Chapter 3

Ryan felt terribly cold one morning as she sat on the bench in the courtyard, her teeth chattering together ever so slightly, wrapping her Hufflepuff scarf around her neck as best as she could in an attempt to shield her skin from the cold blowing through the air. Her robes only went so far as to protect her body from the wind blowing through the courtyard, her fingers red from the nippy air as she turned the pages of the book resting on her lap.

She was waiting with the other students that scattered here and there around the courtyard for Professor Kettleburn to arrive, as well as the rest of the "Care of Magical Creatures" class, as well as Connie who rushed through the courtyard, stumbling to a stop to regain her breath. She had been running late, waking up twenty minutes after her alarm clock had gone off, ultimately getting her frantic as she rushed around her dormitory, frantically apologising to Lily Evans when she fell over her on her way out of the dorm room, getting an, "it's alright, Con, don't worry about it!" in response.

"Kettleburn isn't here yet," Ryan spoke softly, her eyes still on her book. She didn't exactly have to look up from the pages inked with words that had her invested to know that it was Connie blocking out the slightest tinge of sunlight peeking out from behind the clouds, she heard Connie's voice only minutes ago and soon did the figure tower over her.

"Oh, alright then." Ryan's eyes soon snapped up to the voice, the familiar voice that definitely did not belong to Connie, but in fact, Remus Lupin who stood with a small smile on his lips whilst he scratched the back of his neck.

"Remus!" she exclaimed, almost cringing at the loudness of her voice. Her book hardly peeked her interest with him standing in front of her with such a smile on her lips that it almost dazed her, "I thought you were Connie," the Hufflepuff admitted, her eyes glancing around the courtyard to see her talking to Professor Kettleburn who must've just arrived.

"I thought so," Remus chuckled, his voice lower than Ryan heard usually, bags under his eyes as he stood in front of her, "mind if I sit?"

"No, course not," Ryan smiled, quickly scrambling for her bag, and soon patting the seat next to her, which Remus took with a smile, "I, uh, I actually forgot that you were in this class."

That was the biggest lie the girl had ever told, well, not the biggest, but she knew fine well that Remus was in the care for magical creature's class with her. Whether it be in the classroom on the rare chance that their lessons would be more on the writing side, or venturing into the forest, Ryan's eyes couldn't help but wander to him whenever he spoke out, lingering for more than she wished to admit, but what Ryan didn't know, was that whenever her laugh was heard in the space, or if she was handed an animal, Remus' eyes would be on her no doubt.

"That's not surprising," Remus chuckled, running a hand through his hair as Ryan watched him, a small smile toying at her lips, "I mean- I don't really stand out much. It was between this and Divination-"

"So, it was a no-brainer, Really," Ryan giggled, "I really don't understand why people take that class, maybe it's just me, but I just don't get it!"

"Well, I know Sirius took it because there was a girl in the class that he fancied," Remus scoffed, shaking his head whilst Ryan clasped her hand over her mouth, "bloody idiot that he is."

"Oh Merlin," Ryan whispered, shaking her head, "he must really like her then if he's willing to sit through Divination."

"Oh who knows, it's Sirius," Remus scoffed, shaking his head. His eyes trailed to the trees of the forest close to them as Ryan's eyes locked to him, the way his hair fell over his face ever so slightly when he ran his hand through it, his nose moving as he spoke, softly biting his lips as he spoke as though he was going to say something stupid in front of her, she found it endearing, watching him speak, she barely remembered what he was talking about. She was far too invested in him, "he probably just wants to snog her."

Ryan couldn't help the laugh that fell from her lips, shaking her head, "well I know a secret about one of your friends."

"Oh, you do, do you?" asked Remus, finally turning to her, almost stumbling over his words at the look on her features, the smile wide on her lips, her bright eyes swirling with happiness as she sat with one of her legs hanging over the other on the bench, her hands resting on her thigh as she leaned ever so slightly closer to him.

"I do- particularly about someone who fancies him," Ryan grinned, wiggling her eyebrows, soon titling her head as she spoke, "can you guess which friend?"

"Well, I'm going to say...Sirius," Remus trailed off, watching Ryan as she shook her head, her grin widening, "James?"

"No!" Ryan exclaimed, laughing, "you have no faith in Peter Pettigrew, it's rather sad actually."

"Yes, well the boy is more awkward than me, and that is definitely saying something," Remus tutted.

"Well he can't be any more awkward than I am," Ryan shook her head, shrugging her shoulders, "honestly, it's terribly embarrassing at times."

"I relate," Remus nodded, "now who is this mystery person that fancies my best friend- unless it's you, now that would be entirely unfortunate."

"Oh, would it?" she asked, her eyebrow raised, her cheeks heating up considerably, "it's actually not me, but my best friend."

"You are not telling me that Connie Woods fancies Pete," Remus scoffed, his eyebrow raised as he watched Ryan frown.

"Well, I am," Ryan nodded, her stomach bubbling with an unsettling feeling, "why?"

"Well she's Connie Woods, she could have anyone, why does she like Peter?!"

"What's wrong with Peter?" Ryan snapped back, "that's entirely horrible of you to say, Remus, he's your best friend, what is wrong with Connie liking him?" she pushed herself up, shaking her head, completely oblivious to the shock written across Remus' features, and the guilt bubbling in his stomach.

And soon without even thinking of his actions did he grab the girls hand, watching as she stopped, and soon pulling her back whilst she allowed him too. He stood suddenly, shaking his head as he met her eye, "please don't take that the wrong way, Ryan."

