CHAPTER IV Midnight Tryst
THE MUTANT KNOWN as Jean Grey was having a hard time getting some sleep. It was not jet lag, she know, as Aunt Molly has made her drink a strange concoction this afternoon which she said would rid of the nasty feeling of traveling great distances. While she did not dare ask the ingredients of the said drink, it worked wonders to her travel-worn body.
But now as she lay on the antique four-poster bed in one of the bedrooms in the fourth floor of the house, she found herself tossing and turning and far from dreamland. Not that she find the bedroom uncomfortable, it was nice in an old and antique house sort of way. It has a fireplace near the foot of the bed, and very classy magical paintings depicting of landscape and scenery from the English countryside. Aunt Molly said that a year ago, an altogether array of paintings decorated the place, portraits of Sirius Black's family, the original owner of the Grimmauld Place. Those had to be removed because one, Sirius is not exactly fond of them, and two, they cause a great deal of racket when disturbed.
In the corner of the room is a large wardrobe which Aunt Molly warned her not to open yet, as they have not yet decontaminated it. So her trunk and other things are arranged neatly in one corner of the room near an ornate dressing table and its chair. On the other side of the room is a drawing table which looks precious too, with its elaborate carvings and gold borders.
This a nice room. I wonder who used to sleep here. Jean thought as she sat down the bed, combing her long, red locks. She extended her left hand towards the candles and with her telekinesis, mentally extinguished the light. She left the one near her bed as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room.
Jean lay down the bed and closed her eyes, hoping for sleep to come. But after about fifteen minutes she gave up and frustrated, sat up her bed. She threw a desperate look around her, and knew that she cannot sleep peacefully knowing that the room is full of furniture that she may throw about during sleep.
Back in Bayville, at the Xavier's Institute for the Gifted Youngsters, she is one of only two students who occupy a room by herself, a room which is stripped of any furniture except for the bed and closet. While some of the students living in the Institute would question such privilege, Jean and Professor Xavier have reasons for doing such. Jean's mutant powers are quite dangerous if not controlled. During her early years in the Institute when her powers are just manifesting, she would wake up floating several feet from the bed, with her things smashed or worse, levitating near her. This was because it was hard to control her telekinesis when her mind is down on her guard, like when she is asleep. Once she woke up frighteningly near the window, and her room is in the third floor.
After that incident, Professor Xavier decided to put psi-shields on her room, to nullify somewhat her telekinesis and prevent her from hurting herself. It also served to prevent any unguarded thoughts and dreams from her teammates from projecting into her own mind. And even as the Institute's student population grew in numbers, she eluded having a roommate.
Now she is in this gorgeous room with all the valuable antiques which she could turn into dust by morning. With one more frustrated look around, she flung the sheets covering her body, reached for her robe and decided that a glass of warm milk which could soothe her nerves.
OKAY, SO WHERE do they keep the milk?
Jean has been rummaging around the kitchen for five minutes now, and so far, she has not seen any trace of 'moo juice' (as her teammate Evan Daniels fondly calls the dairy product). Sighing deeply, she opened the last cupboard and was surprised to find the handle cold. Tugging it open, she saw it was the wizards' version of a refrigerator - there were miniature snowflakes falling on the food inside the board.
"AHA!" she joyfully exclaimed. The only problem is that it's ice- cold, and she turned around to find the stove to warm the milk, she gave a start as she saw a man enter the room. She dropped the milk jug and immediately assumed a fighting stance.
The man looked up, and likewise posed for a fight. But then he stopped and directing his wand to the extinguished candles around the kitchen, he muttered something and the room was bathe with candlelight.
"I'm sorry, did I frightened you?" said the man in a hoarse voice. It was Lupin, the young haggard-looking wizard who came late during the dinner.
"Oh, its you. Yes, you frightened me a bit. But its okay," Jean smiled tentatively. "I, uhm, was having a hard time sleeping so I went here for some milk." she explained, her hands indicating the mess on the floor.
"And it seems I spoiled it for you." Lupin smiled too, and with one wave of his wand, "Reparo!" the shattered jug was put back into pieces, "Scourgify," and the milk was wiped clean. He waved again in the air, and two mugs appeared from nowhere. "Here, it's warm, it can help you sleep better."
