Chapter 7
A few days after Aurora received her sister's note, she sat at her own desk writing Sigourney a reply. She took out a deep blue piece of parchment, stared out the window for a moment lost in thought, and then began to write.
Greetings Baby Sister!
How can I write 'baby sister' when you are soon to be married!! I am so happy for you! I wish I was there so we could dance and scream and be completely crazy together! I feel rather smug about the whole thing, if it hadn't been for that night in the R of R...well you might not have that emerald winking on your finger. So, I shall just sit here and take credit for the entire thing! Have you begun dress hunting? Please Sig, whatever you do, don't wear what Arianna wore at her wedding last year. I am still having nightmares about that dress...Or rather the lack of it. Have you decided on what sort of wedding? Evening? Afternoon? I've always fancied an evening wedding myself...Guests assembled under white tents, fairies flittering by with little candles, leaving for your honeymoon by the light of the moon...
Aurora paused for a moment, scratched out the word 'moon' and replaced it with 'stars.'
Under fear of appearing in one of your productions, I will tell you how I'm feeling. Overall, better than to be expected! No sign of Fudge, of course. He wouldn't dare appear near Dumbledore.
Teaching Charms has been wonderful, most of the students are very easy to teach (if Draco Malfoy would just Disapperate to Siberia my job would be much easier). Here's something you will like: Harry Potter and Ginny seem to be something of an item! I'm not sure if her parents know, though, so don't mention it when you see them.
Yes, I do know Professor Lupin. He is a very good Defense teacher.
Aurora rolled her eyes at herself, and scratched out the last sentence. She began again.
Yes, I do know Mr. R.J Lupin. He and I are teaching a Defense club together.
Professor Knightly groaned in frustration and erased another line. Why is it so hard to write about a fellow teacher!
Yes, I do know Remus Lupin. Actually, he and I are teaching a Defense club together, and have become fairly good friends. I feel so sorry for him, the poor fellow seems to have lost everything in his life.
Now, soon-to-be-married-little-sister, I have a favour to ask of you. I need to borrow your Firebolt! If it's too much trouble, don't bother, I don't want you getting into hot water with Father! But, if you can charm your CC into mailing one of yours to me for a little while I would be most grateful! I promised my sixth years I would strip one down for them, and I don't have mine with me.
Oh, bye the way, has Father been messing with the Puddlemore roster again? I saw that Oliver wasn't on the reserve team anymore Has Sky mentioned anything to you? Bingo will be furious if Father starts butting in again!
I must sign off for now, Professor Lupin and I are teaching DA tonight, so I best go change out of my teaching robes.
Your loving, and always grateful sister,
Aurora
Aurora hopped up from her desk, put her letter into an envelope and laid it on her desk ready to be delivered to the Owlery. Walking into her bedroom, she flung off her cloak, and stripped off her normal teaching clothes. Quickly she changed into an outfit that allowed her more ease of movement than her normal teaching clothes did. It was a shorter robe than normal, pants, tall boots, and a fitted white blouse. After brushing her hair and pinning it up, she surveyed herself in her mirror. She turned around and looked at herself from the back, then the side, and then the front again. She scowled at her reflection, "Oh for Merlin's sake, you're teaching a class with him, not going on a date." Aurora marched over to her desk, picked up the letter to her sister for mailing, and stepped purposely out of the portrait hall, trying very hard to not look back at the mirror to see if her hair was just right....
Owlery Memories
At that moment Professor Lupin was in search of Aurora. He wandered along corridors, looking into deserted classrooms, and occasionally, sending students back to bed. Walking down a hall, he saw the entrance to the Owlery and a light on inside. He groaned to himself. Probably filled with teenage hormones in overdrive. He quickened his pace, and opened the door to the tall room that was filled with owls of every colour. He stepped past Hedwig, Harry's owl, patted her on the head, and turned the corner, only to run head on into -
"Aurora!" Remus said, jumping back about two feet.
"Remus! Merlin, you scared me!" She blushed in spite of herself. "What are you doing here?"
"Just checking for any students out of bed, if I remember correctly this used to be a favorite meeting place for couples wishing for a little er.." It was his turn to blush slightly, "privacy."
"Ah yes, " replied Aurora, flashing a knowing smile, "I remember it well."
"Oh really?" he said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
Aurora turned an even deeper shade of red, "Well what I mean is, I remember other people coming here..
"Uh huh," he said, unconvinced.
"Don't look so smug, Professor Lupin, I imagine you had your own forays down here."
He just laughed and shook his head. "We'd better be getting to our meeting, don't want to keep the children waiting."
