lovesick || r. lupin

⁹sickly

"Oh. Hi," Ayla blurted, feeling her cheeks get hot. Remus must be thinking she was a lunatic for just taking a seat in front of him. She must have looked like a zombie with how deep in thought she had been.

"Hello," Remus answered back, letting out a soft chuckle. "Are you alright? You looked a bit..." he paused, trying to think of the best word to describe it, "lost."

Ayla gave a nervous laugh, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just was thinking and I must have not noticed I got here. My bad." She shifted in her chair, eager to leave. She had no idea why.

"Ah, I see. I do that sometimes," Remus replied back in a calm voice, beginning to return back to the parchment and quill that were on the table in front of them.

Ayla sat awkwardly, trying to remember the reason she had planned to go to the library. To fill the ever so hated silence, she murmured a soft, "so what homework are you doing?"

Remus lifted his head, dark shadows under his eyes and still looking rather ill. "I'm just trying to get the essay about nonverbal spells started. It's due in a week but... I'm not sure if I'll have the time or motivation to finish it," he explained, ending it with a soft smile. He seemed much too polite compared to the other boys. He seemed to be less sarcastic when not around them.

Ayla smiled in amusement, "I haven't even thought of starting that. Is it much work?"

"Not a bit. But that's only if you completely copy the textbook, word for word," he lifted a schoolbook from the chair next to him, the page it was opened to read "Nonverbal Spells: For the Young" as he smirked slyly.

"Wait, you're actually-" Ayla began, astonishment written obviously on her face.

"No, no, of course not. I'm a proper student," he waved his hand as if in appalled, "I'm at least changing a few words."

Ayla took back what she said about him being less sarcastic when he wasn't with his friends, he definitely was just as sarcastic.

"Oh, that's rather obvious now that I think of it, how silly of me," Ayla retorted back, trying to hold back a laugh.

The curly haired boy set the book back down onto the chair beside him, still having a small devious smirk gracing his lips. "You came here to finish up some homework too, I presume?" He finally brought himself back to his essay, beginning to scribble in messy handwriting over it.

"Uh, yeah," Ayla assumed that was the reason she had came to the library, the memory of assuring Tegan that she wasn't hungry and that she wanted to finish homework resurfaced in her mind again. Yes, she definitely came to do homework. "I probably should do something for Potions, I bloody hate that class but I'm not going to want to do it later."

"Definitely start it now, Potions is too draining to ever put off till the last second. I know from experience," he chuckled as if remembering an ancient memory.

"I probably should then, shouldn't I?"

So the two students went to work, Ayla pulling out some parchment and grabbing her Potions book out of her scrunched and old bag while Remus vigorously wrote across his page, pausing every so often to think and dip his quill in the ink pot. After about an hour of this, Remus lifted himself from his seat, looking even more sickly than he did before, and messily shoved his essay into his bag, quickly looking at the magical clock on the library wall and seeming to be almost in panic.

"I probably should head to the Gryffindor Common Room, Filch is going to be out and Pince will kick us out any minute," He looked like a dead man walking. "I'll probably see you later or something. It was nice talking to you," Remus threw his bag over his shoulder in a rush, finally looking to Ayla. "Bye. Good luck with that Potions homework!" and he was out the door, having a single hand to weigh behind for a departing wave to his new friend.

Ayla was puzzled with how quickly the boy had left but quickly began to clean up her area, the fear of getting scratched to death by Mrs. Norris raising in her mind.

-----

Remus hurried through the corridors, cursing himself for losing track of time. The boys would be worrying where he was, saying that it was the night of the full moon and the poor werewolf could transform any minute. He met the castle's doors, slowly pushing them open and racing out to the Whomping Willow, still carrying his school bag. His stomach seemed to want to rise out of his throat and his legs felt so wobbly that he nearly fell over into the messy green grass. Grabbing a long stick, Remus poked a knot at the base of the tree and hurriedly (and quite clumsily) ran through the passage to the Shrieking Shack, hitting his head every so often because of his towering height.

His heart was racing and it felt like his chest might implode from how much it was burning but he had finally reached the building after what felt like hours of running. It was an old, torn and rotten place, he had to admit. Remus supposed it was perfect for a werewolf like him. He always seemed to destroy everything he touched while in his transformations.

Remus hid his bag under one of the floor boards, hoping that him or one of the boys would remember to grab it after. Slumping himself down onto the floor, hearing his friends near, he felt his bones stretch in agony and his mind wobble, soon losing all control over everything he thought was his.