Do you still think that loo is a girl's name?
Do you still wear your hair long and untamed?
Are you still beautiful and unashamed?
Do you still eat your cereal without milk?
Do you still feel soft as silk?
Do you still like to read ancient myths?
Are you still the person I fell in love with?
-a poem from Remus's veiw
Disclaimer- Um, I think you know I'm not J.K. Rowling, and if you don't, I maybe you should go see a therapist. I can suggest a few .
Thanks to my ONE reviewer. Also, thanks for answering my question. Because of 'never be taken alive', I will no longer be putting songs at the beginning of the chapters, just putting blurbs of one or whatever else comes to mind. I am I bit miffed that only one person reviewed. If my story's that bad, why doesn't someone just tell me honestly so I can delete it? Jeez.
Sorry it always takes me so long to update. I lost my inspiration. I did however get some more inspiration for another story, Her Glow. I'd really like it if my readers would read that as well.
Chapter 2; Rude Alberts
Remus willed his eyes not to pop right out of his head when he noticed the James-like boy. Further assessment told him that the boy's jet black hair was thinner and flatter than James's had been, and that his eyes were not James's hazel, nor Harry's green. Remus wondered if, perhaps, this was Harry's son. Smiling at the thought, Remus was surprised when the portkey he was still holding gave an almighty jerk. He felt himself pull forward through space and landed, nearly as second later, in an open room.
"12:08 from Hogwarts' head office," a voice spoke. Remus glanced up at the man, who stood over six feet, and nodded slightly, still feeling very worn from his trip through time.
"Time traveller?" The man, whose nametag read Albert, asked with boredom. He had probably seen many time travellers, Remus realized, working where he was.
"No," Remus said shortly, not wishing to get into the matter.
"Well, either way," the man said huffily, looking as if he had been wishing for some good gossip. "You'll have to go through examination. Leave your luggage with Anne and go through that door."
Remus did as he was told, glancing behind him in time to see Anne pull out the Anteeo Ambulo. She gasped slightly and Remus wished he had possessed the insight take it with him. The old portkey had disappeared.
Remus entered the examination room. Sitting at a desk was a small woman. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face, framing her big almond eyes beautifully. Remus barely noticed.
"A customer!" The woman said, sounding delighted. "It's been such a slow day." Remus smiled at her tiredly, banishing from his minds the sounds of all the screaming pain in the universe, which still echoed. The woman grinned back, though he could see her expert eyes examining him already.
"I'm Dr. Loraine Smith," she told him, and he shook her hand.
"Remus Lupin," he said.
"All right Remus," she said cheerfully. "There's a lot to be done, so we'd better get started. First, I'll need you to fill out these papers explaining the type of trip you took, your travelling experience, parentage, release forms, that sort of thing. Then we'll start the examination." She handed him a package of parchments, which he quickly went through. He realized that she would soon know that he had travelled over time, and wondered how she would react to that. As it turned out, he needn't have worried.
"Ah, a time traveller. You're a rare one, aren't you? You look to be in remarkable good health for someone who's just travelled in such conditions. Many patients who come in here are sick for weeks, or need physiological help. Some-" she lowered her voice, "-some people are so traumatized by the experience that they die in the vortex of time…or get stuck there." Dr. Smith's voice was lowered in horror, but Remus could think only of the fact that Dumbledore had let him go without telling him this interesting bit of news.
On her instruction, Remus pulled off his shirt (A/N don't start drooling) and stepped on the scale. She frowned at his weight, especially after seeing his height. Remus was glad it hadn't asked in the release forms he had filled out if he had any 'moon' problems. Then she gestured to the bed, which he sat down on. After his physical test and fitness examination, Remus was free to go. He smiled at the doctor and quickly walked out.
"Get your luggage," a rude voice said, and Remus turned to see Albert watching him sulkily. He apparently was unreasonably upset that Remus had not wanted to share with him his unique experience. Remus ignored this.
Remus instead said, "Why thank you. With out your help, I would most certainly have walked out of here without the only things I own in this time period." His dry humor was hard to argue with. He then went to pick up his luggage.
"Here's your case, sir." Anne said respectably. Remus liked her immediately. "And you keep this slip of paper that says that it has been approved by the National Time and Space Travelling Agency of America, where your travels, are our pleasure!" Anne rolled her eyes just enough at the last end to convey her thoughts on their logon. "Also, this is a muggle American ID which will allow you to get into many places, and out of many tight spots. The information was gathered from your info packet you filled out and the picture is an magic creation, made to look like a muggle photograph. And all you money has been exchanged for American currency.
"Why thank you," Remus said pleasantly, before turning to go. He walked out the door, pausing to get some informative brochures. After looking at them, he found a public library.
The library in the busy New York area was small and rundown, but Remus knew it would have to do. He examined its brick walls, so like most other walls in the town, before pulling open the glass and metal door and walking in. Two muggle lawmen stood stiffly beyond the doors.
They nodded to him, apparently not finding him threatening. Then Remus walked through an odd machine that seemed to be trying to detect metal. It instead stopped working as soon as Remus and his magical aura got nearby. The men waved him on, one muttering, 'damn machine. Not the first time this year that's happened.' Remus snorted quietly, wondering how many witches and wizards had walked into the library, which was conveniently close to the travel office.
