SPELLBOUND | remus lupin

seventeen - different worlds

JUN, 1976
CLASSROOM 4F

"... I am."

Remus couldn't help but stare at her. Camilla didn't shy away from his shock, rather watched him with a careful expression. It was as if she expected this reaction out of him, which she probably did. 'What could poor half-blood Remus Lupin possibly know about pureblood politics?'

Remus' view of her had changed significantly over the past few months. He'd seen glimpses of things before that he felt were out of place about the witch, moments in which he doubted she was as hateful as she seemed. Then out of nowhere, she took a break from being stand-offish and hostile and, while condescending, was actually helpful.

Something noticeably changed in Camilla after that. The past days had been almost... amicable. She had even unexpectedly begun to work on the book after the pair of them had basically ignored the empty volume these months. There was obviously more than met the eye, and for some reason all her anger and hatred had deflated ever since she had helped him with that spell. Now this pleasant conversation had taken a violent, veering turn.

He realised he hadn't said anything and was still staring at Camilla, whose eyebrow was now raised in a picture boredom. She couldn't really be bored, could she? Who was okay about getting engaged on their sixteenth birthday? He'd bet it wasn't even her choice, either, given how she'd described the situation. Remus couldn't detect anything that spoke to the contrary, however.

"Who to?" he managed to ask, probably making it clear on his face how ridiculous it sounded. Camilla sighed and looked away briefly.

"I'm not sure yet. But I think it will most likely be Evan Rosier." This was definitely some pureblood bullshit engineered to control their kids. Remus wondered what Sirius or James would think about this. He couldn't imagine the Potters yelling at James, let alone marrying him off. The Blacks were another matter, though.

"That's barbaric," Remus replied without thinking, unable to contain his disgust. And the fact that Camilla didn't even know who it would be? Maybe there was an explanation for her actions and emotional reactions to small things. Not an excuse, but an explanation at least.

Camilla's expression was too calm for this conversation. Something had to be going on underneath, what with the glimpses Remus had caught in the past.

He shook his head in disbelief as she remarked dryly, "I'll finally be in the Sacred Twenty-Eight, just like they want." Remus couldn't help but feel she was concealing something. 'They' had to be her parents. Probably purist and controlling, and definitely using their daughter to gain status in the wizarding community. It was so messed up he could barely think straight.

"What about what you want?" It came out a little more indignantly than he'd meant, but the point got across. There. Camilla's pristine features flickered. Her green eyes grew hard and she turned back to the open book on the table, shutting him out completely.

Remus couldn't be certain, but as he picked up his quill again he thought he heard her murmur, "Why would that matter?"

The second the hour was up, Camilla disappeared, not saying one more word to him. Remus was barely surprised, though he was a little disappointed that she had put that wall back up. The civility was a nice change from dirty looks and absolute contempt. He'd pushed too far, but maybe that was a good thing. He'd been wrong about her for a long time. She wasn't this way entirely by choice. She needed someone to snap her into reality, show her she didn't need to be like this and most of all do what everyone else wanted all the time.

... All the time in silence in this room had definitely driven him mad.

Remus took the long way back to the Gryffindor common room trying to puzzle out in his head how exactly he would find out what was up with Camilla. Things were finally adding up in a way that made sense.

Evan Rosier was one of the pureblood cronies in Camilla's gang, wasn't he? A fanatic no doubt. And he remembered Camilla bragging once upon a time that her mother was a Yaxley and her father (Sanders not exactly being a name considered 'fully pure') was closely descended from the Shacklebolts. And now it seemed both were obsessed with bringing themselves back into the fold of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. But there was still something missing. Why did Camilla act so violently, with such emotion? And more disturbingly, why had she changed when they were alone?

In his deep thought, Remus realised he had overshot his return to Gryffindor Tower and turned back the way he'd come, still thinking up ways to coax the truth out of Camilla.