Bright Side of the Moon | Remus Lupin

Chapter 9: Boyfriend

"Last I checked McQuincy, this was the Gryffindor table." Remus' rather annoyed voice reached her ears.

Claudette looked up from her lunch to see the boy shyly smiling at her.

She returned the smile, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit Mr. McQuincy?"

"Well," A faint tint of pink started to cover his cheeks, "I was wondering whether we could go on that second date I promised you tonight? At the Astronomy tower at around 10? If you aren't busy, of course."

Claudette could feel all of her friends looking expectantly at her, "Sure. That would be lovely."

Asper smiled, obviously pleased, "Great. I can't wait for tonight."

And with a shy wave, he set off back to his friends.

"Something wrong Rem?" The girl asked, noticing the frown on the werewolf as he looked at the spot where McQuincy was standing earlier.

Remus' eyes snapped back to her, shaking his head, "Nope. I'm perfectly fine."

"What happened to your face, Remus?" Marlene asked from across the table, "You seem to have a new scar."

"It was just an accident with a prank yesterday." Remus answered casually.

"Honestly, how clumsy are you guys?" Claudette played along.

Remus gratefully smiled, "It was only an accident. Nothing major."

"You guys need to be more careful." She said, pointing towards James, Sirius and Peter, "And how is it always Remus who gets injured? He's already the brains behind your operations and still he has to be the one who gets hurt?"

"Do you really expect me to get this handsome face hurt?" James snickered.

"Ow! That hurt!" He then frowned as Claudette threw a piece of bread at him.

"Don't be daft James, of course it's my beautiful hair that shouldn't get messed u- Hey! That hurts!" Sirius complained as Claudette threw some bread at him too.

"Be lucky she threw the bread at you." Remus smirked, casually taking a sip of pumpkin juice, "and not the whole platter."

"Mar, didn't you go on another date Jasper?" Lily asked, changing the subject of the conversation, "How'd it go?"

Marlene's eyes lighted up with excitement, "It was amazing! And he actually asked me to be his girlfriend and I accepted."

"What?!" Sirius said, almost spitting out his pumpkin juice on poor Peter.

Marlene gave him a look, "Why? Is there something bad about that?"

Sirius immediately looked away, talking to his plate instead of Marlene, "Of course not. Why would it be? Who wouldn't want to date you."

As if on cue, Jasper appeared, taking Marlene away for their midday walk.

"See?" James chastised, glaring at Sirius, "I told you! And since you've waited too long to ask Marlene out, you're going to do nothing but sulk around and be a jealous prick."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Can you please stop rubbing it in my face mate?"

"I bet Remus knows a thing or two about that." Lily pointed out, raising a brow in amusement as Remus gave her a look.
—
"Surprise." Asper whispered to not destroy the serenity of the atmosphere as he removed the blindfold from Claudette's eyes.

Claudette squinted, adjusting to the light before she caught sight of the candlelit dinner set for the two of them.

"Wow." She smiled, turning to the boy behind it, "It's amazing!"

Asper breathed a sigh of relief, lips showing into a smile hundreds of girls fawned over as he walked over to the table.

"Have a seat love. Dinner won't be hot forever."

To say she had an amazing time would be an understatement, she couldn't remember the last time she laughed this hard.

"Thank you." Asper said, hands tucked in his pockets as he walked Claudette back to her common room, "For agreeing to go on this wonderful night with me."

"It was my pleasure." Claudette mused, "Thank you for asking me, it was amazing."

"Well, this is me." Claudette said once they've reached the painting of The Fat Lady, "Thank you again for giving me such a wonderful time."

"No problem." Asper grinned, rocking on the balls of his feet before leaning in and kissing her cheek.

"One more thing, if I'm not being too straightforward or anything, would you like to be my girlfriend?" He asked.

Claudette was stunned by the question: being in Asper's company was truly brilliant and she couldn't really wait around for Remus forever, could she?

Claudette nodded without hesitation, "I would love to."

"Yes!" Asper whooped a little too loudly, making The Fat Lady glare at him while Claudette giggled.

"I swear you won't regret it." He said, kissing her cheek once more before calling out a hurried good night! as he run off into the darkness of the corridors.

The smile that appeared on the girl's lips and the euphoria in her heart couldn't be wiped away as she gave the password to the painting and stepped into the common room.

"So, how'd it go?" James grinned at her from the couch, almost scaring her out of her wits.

"How are you still up?" She laughed, plopping down next to him.

"Well, I've deemed myself as your brother, therefore it is only right that I know how the date went." He said.

Playfully rolling her eyes at him, she decided to let him have his fun, "Well, it was really beautiful and nice. He also asked me to be his girlfriend."

James raised a brow, "And what did you say?"

"I said yes." She admitted.

"What?!" Before James could say anything in response, Remus stood up from his hiding place by the staircase, where he had been eavesdropping.

"You agreed to be his girlfriend?!" Remus said.