The Moon Looks Brighter Than the Sun

It’s the first Hogsmeade weekend of the school year and Remus woke up early. Thankfully for Remus the full moon had come the week before and he didn’t have to worry about skipping out on going to Honeydukes. His stash of chocolates he had, usually to attempt to relieve his stress before a full moon, had quickly diminished last week. He got dressed quickly and walked down to breakfast, leaving his friends to sleep in. As he walked to the Great Hall, his mind went back to the full moon night. Nothing would of prepared him for how terrible it was. New scars adorned his torso from trying to rip himself open to let the animal outside of him. After that full moon night, Remus had spent the following two days in the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey saw the new wounds he made. She was only able to close them, to heal them but they left scars. Scars were always left. Remus tried to talk himself out after the first day but quickly gave up after the fifth attempt.

Madame Pomfrey did allow James, Sirius and Peter to visit the first night after dinner. They were left alone and Sirius quick casted a Silencing Charm. “So, mate, we were thinking and we’re going to be come Animagi.” James spoke with his normal enthusiasm. Sirius nodded with a small smirk as Peter smiled wide, like he was the one who came up with the ever so brilliant idea. Remus furrowed his brow.

“Why?” At first he couldn’t wrap his mind around why his friends wanted to be able to Transfigure themselves into animals at their own will. He hated doing it himself and he had no choice. He gave them a look, waiting for their answer. James shrugged.

“So we can be with you on full moons and help you out. I mean seriously, think about it, say we’re huge animals just like a werewolf. We can keep you in check and you can get out all that rage the animal inside of you feels.” James had on his rare serious face. Remus started laughing.

“You lot are mental. There’s no way in hell you three could become Animagi, successfully, and I’m not letting you out with me on full moons. What if I hurt you? Another brilliant plan thwarted by your lack of common sense.” Remus pursed his lips. He didn’t mean to sound so mean or so rude. He felt tired and angry, still, after the change and usually the week around the full moon left the boy moody. His friends didn’t take the rudeness to heart. They all laughed.

“And you act like we listen to you, just because you’re a prefect and all. But mate, you need us. We’re all best mates, yeah?” Sirius quipped with his usual charming smile. “And we did eventually figure out that map, which would help us a lot.”

Remus rolled his eyes, “yeah I had to help you with that map. So I’m going to have to help you with this Animagi business as well?” All three of his friends nodded and smiled wide. Remus had learned not to fight James or Sirius on any of their ideas. They’d just do the task anyway and didn’t care about the consequences. Peter did everything and anything James and Sirius did. Remus, honestly, couldn’t stop them.

“Oh!” James said suddenly, after a small silence fell between them. He pulled out a few bits of parchment and a book and handed them to Remus. “Elise told me to give these to you. And tell you that you missed a lot in Runes today. And that she missed you.” Remus looked up, a warm blush falling over his cheeks and neck as he realized what James said. James began laughing. “Only joking, Moony, she didn’t say that. But it was implied.”

Remus felt embarrassed. Just looking over the neatly written notes from Elise Wilkes made his heart race. She thought about him. “She’s going to find out. She’s not daft.” He began to panic now and his friends shared a look.

“No, she’s not.” James started, reaching over to clamp a hand on Remus’s shoulder.

“Even if she does, I’m sure she still likes you, mate. She’s not a mean person or even the slightest prejudice.” Sirius gave his mate a small smile. Remus is so afraid of his condition, who he has to be every full moon. He cried in their second year when James, Peter and Sirius had all figured it out. He felt so ashamed of being a werewolf and the stigma with werewolves is all but positive.

“Are you joking?” Remus asked, looking at his friends with a straight face. The three of them shook their heads.

“Elise and Lily said they wanted to visit you but Pomfrey said no. That’s why Elise gave all those notes to James,” Peter spoke up. He also pulled something out of his bag like he just remembered. “I forgot, I also brought these.” Peter handed over the chocolate bars to his bed ridden friend. Remus actually smiled, really wide. At both the chocolate and that Elise wanted to visit them.

“See, Moony, a girl likes you. Who would of ever thought?” James joked and the four all laughed together.

“Alright, alright. Whatever you say, James, now go so I can eat in peace and sleep. This way I can leave quicker.” Remus smiled to his friend and they smiled back. The three boys left and Madame Pomfrey returned to give Remus more potions.

“Drink up dear, I want you here tomorrow.”