They walked out of the Owlery together, Aurora still looking at Remus with a mischievous grin on her face. "You didn't answer me, Remus. To ashamed of all the broken hearts you left behind, are you?"
Remus shook his head, laughing, "No, that was Sirius' job. I got stuck doing his homework while he and James had all the fun."
Aurora looked quickly at Remus as he mentioned of his old friends, but he didn't seem upset. "So you were the scholarly one, were you?"
"I got my homework done," he said, smiling, "I didn't say I did it well."
By this time they had reached the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Aurora showed Remus how to get in and they stepped inside.
"So this is the mysterious Room of Requirement, " Lupin walked around the room as he talked "does it really provide the occupants with everything they need?"
Aurora nodded, "Everything...well within reason. It won't give you a thousand Galleons...Bill Weasley and I tried it, with no luck."
Remus frowned to himself. Bill Weasley again! What is it with her and that long-haired... Remus stopped himself from calling the oldest Weasley an uncomplimentary name. Trying to keep his voice light he said, "So are we in agreement about what we're going to cover tonight?"
"Yes, I think that's fine. You're going to the the attacker, right?"
"Well, " Lupin tried not to look overly concerned, "it's whatever you want to do." He didn't really mean that, though. Merlin, don't make me attack her! Dumbledore said she was so sick...what if I hurt her in some way?...
Aurora looked at him as he wandered aimlessly around the room. She wasn't overly enthusiastic about having him be the aggressor in their demonstration either, even though she had suggested it. Although she hadn't had any problems at the last DA meeting, she was worried about what might happen when she tried to defend herself against another person. I've got to try, though. I have to see if I can do it... "Yes, I think we should do it that way."
Remus turned towards her, wanting to ask again if she was sure, but at that moment the doors opened and the students began to arrive.
***
It took about fifteen minutes for the room to fill up with students, and about another five to quiet them all down. Remus could see that they were in for a boisterous night. He looked over the room, caught Aurora's eye and shot her a questioning glance. She nodded back, and he walked to the front of the room to begin the meeting.
"Welcome everyone to another meeting of the second DA." Applause and whistles filled the room. Aurora stood off to one side, very near the Slytherin contingent. Just one mocking howl Malfoy and I'll curse you from here to Azkaban.
Remus continued, "Although I wasn't able to be here last time (Just one sound Malfoy...) I heard you all had an excellent time." He paused as the students loudly cheered Aurora, who smiled at them. "Hopefully I will be able to keep up the standard that you are used to."
Aurora was thankful that the students gave him a loud round of applause, she wanted his first meeting to go well.
Lupin raised his voice. "Let us begin then. Professor Knightly and I have decided that tonight you will learn the Nare Ligare spell. I think the best way for you to understand it is by watching Professor Knightly and I demonstrate it to you."
Aurora walked towards the front of the room, shooting Malfoy one last warning look, and climbed onto the long table that stood about four feet off the floor at the front of the room. Facing each other from about twenty feet apart, Aurora and Remus both took off their robes, handing them to two wide-eyed first years that were standing nearest the front.
"All right, " Remus said, "is everyone ready?" He wasn't really addressing the students but rather was looking at Aurora with a nervous expression on his usually calm face. He was still terribly afraid that he would hurt her in some way, but Aurora didn't seem overly concerned. In fact, he could have sworn that she had just winked encouragingly at him...
Remus cleared his throat, "Right, I am going to be the attacker, while Professor Knightly is going to be the victim." He and Aurora took up their positions. He raised his wand, and very clearly said, "Nare."
Instantly, a white light shot out of the end of his wand, lifting Aurora off the floor and suspending her body in mid-air, as though she were hung by a string attached to her stomach. All the students gasped appreciatively.
"As you can see," Lupin explained, "Professor Knightly is now at a distinct disadvantage, it is far harder for her to hit me with an counter curse from her precarious position...especially if I do this." He pointed his wand at Aurora, and said "Ligare."
Aurora's body began to slowly turn over, increasing speed when Remus spoke the word, "Firmus."
Watching Professor Knightly hanging in mid-air, spinning dangerously around, Remus hastily said, "Finite Incantatum" and she stopped turning and landed lightly back down on the ground. "That," he said, "is the basic Nare Ligare. Death Eaters will often use it if they can't disarm an opponent, it is actually easier to suspend another witch or wizard than it is to take their wand away. As well," he said, grimly, "they take pleasure in spinning their victims like that because it confuses the victim and makes them extremely dizzy and more susceptible to addition attacks."
All the students looked serious, their minds forming pictures of Death Eaters laughing while their prey hung, dizzy and confused before them....
