Bright Side of the Moon | Remus Lupin

Chapter 7: Bahamas of Hiding Places

"Now, I guess all of you would be wondering why we're not seated for class as usual." The DADA Professor began.

Silence answered him so he continued.

"Today, we'll be focusing on the creature inside this cabinet. Which is a boggart." He said, gesturing to the cabinet next to him, "Now can anyone answer the question: what is a boggart?"

Three hands shot in the air: Claudette, Lily and Remus' - the trio who could've fit perfectly into Ravenclaw.

"Ms. Evans!" The Professor called out.

"The boggart is a shadow that takes form into a person's worst fear." Lily answered with a smile.

"Precisely Ms. Evans. 10 points to Gryffindor!" The Professor grinned.

"Now, why do we need to keep the boggart in a closet? Why not out in the open?" He then asked.

The same three hands shot up.

"Uh," he stalls, "Mr. Lupin!"

"Firstly, it's because since there's a group of people in the room, so it would be confused to what it should transform into. Second, boggarts like dark and isolated places." Remus answered.

"Very good Mr.Lupin!" The Professor praised,
"Another 10 points to Gryffindor!"

"Now, one last question before we get started on more hands on experience." He said, "How exactly do we defeat a boggart."

Once again, the same three hands shot up.

"Ms. Moonbeam." He decided this time.

"You can defeat the boggart by thinking about it as something funny and say Ridikullus." She answered.

"Amazing job! Another 10 points to Gryffindor!" The Professor beamed.

"Now what I want you to do right now is form a neat line and each of you will be given the chance to face the boggart."

As instructed, the students of both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor formed a line.

Once presented to the students, the boggart started shifting into different fearful situations and soon turned into hilarious ones: a snake with only gums, a ghost inhaled by a vacuum, and for some reason, hands creeping from under the bed turned into dust bunnies.

Soon enough, it was Claudette's turn. Stepping forward the face the boggart, she suddenly found herself in a dark room - not the crowded classroom.

Her brows furrowed as nervousness started to course through her veins, she wasn't afraid of
dark and isolated rooms.

"Hello?" She called out to hear her voice echo.

Then Lily suddenly appeared in front of her wearing a frown, "I told you, I don't want to be friends with you anymore."

Her blood started to run cold, "W-what? Why?"

Lily scoffed, "Whatever. Just stay away from me."

"Wait! Lils!" Claudette tried to call out but Lily already disappeared into thin air.

The dark room turned into the corridors of Hogwarts, a familiar place but different feel.

She saw Marlene, Lily, Alice and Mary huddled up in a group. When she tried to make her way towards them, they took one glance at her and took off.

The same thing happened with the Marauders. Claudette tried to run after them - but she couldn't.

Claudette found herself struggling to breathe, trying to keep the water out of her eyes as she tried to think clearly, but her mind was too clouded for any thoughts to come through.

Suddenly, she felt something tightening around her forearm before she was pulled back.

Claudette saw that she was back in the DADA classroom, breathing in the scent of chocolate and old books as Remus stood protectively in front of her.

The boggart had already changed form. At first, it looked like dark clouds, until the clouds started shifting to reveal the full moon.

Claudette could feel Remus tense up in front of her before he held up his wand and exclaimed, "Ridikullus!"

The yellowish, full moon wooshed around the room, deflating like a balloon.

A Hufflepuff student stepped forward while Remus gently pulled the trembling girl aside.

"Are you okay?" He asked, voice no louder than a whisper.

She nodded, finding comfort in his arms, "Thanks for saving me."

He simply chuckled, tucking a brown curl of hair behind her ear before pulling out a chocolate bar from his pocket and breaking a piece.

"Here." Remus smiled, "Eat up so you'll feel better."
—
Later that afternoon, Remus and Claudette were peacefully lounging by the black lake, both with a book in hand.

"Rem," Claudette cooed, "can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Remus said, looking up from his book.

"Are you afraid of the moon?" She asked, mind jumping back to their DADA class that morning.

Remus sat there in silence, making Claudette almost regret asking him in the first place.

Just as she was about to apologize, when he spoke up.

"It's not actually about the moon but more on the dark." He shrugged, "It's now as intense as the fear I had when I was a kid, but it's still there. And during some hard days, I feel like the dark just engulfs me and keeps in away from everyone else."

Remus could practically melt as she looked at him with the softest look in the world.

"Thank you." Claudette smiled, "For saving me from the boggart even if you knew that it would turn into your worst fear."

Remus returned the smile, "I'll do anything for you."

He could've sworn that her cheeks turned red.

"Anyway," he started to change the subject, "what about you? It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. But, the boggart started swirling around you in a black shadow and you just looked so scared and paralyzed. Then you kept calling out to me, Lily and when I couldn't take watching you like that anymore, I had to pull you out."

"It's just that you guys are the best thing that ever happened to me and I'm just scared of losing you." She answered.

He gently pulled her closer to him, rubbing her shoulder in a comforting manner, "No matter what happens, you'll always have me by your side."
—
Explosions aren't usually a beautiful sound to hear, but to these pranksters - the explosion meant that their plan was a success.

"Run!" James shouted over Filch's curses towards the troublemakers.

Laughter bounced off of the walls as they made a run for it. Yet in the midst of all the commotion, they had to split up - James, Sirius and Peter going one way while Remus and Claudette went the other.

The two of them still practically laughing their heads off, Claudette pulled them into an open broom closet and shut the door just in time as Filch passed by moments later.

Claudette was still watching through the small slits on the door to check if the coast was clear while Remus looked around.

"This is a broom closet, Claud." He suddenly said, making the girl look at him, "This is the most cliche hiding place you could've chosen."

Claudette stared at him in disbelief, not knowing what to say as he started laughing, "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't take us to the Bahamas of hiding places."

"No seriously." She said sarcastically as he started laughing harder, "Next time we're on the run do tell me where we could hide that's not cliche."

Once they had both made sure that the coast was clear, they stepped out of the closet to see the rest of Marauders and Lily waiting for them outside and grinning at them teasingly.

Remus and Claudette groaned, knowing the teasing that awaited them.

A/N: Please excuse my laziness on naming/researching the DADA Professor😂. Hope you liked the story so far!