AN: Here's a long one. Oh, and in reaction to Nikki's review: the full moon
thing I said in the summary won't happen till the end, and trust me, this
story's far from over!
~~~~
Rebecca woke up gradually, feeling groggy and exhausted. What was with that strange dream she'd had? More importantly, where was she and where was Remus. . . and who's house elf was this?
Rebecca shot up, while the house elf tried to drape a blanket over her. She looked around her wildly, panic overpowering her common sense. She'd never been here before.
She was on an emerald green couch in a high-ceilinged richly decorated room, with a large marble fireplace with snakes elaborately carved around the corners.
She turned to the house elf. "Where am I?" she demanded, a bit harsh. The house elf cowered back and shook its head as if it couldn't bare to say it. "D - Dobby wonders where to begin."
Rebecca sighed, and softened her voice as she felt compassion towards the elf. "Just tell me where I am, then you can explain."
The house elf named Dobby glanced shiftily behind him and left to right, checking to see if anyone was listening. "This is the Manor of Malfoy, miss."
Rebecca was shocked, almost disgusted. Why was she *here*?
"Why am I here?" she said, echoing her thoughts.
Dobby stiffened, his eyes widened, and he collapsed into sobs.
Rebecca looked around, startled, not knowing what to do.
After a few minutes, the elf looked up at her with watery eyes. "Dobby does not wish to speak ill of his master."
Rebecca thought for a second, finding a way to get around Dobby's loyalty. "What did your. . . master," she began, emphasizing the word with disgust, ". . .do, exactly?"
Dobby eyed her warily. "It's not what master did, it's what mistress did."
Mistress?
"Who's that?" Rebecca asked, not sure she wanted to know.
Dobby gave her a meaningful look.
"What did. I do?" Rebecca asked uncertainly.
Dobby shook his head nervously, "It wasn't mistress's fault, she didn't know. It was Dobby's master. He made her do it. His wand. Master used his wand. Mistress didn't know." After saying this, Dobby hit his head on the edge of the coffee table, but Rebecca pulled him back.
Her throat was constricted, but she managed to ask, "What did he make me do?"
Dobby conjured what appeared to be documents with the snap of his fingers. With a closer look, Rebecca could see what it said. It only took a moment for her to realize that they were marriage documents, and in another moment she noticed a wobbly signature at the bottom that she recognized as her own.
She was legally married to Lucius Malfoy.
*Pureblood*. That's all she was.
~~~~~~~~~~
"This could have been easy," he said quietly, examining his fingernails with only the slightest bit of interest.
Rebecca decided she was not going to answer to anything he said.
Lucius gave her a sidelong glance, acknowledging her silence, and continued. "It's all I asked. All I asked," he said simply, as if she were the one at fault. "Just a son to carry my name."
Rebecca didn't even flinch.
"But you," he said finally, turning to her. "You had to make things difficult. Complicated."
Rebecca met his gaze with a steady glare. He smirked. "Of course, all you needed was a little persuasion," he said, slowly bringing out his wand, and examining it as he had examined his fingernails.
On the outside, Rebecca was as stolid and blank as a stone, but on the inside, her thoughts were racing. She had no wand. Remus was far from here. No one knew she was here. His wand was out. He was smirking. He could use the Imperius curse on her any time he fancied. She had no control whatsoever.
No compromise was possible when anything she offered could just as easily be forcibly taken.
"It's a pity I had to resort to such measures," he said indifferently.
"It's a pity you couldn't find anyone who'd have you," Rebecca muttered under her breath. She hadn't the slightest clue how he would react to sarcasm, and quite frankly, she didn't care.
If she would be here for the rest of her life against her will, she definitely wasn't going to go quietly.
But Lucius didn't strike her or anything of the sort at all. On the contrary, he smiled. "You are in no way discreet, are you?"
Rebecca didn't answer. She wasn't going to play games.
