As the sun rose above the trees of the Forbidden Forest, a lone beam of
light reflecting off a tea cup smelling strongly of Fire Whiskey was held
by a hand that had seen better days. It was decorated with scars, more than
the usual amount of hair on its knuckles, and untrimmed fingernails.
Like his hand, Remus Lupin had seen better days as he tilted back the small cup. It was obvious he had not slept during the previous night. Instead he had sat at his desk, contemplating the events of the night before. Hermione's limp form was the only image in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to push it out. He couldn't understand why he was taking her death so harshly. He had certainly seen his fair share of deaths, especially in the war. He had even witnessed the death of some of the most promising students from his class- young witches and wizards with a whole life ahead of them if it wasn't for a stray iAvada Kadavra/i or a deliberate attack on their life. Perhaps it was the fact that he had tried to so hard to save her and had failed. But it wasn't just a failed attempt, it was Hermione Granger herself. Despite how hard he tried to control himself, he couldn't help but feel a warm feeling in his chest whenever he had seen her smile or when she brushed a hand across his arm. She was only a student, yes, but sometimes things were beyond his control.
A single tear threatened to escape, but was stopped when he clenched his jaw. This was the first time in what seemed like decades that he had come close to shedding a tear. Even from a young age, Remus Lupin controlled his emotions with an iron fist. He was so used to rejection and ridicule for his condition that he had promised himself not to come close enough to anyone that could possibly hurt him like he had been hurt in the past.
Remus stood up and walked towards the stained glass window. Tapping on it with his wand, it became crystal clear, allowing him to gaze at the grounds below him. He was about two stories above ground. Off to the far left, he could see the towering quidditch hoops through a light fog. To the right, bubbles appeared on the surface of the lake as the Giant Squid stuck out a tentacle and snaked it towards a deer grazing on the green grass and gently tapped it on its back. The deer turned around and ran away in fright as the tentacle slid back in the water. The Giant Squid had always seemed to find ways to entertain itself. Then Remus noticed the moon setting down for the night, only a small sliver of shadow prevented it from being a full moon. iTonight is going to be a long night,/i Remus thought to himself.
The sound of noise cluttered the hallway outside of Remus' office, informing him that the students were awake for the first classes and were already bustling down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Remus' stomach gave a small growl demanding food, but he ignored it. He didn't feel like eating. Instead Remus went to an adjoining bathroom and washed up briefly before classes.
The first class of the day was Gryffindor and Slytherin- definently not Remus' favorite. As the students flowed in and took their seats, Remus gave a deep sigh. Ron and Harry took their usual seat in a mournful tone and it was obvious that the feeling had spread through the rest of the Gryffidor House with the exception of Pavarti Patil who had a sour look on her face as she winced when she touched her black eye.
On the other side of the room, the Slytherins were slightly calmer than usual with the exception of Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Draco was making comments to her and his goonies out of the corner of his mouth and his following would snicker in delight. Remus knew they were laughing over the death of Hermione Granger and he could feel the blood rush to his clenched fists. It wouldn't do any good to take out his anger on students, he reminded himself. Remus Lupin's common sense had failed him that morning and he was forced to go back to his office and grab the graded scrolls to return to the students.
"Hey, Potter? Where's the mudblood?" Draco asked mockingly.
Harry didn't bother to respond; he looked down to the open book in front of him and began to read.
"Worm food," Malfoy snickered under his breath.
Neville Longbottom stood up and looked at Malfoy with the most intense anger expressed on his face. "Malfoy- you-" he stuttered, trying to think of a single insult that would humiliate him in front of all his peers, but all that managed to come out of Neville's mouth were, "You're stupid." Embarrassed, Neville resumed his seat.
"Is that all you have, Neville?"
Neville hung his head low as his face turned red.
"What are you going to do now that your girlfriend is gone? Are you going to ask your toad to the dance? It would be better than that filthy mudblood..."