Lupin sat down the chair. "Well, I think I must apologize we can't offer you a better place to stay. This place has been abandoned for a long time, and it was only last year when humans inhabited it again. It's old and quite decaying - "
"Oh no, please it's not the reason why I can't sleep. I think this is a very beautiful house, old maybe, but gorgeous." said Jean, her green eyes sweeping the surrounding. As she drank from her cup of warm milk.
*Just like you.* Lupin's loud and projecting thoughts penetrated her mind and they made her cough.
"Is it too warm?" he asked with unmasked concern in his raspy voice.
"No, no, the temp's just right. I, uhm." Oh crap, Jean thought. If I'm going to work with this man I'd better come clean with my abilities. "Well, I just heard what you're thinking.uhm.about me -" under the feeble light from the candle, she could see Lupin's pale shade turned paler "-but it's okay! Uhm, thanks, I guess."
"So that's you're magic, then? You can enter somebody's mind and read their thoughts?" said Lupin in a dangerously quiet voice. "Don't you think its somewhat -"
"Yes, I know, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to do it. You see, that's the downside of my mutant powers. I can control them now, but still I can't help it if the people's thoughts are too loud -" Lupin's graying eyebrows shot an inch, "- you know, they project into my own mind. I didn't mean to read yours, I'm sorry." Jean is near into tears.
Now that she's 24 years old, her powers has developed significantly and she does not experience the power surge she normally experiences during her adolescent years. She has now complete control over them, but incidences such as this still occur. Jean has not yet forgotten how much it offended her teammates and friends whenever she accidentally reads their minds, They thought it was arrogant of her, and that she intends to do it. For years she endured the voices she hears at school, at the mall, even her own X-men teammates. Everywhere she go, there will always be some people whose thoughts are too loud and unconsciously projects them to the telepath nearby. Guys at school would comment on her reputation, strange guys who appreciate her body too much for her comfort.
It was a difficult stage for her, and how she rejoiced when Professor Xavier proclaimed that those instances would be minimized as she grown into full womanhood.
"I guess it's okay, Jean." Lupin's hoarse voice pulled her back to reality. "I, er, actually mean it."
Jean cannot help but smile. "Thanks, uh, Remus. Can I call you Remus?"
"Of course. Er, what is the reason then, why cannot you sleep?"
Reluctantly, Jean told him the reason she cannot sleep inside the gorgeous room in the fourth floor.
"I see. So your Professor puts, what do you call it? Psi-shields? Well, I think I can help you with that. Come on, if you're finished with your milk, we'll fix your room." Jean stood up and with her telekinesis, brought the two mugs to the sink and Lupin raised his wand, muttered the spell and the mugs started to wash by themselves.
Quietly, they trudged the rickety stairs towards Jean's room in the fourth floor. They stopped at the second door from the landing and Lupin opened the door.
"Well, you're right, it's quite well-furnished. I think this room belongs to one of Sirius' aunts who has a love for ornate furnitures." He folded the sleeves of his robe and raised his wand. "Okay, Jean, stand back a little." He then performed a complicated wave and muttered something under his breath.
Even though she was watching closely, Jean cannot determine the effect of the spell Lupin had just cast. "Uhm, Remus, what spell did you do it?"
"It's called the Imperturbable Charm. So however you thrash around while you sleep, the things around you will not be moved around." Lupin's smile turned wider when he saw the amusement on Jean's face.
Jean said her thanks to Lupin. She started to move away from the door but at that same time, Lupin started for it. Seeing that Jean is still near the door post, he moved to his left, as Jean moved to her right. Jean changed her track and moved back to her left, just as Lupin moved to his right. Then simultaneously, they chuckled awkwardly.
"Okay, ladies first." Lupin said, looking into her green eyes. Their eyes held contact and in that particular moment, Lupin looked deeply into Jean's eyes, that Jean thought he was the one reading not only her mind, but her soul as well. Jean herself felt mesmerized by Lupin's dark brown eyes, drawn into them by their mystery. He seemed to have gone through a lot of terrible ordeal, Jean thought, a terrible and painful ordeal.
A thump above them snapped their daze and brought them back to the room. Lupin unnecessarily cleared his throat and said, "Buckbeak, our household pet. Er, you must go to sleep now."
Jean shook her head a little to clear it. "Uhm, yeah, right. Thanks again and goodnight!" She moved to her bed and with her TK, gently closed the door. She eased to her bed and within several minutes, she fell into a deep slumber.
