A/N: so I'm sure we all agree that I suck for my short chapters and insanely long update periods. I'm sorry, but I'm a busy person. I know, I still suck. Proceed with the floggings. (

To Be a Gryffindor

Chapter Two: The Wonder that is Remus Lupin

"Oh no."

Jane had turned a corner and had arrived at yet another gloomily unfamiliar corridor. She sighed, glancing around, half-wishing someone—anyone, even one of the Hogwarts ghosts—would randomly appear to guide her to her next class. Flying lessons with Madam Hooch were due to start in ten minutes, and she had yet to find her way out of the castle. The thought of this made Jane groan a little; even after she got outside, she still needed to find the quidditch pitch.

Madam Hooch was the only instructor of hers Jane hadn't met yet, but she already had reason to worry; Hooch was known to be a stickler for punctuality—or at least that was what second year Harold Boyle had told her yesterday. Harold was a Gryffindor just like Jane, but with one year already under his belt, he had confidently obliged Jane with filling her in on the dispositions of all her professors and what she could expect from them. McGonagall, the head of her house, was strict but quite fair, as she could already tell by the five points she had docked from Jane for arriving to class tardy and the five points she had earned half an hour later for a perfect transfiguration of a match into a needle on her first try. "Old Slug," as Harold had bitterly referred to Professor Slughorn, was a good teacher in spite of his tendency towards favoritism. Naturally, Jane did not bother to mention her father to Harold, whose famed talents as an auror had likely been passed on to Jane, according to Slughorn. She didn't see any reason to make Harold feel depressed about being unconnected.

In any case, he was quite intelligent. He had gotten all E's and O's at the end of his previous term. Plus, he had offered her various pointers on how to study for dry subjects like Professor Binns's History of Magic and Professor Sinistra's Astronomy. Harold had also assured her that Professor Flitwick and Sprout were amongst the kinder professors at Hogwarts, and that she oughtn't get too attached to Professor Ratti, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, because apparently the job was jinxed and no teacher had ever lasted for more than a year in that position.

Overall, Hogwarts was shaping up to be a decent experience for Jane. She had some strict professors and some boring ones, but none of whom were outright horrible. Her workload wasn't overbearing just yet, and she had become friends with the boys and girls in her house and year. It had been quite the relief to find friends in her own house—Jane had been rather worried about spending her meals and all the rest of her free time alone—it had made the transition into a whole new school all the less frightening. Well, except for right now.

Jane had reached the end of the corridor, only to find a staircase leading upward. Surely going higher up wouldn't get her closer to outside. Sighing and turning on her heel to return to where she had come from, Jane quickened her pace. She didn't have a watch on her, but she guessed she had only a few minutes left until she needed to be outside with her classmates. Why did Hogwarts have to be so big?

"Can't find your way?"

Jane squeaked, dropping her copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One. She had not heard anyone coming down from the staircase she had left behind. Turning around once again, she found herself coming face to face with none other than Remus Lupin.

"Sorry to have startled you," he said quickly as he walked towards her, giving her what looked like a suppressed smile. Jane felt herself go warm as she dived for her book.

"No, it's alright. I—I just didn't hear any footsteps." She replied. Now cradling her book in her arms, Jane glanced up at the tall Gryffindor prefect in front of her. "Do you know how to get to the quidditch pitch? I have flying lessons in a few minutes."

Remus Lupin was still smiling pleasantly at her. "Yes, you were actually going in the opposite direction"—he pointed to the staircase he had just come down from—"that leads to the astronomy tower. The quickest way out is to go all the way back to the ground floor, and go down that corridor opposite the Great Hall. There's a side door towards the end of it that leads to the courtyard, and from there you can see the quidditch pitch."

Jane nodded, quickly trying to process all the information Remus Lupin had given her. The ground floor? What floor were they on? And where was the Great Hall? She and her friends had just followed a bunch of the older students out of the common room every morning for breakfast and had stumbled in late and slightly disillusioned for lunch and dinner every day so far…

Remus Lupin had probably detected signs of apprehension on her face, as his smiled broadened slightly. "Would you like me to show you how to get there?"

Jane blushed. "Er…yes, thanks."

"So how are all of your classes going—er—I'm sorry, what was your name?" Remus Lupin asked as he and Jane turned the corner and headed down another corridor. "I don't think you ever told me when we first met, on the boat ride here."

Jane looked up quickly at him. "The boat ride?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows in surprise. He had remembered her from the boat ride her first night at Hogwarts! But he didn't remember her name. Well, of course he didn't, she had never told him. "Er—Jane. I'm Jane." She said. "And my classes are going fine."

Remus Lupin nodded and smiled. "That's good, Jane. Do you like Hogwarts so far?"

