Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters, creations, and such belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing except Eve Pankhart, Dawn Pankhart, Mrs. Sternstone, Anna Twitter, Cynthia Young, Derek Gotter, and any other character not of J.K. Rowlng's creation that are original characters of my own creation, and my plot idea for this fanfiction, which comes from my imagination. The Phantom of the Opera and all its characters, creations, and such belong to Gaston Leroux and/or Andrew Lloyd Webber. I have not written this fanfiction to benefit me in any way, shape, or form; I am merely using my imagination in addition to J.K. Rowling's and Gaston Leroux's and/or Andrew Lloyd Webber's characters, creations, and such to produce this fanfiction for my entertainment and enjoyment, nothing more.
Author's Note: I'd like to, once again, thank all those who take the time out of their days to review each chapter. It means a lot to me that there are readers who feel so strongly about this fanfiction that they'd offer their opinions, especially those who make certain to review thoroughly at each update. The reviews keep me motivated to continue writing this piece, since I know what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong for the future, so, needless to say, the more reviews, the more motivated I feel to continue with this fanfiction! Thanks!
Lastly, I'd like to take the time to wish a very good friend of mine and a reader and reviewer of this fanfiction a very happy belated birthday!
Publish Date: Sunday, November 9, 2008.
Written in the Stars
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Trial Week: Day Two: Part Two
Eve giggled with Remus about absolutely nothing as she backed him up into the Room of Requirement door.
"You have me trapped, m'lady," he jested while squeezing her sides in his hands, making her squeal.
"Mm, good," she purred in a playfully low voice while planting a hand to the door on either side of him. "I have you right," she smooched his chest, "where I," she rose up to kiss his adam's apple, "want you," she balanced her weight on her tip-toes and grinned playfully at Remus's intrigued arched brow before pressing her soft lips to his.
Remus leaned down against her lips and kissed her back for a minute before pulling away and asserting, "And now we go to the Great Hall; we've been here long enough, and it's well past breakfast-"
"Mussy, it's well past lunch!" Eve pointed out as she pecked the tip of his chin.
Taking her by the hands and pulling her down and away from his face, he tried again, "Eve, really; I'd feel much better if you had something to eat before we, er… continued in here. You're such a little girl as it is-"
Eve crossed her arms and pouted. "Not little."
"-you really can't afford not to eat a meal."
Eve burst into laughter at the notion. "Oh, please! I can most certainly 'afford' to skip a meal; I could stand to lose a little weight-"
"Don't say that; trust me, you're a slender girl. It's how tiny you are that's making me worry about-"
"Again with the height thing!" Eve teasingly huffed, though in a way that told Remus that, while she was amused by it, she was also annoyed by it. "Just because I'm short doesn't mean you can tease me about it."
Running his hands slowly up Eve's sides, Remus smoothly told her, "You know, I've always had a thing for short girls."
Eve arched an eyebrow. Well, she liked where he was going with this! "Have you, now?"
"Yeah. So much so, in fact," he reached behind himself and turned the doorknob, "that I've also developed a liking for short girls who eat all their meals on time."
"Ah!" Eve exclaimed, shaking a finger at him in jest. "You tricked me! 'Short girls who eat'… that doesn't even make sense!"
Remus chuckled and led her out of the Room of Requirement, still locked in one another's embrace. "It doesn't have to make sense as long as it works, right?"
The two giggled and nuzzled their way out of the Room of Requirement until they heard muffled chuckling and someone clearing their throat.
Eve glanced over to find the Marauders, red in the face from trying to silence their laughter, and Lily, who winked and waved at the witch.
It was then that Eve felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, and she swallowed hard and buried her head into Remus's chest, trying to mentally force the feeling away from her.
Sirius slapped his thigh and howled, "Ha! I figured you two were hoggin' the Room of Requirement! Well, you've obviously had your fun; it seems our dear Moony has forgotten the Christmas 'nog and gone straight for the Christmas snog!"
Eve whimpered and clutched tightly at Remus's shirt as she felt shivers stampede up her spine and sweat race down the sides of her face and neck. Something wasn't right; something was definitely not right…
"There, there, Evie; don' t listen to a word they say. They're only teasing," Remus whispered soothingly into Eve's ear, rubbing her back.