Remus sat down for breakfast this Saturday morning alone at first but then was quickly accompanied by a smirking James, a smirking Sirius and a very happy smiling Peter. Remus raised an eyebrow as he took a bite out of his toast. “What?”

“Hogsmeade weekend, mate.” Was all James said and Remus looked at his friend to explain more. But Sirius did.

“What James, here, means is that you need to walk right up to Elise Wilkes and ask her out on a date.” Sirius smirked before his eyes travelled past Remus to a Ravenclaw blonde currently giving him the eye. He stood up, not even bothering to say something to his friends before strutting his way towards the girl.

Peter furrowed his brow, “how does he just go up to birds like that?” The question seemed to frequent the shy boy. He could talk to girls, a bit better than Remus it seemed but they all knew him as ‘James and Sirius’s friend’ not Peter Pettigrew.

“It’s called confidence, my dear Peter, something that you need to dig deep inside that Gryffindor heart of yours and use.” James looked up as Lily and Elise began walking down towards their end of the table. “Watch.” He smirked, getting up and running a hand through his unruly hair. He sauntered right up to the red head, still with a smirk. “Morning, Evans. Has anyone told you how lovely you look today?”

At first Peter watched in awe. How could James just walk up to Lily and say that? All Peter could ever do is smile and say a greeting. Nothing more. But then Lily rolled her eyes, scoffing at the tall boy before pushing past him. Elise Wilkes giggled, giving James a small smile before sitting down with Lily on the other side of Remus. “Hello, Remus,” she muttered quietly. Remus almost choked on his toast.

“Oh,” he took a sip of his pumpkin juice, “good morning, Elise.” Remus and Elise smiled to each other. Peter laughed quietly, trying to pretend like he was eating. He found it funny how shy Remus was being. Remus is far more brilliant than Peter ever could be. There is no point in being shy towards Elise. James sat back down next to Peter with a scowl on his face. Lily Evans is one tough girl to crack. He honestly meant the words he said just a bit more than anyone else he’s ever tried to pick up. Almost every other girl was effortless. James hated it and loved it at the same time.

The things you do for love.

“So, um, you lot going to Hogsmeade?” Elise spoke up after a few minutes of a silent breakfast. Lily’s head shot up from the Daily Prophet to give Elise a stare. She didn’t want Elise to invite Potter and his friends. But Lily then remembered that she, along with Potter and Sirius, wanted Elise to date Remus. Her eyes cut to James and he gave her a knowing look. Yeah, the plan is definitely in motion today.

Peter spoke up to Elise, “yeah, we are. Are you two going, then? We should go together.” Peter gave a small smile to the beautiful girl. If he didn’t know that Remus liked Elise, he would try to get to know her more and possibly date her. She’s pretty and sweet. But also completely right for Remus. Peter valued his friendship with Remus, along with James and Sirius.

Elise shrugged, smiling shyly. “Probably. We’re waiting on Marlene to get her lazy butt out of bed.” Elise giggled, looking down a bit, “but it would be nice for us to all hang out together. Like proper friends, yeah?” Elise blushed a bit. She didn’t know if the boys considered her a friend. At this point Sirius joined them again after finding the blonde Ravenclaw daft and boring.

“Proper friends? Elise Wilkes wants to be friends with us? Well, then, I’m honored. How ‘bout you, Remus?” Sirius smirked. Remus blushed, especially when Elise giggled.

“Don’t embarrass him, Sirius Black!” She reached across the table and playfully slapped Sirius’s hand. “Remus doesn’t have to feel honored to be my friend,” her smile faded a bit, she turned to Remus. “We’re friends, yeah?”

Remus blushed a deep red, his heart raced against his chest. He managed to swallow his food and nod, “y-yeah fr-friends.” He gave Elise a smile, a small smile but still a sweet one and she returned one, a small blush forming on her cheeks as well.

Sirius pulled a face, “right. So Hogsmeade, I could use a butterbeer and a look at anything new that Zonko’s may have.” He began to stand up, giving the group a look before noticing Marlene. He found himself smirking. “Ah, McKinnon. Would you like to come with Peter and I to the Three Broomsticks? This lot may follow, if they would like.” Sirius sent a wink to James before walking around the table to meet Marlene. The girl began to blush deeply as Sirius walked up to her. She’s always had a big crush on him but tried hard not to let it show. Peter followed, unsure of why he needed to tag along.

