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Disclaimer: Like every other fanfic writer, I bow to the genius that is J.K. Rowling
Chapter Two - Professor R. J. Lupin
Hermione always tried to stay out of Weasley family arguments. Even Percy's usually rational mind tended to get irrational very quickly if he was mad. And while the twins didn't usually fight directly with anyone, they always seemed to be the catalyst for fights breaking out between the rest of the siblings.
Dinner had been fairly nice. The food was wonderful as always, and things were going really well until Percy asked Mr. Weasley how they were all getting to King's Cross in the morning. It turned out that the ministry was providing a couple of cars as a "favor." After such a busy day, Hermione didn't think any of this explanation, even though it struck her as being fairly odd. When everyone else at the table dismissed it easily though, Hermione thought that maybe things were really that simple and she should stop over thinking things.
After dinner, she and Ginny retreated to their room and talked about Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, boys in general, their trips to France and Egypt, and all sorts of other things as they ignored the shouting from Ron and Percy's room.
The next morning, Hermione and Ginny were the first up and ready. They dragged their trunks down the narrow staircase and piled them near the door where Tom the bartender indicated. Then they sat down to breakfast with Mrs. Weasley who started reminiscing about her years at Hogwarts, including brewing a Love potion that she gave to Mr. Weasley during her 7th year. Apparently her potion was very badly balanced and Mr. Weasley spent two or three hours professing love to every girl he saw, except for her. He terrified a number of Hufflepuffs until Professor Sprout overheard him and took him to the hospital wing. Hermione and Ginny found this extremely amusing.
When the Ministry cars arrived, Hermione rode with Harry, Ron, and, to Ron's disgust, Percy. She was quite impressed by the ride, noting how the Ministry cars seemed almost ordinary but could slide through gaps a normal car certainly couldn't have managed. Hermione would have liked to ask Percy about them, but he and Ron (who were sitting on either side of her) were huffing quietly to themselves and pointedly ignoring one another.
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"Come on, everywhere else is full."
Hermione, Harry and Ron walked into the not-quite-empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express and closed the door.
"Who d'you reckon he is," Ron hissed, nodding to the man sleeping against the window.
The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was streaked with grey.
"Professor R.J. Lupin," Hermione whispered at once, shifting her luggage around and levitating her trunk onto the luggage rack before sitting down next to the sleeping figure.
Ron looked at Harry. "How does she do that?" He turned and stared at Hermione. "How is it that you know everything?" Ron said quietly as he placed his trunk on the luggage rack also. He sat next to the window with Harry sitting beside him to his right.
"It's on his suitcase, Ronald," Hermione replied, pointing up at the luggage rack over the man's head. Ron and Harry's eyes flicked to the small, battered case that was held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string, to see the peeling letters for themselves.
"Wonder what he teaches," said Ron, frowning at Professor Lupin's pallid profile.
"That's obvious," whispered Hermione. "There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Ron snorted. "Well, I hope he's up to it. He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he?"
Hermione glared at Ron. Even though he had a point (based on Professor Lupin's appearance) it was still a rude thing to say.
"Anyway..." Ron turned to Harry. "What were you going to tell us?"
Harry explained all about overhearing Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's argument the previous night and the warning that Mr. Weasley had just given him. When he'd finished, Ron looked thunderstruck, and Hermione had her hands over her mouth. Their reactions were basically what Harry had expected.
Five or six pieces came together in Hermione's mind. Harry wasn't in trouble because Minister Fudge was just happy Harry was still alive. And the Ministry had arranged for Mr. Weasley to see Harry to Platform 9 & 3/4 by sending two cars to take them. She finally lowered her hands from her mouth to say, "Sirius Black's escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry... you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble -"
"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me."
"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" said Ron shakily. "No one knows how he got out of Azkaban. No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."
"But they're catch him, won't they?" said Hermione earnestly. "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too..."
