Well, here it is, the interview chapter for Wanderings of the Wolf! As with the interview for Prisoner, this chapter is only "half" into the main story: they mention stuff from the main story in the interview, but they don't mention the interview in the main story. 't Would be too confusing, I think... The chapter's called The Interview; second part, because it's the second interview I did – the first one was for Prisoner of the Moon.
There's a chapter-author's note at the end, and my next post will be a story-author's note, for Wanderings in general, and then... ah, holiday! Rest! Finally!
But before that, this chapter. The quote's from The Matrix. Thanks to my friend Linda a.k.a. Pixiedragon for helping me out with making up questions, and thanks to Lisande, who send in a question as well, and who asked me to tell Remus something (you'll read what it was) a couple of months ago. I wonder whether she's remembered it...
Some questions are a bit... well, not suited for children, probably. As you will see, Remus and Sirius didn't like the questions that much... but hey, who cares? ;)
There's an author's note at the end, which is mainly just me talking about Wanderings.
Review, please!
Summer 1995.
"What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad."
The fabric of the hammock enclosed Sirius, much like a cocoon. He could only see a little bit of sky and the leaves of the tree above him. He had one bare foot stuck out so that he could swing the hammock. He was humming softly to himself, staring up at the leaves which were moving slightly in the soft wind.
"Don't you wish this summer would last for ever and ever?" he asked Remus, who was sitting in the grass, leaning against one of the trees to which the hammock was tied.
Remus looked up from his book and smiled, but said nothing. He checked his watch again for about the twentieth time that hour.
"And?" Sirius asked.
"Any minute now," Remus said.
Sure enough, right at that moment, a girl crashed into Remus' blueberry bushes and disappeared from sight.
"Oh no," Remus sighed. He scrambled quickly to his feet. "Stay there," he told Sirius, then he went to pick up the girl. Sirius stayed behind. He had sat up in the hammock, curiously looking at what was going on. They had been waiting for this.
Just like last year, a letter had arrived through the mail, again with a curiously unfamiliar stamp. The request was the same: would they be so kind as to give an interview? This time, however, she had included Sirius as well. Sirius had been fascinated by the letter, even more so when Remus had told him what had happened last year. He was the one who had convinced Remus to accept it; if truth be told, he didn't really believe Remus' story about her knowing everything. He wanted to see for himself.
Remus plucked the girl out of his garden. Apart from looking rather shaken and having leaves in her hair, she seemed alright. "Everything okay?" he asked nevertheless.
"Yes, fine, thanks," she said, brushing the leaves from her hair. "Sorry about that. You've having too many people crashing into your garden already. Blasted Portkeys."
"At least you're not on a Hippogriff," was Sirius' contribution to the conversation. She looked up, and a grin appeared on her face when she saw him.
"Sirius!" she said. She waded out of the bushes to shake hands with him. "Hi, I'm Linda."
"Sirius," Sirius said. "But you knew that already."
"Yeah." She said it in an off-hand sort of voice, as if it was completely normal to know somebody you'd never met before.
"Hey, what about your Portkey?" Remus interrupted.
"Oh, right, I need that to get back," Linda said. "It looks like a bit of string." She walked back and helped Remus find it. It was indeed a bit of string; ragged and knotted. Remus would've thrown it away if he hadn't known it was a Portkey. He gave it to Linda.
"Thanks," she said.
"Shall we get inside?" Remus suggested. "That would be safer for Sirius as well." The escaped convict was standing in broad daylight, visible for everybody.
The three of them went inside. Remus couldn't help but notice that Linda was twitching with barely-concealed excitement when she stepped into the kitchen, much like Fay had done when she had visited Hogwarts. Sirius noticed it as well, and it amused him. This girl was a mystery, but a rather funny one.
They pretty soon agreed on having tea and biscuits. As Remus filled the kettle, Linda was looking curiously around, smiling to herself.
"Sirius, why don't you show her around?" Remus said.
