CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
the intermediary
TIME TICKED BY much quicker as the days on Remus's calendar neared the date of the 6th year's dueling lesson. There was a buzz in the Great Hall as the curious students wondered how much they would learn and what would be in store for the 7th years. So far, basic spells had been taught, though a few more dangerous ones were demonstrated to the 5th years.
James chewed slowly on a piece of sausage as he listened to the conversation with the Gryffindors. His eyes flicked over to the curly brown hair at the Hufflepuff table ever so often, drawing his ears with him.
"What did you just say?" James asked once more as he looked at Remus with raised eyebrows.
"Christ, Prongs, pay attention or don't and stop interrupting," Peter jabbed with a laugh as he tore his toast. James merely stuck his tongue out at him, but then turned his gaze towards Remus again with lazy expectation in the way that his eyes hung.
Remus rolled his own eyes, but launched back into his conversation. "So, I was saying that . . ."
But, once more, his voice faded into the background as Sirius leaned into James. "How's number 17 going?"
"What?" James asked with furrowed eyebrows as he looked over at Sirius. Confusion streaked his features as he tried to listen to Remus as well.
"New Year's Eve resolution number 17." Sirius raised an eyebrow as he looked at James.
James was still at a loss as he looked at Sirius, making him roll his eyes. "Sod off, I'm trying to listen and Moony keeps getting annoyed with me."
"He'll talked about the same thing in the library, don't worry. It's all he can talk about right now," Sirius grumbled. His eyes discreetly slid over to the Hufflepuff table. "Don't remember number 17 in the resolution list to get Evans to fall in love with you?" James shook his head, his loose curls hair shifting with him. Sirius grinned devilishly as he mustered the most authoritative voice he could. "'Be nicer to people, even if it's Snivellus or Betty Lupin'."
James shot Sirius a look and shook his head wondrously. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, the soon-to-be Mrs. Diggory will be proud—"
"It's Mrs. Evans-Diggory. She said she wants to hyphenate," James corrected casually.
Sirius furrowed his eyebrows at him, but continued: "whatever, she'll be proud to know that you and Betty Lupin have become closer."
James groaned, but didn't speak, instead picked up his fork and poked at the sausage. "It's . . . it's complicated."
"Complicated," Sirius parroted.
"It's complicated," James repeated resolutely. "We might have been . . . unlikely acquaintances before, but after the thing with . . ." James trailed off. Contrary to what Betty may have believed, the great and courageous lion hadn't the courage to tell anyone what they'd seen.
"Yeah but then Dumbledore showed up and everything was fine." Sirius shrugged, but his eyes were still concerned.
"You don't understand," James whispered as he looked down and shook his head. Sirius narrowed his eyes, it was reminiscent of Betty, herself. "Hey . . . you didn't happen to find that Simon and Garfunkel record that I asked for, did you?"
"Oh, yeah. Andy sent it to me. Should be in our room."
"Thanks." James pushed himself up from the table and walked carelessly towards the entrance, leaving his plate.
Sirius's eyes trailed after him, as confused as ever. "Okay what the fuck."
"What's going on?" Peter asked with raised eyebrows.
"James is going to get the Simon and Garfunkel record that he asked me for."
Peter snorted and his eyes shot to James's retreating figure. "Is that a joke?"
"I honestly thought it was."
"Hey!" Remus hissed. "I like Simon and Garfunkel!"
"Yeah, you do. James is a Rolling Stones and Elton John guy. He thinks that the Beatles are mellow."
"Well, they do have mellow songs."
"We were listening to 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da'."
Remus was out of arguments as they all turned to face his shadow that was elongating with every step he took away from them.
"Maybe it's a thing for Lily?" Peter asked as he looked between Remus and Sirius.
Remus shook his head. "She likes ABBA."
"Who doesn't like ABBA," Sirius snorted. "They're fucking great."
"She might like some of their songs," Peter suggested. "I mean, I like some of them."
They all shrugged it off as another failed attempt to get her, but Sirius's attention was grabbed at someone standing up from the Hufflepuff and moving down the table. He raised an eyebrow as he saw a boy nervously stand next to a sitting Betty Lupin.
