ludic • remus lupin

29 • Bugger Off

All of Hogwarts had been tense since the start of 7th year. The student's stomachs dropped when their owls swooped down on them during breakfast time, dropping the miserable Daily Prophet down with them. The Daily Prophet has seemed thicker these days, filled with news.

However, once Sirius got better, it seemed the marauders took comfort in each other. They played their usual pranks, laughed through the halls, danced in the dark.

Remus and Coco seemed to ignore their situation for awhile, and they told themselves it was working. But in all honesty, they were all each other could think about.

When Remus saw Coco he didn't just see her long brown hair and bright smile, he saw the was her nose scrunches when she laughs. He connected her freckles like constellations and saw their future in her eyes.

And when Coco saw Remus, her face reached an uncommon shade of pink.

So for that, she joked with her friends- laughed and played along with pranks. But her heart ached for what it was convinced it couldn't have.

"My mum's stopped paying for the Daily Prophet. Says it's best for the brain." Peter commented, when he say Lily furiously flipping through the pages.

"So foul." Lily muttered under her breath, not listening to the others. This was clearly affecting her most of all.

James put an arm around her, then tried to lighten her mood.

"Hogsmeade today!" He smiled. His contagious smile caused everyone else to, as well.

"Let's spend the day in all the shops together, I've missed when we all would do that." Coco agreed. Summer felt long not being able to see all her friends at once.

"Only if we can go into the joke shop." Sirius responded, after throwing a grape up in the air and catching it in his mouth.

"Give me a try." James urged Sirius, pointing at his grapes.

Sirius threw one, and it caught the corner of James's mouth, and fell on to the ground.

"Wait, hold on, I can get it." James urges again, trying to catch the grape in his mouth. Coco and Remus both laughed at the same time, then looked at each other. Coco immediately blushed and looked back towards James and Sirius, who were now in a fight because apparently Sirius had 'shit aim.'

"Remus, you throw me one, bet you'll be better at throwing them Sirius." James suggested, tossing Remus some grapes. Jokingly, Remus threw one hard at his face, and it hit James in the eye, causing him to gasp. The rest of the group burst out in laughter.

"How dare you!" James argued, but couldn't hold back a laugh himself.

"Sirius, toss me one." Coco giggled, and when he threw it, she caught it in her mouth first try and stuck her tongue out at James. James looked offended.

"Here, James." Coco laughed, and she threw him one, which he caught in his mouth.

"First try!" James joked. They stood up and walked out of the Great Hall after they finished breakfast, bringing grapes with them.

There were a group of Slytherins huddled in the hallway, whispering amongst themselves. Coco sneered when she saw one who had tried to hex Peter in the hallway two days before. Remus put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, just move past it." He urged, rubbing her back as his tall figure peered down at her.

"Not until we're even. I wont let them push around my friends like that." Coco snarled. Sirius overheard her, and put an arm around her, whispering down at her. Remus rolled his eyes.