AN: All right I lied. Here is my Special Birthday Edition of Wolf Child. In which Spridal has her first Defense Against the Dark Arts Class and some other things happen. I'm going to post a second chapter today as well, but unfortunately, I am suffering from writer's block and stress so you might not see another chapter in Forgotten Heart for a little while, but please check anyway. My block could break at anytime. Thank You, and may the Goddess protect you!
Morgan
Disclaimer: Even though I did receive Remus for my birthday (Thank you Singer!) I don't own him. ::Cries:: I don't own Harry, or Ron, or Hermione, or Semus or Dean. I do own Relena and Spridal and Miguel and Robert and the plot. I also own Poplups, The Darkhunter clan, and the DCU.
A field. No, not a field, her own backyard. Relena leaned against a tree to try to calm
her breathing. She reached up to rub
her eyes and was shocked to find a tear there. Why had she been crying? She
looked down at her red robes, and realized that she was not the full-grown
Relena of today, but her fifteen-year-old self.
That meant James was alive! Oh, this had to be the best dream she had
ever had! Then why was she crying? Suddenly, she heard the shouts of her
brother and his friends from the other side of the hill.
"James that was really very
mean!" she heard a familiar warm voice chide her older brother.
"Remus, she deserved it! She has to learn that she can't be friends
with Severus Snape and still be a good sister to me!" her brother screamed in
return. Oh, no not this dream again.
"I have to side with James on
this one Moony," she heard Sirius' voice in a matter of fact tone.
"You always side with
James. That really isn't anything
new. If you don't want her to be
Snape's friend than the least you could do is tell her that nicely. James I really don't think you see how much
you're hurting her when you say things like 'No sister of mine…' and 'You and
Snape are never to speak to each other again." Remus mocked in an imitation of
James' voice that made Relena giggle. Don't giggle you twit! Either
wake up or run before this dream goes any further, she yelled from the back of
her mind.
"Remus, please, I think that
James would know how to deal with his own sister," remarked a smug sounding
Peter Pettigrew. Ugh, I really don't
like that boy, Relena thought while sticking out her tongue in disgust.
"James, you made her cry!" Remus
scolded in a sudden outrage, "Someone should go make sure she's okay."
"Aww, Remus," James whined,
"just leave her alone. She'll get over
it eventually. Besides it serves her
right for hanging around with Snape." Relena heard Remus mumbled something she couldn't quite make out, and
then the sounds of four seventeen-year-old boys walking away. Leaning against the tree, she allowed
herself to sink to the ground. NO, NO,
NO, NO, NO. Don't sit down you twit,
run, her mind was screaming, but Relena couldn't run. All she could do was sit there and sob over the way her brother
seemed to think he could control her. Well, no more. If James wants
someone to boss around, he'll just have to settle for Peter, she thought as she
wiped some tears out of her eyes.
Slowly, Relena stood up. As she was trying to wipe some grass off of
her robes, she heard the sound of approaching feet. Now, Run, her mind was screaming. Hurry run before he gets here. Run before… but it was to late.
"Relena," a sad looking Remus
Lupin called, "Relena I want to talk to you." His voice sounded cold, just like James had sounded before his last
lecture on the evils of Severus Snape.
"No! No, Remus, I don't want to talk to any of you! Just leave me alone!" the young girl
shrieked. Relena began to run as fast
as she could. Her legs were burning and
her breaths were becoming shallow, but none of her physical pain could even
attempt to equal the pain she felt in her own soul. How dare he? Remus had no
right to lecture her. She was much
safer around Severus than she was around him, and he knew it to.
Relena's mind was racing so fast
that she barely realized it when she was grabbed roughly by the shoulders. The hands that grabbed her belonged to a
very winded looking Remus who had now turned her to face him.
"Relena, I need you to listen to
me," he gasped.
"No! None of you have the right to boss me around! I will not be James' pretty little
sister! I will not follow every word
you say! I won't stop being friends
with Severus! I won't…" Relena gasped
out.
"Relena, will you please shut
up!" Remus yelled in exasperation, "I don't care that you're friends with
Snape! He's not the greatest guy in the
world, but at least he's better than that Malfoy character! I'm sorry for what James said, and I'm sorry
that the other boys agree with him, but I want you to know that I don't!"
"You don't," Relena looked
shocked, "but I thought the Marauders always agreed." Remus laughed.
