A/N: Since this story has been progressed somewhat erratically over the past few months, I just want to take this opportunity to defend myself. See, this chapter introduces Elena's mysterious second talent, but it isn't the awkward 'I-didn't-think-of-this-plot-device-until-recently-but-I-am-determined-to-use-it-anyway' tactic that it seems. Some big clues were given right back in chapter 9 and there's a tiny one in 15. I don't really expect anyone to remember them though, since you've been reading widely spaced instalments. Feel free to go back and read those chapters again, or just take me at my word and read on… : )
Chapter 21.
Elena couldn't sleep. She lay on her back in her enormous four-poster bed, watching the flickering shadows cast by the candlelight dance across the ceiling, and she thought about Remus. And when that subject became too upsetting, she sought a distraction and her thoughts turned inexorably to the men in black robes. 'Death Eaters', Dumbledore had called them. The men who had killed her parents, the men who would one day come for her. These reflections did little to calm her.
She sighed, and flung back her covers. Sometimes she really was her own worst enemy.
Moving silently over the cold floor baords, she went to stand at her window, pushing the eaves open to let in the frigid night air. She rested her folded arms on the windowsill, and looked out over the dark and silent grounds of Hogwarts School.
The moon was not yet up, but all the lights burning in and around the castle encased it in a dim glow which helped to illuminate the building's immediate surrounds. Beyond that, an inky darkness reigned.
Inevitably, her thoughts drifted back toward Remus. By leaning out of the window and twisting her head, she could see his room on the top floor of the staff wing. There was no light in the window. He must already be asleep, she thought crossly, probably dreaming sweetly, while I pace my room and wallow in my own misery.
But that was not a fair supposition, and she knew it. One had only to look into Remus's haunted, storm-grey eyes to know that he was a man whose dreams were seldom sweet. Remus had suffered, and suffered still, and it broke her heart anew each day to see it and know that he would never let her close enough to offer him the comfort she so ached to give.
A lump rose in her throat and her eyes prickled with sudden tears. Furious with herself, she reached out to pull the window closed - then froze, and blinked hard.
The blur of tears cleared, and she saw she had not been mistaken. In the dimly lit shadows around the base of the castle walls there crept a lone figure dressed in long black robes.
Her heart stopped and her mouth went dry.
Death Eater!
Her knees buckled slightly in terror and shock, and she grabbed at the window sill for support.
A moment later, the figure detached itself from the shadowy wall and strode swiftly away from the castle, heading for the darkness beyond.
But there was something familiar about the way the stranger was walking, something about the way they held their arms... Elena's heart kick-started itself again and proceeded to jump into over-drive.
Remus! It's Remus!
But where was he going? Where could he possibly he headed on a night like this?
She barely paused to think, she didn't even take the time to change out of her night dress. Within seconds she was sweeping down the hallway, her dark cloak billowing behind her as her fingers fumbled awkwardly at the clasp, trying to fasten it on the run. Her bare feet thudded softly against the floorboards as she flew down the empty corridor, down the stairs, and out into the night.
The cold air was a shock, raising goose-bumps on her arms and the back of her neck, but she scarcely noticed. Her head turned sharply left and right as she scanned the grounds for movement. She was not surprised when she spied nothing. She was standing in the light, trying to see into the darkness - practically blind.
Glancing upward, she made certain that no lights were still burning in the teacher's wing. She didn't want to question what she about to do, so she certainly didn't want anyone else to see her and ask the questions for her.
She darted forward, and the darkness enveloped her swiftly. For several minutes, she followed doggedly in the direction she thought Remus had probably taken, but none of her senses could locate any sign of him.
Over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, a pale silvery light began to glow. The moon was rising. The full moon.
Soon the grounds of Hogwarts would be illuminated by moonlight. If she was serious about finding Remus, she would have to make a decision, and make it soon.
For a long minute, she hesitated. It would mean using her second gift, and she generally didn't like to unless the situation was desperate. The spell was complex, and it had taken her no less than six years pouring over her grandfather's magic books to accomplish it successfully. She wasn't even sure if it was strictly legal in the wizarding world – she had preferred not to inquire.
So was this situation desperate?
She glanced back at the Forbidden Forrest, where the silvery glow was getting brighter. A sliver of white appeared as the moon began to emerge from behind the tree tops.
Yes, she decided suddenly. It was desperate. She had to know, one way or another, what sort of man she had surrendered her heart to. Moral reflections on whether this was right or wrong would have to wait until the sun came up and made everything real again. Here in the eerie darkness with the cold biting at her skin, the blood racing through her veins, and her heart burning with a love that was almost indistinguishable from pain, she could waste no more time in indecision.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. For a moment, nothing happened. Then all at once, she felt the world shift and change around her, though she knew this was an illusion - it was she who was shifting and changing.
The whole process took less than five seconds. She did not need to open her eyes to know when it was done. The world had not changed much visually, but as far as her other senses were concerned, it had exploded into a hurricane of a thousand different scents and sounds.
Elena shook herself, and stretched luxuriously. It felt good. She had missed travelling in this shape.
Remus's scent was obvious to her at once. Putting her black nose to the ground, she trotted backwards and forwards a few times, then caught the trail. A soft bark of triumph escaped her, and she loped forward into the darkness.
A/N: Ooooh, cliffhanger! ;) The next chapter is nearly done so if I get lots of reviews I'll post sooner... LOL I hate it when authors do that to me, but it's QUITE a different matter when I do it. Thank you all for reading!