CHAPTER TWO
butterfly's repose — part one
" 𝖆 𝖘𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖋 𝖘𝖚𝖋𝖋𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌. "

     𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐔𝐒 𝐋𝐔𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒. Within his troubled life as a teenage werewolf, James, Sirius, and Peter were about the only things that made his school days worth the pain and suffering.

     Just like always, and just like it hadn't been a week or two, the three boys greeted the fourth member of their band, with beaming grins, and open arms, bellowing greetings, as Remus settled in the carriage beside Sirius.

     "Good summer?" James asked the boy, as Remus deposited his bag onto the over-head shelving.

     Remus exhaled, "Sufferable. As always." he sent a weak smile to the two boys opposite; Peter offering a sympathetic one back, and James shrugging half-heartedly.

     The absence of school during his holidays was usually what made summer so agonizing. Where there wasn't school, there wasn't the Marauders ─ a group of boys that acted as the glue that kept his distressing life intact.

     The glue that made his transformations bearable. The glue that meant midnight was now the designated time for a feast. The glue that made trouble-making, even more enjoyable, despite it meaning he was breaking every rule in the book.

     "Well, you're here now," Sirius nudged Remus' side, causing the boy to sway out of place, "so why dwell on the past?"

     There was some truth in what Sirius Black had encouraged his best friend. Remus shouldn't be kept in a gloomy midst about his past. But then again, Sirius wasn't the one that was cursed with Lycanthropy. Remus wished, and several times at that, he could forget the numerous lonely nights, with the loss of his friends by his side, during his summer off. But, like the scars across his face, the memories clouded his mind, haunting every inch of him, until the next full moon.

     On the other side of the train, Selene had established a carriage, that presented itself to suffice for the next nine long hours to Scotland, or at least until her upcoming Prefect duty could occupy her for some time.

     Despite the lack of company, Selene always saw the train ride to Hogwarts, which was bringing her closer to an ambivalent life for the next few months, as a kind of sweet meditation. The chugging of the engine melted into a sound of relaxation as it drifted to her ears. And the clatter of the train on the tracks below her was like a continuous series of comfort, as she felt the countryside pass as one masterpiece of art.

     Selene pulled a book from her bag, allowing herself to sink further into the cushioned seat; the train well on its way to Scotland.

     Her book of choice ─ "The Werewolf in Paris" by Guy Endore ─ was a funny kind of novel to Selene. And that was probably due to the fact that from the outside looking in, no one truly understood the truth about being a Werewolf. And Selene never thought about it as sad that she did, because, to Muggles who wrote such things, she was the living embodiment of a Medieval myth that was also living the life of a teenage witch at a Wizarding school. Just in Scotland, instead of Paris.

     But as the day progressed, it seemed to just go downhill from there, as though today was an off one. For Selene at least.

     September first had never been her favourite day, and as much as she found joy in a classroom environment, the fears of people disparaging her after discovering what she really is distracted her with hazy clouds, that dismissed anything else that was even remotely good in her life.

     But today is an off one. And her September first was going the worst it could possibly be.

     Waking up late was bad enough, but losing track of the time, therefore forgetting about her first Prefect meeting of the year topped it all off.

     Her breaths became faulty, as she tried to half-jog, half-walk to the carriage where the meeting had already started. She wasn't drastically late, only five minutes or so, but that was awfully careless of Selene in her books.

     She teetered past carriages until she made it to the larger one in which Professor McGonagall and the twenty-three prefects were sat. Their heads darted to the door, as the Ravenclaw stumbled into the frame.

     "So sorry I'm late Professor," Selene gasped for air, her chest rising and falling at a fast pace.

      "That's not a very good example you are setting for our new prefects, but I shall let it pass Miss Vervain." Professor McGonagall's mouth was pursed into a straight line; her hands folded out in front of her. The carriage had lost any sense of collectiveness after the interruption - an interruption that Selene was loathing herself for. "Please come in."

     Selene hovered for a moment but shuffled over to a seat beside the other Ravenclaw Prefect, and a Gryffindor one. She collected her hands onto her lap, and recovered her natural breathing, as subtly as she could manage.

     "As I was saying," the Transfiguration teacher proceeded, "your duties will resume as usual this evening at nine o'clock. Please don't be late."

     Selene drew her eyes away from the Professor, sheepishly, and yet could still feel all eyes on her withdrawn figure, that was wishing she could sink into the chair entirely and disappear like she was never here - which she almost wasn't at all.

     The Professor continued giving instructions regarding their patrol of the Hogwarts Express until they made it to the castle, and yet, Selene felt too embarrassed to even listen. It was as though her ears had shut off, and her eyes were too fixated on the pattern of the seat cushion ahead of her that they had no motion left in them.