Nevertheless, Lucius laughed as if she had said no. He seemed to have his mind made up about something, because when he looked back at her, he had this certain confidence about him that made Rebecca nervous.
"That does not matter anymore," he said, still wearing that awful smile. "You answer to me now."
Rebecca gritted her teeth, and her face contorted as if she had tasted something sour. The worst thing was that she couldn't fight back. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see him bring out his wand from the pocket of his robes.
She strained to focus her ears on the ticking clock across the room, so she wouldn't hear him whisper the Imperius curse.
But before she could realize that the spell had struck her, her mind went blank. His wand out and steady in his hands, he kissed her.
Though, she didn't realize it. Her mind was too focused on the task of obeying its command to sit still and not move an inch.
~~~~~~~~~~
Apart from when he transformed, Remus Lupin could not remember feeling so panicked in his life.
There was no word from Rebecca, and she had been gone for three days. He'd trusted Dorcas with asking people casually at work whether they had heard any news from her. This proved to be difficult seeing as not many people from the Ministry knew exactly who Rebecca Waters was.
Right now, Remus's only solace, his only hope, resided in this small tawny owl in front of him. It hooted impatiently when it found that Remus hadn't written anything yet.
*Dash it all*, he thought, still not able to come up with anything to write.
*Hey Rebecca, mind telling anyone where you've gone off to?*
Maybe he shouldn't write anything.
Of course, this was only assuming that the owl found her at all. It was a particularly difficult task, but somehow this owl had managed to have not let him down so far.
He sighed shakily, and turned to address the owl. "Just find Rebecca, and . . ." he hesitated as he thought. He picked up the quill, ink bottle, and parchment, and tied it together with a leather string, and looped it around the owl's leg. "And give her this in case she has nothing to write with."
The owl hooted, and Remus added one more thing. "Don't come back if you haven't found her," he said, becoming increasingly desperate. He couldn't go looking for her because he didn't know where to begin, but he couldn't just sit here without doing *something* useful.
It wasn't like Rebecca to just run off like this. The fear increased, constricting his throat.
"And don't give me that," Remus said softly, but indignantly - noting the reproachful look his owl was giving him for telling it not to come back if it didn't need to.
He clenched his teeth, finally allowing a small bit of compassion for the tiny thing. He rummaged around for some food to give the owl, and after eating and hooting gratefully, the small owl took off awkwardly and lopsided, half of it weighed down by the load.
He tried sitting down, but that only made him restless, so he paced around the entire front room of his house, which was now headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.
It was only a matter of time. Remus had always been very patient with things. But this. . .
He shook his head restlessly, and continued to pace - back and forth, back and forth. . . only partly aware that his pacing was doing no good except for keeping him from bursting all at once.
It was only a matter of time.
~~~~~~~~~~
Time, however, was not on his side.
All too early, that night was another Order meeting. Remus didn't feel up to going, but he didn't exactly have a choice seeing as they were meeting at his house now.
James and Lily arrived a little later than usual, and both were looking upset. Lily looked a little red in the face as if she had been shouting, and James had his arms crossed, which was never a good sign.
Alice Longbottom took this into consideration, and walked over to Lily. "Lily, what's wrong?" she asked in a concerned tone.
Lily scowled, "James."
"I only told her I don't want children right now," James explained innocently to Frank Longbottom. "And she just blew up on me."
Lily shook her head, "I brought it up to tell him something important, and he just pushed it aside like it wasn't even my decision!"
"Well, you can't blame him," Sirius said, joining in on the conversation without invitation.
"And what do you have against children?" Lily snapped.
"Nothing," he said. "Love the little brats, but James. he's just miffed easily, you know. They probably get on his nerves."
"I don't see why it's such a big deal," James said. "Oh no," he said, looking over to where Lily was. "What's Sirius telling her?"
