I only want what I can't have [Annelise!]

[Remus John Lupin]

When I left you, I flew
Did you fly too?
And nakedness befell my way
Only seen in light of day
I only want what I can't have
I only need what I don't want

It was one of the last fine autumn days. Winter always seemed to settle in sooner in Scotland, maybe because they were up high, maybe because they were up north - to be honest Remus wasn't even quite sure where in Scotland they were. Or if they were in Scotland at all, for that matter.
Either way, he was just having a stroll due to a lack of anything better to do. It was a Sunday morning, James and Sirius were in detention for something they'd done in a class they shared and Remus didn't attend, Peter had claimed the damp air would get in his clothes and get him sick, so Remus was alone. Aesthetically, he kind of liked the autumn season. Wasn't it a time to reflect on the past year, harvest what you've been sowing? Traditionally, it was supposed to be a season of feasts and plenty, a time of nature giving man and animal generously what they deserved.
Maybe he was getting a little too philosophical now - he was going to turn into a centaur like this! After all, since when had man really been in touch with nature? Not just a little, but really? He shrugged to himself and leaned against a tree in silence, glancing over the lake and the forest in the distance.

It would be a lie to say Annelise was not on his mind. Things had just gone quickly last year. First her brother dying, which had been terrible and something he had not quite known how to deal with, so he had decided to give Annelise some time to herself, but then the OWLs had happened, and then the willow incident - the summer holidays had arrived before he'd had the chance to talk to her or even send her a not. It was like time had whirled him around in a crazy sort of whirlwind, dropping him somewhere months later whilst everything had only seemed days away.
Of course he had seen her around - he had no trouble spotting her in crowds - but he hadn't dared to talk to her. After all.. it had been months, he had not spoken to her, hadn't even let her know he was thinking of her. Remus had already chickened out during the holidays, having written a few letters to her, but he hadn't had the courage to send any of them, too afraid for rejection. After all - wasn't the fact she had not tried to contact him a very clear sign?
Remus shrugged to himself again. Maybe it was just fine this way. It had been good while it lasted, hadn't it? He scoffed a little when he imagined that Sirius or James would encourage him to fight for the girl if he liked her so much, if only they knew what was going through his mind. Then again.. when did Sirius ever have to chase a girl? And James had been after Lily for years without result. Who were they to tell him what he ought to do or not?
Nah, maybe it was fine like this. Or maybe they'd at least be friends again at some point. Maybe he should just.. try and sit next to her in class once, or in the library. After all, he hadn't really tried, had he? Annelise was worth so much more than one little try, it was the least he could do.

For now, though, he was fine right here. He'd gathre up some courage.. soon.. eventually.


[And now Annelise can surprise him, haha, and catch him offguard without Rem being able to prepare for a conversation That should be fun?]

[Annelise Westerhof]

Annelise had spent the past few months in a practical zombie-state. She had pretty much forgotten much of what her life used to center around. It was almost like Remus slowly exiting her life was something she barely even noticed. It was sort of like one day he was there, and then the next day he was gone. She had forced herself into studying about Greyback so entirely, and was so involved with trying to get over her brother that it seemed like nothing else really mattered - at the time, including a romantic relationship. After a while, when she was to see him in the corridors, she would have the urge to just talk to him, but Annelise began to feel a little unsure. Why wouldn't he approach her? Did he no longer care, or did her life become a little too hectic for him? The last thing that she wanted to do was to force him into something that he just wasn't ready for, and if that was because her life had went from practically boring to difficult, than she told herself she wouldn't care. It was selfish of her to expect anything less from him. It wouldn't be fair. Annelise wasn't angry with him for it, in fact she was the opposite. There had even been a little part of her that was relieved, as it meant that she wouldn't have to worry about him worrying about her, and worrying about her studying of Greyback. Annelise had yet to make much progress on finding Greyback or making any ground-breaking discovering, but she still didn't really stop.

