"Just tell her Moony!"

"No."

"Moony!"

"NO."

"MOONY!"

"I said bloody no Padfoot!"

"Moony, she may not be that hot- hey don't growl at me!"

"Don't call her ugly!"

"I didn't say that! I just said she's not that sexy!"

"PADFOOT!"

"Uh, sorry Prongs. As we we're saying-"

"Lily's told me all about how nice and smart she is. Plus-" James held up his pointer finger. "She's really into you."

"I don't care."

"C'mon mate, we know you care! You talk about her none stop!" James pleaded.

"I don't care."

"Moony. Stop being so stubborn." Peter threw in.

"I don't care."

"IS THAT ALL YOU CAN SAY!" Sirius yelled.

"Yes."

Sirius jumped forwards and knocked Remus's chair onto the ground, playfully wrestling with the werewolf. Since it was close to the full moon, Remus had no trouble putting his friend in a headlock and pinning him, face first, into the carpet of the Gryffindor common room.

"No fair." Sirius panted, his voice muffled by the shaggy carpet. "It's almost that time of the month for you."

Remus flexed harder, causing Sirius to choke. Sirius grabbed Remus's elbow, "C'mon mate." he groaned. "I give! I give!"

Remus loosened his hold, quickly standing up and offering his hand to his buddy.

"Okay now that that's over with. Can we please go back to what we we're really talking about?" James sighed.

"What were we talking about again?" Sirius asked.

"Remus getting a date to Hogsmeade this weekend." Peter piped in.

"I said no you guys. I don't want to ask her."

"Why not Moony?" Sirius moaned. "She's super awesome for you. C'mon!"

"I've never dated anyone. For good reason." Remus muttered, sitting back in his comfy red chair. "I don't ever want to put someone in the position of not knowing they're in a relationship with...with someone like me." Remus ended weakly.

"Remus," James spoke, using their first names meant business. "I know you don't want to hurt anyone, or be hurt by anyone. But someday you're gonna have to take a chance. You can't live alone forever. Don't give me that look! You can not live alone forever Moony!"

"Prongs is right Moony. We know you really like this girl and if what Lily says is true, this girl really likes you back." Sirius added. "What better way to start a relationship than now."

Remus sighed, pressing himself deeping into the fabric of his chair. "I just don't know guys. What...what if I ask her and she says no?" he asked, looking helplessly into his friends' eyes.

"Moony, Prongs has been rejected from Lily like thousands of times-"

"1, 387 times!" Peter quipped.

Remus and Sirius chuckled under their breathe as James shot death glares at Peter.

"I have been rejected by my Lily Flower many times." James began. "But I'm not going to give up. You know why Moony?"

"Why?" Remus asked interested.

"Because when you find that someone who you really really want, and you know that they are that special someone. Sometimes they don't know how special you are. So you gotta keep trying to make them see how wonderful you are. If they say something bad about you, you gotta live like it ain't true. You dig?"

"Yeh, I dig." Remus sighed.

"Moony, if you get rejected by this girl, and you still really like her afterwards, you gotta never give up trying to make her see the real you. Cause you're the smartest guy I know next to Dumbledore. You're brave and nice and super down to Earth."

"Yeh." The two others added.

"This girl is gonna have to have some excuse for saying no to you man."

"No." the girl said sternly.

"But-"

"No!" she said again.

"Bu-"

"I SAID NO YOU EGOTISTICAL ANNOYING MAN PIG!"

The boy stepped away silently, hurt flooding his eyes and he looked towards his 3 brothers in the corner of the classroom.

As he approached, the 3 each patted him on the back and wished him better luck next time.

"You'll get her for sure next time." Sirius said encouragingly.

"Yeh, she doesn't know what she's missing." Peter added.

"I agree Prongs. Lily will come around sooner or later." Remus reassured his friend.

James nodded, a grin breaking out on his face. "Now it's your turn Moony."

Remus swallowed heavily. "You'll do great man." Sirius spoke.

"I hope you're right Pads." Remus muttered as he shuffled around the desk and made his way over to three Ravenclaw girls chatting on a table near the front of the classroom. He paused, questioning himself before stepping forward in front of the reddish brunette perched on top of the desk.

He didn't say a word until she looked up at him, a smile from a joke her friend just told still on her face. Both of her pals watched Remus as he stuttered.

