Chapter 38 Don't Drink the Punch
Reluctantly, Remus pulled back, not wanting the moment to end, but eager to know how Lindi felt. She stood there, eyes still closed, as if she hadn't noticed the kiss was over. Slowly, her lashes fluttered open and she gazed up at him. A dreamy smile crossed her lips. Remus' stomach did a complete flip as he realized she must have liked it. His butterflies were flapping about madly when she tilted her head up a little more, inviting him to kiss her again. He gladly obliged, and when he lowered his lips to hers once more, he felt her return his kiss this time, pressing her lips to his softly. A tingling current flowed through him. After all this time and all they'd been through, they were finally together. They were friends, and more…and they were finally kissing, a slow, tender kiss.
Finally, he drew back and looked down at her. He didn't know what to say, but he just didn't care. Words simply were not necessary just now. He slid his hand slowly to her mouth and wiped away a tiny smudge of lipstick. She smiled, blushing, but didn't look away. Part of him wanted to pull her up and start kissing her again and not stop until they had to board the train for home next morning.
But the other part of him wanted to cherish the splendor they had just shared, the first kiss…sweet and pure. He didn't want the memory of it to be lost in a blur of snogging. Not that he didn't have an intense desire to snog her until his lips fell off, but, looking into her eyes, he knew there would be time for that later.
But for now, they had a single perfect moment.
If they left, it would stay that way, indelibly etched in his memory.
"We should go back to the ball," he said in a hushed voice, not wanting to disturb the lingering mood.
There was a slight hesitation and then she whispered, "Okay." But they stood there, holding on to one another, both seemingly unwilling to make the first move apart. Remus wanted to kiss her again, but was afraid if he did he would never be able to stop.
"Okay," he finally said, letting go of her and taking her hand as he headed for the opening.
They walked silently to it, and he pressed his ear to the back of the mirror, listening for sounds in the corridor. Once he was sure it was clear, he pushed the mirror out and held it for her. She glanced up at him as she slipped through, and in the brief instant their eyes met, he noticed a subtle look of…was that doubt?
Remus knew what she was thinking; she was worried that he didn't try to kiss her more. What if I'm no good at it? flashed through his memory. How could she be so insecure? He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back inside.
"Lindi," he said desperately. The look in her eyes nearly melted him to the floor. He reached up, clasping her head in his hands, and gazed into her eyes, ready to tell her he loved kissing her. Instead, he found himself actually doing it. After all, actions speak louder than words.
The kiss was long and firm, filled with emotion that had been building for months. He wanted to leave her with no doubt about his feelings for her. When he finally released her, he was completely breathless.
"Now we really should go," he said. "I'm afraid if we don't, we'll miss the entire ball."
The smile that graced her lovely flushed face assured him that he had done the right thing. Maybe he wasn't such a clumsy and dull prat after all. Suddenly, the night was more perfect than he could have dreamed. He even felt like taking her for a turn on the dance floor.
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They walked back down to the Great Hall, hand in hand. At first, they shared only knowing smiles and a companionable silence. But shortly, they were talking and laughing, discussing the advantages of CPR.
"Mouth to mouth, eh?" Lindi giggled, the balls of her cheeks turning pink. "Well, if I ever stop breathing, I won't hex you if you give it to me."
"That's a relief to know," Remus teased. He didn't point out that she would be unlikely to hex him (or anybody else, for that matter) for just about anything.
They descended the stairs into the crowded Entrance Hall. The band was obviously on another break and students were going out onto the front steps to cool off. He saw James and Diana standing in a corner, sweat sticking James' fringe to his forehead. They must have been dancing a lot. Just then, Sirius and Leanna came in from the front steps and joined them.
Remus guided Lindi in that direction and James looked up, shooting him a grin.
"So, where have you two been?" James asked (as if he didn't know).
"We just went for a walk," Remus answered.
"Ah," said Sirius. "Good walk I hope?"
Remus and Lindi shared a glance. "Yes, it was, thanks," said Remus. He looked back up and just when he felt the goofy grin breaking uncontrollably on his face, a flash flared in his eyes. Someone had taken their picture. He knew he would probably look ridiculous, but he didn't care. He didn't even care about the rather immature way his friends were smirking at one another and him, as if none of them had ever kissed a girl before.
