed his eyes at her, but when her exaggerated smile faded, she only lifted her hand and brushed some of the snow off of his cheeks.
"Your eyes are pretty in the snow," she said quietly. Remus smiled and leaned down to kiss her until he could feel her smile against his lips.
"You're pretty in the snow," he said back. Sydney smiled again.
"I think I'm going to have to report you to the Headmaster for kissing your student," she said. "It's a real abuse of authority, you know."
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A/N
so when does this become real...
also ik this ch was in a diff place in swim but i feel like it makes more sense for remus for it to be here & i can do whatever i want so don't question me🙄
