24.  The Rewards of Heroism

Once Evangeline and Remus had had breakfast in the morning, they were given a thorough examination by Poppy.  Evangeline was told that she would be free to go.

"However, you are to rest!  No work today, and no climbing around on ladders for at least a week!  I don't want you undoing my good work."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey.  I promise to be careful," said a properly subdued Evangeline.

Poppy nodded in satisfaction at the submissive expression on her patient's face, then she turned her attention to Lupin.  "Now, you will have to remain here a little longer."

"What?!  Why?  I feel fine.  How come she can leave, but I can't?" said Lupin in an aggrieved tone.

"She wasn't as badly hurt as you were, Remus.  I want to give you some more healing potions and monitor you for a while longer just to be sure that everything has healed the way it should.  Cooperate and you might be out of here by evening.  Give me trouble, and it's a minimum of two more days.  So what's it going to be?"  Madam Pomfrey asked with her hands on her hips.

Remus opened and closed his mouth a couple of times without words escaping, and then he sighed.  "All right.  I'll be good, but I'm not happy about this."

Poppy smiled at him, smug in her victory.  "Well, maybe you'll remember this the next time you decide to play hero."  She made him drink another potion, and then retreated to the back of the room.

Once Poppy had left, Evangeline came over, bent down, and kissed Remus softly on the cheek.  "No good deed goes unpunished, huh?  Well, you're certainly my hero, Remus.  I'm sure you saved my life by breaking my fall like that.  I'm really sorry it ended up costing you all of this pain and trouble."

Remus smiled up at her.  "Don't worry about it, Evangeline.  I'm just glad I was there.  It's always been a fantasy of mine to have a beautiful woman fall out of the sky and into my arms."

She gave a short laugh.  "I'll bet it worked out a little better in the fantasy than in real life, huh?"

"Well, I'll have to admit, the fantasy version didn't involve blood and hospital beds."  He grinned.

"Seriously, Remus.  You saved my life, and I'm very grateful.  If I can ever do anything for you, don't hesitate to ask.  I'm in your debt."

"Please, don't think of it as a debt, Evangeline.  I'm just glad that you're okay."

She smiled at him again, patted his arm, told him she'd check on him later, and left the infirmary.

As the door closed after her, the dog in the corner transformed into a man and came over and sat on the bed that Evangeline had spent the night in.  "Well, how are you really feeling, hero?"  He said with a smirk.

Lupin snorted.  "Some hero.  All I did was walk down the hall.  The next thing I know, I'm coming around in the hospital wing.  I'm glad I was there to help Evangeline, but no one should think it was planned because it wasn't."

Black smiled.  "Well, she did kiss you on the cheek, and tell you that she was in your debt.  If it was me, I'd certainly take the opportunity to create a little magic."

Lupin smiled back.  "No, I can't see you passing up the opportunity to spend a little time with any attractive, grateful, young woman who thought you were hero material."

Black snorted shortly and frowned darkly.  "Well, better you than Snape."

Lupin frowned in return.  "What's that supposed to mean?"

"He was in here in the middle of the night, checking on her, holding her hand, and the way he was holding her yesterday when the two of you were brought in here…I'm afraid he's got more feelings for her than he lets on."  Black's scowl deepened.

Lupin considered the matter and shrugged.  "So what if he does?  That's really between Severus and Evangeline.  It's none of our business."

"How can you say that!" howled Black in disgust.  "You know what kind of creature he is!"

"Sirius, I'm really getting tired of this song.  Whether Severus and Evangeline hate each other's guts or are having the most torrid affair that Hogwarts has ever seen, is really none of our business.   I'm certainly not going to toy with her affections on the off chance that I'll mess something up for Severus.  That wouldn't be fair to anyone.  I certainly hope you wouldn't do that either."

*Silence*

Lupin sighed.  "I said, I certainly hope you wouldn't do that either."  A pause.

"No, I'm not going to pretend any feelings for Evangeline that I don't have.  I promise," Black added in an annoyed tone.

"Good, because I like her.  She's a nice person, and I wouldn't want her to get sucked into the middle of your little campaign of hatred for Snape."