They all went back into the ball and found Peter and Lucy at one of the tables along the wall, laughing.
"What's so funny?" asked Sirius.
"Have you done the crystal ball?" Peter asked in response.
"No, there's been too much of a line," said James.
"What does it do?" asked Lindi.
"You put your hand on a knob and somehow, it forms an image of you inside the crystal ball," Peter explained. "But it shows you in the future."
"Of course, it's just a joke," Lucy interrupted. She hit Peter on the arm when he burst out laughing.
"Lucy's going to be a huge singing star and wear red leather and spiked purple hair," Peter nearly choked on his laughter.
"Well, Mr. Azkaban detainee," Lucy smirked. "Those striped pajamas weren't exactly posh."
"You're going to be in Azkaban?" barked Sirius. "I can see that." And the friends shared a good laugh, making plans to try the crystal ball when the line dwindled.
After a short time, Leanna and Lindi made a trip to the bathroom. Remus had a feeling Lindi probably didn't need to go, as she had gone a little earlier and hadn't had anything to drink since, but he could tell that Leanna had been dying to get Lindi alone since she and Remus had returned from their walk.
"Oi, Moony, I think I see smoke coming out of your ears," James teased, after the girls were gone. "They have to be burning."
In order to prevent any further embarrassing comments, Remus excused himself to go get drinks. He was a bit thirsty at this point.
He took a bottle of butterbeer for himself and sat it on the table while he filled a glass with punch for Lindi. A shadow crossed the table as someone walked up to his side.
"So, you're here with Dellington."
The hair on Remus neck prickled at the sneering voice. He really didn't want to have to deal with anything unpleasant tonight, now that things were going so well.
"Yes, I am," he said calmly.
"Let me guess—that potion you botched was actually Amortentia and you finally managed to get it somehow," said Severus.
Remus smiled patiently. He would not allow Severus to goad him into an argument. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to ruin the rest of this night. He glanced over at the table where his friends sat, thankful that they were clearly engrossed in their conversation.
"Yes," hissed Severus, following Remus gaze. "I suppose the four of you might be able to muster enough intelligence between you to concoct it, though I must admit, I'm amazed."
"If you'll excuse me, Severus, Lindi is waiting for her punch," Remus said politely.
"Don't forget to spike it," said Severus. "Amortentia is powerful, but it isn't permanent."
"Thank you for the tip," said Remus. You bloody arse!
"By the way," continued Severus. Remus considered simply ignoring him, but it wasn't in his nature to be rude. He turned back around. "Interesting that you were injured working on a potion…"
"Why is that?" asked Remus, a sense of apprehension coming over him.
"I was in the Potions Dungeon all that evening. I didn't see you or your friends there at all." Severus raised a brow accusingly.
"That's because we weren't in the Potions Dungeon," said Remus evenly.
"Obviously," snarled Severus. "And you just happened to have all the necessary Potions ingredients handy, as you never once needed to visit the stores."
"We planned carefully," said Remus. "Now I would really like to get back to my date. Goodbye, Severus."
Remus headed back to the table and his friends, glad to get away from the suspicious accusations. He assured himself that Severus was simply fishing, and Remus felt confident that he hadn't provided any extra bait.
Still, it worried him that Severus had given the situation any consideration at all. Why couldn't he just stay out of their affairs? Remus tried to set the worry aside so he could enjoy the evening with Lindi and his friends.
He sat the drinks down on the table, noting that Diana and Lucy had disappeared. He assumed they had decided they needed to visit the lavatory, too.
"What did Snivellus want?" asked Sirius. Obviously they had seen the exchange. Remus was very relieved that they had seen fit to let him handle it on his own. He filled them in on the confrontation.
"One of these days, he's going to stick his ugly conk where it doesn't belong, and it's going to get ripped off," said Sirius.
"Yeah," said James, nodding. "Why can't that greasy git mind his own business? I don't know why he's so concerned about what you do."
"I'm telling you; he fancies Moony," Sirius said, starting to grin.
