Beneath The White Fire of the Moon
A/n: This is my first ever Remus/Minerva fic, and to be quite honest, I only wrote it to cure a little writer's block. But I think it turned out a lot better than expected to say I wrote it in my lunch breaks!
Remus Lupin gazed at his surroundings, and felt a wave of nostalgia pass over him. Since he had left just over a year ago, Hogwarts castle had not changed one bit. The actual castle was just as huge as he remembered, if not bigger, and the grounds were still neat and trimmed.
He walked up to the door with a smile fixed on his face, and realised just how good it felt to be back. When the school had found out around a year ago that he was a werewolf, he had left immediately so as to avoid the complaints from parents that would be imminent. But now, with the invention of the Tavegil Elixir, which would stop him from transforming on the full moon completely, he had been offered his position as Defence Against The Dark Arts Teacher back and had accepted immediately.
None of the students knew yet that he was back, school didn't start officially until the next day. Which was why, when he swung open the large wooden door, the Entrance Hall was unusually quiet.
He stood and looked around for a few moments, letting all the memories flood back to him, when another person appeared. The very person infact who had offered him back his job, Albus Dumbledore.
"Remus, so good to see you again! I trust you are well?"
"Very well professor, I don't remember I time I've ever felt better."
"Well I'm glad to see you back. I don't think I could have stood going through the whole rigmarole of finding yet another Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher for this year!"
"Well rest assured, I don't intend to leave again for a good long while."
"Well that's good to hear. Would you like a hand with your bags?"
"No thanks, I can manage. Am I in the same room as before?"
"Yes, I do believe you are, and if you're sure you don't want a hand then I'm afraid that you're going to have to excuse me, I have some registers to chase up……."
The next morning when he came downstairs, Remus found that almost everyone but himself were running around like mad things, making last minute preparations. He had half a mind to go outside and wander around the grounds for a while. After all, he had nothing to do, the reason he had arrived early was to make sure he had time to get organised and he had done everything he needed to the previous night. But thoughts of going outside were pushed from his mind when he felt someone bump into him from behind, and he stumbled forwards, trying to remain upright.
"Why don't you look where you're going?" he snapped impatiently, as he stooped down and started to pick up some of the registers that the other person had dropped.
"Because I don't expect to find people who are too busy day dreaming to stop me walking into them down every corridor!" snapped a sharp voice. Glancing up, he saw that the voice belonged to Minerva McGonagall, the strict and short-tempered head of Gryffindor house. "And leave those registers, they're fine there." She said, not quite so sharply this time, as she helped him to his feet. He was about to ask just what good they'd be on the floor, when she bent down, taped one of them, muttered something under her breath and watched as each register flew through the air and into different classrooms.
"Quicker that way," she informed him, as she turned on her heel and swept away. He raised his eyebrows at her retreating back and wondered vaguely why she was so severe……he decided it was time to get some fresh air.
Three o'clock that afternoon found the Hogwarts grounds once more flooded with pupils back from their holidays. They were ushered into the Great Hall in an untidy rabble, and no one actually noticed Remus's re-appearance until a couple of minutes before the Sorting was due to begin.
Thinking back, he was unsure who it was that first noticed him sat at the teachers table, though it was definately someone seated at the Slytherin table. He had been having a discussion with Professor Sinistra over the best brand of telescope, when he heard a cry of "Were wolf!" Suddenly, the hall went silent and he had felt all eyes upon him.
All of a sudden, the hall burst once more into noisy chatter, and Remus couldn't help but notice that almost everyone was either staring or pointing at him. Glancing over at the Gryffindor table, he saw Harry was trying to catch his eye. He smiled at him fondly. Aside from his love of teaching, Harry had been one of the main reasons he was so eager to take back his position. With James and Lily gone and Sirius on the run he felt that he should look out for Harry, and had missed him sorely in the year he had been away.