"Um...um...h-hi..."

The Ravenclaw's smile widened. "Hi Remus."

Remus's eyes grew large. "Y-you know m-my name?"

"Of course. You and those famous Marauders are some of the most popular guys in Hogwarts." she said softly.

Remus nearly choked. "Yeh...ahh..."

"My name's Sofie." she said, sticking out her small hand towards Remus. He awkwardly gripped her fingers, accidentally shaking a bit to rough than appropriate. She didn't seem to mind, she had a smile on her face the whole time.

"So...Remus," she began. "Now that we've introduced ourselves...is there anything you'd like to tell me?" she said grinning at his blushing face.

"Oh...well...um...yeh, I ah...I just wanted to...to come over h-here...and...ah...tell you...umm..." Remus's voice cracked as he stumbled over his words.

"Tell me what?" the Ravenclaw questioned.

"Ah...tell you...that I...ah...well, m-more like ask than tell...beacuse ah...I ah...I wouldn't want to tell you to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend if you didn't want to. Because that's against free will and I would always value your opinion. An-

"Remus."

Remus swallowed nervously. "Y-yes?" he asked.

"Are you asking me to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Sofie questioned, slidding off the desk into a standing position.

She was much shorter than his 6 foot frame. Remus bet that the top of her head would barely reach his chin if they stood in front of each other.

Her chocolate eyes sparkled as he stared at her lips. They moved and she was speaking but his ears weren't listening. He watched her smile, her white teeth shine. He wished he could stay like this and count the freckles that covered her nose and cheeks.

She continued talking. She looked so cute when her eyebrows moved in towards each other when she got all serious . She reached up and tucked a stand of stray hair behind her left ear.

Gosh if only I could do that. Remus thought. I would run my hand through her short reddish brown hair and just feel it slip between my fingers and then trail them down her cheek and then I would kiss those lips.

"Umm Remus, you're touching my ear." Sofie's voice broke into Remus's mind.

Reality cut in and Remus saw his long fingers stroking Sofie's ear. He jerked away from her, stuttering his apologies and nearly on the verge on tears from humiliation when Sofie took his hand in hers.

"It's okay Remus." she spoke softly. "Did you hear what I was saying though?"

Remus felt a blush cover his face as the warmth from Sofie's hand made its way through his entire body.

"S-sorry...no. I was a bit distracted." he mumbled.

Sofie's tiny bell laughter shot Remus with filling sensation as she continued to caress his hand in hers.

"I was saying how I really need to get some more quills and parchment and drop off a few letters at the owlery and then maybe we could go to Madam Puddifoot's or The Three Broomsticks for a drink or something."

Remus nodded, shell shocked. He stared at her fingers wrapped around his.

"So...so you'll go with me?" he asked glancing up, wanting to make sure this wasn't another daydream.

Sofie smiled, "Yes Remus. I would love to go to Hogsmeade this weekend with you." she said giggling.

Remus nodded happily, a grin plastered on his face. "Thank you Sofie."

Sofie smiled back, giving his hand only last squeeze before letting it go. "Let's talk more after class okay?" she told him joyously as Professor Binns floated down his study stairs and to the front of the class.

Again Remus nodded, feeling slightly cold without her warm hand in his. He clutched his now empty hand to his chest longingly.

Sofie gave one last grin before pulling her chair out and taking a seat.

"Mr.. Lupin?"

Remus gaze shot up towards the front of the room.

"You're not having trouble finding your seat I hope?" Professor Binns chided in a dull voice.

"Ah, no Professor. I was just borrowing a quill from Sofie." Remus improvised, reaching out for Sofie's writing utensil on her desk, she was thinking just as fast and grabbed it, meeting him half way. This proved as a realistic enough act for the old ghost.

"Please Mr. Lupin, come tomorrow prepared for my lessons. And take your seat."

Remus hurried back to his desk with Sirius and looked over at Sofie who was pulling out a new quill from her bag. She met his eyes and grinned playfully.

"Thanks." he mouthed, smiling back at her.

"No problem." she replied, turning back around and jotting down the boring information about the 1835 Goblin War in her notebook.

"What did she say?" Sirius asked Remus, nudging his foot.

Remus looked over at his friend and gave the happiest grin.

"She said yes."

eassured