I Already Know | Remus Lupin | Marauders Era

1

Robyn Morrow, once again, had her button nose buried deep in the pages of a book. Her pale green eyes were eagerly drinking in each printed letter of each word that rested on the old, worn page. Every so often, a ringlet of her blonde hair would fall over her face but her gaze wouldn't stray from where it was on the page as she reached to tuck it back behind her ear. She was so invested in the story, not just because Wuthering Heights is a delightful example of brilliant literature, but also because it happened to be her only escape. That's quite a common thing to say: 'reading was [insert name]'s only escape from the troubles and trials that were their life', but to Robyn, it really was. Was she not reading, sat on a bench in Kings Cross Station with her father, Timothy and her aunt, Lucy, all Robyn would hear would be the thoughts of every single person around her. She would giggle to herself at her father wondering how long it would take to domesticate wild boar; she would roll her eyes at her aunt for debating whether or not to apparate home to get Robyn another pair of socks - just in case; she would scowl at the muggle-hating thoughts coming from a sour-faced woman stood beside two dark-haired boys. Overall, Robyn Morrow was far more content with having the love story of Cathy and Heathcliffe running through mind than having to listen and pity any person she came across. That was the other problem, Robyn was far too sympathetic. She would sit in her bed after a day out in her hometown, crying because she heard some old woman mourning the death of her cat Monsieur Pippin in the bakery. Hence, being a legilimens was problematic for the young girl. Despite this, she acknowledged its benefits: knowing all the gossip; knowing if someone was lying; being able to listen to the other person's reasonings in an argument (and always winning), but if Robyn could choose, she'd rather just be a normal witch like her Aunt Lucy.

Lucy Morrow was a muggle born witch. She went to Hogwarts in 1951, was sorted into Ravenclaw, graduated with all O's and became a healer at St Mungos. In 1963, however, her brother's wife divorced him and Timothy Morrow got custody of their two year old daughter. Lucy often visited her brother's home in Cornwall to help him with Robyn from time to time and she was there, six years later, when they found out that that she was a witch. Neither of the adults were surprised when they saw the eight year old staring at seventeen levitating novels that were previously on the very highest bookshelf, wondering which one to choose. Timothy, despite being a muggle, had been obsessed with the wizarding world since finding out his younger sister had the gift. He had spent his life researching the wonderful world of wizardry and had based every single one of his works on one aspect or another of it. Timothy Morrow was an artist, he painted anything that had enough colour...which was most things. He was quite good at it too, some of his works going to The National Gallery in London and every single wall in his four bedroom house being entirely painted by him.

Robyn was very close with her father, him having raised her pretty much alone, and was worried to leave him when she first went to Hogwarts. Robyn had got used to her cozy home in Cornwall with its countless murals and abundance of windows (her father just had to paint in natural light). She would miss being able to sit in the conservatory and watch the sea and having random conversations with her dad about what an inverted Hippogriff would be like (lion head, bird legs and horse body, they decided it was called the Griffohipp and soon after Timothy rushed off to paint it - it was now forever on the wall of the library). But, she was beyond excited to harness her magical abilities. Four years later, the excitement had yet to fade. Robyn was going into her fifth year at Hogwarts and, despite being completely entranced by her book, was eagerly awaiting the whistle that told her to board the train.

———

"Make sure to propose the Griffohipp to Hagrid, sweetheart."

"Okay, Dad."

"And send me that photo of the view from your window, I still haven't done the Autumn or Summer painting."

"Yes, Dad."

"And say hi to Arabella and Rory, we all know-"

"I think she's a bit focused on reading, Tim." Lucy smiled knowingly at her brother. Robyn was, in fact, too engrossed in her reading to notice that her dad was rambling because he was nervous about her leaving. Though, it was quite difficult to differentiate because Timothy rambled quite a lot, he often said to Robyn, "Talking profusely is a part of my charm, Red." but then Robyn heard him thinking about the fact that his wife divorced him and she often tried to distract him by showing him a picture of a blast-ended skrewt...it always worked...they have twenty-seven paintings of blast-ended skrewts dotted around the house.

"Right, right. Sorry, Red."

"Mhm."

It was then that the whistle sounded and Robyn finally lifted her head from her novel. The doors of the gleaming Hogwarts Express slid open and Robyn jumped up from the bench, her lips spread into a grin. She closed her book, slipping it into her coat pocket and turned to her father.

"Bye, Dad. I'll see you at Christmas!" she threw her arms around him and he held her tight,

"Bye bye, Red. I love you." he let her go and ruffled her hair as she quickly hugged her aunt,

"Bye, Aunt Lucy!"

"Bye, Robyn-" Lucy barely had time to finish her sentence before Robyn grabbed her trunk by the handle and scurried towards the train, stopping on the steps to wave one last time before disappearing into the carriages. Robyn listened to all of the thoughts whirring through her head, waiting for those two, unmistakable voices to flow into her mind. She tended to listen to people's thoughts rather than what they were actually saying to find them in a crowd, it was much easier. A grin graced Robyn's lips as a familiar voice entered her head, 'If Poppy honestly thinks that she can borrow my burgundy blouse and, furthermore, pull it off than she really is mentally deficient.'

"Bingo." Robyn whispered and looked into each compartment window she passed until finally, sat in the corner with a thoughtful look on her beautiful face, sat one of Robyn's best friends: Arabella Hazelton-Gore. Robyn slid open the door, unnoticed by Arabella who was, undoubtedly, still thinking about her sister's request to borrow her blouse, and sat down on a seat. Arabella shook her head slightly, her pristinely curled, platinum blonde hair hitting her rosy cheeks and her perfectly plucked eyebrows furrowed as she scoffed quietly. After a few minutes, Robyn decided to lift her friend out of her trance and cleared her throat loudly. Arabella's head whipped up and her glossed lips widened into a grin.

"Personally, Ara" Robyn started with a smirk, "I think Poppy would look atrocious in your burgundy blouse, it doesn't go with her complexion at all."

"ROBYN!" Arabella launched herself forward and threw her arms around the girl. "Oh I missed you! And you're beyond right, Poppy just doesn't seem to understand that with blonde hair and blue eyes, as opposed to green such as my own, she really should stick with cool colours."