CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
life's a gas

                           𖦹 ⋆｡˚⋆ฺ ⋆｡˚⋆ฺ˚⋆˚ 𖦹

  WITH THE END OF TERM SETTLED upon the broadening horizon, Remus and Cove have finally begun to draw up their final reports on Pip for their final Care of Magical Creatures assignment.

   It's been going painstakingly slowly since they keep getting distracted by trivial things, such as the brand new records she had gotten for his birthday or even just each other, but today they've decided to take their studying outside after being cooped up in the stuffy library, waiting ages for their no-show friends. It's much more peaceful without Madam Pince breathing down your neck every two minutes, the sudden burst of fresh air elevating some of those burdening pressures from before.

    The sun has broken through the showers that hail the budding summertime, the grassy hillsides glimmering as the breeze shakes off the fresh dewdrops to make way for more rain. They've positioned themselves up the hill from the Black Lake, sprawled out on their discarded robes due to the rising temperature, watching as the surface ripples and glitters like liquified onyx.

   Cove gnaws on her thumbnail, peering down at her flash cards and notes through narrowed eyes. Their final exam is on the following Monday, a written paper for Care of Magical Creatures that'll be handed in alongside their kneazle report. They're both fairly confident going into it, but that doesn't stop the stress from wearing them both down to the bone. She has a newfound appreciation for the summer holidays after all this time spent in school, practically bouncing off the walls in anticipation of them. Honestly, she believes that life will be so much easier without homework and exams to worry about.

   Cove leans back on her palms, scrawling down a final recording of Pip's increase in whisker length before throwing down her quill with a sigh. She blinks exhaustion from her peripheral vision and straightens the clip that she's bundled all of her hair up into, fingertips aching from the paragraphs upon paragraphs she's had to scribble down.

   Blackberry juices stain her fingertips purple from the bramble patch she'd found down by the tree, enchanted to grow all year round and persevere through whatever weather is thrown at them. These ones always taste nicer than the regular blackberries you'd find tangled up in any old hedgerow, much sweeter and riper. She cups water from her bottle in her scarred palm, rinsing them all before popping one into her mouth and letting that sharp, tart flavour explode on her tongue.

    She turns to Remus, who's been taking a 'break' from revision for the past fifteen minutes, a glint in her eye.

     "Ready?"

    He shakes out his shoulders as if he's gearing up to run a marathon. "As I'll ever be."

    Cove laughs into the back of her palm, waiting for him to stand still before plucking one of the freshly washed blackberries from between her fingertips. She tosses it towards him and he leans back to try and catch it in his mouth, only for the berry to bounce off his nose and land on his outstretched palm.

   "Aw, that was rubbish." He straightens his posture. "Give it another go."

    "Maybe next time, hot shot," she snickers. "I'm no wasting any more."

  He frowns and she nudges his side, almost as if she's trying to shake the gloominess from his face through force.

    "C'mon, chin up. We still haven't covered Ashwinder anatomy and I want to be done in time for dinner." Her eyes soften. "We'll be done before you know it. Promise."

   They manage to sit and study for a good few minutes without anymore interruptions. The birds chirrup in the low hanging branches above, ruffling their feathers and shaking the leaves with every little hop that they venture between the branches. Garbled speech and disjointed tunes float from the portable radio Remus had brought outside with them, more like static than real human speech — shockingly, the reception around Hogwarts isn't spectacular. They catch every other word and lyric on a good day, but it's better than nothing.

   "Um, Cove?"

   She hums, not looking up from her paper.

   Remus clears his throat. "I've been wondering... what, uh, what's your plan for after school?" At her confused side glance, he fumbles for an explanation. "I know you want to do conservation work and stuff to do with Beasts, but like, I dunno... are you still gonna stay with your dad?"

   Cove pauses. "Well, I definitely don't want to stay with my dad forever. The sooner I'm out of that house, the better." She shrugs. "I could never live in a city though, if that's what you're asking. Anywhere like that is... suffocating for me. Hardly any greenery, so many people in one place, no ocean... I don't think I belong somewhere like London or Glasgow or wherever. I'm fine with apparating all the way to the Ministry every day for work if it means I can stay on Lewis."

   "So, a flat is out of the question?"

   "Mhm. I know I'm a bit young to be owning a proper house and all, but it doesn't have to be anything fancy. I just couldn't bear to move away from my colony, or from my ma. They'll be my home no matter what."

   Remus listens attentively, hanging onto every word. "Got it. No cities." He fiddles with his fingertips. "But, uh, you wouldn't get lonely in a house all on your own, by any chance?"

   "Might do." She can't smother her smile, deciding to save him the trouble and just bite the bullet. "Is this a long winded way of asking me to move in with you, m'eudail?"

   "I— Well— Yeah. I suppose." He tenses up. "Is that too forward?"

   Cove shakes her head, leaning over to clasp his hands in her own. "I don't think so. Of course I'd love to stay with you after school, but we've got all summer to think about that. Let's play it by ear, hm?"

   He dips his head into a nod, turning back to his revision notes to try and hide his triumphant grin. He begins to scribble down notes with more enthusiasm, lost in the warmth blossoming in his chest and trying to refrain from jumping for joy. She shakes her head at the dopey look on his face and follows his example, turning back to her textbook to finish the paragraph she's annotating.