When Annelise returned to Hogwarts, she had meant to try to talk to Remus again. She wasn't even sure of the status of their relationship anymore. They couldn't obviously be seen as boyfriend-girlfriend, as they hadn't spoken in months, but she didn't know if they could even be classified as friends. That thought depressed her as well - Annelise had a hard enough time truly connecting with anyone, and it had hit her right before returning that Remus was the only one that she did ever feel connected with. Annelise admittedly felt guilty for accidentally cutting him out, but there was nothing really that she could do about it. One thing that also put her mind at ease somewhat was the fact that she didn't really see him spending time with any other girls with the exception of Lena or Lily, which was to be expected. The couple of times their eyes had met in the corridor, she still felt what she had the whole time towards him, from the day she had met him. She just didn't know what to say to him anymore.

Annelise found herself venturing outside before she knew it. The sky was a murky gray, and a cold breeze hit her cheeks. She closed her brown eyes to let it all in. Nothing felt better to her than autumn. It was her favourite season. She inhaled, and let into her lungs the fresh smell of fall. It seemed silly to most people that she would describe autumn as 'fresh', but that was what it smelled like to her, despite the fact that everything was pretty much actually dying. She took out a little swan she had made from paper from inside of her rucksack. She had then enchanted so that they should return to her no matter where the wind took them - and the swan was supposed to outstretch its wings and look completely calm as it flew through the air in a beautiful manner. The moment Annelise opened her palm, however, the swan went flying into the wind roughly. She looked after it quickly, and she felt an unexplainable drop in her heart as she saw it go flying as if she was just Muggle origami. She had made it in memory of her brother, and had hoped to see it fly gracefully away. In fact, she had made the swan out of one of Jakob's notes that he had written to her... one of the last before he was murdered.

Before Annelise could stop herself, she went chasing after the swan. Not being overly athletic, she realized she must have looked silly sprinting at such as speed after what appeared to be just a stupid swan figure made out of parchment. She kept her eye on it, swung her arm at it a few times in hopes of grabbing it, but continuously missed. Annelise tried one last time, threw her whole body into it - but missed yet again, and ended up falling right into someone. Annelise was immediately knocked to the ground with the wind temporarily knocked out of her. The person she had run into managed to stay upright.

For some reason, Annelise knew it was Remus. She kept her eyes closed for several moments, hoping to regain her breath. She hated that she had lost that swan, and she felt immature for chasing after it so enthusiastically. Now she also had to deal with the inevitable opening her eyes to see Remus standing there, but she held out on it as soon as possible. Even though she had been meaning to speak to him for a long time now, this just didn't seem like the time.

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[Remus John Lupin]

Remus hadn't really expected anyone else to be outside. Even if it was a nice day for the time of year and the temperature was alright, it was damp and darkish, and the clouds seemed to forbode rain. Still, he wasn't in the mood to go inside. He had been outside every day during the holidays, he had lived practically lived in the fields, and to be confined between four walls now? No.
It was a bit of a soothing sensation, feeling the wind in his hair like that, and Remus pulled himself away from his leaning position, walking against the wind, enjoying how it pushed against him. Without thinking, he walked on, sometimes with, sometimes against the wind. It felt pretty good to just walk without thinking. Not that his feet would take him to a place that would take away his problems, but it sure made him feel better.

Remus had no idea how much time had passed as he'd been walking, but his toughts got triggered again as something passed him in a hurry, something got blown by by the wind and it wasn't a leaf. It seemed something.. origami? (One of those things Remus had tried for an afternoon and decided was not his kind of thing.)
He didn't have a lot of time to think about it, though, because before he knew it, someone crashed into it and sent them both into the damp grass. He sort of knew who it was before he'd even seen her, hence why he carefully moved away from her, but not too quickly. He didn't get up thought. "Uhm." Oh, Merlin, she wasn't even looking at him. "Are you alright?" he softly asked, half looking over his shoulder for the something.. whatever she'd been chasing. A love letter, maybe? That would've been ironic.
He was still sitting in the damp grass, the muddy soil was sure to leave stains, and yet he couldn't get himself to get up and stand while Annelise was still down - to be honest he was rather down here with her than up there. He didn't want to seem like he was trying to stand above her or something.. and she didn't seem very well, not just because she'd lost something and fallen over, and that made him feel guilty. "I'm sorry," he muttered, not sure why he said it. It didn't make him feel any better, either.

