Beyond Rumours | Remus Lupin x Reader

Chapter Twenty-Five

REMUS LUPIN 2/01/1978 (Monday)

The first day of school for the new year rolled around quickly. Many people were reluctant to go back to classes, and Sirius was probably the biggest advocate for it.

"I'm sure our grades could survive another week off," he complained as we walked down to the common room.

James had already left for an early morning run and some time on the quidditch pitch – something Sirius wanted to skip in order to get some more beauty sleep. Peter had a morning detention – the worst sort. All our thoughts and prayers were for him during this difficult time.

"Yes, but one week will turn into two, and then three, and then four–"

"Yes, yes, alright," Sirius groaned, cutting me off.

We reached the common room and Sirius continued walking to the portrait hole, making a beeline for breakfast at the Great Hall, when he realised I wasn't following him.

"What're you doing?" he questioned.

I gestured up to the girls' dorms. "Waiting for Y/n."

Sirius scoffed and shook his head. "Ditching me for a girl? Really? I thought I was your best friend."

"You can wait too," I suggested.

Sirius shook his head. "I'm hungry. And now sad that a fellow marauder is ditching me for a girl–"

"Oh, piss off," I groaned. "James is doing the same thing!"

"Yes, well, I'm sad about that too," he said, wiping a fake tear. "Anyway, have fun, loverboy!"

Sirius left the common room just as Y/n descended the stairs, and I turned to her with a grin on my face.

"Hi," she greeted with a smile, and a quick kiss.

We left the common room together, hands linked and leisurely making our way to the Great Hall. It was busy when we arrived – unfortunately everyone had come back for the school term, which meant that the castle wasn't nearly as empty as it was a week ago.

Breakfast was uneventful, unless you counted the part where Marlene fell asleep in her breakfast. I honestly didn't want to know what she'd been doing the night before.

Potions was boring – at least I wasn't failing though, and at least my girlfriend was one of the best in the class. I found learning from her was actually very fun. She was patient with me as well, unlike a certain, dark-haired dog named after a star. I hated doing Potions with him.

"I've got Defence now," Y/n sighed once the bell rang. "I'll see you later, yeah?"

I nodded and she leaned up to give me a quick kiss before hurrying off to find Regulus before going to her class. I looked after her for a moment. I heard a snicker and found that it came from Sirius, who looked away innocently as soon as I trained my gaze on him.

The Charms classroom was already buzzing when we arrived, as most people were already there. We took our usual seats towards the back of the classroom and got out our wands, ready for the lesson. After a ten minute lecture from Flitwick about the anti-Alohomora charm, we were tasked to attempt (and partially master) the spell. As pranksters, the four of us had already perfected this spell, so, like the good students we were, we decided to talk instead of practising.

"Okay, so I'm thinking we should do another prank," James proposed. "I think we need to leave Hogwarts with a bang. Planning tonight?"

"Can't," I shrugged. "I'm doing something with Y/n."

"She's got you wrapped around her finger, mate," Sirius laughed.

I shook my head defensively. "She does not."

"Hate to break it to you, mate," Peter said, trying to sound sympathetic but not quite managing as he was also trying to hold back laughter, "but Padfoot is right."

"You're mental," I muttered.

"Moony," Sirius argued, "she knows about your furry little problem, and you share your chocolate with her!"

The other two nodded along, like this was the best argument in the world.

"She knows about my 'furry little problem' because she figured it out," I countered.

Sirius looked at the other two before saying, "well, how do you explain the chocolate then?"

"She likes chocolate," I said with a shrug.

Sirius looked offended. "I like chocolate, and you never share any with me!"

"That," I said, flicking my wand and casting the anti-Alohomora charm on the locks we had in front of us, "is because you are a dog, and dogs can't eat chocolate."

"Well done, Mr Lupin," Flitwick praised as he came over. "Five points to Gryffindor for the first successful attempt at the spell. As for the rest of you – less talking, more charming."

Flitwick walked over to some other students, and my friends all narrowed their eyes at me, to which I returned a grin.

I was able to see Y/n again during our free period, but she approached me with a frown, her arm linked with Regulus's, and a matching scowl on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately.

"They kicked me off the Quidditch team," Regulus hissed. "I know it's because I hang around you lot and don't care about it, but all they said was they found someone better."

"Which they couldn't have," Y/n added. "He's the best seeker I've ever seen. Probably the best at Hogwarts."

I knew that Y/n wasn't a Quidditch expert, and neither was I, but I knew that she was telling the truth.

"Well, I've been looking for a seeker since my last one quit to focus on their studies," James started. "You could always join our team."

Regulus raised an eyebrow, but he looked a tad less vexxed. "The Gryffindor quidditch team?"

James nodded, and Y/n cocked her head. "Isn't that against the rules?"

"I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the rule book," James said. "It says that you can play for your house, but it doesn't say you can't play for another house."

"You should do it Reggie," Sirius encouraged. "It'll be fun."

"I'm still pretty sure it's breaking the rules," Y/n said, but it didn't sound like she was against the idea.

James chuckled. "And since when have we ever listened to the rules?"