Ainsley - thanks for the review. *Nytd backs slowly away, keeping a wary eye on the giant orange hippo.*
deSevera - silver and turquoise scarf? Cool!
Jig - of course the 'tails' side would go to Remus!
Gryffindors to the Rescue ~*~
Sirius and Remus walked down the hall toward the medical wing, arguing quietly as they went.
"Honestly, Padfoot, I can't believe that you're even thinking of asking her to do this," Remus scolded his friend.
"I'm not. You're going to ask her," Sirius said with a grin.
"Me? Why me?" asked Remus.
"Because she'll probably do it for you," Sirius replied.
"But why would I want her to do this?" Remus asked.
"'Cause you're a nice guy and you want to help the new lady professor," Sirius smiled.
"Oh." Remus hesitated for a minute. "I guess it would make things easier for her if she had something really interesting for her first set of classes."
"Exactly." Sirius directed Remus into the infirmary.
Lorien was preparing a fresh batch of Freloux's elixir when Sirius and Remus walked in together. Steam was rising from the cauldron she had set up and she was busy grinding morphia pods to a powder at the table and didn't see them.
Sirius cleared his throat and she looked up.
"What can I do for the two of you?" She smiled but continued to work.
Sirius elbowed Remus when Lorien looked away for a minute.
"Lorien I...that is we...have something we need to talk to you about," Remus began.
Lorien nodded. "Please, don't mind me. I've got to keep this going. This is the last ingredient." She indicated the potion she was working on. "What is it?" she asked.
"We need a favor," he said.
"Sure. What do you need?" Lorien asked him.
"It's a big favor," Sirius chimed in.
"Ok." She was curious now.
Remus told her about Marlina's dilemma with her first classes.
"I see. So how do I fit into all of this?" Lorien wondered what Sirius wanted as a favor when she saw the gleam in his eye.
"We thought it would make a good impression on the students for her if her first class was on dragon handling," Sirius said.
"You must be joking." Lorien's head snapped up from what she was doing.
"Nope." Sirius shook his head.
"You mean you want me to....?" Lorien hesitated.
"Yes. Please Lorien. I think it would really help her settle in if she got off to a good start," Remus jumped back in.
"This was your idea?" she asked, as she cast the last increment of morphia powder into the cauldron.
"Yes," he lied.
"What does Marlina think?" she asked as she checked the red color of the potion.
"She thinks it's cool. I'm not sure she's convinced we're really going to be able to get her a dragon, though," Remus replied.
Lorien realized that if Remus and Sirius managed to pull this off it would be a great way for Marlina to see just what a nice person Remus was. She looked from one to the other several times and then decided. "Ok. I'll do it." She smiled at him.
"Excellent. Are you done?" Sirius indicated the cauldron.
"Yes, finished." Lorien nodded.
"Good, come with us," he said.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"You need practice acting like a dragon," he said as he grabbed her hand and dragged her along with him and Remus.
Lorien looked like the perfect specimen of a turquoise dragon, but the problem was she didn't act like one, and Sirius, Remus and she spent the rest of the day reading up on dragon habits and behavior. They moved outside beyond the quidditch field so they wouldn't be seen when Lorien transformed, and Sirius critiqued her performance as she pretended to be intent on savaging Remus the dragon handler.
"That's much better you two," Sirius finally said when he felt they were at the point Lorien was convincing. "Now we move on."
Remus and the dragon looked at him. "Move on?"
Sirius nodded. "Yes, flying lessons."
The dragon's eyes went wide and then Lorien was walking rapidly toward Sirius. "Flying? You didn't say anything about flying."
"Dragons fly, Lorien. Marlina's going to expect to you try," Remus admitted.
She groaned. "I don't know, I'm not sure that I'm ready."
"You can do it. We'll be with you," Sirius encourage her. "Let's at least give it a go."
"Fine," Lorien pouted.