   Another peaceful few minutes pass by without interruption, yet all good things have to end eventually. Cove hears voices coming down from the castle and pokes her head up to take a look, craning her neck to make out who it is heading for them. She clicks her tongue to get Remus' attention, pointing towards the large group approaching them.

   "Here comes trouble."

   He hums in amusement, lifting a hand to wave at his friends as they tumble down towards them, their uniforms one big bouquet of all the primary colours tangled up together.

   Somewhat surprisingly, all of his bestfriends have joined up to walk with some of the other girls in their year that they're friendly with — the usual boys tangled in between the likes of her Mary, Fallon and even Alice Fortescue. James Potter has his arm thrown around a blushing Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon seems to be engaged in a conversation with Dorcas Meadows, every last one of them chatting together about something that must be extremely interesting, judging from the way they're all practically bouncing towards Cove and Remus.

   The sight of them all together isn't as bizarre as it would've been many months ago. The groups have been merging together more recently, getting together outside of parties and classes to simply hang about together. Cove has to admit that it's truly nice seeing them united as one. It feels right, in a weird way.

   "Couldn't find yous in the library, so we guessed you'd be out here," Marlene calls, plonking herself down next to Cove on her robes that are acting as a makeshift blanket. Everyone follows in suit, gathering to form a big circle dotted across the hillside.

   "Where have you been all day?" Remus asks, squinting against the sunlight. "Lily said some of you were gonna be joinin' us in the library, but no one showed."

   "As exciting as revision is, Moony dearest, we had more pressing things to attend to," James announces, picking at the grass beneath him. He widens his eyes dramatically. "Dumbledore wanted to see us."

   Remus' brows furrow. "What for?"

   The boys all lean forward, voices dimming down to secretive murmurs that couldn't be heard outside the circle they've created. Cove sits forward on her knees to make their whispers clearer and the other girls copy her. The lot of them must look like lunatics, huddled together in secrecy the way that they are.

   "He wanted to let us know that he's got a secret army forming," James informs. "The Order of the Phoenix. He asked if we'd join up, since we're leaving school and we'll be of age."

   "An army?" Cove asks, her expression furrowing in genuine curiosity. "Against who, that Voldemort man?"

   Peter nods. "We'd be trying to take down Voldemort and Death Eaters alike." He beams like a wean on Christmas morning. "Properly spying and all. Like undercover agents."

   Cove doesn't look convinced. She glances between the faces that surround her and upon seeing that they're all dead serious about this, she decides to entertain it without coming across too harshly. 

   "That sounds... dangerous," she says slowly.
 
   Lily nods. "That's exactly what I said."

   "What could we do, though?" Cove adds. "We're only just leaving school. Should we not leave all this fighting to the professionals?"

   "He said that we have the right skill set," Sirius replies. "'Said that we're talented young wizards 'n witches, and we could finally help put an end to this war." He folds his arms across his chest pointedly. "I'd rather be fighting those evil bastards than kicking back and watching the world get blown to smithereens around me."

   Peter nods at Cove. "Oh, he also said that we should tell you and Remus specifically, since you've got connections with, er... creatures that could be allies or sommat like that. Can't remember his exact words."

   Cove's eyes widen, hair standing on end. "Dumbledore knows about me?"

   "Aye, I think Pomfrey must've told him," Marlene chimes in.

   That makes something painful twist in her gut, something like betrayal inking upon her heartstrings. She tightens her knuckles in the pleats of her skirt and turns her head away, following the sway of the distant loch to bite back a remark that she'll regret saying later.

   Sirius inclines his head toward the pair. "So, what do you think?"

   Remus looks to be lost deep in thought, his tawny curls falling over his eyes as he mulls over this sudden onslaught of information. Every scar and every freckle seems to twitch with a wholly conflicted feeling, his brain and his heart fighting to tell him what the right thing to do is. He's weighing in all the factors, weaving together every loose end in his head to try and decipher how he should approach this. Cove doesn't take her eyes off of him for one second, holding her breath in anticipation for what he'll have to say.

   He looks up at last, jaw set and eyes determined. The ghost of a smile illustrates his lips. "Well, if you're all going to join..."

   His friends hoot and holler their approval, clapping him on the back and rejoicing over how good an opportunity this is. How grand it'll be. Remus waves them all off with a bashful grin and they settle back into their seats on the ground eventually, manic mirth draped across their faces.

   When the excitement dies down, everyone turns to Cove. She shifts under their gazes, squirming at the sudden attention on her as they all wait with bated breath. She fumbles with her rolled up shirtsleeves, her brain trying to focus on too many thoughts all at once. There's something about this that feels so wrong and Cove hardly feels ready to be fighting in a war, but with all the eyes fixated on her and the hope glinting within...

   Cove offers a tight lipped smile.

   "Yeah. I'm in."

author's note!

another short one for today but double update 😦😦😦 who am i

whoops!! peer pressure is real and it turns out children r not protected from dumbledore's daft propaganda!! voldy's gonna have a field day with this lot xx

it's almost wartime people, put ur seatbelts on it's gonna be a bumpy ride 😍😍