#also excuse me I was supposed to write much shorter prompts like one paragraph TWO at the most

[mojofun]

Remus Lupin and the Half-Assed Attempt at Flirting (Remus Lupin x OC)

Hello y’all. This is a new entry for a new writing challenge I’m participating in. It was launched by @iliveiloveiwrite and I want to give them a shoutout not only for hitting 500 but also for the wonderful prompts! Thank you :) The prompt for this story was “This is the part where you ask me out an I say yes”. I took inspiration from the scene in the Half-Blood Prince (as evidenced by the title) when Slughorn makes them prepare the Daught of Living Death in class. I decided to write about Remus Lupin because there are many stories about Sirius flirting and also about James importuning Lily (I love that couple ;) ) so I though I should study Remus’ behaviour in this hostile environment. That said, I hope you enjoy the story :)

Gif not mine, credits to @ministryofmagiclondon​

<<Good morning, class>> Professor Slughorn chimed, letting his gaze skim over the students in the potions room, some awake some half-asleep <<Today we are going to host a little competition>>

James nudged Sirius, who awoke with a start

<<Uh? What’s up, Prongs?>>

<<Shush you two>> Remus rebuked, making his friends roll their eyes

<<Goody two-shoes>>

The taller male just huffed. Slughorn went on with his explanation, holding up a  small vial of a clear potion in his hands

<<Does any of you know what this is?>>

A girl in the corner raised her hand

<<Yes?>>

<<Felix Felicis, professor. Commonly known as liquid luck>>

<<Correct, Miss L/N. Ten points to H/N>>

The female gave a small smile; she worried at her lip and looked down, blushing slightly.

Sirius’s elbow in his side jolted Remus out of the trance he’d fallen in, and he turned to find the black-haired Marauder looking at him with a shark-like grin

<<What?>>

<<You like her>>

Remus’ breath hitched, but he managed to make it sound like a snort

<<Excuse me?>>

<<You stared at her for a full minute after she gave the right answer>>

<<You have hearts in your eyes, Moony>> James joined

<<Shut up you two! Just shut up >> He turned away from both his friends, but he could feel their idiotic smirks. As if that weren’t enough, they began teasing him 

<<Remus and Y/N, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S->>

With a quick non-verbal spell, the tallest of the three made the contents of a nearby cauldron pour all over Sirius and James

<<Ah! What the hell?>> They spluttered

<<Mr Black, Mr Potter, is there a problem?>>

<<They simply made the cauldron tip over, Professor>> Remus replied for them

<<Oh. Well, they will get changed after this lesson.

It’s probably going to be messy>>

<<Yes, professor. Thank you>>

That said, Slughorn went back to his explanation. Sirius and James sent him venomous glares, but he ignored them.

Especially when he heard Y/N giggle.

He snapped his head in her direction and caught her looking at him, covering her mouths to tune her chuckles down; as soon as their eyes met she abruptly looked away, but it was enough for the boy to smile like a fool.

He’d been crushing on her for a very long time. What was there not to like? She was pretty, clever, kind and feisty, if the time she ripped Bellatrix a new one in the Great Hall was anything to judge by.

The mere memory had him laughing, so he bit his lip, but the chuckles didn’t stop. Y/N had stepped in to defend some first-years she’d been buying and, as a result, the entire Hall got to witness Sirius’s deranged cousin flee the Hall with a fully-fledged Medusa updo.

In one word, it had been glorious. The only downside to it was that it made him fall even more for her.

Why was that a bad thing, some might have asked.

Because the feelings were one-sided, Remus would have answered with a sigh.

His flirting was limited to staring at her from across the room and hope that someday, somehow, she would look at him and approach him.

But that was a whole new level of magic, something he did not believe was feasible even if he was a wizard.

Perhaps it was for the best, he mused sadly. After all, how could a monster like him be with a beautiful and wonderful woman like Y/N? No, he wouldn’t ruin her like that.

Thus Remus had resigned himself to throwing longing glances at her from under the strands of hair that fell in his face, hoping to never get caught -the fact that his best friends knew already was an unwelcome turn of events, but he trusted them with his life…

Not so much with his crush though

<<Good. Let’s make the pairs now>>

Just like that, the poor boy realised he’d missed the whole explanation of what he was supposed to do. What did they have to team up for?