He noticed that Harry was mouthing something at him, he couldn't lip read very well, but he appeared to be asking 'what are you doing here?' He was about to mouth back that he would talk to him later, when Dumbledore got to his feet and motioned for silence. Everyone went quiet, and Dumbledore spoke:
"It's good to see you all back, I trust you've all had good holidays? But what am I saying, any holiday is a good one as long as you're not at school, am I right?" a few people laughed, but most were still staring at Professor Lupin. "Ah, yes, and whilst I say that it's good to see you all back, it's equally as good to see back Professor Lupin, who will once more be teaching Defence Against The Dark Arts here at Hogwarts!" There was silence for a few moments more in which Harry once more caught his eye, this time rather desparately, and mouthed 'is it true?'. However, before he had had time to so much as open his mouth, someone (who sounded suspiciously like Draco Malfoy) had yelled:
"But he's a werewolf!" There were a few more angry cries from the Slytherin table, one of which promised that the shouter has parents in the Ministry and they weren't going to like this one bit, when Dumbledore once more silenced them.
"Yes, whilst it is true that Professor Lupin is a werewolf, the recent discovery of the 'Tavegil Elixir' which some of you who've been brushing up on your advanced potions may know, stops transformations at the time of the full moon completely, has allowed Professor Lupin to teach again safely. Therefore I can promise you, none of you are in any danger what so ever. Now I hope you will all welcome Professor Lupin back warmly, and possibly stop shouting and pointing for long enough for the sorting to take place? Yes Mister Weasley?" Fred had stuck his hand up in the air.
"Can we shout and point for a few minutes more? I'm sure the first years must enjoy listening to the rabble they're going to be joining, and besides, I think this is a shout and point worthy situation, don't you?" Dumbledore looked rather amused, and looked at the planets on his watch.
"Very well, you have half a minute to get all your shouting and pointing out of you system, starting from now." The Hall once more errupted. There were loud cheers, shouts and waves from the Gryffindor table, general cheers from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, and disguised disgusted looks from the Slytherin table.
After around thirty seconds, Dumbledore stood once more and proclaimed: "If I have your attentions, then perhaps the sorting may finally begin?" At once the hall fell silent, and Professor McGonagall stood and swept to a door to one side of the hall, disappearing through it for a moment, then reappearing with a long line of first years behind her. She threw Remus a rather angry look, as if to say 'we should have started this ten minutes ago' but he chose to ignore it and concentrated on watching the sorting, and then, the feast.
By the time the next afternoon came around, it felt as if he'd never been away. Throughout the course of the morning, he had taken a first year Ravenclaw class, a third year Slytherin class, and, much to the delight of Fred and George Weasley, a seventh year Gryffindor class.
He had already been asked several ridiculous questions by first years, such as 'When you're a werewolf, what do you prefere to eat, people or chickens?' and 'If the moon was behind the clouds, wouldn't you transform?' but he had expected curiosity, so it didn't really bother him.
He had a free period directly after lunch, so he decided to head to the staff room to try and devise something that remotely resembled a proper lesson plan for his next lesson. (No one had really done any proper work as of yet, it was all handing out new books and checking that the right people were in the right places)" 'But upon reaching the staff room, he rather wished he'd chosen somewhere else to work, as it was occupied by the one person (aside from Snape) that he really didn't feel like talking to: Minerva McGonagall. It wasn't as if he actually disliked her, he'd just got the feeling over the past day or so that he annoyed her. Infact he rather felt that she would be a whole lot happier if he disappeared and stopped giving the pupils something to be distracted by, and she hadn't exactly gone out of her way to let him know that this wasn't the case.
But none the less, he sat down and pulled out some paper, on which he begin to pool together the curriculum for each year group, and ideas for possible lessons. He had been scribbling away for a couple of minutes, when he became aware of the fact he was being watched.
"Yes?" he asked, looking up.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," she said briskly, "but you are attempting to devise term plans for your classes are you not?"
"Well I don't see what it has to do with you, but yes, I am," and he turned back to his piece of paper.