"Re… Re… Remus…" Eve panted almost inaudibly as her eyes squeezed shut against the nausea that gripped her stomach. Her eyes immediately popped open as images flashed before them.
Eve felt the floor fall from beneath her, and her world went black as she dropped, limp, in Remus's arms.
"Eve? EVE!" Remus shouted in shock.
"Boy, the bird doesn't even know how to take a joke!" Peter said, looking around for someone to laugh with him, but when everyone else glared at him, he shrank back.
"What's wrong with her?" Lily asked, scared, as she approached Eve and rested a hand on her forehead. "Eve?" She spoke into her ear, "Can you hear me?"
"She's fainted." Remus felt his heart palpitate in panic and he yelled, "She's fainted! Eve, wake up!" He leaned her on one arm and rubbed frantically at one of her cheeks in a fruitless effort to revive her.
"That's not how you do it!" Lily cried out, pushing Remus's hand away from Eve's face.
"Go figure: the only one who could tell us how to handle this situation is the one who's fainted!" Sirius exclaimed frustratedly as Remus shifted her in his arms to lift her up bridal-style.
"Come on, we need to bring her to Madam Pomfrey." Remus's voice shook as he spoke and Lily patted him on the back supportively.
"She'll be alright, Remus." Lily and the others walked quickly alongside him toward the Hospital Wing.
"Madam Pomfrey!" Remus called out when he burst through the doors of the Hosptial Wing.
"What is it?" The Healer asked as she hurried over to the group, gasping at the pale girl limp in the werewolf's arms. "Oh, dear! She's quite accident-prone, isn't she?" She clucked. "Lay her down- gently, now- on this cot."
Remus, arms shaking nervously as he worried over Eve, tenderly rested her seemingly boneless body on the bed, smoothing some hair out of her white, white face as he did so. "What… What can I do?" Remus asked of the Healer, rolling up his sleeves. He was more than prepared to do whatever was necessary to revive his girlfriend, especially since she had often remained by his side in the Hospital Wing, and even more so because he had yet to return the favor… Oh, how he loathed remembering his turning the other way while Eve pleaded with him to hold her hand…
Madame Pomfrey returned promptly with a dish of water and a cloth and, glad to have a helper in the group of witches and wizards, caught her breath and instructed, "Prop up her feet with a few pillows, loosen her clothing, and then wipe her forehead with the cloth and water." As she was called away by another student in need, she told him, "I'll be back to check up on her shortly!"
Remus nodded and immediately tugged away a few extra pillows framing Eve's head to stuff them beneath her ankles. He stood puzzled for a moment when the thought occurred to him that Eve's clothes looked loose enough… But Madam Pomfrey told him to loosen them.
He rested his hand on her stomach, about to lift up her sweater just enough so only her stomach was exposed, as he reasoned that the purpose of loosening the clothing was to allow her to breathe easier.
With a subtle wink, Sirius said softly, almost seriously, as he didn't want to further upset Remus, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, mate."
Remus ignored him and lifted up Eve's shirt slightly, and found, to his immense relief, that she was wearing a camisole beneath her sweater. He gently pulled the sweater up and over her, freeing her throat from the raised collar that covered it.
Brushing curls away from her forehead, Remus took the cloth that Lily dampened for him and pressed it to her forehead, allowing water droplets to roll down the sides of her face and neck.
"Please Eve," Remus whispered into her ear before holding up her hand and pressing kisses to her knuckles, "please wake up."
No sooner did he finish his plea than did Eve gasp loudly and jerk up, drawing in lungfuls of air.
"Eve!" Remus exclaimed ecstatically before pulling her into a tight hug. "Eve, thank Merlin you're alright!" He kissed her cheek while she fisted into his shirt.
"Remus, please!" She pleaded loudly, as if she couldn't hear herself speak. "Please… Don't leave me… Please don't… Remus please don't leave me!"
"What?" Remus whispered confusedly, pulling away from her slowly.
"What's wrong with her eyes?" James asked, clutching Lily closer to him.
Remus craned his head to see what James was talking about and saw a glazed look in Eve's eyes, and her pupils were dilated so much that he could scarcely see a ring of gray surrounding their circumferences.