"See now, this one time there was this little boy, about seven I'd say," Sirius began - grinning. "He saw that the boy was crying, and tried to give him the snitch he'd stolen from school. It opened up, and flew right into the boy's face before he could reach out for it."
Lily and Alice glanced at each other uncertainly. Sirius was having a difficult time telling the story while keeping himself from doubling up with laughter. "Now see. the boy had a few little friends with him." Sirius nearly fell over, and James turned around.
"They all started beatin' up on him," he continued. "I had to step back to keep myself from being injured by the little buggers." he paused to laugh again, and James started to walk over to where they were. Lily was sure at least some of this had been exaggerated to fit his entertainment.
"And one of them," Sirius said, almost crying now, "one of them kicked him hard in the - "
"Sirius!" James said loudly when he caught wind of the story he was telling.
"What'd I do?" he asked innocently, but the grin gave him away. Lily's smile faded when James turned to look at her, and she turned away.
Dumbledore walked into the room, and everyone took a seat at the large dining table. He cleared his throat before sitting down.
"I see we have a guest?" Dumbledore ventured, nodding at a thin, bony witch in her late thirties. The witch nodded. "Arabella Figg," she said, and everyone smiled warmly.
"I won't be of much use," she added. "I'm only a squib. But anything I can do to round up Voldemort's followers, I'm willing to do," she finished with a bitter tone and what sounded like disgust.
A few people flinched at the sound of the name, (Voldemort's, not Mrs. Figg's) but nodded after hearing what Mrs. Figg had to say. Remus frowned. He knew Mrs. Figg - she had been a friend of his mother's. The reason she was so eager to be of help to the Order was probably due to the fact that her husband had been killed by a Death Eater.
"Now, on to the whereabouts of Rebecca Waters," Dumbledore said gravely. "Any news?"
Remus looked to Dorcas expectantly, almost pleadingly, but she frowned and shook her head apologetically.
Peter's eyes were wide and blank, his fingernails digging into the table. Remus saw the damage that it was doing to the table, but didn't say a word.
"No one's heard anything from her," Dorcas said with a sigh. "I asked everyone who works in my department."
"Alice and I asked all our fellow Aurors," Frank said. "Not many even know who Rebecca Waters is."
Peter gripped the sides of his chair. "Malfoy," he said, the name flying out of his mouth before he could stop it.
"What?" Remus said, struggling to keep his voice calm.
Peter looked around nervously, aware that he had made a mistake. Nevertheless, he told them what he knew. "She's married," he confessed.
Remus's jaw dropped. Why would she do a thing like that? Lily was shaking her head skeptically. "I saw her last, and she didn't look like she was about to run off and marry someone."
"Where'd you hear a story like that, Peter?" Gideon asked, almost laughing at how stupid it sounded.
Peter shook his head, ignoring the question. "I - I know for a fact that she's married to Lucius Malfoy."
"Where did you hear that, Peter?" Dumbledore asked, repeating the question. According to what the Death Eaters had told him, Dumbledore was skilled at Legilimency. They advised Peter to look away anytime Dumbledore looked straight at him. This Peter did.
"I - I saw him," Peter said, formulating a convincing story in his mind, still averting Dumbledore's eyes. "I saw him at the ministry, an - and he told me." The truth was, he'd heard Lucius bragging about it with some other Death Eaters. Personally, he, Peter, was disgusted by it, but he couldn't risk his whereabouts and connections with those people in front of Dumbledore.
"He just told you?" James asked accusingly. "Just like that?"
Peter nodded quickly, guilt washing through him. He heard James mutter something that sounded like "bull".
Dumbledore watched him a moment longer, apparently making his mind up about something, and when he saw that Peter wasn't going to make eye contact, he said, "We will have members investigate this further. In the mean time, is there anything further anyone would like to report?"
Everyone remained silent. James was watching Peter intently, and Lily was watching him watch Peter. Sirius was gazing at the ceiling, his chair standing on two legs, and Remus was staring at the table, but not really seeing it at all.
