Queen of Disaster | 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝐿𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑛

Chapter 46

"Now, I'll be expecting an essay no less than two feet on the usages and dangers of Lacarnum Inflamari, due next week," Professor Gates said near the end of their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. "You can be sure that it will show up in your O.W.Ls, so you must take it seriously."

    A snort of laughter came from the back of the classroom.

     Professor Gates sighed deeply, already knowing what it was about. "Class dismissed."

    There was a scramble as everyone got up to their feet and started to pack their stuff, placing their books and quills in their bags to leave the class.

     "There's still glitter in your hair," said Layla as she and Diana walked out through the corridor. She then reached out for Diana's blonde locks, trying to take out the pink glitter from her hair.

    "Showering has been proved useless," said Diana grimly, running a hand through her hair. "I have to find a spell to get rid of the few glitters left in my hair."

     "You know, a few people have been talking about the stunt that Lupin pulled on you the other day, at Madam Puddifoot's tea shop," Layla informed her. "Specially Kathy and Lucille."

    Diana groaned. They were the two annoying and nosy girls in their dorm. "What were they saying?"

     "About the dwarf and the song." Layla sniggered. "I gotta give that to Lupin; that was an awesome prank."

      "Trust me, it wasn't. If anything, it w— AARGH!"

      Layla turned around briskly when she heard Diana let out a squeal. But when she looked behind her, Diana was nowhere to be found, as though vanishing into thin air.

***

Only moments before, while Diana was in the middle of her sentence, a hand suddenly passed through the wall beside her and then caught hold of her sleeve, dragging her through.

    Diana let out a squeal and squeezed her eyes shut, but with the hand still holding onto her sleeve, she passed through the solid wall.

    When she opened her eyes, Diana was surprised to find herself inside an empty and small room. But what had caught her off guard the most was when she saw Remus standing before her.

     "What the hell was that, Lupin!?" Diana snapped angrily, placing a hand over her fast-beating heart.

     "That's a fake wall," said Remus, smiling. "It's just like the one in King's Cross station; you pass right through it, and you end up in this room."

    Diana turned to look behind her. The small room had no windows or door. She glanced back at Remus curiously.

    "Don't worry," Remus said quickly, as though reading her mind by the expression on her face. "If you want to go back to the corridor, you can walk through this same wall. You'll be able to pass through it with no difficulty."

     "How on earth do you know about this place?" Diana asked, gaping up at him.

     "Long story." Remus chuckled. "Anyway, I wanted to give you this..."

     Diana watched curiously as Remus dug into his backpack and took out a heavy book with terribly old binding, handing it to her.

     "What's this?" Diana questioned as she observed the book in her hand. The title was hidden underneath a cover of dust.

     "It's a Divination book I managed to nick from the restricted section in the library."

     Diana gave him a look again.

     "Another long story." Remus shook a hand at her as he kept on smiling. "I went through a few of them, but this one seemed to be the most useful. Here, let me show you..."

     Remus the walked closer to her and stood right beside her, so close that their arms were brushing against one another. Then, with the old and heavy book still in Diana's hand, Remus opened it and flipped through the pages until he got to the middle of it.

     "Here it is," he said, pointing at a paragraph at the top of the page.

     "A seer is a person who 'sees'," Diana read the title, before looking back up at Remus again. "No. This can't be it." She shook her head.

     "I'm not saying you're a seer or anything, but maybe your Divination professor was right when he said you had a gift."

     "Look, whatever that thing I felt was, it certainly didn't feel like a gift. It felt more like a curse, if anything."

     "Just give this a read," Remus insisted. "What you felt could be a vision, if you think of your Divination teacher's words."

     "I wouldn't really count on what he says. He's a very strange man."

     "Or a very wise one." Remus shrugged.

     "That's highly unlikely." Diana chuckled. "But thanks, for getting this book for me — however you've managed to do it."

    "No problem. Although try to read it as fast as you can and give it to me so I can place it back. Madam Pince goes over the restricted section every Friday, exactly at four o'clock."

    "That's... too specific," Diana said suspiciously before closing the book and placing it carefully in her bag. "Thanks again, Lupin."

     "Why do you only call me by my last name?" Remus let out a light laughter. "I have a name too, you know."

     "Nah. Arch enemies only call each other by their surnames," said Diana, smirking playfully.

     "Oh, so we're still on arch enemies?" He grinned. "I thought that after that romantic date at least we could be friends."

     For a moment, Diana found herself unable to reply as her eyes locked up with his chocolate brown ones. But she quickly cleared her throat and looked away.

     "I guess so..." Diana mumbled as she glanced down at her feet, giving a little shrug of her shoulders.

     Remus smiled. "I'm glad."