"SO..." HENRY CHANG said sheepishly after having taken his last sip of butterbeer. He and Claudia had ended up with two glasses of the drink in the Three Broomsticks, which is where they were sitting in that very moment.

So far the date had been fun. Henry was sweet and Claudia felt safe - but something was still off.

To put it simply, he wasn't Remus.

"So..." she repeated, the silence being comfortable yet a bit awkward. "I actually wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you two things."

"Alright, what?" Henry chuckled.

"Why is that girl staring at us?" She asked, referring to the pretty girl who was staring right at them with a sad look on her face as people around her laughed.

"Oh," Henry sighed. "That's Jia Li. She's kind of my...ex, I guess."

"Your ex?"

"Yeah...things didn't exactly end that great," he shrugged with a look on his face that Claudia couldn't quite read.

"What happened?" Claudia asked bluntly. "Sorry, you don't have to say."

"Don't apologise," Henry assured. "I, uhm, I told her that I loved her and she kind of lost it, I guess."

Sounds familiar.

"Lost it?"

"She wasn't ready, or something. She didn't know how to handle it so she left. She probably hates me now."

"I'm sorry," Claudia said comfortingly. "If it makes you feel any better I don't think she hates you. She wouldn't be looking at you like that if she did."

"I guess not," Henry said, meeting her eyes as they both thought about a boy whose name started with an R and ended with an S. "Tell me, what happened between you and-"

"I'm not done!" Claudia laughed. "I've got another question."

"Right."

"Uh, so this might be a bit blunt," she warned. "But don't you think it's a bit inappropriate for us to be here? Like, on a date?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're the team captain, I'm a member of your team," she said. "I don't want the rest of the team to think I charmed my way in there...because I didn't do that, right?!"

"No," Henry said with an amused smile. "You made the team because you were the best seeker there. Not because you're cute."

Claudia didn't know what to reply to that, so she merely shook her head with a small laugh, "So, should I be worried?"

"About what?"

"About what they would think?"

"Don't worry about it," Henry assured. "It's none of their business. And if you're referring to Mary glaring at us over there, she'll get over it."

Claudia glanced towards the thirteen year old that Henry was referring to, only to find her glaring at the pair in the most angry and disgusted way.

Claudia and Henry both believed it was because Claudia was on a date with their team captain, but in reality it was because of Remus.

Claudia was supposed to be with bloody Remus, not Henry!

And Mary felt like pouring butterbeer over Claudia as she, a few minutes prior, had seen the boy in question entering the pub with his three friends - his eyes immediately going to Claudia.

And, to put it lightly, Remus did not look okay.

Not at all.

"Let's just pretend she isn't glaring at you," said Henry comfortingly as he placed a hand on hers, and then intertwining their fingers.

"Right," Claudia sighed, turning her eyes away from the glaring girl towards the other side of the pub - which definitely just made things worse.

She met eyes with Remus, who wore a frown on his face as he sat by a table with the rest of the Marauders. He wore a frown that was placed somewhere between anger and sadness.

Claudia knew what it was, deep inside.

Jealousy.

She had hurt him - and she hated herself for it.

She couldn't think of what to do to get him off of her mind, but she tore her eyes off of him as she removed her hand away from Henry's.

But it was too late.

Remus had seen their intertwined hands, and in all honesty it just made things even worse.

He felt angry. He didn't know if he was angry at her or at Henry or at himself or the world or the universe - but he was angry.

He had told her that he loved her in the letter. And there she was, holding hands and drinking butterbeer with another boy.

Words couldn't even explain how much it hurt.

All Remus knew was that he needed to get the hell out of there to save himself from it hurting more - if that even was possible that is.

"Oi, where are you going?" Sirius questioned as Remus took his coat and stood up.

"I can't," Remus said, his voice wavering.

"Can't what?" Peter asked.

"I can't sit in here with her...I can't watch," he trailed off. "I don't feel well."

The three other boys shared confused looks. That was until Sirius spotted Claudia and Henry, his mouth forming into an 'o'.

"Ah..."

"Want me to come with you?" James asked with a twitch of his lips, trying to bring some comfort to his friend.

"No," Remus replied. "I need to be alone...I want to be alone."

That wasn't entirely true. Sure, Remus wanted to be alone, but he wanted to be alone with Claudia.

He wanted her there and no one else.

The boy left the pub with another accidental glance at Henry and Claudia, his eyes meeting Henry's this time around.

And, to his surprise, he found Henry smiling slightly at him. But it wasn't a teasing smile. It wasn't the kind of smile that told him that he got the girl and not Remus, nor was it just a random smile to a stranger.

No, this was a smile of comfort.

