55. Return of the Wolf
Eleanor Hamilton put a hand to the door of Hogwarts castle and pushed it open to step out into the early morning sunshine. The weather had been simply glorious lately. Such a welcome change from the often stifling heat of Egypt. Although she loved her job with a passion, she was less enamored of living continually in such a hot climate. Whenever she returned to Britain, she realized how much she missed it, even if the wonderful weather they'd been experiencing lately was hardly typical. She grinned, she even missed the fog and rain.
Once more she considered purchasing a home in either England or Scotland. Did it really matter after all if she apparated across the street or across the ocean? She sighed. No, probably not, but it did matter that she never spent any time in the home she did have. Her job simply didn't allow for much free time. This was the first vacation she'd taken in ages, and even here she wasn't getting away scot-free. She still had a little job to do once things calmed down a bit, and the time was right.
However, she wasn't going to think about that now. Right now…this instant…she was only going to stroll around the beautiful grounds and enjoy being back here at Hogwarts. After everything that had happened yesterday, she needed a little time to herself to regroup mentally and emotionally. Hopefully spending some quiet time appreciating the beauty of this place would help. She grinned to herself as she recalled the envy in Bill Weasley's voice when he discovered that she was coming here for the wedding. He obviously remembered his time here quite fondly, too. He'd been flat out amazed at her reason for coming, though. Apparently he'd had Professor Snape for a teacher when he'd been here and had been floored at the idea that anyone would ever marry the…"Greasy Old Git".
He'd practically demanded to see a picture of Evangeline. Sure that only an incredibly stupid, horrendously ugly, and very desperate woman would ever be so foolish. She smiled smugly as she recalled his reaction when she'd dragged out the most recent photo of her friend that she had, one from Evangeline's last visit to Egypt, two years ago. After he'd closed his mouth, he'd opened it again and started muttering about Snape using one of the Unforgivable curses on her. She sighed; he'd been half serious, too.
Bill had regaled her for some time with incredibly detailed stories of the horror that was Professor Snape. After listening to him for awhile, she had to confess she was wondering herself what on earth her friend had gotten herself into. Why in the world would a sweet, intelligent person like Evangeline be marrying such a monster?
She smiled to herself as she wandered around and paused to stare at the sight of the castle twinkling in the early morning sunshine much like the eyes of its Headmaster. Yes, she'd really been anxious to meet the infamous Professor Snape to see which of her friends was right about him. Bill obviously thought him a terror, but from her letter, it was obvious that Evangeline loved him very much. Oh, yes, even before leaving home, she'd been sure that this trip would be interesting…she'd never dreamed, how interesting, though or how horrid.
When she'd finally met Snape, she'd been undecided. He wasn't particularly "Old" being apparently only five or six years older than herself, but then Bill was a few years younger than she was, and age was so often a matter of perspective. He'd definitely lived up to the physical description Bill had given her. The Potions Master would never win a beauty contest with that nose and that perpetually cold expression and reserved manner of his. He was off-putting to say the least. But it was also obvious very quickly that there was a lot going on behind those surprisingly gorgeous dark eyes. He was quite intelligent and interesting to talk to, but still it was a little hard to see just what Evangeline saw in the man. However, it was enough for her that Evangeline did seem to genuinely love him. If she was happy then Eleanor was content. It was none of her affair anyway. They'd often not seen eye to eye on boyfriends when they were in school together. Why would that be any less likely now that they were both grown women?
She did wonder though, until Evangeline had been kidnapped. Then the real Severus Snape had come out of the shadows in an instant. It became incredibly obvious very quickly that a tremendous amount of smoldering passion lurked beneath those black robes. Watching it combust in all its molten fury had been very impressive…and a little frightening, as well. She couldn't decide if she envied Evangeline or not. What would it be like to be loved with that amount of intensity and passion? Absolutely wonderful…or a hell of a lot more trouble than it was worth?
She shivered as she remembered the way Snape had treated that horrible Lucius Malfoy when he'd been trying so desperately to get the truth out of him. Snape would not be someone she'd ever want to cross. No, she decided, that level of passionate intensity was more than she wanted to deal with in a relationship. Evangeline was more than welcome to him. As much as he obviously loved her friend, it couldn't be easy to live with the man. It would take someone very strong and incredibly patient. Evangeline fit the bill very nicely, and Eleanor wished her luck.
