Chapter Text
Dreadful… of course, you got a Dreadful for your Charms essay, you could hardly ever perform the incantations correctly, much less perform the spells, every time you tried to cast a spell you saw Professor Flitwick’s eyes go wide in fear.
You can feel his pitiful gaze on you and avoid his eyes, instead, you look around the classroom, your gaze landing upon Remus Lupin, chatting wildly with his hands as he talks to Lily. The redhead was eagerly nodding along and you smiled subconsciously at how excited Remus was, if only you were half as good at Charms as he was, perhaps you would get an Acceptable or maybe even an Outstanding. You were pretty sure he got an Outstanding for every single subject, Merlin, he was amazing in Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, DADA, everything. To top it all off he was a prefect, the model student, the child every parent wishes they had, but behind the fake smiles he gave to all his Professors, he had a sharp tongue, a sharp wit about him with a knack for planning very intricate pranks.
“Ahem-“Professor Flitwick clears his throat and softly says your name as he stops at your table. “May we have a word after class? I need to speak to you about something important,” he asked quietly over the loud murmuring of students and you nodded. “Right then!” He says as he walks on over to the front of the classroom. ”On with the lesson, today we’ll be learning about-” Professor Flitwick’s voice droned on and your mind wandered. You looked back over to where Remus sat, only to find him looking at you, he offered a small smile and turned his attention back to Flitwick. Goodness, he was perfect, pretty eyes, a pretty face too, pretty messy brown hair, and scars that littered his body, even when having to occasionally walk with a cane he was majestic.
The clocktower bell rang and suddenly all the students began packing away their belongings, rushing to be the first out of class so that they could arrive at lunch first. You stood up and waited for most students to leave and then approached Professor Flitwick. “You wanted to speak to me professor?” you asked timidly, “Ah, yes!” He says with a warm smile, ”You see I’ve noticed that you’re starting to struggle with Charms more than usual. I would never want one of my students to struggle, as much as I would love to help you myself I’m much too busy so I thought you could try asking one of your classmates to help you. We have many students who are amazing at Charms, like perhaps Miss Evans, Miss Meadowes, Mr. Potter or maybe even Mr. Lupin. I wouldn’t want you to fail the year just because of one class, especially not when I can do something about it.” he said warmly and you nodded. “Now off you go, go enjoy lunch, I heard we’re getting some pie!” he says happily and you grab your belongings and leave the classroom.
Failing Charms… you sigh, you couldn’t fail Charms, what type of witch or wizard fails Charms? But who would ask for help? Dorcas? No, you barely know her. Lily? You sigh, also no… you’ve only briefly exchanged smiles in the hall. James… you’d rather not. That only leaves Remus, awkward but very good-looking Remus, the same Remus that makes you stumble over your words like an idiot. You would most definitely embarrass yourself in front of him. That wouldn’t end well… but you desperately needed help and he was amazing at Charms. Fine, you would ask for him to tutor you.
Walking down towards the Great Hall, you spot Lily, Mary and Remus all talking. You take a deep breath, this is it, you speed up a bit, trying to catch up with them. Over the chatting of students, you can very clearly hear Lily complaining about something James said to her. “Remus?” you ask quietly once you are close enough, Lily abruptly stops her story and gives you a small smile as all three turn to face you. “Could I talk to you privately? Just for a second it won’t take long, I promise,” you ramble and he nods, waving bye to Lily and Mary as they walk away.
“I was just wondering since I know you always do amazing in Charms, if there was any way that you would help tutor me? Just this once!” you add nervously, your cheeks a soft red colour. You were too nervous to meet his eyes but you could feel his hand on your shoulder, he gave it a soft squeeze and he nodded, “Of course, I’ll tutor you, why wouldn’t I?” He asks with a warm smile, but you didn’t miss the faint pink colour of his ears. “Would this Saturday be fine? At around ten thirty at the Library?” He proposed, you felt like you couldn’t speak so you just awkwardly nodded and then excused yourself to go have lunch, leaving him alone. Curse your awkwardness, you finally speak to him and all you can get out is a bit of rambling and a nod then you run off like a coward.
Early Saturday morning comes and it’s a perfect day, it was softly raining outside, covering the Scottish mountains in a thick layer of mist. Most of your roommates had left already, but you had slept in a bit, since you were tired from staying up late last night practicing some spells, hoping to get some of them right to impress Remus, but it took longer than you would like to admit and still you were embarrassingly horrible at all of them. Yawning you look at the clock on your bedside table.
Shit.
Oh shit.
You scrambled out of bed, it was almost 10 am, and you not only missed breakfast but at this point, you were gonna be late for your study date- no, study session with Remus! You hurriedly dress, trying to at least pick a somewhat decent outfit, you still want to look nice for your study session. As you finish you quickly grab your wand and Charms textbooks and take off running.
