WISH YOU WERE HERE (REMUS)

[Deleted]

WISH YOU WERE HERE

YOU'RE ALWAYS THERE, EVERYWHERE

Dorcas laid in her bunk, staring at the wood holding up the bed above her own. She turned over on her side and stared at the window, gazing at the moon's shine on the glass. Contemplation had struck her that evening, mostly about Remus. It seemed like all of their confrontations got ruined, but she wanted something real. Something that said hey - we both know there's something between us. Let's do something about it?

Not knowing what exactly was happening was driving the poor Hufflepuff insane.

She finally got up and went to the window, opening it. The chill didn't seem to bother anyone - it had, in fact, been rather hot in the common room. Doe wasn't sure why she hadn't thought of opening it before to cool off the dormitory, but that's why she was a Hufflepuff and not a Ravenclaw. She wasn't particularly intelligent about that sort of thing, but power, strength, and dedication were her strong suits aside from loyalty. So, she supposed a little bit of long thinking of real-world situations and casual displays were alright with her.

Dorcas called out to her owl and waited. Once it reached the window and perched upon the window sill, she unfolded the parchment she'd been holding. She turned from the owl and stared at the quill and ink prepared on the floor. She'd been to the window several times to start this letter, and then went back to bed.

Contemplation.

Relieving a sigh, she grabbed the quill, dipped it into the ink, and began scribbling on the paper.

Dear Remus,

I hope my owl doesn't wake you too horribly. She can be a bit of a pest...but I guess since I'm sending it, I might be classified as a pest, too.

Aside from tired, how are you? I um...miss seeing you around.

Xx,

Doe

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Smack.

The clock on the wall divulged the lateness of the hour. Remus' eyes could hardly make out the abstruse script, but he knew that much. Late. Late, late, late. So why wasn't he tired?

Smack.

His hands were nimble and deft in defiance of the hour. He reached forward and caught the small gummy ball and hurled it again at the ceiling. None of his room mates seemed to mind, or if they did they didn't show it. Two were absent; they were still lurking about the common room, he wagered. Unperturbed, the simple game amused him. He only hoped it would lull him into a well-deserved sleep.

If past experiences could be relied upon, Remus would not, sadly, be getting to sleep tonight. His head was buzzing from some forgotten reserve of adrenaline, source unknown. It was strange, as he was usually exhausted on the days following one of his moonlit adventures. He still felt weary and beaten up, but his mind was honed to a tine and unusually restless.

Smack. Smack.

Bonus points, Remus thought, enraptured. The pangs of rubber against hard ceiling detracted from his focus. Still, one thought permeated the excited drone and persisted through the variable thumps. Dorcas. They must be cursed, he found himself thinking, amused by his indulgence of the silly idea. Their first kiss had not gone so well; he didn't like to remind himself of it, even though it had been the highlight of his budding sixth year. Of course, Sirius had ruined the second. Not that the night had held much potential anyway, due to unfortunate circumstance.

Smack!

He hurled the ball with increased zeal, scowling at it slightly. Oh, life and its tribulations. The heavy smooch between ball and ceiling elicited an irritated hoot from a creature on the windowsill. Remus bolted upright. An owl? He looked around, but the only other person present in the room was asleep. He stared at the owl, which held him fixedly in its cold, predator eyes. Remus jabbed a finger at himself as if to ask, "for me?" but then stupidly realized that he was conversing with a bird and decided to untie the parcel from its leg.

"Let's see..." he whispered, migrating to his trunk. He dug around for a moment, scattering books and parcels and shirts across the floor until he located a small, silver bag. He opened it and produced a small pellet - a reward for the messenger. Remus flopped on his bed and read the parcel, face-up on the comforter. The ball rolled off the sheets and under the frame, forgotten.

