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| Defense Against the Dark Arts was Remus� favorite class. The more he learned, the more excited he became. Yet that particular Thursday on a cold day in November was the exception. He found that his attention did not go toward the class matter, but a member of the class itself.
Shaia sat across the room with Lily as she always did. Staring at her was too much to bear for his heart. He wasn�t actually sure of what to think as he stared at her longingly. Only a week ago he had been able staring at her in the Astronomy Tower as they talked with one another. After Halloween night, (which now seemed so long ago) it was known that Shaia didn�t want to meet him in the Tower anymore. However, that hadn�t stopped him from going up at eleven every night to look. Much to his dismay, Shaia had not been there. It had disheartened him, to say the least, but he still visited the Tower to collect his thoughts. Shaia was right. The Tower was a great place for thinking. He looked back at his book and saw that none of the words made sense to him. It was just a jumble of letters on a page. He couldn�t think straight. Peter nudged him out of his thoughts, literally. �What did Professor Orbiter say we had to do for the essay?� Remus shook the fog from his head and looked at his small, blond friend. �What?� �PSST!� came a harsh whisper from behind Remus. He spun around, his light hair smacking Peter in the side of the face. �Oy! Remus, you git! Watch where you shake that mane!� Ignoring Peter, Remus faced James, who was staring at him intensely. �Do you have any idea what you�re doing?� �Well, no, I kind of wasn�t paying attention�� �Not the class,� he said, and turned cautiously over his shoulder to see if Sirius was listening. �I�m talking about Shaia.� Remus� eyes fell downward. �W-What about her?� �You know what,� he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. �I don�t want you two to get close unless you mean it.� Remus frowned. �What are you talking about?� �You and Shaia.� �There�s no me and Shaia.� James didn�t miss a beat. �Maybe not, Remus, but just remember what is what! Shaia doesn�t know about you, so if you choose any kind of future, put her before yourself.� �Future?� Remus asked confusedly. But he could not respond as Sirius had turned back to the conversation. James pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment, scratched hurriedly, and flung the note at Remus. �Sirius may be in love with Shaia, but it�s obvious who she truly wants. If you want her as well, make the commitment. Don�t toy with her heart, Moony. She doesn�t need that again.� Remus blinked, setting the note down. �Again?� �Are you going to the library again, Shaia?� �I have to! N.E.W.T.S. are a huge deal!� �They�re not for months, Shaia!� �How many times have we had this argument, Sirius?� He sighed dejectedly. �Fine. Bury yourself in your books. See if I care.� Shaia only turned her head away from him. �Like you would care anyway.� She spun on her heel and before Sirius could say anything more, she shot out of the common room. However, she did not go to the library as she had first intended. She needed her escape. She needed the Tower. She had avoided it for a week in case Remus decided to try and meet her. Yet now she really didn�t care. She had to get to her sanctuary again. Taking the shortest route possible, she made her way up to the Tower and settled in her window. Little did she know she was not alone in the darkness. The whisper was tiny in volume but boomed so loudly in her ears that she practically jumped out of her skin. �Shaia.� �Remus?� �Yes.� She sniffed, looking back to the window. �Go away.� He walked out of the shadows toward her. �I� I can�t.� �Why? Why can�t you leave me alone?� she shot, not looking at him as tears leaked down her face. �There�s a good reason for what I�m hiding from you,� he said, ignoring her. �Sure there is,� she said very bitterly. �Shaia,� he pleaded. �Shaia, it�s too dangerous for you to know what my secret is.� �Don�t you get it?� she said, jumping down from the window and advancing on Remus. �That�s not what I was so worried about. You have your secrets and I have mine. That�s not as important to me as this�� she stepped back, turning to the window again. �I like Sirius. I like him a lot. He makes me laugh and I know he loves me. He doesn�t affect me the way you do. I can�t help it. I don�t want to break his heart, but I can�t lie to my own.� Remus couldn�t move his mouth. She had spoken when he was sure she was going to run from him. All he wanted to do was confess his feelings for her, but it felt like so much was holding him back from actually saying it out loud. �Shaia,� he whispered after a few moments of silence. He stepped closer to her and she did not move away. �I don�t want us to just forget about each other because of this. I want us to keep talking.� �Remus,� she said softly through a chuckle, �such a dreamer.� She turned to face him, her eyes sad and regretful. �We can never just keep talking. There�s so much more inside me for you that to act like we�re only friends would be a lie.� �I can�t live without you,� he admitted shakily. �You have to.� As she turned to walk away, Remus grasped her arm desperately. �D-Don�t go.� The sorrow in his tone broke Shaia�s heart. After hearing it, all she wanted to do was stay with him. Slowly but surely, he wrapped his arms around her small frame protectively. He could never imagine getting as close to her as he was at that moment. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. They stayed joined in an embrace for what felt like hours. Suddenly, Remus let go of Shaia and she stumbled backward unexpectedly. Sirius� voice could be heard echoing off the walls below them. Shaia turned toward a telescope hurriedly and fiddled with it while Remus stared out the window. Sirius clambered up the stairs and stopped inside the room. He saw Shaia bending over the telescope. He didn�t expect to see Remus there as well. They were alone together. Shaia lifted her head and turned to face Remus. She asked, �You didn�t happen to see Andromeda, did you?� �Oh, no, but I got a great glimpse of Venus� moons,� Remus bluffed, turning a dark shade of red. Shaia turned quickly to face Sirius and feigned surprise. She gasped, �Sirius! I didn�t see you there!� �Oh yeah,� he said, recovering himself. He�d almost forgotten why he was there in the first place. �I went to find you in the library. Lily said you came up here. I-I didn�t know Remus would be here, too.� �Oh,� Shaia began, looking at her feet, �well�� Remus jumped to the rescue. �Well, Sirius, you know how much of a dope I am when it comes to Astronomy,� he began. �I was struggling with homework in the common room and Shaia offered to help me,� he explained. �Okay,� Sirius said, then turned back to Shaia. �I know you�re probably still angry with me, so I wanted to say this as soon as possible. I�m sorry for what I said. I didn�t mean that I didn�t care about you,� he paused to sigh. �I know your work is important to you, especially this year, but I�m tired of never getting to spend any time with you.� �I know,� Shaia whispered, patting his hand comfortingly. �These are frustrating times.� �I don�t know how you two do it,� he blurted out suddenly. Shaia and Remus both looked up sharply. �I mean, I barely ever get time with you, but somehow, you guys are closer than ever�� �Well�� �No! No! I think it�s actually� sort of brilliant,� he commented. �I like that you get along so well�� they cast nervous glances at one another, ��but I wish I knew how you did it.� Looking back and forth at them, he shrugged. �All right,� he said, backing up. �I�ll see you two later. Bye, Shaia.� He let his eyes wander onto her face before walking out of the room. Sirius found himself gravely contemplating the events that had just taken place. His unexpected argument with Shaia, his shock at finding Remus accompanying Shaia in the Astronomy Tower. It was an odd thing, consider the Tower was Shaia�s thinking place. And if he recalled his planets correctly, Venus didn�t have any moons. �He�s gone,� Remus said, reemerging from the hall. �That was close.� Shaia sat back, pressing her hand on her forehead. Remus frowned worriedly. She seemed to be on the verge of a meltdown, but as he watched for the bursting of emotion, her stressed look turned into laughter. After a while, (to his complete confusion), she was hooting maniacally, clutching her side and wiping tears from her face. Unable to stand the suspense, Remus asked angrily, �What is so funny?� She couldn�t speak she was laughing so hard. Much to Remus� increasing amusement, she fought harder and harder to talk. After a few minutes of trying, she managed to get something out. � �I got a great glimpse of Venus�s moons?� Remus! Oh my God!� she laughed. �What?� �VENUS HAS NO MOONS!� she roared and laughed harder. He cracked a smile and muttered an, �Oh,� which made her giggle a little more. �Okay, that was kind of stupid of me� but I panicked! I didn�t know what to say!� She shrugged. �Don�t you think it�s a bit obvious already? Venus� moons? Won�t he figure it out?� Remus crinkled his nose. �I doubt it,� he answered. Shaia sighed, finally calming down. �I really hope you�re right,� she giggled. There was a sudden moment of silence as the two stared at each other. Their brown eyes met and Remus couldn�t believe he had never noticed the golden sparks in them before. The comfort between them was recognized and well missed. Before Remus could stop himself, he moved close to her and allowed his hand to move slowly up to her cheek. She felt sparks at the connection and did not feel the need to suddenly pull away as she would have minutes ago. The back of his hand moved up the course of her cheek. He realized that he had been right about her skin being silky soft. Staring into her eyes, he knew that what he was going to do next was something he�d been dying to do for weeks. Letting his eyelashes caress his face as they fluttered close, his head leaned in and finally, their lips touched. Her lips felt so right against his own that all he could do was pause for a few moments to take in the sweetness. His hand moved from her face to the back of her neck and he let his fingers become entwined in her curly tresses. All he was aware of was the fact that he was kissing her. She did not push him away, but instead, invited him in. Within a minute, they were locked together, sharing one of the most intimate kisses either of them had ever experienced. The kiss ended not long after and Remus stared into her eyes, unsure of what to say. There couldn�t have been much. Tears were coursing their way down Shaia�s cheeks. He didn�t know what to make of them, so he pressed his face up against hers comfortingly. �Shaia,� he whispered tenderly. �I don�t want you to cry.� She looked up and wiped her eyes hurriedly. �I don�t want to cry anymore, but I don�t want to be held up emotionally by someone else. You don�t need that.� |