You were running as quickly as you could, trying to avoid as many teachers and prefects as to not get told off for running in the halls. You reach the castle kitchens and tickle the pear on the painting and it swings open, revealing the kitchens that were filled with many house elves now starting to prepare lunch, you grab some breakfast for yourself as well as a sweet treat for Remus, or well sweet treats, since there were so many options and you couldn’t decide what to pick. You hoped this would make up for being late and you leave in a hurry and nearly sprint to the library.
Heaving you reach the library and open the giant doors, your senses as flooded with the scent of old books, many students are lounging about, reading a book or studying. You scan the library hoping to find Remus, but you can’t seem to find him. You start walking through the library to try and find him and after a bit of searching you find him at one of the tables in the far back corner of the library, one where you have a perfect view of the bits of sunrays highlighting his features, wait no, you meant where you could perfectly see the beautiful autumn landscape and hear the soft rain.
Clearing your throat you walk closer, he looks up and smiles at you. He was wearing one of his classic sweaters, that highlighted his face so well, and his hair was unruly but he looked perfect in your eyes, you could stare at him forever- Remus awkwardly clears his throat and your cheeks go red, damn it, he caught you staring, hopefully, you could play the flush off as the cold.
“I am so sorry I’m late! I overslept and missed breakfast and had to run to the kitchens all while trying to avoid any teachers and-“ you ramble, trying to explain yourself hoping that he wouldn’t be too upset with your tardiness but you were cut off by a soft chuckle coming from him. “It’s okay don’t even worry about it, I was actually worried I was gonna be the late one. I had to help the boys with something last minute and well, it took longer than expected,” he says kindly and accepts the sweet treat you offer to him. “Another prank?” you ask, hoping to make small talk to make this less awkward. He merely shrugs and gives a mischievous smile, you narrow your eyes at him but decide not to bug him about it. You take out the sweet treats you got him and give them to him and his eyes light up slightly, “For being late,” you say hurriedly. He lets out a chuckle and reaches for one, and for a brief moment his scarred hand meets yours and you could swear the world stopped. Your breath hitches and your heart starts pounding and you pull your hand away.
Sitting down you take out your textbooks, you take a deep breath to calm down, but Remus looks unfazed. “So what do you need help with, any spell in specific or just overall?” he inquires as he takes out his wand, you sigh “Just… everything really, I’m really bad at Charms for some reason. Can’t get the stupid spells to work right!” You complain and he listens carefully nodding as you speak. Why did he have to be such an attentive listener, he’s making it very hard for you to speak properly.
“How about we start with something simple then? What about Descendo?” he asks while you flip to the page containing the spell, taking a deep breath, “Descendo!” You say confidently and a faint blue light comes out of your wand and hits a bookshelf, causing all the books to come flying off the shelves and hitting the ground with a large thud. You go red and sink into your seat, wanting to disappear as Remus softly chuckles and you look across the room to meet the angry glare of Madam Pince. Remus being as sweet as ever quickly waves his wand and all the books levitate to their original position. “Sorry,” you say quietly, avoiding eye contact with him. “Nothing a bit of practice can’t fix,” he insisted warmly.
You and Remus spent the next two hours, working on many different spells, also telling a few jokes and stories in between, the hours flew by and you were dreading having to say goodbye. “Can I try one last Charm? Professor Flitwick said we should study up on this one,” you show him the spell you are referring to in your textbook. “Disillusionment Charm? Of course, but it’s quite tricky to perform,” he cautioned. He quickly performed the spell, causing himself to almost completely disappear, you could only notice his outline if you looked hard enough and then he transformed himself back. “Hard you say? How come you can do it perfectly then?” you tease. “Had some practice with the spell, very useful for sneaking around when you should be in bed.” he shrugs with a smile.
Taking a breath and focusing you quickly perform the spell, the white light coming out of your wand hit the table and went rogue, bouncing off the walls and finally hitting a fourth-year student’s head. In an instant their head disappeared, their friends gasped and started freaking out and screaming, and your eyes went wide. Looking to Remus he was toppled over the table laughing, and that was enough to ease your nerves and you soon joined in on laughing.
“Out! Out of my library! Now!” Madam Pince’s shrilly voice booms. While laughing you had missed the angry glare of Madam Pince and you hadn’t noticed her stalking her way towards you. Looking up at the sound of her voice, you look to Remus and you both quickly grab your belongings and leave the library still giggling about the situation.
Once the library was out of sight and you both had calmed down you turned to him, looking up at him and noticing the small smile he had on his face. “Thank you for all of your help, I really appreciate it!” he only nods and then starts speaking, “When are you available again?” You frown at his words and he must notice your puzzled expression because he starts explaining again, “I still need to help you with the Disillusionment charm, and we haven’t practiced all the spells yet,” his ears were turning a faint red colour. “Next Saturday? Same time?” you asked and he nodded. “Sounds good,” he assured and you smiled back, and in a haze of confidence you leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, his eyes widened and his ears went redder. “I’ll see you later then.” You say and quickly walk away from him, cheeks flushed, surprised at your own confidence but giddy at the prospect of another study session with him.