Inside, Remus quickly found an unoccupied librarian and asked her where he might find an atlas. She gave him a nasty look.
"Haven't you ever been in a library before? Or do they not have them in Europe?" She asked sneeringly. It was then that Remus noticed her nametag, which read 'Alberta.' He groaned, but the woman kept rambling.
"I might have been doing something important, and your stupid talk interrupted me!" She said angrily. A ding sounded from the computer she had been sitting obsessively in front of, and she dropped into the seat near it. Remus could see what she was typing by way of the computer.
'Still here,' she wrote, 'some idiot don't know about an atlas.' Though this made no sense to Remus, a flirty and consoling remark soon flooded onto her screen. Alberta, he thought, must have been talking (somehow) with someone on another computer. He sighed and went to find the book himself. Soon, he had found what he was looking for, road maps to Texas, and, more specifically, Austin. He knew all he had to do once he was there was to find the orphanage where Farren had once lived. Hopefully, they'd be able to tell him where she was now. With short and concealed wand-work, he enchanted the map to show him the closest safe apparating spot.
Remus walked out, glancing amusedly at Alberta, who was still typing frantic, shorthanded messages. He smiled and then continued on his way outside. Once there, he looked around for an area that wasn't so crowded to apparate from. He saw an ally (A/N Stupid Remus) that he thought looked private enough, and so he ducked into it. To his surprise, there was a young man there, dressed entirely in black, with a shaved head. He saw Remus and sneered at him. He then held out a baggy and tried to force it into his hand.
"Here, take this. I got what I need." He said, his eyes wide, the whites of them stained yellow. Remus jumped back, escaping into the bright relief of sunshine and crowds. He decided that it was much too busy for anyone to notice if he disappeared, and quickly and swiftly disapparated.
Remus landed in a place so remote he had to wonder if he had mistaken where he was going. But a small, wizened man was limping quickly toward him, his scuttle reminding Remus forcefully of a hermit crab.
"Whata ya want?" The man said irritably. Remus looked at him with taken aback politeness.
"Ah, don't look like that, young'n. Work here, I do. Been quite crowded today, very polite of you to stop in on OUR BUSIEST DAY." The man grumbled. Remus glanced around with raised eyebrows.
"Busiest day? I'd hate to see it deserted," Remus said mildly.
"Wouldn't be deserted if you could see it, now would it young'n?" The man cackled unpleasantly. "I'm Albert Quinn. Don't get your knickers in a twist, looking so offended. Just get out. Go! Shoo!" Remus gave Albert a glance and quickly began to walk away, wondering how far he had to go to find a sane person. Albert snorted and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him towards a portal. Shoving him unpleasantly through it, Remus quickly found himself on the other side, standing in what seemed to be a back field of some kind of muggle shop. Gas station, Remus thought the term was. Not wasting any time, Remus walked into the shop, looking around. A map told him he was in a small town outside of Austin, Pershing.
"Excuse me," he said to the young girl behind the counter. "Is there an orphanage around here?"
"There woman peered at him with scrutiny. He seemed to pass the test. "Yeah, yeah there is. In fact, I live there." Remus was surprised.
"Um, how-" he started. The girl flapped her hands and made little shushing noises.
"I'm only fourteen. But they don't know that. Shut-up," she said, her eyes twinkling, yet slightly frantic. Her name tag read Anya. Remus smiled. It was a pretty name, he thought. A pretty name that he recognized from somewhere. "Usually, I'm at work, school, or my sisters though. I only go back on Tuesdays. I have to be there once a week. It's our agreement." Remus wasn't sure why she was telling him what she was, but something in her voice begged to be listened to. Her amber colored eyes yearned for someone to really understand and Remus couldn't turn that away. Her hungry eyes looked like another's he had once seen. A different color, a different shape, but still, hungry.
"Legally, my sis is old enough to be out on her own. I'm not, and she can't adopt me if she's related to me, something about a conflict of interests, so I just sleep there most of the time. But the inspectors always 'surprise' us on different Tuesdays, so that's the night I sleep there. If sis ever left- well, she would need a really good reason, otherwise."
Customers behind them were starting to get fed up. Anya seemed to snap from a trance, and sheepishly blushed. Red-cheeked, she wrote him out the address for the orphanage, smiled at him, and hastily turned to her customers. Remus stepped outside and looked at the paper.
'Left on Laurel,' he thought, and soon, following the directions, found himself standing in front of a cheery little place that was sandwiched in between a dollar and general store. It looked more like a day care than an orphanage, but it was a nice relief from the brick walls and high fences he'd been imagining.
Walking inside, Remus heard a bell jingle over his head. A woman cam bustling to him, her arms full with two toddlers, one of which that was pulling her hair.
"Visitor hours are from noon to five on Mondays," she said abruptly, turning from him as quickly as she had come.
"I'm not here to visit. I need to speak to the owner of this establishment," Remus said with a frown, not liking the rude way the woman spoke to him.
Her face contorted into a series of strange expressions before finally settling on defiance.
