Mary and Remus.... In the Astronomy Tower, with an idiot.
Characters: Mary MacDonald, Desmond Mulciber, Remus Lupin Date: Nightime Astronomy Class... Whenever it took place this week Approx. 16 September 1977 Place: Astronomy Class/Tower Summary: Mary and Remus get done with class early. Talking ensues. Rating: PG-13 Warnings: Mulciber is not nice but we know this.
Mary looked down into her telescope again before looking away and scribbling notes on the parchment stuck into her star chart book. She had missed being up here over the summer. The NEWT class was nice, too, because it was so few of them. That almost made up for the fact that Mulciber was one of the other class members. Fortunately, Remus always seemed to put himself in between the two of them in class or up here so she didn't have to deal with him unless absolutely necessary. Alice was in the class too, and Mary knew she didn't care much for the Slytherin either.
"I think I'm almost done," she said with satisfaction, looking over at where Remus had his telescope set up. Most everyone else had finished, other then themselves and a few others.
Remus held up one finger whilst he kept his eye open on the telescope. He'd never quite mastered how to keep one eye open and one closed without screwing up his face but even though he was aware of how ridiculous he looked hunched over the telescope, he could never quite bring himself to drop Astronomy.
In his more wry moments he joked about it being feeling an affinity for the moon, but perhaps it was the opportunity to study outside without having to place a bet as to which body part Grubbly-Plank would lose.
"Almost finished MacDonald? You're slipping. I'm done," he told her with a grin as he closed his book.
Mary pursed her lips and looked back into the telescope, fighting a laugh. "That's because I got distracted by the star shower for a bit too long." She looked through the telescope, focusing in on the constellation Orion and finding Betelgeuse.
After a moment she finished and marked it off on her chart, then closed her book. "There. Done." She looked up at him, smiling as she collapsed her telescope. "Find everything? Need I ask?"
"With all these stars," he told her with a gesture to the sky above him "How could I miss? "
With a quick twist of the dials, his telescope collapsed and he stored it ready for next class. Double checking to make sure he had everything - and that Mulciber was a nice distance away from Mary he held out his arm to her.
"O fair lady, would you do me the honour of escorting me to the common room and double check that I haven't just created an new constellation? Sinistra still hasn't forgiven me for the last time you know."
Mary made a little amused smirk with her lips and after packing her things in her bag she took his arm. "I'd be delighted to. If only so I can laugh at you when you find out that really, Lupina isn't a constellation."
She'd thought the others were still working when she heard the sound of a bag scraping on stone and then Mulciber was putting his things away.
"Leaving already?" Mulciber looked over at the two of then, his lips turned down in a little sneer. So typical. He was fairly certain MacDonald was shagging Lupin or Black or maybe both. She must be.
"You know, Lupin. If your work is incomplete, I'd be happy to escort MacDonald. Keep an eye on her for you."
The laughter died on his lips at Mulciber's words and he angled himself slightly so he was between him and Mary.
"My works finished, and you don't need to worry about Mary, Mulciber. I can look after her just fine whilst you finish up here. Wouldn't want you to get behind."
He deliberately turned his back to Desmond, the meaning behind the gesture coming through loud and clear as he steered Mary towards the door.
Mary looked over her shoulder at Mulciber as he watched them walk away. He had a knowing little smirk that made her stomach tighten, even though she had no idea why. She hated him. Desperately. Especially knowing he'd cursed her and she couldn't remember anything about it. One thing for sure was she knew he was somehow responsible for the scar on her leg, but whenever she tried to think to hard about it, she just couldn't. Let alone tell anyone, not even Remus or Sirius or Alice.
He didn't say anything else, just lifted his bag up over his shoulder and began to follow them, a few feet behind as they started down the stairs.
She kept her arm through Remus' her fingers tightening in his jumper and her eyes deliberately on the steps.
"You finish Charms?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even.
Behind them, Mulciber regarded the way they walked together. She was afraid of him, even now, and just knowing that pleased him. She should be. Mixed blood. Fitting she'd be with Lupin.
Mary stiffened slightly and Remus let his hand fall to the small of her back until they were safely in the doorway. He hated the way Mary tried so hard not to react around Mulciber. The same way she'd reacted ever since he'd found her sitting by the lake looking dazed and confused. Every inch of his gut was screaming that Mulciber had had something to do with Mary's actions that week, and though he couldn't prove it, he'd found himself stalking the ground looking for him - wanting more than anything to release the anger inside.
And that scared him - he'd always been aware of how to keep his feelings in check. To bottle down the anger, as his greatest fear was that he would give something away; that the wolf would begin to take over the man. It had gotten easier too, especially with James, Sirius and Peter to accompany him on the nights he was in the Shrieking Shack but there was always the fear at the back of his mind.
And Desmond Mulciber made him very aware of that.
"I did," he replied to her as he they began to descend the stairs "But I could always do with going over it, and maybe eating some of the chocolate in my bag."
"You two are so sweet it reaffirms my faith in true love," Desmond said, pushing past them as he went down the stairs. They walked much too slowly. He purposely went down on MacDonald's side, his hand brushing her arm and crowding her against Lupin on the narrow staircase.
He felt her shrink back, and he went on ahead, looking over his shoulder back at them.
"What? Nothing cutting to say, MacDonald?" He met her eyes and felt a sense of pleasure as he could see her face tighten, knowing how well the compulsion charm had worked. How well it still worked. So wretched to know he'd somehow done something to her and that she couldn't tell a single soul.
