14 Feb: You Had Me At Othello - Great Hall (Charmus)

[Remus Lupin]

14 February 1978

Remus Lupin was not the best boyfriend in the world, that much he was pretty positive of. It had taken him a few months to ask Charlotte to be his girlfriend, and even since they had gotten back from their winter holiday’s they hadn’t confronted Rufus. Avoiding him was easier than Remus would have thought, with his roommate of 7 years dating a Hufflepuff. And since today was a holiday that had become all about spending time with one’s significant other, Remus was positive he could pull this off without any suspicion. After giving Charlotte an incredibly terrible excuse as to why he was busy the night before, he’d gone with his brothers into Hogsmeade. If he was going to impress her for valentines day, he was going to do it properly.

He’d painstakingly picked out the perfect bunch of roses - driving his friends bonkers in the process - and gotten her favorite candy from Honeydukes. The book in his hands was one he hadn’t read, but he was a fan of Tolkien's work. He hadn’t mentioned the book to his mates, sure they would make fun of him for getting a boring gift. But with how much he and Charlotte loved to read, it had seemed like the proper addition to his plan. He could only hope that would she enjoy it.

Breakfast was always busy, but he easily found Charlotte at the Gryffindor table. His nerves were buzzing, the sudden worry hitting him as he made he was over to her. What if she hates all of this? Or hates Valentines day? They hadn’t exactly discussed any particular plans, seeing as he’d be caught up in classes after breakfast until it was time for lunch. He slid into the table next to her, forcing a grin across his face as he met her eyes with gifts in hand. “Happy valentines day.”

in case you are wondering where i got this fantastic thread title

[Charlotte Fudge]

A slight bit more chaos than usual surrounded the quiet Gryffindor at that morning's breakfast, but Char did her best to ignore the others as she took up her Prophet and tea. Owls were continuously in and out on holidays, and today was no exception. Songs were sung from Howlers and from her fellows, professions of love and adoration abounded, and where was all of this glitter coming from? The girl shook some sparkles from her paper, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth. While she'd never celebrated Valentine's Day before, not really, and while she and Remus hadn't made any plans - hadn't even properly seen each other yesterday, as he'd muddled through an excuse after dinner - Charlotte couldn't help but have a little back-of-mind hope that this year would be different. Just having someone to say "Happy Valentine's Day" to, in more than a platonic fashion, would make it special...and as you haven't yet told Rufus, that's all you should expect. She hadn't known him long enough to anticipate whether or not Remus was the grand-romantic-gesture sort for this kind of day, but if he was, she hoped he wouldn't feel his creativity too terribly squashed by their predicament. She'd gone through her book of Dickinson to copy out a poem, made into a makeshift card (she was nowhere near as skilled with crafts as some of her peers, she noted at the simplicity of it), in case they wound up doing some sort of exchange... 

That situation more on her mind than the article about increased activity for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office her eyes were on, Char was pleasantly spurred from reading as Remus took the seat next to her. A nervously smiling, gift-bearing, Remus Lupin. The girl's light eyes went from his to the gifts and back, and, frankly, the sight was more heartwarming than she'd anticipated. He'd somehow procured the most lovely roses, Honeyduke's chocolate, and a book...When did you have the time for this? To think of it, and to find everything? Being someone who more often took care of others than was taken care of, Charlotte found herself fumbling for words. And you'd been getting so much better at speaking with him!

"Oh - Remus," she stumbled out, hand to his as she smiled warmly. Ruff is surely with Hestia...Hopefully the overall hectic breakfast scene would allow their moment to go un-noted... "This is so kind, you didn't have to go to trouble. But thank you, really - Happy Valentine's."

[Remus Lupin]

If a first kiss was an important milestone in a relationship, then surely a first Valentine's day together was just as special? He hadn't consulted Sirius on this occasion, however, as he'd found there were many better individuals to go to when it came to advice about Charlotte. Not that Sirius didn't give helpful advice - he did, it was just bold advice. And while he might of been a Gryffindor, the last place he was letting his mind wander was to more intimate moments with his girlfriend. While he was sure plenty of their school mates had caught on by this point, Rufus was still blissfully unaware that Remus was romancing the youngest Fudge. Because while his general rule was to avoid breakfast on Valentine's day, here he was sitting with his girlfriend. And based on her reaction, he'd pulled this particular day off.

