Wild Amenity » Remus Lupin

13. Fighting the system

Saturday, 22nd May 1976. 9 days after the full moon.

The system developed was pretty simple: whenever Remus or Judson wanted to meet, they would approach the other and say something in the lines of "see you later". It was a common phrase, not suspicious at all. They could be seeing each other to study, or in the Great Hall, or maybe they just said it to be polite. That way it didn't matter if Judson was sitting next to Juniper during class. With only a mere glance and a little conversation, Remus could let Judson know he would very much like to see him later.

Once the cue was taken, all that was left was to wait until patrol time and to find an empty corridor where they could snog without disturbances. Easy.

Judson found everything kind of ambiguous, and pointed out each of the flaws he could think of: what if one of them couldn't meet that day? What if he ended up roaming around for hours because he couldn't find him? What if every corridor was taken that night and they couldn't find a single empty space to be in?

Remus decided to ignore his last worry, and proceeded to clarify the rest of them. If they couldn't meet, it was easy to say they were busy. And he also assured Judson he would always find him wherever he decided to wait. Remus claimed it was because Judson had a very specific routine around Hogwarts, but in reality, he had a map under his sleeve.

The only issue that bit Remus' brain like a hungry hippogryph was that, for the only week they had this "agreement" going on, he had been the one to approach and propose a meeting. Judson had always agreed, but Remus feared he might be becoming a bit too insistent. So, despite everything in him wanting to kiss Judson again, he decided to stay put for a day. Abstinence was needed sometimes.

But then, Gryffindor won the House Cup. And the Ravenclaws were upset because of their loss. And when Remus came across Judson and Juniper on his way to the common room, Judson said the magic words, "See you later." And Remus had another reason to continue to be excited besides the big victory party that would be thrown at his tower at noon.

But it's not like he fancied Judson or anything like that. It was because of his werewolf condition.

Before judging, hear him out. Sometimes he needed to ease his mind, or the aching pains of his bones, and throughout these encounters Remus found out Judson helped. The full moon had been a few days ago, so it didn't work as an honourable justification for this moment, but he had to admit Judson kissed really well. Remus couldn't be blamed for having found his new favourite activity. It was just a distraction, especially to appease Moony.

And to forget about Sirius Black, who had played an excellent Quidditch finale, and Remus had trouble tearing his eyes away from him. On more than one occasion, he had to remind himself to look away, but it was kind of impossible when Sirius was the star beater of the team.

But that was beside the point. He had to stop thinking of Sirius in that way. So right before the party started, Remus took possession of the Marauders Map with the excuse of making sure Filch remained away from the tower and left to meet Judson. He found him roaming around the Hufflepuff common room, near the kitchens, with no one else on sight.

Judson didn't see him coming out of the passageway. He was pinning his prefect badge on his navy jumper, pushing the Ravenclaw scarf around his neck aside so the pin could be seen, and had taken out of his face all the paint from the match. The hallway was empty, considering most of the people were already at the party, so Judson almost spat his heart out when Remus spoke from behind him.

"Reckon you got the houses mixed up," Remus said, causing Judson to yelp. "Ravenclaw tower is the other way."

"How did you find me?" Judson asked, turning around with a startled face. Remus bit the inside of his cheek to not show how much he actually enjoyed scaring him. "Don't get me wrong, I was really waiting to see you. I just expected it to be later."