Remus didn't bother looking for Leilani as he headed down the stairs. It was Monday, which meant Leilani would have been up early to go her "house calls" and Remus would be on his own for breakfast.
House calls. Where Leilani came up with these archaic muggle terms he would never know. And now he was finding his own vocabulary peppered with them. Not that he minded, really, but it was a one of quite a few signs that he'd been here too long. He couldn't help but to notice that he had just fixed himself a cup of tea on complete autopilot - no need to think about where the cups or the teabags were - no need to keep an eye out so as not to trip over a chair leg or bang his hipbone against the countertop. Almost as if he lived here.
Not that he hadn't tried to leave. Always wary of overstaying his welcome, Remus had mentioned leaving several times, but Leilani just had this amazing ablility to talk him out of it. She seemed to actually enjoy his company, crazy as that sounds. Of course, she was an exiled witch; she was probably happy to have any company at all - even a stuffy, intellectual, ex-professor, werewolf like him. And, of course, he was her patient, and she was a dedicated healer with a long-term view on health. So no doubt much of her interest was professional. Yes, that made sense; and it explained all her questions about werewolves. She probably imagined she could heal the werewolf right out him. Remus found himself chuckling darkly. If only it were that easy.
Still it was odd. It was almost as if Leilani wouldn't let him leave. And as time had gone on, her barrage of questions had only increased, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been examined so closely. Remus tried to ignore the tiny spark of hope that flashed inside him. Leilani . . . she was so talented, so dedicated, so unconventional and inspired. Surely if anyone could heal the dark ailment, it was her. The spark kindled into a tiny flame. Maybe he should see just how much Leilani knew about his affliction, whether she had any real interest in it. Before he even realized it, Remus was on his feet and headed towards the library. He didn't stop until he was in the middle of the room.
"Lycanthropy." He said aloud as he raised his eyes to search for the tell-tale glow of Leilani's organizational spell. He spun slowly in a circle, casting his gaze into every corner of the room.
Nothing.
It must not be a very large section if he couldn't see it from here. Remus felt his tiny flame of hope falter, no wonder Leilani had so many questions on the subject. He carefully walked up and down each aisle, repeating the word from time to time, searching for the tiniest glow or shimmer to let him know this book was about werewolves.
Still nothing.
Confused, he sat down in the nearest chair. He'd never heard of a healer who hadn't studied Lycanthropy – knowledge of the subject was a necessity for the vocation. Yet, he could not find a single book or even a study scroll. He must have missed it somehow.
His musing was interrupted by a low growl in his stomach. Yes that was it. He was so hungry that he must have skipped an area or aisle in his eagerness to get to breakfast. He decided to come back and try again after he had eaten.
* * * * *
A full stomach did not yield Remus any better results. After breakfast he repeated his meticulous search and, once again, found himself sitting in his favorite chair feeling confused and downhearted.
That was when the fabric walked in. Remus stared a moment before he realized the pile of fabric was being carried by a tiny house elf.
"Nottie?" he asked hopefully.
There was a small sharp sound, not unlike the bark of a small dog, and fabric flew in every direction. So, this was Lucky then.
"M-Mister Randy. Lucky did not see you." Lucky ran around the room collecting the hideously pretentious fabric and, well, to Remus it looked more like he was rolling it into balls then folding it.
"I'm sorry, Lucky. I didn't mean to scare you."
"Lucky is bringing these drapes to the Young Mistress. My Lady does not need them."
Almost against his will, Remus' eyes were drawn back to the grandiose fabric. He couldn't imagine them on any of Leilani's windows. His brain seemed to have trouble even processing the fact they were in her house. "Leilani's not in, but if you leave them on the kitchen table, I'll let her know where they came from." He rose and circled the room thoughtfully
"Mister Randy, you look like you need help. Can Lucky help you?"
Remus sighed audibly and rubbed his neck. "Thank you, Lucky, but I don't think so. I'm just completely baffled by the lack of any Lycanthropy books in this library."
"L-Li – Ly," Lucky struggled to get the word out.
"Lycanthropy," Remus helped him, "Werewolves."
"Oh, oh Lucky can help!" the house elf was jumping up and down in his excitement, "Lucky knows the reason. The Young Mistress studies about the werewolves all the time, so she keeps the books in her office. Mister Randy can find them in the office."
Office? "Lucky? Where is the office?"
The tiny elf looked around, then scampered to the far wall of the library.
"Occultus asseus, mea paenitenta," he intoned.
A large section the shelves swung open to reveal the entrance to Leilani's office. Remus rushed forward eagerly, but stopped at the threshold, suddenly hesitant about entering the healer's private workspace. He glanced back at Lucky, as if looking for permission to enter the room. "Thank you, Lucky. For your help."
"Mister Randy is welcome." Lucky smiled brilliantly and Remus got the feeling this was the first task he had completed all day without some sort of mishap. "Lucky will be putting the drapes in the kitchen now." He turned and was gone, leaving Remus to face the great question alone.
To enter or not to enter?
It's not like he wanted to pry or anything, He just wanted a book to read, and it happened to be that he wanted to read about werewolves and Lucky said he could find those in the office. For Magic's Sake, even his thoughts were rambling. He would be a polite guest. He would quickly choose a book and leave. Nothing wrong with that. He took a deep breath and stepped into the office. The first thing that surprised Remus about the room was its size. It was nearly half the size of the Library and a good portion of the room was filled with bookshelves.
"Lycanthropy."
The bookshelves lit up so brightly that Remus nearly had to shield his eyes. It took a moment for his vision to adjust, but he quickly realized that every book in the room dealt with the subject. There were hundreds of them. Remus stepped closer and began to investigate the titles. Every book he had ever read on the subject, some that he'd only heard of, a few that were completely unfamiliar and . . was that fiction? Yes! There were even muggle novels about werewolves. He turned around to take in the rest of the room and saw charts and diagrams of canine anatomy and physiology with arrows and notations in tiny cramped handwriting. On the far wall was another shelving system with many, many scrolls filled with the same handwriting, Some of them looked recent and others so old, only magic could be keeping them in one piece. His eyes couldn't help scanning the contents of the paperwork on the desk.
The subject has healed as quickly as I expected, but he wants to leave and I'm not sure how much longer my spells can keep him here.
Subject? Remus felt a small, cold ball of anger form in the pit of his stomach. As in the subject of a study or experiment ? And spells? Leilani was not just persuasive; she was using magic to keep him here. How could he have missed it? Suddenly Remus knew he had to be gone before Leilani got back.
Then he heard a voice drawing nearer to him.
"-can't believe my mother thinks I would even consider hanging these hideous things."
Remus was leaving the office just in time to see Leilani entering the library from the other side of the room. She looked at the open door behind him, the angry look on his face, and, finally, down at the messy balls of fabric in her arms. She cleared her throat uncomfortably.
"Well . . . I see that Lucky must have stopped by."