[Annelise Westerhof]

It took Annelise a moment to finally regain her composure, catch her breath and finally open her eyes. She had assumed that she hadn't knocked Remus over, but she supposed she was wrong. She had always known Remus was stronger than his frail frame made him look, so she was surprised when her eyes landed on him that he was on the ground. Being so close to him after so long almost made Annelise lose her breath again. The gentle breeze was strong enough so that she could smell his scent and she held on to that for a moment. It was hard for her to believe that he was talking to her, and when he did she couldn't help but let a nervous smile fall upon her lips, although the smile didn't meet her eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine, are you? I didn't hurt you, did I?" she knew the answer before she had even asked the question. Annelise had merely asked it due to the fact that he was still on the ground, although deep down she had assumed it was for the same reason why she had yet to pull herself up... nerves. Annelise wiped her now-muddy hands on her jeans and just sat there for a moment longer. She looked off longingly in the direction that the swan had went. She pulled out her wand and said in a small voice, "Accio swan origami."

Unsurprisingly, the swan did not return to her. Annelise sighed a bit impatiently and stowed her wand away. She supposed she'd go out and look for it at a later date when the wind would die down a bit. A drop or two of rain landed on her face, reminding her that she wasn't alone anymore. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but it seemed as if Remus had a curious look on his face, and so she decided to explain.

"I decided to make that origami swan with one of the last letters Jakob wrote to me. I want to let it go out on the perfect day... I thought I had enchanted it properly to make it look like it would fly. I don't know, maybe it was silly of me, or maybe the transfiguration was a little too difficult. I probably should have come to you, you probably could have helped me," Annelise rambled. She took a breath again. It felt like that had been the most she had spoken to anyone in ages.

Annelise decided that sitting on the ground would do neither of them any good, but it was like she couldn't make herself look away from Remus; as if their conversation and closeness might disappear if she did so. So she continued to sit in the dirt, and wasn't sure what to say when he said 'sorry.' She wasn't sure if he was apologizing for knocking her over, which wasn't his fault, or because they had stopped speaking, which wasn't entirely his fault either - or if were for both. Regardless, she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge his apology and instead let her ramblings sit in the air. Just like before, she felt herself confide in him even if she wouldn't feel comfortable enough to do that towards anyone else.

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[Remus John Lupin]

Remus shifted a little, slightly uncomfortable, but a little unsure why. Of course there was the fact that he was opposite his, eh.. ex? There was the fact they were both in the mud.. but that wasn't quite it either. Now he knew: it was the fact that he had the feeling Annelise'd rather not be there. Maybe she didn't mean to, but Remus had the impression she'd rather be anywhere else but here and that sort of hurt.
Annelise had taken him by surprise, hence why he had fallen over. He was stronger than he looked, though during the holidays his muscles had filled out at least a little. He was sixteen now and although he still wasn't as muscular as some of his classmates, he looked better than before, in a way.

He could see Annelise smiling, but wasn't able to really smile back. It wasn't that he meant to appear cold, Rem was just afraid it might end up being a grimace instead. "Yes, I'm fine, are you? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Remus shook his head. "No- no, I'm fine." He nodded a little. "Fine."
As she wiped her hands on her jeans, he expected her to get up and, well, go probably, but she didn't. Instead, she tried to summon whatever had passed him in the wind. He had thought it was just a piece of origami or a part of a letter, but when he saw her face fall as the accio didn't bring it back, Remus' frowned a little. He couldn't help but feel unpleasant at Annelise's disappointment - it wasn't like he didn't care at all, after all - but when she explained what the origami was made of, well, that only made it worse.
"I don't know, maybe it was silly of me, or maybe the transfiguration was a little too difficult. I probably should have come to you, you probably could have helped me."[/color] Remus swallowed. "Oh, no - you're not silly. I'm sure you did-did fine." He ran a hand through his hair, getting mud into it without noticing. "The wind is just.. it suddenly picked up." He nodded, a little nervously. "Want me- want me to go look for it? It can't have gotten far?" Oh, he would even try to get it from the bowels of the giant squid for Annelise.

The silence became uncomfortable and the longer it lasted, the more Remus fidgeted. He had to say something. She hadn't reacted to his apology, did that mean it wasn't accepted? Or maybe she didn't want to talk about it, maybe she had already put it behind her.
He had to say something.
"Let's get up, you'll catch a cold or something," he muttered, half-stumbling to his feet and holding out a hand.

