yellow (remus lupin.)

two.

TWO.

Cara was woken sharply by having her head almost cracked open on the window pane as the train pulled abruptly to a stop. She had Oliver's red robes covering her as a blanket and she noticed that the sun had vanished, proving she had been out for some time.

"Are we here already?" She mumbled, struggling to escape the blanket that now felt like a straight jacket.

"Surely not?" Stassie groaned, half asleep herself.

"I think it's something to do with the weather, take a look." Oliver was staring at the grey clouds outside that seemed to be becoming darker by the second.

"It's pouring." Cara watched as the rain hammered the glass window like bullets.

The storm didn't feel like just a weather storm. There was something else lurking in it, something sinister.

"I really need a wee, Stassie will you come with me?" Cara asked.

When she got no reply, Cara turned to see Stassie sucking in the walls of the train with her snoring.

"That'll be a no then." She stifled a giggle. "I'll be back in a second Ollie."

"Stay safe." He told her as she pushed aside the robes and stood up properly.

Sliding the door open, the hallway felt cold. Not the sort of cold as if someone had left a window open, but the sort of cold as if there was no life around. It was quiet too, no chatter was coming from any of the other compartments. She was a seventh year, why was she so frightened all of a sudden? Cara took a large breath of the cool air and fixed her posture before heading in the direction of the toilet.

It could've only been ten steps before she felt a presence behind her. Hoping it was a teacher, she turned on her heels with a smile on her face, which soon dropped when she realised what was behind her.

A dark, faceless figure was looming behind her with an outstretched hand. Its fingers were shrivelled and calloused, with nails that looked like they could rip out her eyeballs in a split second. Cara had stupidly believed Dementors only existed in textbooks, but one was staring her in the face and just millimetres from her face, pinning her against the wall.

The tip of its finger was just about to touch her lip as she opened her mouth to scream. No noise came out, but instead a bright blue flash blinded her as a man's voice bellowed at the thing.

Just like that it was gone.

The invisible force that was holding her against the cold wooden wall vanished, and the weight from her chest was lifted.

"Christ, are you alright?" The man asked as she began to breath erratically.

Cara couldn't get words out and instead shook her head silently.

"Uhm — " The man looked around manically. "Come in here."

He ushered her into an empty compartment and guided her down onto the seat. Cara kept staring at the floor, hoping it would bring her heart rate back to normal.

"Was that — "

"A dementor, yes it was." He sighed.

Looking up for the first time, she finally got to see the man who saved her. Dressed rather shabby and looking half asleep, he had a warm smile on his face as he watched her. She noted a large scar that ran through his eyebrow, as well as his brown yet almost faintly ginger hair. He didn't look much older than thirty something, yet looked worn out beyond his years.

"I'm afraid I'm all out of milk." He began fishing through one of his pockets. "Will white do?"

His hand was thrust out in front of her holding a half eaten bar of white chocolate.

"Is it a form of protection from them or something?" She asked, taking it out of his hand tentatively, eyeing it up with an air of suspicion.

"No, it's a milky bar." He said with a chuckle. "I'm afraid that Harry Potter cleared me out of milk chocolate."

"Oh." She laughed softly with a twinge of embarrassment at herself. "Thank you."

Cara straightened out the crumped wrapping in her shaking hand to reveal the same bars she'd seen her mother demolish in seconds as a pregnancy craving.

"They're nice these ones." She told him, catching his eye as she looked up. "My mum buys them a lot."

"I haven't really had that much of it, you can tell. You'll have to give me your opinion on it." He seemed like an excited child.

Cara snapped the two remaining chunks in half and offered the man one of them.

"No no, you need it more than me." He told her.

As strange as chocolate seemed as a cure, it really did make her feel much better once she'd eaten it. She felt more relaxed with him in the room too. The man opened his mouth as if to speak, but was cut off by someone shouting down the hall.

"Remus? Remus!" The voice called.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." The man told her and stood up, sliding the door open. "Stay safe." He added with a smile before disappearing in the direction of his name.

Cara sat peacefully in the carriage as the train pulled away again, finishing the last chunk of chocolate.

Remus. It was a nice name. Odd, but then no one at Hogwarts really had a normal name. He had such a comforting voice and smile. She barely even knew the man but somehow felt at ease with him.

Feeling less wobbly on her legs, Cara headed back in the direction of the girls' toilets. She quickly shut the door behind her and stood in front of the mirror as she made a deep sigh.

She looked a little paler than usual and her black hair was dishevelled. She must've looked a right sight for sore eyes in front of Remus. Her stomach churned out of embarrassment, realising how unkempt he probably thought she was.

"Idiot." She snapped at herself, raking her long pink nails through her knotty hair.

Why was she so fussed over a man she'd only just met?

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a/n: i'm really sick rn so if you see me publish like 10 chapters this week mind your business x