"Well shit," he muttered as he stared.
"What?" Remus asked as he chewed on some baked beans. Sirius nodded forward, making Remus and Peter turn around to see Betty looking up and happily conversing with a madly blushing boy.
"Isn't he the lad who lent us uniforms after her party? What was his name?" Peter asked as he shook his head.
"Freddie Abbott," Remus replied dreamily. "Had it ironed into everything."
Sirius snorted as he looked at the boy in question. Betty seemed to take no notice to his desperate attempts to flirt with her. "God, I told her so."
"You knew about that?" Remus asked as he referred to the two of them. Sirius shrugged. "And?"
"He seems nice enough," Sirius mused as he sat propped his elbows on the table. "He's safe. Don't see him at parties too often. He's a prefect, I think. Good marks. Not out of bed after hours."
"Good, she needs safe." Remus nodded to himself. "No one wild—"
Peter then turned to Sirius with furrowed eyebrows. "How do you know all of that?"
"Just observe, I guess," Sirius replied with a shrug. "You'd be surprised to know how much you can learn about someone in five minutes. And besides, he fits the type just by looking at him."
"She needs someone who's safe," Remus repeated to himself. "No one going on adventures or off to fight someone or pulling the pranks or something." Remus's nature was solemn as he stared at her.
"Ugh that's so unfortunate because I was just about to ask her to snog!" Sirius exclaimed, a grin cracking sunny side up on his face.
"Your dreams are shattered," Remus said monotonously, making Peter splutter with laughter. Remus failed to hide his approaching smile as Sirius and Peter's faces streaked red and their lungs heaved.
Betty looked away from Freddie Abbott at boisterous laughter coming from the Gryffindor table. She smiled as she watched the three of them shake and holler.
"Sorry, you were saying?" Her eyes flitted back to Freddie.
"Oh . . . uh . . . I was saying that usually the back table that I normally get with my friends at the Three Broomsticks is quiet during Hogsmeade visits." His eyes begged her to catch the undertones. "It's honestly an ideal place for a date, if you ask me." His entire body was frozen as he stared at her while she smiled innocently.
"I'd imagine it would be." Her voice was soft as she spoke.
The silence hung between them, intentions lost in translation. But, a tap on her shoulder brought them out of orbit and made her stand up suddenly.
"What I meant is—"
"We need to head to class, Freddie." Her voice was anxious as she packed up her bags, cursing to herself for losing track of time. Once she'd finished, she turned to face him with an apologetic smile. "Finish this later?"
"S-sure. Yeah, why not." She smiled innocently and swept past him, allowing him to smell her perfume. She left him muttering to himself and pinching the bridge of his nose.
She allowed the shuffling students to take hold of her and move her gradually up the stairs. She heard bits of gossip and friends crying to each other and she fought her way to her class. Careful not to step on toes, she turned around people and tried to help first years time the stairs. She only really exhaled when she made it to the sixth floor. As the stairs kept climbing up, the number of people petered out and she was left was only a few people—mostly classmates—joining her on the penultimate floor. She brought out the textbook reading for homework and review the tabs that she'd made when someone brushed her shoulder. They smelled familiar, making her look over her shoulder to see loose curls and hand tucked into a Gryffindor robe.
"James," she called out, making him stop and turn around to look at her expectantly.
He felt the universe slow as he saw the way the backlight lit up her hair, casting an almost halo around her head and the way her smile was tiny, but held the weight of a thousand suns.
"Hey," he called back in a rough voice, taking a few steps forward. "Everything alright?"
Her cheeks dusted pink. "Oh. Yes. Yes, everything's fine. Just wanted to make sure that you were okay after the other night."
"Right," he hung his head, but picked it back up again. "I've been better, you know. And it's kind of sadistic, but . . . I'm kind of glad I'm not alone in it, you know?"
She shook her head, making her hair tousle. "It's not sadistic at all. I understand." Her eyes turned downcast slightly, a single cloud daring to inch in, as she smiled remorsefully.
