.Chapter 3.

Remus had left his carriage to fetch a drink from the witch who commandeered the food trolley. Strange, he thought irrelevantly, how much she looked like the witch who had filled the same role in his own school days. Remus smiled, remembering the veritable mountains of sweets James and Sirius had amassed twice a year, coming and going from Hogwarts. They could probably have kept the old witch in business single handedly. But somehow, come the Hogsmeade weekends, their stock piles were always depleted enough to warrant another splurge at Zonko's.

Remus secured his drink, and took his time consuming it before turning and making his way back to his carriage, still lost in memories. They were much sweeter to him now that the bitterness of Sirius's supposed betrayal had been removed.

He didn't even notice the doorway he was passing until the compartment door slid abruptly open and a young witch came striding out. Neither of them had time to react before she crashed heavily into him. Both stumbled from the impact, Remus falling back against the wall of the narrow train corridor, and the woman nearly tumbling to the floor. He managed just in time to catch her around the waist, and she fell against him instead, her hands clutching instinctively at his forearms as she tried to stabilize.

He opened his mouth to ask if she was all right, and apologise for not paying more attention. But at that moment the witch tilted her face upwards and the words died in his throat.

The first thought that occurred to him was that she had the most extraordinary eyes he had ever seen in his life. They were deep blue and depthless, framed by thick lashes, and looked almost too large for her small, pale face. Their colour was darkened by faint smudges of purple under each eye, speaking of weariness and strain in a language he could certainly relate to.

The second thing he could not help but notice was that to go along with her unique and intriguing eyes, she also had a very interesting body. She had fallen directly against him - and had not yet stepped back. The heat of her skin, even through the cloth of both their robes, was intensely distracting, and he was acutely aware of every place her body curved. His hands, he realised suddenly, were still on her waist, and if he splayed his fingers any more they would encircle it completely.

Remus blinked hard, and forced himself to focus his attention on the witch's face. He noticed that her pale lips were slightly parted, as if she too had meant to say something, but the dazed look in her blue eyes as she stared up at him indicated that she had completely forgotten what it was.

If a stranger were to step into the corridor now and see their positions, they would probably assume he was moments away from kissing her.

Perhaps he was.

The dizzying compulsion to lean down and press his lips against hers was so strong that the shock of it managed to break through the strange trance he had fallen into. He shook his head rapidly, and with a movement that was almost rough with haste, he pushed her back.

For her part, the small witch blinked suddenly, and an instant later her pale cheeks flushed very faintly pink with an uncertain emotion.

"Oh - sorry - " she stammered, then cleared her throat quickly and gave a hesitant smile. "I wasn't watching where I was going. I hope I didn't hurt you."

Falling back on politeness as she had done, Remus managed to assure her that he was unharmed, and no apology was necessary. But the main portion of his consciousness was still unable to forget what had just happened.

What had become of his logic? His reserve? His implacable control?

It was more than a little disconcerting, and standing around exchanging platitudes with the cause of his disquiet certainly wasn't going to help ease his state of mind.

As swiftly as he could without compromising the requirements of civility, Remus made his excuses, and turned away from the mysterious witch. He strode away down the corridor, and did not look back.