"Please don't," said Remus. While he preferred the teasing to them planning some sort of retaliation, he felt a little sickened by the joke. It was hard to imagine Severus fancying anyone, but…Remus shuddered.
His friends sniggered. "It does sound like he's a bit jealous that you are here with Lindi," Peter added to the teasing.
"Then he's jealous of me because he fancies her. That is a slightly more plausible explanation," said Remus. He imagined that if Severus fancied anyone, it might be Lindi. After all, she was nearly perfect. Even Severus had to see that.
But Remus didn't want to think about Severus thinking about Lindi like that, any more than he wanted to think about Severus thinking about him. Ughhh… And it didn't explain why Severus was so interested in him and the Marauders' activities, since that had started long before Lindi had arrived at Hogwarts.
But Remus didn't want to dwell on that. He changed the subject. They discussed the visit to his parents' house the next morning. It was a short conversation, as they didn't really have big plans. They were simply going to relax and be spontaneous, even if they spontaneously did absolutely nothing.
The girls returned and the Hobgoblins took the stage again. Remus and Lindi joined his friends out on the open floor, beneath the giant crystal that hung suspended above them. When the music started, they all danced amid the thousands of rainbows radiating from the spinning prism, if one could call it dancing. Remus tried not to recall the image of Sirius and Lindi gliding gracefully around the room, Sirius' hands on her, their bodies pressed together as he so expertly guided her across the floor. One of these days, Remus was definitely going to have to learn to dance like that, but for now, he followed everyone else and flailed around like a lunatic. They certainly didn't look suave and debonair, but they were definitely having fun, and Remus only stepped on her foot once. Then, of course, there was the pleasure of the occasional and much too infrequent slow dance. Again, it didn't have the grace and style of the formal dances Sirius had led her in, but it gave Remus the chance to hold her tightly to himself. It was wonderful, even if they were just swaying back and forth in circles. He didn't even notice when his friends left the dance floor and wandered off.
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Remus and Lindi danced the entire set, until Remus felt as though his legs would give way. When the band finally took a break, Lindi looked up grinning and groaned. Even she was out of breath.
"I need to sit down. I think my toes might be bleeding," she said. "I need to put another cushioning charm on these shoes."
"Alright," Remus said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I need to go to the bathroom. I'll meet you back at the table."
"Alright, but if I'm not there, I'll be talking to Em and Hilda. They're right over there," Lindi said, pointing across the room.
When Remus returned to the ball, he spotted Lindi standing with her friends, talking animatedly. She looked like she was enjoying her conversation, so he decided to go to the table and wait for her to finish. On his way, he picked up another butterbeer for himself and a cup of punch for Lindi. She already had one in her hand, but they had been dancing so much, he was parched and thought she might like another, as well. In any case, he would have it for her if she did.
As he filled the cup, he couldn't help but overhear an argument brewing between a couple standing to the side of the refreshment table. He was amazed at the things they were saying to one another. Not that he was exactly a master of dating etiquette, but he knew better than to tell a date her robes showed her stomach bulges. He walked away quickly, not wanting to get caught in the middle when things got really ugly. The night was going far too well to be interrupted by having to perform prefect duties.
He made his way back to the table where Sirius, James, and Peter sat with their dates. As he weaved his way through the throng of people, he got the feeling something strange was going on. Half of the people he passed seemed to be having an argument of some sort. Didn't they all realize what an amazingly wondrous night this was? But when he was nearly doused with punch as a girl threw the contents of her cup into the face of a boy standing next to her, he knew something was wrong. His suspicions were further aroused when he noticed his three friends laughing and pointing at a fracas that had erupted within a circle of Slytherins on the far side of the room. Professor McGonagall was pushing her way to the center in order to break it up.
He sat his drinks on the table and took a seat. "What is going on?" he asked.
"Dunno, but tempers seem to be flaring, don't they?" said James, and he and Sirius shared an amused look.
"Yes, they do," said Remus, eyeing them suspiciously. "I almost got a cup of punch in the face, walking past another argument."
"You aren't drinking that punch, are you?" asked Sirius, nodding towards the cup in front of Remus.