Sirius shrugged. "Sure." He beckoned to Linda. "C'mon." He walked into the living room, an excited Linda behind him. She was just keeping herself from bouncing, and Remus was again reminded of Fay. "This is the living room," he heard Sirius say. "And this is the hallway… and these are the stairs…" They went up the stairs and Remus could hear them walking on the second floor.
Monster hopped over the threshold into the kitchen. He purred softly and bounced against Remus' ankle; his form of greeting.
"Hey," Remus said. "We've got a visitor, so behave yourself." Monster purred again.
Just when Remus poured the first cup of tea, Sirius and Linda came downstairs again. Linda was smiling broader than ever, but Sirius looked downright spooked.
"We're back," Linda said as they came into the kitchen. Then she noticed the furball next to Remus. "Monster!" She scooped the little animal up from the ground.
Even though Monster was usually suspicious of strangers, he simply could not resist being petted, and soon he was purring like mad. Sirius used this moment of distraction to walk up to Remus and hiss: "Remus, how does she know which toothbrush was mine? And how does she know about that painting in your attic even I don't know about?"
"I told you," Remus said softly. "I don't know either."
"It's creepy," Sirius commented.
They sat down, Linda still petting Monster. Remus poured tea and distributed the biscuits. Sirius got two because "you still need to grow". Sirius immediately stuck one in his mouth, then asked, muffled, "can I put some music on?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Remus reprimanded only half-heartedly. "And you know where to find records and the record player." Sirius enthusiastically got to his feet.
"What would you like to hear?" he asked. Linda was still petting Monster and grinning at Sirius talking with his mouth full of biscuit, and she slightly jumped.
"Oh, uh," she said. "Incantation, please." Remus and Sirius exchanged curious looks ("how does she know about that?"), but Sirius walked into the living room nonetheless. From where they were sitting at the kitchen table, Remus and Linda could see him plop down on the floor and start looking enthusiastically through Remus' records. He looked like a teenager going through his favourite record albums.
Linda voiced what Remus had also been thinking: "how old are we again?"
"Thirty-five according to his birth certificate," Remus commented, "although I sometimes doubt it."
"According to you I'm only twenty-three," Sirius said, looking up. "Seeing as I've missed twelve years and all." He turned his attention to the records again. "Ah!" He expertly slid the record out of its sleeve and put it on the record player. Music blasted into the room. Sirius turned it down, then walked into the kitchen again.
"You know, it's strange," he said conversationally as he sat down. "I found out only a couple of days ago that I'm not supposed to hate the Russians anymore."
"He's been doing some reading up on stuff," Remus explained. "And he completely missed the fall of the Berlin wall."
"Yeah, what was that all about?" Sirius said, taking another biscuit. "I thought the Communists were the next worst thing after Voldemort?"
"Well, apparently they're actually really nice," said Remus.
"Weird," Sirius shrugged. "Hey, completely other subject: didn't we have an interview?"
"Yes, good point," Linda said. She put her teacup down and reached inside her bag. She took out a piece of paper and smoothed it flat on the table. Sirius immediately snatched it away.
"Hey, give that back!" She tried to take it back, but Sirius held it just out of her grasp.
"There're some really nasty questions," he said, pulling a face.
"Can I have it back please?" Linda demanded, holding out her hand.
"Sure." Sirius gave the paper back. She frowned.
"Typical Sirius behaviour," Remus assured her.
"Right." She smoothed the paper flat again.
That's really neat handwriting you got there," Sirius commented.
Remus sighed. "Not this conversation again."
"What?" Sirius said rather indignantly.
"We had the same conversation last year," Remus said. "It's not written by her, but by a computer."
"A what now?"
Remus rolled his eyes. "I'll explain later, okay?"
"Okay…"
"Shall I begin?" Linda asked. "Or do you two want to have another off-the-wall conversation?"
The frown on Sirius' face was now definitely worried, and Remus was feeling rather creeped out himself.
