"Playing your friend?" Sirius repeated, frowning. "What's that supposed to mean!?"
"I'm talking about Jenna," said Lily sternly.
"What about her?"
"I'm not stupid, Black," said Lily feverishly. "Drop the act."
"Listen," said Sirius firmly. "I'm not playing anybod—"
"—Oh, please," Lily scoffed. "First you're kind to her and lead her on, but then you go out with another girl to Slughorn's Christmas party, then you corner her the same night and say those things — oh, yes, Jenna told me," she added as Sirius went pale, looking shocked.
"Then you start flirting with her again," she continued, "and you send her gifts and letters over the Christmas Break — which made her happy, as much as she won't admit it; I could tell — and now that we're at school again, you go back to flirting with every girl you see!"
"Listen to me, Evans. I don't—"
"—No, you listen to me, Black," Lily broke him off, pointing a finger at him warningly. "I might be that kind and harmless girl that I seem, but you hurt my friend, and that's the limit."
Sirius's frown faded away and his face fell at those words. "I'm not going to hurt Jenna. I would never do that."
"Well, guess what? You're already on your way of doing so, if you keep going down this path," she said. "So leave her alone, or I'm gonna get angry. And do you know what happens when I get angry?"
"You get cute?" Sirius forced a grin.
"True," Lily shrugged, and then snarled, "But you hurt her, and I'll get real adorable."
***
When Jenna, James, and Peter had reached the hospital wing, they drew up chairs near Remus's bed and stayed there with him for what felt like an hour, discussing the match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, waiting for Sirius.
But he didn't show up.
"You guys better get going," said Remus weakly. "I don't want you to fall behind your studies for me."
"Yeah, as if we were planning on doing them in the first place," said James sarcastically and Peter laughed.
"Where's Padfoot?" Remus asked.
"He's lost his wand," said Peter and James and Jenna snorted together.
"We better go look for him, though. He should've been back by now," said James, now looking a bit more serious. "See you tonight, Moony."
And by one last wink, he stood up and left the hospital wing, Peter following him right behind. But the moment the two left, an awkward silence fell between Remus and Jenna.
They realized that this was the first time they were alone together after the morning in Shrieking Shack. And even though they greeted each other politely in the hallways, things still hadn't gone completely back to normal.
But Jenna was determined to do something about it. She missed him as a friend.
"Look, Remus," she started. "We need to talk."
Remus went pale, shifting uneasily on his bed, where he sat up straight, leaning against the headboard. "I-I already told you, Jenna. I don't want to—"
"—No, I didn't want to talk about that. So don't flatter yourself," said Jenna jokingly, grinning.
"Then what is it?"
"How — how did it happen?" Jenna whispered, biting her lower lip. "When were you...?"
"Bitten?" Remus said grimly and Jenna nodded. "I-it was near my fifth birthday."
"What!?" Jenna gasped, her eyes widening. "That young?"
Remus nodded weakly. "My father used to work at the Ministry. At the time, the Ministry was trying to catch dark creatures which were rumored to be working for you-know-who. And my father... he offended a werewolf called Greyback, saying that — all that werewolves were fit for was death."
Jenna frowned, feeling a pain in her heart as she watched Remus's expression.
"But that night, Greyback managed to escape the Ministry and he wasted no time to come after us and get back at my father for that," said Remus, looking down. "I was sleeping. The window to my bedroom was crashed and Greyback broke inside and... he attacked me."
"Oh, my..." Jenna gasped softly, her hand clapping over her mouth in shock.
"My father came quickly and tried to rescue me," he continued. "He did manage to save me from being killed. But... I was damaged enough to turn into a werewolf ever since."
"Remus..." Jenna muttered distantly, her eyes going blurry.
She stood off her chair, went forward, and sat on the bed next to Remus, quickly bringing him into a hug.
He was taken aback at first, but then melted into the moment and hugged her back.
Jenna pulled away after long seconds, but didn't move away from the bed as she stared down at him.
"Can you — can you tell me more about werewolves?" Jenna asked in a strained voice. "You said they won't hurt animals, do they?"
"No, they won't," Remus shook his head, but then frowned at Jenna, confused. "Why do you ask?"
There was moments of silence until Jenna finally said hesitantly,
"Because I want to join the Marauders."