lovesick || r. lupin

⁴⁰room of requirement

She nodded.

"Ehm... Eh, thank you, Professor. Have a good day," Ayla bid, and she swung her satchel over her shoulder and eased her way out the door.

The door closed behind Ayla and they stiffly stood in front of each other, unknowing of what to say and how to act. Ayla hated how her stomach still tickled with butterflies when she saw him. "Hi," she finally mustered.

"Hi. I, uh-" Remus paused, his brows pinching together in concentration as he directed his gaze to the floor. He licked his lips and took a deep breath. "I was wondering if I could talk to you. In private. You don't have to, of course. I just- have some things to say..." He murmured. 

Ayla processed the proposition in silence. She agreed with a swift nod. "Yeah. Yeah, that'd be okay."

"Erh, right then. Could- Could you just follow me?"

-----

Perhaps Remus has gone insane, Ayla thought. 

Don't think that, she scolded herself.

She stood awkwardly, her arms tight to her ribcage and her ankles touching while Remus murmured words under his breath as he paced back and forth down the seventh floor hallway. 

She wanted to speak, to ask him if he was okay because obviously the sight of him pacing was a cry for help, but her words got caught in her throat like a bee in honey. Remus continued his strides.

"Remus, do you need to-" 

Suddenly, the sound of scraping stone and rocks began to rise and to the corner of Ayla's eye, something was forming. Remus observed Ayla as her gaze widened and her mouth dropped open, a grand door beautifully assembling beside them.

"Oh my stars," Ayla gawked.

"Yeah."

"Is that-? What does that lead to?"

"Come on and see," Remus replied, and he pushed toward the door, pulling it open and waving his hand as in invitation. Ayla walked through the doorway.

The room was large, yet cozy. The ceilings were scattered with modest chandeliers and the floor was littered with beanbag chairs, a sofa, a matching table set that probably should have belonged in a cafe in the south of France, and a-

"Is that a bleeding sword rack?!" Ayla exclaimed, darting forward to the grand, yet random assortment of blades hung to the wall. 

"Ayla-" Remus began to warn but Ayla had already pulled a sword off, the sheer weight of it nearly causing her to topple over.

"Bloody hell, it's heavy," Ayla stated, clumsily shifting it to lean against the wall. 

Remus laughed at the scene, "Yeah, it is."

Ayla look to him. His gaze was soft and adoring, his thin lips quirked up into a small smile. She felt a knot in her gut as she kept his gaze and her body warmed. She abandoned the blade and cautiously walked Remus's way.

"So," Ayla drawled. "What is this place?"

Remus looked around the room, taking it in himself. "The Marauders like to call it the 'Come and Go Room'."

Ayla beamed, "That's a bit of a silly name, don't you think?"

Remus grinned back, "Yeah, I know. Pron- James thought it was funny. There's another name for it but I can't quite remember what it is."

"It's cool. I like it," Ayla confessed, looking around the room with wide eyes. 

There hung a pause, then Remus spoke. "Ayla."