"Marlene thinks you're cute."
Remus blinks down at his coursework and then up at Mary Macdonald, who has just dropped into the seat across from him at the library. The library he'd come to specifically to get away from people, choosing a table at the back, hidden by bookshelves and almost always empty.
"Hey, hello," Mary sticks her hand in his face and snaps her fingers, "Earth to Remus, did you hear me?"
Remus sighs. "I heard you. I was just hoping you'd go away."
Mary sticks her tongue out at him. "Tough luck buttercup. So?"
"So?"
Mary waves her hand impatiently "So, what do you think about Marlene calling you cute?"
"Er...that's...nice of her?" Though honestly, Remus isn't sure "cute" is exactly the look he's going for. Cute is for puppies. Or babies. Not...whatever he is. Boy-man-person-werewolf.
"Nice of her?" Mary demands, clearly offended on Marlene's behalf.
Remus brings his hands up to his head, massaging his temples. "What exactly do you want from me Mary?"
She leans forward, dark braids slipping over her shoulder. "I want to know what you're going to do about it."
Remus blinks. "Do about it?"
"If I were you, I'd ask her to Hogsmeade this weekend."
It takes Remus's brain a moment to catch up—to understand the connection between being called "cute" and asking someone to go to Hogsmeade with you.
"Like...on a date?" he says slowly, hating everything about that idea.
The eye roll Mary gives him is truly spectacular. "Yes, Merlin, I thought you were the clever one."
"Common misconception," Remus says off handedly, which is true. People think James and Sirius are idiots because they act like it, but that's a choice on their part. Even Peter is smarter than most people give him credit for, he just isn't good at school. He can learn anything if you explain it to him out loud, even if it's only once. And he picks up spells just by watching. It's books he struggles with.
"So we're agreed then?" Mary says triumphantly. "You should take her to the Three Broomsticks."
"Bit obvious that, where else do you take someone in Hogsmeade?" He has no idea why he's playing along with this, there's no way he's taking Marlene anywhere.
"Well you were a little slow on the uptake so I'm not sure what's obvious to you, and I don't want you to do something stupid like bring her to Madam Puddifoot's."
Remus makes a face even just thinking about that place—pink and frilly and blasting sickly sweet smells into the street that give him a migraine every time he walks by.
"Yes, exactly," Mary says gravely. "Good to know you have some taste. That bodes well for this."
"Bodes well for—listen, Mary..." he doesn't know how to finish that sentence though. He considers telling her the truth, but what would that even look like?
Hey Mary, I'm not going to go out with Marlene. I don't fancy her. I'm in love with my psychotic best friend, or ex-best friend, depending on how you look at it, who's too afraid to admit that he wants to kiss me let alone anything else. My love life is really complicated enough as it is. Also, I'm a werewolf.
Would that be too much?
"Remus? Merlin, what is with you today?"
Remus blinks, coming back to the present as Mary impatiently taps her nails on the table between them.