"It's not Tuesday." she informed him. Remus had to stifle a laugh. The woman obviously thought he was an inspector.
"I am quite aware of that. My name is Remus Lupin, I'm here for-" the woman cut him off.
"Albertine Dugs. Follow me…immediately." Albertine…jeeze. What was it with rude Alberts today?
Remus followed Albertine to a back office, which was small, rectangular, and cramped. Two desks and computers, a pair of strait backed chairs, and three phones littered the room, along with millions of unorganised papers. An older couple sat at the desks, one muttering obscenities at the computer, the other speaking in a very frazzled voice on the phone.
"NO, you may not come back and just take away the child you left with us three years ago. It's illegal. You have to fill out some papers first. I DON'T CARE IF YOU'VE CHANGED! You were a druggie, didn't even notify us before you sent him here! Even if you weren't, you still have to be checked out!" The woman said heatedly into the phone.
"Mother," Albertine said stiffly. "Father. There's someone here to see you." the office activity froze. Apparently, Albertine usually was efficient at scaring off people before they got this far. If the trio hadn't looked so scared, Remus would have laughed.
Albertine quickly left while her mother hung up the phone and her father flipped on the monitor.
"Sit down, please." The man said, standing up and offering Remus his chair. Remus gratefully took it; it was no mean feat to walk from the gas station to the orphanage.
"I'm here to talk to you about a girl who used to live here. She'd be about twenty-four now. Her name was-is, as far as I know- Farren Alma." He said.
"Oh lord !" Elderly Mrs. Dugs looked up at the ceiling and quickly moved her hands in the manner of a classic catholic. Remus smiled.
"If it's about how An-" Mr. Dugs started quickly, but Remus cut him off.
"I'm here to see where she lives now. I'm an old friend of her and after- several- years, I've finally come back. Could you tell me where she lives?" Both elders gave a gigantic sigh of relief.
"Farren! Oh Farren, she still comes back and visits us." Mr. Dugs said happily.
"But we aren't really allowed to give out such information." Mrs. Dugs injected. Remus slumped his shoulders. Now what?
"But it's really our judgement, dear," Mr. Dugs said. "I mean, there is a loophole. We've used it before!"
"That dear, was an emergency." Before Remus could fathom what type of emergency he'd need to make up to find out where Farren lived, Mr. Dugs gave a gigantic roll of his eyes.
"Look at him! He obviously knows her. And…" Mr. Dugs said with a sly smirk, "Farren did meet a young man, several years ago. And she came back from that place with a look in her eye just like his!" Remus blushed slightly.
"Oh, fine! Just don't let it get around, hear me?" Mrs. Dugs looked slightly menacing.
"Yes ma'am," both the men said in unison. Laughing, Mr. Dugs began to dig through his papers, looking for something. He soon pulled out a blank sheet of paper and wrote both her work and home address on it for him.
As Remus left the orphanage, he smiled. But travelling through time, apparating, and walking had exhausted him. He wanted to be fresh when he saw Farren. Despite his nearly physical need to once again hold her in his arms, he controlled himself. He searched the streets for a motel, finally finding a small place. The sign on the door said 'Forest Inn.' Remus entered it quickly, eager for a shower.
"Hello, and welcome the Forest Inn." The young man behind the counter said pleasantly.
"Hello," Remus said exhaustedly. "Do you have any vacancies?"
"Are you kidding," the guy laughed long and loud. "There's always vacancies in a town like this. It's too little for to many people to be here. We get some of the people who couldn't get a nice place in Austin, but that's about it. You want a small room, or a suite. That's how empty we are. You can walk in and get a suite." The man cracked up laughing again. Remus chuckled good-naturedly.
"How much is the small room?"
The guy was still laughing. "Forty-two dollars a night, man. That includes cable and a phone." Remus suddenly realized he had no idea how much money he had.
"Uhh, hang on," he said to the guy.
"Yeah, yeah, sure." the guy went back to chuckling.
Remus began to search through his money furiously. There was a lot. A LOT. Remus had never known that his few galleons would take him so far in the muggle. Walking back up to the man at the counter he smiled.
"Got enough, man?" He asked.
"Yeah," Remus said, feeling-for the first time in a long time- like the kid he was. Only 24, he reminded himself. Not 36. This kid couldn't be any younger than he, but he seemed to be enjoying life a lot more. "Yeah," he repeated. "I got plenty. I just don't know how long I'll be staying. Can I just pay when I leave?"
"How do you know you ain't gonna leave without paying?" The kid asked. Remus pulled out forty-five dollars and handed it to the guy.
"For the first night." The guy gapped at him.
"C-cash?" he finally managed to stammer out.
"Yeah," Remus said with a grin. 'Sirius grin," he thought before he could stop himself. The kid grinned widely too.
"Cool man…cool. Here's a key. You're in room 102. Around that corner there."
"Thanks," Remus said and walked to his room. Before he could even attempt to look around, let alone take a shower, he had collapsed on the bed and fallen asleep.
When Remus woke up, it was late that night. Blearily looking about him, he wondered…where was he?