[Annelise Westerhof]

Of course Remus was fine... why wouldn't he be? Annelise cringed, hoping that her question hadn't seemed silly in any way. As much as she wished this, she hoped he understood where her awkwardness was coming from. As much as she wanted to see him, she didn't want the first time they spoke to each other in months would be sitting in dirt, especially due to her clumsiness. She assumed that he hadn't forgotten that she was excrutiatingly clumsy. How could he?

Remus ran his hand through his hair, and Annelise couldn't help but notice that mud transferred into it. She reached forward before she could stop herself and cleaned it out of his hair. The action almost seemed automatic, yet how could it be automatic when she hadn't seen him in so long? She blushed after touching him and muttered a quick apology. Annelise knew she probably overstepped her boundary, although she had to admit that it had felt nice to touch him. She looked away again, but when he offered to try to find the swan, she couldn't help but feel her heart swell.

"Thank you, I'd really like that.. I'll help you!" Annelise added, almost a little too enthusiastically. She allowed him to help her up, and she thanked him again. She could feel most of the awkardness drift away, although she could still feel it somewhat. She decided she wouldn't care how long it would take, she'd try her best for them to be on perfectly good terms again. After all, there really was no reason for them to not be close.

[Remus John Lupin]

Annelise cringed at his answer and Remus wasn't sure why. Should he have said he was not fine? Okay, so he wasn't perfectly fine, but he hadn't wanted to worry her.
Her question didn't seem silly to him at all. Quite the opposite, it was quite logical considering the circumstances. Even if he'd rather have kissed her than answered her (yes, very much so). Of course he hadn't forgotten about her clumsiness - better yet, he still thought it was adorable, too.

He was a little surprised when she reached forward and ran her hand through his hair. It was surprisingly pleasant, actually, even if (he supposed) it wasn't quite a sign of affection. She had apologised afterwards, after all.
Remus matched Annelise's colour in blushing. "It's fine," he said softly. More than fine. She could clean stuff out of his hair all day and he'd be all happy. It felt nice to have her close again.

"Thank you, I'd really like that.. I'll help you!" This was going well, wasn't it? She seemed happy that he was willing to help her. Remus really wanted to make this work, now that he was close to her again, talking again, he realised how much he'd missed her and how much he wanted things to be back to the way it was.
As they both got up, he didn't immediately let go of her hand. Part of the awkwardness seemed to have passed, but Remus didn't really want to get his hopes up just yet. "Did you see which way it went?" Turning around, Remus quickly established where the wind came from and then walked in the opposite direction. There was a bunch of shrubs and trees not too far away and Remus hoped it might've gotten caught on there.
Part of him had the feeling he maybe should ask her something.. how her summer had been or something - but he didn't expect the answer to be a happy one, so instead, he asked: "So which subjects are you doing this year?"

[Annelise Westerhof]

When Remus claimed that it was fine that Annelise had cleaned his hair of mud, she couldn't help but smile gently. So her touch was not completely unwanted, which couldn't mean that he was that mad at her, if at all, right? If he was unhappy with her, he would have no doubt said something along the lines of, 'thanks, but I didn't need that' or something similar. Well, then again it was Remus - the definition of a nice guy. She wasn't even sure if he would say something like that just because even if he was mad at her, she assumed that he still wouldn't want to hurt her feelings.

When they stood up and Remus didn't immediately let go of her hand, Annelise practically turned bright amber in the face. She liked the feeling of his skin on hers, and didn't mind one bit. It almost felt like the last few months they had been apart had begun to disappear. Annelise could practically feel them falling from memory.

"Um, I think it went that way," Annelise said, pointing in the direction that Remus was looking. She squinted her eyes in a rather hopeless manner, as there was no way she'd see the little swan from such a distance. She didn't really want to think about the condition that it was in. It no doubt fell into some trees and then got pushed further by the wind. Regardless, she moved her way forward. She just wanted it back, and tried to ignore her gut feeling about how stupid she was for making the swan in the first place. Why would she risk losing that note? She had kept literally all of the others.