"No," he said. "We'll do that interview instead…"
"Okay," she said. "Now, as Sirius rightly noted, there are some really… weird questions. In my defence, I have to say that they weren't all made up by me, okay?" Remus and Sirius nodded. "Good. Now, most of the questions are for Sirius, but there are some for Remus as well. Shall I begin?"
"I believe we're given you permission to begin about three times now," Sirius said.
"Okay. The first question is for Sirius, from somebody named Lisande. She wants to know, uh… what, er, curse you'd use if this interview got too… nasty…" Linda ended the sentence uncertainly.
"What curse I'd use?" Sirius asked. "On whom?"
"Uh, me, I suppose," Linda said.
"And how nasty is nasty?"
"Really nasty," Remus cut in. He had some experience from last year as to how nasty it could get.
"Well, supposing I had a wand," Sirius said, "which I don't, not that the moment anyway – but then again, I could always steal Remus' wand for a moment… I'm not sure what I'd use."
"Really?" Linda said, utterly relieved.
"Maybe stupefy to begin with," Sirius said pensively. "Then perhaps some tarantallegra, though I don't know how those two combined would work out…" Linda paled.
"Rictusempra's always a laughing riot as well," Remus added.
"Quite literally. Good one, Remus."
"Yes, thank you," Linda cut in. "Let's be happy you don't have a wand – yet."
"Really? Why?" said Sirius innocently. Linda gave him a mild glare.
"Oh, by the way, Remus, she also asked me, a couple of months ago, to tell you that you're not getting old," she said.
"I'm not getting old?" Remus repeated.
"She said you simply can't."
"But I was planning on getting really old," Remus objected.
"Well, that's impossible, sorry. You'll just have to die young, I suppose."
Sirius raised his hand. "Mad murderer, reporting for duty."
"Oh shut up," Remus said, whacking his friend on the head. "What a ridiculous comment."
"Which one?" Sirius wanted to know. "Mine or hers?"
"They're both equally as ridiculous."
"Hey!" Sirius and Linda said at the same time.
"I'm offended in the name of the person who asked me to tell you this," Linda huffed.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Can we please go on?" he asked.
"Sure. Euh, next question's not from me either, but from a friend of mine, who's incidentally also called Linda." She cleared her throat. "Eh, she wants to know whether the rats you were eating reminded you of Peter Pettigrew."
Sirius stared. "What kind of question is that?"
"It's what it says on my list," Linda shrugged.
"Well, no, they didn't, because Peter was grey, and the rats I was eating – " Sirius shuddered at the memory "– were usually brown." He stuck another biscuit in his mouth to wipe the memory away.
"What would you do if you knew you'd be dead a year from now?"
"Can I do anything I want?" Sirius asked.
"Eh, sure."
"Okay. I'd… eh… I think I'd go on a trip around the world, and, um, I'd spend a lot of time with Harry, I think. Oh, and make sure my funeral was properly taken care of."
"That's a really philosophical question," Remus noted.
"Thanks," Linda said. She took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "Yeah, I'd say it's something one should, eh, think about, once in a while. Uhm. Yeah. Okay, next question?"
"Bring it on."
"This one's again from my friend," she said. "When you were in Azkaban, did you ever think about the fact that your hair was even greasier than Snape's?"
Remus and Sirius stared. "What?" Sirius said eventually.
"Do I really have to repeat it?"
"What kind of question is that?" Sirius said. "No, I didn't. Are you sure that friend of yours isn't really you, except that you're pretending it's not you so that we wouldn't blame you for the questions you made up?"
It took her a few moments to understand what he was saying, then she shook her head. "I swear, it really is another girl named Linda."
"Right," said Sirius, frowning. He didn't really believe it. "Next question."
"Is it nice to have Buckbeak as a roommate?"
"Well, I have to admit I prefer Remus, uh, but I got used to having a Hippogriff as a roommate, as you put it." Silence. "Is it just me or did that sound really… gross?"
Remus flinched. "It was just you. Now it isn't. Thanks, Sirius."
"Shall I go on?" Linda asked, a grin on her face.
"Yes, please."