Dumbledore cleared his throat for the last time, and said, "In that case, there's no further reason to sit gathered here, when there is so much to fight against."
~~~~~~~~~~
The sun splashed through the arched windows, slowly waking Rebecca from her troubled sleep. She'd dreamed about Remus again, and she could almost feel his pain.
Was it for her? She had to let him know she was here. Dobby the house elf entered the room carrying her breakfast. He set it down on the table in front of her, and gave her an understanding, compassionate look. Rebecca smiled feebly. She and Dobby were in the same situation - trapped in a cold house, deprived of free will.
"Dobby," she whispered. The house elf turned around slowly, intrigued by the fact that she was whispering.
Rebecca looked around her before saying, "Is there a way to get out of here?"
For the first time in her life, Rebecca saw a house elf smile secretively.
~~~~~~~~~~
Making sure Lucius was nowhere to be seen, Rebecca opened the window, letting in the small tawny owl. Her heart leapt when she recognized the owl as Remus's. She took the quill, parchment and ink from the poor owl's leg, and offered the owl her breakfast - she'd pretty much lost her appetite as of late.
She gave one more nervous glance around the room before dipping the quill in the bottle of ink.
Remus,
She thought for a moment. How could she word this?
I'm all right. I'm sheltered and fed, but I'll explain where I am later. I'm trapped, but I've found a way out.
This was true. Dobby had told her of a way to escape the charm that made it impossible for her to Disapparate from the Manor. However, it required patience.
Don't worry about me. Meet me in Diagon Alley by Gringott's at nine-thirty on the new moon. Tell everyone I'm all right, and that I miss them.
Love,
Rebecca stopped writing, staring at the word she'd written. Desire washed through her involuntarily. His smile - that whimsical smile that made her spirits soar and her head spin. His eyes dancing when they looked into hers. Did he love her? It was a stupid thing to think, really.
With a sad sigh, she signed the letter.
AN: One word: Jamie!
Another word (allowed to be repeated incessantly): Review! Review! Review! Review!
~~~~
Rebecca woke up gradually, feeling groggy and exhausted. What was with that strange dream she'd had? More importantly, where was she and where was Remus. . . and who's house elf was this?
Rebecca shot up, while the house elf tried to drape a blanket over her. She looked around her wildly, panic overpowering her common sense. She'd never been here before.
She was on an emerald green couch in a high-ceilinged richly decorated room, with a large marble fireplace with snakes elaborately carved around the corners.
She turned to the house elf. "Where am I?" she demanded, a bit harsh. The house elf cowered back and shook its head as if it couldn't bare to say it. "D - Dobby wonders where to begin."
Rebecca sighed, and softened her voice as she felt compassion towards the elf. "Just tell me where I am, then you can explain."
The house elf named Dobby glanced shiftily behind him and left to right, checking to see if anyone was listening. "This is the Manor of Malfoy, miss."
Rebecca was shocked, almost disgusted. Why was she *here*?
"Why am I here?" she said, echoing her thoughts.
Dobby stiffened, his eyes widened, and he collapsed into sobs.
Rebecca looked around, startled, not knowing what to do.
After a few minutes, the elf looked up at her with watery eyes. "Dobby does not wish to speak ill of his master."
Rebecca thought for a second, finding a way to get around Dobby's loyalty. "What did your. . . master," she began, emphasizing the word with disgust, ". . .do, exactly?"
Dobby eyed her warily. "It's not what master did, it's what mistress did."
Mistress?
"Who's that?" Rebecca asked, not sure she wanted to know.
Dobby gave her a meaningful look.
"What did. I do?" Rebecca asked uncertainly.
Dobby shook his head nervously, "It wasn't mistress's fault, she didn't know. It was Dobby's master. He made her do it. His wand. Master used his wand. Mistress didn't know." After saying this, Dobby hit his head on the edge of the coffee table, but Rebecca pulled him back.
