Dagger Collector
Chapter 13: Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking
Jadis stayed in her dorm most of the weekend, avoiding the outside world for as long as possible. She didn't particularly wish to walk around with everyone watching her and whispering about her behind her back. Word had already gotten around about what happened in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class. When she had gotten back to Slytherin that night, most of the seventh years in the room turned to look at her and started snickering at her. Unsurprisingly, Velma Donovan was not in the common room.
Therefore Jadis had not left her four-poster all weekend. Instead she spent most of it doing her homework and when she was through with that, she spent most of her free time reading to get ahead in her classes, painting her nails or playing with Neji. Pam wasn't released until Sunday afternoon from the Hospital Wing, so until then she didn't have anyone to talk to her or bring her anything to eat. She supposed that she wasn't starving however, as she found several pieces of candy in the bottom of her trunk from the previous year. Though after stuffing her face with so many sweets, she felt rather disgusted and she wanted to throw up.
Sufficed to say that it wasn't a particularly exciting weekend. Monday was no better as every time she made her way between classes, she felt all the eyes of her classmates staring at her and chuckling quietly to themselves. However, no one had given her dirty or disgusted looks and she supposed that people didn't care too much about sexual orientations, and it didn't seem that too many younger students knew about the incident. Although, all the Slytherin's seemed to. However, no one dared to give Velma a hard time about it, at least not to her face.
Jadis hoped, however, that it would soon go away as she made her way to Defense Against the Dark Arts on Tuesday. "Jadis, after what Lupin does today, Velma's confession will be old news," Matt said with a grin as the last of the people who hadn't gotten a chance to repel the Imperious Curse during the previous class stood in line. Once more, Matt, and Jadis stood in the center of the short line of people who had yet to be tested against the Imperious Curse. As Pam had now rejoined them, she was standing between Matt and Jadis.
"That is not amusing Matt," Jadis said as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her best mate. Honestly, the boy could sometimes be an idiot in her opinion. Why am I friends with him? Jadis wondered to herself. Oh yeah, because he's amused by you and was the only person willing to talk you first year, she thought to herself with a furrowed brow. But a fool for a friend is better than no friends. Besides, he can make you smile and cheer you up. You NEED his friendship, she thought almost bitterly to herself.
"Well then look at this way. Its October, so you only have about eight more months to deal with this hell hole," Matt said with a grin as he stared forward and watched the Head Girl jump in place, clearly failing at throwing off the Imperious Curse. Pam frowned slightly at this, objecting inwardly about her fiancé referring to Hogwarts as a hell hole. In her opinion it was a saving grace, it meant that she could get away from her overbearing parents for most of the year. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when she had to go back home.
Jadis glared at Matt in response. She wanted to smack him on the back of the head. However, she had other things on her mind as the last of the Ravenclaws went up. "Yes, well I hope Lupin makes you do something hideously embarrassing, but considering what heathen you are, I doubt that anything will ever embarrass you," Jadis said. Matt's turn was following after the last Ravenclaw's finished. She felt her stomach churn at this. After Matt, Pam was next and that meant that Jadis soon would be having her turn. Turning her gaze to Lupin who was concentrating on the last of the Ravenclaws, she wondered whether he was going to be merciful with her and hoping that he would.
Matt stepped up to the plate when the last Ravenclaw threw off the imperious curse, causing the seated students who had already gone up to applaud as they were intently watching the last of their classmates. Jadis watched intently as Lupin said Imperio. For a moment, she watched as Matt simply stood there. However, she could see small beads of sweat start to spring on his forehead. It was clear that Matt was really putting some effort on not doing whatever it was that Lupin wanted him to do. He was doing very well and Professor Lupin finally removed the curse. "That was excellent Matt," Remus said, honestly surprised that the boy had such will power.
Matt grinned as he walked over to take his seat and turned his full attention to watch Pam walk up to the front of the class. She was fidgeting nervously as she looked at Professor Lupin apprehensively. Jadis suddenly felt the zen-like feeling that she usually felt when watching Pam fidget. She wasn't very surprised that a few seconds after Pam went up, the girl started to sing a song Jadis didn't recognize at all. It almost sounded as though it were in a different language. Hey, she doesn't sound too bad, Jadis thought to herself, as Lupin removed the curse.
Pam blushed furiously as she immediately took off to sit next to Matt. Jadis smiled as she watched Matt wrap an arm around her shoulder as she hid her face in his shoulder as the rest of the class made cat calls at her. For the moment, she lost herself as she watched them, thinking that they were the sweetest thing. However, she was quickly brought back to earth when she heard Lupin call out her name and the rest of the class suddenly went silent.