It came flooding back, like a tidal wave of memories. Finding Farren. That's what he was doing. He glanced over at the digital clock on his bedside table. Eight-thirty.
Eight-thirty! Remus leapt from the bed, tangling himself in the blankets. He still had to shower! And put fresh clothes on! And rent a car, and then actually find her! And it was eight-thirty. Remus then did something he didn't do very often. He swore, long and venomously.
Remus stumbled to the shower, pulling of his clothes as he did so. Turning the water on quickly, he was met with a full blast of freezing cold water. Yelping, he turned the nob the other way and succeeded in getting colder water.
"Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold!" Remus yelped as it pelted him. Ignoring it the best he could, he dumped hotel shampoo into his hair and scrubbed it in with on hand, while washing himself with soap using the other. Rinsing himself in the cold water, he jumped out, drying himself with a thin white towel. He then stumbled out of the bathroom and into the main room, pulling on a white shirt and another pair of jeans.
He walked from the room quickly, grabbed Farren's work and home address, and sprinted from the room, locking the door behind him. He was soon at the lobby.
"Whoa, man, where's the fire?" The young man at the desk asked unconcernedly. Remus almost ignored him, but on a sudden whim turned back.
"Where can I find a car rental place?" He asked quickly, his fingers tapping impatiently on the desk. He really wanted to see Farren.
"Down the street, man. You can't miss it." Remus nodded his thanks.
"I owe you one," he yelled as he sprinted out. The guy snorted.
Remus jogged down the street, his eyes fixed on a huge sign, reading 'Albert's pretty good cars.' Remus didn't have time to worry about meeting another rude person. As soon as he had made it, he burst in the front door. A guy looked up irritably. 'Oh no,' Remus mentally groaned.
"Car," the guy said without asking, and stood up from behind the desk. He was tall, over six feet, and burly. Remus followed him without complaint. They walked to a lot.
"Which one?" The guy asked in the same thick tone.
"Um…the-cheapest?" Remus muttered, not really carrying that he had quite a bit of money.
"Saturn," the guy muttered, walking back inside. Remus followed unsurely. Albert dug through his desk, found some papers, and gestured to a dotted line. "Sign." Remus complied.
"$50 for the week," he said, and Remus handed him the money quickly. Albert looked at him suspiciously, but took it and handed him a receipt. He then led him to a small blue Saturn, an older model than the others, it seemed, and handed Remus the keys.
Remus slid inside and uncertainly drove the car from the lot, scared that Albert would be able to sense his juvenile driving skills. Luckily, Albert didn't. Remus couldn't believe who easily the art of driving came back to him, and while he was sitting at a red light, he quickly pulled Farren's addresses from his pocket. Deciding his best bet would be to go to her home, Remus began to look for 1589 Terris Drive. Thirty minutes later, he still hadn't found it, and the clock was blinking a discouraging 9:40. Remus groaned and almost missed seeing the sign, large and glowing, that declared him about to turn down the very road he was looking for.
Terris Drive seemed to be a street filled with small identical rental houses that were filled with college age people. Numerous partiers danced in the lawns and bouncy music blasted from the houses. Remus tried to block out the noise and hoped Farren wasn't somewhere in the crowd. He rolled down his window and waved a teenage guy with long hair over.
"Is this all one party?" He yelled over the noise.
"Yeah, dude!" The guy yelled back. "We all just turned up our type of music and danced in the street. You looking for someone?"
"Farren. Farren Al-" Remus started
"Ah, fire-hair!"
"Yes…" Remus said unsurely.
"Yeah, she's sleeping man!"
"Through this?"
"Goes on all summer! Sometimes she comes out with her little sis, fourteen, real cute kid, but usually she goes to bed. Works from five-thirty till eight you know. But man, they leave the doors unlocked, we're all friends here! In case one of us ever needs her or something. Cool girl, huh?" Remus just nodded.
"You sure she won't mind if I just walk in? And wake her up?" Remus asked.
"Look man, I do it all the time!" Remus wasn't all together reassured. "Look, man, she's probably not even asleep yet. She comes home and sometimes brings someone with her and talks in the back room. Just walk in, they can't hear the doorbell. And if she's asleep walk out! I got to get back to the party man. It's the third house down." The young man left. With a roll of his eyes, so did Remus, driving to a quiet and dark house. He pulled up into the driveway with minimal difficulty and slipped from the truck.
Feeling extremely odd, he slipped inside, uncertainty seeping through him. The house was dark, a sure sign that he should turn back.
'I'll come back tomorrow,' he thought, but his body thought otherwise and continued walking. 'They might be in the back,' another voice whispered to him. The doors were all open. One showed the room of a teenage girl, wild and crazy with bright colors and big lopsided posters. Another open archway led to a living room, and another open door showed a small but quaint bathroom. Remus approached the last door. It was open as well, showing an orderly room. A trunk sat in the corner, and Remus knew the room was Farren's. He stepped inside. She was asleep, curled up in the bed, blankets pulled all the way to her chin as she lay curved in a ball. He just wanted to look at her, and so he quietly turned on a lamp.
The light fell upon not just her, but another shape. A big and burly shape. A very MALE shape.
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
CLIFFY! That was fun, but evil.
