The next morning, being Thursday, the fifth year Slytherins had Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which to their great dismay, they shared with the Gryffindors.

     Layla had gotten exceptionally good at that class when it came to practical work and using her wand, as well as in Charms and Transfigurations. She had almost become as good as James Potter and Sirius Black, and that was certainly saying something.

     Although when it came to the theoretical parts and studying the books by heart, Lily Evans still came first in each and every one of their classes. James and Sirius, on the other hand, didn't seem like the type to study at all.

     Layla, who was determined to beat Lily Evans in that as well, had her book open in her hands as she walked up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom that day after breakfast, with Diana right by her side.

     "Ugh, there is just too much written in text here!" Layla groaned as they walked their way through the crowd inside the corridors, trying not to bump into anyone. "Have you seen this chapter? It's about ghouls. It's thirty pages! Thirty pages just about ghouls!"

    "Yeah, I read it over the Christmas break," said Diana, causing Layla to look at her with shock and disbelief. "What? Don't look so surprised. I like reading when I'm on my own."

     "Reading fictional works I understand. But reading school books?" She shook her head. "That's a big no for me."

     As soon as they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Diana's eyes uncontrollably searched the room for Remus Lupin.

     As Diana took her usual seat with Layla, her gaze darted toward where James Potter was sitting on top of a desk with Sirius in front of him on the seat. Sirius was lounging on his chair coolly, tilting it back on two legs with ease. Peter was standing beside them as well, laughing along with them. But Remus was nowhere to be seen.

     Once Professor Gates walked into the classroom, Sirius returned his chair on all four legs and James hopped off the desk, taking his seat beside Sirius. Peter quickly walked toward the bench on the row behind them, but the seat beside him which belonged to Remus remained empty for the rest of the class.

     Layla saw that Diana kept glancing at where the three Gryffindor boys sat throughout the lesson, but Layla just assumed Diana was looking at Sirius, after the horrifying news she had received from her parents over the break.

    In reality, however, Diana was wondering where Remus was and why he was missing again.

***

In the next few days, there was still no sign of Remus Lupin in classes; he was neither in Potions or Transfigurations, nor anywhere in the Great Hall for the meals. Diana didn't mention her suspicions to Layla, knowing that her friend would start teasing her about being obsessed with Lupin.

    Diana had completely avoided mentioning to Layla that the boy had actually sent her a short apology letter along with a box of chocolates for Christmas. If Diana even dared to mention that, she would never hear the end of it.

     Even though it was a small gesture, Diana felt like she couldn't stay mad at him any longer. She wasn't comfortable thanking someone she barely knew or apologizing, but deep down, she appreciated what he had done, even though she knew he had done it merely out of guilt.

It wasn't until the following Monday that Diana finally saw Remus again. When she entered the Ancient Runes classroom early in the morning, she found him already behind his desk on his usual seat, at the front of the class.

Unlike always when he used to read his book in advance, today he was resting his head on his arms which were crossed on the desk before him. His eyes were closed and he seemed rather worn out and tired.

With her bag hung loosely over her shoulder, Diana made a move to walk toward her own seat at the back of the class, but she came to a sudden stop, a thought making its way over her head.

She tried to push it away, but before she could gain control over her legs, she turned around and walked toward the front of the class, where Remus Lupin was sleeping with his head on the table.

Diana cleared her throat, trying to get his attention. When he made no sign of hearing her, she sighed before calling out loudly, "Lupin!"

Remus's head shot up with a start, blinking a few times to get a grasp over what was going on around him. When he looked up to see Diana standing beside his desk and glancing down at him, all his sleepiness vanished.

"Sorry — I was — er..." Remus tried to say, but felt himself at loss for words.

"Taking a nap. Yes, I noticed," said Diana mockingly, grinning.

Her smile disappeared the next moment, however, when she saw a few fresh wounds across his cheeks and dark bags underneath his puffy eyes.

She then cleared her throat again, bearing a more serious face. "I — I came here to thank you."

"Thank me?" Remus repeated, still not completely back to full consciousness.

"Yeah. You know? For the chocolates," said Diana, trying to prevent her voice from sounding sarcastic.

