Pangs of Familiarity
A/N: I made a mistake in the disclaimer in the previous chapter. The young couple in the hallway belongs to me. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowlings.
"…so you can see, Professor," Hermione continued excitedly, "We have the basic grounds to start the organization!"
Professor Lupin glanced down at the photograph in Hermione's book. It showed a pack of wolves with their heads tilted up toward the moon. He looked up and across the compartment to Sirius, his expression clearly a cry for help.
Sirius grinned and took the book out of Hermione's lap. While she looked as if she wanted to protest, she remained silent. He flipped a few pages in the book and glanced at each for a short short but polite period of time.
Sirius had gotten much fuller and actually quite built over the last two years he had been a free man. His hair was black and had a sort of shine to it. He had decided to keep it long and it hung in a low ponytail. His skin no longer was stretched around his bones, but around his muscles and had a healthy glow to it. He was 6'4 and his black eyes held a spark to them that no one had seen since before the stress of keeping Voldemort at bay held him down.
To the left of him sat Harry. Seventeen and standing at six feet even, he had shot up during the past three years. His jet-black hair was still unruly, but he was leaner and his muscles were slightly toned. He had a light tan from working out in the yard during the summer and he had gotten contacts which seemed to enhance his eyes' jaded look. All in all, he was no longer the small, scrawny boy that had come to Hogwart's six years before. Despite the fact that his godfather was now a free man, having been cleared of the charges in Harry's fifth year, he still lived with the Dursleys. Dumbledore assured them that this was simply a precaution and that, by living with blood relations, there were strong protection spells that could be used. Even though Voldemort had been defeated at the end of the previous year, there were still small mobs of Death Eaters that were all intent on destroying the Boy-Who-Lived…among other things. Sirius had finally accepted this after a few of his…charming…protests, and settled upon renting a small house in the country with his favorite werewolf. Harry often came to visit him as he had been granted a special apparation license from the ministry in his previous year.
Across from Harry, Remus was pressed back against the seat as if trying to get as far away from Hermione as he could get. He smiled more often now, many suspected this because he had one of his best friends back, and he, too, and grown fuller. His smile was nothing short of dazzling, as his teeth were ruler-straight and his lycanthropy had made them a sparkly white. He was 6'3, no longer skinny and underfed, but slim and while he wasn't exactly buff, he was very trim. His hair still had the occasional streak of silver in them, but a lot of it, (much like his stress) had dissapeared. His amber eyes seemed to almost shimmer when he laughed and his robes in very good condition.
To the left Remus, at the end of the compartment sat Hermione, chewing on her lower lip as she watched Sirius flipping through the pages of Dances With Werewolves. She had filled out over the summer of her fifth year, and while she was no super-model, she had developed some very feminine curves. She had grown a little taller (5'6) and had stumbled upon a quick and effective straightening charm for her hair. Her eyesight had worsened in her sixth year (From all that reading, according to Ron), and she had had to wear glasses for a short period of time. In the end, she had gotten contacts about the same time Harry did.
On the other side of Harry sat Ron who was pretending to be looking out the window, though in reality secretly stealing glances at the girl sitting next to Remus. He had remained more or less the same, except that he had grown (6'5) and he had gotten muscular from both playing as a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and from working at the twins' Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for the past two summers.
Sitting at the other side of Remus was a girl with, wavy, golden brown hair that fell past her slim neck down to just under her shoulders and was currently pulled back into a low pony-tail. She was about 5,5 and she was very slim, almost to the point of being thin. Her name was Lynn and she had dark honey-colored eyes surrounded by long eyelashes. Her body was curved very nicely without being very filled-out. She was quiet and didn't speak much, though they all assumed she was just nervous around them due to Ron's tickling charm. She seemed oblivious to Ron's discreet staring and only glanced at her brother from time to time.
Her brother sat to the right of her. At first glance, one wouldn't think they were related, as Allen was 6'1 and seemed paler than Lynn, but perhaps this was enhanced because he had raven-colored hair. When one looked more closely, however, they could see that his eyes were just a few shades paler than his sister's and, though he had lightly-toned muscles, he too was somewhat thin. Their noses were very straight and had a discreet upward curve and seemed to fit their faces perfectly.
