[ A R D E N ]

[10.31.1976]

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

[ unedited ]

"happy halloween, boys!" arden called out to the gryffindor boys. remus smiled at her in return.

"you know, i've never really understood the purpose of halloween," sirius said to the group. "i mean, they made a celebration purely to dress up and pass out sweets?"

"um, yes precisely," remus laughed. he turned to arden, "it's good to have you ba—"

before he could finish his sentence, arden wrapped him in a hug. he was taken aback for a second, but quickly recollected himself and gave her a hug back. arden took a seat on james's vacant bed as she she chatted with the boys. they were all quite shocked to see her talking to remus. hell, she was even surprised by it. arden, peter, sirius, and remus talked on and on about everything they had missed in each other's lives recently. james, unfortunately, still hadn't even tried to make up for what he had done to sirius. he slept in the common room most nights, wanting to avoid any interaction with the boys as possible. arden noticed how hard it was on all of them to not be around one another. it was especially painful when arden would watch their quidditch practices on thursdays.

to her, it was odd to think that that was where everything had started. she had dreamed about being friends with those boys, and then when the time came around that they wanted to have her around, she started overreacting about something that was practically irrelevant at that point. it was pure torture not being around those boys after how close she had gotten with them all. it was time to get over herself.

"arden, i—"

"i missed you, remy. and i'm so tired of being mad at you and ignoring you a pretending like i hate you because i don't. it's exhausting to not be around you," arden rambled.

"what about MEE," sirius wailed dramatically.

"sirius, shut UP."

"but babe you never say those things to me—"

"i will not hesitate to defenestrate you. try me," she said.

"joke's on you, 'cause i don't know what that means," sirius stated smugly.

"defenestrate means to throw someone or something out of a window. so when she says that she won't hesitate to defenestrate you, she means—"

"yeah, yeah, i get it." after hearing enough between the two walking dictionaries that (for some odd reason) were his best friends, sirius rose from his bed and made his way out of the room.

"arden i am so sorry, i never meant to hurt you. i didn't think that talking to you about a book would lead me here. i never thought that—" he rambled. before he could say much more, arden pressed her lips to his, shutting him up. after a few seconds she pulled away.

"i'm starting to think that your problem is that you think about things way too much," she smiled.

"maybe so," he leaned in for a passionate kiss. it felt as though he had been drowning and kissing her felt like coming up for air. he couldn't get enough of it. he couldn't get enough of her. for so long, remus had feared that he could never be loved because of his condition, but arden made him feel like he was normal. and it was about damn time he started making moves.

"arden," remus started, "since the moment i talked to you, i couldn't get enough of you. i still can't. and i never should have let you go. i should have stood by you through it all. i should have just been honest with you. there is so much that i want to tell you—that i need to tell you— but i can't yet, and i'm so sorry, but this is me making a promise to tell you as soon as i'm ready, okay?"

arden laughed. "trust me, i truly appreciate that. i do. but you don't owe me anything. you have no reason to feel obligated to tell me every secret you have, no matter when you plan to do it, okay?"

"what if i give myself a reason to make that promise?" he offered.

"what are you talking about, remus?" she questioned, eyebrows furrowed.

"go out with me. let's go on a date and do cute relationship shit. let me take you out on picnics by the great lake, let's stay up and analyze the stars from a field or the astronomy tower, let's compare our favorite books and talk and kiss and lay with one another. let's enjoy each others company. be my girlfriend, arden."

this had arden completely shaken. she sat with her mouth agape and eyes wide, purely speechless.

"is that a 'no?'"

"that's a 'kiss me you fucking dork,'" she grinned.