"No, Relena, not always." He released his hold on her. "Relena I just don't want to see you get
hurt, and at heart that's all your brother wants too."
"Remus, you're being
ridiculous. Severus Snape has less of a
chance of hurting me than you do. So,
the day you hurt me will be the day I'll start worrying about Sev, all
right." The moment Relena said this she
slapped her hands over her mouth. I'm
so stupid, she thought to herself. Here
was Remus the nice one of the Marauders trying to make her feel better, and
what did she do? Throw the fact that he
was a werewolf right back in his face.
"Fine," Remus chuckled, but he
couldn't hid the pain that Relena knew he was feeling, "Just promise me one
thing."
"I'll try. What is it?"
"Don't ever marry Severus. I don't think your brother could take
it. The shock would just kill
him." Relena laughed.
"You mean to tell me that my
marrying Severus wouldn't hurt you too?" she pouted playfully.
"My feelings toward who you
should marry are really none of your business, especially since, who you marry
is none of mine."
"Ahh, but what if I wanted to
marry you?" Relena pouted again. For a
moment Remus looked at her with a quizzical glance, but when the moment passed they
both started laughing as hard as either of them could ever remember.
Relena woke up feeling groggy, but happy for some reason. What had she been dreaming about? She remembered a field, and at first she was crying, but as the dream ended she was laughing. Oh no, she wanted to scream. Not that dream again. It wasn't a bad dream. On the contrary, it was one of the best dreams Relena ever had in her entire life. But it's not a dream, she remembered. It's a memory. Stupid James, he was just so stubborn. If only he had apologized then I wouldn't have even spoken to Remus until after he died.
"Dammit! Remus where are you?" she yelled at the white wash walls of the infirmary.
"I'm right here," a calm voice replied from a chair in the corner. Slowly, Remus stood up and walked toward her. He looked tired and downtrodden.
"I'm assuming that Severus talked with you," she said nonchalantly, trying to cover for her surprise that he was there in the room with her.
"Um, yes. If you call exactly what he did talking. To me it was more like a verbal hanging," he joked casually, "Relena, there's something I have to ask you."
"No."
"What do you mean, no? I didn't even ask you a question yet," Remus said with annoyance come through his voice clearly.
"I know what you're going to ask, and I don't want to fight right now. I can't tell you about everything that happened all those years ago Remus. If I did it would only start a fight, and right now I need your help."
"All right," Remus sighed taking her hand in his own, "Then for now we'll just be friends, and maybe you can tell me about what happened later. Relena, I, I'll try to help, but just understand that we might not be able to just be friends for here on in. So, what is it you need me to do?"
"Remus, I want to take Harry away from the Dursleys. He's my nephew. I mean I'm one half, the only good half, of his godparents. I just want you to be there to help him. Tell him that I'm for real, and that I do love him very much, but not yet. I want to get to know him better first. Do you mind if I ask you some questions about him?"
"I don't see how that could hurt," Remus replied with a stiff grin.
"How much trouble has he gotten into since he's been here? I mean are we talking James type trouble, or you type trouble, or…" Relena chocked back a sob, "Sirius type trouble?"
"Well, considering who he is, I'd say he probably gets into Sirius type trouble."
"Oh, just great! If those Dursleys messed him up enough so that he becomes some little evil mini Sirius, I'll kill them."
"Um, I don't think that him becoming an evil little mini Sirius is likely, but it is possible he could become… no correction…. has become a mini James."
"Well, I suppose there are worse things," Relena sighed. "Speaking of Sirius how did he take the whole thing when Black broke out?"
"You knew about that?"
"Of course. I keep trying to get transferred back to the England office, I was working in Guatemala at the time, but they just wouldn't send me back. I was worried, but I knew he was safe as long as Dumbledore was near by and when I found out you were here too, I figured he was as safe as he could be," Relena tried to fight the blush she could feel coming to her cheeks.
"Well, I guess he took it as well as anyone could have, though I must warn you, he knows everything about Sirius now."
"Everything? As in who told Voldemort where James and Lily were everything?"
"Yeah basically."
"Ah, if I ever find Black again I'll ring his scrawny little neck. Try to kill my favorite nephew will he?"
"Uh, Relena, Harry is your only nephew."
"No matter. I'm here to protect him now. All right, enough with the fantastic he's Harry Potter crap. How are his grades or are you not privy to that information?"