"But you should have done that months ago! You should be working on actually putting together your lessons by now, not still doodling over how to spend the year!"
"Oh and I suppose you know lesson by lesson just how you're going to spend this year?" he had meant it sarcasticly, but he could tell by the look on her face that it was probably true.
"Well I have been planning since Christmas," she snapped offendedly.
"Christmas!" He exclaimed. "But, why? I mean, Christmas is nine months away from the start of term!"
"I like to be prepared," she shot at him. "Unlike some people I can tell."
"Well I'm sorry, but I only found out that I would be able to take this job a matter of weeks ago. If I had had a little longer I would probably have lesson plans by now. Unfortunatly though, some people don't have time to sit around planning what nine months time will bring!" He didn't know why, but he felt incredibly worked up. She looked a little hurt.
"Well we obviously both have different ways of getting things done. I just like to be efficient."
"To the extent that you know what every day will bring a year in advance?"
"That's not physically possible, and do you have a problem with the way I conduct things?"
"No! But you obviously have one with the way I do!"
"What makes you think that?"
"The fact that you started this whole bloody arguement!" They both sat in silence for a few moments, an angry tension in the air, then:
"So you think the first years will be ready to tackle finkygrubs by April?" she asked, the sharpness in her voice gone.
"Well, yes, I don't see why not," he said, unsure whether or not to let his guard down. She sighed.
"Look, I have nothing against the way you conduct things and, hell knows, this school needs a Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher that isn't going to disappear at the end of the year and never be heard from again. I just seem to expect everyone to be as prepared as I am sometimes, but then, sometimes they don't need to be."
"Yeah, and sometimes, they have better things to do than plan out how to go about stuff that won't happen for another nine months," he said, teasingly.
"Yes, well," she muttered. "I have alot of free time." she cast her eyes downwards.
"Friends?" he asked.
"Oh I don't know about that," For a moment, he thought he saw a smile play over her lips, but the next moment it was gone and he was sure he must have been seeing things.
"Can I take that as a yes?" he cajoled, trying to meet her eyes, but she refused to look up from the table-top.
"I suppose so," she rolled her eyes begrudgingly.
"Good, then as my friend, you have to let me take you to dinner on Sunday night." The moment the words were out of his mouth he regretted saying them, didn't know why he'd said them, and she obviously felt that he shouldn't have said them, as she had knocked an entire bottle of ink over in shock.
Grabbing his wand and shooting some paper towels out of the end, he felt his face go rather red, and so as to avoid the possibility of meeting her eyes, he grabbed a few of the paper towels and crouched down, to mop up the ink that had dripped onto the floor.
As he got to his feet a few minutes later, she was charming the stains out of the woodwork, and looked as frazzled as he felt. As she looked up, rather embarrased, he murmered quietly "Just forget I asked, okay? I shouldn't have done, I don't know why I did to be quite honest, it was just spur of the moment, and I really didn't mean it-"
"If you didn't mean it, then why did you say it?"
"I don't know, my tongue ran away with me, and if it makes you feel any better than I retract the offer."
"What, even if I was going to accept?" She asked. He looked up sharply.
"Were you?"
"No!" she exclaimed, "I was just saying, I bet you wouldn't have retracted the offer if I had accepted."
"Are you implying something?" he asked.
"Would I?"
"Probably." They fell into an awkward silence. "I should, I should uh, go and........do, something." He muttered still embarrassed. As he was about to leave the room, she called his name, so he stopped and turned. "Yes?"
"Is seven o clock alright?" she asked. For a moment he said nothing, too shocked to think of a reply. Then he realised she was giving him an odd look, so he quickly threw out an 'okay' and practically ran from the room.
The end of the school day came and he was still cursing himself for what he had done. He didn't have a clue what he had gotten himself into, or why he didn't feel less embarrased by the fact that they were practically going out on a date.
He was unable to work out just what it was that had made him ask in the first place, and equally unable to work out why she had accepted.