Trying not to blush and desperately trying to ignore the nervous knot her stomach was turning into, she stepped up to the front of the class and turned to face her classmates. The few people left in line, and most of the people that were seated and watching, were grinning at her in amusement or talking to one another about her. Purposefully Jadis tried to not look at Velma, or Jay booth. However, she found it hard to ignore everyone else. For a moment, she sought the two friendly faces of her friends, but Pam still had her face buried it Matts shoulder and Matt was still trying to make her come around. Finding no encouragement in her only friends, she turned to look at Lupin, who had his usual mild smile.
Not feeling very reassured, she was distracted and before she knew it, she heard Lupin murmur the words that she dreaded to hear. Immediately she felt the oddest sensation that she was floating. All her worries seemed to slip away, like the slate of her mind was completely wiped clean. Everything that caused her pain seemed to evaporate, and she was barely aware that her class was watching her. She was in what felt like a very happy place, where her parents and Snape didn't exist. Event the sudden echo of Professor Lupin's mild voice didn't bother her. "Dance," the simple command echoed in her head and Jadis felt her legs put themselves in the first position of ballet as her arms extended forward.
She closed her eyes as her body made familiar movements of so long ago. She felt as though she were dancing in the clouds, and she felt immensely free. Her body seemed to call to mind everything she had learned long ago, and her mind was not impeded by any thoughts. It was nice. She didn't have to think. She didn't have to feel. All there was, was an odd freedom that didn't seem as though it should come with being controlled by someone else.
However, the feeling didn't last long. She wasn't sure how long she was under the influence of the Imperious Curse, but after a moment, she felt that blissful feeling that it gave her evaporate into nothing. Opening her eyes, she became aware of the way that everyone was staring at her. It was odd to see the awe on their faces and she furrowed her brow as she looked at her silent classmates. They were no longer talking about her and were simply staring with dumbfounded expression. Staring at Jay Booth, his open mouth almost seemed to be dripping drool. The only face that she saw in the sea of blankness that did not seemed impressed was that of Velma Donovan's. Her mouth was closed tightly and she had her arms crossed over her chest while her eyes were green with envy.
Looking over at Professor Lupin, she saw that he too was staring at her with something akin to awe. However, his mouth was not hanging stupidly open. Lowering her arms as she only just realized that she was still extending them, she straightened up. "Guess I failed that, huh," she said as she scratched her neck. Remus nodded, however, suddenly shook his head from the daze he had fallen in by watching her dance ballet. She moved her body so beautifully and as though there weren't any bones in her body. Her limbs seemed to defy physics and looked very elegant and beautiful as she performed her movements precisely.
"Maybe next time," Remus said with an encouraging smile. Jadis merely shrugged as she walked over to take her seat, completely avoiding catching Velma's eyes and ignoring her for the rest of the lesson. Instead her mind was going over the experience and wondering why she had done nothing at all to try and fight off Lupin's command. Was she that willing to allow someone else to control her? Or was it simply because dancing did not cause her embarrassment or anxiety? Or was it simply that she trusted Lupin enough no to mind being controlled by him.
She was so lost in her thoughts, that she paid no mind to the rest of her classmates and was surprised when class came to an end. "For next class I want a ten inch essay on the three unforgivable curses, with particular emphasis on the Imperious curse and your personal experiences under it," Remus called out as everyone started to get up. "I want it prepared for the next lesson and we will continue to practice the Imperious curse for the next couple classes, I want everyone to get at least three tries under it."
Jadis sighed as she stood up and along with her friends walked out of class and headed to lunch. "Jadis, will you please tell Pam that her singing is nothing that she should be embarrassed about?" Matt suddenly said in exasperation as they made their way down the hallway together. Jadis turned her gaze over to Pam who was still blushing furiously as she furrowed her brow at this. However, before she could say anything, she heard someone calling out her name. Turning around, she was rather startled to find it was Jay Booth who was calling out her name and who was running to catch up with her with a smile on his face. Turning to her friends, she told them that she would catch up to them, before turning her attention back to Jay.
"Hey Jadis, I just wanted to say that I am sorry for being such a prat lately and I wanted to tell you that you dance beautifully," he said with apologetic smile to her. Jadis blinked stupidly as she stared at him, wondering at the fact that he was talking to her again and smiling. Raising a brow as she looked at him, she watched as he adjusted his bag strap. "Where did you learn to dance like that?"