"Even though we hate each other."
She chuckled mirthlessly once. "Even though we hate each other."
They held each other's gaze as the middle morning light stretched its warmth onto them, finally daring to touch the pair after the eternal starless midnight.
"You should go." James nodded towards the classroom door that wouldn't be open for much longer.
She blinked once and immediately gathered her bearings. "You're late." He shrugged. She turned and walked towards the door, but stopped and turned back to face him once more—his position unchanged. "Bye."
James half moon smiled. "Bye." When she hesitated once more, he saluted, making her resume her walk in. He turned away when he heard her greet the Ancient Studies professor, the door closing behind her.
If there was one thing about Betty Lupin, it was that she loved Ancient Studies class. The coursework was interesting enough, but the professor and the students that she took it with made the class sensational. So, even on the eve of a new extra curricular that she detested and on the coat-tails of what was kindly referred to as the "incident" by professors and students alike, time was in Betty Lupin's favour.
She found herself lost among the pages of the textbook as the double block drew on—letting her wash in the ink and dry in the exhalation of discussion. She felt full as she bid her classmates farewell and headed out the door for her free period. She hummed "Kathy's Song" to herself as she ran down the then vacant stairs. Her hair flew behind her as the late winter wind nipped at her. And for the first time, she could think. And she felt guilty. Lily's week of birthday celebrations had been cut short by the incident and while Betty knew that it was not her fault, she felt the existential sort of guilt. That Lily Evans deserved a wonderful week for herself. That even if the world was tearing at the seems all around them, Betty would grab the needle and thin thread that she had and keep it together enough for Lily to blow out her candles. But the minute Lily made her wish and blew out the last candle, they were all plunged into darkness.
So, as February rolled on, people started to grasp to the red hearts and melting chocolate of the fast approaching St Valentine's Day and for those who were not so fortune, the exhalation of Easter holiday. Betty rolled with it down to the library, where she found her usual table and set to work on her multitude of essays.
Sirius Black chuckled to himself when he saw the books all splayed out and her hair slightly frizzy when he walked into the library. He made a beeline for her table, making her groan as she heard him before she would even have to look up.
"Don't sit here unless you really want to study." Her voice was slightly muffled by a book, but her tone got the message across just as well.
"Who's got your knickers in a twist?" Sirius dropped his bag onto the seat next to him and sat down in the seat opposite her.
"Professor Binns," she growled. "If he wasn't already dead . . ."
"My my my. Prefect Betty Lupin making death threats towards a teacher. What has this world come to?" Sirius sighed as he laid his chin in his hand and looked at her with a bemused smile.
"Madness, havoc, bedlam and general hurly-burly." Her voice was low as her quill scratched against the parchment fervently.
"Those are four very nice words, Ms. Lupin."
"I forgot that you were privately educated."
Sirius gasped and feigned offense. "Excuse me! I am a gentleman!"
Betty looked up with a grin. "Could've fooled me." Sirius scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest, making her grin become cheeky. "What's the news on Peter and Aisling."
"He's going mad over Valentine's Day."
"I can imagine." Betty let out a mirthless laugh.
"Valentine's is fun," Sirius cooed. "I give Rem some books and gourmet chocolate and he gives me the best sex—"
"Sirius!" Betty hissed. "Still his sister!"
"I'm sure Forrester wasn't that bad. Not even a knob like him could fuck it up."
"He was fine." Betty's voice was a mumble. "He's not a romantic, I'll put it that way."
"Oh? I really would've pegged him for a red roses and giant teddy bear kind of guy."
"He got me a bouquet of roses, but that was it. And it was very sweet, but the card was kind of lackluster and then he went to quidditch practice. Honestly, my girlfriends did a better job."
"And what did they do?"
"I made cake—"
"Naturally."
Betty looked up and tried to suppress a smile. "Pippa wrote sonnets for each of us. Aisling made each of us clothing. I got this gorgeous red dress that I like to wear on dates. And Cece offered to channel our dead ancestors, which we all passed on, but it was the thought that counted. And besides, we ended up asking her what our soulmates were supposed to be like."