"No, I got it for Lindi. Why, do you want it?"
"No," said Sirius quickly. "But thanks."
James sniggered quietly.
"You can have it; it's only going to get warm. I'll get her some when she gets back," Remus said.
"No, really," said Sirius. "I'm fine." He leaned over and whispered under his breath, "But don't let Lindi drink it."
Remus started to ask him why not, knowing that they had done something that couldn't be considered being on their best behavior, when Leanna spoke up.
"Where is Lindi, anyway?" she asked.
"She's over there, talking to Em and Hilda," said Remus, nodding in Lindi's direction.
"Uh, oh," muttered James, glancing at the three girls.
"Uh, oh, what?" asked Remus. He looked back across the hall.
He saw Lindi cover her mouth with her open hand, apparently giggling, and in her other hand was a cup of punch. Remus got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Emmeline and Hilda laughed as Lindi turned to walk away. She glanced in his direction and smiled brightly when she saw him and headed in his direction. Remus wasn't sure but she seemed to be talking to herself. That was very strange. But something apparently distracted her, causing her to pause and look to the side. Remus followed her gaze.
Oh, no…Darlene….
Darlene was saying something to Lindi that made her frown. Constance, who was standing with Darlene along with their dates, looked uncomfortable, and grabbed Darlene by the arm, pulling her away. Remus wondered if he should go and see what was going on. Hopefully, Lindi would just ignore Darlene, and hurry back so that they could get on with their lovely evening without incident. Knowing Lindi as he did, he felt sure that she would. But just as Constance had convinced Darlene to turn away, Lindi said something, prompting her to turn back. Whatever Darlene said in response, made Lindi's mouth drop. Remus could see her sputtering, struggling for a reply. He stood up.
"What's wrong?" asked Peter.
Before Remus could answer, Lindi had said something back to Darlene that clearly enraged her. Darlene made a reach for what Remus assumed was her wand, but she couldn't seem to find it in her dress robes. Thank goodness, Remus breathed a sigh of relief. But Lindi said something else, and in an obvious fury, Darlene pulled her hand back and slapped Lindi hard on the face.
Oh, crap! Remus rushed forward, trying to make his way through the crowded hall.
"Bloody hell," he heard Peter say.
Before Remus could reach the girls, a full blown cat fight had erupted. Darlene grabbed Lindi by the hair as she was trying to walk away and yanked her back hard. The girls were slapping and clawing at each other. Remus picked up his pace, pushing people out of his way, eager to stop the fight before Lindi was hurt, or one of the professors spotted them. Fortunately, there were plenty of other disputes to keep the staff distracted. As Remus got closer, he could hear the things the girls were saying.
"You nasty little slag! Little Miss Goody-two-shoes—I saw you coming back from upstairs. Had a nice shag, did you?" snarled Darlene. She had grabbed Lindi around the neck in a headlock.
"Arghhh, you are such a vulgar little bi...arhhh, that hurts!" cried Lindi, and she yanked on a fistful of Darlene's hair, soliciting a yelp of pain in return.
Remus finally broke through the ring of students who were watching in amazement, and pulled Darlene off of Lindi.
"Get off me, you bloody git," Darlene spat nastily.
Remus glared at her date. "Get her out of here!" he snapped, and the fifth year Slytherin grinned and dragged her away, trailing a string of obscenities and accusations behind her.
"That—that—that BITCH!" cried Lindi. She was shaking with rage and embarrassment.
Remus and Leanna led her through the crowd and out of the Great Hall to the shadows beneath the staircase. The entire way, Lindi railed about how awful Darlene was or how embarrassed she felt.
"I'll never be able to show my face again," she moaned. "Now everyone will think Remus and I have been shagging! But we weren't! We only kissed. He didn't even try to touch my br—"
"Lindi!" Leanna cut her off.
Thank goodness. James and Sirius looked fit to burst. Diana looked at Remus and grinned, making his face grow warm.
"Don't worry about it," continued Leanna. "No one believes Darlene. Everybody knows she's just trying to pick a fight."