Remus smiled. As if his mind had been read from across the castle, Dorcas had written him. He allowed himself a soft laugh when he saw that she literally had penned the syllable, "um." He sat up and looked around; he had to reply. A scrap of paper was easy enough to find. Remus snapped his fingers as he remembered where he left his quill; it was on a desk in the common room. Shoot! That was his good quill, too.

Feeling only slightly guilty at the intrusion, Remus decided that his room mate would not mind too terribly if he had a quick poke around in his bags for a quill. What else was he going to do? Remus was far too energetic to sleep now, and it wasn't as if the quill's owner would have any immediate need of it. Remus looked over to confirm this, and was happy to find the student snoring contentedly.

He muttered, "Lumos!" And huddled in the corner between the bed and the wall so as to contain as much of the light as possible. Tongue poking out with concentration - he really was in a strange mood - he wrote as neatly as he could without a desk:

"Dorcas,

I shudder to think of how the owl would go about - were it necessary - waking me. Luckily, sleep is eluding me tonight. Oh, and you're not a pest. Quite the opposite in fact, if you are able to alleviate me of my loneliness tonight.

I am terribly sorry about our brief run-in last night. Sirius truly lives within a world of his own. I hope you aren't cross with me for leaving so suddenly.

Remus

Satisfied - almost - with his penmanship, Remus rolled up the letter. Thinking quickly, he returned to the owl on the windowsill. "You wouldn't mind returning with this, would you?" Remus asked, tying the letter to its tiny ankle. His own bird was in the owlery. Remus offered another treat for good measure, which was accepted shortly before the owl took flight. He flopped again onto his bed, grinning as he awaited a reply. His hands crossed comfortably behind his head and ball lay forgotten, still, beneath his bed.

[Deleted]

WISH YOU WERE HERE

YOU'RE ALWAYS THERE, EVERYWHERE

Doe watched as her owl took flight into the sky. Shortly after, she strolled to her trunk and flipped open its lid quietly. With a flick of her wand and a whisper of, "Lumos," Dorcas began searching for her robe. She finally found it buried under some of her spring clothes, having not the opportuniyt to wear it thus far in the school year. She slipped into the silk and tied the band around her waist, shoving her thin toes into a pair of matching black slippers. With a glance to the window and finding it, disappointingly, bare, she dispersed from the girls' dormitory.

Wand in hand, Doe Meadowes strolled past the crackling fireplace and entered the colder tunnel which led into the entrance hall just aside the kitchens. After climbing through the portrait, she made a sharp turn and walked quickly down the hall. After what seemed like forever, she finally approached the lavatories. She rushed in and approached the mirror, the pale light shining down on her forehead and emersing it in brightness. She ignored it and instead turned on the sink, cupping her hands below the running water. Dorcas closed her eyes and puffed her cheeks, then flushed the water up onto her skin. She did this twice before opening her eyes once more and reaching at the side of the wall for a hand towel. She buried her face into the cotton and breathed through the fabric, cuddling her cold cheeks for a moment before looking back at her reflection.

She looked up at the ceiling briefly, staring at the flaws from years of steaming baths taken there. But, Hogwarts was old and bound to have evidence of it. The lavatory was just one place that held it more clearly than others. After finally drying her face once more, she retreated back to the Hufflepuff Common Room. As she passed the fire once more, she paused. Dorcas' eyes watched the flames dance, listening to the pops they made. A flapping of feathers made her look away. She smiled before heading back up the stairs and into the dormitory.

Just as she entered, her eyes wandered to the window where they found her owl once more. Beaming, she walked over to it and gave it a pet on the head. It gave a small tilt of its head and opened its beak, as if wanting a treat. She raised her own eyebrow. She didn't normally give her owl treats for delivering letters, but it seemed that Remus had been so kind to give her the idea it was appropriate. With a wide smile, Doe shook her head and retrieved a bag of treats she kept underneath her mattress. She held it out for her owl to take while she unwrapped the letter from her leg, petting her head while she read Remus's words - a smile upon her face the entire time.

