The Dance
By Booklovr
A/N: Okay I know I haven't posted in a really long time but here I am again with the first chapter of a new story. This story combines all my favorite thoughts, theories and mental babblings about the MWPP/L group. Just so you know "The Dance" refers to a song, not to an actual dance. And this is going to be very long and very complex, so expect to be holding on for a while. If you feel up to it, read on…
Disclaimer: All characters, places, ideas, and everything else Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. "The Dance" is by Garth Brooks, from his CD "garth brooks."
Chapter 1:
Informal Introductions… I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain
But I'd of had to miss the dance
Professor Albus Dumbledore had only just become the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but he had long since won the friendship and support of most of his colleagues, students, and their parents. But he had not yet earned the trust of the young boy now watching him with old eyes.
Remus Lupin, just turned eleven, thought Dumbledore was a nice old man, and a good man, too. Remus also thought him very naïve. But, most likely, the small, gray-eyed boy was simply afraid to feel optimistic about anything just then.
"I must tell you again," said Dumbledore to Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, "how terribly sorry I was to hear about your daughter's accident."
"Yes," said Mrs. Lupin, "it was…very sudden. We told her many times not to play in the road," here she struggled to keep the sobs from her voice, "but you know how children are…" She collapsed into weeping.
"She never really understood why," explained Mr. Lupin. "We never had to worry about these 'cars' when we lived outside the city. We moved here because of Remus. Everyone knew about him in our old neighborhood, and no children came near him. We thought it might be easier for him to get along with Muggle children, but he hardly ever left the house." Mr. Lupin's eyes fell on a picture of his two children. It had been taken a month or so before, when Rachel had returned from her second year at Hogwarts. Remus's hair was straight and a little long; Rachel's was rather thick and curly. Their arms were about each other's shoulders, and Remus, for once, was smiling. "Rachel was the only friend he ever had, and now…" his voice trailed off.
Just then, Dumbledore noticed Remus. The boy had been standing in the doorway the whole time. But this hardly seemed the boy in the picture. His features were set in a determined frown, his eyes gazed with ancient solemnity, and pain and sorrow were etched on every line of his face, making it seem far older than it really was. Dumbledore smiled, and tried to wave him into the room. Remus only blinked.
"He hasn't said a word since it happened," Mr. Lupin said with a sigh.
"Well," said Dumbledore, "we should let the past be. Remus, I believe, should be starting school this September?"
"Yes," said Mrs. Lupin, "but there is no way…the school governors, the parents, the students…they won't want to be…put in danger."
"Nonsense," Dumbledore said with a wave of his hand. "A few simple precautions are all that is needed. I have already made arrangements for your son to be brought to a safe place when necessary. There will be no risk to any students, or to Remus, and no one need know about him." Dumbledore looked at Remus. "Well? Think you want to give it a try?"
Remus stomped his foot, then ran away. He ran to his room, and threw himself on his bed, tears streaming. Stupid! Foolish! Stupid! Remus thought, with all the vast vocabulary of a distressed eleven-year-old. It would never work. No matter what…precautions…were taken, everyone would find out! No one would want to be near him! They would find out that he was…that he…Remus slammed his hand down on his nightstand. A picture on it teetered, and fell. Remus grabbed it, and hugged it to himself. Then he looked at it.
His sister, Rachel, grinned up, with such a look of happiness that his heart wrenched anew with pain. But he wiped his eyes and looked again. Her face glowed with such happiness, joy, sympathy (always sympathy, but never a moment of pity), love, trust, friendship (had anyone else ever looked at him as a friend?) and forgiveness. Always forgiveness. In all Remus's memory, she had never once been angry. She would forgive him now. For not going to her funeral, for…the night…when she died… (Mom and Dad are right, he tried once again to convince himself, it was an accident, a horrible, unstoppable accident, and there was nothing I, nothing anyone could have done).
"Little brother, never fear!
"Your sister is always here!
"Love, always and again,
"Rachel 'Stellar' Lupin."
That silly little poem was signed in the picture's corner. Remus remembered how, last fall, with Rachel at Hogwarts and not even the comfort of a familiar house, he had been too upset to eat or sleep. But, after Rachel had sent him that picture, he had felt so much better, being able to see her. It was almost like a security blanket.
