Incredibly in Love With Remus Lupin

Chapter 3 "Remus and the Unwanted"

"No," said Remus sharply.

"But, Moony!" James pressed on .

"I said NO."

"I could hear that..."

"What's up with you, guys? Trying to arrange me a new meeting with another girl who won't like me?"

"That's right! James, Peter! Shame on you!" nearly shouted Sirius. Andromeda, who was sitting right next to him, poked him on the ribs.

"Shut up, silly!"

"Evans is on her way here!" exclaimed Peter softly. James immediately went stiff and turned his head to see the red-haired beauty entering the Potions' classroom with some of her friends. She saw Andromeda and waved. Sirius' cousin waved back.

"I want her to wave to me too." James grinned dreamily.

"Oi, get a room, James! She's not even laying her eyes on you, what do you expect? I could talk to her if you want. But I don't promise much."

"Andy, you're a goddess...!"

"Autographs later." Andromeda stood up and went up to Lily.

"Now, onto the chicks chosen especially for Remus..."

Remus covered his ears. Didn't help, though.

"We chose the best," nodded Peter, sounding amused.

"I don't want to hear about it."

"Remus, sit down! We have to share the good news with you!"

Sirius glanced at Remus, who seemed very tired now. The full moon was approaching and Peter and James were trying to convince him to date girls... That certainly was annoying. He decided to stand up for Moony.

"Guys, let him be. If he doesn't want to date, respect it, or at least try," was all he said.

Wormtail and Prongs looked at him as if a mandragora has just sprouted on his nose. Remus, however, gazed up at him with his beautiful eyes, saying 'Thank you, Paddy'. That made it. Sirius hugged Remus with all his strength, running his fingers through his hair and shooting murderous glances at other Marauders. Their jaws dropped.

"Ok, I'll pretend it has never taken place," said James, shrugging and placing his copy of Potions' book on the long table.

Sirius let go of Remus shortly after, only to see his friend's face flushed.

"Well, Sirius Black, never knew you were into mushy-mushy action with blokes," giggled Lily Potter walking past their table. Andromeda (whose lips curled slightly upwards), Celia Hallan (who had her head turned the other way, not wanting to look at Remus) and Darcy Dagan (who looked cheerful as ever) proceeded to the table where Lily was now sitting.

"Oh, Lily, come off it! It was a typical manly hug of theirs," uttered Darcy.

"Yeah, typical," Lily wrinkled her nose. "I've seen them doing such things before!"

"Evans, I never knew you were into stalking!" gasped James and winked.

Remus, Sirius and Peter chuckled.

Andromeda, Celia and Darcy shook their heads slowly.

The Slytherins who were about to enter the classroom laughed.

But Horace Slughorn didn't seem pleased at all - anyway, it was his favourite student being accused of stalking these Gryffindor jerks.

"You have three options, Potter - die, die or die," hissed Lily, looking daggers at James.

"I'd rather kiss your pretty mouth, Evans."

"Guys... "

"Well, you won't have much opportunity to move as a corpse."

"I'll find out how to stay immortal."

"Guys, um... I don't think... "

"Yes, you don't think, Pettigrew, I know it already," mocked Lily.

"Slughorn," coughed Sirius.

Indeed, Slughorn, their Potions Master was standing right behind Lily and James, eyeing them with a shocked expression. Severus Snape snickered into his cauldron. Remus hit the desk with his head (which was followed by Sirius' 'Remmy, you're okay?'). Then Slughorn grunted.

"Miss Evans, Mr Potter, I see you in my office after the classes."

"I just knew it," announced Peter after the lessons which were unnaturally quiet without James' constant laughing - he was too busy thinking that a detention would be a perfect opportunity to get closer to Lily Evans. They were heading to the Gryffindor Tower. Remus said something about having a book to finish; Peter, Darcy and Andromeda decided on playing the Exploding Snap this evening and Sirius had time to ponder. He looked sideways at Remus who was pulling out his copy of "Hogwarts: A History" and opened it. Then he sat comfortably on the sofa and began reading. Sirius wondered if joining Moony was against law, then he thought there was nothing wrong in sitting beside his... pretty friend. Yes. Admit it, Sirius Black. You think a boy is pretty, not handsome, right? Admit it, dammit! Sirius' eyes widened.

"Sirius, what's wrong? Why are you staring at me?"