"Sod off, Mulciber," Mary said, feeling sick to her stomach and wanting to do something horrible to him like push him down the stairs. "Go crawl back into your hole."
He looked at her and raised his eyebrows with a little smirk. "Nope, love. Think that's your boyfriend's job." Then he turned and bounded down the stairs, leaving them staring after him. Mary realized she was holding onto Remus much too tightly.
"I hate him. Hate him." Mary burst out, looking up for a moment and biting her lips a little so she wouldn't do something completely stupid like crying. He didn't deserve it.
The hair on the back of his neck bristled, and right then and there Remus decided that Mulciber was going to have his life made hell this year. Nothing he could pin on the Marauders but at least it was a way of doing something. Something other than watching Mary shrink against him.
When Mulciber left them alone, he guided both of them to sit on the steps and reached into his bag for the bar there. Handing it over, he slipped his arm round her shoulders.
"Mulciber is an arse," he declared " And you don't have to take anything he says seriously. Everyone knows we're just friends, but you could help me plan a prank on him. You know, in your capacity as honorary Maurader."
Mary hated herself for the fact that her hands were shaking a little. And her jaw was so tight for a moment she couldn't speak. "He... He... " But she couldn't. Couldn't say anything. So finally she swallowed hard and looked at him, her eyes asking him to somehow understand. "It's not that. I don't care about what he said. We know we're friends. It's just... him. He's wretched." She let out her breath and looked at him morosely, before starting to unwrap the chocolate as she leaned into his arm, her head laying lightly on his shoulder.
"You're sweet, saying that," she told him. "But I think the other boys would object." Especially Sirius. For some reason she smiled slightly at the thought. She'd been doing that the past few days alot when she thought of him.
"Wait? Are you telling me you're not a boy? Mary I'm shocked that you could keep such important information from me" Remus said teasingly as he nudged her with his foot. "All those manly secrets I've shared. Don't know if I can look at you in the same way again."
Slowly he could feel himself relaxing again, and of how the cold from the concrete was seeping through the fabric of his trousers. Would it be rude to cast a warming charm at his bottom?
Mary took a bit of chocolate, popping it in her mouth before looking up at him slightly sourly and handing him the bar. "Prat." She leaned her chin on her hand, her elbow braced on her knee, and waited until the chocolate had melted in her mouth.
She smiled up at him though. They'd bonded the first few years over a love of books and gradually become friends. She worried over him a little, as sometimes she wondered if he didn't have health problems with as often as he was sick. He never said anything though, and over the years she'd gradually just gotten accustomed to his odd ailments.
"It will be hard but we'll have to adjust," she told him. "Although I can probably pass as a boy if it makes you that uncomfortable." She knew he was trying to distract her from Mulciber and was grateful for it. "What do you think? I could cut my hair? Pretend I'm all cool like Potter and Black." She piled her hair on top of her head and posed a little self consciously. "What do you think? I could borrow one of your shirts."
Wasn't like she needed room for oh... breasts or anything like most girls had.
He'd forgotten how much he'd missed this; the comfortable feeling of sitting with a friend and tossing conversations back and forth. It didn't matter that their conversations usually turned out like this - laughing and not making sense.
"Mary, I worry for you. The minute you start thinking that James and Sirius are cool is the moment I am taking you to Pomfrey and ask her to examine you," he told her with a shake of his head.
The silence was filled in by the sound of chocolate breaking and he was content just to sit there. This? This was the best part of class. Just relaxing with Mary.
"Besides, everyone knows I'm the coolest Maurader," he added with a grin.
Mary turned to look up at him and smiled. "Of course. The rest of them just wish they could be as amazing as you." And part of that, at least, was true. Because even if she liked Sirius, Remus was pretty amazing. She didn't know anyone else she felt as comfortable with as she did with him.
She took another bite of chocolate and then offered a bite to him. "If you're trying to distract me, it worked, you know."
"Yeah yeah, flatterer," he said with a mouthful of chocolate and a nudge of his foot. "Charm'll get you everywhere. "
"My attempt worked? Excellent. I was thinking I would have to bring out the dancing, all singing charms and we both remember how badly that ended up last time."
He leaned his head on hers for a few moments. It was strange but Mary had become a close friend - though he knew no-one could ever come close to knowing him the way the Mauraders did. A simple accident at birth that they hadn't been born brothers.
It was so hard keeping secrets from his friends - Mary and Lily never knew why he was sometimes drained on the nights after the full on moon, or why he was reluctant to wear short sleeved tops. Not every potion could hide the scars and no matter how much he wanted to, he could never bring himself to tell them of what he was.
His heart might not be able to stand having his friends look at him with hate in their eyes. He could take the name-calling , and insinuations (goodness knows he'd been doing so for long enough with Snape) but if they ever looked at him in fear..
He gave himself a mental shrug and leaned in closer to Mary before offering her his hand. "Hey MacDonald, want to walk me to my common room?"
Mary leaned into him and then took his hand, threading her fingers through it and squeezing it. "I suppose I could considering it's my common room too. Does this mean I get to try and take advantage of you?" She stood up and helped pull him to his feet.
"You could try," he told her as he pulled his bag from the ground and squeezed her hand back slightly. "But I feel its only fair to warn you that I have a spotless reputation and it shouldn't be maligned."