Her throat was constricted, but she managed to ask, "What did he make me do?"
Dobby conjured what appeared to be documents with the snap of his fingers. With a closer look, Rebecca could see what it said. It only took a moment for her to realize that they were marriage documents, and in another moment she noticed a wobbly signature at the bottom that she recognized as her own.
She was legally married to Lucius Malfoy.
*Pureblood*. That's all she was.
~~~~~~~~~~
"This could have been easy," he said quietly, examining his fingernails with only the slightest bit of interest.
Rebecca decided she was not going to answer to anything he said.
Lucius gave her a sidelong glance, acknowledging her silence, and continued. "It's all I asked. All I asked," he said simply, as if she were the one at fault. "Just a son to carry my name."
Rebecca didn't even flinch.
"But you," he said finally, turning to her. "You had to make things difficult. Complicated."
Rebecca met his gaze with a steady glare. He smirked. "Of course, all you needed was a little persuasion," he said, slowly bringing out his wand, and examining it as he had examined his fingernails.
On the outside, Rebecca was as stolid and blank as a stone, but on the inside, her thoughts were racing. She had no wand. Remus was far from here. No one knew she was here. His wand was out. He was smirking. He could use the Imperius curse on her any time he fancied. She had no control whatsoever.
No compromise was possible when anything she offered could just as easily be forcibly taken.
"It's a pity I had to resort to such measures," he said indifferently.
"It's a pity you couldn't find anyone who'd have you," Rebecca muttered under her breath. She hadn't the slightest clue how he would react to sarcasm, and quite frankly, she didn't care.
If she would be here for the rest of her life against her will, she definitely wasn't going to go quietly.
But Lucius didn't strike her or anything of the sort at all. On the contrary, he smiled. "You are in no way discreet, are you?"
Rebecca didn't answer. She wasn't going to play games.
Nevertheless, Lucius laughed as if she had said no. He seemed to have his mind made up about something, because when he looked back at her, he had this certain confidence about him that made Rebecca nervous.
"That does not matter anymore," he said, still wearing that awful smile. "You answer to me now."
Rebecca gritted her teeth, and her face contorted as if she had tasted something sour. The worst thing was that she couldn't fight back. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see him bring out his wand from the pocket of his robes.
She strained to focus her ears on the ticking clock across the room, so she wouldn't hear him whisper the Imperius curse.
But before she could realize that the spell had struck her, her mind went blank. His wand out and steady in his hands, he kissed her.
Though, she didn't realize it. Her mind was too focused on the task of obeying its command to sit still and not move an inch.
~~~~~~~~~~
Apart from when he transformed, Remus Lupin could not remember feeling so panicked in his life.
There was no word from Rebecca, and she had been gone for three days. He'd trusted Dorcas with asking people casually at work whether they had heard any news from her. This proved to be difficult seeing as not many people from the Ministry knew exactly who Rebecca Waters was.
Right now, Remus's only solace, his only hope, resided in this small tawny owl in front of him. It hooted impatiently when it found that Remus hadn't written anything yet.
*Dash it all*, he thought, still not able to come up with anything to write.
*Hey Rebecca, mind telling anyone where you've gone off to?*
Maybe he shouldn't write anything.
Of course, this was only assuming that the owl found her at all. It was a particularly difficult task, but somehow this owl had managed to have not let him down so far.
He sighed shakily, and turned to address the owl. "Just find Rebecca, and . . ." he hesitated as he thought. He picked up the quill, ink bottle, and parchment, and tied it together with a leather string, and looped it around the owl's leg. "And give her this in case she has nothing to write with."
The owl hooted, and Remus added one more thing. "Don't come back if you haven't found her," he said, becoming increasingly desperate. He couldn't go looking for her because he didn't know where to begin, but he couldn't just sit here without doing *something* useful.
It wasn't like Rebecca to just run off like this. The fear increased, constricting his throat.
