It was as though the moment had frozen in time, stretching on and on as Remus held Diana in his arms, her head resting against his chest. It seemed like they had both forgotten they were still in the middle of the Great Hall, as if the two of them were the only people left in the world.
But the moment was bound to come to an when they heard someone clearing their throat. Remus and Diana pulled away briskly and turned around, seeing that Professor McGonagall was standing behind them sternly.
"Enjoying yourselves?" she said, giving them a look. Remus and Diana blushed as they threw their gaze away from each other, trying to suppress their goofy grins. "I hope you know this kind of behavior is not acceptable. Now move along, you two, or I'd have to ask Mr. Filch to give you detention for public moral offense."
"Sorry, Professor," Remus and Diana murmured together.
"Off you go." Professor McGonagall sighed as she watched them leave, shaking her head at them lightly.
Sending a quick wave at each other, Diana left the Great Hall with Regulus and Layla who were both grinning at her teasingly, and Remus made a move toward the Gryffindor table.
He would've much rather follow Diana away, or even escape the castle altogether if he could. He even wished that the earth could split open and swallow him in from embarrassment. This was the boldest thing he had ever dared to do in his life, and that is saying something considering the fact that he'd been part of the Marauders for the past six years.
Taking in a deep breath as though preparing himself for battle, Remus turned around and walked back toward the Gryffindor table, where James, Sirius, and Peter were sitting and awaiting him, all of them staring at him with wide eyes.
Remus sat down beside James, letting out the breath he'd been holding. "Go ahead," he told them wearily. "Let it all out."
But none of the three boys said anything. They only shared sneaky glances, remaining silent.
"Oh, come on." Remus rolled his eyes. "I know you're dying to ask questions and bombard me with your judging remarks. Let it all out and be done with it. But just so you know, I don't care what you think. You can tell me how stupid I am for liking a Slytherin. You can be mad at me for dating a Pureblood like her. But I don't care. I like Diana, and that's all that matters."
"Are you done?" James asked casually, his tone as calm as ever.
"Yes," Remus said firmly, crossing his arms.
"Good." James smiled, but then he smacked Remus harshly at the back of his head.
"OUCH!" Remus winced in pain, turning to face James with a glare. "What the hell was that for!?"
"For not telling us!" James retorted angrily. "How long has this been going for? Months? Years? Decades?"
"Don't be dramatic, Prongs," Remus said sharply. "It's only been a few months."
"What were you thinking, Moony?" said Sirius. "That we would abandon you or something? Is that what you thought again? Because we've been through this at least a hundred times with you."
"It wasn't just about me, okay?" Remus snapped. "I didn't want you three to treat Diana badly just because she's a Slytherin and a Pureblood."
"Moony, for a smart person, you can be really dense sometimes." James shook his head at him. "We had no problem with your furry problem. Didn't it occur to you that we would accept her, too? Why should it matter what family she comes from? I mean, look at Padfoot here. The Greengrass family can't be anywhere near as awful as the Blacks — no offense, Padfoot."
"None taken." Sirius shook a hand at him, smirking. "Prongs is right, Moony. I should know better than anyone. Besides... Diana isn't all too bad. It took me a while to realize it, but she can be a good person, I suppose."
Remus felt calmer at last, feeling as though a heavy burden had been taken off his back. He managed a little smile. "Thank you."
"We actually saw the two of you on the Map once," said Peter, sniggering. "But it didn't even occur to us that you two would be together. We thought you were just meeting up for your Ancient Runes' assignment."
"You know, long before that, there came a point last year that we figured you liked someone, but we gave up after a while," Sirius said playfully. "We didn't think it was possible."
"Yeah." James nodded along, grinning. "I'm actually very happy for you, Moony. I always thought you were going to die a virgin."
Remus gave him a look while Peter and Sirius burst out with laughter. "Haha. Very funny, Prongs."
And so, the teasings and jokes went on and on all through the night, and Remus was sure that his friends were never going to let it go.
***
It was the next morning when Remus saw Diana again. He was walking to the Charms class with his friends that he spotted Diana a few feet ahead of them, with Layla by her side.
"Oh, look who it is!" James suddenly said gleefully, who had caught Remus looking over at her. "It's Moony's little girlfriend!"
"Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go say hi!" Sirius said more enthusiastically than usual, which worried Remus.
With matching grins, James and Sirius marched forward, Peter going after them as well.
"No! Wait!" Remus hissed at them quietly and tried to stop them, but they were already gone. He sighed, already regretting waking up this morning.
"Why hello, Miss Greengrass," James said charmingly as soon as he reached Diana, catching her off guard when he threw an arm around her shoulders.
Diana turned to give him a look. "That's a good way to lose an arm."
"Oooh, feisty. I like that." James chuckled, pulling away from her.
Remus ran forward before his friends could bother Diana any further. "Leave her be, Prongs."
"What? I just want to welcome her into our little family." James shrugged, running a hand through his jet-black hair and ruffling it up casually.
"Yeah. It's not every day that Remus actually starts liking something other than chocolate and books," said Sirius with a smirk, before turning and sending a little wink at Layla's direction.
"So, Diana. Can I ask you a question?" James cleared his throat, his expression suddenly turning serious. Remus started to feel afraid, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.
"Go ahead," Diana said hesitantly.
"I was just wondering," James went on with a sly grin, "Is Remus a good kisser?"
"What?" Diana grimaced at the question.
"Okay, that's enough!" Remus snapped as he blushed, pushing James away. "I'm really sorry about them, Diana."
"Oh, wow. He's apologizing for us." Sirius shook his head dramatically, acting hurt. "That's what we get for trying to be nice."
"Yeah. Let's go, guys. We're not wanted here," James said with a mocking hurt expression. Although before they left, he turned to face Diana one last time, smirking again. "You'll be seeing a lot more of us. Try getting used to that."
"See you later," said Peter with a sneer as he waved Diana goodbye and followed James and Sirius away.
"I swear those two look even better up-close," Layla said as she watched them leave.
Remus sighed, turning to face Diana. "I'm really sorry. Now you see why I didn't want them anywhere near you. They have the ability to drive everybody mental."
To his surprise, Diana only chuckled. "It's okay. I'm sure I'll learn to like them eventually. They seem fun to be around."
Remus smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah." She shrugged. "I mean, you managed to put up with them and tolerate them all these years. How hard can it be?"
"Very hard."