Beyond Rumours | Remus Lupin x Reader

Chapter Ten

REMUS LUPIN

Friday, 21st of October 1977 

My joints ached as I lay in the hospital wing. Last night had been a rough full moon. The wolf had left a lot of cuts and scratches, but they were nothing new. Madam Pomfrey had given me a healing tonic, and had said that I'd be able to leave at break. So I waited for the first two periods to pass (double Transfiguration) before I headed to the Gryffindor common room, hoping to find my friends waiting there for me.

"You alright, Moony?" James asked as soon as I entered the common room. It was pretty empty, with only the Marauders, Lily, and a few fifth-years occupying it.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, sitting down beside Peter, who was reading over his Transfiguration homework.

"I have your notes," Lily added, handing them to me.

She sat next to James, their thighs touching, and both of their faces slightly pink. I hoped that they'd get together soon – seven years of listening to James pine over Lily was driving me up the walls.

Break was over too quickly, and we walked to the dungeons for Potions. Slughorn paired us up again – I was lucky enough to get paired with Y/n, while James got Lily. We sat at the same table, and we were told to start a brew on an antidote to Veritaserum. Y/n helped me a lot, and I felt bad that I was so exhausted from the full moon that I couldn't be of more use. But she didn't seem to mind – in fact, she seemed to be in her element, chopping up ingredients and ordering me around. I found that I didn't mind it.

Class was over too quickly, and then we were all walking to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Oh, Remus, would you be able to look over my Transfiguration homework?" Y/n asked hopefully.

"Yeah, of course," I replied, maybe a bit too quickly. "I could, um... I could do it now, at lunch, if you want."

Y/n smiled widely and nodded.

"Thank you so much, Remus," she said. "I'll just go grab it."

She turned to the staircase and started to go up, causing me to pause.

"Hey... Y/n," I said slowly, "isn't the Slytherin common room back that way?"

I pointed in the direction we'd come, towards the dungeons. Y/n looked back and sighed before slowly walking down the stairs and back to me.

"Well, the password to the common room is something horrific and Reg and I refuse to say it," she explained, looking at the floor. "So... we're sleeping in a broom closet."

I waited for her to laugh, to say, just kidding! It's a joke, but her face was slightly crestfallen. A broom closet? I blinked and shook my head slightly in shock.

"A – a broom closet?" I repeated, and she nodded. "I – have you spoken to Slughorn?"

"He can't do anything about it," she shrugged, seemingly defeated. "He said that we have to wait a month 'til it can be changed."

I stared at her in horror of the situation, and she shifted nervously.

"I'll... uh... grab my homework, then," she suggested. "Meet you in the Great Hall?"

"I – oh... yeah..."

Y/n gave me a small smile before heading up the stairs again, and left me standing in my spot.

It wasn't hard to guess what the password had been changed to. Lily had been called it at least once on a weekly basis, and I'd even gotten it a few times. Mudblood. The fact that Y/n refused to say it made me much more sure about my decision to be her friend.

I walked to the Great Hall, my stomach rumbling louder than I'd like to admit. Around the full moon I was always really hungry. Sirius waved me over to the table and I sat down beside him before serving food onto my plate.

No matter how much I ate, though, the thought of Y/n and Regulus living in a broom closet wouldn't leave my mind.

"Hey, Remus, are you okay?" Lily asked softly.

I looked at her to see she was regarding me with worry and concern. I realised that I'd been so lost in thought about Y/n's living situation that I'd not been paying attention to anything that was being said.

"Did you know that Y/n and Regulus are living in a broom closet?" I blurted. "The password to the Slytherin dorms changed to the m-word, and Y/n and Regulus refuse to say it, so they're living in a broom closet."

As soon as the words left my mouth I wished I could take them back. Y/n and Regulus probably didn't want me telling everyone about it...

"That's horrific!" Lily exclaimed. "They should stay with us, in the tower. We have enough room in our dorm to conjure a bed for Y/n."

"We could conjure a bed for Regulus, too," James added. "They shouldn't have to live in a broom closet."

The four of them nodded at each other, proud of their decision. Y/n decided to arrive at this time.

"Hey," she said breathlessly, handing me her parchment. "Thank you again so much."

"It's – it's not a problem," I assured.

She smiled and started to walk to the Slytherin table, so I stood up quickly, bumping the table and nearly tripping over the bench in my haste. I heard Sirius snort into his pumpkin juice but ignored it.

"Y/n, wait," I said, stepping over the bench and managing not to fall over. She paused and turned, and I stepped closer to her. "You could stay in our dorms."

She cocked her head and raised an eyebrow, and I realised how that must have sounded.

"Wait, I meant... Regulus can stay in our dorms, and you can stay in the girls'. Y'know... in the Gryffindor Tower. Erm, until the password changes."

Y/n looked at me for a moment longer before glancing at the Slytherin table. Her eyes narrowed slightly before she turned back to me.

"That – that would be great," she said in relief. "Thank you so much."

"It – it's no problem," I said again, rubbing the back of my neck.

Y/n smiled brightly at me, and I swear to Merlin I melted inside as I smiled back.

After the school day was over, Lily and I followed Y/n and Regulus to their broom closet. Their trunks were stacked inside, and there were two sleeping bags and camp beds. The two Slytherins grabbed their trunks and Vanished the sleeping bags and beds before following us up to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Cor Fortium," Lily said to the Fat Lady.

She swung aside, revealing the Gryffindor common room. Y/n and Regulus surveyed the room with slight awe on their faces. Their eyes raked over everything and gobbled down the details.

"The girls' dorms are on the right," Lily told Y/n. "Come on."

The girls disappeared into their dorm, and I led Regulus to ours. Someone had already conjured a bed, and Regulus looked around the room slowly before walking over to the bed and placing his trunk at the end of it. Sirius watched his brother closely as he unpacked in silence.

"Living together again, huh, Reggie?" Sirius said.

I heard his voice catch slightly and I looked away, pretending to be busy with reading a book.

"Yeah," I heard Regulus reply quietly.

birthday post :)