Lorien just wasn't used to coordinating two wings in addition to four limbs, and found that she was having a terrible time getting airborne from the ground. It didn't help that Sirius and Remus were leaning against each other laughing as she floundered in her attempts.
She gave them an angry dragon snarl and changed back. "You two are NOT helping," she snarled again.
"Lorien, I'm sorry. I know you're trying." Remus was wiping tears from his eyes as Sirius stifled a last snicker.
"Look, it's getting dark. Let's just skip the flying, shall we?" Lorien was frustrated.
Sirius spoke up. "I have one more idea, if you're willing to try it. Remus, you go tell Marlina to meet us later in that courtyard. Lorien and I are going to try this one more time."
"Ok." Remus stepped close to Lorien. "Thank you for doing this." He kissed her on the cheek and left.
"Come on, let's go." Sirius tugged on Lorien's sleeve.
"Where to?" she asked as she followed him.
"You'll see," he said.
Lorien decided that she would tell Sirius about Marlina as they walked. "Sirius, I think that it's actually a good thing that you and Remus are helping Marlina. She needs to see what a great person he is."
"Why is that?" he asked.
"She hates werewolves." Lorien related the story Marlina had told her about how her husband had been killed when they worked for the Werewolf Capture Unit.
Sirius nodded solemnly. "I'm glad you told me. I don't think we should tell Remus just yet though. This'll be good for both of them if they find out they can work well together before they know each others past."
Lorien nodded in agreement as they neared the castle. "Where are we going, anyway?"
He winked at her. "You and I have a date this evening in the astronomy tower."
A look of horror crossed Lorien's face. "You can't possibly expect...."
Sirius nodded but found that he had to coax Lorien the rest of the way.
"No way." Lorien turned away from the stairs and started back down the hall, and Sirius tried to grab her by the arm.
"Come on, Lorien. We need to try this." He missed his grip, and Lorien quickened her pace.
Sirius caught up to her in three quick steps and grabbed her around the waist. "Nothing to be afraid of."
"I know, because I'm not...." A struggle ensued and Lorien found her self over powered by the taller wizard. "Hey!" she yelled as Sirius began to half carry and half drag her back to the stairs.
"Sirius!" she cried.
He ignored her and kept walking.
"Sirius!" Lorien dug her heels in, but to no avail.
"It'll be good.... for you.... to do this!" He grunted as he dragged her into the stairwell.
Her fingers gripped the door frame, halting his progress. "I am not throwing myself out of.....ahhh!" She cried out as she lost her grip when Sirius yanked harder.
"Don't be such a chicken," he said as he flung her toward the stairs.
"Chicken? Who are you calling chicken?" She turned on him indignantly.
He gripped her shoulders and turned her back up the stairs. "March."
The wind was blowing steadily as Lorien and Sirius emerged into the top platform of the astronomy tower.
"The way I see it," he began," it might be easier to kind of coast after you're already off the ground. At least to start with."
Lorien could see his point but looked over the edge reluctantly as he drew near her. "You can do it, Lorien," he said as he placed his hands on her arms.
She looked up at him. "I'm scared, Sirius."
He looked into her eyes and nodded. He knew that this would be good for her, as well as potentially helping to make things better for the two professors, but could understand her reluctance after her previous crash.
"Lorien, I promise it will be ok." He spoke reassuringly and drew her to him in a comforting embrace.
Ariel Sinistra had noticed the noises coming from the stairway and decided to investigate. She wanted to make sure that there weren't any students up it the tower unsupervised. The heavens knew what they'd be doing up there.
As she neared the top she could see that someone had indeed left the door to the top platform open, and she crept closer to the door as she heard voices. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that one of the voices belonged to Lorien.
"Her, again?" Sinistra snarled under her breath, but eased closer to spy on what was being said. Whoever she was talking to didn't sound like Lupin, and it certainly wasn't Snape. Most of the Hogwarts staff by now knew about Lorien and Remus, and a few of them, like Sinistra and Sprout, knew about Severus. The dark haired woman strained to hear what was being said.
