[ R E M U S ]

[10.13.1976]

[ t h i r d p e r s o n]

[ unedited ]

the next few weeks had been quite uneventful. despite the fact that sirius and james dyed lucius malfoy's hair a shade of neon pink, remus hadn't experienced very much. arden hadn't eaten with them since the night sirius got drunk. hell, she had barely even talked to them. it was almost as though she had disappeared. of course, that was not possible since they did see her in all of their shared classes, plus she ate with ivory and lily on the other end of the gryffindor table. 

"why do you suspect arden hasn't talked to us?" peter asked, finally breaking the silence as all of the boys picked at their food. 

"merlin, peter, really? you have to bring that up?" james groaned. 

"sorry. i just meant that... well, you see, i really enjoyed having her around and then she suddenly just stopped talking to us. it's a bit odd if you ask me," peter replied. 

"and, what, pete? you're going to talk to us about someone acting odd? kind of ironic, don't you think?"

"sorry james."

remus had no words. he had barely talked all week. he had no idea why. it's not like he thought arden would stick around forever. were they ever friends? or did they just merely talk to each other? he looked over at his friends. james was so angry that you could almost see the steam coming out of his ears, peter was sitting with his head resting on his hand while picking at his porridge, and sirius stared blankly in front of him, his eyes swollen. it was obvious that he had been crying late at night, even though he would deny it. they all heard him. every night he would go into the bathroom and run the water to try to cover the sound of his sobs.

it seemed as though they were all upset over girls, except for peter.

girls suck, remus had decided. he quickly took it back because arden had done nothing wrong. it was probably his fault. was it something he had said? something he did? he couldn't bear it any longer. he had to talk to her. 

he rose from his seat and waltzed over to where the girls were sitting. 

"remus, if sirius sent you over here to t—"

"ivory it's not about you," he said shortly. "arden, why are you avoiding us? avoiding me? what's going on?" 

arden let out a nervous laugh. "um, i'm not sure i understand?"

"right.  i forgot. nevermind." he got up and went back to his seat with the boys. 

arden looked between lily and ivory, but they both shrugged. she got up and went after him. 

"remus what are you talking about?" she asked. 

"hey arden! guys, look it's arden!"

"god, peter do you ever shut up? you should really try it," james snarled. 

"okay, first off, what the hell is your deal james? don't you dare talk to peter like that. ever. i don't know what that was, but do it again and i will personally ruin you. stop being an arse. secondly, remus, what the hell was that back there?" arden said in a sudden outburst. they had never seen her act like this before. she had always been so calm and collected and shy. 

"you never sit with us anymore. you don't even talk to us. did something happen? did we mess up? i don't understand why you can't just come to one of us is there is or ever was a problem," remus ranted. 

"well my friends needed me. i cant drop everything for people that i just met. and do you know how awkward it would be if i spent half of my day hanging out with you lot and the other half hanging with them? it would be bloody chaos! between james and lily, and then sirius and ivory, i cant handle that right now. sorry if that hurts your feelings, but i have other people that need my support. you all have each other."

he had not expected that. not in the slightest. "arden, are you angry with me?"

"no, remus, i'm upset that you guys won't cut me some slack. now if you'll excuse me, i have to get back to lily and ives before they hex me for being over here—"

"arden before you go could you tell ivory i'm sorry. and i miss her," sirius pleaded quietly. 

she leaned down and hugged him tight. "siri, that's something you need to do yourself. i'm sorry. just talk to her."

"will you at least meet me in the library tonight?" sirius asked. 

"sure. i'll be there at midnight."

"thank you."

"of course. it was good seeing you boys." she waved, then walked away from the group of sad, sad teenage boys.