NOTHING GIRL || Remus Lupin

-Fifteen: Space Between-

Remus rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly. "I.. Er..."

"You know what they're doing, right?" Helia didn't let him speak. "They're stripping away the enchantments that stop you from apparating inside Hogwarts."

"Really?" Remus could still feel confusion settling inside of him.

"It'll take them all afternoon." Helia added thoughtfully.

Remus swallowed. "What's your point?"

Suddenly, a grin lit Helia's face. It reminded Remus of lightning splitting a tree open, lights in the dark, fireworks igniting the sky. It was a rare, unpractised grin. Remus stood for a second trying to memorise it's planes and shapes and the way it transformed her face. "Meet me tonight. Normal time. Normal place."

And Helia walked away, leaving Remus to wonder what the hell just happened. 

.............................

Dean,

Do you ever feel like you're doing something wrong, even when you know it's right? Like, you wake up and get out of bed and you know you've done the right thing; you get out of bed every day and go about your life because that's what people do, and that's what you need to do. But you still feel like you've deserted something. You didn't want to get out of bed that day. You didn't want to move. You didn't want to be productive. What harm could one day off do, possibly? And you feel like you've done something wrong because maybe, just one day in the entirety of everything, you should have that time to sleep, to do nothing, just live in the knowledge that today doesn't have to be like the others.

Of course you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm probably just being stupid. Again. Ever noticed it's a habit of mine?

It's almost Christmas, so I'll see you soon.

The Smaller One

...........................

A hand grabbed Remus' as he walked along the corridor to the allotted meeting place that night.

He was spun to find Helia, light trapped in her eyes, looking up at him. She tugged him gently down a passage that lead toward the Great Hall silently, walking backwards so her eyes never left his face. A small smile played around the corners of her mouth.

"Hi there, Wolfy." she said. "Did I scare you?"

"Much as you'd like to believe otherwise" Remus felt a grin infect his face too. "You're not actually that scary."

"Now I'm insulted."

Helia released his hand as if she just realised she had been holding it, leaving his palm feeling cold, but the smile never left her face as she led him round a corner and dramatically pushed open the doors to the Great Hall. The sound of creaking wood was ominously loud in a way Remus had never noticed before, making him wince.

Stepping through the entryway was like wading through water. Remus could feel a ripple of resistance, though not enough to stop him, as he moved forward. The sense of magic crackled through the air, along with the innate feeling of wrongness. It was odd to see the hall empty of people and light, floating candles little more than shadows against the dark clouds that billowed over the ceilinged sky.

In a room that people are meant to inhabit, it's always as if the space tries to fill itself with noise while it remains empty, magnifying the few sounds available. Remus' footsteps were like gunshots against the stone flooring. Helia stepped up onto the Hufflepuff bench and walked along it with her arms outstretched, much in the same way as a child would. The sight was so out of what Remus had come to expect of his mysterious, dark haired friend that he laughed, and the sound reverberated off the empty corners of hall. Helia turned and looked at him.