Determination|| Remus lupin

Chapter four

Remus and Ariana's walk took them into the grounds. They walked passed the greenhouses and down to the Quidditch pitch.

"What is this?" Ariana asked as she looked at the pitch, curiosity bright in her eyes. She stared up at the hoops in bemusement.

"It's a Quidditch pitch." Remus answered and when he saw the blank look on her face, he explained to her what it was.

"Sounds awful." She mused, Remus was glad he wasn't the only one who didn't enjoy Quidditch. She seemed horrified when he told her about the brutality that often arises in the game.

"The person to ask would be James or Sirius, they love quidditch." Remus told her.

"Do you all have stupid nicknames?" She asked him. He laughed.

"Yes, I suppose we do. I'm moony." He told her.

"Because you're a werewolf?" She asked quietly, seeming to know that he wouldn't want others to know. He nodded.

"Yes, the others became animagus' and have helped me through the transformations. James is a stag, prongs. Sirius is a dog, padfoot and Peter is a rat, wormtail." Remus explained. She nodded.

"You have great friends." She told him. He blushed. "They must care deeply about you, it cannot be easy to transform oneself into a different being.

"Thanks." He muttered. She grinned at him and then broke into a run.

"Come on! I think your James is over there!" She said, he watched her go, amazed at her speed and determination, and smiling as he realised she was learning the names of his friends. She had after all figured out who James was.

James was indeed over there. He looked amused at the two running towards him and caught Ariana before she ran straight past him. She grabbed his arm to steady herself.

"You are definitely more of a long distance runner." He told her. She smiled at him and then laughed.

"you get used to running for a long time after a while." She answered. He stared at her for a moment, before nodding.

"I suppose you would." He nodded again, thinking about the situation she had been in.

Remus reached them at that moment.
"You're the girl who was being chased by death eaters." James stated, as he stated who she was, and what was on his mind. She nodded.

"I do believe I have a better reputation to get. I can't be the girl running from death eaters my entire life!" Ariana decided.

"That is true." James said with a laugh. "Do you like it here then?"

" It is... nice. Although terrifying." She confessed. He smiled at her.

" We're here for you. We'll help you." He told her, she smiled at his kindness.

"Thank you." She nodded.

" No problem."

"What do you do here anyway?" She asked.

"Me, Remus and the others prank people." James answered.

"You do what to people?" She asked. James looked alarmed at the fact that she had never heard of pranking before.

"Prank people." Remus said with a sigh.

"And what's that?" She asked, looking from Remus to James and back again.

"Tell you what, tomorrow me and Sirius will show you." James told her. She grinned at him.

"Sounds interesting." She said. James grinned back. It was strange how willing she was to try new things, despite her rather strange past, although no one really knew what had happened to her.

"I'd better get back, I have a prank to plan." James ran off leaving Remus and Ariana alone in the dimming sunlight. 

"Have you ever been to a library?"  Remus asked her. She shook her head with a confused look on her face, clearly not entirely sure what a library was, but she knew she had heard of it before.

The two entered the library and Remus led her towards one of the shelves. It was on transfiguration. He gave her a grand tour of the huge room and then they left, she still looked confused, or perhaps overwhelmed, she still was not used to the castle, or normal life for that matter.

"Do you go in there often?" She asked him. He nodded.

"Yes. I do." He answered. They wandered along in silence for a while.

"That Sirius person called you prefect, what is that?" She asked him. He explained to her that being a prefect was his role in the school. He told her about head boys and everything both they and the prefects do.

"That sounds stressful!" She said. He laughed, but she was right.

"It's less stressful then it sounds." He assured her.

"So, there are four houses and we all compete against each other?" She asked, trying to remember what Dumbledore had told her.

Remus nodded. "Yep, the four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin." He told her.

"And we are the Gryffindor?" She asked, he had to stop himself from laughing about the strange way she had put that.

"Yes, we're in Gryffindor." He told her. She nodded.

"Sounds confusing." She said with a sigh, brushing her hair behind her ear with her hand.

"You get used to it." He said. They had reached the common room by now, she sighed and looked at him regretfully..

"Goodnight Remus." She said, she hesitated and then gave him a quick hug, he stood there ahocked, she let go of him before he could hug her bsck. She smiled again, before heading up the stairs to the girls dormitories.

"Night Ariana!" He called after her retreating form, but she was gone. He sighed and then smiled at the thought of that day. He liked the girl, there was something about her, something there that intrigued him, he wanted to know how she would settle in. He wanted to get to know her, she seemed guarded and relaxed at the same time and it confused him, but she seemed to trust him somewhat and he was happy for that.