-Lillei
Do you still wear your hair long and untamed?
Are you still beautiful and unashamed?
Do you still eat your cereal without milk?
Do you still feel soft as silk?
Do you still like to read ancient myths?
Are you still the person I fell in love with?
-a poem from Remus's veiw
Disclaimer- Um, I think you know I'm not J.K. Rowling, and if you don't, I maybe you should go see a therapist. I can suggest a few .
Thanks to my ONE reviewer. Also, thanks for answering my question. Because of 'never be taken alive', I will no longer be putting songs at the beginning of the chapters, just putting blurbs of one or whatever else comes to mind. I am I bit miffed that only one person reviewed. If my story's that bad, why doesn't someone just tell me honestly so I can delete it? Jeez.
Sorry it always takes me so long to update. I lost my inspiration. I did however get some more inspiration for another story, Her Glow. I'd really like it if my readers would read that as well.
Chapter 2; Rude Alberts
Remus willed his eyes not to pop right out of his head when he noticed the James-like boy. Further assessment told him that the boy's jet black hair was thinner and flatter than James's had been, and that his eyes were not James's hazel, nor Harry's green. Remus wondered if, perhaps, this was Harry's son. Smiling at the thought, Remus was surprised when the portkey he was still holding gave an almighty jerk. He felt himself pull forward through space and landed, nearly as second later, in an open room.
"12:08 from Hogwarts' head office," a voice spoke. Remus glanced up at the man, who stood over six feet, and nodded slightly, still feeling very worn from his trip through time.
"Time traveller?" The man, whose nametag read Albert, asked with boredom. He had probably seen many time travellers, Remus realized, working where he was.
"No," Remus said shortly, not wishing to get into the matter.
"Well, either way," the man said huffily, looking as if he had been wishing for some good gossip. "You'll have to go through examination. Leave your luggage with Anne and go through that door."
Remus did as he was told, glancing behind him in time to see Anne pull out the Anteeo Ambulo. She gasped slightly and Remus wished he had possessed the insight take it with him. The old portkey had disappeared.
Remus entered the examination room. Sitting at a desk was a small woman. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face, framing her big almond eyes beautifully. Remus barely noticed.
"A customer!" The woman said, sounding delighted. "It's been such a slow day." Remus smiled at her tiredly, banishing from his minds the sounds of all the screaming pain in the universe, which still echoed. The woman grinned back, though he could see her expert eyes examining him already.
"I'm Dr. Loraine Smith," she told him, and he shook her hand.
"Remus Lupin," he said.
"All right Remus," she said cheerfully. "There's a lot to be done, so we'd better get started. First, I'll need you to fill out these papers explaining the type of trip you took, your travelling experience, parentage, release forms, that sort of thing. Then we'll start the examination." She handed him a package of parchments, which he quickly went through. He realized that she would soon know that he had travelled over time, and wondered how she would react to that. As it turned out, he needn't have worried.
"Ah, a time traveller. You're a rare one, aren't you? You look to be in remarkable good health for someone who's just travelled in such conditions. Many patients who come in here are sick for weeks, or need physiological help. Some-" she lowered her voice, "-some people are so traumatized by the experience that they die in the vortex of time…or get stuck there." Dr. Smith's voice was lowered in horror, but Remus could think only of the fact that Dumbledore had let him go without telling him this interesting bit of news.
On her instruction, Remus pulled off his shirt (A/N don't start drooling) and stepped on the scale. She frowned at his weight, especially after seeing his height. Remus was glad it hadn't asked in the release forms he had filled out if he had any 'moon' problems. Then she gestured to the bed, which he sat down on. After his physical test and fitness examination, Remus was free to go. He smiled at the doctor and quickly walked out.
"Get your luggage," a rude voice said, and Remus turned to see Albert watching him sulkily. He apparently was unreasonably upset that Remus had not wanted to share with him his unique experience. Remus ignored this.
Remus instead said, "Why thank you. With out your help, I would most certainly have walked out of here without the only things I own in this time period." His dry humor was hard to argue with. He then went to pick up his luggage.
"Here's your case, sir." Anne said respectably. Remus liked her immediately. "And you keep this slip of paper that says that it has been approved by the National Time and Space Travelling Agency of America, where your travels, are our pleasure!" Anne rolled her eyes just enough at the last end to convey her thoughts on their logon. "Also, this is a muggle American ID which will allow you to get into many places, and out of many tight spots. The information was gathered from your info packet you filled out and the picture is an magic creation, made to look like a muggle photograph. And all you money has been exchanged for American currency.
"Why thank you," Remus said pleasantly, before turning to go. He walked out the door, pausing to get some informative brochures. After looking at them, he found a public library.
The library in the busy New York area was small and rundown, but Remus knew it would have to do. He examined its brick walls, so like most other walls in the town, before pulling open the glass and metal door and walking in. Two muggle lawmen stood stiffly beyond the doors.
They nodded to him, apparently not finding him threatening. Then Remus walked through an odd machine that seemed to be trying to detect metal. It instead stopped working as soon as Remus and his magical aura got nearby. The men waved him on, one muttering, 'damn machine. Not the first time this year that's happened.' Remus snorted quietly, wondering how many witches and wizards had walked into the library, which was conveniently close to the travel office.
