THE WOLVES | R.L.

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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Chapter 10

Ardelle pulled her hair up into a ponytail and secured it with a golden ribbon.

It was Saturday, and she was meeting Remus at the Gryffindor Common Room for a walk around the Grounds.

It was super early, but both of them had agreed that they liked the quiet.

She silently slipped out of her dorm and carefully made her way down the stairs and saw Remus, looking half-asleep as he obviously tried to stay awake by reading a book.

But his eyelids were drooping, and Ardelle smirked, knowing just the right way to wake him up.

"BOO!"

Remus shot to his feet, his wand immediately in his hand, prepared to fire a spell, but then he saw that it was just Ardelle, and he sighed.

"Oi, It's just me," Ardelle said, "No need to get violent."

Remus sighed, ruffling his hair, "Alright, alright."

He tucked his wand back into his pocket and offered Ardelle his arm.

Ardelle smiled and took it, the two of them walking out of the Common Room.

There was some sort of unnamed tension hanging in the air between them, and Ardelle didn't like it.

It was a long moment later that Remus finally spoke.

"So...I'm sorry...but I have to ask you," He cleared his throat awkwardly, and Ardelle laughed softly.

"Don't worry, go ahead," She said with a smile.

She already knew what he was going to ask. They'd avoided the question for long enough.

And she already knew what she was going to say in reply.

"Well...we kissed a while back," Remus said nervously.

"Yes, we did," Ardelle agreed.

"And...well, what do you want to treat it as?" He met her eyes, and Ardelle saw the nervousness in his eyes and smiled.

"I like you," Ardelle admitted, "But...I don't know if it'd be best for us to...you know, date, at this point in time."

Remus nodded understandingly, looking quite relieved, "Yeah. Maybe...well...would you want to go on a date with me to Hogsmeade on Saturday?"

"Of course," Ardelle said, offering him a smile, "I'd love to."

Remus just smiled at her, and she gave him her hand, and he took it.

The rest of their walk went on—the air between them almost cooler and more comfortable as they went around the Hogwarts Grounds.

And then, when Ardelle got up to her dormitory and looked out the window, she realised that it had started snowing.

"It's snowing!" She exclaimed, and Lily, who was half-asleep and sitting on her bed, shot to her feet.

"Merlin, really?" Lily said, surprised.

"Yeah," Ardelle said.

"Well, I guess our date on Saturday will just happen in the snow, then," Lily sighed, "I'm going to get ready for breakfast. I'll have to wear twice as many clothes today."

***

Hogsmeade was snowy and exciting.

When Remus was looking at some books displayed in a shop window, Ardelle made some very, unnecessarily large snowballs and snuck up behind him quietly...

BAM!

Remus whipped around and yelled, "ARDELLE! ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

He was covered in snow, and he glared at Ardelle as she collapsed into the snow with laughter.

"I'm not Sirius," Ardelle chortled, "But—,"

Something cold slammed into Ardelle's face, and by the time she had brushed the snow out of her face and cleared her vision, Remus already had two more snowballs in his hands, but before he could throw them, Ardelle ran and tackled him into the snow—like two wild animals, one may say—and the two of them burst into laughter.

"Hey, Ardelle! I—,"

Ardelle got up from the snow, to find Lily and James staring at them, looking stuck between feeling amused and worried.

"Um, are you two okay?" James asked cautiously as he tentatively offered a hand to help Remus get up from the floor.

Remus cleared his throat, "Um, yeah. Just...snowball fight.

"You know, the usual things people do on dates," Ardelle added.

"You're on a date?" Lily asked, her eyes widening, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Not that big of a deal," Remus said, "Not necessary to announce it to the world."

"Not to the world," Lily scoffed, "Just to me."

"Lils, you may not be their world, but you're my world," James announced, looping his arm around Lily's, and Lily's cheeks became tinted with light pink.

Ardelle smiled, "You two are too cute. What did you want me for, Lils?"

"Oh, um...we were going to ask you if you wanted to join us—just as four friends—at the Three Broomsticks. I think Sirius is there already, so..."

"Oh, of course we would," Remus said, brushing the snow off his clothes and shooting Ardelle an annoyed glance, "You didn't have to throw all this snow at me."

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to throw all this snow at me," Ardelle retorted, gesturing down at herself.

She was almost as snow-covered as Remus was.

Remus rolled his eyes, looking ready to protest, but instead, he seemed to change his mind and beckon for Ardelle to follow him.

The four of them made their way down the snowy streets towards the Three Broomsticks—where the Marauders had shared countless laughs, and where they'd, hopefully, continue to share laughs for the rest of their lives.

Because in dark times like these—in times of the rising of the Dark Lord—every laugh; every smile...was even more precious than the last.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading this chapter! Seriously (Or 'Siriusly') thanks for taking the time to check this story out. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Add this story to your library to follow Ardelle's journey ;)

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Thanks, and see you next time!