"Yes, but why didn't I just keep my mouth shut? I shouldn't have let her get to me. But she's so hateful! I'm so sick of it! I just couldn't help it!" Lindi took a deep breath and hung her head. She reached up and touched a piece of fabric that had come loose from the bodice of her robes and groaned.
"Oh, no, my robes—she tore my robes. That rotten little—Ooohh, that bitch tore my beautiful robes!" she cried. "It took almost every knut I made last summer to buy these. I had to put up with nasty git drunkards trying to peek down my top and groping my arse for that money!" She looked up and cringed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that—but dammit, it's the truth!"
Remus stared in amazement. What on earth had they put in that punch? He didn't find her bluntness particularly attractive, but it was nice to know that somewhere, hidden behind that demure, genteel exterior, there was a bit of fire.
"We'll fix them, Lindi," said Leanna, calmly, pulling out her wand. She looked up and made a funny face at them, amazed at Lindi's outburst, too.
"No!" said Lindi, pushing Leanna's wand aside. "I appreciate it, Leanna, but I don't want the repair to show. You're pretty good, but you still leave seams. Remember that patch you made on your black chemise. You can really tell it's been mended."
Leanna gave her a slightly offended look. "You said it looked good," she said.
"Well, yes," said Lindi. "I didn't want to hurt your feelings, and since I didn't figure anyone would be seeing it, I didn't think it would matter."
Leanna looked a little embarrassed.
"Oh, no," said Lindi. "Someone saw it. I bet it was Sirius. Of course, he's probably seen more than—"
"Lindi!" cried Leanna.
"What?" Lindi asked, distracted from her train of thought.
"Your robes…we were talking about your robes," said Leanna, clearly determined to change the subject. Remus could hardly blame her. "Do you want me to help you mend them or not?"
"No, thank you. I want to take them back to Madam Malkin. She charges a fortune, but she'll make them look like new. I've a good mind to send the bill to Darlene's mum and dad!" Lindi looked back at the torn fabric and sighed. "Oh she is such a bitch!"
Leanna looked bewildered. "Lindi, what is going on? How on earth did you end up fighting?" she asked.
"I was just walking back from talking to Em and Hilda, and Darlene started saying things to me, some pretty hateful things. I think she's drunk! She is such a nasty little—bitch!" Lindi put her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry; my mouth is horrible. I don't know what's wrong with me."
Sirius, James, and Peter tried their best not to laugh. Remus knew they had something to do with all this and he wanted to know what it was. He left Leanna to calm Lindi, and motioned his friends aside. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard from inside the Great Hall and the ruckus grew louder. Lucy and Diana rushed to see what had happened.
"Okay, what is in the punch?" Remus asked discreetly, glaring at them. "Is she drunk?"
"What makes you so sure we know?" asked James.
"Because I know you; now what did you do? You had to do more than spike it with Firewhiskey." Remus looked at them accusingly. Before they could answer, Lindi's voice rose shrilly.
"And then, she said the only reason Remus was with me was because I have big bristols and wiggle my arse in his face," she said. "Which is not true! First of all, they aren't that big, and I don't wiggle it in anyone's face. And Remus likes me. He couldn't care less about my bristols or my arse." She turned and looked him in the eye. "Could you, Remus?"
Remus blinked. Several people standing on the stairs leaned over the banister to look at him, sniggering. "Erm…er…" How on earth was he supposed to answer that question without blatantly lying? "That is definitely not the reason I asked you to the ball. You know Darlene is just trying to cause trouble."
Sirius, James, and Peter looked like their heads might explode from holding in their laughter.
"I know; she's just jealous!" Lindi snapped. Suddenly, the look in her eyes softened as she smiled at him. "I can't really blame her, though. She knows what a great kisser you are."
Oh, great Godric Gryffindor! What had they put in the bloody punch? He couldn't even look at the three sniggering idiots standing beside him. Even Leanna sniggered.
Lindi looked around. "Did I just say that out loud?" she asked.
Unable to stop himself grinning, Remus nodded.
