Melissa's Point of View
I felt like screaming. I ran away from Remus, wiping furiously at my tears with the back of my hand. Werewolf. He was a werewolf.
I found a secluded hallway and sat down, wrapping my arms around my legs.
It made sense, really. He was always 'sick' once a month, and no one really knew why. And then there was all those times when I'd heard James mention a furry little problem.
Now that I knew, it was painfully obvious.
But that didn't... that didn't mean that he had to treat me the way he did!
How dare he assume I'd turn my back on him because of something he couldn't control! Did he really think so little of me?
Yes, the werewolf thing was a little frightening. But... I loved Remus.
I loved him. But he refused to give us a chance. He refused.
This time I let the tears fall.
I would have been content to sit in that hallway all day, maybe even night, if a shriek hadn't pierced the air around me.
I stood up, trying to locate it. It cut off abruptly, unnaturally. I ran down the end of the hallway. Hadn't anyone else heard? That wasn't a playful shout. That was someone crying out for help, or in pain.
In the middle of a sxith floor corridor lay a body. I heard footsteps behind me, others reacting to the scream, but I paid them no attention.
"Is she dead?" I heard a girl whisper, sounding frightened.
"What happened?" I heard James ask, somewhere in the crowd that was forming. "Is that-,"
He stopped when Elli let out a low, soft moan. She moved slightly, and her face because visible. There was a deep gash there, pouring blood down the side of her face, pooling beside her head.
I finally reached her, ahead of everyone else. I grabbed her hand and squeezed.
"Elli?" I asked softly, frightened that there wouldn't be a reply. She might have moved but... I wasn't sure exactly what had happened to her.
She didn't say anything, but her hand in mind gave a feeble squeeze.
"Is she okay?" Sirius asked, and I looked up and James, Remus and Sirius had broken off from the crowd. Everyone else stayed back, looks of horror or confusion on their faces.
"Yeah, but we need to take her to Madam Pomfrey." I replied softly. "Can one of you pick her up?"
Remus bent down and scooped her up, not meeting my eyes the entire time. Elli stirred in his arms.
"Don't," She said quietly. Her voice was breathless and there was a lot of pauses between her words. "Don't bring me to Madam Pomfrey. I'll be fine."
"Are you crazy?" Sirius asked, looking bewildered. "You've lost about ten gallons of blood!"
"I told you, next time someone ends up in the hospital," She paused, catching her breath but sounding more clear with every passing word. "It's not going to be me."
James laughed, but Remus looked worried. "You've lost a lot of blood, Elli."
"Fine, fine." She said, waving her hand and suddenly smiling. She looked almost giddy. "But I feel fine, you know. Actually, I feel more than fine. Kind of light, you know? Like a cloud..." She laughed.
"Is she high?" Sirius asked.
"No, you're high!" Elli shrieked, this time laughing even louder.
"What's wrong with her?" I whispered to the others, not finding the situation at all funny. Elli wouldn't act like that normally. Something had to be wrong.
"I don't-," Remus was cut off when Elli suddenly kicked free of his arms.
She landed on her feet, more than a little wobbly. She stood for a second, a satisfied smile on her face, before crumpling to the floor. Before she could hit her head, Sirius grabbed her and this time it was he who scooped her up in his arms.
"What is wrong with you?" He asked, peering down at her, frowning.
In reply, Elli gave a very girly giggle. "Oh, Sirius," She said, reaching up to flick a piece of his hair off his face. "Why are you always so serious?"
James started to laugh, but a quelling look from Remus, Sirius and I shut him up at once.
"Just hurry it up." I told Sirius. "She's still bleeding."
"Goodnight." Elli whispered, and promptly fell asleep.
"She is sleeping, right?" I asked, panicked.
"She's fine, I can feel her heart beating." Sirius assured me.
When we finally made it to the hospital wing, Elli was still sleeping. Madam Pomfrey came to meet us.
"Why is it that every time this girl is brought in here, she's unconscious?" She questioned.
But then she'd moved Elli, and her face became clear. "What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked sharply.
"We don't know." I said quietly. "But she was acting weird. Giggling, and saying weird things, too."