"As far as I know his grades are fine. Though, I'm sure he has a hard time in Professor Snape's class."
"Well, I'll just have to fix that!" Relena said setting her mouth in a line of grim determination that made Remus laugh. "Well, it's true. So, okay, what about his friends? He does have real friends doesn't he, not just people trying to hang out with him because of his fame?"
"Actually, it's quite the opposite. It seems as though for all of his popularity, Harry is actually a bit of social outcast, but yes he does have friends. First, there's Ron Weasley and his little sister Ginny. They'll be easy to recognize. They both have the exact same color red hair. Then, there's Hermione Granger. She's muggle born, top of her class too. Finally, there's a new girl whose be around them once or twice. She has black curly hair…What was her name again?"
"That," Relena interrupted, "would be Spridal. She's mine. Well, not biologically mine. She's a sprite you see, but she travels with me."
"Uh, yeah, I get it," Remus lied trying to hide his confusion.
"Remus you never were very good at lying!" Relena laughed in a voice that caused Remus to feel something he didn't quite know where to place.
"Yes, well, um I have a class to teach in about twenty minutes, so I best be on my way," Remus said feeling a bit guilty for having to leave her.
"What time is it?" Relena questioned looking at the magic clock on the wall. "Oh, gods, it's 12:30. I have to talk to Poppy. She said she'd let me out today."
"Well, then I'll be on my way so that you can go about your business," Remus called as he tried to discreetly walk out the door.
"Remus!" Relena called to him.
"Yes?" he questioned as he looked back inside.
"I guess we'll be teaching together, huh?"
"Yes, yes we will be," Remus gulped wondering what she could mean by bringing that up. He had thought they were just going to discuss Harry.
"Good, then find Miguel when you get a chance, and tell him all about whatever chapter the sixth and seventh years are on. I'm going to have a lot of work to do when I get out of here, and I don't want to be to far behind."
"Yes, all right, I'll find him," Remus stuttered as he stepped out of the door.
"And Remus!" Relena called back to him.
"Yes?" he said once again stepping back through the door to look at her.
"Thanks. For everything," she said giving him a slight smile.
"You're welcome Relena," he replied returning her smile, and with that Remus Lupin walked out of the infirmary much more at ease than when he had entered.
"Transfiguration is so hard!" Spridal whinnied as she walked down the crowded hallway. "My teacup kept turning into a box!"
"Don't feel so bad, Spridal, mine turned into a spider," Harry stated to which Ron responded with a death glare. Ron had not been happy when his friend's teacup, which they were supposed to be transfiguring into box turtles, turned into a spider. Ron had let out the strangest yelp. Harry's reaction didn't please him at all when his friend started laughing and rolling around on the floor.
"All right, so Transfiguration's not your best subject, but you did great in Herbology," Hermione said in an attempt to change the subject.
"Yeah, and we have Defense against the Dark Arts next!" Harry said looking so excited he could pop.
"Defense against the Dark Arts, huh? Now there's a subject that I have mastered to a tee," Spridal giggled. Harry started to think. Perhaps now was the time to try to learn more about this Relena woman that Spridal had come with.
"Hey, Spridal, your mum, she's a Hunter right?"
"Shh, Harry! First thing she's not my mother!"
"She's not!"
"Of course she's not. I'm one hundred and ten years old. She's only thirty-five."
"Then why did you call her mum the night you arrived?" Harry wasn't sure where this conversation would lead, but at least Spridal was talking about the woman she had appeared with.
"It's hard to explain," Spridal sighed as she turned on her side to slide past a group of chattering fourth years, "Relena was the first real female presence that I can remember ever being around. When she started dating Robert, I just started calling her mum. It made her more permanent to me, more real. It really unnerved her the first few times I did it too, but I had been calling Robert dad since before I can remember so it just sort of made sense. When they separated, I really thought that she would leave me, but she didn't. Robert left instead. He kind of dumped me on her, but Relena and Miguel always had a soft spot for me, so I moved in with them."
"Miguel's the Australian guy that Relena arrived with?" Hermione questioned her curiosity getting the best of her.
"Yeah. So now it's more of a situation where they're like my brother and sister. Can I tell you guys a secret?"
"Of course," Harry said placing his hand over his heart.
"On the school's records I'm under the name Darkhunter, but the truth is that other than Miguel and Relena I've never met another Darkhunter in my life, and I'm beginning to get the feeling that there's a reason for that."