Annelise felt like Remus' question was a little abrupt, but she didn't mind. The moment he asked, it felt like all the classes she was taking was wiped from her mind. "Oh, you know, the usual... Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration... all are going well so far, so I can't complain really... things are really becoming more interesting this year though. What about you, what have you decided to take?"

Annelise was curious for what Remus wanted to do with this life. She herself had questions about what she wanted to do. Although dragon tamer kept popping into her head frequently, she always wondered if there was any other paths that may interest her as well, although she somewhat hopelessly knew that she wasn't exactly the brightest or magically gifted, and therefore anything exciting away from the career path of magical creatures was sort of out of her limits.

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[Remus John Lupin]

It felt unsurprisingly good to be near her again, to be honest. The longer this brief meeting was getting, well, not so brief, the more Remus regretted not writing to her earlier or (better yet) talking to her sooner. Oh, if only he dared, he could just- But he couldn't, because he didn't dare, and it would get their clothes all messed up, surely.
Why hadn't they talked for such a long time, actually? How in the world had that happened? They hadn't had a fight, after all, and even if they had, neither of them were the type to hold grudges. Why hadn't they talked for so long? Remus glanced at Annelise for a moment, that very question on his lips, but he didn't - afraid to make it weird. Or weirder than it already was, anyway.

He nodded as she pointed and turned in that direction. "Well it can't have gotten far.. It probably got caught-" Remus nodded to himself a little. "I wonder why the accio didn't work? Maybe because.. you tried to accio an origami swan? Maybe we should try 'accio note' or 'accio wet parchment'?" he suggested, though not putting anything into action yet. It wasn't that he didn't want to find it, he just didn't want to sound like a know-it-all.
Honestly, Remus really thought it was a beautiful gesture to send someone's last thoughts towards you into the wind like that. Pity that it hadn't worked out the way she wanted it to.. and Remus could also understand she'd actually want the note back. He would, if he had been in her position (which, luckily, he wasn't).

Before he'd asked his question, it had sounded like such a good idea - a normal, casual question. Only when the words left his mouth he realised how offtopic it was. Stupid.
Still, she answered, and wasn't that the start of a normal conversation? He wasn't surprised to hear she was taking COMC - she was good at it. He was also glad to find they shared some classes, so he smiled. "Oh, eh - I'm taking DADA, obviously." Remus shrugged a little. "And Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy." He nodded a little. Rem would tell her about the extra-curricular subject he would probably be taking, too, but he didn't want to show off or something. "We'll be sharing classes, probably, so that's good, right?" he added a little quieter.

Remus had promised himself that he wouldn't worry about life-after-Hogwarts too much this year. He knew there would be career counseling sessions, but he figured he'd just see what he'd do then. He knew chances of him finding any sort of magical work were slim, especially as Werewolf Legislation required him to let any magical employer know about his disposition. This didn't go for muggle employers, though, so he had some hope there.
Part of him wondered, sometimes, why he was still trying to do so well in subjects that wouldn't help him get a job. Then again.. it was no use not trying hard. Dumbledore had gone out of his way to give him an education, he ought to be thankful and work hard. Besides, if he didn't try that would just be confirming the stereotype of 'stupid animal', wouldn't it?

[Annelise Westerhof]

Annelise listened to Remus' possible explanations for why 'accio' didn't work, but then again, she had her own theory... in the back of her mind, she hadn't wanted it to work. She supposed that a part of her hoped it wouldn't so that the two of them would have to go looking for it, and looking for it together; although she didn't want to think of the damage that had been no doubt done to it by now. She smiled at him and shook her head.

"Let's just go look for it," she said with a small laugh. She had become somewhat worried that them discussing how to retrieve it with magic may take longer than just looking for it by hand. Besides, if he thought it would work, why didn't he just try it himself? He could have easily held out his wand and tried it, but instead he just talked. She supposed it was merely nerves.

Annelise began to walk in the direction she believed the swan to have gone in, and tugged on her sleeve somewhat awkwardly. She knew that they were in some classes together, as she always showed up barely before the bell in order to not be sitting there alone when he showed up, but not late enough to draw attention to herself. She found the whole thing to be rather silly now, as why wouldn't she have asked him for help in Defense Against the Dark Arts? It wasn't her best class, and the tutoring sessions Remus had given her had been the reason why they had been drawn together in the first place. Yes, she had been extremely aware that they had classes together.

