Home is where your heart is

I’m good, don’t worry.

"Are you sure?"

"Lily? Are you okay?"

"Oh come on, I’m sure I’m a bigger drama queen than him."

"Only by a little."

"By the looks of your hair I can only imagine what you have been doing"  Cat joked with a friendly tone.

"Is it that obvious?"

"I know. Believe me, I know. It’s their mistake, isn’t it? Just makes it all the more better when you prove them wrong." Remus knew the general direction that Greta was coming from, though he felt his family and others underestimated him due to his condition. It was always ‘poor boy’ and sympathetic looks, and that gets very old very fast. He thrives to be self-sufficient, to prove that he doesn’t need to be a burden upon everyone else. "You have a very optimistic outlook on life, then. It’s refreshing." 

"You're right." Greta replied, smiling brightly as she nodded in agreement with him. She was a bit curious as to how he understood, because his tone definitely showed her that he truly did. However, Greta didn't want to pry. It wasn't her place to get involved. "Thanks. My mom taught me always to look at the bright side of things and to treat people how you want to be treated and that's what I'm trying to do.." With always running away and never wanting to deal with anything her mom did many things wrong, but Greta still thought that her mom did her best. Diane got her when she was 16 and raised her all by herself.Greta could only imagine how hard that was for her mother, which was why she was so guilty about wanting to leave her to get a steady place next year.

As the air got a bit less embarrassing and awkward, Remus relaxed, his shoulders slouching slightly. Greta was an easy person to get along with, he was finding out, and he can’t tell if that bothers him or not. He’s going to go with ‘not’ “Of course you’re not helpless, and I don’t see how you’d look it. Sure, you’re a nice and seemingly genuine person, but kindness shouldn’t be mistaken as weakness. You’re welcome, really it wasn’t much. I’m sure you would have done the same- well if I was trying to get back to my common room or something and- you understand.” 

"I agree with you. It's just that most people think I am helpless and they underestimate me, mostly because I'm nice and I really don't like that, you know?" She was constantly underestimated, sometimes for being muggleborn, other times for being nice, others simply because she was female and that frustrated the girl. Greta worked so hard to be the best she could and then nearly everyone underestimated her. "I think every good person would've done the same."

"I can barely go through a sentence without adding a touch of my dramatic personality. They are really are though, the people who make them are truly the bestest."

"You're like James in that department then. Those people really are."

"I honestly love you for that, I swear if I ate them myself I wouldn’t be able to fit through the door anymore"

"That's a bit dramatic, don't you think? It's not like I signed up for something bad, sweets are some of the best thing on this world."

"I’m afraid I bought more sweets than I could ever eat, care to help me out?"

"It is impossible for me to say no to sweets, so I'd love to help you out."

"You. Are. Hurting. My. Feelings." James spoke with dramatic pauses, giving her a breath in the form of a sigh as the last word got into air. "It isn’t an act because I’m not being cool on purpose, Gretel, and you should have known this by now, considering how close of friends we are. Besides, I really like your sense of politeness and good manners, but unfortunately, it isn’t me. I’m not a saint like yourself, dear Hufflepuffy. I do sin and I don’t always regret; sue me." His eyes lit up like a candle on a birthday cake, taking it as a challenge in all his naivety. "Then let the flames begin." 

Greta rolled her eyes at his overly dramtic-ness and referred herself from chuckling at it. "Absolutely not dramatic, how out of character of you." The sarcasm was hearable in her voice as she was getting more and more irritated. She knew she couldn't force him to share her beliefs, but he should at least apologise to Andi. "I'm not a saint, you should know this by now." The brunette replied, mimicking his words. "I'm not trying to make you into something that you're not, but I'm trying to make you see that what you did is in fact wrong. You should apologise to Andromeda, before for example Bellatrix hears about it." Her voice was pleading as she looked at James, the fear of the older female obvious in her eyes. "What if she tries to hurt you?"

Remus shook his head and let out another little laugh, before trying to smooth things over. “Oh, you don’t have to be sorry, really. I’m just- well I catch people out after hours all the time, and I room with James so, you know… Sorry, I’m making this terribly awkward, all I meant was that you don’t have to be sorry, because really there’s not much to be sorry about. I was just…” Remus paused to think of the right wording before continuing. “Caught off guard.” Her reassurance helped, and he decided that he’d probably put enough of a wrench in her trip back. “Well, if you say so, then I think that you know yourself well enough to get there without anyone to walk you, so… You know. It was really nothing, just offering a bit of help.”

Greta chuckled, her nerves easing up a bit as he spoke. "That's completely understandable." She pressed her lips together to a small smile. Greta was immensely grateful that he didn't catch her getting out of James bed after the Halloween party, she liked to pretend that didn't happen due to the guilt towards hiding it from Lily. She didn't want her best friend dissapointed in her. Greta didn't know James much before they had that drunken one night stand, but now they were friends and she had no feelings for him that weren't absolutely platonic. "I'm not as helpless as I look. Still, not everyone is that nice or helpful, so thank you,again. I really do appreciate it." 

"Yea you can, it’s easy just move that little ass of yours down the corridor."

"I-I can't. You're hurt! What kind of person would I be if i just left you here?"

"Well, I deeply admire your kind hearted intentions, but let’s just say we don’t share them fully, alright? Well, I could get the burned homework treatment only if I did my homework, which normally doesn’t happen, so I can’t be treated this way - as if it would have hurt me though! It’s not that much of a generalisation when you really dislike the exact person you’re doing this to."

"That much is obvious." Her tone was disappointed as she spoke. "Doing your homework is important to maintain good grades. I know that doesn't fit into that "cool guy" act of yours, but if you want a good job you need to have good grades. Just because you don't care about homework doesn't mean that others don't. You are doing the same to them then as some of them are towards us. Taking every opportunity to make them feel just to amuse yourself. You can't fight fire with fire. The flames will only get bigger and bigger."

"No no," She shakes her head, a small grin stretching on her lips, "Its not where you were going. It’s where you’re coming from.”

Her face immediately became deep red. "I umm..I have no idea what you are talking about." The brunette said, letting out an embarrassed chuckle.

"Thank you, really. And I would never tell about… yeah." Remus let slip an embarrassed laugh and resisted the urge to awkwardly shuffle into a corner and lie down to die. With an odd sense of chivalry, he averted his eyes and scratched at the back of his head. "Are you alright to head back to your dormitory? I mean, you must be cold and with all that’s happening around the castle…" 

"There's no need to thank me." Greta waved it off, the embarrassed smile never leaving her face as she talked. "I-I'm sorry about running into you like this." She knew he felt just as awkward as she did and felt really guilty for making him feel uncomfortable. Greta blushed again as the embarrassment flooded through her again, the brunette did her best to look reassuring as she spoke again. "The way back to my dorm takes like three minutes, I'm sure I'll handle it just fine. Thank you for offering, though. That's really nice of you, you didn't have to."<