"I'm sorry, did I just step into an alternate universe?" she asked, causing him to furrow his brow in mild confusion. "I thought that you were no longer speaking to me. What's with the sudden change of attitude? What were you PMS-ing the past couple weeks?" she asked coldly as she narrowed her gaze on him. His change in character had completely wiped away the pleasant effect he used to have on her. She was now impervious to his charm. She found his fickle character was more than she was willing to put up with. She had enough of fakers and pretenders. She was sick of it. She wanted someone sincere, someone real, someone loyal. Someone who wasn't going to change their mind from one millisecond to the next.
"I... its just what you did to Samantha, she's my friend and I didn't think it was very nice of you. I am sorry, I hadn't known that she had been attacking you when you were unaware," Jay said as he stared at her. Jadis was not impressed by this response and she assumed by 'Samantha' he was referring to that Ravenclaw girl she had been up against in their dueling review a couple of weeks earlier.
"Well I think you are rather thick, as you once said you were, and I don't want anything to do with you, so kindly do me the favor of fucking off," she said as she suddenly turned on her heel, not concerned with the astonished look that crossed his face as she made her way down the hall. She wasn't sure where all the sudden, cold-anger had come from, but she supposed that its roots were laid in the pain that she felt from her last amorous experience. She supposed it also had to do with the fact that she had set her hopes on Jay for some normalcy, and found herself sorely disappointed.
In the days that followed, life seemed to almost return to some normalcy. People stopped staring at her and talking about her behind her back, probably because they had seen her dance. As for Jay, he stopped trying to talk to her, and also stopped glaring at her. It was as though he didn't know her, and in Jadis' opinion that was a vast improvement. As for that Friday's Potions lesson, Jadis forgot to smoke a mellow-stick, but by the end of the lesson, she found that she hadn't needed it. Somehow, the pain she felt when she looked at Snape was overshadowed by the anger that started to take over. She wasn't exactly sure what had caused it, but she supposed it was so much easier now that Snape was treating her like she was any other student, most in particular a Ravenclaw as he tended to ignore them.
As for her Defense Against the Dark Arts class... she still continued to fail when it came to the Imperious curse. She didn't know what it was about it, but she simply could not overcome it. She had no will at all to fight it off, and she found herself becoming more and more aggravated by the situation. Especially as on her Defense class that following Tuesday, Pam finally succeeded and in what she continued to fail at. Her mind simply refused to even try and for the rest of the week, she found herself in a foul mood.
"Jadis, I hope this cheers you up, because you been a right git lately," Matt said as he suddenly plopped down next to his best mate. Jadis looked up from the magazine that she was lazily flipping through and raised a brow over at her best friend. Have I been that bad? Jadis wondered to herself as she stared expectantly at Matt for him to go on. "First Hogsmead weekend at the end of the month," he said as he wiggled his brow at her.
Jadis raised a sleek brow at this and smiled slightly, thinking of the potential havoc they could wreak, or at the very least thinking about restocking her junk-food stash. "Is it on Halloween?" Jadis asked as she looked over at Matt, who nodded in response and grinned at her. Jadis merely rolled her eyes, Matt was rather fond of the holiday and usually made them wear costumes, despite the fact that it was a muggle custom. The only reason that Jadis went along with it was because it also happened to be Matt's birthday. Since their first year, they always dressed up on Halloween and when Pam joined them, she did as well. "Where is Pam?" she asked as she turned her dark gaze to her Witch Weekly magazine, and lazily turned the page.
Matt sighed in mock disappointment about his overachieving fiancé. "I think that she went to talk to Lupin about the grade that he gave her on the last essay he set. Apparently he made a mistake," Matt said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Jadis merely nodded in response at this as she continued to flip through the magazine, agonizingly bored with it, but not having anything else to do. Lately, she hadn't spoken very much to Professor Lupin. She supposed it was her foul mood that made her distance herself from him. He didn't speak to her either, though she supposed that was just normal. Probably better this way. I'm too fond of him as Professor to want to get any closer. Don't want history to repeat itself, she thought as she shoved mental images of the handsome man out of her mind.
"You know, he's seemed really distracted lately," Matt suddenly said. However, Jadis wasn't aware of what he said for a moment as she had lost herself reading a review about a new acne potion. After a moment she realized he said something and asked him to repeat himself. Matt sighed in exasperation as he stared at his dark-haired friend. "I said that he's been pretty distracted the past couple weeks. I mean when has he ever made a mistake in his grading?"