It was at that point that the conversation turned to less important things: the sneakoscope that Ron had given Harry for his birthday and their upcoming Hogsmeade trips. Upon hearing that Harry couldn't go though, the conversation inevitably circled back to Sirius Black.
"We can ask Fred and George, they know every secret passage out of the castle -"
"Ron! I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of school with Black on the loose -"
"Yeah, I expect that's what McGonagall will say when I ask for permission," said Harry bitterly.
"But if we're with him," said Ron spiritedly to Hermione, "Black wouldn't dare -"
"Oh, Ron, don't talk rubbish. Black's already murdered a whole bunch of people in the middle of a crowded street. Do you really think he's going to worry about attacking Harry just because we're there?"
She was fumbling with the straps of Crookshanks's basket as she spoke.
"Don't let that think out!" Ron said, but too late; as soon as the lid was off, Crookshanks leapt lightly out of the basket, stretched, yawned and sprang onto Ron's knees; the lump in Ron's pocket trembled and he shoved Crookshanks angrily away.
Crookshanks hissed but climbed into an empty seat and started grooming himself, apparently unconcerned with the company at large. After a few minutes Crookshanks even wandered across Hermione's lap to sniff at Professor Lupin's still sleeping figure. The man smelled as if he spent a lot of time around dogs or wolves; slightly dangerous smelling but trustworthy. It was a very uncommon mix and Crookshanks was confused by it. He wandered back across Hermione's lap and settled on the bench on her other side, his squashed face turned toward Ron, his yellow eyes on Ron's top pocket.
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The lunch trolley came and went, as did Malfoy and his thugs, and still Professor Lupin slept. Hermione was rather concerned when he didn't wake up for some food off the trolley, but the witch had said that if he woke he could always come get some later.
"I suppose he is asleep?" said Ron quietly as the witch slid the compartment door closed. "I mean - he hasn't died, has he?"
"No, no, he's breathing," whispered Hermione.
The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully. Their conversation had died down, and Hermione had pulled out her Ancient Runes book for something to do. The sky outside the train windows gradually darkened until the lanterns in the train flickered into life.
"We must be nearly there," said Ron. The words had hardly left his mouth when the train started to slow down. "Great! I'm starving, I want to get to the feast..."
"We can't be there yet," said Hermione, checking her watch.
"So why're we stopping?"
Harry, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments.
The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.
"What's going on?" Ron's voice.
"Ouch, Ron, that was my foot!"
"D'you think we've broken down?" Harry's voice.
"Dunno..." Ron's voice again.
Neville and Ginny stumbled their way into the compartment falling over everything and causing shouts, gasps and yells of a more terrified nature until an unfamiliar voice spoke up.
"Quiet," Professor Lupin said. Hermione noticed his voice was a bit gravely from having just woken up. There was even a bit of growl to it, but for some reason Hermione's panicked nerves began to calm. He was a teacher after all, and Hermione always respected teachers. Just then a wavering ball of light appeared in the air. Professor Lupin had his wand out, but the light was not the standard Lumos spell. It was silverish and spherical, like a floating full moon, a crystal ball or a ball of silver flames. It disappeared abruptly as things in the train corridor moved towards their compartment.
The temperature dropped to the point where they could see their breath linger in the air. Hermione started shivering, but Crookshanks crawled into her lap, providing her with a bit of warmth. She stroked him absentmindedly, wondering why she felt so cold and sad. Then the compartment door was opened by a black nightmare. Tall and shadowy it sucked in a long rattling breath, causing Hermione's heart to skip a beat and her mind to be weighted down by all the taunts she had suffered from her peers while growing up. Buck-toothed Beaver. Boring Bookworm. Stupid. Ugly. Mudblood.
If it wasn't for Crookshanks's warmth on her lap she probably would have lost her mind. Then, "None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go!" And something bright burst from Professor Lupin's wand and pushed the Dementor back into the corridor. Hermione's mind started being able to find comfort in memories of her mother's voice telling her she was smart, beautiful and special. Why had she not be able to think about that before?