"You can do it, Lorien," a man's voice said.
"I'm scared, Sirius," said Lorien.
So it was Sirius Black. Sinistra listened further.
"Lorien, I promise it'll be ok. You know it's what's best for you, and it'll be better for both of them," Black said.
Sinistra couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I know you're right. I have to do this. It'll make things easier on them later. I just don't want to see either of them get hurt," Lorien replied.
"You should just get it over with. You know I'll be with you, sweetheart," Black said softly.
The Astronomy professor risked a furtive peek past the doorway and gasped as she saw Lorien in Sirius's arms. She ducked back and ran down the stairs as quietly as she could.
Lorien pulled away from the reassuring hug Sirius had given her. "I'm ready. Thanks for being such a good friend. To me and to him."
"Alright, alright. Don't go to emotional pieces on me," Black teased her. "Ready?"
Lorien smiled at him. "Ready," she said as she took the hand he offered her to climb up on the wall.
The small blue-green dragon perched on the stone wall staring over the edge for a long moment, and tentatively flapped her wings a few times.
"You're stalling," Sirius scolded her.
The dragon narrowed her eyes at him and snorted. A small puff of smoke billowed up in front of her nostrils.
Finally Lorien put the thoughts of her dive off the Ministry at Halloween aside. This would be nothing like that. She was in control and had all the time in the word. All she had to do was glide.
Sirius saw the small dragon take a last deep breath and launch herself off the astronomy tower wall. He thought his heart stopped as she fell for just a second like a large stone, but then caught herself when she spread the blue-green wings and glided neatly in an arc to a perfect four point landing in the dark below.
When Lorien called back up to him he could hear the laughter in her voice. "Better?"
"Excellent!" he called back. "Come on back up."
It took Lorien several minutes to make it back inside and all the way up the tower again.
"Ok, I think I've got it. I'm going to try staying up longer this time." She sounded excited.
"Thatta girl." Sirius gave her a hand up again and she transformed, launching herself almost immediately this time. She glided down and around and then the great wings beat mightily and she climbed in the air to the height of the tower again. She amused herself hovering in the air just in front of Sirius.
"OK, ok. Quit showing off." Sirius scolded her but was obviously pleased as he watched her move slightly up and down with each downward thrust of her wings. "I'll meet you at the bottom."
The dragon circled the dark sky once more and then flew to land beside Sirius when she saw him round the corner of the castle.
"Ok. Now once more. See if you can get off the ground," he suggested.
The dragon pushed off with all four feet as the wings stirred up a strong breeze around Sirius, and she found that she could indeed get airborne if she flapped very hard.
"Excellent. Now let's call it good. You've got to be rested for tomorrow," he advised her.
Lorien walked to him from where the dragon had landed. "Coolest thing in the world, Sirius." She smiled.
Marlina wasn't sure if Remus and Sirius were just about the most helpful men she had ever met or if they were just plain nuts. She knew that she would know in a few minutes as she walked to the little used courtyard they had asked her to meet them in.
Sirius and Remus looked over at her as she entered the dark courtyard and walked to where they obviously had a very large cage covered with a large cloth. She began to wonder if the two of them were playing some sort of joke on her.
"So, is that it? she asked, pointing to the covered cage.
"Sure is." Lupin's smile looked genuine.
"Yeah, well if you two think you're pulling some sort of joke on the new teacher, let me just say that..." Her mouth dropped open when Sirius and Remus yanked the cover off the cage. She didn't think they would really pull it off, and a broad smile crept slowly across her face as the dragon snapped its head around to stare at her with menacing gold eyes and snarled at her.
"You really did it." Her voice was almost a whisper.
"I can't believe you ever doubted us," Sirius pouted and then smiled at the witch.
"I'll know better the next time." Marlina circled the large cage looking the animal over while it circled with her, a low menacing rumble coming from it the whole time. "She's gorgeous," Marlina said with admiration.
Remus winked at the dragon. "Yeah, I guess she is." He smiled.
