It was a bit past midnight as Diana paced back and forth down in the dungeons. That's what she had written to Remus in the letter; to meet her there at midnight. She had guessed that his friends would give him hell if they could read the note, so she'd decided to write it in runes.

She had been standing there now for ten minutes, turning around anxiously at any small noise, afraid that it would be Filch lurking around or someone to get her into trouble for being out after curfew. The longer she stood there, the more she thought that Lupin wouldn't even show up.

Just as she was about to give up and return to the Slytherin common room, she heard light footsteps approaching from the next corridor. She quickly hid herself behind the wall, sneaking a glance to see who it was.

Diana let out a small sigh of relief when he saw Remus walking down the corridor with his hands in the pockets of his oversized jacket, glancing behind his shoulder every once in a while, as though making sure he wasn't being followed.

"Oh... hi." Remus smiled the moment Diana walked out of hiding from behind the wall, appearing before him in her usual trousers and Hogwarts sweater.

  "Hey." Diana sent him a sheepish grin. "Heard it was your birthday."

Remus chuckled. "How did you know?"

"Your friends made a big show of it today at breakfast. It wasn't much of a secret," Diana replied wittily.

"Ah, right. I almost forgot about that." Remus's face flinched at the embarrassing memory, though he kept on smiling. "Sorry I got here a bit late, by the way. My friends were with me when I got your note."

"Yeah, I figured that would be the case. Which is why I wrote the note in runes."

"Smart move."

"Anyway," her grin then widened, handing Remus the small shopping bag she was holding in her hand which he hadn't noticed until that point. "I know we're still somewhere between arch enemies and friends, but... I thought I would get you this."

  "You — you got me a gift?" Remus said in a hollow tone with his eyes fixed on the shopping bag.

"Don't make a big deal out of it, Lupin," Diana said jokingly, handing it to him when he hesitated for too long. "Go on, then! Open it! I don't have all night, you know. And I'm not really keen on spending time in detention with Filch."

Chuckling lightly, Remus opened the bag, only to see a pair of long wooly socks in them.

"Socks?" He laughed.

"What? It's a great gift!"

"I didn't say it wasn't," Remus said brightly, but the moment he took out the socks to observe them more closely, his smile dropped.

They were long and woolly, knitted in dark blue. But there were small yellow moons all around it as the pattern.

"You don't like it, do you?" Diana winced at the expression and frown on his face. "I thought it would be funny to get you socks... stupid idea..." she whispered the last words, scratching the back of her head unsurely.

"So..." Diana cleared her throat, taking a step back from him, "happy birthday, Lupin. May you live long enough so that your beard turns as long and white as Dumbledore's," she joked, trying to loosen a bit of the awkwardness.

Cursing herself in two different languages, Diana quickly turned around to leave the corridor, but she came to a halt when Remus grabbed her wrist, holding her back. "No, wait!"

She turned around slowly, looking up into his chocolate brown eyes, which were burning in passion and kindness as always.

"I love them," he whispered, smiling genuinely down at her.

"Good. Because I would've taken them for my own if you hadn't liked them," Diana said teasingly.

Remus chuckled, but then he caught her completely off guard when he leaned down with the socks still in one hand, and brought her into a hug.

Diana froze on the spot for a second, as though in a state of shock. She didn't know what was happening in her stomach and why he had done this. At last, she let out a small breath and wrapped her arms around him as well, hugging him back.

She was surprised that at that moment all she could think about was that Remus Lupin was probably the best hugger to have ever existed.

Maybe it was because her own parents had never cared to embrace her this way. Even the hugs she shared with Layla when they greeted each other were short and distant. But this... this was different.

The smell of chocolate and books was stronger and sweeter than ever. She felt warm with his arms wrapped around her. It felt like a home she had never known.

"Thank you," he whispered, tightening his grip around her.

Diana didn't know how long they were standing there. All she knew was that she didn't want him to let go.

     And so, as Remus held her closer to him in that dim and cold corridor, a smile finally crept through her face.

***

When Remus returned back to his dorm later that night, he walked in on James, Sirius, and Peter playing a game of Exploding Snaps. Peter was rather good in that game, and Sirius and James seemed to be losing.

    Although Remus was surprised that none of them said anything to him about where he had gone. He had personally thought that Madam Pomfrey's potion was a poor excuse, and only on his way back had he realized that he'd forgotten to take the Marauder's Map with him.

     Sighing in relief to himself that they hadn't checked the Map, Remus went into their dorm's shared bathroom to get ready for sleep and to brush his teeth. But while he was walking toward the bathroom, he could feel their heavy gazes on him.

     The next day, as the four boys made their way down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Peter's headache had gotten worse than last night.

    "Which means you had fun," Sirius stressed his point with a grin.

     "No it doesn't!" James retorted. "Butterbeer isn't even a strong drink to begin with."

     Remus decided not to take part in the argument, afraid that they would somehow turn it against him and bring up last night. Silence was his best choice at the moment.

     Professor Gates had started teaching the Hex Breakers. He insisted that it had to be finished before the Easter break which was in a few weeks. It was necessary — as he had mentioned a few times — for their upcoming O.W.Ls.

     Diana was sitting a few rows behind where Remus and Peter sat together, on the column to their right. Layla was beside her, taking quick notes on the lesson.

     Diana was having a hard time suppressing her smile, trying her best not to look at Remus's direction. But she found herself getting even more distracted when Remus turned his head slightly to look behind his shoulder at where Diana was sitting.

     He quickly turned back to look at Professor Gates again, who was writing different spells on the blackboard and was drawing their wand movements.

     Remus then leaned back against his chair with a mischievous smile, and then he slightly pulled up the right cuff of his trousers under the table, revealing the dark blue woolly socks that he was wearing, with little yellow moons on it.

     Diana snorted with laughter before she could stop herself, causing Professor Gates to turn around sharply at the noise.

    "Potter! Black! That's enough!" The professor snapped at the two boys, who looked up at him in confusion.

     "We didn't —" James began to speak, but he was broken off.

     "Enough!" Professor Gates glared at them before returning to the lesson and writing on the blackboard.

     Diana caught Remus's eyes again when he slightly turned his head back to look at her from over his shoulder, both of them trying hard not to burst into laughter.