NOTHING GIRL || Remus Lupin

-Twenty Eight: Impossible-

WARNING: READERS OF THIS CHAPTER WILL BE SUBJECT TO SEVERE ANGST. HELIA BLACKSMITH WANTS TO APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE AND EXPLAIN THAT IT IS NOW 3AM AND SHE HASN'T SLEPT. OTHERWISE HER TEENAGE ANGST BULLSHIT WOULD BE FULLY TURNED OFF I'M SURE. TO THE STORY!
.............

Helia Blacksmith sighed heavily, running her fingers through her dark hair.

She was more tired than she would have liked to admit; the phone call and the resulting several hours of shaking and retching had taken everything out of her. Hollowness struck at her core and purple bags hung under her eyes, though they could be hidden by altering the lighting slightly.

After hearing the ridiculous amount of noise that the Gryffindor boys had made in the Headmaster's office, Helia had deemed it unsafe to return to her hiding spot lest they follow her. Which was fine. She'd needed an excuse to break into the library anyway.

A small oil lamp illuminated the desk she was sat at, causing eerie shadows to dance along the bookshelves and on the cramped letters of the heavily bound volume in front of her as she turned a page. Helia glanced at the watch that adorned her wrist: 3:50 am. Sleep could wait. Still, just the thought of even her bed in Ravenclaw Tower- the one she hadn't slept in in years- and it's soft mattress with feathered pillowcases...

Stop.

She was getting nowhere by contemplating all the different surfaces in Hogwarts that could serve as a suitable place for rest. Frowning to herself, Helia returned her attention to the lines of barely legible script printed across the page.

It was once believed that both magic and non magic users were one and the same, as interchangable as spare parts. While magic could become numb with loss or severe mental trauma...

Helia idly wondered what Remus had been doing in Dumbledore's office. Knowing those boys, it was probably nothing good. And yet something seemed just slightly amiss. Why call them there in the middle of the night? It made no sense, unless...

Helia glanced once again at her watch, though the hands remained in much the same position. She should really focus on the task at hand. Who knew how much time she had left? Realising that, for the last few minutes, Helia's eyes had been skidding over sentences without any knowledge of their contents, she let out a frustrated exhale and returned her attention once more to the top of the page.

While magic could become numb with loss or severe mental trauma, muggles with little to no wizarding history or lineage have been reported to perform seemingly impossible acts while under immense stress. Occurrences such as these are often the case in life threatening situations where people with no known link to magic have lifted three times their own weight or something similar. It is important to note, however, that this description is not meant to encompass the peculiar anomalies of the so-called muggleborns...

"Whatcha reading?"

Helia would have shot out of her seat in surprise had she been anyone but Helia Blacksmith. As it was, she raised her eyebrows and sat back in her chair, closing the book so the only the back of the leather was visible, instead of the gold embroidered title. She looked up at Remus, who had somehow managed to sneak up on her.

"Good evening to you too, Moon Boy." Helia said, sounding amused. She casually and deliberately waited until the clock in the Astronomy Tower had chimed out four o'clock before saying, "Good morning, Moon Boy."

Helia could feel her inner six year old silently fist pumping the air. Thank dramatic timing for always making her look so badass.

Remus looked almost nervous. He took a step forward, narrowly avoiding a collision with her desk. Helia watched, all too aware of how her and Remus had seemed so close- so very close- only a few hours before. But now, here, the distance between them was palpable. Her eyes flickered closed as she reminded herself not to eradicate any of that impossible, invisible space. Remus couldn't know. No one could know.