Remus remembered how much Rachel had loved Hogwarts. He hadn't needed to be afraid of going, as long as she had been there. She had wanted to be a teacher… Astronomy was her favorite subject… She had taught him everything she had ever learned at Hogwarts…
Suddenly, a new determination gripped Remus. He could go! He could take her place…study hard…being a teacher would never be an option, perhaps graduating wouldn't either, but he would stay on for as long as possible, learning all he could. He wouldn't need to have friends…wouldn't even need to talk to anyone. He would just stay on and study, getting the education his sister could never have. He would do it all for Rachel!
Without even noticing, he had walked all the way to the sitting room. His parents and Dumbledore stopped talking to stare at the determined figure in the doorway. He hesitated, feeling unsure. Then, looking down at the picture he still clutched, took courage again, and uttered his first words in a long, long time. "All right. I'll go."
~*~*~*~
Lily Evans was trying to put her eyeballs back into their sockets. Well, not literally. But she was so shocked she could hardly blink, and she was sure her eyes were popping, like a cartoon character's. Just a few days before, she had found out she was a witch. Now she was standing on a street filled with witches and wizards…Diagon Alley.
Her parents were hardly less shocked but, being parents, they acted fairly responsible about it, attempting to find the appropriate shops as their mystified daughter trailed behind, trying to see everything.
There was so much to take in! Children running, people pushing, loud conversations everywhere! A mother shouted over prices while her short, round son eyed the ice cream parlor down the street. A crowd of boys stood outside a store that sold brooms, while at the edge of the crowd a girl shouted, "Who needs a Nimbus 1001? I can beat all of you any day—on a Wooden Rocket, no less!"
It wasn't until Lily saw a boy her age carrying a huge stack of textbooks that it occurred to her that these people, all these children, would be her friends, her enemies, her schoolmates one day soon. Who knew what could happen in the future? Would she ever meet that boy over there, half hidden in the cauldron he was inspecting? Or—
WHAM!
Lily was quite suddenly brought back to reality when someone backed right into her. Without looking, he grabbed her arm and shouted, "Run, Harry!"
Before Lily could ask who the heck Harry was, she was hauled down the street at an alarming speed and thrown behind some dustbins. While she tried to catch her breath, she heard an explosion down the street, and brown sticky goop splattered the cobblestones and store fronts, as an awful stench made the shop patrons run for cover, gagging. Turning away from the mayhem, Lily got her first good look at her "captors." She had taken cover with two boys, about her age, with black hair. One was average height, a little thin, with black eyes and longish hair. The other, the one who had grabbed her, was tall, with brown eyes and the messiest hair she had ever seen. And now they saw her.
"Hey!" said the messy-haired boy. "You're not Harry!"
"Really?" demanded Lily. "What was your first clue?"
Just as the longhaired boy began to make odd, chocking sounds, a third boy arrived. He was about seven and looked like a smaller (and thinner) version of the messy-haired boy. "Hey, Jimmy! What did ya run off for?"
"Sorry," said the messy-haired boy (apparently Jimmy). "I thought she was you," and he pointed at Lily.
The little boy (Harry) inspected Lily, with her bright red braids, many freckles, and dress. "Do you need glasses, Jimmy?"
At this point, the longhaired boy gave up and fell over laughing, clearly finding the situation much funnier than anyone else.
Jimmy scowled at everyone. "I was in a hurry! I didn't look, and she's exactly your height!" Lily turned as red as her hair. She was rather short, but she wasn't very happy when people pointed this out.
Just then, Lily's parents showed up. "Where did you go?" demanded Mrs. Evans furiously.
"I'm sorry," said Jimmy in a panicky voice, while trying futilely to silence his friend. "I thought she was my little brother!"
"Come on, Lily," said her father, giving Jimmy an odd look.
"Promise me you'll avoid those strange boys," whispered Mrs. Evans as they walked away.
"Sure," said Lily, half-heartedly. For the rest of the trip, Lily was subdued and mute. Her biggest reaction was a small start of surprise when she saw Goblins in the bank. The incredibly strange books in the bookstore, the shelves of unusual things in the Apothecary, the process of getting her wand, nothing in Diagon Alley seemed to have any effect but to make Lily sigh and become even quieter.
