Rose Petals ✿ Remus Lupin - Discontinued :(

Chapter 40

A/N: So sorry this is late! I know my schedule's been weird lately and I've been really, really bad about posting! I'm not even going to give an excuse because I honestly don't deserve one with how much I'm neglecting this book! Just wait until summer, guys, and then I should be updating WAY more often!! I love you guys so much, thank you to everyone who has been reading this so far!! Also, I just want to mention...

IT's THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS BOOK!

Holy guacamole I can't believe this book has come so far. You guys have made my Wattpad experience unreal and I can't express my appreciation through words! Some of you guys have been there since the early months (and the rough stages) of this book and to me that's fricken amazing!! I love you guys so so so so much and I really hope you enjoy this chapter and the rest to come, because we only have two more chapters of fourth year and then we get into the OTP ;)

-Hannah

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Belle felt incredibly guilty. Even though she had every right to go behind Sirius' back and do the same to him as he did to her, she still felt the judging eyes of her conscience creeping in on every thought she had. It was giving her way to much anxiety for something she should feel justified doing. She had always thought that she would never cheat on anyone; she always believed herself to be better than that. Yet here she was.

For the past week Belle had been spending more time with the Slytherins, and more specifically, Rylen. First it started off as just smiling at each other in the halls, like they had planned. Then they started to talk more in front of people, which progressed to walking to class together, and then finally where they are now, testing the limits of PDA at Hogwarts. Belle had suggested handholding but Rylen thought it would be better to jump ahead a few steps and progress the suspicion. All of this felt like a game to Belle, like she was the mastermind of a very complex game of wizard's chess.

She had never really spoken to many Slytherins, mostly because she assumed they all would immediately hate her due to the red and gold tie around her neck, but Belle had grown to love an aspect of their friendship. They were extremely dedicated to what they were doing, and as much as Belle hated to admit it, they were more loyal to each other than the Gryffindors were.

She found herself thinking about how life would've been if she was sorted into Slytherin. Her sorting was simple. The Hat talked about her creativity, her ambition, and her strong will, but focused more on the lingering courage and bravery that had yet to be unleashed, blah, blah, blah... typical Gryffindor Hat conversation. The Hat did mention how Slytherin could benefit her, but the Hat must've known Slytherin wasn't for her as it focused more on Belle as a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.

Though it was scary to think about how different her life would have been if it weren't for her friends in Gryffindor. After all, they had gotten her through her mother passing, and her father ignoring her, and the struggles with her pure-blooded parents, and who knows whatever they would have to face in the future. How could she just turn their backs on them now? She was mad at Sirius and Rose, definitely, but her fooling around with the Marauders enemies was hurting her friends too, who were only trying to protect her. What was she doing? Why does she never think about her actions before she goes through with them?

Belle gnawed on her cheek as she contemplated what she was doing. It was the last day of term before Spring Holiday and it seemed as if was lasting far too long for her liking. She was seated with the Slytherins at their table, a bold move that was seeming less and less intelligent as the minutes ticked by. She had left Gryffindor Tower early, needing to find a clear head space before performing this act of treason. Sitting with the Slytherins would definitely draw some lines between them and Belle, and Belle wasn't sure if she was willing to risk everything for some stupid relationship.