* APRICOT PRINCESS.

Bella pulls her head to one side and sniggers. She then slips her head back confronting the Hufflepuff and stares at her deep in the eyes. “And I might be forced to take your life from you, mud-blood. But face it, you and I know you don’t have a chance against me. Now get out of my presence before I hex you.”

hunter tries her best to look brave,   though her eyes betray her.    she wishes she hadn’t approached bellatrix,   wishes she had just left her alone because that word,    that awful word is like a knife in her heart.    she blinks away at her watery eyes,    taking in a deep breath.   “it’s just    ...    y --  you can’t do what you were just doing,   bellatrix.   i --  i won’t take away house points,   but   ...   i’m a prefect,   you see,   so   ...”

                     she’s  tiny,  fitting  in  his  arms  easily,  but  somehow  she’s  so  big  to  him      –     she’s  the  first  person  in  the  room  that  he  notices,  the  only  one  that  makes  him  smile  so  wide  his  cheeks  hurt.  he  takes  a  deep  breath,  content  that  she’s  here  now.                ❝     prepared.  yeah,  i  guess  so.     ❞             he  leans  back  a  little  when  he’s  calmed  down,  just  enough  so  that  he  can  give  her  a  soft  smile.               ❝    you  win.  can  we  just  uh,  just  eat  in  my  dorm  though   ?    i  don’t  know  if  i  wanna  see  anybody right  now.     ❞  

“of course we can,   ollie.”    hunter agrees,    flush on her cheeks paired with a wide,   cheesy grin and dopey eyes.    she’s lucky that she’s able to have him all to herself so often,   and that he chose her out of everyone else.   the reminder makes her shift some,   step away from him from just a moment so she can curl her fingers through his,   flashing him a blinding smile.    “come on.   let’s stop off and get something to eat and we can go right up to your dorm,   okay   ??   i might need something to change into,   though,    if that’s okay.”    she thinks she might have left some of her pajamas in his dorm,   but she thinks she might ‘forget’ them and wear his clothes instead.

                      remus  gets  to  his  feet,  packing  away  his  things  carefully  and  then  moving  over  to  hunter.  he  thinks  they  can  walk  around  the  lake,  it’s  usually  quiet  there.           ❝     okay,  i  know  somewhere  we  can  go.    ❞                he  smiles  softly  at  her.  he  knows  her  well  enough  now  to  see  that  she  probably  wasn’t  handling  all  of  this  very  well.            ❝      it’s  perfectly  normal  to  not  want  to  talk  about  this,  you  know   ?     ❞    

“thank you.      it’s very kind of you to say that.”       hunter says,      voice quieter than normal.      despite knowing that remus is right,      she can’t help but side with the little voice inside her head that tells her she could be doing more if she weren’t so sensitive.       “but enough about me,”    hunter continues as they begin to walk.    “i heard that your,   um,     your girlfriend    ??   madeleiene.   she was one of the ones that were harmed by the dementors.    i’m very sorry to hear that.     how is she holding up     ??”

                       he’s  still  scowling,  doesn’t  want  to  rest  and  eat  and  talk  about  things,  he  just  wants  everything  fixed,  wants  everybody  to  feel  safe  here.  he  lets  her  tug  his  jacket  tighter  around  himself,  and  takes  a  deep  steadying  breath  before  he  relents  and  moves  his  hands  to  her  face.  she  looks  tired,  scared  and  he  should  be  making  her  feel  better,  not  ranting  about  something  neither  of  them  can  fix  right  now.                 ❝    i  keep  thinking  next  time  it  might  be  you,  princess  and  i’d…  i’d  fucking  lose  it.   if  you  were  hurt  or  –  fuck  !   ❞             he  huffs,  scooping  her  against  his  chest  and  visibly  relaxing  once  she’s  pressed  against  him.                ❝    ‘m  sorry.  i  know  this  ain’t  easy  for  nobody.   ❞  

“we can’t possibly know what will happen in the future,     ollie.     but now we’ll be more prepared.”     hunter says softly,   sighing once she’s pressed against him,     wrapping her arms around him,    fully content.    things are scary and awful and unsure and hunter’s not half as sure as she sounds,      but what she does know is that she’s safe as long as she has her ollie    --     and they’re safe as long as they have each other.       “next time,    we’ll be ready.     but for now we have to take care of ourselves and each other,    right    ??    we’ll be no good to anyone tired and hungry,    will we    ??”

                       remus  smiles,  secretly  relieved  that  it’s  not  anybody  else.  he  can  be  himself  around  hunter,  not  just  the  prefect,  or  the  tutor      –     and  james  and  sirius  already  have  things  going  on  right  now  and  he  doesn’t  want  to  burden  them.               ❝     oh,  no.  thank  you  though.  i  can’t  really  concentrate  anyway.    ❞                he  sighs,  noting  hunter’s  hesitation  to  get  too  close  to  him.               ❝     would  you  like  to  go  for  a  walk  maybe   ?   talk  about  things    ?   ❞            

hunter’s not quite sure that she’d like to talk,       mostly because she’s unsure what she would say.      still she nods        --         she’s calmed by remus’s presence in a way that she’s not by most people.          “okay.   maybe somewhere where it’s quiet,      though       ??      hearing people talk about what happened just       ...      it’s unfair of me,    but it’s hard.”