Remus. A pretty werewolf. Suddenly Sirius burst into laughing.

"Sirius?"

"Nothing, Moony-honey," smiled Sirius. "It's just that I discovered that noticing beauty and describing it in words do not match."

It was good that a real stalker named Andromeda Black wasn't listening to their odd conversation. For her it'd be clear enough what's going on inside Sirius' head.

And she'd say knowingly that Sirius Black fell for Remus Lupin.

She was a girl, after all.

****

"Remus, this is Tallys Evergreen." James' stretched out hand almost touched Ravenclaw's arm. The girl's mouth twitched a little. Sirius scowled. The young werwolf just stood there, his expression unreadable. Peter and James seemed vey happy at the thought of him dating Tallys.

"Enough of these curtsies, you both," said a mocking voice behind them. Severus Snape appeared at the stairs, apparently unpleased with the current situation. "You're blocking the way... just a little reminder."

"What about the curtsies?" asked James, frowning, hand on his wand.

"Trying to make these two date each other? Won't work."

"And what do you know about dating, Snivellus?"

Remus buried his face in hands and made a move as if wanting to sprint down the stairs, just to be out of this poor Ravenclaw girl's sight. But James' grip on his shoulder was too tight.

"Just look at Lupin's expression, yes, good. And now look at Tallys. Great. Compare. And now a ten hundred Galleon question - what's wrong with these two pictures?" said Snape. Sirius had to admit that the Slytherin had a good sense of humour. But still, he was a Slytherin and a Severus Snape in addition...

"Snivellus, don't mess up with me," growled James, his wand out.

"James, Severus' right," said Remus softly. Just as he thought, the grip on his shoulder loosened. "Now, if you'll excuse me, guys... Tallys... "

He went past them with this blank expression, down the stairs and dissapeared around the corner. Sirius started to feel angry. Tallys just sighed.

****

"Harriett, this is our friend, Remus. I've been telling you about him, right?" James still had this madman's smile plastered to his face. Now he was holding Remus with his both hands placed on other boy's shoulders. Sirius was nowhere to be seen and Peter has just been standing there, nodding from time to time. The Hufflepuff girl seemed to be very glad to see Remus. She beamed at them.

"Hello, Remus! Nice to meet you! James told me a lot about you, really! I was wondering if you wanted to join our club... you know, it's brand new, but you seem the perfect type to be the member... and here," she handed him a leaflet. James and Peter's expressions changed from cheerful to dull. "You can come to the club whenever you want. We need people like you and you're clever and you're a good student and I'm sure everyone will appreciate your presence... "

"A human spam," came Evan Rosier's voice from behind James. Snape stood beside him, smirking. "Can I touch it?"

He moved closer to Harriett, who backed off, outraged.

"Hands off, Slytherin bastard! She's Remus' date!" yelled James attracting attention from girl's fellow Hufflepuffs. Snape's smirk became more pronounced.

"I'm a what?!" shouted Harriett.

"Another one down." Snape winked.

Remus just stood there, mouth agape. Somehow he knew there was more to come. More girls, that is.

"Rosier, you DIE!"

"I don't think so, Potthead. And now, will you excuse us? We have classes to attend."

"Wait, Evan," murmured Snape to everyone's surprise. "I think I have an idea. You're seeking a girl for Lupin, right? Wanna send him on a forced date?"

"How dare you..." hissed James through his gritted teeth.

"But, James, this is what we're doing... " mumbled Peter. Remus decided not to interfere and started to walk away, but this time it was Snape's hand that halted him.

"Yes, gentelmen," agreed Rosier in a low voice. "I see what you're up to, Severus. Can we borrow this poor guy for two hours?"

Remus flinched, looking a bit bewildered.

"I think I'm ill."

Th others looked at him with a huge interest.

"I think I'm going to vomit right here, right now."

Snape grimaced. Rosier quirked an eyebrow at him. James looked worried and Peter's face expressed pure horror. Remus indeed looked a little green. Then, the werewolf boy fled. Again.

****

Sirius, who was sprawled on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room, had heard quick and loud footsteps. The sound was approaching him and next moment he saw a panting Remus, running towards him. The smaller boy uttered an unrecognizable sound and flung his arms over Sirius, knocking him out of the furniture. Several people stared at them for a while and then returned to their business.

