turning page | A REMUS LUPIN STORY

vii. A BITCH OF A HEADACHE

The hangover from hell came the next day. Adeline woke up in Margo's bed, with her best friend cuddled up against her side. When she had arrived back to the dorm, she had been putting up a fuss regarding sleeping - every time Anastasia and Willow tried to leave, Margo would cry. In the end, she had to cuddle her back to slumber, whilst the two Ravenclaw girls fell asleep in her bed.

Their alarm clock went off at 8 in the morning, and all four girls groaned. Adeline sat up, slowly, with a grumble. She rubbed her head and tried warily to open her eyes, looking around - their other roommates hadn't seemed to have made it home. Margo hit her side in annoyance, mumbling words she couldn't understand under her breath. Ana and Willow rose, slowly, and they all huffed about in silence for a few minutes. Hangovers were the worst.

Moments later, Adeline and Margo were joined in bed by their two other friends, who tried to cuddle towards them in a bed that wasn't big enough for four people.

"Merlin - what time is it?" Margo muttered, eventually lifting her head from under the covers and looking in confusion at the Ravenclaws. "What are you doing here?"

Winnie chuckled in amusement. It was already obvious that three of them didn't have a headache as bad as Margo - she'd been outrageously drunk the night before. "You don't remember? Every time we tried to leave you cried."

The next ten minutes or so was a blur of catching up from the night before and downing galleons of water. Adeline tried to piece the evening together, leaning against Ana as she closed her eyes, listening to her friend's outrageous story about Oliver from the night before.

"Oh, no." Adeline huffed. "I think I nearly kissed Alex."

Everybody laughed at that, and she shook her head. "We had - well, it was like a little moment. Do you think it meant something?"

"When it comes to you and Alex, it always means something." Margo pointed out, and Winnie nodded in agreement.

"Oh, no." Adeline repeated, and her friends looked at her in confusion. "I flirted with Professor Lupin!"

There was loud shrieks of amusement, and Ana nudged her with a grin. "No way!"

"I knew you had a crush on him!"

"Did he flirt back?"

She shook her head, cheeks turning a very dark shade of red. "Merlin, it was humiliating! We have his class first thing! How am I going to face him?"

They agreed to meet in the Great Hall for a shotgun breakfast before Defense started at half nine, and Adeline was the first to retreat downstairs after the Ravenclaw girls had left to get changed. It was eerily silent in the common room, and she sat on the arm of one of the sofas as she waited for Margo. The portrait door opened, suddenly, and her attention turned to that.

"Adeline."

A surprised voice spoke, and she saw Alexander walk in with caution. She offered him a smile, moving towards him until she noticed that he was wearing the same clothes as the night before. Halting in her steps, brows furrowed.

"Have you only just got in?" She questioned, features one of worry and intrigue.

"Oh - well, yes." He looked sheepish, scratching the back of his head and looking to the ground in embarrassment. That was when it dawned on Adeline: Alexander Martin was doing the age old walk of shame.

And there was that feeling. The one that she hadn't really felt before now, a green, evil thing that gnawed at her insides. He'd gotten with girls before and she hadn't cared: they weren't even dating. He wasn't hers to lay claim on. But looking at him there, hair dishevelled, love bite on his neck, Adeline felt it - jealousy.