She sat down and wrote:

Remus,

Unfortunately, I've been on the other end of her waking tactics. It's not a very pleasant thing to wake to. Then again, it's reassuring that my owl will retrieve an answer despite one's desire to sleep, ha!

And it's alright. Just seems like everytime we're trying to...talk about things, it gets ruined. I'm certainly not mad at you for Sirius' interruption - don't worry.

I don't really know how to go about this...but, I do like you Remus. I know it might be hard to tell at this point since we've had some problems I guess, but I do. And I guess I hope that maybe you might give me a chance?

Signed,

Doe.

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Remus considered himself to be a patient person. It was one of his more admirable qualities. As he lay on his bed, alone with his thoughts, he felt agitated. What if Doe had gone to bed? He didn't know how long the owl had been sitting there; maybe she thought he was sleeping. The thought was dreadful, as he greatly desired a companion in his sleeplessness. Just knowing that somewhere, across the castle, someone was awake with you was enough to quell the loneliness. He couldn't help but feel a little melancholy at the thought of facing the night alone.

It wasn't dreadfully long before he received confirmation that this wasn't the case. He beamed at the owl on the windowsill, who was looking expectant. It seemed as though Remus had taught him what his time was worth; another treat emerged from the bag and found its way to the windowsill.

Remus plucked the quill once again from his room mate's things. He read the letter over again once, trying to think of what to say. Give her a chance? Did she still think there was a chance he might reject her? Remus had thought his feelings had been pretty clear the other night.

He scrawled: Doe,

I'm sorry to hear that, I hope you weren't sleeping too soundly. I hope you'll keep me company for a few minutes before retiring again. If it's any comfort, Sirius is not - to my knowledge - skilled at intercepting owls.

If by 'a chance' you mean an arrangement seen finally through to its end, then I would like nothing more... We do have horrid luck, don't we?

Remus

He sent the bird off with the letter and jumped on the bed, face down. He thought he heard his room mate shush him quietly.

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WISH YOU WERE HERE

YOU'RE ALWAYS THERE, EVERYWHERE

Remus,

Oh, no, I didn't mean I was asleep just now. I meant that..well, it's a long story but one night my mother was out of town and she borrowed my owl just in case. Well, she thought it'd be nice to send me a goodnight letter, but little did she know I'd already retired to bed. So in came my owl, screeching like it was being strangled, and started scratching at my legs. It was certainly something I'd not forgot to say the least.

And yes, exactly what I mean! We do have rotten luck, but I think we could overcome it easily.

I know the boy is supposed to do this, and I surely hope you would have done so anyway, and aren't creeped out by my doing so...gah! You make me nervous even writing."

She looked up from her paper with a wide grin, and then looked back down to scribble:

Go on a date with me? It doesn't have to be too formal or anything...we could go down to Hogsmeade this weekend together, if you're up to it? Maybe grab some lunch and just hangout a bit?


Signed,

Doe.

template by eliza @ sp

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A conversation via owl mail was something Remus hadn't done in years. For some inexplicable reason, it made him feel cosy and warm. He heard the sound of settling feathers that he was starting to look forward to and stood up. He smiled at the anecdote, suddenly feeling very thankful that he had been awake for the owl's arrival.

A date at Hogsmeade? A date. Putting a word to it filled him with abject terror and exhilarated bliss.

Doe,

I still can't unearth from the preserved impressions of self-awareness what might cause anyone to be nervous around me. I have always felt like a rather un-intimidating person, ha ha.

To be honest, Remus had often felt self-conscious in Dorcas' company. Why was it that when someone paid him any notice he felt all the more pressured to earn their affections? If only he had known... the irony stung him fiercely at that moment of realization.

He continued: Of course I don't mind, how old fashioned do you think I am? And this weekend sounds wonderful; I have no current plans of which to speak, and I wouldn't rather spend my Saturday any other way. Saturday is fine, I hope. I just assumed. Er, well, if not, Sunday works for me as well. I think I'll leave it to you, if that's alright.