'You can't do it' a voice inside his head told him. 'You should just call the whole thing off.' He nodded. Yes, he'd call it off. That would definatly be the best decision all round.
'You can't call it off now!' another voice told him. 'Just go, will it really do any harm?' He considered this. He supposed it wouldn't, and besides, he had tried to retract the offer already, but she hadn't let him.
'But just think how awkward it would be if you did go!' The first voice was now back. 'I mean, come on, you can't be in the same room together without arguing!' That was a point. What if he did go and they ended" 'up having a fight remniscent of the one they had had earlier?
'But what if you don't?' the second voice asked. 'Even if you don't know it, there must be some reason you asked her to have dinner with you. What if you didn't go and spent the rest of your life wondering what would have happened?'
'That's not going to happen!' The first voice assured him. 'You have better things to do than sit around wondering. Besides, it wouldn't work anyway, think of the age difference.' Ah, now that was a point. She had left Hogwarts the year before he started, meaning there was a seven year age difference. He quickly worked out that that must mean she was forty one. Before he had time to dwell on that further, the second voice was back.
'So you're going to let the fact she was born a few years before you stop you from having dinner with her? Do you have any idea how shallow that is?' He supposed it was rather shallow.....as the first voice started to talk again, he got to his feet and wondered if it was normal that he was listening to voices in his head........"
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the castle, Minerva had been having very similar arguements with herself. She too had been cursing herself all day, though not for asking, for accepting.
She had been shocked when he had asked her to dinner, but that was nothing compared to what she felt when she accepted.....She wished she could take those words back, and had half a mind to, but then, she also had half a mind not to. She had been considering much the same points as Remus, how awkward it might be, how subconciously she wondered if she had had a reason for accepting, the age difference, and the frustration of having a split concience.
But finally, after an entire afternoon of being incredibly annoyed with herself, she came upon the decision that she might as well go, if only to get out of the castle for a while. Which, after deciding to ignore both of his conciences, happened to be the same decision that Remus came to.......
The next five days leading up to Sunday were incredibly awkward to say the least. They spoke only when it was nescessary, and on the occasions on which they passed each other in the corridors, they looked the other way and pretended that they hadn't seen each other.'
It wasn't until Sunday morning that they actually spoke properly. They were both entering the Great Hall for breakfast and they happened to arrive at the door at the same time. This time it wasn't possible for either to pretend they hadn't seen the other, so, gingerly, they walked to the staff table together.
As she was about to sit, Remus said in a low tone:
"Meet me in the entrance hall at quater to seven." She nodded. And thus their plans were finalised.
It wasn't until almost half six that evening that Minerva began to worry. She wasn't sure whether to let her hair down or not.....She didn't want it to look like she had made no effort with her appearance, but she also didn't want it to look like she was trying too hard. The she realised that she was forty one and should have stopped thinking about things like that around twenty five years ago, let her hair down into a pony tail, left her glasses on her dresser and hurried downstairs.
Remus was waiting beside the front door, wearing purple robes that made quite a sweet contrast to his sandy hair....he looked incredibly young, and for the thousandth time that week, Minerva wondered why the hell she had agreed to this. She glanced around quickly to check that no one was watching, then hurried to his side and let him lead her out of the castle.
They walked in silence to the outskirts of the Hogwarts grounds, but she was very aware that his eyes were studying her face all the time they were walking. When finally they reached the gates that led out of the grounds, he turned to her and said:
"Take my hand, we'll apparate to Hogsmeade," and he held out his hand. A little unwillingly perhaps, she took his hand and the next minute they were stood in the very centre of Hogsmeade. Not knowing just where they were going to be eating, she followed him as he walked, and less than five minutes later they were outside a small restraunt at the edge of the town. Realising that she hadn't spoken at all so far that evening, Minerva laughed a little under her breath, and said softly:
"This is silly, we're acting like complete strangers,"
"You're right," he laughed also. "Not two fully grown adults who are perfectly capable of speech!" From then on, the atmosphere was alot more relaxed. They entered the restraunt, and they ate, making small talk mostly, but the silences were alot more comfortable. Infact, two hours later, Minerva found herself wondering just where all the time had gone. She felt as if they had only just gotten there, but she had eaten an entire meal subconciously without realising it.
