ludic • remus lupin

9 • No Longer Moony

It has been 12 days. Nearly two weeks, and Remus was still acting weird. Only once in those almost two weeks had Remus sat at the Gryffindor table with his best friends, and none of those days did he sit with them in any class he had with Kathy. It was agonizing for the marauders, but most of all, for Coco. She was miserable, snappy, and though the pink had faded out of her hair, dark circles had formed under her eyes. Lily has been spending time in the library with her to make her feel better, substituting for Remus. Sirius and James fell asleep on the common room couches with Coco, substituting for Remus. Peter surprised her randomly with chocolate as Remus had, but nothing was the same. They were all having a hard time, but Coco didn't know why she was so especially affected by it.

She currently laid on a red Gryffindor couch in James's lap, with his arms around her and his chin resting on her head as him, Sirius, and Peter spoke quietly in deep conversation.

"He never told us everything that happened that night." Peter stated. James rubbed circles into Colette's arm, and Sirius perked up with an idea that he refused to believe.

"You don't think they hooked up, do you?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Gross." Coco sighed, then buried her face in James's chest.

"I mean good for him if he's got a girlfriend. But ditching us all the time? That's very unlike him. We've hung out with him like what, four short times in the past 12 days? 12 DAYS! I've waited 12 days for him to come to his senses, and he's still spending the night in her Ravenclaw common room constantly." Sirius complained.

"I wouldn't know, ever since the first night he spent in my dorm and I heard them kissing, I've spent every night since in Lily's dorm or in yours." Coco sighed.

"Obviously she's done something to our Moony. There's a full moon coming up yet the smile on his face couldn't be any wider when Kathy speaks. It's gross." James decided. The other three nodded in agreement, and they sat in a comfortable silence after. Coco couldn't stop thinking about the wild look in his eyes every time Kathy was nearby. It was grossly unnatural.

"Speak of the devil." Coco mumbled as Remus walked in through the portrait hole.

"OI! MOONY!" Sirius called. Remus seemed startled by the nickname, as if it sounded slightly foreign to him. He walked over to his group of friends, sitting down in a nearby chair. The comfortable silence turned into a stiff, tense one.

"Welcome back to Gryffindor buddy, the house colors are red and gold incase you forgot, and your rooms up there." Coco said sarcastically, and pointed at the entrance to the boys dorms. Remus rolled his eyes.

"What did you need?" He asked. Everyone seemed taken aback.

"What Coco meant to say, was that we miss you. You haven't been hanging out with us much lately, can you please spend some time with us?" James said kindly and foreignly, not in a the joking tone he would typically address his friends in.

"Oh, oh yeah of course." Remus said and looked down with a smile.

"I miss you guys too, i'm just caught up with Kathy and stuff, she's perfect. More beautiful then any girl I've ever met." He added with dreamy eyes. Coco's heart sank, and James lightly squeezed her hand.

"You two seem comfortable. Finally ditch the dream of Evans liking you back?" Remus laughed. Kathy clearly had rubbed off on him, because that was a rather insensitive thing for him of all people to say.

James bit the inside of his cheek and fake smiled.

"Nope, haven't yet. Coco just misses cuddling with you on the couch, so don't mind me if I take your place for now. I'm actually making progress with Lily, maybe tonight you can sleep in your bed and I can tell you about it?" James said in a voice absent of emotion. Peter watched them intensely speak like it was a tennis game.

"Yeah sure, I'll ask Kathy. Oh, and Coco, sorry if you miss what we had, I just think it's best if we don't touch and are less close now that I'm with Kathy now, you know? No hard feelings." Remus said. Coco tried not to tear up, thinking of how dramatic it would look if she did.

"Why don't you just tell Frayer you're going to sleep here?" A voice asked sternly from behind them. Lily Evans. James marveled at how kind yet strong mad demanding she could be.

"Oh, hey Evans. Well I've just been sleeping with her a lot recently, I figured I'd ask. She likes to keep a close eye on me, what can I say." Remus smirked. Sirius looked nervously at Coco who looked like like she had just watched someone murder her cat.

"You guys continue your chat yeah, catch up. I've gotta talk to Cocobear real quick." Sirius said softly, and grabbed Coco's hand, leading her around a corner where they could talk privately. On her way there, she overheard Remus filling James and Peter in on certain things him and Kathy would to at night, which made Colette want to throw up even more.

When they had reached the corner, Coco looked Sirius in the eyes hopelessly. Her hazel green eyes began to fill up with tears for the first time in a long time.

"Sirius, that's not him. That's not Moony, what happened to him?" She said as a tear left her eye. He quickly pulled her into a very tight hug, ignoring jealous looks from girls all around.

"I don't know, but we'll find out. Something doesn't feel right, and I promise you we'll find out what it is. He never showed that much interest in her before, then it's like something snapped in his brain. It's not right." Sirius comforted, as he stroked Coco's hair.

"Why do I miss him so much?" Coco asked hopelessly as she pulled away from the hug.

"I have a sneaking suspicion. Are you sure you're not madly in love with Remus Lupin, per chance?" Sirius smirked. Colette gagged.

"No." She said, shaking her head and wiping her tears away. Her voice turned hostile.

"I don't even like him as a friend, he's made me so angry." She seethed. Sirius presses his lips together, thinking deeply.

"Sirius, you'll never do that to us will you? Turn into a different person all of a sudden, because I couldn't handle it if you did." Coco uttered. She searched his eyes for any hesitation, but they remained strong.

"I'd never do anything to any of you like that. I'd die for you, and don't you forget that Colette Fawley." He said while grabbing Coco by the shoulders. Something in her felt warm. Something in her knew, knew for sure - he would in fact die for them, and there was no doubt about it.

"So what do you do about Remus?" She sulked. Sirius looked deep in thought, then his eyes lit up, his eyebrows raised.

"I have the perfect way Remus can spend time with both Kathy and us. A double date. Him and Kathy, you and William." Sirius mused. He seemed very joyful in that moment. In fact, he didn't even give Coco time to respond.

"OHH, JAMES!" He called with a grin and rosy cheeks. Him and Coco walked back over to the group, and everyone but Remus's heart dropped at the sight of Coco wiping her eyes.

"I have the perfect idea. Moony, and Coco, a double date! You and Kathy, you and William." Sirius said, pointing at each of them. He looked overjoyed.

"I don't see why not." Remus shrugged. "I'll let Kathy know now, Hogsmeade is this weekend anyways." He added. He then abruptly stood up, and left the Gryffindor common room.

"Sirius Orion Black I DO NOT want to see him and Kathy kissing more then I already have." Coco shouted.

"Plans already made, no changing it now." James said quickly.

Coco huffed and stomped up the stairs to her dorm room.

Lily, Peter, James, and Sirius all looked at each other mischievously.

"Well Lily flower, for the record, I'm counting spying on them together as our first date." James said and winked at Lily.

"You wish." Lily retorted, though there was a small smile in her lips.