"Okay. Euh. Oh no." She turned red when she read the next question.
"What is it?" both Remus and Sirius wanted to know.
"Remember talking about nasty questions?" Linda asked.
"Is it one of those "from my friend Linda"questions?" Remus asked in return.
"No. I shamefully have to admit this was really made up by myself," Linda muttered.
"What question is it?" was Sirius' question.
"It's, uh, when was the last time you, er, had sex." Linda flinched, her face beet-red.
"The last time I had sex?" Sirius said pensively, taking the question seriously. "You mean with someone else but Remus?" he added, earning him another whack from Remus.
"Seriously!" Remus said.
"I am Sirius, heu, serious – stop whacking!" Sirius said laughing. "No seriously – not a play on my name this time, really. The last time was… October 31, 1981."
Remus stared. Then: "… I don't want to know."
"Why not? There was nothing bad about it. Really."
"That must've been quite a nasty shock for her, to find out that her boyfriend went on to murder thirteen people," Linda said.
Sirius shrugged. "One night stand."
Remus' head desperately sank forward until it hit the table with a thud. "Please kill me."
"Why? It's so much fun to torture you," Sirius said meanly.
"Thanks Sirius, I like you too," Remus muttered depressedly. "Can we please get on with the next question?"
Linda reached out and patted his head. "There, there." Remus didn't move, but felt slightly better nonetheless.
"Now, as for the next question – which is a normal one – " she continued. "What is the best thing of being out of Azkaban? Besides the really obvious being rid of the Dementors."
"Brushing my teeth," Sirius said matter-of-factly. Remus raised his head and stared, just like Linda. "What? Is that so strange? Have you ever realised how completely wonderful that feeling is, just after you've brushed your teeth, that they're completely clean and so smooth that your tongue nearly slips when you run it over your teeth? And not to mention the taste of toothpaste! Especially mint is delicious."
"Uh, right. If you say so," Linda said.
"Another great thing is taking a warm shower," Sirius continued. "Basically the normal things in life are great. You know, sleeping in and only getting out of bed when it's already afternoon, and stuff like that."
"The simple things in life," Remus said.
"Exactly. We're getting quite philosophical today."
"What, is that a new experience for you?" Remus joked. Sirius pulled a face but laughed nonetheless.
"Next question!"
"What is the first thing you're going to do when you're a free man again?"
Sirius face lit up. "Oh! I'm going to go to London, walk into a bar, pick up a girl and have lots and lots of raunchy – "
"Sirius," Remus sighed. "May I remind you that your thirty-five, and in dating-terms that stands for ugly, dirty old man."
"I thought I was twenty-three?"
"In the body of a way older man, yes."
"Way to crush my dreams, Remus," Sirius said. "Anyway, since that is apparently impossible, I think I'll go and visit the Ministry and pull a long nose to all the Aurors and the Minister."
"Which would put you behind bars again for insulting the Minister."
"Then I'll plead insanity," said Sirius cheerfully.
"Poor Kingsley Shacklebolt though," Linda said pensively. "For all he's been doing for you…"
"Eh, yeah…" Sirius said slowly. He had forgotten for a moment that she knew stuff they'd never told her before. "Well, I guess I won't do it to Kingsley then." He and Remus exchanged somewhat worried glances.
"Next question? This one's for Remus."
"Ask away."
"You said to Fay that you might go to Hogwarts, to check on her to see if she hadn't changed into a little Snape. Quite a few people want to know whether you were serious about that."
Remus ignored Sirius' curious look and said: "first of all, it'll be another year before she starts at Hogwarts. And there's always a chance that I visit Hogwarts, and then I can always visit her, of course. And no doubt, seeing as she is a werewolf, some of the teachers – " Sirius looked about to say "Snape!" " – like Dumbledore, for example, will be reminded of me, and stuff, so I'll probably hear about it when she starts Hogwarts. Eh," he paused a moment. "Yeah. Something like that."
His uncertain tone made Linda grin. "Well, we'll see what happens, won't we?" she said. "I got a few more two-option questions, if that's alright."