"Well," Madam Pomfrey started, clearing the blood off Elli's face. With the flick of her wand, the wound started to close over. "this isn't too bad. Just a superficial cut. As for the weird behaviour, I'd say she suffered from a intoxing hex."
"What's that?" Remus asked.
"It makes the victim act... well, to put it bluntly, drunk. Not hard to reverse, if you know what you're doing." She said, and again waved her wand, muttering under her breath.
"Now," Madam Pomfrey said, looking suddenly strict. "You're allowed to take her back to your common room, but as soon as soon as you find out how she got in that state, I want someone to report straight to Dumbledore. Understand?"
We all nodded.
Sirius picked Elli up again. Halfway to Gryffindor tower, Elli awoke.
She yawned, pushed her hair out of her face, and then screamed and fell out of Sirius's arms.
"What are you doing?" She shouted at him. She looked around and realized that they weren't the only two people there. "What's going on?"
"You don't remember?" Remus asked gently.
"Remember what?" Elli replied, frowning and looking a little frightened.
"Who attacked you?" I questioned.
"Who attacked me." She repeated, looking even more confused and now terrified. "What do you mean? What happened?"
She looked between all of us, as if we were playing some joke on her.
"See, that's kind of the problem. No one really knows what happened." Sirius told her. I noticed that, as soon as she jumped out of his arms, he backed far away from her, as if he couldn't stand to be any closer.
"I don't... the last thing I remember is thinking how good it is that you two were finally going to try to work things out." Elli said, motioning with her hand towards Remus and I.
"This is why someone was supposed to be guarding her!" Sirius said angrily, rounding on Remus. "That was your job!"
Remus looked infinitely guilty.
"Guarding me?" Elli snapped, no longer looking like someone who had just been in need of a hospital. No one said anything. "What do you mean, guarding me?"
"Well, it's just... we were worried and-," Elli cut Remus off.
"I do not need protecting." She said menacingly and, before anyone could say anything else, she stomped off. James and Sirius both hurried after her, obviously sticking to their 'guarding' idea.
"Melissa," Remus said softly before I realized that it was only he and I now in the hallway.
Everything that had happened since our talk disappeared, and I was right back to where I was in that abandoned hallway. The tears sprang up again and I looked at him, wanting for him to apologize or something.
"I can't believe you'd... you'd not give us a chance, just because you're a werewolf." I said angrily.
Remus stared at me, bewildered. "You mean- you're not terrified of me?" He asked, his body frozen, completely unmoving except for his breathing.
"What kind of a person do you think I am?" I snapped.
"I just thought that-,"
"That something like that would ever make me stop loving you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. "Because trust me, it would take a lot more than that."
"But-,"
"Stop making excuses!" I yelled, stepping towards him. "I love you. Don't you get that? I love you, I love you, I love you! And I am not going to let you push me away anymore!"
I stepped even closer to him, our lips less than an inch away from each other. I stared up those eyes of his that couldn't seem to decide if they wanted to be brown or blue. He didn't move away, and I took that as a good sign.
"Tell me, right now, that you don't love me back. Tell me you don't want me, and I'll go. But don't you dare hind behind some... some-,"
"Furry little problem?" Lupin supplied, smiling before wrapping his arms around me. "I love you, Melissa."
He closed the small space between our lips and I responded by wrapping my arms around his neck, running my fingers through his hair and pulling him even closer to me, if that was possible.
I parted my lips a little, wanting to deepen the kiss, but I felt Remus hesitate, his hands on my waist loosened their grip and he tried to pull away.
"Don't hold back on me." I said fiercely.
And he didn't. Instead, he pushed me back up against the nearest wall, he pushed up the sweater at my waist, his hands gripping the skin there, causing me to shiver despite the heat.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, you should both be in class." Came McGonagall's voice from my left.
Remus and I jumped apart, and I felt my cheeks burn.
"Next time you want to... Just don't do that in the hallways." McGonagall said sternly. "Now go, before I add detentions too."
Torn between embarrassment and laughter, Remus and I hurried off, hand in hand.
So what do you think? Leave a review! :D - C