"I'd never be found in Arithmancy or Ancient Runes... and if I was found there, I'd probably be sleeping," Annelise joked. There was no way she'd even be accepted into those courses even if she had wanted to... it just really wasn't up her alley. Remus being prestigious and all probably had no issues getting in. Annelise moved a couple of branches from the first bush they came across, hoping to find the note somewhere inside. "So how are you liking your classes? Do you find them difficult? I know Defense Against the Dark Arts is already beating me up," she laughed slightly and continued with, "I'm surprised they had even let me in."

The only reason why Annelise even bothered continuing with DADA was because of the dark events that were imminent. Despite the fact that she knew she could never possibly be a match for Fenrir Greyback, she hoped that if she ever came across him, she would be ready. She didn't voice this to Remus, however, as he always seemed to get sensitive for some reason.

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[Remus John Lupin]

Remus had no idea of Annelise's theory why the spell wouldn't have worked. He had just assumed the magic did no longer see the piece of parchment as 'origami', more likely like 'a soaked note' or something. Part of him had wanted to test his theory, but something had held him back. Perhaps the realisation that it would be showy and a little stupid to just come swooping in with his wand and save the day and then expect Annelise to take him back something. No, something like that would be how James tried to impress girls (and how long had he been chasing Lily, after all - it could hardly be very effective).
Plus, indeed, he got to spend time with Annelise. And spending time with Annelise meant a possibility to mend things. Things looked good, Remus thought (hoped) - she hadn't dropped any hints that she'd rather search by herself and she seemed happy enough to see him again. Remus just hoped they hadn't really gone back to friends; he liked her too much for that.

"Let's just go look for it." Remus nodded and smiled as she laughed. He wasn't sure why she laughed, but it was good to hear her laugh; maybe she was feeling better, maybe the holidays hadn't been too painful for her, like he'd feared. After all, she normally spent her holidays with Jakob, and his absence would be even more marked.
He followed Annelise as she started walking, squatting near some bushes and searching between damp leaves and dirt. Of course he had noticed they shared classes, and in retrospect, he felt his remark considering that was a little stupid - then again, Remus tended to be a little stupid when it came to conversations with girls (especially girls he liked).

Remus had just stuck his hand in a considerably wet and smudgy shrub when Annelise remarked that she "would never be found in Arithmancy or Ancient Runes... and if I was found there, I'd probably be sleeping." He laughed softly and grinned up at her. He didn't mind her not liking some of the subjects he was taking - they couldn't all like the same things. "Ancient Runes is actually pretty interesting," he countered nonetheless. "Not just the texts we translate, also the possibility of using runes to strengthen charms and wards, you know. It can be applied very interdisciplinary."
Like Annelise, he moved further into the bushes after having checked the edge of the group of plants. He could feel the wet branches leave smudges on his jeans, but didn't care so much. They could be washed. "So how are you liking your classes? Do you find them difficult? I know Defense Against the Dark Arts is already beating me up, I'm surprised they had even let me in." "It's something else," Remus said after a moment of thought. He kneeled again, to check if the note had perhaps slipped through the branches and leaves onto the muddy soil, muttering a quiet 'lumos' under his breath to make sure the parchment wasn't hidden beteen some dark roots somewhere. "The tempo is higher, but it's all very interesting." He smiled to himself a little as Annelise mentioned Defense Against the Dark Arts. "I like how they leave things more up to the students now. It's less text-book, more practical, you know?" Looking up at Annelise, he added: "You're really not as bad at Defense as you think, plus you try very hard, that counts for something too. They let you in for a reason, you know." After giving her a knowing smile, he ducked under a bush again, shivering as some of the drops falling from the branches landed in his neck.

Although Remus knew it was stupid to ignore the problems in the 'outside world', he tried not to think of it too much. Of course he wanted to be prepared, but there was a difference between being prepared and worrying about things you couldn't change. Of course he feared for his parents, who were not of pure blood, plus had a werewolf son Voldemort might like to orphan in order to make it easier to recruit him, but there was nothing he could do. He was in Hogwarts; Remus would have to count on his parents' own skill to defend themselves - they weren't completely helpless.