"Well he's human, mistakes happen," Jadis said with a disinterested shrug. However, she soon turned to look towards the Common Room entrance to see Pam who was entering, before casting a look around the rest of the room. It was surprisingly empty. Despite the fact that it was the weekend, there were only a few scattered sixth years. However, she supposed that the Slytherin team was practicing, and that accounted for most of it. Good riddance. I can't stand Marcus Flint and his lot. Bunch of idiots.
"What did Professor Lupin say?" Matt asked as Pam joined them. She took a seat next to him on the couch and smiled lightly when Matt looped his arm around her neck and pulled her to him, placing a kiss on her cheek. Jadis made mock gagging noises at the display of affection, causing Matt to toss a crumpled piece of paper at her and hitting her right on the forehead.
"Well he seemed a little out of it, but when he focused he saw that I was right and he corrected my grade," Pam replied as she blushed lightly. She never much liked pointing out mistakes to her Professor. Most of them didn't take too kindly to it either. However, Lupin had been very nice, like he usually was. She supposed that she wasn't really surprised by that. "He asked about you, you know."
Jadis looked over at Pam and raised a brow at this. "What? Why?" she mumbled as she stared at Pam in confusion. He's asking about me? She wondered to herself, finding it inconceivable that he would care to ask about her, especially when he had only seen her on Friday. Sure they got along, but Lupin was the type of person to get along with everyone. She couldn't take that personally, especially as he treated all his students in the same way.
Pam shrugged her thin shoulders in response. "He said that you looked somewhat stressed lately. He said that he would have talked to you personally about it, but that he's been very busy lately," Pam said with a shrug of her shoulders. Jadis felt a pleasant warm feeling rising from the pit of her stomach, though she was confused that so many people were noticing that she was so out of it. God, how moody have I been lately? And awww, that is so considerate of him to notice and care to ask, she thought as she squealed internally about it. What was that for? She suddenly wondered to herself as she furrowed her brow. What am I getting excited for? Merlin, I'm a maniac.
"What did you tell him?" Jadis asked as she closed her magazine and stretched, feigning nonchalance and hoping that neither of the blonds before her had noted the smile that had come over her face. However, as the happy couple was rather involved with each other, they hadn't really noticed. In fact, Pam was having a hard time paying attention to the conversation as Matt played with a strand of her hair near the back of her neck, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin and for her hair to stand on end. It made it impossible to concentrate on the conversation she was supposed to be having with Jadis.
"Not-nothing," Pam stuttered as she shivered. Jadis grimaced as she looked over at them. Merlin they are practically going through foreplay in the common room, she said as her face twisted in mild disgust. Crinkling her nose, she hastily took the magazine that rested on her lap and tossed it on the table-top.
"Right, well I'll leave you two kiddies to your own devices," she said as she got to her feet. "See you later," she said as she prepared to take off.
"Jadis, wait," Matt called out, only just noticing that he was making his friend leave when he wanted to talk to her. Jadis stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Matt with a furrowed brow. "Now that you are both here, I wanted to ask you what our costumes would be for this Halloween?" he asked with a grin.
"We are doing that again this year? Last year we got kicked out of all of our classes for wearing costumes," Pam said with a frown as she twisted her hands in her lap in concern. Jadis thought of the previous year with a fond smile of remembrance. They had dressed up as characters from the wizard of Oz. Matt had decided to dress up as a flying monkey, with wings that actually worked. Pam had of course wanted to be the good witch and Jadis... well it was between Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West and personally, she didn't want to be a simpleton.
"That was fun," Jadis murmured to herself with a dopey grin as she recalled the look of several of her classmates when they were seen in their costumes and the undignified expression on McGonagall's face when she kicked them out.
Matt grinned in return, but turned to look at the still fretting Pam with a sigh. "Last year we got kicked out because McGonagall has no sense of humor. No one else minds, except professor Snape also. Anyway, Halloween this year is on the weekend. So no worries, love," Matt said, as he placed a kiss on Pam's cheek, Pam thought about it and nodded, however, she was still rather worried about the costume, she hoped that it wasn't anything terribly embarrassing or over the top.
"Isn't it a little early to worry abut that though? Halloween isn't for another two weeks," Jadis chimed in suddenly with a furrowed brow.
"Yeah, but we need to order them and have them delivered. Besides, since its on a Hogsmead weekend, I was thinking that we could make a whole day of it," Matt said, suddenly leaning in to them and looking around to make sure that no one overheard them. "I got a room reserved for us in the Three Broomsticks, and my dad is mailing me a couple bottles of firewhiskey to Hogsmead."