"What's wrong Lily?" asked Mrs. Evans as they boarded the train home.
Lily shrugged. "I don't know. Everything is so…strange." She thought of the boy, Jimmy, and his hyena-like friend. "Even the people are strange. I don't think I'll ever fit in. And I'll probably never learn any magic." She sighed. "The rest of them will probably have eleven years' head start on me! It's just plain hopeless!"
"But I thought you wanted to go," said Mr. Evans.
Lily thought hard. Why had she wanted to go? The answer was her sister, Petunia. Petunia was thirteen, tall, blonde, and beautiful. She always made short, redheaded, plain Lily look, well, like dirt. Lily got fairly good grades, though nothing really impressive. On top of that, she was a bookworm, and didn't have many friends. She'd hoped that at this Hogwarts school, things would be different, but now she wasn't so sure. How could she ever fit in with the kids screaming outside the broom shop, arguing over things she knew nothing about? Or the adults, who walked past all these incredible things, as casually as if they didn't even notice? And that boy, Jimmy! She would never belong with all that!
But then, would she ever belong among the—what were they called? Muggles? Always living in Petunia's shadow. She could live her life trying to be like her sister…or would she be better off with no one to be an example to her at all? Lily looked out the window, then focused on her reflection. She could never be Petunia! But maybe, just maybe, if she went to Hogwarts, she could be…Lily.
"I do want to go," she murmured. She looked at her father with a hint of a smile. "And I think I will!"
~*~*~*~
Jim Potter had been watching the red-haired girl running back and forth around King's Cross Station for several minutes. She had said goodbye to her parents, but she had seemed unsure of what to do next. Just as Jim had decided to abandon his post next to his trunk to offer assistance, the girl slumped, defeated, against the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten—and promptly fell backwards through it. Jim chuckled and watched. She must be a Muggle-born witch, he thought. His mother had told him to be nice to the Muggle-born students, so he knew he should help her. But then again, his father had told him (several times) not to move away from the trunks until they returned. So, Jim watched as the bewildered girl jumped up and passed her hand through the wall, then pulled it back. She repeated the experiment a few times, then began to circle the barrier. Jim was now shaking from contained laughter. Many witches and wizards believed Muggles were only good for a laugh. While Jim thought this was unfair and probably untrue (he'd never met an actual Muggle), it was becoming apparent that they could be quite funny. Just as the girl was standing half through the barrier to see where it led, Jim's family returned.
"Mommy!" said Jim's little brother, Harry, "That's the girl Jimmy thought was me!" With a start, Jim realized that it was (what was her name? Libby? Lizzie? Lily!) Lily.
"Are you sure you don't need glasses, Jimmy?" laughed Jim's older brother, Ric.
"Oh, cut it out!" snapped Jim. "I wasn't looking! And stop calling me 'Jimmy' it sounds so…babyish."
"Well, you'll have to be a lot more careful if you want to get away with anything at Hogwarts," commented Ric.
Mr. Potter, Jim's father, cleared his throat. "I hope you won't be trying to 'get away with anything' at this school..."
"Like what?" Jim asked innocently, cutting off the rest of his father's warning. The words were barely out of his mouth when—
SLASH!
"I'll get you for that!" shouted Jim, spinning around and producing a water balloon from, seemingly, nowhere. He spotted his best friend, Sirius Black, standing just beyond the Potters' trunks. Within one minute, both boys were soaked and their bags of water balloons (hidden in their coats) were empty.
"Like that," said Mrs. Potter. But Jim wasn't listening. He and Sirius grabbed their trunks and raced across the station, through the barrier, and across Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. People jumped away as the wet boys ran towards the Hogwarts express. Jim won, meaning that Sirius would have to lug the trunks onto the train. While he did that, Mrs. Black and the Potters (minus Ric, who was meeting his friends) came to say goodbye.
"See ya, Jimmy!" shouted Harry, who was all too happy to have both his brothers gone this year.
"Stop calling me 'Jimmy'! I'm eleven years old!"
"Okay, James!" Jim wished he had another balloon to throw at his brother.
"Remember to be nice!" said Mrs. Potter.
"And stay out of trouble!" warned Mr. Potter.
