Hello, readers! I am sorry I kept you waiting so long; please forgive me. I got distracted with other stories, and just kind of lost my train of thought for this story. I'll try to regain my train of thought, and I will do my best to update soon. (It may be a while though, because my homework is surprisingly rigorous for a ninth grader, and I don't have too much down time.) Okay, again, sorry about the wait. Enjoy the chapter, and please review (but please don't chastise me for taking so long)!
"How would Professor Lupin know more about the war than Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, flipping through the small book. "He can't have been more than eleven or twelve when the war stopped."
"And what did Dumbledore mean by 'awake and sitting down'?" Ron interjected.
"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "That's all he would tell me."
"Maybe Professor Lupin isn't feeling well…" Hermione said, her voice trailing off at the end. She seemed to be contemplating something, and nearly missed the large door with the words "Defense Against the Dark Arts" carved into it. At one time, the name of the professor had also been carved into it, but the professor had changed so often in recent years that any more changes would damage the wood.
Harry reached out and knocked on the door, and a voice from within called, "Yes? Who is it?"
"Harry," Harry answered.
"Oh, hello, Harry. Come in," the voice said.
Harry opened the door to reveal a bedraggled man who looked ten years older than he actually was. His robes were tattered, as usual, but he was pale and thin.
"Hello, Harry and Ron. And Hermione," Professor Lupin greeted them.
Ron replied, but Hermione remained silent.
"Professor Lupin, we have a question to ask you," Harry said. "I asked Dumbledore about it, and he told me to ask you. He also told me to wait until you were awake and sitting down."
"Well, I'm certainly awake," Lupin said. "And I'm seated. So, what was your question?"
"We wanted to ask about the…" Harry began.
Hermione interrupted, "Oh, Harry! We shouldn't ask him today! Tomorrow night is the full moon! If he needed to be sitting…"
"I'll be fine, Hermione, but thank you for remembering," Lupin assured her with a faint smile.
"As I was saying," Harry continued, looking slightly annoyed. "We wanted to ask about the human-Shian war. How did it end? Who won?"
The color drained from Lupin's face, and he asked weakly, "Why do you want to know about that? I didn't know they still taught that in History…"
"They don't, Professor Lupin," Hermione explained. "They don't know, anyhow. I checked the books in the library, and none of them say anything about the end of the war. In fact, this is the only book I could find about Shians." She placed the small book face-down on the desk.
Lupin picked it up gingerly and slowly turned it over to the front cover. As he read the title, he began to grin. He opened to the first page. In the top right-hand corner were scrawled the words, "Lies, all lies!" Then, quite suddenly, he laughed.
Again, I hope it's as good as the first few chapters (if you thought the first few were good), and I'm sorry about the long delay. Please review!