As those three began to leave, James jumped up and gave Lily a smirk. “Come on Evans, I’m sure you don’t want to leave your mate by herself with Sirius, do you?” Lily rolled her eyes, she knew what he was playing at. A way to have Remus and Elise alone but at the same time, this means Lily would be alone with James Potter. Gag!

“Right, whatever, come on.” Lily muttered, getting up from the table and walked ahead of James instead of with them. Elise began to furrow her brow as did Remus. They both gave each other a look.

“They’re getting weirder as they grow up.” Remus spoke, almost absentmindedly as they both got up from the table. Elise giggled.

“Strange how these things work, hmm?” She gave Remus a smile, although she felt completely nervous. Truth be told, Elise Wilkes had missed Remus when he had fallen “ill” and was in the Hospital wing. She has always felt bad about either getting sick or visiting his ill mother. She knew his secret, of course, she knew the moon cycle easily since Astronomy is one of her favorite classes next to Ancient Runes. But she would wait for Remus to tell her, if he ever felt that comfortable around her. She would just feel terrible if she told him that she did in fact know he’s a werewolf. Elise licked her lips, thinking about taking Remus’s hand and telling him that everything’s going to be okay. That his mother will get better, he’ll be fine and won’t get sick so often. Because to Elise, someone so kind and gentle like Remus deserves to have someone try to quell his nervous. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. He’s probably think of her as weird and she just couldn’t make a fool of herself. Not in front of him. “So, er, did you manage to catch up on your Runes work?” She asked, looking at the boy with a soft smile.

Remus looked up, his heart pounding faster than normal with anxiety. He blushed like mad, looking down as his walking feet. “I, uh, yeah I did. Thank you for the notes by the way. That was very sweet of you.” Remus could have slapped his own forehead. He sounded ridiculous. Here’s a girl that he really, really likes and he’s just calling her sweet? Is that honestly his best compliment? Remus seemed furious within himself and all Elise did was softly say “it was my pleasure.”

The couple hadn’t noticed that the rest of their friends were quite a head of them. So far in fact that they could all fit in one carriage and make Elise and Remus to wait for another, by themselves. James was smirking, this plan seemed to be working just fine. Lily still seemed apprehensive, what if her friend asked her to wait? Sirius had his arm around Marlene, keeping the other girl completely oblivious to the plan that is actually in action.

Phase 1: Hogsmeade weekend. Separate Elise and Remus from the pack. By themselves, they’d have to talk and have to have fun.

That was only part of phase 1, phase 1 will continue all the way to supper. James had thought that by getting the two alone, they’d be forced out of their awkward, beat around the bush ways and actually start talking to each other. Get to know one another. Something that he’s actually always wanted to do with Evans, but that will never happen. Not at this rate. Sirius went along with it, knowing that if he controlled Peter, he can get Remus alone no problem. Peter didn’t know what the three had planned, hell, he had no idea why they were so far from Remus. But he clung to every word Sirius was saying in order to woo Marlene. Anything pointers he could pick up so he can woo someone of his own.

The carriage was waiting for them, just the carriage that pulls itself, and the five of them piled in. Remus and Elise were watching their friends get into the carriage. “What are they doing?” Remus asked out lout, furrowing his brow as Elise shook her head. She tried hard not to smile when James had winked to them.

“See you lot at the Three Broomsticks!” He yelled out to them before closing the door behind him. The carriage was off. James squeezed himself in between Marlene and Lily, which caused Marlene to giggle and get up to join Sirius and Peter. Sirius pulled Marlene on to his lap with a smirk, ignoring the wild blush on the girl’s face. Peter looked out the window at the passing scenery. Lily angrily glared at James who just smiled back.

“Why did we leave Remus and Elise?” Peter finally voiced and the planning trio had given each other a look. But Sirius shrugged, taking action in answering Peter.

“Because. They were being slow, mate, and obviously James wanted to get next to Lily and if Elise was here, that wouldn’t have happened.” James sent a glare to his best mate as Lily’s face grew red with anger.

“Once we get to Hogsmeade, Marlene and I are going off by our own. You can tell Elise to find us.” Lily spoke in a matter of fact tone which made Marlene bite her lip.

“But, Lils, I was hoping we could hang out with the boys. It’s always us girls and well, you know.” Marlene gave Lily a look, slightly leaning her head towards Sirius to show that Marlene wanted to spend more time with Sirius, especially if he’s going to be keeping his arm around her. Lily sighed loudly.

“Fine.” Just one word was enough for James to put on a smug smile and sit back in his seat in a triumphant matter. Lily just sulked.

