chapter five
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"Remus. Remus. Reeemuus," Rosie whined, her head propped on the tall boy's comfortable lap.
Remus craned his head and looked at her with a sarcastic smile on his face. "Yes, dear?"
"I'm bored," she frowned while playing with the ends of his cardigan.
"Do your homework," he said simply before turning away from her yet again.
Rosie's frown deepened. Normally, she would be doing homework, but she already finished all her assignments and truly had nothing to do for the evening. Since Remus was clearly busy, she resorted to examining him.
Rosie had noticed something off about Remus since her third year. She knew that he got sick easily, but it happened so frequently and he got so moody that it didn't seem normal to her at all. She even asked her mother for advice and it was to no avail. Rosie knew that it could truly just be sickness or something wrong at home, but if she wanted to be a good friend she couldn't just let it slide any longer. If there was one thing she knew, it was that Remus has had way too many hospital wing visits than she would prefer.
"Remus, what's wrong? And no excuses," she demanded, gently turning his head downward with her fingers so that he was facing her.
Remus gulped and looked away anxiously. "Nothing, just anxious about something that's going on tonight with the boys," he rushed out, his eyes widening ever so slightly.
"Wait, if you're doing something, and I'm doing something, who's going to do our rounds?" she asked in response, her brow quirking in curiosity.
"I think the Ravenclaw Prefects offered to cover us," he said, furrowing his brows as he nervously picked at the ends of his worn sweater.
"Wait, what are you doing with the boys that you managed to convince McGonagall to excuse you?"
"U-Uhm, James and Sirius they have, um, something planned."
Her brow raised in suspicion. "Remus, please don't lie to me. You can tell me anything, I hope you know that," she spoke softly. She sat up and gently took his larger hands into hers. "Whatever it is, you don't have to go through it alone. If you don't want to tell me then you don't have to but please...know that I'll always be there for you."
Remus turned his head away, hiding his glassy eyes from her. He desperately wanted to tell her but he couldn't. He couldn't tell her what he truly was.
Sensing his sadness and the mood's drastic change, she tightened her grip on his hand and kissed the top of his head gently.
"Ok, well, I'll be off then. Professor Sprout's having me work with venomous tentacula," she said with a cringe, already knowing that she wouldn't be too fond of the spiky plant.
"Y-yeah, you go ahead. Don't get poisoned," he smiled jokingly, sorrow still evident on his face.
Rosie rolled her eyes and playfully stuck her tongue out at him. She walked over to the portrait and walked out, only to bump into someone and land flat on her bum.
"Fancy seeing you, Rosie," Sirius smirked from above her, holding out his hand teasingly. She reluctantly took his hand and gave him a curt "thank you." His stare lingered on her awkwardly for a while until she quickly thought of something to diffuse the tension.
"Y'know, Remus says you guys are doing something tonight. If you're planning something, I hope it's our first date." Rosie winked before walking away, her own body shocked at what she just said. She quickly placed her cold hands on her hot face to bring down the forming red tint.
"Idiot!" she whispered to herself, regret seeping into every fiber of her body.
"W-what?! Did you just ask me out?!" Sirius yelled after her retreating body, a dumbfounded expression on his face. His heart was beating rapidly at her statement and he found himself glued to the spot in shock, slack-jawed.
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"Good job, Miss Winters, and sorry for the tears on your coat," Professor Sprout apologized, eyeing the young Gryffindor's damaged coat, all thanks to the hissing tentacula. "I suppose that you're pretty worn out. This plant was particularly feistier than the others. Why don't you go up to your common room, it's already after hours," the Professor smiled before heading back to her office.
Rosie wished the Herbology professor goodbye before setting down her pair of gloves and exiting the greenhouse. Immediately after exiting the well-lit greenhouse, she sighed into the darkness of the night.
"Lumos," she muttered quietly, prepared for the trek back to the Gryffindor common room.
As soon as she was about to walk away, a sudden noise further away caught her attention. She turned her wand towards the sound but was met with nothing. Deciding against her usual morals of avoiding any potentially dangerous situations, she walked to where the noise came from and inspected the area; the only things there were a few barely-visible shoe prints dug into the muddy ground. Her curiosity got to the better of her as she followed the direction of the tracks, her senses on high alert.
