Corrupted Souls | remus lupin

chocolate cake, tea, and truffles

Neoma stared blankly ahead as Slughorn droned on about unicorn blood. 

Her week had been exhausting. The stunt she'd pulled on the train did not go unnoticed by her Slytherin peers. Narcissa reprimanded her on their first night back, warning her of the rumors that were starting to spread. Brityn didn't mind holding back her opinion, and Ernest Parkinson was being even more of a scumbag than usual.

It seemed like the drama didn't only reach Slytherin ears. Most students in Neoma's year seemed to have heard of what happened on the Hogwarts Express, and each one of them had a theory on why a Slytherin sat in a Gryffindor compartment.

It was sad, really, that Neoma Nott sitting with a muggleborn stirred up so much drama. 

Slughorn dismissed them soon enough, and Neoma let out a thankful sigh as she started to pack away her notes. 

"Neoma, would you like to come to the library with Remus and I?" Lily inquired as she stood. Apart from their train ride and classes, Lily hadn't made much of an effort to speak with Neoma, but it was a two way street. Neoma was incredibly ashamed by the school's reaction to her "betrayal", and it made her reflect on the reputation she must have.

She knew that she was guilty by association for much of her friends' behavior, but she thought her classmates might have viewed her a bit different. She never actually hurt anyone - she never uttered the word mudblood. Not in public, anyways, and certainly not recently. 

Neoma looked hesitantly at Remus, who gave her an encouraging nod, before she smiled gratefully. "Yeah, I would like that."

They were walking out of the classroom, now. Neoma's new cauldron banged awkwardly against her leg as her bag shifted with each step.

"Where are you going with them, Nott?" The nasally voice of Severus Snape drawled. Lily's shoulders tensed, and Remus couldn't help but roll his eyes. The slimy git could never keep his thoughts to himself.

"To the library, Severus." She replied hotly, not bothering to look back at him as she continued walking. 

"I can't imagine our friends would take kindly to that."

"Our friends?" Neoma scoffed. "They hold no love for you, Severus."

"And you think they care for you?" He spat, seemingly persistent on pushing her buttons that day. 

"Most of them don't, no." Neoma admitted, having come to terms with this a long time ago. The moment her housemates had started to turn her mother's death into a joke or into some justified action was when she truly understood how cruel her friends could be. "But at least I've come to accept that. You just have your head so far up Lucius's ass that you seem to be blinded to reality."

Severus clenched his fists. Neoma shouldn't be speaking to him like this - not anymore. While he had distanced himself from Lily - called his only friend, a girl he loved, a mudblood - to earn the respect of his peers, Neoma seemed to be perfectly content with throwing her status down the drain. He couldn't let her have the life he so desperately wanted, but was too cowardly to pursue. 

She still wouldn't look at him as she walked. Lily's face was bright red in anger at Severus's words. Remus looked at Neoma with surprise, never hearing the girl speak so boldly before. She was usually rather timid around he and Lily. 

Severus wouldn't let her go so easily. He continued following them, picking up his pace so he was on her heels. 

"How's your project going? Still finding a cure for lycanthropy?" He mocked, proud of himself when the girl - and Remus - stopped dead in their tracks. "That's a curious choice, Neoma." Severus made eye contact with Remus, eyes shining with glee as he continued. "I'm surprised Lupin didn't steal the idea from you. He's rather interested in the subject."