In a flash, Neville jumped from his seat and lunged at Malfoy. Malfoy stood up and stepped back as Neville approached with his wand out.
"You better shut up, Malfoy."
Although he would never admit it, Draco was slightly intimidated by the rage expressed in the ever shy Neville Longbottom, but one look at his friends assured him he would never live it down if he let Neville get away with it.
"Go sit down before I hurt you," Draco said patronizingly, pulling his own wand out of his sleeve pocket.
The students seated around the imminent duel eased out of their chairs and out of the line of fire.
"You don't have the guts to touch me, Longbottom," Draco continued.
"I don't?" Neville said with raised eyebrows, walking closer to Draco and backing him towards a wall.
"iBerccio Areva!/i" Neville screamed. An electric blue streak shot from the tip of his wand and hit Draco in the chest, causing him to shake violently as if he had just shared a bath with a toaster.
Everyone watched as the shaking Draco regained himself and pointed his wand at Neville with a deadly stare.
"You're going to be sharing a grave next to that filthy mudblood soon, Longbottom," Draco began. "Atoro Ke-"
"iAccio! Finite Gratum! Sullio Ignosio!/i"
Neville Spat out the spells with a confidence that no one would have ever expected from the pink-faced boy.
Draco's wand was plucked from his hand by an invisible force and landed in Neville's grasp as Draco was pushed against the wall violently and bound to the wall with slithering black ropes that seemed to have appeared out of the cracks in the stone wall behind him.
Panting, Neville looked around, as if surprised by his own actions. If it hadn't been such a solemn day, perhaps Neville's stunt would have caused an outburst of laughter. Instead, the class, Gryffindor and Slytherin alike, stared at Neville with loose jaws. Neville felt nervous- he had never been one to stay in the spotlight for any length of time, he much rather stay in the corner of the room watching.
Remus Lupin came back through the large wood and wrought iron door separating his office from the classroom. Although his attention was focused on not dropping the scrolls he had in his arm, the unusual silence forced him to look up with curiousity. The sight before him was not expected. Neville stood guilty with a dropped wand and bright red cheeks in front of a cursed Draco Malfoy who was struggling against black ropes that held him to a wall, and as if proving there was justice in the world, a thick gag in his mouth.
Remus knew what the fight had been about, he had expected as much although he hoped that a shred of human decency had been passed to Draco and would allow him to see what a disgustingly inappropriate time it would be to display his racism. The professor set the scrolls down and hurried to Neville's side. Muffled protests were audible from Draco as the professor led Neville out of the room and into the hallway.
The color in Neville's face dropped, displaying the palest face he had seen in some time. His knuckles were grasped around the wand in his hand so tightly they were an eerie, iredescent white.
"I'm, I'm- I'm so sorry," Neville stumbled. "I didn- I didn't mean- mean to. He just– just called – Herm- Hermione a mudblood." Tears were dripping down the boy's face.
"It's okay, Neville, I understand. I just thought you needed to get out of there. How about you go lay down until you feel a little better?" the professor suggested in a fatherly manner with his hand on the boy's shoulder.
Neville nodded and walked slowly to his dormitory.
As the Professor entered his classroom for another attempt at normal day of class, he could see that it wasn't possible. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were taking turns blowing into the tip of their wands, causing disgusting, wet wads of paper to be shot out the other end- thanks to a book by the Weasley twins giving out the 101 most obnoxious charms.
Pansy Parkinson was screeching as her fingers felt a newly appeared pig's nose on the center of her face. She whined for help from Millicent Bulstrode who was too busy hitting Goyle with her wand after he dared to sneak a grab at her behind.
Remus Lupin sighed at the utter chaos in his room and made his way around the classroom, plucking wands out of every student's hand until he had a big bundle in his grip.
The students, who looked at him in shock, watched as he released Draco from Neville's curse and placed the bundle of wands on his desk.
