➪ 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.

Gently tapping his foot against the ground, Remus sighed. He folded his left arm, using the right hand to prop his head up as he pretended to pay attention to the lesson. His thoughts trailed back to the recent events, sparing a glance back to Loki as he pondered how to word his apology.

It was about halfway through the lesson on centaur traditions when Loki felt a tap against her arm. She flinched, her eyes flicking down to see a neatly folded square of paper. She didn't look at Remus when she picked it up, and hastily undid it, quietly stressing about the note's contents.

'I'm sorry about running off. Can we talk after class?

-R.L'

Loki felt the corner of her mouth quirk. She found it amusing Remus signed the note, despite him being the only one able to give it to her. And him being the only one with anything to say.

Loki glanced back up at the teacher, then rushed out her reply.

'I'm glad you aren't giving me the silent treatment. Sure, after class.

-L.H'

Loki slid the note back, then continued to jot down the passage on the blackboard. She heard the paper, followed by a silent sigh of relief, then the slight creak in Remus's chair.

"Thank you," he whispered, bringing a grin to the girl's face.

➪

"DID YOU TELL?"

"A half-truth so the boys would get off my back," Remus replied, shoving his hands in his robe pockets.

Loki and the boy strolled down the corridor, side-by-side. They stood close enough for them to hear each other, but far enough, so Loki didn't feel awkward. She nodded, raising her hand to scratch her neck.

"Can I ask about Marcel? And the whole, uh... marriage thing?" Remus inquired, his tense tone evident in his curious words.

Loki sighed, fidgeting with her hands. "I knew you'd want to know." She glanced around, scanning the corridor for any of Marcel or her brother's friends. "So that you know, it's not one hundred percent set in stone. Of course, I don't have a say, Marcel knows what he wants and will do anything for it.

"This only started after the Second or Third Year. See, my brother and I don't have the same mother, so he's a pureblood, and I'm only a half-blood," Loki continued.

"Let me guess," Remus sighed, "he assumed you were a pureblood?"

"Yeah," Loki nodded.

Remus hummed, his hands grabbing the inner material of his pockets and bunching it up in his fists. He let out a long breath, thanking Merlin he knew the truth.

"Hey," he nudged the girl beside him after noticing the silence between them. She looked up at him curiously. "I'm sorry. About Marcel and just running away without letting you explain." He pulled a hand from his pocket, running it through his hair.

"It's okay, Remus," Loki smiled. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I really like you, Loki," Remus admitted. "Like, a lot." His cheeks burned red and quickly averted his gaze. "And, uh, the—the—the... the kiss..."

"Heh, we... yeah," Loki squeaked, her face also turning red as she pulled her arms to her chest. Then she remembered her kiss with Sirius, and she felt her entire face heat up. "Yeah, we did that."

"How would you feel if I—if we, uh," Remus faltered, glancing at the flustered girl beside him. Remus gulped, tugging the girl to the side of the hallway, holding her shoulders as he tried to spit out the sentence he wanted to say. "Do you want to go out on a date with me? A proper one where Sirius doesn't interrupt us."

"So that was a date?" Loki's eyes widened. "I mean, yes. Yes, I—I would. I'd like that a lot. You know, because I like you a lot too."

Remus let out a chuckle, the knot of anxiety in his chest loosened. Noticing Loki still stressing out slightly over her rambling, Remus brought a hand to the back of her head. Loki paused her speaking. She looked up at him in confusion. He smiled at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Thanks," he muttered, moving slightly back to look at her. "For everything." He pulled away. "We've still got some time before Lunch, did you wanna go see the boys? Or did you have plans with your friends?"

"No, no," Loki grinned giddily. "Let's go see the boys."

➪ AUTHOR'S NOTE ➪

hi :) how are you? I hope you're doing okay. If you're not, I hope things get better soon. Have some water, make you stay hydrated! Go have a snack :)

So, what did y'all think? Did you like it?

I don't wanna keep you here, so I guess I'll see you later. I hope you have a good day! :)