Rosie suddenly heard someone talking, their voice distorted and quieted by the harsh night winds. Putting out her wand light, she instantly darted behind a bush. Still crouching behind the bush, she quietly made her way towards the voices, careful not to step on any twigs or branches. Peeking her head up from the bushes, she saw four dark figures, one of them making extreme arm motions and another with his arms crossed.
"C'mon Moony, the clouds'll be clearing up soon, let's hurry up."
Moony? Rosie's eyes widened as she heard the nickname. Her thoughts were wiped away when she saw one of them transforming into an animal. The small figure was barely noticeable in the dark night, only a light black outline visible. The small animal, which Rosie figured to be a rodent of some sort, scurried towards the thrashing Whomping Willow.
The Whomping Willow stilled, much to Rosie's amazement. The others followed the rodent quickly and crawled into the base of the tree. Without thinking, Rosie quickly ran from her spot and passed quietly through where they just were.
The hole in the base of the tree led to a narrow dirt passageway. Rosie followed the passage cautiously to avoid tripping or falling while keeping a safe distance from the others. At the end of the passageway, she founded a tiny door, which she hoisted herself up through, and was met by an old and disturbed living room. Noises and scraping came from upstairs, the loud sounds echoing through the rest of the house.
Rosie immediately realized that she was in the infamous Shrieking Shack.
What business does anyone have in the Shrieking Shack, especially Remus? Thoughts ran wild in her head as she slowly walked up the stairs. Once she reached the landing, she peeked through the slightly open door of what looked like an old bedroom.
The sight of four familiar Gryffindor boys caused her eyes to widen. What were they doing in the Shrieking Shack at this time of night?
"We better get downstairs, the clouds are nearly gone," Sirius informed the group, murmurs of agreement coming from everyone else as they all stood up.
Rosie's eyes widened in panic and she quickly dashed down the stairs and back into the tunnel, the aged floorboards creaking underneath her frantic feet.
"D'you hear that?"
Rosie's heart stilled.
"It was probably just us, Prongs."
She breathed out in relief and turned her attention back to the room, trying to get a better view.
Once the boys all arrived downstairs, they began to transform. James into a magnificent stag, Sirius into a large black dog, and Peter into the rat Rosie had seen earlier. Why wasn't Remus transforming? she wondered.
The moonlight then seeped through the boards of the window, shining a bright silver against Sirius' dark fur. Rosie turned her attention back to Remus as he twitched rapidly. His brown eyes suddenly dilated, his nails grew dark and sharp and his voice became deeper and more growl-like as he groaned.
Rosie gasped quietly and ran out of the passage back to the castle in shock. The shock then subsided as her brain began to put all the pieces together. The monthly disappearances that Remus always shrugged off. The scars, bruises, and cuts. The frequent trips to the Hospital Wing. How could she have been so stupid to not think of this in the first place?
"What an idiot," Rosie groaned as she shoved her face in her hands. She rested her head onto her soft pillow and thought of how to confront him, eventually dozing off into a light sleep.
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"Can I get a large tray of four plates with toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and fried sausage on each except for one? As well as four goblets of pumpkin juice and two cups of tea, one chamomile and one green, and a large piece of milk chocolate?" Rosie asked Peeky, a house elf in the kitchens who was quite fond of her since her first visit.
"Of course Miss Winters, anything for Miss Winters." Peeky smiled before her and the other house elves went to work.
Rosie sat down on one of the tables in the kitchens and pulled out one of her new favorite books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander, a Hogwarts alumni and famous Magizoologist. It was only a few minutes until the food was done, and she had only read about six pages.
"The food is done, Miss Winters," Peeky said from behind her. Rosie turned around and took the heavy tray from the house elf, setting the silver platter on the table.
"Thank you so much," she smiled and leaned down to give Peeky a gentle hug. The kind elf returned the hug before bowing away, a large grin on her face. Rosie put the book back in her bag and levitated the large tray — it was too heavy for her to carry to the hospital wing herself. She walked out of the kitchen with the floating tray in front of her and slowly made her way to the hospital ward.
Once she reached the wing, she opened the large doors with her back, still levitating the tray in front of her face. Madam Pomfrey immediately noticed her and rushed from her office.
"Good morning, Madam Pomfrey," Rosie smiled. The Healer returned the smile, but it was very brief.
"Good morning, Miss Winters. Now, I assume you are here to see Mister Lupin, but he and Misters Black, Potter and Pettigrew all need their rest," she whispered quietly.
