yellow (remus lupin.)

ten.

TEN.

With only the illuminated tip of her wand keeping her company as she paced the hallways, Cara was sincerely regretting coming out in her pyjamas shorts. She couldn't tell if it was the brisk autumnal air combined with the harsh stone walls that was giving her goosebumps, or the intense anxiety she was feeling.

Perhaps sneaking out and heading to her professor's office at one o'clock in the morning wasn't her brightest idea, but his curt attitude during their lesson just hours earlier was driving her insane. Her mind was all over the place, completely confused as to how he could switch from kissing her with a smile to pretending he barely knew her just overnight. She wanted answers.

Filch was known to patrol the area late at night, so she kept her hearing a little more tuned that usual. Her fluffy sliders allowed her to tiptoe all the way up to the door Harry had taken her to, the door to Lupin's office.

She rapped her fingers lightly on the door, hoping it would draw his attention only. The lock on the door — one she didn't even know existed — was undone and the door creaked open softly.

"Cara?" He asked, rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes. Remus was desperate to go to bed, but the large stack of papers on his desk that required a grade before tomorrow morning — along with the pyjama clad student at his door — prevented him from doing so.

"Sorry, I just — "

"What the fuck are you doing? Get inside." He muttered and pulled her by the forearm into his office, shutting and locking the door behind them both.

There was something rather attractive about him swearing under his breath. He wasn't as smartly dressed as he was earlier, now donning a rather soft looking jumper over his shirt, clearly discarded his tie at an earlier point in the evening.

He was trying his utmost to not let his eyes wonder off from hers, realising she was in just shorts, sliders and a t-shirt with a zip up hoodie four sizes too big for her thrown over her arms.

"Well?" He asked curtly and folded his arms across his chest. "I've got a lot to do this evening so I would appreciate it if this was quick, or at least wait until the morning."

Remus's defensive attitude had finally made Cara snap. She had come with sweet intentions, thinking maybe he was just stressed. However, his arrogant and irritated behaviour had finally angered her.

"What made you decide to act like you don't know me this morning?" She snapped, mirroring his posture.

Remus was caught off guard by the fire in her words. In his attempts to push her away with all his might, he hadn't realised quite how rude he had been, to which he was now being given a taste of his own medicine.

"Cara — " He sighed deeply, his harsh exterior wearing off.

"Well?" She mocked his earlier words.

"You're my student. I'm in a position of power over you, and last night I abused that. I shouldn't have kissed you and I apologise." Remus explained, rubbing the sides of his face in embarrassment. "It was a terrible lapse of judgement on my behalf."

"That doesn't excuse you acting the way you did to me today." She too had dropped the standoffish exterior.

It was extremely lucky for Cara that Remus was so bad at telling people off. Be it any other teacher and she would've earned herself twenty seven years of detention that her grandchildren would still be serving when they reached Hogwarts.

"You're right." He sighed, staring off into the distance. "I was a proper prick."

Cara couldn't hide her smile as she chuckled to herself. Hearing her giggle was enough to bring the warm smile back to his face as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Want to write today off?" He offered with a shrug.

"Not completely. You did give me thirty house points, remember?" Cara smirked.

Remus nodded to himself before walking slowly back over to his desk, sighing as he saw his mounting workload.

"Why did you come now? It's bloody late for you to be out of bed Cara." He asked, sitting back down at his desk as she followed him like a lovesick puppy.

"Oh I couldn't sleep." She lied. "Why are you still up?"

"I couldn't sleep."

The two fell into a peaceful silence as they both appreciated a moment of quiet. For the first time since she'd arrived, she could hear music playing gently in the background, coming from his record player. Looking at the empty sleeve, she noted it was a record by The Cure, one she had seen lying about her living room courtesy of her stepfather. As if she couldn't find Remus more attractive, he outdid himself once again.

"Nice choice." She smiled, placing the sleeve back down beside the record player.

"Muggle music, it's quite good." Remus smiled deeply. "I stole that off Sirius back in the eighties, he never even realised. "

Remus's faced dropped and he fell as white a sheet as he realised what he had just admitted.

"Sirius? As in Sirius Black?" Cara asked hesitantly. She had heard plenty about the Azkaban resident — ex-Azkaban resident — none of it being particularly complimentary.

"Bloody hell." He threw his head back, embarrassed at his big mouth. "Yes, as in Sirius Black. He was a dear friend of mine when we were at school together. Peter Pettigrew, James Potter — as in our very own Harry Potter — Sirius and I. All gone now though, of course."

He voiced was absolutely laced with pain. She could've sworn he looked about to cry.

"I'm sorry, I — "

"No, it's not your fault." He told her, sending her a fleeting look of apology. "It's probably best you leave now."

Cara hid her disappointment and headed towards the doorway, hearing Remus follow her. His arm reached around and grabbed the door for her, pushing past and checking there was no one in the hall. Hearing no one, he swiftly let her out.

"We're okay then?" She asked tentatively.

"More than okay." He smiled at her genuinely before shutting the door on her.

Cara lit up the tip of her wand once more as she paced the hallways back to the Gryffindor tower. It was as she was passing one of the maybe classrooms that her heart stopped beating and she was frozen on the spot.

"I don't want to tell her Minerva, she's so happy at the moment." Dumbledore's voice broke through the thick and silent air as footsteps approached around the corner.

Spotting a statue in a suit of armour, Cara took the opportunity and leapt behind it, hoping they weren't heading her way.

"It's been kept from her for eighteen years Albus! She's an adult now and has a right to know. It could save her life." McGonagall snapped at him. "It was you that told Andrea not to tell her in the first place."

Cara felt sick. She only knew of one Andrea, and that was her own mother.

"We can't tell her until her NEWTS are completed. This is a vital year for Cara, I don't want it being destroyed by the news."

Her heart was bruising her rib cage it was beating so hard. Dumbledore and McGonagall had vanished into the night without catching her, yet she couldn't get past what they were saying.

They knew something about her that she didn't, that thought alone was enough to churn her stomach.

—

a/n: gaining reads like mad, thank you ily all x