Alanna had to admit that she enjoyed her little night talk with Tiffany. They talked about stuff that they would only ever share with each other. Tiffany admitted that Alanna was her best and most trustworthy friend. As much as Alanna hated to break it to Tiffany, no matter who it is, a Slytherin isn't trustworthy.
The two girls finally fell asleep around midnight. When Alanna woke up, it didn't take her long to realise that it was nearly eight o'clock and that her first class was at nine. She quickly began getting ready, waking Tiffany as she went.
"No, sleep good, life bad," Tiffany grumbled. When Alanna refused to stop moving and continued rambling about how they were going to be late, Tiffany finally sat up. She glanced at the clock on the wall and her eyes widened drastically.
"We're going to be late!" she exclaimed.
"You're telling me!" Alanna shot back. "Come on, we still need food!"
Tiffany shot out of bed and began organising her bag. Alanna pulled her black hair into a sloppy bun sitting on top of her head, her fringe swept to the side. She admired herself in the mirror for two seconds before beginning to arrange her books in her bag.
"What do we have first?" Tiffany asked. Alanna quickly pulled her timetable from her bag, her eyes scanning to the column titled 'Wednesday'.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Alanna answered as she shoved the timetable back into her bag. She grabbed her quills and some parchment and threw it into her bag. She quickly re-checked her appearance in the floor-length mirror and nodded in approval, blowing some of her thin hair out of her face. She swung her bag onto her shoulder. "Are you ready, Tiff?"
"Almost," Tiffany answered. She grabbed a hair band and her hairbrush and pulled her blonde hair into a high ponytail. She zipped her bag closed and threw it onto her back. She grabbed her Defence Against the Dark Arts book from her bed and nodded. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Time for food!"
"Amen, sister!"
- - -
Arriving to the Great Hall, Alanna found that the Marauders were also running late to class. After asking them what class they had first, she realised that they had the same class.
"Okay, cool." Remus flashed a smile in Alanna's direction. She resisted the urge to smile back and instead grabbed a piece of jam toast.
"No, Remus, not cool if we're late," she said stressfully. She began rambling about the detentions they would have before Remus grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from pacing beside the Gryffindor table.
"Allie," he said softly. "Relax. Breathe."
Alanna took a deep breath while James and Sirius shared a knowing look. Both boys watched the interaction while Tiffany conversed with Peter.
"Okay?"
"Okay," Alanna breathed. She gave Remus a warm smile. "Better."
"Alright. Can we go? Because while I'm not as stressed out as Alanna right now, I still don't want a detention."
"Relax, it's only Jeckels. She's cool," James said. Remus shook his head in disbelief before his gaze switched to Alanna.
"You wanna get outta here? Get to class on time, rather than stay here with these loons?" he asked her quietly. Alanna nodded and grabbed Remus' hand, beginning to tug him along.
"Yes, let's go."
Walking through the corridor, Alanna didn't notice she was still holding Remus' hand until he cleared his throat and pulled his hand away slowly. Alanna's face turned red.
"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly, rubbing her arm. Remus shook his head.
"No, it's fine."
"I didn't even notice," Alanna murmured.
"I said it's fine," Remus told her firmly. "It's fine."
Alanna giggled suddenly, making Remus glance over at her. "What?" he asked in confusion.
"Oh, nothing. Just a conversation I remember having with my sister Melanie once."
"Alright."
The two walked on as the silence grew more awkward with every passing second. Alanna clicked her tongue, unsure of what to talk about while Remus seemed seemingly content in the silence.
"So I heard from Bonnie Ashton that you and Tiffany were up quite late last night," Remus said. Alanna let out a quiet breath, thankful for the distracting topic.
"Uh, yeah," Alanna answered. She cleared her throat. "We were."
Remus smirked. "What were you doing?" he asked.
Alanna was growing redder by the second. "Talking."
"About what?" he asked flatly. "Boys?"
Alanna chuckled, her face becoming almost tomato red. "No way. Why would we talk about boys? What boys would we talk about?"
Remus shrugged. "I dunno. The Pilirs?" he suggested.
Alanna's jaw dropped. "Wait, are you meaning just boys in general or ... y'know ..."
Remus gestured for her to continue, as he just wanted her to say it. Alanna sighed.
"Or actually liking boys?" she said flatly. "Because if you were wondering, yes, we were talking about liking boys. And no, it was definitely not the Pilir twins. That's just gross!" she gagged. Remus sighed in internal relief. He was glad that Alanna didn't have a crush on Luke, or Leonard, for that matter.
Not really wanting to discuss the topic any further, Alanna tried to switch the conversation and turn it against Remus.
"So what? I bet you and the other boys talk about girls all the time," she said slyly. Now it was Remus' turn to become cherry red. She laughed. "So you do!"
"N-no," he stuttered, making Alanna giggle quietly to herself.
"C'mon, Remus, you can tell me. I promise I won't tell her that you like her."
Remus began walking faster to try and avoid the conversation. Alanna noted this and jumped in front of him. Remus sighed in irritation, trying to move around Alanna. She smirked as she jumped in front of him again, blocking him from going anywhere except back, which would only take them longer to get to class.
"Tell me," Alanna demanded.
"If you tell me who you have a crush on, I'll tell you mine," Remus comprimised. Alanna shrugged.
"Sure thing. Nobody."
Remus jerked his head back, shocked. "What?"
"I don't like anyone. I don't have a crush on anybody. And when I say this, I mean it. I swear I'm telling the truth."
Remus narrowed his eyes at her.
"C'mon, we agreed to tell each other!" Alanna whined. She jutted out her lower lip in a pitiful pout, making Remus even more nervous than he was before. He shook his head, chickening out.
"No."
"Remus!" Alanna said in a high-pitched voice. "C'mon, who do you like? I know you like someone, and I think I know who it is."
Remus' eyes widened. "You do?" he asked, his curiousity getting the best of him.
Alanna nodded. "Yup! But I won't know for sure until you tell me."
Remus looked at the floor as a sudden burst of confidence erupted inside him.
"It's you," he muttered.
"Sorry? I didn't catch that," Alanna said, lowering her head so that she could hear him. Remus sighed. He had to do it again.
"It's you," he said, louder this time. Alanna jerked her head away from him and took a few steps back, alarming Remus.
"Allie?"
"Well I sure wasn't expecting that!"