Oct ‘77: Hogwarts Library: Study...Date?: Charmus

[Remus Lupin]

Remi wasn’t entirely sure how she came to be here, standing outside the Library and waiting for Charles Fudge. Remi, the girl who didn’t need to date boys (regardless of whatever Jamie, Scorpia, and Petra said), waiting for her date to get to the library. This whole thing had just happened so fast, since she’d sat and talked to Charles at the last Gryffindor party. Jamie and Scorpia hasn’t let her live it down, especially once she’d admitted she thought their roommate’s younger brother was cute. She’d taken the advice last night, in a spur of the moment decision when she’d gotten back to the common room after rounds. Charles had just been sitting there, and before she’d even properly processed her own thoughts she’d walked over and asked him to study with her today.

So go inside and sit down already, you look crazy hovering out here.

Taking a few deep breathes, Remi made her way inside the library to a quiet table near the books on Ancient Runes, and she had an essay that she needed to finish if this totally went south. Because after reporting in to her friends, they’d asked her if she was sure the younger Gryffindor had known he was being asked on a date. And you didn’t say it was a date, because you’re the most awkward person to have ever existed. Dropping her bag on the table, Remi sighed into her hands. The date hadn’t even started, and she’d aleady managed to mess it up.

[Charlotte Fudge]

She's here. You're late, and she's here.

    She's actually here.

You can do this. It's just studying.

Charles had been devoting a mess of headspace to Remi Lupin lately, and now that she'd given him an opportunity to spend time with her, he'd messed it up before it even started. He liked to be on time, needed to be on time, wanted to be on time - but between his last class and the beginning of this study period, he'd ducked into the washroom to see if there was anything he could do with his hair, debated losing or keeping his cardigan on, and had evidently spent too long on it. Seeing as Remi had already found them a quiet table in the Ancient Runes category and was looking disappointed at being kept waiting.

The sixth year swallowed, hardly feeling like a lion, and just hoped he wouldn't make things worse. Remi was one of his sister's roommates, and he hadn't gotten close with any of them beyond Petra. Much of this was his sister's influence, she was awful protective of him, but Remi...she was brilliant, and so pretty, and could do a hell of a lot better than him. That is, if Dace was right about today's library session being about more than coursework. Charles' best friend was adamant that this was a date, and over the moon that he was "finally" - Dace's words, not his - taking a chance on dating. 

Stop staring, people are going to notice.

    Worse, she could notice.

Swallowing back his nerves - or at least attempting to - Charles walked over and sat across from her with a nervous closed-lipped smile. "Hey Remi, er - I'm sorry I'm late, didn't mean for it, honestly. What did you have in mind to study today?"

[Remus Lupin]

There were a lot of reasons this date had been a stupid, stupid thing to do. At the top of that list was that she didn’t even know if Charles was interested in it being a date, and she hadn’t specified it was a date, which meant things could get weird if he wasn’t interested. The only ever boy she’d ever liked had been Levi in fifth year, and for the sake of Jamie and herself she’d never even brought that up. Besides, Levi was one of her best friends - almost like a brother. Those feelings had come and gone quickly, and she’d never given dating a second thought. Until now.

Until Charles.

Because he was sweet, and wicked smart (she’d seen enough of his sister’s homework he had done to know that), and they had similar interests. How many guys can you quote Shakespeare to and have them know what you’re even talking about? Even if it was super embarrassing. The sound of someone approaching her table pulled Remi from her thoughts, and she dropped her hands from her face as Charles slipped into a chair across from her. Great, now you’ve weirded him out and he doesn’t even want to sit near you. She could get through this, she knew it. She didn’t have a choice.

“No it’s fine, really,” she said, hoping her voice didn’t sound as strained as it felt. She had forgotten how distracting he was to look at, and she forced herself to look down at her bag as she tried to get her brain to focus. “I uh...I don’t really have anything to study. I mean, I have homework and such but I’ve gotten most of it done but if there’s anything you need to study-not that I’m suggesting you need to study because…” Shut up! “...I’m sorry, I’m just rambling aren’t I?”

[Charlotte Fudge]

No, it's not fine. This is it, one and done. For the best, isn't it? She could ask anyone out and they'd be mad to say no…

    But you study every day, you can do that part, right?