<<Black, you’re with McKinnon>>

Sirius unsheathed his best playboy smile and strutted toward Marlene, who greeted him with a cackle

<<Potter, you’ll work with Evans>>

<<No!>> The redhead exclaimed, unable to stop herself.

The whole room fell silent and Lily blushed, looking away

<<I’m sorry professor>>

<<It’s alright, Miss Evans>> Slughorn reassured, then turned toward other students just when James was approaching his new potions partner

<<Oh come on Evans, we are a winning team: our potion will be perfect>> <<Yes, Potter>>

<<Really?>>

<<Just so I can slip it in your pumpkin juice at breakfast>> The redhead hissed, making the brunette balk

<<Lupin, you’re with L/N>>

Those were the last words Remus heard; after that, all his ears picked up was the thrumming of his heartbeat with every step Y/N took in his direction.

He stared at her, taking in her smile and the twinkle in her eyes.

Was he staring too much? Probably

<<Uhm, Remus?>>

<<Yes?>>

Impressive, how much effort a single word can take

<<So, we’re working together. Let’s go to that table, since it’s free>>

He nodded numbly, following her without another word.

________________________________________________________________

<<Now we need to add the powdered root of asphodel>> Y/N read, skimming the scribbles on the book while stirring the fuming contents of the cauldron. Remus instantly gathered the ingredient and selected the correct dosage, pouring it in and glancing at the manual

<<This is the part where we use the infusion of wormwood and valerian sprigs, right?>> He asked, pointing at the next paragraph.

The girl nodded, not losing her concentration.

A few moments of silence went by, during which the only disturbance were the constant lame pickup lines that James foisted on Lily, who endured in the name of her education.

Remus swore he could see her mouth an unforgivable or two, but he had his own problems to tend to and couldn’t save Prongs at the moment.

Then along came a flying Sopophorous bean.

Before he understood what was happening, the boy had reached out to catch the stray legume. Problem was, so had Y/N.

The girl’s smaller fingers grabbed it, while his bigger hand wrapped around hers, and the whole world stood still.

They stared into each other’s eyes, mouth agape and breath cut short. He could have sworn he saw her bite her lip at some point, and her cheeks were at least two shades darker than before…

Probably the potion’s fumes, he decided; after all her hair was all poofy now, but she still looked adorable…

Dammit

<<Sorry to interrupt your Yule Ball practice, but Marley and I need that bean>> Sirius’ voice jolted them both out of their reverie. He had appeared out of thin air and was looking at the couple with a shark-like grin that Remus suddenly had the urge to wipe off

<<I could just take yours and leave you two to… Whatever it is you’re doing>> The black-haired Marauder cackled.

That gave his friend the courage to finally pull away, giving back the bean with a  huff

<<We are working, Sirius. Unlike you>>

<<Oh, Remus. You wound me>>

<<Don’t tempt me>> The taller boy grunted

<<I wouldn’t dream of it>> The shorter one chirped, barely restraining his laughter <<Oh and, by the way; this is the part where you ask her out>>

The world froze again.

Remus could feel Y/N’s eyes on him, but he did not dare turn around. He simply prayed she would simply chalk it up as Sirius’ umpteenth inopportune remark

<<Sloth brain>>

<<I couldn’t agree more, Y/N>> He growled, glaring at his friend

<<I meant we need sloth brain now>>

<<Oh, right. That, and the juice of the flyi- sopophorous bean>> Moony recited in a single breath <<Am I forgetting something?>>

<<Asking her out>> Padfoot tried again. The other boy ignored him

<<Wormwood, of course; we need wormwood too>>

His partner nodded, avoiding his gaze. Sirius chuckled and walked away after retrieving his bean

<<For the last time, Potter, I will NEVER go out with you!>> Lily’s voice resounded in the classroom, leading to an embarrassing silence during which all eyes were on her and James.

For the first time in years, Remus was grateful for the Gryffindor’s tactlessness.

________________________________________________________________

Despite any awkwardness, their potion turned out to be the best. Slughorn complimented both of them and awarded fifty points to their houses.

All in all, it wasn’t a complete disaster.

What worried Remus was that Y/N had disappeared as soon as the class was dismissed.

