Circe's eyes flutter open, her sleep disrupted by the golden rays peeking through the curtains. A light breeze enters the small room through the crack in the window but it is a welcome feeling. An arm is tightly wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer when she attempts to stretch. She can feel a warm body pressed right up against her back and a face resting in the crook of her neck. His breath tickles her slightly but it is a pleasant experience. The brunette shuffles herself around so that she is facing the man, who is holding her so close, and chuckles at his expression as he groans at her movement.
Remus smiles at her tiredly, his hand reaching up to graze her cheek ever so gently- at though she would break from his touch. His eyes hold so much adoration as he looks at her. "G'morning." He murmurs, still groggy.
Its like a scene from some soppy love film and she finds herself not hating it.
"We have to get up soon." Circe tells him, her voice is quiet but regretful- as though she couldn't bare the thought of leaving their little safe haven.
He sighs, moving so that his chin is resting on her chest. His eyes look up at her innocently, silently pleading for her not to make them get up. "Do we have to?" He pouts at her.
The brunette runs one of her hands through his hair and he leans into her gentle caress. Her legs wrap around his body, which is on top of her now, causing him to snuggle into her even more than he already was. "We do, I'm afraid." She tells him sadly before cracking into a smile. "You know how mad groomzilla will be if we're late again."
"James will understand." Remus tells her seriously, as he begins kissing her breasts. His puppy dog eyes are long gone, now holding a more insinuating gaze. The kisses begin to move lower down as he starts kissing down her stomach.
She laughs, weakly trying to pry him off her. "Not on his wedding day he won't. He's been waiting for this day since he was eleven years old."
Remus groans, knowing she is right. The boy would have their heads if they are even a second late. His arms wrap around her torso, holding her like it would be the last time. "So just a quickie then?" The man bargains.
Circe laughs at his pleading face, unable to resist she nods cheekily at him. A squeal escapes her throat as he leaps up from his position. His large hands wrap around her thin wrists, pinning her to the bed, as he hovers over her. An animalistic growl escapes his throat as he hungrily takes her naked form in.
The brunette snaps awake from what was supposed to be quick nap before breakfast. Her face grows hot as the vision she had join seen flashes through her mind. It felt like she had just intruded on a private moment, she had been in her older self's body- purely spectating the scene. She had no control over the words that came out of her mouth, nor the actions of the body. Butterflies fill her stomach as she remembers Remus' loving gaze, it was like he worshipped her.
She looks over to the alarm clock by her bed, relieved that she still has a little time before breakfast starts. The brunette hastily gets ready so she can check up on Remus, her Remus, who is in the infirmary.
"Hey pretty boy." She coos, sitting on the chair next to his cot.
The boy in question looks over to her, a small smile on his face. His eyes are vacant of the adoration future Remus' held in her vision, but they still hold a lot of warmth. She remembers the toneless expression he had given her just a few hours ago and is relieved to see that it has gone. "Hello Circe."
"How are you feeling?" The brunette asks curiously, scanning his body her gaze landing on the leg which had gotten fairly torn up before her arrival last night.
He shrugs, shuffling himself up the bed so he is sat upright. "Not as bad as I usually do, I suppose I have you to thank for that."
Circe smiles at him gently. "It was nothing, really." She tells him honestly. It was nothing compared to what they will do for each other in the future.
"No it was." He insists. His face twists into a more curious expression, some nervousness swirling around his eyes. "What did you mean before? I mean- How could you have become an animagus for me?"
The brunette falters, her whole body freezing under his intense gaze. Is he ready to know? How will he handle it? She stares at him for a few moments, opening and closing her mouth as she attempts to tell him that she is a seer. He deserves to know the truth, truly, but something is preventing her from saying it. Had she ever actually said it out loud before? Once she tells him, it would only spiral from there, there would be follow up questions. And once one person knows her secret, it wouldn't be long before others would too. The truth isn't something that can stay hidden forever and she already knows that the knowledge of her being a seer would spread throughout the wizarding world. But is she ready to start that chain of events off now?
She only finds herself able to breathe again when the rest of the boys join them behind the separation curtain, bringing their short lived conversation to an end.
"How are you doing Moony?" James asks loudly, unaware of the tension between the two.
Remus' expression tells her that this conversation isn't over, before moving his eyeline over to the end of the bed, where James, Sirius and Peter are hovering. "Not too bad actually. I think I can actually make it to my first lesson."
Circe slaps her hand over her mouth, in an attempt to hide her laughter. "I'm sorry, Moony?"
The four boys' eyes widen in realisation, they had been avoiding using their nicknames in front of her. However, after last night they no longer felt the need to but they had forgotten to actually tell her about them. "That's right." Sirius hums, deep in thought. "Our little kitty still needs a nickname."