After a few moments the lights came back on and the train started up again. Ron was mostly alright, but Harry was unconscious and Ginny was shaking like mad. Neville was whiter than usual but also seemed to be coming around. He tried to give her a smile when she looked at him, but it was forced. She could see the tears threatening to spill from his eyes so she focused on Ginny for a moment. "Ginny, are you okay?" Her voice was hoarse.
Ginny shook her head, still shivering. She brought her knees to her chest and rocked herself slowly, trying to force herself to breathe.
Hermione then turned her attention to the unconscious Harry. She didn't even notice that the only person in the compartment that was up and moving around was Professor Lupin. He was rummaging around and muttering to himself. Hermione slowly forced herself to move down to the floor next to Harry and try to get him to wake up. "Harry," she called, nudging his shoulder. After two or three times when he still didn't respond she started getting panicky. Her voiced pitched up a bit and she took to patting his face. "Harry?"
Finally he stirred and started coming around. "Wh-what?" he asked, his green eyes opening to find not only Hermione looking down at him, but also Ron and Professor Lupin. Neville was crying silently and trying not to let anyone see. Ginny was still getting herself under control. Harry tried to sit up. Hermione moved back to let him. "What happened? Who screamed?" he asked.
"No one screamed," said Ron.
"But I heard screaming -"
A large snap made everyone jump. Professor Lupin was breaking apart a large chocolate bar into 6 pieces. Two pieces were distinctly larger than the rest. The largest piece he handed to Harry. The next largest piece went to Ginny. Ron, Neville and Hermione all got fairly equal sized pieces and the last and smallest piece he kept for himself. No one really knew what to do about the chocolate.
"Eat it. It'll help," Professor Lupin instructed. Then to prove he was serious, he ate the piece he had saved for himself.
"What was that thing?" Harry asked.
"One of the Dementors of Azkaban," Professor Lupin responded softly. "They were searching the train for Sirius Black. I need to speak with the driver. I'll be back in a moment." He stopped at the door and repeated. "Eat the chocolate. You'll feel better. Trust me." Then he left.
Hermione nibbled her bit of chocolate knowing that it was the best remedy in dealing with the after effects of the emotional depression that Dementors caused according to what she'd read in the textbook. It was also something the muggles had figured out. Chocolate releases endorphins in the brain which make you feel better. She wasn't sure how well it would really work, or if one kind of chocolate worked better than others, but she enjoyed the chocolate anyway. She felt instantly better even after the first bite, so she finished her piece wishing she had a glass of milk to wash it down with. Hermione noticed though that she was the only person to have eaten her chocolate. Harry was talking with Ron. Neville was turned away from everyone and Ginny looked ghostly pale under her red hair.
Professor Lupin returned and joking said, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate you know." Everyone jumped and obediently ate a bite. Hermione stroked Crookshanks's head where he still rested on her lap and watched everyone's reactions for a moment. The chocolate was doing its job. Everyone regained a bit more of their normal color.
Now that things were more or less back to normal, Hermione spared a moment to put her thoughts in order. Professor Lupin, though a bit shabby looking, seemed kind and brave. Plus it was clear that he knew his stuff. Faced with a Dementor and being able to keep his mind long enough to cast a spell was proof of it. Hermione glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He wasn't handsome the way Lockhart had been, but Lockhart had turned out to be the biggest fraud in existence. Hermione had really started applying the saying "you can't judge a book by its cover" to people now too.
It wasn't long til Professor Lupin noticed her staring at him. She forced a small smile. Smiling was taking a lot of energy, after the depression she had so recently underwent. "Thank you for the chocolate, professor."
He grinned warmly at her. "You're welcome," he said simply.
Hermione's smile became easier to do naturally, Professor Lupin's kind hazel eyes telling her that he was going to be a great teacher. Hermione couldn't wait for his lessons.