Jadis raised a brow at this, while Pam frowned slightly once more. "So we're really going to party this year, eh?" Jadis asked with a smirk, her eyes glinting at the prospect and matching Matt's enthusiasm. However, another part of her brain was telling her that this was a terrible idea. The place is swarming with Dementors, a raving lunatic is on the loose, and you want to get drunk? her head rationalized, but the part of her that was reckless, quickly shut it up. Hey, you only live once and its Matt's birthday, I'm not going to spoil it for him.
X_X
Remus sat in the staff lounge running a hand over his face as he tried desperately to concentrate on the essays before him. However, his mind kept turning to the thoughts he wanted to avoid. Images of the dreams that were keeping him from sleeping peacefully kept invading his conscious mind. Try as he might, he could not stop thinking about them, severely undermining his ability to pay attention to whatever he did lately. Luckily he hadn't made it very obvious by botching his lessons, or making many grading mistakes.
Unfortunately, he couldn't say that it was not having an effect on him though. Because of the inappropriate and graphic nature of his dreams, he'd been forced to start avoiding the shining start that appeared in all his dreams, Jadis. He was certain, however, that Jadis had not noticed, as she seemed to be rather distracted lately, more so than usual. The difference he supposed was that she was very concentrated on what they were doing in class and her inability to do it, which he thought was angering her.
He'd had a strong desire to help her as he did with most of his struggling students, but the dreams and the strong attachment that he had formed for her in just a month impeded him. He didn't trust himself to be alone with with her, at least not until the full moon had long passed and he had full control of himself. He also needed his senses to be at their lowest so he did not feel overwhelmed by her intoxicating presence. However, even then he was weary of being around her. He didn't want to get anymore attached to her the he already was, and he was sure further contact with her would make it impossible for him to ever walk away.
The incident he believed to have triggered it all was watching her dance ballet, for the fact that she had kissed him on her birthday was far more easier to forget, considering the fact that it had been very brief. Not to mention his complete and utter shock, coupled with the impropriety of the event made it simple to ignore. Especially as he rather did not like the fact that it was really against her will as well as his, after all she had only done it to get over a dare. It wasn't as though she liked him.
Though, despite all this, it was hard to ignore the fact that her lips had been very soft. Actually the brevity of the kiss seemed to rather make him desire more contact, which was the reason he always made it a point not to look at her delicious mouth. Actually he usually made it a point not to notice anything beneath the level of her shoulders. Her mouth and neck were a little harder to not focus on, but he managed for the most part quite admirably.
However, seeing her dance had certainly changed things. It was the amazing grace in her movements while dancing, the flexibility in her long and elegant limbs, which made her simply far more charming and made him very aware just how beautiful she was. She was enticing and completely alluring from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes and watching her dance made him aware of it as he had never been before. Despite her slim figure she had subtle curves and very beautiful, long legs. Remus could not stop thinking of the way they would wrap around him in his dreams. However, he was far more fascinated by her creamy, unblemished, alabaster skin that was yelling and screaming for him to mark it. Most enticing of all was the smell of her. He was hungry to smell even more and he felt an almost desperate desire to taste her.
Shaking his head, Remus sighed as he pushed these infuriating thoughts away. Jadis, despite being a legal adult, was still very young and most important of all, she was his student. He should not be thinking of her so lecherously. Putting down his quill, he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He was only going to drive himself insane if he didn't find a way to put her out of his thoughts.
"Are you all right Remus?" Remus looked to his left and found his eyes clashing with those of Rolanda Hooch, who was seated with Minerva on the couch, both sipping tea. Smiling bashfully, Remus turned his eyes away from the witch with owl-like eyes and looked at the essays that he was grading, mumbling that he was all right. He'd never felt particularly comfortable under her gaze. He'd always felt as though he were something she wanted to prey on.
"I recognize that frustration. It only comes from a difficult student, particularly the Slytherins," Minerva said as she eyed Remus carefully, the corner of her mouth upturned. Remus looked up and over at his ex-head of house. If only you knew, he thought to himself ironically, while wondering how quickly he'd be turned out of Hogwarts if it were discovered that he was having inappropriate feelings for one of his students. "My guess your problem is Malfoy, Flint, Jacobs or Luna," Minerva said.