Charles' remaining hope was dashed as Remi disclosed her utter lack of a need to study. Of even to do homework. Then what are we supposed to do? His heavy schoolbag thumped onto the ground as he gave a slow nod, usually sharp mind failing him spectacularly in the face of this newness. The Gryffindor worked best when he had an agenda; when there was an objective, a goal, very little could get in his way. But this was…unclear.

Surely, a success here would be easily spotted once it happened.

If he could make her smile, or laugh, or if he felt more comfortable than…at present.

That would be nice.

And Remi really was so lovely. If he was reading it right, the seventh year was just as nervous as he was, which only affied that Dace was right. She wouldn't be nervous if they were just meeting as friends, certainly.

"It's all right, don't worry about it," Charles ventured, chancing a broader smile as he tried to force himself to relax. He adjusted his sweater at the collar, wishing he'd taken it off. "I love any excuse to visit and look around. Did you know that there are at least a hundred thousand books housed here?" The factoid left his mouth merely as something to say to fill the space, and he felt a chilling dread seep into his gut at not knowing where to go from there. Ask about her. "What...do you like to read?"

[Remus Lupin]

Charles bag hit the ground with a loud thump, and Remi felt as if this had been the worst idea she’d ever come up with. Asking a guy on a date wasn’t something she was used to, and she was screwing this whole thing up. She should have been upfront about what this was, because getting rejected now after she’d spent the entirely of last night looking forward to this would be embarrassing. At the very least, she should have planned on actually having something to study. Asking someone to come and study with you and then having nothing to study? She had to look like a fool. A complete and utter fool.

His gentle reassurance that her rambling was all right, however, brought a smile to her face as she watched him. Just remember what the girls told you, and you can make it through this just fine. All she had to do was act natural - which is what, awkward? - remember to smile, and relax. Which, for Remi, was the exact opposite of acting natural. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten through a school year without some level of stress, and this last year of school was no exception. If she wanted to be a Professor, she needed to have the grades for it. But all of that could wait, at least for today.

Today, she was going to figure out how to turn this situation into something. “You would think with that many books, it would be easy to pick out something new to read,” she answered him with a grin. In all her years here, she hadn’t come anywhere close to reading most of the books in the Library. Because while their magical world was fascinating, it was books by muggle authors that she always turned to. “I must have read The Princess Bride at least once a year since it came out, if not more than that. My dad’s a muggle, so we’ve got quite a collection of muggle books at home.” While the Fudges were a pureblood family, they weren’t the sort Remi had ever felt she needed to keep her blood status secret from. Just the whole werewolf secret then, huh? “What’s your favorite thing to read?”

[Charlotte Fudge]

Did you really just ask Remi Lupin what she likes to read? That's what you're using this opportunity for?

    What? It's not like I had time to think of anything, I thought we were studying! I'm surrounded by books, it's a logical question to ask!

Logical and predictable and boring and shut up, she's pleased -

Charles mentally blew away his internal argument, trying to quiet his mind and just enjoy the one-on-one time he was being granted with his housemate. Because Remi didn't seem to mind that he brought up books. She was all smiles, joking a little about the selection around them, bringing up a book unfamiliar to him but that she loved so much he'd have to look it up. And she even brought up her heritage, something the younger Gryffindor hadn't anticipated. Their mothers - in an odd twist of things - did work at the Ministry together, but Charles hadn't really given much thought to what Remi's father did, or why he was seldom at the events. It was good to know she was trusting enough of him - with the state of things, Charles wouldn't have blamed her for keeping quiet around a pureblood - to speak so easily...

See? This isn't so difficult. You can do it.

"I actually prefer muggle texts too, not that my family understands why when there's so much to learn from magical folk," Charles admitted with a bit of a laugh, crossing his arms to avoid the excessive talking-with-hands moment he felt coming on as he got into his own interests. "I'm - er - I'm really into historical accounts, piecing the muggle and magical sides of events together. They're absolutely interconnected, but we so often just focus on one and the other, which has never made much sense to me. And the lore of all their cultures - it really is fascinating to look into and find the similarities and differences among different peoples. Hypothesize on the whys - environment, societal structure, language...There's a lot to learn from looking into the past, I think. Even though I'd rather learn from anyone but Professor Binns, I still couldn't nod off in his class, even if I tried." Oh for Merlin's sake, you're such a bleedin' nerd. He could almost hear his sister admonishing him for talking about Binns on a date, although he quickly shoved her voice out of his ear too. What would she think about this?

