Tutoring with Lily was torturous.

I'd fallen behind a bit in potions, so Lily was helping me. We had a few potions on the table, and we were creating antidotes. The potions included Amortentia, Veritaserum, Felix Felicis, and Polyjuice Potion. Lily had gotten them all from Slughorn, who was more than happy to let her tutor me.

Lily and I were just finishing when James came into the common room.

"You can take the Felix Felicis, if you want," Lily said. "You might get lucky with Remus."

Lily winked at me and I felt my cheeks begin to burn as I smacked her arm. Lily turned away and began talking to James when I took the vial of Felix Felicis and downed it in one gulp.

Nothing felt different.

Lily glanced back to me with a smile before looking to James. She froze and then looked back to me, her mouth opening in horror.

"Y/n!" she exclaimed. "That was not the Felix Felicis!"

I looked to the bottle in my hand and then to the other potions on the table. Polyjuice, Amortentia, Veritaserum –

That wasn't Veritaserum on the table. That was Felix Felicis.

"Oh no," I said.

"Yeah, that's right," Lily said, rushing to the table. "I'll make the antidote."

At that moment, the common room door opened, and the rest of the Marauders entered the common room, closely followed by Marlene, Frank, and Alice.

Remus walked over to us and noticed my panic-stricken face.

"Y/n, what's wrong?" he asked. "What happened?"

"I drank Veritaserum," I said, before clamping my hand over my mouth.

"Veritaserum?" Frank echoed. "Well, this could be fun."

Lily shook her head.

"Don't do it," she warned.

"Oh, lighten up a bit," Frank said. "It's just like a game of truth or dare, minus the dare bit."

Alice and Marlene shrugged. I bit my lip and looked at Lily. She shrugged, so I nodded. A few rounds couldn't hurt, right?

"Tell us if you want to stop," Sirius said.

"Alright," I said shortly. "But you only get two questions."

"No fair. Give us ten."

"Three."

"Eight."

"Five."

"Done."

Frank clapped his hands excitedly and began whispering to Marlene and Alice. Lily continued working on making the antidote.

"Alright – easy first question. Who's your favourite Marauder?" Alice asked.

"Remus," I said instantly.

Marlene scoffed and rolled her eyes while the other three Marauders pretended to be outraged.

"Besides your boyfriend," Alice said.

"James."

James punched the air and Sirius shook his head at me. He mouthed the word 'betrayal.'

"Alright. This is a fun one," Frank said. "Do you know what Remus's furry little problem is?"

James and Sirius basically jumped across the room to cover my mouth. Marlene and Frank's eyes went wide.

"So there's a secret, huh?" Frank mused. No one answered and James and Sirius kept their hands clamped over my mouth. "Alright, we'll ask something else for our next question."

The three whispered between themselves while the rest of us waited in potential terror. What if I revealed Remus's secret? What if I revealed someone else's secret? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

A hand grabbed mine and I looked over to see Remus. He was smiling grimly at me.

"We don't have to play anymore," I said softly.

"Y/n," Frank said, pulling my attention back to him. "What's your biggest secret?"

The words began to spill out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"I'm an ani-"

A hand clamped on my chin and turned my head to the side. Remus connected his mouth with mine, swallowing my words with his lips and tongue.

"Alright, fine! We've got a super easy one! Nothing to do with Remus's secret."

Remus pulled away from my lips and I almost went in for another kiss.

"Fine," I mumbled. "But this is your last question."

The other three grumbled and I waited for them to come up with a question. When they did, they all had wicked smiles on their faces.

"Do you love Remus?"

"Yes."

The Marauders and Lily all gasped, and my jaw dropped.

I hadn't said it to him before. I wasn't sure when the right time was. I'd known him for six years, and I had been slowly falling in love with him during that entire time. We'd only been dating for two months, but I'd known him for longer than that.

Remus looked at me with his mouth open. He didn't say anything, so I assumed the worst.

He didn't love me back.

"I have to go," I whispered, jumping up.

Tears formed in my eyes, and I ran up the stairs and to the girls' dorms. I locked myself in the bathroom and began to cry.

I'd ruined everything.

What if I just scared Remus off? What if he wasn't ready for love? What if, what if, what if...

The thought swirled through my head as a knock on the door sounded.

"Y/n? Are you in there?" Lily asked.

"Yes," I muttered.

There was a moment of silence.

"Are you crying?"

"Yes," I growled.

Stupid Veritaserum. I stood up and unlocked the door. Lily frowned at me and pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back and sighed sadly.

"I just ruined everything," I muttered.

"No, you didn't," Lily said.

She pulled back and handed me a phial of clear liquid.

"It's the antidote," she said.

"Is it safe?" I asked. "Will I... y'know, grow an extra head or something?"

Lily smacked me and I chuckled. I downed the liquid in one gulp.

"Alright, let's test it out," Lily said. "What year are you in?"

"Second," I lied.

Lily smiled and I smiled back. My smile dropped when I remembered what I'd said.

"Remus wants to talk to you," Lily said softly.

I bit my lip and took a deep breath. Maybe I'd overreacted.

Or maybe, the voice in my head said, maybe he wants to break up with you.

I shook my head and the thoughts away. I walked down to the common room, my entire body trembling with nerves.

Remus sat in front of the fire, and arm draped over the back of the couch. I walked over towards him, and he turned around when he heard me. He stood up automatically and shakily walked over to me.

"Y/n," he breathed. "I – uh... I guess I don't need to ask if you were telling the truth."

I shook my head, unable to form words.

"I... It's just... How – how can you love me? I – I'm a mo-"

"If you say monster, I am going to throw you off of the Astronomy Tower," I growled. "You are not a monster Remus. You are a person. A smart, funny, and adorable person. Monsters are things that people are scared of; things that intend to scare others. Do you intend to scare others? No, you don't. You care about whether people perceive you as a monster, and you actively try to not be one. And if you say it again, I will have to beat you up."

I huffed angrily at the end of my little rant. Remus smiled fondly at me before leaning in to kiss me. I kissed him back softly, and he pulled away and placed his forehead against mine.

"I love you, too, Y/n," he said. "I think I've loved you for a while."

I exhaled deeply and shook my head.

"I have too. And I love you, Remus Donatello Lupin."

"My middle name is J-"

"Josephine, right my bad. Sorry."

Remus just laughed and kissed me again.

"I love you, Y/n L/n."