Hurt | Remus Lupin

~13~ Sara's Discovery

This time, Remus was the one ignoring me. Anytime I'd see him in the hallway, he'd avoid eye contact, or only mumble small hello.

"What has gotten into Professor Lupin?" asked Percy. "He's acting so strange."

"I wish I knew." I muttered. 

In his next class, he walked around to see our progress on a short in-class paper we were writing, and he completely skimmed over mine. 

"You go ahead." I said to the boys after class. "I have a question about something."

Ollie and Percy left, leaving me and Remus.

"Your turn to tell me why you've been ignoring me." I said.

He didn't look at me. "I've just been very busy with work Miss Finnigan."

Ouch. That stung a little.

"Well, Professor-" I said, putting emphasis on the word 'professor'.

His eyes snapped up at that and his gaze met my sharp one.

"I just think it's a little strange that you're ignoring me right after we kissed." I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows.

His cheeks turned bright red at my remark. "I- I just-"

"You shouldn't have kissed me if you were just going to do this!" I cried. "Talk about playing with my feelings much?"

"Look, Sara." he rubbed his eyes. "I just don't want to hurt you."

"Well, you're hurting me by not communicating!" I said angrily. 

"There's a lot on my plate, alright? And it's not just about me being your professor, it's other things-"

"What other things? Let me guess, you have a wife at home? Is that it?" I snarled.

"No! I would never- no." he said firmly. "It's not that. There's no one else. I just- I'm not a good person. I'm a monster."

I blinked with confusion. "You associate being a bad lover a monster?"

"Don't say that, lover sounds strange."

"Well, we're not exactly boyfriend girlfriend are we? I don't know what you want me to call us!" 

Why were men so complicated?

"I just, I shouldn't have!" he cried.

"Shouldn't have what?" I said loudly.

"I should never  have kissed you!" Remus yelled.

That felt like a blow to my chest. I clenched my jaw and narrowed my eyes. 

"I'm just trying to protect you." he said softly, reaching out a hand. 

"Don't touch me! I know how you feel. You just thought this was a little game of playing with a stupid seventeen year old who was too gullible to realize it's a game."

"No! It's not like that! It's not a game! I care for you Sara I really do. I'm just doing this for your own good!" He pleaded. "You wouldn't understand!"

"More like for your  own good." I snapped, and with that, I stalked out of his classroom. Tears were forming in my eyes, and by the time I got to the Common Room, I felt like I was about to explode from a mixture of anger, tears, and annoyance.

"Goodness, are you alright?" asked Percy, looking at my face. 

He was sitting with Ollie, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

I collapsed, and this time I burst into tears. 

"Men are stupid!" I cried.

"Ouch." Ollie said.