Disclaimer: Fanfiction. Fan. Fiction. Get the connection?

Love stays the same

-1977

After spending three and a half days in the Hospital wing with only Madam Pomfrey for company during class hours, Mia realized why Harry hated staying here so much.

It was boring.

She had finally convinced the others to go to class, saying to Remus that they would be missing enough as it was, without him playing hooky just to stay with her. In the end, he gave in, shooting a worried glance over his shoulder as he followed the other Marauders to Transfiguration.

She had regretted this move almost instantly. She had no books to read, and only the Nurse and the odd student who came in with a tentacle growing from each cheek to amuse her. But, on the last morning of her 'solitary confinement' (as Sirius had begun calling it), Mia found one thing to do.

Her senses had finally started to kick in.

She woke on Tuesday morning to the smell of waffles, porridge, bacon, eggs, and many a more different aroma. She waited until Pomfrey came to give her a morning check-up. "Madam Pomfrey, why can I smell breakfast?"

The Medi-witch looked at her patient, an almost sympathetic look about her. "Miss Carson, I believe that is probably the Great Hall you can smell- your new 'senses' must be settling in."

"Oh." Mia settled back into her bed, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply.

A flood of aromas wafted to her nose. First were the strong scents of the infirmary - Medicine, herbs, disinfectant, clean sheets, and the almost motherly scent of Madam Pomfrey as she cleared her bedside table. Next came the distant smells of breakfast being enjoyed by students and teachers alike - pancakes, cinnamon, maple syrup, eggs, salt and pepper, jam, toast, crumpets, people, sweat, cologne, and different perfumes...

Mia opened her eyes, and turned to the nurse. "It's amazing- I can smell so much- like everything is right here in front of me, magnified ten times over!"

The nurse gave a smile, glad that the girl found it intriguing rather than depressing- it was after all, confirmation to what she was. She did not say this, however, only commenting that, according to Mr. Lupin, after smell improvement, came hearing, then sight, then the physical attributes.

Mia was fascinated, and promptly resolved to talk to Remus about it as soon as she was released from 'solitary confinement'.

Much to her joy, Mia was let out of the hospital wing at lunchtime and, remembering her earlier thoughts, she set off to find Remus.

She found him through hearing- he was in a little used classroom off the Entrance Hall, yelling at Sirius. James and Peter standing watching the verbal battle.

Mia quietly opened the door, as Remus shouted "Oh no! No, No, No, NO!"

"Come on Moony! You have to!" Sirius pleaded.

Remus sighed in defeat. "Fine… I'll do it."

"Do what?" Mia asked, and the four boys jumped, whirling around, guilt plastered over their faces.

"Nothing!" they chorused, not meeting her eyes.

They were up to something. What, she did not know - and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Remus broke the silence by rushing to her side, hugging her gently. "Mia! How are you feeling?"

She returned the hug, smiling lightly. He smelled of parchment, chocolate, ink, and (for Merlin-knows-what-reason) mint. "I'm feeling much better. Slightly stiff, and quite confused, but better."

"Why are you confused?" Peter asked as the four made their way to the Gryffindor table where Lily and Harriet were sitting.

"Because she has all these new senses- am I right?" James asked, sitting next to Lily, pecking her cheek in greeting.

Mia nodded, breathing deeply, smelling everything around her- every breath she took brought the smells in afresh. She could see little details in things far away- for example, she could see there was a loose thread on Professor Kettleburn's sleeve, Professor Leaf was discreetly trying to clean her fingernails under the table, and a Hufflepuff couple were playing footsies, sending each other glances every so often. Her ears were ringing- although the chatter did not seem louder, she could pick out every conversation that was being held. Apparently, Dumbledore was planning to give everyone in the school a bag of sherbet lemons for Christmas, and McGonagall was doing her best to talk him out of it, saying that although it was a nice thought, she was not sure that everyone liked sherbet lemons. To which, much to Mia's amusement, the Headmaster looked slightly shocked and confused. She caught his voice, saying 'but… why not?' in quite a forlorn way to the Head of Gryffindor, who merely patted his shoulder in condolence.

"It's interesting, isn't it?" Remus said quietly from beside her. Mia looked at him, and nodded. "It is- there's so much I'm picking up on that I couldn't before. It's… a little disconcerting, but definitely interesting. You must learn so much from this!"

Remus smiled at her typical response- always wanting to learn something new, was his Mia.

"Have you tried picking up on emotions yet?" he asked, while handing her the pumpkin soup.

"What? Like smell them?" Mia asked, wondering if Remus was joking with her.

Remus nodded. "I was like that to start with as well."

"Like what?"

"Unconvinced, doubtful. I only figured out that what I was smelling under normal scents were feelings when one of the nurses at St Mungo's told me about it." Mia nodded in understanding as Remus continued. "What you need to do, is just… it's hard to explain. Just... breathe. At first you'll smell the ordinary things around you, but if you concentrate on one particular person, you can smell what they're feeling."

"How can you tell the different emotions apart?" Lily asked, having being listening to their conversation.

Remus thought about how to voice it, ripping a chunk of his bun off, and chewing it carefully.

"The stronger the emotion, the stronger the smell… in my mind, they come up as colours. I find that cold colours, such as blues and greens, tend to lean towards calmer emotions, where as warm colours like yellows, oranges, and reds tend to mean more exuberant feelings- like excitement or anger."

Everyone nodded in understanding, and Harriet gave her sister a nudge. "Come on then Mia- have at it."

"What?" Mia asked, confused.

"Try it. Take Professor Lupin's teachings to heart!" she gave her a wink, and Mia rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, come on Ebony!" Sirius grinned, and Mia had to smile at the use of her nickname.

"Ok… who on?"

The group spent the day helping Mia get accustomed to her new and improved senses. They asked her to tune into peoples emotions, listen for conversations, notice details they could not, and the boys gave her arm wrestles, which she won- much to Sirius' embarrassment- Remus was the only one who could beat her.

Remus and Mia were sitting together on the couch that night, Mia resting her head against his chest- the day was catching up to her. She looked around the room with hooded eyes, and caught sight of Harriet and Sirius. The latter was telling Mia's sister a joke, and Harriet was laughing, tears forming in her eyes, holding her stomach as she shook with mirth.

Mia breathed in unconsciously, and a haze of gold streaked with crimson entered her mind. Although she had learned to recognize simple feelings, such as anger, happiness, and confusion, she had not come across this emotion.

"Remus- what are Sirius and Harriet feeling? I don't know it."

Remus turned his attention to his two friends, and breathed. His face contorted into a confused frown. "I- I'm not sure. The only thing that comes close would be…"

He turned to where James was talking with Lily, Peter sitting across from them.

He breathed again, and his frown deepened. "James and Lily are sort of the same- only the red and gold are in equal amounts…"

"What do you think it means?"

Remus shook his head. "I have no clue… could be anything from… wait." He was silent for a second, before chuckling.

Mia met his gaze, and he smiled. "Love and lust."

"What? Love and…so- love is... gold? And lust is red?"

Remus nodded, waiting to see if Mia would catch on.

"So, are you telling me that…" her eyes widened, and she gave him a grin. He nodded, returning the smile.

"Seems Sirius and Harriet have been hiding something from us."

Again, very sorry for the long time between chapters- I have commitment issues. guilty smile

Anyway…

'Her senses had finally started to kick in.'

Ok, did anyone else think 'my werewolf senses are tingling'? Or was that just me that had a wee chuckle about that? ;)

I have decided to have another poll!

(Any ideas would be welcome

Thanks!

Chels

Writing Dreams – it's what I do…