Aurora broke the silence, "Now, how about we show you the counter spell?"
The students nodded, perking up at the thought of what Professor Knightly might show them.
"This time," she continued, "I will defend myself against Professor Lupin. We will pretend that he has already been successful in suspending me and that I must defend myself from that position."
The two teachers took their positions, Aurora concentrating harder this time. You know you can do this....it's Remus standing there...he won't hurt you..
Pointing his wand at his Aurora, Lupin muttered, "Nare," and once again Aurora hung above the table. This time, though, she didn't lie still, twisting herself quickly around so that her head faced him, Aurora said loudly, "Expelliarmus!" Red light shot out of the end of her wand. Hastily Remus blocked the spell, and flung another back at her, "Firmus!" Aurora's body began to spin again, but she managed to point her wand at Remus as she rotated. "Abicio!" The spell hit Lupin firmly in the chest, and flung him against the wall behind him, breaking his concentration on Aurora and releasing her from her suspended state. She fell hard down against the table top, and Remus heard the whoosh of her breath leaving her lungs as she landed. Aurora lay there for half a second, ignoring the pain in her chest, and arm, I actually did it! I hit him!...Oh Merlin, what if I hurt him! She scrambled quickly to her feet, only to find Remus right by her side.
"Are you all right?" He asked, visibly concerned.
She nodded her head, not wanting him to notice that she had hurt her arm when she fell, but looked worried as well, "Are you ok, though? I didn't mean to hit you so hard, I haven't done that in awhile...." Her voice trailed off, and he hastened to relieve her anxiety.
"I'm fine," he smiled at her troubled face.
She tilted her head and looked at him, as though trying to decide whether or not to believe him. They heard a rustle of cloth behind them, and suddenly remembered the large body of students that were watching them curiously.
Aurora quickly turned and faced the students, snapping back into professor mode. "Now, why don't you all pair up and practice this yourselves. There are mats over in the corner that you can use."
Remus and Aurora jumped off of the table, dodging the mats as they flew into the hands of the various students yelling, "Accio Mat," wandering off in opposite directions to assist their students.
***
The students practiced the Nare Ligare spell for almost two hours. As Aurora walked between the groups, she intently scrutinized their progress. She was more serious this meeting, less spirited, and very aware of the other professor who was in the room. She couldn't help herself, but she kept sneaking glances at Professor Lupin. Don't look...you looked. You have no self-control do you? You're supposed to be teaching the students how to deal with life and death situations, and all you can do is look at Remus. Aurora wrenched her eyes away from him, and tried to focus on Neville and Seamus, who were practicing in front of her. Seamus was hanging only two feet of the floor, and spinning very slowly, but was having no luck in hitting Neville with any counter spell. Aurora forgot Lupin for a minute and walked over to the pair.
"Neville," she said, "can you let Seamus down for a moment? I want to show him something."
"Sure, Professor." Neville slowly lowered Seamus to the mat beneath him.
Aurora walked over to Seamus, kneeling beside him on the mat, "How are you doing there, Mr. Finnigan?"
Seamus shrugged and looked embarrassed beneath his swarm of freckles, "Can't seem to do it Professor, I get too dizzy."
Aurora furrowed her brow, trying to think of a way to help, "Seamus, you're dads a Muggle, right?"
The Irish boy nodded, "Ya, my moms a Witch, but my dads a Muggle."
"Ah ha, I thought so, " Aurora stood up, and motioned Seamus to follow. "Seamus, have you ever seen a Muggle dance called a ballet?"
He snorted, "You mean that thing where girls dance around in those pink skirts, and the guys wear tights?"
Although Neville had no idea what his friend was talking about, his nose scrunched up in obvious disgust.
Aurora couldn't help laughing, she imagined Seamus' Muggle father was strictly a football kind of a guy. "Yes, that's what I mean. And although it's not everyone's cup of tea, it does have a feature that we could use. Do you know how the ballerinas manage to never get dizzy?"
Seamus shook his head in horror at his Professor, appalled that she might think he had ever watched such a ridiculous spectacle.
"Well," she replied, trying not to laugh at the look on both the boys faces, "They have a special way of turning. Watch."
Aurora stepped away from the boys, and spun around, keeping her eyes focussed on them until the last second, when she whipped her head around. "You see, they move it only at the last second, which keeps them from getting dizzy. We do the same thing with the Nare Liagre spell. Why don't you try it again, but this time don't let your head spin with your body."
Seamus stepped uncertainly back onto his mat, and Neville took up his position. Aurora nodded to him. "Nare Liagare!" Seamus rose up, and began to spin, trying to do as his teacher had instructed, but not having a lot of luck.