Inside, Remus quickly found an unoccupied librarian and asked her where he might find an atlas. She gave him a nasty look.
"Haven't you ever been in a library before? Or do they not have them in Europe?" She asked sneeringly. It was then that Remus noticed her nametag, which read 'Alberta.' He groaned, but the woman kept rambling.
"I might have been doing something important, and your stupid talk interrupted me!" She said angrily. A ding sounded from the computer she had been sitting obsessively in front of, and she dropped into the seat near it. Remus could see what she was typing by way of the computer.
'Still here,' she wrote, 'some idiot don't know about an atlas.' Though this made no sense to Remus, a flirty and consoling remark soon flooded onto her screen. Alberta, he thought, must have been talking (somehow) with someone on another computer. He sighed and went to find the book himself. Soon, he had found what he was looking for, road maps to Texas, and, more specifically, Austin. He knew all he had to do once he was there was to find the orphanage where Farren had once lived. Hopefully, they'd be able to tell him where she was now. With short and concealed wand-work, he enchanted the map to show him the closest safe apparating spot.
Remus walked out, glancing amusedly at Alberta, who was still typing frantic, shorthanded messages. He smiled and then continued on his way outside. Once there, he looked around for an area that wasn't so crowded to apparate from. He saw an ally (A/N Stupid Remus) that he thought looked private enough, and so he ducked into it. To his surprise, there was a young man there, dressed entirely in black, with a shaved head. He saw Remus and sneered at him. He then held out a baggy and tried to force it into his hand.
"Here, take this. I got what I need." He said, his eyes wide, the whites of them stained yellow. Remus jumped back, escaping into the bright relief of sunshine and crowds. He decided that it was much too busy for anyone to notice if he disappeared, and quickly and swiftly disapparated.
Remus landed in a place so remote he had to wonder if he had mistaken where he was going. But a small, wizened man was limping quickly toward him, his scuttle reminding Remus forcefully of a hermit crab.
"Whata ya want?" The man said irritably. Remus looked at him with taken aback politeness.
"Ah, don't look like that, young'n. Work here, I do. Been quite crowded today, very polite of you to stop in on OUR BUSIEST DAY." The man grumbled. Remus glanced around with raised eyebrows.
"Busiest day? I'd hate to see it deserted," Remus said mildly.
"Wouldn't be deserted if you could see it, now would it young'n?" The man cackled unpleasantly. "I'm Albert Quinn. Don't get your knickers in a twist, looking so offended. Just get out. Go! Shoo!" Remus gave Albert a glance and quickly began to walk away, wondering how far he had to go to find a sane person. Albert snorted and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him towards a portal. Shoving him unpleasantly through it, Remus quickly found himself on the other side, standing in what seemed to be a back field of some kind of muggle shop. Gas station, Remus thought the term was. Not wasting any time, Remus walked into the shop, looking around. A map told him he was in a small town outside of Austin, Pershing.
"Excuse me," he said to the young girl behind the counter. "Is there an orphanage around here?"
"There woman peered at him with scrutiny. He seemed to pass the test. "Yeah, yeah there is. In fact, I live there." Remus was surprised.
"Um, how-" he started. The girl flapped her hands and made little shushing noises.
"I'm only fourteen. But they don't know that. Shut-up," she said, her eyes twinkling, yet slightly frantic. Her name tag read Anya. Remus smiled. It was a pretty name, he thought. A pretty name that he recognized from somewhere. "Usually, I'm at work, school, or my sisters though. I only go back on Tuesdays. I have to be there once a week. It's our agreement." Remus wasn't sure why she was telling him what she was, but something in her voice begged to be listened to. Her amber colored eyes yearned for someone to really understand and Remus couldn't turn that away. Her hungry eyes looked like another's he had once seen. A different color, a different shape, but still, hungry.
"Legally, my sis is old enough to be out on her own. I'm not, and she can't adopt me if she's related to me, something about a conflict of interests, so I just sleep there most of the time. But the inspectors always 'surprise' us on different Tuesdays, so that's the night I sleep there. If sis ever left- well, she would need a really good reason, otherwise."
Customers behind them were starting to get fed up. Anya seemed to snap from a trance, and sheepishly blushed. Red-cheeked, she wrote him out the address for the orphanage, smiled at him, and hastily turned to her customers. Remus stepped outside and looked at the paper.
'Left on Laurel,' he thought, and soon, following the directions, found himself standing in front of a cheery little place that was sandwiched in between a dollar and general store. It looked more like a day care than an orphanage, but it was a nice relief from the brick walls and high fences he'd been imagining.
Walking inside, Remus heard a bell jingle over his head. A woman cam bustling to him, her arms full with two toddlers, one of which that was pulling her hair.
"Visitor hours are from noon to five on Mondays," she said abruptly, turning from him as quickly as she had come.
"I'm not here to visit. I need to speak to the owner of this establishment," Remus said with a frown, not liking the rude way the woman spoke to him.
Her face contorted into a series of strange expressions before finally settling on defiance.
