Oversized Sweaters | Remus Lupin [discontinued]

01

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01 - Awkward Carriage Rides

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"Why hello Hestia." Sirius Black greeted the attractive girl with his signature smirk. He then looked at Sam, still with his smirk, "Smith." He paused for a few seconds, trying to place Charlie. Charlie didn't mind, not many people knew him, he doubted the most popular kids in school would. "Moretti." Oh, or maybe they do?

     Sam had sat down as far away from Sirius Black as possible (next to Remus) and Hestia had done the opposite and sat herself down in between James and Sirius as she was friends with them and therefore perfectly comfortable with sitting with them. This left Charlie in a very awkward position as there were no seats left in the crowded carriage and he was stood up.

     He was already anxious about being around the most popular group in school and this seating predicament was not helping.

     Charlie felt his face getting warm and his palms get sweaty. His heartbeat sped up slightly as an uncomfortable feeling settled in his stomach, triggering his fight or flight response. Which was rather unfortunate really, as he could neither run (which was his usual reaction as Charlie hated confrontation) nor fight (or speak, in this situation) as he was in a rather small, moving carriage and he was terrified of speaking to new people.

     Sam sensed his internal panic and sighed, standing up. "Take my seat Chaz. I'll sit on the floor."

     "W-what? No. I c-can't do that." Charlie stammered, feeling everyone's attention on him and his face getting more red. He internally cursed his nervous stutter. "I'll just sit on the floor. It's fine."

     To prove his point, he sat down on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest and his back leaning against the door. "See? Perfectly fine."

     Sam rolled her eyes as she sat back down in her seat. "Sure."

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes and Charlie fiddled with one of the hairbands around his wrist (he had taken to wearing at least two at all times after being friends with two girls for so long because they always forgot to bring one and then complained that their hair was in their faces), snapping it absentmindedly. He liked the small zing of pain that came when the band hit his skin, not hard enough to really hurt, but hard enough to make him want to do it again. Sirius eventually got annoyed and snapped, "Stop it!"

     Charlie flinched slightly at the aggressive tone and then blushed and stopped snapping the hairband. Sirius shouting at him had made him think of the summer with his family. In their house, shouting was usually followed by violence. As he tried to breath evenly to calm his rapidly beating heart, he quietly mumbled under his breath, "Sorry."

Sam somehow seemed to know what Sirius shouting had done to Charlie and glared murderously at the black haired boy, causing him to shift uneasily in his seat.

Eventually, Hestia broke the tense silence.

"So ... how was everyone's summer?" She asked.

Sirius was the first to answer. "Spent most of it at James's. Got disowned at the start of summer, you probably saw it in the Daily Prophet."