After Curfew
Remus Lupin x Reader | 258 words
You find him in the library long after curfew, exactly where you expect him to be. The fire has burned low, coals breathing instead of blazing, and Remus is hunched over a stack of books that look older than the castle itself. He startles when you clear your throat.
“You’re up late,” you say.
“So are you,” he replies, mild as always, but there’s a tired smile tugging at his mouth.
You sit across from him without asking. He doesn’t move the books and doesn’t tell you to leave. Just watches as you fold your hands together, waiting, like this is something you’ve done a hundred times before.
Maybe you have. There’s a pause that's comfortable and heavy. It's the kind that settles between people who don’t need to fill every silence. The fire pops. A page turns.
“You’re thinking too loudly again,” you say.
Remus exhales a quiet laugh. “Is it that obvious?”
“Only to me.”
He looks at you then, really looks, eyes softer than they were a moment ago. Like you’ve caught him unguarded and he’s decided not to pull the walls back up.
“I forget,” he says gently, “that you notice things.”
You reach across the table and tap the edge of his book closed. He lets you.
“Someone has to,” you reply, tone light “Otherwise you’d disappear into footnotes.”
For a moment, neither of you moves. Your fingers linger where they touched his book. His hand rests too close to yours. Outside, the castle creaks and breathes and continues to keep its secrets.