He took her looking at her watch slightly the wrong way, and as he looked at his also, he raised his eyebrows and proclaimed:
"I don't know where this evening's gone to! I suppose we should really be getting back to Hogwarts," He had mistaken the look of wonder at the passing of time on her face for one of wanting to get back.
"Oh," she said. "Well, alright, I suppose we should head off then, if you think we should be getting back."
"Oh, you mean you weren't wanting to? Because I thought that you wanted to get back, which was why I suggested that we left, but it you don't want to then we can stay in Hogsmeade longer," he rushed. She rolled her eyes at him.
"It's only nine, is it not?" she asked.
"Okay, so we stay then," he decided. She nodded. "I'll just go and pay for dinner, then we can leave," he said as he stood.
"How much was my half of the meal?" she asked.
"Don't be ridiculous, it's on me," he insisted, but she wouldn't have it. Infact, she refused to leave until he let her subsidise him for half the price of their meals. "I've never known anyone so stubborn," he muttered as they exited the restraunt.
"I'll take that as a compliament," she shot back. He continued to tease her as they walked. He definatly prefered her the way she was this evening, friendly and relaxed, than the way she was most of the time, strict and short tempered.
Within a matter of minutes, they had reached the very edge of Hogsmeade. Only a fence, a stile and a field separated them from the lakes, rivers and hills they could see stretching into the distance.
Quite uncharacteristicly, she climbed up onto the fence and swung her legs over. The sky was black and the moon and stars were shinging brightly. As he climbed up to sit beside her, she whispered:
"Isn't the moon beautiful?" He laughed.
"I've always prefered the stars. But then, I've kind of got a thing against the moon. You probably would too if every time it was full you transformed into a vicious beast.....or maybe it's just me." This time she laughed
"The stars are beautiful too I suppose.....I've never really thought about it though." Then, as if to confirm to Remus that the Minerva McGonagall sat by his side was definatly not the one he worked alongside with, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He couldn't help but feel that the moon and stars weren't the only beautiful things out that night.
He wasn't sure just how long they stayed sat on the fence like that. Afterwards, the time they had been there seemed rather insignificant. All he really remembered was how enchanting she looked as she raised her head to look at him, the moon shining down on her face. And the rather nervous feeling he had had as he had leaned towards her slowly, his lips meeting with hers softly. And then of course, the way she had pulled away from him, startled, and the way she had swung her legs back over the fence, as she took one last nervous glance in his direction and apparated back to Hogwarts, leaving him sat on the fence feeling like a complete idiot.
Back at school, it was as if nothing had ever happened between them. They went back to speaking only when it was nessessary and ignoring each other in the hallways. Infact, it wasn't until almost a month later when Remus was walking in the grounds one evening, attempting to shake off a headache, that they were alone together at all.
He had left the castle heading roughly in the direction of the lake, when he spotted a figure pressed up against the railings that head been placed around the edge of the lake to stop pupils from falling in. It wasn't until he was only a few metres away that he realised the figure was Minerva, and by then he was too close to turn away. So he went and stood next to her, staring out at the lake none plus.
For a few minutes, she acted as if he wasn't there at all, refusing to acknowledge his presence. But then he spoke, so she couldn't very well ignoring.
"What brings you out here then?" She shrugged.
"Couldn't sleep. It's relaxing out here." All of a sudden, the giant squd surfaced, trying to grab a low flying seagull with one of his tentacles. The gull squawked loudly, and only just managed to avoid becoming the squids supper.
"Yeah, I see what you mean by relaxing." She pursed her lips, and he could tell that she was trying not to laugh.
"So why are you out here?" she asked.
"Headache." he replied. They fell silent.
"Rem-" she started, but he had started to say her name at the exact same time. "You go first," she blushed.