Although Diana felt like she was failing and was afraid that the boy would think that she was mocking him. So, she dug into her trousers' pocket, taking out two beautifully-wrapped small chocolates. They were from the box Remus had sent her as a Christmas present.

"You've got good taste, Lupin. I've been carrying a few of these around every day to eat when I'm bored or hungry," she said with a playful grin.

Remus chuckled. "I do that all the time, too."

He then fished his hand into his cloak's pocket, taking out a half-eaten chocolate bar which was untidily wrapped with its cover.

That's why he always smells like chocolate, Diana thought to herself in realization, but there was no way she would say it out loud.

Instead she said jokingly, "I see you're a chocolate addict."

Remus laughed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Not that much."

Diana gave him a look.

"Okay, okay," Remus said in defeat as he grinned goofily, placing the chocolate bar back in his pocket, "but it's really good for nerves, you know. It also lowers blood pressure, and it helps your brain to function better."

"Yeah, you're definitely an addict." Diana couldn't help but to laugh. "You know, I always thought giving someone chocolates was cheesy, but somehow it wasn't cheesy, getting it from you."

"How come?"

"Dunno. I guess it's only cheesy when couples do it." She shrugged, smirking. "Arch enemies, on the other hand, can send each other chocolates as much as they want and it still wouldn't seem cheesy."

This time it was Remus's turn to burst into laughter. "Arch enemies? That's what you think we are?"

"Yeah. I think it's pretty cool to have an arch enemy," Diana said with a teasing grin. "You should consider it an honor to be my enemy, Lupin."

"Of course it is. Of course." Remus nodded sassily. "But what's wrong with couples giving each other chocolate as gift? I think it's sweet."

"Depends on what your definition of sweet is," said Diana sarcastically, still standing beside his desk while Remus remained seated. "If by sweet you mean cheesy, then yes, it's incredibly sweet."

"What do you have against couples?" Remus asked, finding the conversation amusing despite his better judgement.

"I'm not against couples, per say. I just don't like the idea of dating. I mean, I see people going to Madam Puddifoot for Valentines' day and buying each other flowers, and it makes me want to puke. That place is a nightmare masked with pink glitter."

Remus laughed again. "Dunno. But I know a few people who would like to go there."

"Who?" Diana asked with a grimace.

"A few of the girls that Sirius went out with liked that place a lot." Remus shrugged, grinning.

At the mention of his name, Diana's face fell, her smile disappearing. She had been trying to distract herself from the horrible future her parents had planned for her, but now it seemed inescapable.

"Anyway..." She cleared her throat awkwardly, taking a step back. "I should get back to my seat. The class will start in a few minutes."

"All right," Remus whispered, watching Diana turn on her heel to get back to her own seat, but before he could stop himself, he quickly blurted out, "Wait!"

A few people sitting around them turned to glance at him for a second before looking away again and continuing their own conversations.

"Yeah?" Diana asked, looking back at him questioningly.

Despite telling himself over and over again in the past few weeks that he wanted to stay away from the Slytherin girl, Remus had found himself enjoying that short conversation with her more than any other he'd had in a long time.

He was afraid of catching feelings for her, because he knew he couldn't have a future with someone, while being a werewolf. That was out of question.

     But now, as he looked back into her bright blue eyes, he thought to himself that there would be no harm in being friends with her — as well as her arch enemy, if that's what she wanted to be. He couldn't deny that she was right; it was amusing being someone's arch enemy, just for fun.

"If you want, you could... er..." Remus started as he gestured at the empty seat beside him, suddenly finding it difficult to form the words.

Diana's smirk grew. "Are you asking me to sit with you?"

Remus gave a little shrug as he managed to grin, trying to recollect his nerves. "I was thinking that it would be fun to watch Professor Kumar freak out when she sees us sitting together. In case you haven't noticed, she'd been trying to pair us up the whole year."

Diana laughed again at that. "Your mind works in evil ways, Lupin. I like that."

And so, with her smirk still dangling from the edge of her lips, she took the empty seat next to Remus on the bench, now sharing a desk together.