"Collect your wand as you leave- class is dismissed," Remus ordered in his deep voice before walking into his office and locking the door behind him. He lay down on his dark brown couch, resting his eyelids until it was time to go ask Snape for his wolfsbane potion.
Like his hand, Remus Lupin had seen better days as he tilted back the small cup. It was obvious he had not slept during the previous night. Instead he had sat at his desk, contemplating the events of the night before. Hermione's limp form was the only image in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to push it out. He couldn't understand why he was taking her death so harshly. He had certainly seen his fair share of deaths, especially in the war. He had even witnessed the death of some of the most promising students from his class- young witches and wizards with a whole life ahead of them if it wasn't for a stray iAvada Kadavra/i or a deliberate attack on their life. Perhaps it was the fact that he had tried to so hard to save her and had failed. But it wasn't just a failed attempt, it was Hermione Granger herself. Despite how hard he tried to control himself, he couldn't help but feel a warm feeling in his chest whenever he had seen her smile or when she brushed a hand across his arm. She was only a student, yes, but sometimes things were beyond his control.
A single tear threatened to escape, but was stopped when he clenched his jaw. This was the first time in what seemed like decades that he had come close to shedding a tear. Even from a young age, Remus Lupin controlled his emotions with an iron fist. He was so used to rejection and ridicule for his condition that he had promised himself not to come close enough to anyone that could possibly hurt him like he had been hurt in the past.
Remus stood up and walked towards the stained glass window. Tapping on it with his wand, it became crystal clear, allowing him to gaze at the grounds below him. He was about two stories above ground. Off to the far left, he could see the towering quidditch hoops through a light fog. To the right, bubbles appeared on the surface of the lake as the Giant Squid stuck out a tentacle and snaked it towards a deer grazing on the green grass and gently tapped it on its back. The deer turned around and ran away in fright as the tentacle slid back in the water. The Giant Squid had always seemed to find ways to entertain itself. Then Remus noticed the moon setting down for the night, only a small sliver of shadow prevented it from being a full moon. iTonight is going to be a long night,/i Remus thought to himself.
The sound of noise cluttered the hallway outside of Remus' office, informing him that the students were awake for the first classes and were already bustling down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Remus' stomach gave a small growl demanding food, but he ignored it. He didn't feel like eating. Instead Remus went to an adjoining bathroom and washed up briefly before classes.
The first class of the day was Gryffindor and Slytherin- definently not Remus' favorite. As the students flowed in and took their seats, Remus gave a deep sigh. Ron and Harry took their usual seat in a mournful tone and it was obvious that the feeling had spread through the rest of the Gryffidor House with the exception of Pavarti Patil who had a sour look on her face as she winced when she touched her black eye.
On the other side of the room, the Slytherins were slightly calmer than usual with the exception of Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Draco was making comments to her and his goonies out of the corner of his mouth and his following would snicker in delight. Remus knew they were laughing over the death of Hermione Granger and he could feel the blood rush to his clenched fists. It wouldn't do any good to take out his anger on students, he reminded himself. Remus Lupin's common sense had failed him that morning and he was forced to go back to his office and grab the graded scrolls to return to the students.
"Hey, Potter? Where's the mudblood?" Draco asked mockingly.
Harry didn't bother to respond; he looked down to the open book in front of him and began to read.
"Worm food," Malfoy snickered under his breath.
Neville Longbottom stood up and looked at Malfoy with the most intense anger expressed on his face. "Malfoy- you-" he stuttered, trying to think of a single insult that would humiliate him in front of all his peers, but all that managed to come out of Neville's mouth were, "You're stupid." Embarrassed, Neville resumed his seat.
"Is that all you have, Neville?"
Neville hung his head low as his face turned red.
"What are you going to do now that your girlfriend is gone? Are you going to ask your toad to the dance? It would be better than that filthy mudblood..."
In a flash, Neville jumped from his seat and lunged at Malfoy. Malfoy stood up and stepped back as Neville approached with his wand out.
"You better shut up, Malfoy."
