Monster - [Marauder Era] {Remus Lupin}

Chapter Nineteen ~ Fly Free

The entirety of the House of Lions had gathered in the Common Room, exchanging mischievous looks of excitement while waiting for the battered Gryffindor Quidditch Team players to return as a unit from the Hospital Wing. Countless bottles of Butterbeer, along with a few of Firewhiskey, found themselves resting on tables and in the hands of students. Someone had magicked a radio to play, but a group of Third Year's were constantly fighting over the station. The room was uncomfortably crowded, so I had escaped to a windowsill to sit on, the chill that seeped through the glass panes a welcome feeling. My mother's hand knit sweater, proudly displaying my house colors, was hot on my skin, even with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows. As I perched at the far reaches of the Common Room, waiting for the Quidditch team, I looked over the other members of my House, all of whom seemed charged with electricity.

James had fractured his arm again, but he had not once complained of the pain, perhaps still carried on the adrenaline of the win. When Remus, Peter and I visited him in the Infirmary after the match, not even my threats of hexes could disrupt his mood. His wide grin could not be wiped from his face, the sparks in his eyes burning like a wildfire. The majority of the team had been injured, and their constant, proud chatter had been what forced our trio to leave James to be with his teammates. Part of me wished to be apart of a team like that once again, as I had when I played football as a child in my muggle league. The feeling of being apart of such a group, hearts all beating as one to reach victory or defeat together, had been one of the most memorable pieces of my life without magic. But I had to leave it behind for the magical world, which left a bittersweet twinge in my chest when I thought of it.

"Is the Great-and-Oh-So-Powerful Calico Finley too lost in thought to speak at the moment?" The teasing voice of Remus behind me disrupts me from my trance, and when I turn to see him, his emerald irises brighten as they always did.

I swing my feet down, turning to face Remus before rolling my eyes at him. "Not now that you've distracted me," I shoot back playfully, a grin painting its way across my lips.

In a quieter voice, he continued, "Are you alright after today?"

For a moment, Regulus's face flashed into my mind, but I banished it almost immediately. "Yes, I am alright."

Remus released a light chuckle, fiddling with the sleeve of his jumper to cover one of the last of the bandages that snaked down his arm. It was a slight gesture that may have gone unnoticed by anyone else, almost appearing practiced. "I hope I didn't distract you from anything important, Calico-Cat."

"No, only the observation that there is a staggering amount of Firewhiskey present this evening, and that most of those attending the party are underage," I begin, poking Remus's golden Prefect badge that glinted in the firelight atop of his baggy grey jumper while raising my eyebrows. "Has Remus Lupin, the noble Prefect, finally been corrupted by Potter and Black?"

Remus placed a hand over his heart, forming an expression of mock betrayal on his features. "Why must you hurt me in this way?"

I let out a chuckle, flicking the golden-haired boy in the chest. Remus reacted by blowing a large gust of minty breath in my face, stirring the hairs that had escaped from my braid into flight. His lips slid into a smirk, and the mischief that burned in his eyes reminded me why he was such good friends with the their Marauders.

"Eugh. Don't make me hex you, too," I threaten Remus, raising a judgmental eyebrow at him. "You wouldn't want to be lowered to James's level."