written in the stars | s. black | r. lupin

9

It was Wednesday. Charlotte had raced through Catcher in the Rye, partially because she had wanted to return the book as quickly as possible, but mostly because Holden's sarcasm and snappy retorts reminded her of Remus. She could hardly put the book down, thankful that Lily had them on such a strict schedule, or she would have surely fallen behind on all of her work.

The staircase she had just stepped off of scraped against the stone as it began it's shift to the other wall and she let out a relieved sigh, hurrying up the last one before it too got any ideas. Just as she reached Gryffindor tower, the portrait hole slammed loudly, the Fat Lady huffing, calling after the tall boy sauntering towards Charlotte, eyes narrowed at the floor.

"Remus!" She smiled, reaching for the small book from her bag sitting on her hip. "I'm glad I found you! I finished it." She held it out towards him, his eyes flickering to hers quickly before landing on her hands, sliding the book from her grip with a short nod.

"Thanks." He muttered, starting again towards the stairs that she had just come up.

"It was really good, I couldn't put it down." She rambled on, turning to face him as he slowed to let her speak, his shoulders falling slightly in an inaudible sigh. "And, um... Well, I just wanted to thank you too, for not getting Sirius and I into trouble last night. I mean, I didn't think Lily would honestly care, but Sirius was sure-"

"S'fine, Charlotte." He snapped, turning over the book in his hands and pausing before he reached the stairs again. "I've been thinking, actually. I think you're all caught up in Transfiguration. Probably won't need to meet up anymore, right?"

His brown eyes were dark, although it could have been the lack of light, the lamps in the stairwells were so high up. She bit onto the inside of her cheek, nodding at once.

"Yeah, of course, Remus. Thank you, I know I've taken up a lot of your weekends-"

"Yeah. I'll see ya around." He mumbled, giving her one last nod and officially starting down the stairs. Charlotte took a few backwards steps, reaching the doorway to the common room before she turned back around.

"Shrivelfig." She said softly, the portrait swinging open, laughter enveloping her at once as she hurried towards the stairs.

"Blondie!" Sirius grinned from their usual couch, Peter and James on either side and an empty armchair that she assumed Remus must have occupied ten minutes before. "What took you so long? It'll be dinner soon."

"Places to be, people to see, Siri." She mumbled, plastering on a smile for him as she neared the stairway to the dorms. "I'll be down in a bit, just have to-"

"Are you al-"

She didn't wait for him to finish, rushing up the steps two at a time until she reached her dorm, the door bashing against the wall before it swung closed and Lily's gasp caught her attention. She was sat on her bed, a large pile of papers surrounding her, three books open over every edge of the mattress.

"Godric, you scared me." Lily let out a breathy laugh. "Are they all still down there shouting... Hey, what's wrong?" Her voice grew soft, sliding a book out of her path and rushing toward her friend.

"I don't know." Charlotte huffed, flopping back on her bed and staring up at the top of the bed frame. "It's nothing. I'm being stupid."

"Probably." Lily teased, pulling her legs up beneath her on Charlotte's mattress, staring down at the blonde beside her. "You could still tell me though."

Charlotte paused, letting out a sigh and sitting back up to face her roommate.

"I think he hates me." She blurted, clarifying when Lily looked confused. "Remus."