"And Remus' is Moony?" She snorts as they all nod at her, some of them looking more pleased about it than others.
"I think an introduction is in order." James stays, pressing his hand on his chest proudly. "I'm Prongs."
Sirius bows extravagantly. "Padfoot, at your service." He grins at her as he grabs one of her hands and presses a sloppy kiss on it. "M'lady." He purrs.
She wipes her hand on her jumper harshly, a disgusted look on her face.
"Uh- I'm Wormtail." Peter doesn't seem particularly pleased with the situation, as it seems like its an official initiation into their secret little club. Its supposed to be him, Moony, Padfoot and Prongs only, and they're welcoming some random girl into it. Sure, they have had girls sit with them before- all of the clinging onto Sirius' arm- but this would be permanent. Not one of Sirius' little flings.
"What about Kitten?" Sirius asks, smirking as she looks at him with utter contempt.
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" She scoffs, leaning forward to smack him in the arm, causing him to yelp. James looked to be deep in though, putting his fist underneath his chin. Circe looks at him, not believing that pose to be sincere in the slightest- especially when he began to hum. "Is he for real?" She whispers over to Remus.
"Unfortunately, yes." He mutters.
James' face lights up, his 'thoughtful' pose switches in to another, just as comedic one. He holds a finger in the air, and Circe is convinced he is about to say 'Eureka' to signify his lightbulb moment. "How about Shadow?"
She hums, impressed that he had been taking it seriously despite his amusing expressions. "Sounds good to me."
"So, Shadow." Sirius says pointedly. "Are you coming to the party in the Gryffindor common room tomorrow night?"
"What party?"
James gasps. "You mean Moony here, hasn't invited you?" She shakes her head. "Well, we have one at the start of the school year and seeing as we came back on a Monday we pushed it to the end of the week."
"Are you going?" Circe asks Remus, slightly hurt that he hadn't thought to invite her.
The werewolf nods, avoiding her gaze. "You're more than welcome to come."
The brunette hums, mimicking James' thoughtful expression. "I don't know, its pretty dangerous for a lady like myself to wander around a dark castle alone. Anything could happen." She bats her eyes at Remus innocently. None of them are falling for her weak façade, they had seen her send a death glare to a professor, kick a table, smash a shelf full of expensive artefacts and confidently approach a werewolf in less than a week. They haven't seen her duelling skills yet, but they are willing to bet a large amount of money that no one gets the better of Circe Darkwood.
"Too right." James says, catching on to what she is trying to do. His fist slams down onto the palm of his other hand. What an idiot. "Here's an idea, why don't we send a very intimidating Gryffindor to escort you?"
Remus' off guard face looked so pure, as he looks between his two plotting friends. "Intimidating?"
"Moony, you're six-three, covered in scars and a marauder. Yes you're intimidating." James sighs.
Peter pipes up. "There's rumours that you're part of a gang."
"A gang?" He repeats incredulously. "What part of me implies that I'd be a part of gang?"
Sirius steps forward, kneeling in front of Circe. He grabs her hands and holds them between his own. "You don't want that big jumper wearing dork, who irons his socks and religiously eats chocolate." He insists, trying to conceal the cheeky smirk appearing on his face. Instead he tries to convey a sincere expression, which is poorly executed. "Why don't you allow me to escort you? You'll be the belle of the ball."
"Oh please." Circe snorts, tearing her hands of his grasp. "I'm more likely to be attacked if I'm with you. Your fan girls are not to be taken lightly."
The laughs, admitting to himself that she is somewhat right. "Too true, I'm afraid. Its exhausting being me sometimes." He removes himself from the ground and flops onto the end of Remus' bed.
"Whatever shall I do?" Circe reaches her hand up to her temple, feigning worry. "I suppose I could ask that seventh year who keeps flirting with me, he'd probably be up for it. He's not half-bad looking either- what's his name again?"
"I'll be waiting outside the Hufflepuff dorms at 8." Remus snaps, causing the three idiots to cheer in success. He can't figure out why he's so annoyed. Perhaps its because their is a seventh year who genuinely does seem interested in her- he had seen the boy purposely seating his friend group next to Circe and her roommates. Or because Circe is a popular topic amongst the boys in their year, he had heard them all debating whether to ask her out or not. The reason why none of them have yet is because of how intimidating she is, which is one of the reasons they are attracted to her but also makes her come across as unapproachable.
He knows her feelings towards him aren't genuine, so why is he so eager to accompany her to the party? Deep down he knows that he is being selfish by denying her a genuine date to the party. Is it so wrong for him to delude himself for a little longer? For him to believe that he genuinely has a chance with the beauty, who is only momentarily sparing him the time of day?
Maybe so, but Remus can't help but feel the need to be a little selfish for once. Just this once.
a/n don't forget to v+c :)