yellow (remus lupin.)

seven.

SEVEN.

The bitter Scottish winter that was drawing in nipped at Cara's skin as she waited for her best friend to appear. The two were heading down to the day's quidditch match, Stassie desperate to see Oliver play.

She leant against the solid stone wall, noting how the autumn months had repainted the leaves on the trees from a deep green colour to more of a burnt orange hue. Her cheeks and tip of her nose were glowing coral in the brisk breeze. Life was in full colour at the moment.

"Let's go!" A voice squealed from behind her, the familiar blonde hurricane running past her and grabbing her hand in the process.

Giggling as they ran towards the large pitch, Cara tightened the scarf around her neck to keep out the chill. Finding the Gryffindor tower, the girls elbowed their way to the front of the stands to get the best view possible for Stassie.

"Oh look Cara, it's bloody perfect." Stassie cheered, screeching over the gaggle of overexcited first years.

It wasn't long before both teams emerged onto the grassy pitch that felt so far down. The Gryffindor team comprised of Oliver, Harry, and a few extra players when not taking into account the large proportion of Weaselys in the team. Surely picking the twins to play was on purpose, just to confuse the other team when they rode rings around the poor players on the opposing team.

Watching quidditch was a full body experience even for the audience. The cold of being outside for so long combined with the constant noise from all angles meant that there was never a second's peace. Yet, not a single person would change any of that. It was similar to the times Tony would take her to watch his beloved football team Nottingham Forest around Christmas time. Football was their thing in which it felt like they were speaking a language of their own.

There was something about this game however Cara just wasn't feeling comfortable with.

"Stass, I don't feel very well." She confessed.

"It's probably just because you're so high up." Stassie tried to comfort her, to no avail. The stands' height had never affected her before.

"No, not that ill. Something else."

Just like that time on the train, a terrible darkness washed over the arena. Icy chills came next, the wind lacerating the soft skin on her blushed cheeks.

"Cara is that a dementor?!" Stassie cried out, gripping onto her friend's forearm.

Cara never got to answer. Her last conscious thought was hearing panicked screams from students before she hit the wooden decking beneath her in seconds.

She was unconscious for a long time, long enough for Dumbledore to have his hands hovering over his quill, ready to write a black telegram to her family.

When she finally awoke groggily, she could instantly tell she had been moved somewhere else. Her head was placed upon a stack of books, and she had someone's tweed jacket thrown over her body.

"Don't move a muscle." Whoever was accompanying her in the room told her firmly.

"Not even my eyes?" She croaked out, her head pulsating.

"Alright, you can move them."

In front of her was the person who had brought her back to his classroom, and who's desk she was asleep on. He had one hand resting on her head and the other rubbing her upper arm as she lay facing him.

"Sir?"

"You gave us all quite a fright Madam." He smiled gently. "Another dementor attack, you should start making a tally chart."

"Well, they do say I'm irresistible." Cara teased, closing her eyes slowly.

"Yes." Remus didn't dare say anymore in case his mouth overran his brain. There was something in the way he spoke, but neither of them could detect just what it was.

It was like something snapped inside him as he removed his touch from her body and quickly composed himself back into the form of her teacher, her superior.

"Why didn't you take me to Pomfrey?" She asked, cracking open a painful eyelid.

"She doesn't have a good enough cure, not like I do." He told her, rummaging through a messy drawer before producing yet another sweet treat and placing it in her hands.

"Bloody hell man, are you trying to fatten me up for Christmas like a sparrow?" She heaved her lead-heavy body into sitting up, his jacket sliding down her body.

"Stop getting hurt and I won't have to rescue you." He chuckled.

"I'm not a damsel in distress you know." She curtly told him catching him off guard as she stuffed her cheeks with chocolate.

"I don't doubt for a second how strong you are Cara." He folded his arms and suddenly took great interest in a scratch in the his desk.

Still perched on his desk — and without even noticing she was doing it — Cara had been swinging her socks clad legs back and forth down the side of his leg. He could've sworn his skin was on fire where she was making contact. She was so engrossed in neatly folding the empty chocolate wrapper she wasn't aware of her actions, yet to Remus he couldn't take his eyes away from her.

She was beautiful, no two ways about it. Long, pin-straight black hair matched with grey eyes. He hadn't seen grey eyes like hers in years, he simply couldn't stop watching how they changed shades as her gaze darted around the room. Her uniform was dishevelled, her shirt untucked and skirt crumpled. She wore the same tie he had all those years ago when he was once in her position as a seventh year Gryffindor. She reminded him of someone — someone that meant a great deal to him, yet he couldn't put his finger on who it was just yet.

In the calm of the silence, Cara couldn't help but break out in a yawn, her whole body rising and falling in sync.

"Cara?" Remus asked her, sitting forward and leaning on his desk.

She loved the way her name rolled off his tongue, his voice was so soothing.

"I'm going to be giving Harry Potter in the third year some lessons on how to defend himself from the dementors, they went for him too you see." Remus informed her. "I couldn't help but wonder if you wanted to join in? All you and Anastasia ever complain about is how awful your previous teachers were, so I thought I'd give you a boost."

"Shit, yes!" Cara exclaimed before slapping her hand over her mouth in horror. "I am so sorry, that came out too fast."

"It's not a problem." He chuckled. "We plan to meet tomorrow evening after dinner, you don't have any plans do you?"

"Well — " Cara cut off her own train of thought. "No. No I don't, I'm totally free." She lied.

"Brilliant! I'll send Harry to find you tomorrow." Remus couldn't hide his elation as he beamed.

"Thank you — " Cara hesitated before speaking, still never sure if she was saying the correct thing. " — Remus."

"You're so very welcome Cara."

—

a/n: if you're reading this genuinely thank you it feels less like i'm just writing into the void x