(16 : COUPLE IT WITH SOMETHING . . .
MAKE IT A WORD AND A BLOW)

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     NEITHER JAMES OR JULIET HAD spoken to each other in three months. After their talk outside of the dungeons, Juliet continued to avoid James and Sirius where possible, remaining stubborn in the decision to distance herself. Both boys did try — repeatedly — to convince the Slytherin girl that pushing people away wasn't a healthy coping mechanism. Alas, it was early March when James started to relent and focus his efforts elsewhere.

On his way to DADA, James was rifling through his satchel to find some homework when his hand caught on something he had forgotten about with everything else going on — mainly the rising attacks from Death Eaters and his situation with Juliet. "Moony!" James exclaimed, showing his friend the book. "We never found the girl who lost her book — the depressing muggle one."

    Remus rolled his eyes at the description. "I doubt she cares that it's gone now. You stole — I'm sorry, found — this in October."

     "I know, but she looked so sad," James explained as the pair walked into the classroom and took their usual seats. "I want to find her again and see how she is, maybe cheer her up. I wonder if she thought the ending was as dumb as I did."

    Regarding James with caution as he chattered happily, Remus asked, "And this isn't you obsessing over someone else because both Juliet and Lily are now ignoring you?"

"Of course not," James denied hotly. "I'm doing a good thing for someone. That's it."

Before Remus could further express his doubts, the teacher arrived and silenced the class. More concerned with flicking through the battered copy of Romeo and Juliet, James didn't catch the worried glances of Remus as he scanned the pages for a hint as to who the owner could be, quill dangling from his mouth.

     Remus Lupin knew many things. Remus Lupin knew James liked Juliet. Remus Lupin also knew he liked an impossible task, he liked fixing people — the band of misfits known as the Marauders were proof of that — but his ever changing bouts of obsession were making the werewolf question who would be the one to fix him. James Potter always seemed the most put together out of the four of them, but he was falling apart at the seams and the boys could only seem to hold his stuffing together, not sew him back up.

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Juliet was not having a good day. First, her alarm didn't go off, meaning she missed breakfast. Second, her new wand was being extremely difficult and turned her hair frizzy when she tried to cast a drying charm. Third, she was on patrol later that night and couldn't find her copy of Romeo and Juliet anywhere. If it was quiet, she had planned to read it for the umpteenth time, but was nearing a breakdown when she couldn't find the book that had greatly changed her perceptions on muggles. All in all, her day was off to a disastrous start and showed no signs of improving.

     Disheveled, Juliet ran into her Defence Against Dark Arts class the moment the bell rang and rushed to the last available seat. A few people in the class zeroed in on the redhead because it was unusual to see her looking anything less than composed and perfect. They all quickly turned around when they caught sight of her glower though.

"Good morning everyone," Professor Madden loudly greeted. "Today we'll be doing something a little more unconventional at the behest of Headmaster Dumbledore. He has asked me to cover a wider range of defensive magic from here on, magic that isn't on the curriculum and you won't necessarily be examined on but will be useful when you graduate next year."

Prone to rambling and spontaneous outbursts, Professor Madden was a peculiar man with a penchant for surprising his students. All that being said, he was an extremely capable teacher that balanced lecture and practical work well. It was a shame some bizarre circumstances would likely force him to leave at the end of the year.

A Ravenclaw with a raised hand questioned, "What kind of topics will you cover? Will we get extra credit for this?"

"As sixth years, you'll be covering patronuses, blood magic and the Unforgivable Curses in addition to N.E.W.T content." In exhaustion, he pinched the bridge of his nose and added, "And no, you'll be receiving no extra credit. The reward you get for the extra work will be your life because dark times are ahead. I can't hide from you the danger that is waiting outside of these walls, but I can teach you how to protect yourselves."

A heavy silence settled over the class. Even the normally rancorous Gryffindors had quieted to the point you could hear a pin drop.

"Great, now if there's no more questions, we'll be starting with the Unforgivable Curses," the teacher declared, turning to write on the blackboard. Moments later, the man was spinning back around with his wand poised and aimed at Peter Pettigrew on the front row. "CRUCIO!"

Peter screamed, high pitched and frantic.

Sirius flinched, an anomaly considering he usually held a cool demeanour.

James and Remus were reaching for their own wands.

From the back, Juliet stifled a yawn.

"Huh," Peter laughed nervously. "I don't know what people are complaining about. That didn't even hurt."

"That's because it didn't work, Mr Pettigrew," said Professor Madden quietly. "Can anyone tell me why my Cruciatus Curse was ineffective when cast?"