"Oh, crap," Lindi moaned, covering her face in her hands. "What is the matter with me? I can't believe I just told everyone you are a great kisser—even though you are." She flinched and looked up, completely mortified. "I said it again. I can't help it. But you really are, and I really want you to kiss me some more. Ahhrr…" she cried as their friends ceased trying not to laugh. She looked over at Leanna. "Help…I have to get out of here before I say something really embarrassing."
"Such as?" asked Sirius eagerly.
"I don't know," she said shrilly. "I might say…." She clasped her hands hard over her mouth, muffling whatever embarrassing thing she was saying and turned and bolted across the hall and up the stairs. She only got to the third step when she tripped on the hem of her robes and fell forward, forcing herself to release her mouth. "…just wonderful. Now I won't be able to kiss him any…" and she covered her mouth with one hand again, grabbed up her robes with the other so she wouldn't step on them, and dashed up the stairs.
"Lindi, wait!" called Remus, rushing behind her.
She stopped and turned to him, holding her mouth tightly.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
She removed her hand from her mouth. "Somewhere where I won't say anything I don't want to say to anyone. I think I'll go to…" she clamped down on her mouth again, turned and darted the rest of the way up the stairs and out of sight.
Remus almost followed her, but knew she didn't want to be near anyone, even him. While his curiosity was definitely peaked and the temptation to hear what she might have to say was great, he also knew it wasn't fair to take advantage of whatever had been done to her.
Instead, he turned and glared at his friends. Thanks to them, his date was now in hiding, the date that he had been waiting to have for months, the date that apparently really wanted to be kissing him!
He started back towards them, determined to get an explanation and to find out just how long Lindi was going to be affected. But the sound of shattering glass echoed through the doorway to the Great Hall, making him turn to look. Lucy stuck her head through and waved, motioning them to join her. Her eyes were wide with wonder at whatever was going on inside. Peter rushed to the doorway, his own eyes popping.
Suddenly, there was an abrupt silence from inside the Great Hall. "May I have your attention," Professor Dumbledore's voice reverberated through the hall. Remus and the others walked to the doorway and looked inside. He could barely believe the chaos in front of him. Obviously, the Headmaster had placed a Silencing Charm in addition to a Freezing Charm on the entire room. Several of the crystal statues lay in ruins and the giant crystal ball had been shattered and glass fragments were frozen, suspended in midair. Numerous students were caught holding their wands, and more than a couple of outright brawls had been halted, students' fists stopped in mid swing.
"I believe it is time for the ball to come to a close," the Headmaster said. He waved his wand and the glass fragments disappeared from the air. "If all professors, the Head Boy and Girl, and prefects could see to it that all those affected make it safely to their rooms, please." He waved his wand, freeing the staff from the spells so they could do what he asked, and Remus went forward with the rest of the prefects and professors. "I will remove the Silencing Charm from the rest when the danger has passed. Oh, and Happy Christmas to you all."
Professor Dumbledore waved his wand over the fighting students, and their wands and fists were lowered and pressed to their sides. Then he lifted the Freezing Charm so that they could return to their dormitories. Now that no one could say anything insulting to anyone else, they went fairly calmly to their rooms. Remus got the feeling it might take a while for some of the hurt feelings to subside. But as long as they weren't attacking each other, his job was finished, and he could finally go find out what his friends had done. But more importantly, he could go find Lindi.
Remus made his way towards Gryffindor Tower to retrieve the Marauder's Map, but ran into Lily and Hallam rounding a corner. They were discussing the incident and had apparently just finished taking some rather irate Hufflepuffs back to their dormitories.
"Hi, Remus, what are you doing? " Lily asked.
"I just finished getting some of the Ravenclaws back to their dormitory. Unfortunately, two of their prefects were affected by whatever…" Remus paused before adding whatever was put in the punch. He wasn't sure that the cause of the disruptions had been linked to the punch and didn't want to incriminate his friends. "…by whatever happened."
"Well, where is Lindi?"
"I don't know. I need to find her and make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."
"Why, wasn't she with you?" asked Lily.
"No, she ran away when she started saying all sorts of things, so she wouldn't embarrass herself or anyone else. I'm afraid she was a victim of—whatever happened," said Remus.