"Eve?" Remus inquired. "Eve!"
Eve sat beside Remus on the cot in the Hospital Wing, helping him recuperate from the full moon. The pair sat in tense silence as the witch tended to an injury on his shoulder.
"Feel any better?" She asked quietly after she'd rubbed some of the cool, creamy salve Madam Pomfrey left with them into the joint of his shoulder.
Remus shrugged his good shoulder. "As good as I could possibly feel right now, I suppose." His eyes stared down at the blanket covering his body, purposely avoiding meeting her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Eve asked softly, brushing his ruffled bangs away from his face.
Eve watched as Remus's adam's apple bobbed madly in his throat as his mind formed the words his own ears refused to hear. "I… I don't think this is going to work… that we are going to work…"
Eve's eyebrows furrowed as she pulled away. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. They'd had so much fun together the past week; hadn't that meant anything to him?
"Aren't… Aren't you happy with me?" She asked, hurt. She'd poured everything she'd had, everything she was into that week of official exclusivity with him… and it was all for nothing…
"That…" Remus sighed and squeezed his eyes shut, his fists gripping into the sheets. He felt as if someone else were taking over and speaking through him; he felt like he did right when he was on the verge of transforming, when the line between man and wolf blurred. "That is beside the point, Eve. We can't be together."
Eve watched Remus's face faded to pink as he bit on his lower lip to keep the words he really wanted to say to her- how she made him feel, how much he'd enjoyed their week together, and how he desperately wished to share much more time like that with her- from spilling from his throat.
"Oh… Oh, no… Remus…" Eve felt the beginnings of tears sting the backs of her eyes as she pleaded in a voice no louder than a whisper, "Please, Remus… Please don't leave me."
"Please don't leave me, Remus," Eve repeated like a broken record to the group of concerned Marauders standing around her.
"Eve, I'm right here, I'm not leaving you," Remus assured her. Holding her head in his hands, he forced her to face him. "Why aren't you looking at me?" He whispered to himself as he noticed that, while her eyes gazed in his direction, they weren't looking into his.
"Has she woken up yet?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she hurried back into the cubicle. She looked past Remus and gasped. "Off! She can't see you, boy!" As Eve continued chanting her mantra, the Healer pulled Remus back and scolded, "Why did no one tell me she was psychically inclined?" She clucked her tongue and took note of this information for future reference on a bit of parchment she summoned. "I hope you don't turn into Sybil Trelawney, dear," she murmured down at Eve. "I see her in here far too often; it would be a pity if you were to follow in her footsteps."
"It would help ground her if she had something to eat when she woke up." Madam Pomfrey gripped at Remus's shoulder at the suggestion, but it was James who spoke.
"I'll get her some food. You ought to be here when she wakes up, Remus." James patted his friend on the shoulder before walking to the edge of the cubicle. "What does she like?"
"Uh… get her some sugary foods for energy and anything with protein. She hasn't eaten lunch." James nodded and left, and Remus sat down beside his girlfriend, who was rambling on and on to herself. Taking her hand in his, he stroked her unresponsive fingers and murmured to her, "You're so tiny, Eve. I should've made you eat something sooner. I'm so sorry; this shouldn't have happened to you."
Eve suddenly cried out and arched her back up, holding her body tensely in the position before relaxing onto the cot.
Sirius whistled low at the sight and jested shamelessly, "Woah… You're one lucky bloke, Moony." Lily rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly on the shoulder.
"Knock it off," Remus muttered before Eve gasped once more and her eyes returned to their normal gray color and she fluttered her eyelashes.
"Oh, thank Merlin!" Remus exclaimed, patting at her forehead with the damp washcloth. "Are you alright? How do you feel?" He asked her as he tossed the cloth aside and gathered her up into his embrace. She shoved him away, and reached down beneath the cot to retrieve a bucket. The pale girl pulled it onto her lap and bent over it, vomiting up what little she had left in her stomach from the last meal she'd eaten.
Sirius grimaced and Lily patted Eve lightly on the shoulder. Remus briefly pondered how she could still have food left to throw up before gathering her thick mane of hair into his hand to keep it from getting in her way and pressing the washcloth onto the back of her neck, murmuring encouragingly into her ear.
