45 ~ Lions against Badgers

Remus has the emotional confidence of a frightened squirrel.

Remus' POV:

     "I still don't understand how they managed not to get hit by the slime..." muttered Padfoot and his gaze drifted towards the entrance of the Great Hall. At that very moment Lestrange stepped through the large winged doors with Snivellus. They headed towards their table of snakes.     "What about a secret passage?" Wormtail asked and his plate piled with omelette was enormous.     "We deliberately used corridors without secret passages. Besides, Lestrange has only known about secret passages since Fourth Year," Prongs contradicted him and spread butter on his toast. He was dressed in his Quidditch jumper, like Padfoot, because after breakfast Gryffindor would be playing against Hufflepuff.          "But Phil spends the whole summer alone at Hogwarts and knows there are loads of passages."     "Are you trying to say that we forgot to mark passages on the Marauder's Map, Moony?" Sirius asked. One eyebrow was raised.          "Yes, because the slime glands worked perfectly," I replied dryly and took a sip of my tea. I thought back to the trap and what it had been like to get hit, and although at first I had been of the opinion that we should spare Phil, slime did not kill her. Had Padfoot brought out heavier artillery, I would have said something.     "If that's true, then our map isn't accurate," Prongs pondered and clearly disliked the thought, "If we missed one passage, how many more are there?"          The rest of us did not like that thought either.     "Then our dear Moony will have to question Phil about it during the match," Sirius remarked while chewing on a sausage.          "Exactly," I said, "I'll just casually question Phil about secret passages because we don't know them. She won't tell me; she isn't that stupid. It gives her an advantage if she knows things we want from her."     "Then you'll have to use your charm," Prongs explained, waggling his eyebrows.          I looked into his brown eyes. The bespectacled boy gestured over towards the girls.     James' gaze lingered on Lily for too long, even if there was a trace of sadness in it. Although he always spoke to Lily without any hope, he did not seem to stop. He truly had the goal of convincing Lily that he was actually alright. I respected his persistence, even if he had only been doing it since the beginning of term.

No one can know that he will continue for much longer still.

     "I think Phil looks thoughtful," I commented. My eyes examined the girl. Over the past few days she had seemed tired and I did not know why. Was it because of the last full moon, because she had spoken about her past in the Hospital Wing?          "She's always thoughtful and absent-minded," Padfoot mumbled and continued eating his breakfast. I looked at him and the way he spoke with food in his mouth was exceedingly appetising.     "Normally she's quiet, yes, but more lively," I contradicted him and took my disgusted gaze away from Sirius' mouth. I looked back at Phil, who was staring absent-mindedly into the distance and holding her steaming cup in her hands, her elbows resting on the table.     "Same thing," Padfoot followed his well-known philosophy. Two emotions that resembled each other were identical to him. For that reason I sighed because he would not understand it.     "You'll talk to her during the match, so bring it up while you're at it. You like her after all," he continued.          "Why do you always say it in such a strange tone?" I was annoyed.     "It started the same way with Prongs."          "What started the same way?"     "Well, his thing for Evans."          "I don't fancy Phil!" I defended myself. It was the truth. I only liked her and still wanted to help her.     "Denial was how it started for me too," Prongs joined in teasingly. Padfoot began to snicker. Meanwhile I sighed once again, rolled my eyes and took a sip of my tea so I would not have to answer anything further.     It would not achieve anything because once the two of them got carried away with something, nothing could stop them anymore. For that reason I stayed quiet and thankfully shortly afterwards the two of them discussed tactics for the upcoming match, after which we made our way to the pitch.

Phil's POV:

     Cold wind swept around us as we left the castle and made our way towards the Quidditch pitch. Dorcas was completely excited. She kept bouncing up and down while walking, her curly ponytail swinging from side to side.     "This is going to be brilliant!" she exclaimed when the pitch came into view.          "Of course it is," Mare confirmed, "you're going to show them all!"     "Oh, I will!" Dorcas called back enthusiastically and did another little hop.          "The Hufflepuffs are going to lose," Lily said. Dorcas' gaze teasingly shifted towards Alice, who was hiding in her scarf and hat.     "What?" Alice asked and looked at her friend.          "Nothing, but Longbottom's a Hufflepuff."     "Dorcas, shhh!" Alice hissed back because Frank Longbottom was walking towards the match with his friends some distance ahead of us. Alice's eyes had widened and she had somehow become smaller.

Soon she won't have a neck anymore.

     "Awkward?" Dorcas asked teasingly. Alice's twitching eye was answer enough.          "Yes, a bit!" she hissed back and the brunette laughed. Mare and Lily were amused as well, but I did not understand it.     "If you like him, why don't you talk to him? Don't get it," I said and shrugged my shoulders.          "Because I'm scared he doesn't like me," came the reply.     I tried to understand it, truly. That was why I nodded slightly, but honestly, I knew nothing about the feeling Alice, and the girls in general, constantly talked about. I had never been in love or had an interest in someone like Alice had, because she always denied being in love; she just thought Longbottom was handsome.          "Complicated," I therefore said, "I don't know how I'd feel in a situation like that."     After those words I was surprised myself that I had said anything at all because all day long I had already been lost in thought.

"You can't escape me," whispered the all too familiar voice inside my head, but thankfully it did not continue speaking. It did not need to because it was telling the truth; I could not escape my father.