"Oh, yes. I really like it here. It was a bit scary at first, but I'm starting to get used to things." Jane replied, clutching her book tighter as she struggled to keep up with the long legged Remus Lupin, whose single stride covered as much ground as two or three steps of Jane's.

He smiled briefly at her as they made another turn and began heading down a balcony that overlooked what seemed to be over a dozen sets of staircases, all zigzagging in different directions. "That's good. It usually only takes a few days to get past those jitters from being in a new place. Pretty soon this castle won't seem that big."

Jane looked uncertainly at Remus Lupin. "You sure about that?"

He laughed. "I'm positive."

Remus Lupin and Jane stopped in front of an opening in the balcony, where the top of what Jane realized a staircase should have been.

"We'll give it a few seconds." Said Remus Lupin, searching over the balcony. "It'll come."

"Er—what will come?" Jane asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

And just as she had suspected, a staircase that extended to the ground floor had slowly begun to rotate on its axis. The top of the staircase was making its way to them.

Jane watched in awed silence as the great stone staircase came to a gradual stop in front of them. "These things shift pretty quickly," Remus Lupin said as he took a hold of the banister and hopped on, "best get a move on."

But Jane froze. She was staring at the tiny crevice between the top of the staircase and the floor beneath her feet. Obviously, she wouldn't fall through. But what if the moment she made a movement towards the staircase it decided to shift? She felt her heart race at the image of herself falling—it must have been about twenty feet, the distance to the ground floor. It had to be, the height of the ground floor corridors had accommodated Hagrid the half-giant, after all. And she would plummet to her death (or at least some serious injuries) right in front of Remus Lupin.

"Jane?"

She glanced up, apprehensive. Remus Lupin was looking at her expectantly. She frowned, bowing her head slightly so as to avoid eye contact with him. "I don't know—"

"Come on." He said, extending his hand to her. Jane looked up again and saw that he was smiling slightly at her. "I don't think anyone in the history of Hogwarts has had the stairs shift on them and sent them plummeting to their deaths."

Still a tad frightened at the idea of falling, Jane smiled in spite of herself and slowly reached for Remus Lupin's outstretched hand. His fingers had closed around her knuckles and she took a step forward. It wasn't until Remus Lupin had let out a small gasp when she realized the staircase had begun to shift—one leg on the stair, the other still on the balcony.

She hadn't even thought to scream. It had just happened so quickly. Jane felt the ground shifting like two planes beneath her, and it didn't occur to her to move either leg. The floors were moving, and all she could feel was her right arm being yanked forward. She flew forward—well, it was hardly flying, just a few awkwardly directed steps forward—and fell against the thing that had pulled her safely on to the stairs. That thing was Remus Lupin, of course.

"Are you alright?" he asked, one hand still interlocked with Jane's hand, the other loosely gripping her shoulder.

Breathing heavily, Jane nodded. She was suddenly aware of just how close she and Remus Lupin were standing. But the staircase was shifting and she was too afraid to move away from him. So she didn't. She stayed there with him, taking refuge in his clutches and the comfort they brought her until the staircase had stopped moving and Remus Lupin had walked her all the way down the steps. Pointing the way to the door that led outside where Jane would get a clear view of the quidditch pitch, Remus Lupin asked once more if she was alright, glancing concernedly at her.

"…you seem a bit shaky, are you sure?" he asked when Jane responded that she was fine.

And thanking him for his help, Jane quickly turned on her heel and headed down the corridor leading to the door, leaving Remus Lupin behind her.

What was he talking about? A bit shaky…she was cool as a cucumber! Sure, her legs were a bit unsteady and felt like two wobbly licorice wands underneath her. And sure, her head was spinning a little from the brief interaction with her house prefect, but she certainly wasn't shaken up! Struggling to maintain her balance as she pulled open the door and headed outside, Jane replayed the short moments of Remus Lupin pulling her to safety in her head. The moments that followed—him looking at her with such earnest concern—asking if she was alright because she looked shaky…had he asked because he thought her frightened from the staircase incident, or frightened of being in such close proximity to himself? Not that she was frightened of him, of course. He was just and older student, a Hogwarts veteran. It was only natural to be in awe at an older student who had survived what she was still trying to adjust to. And not only had he adjusted, but he had distinguished himself from his fellow students by being a prefect; he was special, so obviously, there was nothing wrong with being in awe—admiring and respecting him to the point that his presence was slightly frightening and caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach.

Legs still wobbly, Jane slowly made her way to the quidditch pitch, thinking about the wonder that was Remus Lupin, only to receive a scolding from Madam Hooch when she arrived five minutes late for class, which has cost Gryffindor five points. Or was it ten? Jane hadn't quite heard Madam Hooch's reprimands…