"Lupin, please."
"You're still not asking properly." He replied melodically, rolling over the couch to look at me. "You have to ask me in a proper way darling."
I'm not usually this desperate. But it's O.W.Ls year and I need to do good this year. "Edward, will you please help me with my Defense Against the Dark Arts essay?"
"Close, but not quite."
Everyone else in the common room are too busy with their own assignments or talking with their friends. Roxanne and a girl from her year, Natasha Bell, are having a private conversation away from everyone else. Colleen is cuddling with Lowell, Nina is taking a nap, Seth and James are playing wizards chess and Fred is bothering Victoire and her boyfriend, Ryan Lawrence, a 4th year.
And then there's me on the verge of exploding because I'm so frustrated with Professor Prince's essay that's due tomorrow. I know I should have done it yesterday, today during my free period or the other day but I didn't and now I regret procrastinating. "Teddy, will you please be kind and help me with my essay?"
That did the trick. He got up from the couch and pulled out a parchment and a quill form his bag. Sitting next to me by the fireplace, he set down his belongings and smirked at me. "Of course, darling. But on one condition."
"What?"
"You have to start acting nice to me. No witty comments, less sarcasm and less sass."
"I am nice to you." I scoffed. "In my own way of nice, that is."
Lupin shook his head. "Fine. Have fun working out your essay -- "
"Okay I'll be nicer! For Merlin's sake Lupin. I will try, but no promises."
"Good enough!" He grinned, opening his roll of parchment. Nothing is written on it. Nothing at all. "I haven't done my essay together but we'll write it together."
"You haven't done yours either? I thought you'd be the first one done!" I complained, looking at his blank parchment. "I begged for nothing."
"Were you hoping I'd let you copy me? Because that's not happening, Avery. You said HELP you." He said in a 'as a matter of fact' kind of tone, sounding awfully a lot like a teacher. "Now, let's start with the introduction. The types of dark creatures and how they are part of necromancy."
Let's just say it was very difficult to keep up with Lupin. He already knew what he would be writing so he had written faster than me. I had to read what he writes and put them on my own words -- it's not copying, it's helping out.
It took us at least an hour and a half to finish the essay. Well, I finished an hour and a half, Lupin finished in 45 minutes. He watched me write my essay while singing along to one of his favorite muggle bands, Panic! At the Disco and playing with Tiana. I finished 10 minutes before 8 when we have Astronomy Class, so I relaxed on the couch.
I closed my eyes and blocked everyone out for a little while. And not too long after that, I felt my body being lifted from the red couch and I was in someone's arms. "Fred Weasley, put me down." I smiled, putting an arm around his shoulders so I wouldn't fall easily. "Actually never mind, I'm rather comfortable here."
"We have to go to Astronomy Tower, remember? You can't sleep now." The dark haired boy laughed, taking me out of the common room with Seth and Lupin behind us, watching with blank expressions. Nina and Colleen are in front of us, also walking towards the Astronomy Tower.
"You let Fred carry you but not me or Teddy." Seth commented, looking at me suspiciously. "Why is that? Hmm?"
"My dear brother, I'd let anyone with nice, strong arms carry me. That includes Armando Flores, Wood, Flint, Margaret, and Hagrid because he is a giant teddy bear."
Fred chuckled. "Teddy bear. Hey Teddy, can you turn into a bear? Because if you can, you would be an actual teddy bear."
"Ha ha." Lupin rolled his eyes. "I've got strong arms, Avery, if you must know. I can take Wood on an arm wrestle and win within a matter of seconds."
"That's something I'd like to see."
At 8 o'clock sharp, we are all at the top-most level of the Astronomy Tower, freezing our butts off due to the cold weather. Nina, Colleen and I sat together and my brother and his squad sat around us. Madam Sinistra began her usual 'beginning of the year, welcome to my class' speech and a summary of what we'll be doing this year.
"You will be taking your O.W.Ls this year and there is a section where you will be needing to know the names of stars and constellations. It may sound easy but believe it our not, many students have failed that part. This year, I want all of you to pass that section so we will be reviewing constellations and stars. Apart from that, we'll also be learning about Jupiter's Moons-Io: Europa, Ganymedes & Callisto. Any concerns or questions?" No one raised their hand. "Good. Now tonight I want to see what you remember from the previous years. Use your telescopes and write down in a parchment what stars you are currently seeing. Turn it in before you leave."
Astronomy is my favorite thing, ever. Divination and Astronomy are my thing. I may not be the best at Potions or Transfiguration or D.A.D.A but when it comes to these subjects, I turn into a massive space geek.
"Um... Hey darling..." I heard Lupin call, facing my direction but I didn't turn to him. I focused on my parchment and assembled my telescope.
"Ow! Weasley! I will murder you in your sleep!" I heard Lowell hissed, giving Fred a light push. I glanced at him and saw a black eye on his face. No doubt, Fred gave him one of those punching telescopes.
"Samantha." Lupin calls again.
"What, Lupin?"
"I forgot my telescope."
"Too bad. Go use Lowell's punching telescope." I murmured, raising up my telescope and focusing my vision as I look through its lenses.