Noticing that his letter was getting a bit lengthy, he cut himself off then. It was just before he attached it to the owl that he realized he hadn't signed, but Remus decided to let it go.

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WISH YOU WERE HERE

YOU'RE ALWAYS THERE, EVERYWHERE

She decided instead of laying in bed to sit by the window, ready for his response. While she waited, her head leaned back against the wall and her eyes closed. Dorcas sat in peace, despite the anxiousness for the arrival of a response from him. Doe's ears picked up on the many subtle sounds around the common room as she waited for the familiar fluff of feathers. Alas, a small squeak called from above her and she looked up, into the eyes of her owl. She grinned and granted the owl another treat, taking from it the letter which it held around its ankle.

Her eyes searched to the end of the letter for his name. When she didn't find it, she frowned. Somehow, the sight of his scribbled name made her feel closer to him. But, it didn't matter. The rest of his handwriting was enough, and so she re-read the letter again and proceeded to reply.



Remus,

Saturday is perfectly fine with me. Where should we meet, then?

I can't wait to see you.

Doe.

template by eliza @ sp

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I'm not very good at being decisive. Remus admitted to a scrap of paper in reply. He was using old, recycled parchment scraps now; on the back of this one he had scrawled a drawing of a dog tugging on the hem of a girl's skirt. It was how he and Sirius communicated during class. Remus didn't notice it until he had started to write, but figured that Doe wouldn't think too much of it.

How about this? You decide either the time or the place, and I'll fill in the blanks. Does that work?

Remus

He signed his name this time, realizing that he had forgotten hers in the header. He shook his head, feeling rather daft. Perhaps that same old tiredness was just hiding being that wall of energy, just waiting to consume him. That wall was, as the minutes passed, starting to crumble. He yawned and tied the letter sloppily to the bird. It wouldn't fall off; carrier owls didn't lose their parcels. Another treat was given as a reward and it flew off, looking rather tired and shabby from what must have been his sixth trip around the castle.

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WISH YOU WERE HERE

YOU'RE ALWAYS THERE, EVERYWHERE

Remus,

That definitely works.

Doe lifted her head to glance at her owl, who seemed rather exhausted. She reached out her hands to it and brought it close to her chest, clenching her eyes shut for a moment as its nail poked a hole through her parchment. She petted her owl for a few minutes before setting it up on the sill again and giving it a smile. She looked back down at her paper and wrote:

We can meet in front of The Three Broomsticks, then. I think my owl is getting a bit tired, so this will probably be the last letter I send you.

It was nice talking to you, though. Here's hoping this week goes by quickly enough. I'm really looking forward to Saturday.

Sleep well!

xo,

Doe.

template by eliza @ sp

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Remus stared out into the night. The moon had waned, glowing softly. A layer of clouds parted, gray waves breaking over black sand, and pinpoints of light reached out from the darkness. His hands gripped the sill of the open window, but he had to let go and take a step back as the owl returned with - as he scanned the text - what appeared to be its final note.

Dorcas,

Perfect, we will meet there at 12:34. The easy part's done; now we just have to try to make it to Sunday without one of us running off. He meant it to be funny, and hoped Dorcas wouldn't be embarrassed. After all, it was true. Their last two meetings had ended with one literally running away.

You have a lovely owl, he isn't a pest at all. I must confess, I gave him a few sweets tonight, and apologize if he starts to get a little expectant as a result.

I will see you on Saturday; sleep well.

(P.S: Only one xo?}

xo, xo
Remus

He had never signed a letter with an accompanying 'xo' before. He wasn't even sure what it meant, to be honest. However, he assumed that Dorcas did and hoped he was being amusing and not stupid. Feeling properly sleepy and ready to put down his quills, papers, and bouncy balls - where did that thing go, anyway? - Remus gave the owl his letter and bade it goodnight.