Oversized Sweaters | Remus Lupin [discontinued]

08

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08 - Broom Cupboards and Exploding Snap

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Marlene and Charlie were walking through the castle after their Care of Magical Creatures lesson. That was their last class of the day and now they were free to do what they liked so Charlie had said he'd walk with Marlene to Gryffindor tower so he could see Hestia, even if that meant risking bumping into Remus.

     They were talking when suddenly someone picked Charlie up and threw them over their shoulder and called to Marlene, "Sorry Marls! I'll return him to you later!"

     Charlie frowned, he knew that voice. He panicked as the realisation hit him. "Shit, shit, shit." He thought to himself.

     He was carried through the castle until he was dumped back on his feet in what seemed to be a broom cupboard. Charlie stumbled but a pair of hands landed on his shoulders, steadying him.

     Charlie gulped as he looked up into the face of one extremely annoyed Remus Lupin.

     "Um, hi." Charlie said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

     "You've been avoiding me."

     Charlie gulped loudly, he was sure Remus heard it and was thanking the Gods that Remus wasn't able to hear his heartbeat, as it was going at what felt like one hundred miles per hour, not only because he was nervous, but because he was in close proximity to the tall, scarred boy and he had just noticed how attractive the smell of chocolate that clung to his school shirt was, and how hot it was that - holy shit - he'd pushed up the sleeves of his shirt and revealed toned forearms that were littered with faint scars, and how freakin cute his face was, scars and all, and - hold up, where had all these thoughts come from?

     Charlie shuffled nervously on his feet as Remus said, "Don't deny it, I know you have."

     "Ok, maybe I have." Charlie admitted, refusing to meet Remus's eyes and staring at his feet.

"Why?" Remus asked.

"Why does it matter? It's not like we're friends." Charlie mumbled as he glanced up and made eye contact with Remus.

Hurt flashed across Remus's face for a second before it was replaced by an emotionless mask.

"Maybe not. But I still want to know why your brother was beating you to death in an empty corridor the other night." Remus said.

He'd done some research and found out that Billy Morreti was Charlie's older brother. He was a Ravenclaw and the sort of guy that the girls all avoided, for a good reason.

"It doesn't matter." Charlie said, back to staring at his feet.

Remus's hands were still on his shoulders and he absentmindedly tightened his grip in annoyance.

"It's abuse Charlie! It matters!" Remus practically growled.

Charlie winced slightly as Remus's hands dug into his shoulders and he automatically apologised, "Sorry."

Remus blinked at the unexpected apology and then realised that he was scaring the smaller boy. His werewolf side always heightened his senses when he was angry, or annoyed, or frightened, so it enabled him to see better than Charlie in the dim cupboard. He could see that Charlie's eyes were shiny with tears and could hear his heart beating rapidly.

He immediately released his grip on Charlie's shoulders.

"No, don't apologise. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Remus apologised, ashamed that he had let his annoyance get the better of him. "If you don't want to tell me now, that's fine. But promise me you'll tell me eventually?"