"May I recall, I helped you with your essay? And you said you'd be nicer?" Without even looking, I knew he was sitting right next to me by this time. He was practically screaming at my ears.
But still, he's right. He did help me with my stupid essay. "Fine, here." I shoved him the telescope and proceeded to writing on my parchment. I've only looked for a couple of minutes but I've already recognized several stars. I quickly wrote them down and waited until Lupin's finished using the telescope. The only problem was, he's taking his time with it.
"The only one that I remember is Sirius. I forgot about the others, damn it. I think that one there is Castor -- or is it Procyon? Why do we even need to lean these things?"
The genuine frustration on his face worries me a little. "Lupin, how about you just -- stop." I slowly grabbed the telescope from him and showed him my list. "Here. Just look at it and review it next time."
"How do you even know which one is Andromeda -- hey that's my grandmother's name!" Lupin giggled, causing me to look at him with amusement. I'm not going to lie, it's always funny to hear him giggle because he just breaks out of his character when he does. "Which one is Avior and Nashira?"
Sighing in defeat, I put the telescope over his eyes and moved it to the direction where I saw the stars. "That there, what looks like a goat is Nashira. The one above it is Avior, the one that's like a ship. Argo."
"I thought the Nashira one was Regulus?" Lupin set down the telescopes and went straight to copying my work. "I am done with this class."
"Lupin, you just have to look at things carefully. You have to tell the differences between one star to another. Some are brighter than the others, some are smaller and some are bigger."
"Honestly," Lupin leans against the concrete wall. "the only star that I prefer to look at is you."
The grin on his face makes me want to punch him -- actually, I did punch him. I punched him lightly on his arm. "How many girls have you said that to?"
Lupin laughed loudly, getting a stern look from Madam Sinistra. "Okay, around 5 or more." And for that, he gets another punch.
***
Seth
After Astronomy Class, Fred, Teddy and I planned to sneak inside the Hogwarts kitchen to grab a few snacks to bring to our dorm. However, bringing Sam with us definitely was not part of our plan. We were all heading back to the Gryffindor Common Room and Teddy had pulled her along with us.
"Why am I here?" She asked confused, her eyes at me and Fred. "I want to seep now thank you very much."
"Nope you're coming with us." Teddy insisted, putting an arm around her waist, which she immediately pushed away.
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
Using a secret passage that Fred and Teddy showed me on our first year, we managed to get to the kitchen of the castle. It's right below the Great Hall, down the staircase that leads to the Hufflepuff Common Room. The entrance of the kitchen is a painting of a bowl of fruit. After tickling a pear, we all entered the massive kitchen full of elves.
"Hello Winky!" Teddy greeted one of the elves, who is currently cleaning pots and pans. "Dinner was amazing tonight. Do you mind if we get a few snacks to take to our dorm?"
"Not at all, Mr. Lupin!" The elf beams, her eyes meeting Sam. "And you must be Ms. Sam Avery, Mr. Seth Avery's sister!"
"Yes I am." She smiles widely, pushing Teddy out of her way to stand at Winky. "Nice to meet you, Winky."
"A pleasure, Ms. Avery."
"Mr. Lupin and Mr. Avery has spoke a lot of you! And Mr. Weasley too, of course."
"Ah, all good I hope. Though with Lupin, I doubt it." She laughed, turning her attention to a table full of sweets. "Oh my Godric, this is heaven. Look at this cheesecake! It's calling for me!" I couldn't help but smirk at her reaction. Back at home, she would always ask mum for cheesecake because it's her favorite dessert and she thought Hogwarts doesn't serve it.
Fred stood next to her. "It's yours if you want it."
"Really?" She beamed, reaching for the slice of pastry. "Is it okay though? I'm not going to get in trouble right? -- Actually you know what, it's fine. I'd get detention for this and I don't care. I haven't had cheesecake for months."
"Here, have some right now." Teddy runs next to her with a spoon. Without waiting for her mouth to open, he smashes the food on her face. "Aw darling, you look so adorable with cake on your face."
"Oh no." Fred sigh, already knowing what's coming.
Sam grabbed another cake, a carrot cake, and smeared it all over Teddy's face. And that's how their little food fight started. They took whatever they see around them and threw it at each other, with me, Winky, Fred and the other elves petrified watching them. By the end of it, they were laughing at each other, with Teddy embracing Sam from behind.
"I'm so... I don't even know what to tell you guys." Fred grimaced, looking down at the ground full of wasted food.
I was about to say something until I saw Teddy lean on Sam's face. From my position, it looked like he had kissed her cheek and frankly, it was a very awkward and strange thing to see.
"Did you just lick my cheek? Ugh Lupin, get away from me."
"Why? You love me." He cooed, picking her up bridal style. "Shall I get you cleaned up and dump you at the Black Lake? I'm sure the giant squid would love some company."
"Lupin, if you don't put me down I am going to tell your grandmother about all the girls you've snogged."
"You wouldn't!"
"I would!"
"Fine."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think these two are a couple." Fred said to me with a small smile. "Winky, what do you think?"
"I think Mr. Lupin and Ms. Avery would be great together."