Eleanor turned her steps away from the castle and headed towards the Forbidden Forest. Suddenly she found herself wondering what had become of Professor Lupin. Now he seemed more her type. Intelligent, charming, with a good sense of humor, and none of the combustible temper of Severus Snape. The fact that he was a werewolf was a little daunting, though. That couldn't be an easy thing to deal with. What a burden to have to live with a secret like that. Yesterday must have been a tremendous nightmare for him. It was obvious that he and Evangeline were quite close. It must've been so horrible for him to have been confined with her, knowing that he'd kill her when the moon rose, whether he wanted to or not. Thank goodness that it hadn't come to that. Being involved with him would obviously contain an element of danger, but with a twinge of surprise, she found that she didn't find that as off-putting as she might have expected.
Eleanor skirted the edge of the forest and was just thinking that she should probably turn back when a voice called to her from the thick undergrowth on the edge of the tree line. With a wary frown on her face, she edged closer and tried to see who was calling her name.
"Who's there?" she asked curiously.
"It's Remus Lupin, Miss Hamilton," came the reply.
Speak of the devil, she ran closer, concern overriding caution. "Oh, Professor Lupin. We've all been so worried about you. Are you all right?" She tried to get a look at him through the thick foliage, but was unsuccessful.
"Why are you hiding? Have you been injured?" Concern tinged her voice.
"No, Miss Hamilton, I'm fine. Please, stay back," came the response.
Obediently she stopped where she was. "Okay. Is this all right?"
"Yes, that's fine. Could you please do me a favor?"
She nodded. "Certainly. What would you like me to do?"
"Could you please go and find "James" and ask him to go into my room and get me some clothes?" He sounded rather embarrassed.
"Oh." She smiled to herself in understanding. "You could just take my cloak if you like. It's warmed up quite a bit out here; I probably don't need it anymore. Then you could go straight to your room without bothering anyone else."
There was a pause while this was considered.
"Okay. Thank you. That would be fine." A hand extended out of a large bush directly in front of her.
Grinning to herself, Eleanor removed her cloak and placed it in the hand. A few moments later a barefoot Remus Lupin joined her on the edge of the lawn.
Eleanor smiled warmly at him. "Everyone will be very relieved to see you, Professor Lupin. I'm certainly glad you're all right."
He smiled an embarrassed smile. "Thanks…uh, under the circumstances, do you think you could call me, Remus? Professor Lupin seems a bit formal, when I'm standing here in bare feet wearing your cloak and nothing else."
She chuckled at his humor. "Gladly, if you'll call me Eleanor."
He nodded. "It's a deal, Eleanor. So fill me in on what happened last night. Is Evangeline all right? Did Severus find her in the tower?"
They slowly began to make their way up to the castle.
Eleanor nodded reassuringly. "Oh, yes. She spent last night in the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey said that she'll be fine."
Lupin sighed with relief, then his expression darkened. "What about Lucius Malfoy? Did anyone get their hands on that bastard?"
"Yes, indeed. He'd used Polyjuice Potion to take the place of our friend, Margie Sharp. When I heard the name, I realized that Edward worked for Malfoy. That's probably how the man found out about this opportunity to get into Hogwarts. He killed both poor Margie and Edward." She sighed as a sudden wave of sadness engulfed her and glanced down at the ground.
Lupin put a comforting hand on her arm. "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened to Malfoy?"
She pulled herself together and answered his question. "Professor Snape used Veritaserum on him to get your location and a confession out of him. After Evangeline was rescued, and you were freed to roam the woods for the night, Malfoy and his thugs were carted off to Azkaban, to the immense relief of everyone, you can be sure."
"Thank god. I hope he stays there for a long time." He nodded gratefully as his thoughts raced. Veritaserum?! What sort of confession did Malfoy give? Does Severus know the truth…or some twisted version of it?
He suddenly pulled his attention back to Eleanor, as he realized with a guilty start, that she was still speaking.
"Why wouldn't he? He's obviously guilty of some shocking crimes." She sounded highly indignant.
Lupin sighed resignedly. "He's also very wealthy and influential, not to mention that he's one of Voldemort's most favored and powerful supporters. I hope to never lay eyes on the man again, but you never know."
He paused and looked sideways at her. "Is the wedding still on?"
This might tell him something, although surely Severus wouldn't blame Evangeline for what happened.
Eleanor smiled at him. "I think so. Evangeline's very upset over the deaths of Margie and Edward, but postponing the wedding won't help them. Frankly, I doubt if Professor Snape could stand another delay. He was like a madman, trying to find Evangeline, and getting the truth out of Malfoy. He obviously loves her very much."
Lupin sighed. "Yes, he does. I hope the wedding goes off as planned."
Though he found himself praying even more fervently that Snape never finds out the details of what happened yesterday afternoon in the tower.
"I think it will, now that you're safely back. Evangeline was very worried about you…so was Mr. Evans," Eleanor added with a kind smile.
He forced a smile in return. "Well, there's no need to worry about me. Once I get some clothes on, I'll be just fine."
Oh, yeah…just fine.
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