Although he would never admit it, Draco was slightly intimidated by the rage expressed in the ever shy Neville Longbottom, but one look at his friends assured him he would never live it down if he let Neville get away with it.
"Go sit down before I hurt you," Draco said patronizingly, pulling his own wand out of his sleeve pocket.
The students seated around the imminent duel eased out of their chairs and out of the line of fire.
"You don't have the guts to touch me, Longbottom," Draco continued.
"I don't?" Neville said with raised eyebrows, walking closer to Draco and backing him towards a wall.
"iBerccio Areva!/i" Neville screamed. An electric blue streak shot from the tip of his wand and hit Draco in the chest, causing him to shake violently as if he had just shared a bath with a toaster.
Everyone watched as the shaking Draco regained himself and pointed his wand at Neville with a deadly stare.
"You're going to be sharing a grave next to that filthy mudblood soon, Longbottom," Draco began. "Atoro Ke-"
"iAccio! Finite Gratum! Sullio Ignosio!/i"
Neville Spat out the spells with a confidence that no one would have ever expected from the pink-faced boy.
Draco's wand was plucked from his hand by an invisible force and landed in Neville's grasp as Draco was pushed against the wall violently and bound to the wall with slithering black ropes that seemed to have appeared out of the cracks in the stone wall behind him.
Panting, Neville looked around, as if surprised by his own actions. If it hadn't been such a solemn day, perhaps Neville's stunt would have caused an outburst of laughter. Instead, the class, Gryffindor and Slytherin alike, stared at Neville with loose jaws. Neville felt nervous- he had never been one to stay in the spotlight for any length of time, he much rather stay in the corner of the room watching.
Remus Lupin came back through the large wood and wrought iron door separating his office from the classroom. Although his attention was focused on not dropping the scrolls he had in his arm, the unusual silence forced him to look up with curiousity. The sight before him was not expected. Neville stood guilty with a dropped wand and bright red cheeks in front of a cursed Draco Malfoy who was struggling against black ropes that held him to a wall, and as if proving there was justice in the world, a thick gag in his mouth.
Remus knew what the fight had been about, he had expected as much although he hoped that a shred of human decency had been passed to Draco and would allow him to see what a disgustingly inappropriate time it would be to display his racism. The professor set the scrolls down and hurried to Neville's side. Muffled protests were audible from Draco as the professor led Neville out of the room and into the hallway.
The color in Neville's face dropped, displaying the palest face he had seen in some time. His knuckles were grasped around the wand in his hand so tightly they were an eerie, iredescent white.
"I'm, I'm- I'm so sorry," Neville stumbled. "I didn- I didn't mean- mean to. He just– just called – Herm- Hermione a mudblood." Tears were dripping down the boy's face.
"It's okay, Neville, I understand. I just thought you needed to get out of there. How about you go lay down until you feel a little better?" the professor suggested in a fatherly manner with his hand on the boy's shoulder.
Neville nodded and walked slowly to his dormitory.
As the Professor entered his classroom for another attempt at normal day of class, he could see that it wasn't possible. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were taking turns blowing into the tip of their wands, causing disgusting, wet wads of paper to be shot out the other end- thanks to a book by the Weasley twins giving out the 101 most obnoxious charms.
Pansy Parkinson was screeching as her fingers felt a newly appeared pig's nose on the center of her face. She whined for help from Millicent Bulstrode who was too busy hitting Goyle with her wand after he dared to sneak a grab at her behind.
Remus Lupin sighed at the utter chaos in his room and made his way around the classroom, plucking wands out of every student's hand until he had a big bundle in his grip.
The students, who looked at him in shock, watched as he released Draco from Neville's curse and placed the bundle of wands on his desk.
"Collect your wand as you leave- class is dismissed," Remus ordered in his deep voice before walking into his office and locking the door behind him. He lay down on his dark brown couch, resting his eyelids until it was time to go ask Snape for his wolfsbane potion.