"There is more to life than looks, Remus, if that was what you were implying," Ryan grumbled, shaking her head, "she likes Peter because he was sweet, and he helped her when she dropped her books, she didn't even ask him to, he just did it without a second thought, that's why she likes him," she mumbled, her thoughts struck with the fact that his hand still clutched hers.

"I'm sorry, Ryan," Remus mumbled, "It sounded wrong, but really, I didn't mean it like that, all I meant was that I have never even seen Connie and Peter together, let alone speak two words, it was merely surprising."

"Oh-" she could feel her cheeks flush that she had overreacted in the worst way, averting her gaze but it seemed that Professor Kettleburn had picked the perfect time to start the class.

"Come on, everyone!" the Professor spoke, gesturing for the class to follow.

"Sorry," Ryan whispered, a puff of air tumbling through her lips as her eyes found Remus' again, her mind wandering to how close they stood, her head lifted to stare at him seeing as the height difference between the two was rather drastic.

Remus smiled, shaking his head, a goofy smirk wide on his lips as he spoke, "I think I should be the one apologising."

"I was the one that overreacted," she mumbled embarrassedly, moving to reach for her bag and stumbling forward, biting her lip when his arm jerked out to stop her fall.

"At this point, Ryan, I just think you're falling for me," Remus joked as she regained her balance, her bag now over her shoulder and her cheeks redder than before as she waited for him to pick up his own bag, a small laugh tumbling from her lips as she walked with him.

"K-keep telling yourself that," she stuttered, her eyes trained to the ground as she watched their footsteps walk in sync whilst trying to ignore the heat that clouded her cheeks, as well as trying to rid her mind the thought of her stuttering, she was terribly embarrassing, but she couldn't exactly say she was complaining that Remus was talking to her.

It seemed as though since break had ended and the new year had begun, the two seemed to be in the same place, the right place, at the right time, and Ryan was more than happy that she got to see the boy more.

"I'm glad we're working with animals today," Ryan spoke, turning to look at the boy, "but Merlin, it's freezing."

"Oh, I bloody know," Remus nodded, "it may get worse, we could be working with flobberworms."

"Merlin, I hope not," Ryan groaned, shaking her head, "mines died!"

"Mines too," Remus frowned, "death by lettuce."

"Maybe a nice way to go for a Flobberworm, who really knows," Ryan shrugged, watching the amused smile twitch onto Remus' lips.

"Today we will be learning about crup pups!" Professor Kettleburn announced as Ryan made sure to stay with Remus, she could see Connie talking with some boy she didn't know at the other side of the group, and would rather not interrupt them, there was also the fact that she was more than ecstatic to even talk to the boy, seeing as speaking to people was one of her downfalls, especially someone she liked, and that so happened to be Remus.

She could barely contain herself as Professor Kettleburn brought up the pups, she had never seen a crup pup in the flesh, but she had read of them in one of her textbooks, and thought that they were extremely adorable.

Professor Kettleburn continued to speak of crup pups, asking the class some questions about the dog, which only a few seemed to know. Ryan wasn't one to raise her hand, seeing as the attention of the students around her was something she wasn't so keen of, but beside her, Remus could hear her whisper the answer to herself whenever Kettleburn asked the question.

"Now class, who can tell me, at what time in a crup pup's life must the forked tail they have be removed, and who confirmed this law?" asked Professor Kettleburn.

"Six to eight weeks," Ryan muttered. Remus wanted to laugh in disbelief that the girl seemed to know everything about the animal but failed to show her knowledge, "licenced by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"Did you say something, Miss Tobias?" asked Professor Kettleburn suddenly, seeing her move her lips, but her voice was much too low for him to here. All eyes were on her which made her feel incredibly anxious, she could feel the eyes lingering on her body which she tried to hide under her robes, eyes on her features that stood prominent on her face, she felt horrible, she hated it, her voice caught in her throat, her palms sweaty, heart racing-

"Sorry, sir!" Remus spoke up, the eyes of the students reluctantly trailing to him, as well as Professor Kettleburn, and soon did Ryan, "Ryan has almost lost her voice, she can't answer well, but she said that a crup pup's tail must be removed at around six to eight weeks, and it was licensed by the uh-"

"Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," she whispered.

"Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!" he repeated, throwing the Professor a grin.

"Very good, Miss Tobias!" Professor Kettleburn beamed. Ryan couldn't deny her shock at what Remus did for her, so much to the point that amidst her shock, and her stare that lingered on him, did she almost fail to hear the Professor speak, "ten points to Hufflepuff!"

"Also, thank you, Mr Lupin for kindly helping Miss Tobias out, ten points awarded to Gryffindor for your kindness!" the Professor smiled, nodding at the boy before going back to the class.

"Thank you," Ryan mumbled shyly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, a smile wide on her lips as she nudged the boy ever so slightly, "you didn't have to do that."

"Well you didn't look too pleased to answer, but you knew it, you should have gotten credit. I wasn't going to let you just stand there entirely uncomfortable," Remus shrugged, the goofy grin that Ryan couldn't get enough of back on his lips, "besides, Gryffindor got ten points out of it."

Ryan laughed softly with a shake of her head, making sure to keep her voice low so that Professor Kettleburn wouldn't know that Remus' words were a lie, she spoke, "so did Hufflepuff."

"Y'know, if you answered more often, then I'm sure Hufflepuff would win the house cup. You knew every answer there, Ryan," Remus sighed, his eyes on the girl whose eyes were on the ground.

"Should you really be telling me how to win the house cup?" Ryan asked, finally lifting her head to stare at him, "we're practically rivals, Lupin."