Aurora nodded encouragingly, though, "Try it again."
***
As Aurora tried to explain the finer points of the pirouette to Seamus, Remus was watching Harry carefully. He stood off to one side, observing as Ron and Harry practiced in a corner of the room, and frowned slightly at what he saw. Ron seemed to be doing all right, for he had Harry lifted of the ground and was turning him over at a good clip. Harry, though, was not having a good night, he kept trying to knock Ron of his feet, but his counter spells were flying in all directions. Lupin walked over to them, dodging a stray curse that Harry had meant for Ron.
Coming up to stand next to Ron, Lupin asked, "How are you two doing tonight?"
Ron kept his concentration on Harry, but sounded excited as he spoke, "Really good, Professor. Harry's been spinning so fast he hasn't even been able to hit me once," He smirked and jerked his head to his left, "He keeps getting Ginny instead."
Remus looked past Ron to see Hermione and Ginny standing to the left of the two boys, looking a bit harassed. At that moment Harry, who was still turning round and round, tried to hit Ron, but the red light that erupted from the end of the wand took a sharp turn to the left, and hit Ginny inside. She crashed down onto her mat with a thud, causing Ron to lose his own concentration and drop Harry as well. It seemed Hermione had had enough.
"Oh for goodness sake, Harry," she said, shaking her head furiously, "would you stop hitting Ginny!"
Remus looked at Harry, who sat on his mat running a hand through his hair and looking embarrassed. "I didn't mean to, Hermione," he said, in an strained voice, it just keeps happening. Ron's probably spinning me too fast."
His friend took this as a personal insult, "I'm supposed to do it fast, Harry! Just because you can't do your end of it doesn't mean I'm doing it wrong."
Remus looked at the strained faces of all four of them and decided it was time to intervene. Lightly he said, "Ron, why don't you go work with Hermione and Ginny for awhile. I'll practice with Harry."
Lupin knelt beside Harry on his mat, as the two Weasleys and Hermione walked off to another part of the room. Softly he said, "What's wrong, Harry? Is your scar hurting?"
Harry shook his head, "No, it's fine. I don't know what's wrong, I am trying to concentrate!" His face took on an annoyed look as he glanced in Hermione's direction.
"Maybe you're trying to hard," Remus said kindly, "you know, you don't have to be able to do everything perfectly."
Harry snorted, "Yes, I do. I'm the one who started DA. Everyone thinks I can do anything."
For a moment Lupin didn't say anything. He sighed to himself and wished Sirius was there....or more importantly, James.
"Harry," Lupin said quietly, "it is true that most people expect more of you. How could they not? You've survived attacks by Voldemort more times than anyone else. But," he added, "your friends are likely only concerned about you. Defense in your best subject, " He smiled at Harry, "they naturally think it's odd that you're having trouble tonight. I bet if you made a mistake in Potions they wouldn't think twice."
Harry finally smiled, thinking of all the blunders he'd made in Snape's class.
Remus continued, "Harry, there's nothing you can do about what other people think of you. I wish I could tell you that it will get better, but it likely won't. Just try and be your normal self." Lupin stood up, and Harry followed him, listening as Remus continued to talk. "Why don't you do back to practicing with Ron now. And Harry," he added, smiling drily, "I wouldn't worry too much about the Nare Ligare spell...I've never been very good at it either, that's why I had Professor Knightly do it tonight."
Harry eyes widened in surprise, and he laughed, "Ok, I'll give it another try." He turned and began to walk away, but turned back and said quietly, "Thanks, Professor Lupin...."
Remus nodded kindly at him. He watched as the young man walked over to his friends, smiling apologetically to them, and they to him. Lupin began to walk between the other students again, giving them tips and advice as he did...but also watching the other professor in the room. Aurora was standing talking to Lavender Brown and Terry Boot, and Remus frowned slightly as he saw that she was rubbing her right arm gingerly. You idiot! You dropped her too hard! He looked at his watch, and saw that it was about time for the meeting to end. Coming over to stand beside Aurora, he said, "Do you think we should finish up soon?"
Looking at her own watch, her eyes widening in surprise at the time, Aurora said,
"Yes! I didn't realize it was so late. Do you want to dismiss everyone?"
Lupin said he would, and walking to the front of the room, he raised his voice over the noise of the room. "Can I have your attention everyone." He paused as ninety-seven heads turned to look at him. "I think we're all done for tonight." Everyone looked disappointed, and he smiled at them, "We can't have you tired for your classes tomorrow. See you next week at the same time!"