Chocolate Covered Strawberries [Remus Lupin]

𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚒𝚡

''I don't remember ever seeing you this happy after –'' James' words died out in the end as Lily elbowed him in the side.

''A rough night.'' She filled in and nervously glanced at Robyn.

Remus smiled thankfully at her before he offered her the open bar of chocolate. ''It's the chocolate.''

''So Jass had nothing to do with it?'' Sirius asked teasingly. Remus' cheeks immediately flushed and he looked down at his lap, away from the prying eyes.

As a few of them chuckled, he decided to keep the information to himself. Otherwise, the whole room would erupt into screams because he knew how invested all of them seemed to be in his and Jasmine's private relationship. Always asking questions and always teasing.

At the very end of the room where the exit was and the first hospital beds were placed Jasmine stopped walking as Smirnitsky slowed down. She saw her warm coat on the bed there that they apparently removed before they started tending to her wounds.

''If it accounts for anything I really am sorry about last night and for not listening to yours and Sirius' suggestion for another time. As a professor, I feel entitled to tell you that you still passed the assignment, with flying colours for that matter. Unknowingly you were placed in a real-life situation, no matter how brutal it may sound, and you reacted accordingly.'' The apologetic expression didn't seem to leave Smirnitsky's face at all while he was in the hospital wing.

He already apologised to her and Remus when he came to them, disrupting their conversation. As to why he wanted to speak to her alone, Jasmine was still clueless. If he knew that she could have done better in the Forest he also wouldn't praise her so much.

''And here, before I forget.'' He grabbed for her coat and handed it to her with a small smile. ''I cleaned it because it had a lot of your blood on it.''

Jasmine received the completely clean coat in her hands and immediately checked the pockets if the picture was still there. She smiled as her fingers brushed against the familiar creased part of the picture. As of habit she brought it out and inspected it. Same four smiling faces, same writing, nothing new. The hairs on her neck rose with a weird feeling and Jasmine glanced up from the picture. She caught Smirnitsky looking at it with a curious eyebrow raised.

He smiled to cover up his curiosity. ''Are you alright?'' He asked with the most sincerity.

Jasmine pocketed the picture again and forced a smile onto her face. ''I am.''

''I'll ask you again because this isn't so easy to get over with.'' Smirnitsky's eyes glanced at her bandage. ''It can take a toll physically and mentally, I certainly wouldn't except for a seventeen-year-old to be so easily okay with this.''

Jasmine let a sigh through her nose and looked behind her shoulder at her friends. ''I had time to think about it and my answer would be a lot different if these weren't my friends.'' She looked back at the professor. ''The scar is just collateral damage and it will mean something to me. It won't be like any other that were put there as an act of rage or punishment.''

She cringed inside at the thought of her father and as if that awoke something inside her, every wound inflicted by him on her spiked up for a second.

''Did you know about what they are before tonight?'' The words he spoke sounded very careful.

''Yes, otherwise this would have been a whole another emotional rollercoaster.'' Jasmine chuckled softly.

Smirnitsky didn't give in to the joke. His young face looked ten times older when he was worried. His eyes kept glancing from Jasmine to her group friends on the other side of the room. Jasmine got the feeling that while he started this conversation to appear calm, she's now the one calming him down with reassurance.