"What, what is it?"
"I think Miguel's kind of like a renegade Darkhunter."
"Why do you think that?"
"Well, first thing, Miguel doesn't have a lot of contact with the Darkhunters that live in Australia. They both kind if ignore each other. Second, the very fact that he's friends with Relena is shocking."
"How so?"
"As I'm sure Harry has informed you all," Spridal glanced at Harry who gave her a guilty look, "Relena is a werewolf. Well, the Darkhunter clan is a clan of Hunters, and a Hunter's job is to track down and destroy any creature that is considered to be dangerous to humans. I think that Relena passed all of the Darkhunter tests and was accepted into the clan before anyone, but Miguel knew she was a werewolf. When they found out they were probably furious with Miguel, but Miguel always does things his own way, and he probably told them to bugger off. Miguel is very loyal to all of his friends. If he had turned Relena away and gone back to Australia, then he would be returning to hand in not only Relena's name to the clan to hunt down, but also the names of countless other creatures that they work with."
"Oh gods, Spridal, Draco said that he knew some Darkhunters what if he finds out about Miguel being… you know not so popular with them right now."
"I guess he'll have to deal with that when the time comes," She replied with a shrug, "Oh, there's the bell. Hurry! I don't want to be late for my next class!" Spridal ran into the classroom and took a desk at the very front with Hermione. Meanwhile Harry and Ron took a desk further back than they usually did, so that they could talk without Spridal or Hermione hearing them.
"Ron, I'm worried," Harry confessed.
"About what?" Ron replied sounding just a bit bored.
"Spridal is being pretty careful about what she says and doesn't say, and I don't think she's told Hermione anything to interesting either because Hermione would have told us. Plus, she never answered my question about Relena being a Hunter."
"Well, maybe she isn't," Ron commented with a yawn.
"What do you mean maybe she isn't? You two told me that all of her gear was identical to that of a Hunters and Miguel's a Hunter."
"Harry, we were just guessing. Tell me that you don't think that Hunters work all alone. They have to have contacts somewhere. She probably works for the DCU."
"Huh?"
"Harry," Ron said with an exasperated sigh, "It's like I said there are other people who work with Hunters than just the Hunters themselves. The DCU is a rumor, but dad seems to believe in it. It's a group that researches and identifies dark creatures. DCU stands for Dark Creature Underground you twit. Some days you can be really dense Harry. Hey where is that shabby old werewolf anyway?"
Ron's words had almost put Harry into a state of shock. He looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed that Professor Lupin was running late. Damn it, why is he running so late! Harry looked up at Hermione and Spridal who seemed to be arguing over something. Harry looked around the classroom and noticed that nearly everyone was fighting with his or her desk partner. Something was definitely wrong.
"WHY YOU LITTLE…" Harry looked up as Hermione screamed, "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME? I'M GOING TO BE HEADGIRL YOU KNOW!" Obviously, Spridal had said something to upset Hermione. The black-haired girls eyes had turned from their normal blue to a light violet, and suddenly she began looking under the desk she was sitting at. Hermione was still screaming like a Banshee when Spridal pulled out what looked to be a small blue piece of bubble gum. Carefully, she placed it on the desk, and poked at it with her wand. When she did, the bubble gum sprouted legs and tried to run, but Spridal was to fast for it.
"Reciprocatus!" she yelled, and in that exact moment the gum like creature stopped moving and disappeared completely. As soon as it was gone Hermione sat down in her chair quietly and began speaking in hushed tones with Spridal.
Quickly Harry looked under his own desk and was not at all surprised to find that there was a small blue gum like creature underneath. He pulled it out and began poking it with his wand. As it started to move Harry yelled out the same thing Spridal did and was amazed to see the small creature disappear.
Suddenly, the door burst open and Professor Lupin walked in. "Reciprocatus Totalum!" he yelled. Suddenly, everyone stopped fighting with one another. Unfortunately, it was not quick enough for Dean and Semus who had both managed to pull out a chuck of each other's hair.
"Dean, Semus, both of you report to Madame Pomfrey so that she can fix your hair. If you take to long I'll assign Ms. Granger the task of filling you in on anything you miss in the class." Silently, Dean and Semus walked out of the classroom looking very perplexed. "Well, so far this class has done the best of all of the sixth years. I'm very pleased. According to this counter," the professor said tapping on a small box on his desk, "two of you managed to find the dark creature and immobilize it. Would those two students please raise their hands?"