"Remmy, what the heck is going on? Has James arranged you a meeting with a Giant Squid?" asked Sirius, feeling the heat of Remus' face on his neck. And it felt so nice... but Remus quickly gathered himself up and sank in his favourite armchair.

"Hide me," he pleaded. Sirius had an urge to hug him again, but he managed to lay almost unmovingly.

"You're out of luck lately, Moony... and you know you can't hide from somebody like James."

"At least try to hide me, Sirius. You know... I have the impression that only you can understand me... somehow... and I'm glad."

Sirius' expression seemed unreadable. Inside he was about to burn. That pleading glint in Remus' golden-brown eyes was making him melt. Even stopping his heartbeat for a little while.

"That's... great to hear," said Sirius, trying hard not to blush. "C'mon, Moony-honey..."

"Why are you calling me that?" Remus' eyebrow arched upwards.

Sirius managed to stay calm.

"It fits you. Your eyes."

Remus' expression hasn't changed at all.

"Okay, I'm going to hide you now. Maybe in the showers?"

"Yeah, James hardly ever goes there and it's not that we've been hiding there many times," snickered Remus.

"Then... the broomshed? Nope, bad idea... so... Prefect's bathroom?"

"Has a bludger hit you lately on your black head, Padfoot? He knows the password, he's Gryffindor Team's Captain, have you forgotten that already? You know, I think I know better where to hide me."

"Wait, Remus! Astronomy Tower! The Shrieking Shack! Forbidden Forest! Slytherins' Dungeons!" nearly shouted Sirius, very aware of Remus walking away.

"Why are you so eager to hide me?"

"Because... "

"Because what, Padfoot?"

"'Cause you're a friend of mine, Moony, and I won't let James Potter catch you. You're not a Snitch. You're more than that. C'mon, we're going."

Sirius grabbed Remus' warm hand and both of them dissapeared from the Gryffindor Tower, then turned right.

"Pete, I know where we can find him," announced James' voice from behind the wall. It seemed that these two boys weren't exactly far away. Sirius wished he had James' Invisibilty Cloak. Remus moved closer to him. They were nearly hugging.

"Where?" asked Peter.

"Astronomy Tower. Or the Shrieking Shack. Forbidden Forest. Three places where our Moony can hide. If he thinks he can hide from us, then he's wrong, obviously." Remus and Sirius could hear the self-loving note in James' tone. They waited until James and Peter were gone.

"So, where are we heading now, Mister I-Know-Where-I-Can-Hide-You?" hissed Remus venomously. "It's humiliating to be forced into a date by them, but trusting somebody like you is even worse. I'm going alone, Sirius, you can't stop me."

"But we can," drawled a familiar voice from the left. Evan Rosier, Florence Wilkes and Severus Snape were looking at them with amusement.

"Who are you to decide where Remus is going?" barked Sirius.

"Sit!" said Snape, looking at him with his phantomless eyes. "Bad dog! We can see perfectly well that you can't cope with hiding him."

Florence threw back her head and started to laugh loudly.

"You're pathetic! And you call yourselves Gryffindors?" she smirked. "Come, Lupin boy, we'll take good care of you."

Remus backed away. Instead of leaving he stood where he was, apparently didn't seem overly pleased with the Slytherins' interaction.

"So, is Black your bodyguard now?" Evan Rosier took two steps forward to be seen in his full height. Sirius' mouth twitched at that remark. Remus sighed heavily. "He's not too good in this kind of profession, isn't he? Why not counting on us?"

"Talk to the hand, Rosier. I don't trust Slytherins. I trust Sirius."

"You were saying something very different from that a while ago. Such an irrelevance," remarked Snape.

"Get lost, the three of you," said Sirius slowly, brushing away his fringe to look at the Slytherins fully. "We don't need your stinking companion. You see, we have a work to do."

"Rather failing it," said Florence.

Remus looked at her quizzically. Then a certain thought popped in his head and wouldn't let go. He beamed at Sirius. Sirius face expressed nothing but astonishment.

These Slytherins were amazingly good at thinking. Amazingly.

"All right. But Sirius' going with us. Deal?"

"Never going anywhere without your boyfriend, are you?" Snape's mouth curled into the shape of something that could be a nice smile, if it wasn't a venomous smirk already.

"That's correct," answered Remus, suddenly very cheerful. Sirius blushed a little. Relax, mate. Remus' just kidding. He's being very sociable now, isn't he? RELAX.

They went straight to the Slytherin Dungeons.