"It's not Tuesday." she informed him. Remus had to stifle a laugh. The woman obviously thought he was an inspector.
"I am quite aware of that. My name is Remus Lupin, I'm here for-" the woman cut him off.
"Albertine Dugs. Follow me…immediately." Albertine…jeeze. What was it with rude Alberts today?
Remus followed Albertine to a back office, which was small, rectangular, and cramped. Two desks and computers, a pair of strait backed chairs, and three phones littered the room, along with millions of unorganised papers. An older couple sat at the desks, one muttering obscenities at the computer, the other speaking in a very frazzled voice on the phone.
"NO, you may not come back and just take away the child you left with us three years ago. It's illegal. You have to fill out some papers first. I DON'T CARE IF YOU'VE CHANGED! You were a druggie, didn't even notify us before you sent him here! Even if you weren't, you still have to be checked out!" The woman said heatedly into the phone.
"Mother," Albertine said stiffly. "Father. There's someone here to see you." the office activity froze. Apparently, Albertine usually was efficient at scaring off people before they got this far. If the trio hadn't looked so scared, Remus would have laughed.
Albertine quickly left while her mother hung up the phone and her father flipped on the monitor.
"Sit down, please." The man said, standing up and offering Remus his chair. Remus gratefully took it; it was no mean feat to walk from the gas station to the orphanage.
"I'm here to talk to you about a girl who used to live here. She'd be about twenty-four now. Her name was-is, as far as I know- Farren Alma." He said.
"Oh lord !" Elderly Mrs. Dugs looked up at the ceiling and quickly moved her hands in the manner of a classic catholic. Remus smiled.
"If it's about how An-" Mr. Dugs started quickly, but Remus cut him off.
"I'm here to see where she lives now. I'm an old friend of her and after- several- years, I've finally come back. Could you tell me where she lives?" Both elders gave a gigantic sigh of relief.
"Farren! Oh Farren, she still comes back and visits us." Mr. Dugs said happily.
"But we aren't really allowed to give out such information." Mrs. Dugs injected. Remus slumped his shoulders. Now what?
"But it's really our judgement, dear," Mr. Dugs said. "I mean, there is a loophole. We've used it before!"
"That dear, was an emergency." Before Remus could fathom what type of emergency he'd need to make up to find out where Farren lived, Mr. Dugs gave a gigantic roll of his eyes.
"Look at him! He obviously knows her. And…" Mr. Dugs said with a sly smirk, "Farren did meet a young man, several years ago. And she came back from that place with a look in her eye just like his!" Remus blushed slightly.
"Oh, fine! Just don't let it get around, hear me?" Mrs. Dugs looked slightly menacing.
"Yes ma'am," both the men said in unison. Laughing, Mr. Dugs began to dig through his papers, looking for something. He soon pulled out a blank sheet of paper and wrote both her work and home address on it for him.
As Remus left the orphanage, he smiled. But travelling through time, apparating, and walking had exhausted him. He wanted to be fresh when he saw Farren. Despite his nearly physical need to once again hold her in his arms, he controlled himself. He searched the streets for a motel, finally finding a small place. The sign on the door said 'Forest Inn.' Remus entered it quickly, eager for a shower.
"Hello, and welcome the Forest Inn." The young man behind the counter said pleasantly.
"Hello," Remus said exhaustedly. "Do you have any vacancies?"
"Are you kidding," the guy laughed long and loud. "There's always vacancies in a town like this. It's too little for to many people to be here. We get some of the people who couldn't get a nice place in Austin, but that's about it. You want a small room, or a suite. That's how empty we are. You can walk in and get a suite." The man cracked up laughing again. Remus chuckled good-naturedly.
"How much is the small room?"
The guy was still laughing. "Forty-two dollars a night, man. That includes cable and a phone." Remus suddenly realized he had no idea how much money he had.
"Uhh, hang on," he said to the guy.
"Yeah, yeah, sure." the guy went back to chuckling.
Remus began to search through his money furiously. There was a lot. A LOT. Remus had never known that his few galleons would take him so far in the muggle. Walking back up to the man at the counter he smiled.
"Got enough, man?" He asked.
"Yeah," Remus said, feeling-for the first time in a long time- like the kid he was. Only 24, he reminded himself. Not 36. This kid couldn't be any younger than he, but he seemed to be enjoying life a lot more. "Yeah," he repeated. "I got plenty. I just don't know how long I'll be staying. Can I just pay when I leave?"
"How do you know you ain't gonna leave without paying?" The kid asked. Remus pulled out forty-five dollars and handed it to the guy.
"For the first night." The guy gapped at him.
"C-cash?" he finally managed to stammer out.
"Yeah," Remus said with a grin. 'Sirius grin," he thought before he could stop himself. The kid grinned widely too.
"Cool man…cool. Here's a key. You're in room 102. Around that corner there."
"Thanks," Remus said and walked to his room. Before he could even attempt to look around, let alone take a shower, he had collapsed on the bed and fallen asleep.
When Remus woke up, it was late that night. Blearily looking about him, he wondered…where was he?
It came flooding back, like a tidal wave of memories. Finding Farren. That's what he was doing. He glanced over at the digital clock on his bedside table. Eight-thirty.
