intoxicating. / / fred weasley / / under revision

17

The next morning was DADA, she really enjoyed Professor Lupin, there was something about him that she felt drawn to. Today, he decided to have a hands on class with his fifth years instead of note taking and O.W.L.S prep by doing a lesson on boggarts like he did with his third years yesterday.

"Does anyone know what a Boggart looks like?" He asked, just like in Herbology no one answered, except Maeve when the silence became to deafening for her.

"No one knows." She answered, today she didn't have a small creature on her. Professor Lupin advised her it probably wouldn't be safe to bring one to class, she agreed, "They take form of its observers worst fear." she added.

"Thank you, Miss Scamander." He smiled at her, "5 points to Hufflepuff."

Cedric who was in front of her, stuck his hand out behind him for a high five. She gifted him one. Fred squeezed her shoulder giving her his famous smirk and wink.

"So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. Let's line up!" He clapped. The class lined up, Maeve was nervous to go first but Lupin called George to go first. George gulped as Lupin unlocked the cabinet, out came George. Georges biggest fear was being alone, without Fred, thats why his boggart was himself without his brother.

"Riddikulus!" George shouted, and the boggart that once was just George alone, a Fred poked his head around the George giving him a wet willy. The class erupted into laughter. Julia was next, her boggart changed from the twins into a man who looked like a doctor, it was her dentist, "Riddikulus!" She shouted, and the boggart started to squirt water at the class, and then the next student came and so on. Fred had gone and had the same boggart as George, the fear of missing the other, and then came Maeve's turn. She stood in front of the twins, fake twins, and watched them turn into a hippogriff, at first people were confused about how her favorite animal was her biggest fear, until the executor came out from behind it.

Her biggest fear was the things she loved being killed, because then hippogriff then switched into the image of her dead father. She stood still, her wand was at the ready, but before she could speak it turned into her mother, then into Cedric, then Julia and finally, Fred. Tears were falling, as she stood in the same position as she did from the fist scene of the hippogriff. Everyone just starred, usually she was really good during lessons, but it just seemed like she was stuck. Lupin could tell that she probably couldn't switch it, so he motioned to Fred to pull her out of the way as he walked in front of her. His boggart turned into a moon, "Riddikulus!" He shouted and it turned into a deflated balloon that flew back into the cabinet.

"Alright, class dismissed!" He clapped, "Miss Scamander, can you stay after class for me." She still was frozen in the same spot she was before, in the same position. Fred came up behind her with Cedric and Julia. Fred pushed her wand back down to her side, he grabbed her face in his hands. "I'll wait for you outside," he looked into her eyes, a clearly broken girl, "okay love?"

Her eyes finally shot to his, he took that as an understanding. Julia rubbed her arm, and Cedric gave her a peck on the cheek. The three walked out into the hall to met up with George and Lee.

"It happens to everyone," Lupin came back from behind the cabinet, "chocolate?" He offered. She finally stuck her wand into her pocket, and grabbed the piece. And had a seat. "I'm not sure why I froze. I'm usually pretty good at spells.." She looked up. No tears seem to fall anymore, but the broken girl still there.

"I know, you're one of my best students." He shot her a smile, "but boggarts can be tricky, even for the best witch or wizard." He reassured her. "Your father just recently died correct?"

She looked up at him again, "Yeah, beginning of the summer. The end of my 4th year."

"Albus told me that you haven't been yourself lately," he handed her another piece of chocolate, "that this famous Maeve smile I hear all about, just isn't there anymore."

"I guess.., I do try to be happy." She confessed. "Like when I'm around my friends, I sometimes forget the sadness, but then when I'm alone or trying to go to bed I think of him."

"That's completely normal, Maeve." He looked up and saw the group of teens waiting outside his class for her, but noticing one particular twin was looking right at her with so much worry in his eyes. "When my best friends died, I felt the same way you do right now, I was afraid to laugh again. Like I was disrespecting them."

"Exactly.." She sighed

"But you know, Maeve. Of all people, your dad would want that smile back." Moving his eyes from the boy, down to the sad girl, "He would be sad to see that you were so sad, that his favorite thing was gone."

"I guess you're right. It just can be hard to think about the good times, you know." She bit the inside of her mouth.

"His birthday is coming up isn't it?" He asked, knowing very well what day it is and what that day also means to him. 

She just nods.

He had noticed in their previous classes, she's expressionless most of the time, doesn't smile or laugh. She's been quieter.  Granted, he's spent most of his classes lecturing and she's usually taking notes. But her friends around her chat and make jokes, but she just sits there. He knows he's just her professor, but he enjoys her presence in class. And despite this new and blossoming friendship they're forming, the handful of times he's asked if everything is alright, she tells him she's fine, he sees her mother in her and he knows that if it was Em he was asking, it was Vance-speak for 'not fine, but leave me alone.' 

"I should let you go, you'll miss lunch." He said calmly.

"I hadn't thought about it." She looked down at her watch, her father's watch.  "I'm not actually that hungry."

Remus frowned and felt the pull of his brows forming a divot in his forehead.

"Is everything alri-"

"My boggart?" she interrupts, tapping her knee with her finger, "Can I try again sometime. I promise I know the spell.."

"I know you do." He looked down at her

She weakly smiled at him.

"Do you know what a Patronus Charm is?" He questioned.

"Oh, yeah. It's a charm that conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all your most positive feelings." She said without a beat.

"You're very smart, Maeve." He laughed, "I'm asking this because I'm offering some private lessons for Mr. Potter. I think that if we practiced this charm with you, we can help bring some happy memories back to replace the negative ones you got floating around that head of yours." He said while patting the top of her head. She let out a weak laugh.

"Thank you, Professor. Id really enjoy that." She confessed, "Is it weird to say that I feel like your Patronus is a wolf or something." she laughed. He got a bit uncomfortable, but hid that.

"Does she know" he thought to himself, but his thought was interrupted, "Thank you again, I'll see you later." And then she was off. He watched as she left the room to be engulfed in hug by one of the twins. He thinks it Fred, but he still gets confused which one is who, sometimes.

She wouldn't know this, probably because she wasn't really there that day, mentally. But Remus was at her fathers funeral. That his heart broke when he saw her in her fathers hippogriff blazer, that was way too big for her. She wouldn't know that a lot of people are rooting her own, even though she feels so alone.

As she walked out of the classroom, she was welcomed with the scent of cinnamon and gunpowder and two arms wrapping around her. "I'm not going anywhere, love." He whispered into her neck. She felt at home in his arm. He let her go, when they backed away from each other locking eyes, she gave him a small smile. She looked at her two best friends. Julia grabbed her hand and started walking towards the Great Hall, with the boys behind her.

"Lets go get some pudding?" Julia said, giving Maeve's hand a squeeze.