"It's okay, Evie, I'm right here. It'll all be over soon, I promise." He kissed her ear lightly before lowering the cloth and caressing her back.
After Eve produced her final heave, she slumped back onto the bed and shivered, panting heavily. Madam Pomfrey took the bucket from the weak witch while Remus pulled the blanket up under her arms and asked her, "Do you feel better now?"
She nodded and whispered faintly, "A little."
Madam Pomfrey smiled down at the witch and gently told her and Remus, "If you need me, I will be in my office." With that, she took her leave, just as James entered.
"Here you are." He set the plate of food and goblet down on the bedside table next to Eve's cot. "Welcome back, Eve." He took his place at Lily's side, but she shook her head and gestured at Marauders to show that they should leave Eve and Remus alone.
Pecking Lily's temple, James told Remus gently, "We'll give you two some time. If you need us," he winked, "just howl for us." He grinned before leading the rest of his friends out of the Hospital Wing.
Covering her face, Eve whimpered, "I'm so sorry; we were having such a lovely Christmas, and I ruined it."
"Oh, now, don't say that; we are having a lovely Christmas," Remus assured her, moving to sit beside her on the bed.
"No. No, these… these visions won't leave me alone. I don't mind visions, but when they do this to me… when they do this to us…"
"That… That was a vision?" Remus asked in shock.
Eve sniffled and nodded. When she released a sob, her boyfriend hurriedly comforted her in his embrace, quieting her and stroking her back.
"What… What did you see?" He asked hesitantly. He was uncertain if he really wanted to know what was to come in the future if it had anything to do with Eve pleading for him not to leave.
He heard her whimper and felt her shake her head against his chest. She sniffled a few times and, clutching into his shirt for support with her nimble fingers, she tilted her red, watery gaze up at him and asked, "Do you fancy me?"
Remus felt shock seize his thought process for an instant. She actually asked him that? She actually had to ask him that? He obviously wasn't doing a very good job at being her beau if she had to ask him what his feelings toward her were.
Cradling her lovely face in his hands, Remus swallowed the lump that had quickly formed in his throat and told her firmly, "Yes, I fancy you. Hell, Eve, I bloody adore you! How could you say at thing like that?"
Eve's tear-ridden eyelashes fluttered then and she asked, hopes enlightened, "R-Really?"
Remus pressed and held a caring kiss to her forehead and reiterated, "Absolutely. How could I not?"
The witch happily pressed her lips to his to show her appreciation. I'll have to be sure to try extra hard this week to get him to stay with me.
She nuzzled into him and swallowed hard. "Remember how I told you the night before last that being affectionate with a werewolf can make me become exceptionally sensitive to psychic tendencies?" When she felt Remus nod, she replied, "Well…"
"So… You mean we can't…?"
"No! That's not what I meant! I meant that… that we'll have to be a little more careful in the future until I'm not a beginner psychic anymore, that's all. Besides, I'd sort of like to experiment with what will and will not invoke a vision." Eve burrowed her head harder into his chest before shyly admitting, "I… I couldn't give up your kisses, anyway, Remus."
Remus chuckled at that before rubbing Eve's shoulder. "Then don't cry, Evie; there's nothing to cry about."
"But I ruined our day!"
"How ruined could our day be if we're with each other, snuggling?" He pointed out.
Eve paused for a moment. Well, he certainly had a point! How was it he always had the insight to look at such a bad situation in a positive light? She tilted her head upward and smiled widely up at him. "I adore you, you know that?"
"For what?"
"For always knowing what to say to make me feel better," she told him as she kissed him once beneath his jawline.
Remus chuckled, and Eve savored the feel of the low rumbling sound reverberating through his chest to her ear before he reached over to the plate of food and insisted, "And now for something to eat…"
"After all that vomiting, I really don't want to," she protested, but Remus would have none of it.
"I want you to eat at least half of this sandwich and drink the juice from the goblet, alright, Evie?" He coaxed, holding up the sandwich for her to try.
"Remus…"
"Eve, I'm serious; you fainted because your stomach was empty. Eat."
"Funny, you don't look like Sirius."