Remus stared at the fleeting carriage with his mouth open. What were his mates playing at? Leaving him alone with the girl he fancies…what are they doing? Remus quickly straightened up, remembering the gorgeous brunette standing next to him. He turned to her, a nervous smile playing on his lips. Elise returned a bright smile, “so do you want to talk and pass the time?” The next carriage wouldn’t come for another five minutes and the two didn’t have much to do. Remus nodded, agreeing with talking but didn’t know what to start out talking about.

“I, um, sure? What should we talk about?” He asked her, looking down at her short stature. He couldn’t suppress the smile that appeared. Elise is at least a foot, maybe a bit less, shorter than him and he couldn’t help but find that cute. Elise looked up at Remus with a small laugh, shrugging as she is unsure of what to talk about as well.

“We could always talk about what had you in the Hospital Wing for two days,” she started, trying to sound as coy as possible. As normal as possible, like she isn’t trying to pry into his very private personal life. She also wouldn’t mind it if Remus would feel more comfortable just to tell her his secret. She hated knowing but him not knowing that she knew. Elise bit her lip, “or your parents. Your family. You know, er, anything.” She quickly covered, feeling her heart beat faster as anxiety filled her. What if she offended Remus? What if he left her?

Remus felt his face drain of blood. Had she figured out his secret? Of course she has, she’s brilliant. Would she be mean enough to tell everyone? To banish Remus from society much like his kind should be? Remus stumbled over his words, stuttering out vowels and constantans. “I-I had the-the flu,” he said, staring at the ground with a warm blush filling his cheeks. It was a terrible lie. Remus Lupin has never been terribly good at lying, which is why he could barely even keep the secret of his lycanthropy from his best mates. He had cried and told them that their suspicions are correct. What if Elise told the whole school if he let his secret slip? Remus couldn’t even bear the thought. He’d have to leave Hogwarts. Remus must have looked terrible if Elise grabbed his hand and gave him a small smile.

“I’m glad you’re better. There’s no reason to be embarrassed of the flu, everyone gets it.” Elise let go of Remus’s hand with a small blush. She couldn’t understand her crush. She could be so confident around Remus and then so shy the next. He was so mysterious, she needed to know more about him. But how to get him to talk? “You know my brother, Austin? I think he’ll be expelled one of these days or sent to Azkaban, he’s evil.” She commented, almost like it wasn’t a big of a deal. Elise never understood her brother. How he hung out with the bad Slytherins, the ones that everyone knows just breathes evil. Like Mulciber and Avery, she hated those two.

“Your brother once tried to duel James, in our third year I think, and ended up losing. I’m not that afraid of your brother after that.” Remus laughed a bit, shrugging as he gave her a look. Elise ended up laughing herself.

“Oh! That’s why he was so moody! That’s hilarious though. So, is James really that good with a wand like everyone says? Most of what I’ve seen is him messing around with Sirius in class.” Elise couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She’s getting Remus to talk to her, to laugh with her, to smile with her, and no stuttering.

“He thinks he’s brilliant, you know with that giant ego of his, but he’s better than most. I told him he should join Dueling Club just to show off some more. He loves showing off.” Remus couldn’t help but smile as he talked about his best mate. James is obviously Remus’s best mate but the fellow Gryffindor boy has a bit of an ego and everyone knows it. He also couldn’t help but notice how much Elise was liking this conversation. Just keep talking, Remus, he told himself. “You know if Lily joined the club, I’m sure he’ll join in a heartbeat. She’s been complaining to me about James, does she do that with you?”

Elise nodded, almost right as soon as he asked that question, “yes! All the time. Half the time I just want to slap her and make her realize that she’s actually in love with him. But I let her complain, time will show her that Potter isn’t that bad. She’s just got her knickers crossed because James and Sev don’t get along.” Remus had made a face at the mention of Severus Snape, a known school enemy of Remus and his friends. Especially enemies with James. Elise caught his face, “you don’t like Severus, do you?”

Slowly Remus shook his head, “he has something against me, I don’t know what to be honest. He just doesn’t like me. Then he hates James and his stupid ego, probably hates James for always making Lily mad, you know? And then Sirius and him, I don’t know what it is, but they can’t stand each other.” Remus shrugged, giving Elise a small look, “Peter doesn’t like Snape probably because we don’t.”