     "Don't worry," a voice leaned over to her ear, startling her enough for her ears to turn back on, and her once statue-like figure to regain movement, "I was late too," the now recognizable boy reassured her; his airy breath brushing up against her skin.

     Remus Lupin had watched the girl beside him tap her fingers against her lap for almost two minutes since Professor McGonagall had emphasized the importance of promptness. He felt just as humiliated when he jogged up to the Prefect carriage later than everyone else, where he was met with prying eyes, and glares after he disrupted the organized silence.

     Remus told himself that the only reason he was late was that James Potter was too in love with Lily Evans. Not because Remus was irresponsible, and he no longer deserved his position as Prefect because he wasn't committed enough. Nor was it because he was simply forgetful. But because James Potter was too in love with a girl that did not love him back, and it meant it was impossible to shut him up.

     Remus was too busy trying to distract himself with the passing trees, and hills, and farming land that was grazing across the window as the train bumped beneath him, so he didn't have to hear James' new and different tactics to win over the redhead's heart, that his Prefect duty became a frivolous thought that floated to the back of his mind.

     But since he was late, and had to suffer from the embarrassment momentarily as well, Remus believed that the girl beside him needed some sort of comfort, seen as she looked as though she was about to implode.

     Selene collected herself enough to glance up at the boy, who was looking down at her.

     He wore a warm smile. The same smile she had looked at not even an hour ago.

     Selene's heart rate had instantly returned to its natural pace, and her shoulders had released that overthrowing tenseness that she had bottled up over the three minutes that she had been sat down.

     She smiled back at the boy - her expression beaming with gratitude, in the not obvious kind of way.

     After a shared moment of peace, Selene drew her eyes away from the chocolate gaze she was once looking at, and they returned to the Professor, having now regained any lost confidence that she needed to look at the teacher that Selene felt, she had let down in some way.

     At least now, her tardiness wasn't going to be the reason that she exploded with an overtaking sense of embarrassment.

     Lily Evans liked Selene Vervain. She was possibly the only person in the entire school, besides possibly Peter Pettigrew, that paid enough attention to know her full name.

     The redhead admired her esteemed success in school. And the pride she took in being a Ravenclaw. Lily liked that Selene had it all planned out, and only wished the same would soon enough happen to her.

     The Gryffindor met Selene by her side and brushed up against her arm.

     "Evening," Lily grinned, looping her arm around Selene's.

     Selene relaxed her arm around the girl's and smile back, "Evening."

     "Nice summer?" the Gryffindor asked, as the two of them walked away from the exiting bundle of Prefects from the single compartment. Selene offered a tentative wave to Remus, as he disappeared into the same carriage that she had directed him to earlier.

     Selene shrugged, almost emotionless, "Sufferable."

     "Oh, it can't have been that bad!" Lily argued. Selene shrugged again, seeing no point in delving into detail concerning her painful summer. Too much detail could cause too much trouble.

     After a single shrug was all she got in response, Lily straightened up, "Well, Potter sent me over two dozen letters and I honestly have no idea why he hasn't take the hint and left me alone."

     It had been a common occurrence for Lily to rant all of her annoyance in relation to the Gryffindor seeker that was so desperately in love with the girl to Selene. The one-sided relationship had been a topic many a time.

     Selene had reached the point where it was more enjoyable to watch from the sidelines than bothering to intervene. And yet, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy.

     "And did you reply to any of these letters?" Selene chuckled.

     "No!" Lily's eyebrows knitted together as if what Selene had said was a complete outrage. "Course I didn't! It was so irritating that he didn't deserve one."

     "Lily, why don't you just give the boy kid a chance?" Selene suggested, with a solemn tone.

     "Because he's arrogant and rude, and very very irritating," Lily said, followed by a shake of Selene's head, as she rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not my fault the boy is too dense to realize that I don't like him!"

     "You could have replied to one letter-"

     Lily stopped still, and slapped the Ravenclaw's arm lightly, "Oh shut up!"

     Selene laughed, stopping beside the girl.

     "Well, this is me." Lily's playful laughs had died down, and she gestured to the compartment behind her, where Severus Snape was sat, wearing a glum look, as he stared out of the window, readjusting his seating position now and then. "You wanna join?" Lily offered.

     Selene sighed, "Oh, it's okay. I was just going to get back to reading." she feebly pointed behind her, in the direction of her compartment, which was a few doors down.

     Lily didn't see why Selene couldn't read with her and Severus, but she respected the girl's wishes and offered a goodbye smile and quick wave, before sliding the door open, and taking a seat opposite the Slytherin, whom she greeted upon return.

     After heading back to her empty compartment to read, that she was lucky no one had sat in since she had been gone, it didn't take long for Selene to get lost in the book's pages. And she had soon humourized herself, with the laughable persona that Muggles had created for the being that is the Werewolf.

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