Potter | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 15

The next day when she woke up, Jenna opened her eyes with a wide smile on her face.

The memories of the previous night repeated themselves in her head, even though nothing that special had happened. But either way, it felt special to her.

"Morning!" Jenna called out happily to Lily and Alice who were getting ready; but Marlene was still sound asleep, snoring lightly.

"Well, somebody's happy." Lily chuckled at Jenna's bright state.

Sure, Jenna was always a morning person. But today she looked more cheerful that usual.

The next week passed quicker than ever. Jenna was so happy when she figured that Remus had gotten full marks on his Potions' assignment.

But Remus, who was looking worse than ever, didn't seem to have the energy to even look up from his table.

"I think Remus is falling ill again." Jenna muttered to Alice and Marlene, her gaze fixed on Remus's worn out feature.

"I still don't understand why you won't talk to him about it," said Marlene.

But before Jenna could even open her mouth Marlene beat her into it, "and if you give me that 'oh, no I don't want to bother him' crap I'm gonna beat you up!"

"I agree with Lily, though, Jen," said Alice.

"Thank you – wait – Lily!?" Marlene snapped. "What about me!?"

"I just think that before butting in his buisness, Jenna should first go and tell Remus how she feels." Alice reasoned, adding the valerian root to their potion. "You know... before it's too late."

     "You're right, Alice." Jenna sighed in defeat.

     "Fine, side with her. Why should I care?" Marlene huffed, folding her arms.

***

Throughout the next few days, Jenna was acting highly unlike her usual self, as she walked around nervously, waiting to find Remus alone as she rehearsed with herself the words she wanted to tell him.

     But wherever Remus was, you could be sure that James and Sirius were a few steps ahead with Peter by their side. She simply could never get him alone.

Or at least, that was what Jenna thought.

On the next Friday morning, Jenna had decided to skip breakfast and stay behind in the Common Room, reading her new book.

Everyone had already gone down to the Great Hall and she was left alone before the cracking fire.

But her heart sank as she saw the boys' dormitory door open up and an ill looking Remus walking down from it.

But when he spotted Jenna there, he groaned to himself, wishing she hadn't seen him. Usually, he would've gotten happy at the very sight of her, but that day was different. Or rather, that night was going to be different.

Jenna stood off the couch so quickly that her book fell off her lap and onto the ground. Nervously, she bent down and picked it up.

But when she had gotten up, Remus was already making his way over the portrait hole, almost stumbling as he walked, as if in great pain.

"Remus, wait!" Jenna called out to him, causing him to stop.

She tried to remember all the lines she had rehearsed with herself to tell him how she really felt. But as she walked towards him and looked into his eyes, it felt as though she had even forgotten what language to speak in.

"Remus, I – I need to tell you something."

"Can't – it – wait?" Remus said between growls of pain.

"Are you alright?" She asked worriedly, forgetting all about herself.

"Fine," he said, obvious that he didn't mean it.

"Are you sure? Look, I'm not trying to be nosy or anything," Jenna started saying nervously, "but I'm really worried about you. You get sick almost – what? Once a month? If you could just tell me what's wrong, maybe I could hel–"

"That is called being nosy." Remus said sharply, but when she saw the hurt look on Jenna's face, he quickly shook his head. "I'm sorry. I-I just get really angry when it's near – I have to go to the hospital wing. I'm sorry."

"But, Remus–"

"–We'll talk later."

"Remus!" She tried calling him, but he had already left the common room.

Jenna pulled at the ends of her hair, cursing herself as to why she had mentioned his illness. Why couldn't she have just stuck to the plan?

Groaning to herself, Jenna went down to the Great Hall and walked towards where Lily, Marlene, and Alice were sitting and dropped herself down on the empty seat next to Lily.

"I thought you weren't coming," said Lily, who was already finished with her breakfast.

"What's wrong?" Marlene asked when she saw the messed up look on Jenna's face, helping herself with a second plate of bacon and eggs.

"I took your advice, and then all hell broke loose." Jenna said grumpily.

"What?" Lily exclaimed. "You asked Remus about his condition!? What happened!?"

"He said I was being nosy and before I could apologize, he said we'd talk later and he left," Jenna explained.

"Where did he go?" Alice asked, searching around the Great Hall to look for Remus, but didn't spot him.

"He said he was going to Madam Pomfrey," said Jenna. "I think I better go and apologize."

"Look, why don't you go later?" Lily suggested. "Finish your classes first, and then go to the hospital wing. In meantime, he would calm down a bit and hopefully feel better. Bring him something nice. I know he likes chocolate."

"You're right." Jenna nodded and so the girls stood up, heading to their first class.

***

It was an hour before the night would fall upon the grounds of Hogwarts and the moon wasn't out yet. After her last class, Jenna went down to the kitchen and asked the house elves for some chocolate.

She decided not to rehearse any more lines, because she knew it wasn't going to be any use to her when she was actually going to see Remus.

Remus hadn't shown up to any of the classes that day, and Jenna thought that he was probably still at the hospital wing. Even James, Sirius, and Peter had suddenly disappeared after their last class. Perhaps they were there too.

But when Jenna finally got up to the hospital wing, she found the place deserted and all the beds empty.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Jenna called out, walking around the place. But no one answered.

Just then, she saw two figures out of the window. Walking closer, she looked outside and saw Madam Pomfrey supporting Remus to stay up as she walked him out of the grounds.

Jenna kept watching with a confused frown, as they neared the Whomping Willow. Madam Pomfrey somehow managed to stop the deadly tree from moving.

And then, to Jenna's surprise, the two disappeared under the roots of the tree.

What the hell is going on? Jenna thought, starting to feel freaked out.