yellow (remus lupin.)

twenty two.

TWENTY TWO.

Exams had Cara by the scruff of her neck for the entirety of January. As soon as she had the relief of completing one test, there was another lingering just around the corner for her. She had barely any time to eat, never mind run off in the small hours to Remus's bedroom, no matter how desperate she was.

However, he had a much larger problem eating away at his conscience. Remus Lupin and Severus Snape could never be considered friends — or even acquaintances or that matter. Remus was completely aware that Snape had a bigger distaste for the man, but he would never have thought Snape to be so desperate to sell him down the river. When he realised the lycanthropy scandal wasn't going anywhere, Snape had turned his attention to Remus's other weakness. Cara Fitch.

Cara had to sprint down the hallways to get to the potions classroom, knowing that Snape would have no clemency if she was late. She already had one detention lined up for the week after she let out a slew of swears when she knocked over a load of crystals in divination, she certainly didn't require another. She burst through the door without knocking, completely winded and out of breath.

"On time." Was all she could get out between breaths as she pointed at the clock on the wall.

"Yes." He snapped back at her. "Miss Fitch please sit."

She followed his orders and sat down at her usual spot, just in front of his desk. He was swooping around the classroom in his cloak like a bat, clearly wanting to intimidate her in some way.

"Is it about my amortentia essay?" She questioned carefully.

She had lied her entire way through the essay. If she had written down what she could truly smell — books, chocolate, coffee with a hint of damp dog — Remus would be dragged into Dumbledore's office by his ear and given the sack there and then. She decided to throw whoever marked it off the scent, instead writing about how she could smell leather, wood and firewhiskey. She would apologise to Stassie later for pretending to be in love with her boyfriend for the sake of a good grade.

"What do you think of Professor Lupin?" Snape was curt with her.

"He's alright." She shrugged it off. "He's a good teacher."

"It's for his audit you see. We decided to pick you, as you seem so very close to him." He sneered, still wafting the black robes about like he was on a catwalk. "You might be able to give a good sense of character."

"Well, he takes pride in his job. He cares for his students, and he doesn't mock us if we don't understand something." She thinly veiled a jibe at her potions teacher. "He's proud of us when we do well."

"I see." He sounded almost as if he was mocking her, with fake enthusiasm. "And what about his code of conduct? Do you think he ever pushes the boundary between teacher and friend too far?"

The image of Remus with his head thrown back and his hand in her hair, letting out illicit sounds as she trailed her tongue over his tip washed into her brain, which she had to replace with him telling his class off almost immediately. Snape was practically a mind reader.

"No." She spoke confidently. "He's balanced on the line perfectly. Shouldn't you be writing this down?"

Snape grumbled as he sat down at his desk, pretending to take notes on what she had said.

"Do you trust him Miss Fitch?" He asked arrogantly, still not cracking a smile.

"What on earth do you mean?"

"Do you believe he tells you the truth at all times? Or do you think he's hiding something?"

Growing tired of Snape's bizarre questions, she sighed and stood up from her seat.