     That fact was pure reality. Therefore I could only wait. I also could not drift back into my thoughts because when we reached the Quidditch pitch, a voice sounded behind us: "Evans!"     Yes, it was Potter, who came over to us with his friends. Black was dressed in his Quidditch jumper as well.     "What do you lot want?" Dorcas asked for Lily.          "From you, that you go to the changing rooms, Meadowes," the bespectacled boy joked and Dorcas rolled her eyes, then he continued, "And from you, Lily, that you wish me luck."     "First of all, I'm still Evans to you, Potter," Lily began, but the boy opposite her merely grinned, "and secondly, I wish all of Gryffindor luck. That's all you're getting from me, live with it."     "If we win, will you go out with me then?" Potter had the audacity to ask.           "No."     "And if I score the most goals for our house?"          "Still no."     "Hm, alright. I'll think of something though, as you'll see. I can wait, Evans." After those words he disappeared towards the changing rooms with Sirius Black. Dorcas followed and we all wished her luck.

Won't need it; according to Dorcas the Hufflepuffs are worse this year.

     With that thought we made our way towards the stands while Remus and Pettigrew followed us. Something Lily noticed as well.          "What's this supposed to be?" she asked Remus. I did not know that sharp tone from the redhead when she spoke to Remus.     "Going to the stands?" he replied, "We've got the same destination."          "Yeah, unfortunately..." Lily muttered, then continued walking. I, however, wondered why she had reacted like that, though it was probably connected to the argument I had had with the Marauders.     "Marlene!" Lily greeted the next moment and I saw the two greet one another. Marlene was already there with her friend Tara. We joined them. And by we I also meant Remus and Pettigrew, who sat beside me because I was sitting at the edge. Mare sat directly beside me, talking with Alice and Marlene. Remus was on my other side.     "Oh, I'm so excited for the match," Marlene gushed and looked expectantly down at the pitch, "Sirius told me it'll be child's play for Gryffindor. Especially because they've got him as their fabulous Beater, handsome Beater."     The blonde gushed about Black, which Lily acknowledged with a grim expression because the two of them still had their open relationship. An open relationship that seemed to be becoming more for Marlene, however. She continued raving about Black, which made Remus beside me cough to suppress a laugh.

Then why exactly is he sitting here with Pettigrew if it bothers him?

     There was little space between us. Remus noticed my look. I looked into his green eyes, then asked: "Then why are you here?" I subtly nodded towards Marlene, who was currently beside herself because the teams were flying onto the pitch.     My gaze, however, remained on Remus, who shrugged his shoulders and calmly replied: "I quite like this specific spot."          "Right," I said and could not make sense of him, "And if I were sitting one row further down, would you still prefer this exact spot?"     With that question I triggered something in him because Remus straightened slightly and became subtly uneasy. He did not seem to have expected me to come to the conclusion that quickly that he wanted something from me, or rather the Marauders did. I was not stupid, nor slow at thinking.     "In that case I'd prefer the seat beside it," Remus admitted hesitantly.           I nodded knowingly.     Briefly my gaze wandered down to the pitch where the captains of the two teams shook hands, then the whistle sounded. The people shot into the air. The match began and cheers erupted everywhere, the Chasers flew back and forth and the Bludgers also made their way through the skies. Today was a beautiful day. The sky was a bright grey through which the sun shimmered dully.     "James Potter scores the first points for Gryffindor!" came through the loudspeaker and my eyes found Potter, who had thrown the Quaffle through the right hoop. I saw his gaze travel towards the stands, find Lily and give her a cheeky wink.

Yes, poor Lily...

     "Can you actually play as well?" I asked Remus although I should really have asked him what he wanted from me. The match had distracted me though and now I was curious. Remus was at almost every one of his friends' training sessions, yet he always seemed to me as if Quidditch bored him, at least a little.          "Yeah, I can play."     At that moment Black had to hit a Bludger back. Dorcas, meanwhile, caught the Quaffle from a Hufflepuff, but two badgers flew towards her and boxed her in. She cleverly dropped the leather ball downwards and one of her teammates caught it.          "In First Year everyone has flying lessons," Remus continued, "and when the boys get the idea that they want to train even more on top of their training, Peter and I have to suffer through it. In general though I don't really like it. I mean, I don't have any issues with heights, but I also don't fancy being chased by other players or getting hit by Bludgers."     I nodded at his words while Hufflepuff scored, then Gryffindor again.          "So what do you want from me now?" I studied the boy beside me. Remus Lupin was silent for a moment, but then quickly came out with the truth. It was one that made me smirk.     "The other day when you and Lestrange were walking down the corridor: how did you get past the slime glands unharmed?"

Ah, so that's what this is about, I thought.The Marauders know nothing about the countless little passages in Hogwarts, or at least not about this one.

     "What slime glands?"     One could see Remus considering whether I was merely pretending not to know about their trap or whether I genuinely knew nothing about it.     "Don't play dumb," he commented and came to the correct conclusion.          "Why do you even want to know how we managed it? And yes, I know you don't just want to know personally, right, Pettigrew?"     The boy suddenly flinched because he had been listening with one ear.     "Well, yes, we just want to know whether there's a secret passage there," Pettigrew explained quietly, but Remus shot him a warning glance.     "Yeah, there is a secret passage there," I replied dryly and Remus looked as if he had misheard me. He seemed to wonder why I was revealing the secret although I could perhaps have used it to my advantage.     "Have fun looking for it and by the way, there are plenty more like it," I said mysteriously, "I've got a lot of time in the summer."     Afterwards I briefly had to laugh, but then added: "Are the Marauders less the Marauders now because there's something they don't know?" and it occurred to me that I spent too much time with Elizabeth because in that moment I enjoyed provoking Remus. After my words he fell into thought.      I focused on the match, which Gryffindor later won.