"No, you," he insited.
"You."
"You."
"You.
"You!"
"I don't even feel like talking any more," she informed him.
"Well me either," he said stubbornly, as she turned once more to gaze out at the lake. After a long while, he sighed. "Minerva, this is stupid."
"What is?" she asked.
"This whole situation, us pretending that nothing happened."
"But nothing did happen," she protested.
"Really?" he asked. "Becasue I was under the impression that I kissed you."
"Well you did." she snapped. "But that was all it was, a kiss. It was practically a none event."
"Now you're just being childish," he snapped back.
"Me?" she asked incrediously. "I'M being childish?"
"Excuse me, but how exactly am I being childish?" he asked angrily. "When you're the one ignoring me day and night?"
"Becasue you're trying to make a big deal out of something that was anything but a big deal! Okay, maybe our lips met for a nanosecond, but it was definatly not a big deal!"
"Then why the hell are you getting so worked up about it?" he asked, angrily.
"I'm not! It's you that's getting me worked up! Has anyone ever told you that you're incredibly annoying?"
"No one besides you," he snapped. "And has anyone ever told you that you're incredibly beautiful whe you're angry?"
"No one besides you," she fumed, glaring at him." 'Then all of her facial exressions softened, as he gathered her into his arms and kissed her for a second time. But this time was a real kiss, that even she couldn't deny had happened. Except she didn't appear to want to deny that it had happened, as, when he drew back, gasping for breath, she reached out and pulled his face back towards hers, now hungry for kisses. And he was more than happy to supply them. Time and time again they kissed, with the moons rays beating down on them. Until finally, hours later, they realised that it had gone midnight and had turned incredibly cold.
"Shit," she muttered, looking at her watch. "I didn't realise it was that late," she shivered suddenly, so he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"I suppose we should go back to the castle," he said, unwillingly. She nodded.
"You should go first. I'll come in a few minutes. If anyone saw us creeping in together at gone midnight, it might look a little suspicious!" He smiled in agreement, then, kissing her cheek softly, he whispered in her ear:
"Until the moon is risen again." The he walked away slowly, glancing back often over his shoulder, just to check that she was really there and he hadn't been dreaming.
And indeed, he hadn't been dreaming, for they met again the next night, and again the night after. They would wonder around the grounds together, kissing and talking for hours on end. They learnt much about each other, about the other's family lives, what had made them want to teach, and ridiculous little things that would have been of no interest to anyone else.
Until one night, when they were lying in the tall grass outside the Forbidden Forest, he asked a question he had been itching to ask for weeks. The grass was a little damp, and he had his arms wrapped around her to protect her from the cold. They had been lying in silence, when suddenly he asked:
"Why is it that you were alone?" She looked up.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're incredibly beautiful, which should be obvious to anyone, yet you never married, and were still single at forty one! You're not telling me that was by choice?" She swallowed. He had obviously mentioned something she didn't want to talk about. She was quiet for a while, trying to choose her words carefully. Eventually, she started:
"Have you ever lost anyone you were really close to? Wait, no, that's a ridiculous question, sorry, I forgot about Lily and James." He said nothing, waiting for her to continue. "Well, when I was still young, I lost everyone I was close to." She paused and bit her lip. "My entire family was killed by Voldemort. And so was my best friend. My dad used to work for the Ministry you see, and then one day I came home only to find that, well, I didn't have much of a home anymore. Just a pile of rubble in the road." A tear slid down her cheek, and she brushed it away. "My mum, my dad, my brother, my sister and Rebby. And I was left with no one. Me and Rebby, we'd never needed anyone else. It was only after she was gone that I realised I didn't have anyone else. But then I came to realise that I didn't want anyone else. I couldn't bear the thought that I might become close to someone, only to lose them. I felt empty for years and years afterwards. I mean, I know that it's ridiculous!" She exclaimed. "I'm forty one and I have no friends! But I just don't want to have to go through all that again," she sniffed, fighting back tears. He hugged her tight and kissed her gently, silently willing her not to cry. Then, trying to lift her spirits a little, he made puppy dog eyes at her and said:
"I thought I was your friend?" She laughed, inspite of herself.