Eight-thirty! Remus leapt from the bed, tangling himself in the blankets. He still had to shower! And put fresh clothes on! And rent a car, and then actually find her! And it was eight-thirty. Remus then did something he didn't do very often. He swore, long and venomously.
Remus stumbled to the shower, pulling of his clothes as he did so. Turning the water on quickly, he was met with a full blast of freezing cold water. Yelping, he turned the nob the other way and succeeded in getting colder water.
"Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold!" Remus yelped as it pelted him. Ignoring it the best he could, he dumped hotel shampoo into his hair and scrubbed it in with on hand, while washing himself with soap using the other. Rinsing himself in the cold water, he jumped out, drying himself with a thin white towel. He then stumbled out of the bathroom and into the main room, pulling on a white shirt and another pair of jeans.
He walked from the room quickly, grabbed Farren's work and home address, and sprinted from the room, locking the door behind him. He was soon at the lobby.
"Whoa, man, where's the fire?" The young man at the desk asked unconcernedly. Remus almost ignored him, but on a sudden whim turned back.
"Where can I find a car rental place?" He asked quickly, his fingers tapping impatiently on the desk. He really wanted to see Farren.
"Down the street, man. You can't miss it." Remus nodded his thanks.
"I owe you one," he yelled as he sprinted out. The guy snorted.
Remus jogged down the street, his eyes fixed on a huge sign, reading 'Albert's pretty good cars.' Remus didn't have time to worry about meeting another rude person. As soon as he had made it, he burst in the front door. A guy looked up irritably. 'Oh no,' Remus mentally groaned.
"Car," the guy said without asking, and stood up from behind the desk. He was tall, over six feet, and burly. Remus followed him without complaint. They walked to a lot.
"Which one?" The guy asked in the same thick tone.
"Um…the-cheapest?" Remus muttered, not really carrying that he had quite a bit of money.
"Saturn," the guy muttered, walking back inside. Remus followed unsurely. Albert dug through his desk, found some papers, and gestured to a dotted line. "Sign." Remus complied.
"$50 for the week," he said, and Remus handed him the money quickly. Albert looked at him suspiciously, but took it and handed him a receipt. He then led him to a small blue Saturn, an older model than the others, it seemed, and handed Remus the keys.
Remus slid inside and uncertainly drove the car from the lot, scared that Albert would be able to sense his juvenile driving skills. Luckily, Albert didn't. Remus couldn't believe who easily the art of driving came back to him, and while he was sitting at a red light, he quickly pulled Farren's addresses from his pocket. Deciding his best bet would be to go to her home, Remus began to look for 1589 Terris Drive. Thirty minutes later, he still hadn't found it, and the clock was blinking a discouraging 9:40. Remus groaned and almost missed seeing the sign, large and glowing, that declared him about to turn down the very road he was looking for.
Terris Drive seemed to be a street filled with small identical rental houses that were filled with college age people. Numerous partiers danced in the lawns and bouncy music blasted from the houses. Remus tried to block out the noise and hoped Farren wasn't somewhere in the crowd. He rolled down his window and waved a teenage guy with long hair over.
"Is this all one party?" He yelled over the noise.
"Yeah, dude!" The guy yelled back. "We all just turned up our type of music and danced in the street. You looking for someone?"
"Farren. Farren Al-" Remus started
"Ah, fire-hair!"
"Yes…" Remus said unsurely.
"Yeah, she's sleeping man!"
"Through this?"
"Goes on all summer! Sometimes she comes out with her little sis, fourteen, real cute kid, but usually she goes to bed. Works from five-thirty till eight you know. But man, they leave the doors unlocked, we're all friends here! In case one of us ever needs her or something. Cool girl, huh?" Remus just nodded.
"You sure she won't mind if I just walk in? And wake her up?" Remus asked.
"Look man, I do it all the time!" Remus wasn't all together reassured. "Look, man, she's probably not even asleep yet. She comes home and sometimes brings someone with her and talks in the back room. Just walk in, they can't hear the doorbell. And if she's asleep walk out! I got to get back to the party man. It's the third house down." The young man left. With a roll of his eyes, so did Remus, driving to a quiet and dark house. He pulled up into the driveway with minimal difficulty and slipped from the truck.
Feeling extremely odd, he slipped inside, uncertainty seeping through him. The house was dark, a sure sign that he should turn back.
'I'll come back tomorrow,' he thought, but his body thought otherwise and continued walking. 'They might be in the back,' another voice whispered to him. The doors were all open. One showed the room of a teenage girl, wild and crazy with bright colors and big lopsided posters. Another open archway led to a living room, and another open door showed a small but quaint bathroom. Remus approached the last door. It was open as well, showing an orderly room. A trunk sat in the corner, and Remus knew the room was Farren's. He stepped inside. She was asleep, curled up in the bed, blankets pulled all the way to her chin as she lay curved in a ball. He just wanted to look at her, and so he quietly turned on a lamp.
The light fell upon not just her, but another shape. A big and burly shape. A very MALE shape.
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
{
CLIFFY! That was fun, but evil.
-Lillei