"I will," said Jim, giving each parent a quick hug. Just as Jim stepped back, Sirius, who had just had a similar conversation with his mother, dropped his last balloon on Jim's head, thoroughly soaking his hair. Jim turned around and charged back onto the train. When the Hogwarts Express headed out, Jim had Sirius in a headlock, and Sirius was attempting to knock him over.
"Come on, say it!" said Jim.
"No!" gasped Sirius.
"I can stand here like this all day."
"Fine. Jim Potter is the greatest wizard in England."
"Really? I'm flattered! Let's go see who else is here!" Jim let go and rushed out the door.
In the compartment nearest to theirs sat two boys, both seemingly wrapped up in their own thoughts. One was a small, roundish boy with blond hair and small eyes who was reading The Daily Prophet. The other was a thin boy with light brown hair.
"Hullo!" said Jim cheerfully. "First years?"
The two boys jerked up. They didn't seem to think Jim was talking to them. "I'm Jim Potter, and this is Sirius Black." The brown-haired boy stared expressionlessly at them, almost as if he could see something they couldn't and was thinking deeply about it. The other boy simply looked terrified, as if they might jump him or something.
"What are your names?" Sirius prompted slowly.
"Peter. Pettigrew," said the blond boy.
"So you can talk!" Jim said, not unkindly.
"I'm Remus Lupin," said the other, unsurely.
"That's a name!" said Sirius.
"You should talk, Sirius!" said Jim.
"So what's in the news, Peter Pettigrew?" asked Sirius, ignoring his friend.
Peter shuddered. "They say there's a new dark wizard rising. They've traced two Muggle killings to him over the summer."
"Really?" said Jim, snatching the paper. "Let me see! Voldemort? Now that's a name!" He laughed.
"Bet he's not even a real dark wizard," snorted Sirius. "They say that every time a wizard is suspected of killing someone. It's usually just some lunatic, and half the time it's not even the wizard they suspected."
"I dunno," said Peter, "I think this one might be big!"
"Oh, please!" said Jim. "Powerful dark wizards are like huge blizzards in New England: They always say the next one's coming, but it's always a disappointment!"
"What do you know about dark wizards?" asked Peter, skeptically. "Or blizzards in New England, for that matter?"
Jim laughed. "That's for me to know and you to stay up late at night wondering about!"
"Besides, when was the last time we actually had a powerful dark wizard? 1940?" asked Sirius.
"Grindelwald," offered the quiet Remus. "Fell in 1945. He was defeated by Albus Dumbledore, who's our new Headmaster."
Jim blinked in amazement. "How'd you know that?"
"My sister was a Gryffindor, so she had him as Head of House," explained Remus. "She liked to tell me all the interesting things she learned here…" his eyes got distant and misty.
"She's a Gryffindor?" said Jim. "Cool! So is my brother. You say your name's Lupin? Maybe he knows her. That'd be neat, then we'd have something in com—" Something in Jim's head clicked. "Oh, no! Not Rachel Lupin?" Remus nodded.
"Who's she?" asked Sirius.
"Ric did know her—she was in his year. I'm so sorry, Remus!"
"What?" demanded the confused Sirius.
"She died over the summer," Jim explained. "I'm sorry!"
"I-it's okay," murmured Remus," I-I'm over it."
Jim really doubted this. "Come on," he said, "we're meeting all the kids in this car. You come along!"
After much coaxing, Jim and Sirius got Peter and Remus to follow them out of the compartment. As they headed for the next one, Jim noticed his hair was still completely drenched. "Um, Sirius…what was in that last balloon?"
"Just water," Sirius looked at Jim's hair. "Ooh, that must be the one with the jinxed water! It should dry…in about ten hours!" Jim swung his fist at Sirius, who ducked and ran into the compartment with Jim right behind. Realizing there was someone inside—and sitting quite close to the door—Sirius tried to stop, lost his balance, and fell onto a black-eyed boy with greasy hair. Jim, too close behind to stop, fell on top of Sirius, laughing.
The boy they fell on was not happy. "Get off me!"
Jim and Sirius jumped up. "Erm, hi," said Jim to the scowling boy. He introduced himself and his companions.
"I'm Severus Snape," said the boy they fell on. "What are you doing in here?"
"Erm, meeting new people," said Jim.