He couldn't but feel a tad smug, grinning at her happily as he gently made room for the gifts in front of her. "With how busy my schedule is today, I wanted to at least make sure we started the day off right." He was starving, and helped himself to what breakfast was available that wasn't covered in whatever glitter explosion had happened at the table. They were so rarely alone at a meal, the constant coming and going of friends something that had become a comfortable part of their routine. Although he would admit, he'd gotten a bit bolder since coming back from the Holiday's, his desire to care about what Rufus thought diminishing daily.

"I was thinking about skipping Astronomy tonight, if you're free."

[Charlotte Fudge]

"This is perfect," Charlotte assured, extraordinarily touched that he’d thought this through to the extent that he had. Not only had he planned ahead to get gifts, but they were such lovely ones at that, and he’d thought about their day… While she felt as though she’d wholly underthought the day, it was only the start of it. If asked, Daisy would help her work out something sweet before the day was done. "Tolkien," she mused quietly, running her hands over the exquisite cover as Remus got his breakfast together. The name was familiar, recognition just within reach…While it took her a few moments to locate the correct mental file folder, Charlotte burst into smiles as the file burst open in excited wonderment. "Muggle author, built his own world, languages, cultures, pulling mythology from the Nords, Finns - I may need to sneak this into class, I don’t think I can wait to get started." While a little rambling would have once shut her up for the rest of the day, Charlotte was nothing but pleased, and not at all embarrassed. His company's good for you. The sixth year was hardly in the habit of paying little attention to her professors, but Charlotte thought she could, potentially, get away with a little distraction today. Classes were so interrupted for the holiday anyway, and she’d hardly be disruptive...

The girl's heart did a little lurch in her chest as Remus spoke up again, wondering what he wanted to do, with her, instead of attending Astronomy. It was one of the less enthralling classes, at least from her perspective, so she could understand the temptation of wanting to skip after attending it for so many years. But what was bringing this on? Curiosity piqued, and showing, she assented. "Yes, I'll be free. Do I get to know what you have in mind?" She set her gifts to the side, for now, smiling as she adjusted the lay of the flowers. "This isn’t the first time you’ve given me roses," Charlotte commented, looking over to him with a hint of coyness in her smile. "Do you remember?"

[Remus Lupin]

It felt good to hear what he’d done was perfect, and Remus felt that he’d finally done something right when it came to dating. Charlotte was admiring the book as helped himself to food, and he couldn’t stop the grin when as she recalled facts about the author. “I haven’t read this one yet, so you’ll have to tell me how it is,” Remus smiled at her, carefully pouring himself a cup of tea. “If it’s like the rest, it may be too good to put down.” Tolkien was a wordy author, and sometimes Remus had found himself skimming paragraphs of descriptions when he reread the books. But they were so good - in his opinion - that they were hard to put down no matter how many times one had read them.

He was glad she was interested in his plans for later, but her next words caught him off guard. Did he remember giving her roses before? A mild panic set in his chest, because he felt that he would most certainly remember giving her roses - but his mind was blank. The only time he’d even had roses in the last few years had been the year prior, when he’d been helping James transfigure them for Dorcas. “Yes, I do,” he chuckled quietly, the memory coming to back to him. “I’d been helping James and he’d given me some of the roses, but you and Daisy were in the hall. She caught me off guard when she asked who they were for, so I gave them to you.” He’d been practically mortified when he’d told his mates that story, as he’d hurried away the moment after he’d given her the roses. “The boys gave me hell for running off like I did.”

Downing the tea quickly, he took a moment to eat before he answered her first question. “This is going to sound stupid, but I bought a puzzle. Thought maybe once the common room clears out, we could work on it together?”

[Charlotte Fudge]

You are the most darling thing, you know that?

The increase in confidence she'd just seen in Remus dissipated as quickly as if it was Vanished by their Head of House herself, and while Charlotte felt poorly for it - much better to see him feeling good about himself - she couldn't deny how precious it was to watch that mind of his search in vain for a moment or two. He wouldn't want to disappoint her by not remembering, and she knew he had it in him, and seeing him tripped up by her was truly something else. She would start prompting soon, no need for him to suffer - but the light changed in his eyes, and his soft laugh assured her that he'd gotten there. Listening to him recount the story brought an uncommon joy to her heart; her version of it was not so very different, from suddenly seeing the pair to being left in the corridor with a handful of roses within a matter of seconds. The opportunity for "them" had been there, truly, for so long - so many little moments that could've compounded faster. But would she have been ready for him then? And he, ready for her? I don't think so. Her shyness had been nearly crippling back then, but now...