                  ❝   it’s  fucking  ridiculous,  how  could  they  attack  students  ?    ❞             he’s  angry,  frustrated  that  something  happened  where  he  couldn’t  help,  where  people  were  outside  with  no  protection      –     not  that  he  would  have  the  first  clue  how  to  dispatch  a  dementor  properly  anyway.               ❝   we  need  proper  teaching  against  this  shit,   we  get  taught  duelling  but  not  against  anybody  other  than  other  wizards  and  witches.  what  the  fuck  are  we  learning  defense  against  the  dark  arts  for  if  none  of  it  is  actually  gonna  help   ?   ❞  

“ollie,    i know.”     hunter says softly,   stepping closer to him and reaching up some so she can tug his jacket closed around him    --     it’s a little chilly in the corridor,   and she’d hate to see him catch a cold.     she smooths down the fabric,   smiling weakly up at him.     she knows this has taken a toll on everyone,   especially her ollie;    he’s a hero,   and there’s no doubt that he’s frustrated that he couldn’t stop this.    “and we will fix this.    but for now,    you need to relax.    nothing good will come of you getting worked up.   when was the last time you had something to eat   ??”

                     remus  is  deep  in  thought,   paperwork  spread  out  on  the  desk  in  front  of  him.   he  has  extra  to  do  now,  having  offered  to  lighten  the  work  of  some  others  that  had  been  more  severely  injured  during  the  dementor  attack    –    but  it’s  hard,  trying  to ease  his  anxiety  about  the  war  breaching  the  walls  of  the  university  that  he  thought  were  so  safe.                 ❝     hm  ?   sorry,  i  was  in  my  own  little  world…    can  i  help  at  all   ?   ❞ 

“i’m sorry for intruding.”    hunter says,     stepping into the room slowly.    she feels strange now,     like she’s doing something she shouldn’t every time she approaches someone,    like maybe she should keep to herself like others are.   she spots the work on remus’s desk and frowns.    “um.    would you like some help   ??”

rudy is hunter’s best friend.     she trusts him more than anyone,    ever since she arrived to school and he defended her from the teasing she had to endure for years.    he reminds hunter to stay positive and to live in the moment,   and of course she’s been pining for him for years  –  secretly.  she’s afraid of telling him,    certain he doesn’t feel the same.   she’d rather pine in secret than lose his friendship.

hunter finds remus to be very sweet.   they have quite a few similar interests,   and she thinks remus is insanely smart.   she’s also got a crush on him,   though she tries her best to hide it she thinks everyone but him might see it.

“You’re welcome” Lily says with a soft smile. “You’ll sure be better than me, I’ve never danced before…” Lily stops. “Well, if I don’t count dancing under the shower” she says chuckling. “So, here we go?” she asks, standing up.

“we shall.”   hunter says,   hopping to her feet and taking lily’s wrist in hers,  giggling as she drags the redhead to the dance floor.   she still feels insecure,   but somehow having lily with her makes her feel braver,   makes her not mind that she’s dancing kind of awkwardkly.

yes. it’s easier to associate with other things when I’m studying. There was an actual word for this method to studying or remembering things, but Padraic couldn’t remember what it was.

‘oh,  i see  !!   well,   that makes sense and it’s helpful to know for future tutoring sessions.   i can be more prepared and we can brainstorm more things to help you remember.   does that sound good ??’

                      he mentioned remus mostly to tease her,    he’s noticed her little flushed cheeks when he was around,    and while he thinks it’s mostly funny,    something about hunter’s little crush makes him feel   …..    sidelined.     he’s not used to coming second best to anybody,    especially where hunter was concerned.               ❝   you’ve gone all red,    princess.   ❞              he doesn’t let her go,    if anything he’s holding her closer.    she’s all smiley again,    pretty sparkly eyes gazing up at him and he felt warm from the inside out.              ❝    fuck yeah,  princess.   i’m everybody’s favourite.   ❞                he smiles,    softer,   intimate,   just for her.               ❝    it sounds best when it comes from you,   though.    ❞         

she feels a little nervous about how much others love rudy,   truthfully.    although she loves that he’s loved,    knows that he deserves it,     hunter can’t help but feel insecure;     after all,    why would he want her when he has so many other people to choose from       ??       “i’m      --    i’m not red.     it’s just,    you’re so close to me,    so      ...”    and then she turns positively red,   squeaks in surprise.    “i     --      i mean,     not that    --   that you make me blush.   it’s just,    well,    w  --  we’re so close,   and you  --  you look very nice today,     ollie,   so   ... “

                 ❝ well you have such a lovely speaking voice, i can only assume. ❞                remus smiles, tipping his head fondly at her. it’s nice that he has a friend who definitely understands him – and who shares his love for reading.                   ❝ oh no ! that wasn’t part of the deal ! perhaps there’ll be no singing, from any of us – well, except james. he’s always singing. ❞  

“oh   !!    well,    thank you.  i   --   that’s very kind  !!”    hunter scrambles to answer appropriately,   but she’s flushing even more,    embarrassingly so,   and she hopes remus doesn’t notice.   “okay,   well.   i don’t mind.    but maybe one day i can hear you sing   ??   i’ll even sing with you.”

Lily smiles. “Take your time, no one’s pushing you, if you don’t want to sing”. Then Lily stands up, her smile twice wide than before. “But we can’t just sit here and doing nothing! It’s a party and, even though I’m not an expert, we should definitely have fun!”

“i appreciate that you’re so patient.”    hunter says with a small smile  --  and she does, really.  “oh   !!   of course.  we could dance   ??    i’m not much of a dancer but i don’t mind trying !!”