THE MUTANT KNOWN as Jean Grey was having a hard time getting some sleep. It was not jet lag, she know, as Aunt Molly has made her drink a strange concoction this afternoon which she said would rid of the nasty feeling of traveling great distances. While she did not dare ask the ingredients of the said drink, it worked wonders to her travel-worn body.
But now as she lay on the antique four-poster bed in one of the bedrooms in the fourth floor of the house, she found herself tossing and turning and far from dreamland. Not that she find the bedroom uncomfortable, it was nice in an old and antique house sort of way. It has a fireplace near the foot of the bed, and very classy magical paintings depicting of landscape and scenery from the English countryside. Aunt Molly said that a year ago, an altogether array of paintings decorated the place, portraits of Sirius Black's family, the original owner of the Grimmauld Place. Those had to be removed because one, Sirius is not exactly fond of them, and two, they cause a great deal of racket when disturbed.
In the corner of the room is a large wardrobe which Aunt Molly warned her not to open yet, as they have not yet decontaminated it. So her trunk and other things are arranged neatly in one corner of the room near an ornate dressing table and its chair. On the other side of the room is a drawing table which looks precious too, with its elaborate carvings and gold borders.
This a nice room. I wonder who used to sleep here. Jean thought as she sat down the bed, combing her long, red locks. She extended her left hand towards the candles and with her telekinesis, mentally extinguished the light. She left the one near her bed as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room.
Jean lay down the bed and closed her eyes, hoping for sleep to come. But after about fifteen minutes she gave up and frustrated, sat up her bed. She threw a desperate look around her, and knew that she cannot sleep peacefully knowing that the room is full of furniture that she may throw about during sleep.
Back in Bayville, at the Xavier's Institute for the Gifted Youngsters, she is one of only two students who occupy a room by herself, a room which is stripped of any furniture except for the bed and closet. While some of the students living in the Institute would question such privilege, Jean and Professor Xavier have reasons for doing such. Jean's mutant powers are quite dangerous if not controlled. During her early years in the Institute when her powers are just manifesting, she would wake up floating several feet from the bed, with her things smashed or worse, levitating near her. This was because it was hard to control her telekinesis when her mind is down on her guard, like when she is asleep. Once she woke up frighteningly near the window, and her room is in the third floor.
After that incident, Professor Xavier decided to put psi-shields on her room, to nullify somewhat her telekinesis and prevent her from hurting herself. It also served to prevent any unguarded thoughts and dreams from her teammates from projecting into her own mind. And even as the Institute's student population grew in numbers, she eluded having a roommate.
Now she is in this gorgeous room with all the valuable antiques which she could turn into dust by morning. With one more frustrated look around, she flung the sheets covering her body, reached for her robe and decided that a glass of warm milk which could soothe her nerves.
OKAY, SO WHERE do they keep the milk?
Jean has been rummaging around the kitchen for five minutes now, and so far, she has not seen any trace of 'moo juice' (as her teammate Evan Daniels fondly calls the dairy product). Sighing deeply, she opened the last cupboard and was surprised to find the handle cold. Tugging it open, she saw it was the wizards' version of a refrigerator - there were miniature snowflakes falling on the food inside the board.
"AHA!" she joyfully exclaimed. The only problem is that it's ice- cold, and she turned around to find the stove to warm the milk, she gave a start as she saw a man enter the room. She dropped the milk jug and immediately assumed a fighting stance.
The man looked up, and likewise posed for a fight. But then he stopped and directing his wand to the extinguished candles around the kitchen, he muttered something and the room was bathe with candlelight.
"I'm sorry, did I frightened you?" said the man in a hoarse voice. It was Lupin, the young haggard-looking wizard who came late during the dinner.
"Oh, its you. Yes, you frightened me a bit. But its okay," Jean smiled tentatively. "I, uhm, was having a hard time sleeping so I went here for some milk." she explained, her hands indicating the mess on the floor.
"And it seems I spoiled it for you." Lupin smiled too, and with one wave of his wand, "Reparo!" the shattered jug was put back into pieces, "Scourgify," and the milk was wiped clean. He waved again in the air, and two mugs appeared from nowhere. "Here, it's warm, it can help you sleep better."
