Echoes of the Past | Remus Lupin

-T E N- Full Moons

The past couple of weeks have been a blur of nightmares, finding comfort with the girls and Marauders, playful flirting with Remus (which still surprised me), and, to my shock, becoming somewhat friendly with Evan. Not that Remus was thrilled about that. And, of course, there were classes, but I already knew everything being taught.

After all, I'd completed most of my sixth year before everything fell apart. It hadn't occurred to me that I'd retain so much, though. That's why I was sitting in Astronomy, my chin resting on my hand, boredom weighing me down like a heavy cloak. My quill was idly tracing random patterns on the parchment in front of me, but my mind was anywhere but here.

The Astronomy Tower always had a biting chill, even on the warmest days. The cold stone walls seemed to radiate the crisp night air, wrapping around us and sinking deep into our bones. The faint scent of damp stone mixed with old parchment filled the room, and outside the wide windows, the night sky glittered with a million stars.

I should've been enchanted by the view, the twinkling constellations above us, but instead, I was more focused on the boy sitting next to me.

Remus.

He was hunched over his parchment, scribbling down notes with a furrowed brow, his quill scratching furiously against the paper. The way he concentrated so intently made me smirk. He looked like he was preparing for an exam, while the rest of us struggled to stay awake through the lecture.

Boredom gnawed at me, and before I knew it, I leaned over and sketched a small, cheeky smiley face on the corner of his parchment.

His reaction was immediate.

"Can you stop?" he snapped, his voice unusually sharp. His brown eyes narrowed in frustration as he looked at me. "Not everyone's as smart as you. Some of us actually need to focus."

The coldness in his tone caught me off guard, hitting me like a slap. My eyes widened, and I felt a wave of heat creep up my neck. Remus had never spoken to me like that before. His words cut deeper than I expected, and I blinked, trying to hide the sting of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, lowering my eyes to my own parchment. The quill in my hand suddenly felt heavier, as if the weight of his irritation had transferred to it. I wasn't used to this, not from Remus.

For a second, he looked like he regretted what he'd said. His lips pressed into a thin line, and he sighed, raking a hand through his already messy hair. "I didn't mean it like that," he muttered, his voice softer now, almost apologetic. "I'm just... tired."

"Right." I forced a smile, trying to ease the tension between us. "Don't worry about it."

But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. His words, his harsh tone, it wasn't just tiredness. Remus was usually patient, even when he was tired. Why had he snapped like that?

I tried to focus on Professor Sinistra's lecture as she pointed to the constellations twinkling in the sky above us, her wand tracing their outlines. But my mind kept wandering back to Remus. I snuck another glance at him, and this time, I noticed the dark circles under his eyes, deeper than usual. His skin was pale, almost sickly, and there was a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead, glistening under the dim light of the tower.

He looked exhausted. No, worse than exhausted, he looked like he was on the edge of collapse. I frowned, watching as his hand trembled slightly while he scribbled down another note.

A gnawing feeling of unease settled in my stomach. Something wasn't right. I scanned the room, searching for a clue, until my eyes landed on the large moon cycle chart hanging beside the clock.