Chapter 37
"Vast and gray, the sky
is a simulacrum
to all but him whose days
are vast and gray, and—
In the tall, dried grasses
a goat stirs
with nozzle searching the ground.
—my head is in the air
but who am I…?
And amazed my heart leaps
at the thought of love
vast and gray
yearning silently over me."
- Carlos Williams [The Desolate Field]
"Is this the kind of thing you like, pet?" Lupin's voice growled into her ear huskily, his hand wrapped tightly around her hair, keeping her from straightening up. Rose gripped the edges of his desk so tightly she felt her nails scratching the surface. Remus had her pinned chest first against the wood, and he was leaned over her, his body pressing heavily against her own.
Rose's heart was hammering in her chest as he used one of his legs to roughly push hers apart. She moaned at the rush of cool air hitting her crotch as he spread her legs. Her thighs trembled when she felt one of his hands lazily slide up the back of her leg and place two fingers against her soaking panties. Rose panted into the desk as he moved them in lazy circles that were driving her crazy.
"Remus," she moaned wantingly, and she could hear the grin in his voice when he spoke next.
"What is it, pet, is something the matter?" He asked. Rose growled, and he laughed good-naturedly at her obvious frustration, pushing her panties to the side. She gasped loudly when he touched her bare skin. "Oh? Was that what you wanted."
"More…" she managed to say, desperate to feel him inside of her.
"Rose," he breathed. "Rose, wake up."
"What?" she furrowed her brow in confusion, not understanding through the haze of pleasure surrounding her.
"Wake up, Rose, we're going to be late for breakfast." Rose blinked her eyes open to see Mariko looking down at her. Her fellow Slytherin quirked a brow at Rose's flushed face and grinned slyly. "Good dream?"
"Shut-up, Mari," Rose blushed, sitting up in bed. Trying not to let her mind linger on the arousing dream she'd been having, or the damp state of her cotton pajama bottoms. She quickly dressed and followed Mari out of their dorm and down the stairs to the common room.
"Morning Draco," Rose said to her brother who was descending from his own dormitory.
"Hey," he responded moodily, falling into step with her and Mariko. The three followed a group of Slytherins out of the common room heading up for breakfast.
"No Crabbe and Goyle today?"
"They were being irritating. I told them to go ahead without me."
"No Patsy?"
"It's Pansy," Draco snapped at her, and Rose grinned unapologetically.
"Whatever," Rose said with a flick of her wrist.
"She hasn't been around much since we lost the match," Draco admitted grumpily, and Rose winced. It was always like this with Slytherins. When the team won, they were the heroes; when they lost, they tended to be reviled for a few weeks until the rest of the House got over it. As Slytherin had been in a two-hundred-point lead over Gryffindor before their match and had failed to maintain a five year winning streak, the loss was particularly devastating.
"She'll get over it," Rose comforted him, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"I thought you were brilliant," a small voice from behind the trio piped up. Rose and Draco both turned to see a Slytherin first-year who'd apparently been trailing behind them. She was quite thin, small, and pale but her large brown eyes looking up at Draco in obvious admiration.
"I didn't ask you," Draco snapped at her, his lips curling back from his mouth cruelly. The young girl's eyes grew watery, and she turned and fled. Rose gave him a disapproving look.
"Well done, Draco, way to make an ass of yourself."
"She's been following me around all year, I'm sick of it," he said, looking down at his feet.
"That doesn't mean you can make a little girl cry. Remember what father says about being a gentleman."
"I don't need you to lecture me," Draco grumbled but looked properly chastised.
"Who was she anyway?" Rose asked as they emerged onto the first floor.
"One of the Greengrass girls."
"Draco," Rose sighed in exasperation. "You really do need to work on your manners. That family is almost as powerful as ours."
"I get it, alright!" He snapped at her. Rose raised her eyebrows at him in irritation, and Draco looked at his feet. "I'm sorry, Rose."
"That's okay little brother," Rose grinned, leaning in and giving him an obnoxiously loving side-hug, laying her cheek on the top of his head. She would miss being able to do this when he was finally taller than her. Draco quickly pealed himself from her embrace and fled into the Great Hall as Rose snickered to herself. She and Mariko stepped to the side of the doors to let Professor Dumbledore exit the hall. He turned twinkling blue eyes upon them and gave them both a wide smile.