Lupin sat down the chair. "Well, I think I must apologize we can't offer you a better place to stay. This place has been abandoned for a long time, and it was only last year when humans inhabited it again. It's old and quite decaying - "
"Oh no, please it's not the reason why I can't sleep. I think this is a very beautiful house, old maybe, but gorgeous." said Jean, her green eyes sweeping the surrounding. As she drank from her cup of warm milk.
*Just like you.* Lupin's loud and projecting thoughts penetrated her mind and they made her cough.
"Is it too warm?" he asked with unmasked concern in his raspy voice.
"No, no, the temp's just right. I, uhm." Oh crap, Jean thought. If I'm going to work with this man I'd better come clean with my abilities. "Well, I just heard what you're thinking.uhm.about me -" under the feeble light from the candle, she could see Lupin's pale shade turned paler "-but it's okay! Uhm, thanks, I guess."
"So that's you're magic, then? You can enter somebody's mind and read their thoughts?" said Lupin in a dangerously quiet voice. "Don't you think its somewhat -"
"Yes, I know, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to do it. You see, that's the downside of my mutant powers. I can control them now, but still I can't help it if the people's thoughts are too loud -" Lupin's graying eyebrows shot an inch, "- you know, they project into my own mind. I didn't mean to read yours, I'm sorry." Jean is near into tears.
Now that she's 24 years old, her powers has developed significantly and she does not experience the power surge she normally experiences during her adolescent years. She has now complete control over them, but incidences such as this still occur. Jean has not yet forgotten how much it offended her teammates and friends whenever she accidentally reads their minds, They thought it was arrogant of her, and that she intends to do it. For years she endured the voices she hears at school, at the mall, even her own X-men teammates. Everywhere she go, there will always be some people whose thoughts are too loud and unconsciously projects them to the telepath nearby. Guys at school would comment on her reputation, strange guys who appreciate her body too much for her comfort.
It was a difficult stage for her, and how she rejoiced when Professor Xavier proclaimed that those instances would be minimized as she grown into full womanhood.
"I guess it's okay, Jean." Lupin's hoarse voice pulled her back to reality. "I, er, actually mean it."
Jean cannot help but smile. "Thanks, uh, Remus. Can I call you Remus?"
"Of course. Er, what is the reason then, why cannot you sleep?"
Reluctantly, Jean told him the reason she cannot sleep inside the gorgeous room in the fourth floor.
"I see. So your Professor puts, what do you call it? Psi-shields? Well, I think I can help you with that. Come on, if you're finished with your milk, we'll fix your room." Jean stood up and with her telekinesis, brought the two mugs to the sink and Lupin raised his wand, muttered the spell and the mugs started to wash by themselves.
Quietly, they trudged the rickety stairs towards Jean's room in the fourth floor. They stopped at the second door from the landing and Lupin opened the door.
"Well, you're right, it's quite well-furnished. I think this room belongs to one of Sirius' aunts who has a love for ornate furnitures." He folded the sleeves of his robe and raised his wand. "Okay, Jean, stand back a little." He then performed a complicated wave and muttered something under his breath.
Even though she was watching closely, Jean cannot determine the effect of the spell Lupin had just cast. "Uhm, Remus, what spell did you do it?"
"It's called the Imperturbable Charm. So however you thrash around while you sleep, the things around you will not be moved around." Lupin's smile turned wider when he saw the amusement on Jean's face.
Jean said her thanks to Lupin. She started to move away from the door but at that same time, Lupin started for it. Seeing that Jean is still near the door post, he moved to his left, as Jean moved to her right. Jean changed her track and moved back to her left, just as Lupin moved to his right. Then simultaneously, they chuckled awkwardly.
"Okay, ladies first." Lupin said, looking into her green eyes. Their eyes held contact and in that particular moment, Lupin looked deeply into Jean's eyes, that Jean thought he was the one reading not only her mind, but her soul as well. Jean herself felt mesmerized by Lupin's dark brown eyes, drawn into them by their mystery. He seemed to have gone through a lot of terrible ordeal, Jean thought, a terrible and painful ordeal.
A thump above them snapped their daze and brought them back to the room. Lupin unnecessarily cleared his throat and said, "Buckbeak, our household pet. Er, you must go to sleep now."
Jean shook her head a little to clear it. "Uhm, yeah, right. Thanks again and goodnight!" She moved to her bed and with her TK, gently closed the door. She eased to her bed and within several minutes, she fell into a deep slumber.