The first time Remus Lupin noticed you, it wasn’t dramatic.

No sparks. No slow-motion corridor moment.

You were just sitting in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry library with three books open at once, muttering to yourself while taking notes in the margins like the books had personally offended you.

Remus had only come in to return something for Professor McGonagall.

Instead, he stopped halfway down the aisle.

Because you looked… completely absorbed. Comfortable in your own world. Smart without trying to prove it.

Very Ravenclaw.

And somehow that made it worse for him.

“You’re staring again,” Sirius Black whispered from beside him.

“I am not.”

“You’ve been holding that book upside down for ten minutes.”

Remus quietly flipped the book over.

Meanwhile, you had absolutely no idea any of this was happening.

—

It became a problem after that.

Because somehow Remus kept ending up around you.

You’d look up in the courtyard and there he was pretending to read while actually listening to your debate with another Ravenclaw about whether merpeople language counted as a structured magical dialect.

In Potions, he’d suddenly volunteer to partner near your table.

During Quidditch matches, his eyes somehow tracked you in the stands more than the game.

Which was unfortunate because Gryffindors noticed everything.

“Oh, he’s gone,” Sirius sighed dramatically one evening in the common room as Remus stared across the Great Hall.

“What?”

“You’ve got the look.”

“I do not have a look.”

“You’re watching them like they invented the moon.”

Across the hall, you were enthusiastically explaining something with your hands while completely unaware.

Remus immediately looked away the second you glanced over.

Too late.

You frowned slightly.

“…Why does Lupin keep acting weird around me?”

Your Ravenclaw friend looked over at the Gryffindor table where Remus nearly dropped his goblet after making accidental eye contact with you.

“…You genuinely don’t know?”

“Know what?”

At that exact moment Sirius burst into laughter because Remus had walked directly into a bench without taking his eyes off you.

And honestly?

That answered the question pretty clearly.