"You don't count." He raised his eyebrows.
"Really? And just how does that work then?"
"I don't know," she said grumpily, not feeling like talking anymore. "You just don't." In her head she was beginning to wonder what she was doing, for the first time in a while. But she knew that she had gotten in too deep to stop now. "So come on," she said. "Out with it. What's your story?"
"Well," he smiled. "I haven't ever wanted to get too close to anyone like that, because it's always been my deepest fear that I would hurt someone I loved during one of my transformations. But that isn't an issue any more." She glared at him in mock anger.
"Oh I see," she said, pretending to be mad at him. "I'm just a starting point now that you think it's 'safe' to get into a relationship!" He laughed, knowing she was joking. But as he hugged her again, his face became a little serious as he said:
"You know that it's not like that don't you?" She laughed at the serious expression on his face. "Seriously, that has nothing to do with anything." He paused. "Oh, and, don't worry, I'm not planning on popping my clogs for a good long while yet." And they once more fell into silence, holding each other close.
And thus the months slipped by. They spent every night together, until just how and why their relationship had started became a blur, like a half forgotten dream. One evening as they were sat by the edge of the lake together, Minerva wondered incredulously, just how it was that nobody up at the castle had noticed anything.
Whilst they had never directly publicised the fact they were together, they hadn't exaclty gone out of their way to keep it a secret. Yet no one had picked up on anything.
As she leaned against him, she realised that she couldn't remember a time when she had been so happy, infact, she didn't think that she ever HAD been so happy. He was gazing down at her with a rather odd expression on his face, when she felt a sudden urge to know what he was thinking.
"Penny for them?" she asked. He laughed.
"I was just thinking how beautiful you look under the light of the moon," Glancing up, she saw that the moon was full and just a beautiful as ever. But then he started to speak again and she realised that he hadn't finished. "Then I was trying to remember what we were fighting about that day in the staff room when I asked you to have dinner with me for the first time. But I couldn't. It all seems so long ago now.....Then I realised something."
"What?" she asked, curiously.
"I realised that, despite the fact I don't know when or where or why it happened, I've fallen in love with you." She smiled widely. She felt exactly the same.
"Oh God, I love you too Remus!" She cried, and threw her arms around his neck. He kissed her passionatly, and she wanted the moment to last forever, when suddenly, he froze. "Remus?" She asked. "Remus, what's wrong?" She saw pain flickering over his eyes, and when he spoke, he voice was deeper and scratchier than usual.
"Min, you have to run,"
"Wh-why?" she asked.
"Just do it!" he commanded. She saw long black hairs creeping up, over his neck, his arms, his face. Then she realised. He was transforming.
"This isn't supposed to be happening!" she cried.
"I know that!" he winced in pain. "Just get the hell out of here, okay?" She didn't need telling a third time. In a flash, she had transformed into a cat, and was running to wards the bushes. Only problem was, he was following her.
As a werewolf, Remus shouldn't have wanted to attack the cat. He was usually fine around other animals. But he was hungry. And the stupid thing seemed to think that it could outrun him. So he ran a little faster.
Glancing over her shoulder, Minerva knew it was only a matter of time before he reached her, and she also knew she had to get him as far away from the school as possible. So she changed direction, and, remembering how he'd told her about how he used to have to spend his transformations in the Shrieking Shack, she darted towards the Whomping Willow.
Remus growled in annoyance as the cat changed direction. It still seemed to think it could get away. Dumb animal. It'd make a nice supper.
As she reached the base of the tree, only seconds away from Remus, Minerva clawed at a knot in the roots, hoping, praying that she could make it in time. The roots parted, revealing an underground tunnel. She jumped down, just in time to stop Remus grabbing her by the tail. But it was close.