Remus left before he could return some sort of expression. He headed out the door into the crisp autumn air, and he stopped to take a few deep breaths as the image of Claudia smiling at Henry repeated in his mind. The image of their intertwined hands.

But, what he didn't realise was just how hard he slammed the door to the pub. He slammed it so hard that it caused Claudia to turn her eyes to it, seeing him leaving in the process.

Claudia's eyesbrows knitted together as her eyes turned to the three boys who were still in the pub, all of them watching her with hollow looks on their faces.

"Go after him," Henry suddenly said.

"What?" Claudia asked airily.

"Go after him," he urged. "Lupin, I mean. Go after him."

"Wha-"

"I know you want to," Henry smiled. "We've both got our separate people. And mine isn't looking too happy right now either."

Neither Henry nor Claudia could explain why he said what he said, but Henry had seen them together before and something told him that Claudia was Remus' Jia Li.

Claudia sent him a small twitch of her lips as she stood up and headed out the door, doing so without grabbing her coat. She found Remus standing a few yards away from the pub, standing there still with his face in his hands.

"Remus?" She questioned as she neared him. "Is everything alright?"

She knew that it wasn't, so why she asked was beyond her.

"No," he mumbled as he removed his hands from his face and met her eyes. "Not really."

"Oh," she said. "Uh, can I-"

"I'm feeling a bit dizzy, is all," he lied. "I've got a headache and shit."

"Maybe you should head back to the castle," Claudia said, stepping closer to him and placing her palm against his forehead to check if he had a fever. "I don't think you have a fever. Have you eaten enough today?"

"Mhm," Remus nodded, feeling far too affected by her touch. "Maybe it's stress or something."

"Maybe," Claudia said, her nose scrunching up slightly. "But you should still head back and get some rest. Just wait here and I'll get my coat."

"What?" He asked confusedly.

"Wait here and I'll get my coat," Claudia repeated with a small smile. "You didn't think I'd let you go back by yourself, did you?"

"But you're on a date," Remus inquired.

Claudia grimaced a little as she turned to look into the pub, only to see Jia Li and Henry talking, both of them smiling brightly.

"It's fine," she shrugged, still wearing that small smile. "We've both got other commitments."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," she replied, turning and running inside the pub to get her coat and apologise to Henry - who, for the record, was very understanding about it.

Remus wouldn't deny that it felt like a miracle that Claudia decided to leave a date just to go with him. It felt like a miracle as she walked back with him, rambling about quidditch and everything nice.

It felt like a miracle when she laughed as he requested pancakes, and it felt like a miracle as the two ate pancakes and it felt like a miracle as they ended up back in his dorm again.

Though, during it all, both Claudia and Remus felt heavy weights on their shoulders as they thought about the circumstances.

Remus thought about the fact that Claudia had gone on a date that day. He thought about the fact that he was so selfish to make her leave it because he was "sick", when in reality he had only contracted the disease that was jealousy.

Claudia thought about the fact that she wasn't supposed to be so close to him. She wasn't supposed to be eating pancakes with him - doing so despite the reveal that she had made that morning - nor was she supposed to be wearing his hoodie as they lay in his bed and she read for him.

Nor was she supposed to be allowing him to play with her hair and rest his head on her shoulder.

Why the hell couldn't she just stay away from him?

The girl was also thinking about the fact that she had hurt him. Badly. So badly that he was far too quiet and far too solemn. So badly that he was pretending to be sick, doing so poorly considering the fact that she knew that the only thing that was affecting him at the time was the way that she had been around another boy right in front of him.

But she didn't care about the fact that he lied. She felt it was an excuse to be there next to him and to leave that date despite how mean it may have been.

"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be," Claudia read from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens to the boy next to her, whose head was on her shoulder.

Claudia finished reading that sentance as her eyes trailed to find him sound asleep.

Turns out jealousy makes one tired in plenty of ways.

Claudia found herself looking at him for a little while. He looked so peaceful, so warm and comfortable. Like he was actually safe despite being next to the walking shield of love.

Despite being next to the daughter of Charles Maple.

Claudia placed the book down by her side, and then she managed to get out of the bed without waking him up. She then pulled a blanked over him, stopping once again to look at him after doing so.

And Claudia came to the conclusion that Remus Lupin was perfect. Not that she didn't know that before, but it became even more clear in that moment.

Remus Lupin was everything she wanted and more, so why the hell couldn't she allow herself to have him?

Claudia sighed slightly, and then she placed her hand on his cheek, leaning in and kissing him softly on his forehead.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she thought about how much she had hurt him that day - and how much she was going to continue to do so.

Because Claudia knew that it was far too late. He was already completely in love with her, and she was already completely in love with him.

Either way Claudia knew that Remus was going to get hurt.

"I'm so sorry."

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