"It's ok, I just brought them breakfast," Rosie paused to lift the tray higher so she could see it clearly, "I also brought you a cup of tea...figured you'd need it since you're always up helping the students." She grinned cheekily, holding out a cup of chamomile tea.
Madam Pomfrey, after eyeing the tea for a few seconds, huffed and gave in, reluctantly accepting the steaming cup. "Very well, but please don't make too much noise, it's still quite early and I have a few first years who decided to get a little curious with the Black Lake," she sighed before heading back to her office.
Rosie walked past the few antsy first years, who were eyeing her and her shiny Prefect's badge in awe, towards the boys. Normally, she would scold them, especially since one of them happened to be a Gryffindor, but she was far too concerned about Remus to truly care.
"Remus," she whispered, leaning down beside his cot and gently poking his cheek. "Remus," she repeated, poking his arm. He shifted slightly and slowly opened his eyes, squinting at the slight harshness of the rising sun.
The sandy-haired boy groaned, and as soon as his sight fell on his dark-haired best friend, his eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Rosie? What are you doing here, it's too early, you should be in bed!" he whisper-shouted, careful to not wake anyone else.
"Remus, I know. I saw you guys last night after I finished my lesson with Professor Sprout."
Remus' eyes widened, panic settling in them.
"W-what do you mean? W-"
"I don't care," Rosie stated simply, Remus' nerves calming a bit at the sudden statement, but confusion still present in his mind. Before he could interject, she continued, "Remus, you're the most caring, sweet boy that I have ever met. You even helped me with my tie for the first two years and you fold your socks for Merlin's sake," she laughed.
"I was scared, I'm sorry," he smiled and pulled Rosie into a tight, long hug, embracing her comforting scent and grip. A few minutes passed, which felt like only a few seconds to them, before they released each other.
"However, I am mad that you told the boys before me," she jokingly scolded him before standing up from beside his bed to wake the other boys.
"Thank you for understanding, Rosie, I thought that you wouldn't want to be my friend if you found out that I was that," Remus admitted sheepishly, light pink dusting his cheeks.
"Remus, I will always be your friend, no matter what happens," Rosie said to him with a caring smile while rubbing his arm reassuringly.
Remus' smile faltered. "I'm still a monster," he whispered, his gaze focused on the floor.
Her eyebrows knitted together as she crossed her arms, saying with a strong tone, "You're not a monster. You're anything but a monster. You will never be a monster to me, Rem."
"Bu-"
"Now, take a plate, a glass of juice, and the cup of tea," she instructed him strictly. "The chocolate is also for you, by the way."
Remus reluctantly took all four items, first taking a large bite out of the bar of chocolate, just as Rosie predicted.
She then moved her attention to James, Sirius, and Peter—all sleeping in their own beds. She moved to Sirius first and stood before him. After a few seconds of internal debating, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. His eyes flew open in panic as he felt her warm lips against his cool skin, his heart suddenly beating rapidly.
She didn't even give him a chance to respond as she moved to James and shook him to wake him up, doing the same for Peter.
"So Sirius here gets a kiss and I get poking?" Remus scoffed playfully. Rosie rolled her eyes and went to kiss him on his cheek—it wasn't anything new as she had given him several friendly kisses before.
"Hey! What about us?" asked James from his bed, gesturing between him and Peter.
Rosie groaned and went to give them friendly kisses on their forehead, like a mother to her children. "Better?" she asked all of them with crossed arms.
"Better," they replied simultaneously.
"Good, now everyone eat up," Rosie ordered them, passing the tray around for them.
"Wait! Rosie," Sirius called from his bed just after she moved away to give Peter his breakfast.
Sighing, she turned and responded, "Yes, Sirius?"
"Go on a date with me?" he asked hopefully, a teasing smile on his face.
"No," she answered plainly, sitting on the chair next to Remus' bed.
Sirius' mouth dropped in shock and confusion. He had never been this thrown off by a girl before. "W-why not?" he sputtered.
"If Remus has told you anything about me, he would have told you that I appreciate grand gestures," Rosie smirked before walking out of the hospital wing. It was only a half-lie; her only past experience with romance was from the muggle movies she watched with Lily and romance novels. She may not like being the center of attention, but she had to admit that grand, romantic gestures were absolutely amazing.
"Take notes in class for me!" Remus shouted after Rosie's retreating body, ignoring Sirius' mutters of disbelief.
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edited: 05/26/20