"Sure," said Sirius.
"I think it's best if you both answer it. Okay, Flying on Buckbeak or on a motorbike?"
"Motorbike!" Sirius said instantly. "Definitely a motorbike." He and Linda turned to Remus.
"I dunno," Remus said. "I've never flown on Buckbeak."
"Speaking of Buckbeak – where is he now?" Linda asked.
"Oh, hidden in that little bit of forest behind Remus' house," said Sirius carelessly. "Remus performed a concealing charm on him, so he won't be noticed."
"Christmas or birthday?"
"Hmm, Christmas," was Sirius' answer.
"Yeah, me too."
"Spending time with Snape or with the Dementors?"
Sirius shuddered. "What a choice. Uh, Dementors. At least they don't talk."
"Snape talks because you talk," Remus pointed out. "I'd rather spend time with Snape than with the Dementors."
"What do you mean, Snape talks because I talk?"
"Well, you start making sarcastic comments, then he makes sarcastic comments back, and then you talk back again, and it just never ends."
Sirius huffed. "His fault for being so annoying."
Remus decided it better not to say that Snape probably thought the same. Instead, he asked for the next question.
"Rain or sunshine?"
Remus picked rain, but Sirius voted for sunshine. "Never," he said, "camp in Scotland in autumn if you don't want to get wet. I've seen enough rain to last me a lifetime."
"Burning your finger or having glass in your foot?"
Both stared. "Er, glass in my foot, I suppose…" Sirius said hesitantly. "What a strange question." Remus agreed with him on both points.
"Sirius, this is a question Remus had a lot of trouble with last year: boxers or briefs?"
"Oh, boxers," Sirius said casually. Then, to Remus: "you had trouble with that?"
"I'm not as exhibitionistic as you are," Remus said somewhat sourly.
"In our third year, the Gryffindor girls actually had a bet going on about which one it was," Sirius told Linda. "They kept nagging me and it got so annoying I eventually told them I was wearing none at all."
"Pity, really, that Sirius realised too late that the Great Hall wasn't perhaps the best place for such revelations," Remus said. "I'd never before seen McGonagall look so scandalised."
"Yeah, she did give me a rather severe telling-off," Sirius said pensively. "It didn't even help that I told her I was joking."
"She was probably peeved already because you always refused to wear the Gryffindor tie," Remus commented. "Not wearing underwear was probably one step too far."
Well, it's really comfortable actually – or so I've heard," added Sirius hastily, seeing Remus' glare. "Heu, next question?"
"One more," she said, checking her watch. "I need to get going soon. Okay, last question: Muggle or wizard transportation?"
"Wizard," both said. "It just goes faster," Remus explained.
"Although trains are nice to look out of the window," Sirius had to admit.
"Was that everything?" Remus asked.
"Yep." Linda packed her bag as Remus cleared the table. Sirius put the last three biscuits in his mouth and turned the music off. Then they went outside.
"What time's your Portkey going?" Remus wanted to know.
"In about five minutes," Linda said, looking at her watch again. "Oh, I almost took this with me." She gave Monster to Remus.
"Puffskein-napper," Sirius said.
"You better keep an eye on him," said Linda, nodding to the humming animal. "He's so tiny, he could get lost soon."
"Oh, he always turns up when he's hungry," said Remus casually. "Like Sirius, really."
"Why, thank you Remus," said Sirius. "Really nice."
Linda checked her watch again. "Three more minutes. Now, goodbye Remus." She shook his hand. "And goodbye Sirius."
Sirius had already stretched out his hand, but instead she suddenly hugged him.
"Good luck," she said. "Good, good, good luck!"
Sirius stood there a bit awkwardly, and he felt utterly relieved when she let go. He frowned. Unless he was very much mistaken, he saw that her eyes were wet.
"Hey, how come Remus didn't get hugged?" he said. "I feel discriminated!" Remus frowned. "Discriminated in a positive way," Sirius added.
