Mischief Managed Year One: Mayhem of the Moon

Chapter Twenty-Nine- A Rather Stinky Situation

TW: Mentions of Abuse

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Remus had, of course, been lying about studying with Lily. He only slowed down when he was nearing the castle and realized he hadn't been chased. He took several breaths, then realized he really ought to see Lily and give her the scarf he had knitted her. It was a much worse present than the shiny new copy of Hogwarts: A History she had given him after he had told her the one he currently had wasn't his own. But he supposed it was better than nothing.

It had been a relief to ship the old copy he had back to his father with a letter and an assortment of cookies he had boxed up from one of the dinners. Since then he kept his new copy with him at all times. Still, he felt a little emboldened by his roommates' reactions after he gave them his presents. He was back to thinking of them not as friends after yet another interrogation, but he had decided he best give Lily her present soon or he never would.

So he went back to the dorms briefly and changed into some dry robes. Then, he headed for the library, the badly wrapped bundle in his arms. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Severus' voice carry over the books. He hadn't made Severus anything, and it was terribly rude to give Lily a present when he had nothing for her friend. So he tracked down a house-elf having heard James and Sirius talk about them often.

The first time Remus had run into a house-elf he had been rather surprised to find them not as all dumb as Sirius made them out to be nor as ugly as James seemed to insist they were. Familiar if not entirely comfortable with the creatures he crouched down finding it rude to simply tower over them while he talked down to them. The house-elf he had first ever spoken to didn't even give Remus his name when he asked. It made Remus rather sad that they seemed so content to be slaves. But he supposed James and Sirius knew better about these matters and they had convinced him long ago that this was just the way the creatures were. As always the house-elves were all incredibly helpful, and he asked for some more materials. This time, he asked for Slytherin colors. He apologized for bothering the house-elf named Nibbly, who didn't seem to mind the bother at all and was as overly polite as the others Remus had interacted with.

"Here you go, sir. Think nothing of it, sir. It's my pleasure, sir."

Remus found the house-elves made him feel very uncomfortable. Despite being told many times over that the creatures were happy with their state in life, it all felt rather wrong to Remus. Still, he had the green and silver materials that appeared in the house-elf's hand with a snap of her fingers. So he spent the next few hours magically knitting a small pen case which turned out, he thought, much nicer looking than the scarves did.

He was quite pleased with the progress he had made in enchanting the knitting needles, especially since they had been particularly ornery ones his uncle had given him for Christmas. Remus hadn't counted his uncle's present with the other real presents he got, since the little letter attached said they were so Remus wouldn't kill himself with boredom being friendless and all. Plus they had stabbed his hands till they bled before Remus got the hang of them.

Still, they did the trick and Remus was now quite grateful for them, deciding it to be the best present his uncle had ever given him. With the finished product, Remus set out for the library again. He was just in the nick of time for he had nearly run into his roommates who were, once more, covered in snow and out of breath.

"Think he's in the dorm room?" James asked, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Seems unlikely. Bet he's avoiding us." Sirius sighed heavily.