Remus Lupin was not comfortable with the situation. He didn't want to be here, around these people. He held a cup of coffee in his hand, but had yet to drink it. These people were his friends and colleagues, but now just wasn't a good time to be around people. He pulled out the note he had received from Dumbledore. The note was crinkled and ripped out of the anger and frustration Remus had felt upon reading the letter.
"You look about as happy to be here as me." Said a voice from behind him. Turning, he found himself facing a young girl, no more than 20 at best. She was dressed out of style, muggle clothing as opposed to the robes and outfits that the professors gathered in the room were wearing. Her dark hair was curled and piled on her head. She was curled up in a chair smiling at Remus.
"You didn't want to be here either?"
"Do I look like I want to be here?" She retorted, cocking her head to one side as she glanced over the teacher. She was scanning him Remus realized.
"So you're a werewolf huh?" Remus' jaw dropped to the floor.
"Good. I see you two are getting along well!" Albus Dumbledore spoke, interrupting their conversation. The noise in the office died down as they all turned to look at Remus and Regan. "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce you to Miss Brassington here. She will be working as a teaching assistant of sorts with Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration, and Ancient Runes. She has considerable experience around the world in these spots and is a registered Animagus with – which embassy dear?" He turned to Regan who had slunk further down in her chair.
"Australian."
"Australia, right. She speaks seven languages – English, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and German. She traveled alongside her mother, whom some of you may remember." Something clicked in Remus' mind.
"Your mother is Eden Brassington?" He didn't even try to cover the shock he was feeling. Everybody turned to stare at him, causing his pace face to go red. Her face darkened in anger, yet became slightly pale.
"Was." She stated coldly, fixing her now dark grey eyes on the werewolf. "She died over the summer." The side conversations slowly started up again at the mention of her mother's death. She quickly tucked a loose strand of her dark hair behind her ear, revealing a small scar on her neck. Remus grimaced, he would recognize that anywhere – a vampire bite. "So you knew her then?"
Her question drew Remus back to her face, which was tired and yet still quizzical. Her skin was paler than it had been a moment ago. Her grey eyes were framed by large, thick black lashes, which made them look large and sad right now. Something in Remus' mind pulled him back to Eden while she was young. Her eyes had looked the same, green, but still sad and wide like they knew things they shouldn't.
"Yes I did. She was a prefect with me in Gryffindor-"
"My mother attended Hogwarts?" Regan interjected. Remus merely looked at the girl.
"Did she tell you anything about herself? Her time at school? Your father?"
The last question caused the girls face to flinch involuntarily. She looked down at the cup of tea in her lap and fiddled with the handle before clenching the cup and looking back at the werewolf. "I don't know who my father is. She never mentioned him, just that he'd dead."
Remus nodded. Eden had always been a nice, sweet girl. A year behind the Marauders in school, she rarely got into trouble, but she did cover for the Marauders every once in a while. She especially did after Lily and James had become an item during school. As far as Remus knew, Eden and Lily were best friends and had kept in touch after Eden dropped out of school in sixth year. That had always been the girl's biggest mystery: why did she drop out? I guess I know why now. She had a child…but with who? He couldn't recall Eden showing any preference to anyone and Lily never mentioned anyone either, even after the girl left Hogwarts.
"I'm afraid I can't report anymore on that matter. I didn't even know your mother was seeing anyone. She just dropped out a few weeks into sixth year." His brow furrowed. "Lily Evans never told anyone what happened. Actually I don't think she even fully understood what happened."
Regan nodded slowly, taking the information in one word at a time. "She used that as an undercover name for some of the work she did. Daisy Evans. I always wondered where she came up with it." The memory brought a smile to her face. It had been a joke that her mother promised to tell her about one day. That day just never came. The young girl sipped the remnants of her Earl Grey tea and smiled at the older man.
"Well thank you. I should go to bed, I haven't slept in a couple days." She stood up and walked over to Dumbledore, who handed her an envelope and squeezed her shoulder in a reassuring way. She began for the office door, before turning to Remus. "Perhaps we could talk some more tomorrow-"
"About your mother?"
She paused, her eyes twinkling. Her pale lips spread into a tiny quirk, "Actually about your lesson plan for the first week, but sure we can talk about her some more. Goodnight everyone!" She said quickly before leaving the gathering.
Everyone became quiet as they formed their own opinions on the girl. Suddenly, Minerva McGonagall chuckled from her high back chair in the corner. "She should join the Order Albus. She's clever and funny. I think she'd keep everyone on their toes."
The older wizard smiled, folding his hands on his desk. "Let's see how she handles her first week before we discuss that. Although I would enjoy watching her work with Alastor."
Remus nearly choked on his tea, trying to hold back his laughter. His mind conjured an image of Regan sprinting away from the old codger as he swung his cane at her, calling her a wicked minx.
Regan sat in her room. Her head in her hands, grumbling about her bloody insomnia. Her hair was messy and tangled as she picked up two sheets of paper before crumpling them up and throwing them on the floor next to her bed. She had spent all night going through her mother's genealogy and records, trying to find out more about the woman who had raised her, but never mentioned the past.
"God dammit!" She screamed before chucking her mug of coffee at the wall. "That's it, I'm done. Screw you mom." She flicked her wand, repairing the mug that had shattered in a million pieces. She'd spent nearly three days tracking down all this information, only to find that it was basically useless. Her mother's family was pureblood – a fact that she was already aware of – but they had kept to themselves. The only interesting piece of information that she had managed to dig up was that her aunt Juliana was abducted and murdered. She hadn't died of influenza. The case still remained open and unsolved. No one had been able to put the pieces together then, but it was just one murder in a long line that led up to the Wizarding War. The only thing was that she couldn't figure out what made her aunt a target at just ten years old.
The girl ran her fingers through her tangled hair. She quietly cursed after entrapping her fingers in her curls. She slowly pulled her fingers through her hair, untying the knots she had been caught in. Conjuring more tea for herself, she glanced at the clock. 11am. The Hogwarts Express was currently departing from Kings Cross in London. She had approximately six hours until the students arrived for the beginning of term feast.
Sliding off her bed, she dragged herself to her wardrobe. Pulling out an old concert tee and running shorts, she pocketed her wand the hidden pocket of her shorts. She was almost to the grounds when she heard her name.
Looking around she searched for whoever could've said her name. "'Ello poppet!" Came the voice of Peeves from around the corner. "Hello Peeves."
"Is the new girly professor going for a run?" Regan simply rolled her eyes at the poltergeist. "Goodbye Peeves."
"Goodbye Miss Black." He said, flying off down the hallway, leaving Regan standing with a confused expression on her face.
"It's Brassington."