"Well, if you insist," Linda said, rolling her eyes slightly. Before Remus knew what was going on, he had received a tight hug as well.
"Now, take care, both of you," she said when she had let go. "Oh, and say hi to Tonks from me, if you see her."
"How do you know?!" Remus burst out. "How?!"
"I told you last year," she said, checking her watch again and taking the Portkey from her pocket.
"That's not an explanation!" he said. "How come you know things about me even Sirius doesn't know? How can you know Sirius even though he's never met you before?"
"I'm sorry, I really need to go," she said apologetically. "I don't have the time right now."
"But – " Remus began. But she waved and suddenly disappeared with a crack.
Sirius and Remus looked at one another. "That was weird."
The end (or: to be continued…)
Author's Note.
Phooey. That's done again. 118 pages (with Arial 10 font), in a year and 3 days – I started writing this on june 6, 2003. To compare: 'Remus Lupin' has 77 pages in about a year and a half, and 'Prisoner of the Moon' has 71 in slightly less than a year. Then again, that one has a lot of scenes directly from 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban', so I'm not sure whether that really counts for 71 pages…
Either way, this fict is LONG! Looking back on it now, it seems rather amazing that I managed to churn out an average of about five and a half pages (118 pages in 21 chapters) every two weeks. And most chapters were way longer than that…I wonder how long the next one's going to be!
Now, this fict was, according to me at least, interesting because of the rather large cast of original characters. Unfortunately for me, they all needed a name, and it was sometimes hard to come up with one. It seems I don't have JK Rowling's gift for names…
A short overview:
- Wulf Talbot. I wanted something wolf-like for his first name. Simply naming him 'Wolf' would be a bit too obvious. Then I remembered that there was a character named Wulf in Robin Hood; Prince of Thieves (yes, the things I get my names from!), and so I settled for Wulf. He got his last name from the main character from the classic movie The Wolf Man (which dates way back in 1941); Lawrence Stewart Talbot.
- Vivian White. Ah, the poor healer who was so pestered by Wulf. She was named after the Lady in the Lake, from the Arthur-stories.
- Lova – as I already explained in the author's note for 'Remus Lupin', her name means "female wolf".
- Bill Hunter. His name is as random as his character. Don't know how I came up with it, but I couldn't call him 'that guy'. So first Bill, and then… oh, whatever, Hunter. Who cares anyway…
- Ralph Lupin. Remus' very cute baby-nephew is, I have to admit, named after Ralph Fiennes. In my defence, I have to admit that their names are pronounced differently: Ralph Fiennes' name is pronounced as 'Rafe', whereas Ralph Lupin's name is pronounced as 'Ralf'. I'm not that obsessed… really.
- Don't think I've mentioned it before, but Ralph's big sister Thirza is named after the character from Ben Hur (did I mention I get my names from strange places?).
- The Healers Harvey, Fortune, Port and Wilkinson from St Mungo's. When I was writing that particular chapter, I was in the middle of my test weeks, and I was actually supposed to be learning about Buddhism. I decided that my fict was a little more important, so I was writing instead. I needed a name for a Healer, looked around my room, then my eye fell on the writer of my book about Buddhism: Peter Harvey. Then I needed three more names. I was utterly out of inspiration and actually wishing for an English telephone directory, when I noticed my book about the Titanic, with, in the back, a list of passengers… There was a family named Fortune in first class; a Charles and Mary Fortune with three daughters and a son. Sadly enough, both Mr Fortune and the son died; the women all survived. There also was a 3rd class steward named F. Port (one wonders – would he have known 3rd class stewardess Mrs Lucy Snape…? And 3rd class steward George Evans… Fascinating, such a passenger list. Incidentally, both Port and Lucy Snape survived. George Evans did not…). I cannot find Wilkinson again, but I assume he was somewhere on there as well.
- Sabina and Ruth. They got their names from a baby-name book. There's not much to say about that, really.