"So you weren't involved then," said Lily, seeming to be relieved and a bit surprised. "I thought for sure it was you and those friends of yours. I'm so glad it wasn't. Otherwise, I don't think I could have spent the next couple of days without trying to kill you all. But I guess it's safe to say you wouldn't have let Lindi get involved if you had been behind it."
"No, I certainly wouldn't have," said Remus. A huge pang of guilt hit him, but he simply couldn't admit that it had been his friends. He was looking so forward to the visit at his house and he didn't want this to ruin it. Besides, he didn't know exactly what had transpired. Maybe it was remotely possible that his friends hadn't actually been responsible. Right, Remus…You don't believe that for a half a second.
"Well, do you need some help finding her?" asked Hallam.
"No, thank you. I'm pretty sure I know where to look," said Remus, and he noticed the pleased look on the young man's face.
"Okay, well, have a Happy Christmas," said Hallam cheerfully. Clearly, he didn't want to spend the rest of his evening with Lily looking for Remus' date, and Remus could hardly blame him.
"Thanks, Hal, you too," said Remus.
"I'll see you bright and early in the morning," said Lily. "So don't stay out too late." She grinned mischievously.
Remus tried his best not to blush, but it was hopeless. He turned and continued quickly towards Gryffindor Tower. He checked his watch; it was a couple minutes past midnight. The ball should only now be starting to break up. At least they had waited until shortly before it was supposed to be over before they chose to ruin it. How long had it been since Lindi had run away? It couldn't have been more than a half hour or so.
Remus finally entered the corridor to Gryffindor House. He passed several couples saying their goodnights and reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. She and her friend were giggling like school girls, and Remus thought the Fat Lady sounded a bit on the tipsy side when she asked for the password.
"Brandy butter," he said, and she admitted him into the opening.
There were more people in the Common Room than would normally be there this late on an ordinary night, but a few were lingering about apparently not wanting the festivities to end. Couples were scattered about the room, mostly snogging in the shadows. Remus spotted James and Diana sitting on the sofa in front of the fire along with Phyllis Marshall and Martin Deevers. He would have liked to talk to James briefly about the incident, but knew it would have to wait until they were alone. Instead, he headed upstairs to check the map for Lindi. He would ask Peter about it, if he was there.
Remus opened the door and entered the darkened room. He looked over to see if Peter was already asleep, but his bed was empty. Then, he noticed the small slurping sounds and heavy breathing drifting across the room from behind the drawn curtains of Sirius' bed. Great, Sirius had Leanna in their room. Remus didn't even want to think about how he had sneaked her in, as she was not a Gryffindor. Surely he hadn't used the Invisibility Cloak? They were very careful to keep that most prized of James' possessions secret.
But, however Sirius had done it, they were in there and Remus wanted to hurry up and give them some privacy, even if they weren't paying any notice that he was there. Trying very hard to ignore the noises coming from behind the bed curtains, Remus grabbed the Marauder's Map, and the Invisibility Cloak while he was at it, and took them both with him, stuffing them in the pockets of his robes.
He hurried quietly back out, shut the door behind him and went back to the Common Room, nearly colliding with Peter as he passed through the opening.
"Oi, where are you going this late, Moony?" Peter asked.
"To find Lindi," said Remus. "You didn't see her did you? Did you just come back from walking Lucy back to Ravenclaw?"
"Yeah, but I didn't see Lindi. Did you check the map?" Peter asked quietly.
"Not yet, I didn't want to disturb Sirius," Remus smirked significantly. "You don't want to go up there, by the way."
"Why not?" asked Peter, then his eyes widened in comprehension. "He doesn't have Leanna up there?"
"Well, he has someone up there. I just assume it's Leanna, but I didn't stop to ask."
"Why didn't he take her to the cave?" snarled Peter. "I'm knackered."
Remus shrugged. Actually, that was a good question, as Remus had been sure Sirius had been planning to take Leanna to the secret passageway they called the cave, the very cave Remus had taken Lindi to earlier.
It gave him an idea. But first… "How long will Lindi be affected by the punch?" Remus asked. "What did you put in it?"
