the Romeo & Juliette

Chapter 19: Boiling Nerves

After the astonishing match Julie followed Olive to McGonagall's office. Olive wasn't speaking, and she was incredibly grumpy about losing. Julie couldn't stop thinking about the Seeker. He had so graciously caught the Snitch. She debated whether she would go to the Forbidden Forest, and contemplated the consequences. Her heart fluttered at the thought of seeing him again, and she was so deep in thought she hadn't even noticed she and Olive had finally reached the office. McGonagall let them in after briefly expressing her grief about losing. She muttered something along the lines of wanting to do it herself so they would win again.

The detention itself was rather boring, and Julie couldn't think of anything but her Forbidden, well, crush. She then thought of how she'd hurt everyone's feelings. Olive, Lily, and especially Remus. He looked so tormented when he told her he couldn't find her at all. After the detention Olive - still not having said a word to Julie - marched back to the common room. There, she joined the boys. Julie looked at her feet as she passed them on their regular spot. She could feel them looking, but she didn't care for a moment.

She sat herself down at a desk across the common room, took out her Charms book and read it so intensely she couldn't focus on the words anymore. Suddenly someone cleared his throat. "Julie," Remus spoke, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

Julie didn't say anything, and Remus sat down across her. "I didn't get to see you at all last night. Where were you?"

-"Me? I might ask you the same question! Peter said you guys weren't at the feast at all, that he couldn't find you." Julie snapped out of her Charms book.

"We were there. I was looking for you right before midnight, I thought we'd have a dance." Remus said.

Julie looked at him. "Can I ask you something?" She wanted to ask about Regulus, but she decided she shouldn't, so right after Remus told her 'yes' she said, "Never mind."

Remus looked at her. "You can ask me anything, you know." She saw him look around. "Look, there's no one here, you can trust me." He moved his hand and placed it on hers.

"I- no, it was a stupid Charms question anyway. I'll ask Professor Wicksteed later." She pulled her hand away and got up. Remus looked at her but didn't follow her as she walked away. As she descended the stairs of Gryffindor tower she realised she shouldn't act strange to Remus, if she wanted to stay in contact with the boy from the ball, besides, Remus confused her. She'd been really annoyed that they didn't dance at the ball. She turned around and walked back. Remus was still sitting there, his head in his hands.

"Remus?" He looked up. "What's wrong?" He didn't answer, instead he got up.

-"Can we go for a walk?" He suggested, and Julie nodded.

As they walked through the castle on their way outside, Remus seemed okay again. He was talking about all kinds of things at the same time, and Julie felt really comfortable around him. They stopped near the greenhouses, and as Julie was talking about her classes at Beauxbatons, Remus took some Lemon Sherbet candies from his pocket.

After their walk Julie went to the library to read a bit when she saw Lucius Malfoy talking to his friends. He looked over to Julie, and his mouth curled up in a smile. He walked towards her and dropped a small envelope in front of her. Julie reached for it, and when she looked up again, the blond boy was gone. She read the letter and smiled. Her secret crush had realised she was in fact herself, so now it started with "Beautiful Julie". It said that he'd been mistaken and that he really wanted to see her, and that he wanted to explain why he had overreacted. At the bottom it asked her to place the letter in the book about Noble Wizards if she did want to come that night, and in the bin if she didn't. Julie walked towards the book and slowly slid the letter at the page of his family tree.