NOTHING GIRL || Remus Lupin

-Thirty Seven: Looking For Trouble-

And Here's What you Missed at: Hogwarts

Remus could feel the tug of a blackout, and begged himself not to faint. A concussion wasn't his worst problem. He had heard the ominous snap in his back pocket as he had been shoved to the ground.

His wand was broken.

......................

Okay, now Remus was panicking.

Night was starting to pull it's heavy blanket over the village (that he still hadn't learned the name of) and the stars were blurred and hazy in the pollution from the almost-full moon. If he didn't find Helia before tomorrow night, there was a real possibility of him wolfing out in the middle of a muggle-inhabited area. He groaned.

Fortunately, his wand could be easily fixed with a simple reparo charm. Unfortunately, in order to perform the reparo charm, one must have a working wand. For the first time, Remus felt a spike of indignation dart through him at the wizarding community; what was the point in having motherfucking magic when you had to aim it through a twig?

A twist of nausea rolled his stomach over, battling with a throbbing brain for dominance over Remus's nervous system. Yep. Okay. He definitely had a concussion.

He stumbled over to an abandoned-looking house, front garden overflowing with weeds and nettles. Bending over, Remus emptied the contents of his stomach onto the unfortunate plants. He really hoped that no one lived here.

He dragged himself along the fence until he reached a wall, sliding down the chipped bricks until he was sat with his knees pulled against his chest. His head leaned back against the wall.

Just a few minutes of sleep wouldn't hurt anyone.

.............................................

"Look who it is, boys!"

The students at the Slytherin table visibly retracted from Bella as if she had some kind of disease. She clenched her hands beneath the long sleeves in her cloak and breathed steadily through her nose. Just one breakfast. That's all she had to get through.

She suddenly wished that she hadn't told Jade to go and help the search for Helia, even though Bella had seen the stomach-tearing panic on Jade's face that morning. But without her girlfriend, Bella would be expected to sit at the Slytherin table. Most of the Slytherins had some sort of problem with her; whether it was the fact that she didn't identify as the gender on her birth certificate, or how her girlfriend was a Ravenclaw, or that tiny detail that one of the same girlfriend's best friends had turned the whole of Slytherin house into red and gold advocates for their mortal rivals.

She sat, trying to ignore the vicious taunts from further up the table. The girl next to her was pretty, with long, dark eyelashes and a daintily pointed face. Bella was pretty sure her name rhymed with 'Lawley'. Something Lawley. The girl met her eyes and then darted them away.

"Hi." Something Lawley said tightly, observing her omelette with slightly too much interest.

"Um..." Bella got the sense that Something Lawley really didn't want to be seen with her, but at least she didn't stare as if she had the plague. "Hey."

Bella's hand was shaking as she reached for a sausage and she glared at it, letting it fall back to her side.

"Hey, Fawley!" The voice from the end of the table came again. Oh, Bella thought, Fawley. Of course. "You and him doing it now? I didn't think you were into that sort of thing!"

Him. Bella's nails dug into her palms, leaving little half moon marks.

Something Fawley's eyes widened in horror and a little bit of fear. Bella felt her heart twist a little as the other girl edged away from her.