"I'm not really sure. It was that potion they were talking about," said Peter shrugging.
"What potion?"
"That one they concocted during one of their detentions a couple months ago," said Peter as if Remus knew what he was talking about. "Professor Slughorn really should pay more attention, but apparently he was talking to some of his Slug Club."
"I don't remember that," said Remus.
"I'm pretty sure it was right before a full moon, remember?" said Peter, as if that explained Remus' confusion. And of course it would explain it. Remus was often distracted by his illness that close to the full moon.
"Well, do you have any idea how long it lasts?" asked Remus.
"Not long," said Peter. "They said twenty, twenty-five minutes at most."
Well, that was a relief. Now if Remus could find Lindi before she went back to her room, she might actually stay and talk to him, or…
He told Peter he'd see him later and hurried out of the portrait hole and through the corridors until he was alone. He pulled out the map and looked first at the secret passage on fourth floor. Just as he had suspected, Lindi was there. Had she gone there knowing he would look for her? He hoped so, but rather thought it was simply the only place she could think of that no one would find. In any case, he hurried up the stairs.
He pulled the mirror back from the wall and glanced inside, not wanting to startle Lindi. He needn't have worried when he saw her stretched out on the rug in front of the fire, obviously asleep. Quietly, he walked over and knelt down beside her, watching her for a moment. He almost hated to disturb her, but he couldn't leave her here all night.
"Lindi," he said softly, reaching out and stroking her cheek. She stirred slightly but didn't wake. Hmmm…she was a sound sleeper. Or was she simply too exhausted? After all, it had been a long and somewhat stressful day for them both, though it had turned out quite nicely (other than the bloody punch). "Lindi," he said a little louder, shaking her shoulder gently.
She looked up groggily. "Remus?" she mumbled. "What…where am…" She looked around. "Oh, yeah, what time is it?"
He checked his watch. "It's Twelve-twenty," he told her. "Are you alright?"
"Ummhm," she said as she lifted herself to sit. "What happened?"
"Someone spiked the punch with—with some sort of truth potion," he said.
"Veritaserum?" she asked, amazed. "That's restricted. They could get into huge trouble for that. Who did it?"
"They haven't been caught yet, but I don't think it was Veritaserum. I don't think they would be that stupid," he said. Again, the pang of guilt stabbed at him. He was getting furious with his friends for putting him in the position to have to lie to not only Lily, but to Lindi as well. Didn't he already have to deceive her enough? You don't have to, Remus. But he pushed the niggling guilt to the back of his mind when he looked into her eyes. She looked down blushing.
"I can't believe I said—those things," she said softly.
Remus hardly knew what to say, and the fluttering in his stomach only made it harder to think.
"I hope I didn't embarrass you," she whispered, clearly mortified.
"No," he assured her, though she had, but in a very good way. He didn't want her to be embarrassed; she wouldn't even look at him. He needed to say something. But it was so awkward. He thought back to the other conversations they had had. He usually did well when he was making light of an awkward moment. "Now if you had said I was a bad kisser, well…"
Lindi threw her hands over her face and groaned.
Uh, oh, was that the wrong thing to say?
But when she looked up and smiled, looking horribly chagrined, he knew it would be fine and smiled back.
They sat there for a moment until he realized they were doing it again, staring at each other, grinning stupidly.
"So," he said. He remembered what she had said about wanting to kiss him more. Did she really mean it, or was it just one of those things that crossed her mind that she wanted to do sometime in the future? That was the problem with knowing everything someone thought; people didn't always intend to act on the things that crossed their minds. But she just looked at him, waiting—but for what? "We have to be up early to catch the train," he said. "Are you tired? Do you want me to walk you back to Ravenclaw?" Please say not yet!
"Oh, well, I guess—if you are tired," she muttered. "Do you want to go?"
He smiled to himself. Why on earth were they dancing around each other? Hadn't they learned their lesson? He might be forced to lie to her about his prat friends, and other things…but he didn't have to lie to her about his feelings. And he wouldn't!
"No," he said truthfully. "I don't." He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, leaving his hand resting on her cheek.
Her eyes sparkled in the fire light. "Me neither," she breathed.