- Chapter Two -

The Warning


6th September, 1976.

Severus has been acting very strange towards me lately. We sat in the library today, listening to Madam Pince berate a young first year who had misplaced a book. She reminded me of a vulture swooping on its prey. I don't like Madam Pince. She once told me off for a full twenty minutes because I accidentally knocked two books from their shelf. Severus, ever since our second year, agreed to help me with my Potions work, seeing as he is so good at it and I am so dreadful. Usually, he is calm and patient, helping me fix my errors and helping me to understand where I went wrong exactly. Last year, I told him he would make a very good Potions teacher when he's older, and he flushed with pride, though he tried very hard to hide it. I think he still remembers that. Or at least, I hope he does, because Severus needs all the praise he can get with the dad he has.

"Cross that out! No, Eleanor, you don't add bat-wing there, that would totally ruin the potion, weren't you listening in class at all?"

Slightly hurt, I replied, "Yes, I was, Severus. I just mixed it up-…"

"Too busy laughing at Sirius Black, I suppose," he snapped, leaning back in his seat and giving me a dark look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, frowning. Severus never snapped at me before, especially not over someone like Sirius.

"Did you not notice your budding friendships with James Potter and his fellow idiots?"

"They're not idiots-…"

"Oh don't make me laugh Eleanor," he sighed.

"Severus, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

He looked at me slowly, his eyes softening. "I'm sorry, Eleanor. You know I don't like James Potter. Or Sirius Black, for that matter."

"Well, you might not like them, but I'm free to be friends with whoever I like," I replied snippily.

He must have known he crossed a line, for he apologised again. "Just be careful, Eleanor."

"Why?"

"They're not as wonderful as they make themselves out to be."

"But you've never even hung out with them, Severus. Or given them a chance!"

"Trust me, Eleanor. I am saying this not because I hate James Potter – which I do with a passion, but because I think of you as my friend. I would hate to see Sirius Black" – he said Sirius's name with a sneer – "corrupting another poor, innocent soul. You are very trusting, Eleanor. Sometimes naively so. Just be careful."

Then he picked up his books, said he'd see me later and left.


7th September, 1976.

"You shouldn't have brought me any chocolate Eleanor, you didn't have to."

Remus is ill again. When he lifted his hand to take the chocolate bar from me, he was shaking. He is pale and his eyes are always slightly watery. Madam Pomfrey allowed me to visit him so long as I came alone, which was fine by me. I never understood why Madam Pomfrey likes her job so much. I don't think I'd like to be around people knowing they are suffering from horrible maladies and injuries. Maybe healing them makes her happy. Remus certainly looks like he could do with a little happiness right now.

"I wanted to bring you it," I replied, and he smiled.

"Well that was very kind of you."

We sat in silence for a moment, while I watched him and thought of Severus. Be careful. Of what, exactly? Remus was hardly a violent guy. He wouldn't hurt a fly, I was sure of that much. In fact I had never even heard him raise his voice. The same went for Peter. We played chess a lot, and he liked the same books I did. James could put up a fight when he wanted to, but he would never hit a girl or his friends or anything like that. He reminded me of my brother. Then there was Sirius, and I felt the same went for him as it did for James. But the bullying worried me. Remus and Peter never took part in it, but I couldn't turn a blind eye to James and Sirius picking on Severus.

Then again, he tended to tattle on them and follow them around to check they weren't up to something. He used to do it all the time in our second year, when it just stopped suddenly and he refused to say anymore about it. I still catch him though, whether he knows it or not.

"What are you thinking about Ellie?" Remus asked.

As rude as it sounds to say, I had forgotten he was even here. Funny, huh? The whole reason I was here was for him, and yet I was so absorbed in my thoughts I had lost sight of that. "Oh, it's nothing. Just something Severus said earlier."

Remus smiled tiredly, leaning back against his pillows. "I suspected as much."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "How?"

"He doesn't like us Eleanor. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out."

"He just doesn't know you."

"Oh he knows us alright," Remus chuckled . "Better than you think Eleanor. But sometimes, some people just aren't meant to get along."

Remus has a wise head on young shoulders. That's what my Gran used to say. Before she was dancing on lawns and stuff. I always liked her weird sayings. He closed his weary eyes, and I noticed a large bruise on his collarbone, along with more scratches. "What happened to you anyway, Moony?"

He smiled when I called him Moony. "I just wasn't feeling well and-…"

"No, you're all scratched," I murmured, leaning forward and pointing at them.

"Oh, these," he said, unsurprised. "I had been mucking about with James and Peter before, it got a little out of hand."

"At least you didn't moon them or anything."

His cheeks flushed pink, and he quickly avoided my gaze. I smiled, amused. Whether Sirius was telling the truth about Remus mooning them or not, I don't know, but Remus got embarrassed very easily. "Don't worry about Severus, Eleanor. I'm sure he'll be okay."

"Thanks, Remus. Do you think he hates James so much just because of Lily? Surely it can't be her alone that makes them so spiteful."

"James doesn't like Slytherins, Ellie," Remus sighed softly. "He never has. He's set in his ways. In fact, Prongs is the most stubborn boy I've ever met. I don't think he'll ever give up on Lily."

"I think it's sweet."

"I think it's borderline stalking," Remus smirked, and I giggled, imagining Lily taking out a restraining order on James Potter. Or simply hexing him, like she usually does. Though Severus's warning still niggles at the back of my mind.

Love,

Eleanor.