"And?"
"Aisling's was shockingly like Peter." Betty's voice was small and mischievous as her eyes smiled with her.
"What about Cece's?"
"Doesn't like doing all of that for herself. She doesn't think she can have an objective point of view with it all."
"And Philippa?"
"Someone stable and put together. Someone who will take care of her and make sure everything's in order for her."
"Could be a lot of people."
"Yeah, we've had trouble navigating that one."
". . . and you?"
Betty let out a lackluster chuckle. "Someone who brings me out of my shell. Someone who's there for me even when I don't want to be there for myself. Someone who takes me from being alive to living." Sirius's lips parted slightly as he studied her curiously. His cheeks welled.
"Probably sounds about right." His voice was soft as he tilted his head.
"And there was an emphasis on an equal power balance in the relationship."
Sirius let out a loud laugh, drawing a few people's eyes. "Well then that should've been the tell for Forrester."
Betty pouted, but made no move to contradict him. "We've got work to do."
Sirius chuckled, but did as he was told. Before they knew it, the library started buzzing as students packed up their bags and moved in chattering groups up to the Great Hall for lunch. Cold meats, sandwiches and pasties were on display, grabbed by hungry fingers and shoved onto plates.
Betty followed Sirius to where her brother was sitting, chewing on an apple and reading a novel. Sirius leaned over him and placed a kiss on his cheek, making Remus groan, but smile as Betty sat opposite them, facing the rest of their peers. Eventually Peter and James joined them, sending questioning glances towards Betty, which she would answer with a simple: "lunch is better at your table."
The reasoning was accepted without contradiction as they placed the food on their plates and dug in as conversation quieted down in favour of quickly eating their food before classes. Betty licked her fingers as she finished the crust of her steak and potato pasty and merrily listened the lively conversation at hand. Peter and James were in a heated debate about professional quidditch teams, with Remus adding in a snide remark about how immature the whole culture was and Sirius adding in how much better the French teams were ever so often.
"The Bats are obviously better, Prongs! They've won the title almost twenty times now!"
James stood up and leered over Peter sitting opposite to him. "You're just saying that because you're Irish!"
"And I have half a brain! And I like to support winners!"
"Hey," Betty interrupted, drawing their attention. "What's with those silly nickna—"
But, she was interrupted by a figure approaching her. She looked up to see Freddie Abbott's boyishly handsome face smiling down at her.
"Hey Betty," he greeted with an awkward tilt of his head.
"Oh, hello Freddie! Do you need something?" She scooted down the bench, allowing room for him to sit. "Here, sit down."
"Oh, thank you." He eyed the seat, swung a leg over and sat down, facing her twisted body. "So, I'll just get to the point otherwise I'll psyche myself out again!" She smiled encouragingly as she looked at him. The boys had halted in their conversation, instead shamelessly listening in on Betty and Freddie's. Remus and Sirius looked between them with smiles on their faces, Peter eyed Freddie suspiciously and James's eyes flicked between them endlessly—gauging both of their reactions. Someone in him bubbled and boiled—Double, double toil and trouble. He listened intently to every word that Freddie spoke. "When I said that the spot where the lads and I normally sit is good for a date, I meant with you. Like I'd love to go with you during the next trip, if that's alright."
Betty paused for a moment. "You want to go on a date with me?"
"Yeah . . ." Freddie's cheeks heated up as he looked at her shyly. "But it's fine if you don't want to, obviously and . . ."
"That would be great, Freddie," Betty answered swiftly with a quick smile.
His head shot up, his eyes starry as he looked at her. "Really? That's great. That's fantastic. I'll meet you in the front and we can go?"
"Perfect." She smiled at him as she looked at him expectantly. He hesitated and then leaned forward and pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek. James swallowed a lump in his throat as he looked at the pair. Her cheeks dusted pink after the fact, making him smile as he hoisted himself up and swagger back to the Hufflepuff table to his awaiting friends. Betty stayed staring down, her cheeks a dark pink for a beat while the boys looked at her.
"So you're going on a date with Freddie Abbott," Sirius said finally.
