You'll like this one!! A sneak peek into one of many attempts to construct Chapter 22. This is in Remus' POV, and was originally going to be part of Chapter 21, before I nixed it. Tell me your thoughts?? It'll help Chapter 22 get out faster!!
Chapter 21/22, Take Three
It didn't occur to me to move away from her, even when I could feel her breathing change and her body shift as she started to wake. I stayed where I was, laid over her, caging her.
"Remus?" she mumbled in a hoarse voice, thick with sleep and pain. I was surprised just how quickly agitation took hold in me when I regonized that she was still sick, still hurt. I was angry, disappointed, confused, frustrated. Ashamed.
I lifted myself off her, immediately feeling cold, and pulled the cloak more firmly around me. Alone on the floor, Ivy looked smaller than usual. A feat in itself. How could you do this to her?
I was so angry - at her, and at me, that I barely knew what to do with myself. Once I had fastened the last clasp of the cloak, I again looked down to her. Her eyes were droopy. "Can you stand?" I asked.
She stared up at me for a moment. I waited for her judgement; waited to see the fear, or perhaps her own anger at me reflected in them, but Ivy only kept that dazed look, rubbed her eyes, and eased onto her side. She sat up slowly, her mouth pulled into a small line as she carefully moved to her hands and knees, then felt for the wall, and pulled herself to her feet. She glanced over at me once she was standing. Even though her expression was neatly relaxed, another wave of pain hit my nose. I got angrier. "Put your skirt on. We need to leave."
As she moved around the makeshift shelter to find her last piece of clothing, I turned towards the outside world, the forest looming before us. It was silent in the light of day, with no monsters (werewolves) making a ruckus and ruining other people's lives. But just because it was quiet didn't mean the Forest was any safer. I took a step out of the shelter of the rocks, looking around closely. Nothing was familiar. Remus took a deep breath of misty air; but could smell no people, no castle, no trail. The rain had washed away anything that might have been helpful.
Remus ran a hand down his face slowly, tiredly. They were lost. Ivy sidled up next to him, and he slid his eyes towards her. The crease in his brow grew deeper. "I asked you to put your skirt-,"
Ivy cleared her through softly and started down at the edge of grass creeping into the shade of their shelter. She pulled at her tangled hair. "I can't wear it," she said finally. "The buttons are gone."
Uncertainly, Ivy pulled at her blouse, hanging along her thighs. She had fixed the buttons and unrolled the cuffs, yet still tugged softly on the hem of the stained shirt. The girl was embarrassed, ashamed, and humiliated all at once. Remus cast a glance back into their resting place, where a shabby pile of green plaid stared back at him. He must have done that last night, in the rush to get her clothes off. What else could he do wrong?
Remus released a breath, tamping down hard on his growing frustration. "Stay close to me," he said shortly, before sarting off into the Forest. He grabbed her wrist as he passed her. "Don't let go of my hand."
He set a brisk pace, listening and comparing his own sure footfalls to Ivy's quick, uncertain steps as she hastened to follow. She stumbled here and there, her soft feet unused to walking bare across rough terrain. It was just like a pureblood, and while Remus normally didn't mind, he was already in the blackest of moods.
"Remus," Ivy murmured after a long while of silence. "We have no wands."
That was only too obvious. "I know."
She took a breath. "How will we defend ourselves if some creature attacks us - ?"
"Don't worry about it."
"What about-,"
Remus clenched his jaw, squeezed her hand. "I said don't worry."
He could feel her eyes on the back of his head; she squeezed back harder. "But, Remus-,"
"There are only a few creatures in this forest that would try to approach us. Because everything else is too terrified of me to even come close." He kept his eyes straight ahead. Let her be scared of him. "Just stay near me and they won't bother with you."
Ivy didn't speak again, and Remus didn't turn to take in her reaction. They kept walking briskly through the terrain. Remus kept his attentino focused on the sounds and smells around him, turning when he thought he caught the scent of humanity, following it on an invisible road out of the Forest. He was jarred from his concentration when he heard Ivy's footfalls falter, and her small gasp.
Remus turned in time to grab her before she fell forwards, having tripped over a rocky part of the earth. Her scent hit him like a brick wall, now that he was fully facing her. He lifted her up, gently placing her on her own two feet once more, holding her waist whilst she tested her ankle for a sprain. "Are you alright?" he murmured.
She blinked rapidly and shook her head to clear it. After ascertaining her ankles were uninjured, she looked up at him and nodded. She still had that dazed, exhausted look on her face from when she'd awoken this morning. Remus doubted he looked any better.
"Remus," Ivy said, looking right at him. "Stop trying to scare me."
Remus frowned deeply. "I am not trying to-,"
"You are," she interrupted. "They way you look at me…you expect me to start screaming and running, don't you?"
Unknowingly, he squeezed her shoulders. "That's because I am dangerous, as you have seen. Twice, now. How often must you nearly die before you can understand?"
She ducked her head slightly at his tone. "I know I shouldn't have-,"
"If you knew than why did you leave the castle last night?" Remus lowered his tone - but it was hard, hard to control all this frustration and shame he felt. "You knew how I felt about - and I, I can't protect you when I'm the threat…"
Ivy and I stared at each other for a long moment. She sighed slowly. "I received some information last night," she said eventually.
