The Girl Marauder(Book One)

Chapter 13

The week leading into January dragged on sluggishly, without much distraction from the gray weather and the homework.

"Page ten, Luna. Not page eleven." Remus's voiced chimed tiredly, and Luna sighed as she turned her page back. She was studying with Remus in the library, as was their normal Wednesday tradition. The other boys were in detention- For what this time, Luna wasn't sure.

"Right. Sorry." She mumbled, squinting in hopes that straining her eyes might sharpen her focus a bit. Her mind kept wandering though, and she scowled, slamming her book shut without really meaning to. Remus glanced up at her with a startled expression, eyebrows raised. Luna sighed, looking at him with a grimace.

"I'm okay." She said lamely, and Remus rolled his eyes before he marked his page and closed his own book.

"No, you're not. You've been acting funny for days now- Don't think none of us have noticed. Is it the full moon? I thought the last one went fairly well." Remus said, and Luna had to give him that. He was right- December's full moon had passed fairly peacefully.

"No, it's not- I'm just tired. I didn't realize N.E.W.T's would be so exhausting." Luna said. That was honest. The studies were alarming- And as a girl who wasn't entirely sure of what she wanted to do, what career she wanted, the idea of having to earn grades for the unknown was taxing. In all honestly, she'd never thought of the future- For a werewolf, career options were limited. She didn't realize she had any.

Part of her, realistically, knew she still didn't.

"We weren't studying for N.E.W.T's a week ago. It's ever since you told us- Or Sirius, more like." Remus said knowingly, and Luna let out a groan as she let her head hit the table. Remus had tried to bring up the subject a handful of times, very aware of the tension that appeared whenever she and Sirius were kept in a room together. Now they were fighting almost constantly- Over little things, of course- But he would figure out just the right way to really pick at her nerves till she felt like screaming.

"It's nothing to do with him. I'm just stressed. I never thought of career options." Luna tried this time, and while Remus still looked doubtful, he seemed to understand that she would continue to refuse to talk about it. Part of her wondered why- It wasn't as though advice from Remus would be a bad thing. But she couldn't bring herself to get the words out, too scared new truths would fall out- He would tell her she had been unreasonable- Rash, even. She could've worked something out with Sirius, if she had just been smart.

Her mind already told her that daily.

"Admittedly, they're lacking for us." Remus admitted after a moment, looking grim. Luna nearly laughed.

"Lacking? Try 'kept from'." Luna snorted, and Remus smiled a bit dryly, the same smile the two would share often. It was comforting to have someone who understood, who knew exactly what it was like to have prejudice against you, and such a strong one. The others- They would try to understand, but Luna knew they never really would. That was okay though. They tried, and she appreciated it. Especially when Lily showed up with chocolate the morning after a full moon.

"Well, doesn't mean we can't apply." Remus said pleasantly, never one to accept defeat quickly. "But let's take a break from all this for now- Want to go outside? It's finally stopped raining, and the cold air might feel good."

"That sounds brilliant." Luna agreed, shoving her books into her bag before walking with Remus out of the room. The two walked together in silence, occasionally stopping to greet some familiar faces before they reached outside.

The courtyard was fairly empty of students, but Luna was pleased by that. She inhaled deeply as she stepped out, enjoying the smell of wet grass and fresh air. Perhaps at some point she could convince Remus to study outside, once the weather warmed up. The December snow had quickly been forced away by the rain, but sometimes when the wet paused briefly it would leave the air smelling clean. Luna couldn't wait for the spring, when flowers would start appearing.