The carriage slowly approached them, pulled by itself like usual. Remus helped Elise up and acted like a perfect gentleman. Elise couldn’t even pretend not to be happy about talking to Remus or even being near Remus this long. Especially alone. She didn’t even have to go to Hogsmeade to feel like today was a complete success. She was able to have a nice conversation with Remus and he actually seemed to enjoy it. Enjoy her. Remus just felt more than happy to be somewhat normal around the brunette girl. For a moment he can forget about his furry little secret and just let go, have fun. Because this girl is enjoying his company, for once. The ride to Hogsmeade wasn’t filled with silence or awkward tension. No, the ride was filled with talk about their families. Remus lied about his sick mother that he visits at least once a month, thanks to Dumbledore’s kind of permission, and his father is just a normal man. Remus couldn’t tell his story about his father foolishly pissed off a werewolf and that werewolf bit his son in revenge. He couldn’t say that every month he turns into a ravenous monster thanks to the full moon. Instead he just made up his life, his humble and poor life that explained this shabby clothing and second hand books. Elise talked about her opposite family. The rich Wilkes and their pureblood mania. Elise made sure to tell Remus that she didn’t care about blood status. If she were to fall in love, she’d fall in love based on their personality and who they are. Not their blood. And mentioned how her mother is constantly on her case about finding a nice pureblooded bloke. But Elise didn’t care, she just wanted to have fun. She’s only fifteen.

They got to Hogsmeade and instantly walked to the Three Broomsticks where they’d meet their friends. Their friends sat at a large table, drinking butterbeers and talking. Sirius was talking into Marlene’s ear, she giggled about whatever he said. Mary MacDonald had joined them and was talking to Peter about something that seemed to frighten the poor boy. Lily was ignoring everyone and James was trying to get her to talk. “Uh, I’ll get us some drinks. Would you like a butterbeer?” Remus asked, turning to Elise.

She nodded and smiled, “yes, with ginger please.” Remus nodded and mumbled that he’d be right back. Elise moved across the Three Broomsticks to where her friends sat. She sat down next to Lily, leaving a seat open for Remus. Lily seemed to liven up as Elise joined them.

“Thank Merlin you’re here. I’m not having any fun.” Lily dramatically spoke to Elise, gesturing to the rest of the table. “Marlene and Sirius are literally about to start snogging any moment. Peter and Mary are fretting over Potions on Monday. I’m bored. Potter is talking my ear off about,” she turned slightly to him, “stuff I don’t care for.” Then she turned back to Elise, “are you bored? We could go back together?” Lily looked at her friend with hopeful eyes.

James took this opportunity to talk, “so how was the ride, Elise? Remus keep you in good spirits?” He asked, acting like Remus could do anything less than keep Elise happy. He also spoke loudly, which annoyed Lily greatly. Elise couldn’t help but blush when Remus returned. He handed her the butterbeer with ginger and sat down in his own chair with butterbeer.

“Remus was a perfect gentleman and the perfect person to talk to while you lot were here.” Elise told James, smiling over to Remus who blushed and drank he butterbeer quickly.

James couldn’t help but smile, looking down at Lily, “hear that Evans? Elise had a great time with Remus. And we should let them have a great time for the remainder of this day in Hogsmeade. You should come with Peter, Mary and I to Honeydukes. I’ll buy you a chocolate.” Lily found herself growling out a reply before pushing her chair back and looking to James.

“Come on then.” She told him, her anger still rising as she left the table. Peter and Mary got up, still chatting about something and James followed Lily, giving a wink back to Remus and Elise. Elise then noticed that Sirius and Marlene are missing.

“Honestly, I think they want us to be alone or something.” Elise said, sipping on her butterbeer with a smile. It warmed her up, from her toes to the top of her head. She could probably drink butterbeer all the time if it were possible. Remus almost choked on his butterbeer. That sounded like something James and Sirius would cook up, he thought as he looked to Elise.

“Sounds like it, huh?” He gave the girl a smile. He noticed how pretty her eyes looked as he was sitting so close to her. They were gray, mostly, but with a few flecks of a greenish blue in them. A color one couldn’t see unless right next to the girl like he was right at this moment. “What do you want to do after this?” He asked her, drinking from his butterbeer once more. He almost didn’t want to leave the Three Broomsticks but he didn’t want to bore the poor girl.

Elise shrugged, “wanna just go to Honeydukes then see where we go from there?” Remus couldn’t help but smile a wide grin as he nodded. “Sounds perfect,” he told her with one last finish of his butterbeer.