Harry and Spridal both raised their hands although they both felt a little self-conscious. "Very good. And which one of you did it first?" Harry lowered his hand. "Very fine work Ms… um. Excuse me, but I seem to have forgotten your name."
"You didn't forget you just haven't met me before. I'm Spridal, Spridal Darkhunter."
"Really? Are you related at all to either of the Professor Darkhunters?"
"Well, um," Spridal stuttered, "They're my siblings."
"Well, Ms. Darkhunter I do believe that you know a bit more about this creature than anyone else in the class, except perhaps for Mr. Potter. If you know would you mind informing the class of the name of the creature that has been affecting them?"
"It's a Poplup, sir. All be it these are very small ones."
"Yes, very good. Now, how did you know that the Poplup was nearby?"
"Actually, sir, it was Hermione who put the idea in my head."
"How so?"
"Well, usually Hermione is a very calm and collected person, but I noticed that we were fighting over trivial things like the color of this desk. So, since I've seen a Poplup before I just kind of started looking for one."
"Thank you. Now, Mr. Potter, how did you find the Poplup hidden under your desk?"
"Um," Harry started to turn red, "well I saw what Spridal did, and when she and Hermione stopped fighting I decided that maybe she had some logic to whatever she was doing, and I just sort of repeated her actions." Harry had now turned the most magnificent color of red that anyone had ever seen. To his left he heard Lavender and Parvati giggle.
"Now, there is an example of quick thinking! Very good Harry! Always remember that if you aren't sure exactly what is going on in a Dark Arts situation observe you surroundings, an answer can often be found there. Students, the official announcement has not been made yet, but I am very glad to inform you that from now on sixth and seventh years will be taking two Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. The one you are in now which I will continue to teach and a new class based in teaching you how to detect the presence of and defend yourselves from the most dangerous Dark Arts that you my ever come up against. The class will be taught by Professors Relena and Miguel Darkhunter, and now I think we should get started on out Poplup lesson for the day."
The rest of the class passed by in a kind of blur for Harry. Ron and Hermione seemed to be unaffected by this news and Spridal would later admit to having known about it for days, but Harry couldn't help, but worry about the fact that there were two Hunters roaming about in a school where a werewolf taught and a black dog named Snuffles often appeared for impromptu visits with his godson.
Later that night, Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room writing out a letter to Snuffles. Ron was teaching Spridal some of the finer points of wizard chess and Hermione as usual was studying. Harry wondered for a minute what he should tell his godfather. There were some things that Harry wasn't sure he should tell Sirius, so in the end his letter ended up telling Sirius only the bare minimum, due to a large part in the fact that Harry himself only knew the bare minimum.
Dear Snuffles,
How are you? I'm all right. Another school year has started and I am still feeling as if some otherworldly force has control of my life. Don't worry my scar hasn't even ached so far, though I'm sure Professor Lupin would have told you if it had. We are going to have a new class. They're calling it Combating the Dark Arts. Dean says it sounds like Aurora training, but I'm not so sure. I've made friends with this girl named Spridal. She's a 110-year-old sprite who can levitate and do magic without a wand. She seems kind of like an adoptive sister of the two professors who are going to be teaching the Combating the Dark arts course, Relena and Miguel Darkhunter. Have you heard of them? They seem pretty strange, and I think Relena knew my dad. Does that make any sense to you? They came looking for Professor Lupin, and he seems to be okay with them. The night they came it was a full moon and Relena Darkhunter turned into a werewolf, then this vampire showed up to keep her from attacking anyone. I haven't heard anything about him since that night. Am I making any kind of sense? Oh, well, leave those events to be filled with the other strange facts of Harry Potter's life. I've got some work to do so I'd better go now.
See You Soon,
Harry
Harry read over his letter one more time before tying it to Hedwig's leg and pushing her out the window into the dark night sky.
AN: Well, I wonder if Sirius will be able to figure out who Relena is. Isn't it nice to see Relena and Remus getting along? Enjoy it because knowing those two it might not last very long. Spridal is going to suck up to Lupin big time. Actually all of her teachers are going to think she's a little angle. I know some of you are wondering how Ron knows about the DCU that comes later, but trust me he knows. He's even met Relena before, even though he wouldn't recognize her.