He shifted about, settling for clasping his hands on the table in front of him as he leaned in to smile. "I'd - er - I'd love to borrow that book from you sometime, if that's all right."

[Remus Lupin]

Okay, so maybe she had messed up the whole asking him out thing, but this was nice. She didn’t really talk with the girls about books, not in the same way she was with him. Of course they knew what her favorite book was, it was just like she knew what Jamie’s favorite Quidditch team was. And Remi rooted for the Appleby Arrows every year, because that’s what friends did. But telling Charles what her favorite book was different, because she couldn’t deny how many times she’d caught herself staring at him in the Library. He was another quiet soul who found a home surrounded by books. And - fond of muggle books - her thoughts helpfully noted as he spoke, his laugh bringing a smile she couldn’t stop to her face.

She couldn’t help but love this though, listening to him talk about something he so clearly loved. He looked so at ease, sitting here surrounded by the books and the quiet. He was well, a bit of a nerd, but so was she. She spent her free time in this library willingly, and not always just for homework. She liked learning, she’d thought for so long she’d never get the chance to. And after all of this, well, that she still wasn’t sure of. What she wanted was to come back to Hogwarts again, staying forever in these halls that were truly a home. Sort of, she supposed, quite like Professor Binns. But as he leaned towards her, smiling as he asked to borrow her favorite book.

Oh pull yourself together Remi!

“Yeah-yeah, of course,” she found her voice, eyes dropping down to the table as she hoped her cheeks weren’t as flushed as they felt. “I uh, I really like History. My dad taught me at home, didn’t go to muggle primary or anything. Just some basic stuff really, maths and all. But History was my favorite, well,” she looked up to meet his eyes, hoping she wasn’t rambling. “Literature wasn’t half bad, not with getting to learn about mythology. And well, Shakespeare of course, made sure he covered that.”

[Charlotte Fudge]

She'll let you borrow her favorite book, that has to be a good sign.

    Since when do you think about "signs"?

The girl across from him - prefect, marauder, accomplished academic - was red in the face and Charles didn't know what he'd done to make her thus. Also filed under "Charles didn't know" was why he felt both embarrassment on her behalf and also, sort of, good at having that sort of impact on Remi Lupin. He should be the one embarrassed, since he'd just near talked her ear off about his favorite pastime that he'd been coached to never speak of to girls who could be "interested" in him - but if Remi really was into him, then shouldn't she know what she was getting into? He hadn't a clue about dating, not really, but he'd - he'd do his best to be a good partner, while still keeping much of his routine. Which meant...lots of time in the library. For coursework or for personal interest, he they would be here. A lot.

Funnily enough, don't think she'd mind.

Thankfully Remi was game to throw him a bone, and his grip on his own hands relaxed as she did. Because if he was reading this right, Remi really was just as nervous about being one-on-one with him as he was, but she was...she was trying. She wanted to try. She was a fan of histories, and her dad homeschooled her when she was young, and it was his turn to get a bit red in the face as Remi brought up the bard. "So that's where you learned about him," he ventured with a bit of a laugh, hoping she'd know he was just trying to joke teasing. Charles half wanted to thank her for sharing about her family, but then thought that might be a strange thing to comment on, and was stuck for a few moments. Focus, Charles. He was in the library with a girl and it seemed like it was becoming a date and they were talking about their lives but mainly through books and - that's not a half bad plan.

What better way to keep learning about each other without making it overly datey than to...

"You know what, I've got an idea." Charles dove into his bag for parchment and a quill and ink, scrawling as he spoke rapidly. "Since we don't have to work, and we know this place better than anybody else probably, we could - here, I'll show you - " He spun the scrap around so she could see, but as he went on rather lost steam. You're making a fool of yourself, she's not going to want to do this. "So I'd make a list for you, and you'd make a list for me, and it'd be a sort of - like a scavenger hunt. If you want?"

Find Me A Book

List by Charles

Books Found by Remi

- by Shakespeare, or derived from
- by your favorite author
- that makes you think