𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙦𝙪𝙖 ➪ 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗎𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑅𝑇𝑌 𝑆𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑁

➪ SEPIA ➪

"SHIT. SHIT. SHIT."

Loki froze as she stared down at her timetable, her face falling at the subjects she had. Nicolas leant over, peering down at the paper in curiosity, and cringed.

"He says anything to you and I'll—"

"Don't," Loki cut him off. She sighed and shoved the slip of paper back into her bag. "I'll find a way to deal with it. He probably won't say anything to me, anyway."

"You sure?" Nicolas frowned.

He took hold of his goblet, his gaze locking onto the Gryffindor table. A familiar blonde connected her eyes with him. She raised her hand, grinning widely, and energetically waved her greeting. He swallowed the quickly formed lump, forcing a grin to wave back.

"How are you going?" Loki whispered, noticing Nicolas's actions. He turned to her, looking tired. "Do you have a plan?" He hung his head, shaking it gently. "Hey," Loki placed her hand on Nicola's shoulder, "it's going to be okay. I'm here for you if you need me."

Nicolas smiled softly. "Thanks, Loki," he said. "We should probably get going to class. If I walk you to Magical Creatures, I think I could make it to Runes on time."

"Okay," Loki shrugged.

She didn't need another excuse to head out of the Great Hall, because knowing who else was in the large space already made her want to run off. Loki gathered her belongings, hastily downing the last of her Pumpkin Juice, before hurrying after Nicolas. She adjusted the bag on her shoulder, using it as an opportunity to spare a glance in the direction of the Gryffindor table. As her eyes found themselves locking on Remus and Sirius, she bit her lip with a frown and turned back.

"You good?" Nicolas asked. Loki nodded, tugging the boy forward.

➪

"GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE."

The Care for Magical Creatures professor grinned as more students began to file into the classroom. He moved away from Loki's desk, where the two were discussing the last essay he'd assigned the students, and back to his space in the centre of the classroom. A chorus of "Good Morning, Professor" filled the room, followed by shuffling as people took their seats.

Loki was fiddling with her quill, spinning it betwixt her fingers when she felt a presence beside her neighbouring chair. The person hesitated, and she noticed the shadow hover motionless for a moment before they moved, pulling out the piece of furniture. They radiated an aura of uncertainty with each wavered action.

Loki tensed when they sat down. She glued her eyes to her parchment, her body stilling as her deskmate pulled out their equipment. She tucked her arms in, hoping to minimise herself as much as possible. Loki slowly lifted her eyes, keeping them trained on her professor as he began to teach the lesson.

Remus Lupin, however, couldn't seem to look anywhere that wasn't the girl beside him. He already came up with several potential sentence starters before entering the classroom. Although now he was in the situation, his mouth didn't seem to want to respond. His actions, faltered by his beliefs on her perceptions of him, seemed more avoidant than he hoped.