Severus just scowled harder. "How nice."
"Are you a first year, too?" Jim prompted. Severus nodded shortly. "Wow, so talkative," Jim commented to Sirius.
If Severus heard this, he didn't respond. Although that could be because he was already giving them a look that probably came as close to lethal as was humanly possible.
"So, do you have any hobbies?" asked Sirius.
"Dark Arts," stated Severus.
"Er, do you mean Defense Against Dark Arts…?" wondered Remus from the door.
"No, I mean Dark Arts," snapped Severus. Peter shrank behind Remus. "I mean if you don't get out right now, I'll curse you so badly, you'll wish you'd never been accepted into Hogwarts!"
"Oh, really?" said Sirius, as if this was a conversational point, not a threat.
"Really," Severus said, raising his wand. "Densaugeo!"
But even as he said it, Remus was pulling them out the door, so the curse missed. "Ok…" said Sirius, "next compartment!"
"You sure that's a good idea?" asked Peter.
"They can't all be that bad," said Jim, gesturing towards Severus's compartment.
"Yup, and we all came out intact. Let's go!" They started down the train and opened another door at random.
Inside, a girl with short black hair was talking. "…So when the Seeker catches the Golden Snitch, the game ends, and that team gets a hundred and fifty points!"
"Quidditch!" said Jim, rushing in. "Oh, did I miss the whole conversation?" The girl who had been talking looked at him with suspicious violet eyes.
But Jim wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the girl she had been talking to: a girl with red braids, green eyes, and a freckly nose. "I know you! You're that girl from Diagon Alley!" She took one look at him, then turned away. "Hey, come on, I said I was sorry!" The girl stared at her knees. Jim moved next to her. "So, you're a Muggle-born?" Nothing. "Your name is Lily, right? Lily what?"
"Lily Pad!" suggested Sirius, moving to her other side.
"Lily-of-the-valley!" suggested Jim.
"Tiger Lily!"
"Lilioukalani!"
"Day Lily?"
"Lilliputian!"
Unable to stop herself, Lily looked up, amazed. "Lilliputian?"
"Yeah," said Jim, "the really small people from—"
"Gulliver's Travels! You read that?"
"Um, yeah," said Jim. "It was pretty good, though a little…" he couldn't quite think of the word he wanted.
"I know!" said Lily, completely understanding. "I thought the same thing!" She smiled slightly. "I'm Lily Evans. But I'm supposed to be avoiding you."
"I assure you, we are harmless," Jim said with a bow. Sirius snorted, but made sure he was out of Jim's reach.
"So what's your name?" asked Lily.
Jim pushed his still soaked hair back, until it was smooth against his skull. Then he put up his hands, as if he was holding a gun. "Potter," he said suavely, "James Potter."
Lily laughed. "Don't tell me you've seen James Bond?"
Jim grinned. "Okay, then, I won't." He turned to the other girl. "And who are you, fellow Quidditch fan?"
"Victoria Hall," she said. "What kind of broom you got?"
"Nimbus 1001, of course," said Jim.
Victoria shook her head. "Typical guys. Nimbus 1001 may be fast and flashy, but nothing beats the power or steering of a Wooden Rocket."
"You're crazy!" said Sirius. "Wooden Rockets are shaky, and they stopped building those years ago!"
"Yeah, those things have a mind of their own," agreed Jim.
"They may be temperamental," said Victoria, "but that only means you have to be a great flyer to use one!"
"I still say you're crazy," argued Sirius. "Don't you two agree?" He looked at Peter and Remus for support.
Peter shuddered. "I don't fly."
But Remus shook his head. "My sister used to have one of those. She said, 'If you know what you're doing, you can out fly anyone on a Wooden Rocket.'"
"Finally, someone who can talk sense," said Victoria, grinning.
For the first time in months, Remus smiled. It almost hurt, it had been so long. But it made him look like a kid again.
A/N: One chapter down, innumerable chapters to go. I'll try to post each one as quickly as possible, but don't be surprised if Order of the Phoenix comes out and I'm still not done. Reviews help me to post faster. Really. And if anyone would like to be a beta reader, I would greatly appreciate it. Email me at pixiedust122@hotmail.com and put "your story" or "beta reading" in the subject box, because otherwise I might delete it.