GOSSIP GIRL. ( remus lupin )

ᴄʜᴀᴘɪᴛʀᴇ ɴᴇᴜғ

REMUS WATCHED ESTELLE storm out of the corridor with an expression of mixed shock and fear, Sirius's whimpering and James's reassuring muttering going through one ear and out the other.

Would she really find pleasure knowing his secret? He had already risked quite a lot telling her he couldn't have anyone knowing about his "furry little problem". Surely it was only the heat of the moment that made her shout that out. But what he said was true, say the least. He needed Estelle by his side to figure out the Gossip Girl's identity. Marlene McKinnon would have surely distracted not only herself, but Sirius as well, and no progress would be made; he hated to say that Lily would yield nothing but the same results. James would surely not pay attention to whatever they were doing at any given moment. Estelle was the only person Remus knew that would give valid help and not distract anybody (except for the part where she fought mercilessly with anyone she hated, which included the Marauders).

Finally, he turned to Sirius and fixed his broken nose with a mere "Episkey."

Sirius gasped when his nose reconnected, and James turned back to Remus, his lips thin and drawn in. "'Please, I need you?' Moony, you should confess your undying love to her already."

Remus's face darkened. "Shut up, Prongs," he said snappishly, and under his friend's dark gaze, James obeyed. "You three obviously are no help ━ if you had been more civil we would have come across an actual agreement with Aguillar and Estelle wouldn't have needed to go on the date. For Merlin's sake, Sirius, if you didn't make her mad she wouldn't have punched you in the first place."

Sirius rubbed his red nose. "She can throw a mean punch."

Peter twitched and Remus sighed in exasperation. "Well, Devereaux's only staying around if we follow her plan and we be perfectly civil around her. She's our only hope right now."

The Marauders fell silent. As much as they hated it, they knew Remus was right: no one could silently observe anything better than the Ravenclaw that had escaped their presence only moments ago. Finally James scowled in defeat.

"Fine," he grunted, and Remus felt relief spreading through him. "So, what next?"

A smirk spread across Sirius's face. He spread his arms. "We make plans to spy on them of course."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"SO, WHERE DO YOU want to head, Devereaux?"

Estelle scowled, smoothing her freezing hands on her coat before responding. "I daresay that you already have a place in mind, Aguillar, so why don't you spit it out?"

Estelle and Sebastian were walking along Hogsmeade in accordance to their "date". Estelle found herself liking Sebastian less and less; he certainly wasn't the person she envisioned him to be.

While the former Ilvermorny student gave the image of being a handsomely charming young man, he could really be anything but. He was quite self-absorbed and while he treated Estelle decently, he really did nothing but boast about his so-called excellent run as one of the Gryffindor Chasers (when he really was forced to quit the team when he got severely injured by one of the bludgers hit by one of the Slytherin Beaters). God, how she wished she could magic the idiot silent, but she couldn't. She had to gain the arrogant Gryffindor's trust first so she could interrogate him just for the werewolf's sake.

So she stretched her mouth into a fake smile.

"Three Broomsticks," Sebastian declared, his mouth stretching into a cocky grin. Estelle held back a grimace; while Three Broomsticks wasn't exactly her favorite place at Hogsmeade, she supposed that it would be better than Hogs' Head or, God forbid, Madam Puddifoot's.