"Eat."
"Fine… Dad," Eve said with a playful wink before taking slow, tiny bites from the sandwich he handed her. When she was finished, he helped her drink from the goblet.
She yawned loudly then and stretched like a feline before relaxing back into him.
"And now I want you to sleep," Remus told her after reading her sleepy body language.
"Mm, no, I've kept you here long enough. Let's do something fun-"
Remus held Eve back from sitting up and said, "No; we'll have a fun day tomorrow at Hogsmeade. You need to rest."
Eve gazed up at Remus dreamily. "You… You want me to go to Hogsmeade with you?"
Remus blushed slightly and said, "Well, I think it would be fun if we went together… but that's only if you want to, of course."
Eve kissed his cheek and assured him, "I'd love to!"
"Great!" He inwardly sighed with relief that she was interested in their date the next day. After his mind had finished wandering to what he hoped their date would be like tomorrow, he straightened up a bit and offered, "Would you… like me to sit in the chair while you sleep?"
Eve's face turned bright red as she fiddled with the covers and said, "Um… Well, if you're alright with it… I was… th-thinking that m-maybe you could… rest with… me? You-You'd have to stay on top of the covers, of course, but… w-would you mind?"
Remus gently smiled down at his blushing girlfriend. "Alright."
He shifted so their bodies were positioned more comfortably against one another before Eve felt her nerves get the better of her that Madam Pomfrey or someone else might walk in and find them like this and she suggested, "Uh-um… Maybe… this might be… too forward…"
Remus immediately hopped off the cot and nodded his head vigorously, not wanting to upset Eve. "Of course, of course!"
"I'm sorry." Eve's eyebrows arched upward as she rolled over to lie on her side and face him.
"No, no; not at all! I don't want to make you uncomfortable, Eve." Remus pecked her cheek once before drawing the chair closer to her cot. Taking her hand, he pecked each knuckle to make her feel better, causing her full lips to curve upward into a sleepy smile.
Squeezing his hand lightly, she attempted to fall asleep like Remus wanted her to. Only trouble was was that she had been so comfortable in his arms that his moving off the cot caused her to be jarred from that position and her happy place. She tossed and turned, rolling this way and that, and even flipped her pillow over, but nothing worked.
Finally, she sighed and opened her eyes to find Remus gazing down at her with an eyebrow arched up. "Is this… always how you go to sleep?" He teased with a grin.
Through a smirk, she blew a curl out of her face and softly said, "No. I was more comfortable resting with you than I am now." Fiddling with the corner of the pillow, Eve proposed, "Would you… mind if I asked you to come back up here with me?"
"Are you sure?" He asked concernedly. "I-I don't want you to feel pressured-"
"I don't, don't worry," Eve assured him with a kiss to his wrist. "I-I want this. I-I mean… again, I don't want you under the covers with me… and I don't want you to lie down with me… I-I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be if… I-I mean, it doesn't seem very proper for us to… A-And we haven't been courting for a terribly long time… unless you count our unofficial courting… But it still isn't so long that we should l-l-lie in bed together; I mean even if we don't… which I should say won't be for quite some time, and…" Remus chuckled amusedly at her and Eve pressed her hand to her nose in embarrassment and apologized, "Oh, I'm sorry, I… I'm babbling, aren't I?"
"No apology needed; I think you're downright adorable when you babble," Remus told her as he pecked the tip of her nose.
"But… do you understand what I mean?" Eve inquired as Remus sat on the edge of the cot and removed his shoes.
"Of course." Remus sat up, as was decided, and held out his arms to her. "You don't want me to lie with you, you want me to hold you. It seems like a simple enough idea to me." As she slid into his embrace, he vowed, "I promise, nothing forward will happen."
"I know," Eve quietly told him on a sigh as she snuggled into his chest. "I trust you."
Remus kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back as she drifted off to sleep. "When you wake up, you'll feel better. And then, when tomorrow comes, we'll have another great day together, you'll see."
Author's Note: Alright, kudos to those who figured out that Eve was having a vision! Questions to the readers: What do you think of the vision? What do you think will happen the next day at Hogsmeade? What do you think of this chapter? Please leave the answer to these questions along with your opinions of the story in a review!