[Annelise Westerhof]

Annelise glanced over at Remus to see that he was grinning. She thought it was very nice to see, and she could feel a faint blush rush to her cheeks. She blushed for nothing more than the fact that Remus had grinned, and although it made her feel like she was being a little silly, she found herself not caring. It was the best thing about Remus in her opinion: he made her feel carefree. Yes, the summer holidays had been really hard, and truthfully it was a lot harder when she felt like she had lost Remus as well, but it was almost like it had happened a long time ago in that moment.

Annelise fairly listened to his argument for Ancient Runes, and the replied with, "All I know is that I don't think I could ever properly translate. I'd probably translate something extremely important into, 'Maybe you should have had toast for breakfast.' Could you really imagine me taking that class?"

As much as Annelise would have loved to imagine herself sitting next to Remus, translating runes and figuring things out together, she knew it would never happen. More likely she'd translate a few things wrong, feel like she wasn't doing anything right, need Remus' help, and then figure out a few, only to rest her head in her arms on the desk and fall asleep as he finished up the work. No, Ancient Runes was definitely not for her. For her, it wasn't practical, but then again - she never really knew, did she?

Annelise couldn't help but smile yet again as Remus talked about DADA, and then disappeared further into the bushes. No, she wasn't doing quite as bad as the year before, but she knew she was hardly at the top of her class with schoolmates such as Remus or James or Sirius. She assumed by now she was more 'middle-of-the-pack,' which was definitely an improvement, but one she couldn't have done without Remus. Honestly, he had taught her a lot about confidence and such, which had an amazing affect on her spell-work.

"Yeah, I'm glad we're more independent this year as well," she agreed, although for the most part it was because less individual attention was given, and therefore she thought she could get away with faking over certain spells that gave her trouble. "It only gets hard when it's a spell that's giving me trouble, and then the next day we're already moving onto something new."

Annelise continued her search. She couldn't help but notice how dark it was getting around them, despite the fact that it was midday. She looked up to notice that they had wandered just far enough into the forest that the trees overhead were blocking out the sky above, but even in the gaps she could see that the sky had become black with the promise of an impending storm. She turned to Remus to perhaps tell him that they should turn in before getting caught in the rain, but that's when she noticed ...

"Remus, stop, it's next to your foot," Annelise said suddenly. She walked over to him somewhat impatiently and grabbed the note next to his foot without thinking about how close she made herself to him. She had held a comfortable distance the whole time, and wasn't even paying attention to how close she was then, for she was focusing on the note.

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[Remus John Lupin]

"All I know is that I don't think I could ever properly translate. I'd probably translate something extremely important into, 'Maybe you should have had toast for breakfast.' Could you really imagine me taking that class?" Remus couldn't help but grin a little at what she said. "I'm sure that would liven up the class," he answered with a lopsided grin. "Although the texts are very interesting theoretically, there is never any gossip in there, apparently not interesting enough to write down. At least Old English had this whole 'King Alfred Burned the Cakes' story."
Remus wouldn't at all mind teaching Annelise Ancient Runes. Nor would he mind if she were to fall asleep next to him as he worked. Annelise in any way any near him sounded good to him.

He would almost wish Annelise was still failing DADA. Remus wouldn't mind tutoring her again - at all. Oh well, he would just see how this conversation went and then see. Now that he had established that Annelise wasn't mad at him or averse to his company (Remus thought he could deduce at least that much from her behaviour, even if he wasn't very good at reading girls - he was better with books).
"Yeah, I'm glad we're more independent this year as well. It only gets hard when it's a spell that's giving me trouble, and then the next day we're already moving onto something new." Remus smiled a little and nodded at the first part, though looked up at the Hufflepuff next to him as she mentioned spells giving her trouble. "Well, it's probably a matter of practise?" he suggested. "We could get together, I don't know, once a week, and go through them? Circe knows I can use the practise too," he concluded with a final slight smile in Annelise's direction (complete with leaves and twigs in his hair).