"Well, obviously," Remus hissed.
Sirius held up his hands in surrender. "Don't like silence."
James was frozen in his seat as he looked at Betty. He hated that she was infiltrating their friend group again, he hated that she could go on dates when he couldn't even get one from Lily, but, most of all, he hated the fact that she blushed that much because Freddie Abbott kissed her on the cheek. His body short-circuited as he looked at her, the little sparks flying off of him and his brain powering down.
"Don't think it's a great idea," James hummed bitterly as he grabbed some salami.
Betty furrowed her eyebrows and slowly turned towards him. "And why's that?"
"It's not as if you have the best taste in guys."
"Christ, Prongs—" Sirius jeered as he harshly elbowed James's side.
"Well at least I can get a date, Potter." She raised an eyebrow cruelly. "How many times has Lily rejected you today again?"
"For your information, I haven't asked Lily out in three weeks. Some of us can learn to change."
"Would you like a gold star and a pat on the head? Congratulations on no longer acting like a perv."
"Fuck you. I wasn't a perv—"
"If you'll excuse me, perv, I have a date to prepare for." Betty got up from the table and saw that she had twenty more minutes before lunch ended. She slung her bag over her shoulder and turned on her heel. But, James didn't let up that easily. He pushed himself from his seat and stormed after her.
"So like you, Lupin, to run when the going gets tough, hm?" James crossed his arms over his chest as they left the Great Hall and stranded themselves in the corridor.
"Well at least I know when to give up unlike you, Romeo!" Betty stopped and turned around to face him, her arms crossed as well and both of her eyebrows raised. "Such a Casanova when you're begging an engaged woman to break up with the love of her life. Really swoon worthy."
"You want to go there? When you got back together with Forrester after what he did to you?" James scoffed as he took a step closer to her. "Talk about not knowing when to give up."
"Yes because that totally compares to Lily cursing you out in the corridors. At least Kellan loved me back."
James chuckled darkly as he took another step forward. She could almost feel his chest ghosting hers and she could feel the tail ends of his hot breath. "Yeah because he was quite the romantic."
"Compared to you? I'd say he was a Darcy."
"Didn't Darcy hate her in a beginning?" James tilted his head as his eyes bored into hers. "So that would make him . . . Mr. Wickham." His voice was slow as he leaned in slightly. "But I'd have to be interested in you in order for that to be true."
"And you're not."
James's eyes flicked down to her lips momentarily. Too quick for her to fully catch it, leaving her wondering. "And I'm not." He tilted his head, leaning in a bit closer. And it was only then that she realized their proximity. How she tingled at almost feeling his body—small touches with the wind or shifting. How much darker his eyes were compared to hers and how they were enchantingly and sickeningly boring into hers. How she didn't want to look away. She noticed how soft his lips looked—not so pink that they stood out, but enough that they added more color to his face. How they quirked up in a taunting half smile. Her eyes snapped back up to his, gazing into them, making him leaning in a fraction of a millimeter more before gulping and pulling away entirely. "Don't you have a date to plan?"
Betty couldn't think—her mind only buzzed as her previously pink cheeks were now crimson in the dim lighting. She didn't respond, only turned on her heel and trudged towards nowhere. Somewhere. Anywhere that wasn't in front of James making her mind mush. James cleared his throat, scrunched his nose and shook his head as he looked at the floor, cursing to himself. With all of the Gryffindor courage and he couldn't slice through the tension between them that was begging to send them colliding.
He kept repeating "shit" as he walked into the Great Hall to an annoyed Remus Lupin. He braced himself as he sat down and face him.
"Prongs, I won't let you dissuade her from this date," Remus said authoritatively.
James's eyebrows shot up. "Shouldn't you not want her dating anyone?"
"She needs someone who can take care of her. Someone stable with good marks and a good record like him. He fits her. Fuck, they'll probably be Head Boy and Girl next year!" James froze at Remus's words as his mind started to slowly spin. She didn't need an accidental Head Boy. She needed someone who'd actually earned it.
Someone who wasn't like him.