Rose Petals ✿ Remus Lupin - Discontinued :(

Chapter 38

Rylen's words had managed to burn into her conscience.

At first she thought it was completely ludicrous, her best friends hiding something from her—they wouldn't do that. They were always honest, and if they did tell a white lie Belle always caught it after a little while. Maybe she didn't want to believe that she was being kept in the dark, or maybe she wanted in a la-la land type of state right now. She was finally happy.

Then she begun to try and convince herself to forget it all and go back to her state of bliss. One where she trusted her friends and enjoyed their proximity. One where she never had to doubt a word they said. One where she felt safe... And she did for a few days, but then the third stage crept up on her and her goals of forgetting were long forgotten.

She started to see the little signs that made her doubt herself and her friends. She saw the whispers shared between the boys when she wasn't looking and she saw the looks the girls gave each other between conversations. It had been a year or so since she had worried about Remus's disheveled state, and even that had been creeping into her mind again. Every once and a while Belle would say something and they would all glance widely between each other. She hated eavesdropping, but she was beginning to think it was necessary, just to prove that her friends aren't hiding anything important from her.

She mulled things over in her head as she walked down to breakfast late that morning. She had let the girls leave before her so she could have some time to think, but all that did was make things ten times more complicated in her mind. So she finished getting ready and was now in her current situation of trying to block out all the thoughts in her head so she could focus on her Potions Exam.

It seemed as if luck was on her side, however, as four familiar voices had come into a range of whispers as Belle neared the corner. The Marauders had been known to be seen in little huddles all over the castle, whispering about their next victims or what they could do to mess with a certain, arrogant Slytherin. Belle viewed this as her chance to hear if they really were hiding something.

She pressed herself against the wall nearing the corner, listening intently to their hushed voices. Remus was speaking in a rushed tone, one Belle had never heard him talk in before, and every once and a while James would cut him off in a reassuring manner. Belle couldn't hear most of what he was saying but she did catch the times when Remus would unknowingly raise his voice in a panic.

"—it's getting risky—suspicious—going to find out soon—hate me..."

"Oh be quiet—have them soon—help you." 

"—difficult—secret—a whole month!"

Sirius's voice, who was significantly louder than the rest, was clear to Belle. "We'd do anything for you, mate. You know that."

Belle smiled lightly, even though she was still conflicted about the boys, their close bond will always make her smile.

"I don't want her to hate me..." Remus croaked, his throat dry and scratchy.

"She won't, Rem. I promise."

"Yea," Sirius agreed, "Tonight in the common room, we'll walk you."

Belle heard their footsteps leave the hallway, and she let out a breath of agitation. She couldn't understand anything they said. She had just wasted a perfect opportunity to find out whatever they have been hiding from her—if it was anything at all—and she wasted it. She pressed her head back to the wall for a second before standing straight and walking confidently to the Great Hall for the last twenty minutes of Breakfast.