"And don't give me that," Remus said softly, but indignantly - noting the reproachful look his owl was giving him for telling it not to come back if it didn't need to.
He clenched his teeth, finally allowing a small bit of compassion for the tiny thing. He rummaged around for some food to give the owl, and after eating and hooting gratefully, the small owl took off awkwardly and lopsided, half of it weighed down by the load.
He tried sitting down, but that only made him restless, so he paced around the entire front room of his house, which was now headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.
It was only a matter of time. Remus had always been very patient with things. But this. . .
He shook his head restlessly, and continued to pace - back and forth, back and forth. . . only partly aware that his pacing was doing no good except for keeping him from bursting all at once.
It was only a matter of time.
~~~~~~~~~~
Time, however, was not on his side.
All too early, that night was another Order meeting. Remus didn't feel up to going, but he didn't exactly have a choice seeing as they were meeting at his house now.
James and Lily arrived a little later than usual, and both were looking upset. Lily looked a little red in the face as if she had been shouting, and James had his arms crossed, which was never a good sign.
Alice Longbottom took this into consideration, and walked over to Lily. "Lily, what's wrong?" she asked in a concerned tone.
Lily scowled, "James."
"I only told her I don't want children right now," James explained innocently to Frank Longbottom. "And she just blew up on me."
Lily shook her head, "I brought it up to tell him something important, and he just pushed it aside like it wasn't even my decision!"
"Well, you can't blame him," Sirius said, joining in on the conversation without invitation.
"And what do you have against children?" Lily snapped.
"Nothing," he said. "Love the little brats, but James. he's just miffed easily, you know. They probably get on his nerves."
"I don't see why it's such a big deal," James said. "Oh no," he said, looking over to where Lily was. "What's Sirius telling her?"
"See now, this one time there was this little boy, about seven I'd say," Sirius began - grinning. "He saw that the boy was crying, and tried to give him the snitch he'd stolen from school. It opened up, and flew right into the boy's face before he could reach out for it."
Lily and Alice glanced at each other uncertainly. Sirius was having a difficult time telling the story while keeping himself from doubling up with laughter. "Now see. the boy had a few little friends with him." Sirius nearly fell over, and James turned around.
"They all started beatin' up on him," he continued. "I had to step back to keep myself from being injured by the little buggers." he paused to laugh again, and James started to walk over to where they were. Lily was sure at least some of this had been exaggerated to fit his entertainment.
"And one of them," Sirius said, almost crying now, "one of them kicked him hard in the - "
"Sirius!" James said loudly when he caught wind of the story he was telling.
"What'd I do?" he asked innocently, but the grin gave him away. Lily's smile faded when James turned to look at her, and she turned away.
Dumbledore walked into the room, and everyone took a seat at the large dining table. He cleared his throat before sitting down.
"I see we have a guest?" Dumbledore ventured, nodding at a thin, bony witch in her late thirties. The witch nodded. "Arabella Figg," she said, and everyone smiled warmly.
"I won't be of much use," she added. "I'm only a squib. But anything I can do to round up Voldemort's followers, I'm willing to do," she finished with a bitter tone and what sounded like disgust.
A few people flinched at the sound of the name, (Voldemort's, not Mrs. Figg's) but nodded after hearing what Mrs. Figg had to say. Remus frowned. He knew Mrs. Figg - she had been a friend of his mother's. The reason she was so eager to be of help to the Order was probably due to the fact that her husband had been killed by a Death Eater.
"Now, on to the whereabouts of Rebecca Waters," Dumbledore said gravely. "Any news?"
Remus looked to Dorcas expectantly, almost pleadingly, but she frowned and shook her head apologetically.
Peter's eyes were wide and blank, his fingernails digging into the table. Remus saw the damage that it was doing to the table, but didn't say a word.
"No one's heard anything from her," Dorcas said with a sigh. "I asked everyone who works in my department."