- Fay was indeed named after Morgan le Fay/Fey, as Remus notes. I had decided on that name long before a friend of mine (the by now probably infamous Linda, yes, the one from the interview) asked a part in this story, preferably as a werewolf. Since naming her Linda would have everybody thinking I wrote myself in, we agreed on having her being Fay (hence Fay's chocolatemilk addiction; Linda likes the drink almost too much…). Linda supplied me with a name for her parents and an appropriate last name – it's, sort of, the English translation of her typically Dutch name.
- Michael Nichols, Kingsley's character. Stock character, stock name; Nichols is the name of a shop in London, I found it in a travel guide. Michael was just the first thing that came to mind.
- Virginia and Samuel, two of the Hogwarts Headmasters. Again, whatever first came to mind…
There are three main plotlines, which can easily be named by the names of three werewolves: Wulf, Lova and Fay. All three were beneficial for Remus', well, let's call it emotional development.
Wulf's storyline was only a couple of weeks old when I started writing it. Near the end of 'Prisoner', I sat thinking: wouldn't it be cool if Remus would meet the werewolf who bit him? And thus Wulf was 'born'. I rather liked the old man; it's always fun to write sarcastic characters (ahem, Snape, anyone?). And though he didn't bring it that tactically, he did manage to press Remus with his nose on the facts: he's a werewolf, he's got to deal with that. I was sad to kill him off, but that was his fate. He got to be in a chapter more than I'd planned anyway…
Next came Lova. Pretty much the oldest storyline, I made this one up in early 2003. I wanted to write romance again, and somehow Lova came up in my head. Apparently she'd decided that her short cameo in 'Remus Lupin' wasn't enough, and she wanted more screentime! I didn't mind, the character seemed fascinating enough to me to explore her some more.
Lova is the storyline I had the most fun with, especially with the reviews! You didn't see it, but I was sometimes laughing when I read your reactions: at first, you were enthusiastic about her, "oh, she's so cool!", cheering the fact that Remus had a girlfriend. But gradually, you got cooler towards her, and in the end, she got several death threats. And yet she never changed her character or anything! It was very amusing for me to read it all, since I knew from the beginning what was going to happen!
Despite her being not really nice to Remus, I like her as well. Like I said before, in another author's note, she reminds me a bit of Wulf, actually. They're both not that much concerned with what other people think about them. I wonder whether she'll pop up again – she's done it before, when I didn't expect it…
And Fay was the last one (interesting, how they go from old man to young girl, isn't it?). The oldest bit of her storyline is, strangely enough, her and Remus little 'Fay? From Morgan Le Fey?'conversation. I hadn't really worked out that whole deal with Sabina and Ruth. Stupid, I realised later, because it was only when I started writing it, that I realised that it was actually rather weak and I couldn't really do anything with it. Those chapters were the hardest to write, because I simply didn't know what to do with it. The best parts are those with Fay, really. I had great fun writing about her visiting Hogwarts, and Snape. Not only was it plot-wise a great part, and rather amusing, but Linda's reaction when she read about her visiting Snape (her favourite character) made it worth it.
The best thing that came from that storyline was the character of Fay (I'm sure she'll be back, somehow!) and the fact that I now got something of a plot for my next fict…
And then there was Sirius. Poor Sirius. He sometimes got the worst of a chapter, seeing as he always brought up the rear, and I was drained writing Remus, so he got the boring, short description of what he was doing – or rather, what he wasn't doing. It only now occurred to me how immensely bored he must have been, sitting there all day waiting for something to happen! The only time he got into action was with the 3rd task, when Voldemort returned. Not exactly a happy occasion either. Thankfully enough, it reunited him with his best friend, and it's just fun to write their conversations. Sometimes, a scene ends up being twice as long because of their endless babbling. Pity, really, that with every chapter, I get closer to the end of 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'…
Oh, and maybe you've noticed that Buckbeak mysteriously disappeared at the end of the story: he had flown Sirius to Remus, then he never got mentioned again until the interview. That's simply because I don't really like Buckbeak, so I forgot about him… sorry Buckbeak-lovers!