Marlina stood quietly eyeing the beast in front of her for a long moment and then suddenly turned back to the two men. "You have no idea how much this helps. I don't know how you did this - maybe I don't want to know, but thank you so much. It's the nicest thing anyone's done for me in a long time." She reached up and kissed Sirius on the cheek, and then stepped next to the Defense professor.
The dragon perked its head up. She knew just what that tone of voice meant and the golden eyes narrowed as she watched Marlina kiss Remus on the cheek as well.
Marlina and Remus had to jump suddenly out of the way as the dragon let go a short brilliant blast of flame at the ground next to them.
"Ho! She's a feisty one! This is going to be great," Marlina laughed.
Remus glanced at the dragon for a second , and then went back to Marlina. "Here, we'll help you get the retaining charm in place over the courtyard for tomorrow."
Lorien saw the way Sirius had raised an eyebrow at her, and blinked innocently at him before he went to help the others. The dragon curled itself up in it's cage and watched the three of them secure the courtyard. She wasn't sure how she felt about what had just happened.
Monday afternoon, as the dragon's chin slammed into the dust firmly for the third class that day, Lorien was sure that this was one of the worst things she had ever agreed to. She was noosed and cross tied with charmed ropes around her neck as Marlina was showing the sixth years how to get control of a dragon's head first and then the tail and legs. She stepped in quickly after handing off a rope to each of the Weasley twins and cast the charm that would hold the dragon's mouth closed long enough for her to get close to the head.
Lorien had just about had enough as Marlina bound her snout shut again with some awful muggle stuff she called 'duck tape'. She tried to swat at the witch with her tail in earnest, but was held fast from doing so by two more of the G6 students on the ropes behind her. Finally, as she found her legs hindered by a shackling charm for the third time that afternoon, Lorien settled for glaring at the woman with the low growl rumbling in her chest again.
Once the dragon was under control, Marlina had allowed the students forward in pairs to examine and evaluate the dragon's condition.
Lee Jordan ran his hand along the growling animals ribs a second time. "I dunno. Do you think she's a little fat?" he asked.
The dragon thrashed violently and tried to pull her head away from Fred and George. 'You little twit, I'll show you who's fat,' Lorien thought in her head.
"No, Lee. This one is in excellent condition," Professor Perkins replied.
'Well, that's a little better,' Thought Lorien.
"Everyone had a chance?" Marlina looked around the group. "Good. Ok, lets give the old girl a rest."
'Old girl?' Lorien thought as Marlina stepped close with her wand. The dragon narrowed its eyes.
"Ok," she said as she pointed it at the tape. "On three....One....two....three!"
She caused the tape to split apart the same instant all the students cast the releasing charms on the ropes, and the dragon shook itself free. It glared at her once and then ran predictably to take a defensive stance back in the enclosure. Marlina cast the spell that slammed the door closed.
All the students, including Fred and George agreed it was the coolest Creature class they had ever had as they left the courtyard that afternoon.
Marlina regarded the dragon a short distance away from the enclosure thoughtfully. "You've done me a heck of a favor, pretty girl. I don't know how they found you, but I'm glad they did," she said cheerfully.
The dragon listened quietly from the back of the cage.
"Well, I'll be back to bring you some dinner in a little while. Got to keep your strength up for tomorrow, right love?"
Marlina walked away as the dragon's head slumped dejectedly to the ground.
There were three more upper level classes tomorrow.
A/N: You'll notice that Professor Sinistra now has a first name - Ariel. She's named after one of the moons of Uranus, that takes its name from 'The Tempest'.
**Challenge update! Ctina is the first one to reply with "I've Strayed Off to the Side"
.?storyid=1015452
Go read it! It has Vampires and Drinking and Mimes, Oh my! And of course the infamous Mrs. Cat Tasy-Snape and her enchanted toaster, Roberta. Yes that's right, toaster! Any of you that know Ctina's brand of humor will be scared that I let her put Cat and Sirius in the same story. :D
