Gray and White
Remus Lupin strode across the courtyard with the tired gait of a man whose life is not going well. First, Tonks had tripped over her own feet yesterday and brought down the shelf that held his supplies of Wolfsbane potion; of course, every bottle had tumbled down and shattered. Then his blind date last night had gone spectacularly wrong. She had seen the article in the Daily Prophet that named him a Werewolf and gone into hysterics upon catching sight of him.
Now he had to go to Severus Snape, a man who hated him, and ask him to brew more of the difficult and tricky potion. Shame and embarrassment would no doubt be heaped on him by the harsh and bitter Potions Master. Worst of all, he probably deserved every last ounce of abuse being doled out.
Every day of the last twenty years, Remus had questioned his complicity in the downfall of the Marauders. Had he been kinder to Snape, supportive of Peter, harder on Sirius and James, could he have changed the outcome? Were his fear and inaction the cause of his friends' destruction?
Snape came striding out of the castle as Remus was approaching it and raised a sardonic eyebrow at the Werewolf.
"Lupin." How did the man make a simple name sound like something disgusting he had found in the privy?
"Hello Severus." Remus had tried for years to make nice with Snape; so far he had received precisely nothing in return. Unless you counted the Wolfsbane and the fact he hadn't been poisoned by the other man. Remus figured his continued existence was a sign that the Potions Master was warming to him, slowly, very slowly.
"What brings you to Hogwarts?" It would have been a civil question from anyone else, but Snape managed to sneer in a way that made it sound almost threatening.
"How nice to see you too, Severus. Tonks destroyed my supply of Wolfsbane potion." There was a rolling of eyes and look of long-suffering on Severus face that spoke volumes.
"How can you let that creature anywhere near breakable objects? Do you know how difficult it is to brew that potion, Lupin?" Remus sighed; it was like being a child again with Snape. He would be scolded and shouted at, the Speech would be given on Responsibility and the 'Trouble He Went Through For Him' and then the man would relent and do what was asked.
Remus didn't understand why they had to go through this every time, but he tuned out the majority of it and tried to look like he was sorry to be a problem, which honestly he was. He wished he wasn't a Werewolf, he wished he didn't need this damn potion and he wished he didn't need anything from Severus Snape.
There was a scent of flowers and springtime, a soft popping noise and with the reflexes of what he most earnestly wished he wasn't, Remus reached out. The tumbling form fell into his arms and he curled his arms to keep the body from falling.
He looked into a pair of impossibly blue eyes. The world went away; all there was in the universe was a lovely face, those eyes framed by pure white lashes, and he was lost. She was staring back at him, her lip was trembling and he wanted to kiss her more than he had wanted almost anything in his life. Sensations washed over him, memories nudged his mind, but he knew somehow that they weren't his memories. Thoughts twined with his own, a reflection of his own wonder and a building joy that washed over them both.
He was drowning in her eyes. Her arms were around his neck, her body was cradled in his arms, and he was enjoying the sensation that he was going mad.
He realized suddenly that there were students littered about the courtyard and he dragged his mind back to alertness.
"Hello." Lupin's gentle voice was addressed to the group in general, but he still hadn't put the elf girl down. A chorus of groans and sighs were his response.
"Where is Professor Leblanc?" Severus asked what appeared to be Draco Malfoy, as he swung him to his feet.
"She made us leave, said there were too many of them." Draco had a petulant tone, but Remus had been drawn back into the strange girl's eyes again.
"Tali, what happened?" His voice was sharper and she flinched in Remus's embrace. He set her down gently, still staring at her with wonderment in his eyes. Tali, he thought, her name is Tali.
"Master of Potions, she gave me charge of the squires' safety and then the knights went into battle." Her soft voice was barely audible and Severus gave her a small smile that stunned Remus. He had never seen an expression so cordial on Snape's face before.
Snape shooed them off to the Hospital Wing and Remus found himself herding the students there, with the pale white woman walking beside him. She turned her head and he caught sight of the delicate pointed ears and felt a jolt of recognition run through him. An Elf-- what was an Elf doing at Hogwarts?
His mind was muddled and moving with unaccustomed slowness.
"Mr. Lupin, it's good to see you." Remus realized that he was being addressed and tried to drag himself back from wherever it was he kept drifting to.
"Hello, Hermione." He responded. He was quickly drawn into the conversation. The story that the students told him was extraordinary and if he didn't have Tali standing there as living proof, he might have thought that they had gotten into the Firewhisky.
Sometime later they were all seated around the table eating lunch. He couldn't drag his eyes away from Tali; her shy sweetness and the way his heart seemed to expand in his chest every time she looked at him made him a dreadful dinner guest but he was so entranced by her he could hardly think of anything else.
He had little memory of the rest of the evening, He sat beside Tali for hours, talking or being silent, until they fell asleep curled together like children, on the couch of the Teacher's Lounge.