"Alice and I asked all our fellow Aurors," Frank said. "Not many even know who Rebecca Waters is."
Peter gripped the sides of his chair. "Malfoy," he said, the name flying out of his mouth before he could stop it.
"What?" Remus said, struggling to keep his voice calm.
Peter looked around nervously, aware that he had made a mistake. Nevertheless, he told them what he knew. "She's married," he confessed.
Remus's jaw dropped. Why would she do a thing like that? Lily was shaking her head skeptically. "I saw her last, and she didn't look like she was about to run off and marry someone."
"Where'd you hear a story like that, Peter?" Gideon asked, almost laughing at how stupid it sounded.
Peter shook his head, ignoring the question. "I - I know for a fact that she's married to Lucius Malfoy."
"Where did you hear that, Peter?" Dumbledore asked, repeating the question. According to what the Death Eaters had told him, Dumbledore was skilled at Legilimency. They advised Peter to look away anytime Dumbledore looked straight at him. This Peter did.
"I - I saw him," Peter said, formulating a convincing story in his mind, still averting Dumbledore's eyes. "I saw him at the ministry, an - and he told me." The truth was, he'd heard Lucius bragging about it with some other Death Eaters. Personally, he, Peter, was disgusted by it, but he couldn't risk his whereabouts and connections with those people in front of Dumbledore.
"He just told you?" James asked accusingly. "Just like that?"
Peter nodded quickly, guilt washing through him. He heard James mutter something that sounded like "bull".
Dumbledore watched him a moment longer, apparently making his mind up about something, and when he saw that Peter wasn't going to make eye contact, he said, "We will have members investigate this further. In the mean time, is there anything further anyone would like to report?"
Everyone remained silent. James was watching Peter intently, and Lily was watching him watch Peter. Sirius was gazing at the ceiling, his chair standing on two legs, and Remus was staring at the table, but not really seeing it at all.
Dumbledore cleared his throat for the last time, and said, "In that case, there's no further reason to sit gathered here, when there is so much to fight against."
~~~~~~~~~~
The sun splashed through the arched windows, slowly waking Rebecca from her troubled sleep. She'd dreamed about Remus again, and she could almost feel his pain.
Was it for her? She had to let him know she was here. Dobby the house elf entered the room carrying her breakfast. He set it down on the table in front of her, and gave her an understanding, compassionate look. Rebecca smiled feebly. She and Dobby were in the same situation - trapped in a cold house, deprived of free will.
"Dobby," she whispered. The house elf turned around slowly, intrigued by the fact that she was whispering.
Rebecca looked around her before saying, "Is there a way to get out of here?"
For the first time in her life, Rebecca saw a house elf smile secretively.
~~~~~~~~~~
Making sure Lucius was nowhere to be seen, Rebecca opened the window, letting in the small tawny owl. Her heart leapt when she recognized the owl as Remus's. She took the quill, parchment and ink from the poor owl's leg, and offered the owl her breakfast - she'd pretty much lost her appetite as of late.
She gave one more nervous glance around the room before dipping the quill in the bottle of ink.
Remus,
She thought for a moment. How could she word this?
I'm all right. I'm sheltered and fed, but I'll explain where I am later. I'm trapped, but I've found a way out.
This was true. Dobby had told her of a way to escape the charm that made it impossible for her to Disapparate from the Manor. However, it required patience.
Don't worry about me. Meet me in Diagon Alley by Gringott's at nine-thirty on the new moon. Tell everyone I'm all right, and that I miss them.
Love,
Rebecca stopped writing, staring at the word she'd written. Desire washed through her involuntarily. His smile - that whimsical smile that made her spirits soar and her head spin. His eyes dancing when they looked into hers. Did he love her? It was a stupid thing to think, really.
With a sad sigh, she signed the letter.
AN: One word: Jamie!
Another word (allowed to be repeated incessantly): Review! Review! Review! Review!