Remus hadn't really noticed how dark it was getting. He was too busy looking, plus his eye sight was rather good so it didn't stop him from searching, either. So unlike Annelise, he had no idea the impending rain was so close. He had known rain was on its way, but that the clouds were so near to breaking open and soaking them.
Then, suddenly- "Remus, stop, it's next to your foot." He looked down at once, and without thinking or hesitating, bent forward to pick up the note. He should've known Annelise would do the same, but he didn't realise until their heads bumped together a little forcefully. Not that it hurt, but it was sudden and embarrassing. He moved back at once, leaving the note for Annelise to pick up - it was her note after all - and stood back rubbing his forhead a little. "Sorry about that," he said after a moment, realising he had forgotten to apologise out of, well, surprise? "Hope I didn't hurt you."

[Annelise Westerhof]

Annelise smiled when he said she would liven up the class. No doubt she would make people laugh with all the things that she mistranslated.

"I don't think me living up a class is worth a failing grade," she replied humourously. Although, if it was between taking Ancient Runes and never seeing Remus, she knew she'd probably do the former. Even though, for some strange reason, she had avoided him for so long, she knew that she definitely liked seeing him around. She found it oddly comforting, even if she wasn't really speaking with him.

When Remus suggested tutoring her yet again, she couldn't help but notice the twigs and such in his hair, and she found it endearing. She would have taken them from his hair, but she had already removed dirt and didn't know if touching him yet again would come on a little too strong. Instead, she opted from looking from his hair to his eyes. She always liked his eyes.

"Yes, I'd like that," she agreed. Practice was always good, although she knew she wasn't accepting the offer for the practice. It meant time with Remus... alone. That, at least, was always wanted. Even if they didn't talk about anything, she liked being around him. They could sit in complete silence, and she would still be comfortable.

As Annelise leaned forward to grab the note, evidently so did Remus. Their heads crashed together and she was knocked somewhat off-balance. It hurt for a split-second, but she avoided the pain in order to retrieve her note. She gave a bit of an awkward chuckle about what had happened. After a few moments, however, Remus apologized.

"No, no, I'm fine," she said. She unfolded the letter to find that it remained miraculously unscathed. After looking it over, she looked back to Remus and then continued with, "Oh! Wait, are you okay? I forgot to ask!"

She didn't mean to admit that she had forgotten to ask, and therefore she felt stupid for including the last sentence of what she had said. She could feel the colour rise in her cheeks as she felt a bit flustered.

"Gah, you know what I mean," she mumbled. Soon after, she began to feel the first droplets of rain fall from the sky.

[/justify]

[Remus John Lupin]

It wasn't that Remus wanted Annelise to be the laughing stock of the class. He hadn't just envisioned her making silly translations, he just thought Annelise would liven up any class - to him, anyway.
"I don't think me living up a class is worth a failing grade." He laughed softly. "No, of course, please don't just take a class because I want some distraction," he joked and smiled at her a little. If he wanted distraction, he could see her outside of class, right? Well - not if he wanted distraction: if he wanted to see her, he could see her right? They were talking now, things were going pretty well, maybe he could ask her sometime.

Remus hadn't noticed the disarray of his hair yet. He would, eventually, but for now he was blissfully oblivious. Moreso, even, because she had accepted his offer to practise things together and, better yet: sounded enthusiastic. "We'll do that sometime, then," he said, a little shyly, admittedly, but smiling to himself, happily and quietly as he continued looking.

"No, no, I'm fine." Remus smiled, a little relieved to be honest, because his pain barrier was pretty high, but he wasn't sure about Annelise's, and he'd never forgive himself if he'd hurt her.
By the look of relief on her face, he guessed the note was also more intact than they both dared hope. "Oh! Wait, are you okay? I forgot to ask!" He blinked for a moment. Remus had felt responsible for the whole ordeal to begin with, so in his head, there was no need for her to apologise. When he didn't answer at once, she continued. "Gah, you know what I mean." Remus nodded a little hurridly. "No, yes, sure - I'm fine. Not a scratch. I-" Just then a raindrop landed in the back of his neck. "Oh."
He glanced at the castle, which was at least a ten-minute-walk, maybe a five-minute-run, and that rain was didn't seem to grow any less. "You want to, eh..?" Remus glanced over his shoulder, into the forest, where the trees could provide them shelter. "We could wait until it dies down a bit?"