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On the morning of the Hogsmeade trip, Hogwarts had been coated in a thick layer of snow overnight, and in the morning the snowflakes had still not stopped falling. Lily had dragged Marlene, Genevieve and Alice out of the warmth of their duvet covered beds and had guided them to window just to see it. Alice and Genevieve were impressed, but Marlene made sure to cast her evils and get straight back into bed.
This was the first problem. Lily had to wake Genevieve up. Usually it was the other way around due to Genevieve's habit of waking up early, but recently she had been waking up so late that she had to skip breakfast and just go straight to first period.
The second problem was that Remus had made no move to talk to Genevieve despite her attempts at conversation. He barely ever looked at her. Everyone knew that Remus had a cold side so icy that it could leave you with permanent frostbite, but Genevieve had never thought that she would have been on the receiving end.
James, Sirius and Peter were more than conflicted. They were the most confused they had ever been. Two crucial people in their lives were in a one-sided argument that was sure to carry on until Christmas, something they had never experienced or expected. They all felt the same guilt, there was nothing confusing about that. Remus had closed Genevieve out of his life almost instantly and pinned the blame on her, but they played as big a part in her transitions as she did.
"You do realise that we were the ones who told Genevieve to do this, right? You're being unfair to her by still talking to us," James had said one breakfast after watching Remus prod around his cereal.
"Genevieve has been your friend since first year. She should know better than to do what you say," Remus had replied.
"So you're saying she should do what you say?" James retorted, raising an eyebrow.
"No, that's not at all what I mean," Remus said. "Genevieve has an amazing mind of her own. Even if I tried telling her what to do, which I wouldn't because I don't own her, I doubt she would listen. Either that, or she would offer me out for a fight. I just think that maybe she should have thought things through."
"But don't you see, Moony? You're pinning the blame on her when she wasn't fully responsible. It isn't fair."
Remus had pretended not to hear and carried on reading the Daily Prophet.
James had scoffed and left the table, leaving the others in a dreary silence, a silence that would of easily been broken if Genevieve had been sat with them. She had started sitting over at the Hufflepuff table, Toby at her side and Bradley across from her. Occasionally they would see her glance over her shoulder with tired eyes, and then one of the boys would catch her doing this, and then she would smile weakly before turning and engrossing herself back in the conversation with Bradley and Toby. Everyone except Remus saw her doing this.
Like I said, he barely ever looked at her.
With her coat wrapped around her tightly, Genevieve made her way through the deep snow to The Three Broomsticks with Bradley and Toby by her side. They had practically dragged her to go with them, and Toby insisted that he needed to buy her a drink.
It felt invasive to go with them though, and she couldn't shake that thought away no matter how hard she tried. It didn't feel natural going with them. She had gotten too used to going with the boys.
"Everything looks so much more prettier when it's snowing," Bradley said as he gazed at the world around him. Trees were covered in snow, and not so far away from them was an already built snowman. It was missing a carrot nose though, and Bradley made a mental reminder to buy a carrot while in Hogsmeade for it.
"It's so much more colder too," Toby muttered sourly while digging his hands further into his coat pocket. "I can't feel my toes right now. Or my nose. Actually, I can't feel anything which is pretty concerning. I don't even know how my legs are moving right now."
"Complaining isn't good for the soul, Toby," Genevieve stated with a taunting smile. Bradley hummed in agreement and nodded.
An icy cloud of smoke escaped Toby's lips as he let out a scoff and shook his head. "Wow," he disbelieved, "Your hypocrisy is unreal."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing." He glanced at Genevieve and watched as she raised a suspicious eyebrow. He rolled his eyes and let out a caving sigh. "I just think it's a bit bold of you to say what's good for the soul after you've been sulking around all week," he stated.
Genevieve glared at the boy. "No, I haven't."
"Denial isn't good for the soul either, M'lady," said Bradley pointedly.
As if glued to the ground, Toby suddenly stopped walking. His dark eyes narrowed. "What happened between you and Remus?" He asked, but it sounded more like he demanded to know. "We're not stupid, Genevieve, we can tell when something is wrong."
Bradley swallowed thickly and flicked his eyesight apprehensively between the pair of them. Toby was watching her with such sincerity that Bradley couldn't blame her for avoiding eye contact.
Genevieve folded her arms defensively and shrugged. "It doesn't really matter." She started off towards The Three Broomsticks once again.
Toby grabbed the top of her arm and twisted her around so she was facing him again, making sure not to be too harsh with his grip on her. "Yes, it does."
"It's not nice to pry, Toby," Bradley shushed as his eyebrows drew together.
"No," Toby said stubbornly, sparing Bradley only a side eye, "I want to know what happened."
Biting at the side of her cheek painfully, Genevieve avoided her eyesight from Toby's steel gaze. She remained quiet, something that only made them all, including her, more uneasy.
"Did he hurt you?"
"Can you please stop it quizzing her, Toby. She doesn't need an interrogation and quite frankly it's making me nervous," Bradley interrupted quickly, his sentence barely understandable as if came out in such a rapid flurry of an Irish accent.
"What? No. Merlin, No," Genevieve said in bewilderment despite Bradley's growing sensitivity. "I hurt him."
Toby's eyebrows furrowed at the new information he had gained. He loosened his grip on Genevieve's arm until his hand had dropped back to his side. "How?" He asked softly.
