Too late, Electra realised what was happening. His hand was wrapped around the back of her neck in anticipation of another deep and drawn-out kiss, but she, wary of spooking him, had already drawn herself away. His lips were then at her ear, his breath hot and heavy as he rasped those unfamiliar lines of Shakespeare against her skin.
A shiver ran along her spine. Remus’s touch was electrifying, every synapse in her body fired off a spark when his hand brushed so carelessly through her hair on its way to letting her go. Slight air and purging fire. “What- What is that anyway? What is it from?” But by the time her mind had coordinated with her mouth, and her mouth with her tongue (both of which were only focused upon one thing: kissing him again), he had vanished, hastening from the library as if there was something demonic hot on his heels.
And perhaps, she mused idly over the next couple days - her mind full of as much poetry as potions - there had been. And perhaps that something was her. He was certainly going out of his way to avoid her, switching seats in Professor Babbling’s class, the only one that they shared apart from the rest of his friends; he didn’t appear in the library all week; and, when they were forced to pass each other in the corridors, he kept his head down and his elbows tucked in, like he was afraid of making any kind of contact with her. If it had not made her insides squeeze so painfully, she probably would have found this funny. But, as it was, she kept her own eyes averted and her expectations low …
Until the following Sunday, that was, when she caught sight of him alone at the bottom of the stone staircase in the Entrance Hall, ostensibly tying his shoelaces. That the rest of those self-proclaimed Marauders were nowhere to be seen was suspicious in itself, as they all seemed to travel as a foursome wherever they went, but the fact that his shoelace had not actually been undone in the first place was what alerted Electra to the notion that perhaps he was waiting for someone. Waiting for … her? They had not spoken in over a week, but she was the only person to have just come from the Great Hall, having eaten supper by herself at the Slytherin table, and he was still crouching there, face hidden, his fingers lingering somewhere around his ankles.
“Need a hand down there?” As she spoke, she brushed her hand lightly over the back of his shoulder, wanting to let him know that she was behind him without giving him further cause to bolt. “I’ve been watching you, you see, and you’ve been hovering like this for a little while now. Perhaps you are having some trouble?” Her tone was low and rich, a hint of laughter hiding just out of sight of these words. She gave his shoulder a brief squeeze and, the moment that her fingers tightened, there was the sound of a great commotion up on the landing above their heads.
“Get your claws out of my friend, you little harpy.” Sirius’s voice, booming in its fury, rang out across the hall - but, although his sister’s head snapped up at the interruption, she nevertheless ignored his instruction.
“Oh, dear brother, I would,” she replied sweetly, not letting go. “I really, really would - if only they were sunk into him against his will.”
The next week was miserable for Remus. Despite keeping such a large secret his entire life, lying didn’t come easily to him. He felt pressure building to confess to Sirius what had happened with Electra. In some way, he felt his friend’s reaction to the situation would tell him what he should do. During his spare moments, which he made sure to make fewer and farther between than usual for fear his brain might overload, he read his book of sonnets and considered the lessons of the Bard regarding love and desire. Ultimately, he couldn’t stop thinking about her and their brief kisses in the library. Untold depths were hidden in the fire of her eyes and he missed her. He could just be her friend as long as he was at least that. He felt Sirius should know though, even if nothing else was going to happen romantically with Electra.
He resigned himself to catch her in the hallway after dinner to explain his thinking. His heart was pounding as he lingered outside of the Great Hall. As soon as he saw her, he wanted to bolt. Instead, he ducked down like he needed to tie his shoe–which was firmly double-knotted. His face heated as she approached him and saw right through him. Her touch made him forget the past week, her perfume floating by his shoulder as he raised his hand to rest on hers, holding it against him. “We need to talk soon,” he murmured but it was drowned out by the arrival of the one person who could entirely ruin his resolve to figure this out.
Remus shot up and out of Electra’s grasp like a spring at the sound of Sirius, dramatically announcing his presence on the stairwell. His mouth fell open in horror as the exchange unfolded–she had to say something now?
Sirius’ brow furrowed, his eyes flickering to Remus who simply bowed his head. “What? It can’t be–” He looked off into the distance and Remus could practically see the gears grinding in his mind as he started to put things together. “Behind my back, with her! I thought you had some taste,” he said, his voice light and serious in a single stroke. It was a tone that Remus recognized well, one that meant Sirius couldn’t even bear to show how hurt he was.
“We’re friends; talking about Ancient Runes work you know,” Remus rushed to explain. He could feel Electra’s eyes on him as he lied through his teeth. “And you know, we didn’t want you to take things personally.”
“What’s there to take personally!” Sirius shouted, a gruff, aggressive smile creeping across his face. “As long as you two aren’t–you know, getting personal,” he raised his eyebrows and looked between them. For his part, Remus wasn’t sure how to respond. He and Electra still hadn’t decided what was between them and he didn’t want to explain that something could be there unless he was committed to it, to working things out with her.
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