"Morning Miss Arai, Miss Malfoy," he said jovially.
"Good morning Headmaster," Mari and Rose chorused.
Turning to Rose, he said, "I just finished perusing your article over my morning bowl of rhubarb porridge—I was thrilled to start my day off on such a positive note, I quite enjoyed it."
"Thank you, sir," Rose said, realizing her animagus article must have just published in Transfiguration Today.
"I'm glad to see that this year has been so instrumental in broadening your perspective," he told her, clapping Rose on the shoulder and walking off. She watched him go with a confused look on her face. She wasn't sure how becoming an animagus was supposed to have broadened her perspective. Maybe he meant the literal perspective of becoming a fox? One could never be quite certain with a wizard as eccentric as Albus Dumbledore.
"What was that about?" Mariko asked curiously.
"I had an article set to publish in Transfiguration Today. I guess the edition must have just been released," Rose said as they sat down at the Slytherin table.
"Dumbledore would eat rhubarb porridge, what a fucking weirdo," Mariko said with a vaguely disgusted look on her face as she scooped some eggs and roasted potatoes onto her plate.
"He definitely has… odd tastes," Rose agreed, thinking of the garishly yellow robes Dumbledore had been prone to wearing during their first year at Hogwarts.
"Lupin's looking like he might be getting sick again," Mari observed as she glanced up at the staff table.
Rose, who knew that the next full moon was coming up the first week of May just nodded in agreement. Remus was pale and tired looking this morning but didn't have the same dark circles under his eyes that she knew he'd acquire in a few days. Looking up from his breakfast, he smiled tiredly at the two of them, and Rose tried to hide her blush as Mariko waved back. She saw the flicker of curiosity in Lupin's eyes at her reaction, but Rose was determined not to look at him again—afraid it would recall the dream to her mind. When she did glance up at him out of the corner of her eye a few minutes later, she could tell that he was looking very smug and knew he must have guessed why she wouldn't meet his gaze. 'Infuriating man,' she thought with a smile, her heart thudding happily.
They had made it to breakfast just in time for the morning mail to begin arriving. Owls swooped in sporadically, and students scrambled to catch letters and packages before they could land in their food. As expected, the Malfoy's elegant barn owl swooped down towards Rose, dropping a thick rolled up paper over her head. Reaching out a hand, she snatched it out of the air with the practiced coordination of a chaser, quickly slipped the string of twine off the roll, and began to flip through the pages eagerly.
"What is it?" Mariko asked between a bite of her eggs when she realized Rose hadn't moved for several seconds and her mouth was parted in shock.
"This… this is… my lycanthropy essay," Rose gaped at the black and white pages. Her eyes were glued uncomprehendingly to the title which read 'A Shift in Strategy: Transfiguration and the Future of Lycanthropic Research.' Slowly, her eyes traveled down the page where she saw the words, 'written by Roselin Malfoy; endorsed by Damien Angevin.' She felt tears unexpectedly well in her eyes and quickly put her hands over her face to hide them.
"Rose, are you alright?" Mariko asked in alarm, and Rose nodded, sniffling into her palms. After a few calming breaths she managed to get her emotions back under control and pull her face out of her hands.
"I'm just so happy," she managed to say through the enormous smile on her face. Rose had worked so hard to research and write that essay, and for months all her hopes and dreams were wrapped up in its successful publication. When it had been rejected, she'd felt utterly devastated. Knowing that Damien Angevin had read it and thought it good enough that he'd reached out to Transfiguration was like something out of a dream.
Rose couldn't stop grinning all through breakfast, trying to think of what she could write to Damien in a thank you note that would possibly convey how grateful she was to him. Later that day when she sat down for double Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, she was still grinning from ear to ear. McGonagall looked over at her from behind her desk, a copy of Transfiguration Today clearly visible on its surface. As the other students trailed in, McGonagall didn't say a word, but her sharp eyes met Rose's and she gave her an approving and congratulatory nod—a small motherly smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Rose had never felt as proud of herself as she did in that moment.