"If it makes you feel any better, Daisy gave me hell for not running after you," she admitted with a smile, reaching for her tea as he took his. She leaned her head to his shoulder, warm on the inside from his sweetness and the tea's as she whispered, "I know we're the happier for being together, but I swear - the rest of them are tied for a close second." It had only been half a lifetime, or so it seemed, that her dearest friend had desired this. And from the sound of it, gathered over conversation snippets, his friends were just as...frustrated with his "lack of progress" until they began growing together. Gotten them mostly off of our back now, hmm?

Talk turned of what he'd prefer to do with her instead of attend Astronomy that night, and the girl was all smiles. She shook her head quickly, eager to reassure him that the thought was - "Not stupid, not at all." Ruff and I have done many puzzles together at home, he gets such a kick out of the muggle ones, will always charm them somehow by the end. "I think you've put together the makings of a lovely evening for us. Thank you, I can hardly wait!"

[Remus Lupin]

He felt silly for not remembering the last time he had given her roses. That had been something he’d been teased about for weeks by his friends, not to mention Daisy casually dropping him hints that he should consider getting to know Charlotte better. He was glad to hear he wasn’t the only one who had been given hell for his actions back then, laughing as she mentioned Daisy giving her a hard time. As lucky as he felt now to be able to call her his girlfriend, he didn’t think things would have worked out before now. He was too different of a person now than he had been last year. This year, with the freedom that came from not being Head Boy, to the encouragement from his friends - it was different. It was their time to be something, and Remus was happier for it.

It was reassuring to know she felt the same, and he smiled as she leaned against him, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head. He knew it was risky, to be so openly affectionate with her when Rufus could be around. But Remus found that he didn’t really care. They were happy together, and that was what mattered. Surely Rufus, when he did find out, could understand that. Thankfully, no one at the table seemed to be paying them any mind, involved in reading and eating their own breakfasts. He hated when she moved away from him, but was glad that his idea of doing a puzzle together was so well received. “Puzzle night it is then,” he said to her, taking another sip of his tea before he placed it down, digging into his breakfast.

You could tell her how you feel.

        That would only scare her away. And she needs to know the truth about you.

The ever unhelpful voice in his head was there again, reminding him of things that he was avoiding. He knew that he loved Charlotte, he’d figured that out in their time together since the Winter holiday had ended. But telling her? That was a completely different story. He had now way to know if she felt the same, and saying it too soon could end what was going on right now. And he liked this, he liked being with her. “Hey Char,” he said quietly, a brief moment of braveness leaving him as soon as he’d said her name. “I...I really like spending time with you.”

[Charlotte Fudge]

In moments like this, Charlotte wanted to say to hell with propriety. To hell with what Ruff had long decided for her. She wanted the whole Hall to know just how thoughtful and kind the man next to her was, and how he not only built her up but challenged her - challenged her in literary debate, challenged what she'd thought she'd wanted for herself, challenged her notions of what men were like. Because as unnoticed as she'd so often been, conversations overheard did not generally give glowing commendations of those she shared corridors and classrooms and common rooms with. With the way those boys spoke about girls, as though they were objects to be won, kingdoms to be conquered, useless if used. Whether or not they meant the words they said, or if it was all for ego, did it really matter? But Charlotte trusted that her boyfriend, however much egged on by friend or foe, wouldn't speak of her like that.

So for Remus to break the quiet that befell them while returning to breakfast with that? Char turned to him with a soft smile of her own, squeezing his hand under the table. "I really like spending time with you too. That said, I should probably finish up and get to class?" Perhaps she was readying a bit early, but if she was lucky she would see Daisy before the professor began. For while she wanted to know all about her and Peter's Valentine's - she also desperately needed her opinion on just about everything surrounding their puzzle date. Was her card alright? What should she wear? What was expected? For her first actual Valentine's celebration to be with someone she truly was falling for, she didn't want to cause it any sort of failure... "I'll see you tonight, okay?"