Bright Side of the Moon | Remus Lupin

Chapter 11: Chocolate, Books and Reconciliation

"Do you think he'll like it?" Claudette asked, needing the input of her friends before the nerves murder her.

"I'm sure he will." Lily said, giving her a smile.

"I won't even be surprised if he faints once he sees it." Marlene added.

"He won't be able to resist that." Mary said, "Remus basically lives for chocolate."

"I'm nervous." Claudette admitted, voicing out her thoughts, "What if he doesn't like it? What if it's not enough to repair our friendship?"

"Relax." Lily cooed, "This is Remus we're talking about. He's basically the sweetest guy on earth, not to mention how much he's whipped for you."

"Shut up." Claudette mumbled, cheeks going red.

Heading out of her dorm and making her way down the steps, she took a deep breath upon the final one.

To her surprise, once she entered the common room - she saw the boy she had sought out for, waiting on the couch.

"Claud." Remus caught sight of her and called her at the same time she said his.

"I'm sorry." They both said at the same time, making them both smile.

Remus licked his lips, "I'll go first." To which the girl nodded.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, "For being kind of a jerk. I know I shouldn't have judged Asper that way. And I know that your smart enough to make good and responsible choices, unlike some of our friends."

Claudette chuckled as he continued, "I partly blame my actions on my mood since it was a little after the full moon. I also blame myself. I was jealous, I was scared that if you start dating him, you wouldn't have any time for me."

Lies. Well, half a lie. Remus was jealous. But the reason behind the green eyed monster was a complete lie.

"I forgive you." Claudette smiled, "And I'm also sorry. For not trying to understand you better and for snapping at you."

She then presented him with the basket in her hands, "As a some sort of peace offering, I practically raided Honeyduke's whole stock of chocolate and made this for you."

Remus was gobsmacked as he stared at the basket in her hands, practically filled to the brim with his favorite chocolates and the assortment of other sweets.

"Claud," He cooed, taking the basket from her, "You shouldn't have! Now this makes mine look lame."

Claudette laughed, "You're the one who shouldn't have. Besides, I'm sure that it's amazing."

He raised a brow, "Really? You haven't even seen it."

"I'm sure of it." She said, playfully rolling her eyes at him.

"Fine." Remus mumbled, taking something from the couch and shyly handing it to her.

Claudette stared at the leather bound book in her hands, the title: "The Picture of Dorian Gray" staring at her in its golden lettered glory.

"It's annotated." Remus explained as she flipped through the pages - quickly scanning all the ink that rest on its pages, "I remember when you told me that you always wanted to read an annotated book because it's like-"

"also reading into someone's mind and seeing their thoughts." Remus and Claudette finished at the same time making them both smile.

She closed the book, hugging it close to her chest, "Thank you Rem. This is the sweetest gift anyone has given me."

Remus looked surprised at this, "Really?"

"Yeah." She nodded before giving him a hug, "Thank you."

He felt a blush rise to his cheeks as he returned the hug, "Thank you too. It's like you knew that I was already running low on stock."

"So, do you want to go down for breakfast together?" Remus asked.

"Yes please!" Claudette answered, "I'm starving."
--
When their friends had caught sight of them coming down to the Great Hall together, they cheered - it was as if they had just announced that they were already getting married.

"Will you quiet down?" Claudette whisper shouted to her friends when she sat down, "McGonagall is literally looking at the lot of you."

"Sorry." Lily gave a smile that said that she wasn't in the least bit sorry.

"We're just happy that the two of you finally made up." James smiled, patting Remus' shoulder, "Especially since how hard this one was sulking."

Remus rolled his eyes, swatting James' hand away, "Shut up. I didn't sulk."

"Yeah right." James, Sirius and Peter retorted in chorus.

"Whatever." Remus muttered, adverting his attention to his breakfast.

Remus and Claudette were hanging out by the Black Lake - Remus with his copy of "Hundred Years in Solitude" in hand while the latter had her gifted annotated copy of "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

"Rem, can I ask you a question?" Claudette asked out of the blue.

The boy peered at her from the top of his novel, "Sure."

She moved to face him, "What do you really think about Asper?"

Remus looked taken aback by the question, "Aside from my harsh judgement?" He joked.

She rolled her eyes at him, "Of course."

He took a deep breath, staying silent for a minute, "Well, I guess he's alright. Whenever I see him with you he seems so nice and caring towards you. And based on the stories you tell, he really looks out for you."

"But," he added with a smile, "if he hurts even the thinnest hair on your head, he has me to answer to. Well and James - Merlin knows what he'll do to McQuincy. He swore that when McQuincy asked you out."

Little did she knew that Remus swore the same thing too and also that he'd help bury the body.

Claudette laughed, "Classic James, playing the big brother role."

Remus shrugged, "Well it's not like any of us can stop him."

"You do have a point there." She smiled.

"But you aren't still jealous, aren't you?" Claudette then asked.

The wolf gave a tight-lipped smile, "Maybe a little?"

The truth: a lot, bucket loads of it.

"Oh c'mon." She cooed, "Rem you don't have to be jealous."

"Really?" He joked, "He's your boyfriend - you'll start to spend all your time with him then you'll forget about little old me and your other friends."

Claudette swatted his arm, causing him to laugh, "Shut up. I'm not going to forget any of you that easily. Especially you and Lily."

"You mean it?" Remus asked.

"Of course I do." Claudette answered, "We've been through so much together and I'll stay by your side until the end."

"The very end?"

"The very very end."