Sirius had engaged Hermione into a conversation about her History of Magic class, and had rescued Remus from her rantings about S.P.E.W. Binns had retired the year before and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the first students to find out. They were all quite pleased when they discovered that Sirius and Remus were their new History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, respectively.
After Sirius had put an end to the tickling charm, the three Gryffindors had offered countless apologies and explanations to the Alkaiser's. They had each introduced themselves and they discovered that Allen and Lynn had both been homeschooled by various tutors. Upon questioning, they seemed very closed on the topic and glanced at each other a lot. After that, both of the professors and the three other students avoided the matter altogether.
Though they were both polite, Lynn and Allen both had very different temperments. Lynn was quiet, but friendly enough when spoken to. Rather much like a curious fox who was nice enough when approached properly, but would prefer to be left to her own doings. Allen was polite when addressed, though he was very formal and closed about everything. He was like a wolf who would tolerate you so long as you kept your distance.
As the train went on, the track of conversation switched from Remus' and Sirius' new professions to the classes and their professors. Once in a while, Lynn would ask a question and many of them would follow up on it, as if to encourage her to speak up. Allen seemed content in staring out at the scenery rushing by.
"So, Professor Lupin," Hermione started, turning toward Remus. "Whatever happened to that job you held at Peter's Potion Products?"
They had all, upon insistance, been kept aware of how he had been keeping up.
Remus groaned inwardly having detected the false innocence behind her voice and he suspected that Ron did also because he tactically changed the subject.
He turned to Allen for about the fifth time since he had entered the train compartment. He seemed determined to engage Allen in a topic that captured his interest.
"So, Allen, do you play Quidditch?"
For the first time during the trip, Allen showed a spark of interest and turned from the window.
"I don't get to play very much, but I've been told I'm a pretty good Seeker and Beater," he offered, a hint of a smile on his pale face.
This drew Harry and Sirius into the conversation and Hermione and Lynn each met each others eyes from either side of Remus. They both looked away with small smiles, each knowing what the subject of conversation for the rest of the trip would be.
This was when Remus first noticed it.
When Lynn had broken her eye contact with the Gryffindor on his other side, her eyes had lingered on him for a moment.
He didn't know what hit him harder; the color of her eyes or the expression he saw in them.
Her eyes; they were a very rare and stunning color, and he had felt he had seen eyes that color somewhere before…
He was entranced by the color and felt something when they made eye-contact and stared directly into them for what seemed like an eternity.
He was deeply embarassed and was sure he flushed somewhat when she broke the stare first. In an effort to reclaim himself, he pulled his pocket watch from the deep recesses of his professor's robe and pretended to be studying it while he thought upon the matter.
He had felt it only a moment – just a single, fleeting moment before it had gone away. And from the expression on her face, he wasn't the only one that had felt it.
Could it possibly be…? He shut his eyes in horror for a short moment. Could it be attraction? She was a very pretty girl, after all, for one her age. He opened his amber eyes and glanced back at her.
No, no…he mused thoughtfully. It wasn't attraction. He glanced at her again and this time, her eyes met his and he saw the same fleeting expression in them again. This time, he broke away first.
So if it wasn't attraction, just what was it, then?
He put his pocket watch away and pondered upon the matter.
It was something…it was a something like a pang of familiarity.
Yes! he thought. That's what it is. Familiarity. There was something about the girl that struck him as being very familiar.
But there was something else in her eyes. It was as if…
As if she recognized me.
He blinked and shook himself mentally, suddenly aware of the drone of the Quidditch discussion around him. He glanced around him, wondering if anyone had noticed him spacing out.
That wasn't the case. Hermione was engulfed in her book, Lynn was watching the forest go by, and Sirius, Ron, Harry, and Allen were busy talking Quidditch.
That was impossible. The girl couldn't have seen him before. He had never seen her before in his life.
So then why does she seem so familiar? a tiny voice in his head asked him.
His thoughts were interrupted by the screeching of the train. They had arrived.
A/N: I know, I know, it's pretty short. By the way, if anyone has read my "The Exchange Students" or "If She Only Knew", you'll notice that the character Lynn Alkaiser turns up a lot and usually around Remus Lupin. While her looks and age differ throughout the stories, you'll find that much of her temperment is the same among all of them.