He was currently sitting in the common room with his friends -luckily they were the only ones there- while James complained of his love life to Peter and Sirius pointed out where he had gone wrong with his flirting during potions. As if there was a need to explain that

<<I don’t get it, Padfoot! I tried everything!>>

<<Well, pal, I can tell you not to be like Moony>>

<<What did I do now?>> Remus groaned

<<It was more what you didn’t do>> His companion corrected <<I offered you the occasion of a lifetime on a silver platter and you threw it away!>>

<<It would have been useless, Pads; she doesn’t like me that way>>

<<She does, pal. You just don’t see it>>

<<How can you be so sure?>> The poor boy exploded, vexed beyond belief.

As an answer, he received another Joker-like smirk

<<Well, let’s ask her, shall we?>>

<<Oh no, no way; you’re not going to look for Y/N now>>

<<I don’t need to; she’s right behind you>>

Remus froze in place.

He sent prayers to whatever deity was listening to him that Padfoot was only kidding but, for some reason, it didn’t sound like a prank.

It took him a lot of willpower to simply move his legs and turn around; when he did, just as his friend had said, his eyes met his crush’s E/C irises, and he jumped back when he realised how close she was

<<Y- Y/N>> He stammered <<What- What are you doing here?>>

The way her expression changed to a sad frown worried him

<<I… I came to ask you something… But I see I’m unwanted here… I’ll just go>>

And she did, while he was still stuck there. Luckily, his friends were there for him -in their peculiar way, of course.

A swat to the head broke him out of his trance

<<Ouch! What the hell, Prongs?>>

<<You’ll thank me later; go after her!>>

<<What?>>

<<Don’t make me kick your arse, Moony>> Joined Sirius <<Go after her, you fool>>

<<Oh. Right>>

That was the fastest he’d ever run

<<Y/N!>>

Winded and slightly dizzy, he managed to stop her in the corridors before she returned to the H/N common room. Her expression was less than forthcoming, but he’d work around that

<<How much of that did you hear?>>

<<Just you telling Sirius that he shouldn’t go look for me>>

<<That’s… Better>>

<<It’s ok, Remus, I get it. You don’t want to see m->>

<<No no no no, Y/N, you absolutely don’t get it. We were talking about me asking you out>>

<<Oh. Really?>>

<<Yes, really; serio->> He abruptly stopped talking, trying to find a synonym while the girl laughed

<<The thing is, Y/N, I… I don’t know how to do this>>

She giggled

<<Not to be rude, but following James and Sirius’s advice isn’t very wise>>

They laughed some more, together

<<I know that: Lily’s reaction taught me enough. What should I do, then?>>

<<Mind if I give you an input?>>

<<Go on>>

<<This is the part where you ask me out>>

<<Just like that?>>

Y/N rolled her eyes

<<You don’t need a fancy getup or a knight-in-shining-armour gesture to do this>>

<<I just thought that maybe, I don’t know… Flowers would be a good idea… Or chocolate>>

<<There, you see? You do know what to do. Anyway, we’ll work with what we have here.

Go on>>

<<Y/N L/N, will you go out with me?>>

The female squealed, making him blush and chortle

<<This is the part where I say yes>>

Remus’s grin stretched impossibly wide; so did hers.

Then, something unexpected happened: he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist

<<Ah! Remus, what are you doing?>>

<<This is a new part I just came up with>> He murmured, his lips mere inches from hers <<Any objection?>>

<<Yes>>

Hurt flashed in his eyes, and he relented his grip a little

<<Which one?>>

<<That you haven’t done it already>> She teased, wiping away all his worries.

With a laugh, Remus’s lips met hers and they kissed, holding onto each other for dear life.

It was a wonderful kiss, even if it was the first for both of them.

When they pulled away, they both tried to catch their breaths

<<Wow. Remus Lupin, you definitely know more than it seems>>

________________ Extra_______________

<<How did it go?>>

Of course, Moony knew they would give him the third degree when he went back to his room, but he did not care. He simply leaned against the door, smiling dumbly

<<Did you ask her?>>

He nodded

<<And she said yes?>>

Another nod

<<Wait a second>> Sirius jumped in <<Something’s off…>>

The black-haired Marauder walked toward his companion, examining his lovestruck expression with narrow eyes.

Then, he gasped

<<You kissed her!>>

James and Peter gasped too. The taller boy only nodded

<<Unbelievable. Who knew you had it in you?>>

<<What can I say… Except this: James, be like Moony>> Remus teased.

Sirius face-palmed

<<I created a monster>>

<<It was here all along; you just didn’t see it>>