A R G U E
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As time increased, James seemed to slowly accept his father's death and become himself again. By a month into their seventh year, stray jokes were voiced by the bespectacled boy at breakfast, and sometimes dinner. Although his usual knack for pranking was absent, a serious improvement had been made.

Freya was quite proud of her friend. She assumed, alongside Marlene, that it was his commitment and involvement in the Order that brought up this dedicated passion, and rediscovered personality.

Rain pounded against the glass windows of the common room, which created a nice background sound for the crowd's chatter. The miserable lessons of Potions and History of Magic had ended for the day, and nobody was permitted to go out onto the castle grounds because of the storm. This left the room to be clogged with students curled on chairs with books, games, and homework.

She sat in her favorite armchair next to a dreary window in the Gryffindor common room. Previously she had been tuned into the conversation between her seven friends while watching the raindrops slide down the smooth glass, but now a blanket -- despite the weather being quite warm outside -- was draped across her knees and pulled up over her head as well. Grey wool socks on her feet were all that stuck out from the covering.

"It's not that cold in here, love," Remus attempted to pull the wool away from her face, but to no success. A smack directed by the girl to his palm sent his hand retreating away from the blanket that blocked her from her friends.

A loud, and very pleasing to the ear, laugh echoed through the crowded common room. In response to this noise, a dozen or so lower year students turned to peer at Sirius with fascinated gazes before turning back around to their homework and chess games. Freya cringed, not being able to see what was happening, but knowing their looks nonetheless. She had once been in that same boat, but she was glad that it had sunk quickly and she had swam out of it.

Sirius finally voiced the thought that had made him laugh so heartily, "I'm sure Remus has quite a few ways to warm you up, Frey."

An invisible oof followed his words, and Freya could only assume that one of her friends had socked him on his arm a little too aggressively.

"Shut up," Remus spoke, a fair bit of amusement seeping into his tone, which made the statement much less intimidating.

"Funny that you chose summer to do the warming up."

Another mixture of clamorous, obnoxious cackles followed this statement, and Freya found herself letting out a small, muffled snort from underneath the blanket. The statement was only amusing to her because of who had said it. Peter. She was not accustomed to the boy making jokes of the sort, and when he did, it always caused the loudest load of laughs.

The one person that did not join in on their fun was James. Despite getting better, and wanting to as well, it was hard for the boy to ignore the fact that the three month anniversary of his father's death had been just two days before. He would make an occasional joke, then seep back down into his pit of hard to crack solitude.

Lily seemed to notice, and with a careful approach, she sat down next to the boy in the spacious armchair. A single azure eye nosily poked out from underneath the warm blanket to watch the exchange between her two friends without being noticed by the others, including Remus, who were still throwing one joke after another across the room.

"James, I was wondering," Lily paused as her teeth bit nervously down onto her bottom lip, "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade this weekend with me?"

His eyes widened with a look of genuine surprise at her suggestion, but something dark seemed to dawn across his face as he shook his messy pile of hair and stood from his seat.

Sirius instantly seemed to notice this, the smile that had been on his face dropped slightly as he attempted to continue listening to Mary's story while keeping an eye on his best friend. The portrait door swung open and James disappeared from the common room so quickly that Lily's mouth was still agape.

"What did you say to him?" the dark haired boy demanded as he rose from the seat with crossed arms. Mary's story came to a halt and the friends all directed their attention at the scene.

Freya watched Lily's eyebrows furrowed as she gaped with confusion, "All I did was ask him to go to Hogsmeade. I still owe him that date and —"

"Damnit Lily," Sirius interrupted with an unreadable expression. His coat was summoned with his wand from the opposite side of the room, nearly hitting a student on its way over, "Just keep your nose out of other people's business."

"Sirius," the boy's name escaped from Marlene's mouth in the form of an annoyed groan, "She didn't do anything!"

"The only reason she's interested in James suddenly is because she feels sorry for him. She wanted nothing to do with him before dad died. She's just giving him pity that he doesn't want. You know it, I know it, she knows it, and James knows it."

With these words, Sirius too disappeared through the portrait in order to pursue his best friend, far away from the awkward silence that dawned on the group of friends in the common room.

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Dinner that night was painfully dull. Sirius and James had not returned, though Remus and Peter had from checking up on them. Lily had poked at the pile of potatoes on her plate with her fork for the last ten minutes rather than eating them, and as her utensil was brought down to shove the food once again, Freya finally decided to address the behavior.

"Lily," she began with a sigh, "When are you going yo tell him that you like him?"

The redhead's fork dropped down onto her plate with a clatter as her eyes widened, "What?"

"Oh don't act like its a secret. Not between Remus and I at least, we know you too well."

A groan escaped Lily's lips as she rested her elbows on the top of the table and began to massage her temples. She looked as if she was debating spilling her biggest secret, or worst thoughts, and Freya checked to make sure that Remus, Mary, Peter, and Marlene were still engulfed in their conversation about their past Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers.

"Alright, I do like him. I think, but I only realized it a few months ago when James's father died."

Freya's heart fell, "Oh, so Sirius was right then?"

"No!" Lily exclaimed loudly and Peter looked towards them with a confused expression. He eventually turned back around with his hands held up in surrender when he noticed the look of warning etched onto the blonde's face, "It's not like that at all, Freya."

"Care to explain?"

She took a large gulp of pumpkin juice before a stiff nod bounced her red strands of hair over her shoulders, "Yeah. It's not that I only like him because I pity him. Merlin no. It's just, now that James isn't himself anymore, I realize how much I liked him when he was himself. I always thought I hated his personality with his cocky, egotistic, flirty, agitating —"

"Breathe, Lily," Freya laughed, "Trust me, I know James was a bit of an ass."