Lazily, James lifted his hand and suggested, "You're an incompetent wizard that isn't actually qualified for the job? Because it wouldn't be the first time that's happened."

"I assure you that is not the case, Mr Potter." The teacher nodded to Juliet in the back, knowing it was rare for her to raise her hand, even if she was a good student. "Yes, Miss Fawley?"

"You didn't have the intent to harm him," she blurted out. "The Cruciatus Curse only works if you really want it to."

"Correct, five points to Slytherin!"

Someone Juliet couldn't even recall the name of then shouted out, "That's not fair! Of course she would know that. I bet she can perform that curse in her sleep."

"Would you like to test that theory?" dared Juliet, making a show of doing a fancy spin with her wand. "Might as well make it a word and blow since you think I'm so despicable."

"Enough!" shouted Professor Madden. "It's more important than ever you don't turn against each other. I'm well aware that some of you," she swore his eyes lingered on the ones wearing green and silver ties, "might agree with Voldemort's ideals, but that doesn't mean I'll tolerate baseless accusations in my classroom."

Knowing it was best to pick her battles, Juliet pursed her lips. Remus Lupin stared at her thoughtfully.

     "The point of my demonstration was magic is more than knowing the incantations and wand movements," he informed them. "Whilst I can't cast any of the Unforgivable Curses in the classroom without ending up in Azkaban, I can teach you to always be prepared. Pettigrew wasn't expecting his own teacher to turn on him, the people who use this type of dark magic won't give you a warning and they won't always be easy to spot. Other than avoiding the curse, there aren't many options to protect yourself unless you can interrupt the caster or hide behind something solid."

     The same Ravenclaw from before scowled. "You're telling us we need to be fast? There's no alternative other than being able to duck at the speed of light?"

     "They're dark curses for a reason, Mr Cohen. It's not as easy as casting a shield, but you make a good point. All magic is channeled in beams of light with wands acting as conduits." He tapped his wand against the desk. "In battle, it can be hard to think straight. An incredibly strong willed wizard may be able to resist the pain of the Cruciatus Curse should they have powerful enough mental wards, but that is not something that can easily be taught. Instead, I offer this . . . use their fear against them. Think like a muggle."

     Leaning forward, Juliet found it hard to hide how enraptured she was by the speech. As a victim to the curse herself, she was eagerly taking in the information.

     "Wizards often overlook the simple solutions. For example, if you carry a mirror then it is possible to deflect spells. And sometimes the way to stop a spell could be as easy as kicking a wand from a wizard's hands. Those who are too reliant on magic fail to realise how hand to hand combat can be as valuable as magical combat."

     From there on, Professor Madden proceed to explain the three curses and how they could defend themselves. Should anyone wish to actively fight the Imperius Curse though, they needed permission from Dumbledore directly. Soon enough, the bell was ringing and Juliet was still having a bad day, but she at least learnt something new.

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     "Juliet!"

     The girl in question was making a swift exit from the classroom when someone she didn't expect stopped her. "Lupin? Are you lost?"

     "No. I —" Remus stared at his shoes, not having thought his plan through. "I wanted to check you were alright."

     Glancing around, she was relieved to find the classroom was now empty. A part of her was anticipating a prank. "If this is about Black or Potter —"

    "No! That's not really any of my business. Whatever that is," he assured her in a rush. "But I wanted to let you know that not everyone agrees with what that boy said — about you being able to perform an Unforgivable in your sleep."

    Suspicious of his intentions, she tried to figure out if he was up to something or if he was always that awkward. "I don't tend to let strangers' opinions bother me, but I appreciate the sentiment."

With a small smile, Remus recited, "Let them measure us by what they will. We'll measure them a measure and be gone."

"Shakespeare," she recognised immediately. "I like that one. Now, I hate to cut our heart to heart short, but I have another class."

     Without saying goodbye, she left in a daze for Charms. Since she couldn't count on one hand the amount of conversations she had with Remus, Juliet couldn't help but replay what happened in hopes to figure out his motives. Remus, on the other hand, stared after the redhead, at last knowing the mysterious owner of the copy of Romeo and Juliet his friend had found. Although he couldn't be certain, it did seem like a particularly cruel twist of fate for the new girl James was chasing after to be the same girl he was trying to get over . . .

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A.N: Was this slightly filler-y? Perhaps, but I really need to tie up those loose ends. Remus had be connecting the dots for a while now as he'll soon lay out. There's ten chapters left of sixth year, all of which I have planned out, then of course I'll be going on seventh and then post Hogwarts life.