I recently reread all three ficts (out of order – first 'Prisoner', then the second half of 'Wanderings', then 'Remus Lupin' and then the first half of 'Wanderings'… how out of order can one get?). If truth be told, I was surprised at how good 'Remus Lupin' actually was – I'd always seen it as the weaker one of the three! But it was actually rather funny, and the romance wasn't corny, as I thought it was, but rather good and sweet. The only parts I groaned at where the clichés I sometimes used, and the many spelling mistakes!
It had been so long since I'd last read 'Prisoner' that it seemed like a new, unfamiliar fict in some places. I reread that one the day before I went to see the movie of 'Prisoner in Azkaban', but perhaps I shouldn't have – I kept wondering where Monster was…
'Wanderings' is the one I'm at the moment most proud of. It has the most original plot and characters, and, even though I say so myself, it's the best written of the three. The only problem is perhaps that it's too long; if you read it all in one sitting, there's a chance that when you reach the last chapter, you've forgotten things that happened in the first few chapters. I do hope the 'Order of the Phoenix'fict isn't going to be any longer than this one.
I also noticed a mistake I'd made (besides the really obvious ones such as Sirius mysteriously forgetting about the Dark Mark tattoo between 'Remus Lupin' and 'Wanderings', which I can explain away by saying I'd read 'Goblet of Fire' only a few times): I turned out to have made Remus being born a year earlier than he was in 'Remus Lupin'!
Let me explain. I'd of course done some calculating as to how old the Marauders were. General opinion has it that they were born around 1960, so I pinned Remus' birthday in that year. Remus thus starts at Hogwarts in 1971, when he turns eleven. No problem there. Then, during 'Prisoner', I found out about the 'Hermione-debate'; how old was Hermione when she started Hogwarts? This question is somewhat difficult to answer; her birthday is on September 19, so would she be eleven or ten when she started? If she was eleven, it would mean she would be 12 most of the year.
Seeing as I'd made up that Remus' birthday was early October, I thought about this as well. I decided that he was eleven when he started Hogwarts (making him the oldest of the four Marauders). But that would mean, since he started Hogwarts in 1971, that his year of birth wasn't 1960, but 1959! He now has that birth-year, and I'll stick with that, even though I now agree with the 'Hermione was ten when she started'group. I just don't want to make it any more confusing as it is already, so it'll stay 1959.
Gee, old guy actually…
I don't think I have anything more to say, except the prerequisite thanks. Thanks to my mother, who helped me with the anatomy of a foot, and who helped me find a quote from 'Moulin Rouge!'. Thanks to my brother, who helped me find that quote as well. I'd also like to thank my friend Anne, who helped me getting inspiration for Remus' and Sirius' off-the-wall conversations (she's amazingly like Sirius, although perhaps not as obsessed with sex – I hope at least!). And of course Linda, for faithfully reading and reviewing and of course for inspiring me for Fay, and helping me out with Fay's parent's name and their last name, and for helping making up questions for the interview. Also thank you, J.K. Rowling, for making up these wonderful characters. And last but not least, thanks to everybody who reviewed – did you know that, among those 400-plus reviews I got, there are only two 'flames'? And they aren't even flames in the strictest sense of the word either; one was an advertisement for an RPG-group and one was pointing out mistakes I'd supposedly made (the 'James is a Seeker/Chaser' debate). Neat…
To anybody wondering: the next fict (title: 'Order of the Wolf', though that might change) will come, I promise. The first chapter will be posted on September 8. I was actually thinking about not writing for three years and writing 'Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them' and 'Quidditch Through The Ages' from Remus' and Sirius' point of view in the mean time, but I wasn't quite sure how that could be done…so I'll just write 'Order of the Phoenix' from their points of view instead.
For those in dire need of fict by me: there's at least a Luna-fict on the planning, and perhaps another Wands N' Roses fict too. And of course, you can always reread my Remus-series while you're waiting for the next instalment…
Wednesday, June 9, 2004, 15.52 hours.