"Exactly, I thought I hated him, but now that he's not the same, I just miss him, the real him, so damn much. I sincerely do, it's pitiful honestly."

A huge grin was rapidly crossing Freya's face with no hopes of being stopped, and Lily crinkled her nose with worry. The blonde girl twitched with excitement and silently cheered on the inside. Two of her closest friends had mutual feelings for each other, and she was tremendously happy about it.

"You know," Lily continued without making eye contact, "I feel like I was in denial for a long time. I don't know. I guess at one point the way he would pine for me began to work.."

"That's why you were so mean to him?" Freya practically gasped with realization. "Especially after that Quidditch match with Ravenclaw? You were shoving him off?"

Lily nodded. A stray redhead fell into her face as she stared down at her plate. She had never confessed such thoughts to anyone. She was silently grateful to finally bring her secrets into the light, and that it was Freya that was present to hear them.

"When are you going to tell him?" Freya exclaimed through the smile.

"Uh, never?" Lily responded as if it was obvious, "Please stop grinning like the Cheshire Cat, you're making the first years uncomfortable."

"Never?" What do you mean never? Lily he's been chasing after you since first year and you aren't going to tell him that you like him back? That doesn't sound like you."

The piles of food began to disappear from the four tables as desert food was scheduled to take their place. Lily wrung her hands together in her lap as she tried to gather up whatever thoughts had fallen messily into her mind.

"Freya think about it, you know as well as I do that James loves a bloody chase. What if he realizes that this was just fun for him? What if he realizes that the uptight girl that he's fancied and attempted to win over for years isn't what he wants, but it was just all for a chase?"

Although Freya now understood the girl's worry, she held back a roll of the eyes. James Potter saw Lily Evans, the girl he had followed everywhere for years, as way more than just a chase.

"Lily, no offense, but if that was how it is, he'd have given up ages ago. Plus, he may have his faults, but he wouldn't see you as that. You're not a damn snitch in a Quidditch game or something."

Eventually, after nearly a minute's hesitation, the girl slowly nodded, and turned back to the thoughts that had suddenly appeared back in her head, and the desert that had just as instantly emerged on the table.

Before Marlene could engage Remus in another conversation, Freya stood from the table without any sort of warning or excuse. The girl simply straightened the skirt of her uniform before lightly grabbing Remus's hand with a tug for him to follow in her footsteps.

"Where're we going?" Remus questioned as she pulled him towards the door.

"To the roof."

His body suddenly became way too hard to pull, and she was forced to stop.

"Freya, it's dinner time, and it's storming."

"C'mon . . ."

The excited look disappeared from her ocean blue eyes as the boy continued to protest. Remus's shoulders eventually relaxed as a sigh permitted passing through his chapped lips.

He shrugged, "Oh, alright. Fine. As long as I get a coffee next time I'm in the hospital wing, and a kiss."

She rolled her eyes at his last statement, but stood on her tiptoes nonetheless to give into his request despite the fact that it was such an overused line.

The two trailed up and down the corridors in order to find their secret spot on the roof — to watch the sky through the rain with drenched bodies but loving spirits.

When it came time to hoist themselves up to the entrance to the roof, Remus gathered up all his strength he could muster, but eventually slid back down the wet, stone wall and sat with his head rested on top of his palm, "Sorry, Freya. Now isn't a good time."

Within seconds, the blonde immediately understood what was going on, and wanted to pound her brain at her selfishness. The full moon was destined to come in four days, of course Remus was beginning to feel abnormally exhausted. Sympathy filled her as she sunk down the wall as well and allowed him to rest his head on her shoulder.

"Then why did you agree to come?"

"You looked so happy," he smiled, "Like you'd gotten into our Firewhiskey stash or something. It was cute."

Freya's eyebrows furrowed and guilt filled her tugging heart as she bundled closer to him, "Stop being so sweet to me."

"No thanks."

A single, faint snort sounded from the girl before silence filled the tower. Nothing but the sound of the yet to be calmed rain that pattered densely against the building and onto the backs of their robes from the crack in the ceiling above them could be heard. Even their muffled breathing and pounding hearts were covered by the harsh thudding of the sky crying, as if it was mourning all the events that would happen in the days to come.

"Are you scared?" She finally inquired in a whisper, one so soft that he barely heard it over the downpour, despite it being said so close to his ear.

"Hm? Of what specifically?"

"Everything, I guess."

He attempted to look down at her face, but all that was in eyeshot were her blonde locks as she had buried herself rather far into the warmth of his chest. It was ironic, as if she was trying to reach so far inside of his chest that she could hear his beating heart. Though she should have know that it surely thudded to whisper her name.

After a moment of thinking he finally sighed, "I don't think there's anyway that anyone could be brave without fear."

Honestly, Remus wished to add more to the statement. He wanted to tell her how much she helped him without the slightest realization.

He longed to tell her that if his fear was the moon, and rightfully so, then Freya was the sun, and when she rose every morning she took all the fear away.

Though she could never take away the stomach twisting, heart racing thought of him putting her in danger, nobody could.

And it was wise that Remus left this thought unuttered, for the slightest comparison of her to the sun would probably cause the girl a great deal of panic after the dream she had months ago that still sunk into her mind every so often.

So all he said was a simple, yet so complicated, "I love you," which she immediately returned.

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AUTHORS NOTE
this is lowkey one of my fav chapters because freya and remus fluff

qotd: last thing you ate?
aotd: the snack that smiles back