Remus looked up and raised his brows. Of all his students, he supposed those were at the top of his list of most troublesome students. However, he assumed that Minerva had included Matt and Jadis because she wasn't as amused by their antics a he was. "Minerva, do you not like Jadis?" Remus asked as he sat back in his chair. He still found it slightly odd to refer to someone who had been his Professor by their first name, but it was necessary as they were colleagues. At least it was necessary when not around students.
Minerva shook her head in response. "No, she is brilliant and for the most part benevolent. It just frustrates me that she take such a casual approach to her education and life in general. Not to mention that her behavior needs to be seriously curved. Though I suppose lately she has been working hard on her studies, but it won't last," Minerva said, causing Rolanda to snort while Remus thought about that. In the past several weeks Jadis did seem to have improve her work ethic, her grades showed a slight change for the better; she seemed more applied in her studies this past month than she had been in all of September.
"Oh Minerva, please," Rolanda said, as she turned her gaze to Remus who suddenly shook his head and brought himself back to the present. "Her problem with Jadis is that the girl painfully reminds her of her wild youth. Before Minerva had that wand shoved up her arse, she was a lot like Jadis. Brilliant, practically shameless, and wild with little regard towards rules if she could avoid getting caught," Rolanda said, laughing in amusement as she fondly thought of their days at Hogwarts, causing Minerva to go into a stunned silence. "In fact, when we were seventh years, Minerva was absolutely bent on getting the attention of-"
"That is enough Rolanda!" Minerva said angrily as she glared at her friend. She couldn't believe Rolanda would reveal that to someone. Rolanda, only just realizing that perhaps she was going a bit too far this time, smiled sheepishly.
"I'm sorry Min, but your days as a hell-raiser are too good to keep to ourselves, considering how vastly you changed after Hogwarts," Rolanda said, as she gave her friend an apologetic. She then turned to Remus. "Though Minerva was a very applied student. As far as teachers and most people were concerned, she was the perfect student, that was why she became a Perfect and then Head girl. Though that might also have been because-"
"Rolanda!" Minerva said angrily as she put her cup on the nearby table and rapidly got to her feet. "We are going to have a very serious talk," Minerva said as her face burned with embarrassment as she grabbed her friend by the arm and hauled her to her feet. Luckily Rolanda's cup was empty and she didn't spill tea on herself. "Excuse us Remus," she said stiffly as she hauled Rolanda out of the staff lounge. Rolanda managed to shook him an apologetic smile before they made their hasty exit.
Remus watched the older witches depart with amused confusion. However, the discussion had peaked his curiosity enough to replenish his mood. He just couldn't reconcile the image he'd always had of Minerva McGonagall to what she'd apparently been like in her youth. And what had she done in her seventh year that she was so horrified about anyone knowing? Feeling in better spirits, Remus returned his attention to the essays that he had been grading.
X_X
Severus had a lot on his mind as Halloween steadily approached, much of it having to do with the full moon and the knowledge that a certain lycanthrope currently resided in the castle and could be a very dangerous hazard to the school. He'd have to make the wolf-bane potion to try and prevent any disasters. And it was not like the wolf-band potion were easy to create. It was a very difficult potion and it was very time-consuming.
Though there was no doubt in his mind that he would be able to create it, he was rather vexed by having to waste his time making it. Especially for someone that he didn't particularly like as it meant that all his energy and thoughts had to be devoted to the potion. However, there was no choice in the matter as it was a request from Dumbledore. Though, had it been up to him he would have never allowed Lupin to teach in the first place.
Nonetheless he supposed that considering the recent turn of events, it was for the best that he had something to occupy his mind. After all, his concentration being required elsewhere enabled him to leave Jadis alone as she had requested on her birthday. However, it also made it easier for him to ignore the fact that she was clearly, finally getting angry with him for what he had put her through. While it was what he wanted, he wasn't sure that he really liked it. He didn't like thinking that the only woman who had ever loved him, now hated him because he had to let her go for her own good. It made him feel rather ill and made it very apparent to him that she was right when she said that he still loved her
Unfortunately, he knew that it wasn't enough, that she deserved more than he would be able to give her. And despite his control of his emotions, despite being able to hide the fact that he loved her and that a part of him pined for her, he wasn't sure that he would be able to hide his anger and possessiveness for long. Especially not if she started to show interest in someone else, or if someone showed interest in her. That was why he wanted so desperately for the year to be over and for her to gone. He couldn't bare witness to a new love coming into her life, not if he wanted to keep his sanity.
TBC...
A/n: Sorry for any mistakes that may have slipped by my notice. I of course edited before posting, but I suck at editing. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter. Please Review and I will try not to take too long o update.