Sempiternal Romance |Remus Lupin

Chapter Three

"How many people have you picked up from winking, Frieda? Oh yeah, none, because we're only fourteen."

"You're actually fifteen." Frieda points out.

"I keep forgetting," Mare says with a chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Back to the original topic... You winked at him, why?"

"Frieda, you know I'm flir-" she stops mid-sentence, hoping Frieda wouldn't catch on.

"You were flirting with him!"

"No!"

"But you were going to say that I know you're flirty. So you were technically flirting with him."

Mare can't think of anything to say, she just simply sits there gaping. Frieda kept trying to make a point and she was denying it. She definitely wasn't flirting. Mare had winked at people multiple times in the past and her blonde friend had never mentioned it as flirting.

"It is not flirting, Frieda." Mare finally says, "and that's final."

"Whatever you say, Mare." Frieda says with a shrug and a knowing look.

"How's it going with Sirius then?" Mare raises an eyebrow, "you two constantly bickering. We all know there's tension and it ain't the argumentative type."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Frieda says quickly, avoiding Mare's eyes.

"Yeah, I'm so sure you don't." Mare rolls her eyes, then shoves Frieda back onto the grass with a laugh.

"What'd you do that for?"

"Felt like it." Mare shrugs, lying down on the grass beside Frieda, "it's very cold, I don't know why we're out here."

"It's winter, that's why it's cold. Also, it's better than hanging out in the Gryffindor Common Room all the time."

"You're not even a Gryffindor!"

"I'm an honorary Gryffindor, okay?"

"I still don't understand why you hardly go to your house. I've heard the Ravenclaw Common Room is so much more fantastically beautiful than Gryffindor's."

"Gryffindor is more homey. Some of the Ravenclaws stare me down for some reason like I'm not supposed to be there. Don't know what that's about."

"You don't spend enough time with your own house. What do you expect to happen? Them to jump around and be all over you when you enter?"

Frieda sits up, watching as snowflakes begin to dance around in the sky before landing on the grass and melting on touch. "I'd enjoy that, actually."

"I'm sure you would." Mare says sitting up and pulling herself off the ground, grabbing Frieda's hands and pulling her up as well. "We should probably get back into the castle, dinner will start soon."

"Ooh! Let's go!" Frieda says excitedly, pulling Mare along as they ran towards the castle. "You know, if it weren't for the food, I don't think I'd enjoy Hogwarts as much as I do."

Mare rolls her eyes another time as they barrel through the doors of the school. Frieda finally lets go of Mare as she begins to walk towards the Great Hall without another look. Mare opens her robes and finds her wand but no Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook.

"Bugger," she says with a scowl, "I'm not even going to look for it. If someone finds it, they'll bring it to me. That always happens, to everyone apparently."

••••

The book never returned.

It had been nearly a week since it was dropped and it had not been found. Mare had attempted to look for it herself with no avail. She was going home on Friday for Christmas vacation and was hoping her mother would buy her a new one. She'd been using Frieda's for the last week and it wasn't going well. They'd argue on for ten minutes about who was getting more of the pages and had been told to shut up a few times by other students.

The Ravenclaws had yet again been put with the Gryffindor's for the class, Headmaster Dumbledore was hoping the two houses had finally matured and didn't argue like a bunch of children and he was right. There was no extreme bickering, just the occasional tease.

Mare enters the Defence classroom, her seat in the back open. She grabs her seat, setting a quill and ink on the wooden table. A person sits by her, she hopes it's Frieda and it isn't.

"Hello, James." Says Mare with a sigh.

"Morning, Mare."

"What do you need? You always need something whenever you sit beside me during class."

"Fair point," he says with a nod and a knowing look, "but that's not what I'm here for."

Mare looks at him curiously, cocking an eyebrow in surprise. He always needed a favour and he'd go to Mare since she'd usually do it unless it was something that would cause harm to a younger student.

"Then what do you want?"

"You said you're missing your Defence Against the Dark Arts book, yeah?"

"Yes." Mare says, "did you find it or something? I really hope so."

"No."

Mare frowns.

"You didn't let me finish."

"Oh, go on, James."

"I think I may know who has it in their possession."

"Who might that be, James? Is it Sirius? It better not be someone you know I hate."

"Remus has it."