"I broke a promise to him."
"What promise?"
Genevieve smiled critically and began walking again. "By telling you that I would be breaking another promise."
They walked in awkward silence for a couple seconds as they followed the trail to The Three Broomsticks. Everything was bright despite the grey clouds blocking the sun, and you could hear the snow crunching beneath their boots.
As Genevieve reached for the handle on The Three Broomsticks door, Bradley finally broke the quiet that had seeped into the atmosphere. "Did you break the promise for him or for you?" He asked, his voice quieter than expected.
"Him," she said in an instant, her voice quieter than his. She didn't need a five second count in order to be able to come up with an answer. Of course, she had done it for him. She wanted to be there for him in every way possible, and if that meant putting herself in danger then she would just have to tough it up. Becoming an Animagus was not an act of selfishness. It wasn't to her own benefit. It was supposed to benefit Remus.
Genevieve pushed open the door and walked into the warmth of The Three Broomsticks. Bradley and Toby followed after her. "Go sot over there," Toby ordered them both and pointed to a table near the window. "I'll go get us drinks— they're on me."
Bradley shook his head no and began fishing into his pocket for a galleon. "You can't do that, it's not fair."
"I'm not complaining," Genevieve grinned cheekily, receiving a playful glare from Toby.
"Genevieve, take Bradley away before he realises the mistake he's making."
Genevieve nodded and tipped an imaginary hat at him. Firmly, she placed both hands on Bradley's shoulders, and even though he was still protesting against Toby's declaration, she turned him around and guided him towards the table Toby had pointed to. "Take advantage of this, Good Sir. If he's feeling particularly nice today, he might buy us another round on him." As Bradley was about to argue with her, she sat him in down at one of the tables wooden chairs and shushed him abruptly.
On the other side of the laughter filled pub, Toby approached the bar with confidence. He had only offered to pay for everyone's Butterbeer after noticing who else was ordering. Sat on one of the bars' stools was Remus Lupin, his eyes holding a large amount of boredom in them.
Toby pulled out the stool next to Remus, catching both his and Madam Rosmertas attention. "What can I get you, poppet? A Butterbeer?" she asked happily.
"Three of them, please," he answered, and Madam Rosmerta nodded before starting to the task. Toby swivelled his gaze to look at Remus and gave him a nod. "Lupin."
Remus straightened out his back. "Whitely," he greeted. His voice sounded strange and tense, like he had forced himself to say those words.
Remus had never understood why the wizarding community called each other by the or last names instead of their first names. It was strange to him, as muggles never did the same. It was more of a masculine thing than a feminine one. For some reason, he felt the need to call Toby by his last name though.
"How are you doing?"
Remus nodded. "I'm alright. You?"
"Good."
"That's good."
Toby nodded and pressed his lips together. Small talk was something that he had always hated no matter who it was with. He would much rather have no conversation at all than small talk, but he had a purpose for talking to Remus and he had to go through with it. He cleared his throat. "Look, I don't know what happened between you and Genevieve—"
"Nothing happened," Remus said instantly, his demeanour becoming almost as cold as the brewing snow storm outside.
The corner of Toby's lip curled upwards. "If you're going to lie to me, you should at least do it well."
Remus's jaw tensed before relaxing again. It was clear that he was uncomfortable with the turn of conversation. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind," said he and turned his attention to his fiddling hands.
"As I was saying, I don't know what happened between you and Genevieve, her lips are sealed shut. She's good at keeping secrets."
"Can't say the same about promises," Remus muttered.
Toby smiled and shook his head disappointedly. "I can't tell what's worse— your anger or your stupidity. She regrets whatever happened. It's so plainly obvious. Why won't you just talk to her? Or acknowledge her at least?"
Madam Rosmerta slid a slightly overflowing Butterbeer over to Remus, interrupting them from their growing hostile conversation. In exchange, Remus placed a galleon on the countertop and took the Butterbeer in his hand, preparing to walk back to his table.
"At one point she'll stop pining over you and then you'll regret giving her the silent treatment."
Remus couldn't decide if Genevieve eventually losing interest in him was a good thing or a bad thing. If she did, she wouldn't be danger of him anymore. She would no longer be so persistent to accompany him on a full moon, and his feelings for her would eventually fade away. He didn't know if he wanted her to fully disappear from his life though. To him, Genevieve wasn't someone very easy to forget, so it's not like she would ever disappear completely from his mind anyway.
Remus forced himself to smile at Toby, but it was clear it was halfhearted. "I'll keep that thought in mind," he repeated. He lifted himself from his chair, the Butterbeer in his hand. "Nice talking to you." It had not, in fact, been a pleasant talk for Remus, but he felt the need to say something as a goodbye.
"Likewise," Toby said just as Madam Rosmerta placed three Butterbeers down in front of him. He travelled back to the table Bradley and Genevieve had reserved for them all and handed out the Butterbeers like a game of pass the parcel, making sure not to mention the conversation he had just been involved in at the bar.
For the rest of the Hogsmeade trip, Bradley went on as gleeful as one could be. Toby made sure to complain about the cold at every opportunity he could, and Genevieve remained blissfully unaware of the pair eyes belonging to Remus Lupin watching her enviously across the room.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*