Now Remus was angry. So the cat thought it could play smart, huh? Well he'd show it. The animal had just ran straight into a dead end, as there was no way it'd be able to get out of the shack at the end of the passage way. It was only a matter of backing it into a corner and-Remus licked his lips.
Sprinting down the passage way on all four paws, Minerva could hear the werewolf panting heavily behind her. Maybe if she could tire him out then she stood a chance. She could see the door to the shack up ahead. With one huge burst of speed, she flew at it, and, fortunatly, it swung open.
Only just behind the cat, Remus ran into the Shrieking Shack. He could see the pitiful animal in the corner, trying to push open the door to the stairs. He was almost at it when the door swung open, but the cat had lost it's lead. Remus was five steps behind, four steps, three steps, two, then-he had it by the shoulder. He sunk his teeth in, ignoring the rich red blood spurting every where, and the hideous shrieking noise the cat was making. He was about to tear off one of its front legs, when it swiped viciously at his face with it's over paw, causing him to momentarily let it go.
But that one moment was all it took. Minerva had darted into the living room, ignoring the fact the one of her front legs was only hanging onto her body by a thread, and had jumped from the battered and broken sofa, onto a lamp shade.
No matter how high Remus jumped, he couldn't reach the cat. Not even when he jumped onto the sofa could he quite get hold of it, and that made him angry. He set about tearing the sofa to pieces, something which was hard because he had practically already done so, many years ago. So he spent the night running around the shack, destroying everything he came across, until, eventually, he laid down, and slept, underneath the lampshade that Minerva spent the night sitting on.
At around five in the morning, the sun started to poke over the tops of the hills in the distance, and, from above, Minerva saw Remus change back from a wolf, to a person.
She jumped down from the lampshade, landing painfully on her front paws. Changing back into a person, she pulled out her wand and stopped the bleeding in her arm, which would definately need to be seen to by Madame Pomfrey later that day. But for now, she was exausted. She lay down next to Remus, closing her eyes and resigning to sleep.
When he woke, the first thing Remus saw was Minerva lying by his side. He remembered the previous night, and how he had told her that he loved her, and how she had said it back. Then he saw the blood, and realised where he was. Like a terrifying dream, the previous evenings events flooded back to him.
He pulled out his wand immediatly, and attempted to mend her torn arm. It didn't work very well, but he bandaged it, which would do until she could have it seen to.
Then he shot a pen and paper out of the end of his wand, and began to write desparately. When he was done, he folded the paper, and placed it by Minerva's side, kissing her on the cheek as he did so. Then, getting to his feet, he left the room slowly, closing the door behind him.
When she finally awoke, around eleven that morning, the first thing she felt was the sun on her face. She glanced around and remembered where she was. Her arm didn't hurt quite so much as it had before she fell asleep, and, glancing down, she saw through the massive tear in her robes that their were bandages wrapped around her shoulder, which were probably the only things keeping her arm from dropping off entirely. But at least it didn't hurt any more.
She knew that Remus must have done it, and her first instinct was to thank him, but as she got to her feet shakily, she realised she didn't know where he was. On the floor she saw a piece of white paper. Bending down, she picked it up, and realised it was a letter. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she read:
My dearest Minerva,
I am having trouble writing this now, I simply cannot find the words to express all I need to say. I can see you sleeping on the floor, the sunlight rising on your face. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met and I need for you to remember that.
When I awoke with you beside me this morning, I felt elated, over-joyed. Then I saw all the blood and remembered what happened last night. I can't bear the fact that I hurt you Minny, and I know as I write that I will not be able to face you.
I don't know what happened last night, but there is obviously some fault with the elixir. I cannot chance that the same thing won't happen again, and I have decided to go away. It is paining me greatly to write these words, but I know I must. My greatest fear came true last night Min, and I hope you understand why I am doing this. Please do not try to contact me as it would only make things harder.
Yours devotedly,
Remus Lupin
Clutching the letter to her chest, Minerva felt her whole world split in two, and she fell to the floor, her body racked with sobs.