THE MAN WITH THE PICKED AT LIPS!

OCTOBER 1977

6th Year

• • • •

"...but it is better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at all." - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Man With The Twisted Lip

Leah Sherlock was a driven person. 

She had a compulsive, urgent quality. A driven sense of obligation when there was something that she wanted to know, determined to succeed.

Once she had the slightest inkling of a clue, she had to follow it. 

Which is why, sat in Charms, Leah Sherlock was pushing her quill harder and harder into her desk. Because when it came to the Remus Lupin case, she had no clue.

"Leah, you're going to break your quill," Claudia informed from next to her, only to be ignored as her best friend stared at Professor Flitwick as he gave his lecture, putting more and more pressure onto her quill, "Leah."

Leah's head snapped to the side, "What?"

A loud snapping noise made the whole class turn to where the pair were sitting at the back of the classroom, Flitwick pausing his speech to look at the source of the noise.

"Miss Sherlock? Miss Watson?" Flitwick asked, "Is everything quite aright?"

Leah stared down at the snapped in half quill on her hand, nodding, "Yes, Professor. Sorry for interrupting." She said, monotonously, making their head of house nod before he continued with his lecture, the class turning back to him, though a few of their peers were still looking at Leah.

"Leah." Claudia whispered softly, making the girl look at her.

"I'm fine," Leah assured her, swapping out her broken quill with a new one from her bag, "Just thinking is all."

"About everything with Lupin?" Claudia asked, gaining a curt nod. The brunette girl nervously licked her lips before saying, "I actually wanted to talk to you about the Lupin case."

"Why? Do you have a lead? A clue?" Leah whispered eagerly, looking up from her notes.

"No, Leah," Claudia shook her head making Leah deflate slightly, "And that's the problem. It's been nearly a month and we've had no clues."

"Well, we'll find one," Leah said, clenching her jaw as she jotted down some more notes from the board, "We paid those three Gryffindor first years two galleons each to do some reconnaissance and tell us what they found out. Something will come out of it."

"But what if nothing comes out of it?" Claudia wondered, "Then what will you do?"

Leah squirmed slightly in her seat, despising the idea of a cold case, "Find another way to get a lead."

Claudia let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Leah, I know we've never had a cold case before, but-"

"And we aren't going to have one now." Leah told her through gritted teeth and a glare.

"Alright," Claudia shrugged in defeat, "Alright. So how are you going to make that happen?"

"I'll figure it out." Leah growled.

"Or we just drop the case."

"What?" Leah exclaimed. 

Too loudly.

"Miss Sherlock?"

"Sorry, Professor," Leah said, half heartedly, "I won't disturb the class anymore." She recited what she had to say to a lot of her teachers.

The class once again continued and Claudia looked at Leah.

"I'm sorry," She sighed, "I just don't want to see you losing your mind and focus over a boy who disappears once a month."

"Something is up with those four, Claudia," Leah told her, using Claudia's first name, which was a rare occasion, especially in public, "I know there is. Lupin lied to me a month ago. And if I don't find out why, then I may just end up losing my mind."

Claudia stared at her best friend - who was staring back at her - before eventually nodding, "Okay. Okay, we'll keep going. But if you let drive into a state of madness, I'm pulling the plug."

Leah smirked at her, "I didn't know you cared that much, Watson."

Claudia smirked back, "Neither did I. So. Do we have a deal?" She asked, holding out her hand.

Leah stared at Claudia's outstretched hand, shaking it with a sigh, "Deal."

___

"You had a good day." Leah noted, sitting across from Remus at the library.

Looking up, the boy raised an eyebrow with a small smile, "How'd you figure?"

"When you're happy you tap your foot slowly," Leah said, getting her things out of her bag, "When you're upset or agitated you tap it rapidly."

Remus smiled, "You noticed that?"

Eyeing him, Leah quickly said, "Don't flatter yourself with my observations," She told him, "What should flatter you is the fact I am sitting with you."

"Oh?" Remus grinned.

"There aren't many people I can tolerate, Lupin," Leah hummed, "And stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"That thing you do with your face when you're happy," Leah said, "It makes me nauseous."

Remus cocked his head with an amused smile, "My happiness makes you nauseous."

"No," Leah shook her head, "Just most people's in general."

Remus chuckled, "You're an enigma, Leah."

"I know." Leah nodded, serious, making Remus laugh, accidentally knocking his bag over with his leg.

"Bugger." He muttered, bending down to pick up the contents that had fallen out of his bag.

Leah watched him scramble around to pick up his things, before sighing and helping him, noticing a large piece of plank parchment, picking it up and looking at it with intrigue.

"Thanks." Remus smiled with a sigh, having gotten everything else from his bag back into it, freezing when he saw her assessing the item in her hand.

"What's this?" The younger girl queried, going to open it.

"N-Nothing," Remus shook his head, quickly grabbing it from her hands and stuffing it into his bag, not wishing for the magical parchment to insult her when they were just starting to become friends in his mind, "Never know when you may need some parchment." He chuckled nervously.

Leah looked the boy up and down, making him squirm, "You know, there are a lot of things about you that intrigue me, Lupin."

"T-There are?"

"Yes," Leah hummed, moving to start working on her homework, "The main one being your consistent attempt at trying to hide things from me," She said, before immersing herself on her school work, making Remus glance between her and his bag, hands shaking as they picked at his lips.

"You should also really stop picking at your lips when you're worried."