Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way take credit for the wonderful world
of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is much more creative than I ^_^. So before
you decide to have a heart attack about the names I use in this and suing
me for all I'm worth, I'll remember that I wrote a disclaimer to save my
ass, dammit.
Also, I would like to add (due to some recent events) that Rhiane is based
off of my friend, Athena, ideas. When a story begins with a special marking
such as: ~* and ends with the same, it is a flash back. Sorry I didn't put
that in before.
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A few weeks had gone by very quickly with no trouble at all and it was time for the Hogsmeade trip. Remus had gotten up early that day with a slight smile pasted to his face. He loved going back into Hogsmeade every now and then to refresh his memory about what the older days were like. It helped him keep his mind pre-occupied with better memories rather than recent events that made him want to crumble to a heap. He combed through his hair, neatly parting it and got into his robes then spritzed some cologne on.
"You sexy beast, you." He grinned dashingly into the mirror and winked. Down in the Great Hall there was a new excitement in the air. A lot of the students had saved up every last Galleon to go and buy treats until they could come back with new pouches full of money after the holidays. He took a seat next to the empty chair where Rhiane would normally sit and loaded his plate with all of his favorite breakfast foods. After he was finished he glanced over to see if Aislynn was up and perhaps ready to head down to Hogsmeade. She waved and smiled cheerfully. Then went back to her food and harassing Severus loudly.
"I did not." She spoke with a certain indignace in her voice.
"I don't believe you for one second, Stellar," he spoke quietly to her and growled.
"It's because I'm so sexy, isn't it? You're just angry at me because I wouldn't give you a snowballs chance in hell for you to get a peice of this for one night... all night." She smiled at him and puckered her lips seductively. He cleared his throat and flushed lightly. As if by magic, the conversation had been won over by Aislynn. The Great Hall was cleared out quickly and Remus got to his feet. He offered her a genuine smile as she hugged him.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm well. As well to be expected in any case. You know I leave in a week again, right?"
She nodded and took his arm, "going to Hogsmeade?"
"I guess now I am."
"You smell good... delightful in fact. Does your cologne have any pheramones in it because it's..... enchanting to put it lighter than I should." She sniffed the air lightly and felt a small smile cross her glossy lips.
"No, just plain 'ole man purfume. You like it that much, hmm? I got it a while ago and just barely began to use it. Can't remember where I got it, however." Remus tried to make small talk while walking her out of Hogwarts. They spoke of the colder weather idly and somewhat awkwardly. A few students passed them by, talking and laughing happily. Aislynn glanced at him then the children.
"Do you think that Hogwarts will be all right... I've been on guard the whole time and nothing really suspicious has been happening... but do you think it could?" She spoke softly and squeezed his arm lightly.
"I'm sure it will be all right. No one, even the Dark Lord himself, would dare to enter Dumbledore's domain uninvited. No need to worry, Ais... Let's just go and get some drinks and wander around a bit without thinking about anything serious, all right?" Remus smiled down at her and patted her hand with his free one.
She smiled and nodded in full agreement. Soon they reached the homely Three Broomsticks and sat down at an empty table to get a few of their favorite drinks with the rest of the interesting characters. Remus was very careful not to get tipsy from the alcohol... it was a special occasion to a point so he let himself indulge a little. Time passed cheerfully with laughter and fun conversation.
"So, have you spoken with Harry?" Aislynn leaned against the table and propped her elbow up to rest her cheek on her hand comfortably.
Remus turned his glass in his hand and stared at the liquid.
"You haven't, hmm?"
"No, not... in depth anyway." He glanced up a little sheepishly.
"Right now he really needs someone to talk to, ya know... He doesn't seem as happy as he should be. Perhaps if you set a day for yourself and Harry to talk?"
"The truth is, I don't want to dig up a bad memory. For either of us. It's hard for me to even mention it. I could have done something, I'm sure. Maybe a jinx on Belletrix or... or.." He lowered his head to hide his face with his hair as best he could.
Aislynn frowned lightly and reached over to place her hand on his. She shook her head for a moment, trying to gather some words to comfort him with. She bit her lip and took in a breath, "Remus... You had to take care of Harry at the time. Sirius wanted to fight. He wouldn't put his hands up and surrender... it was his battle by the time you saw him fall. He.... he fought in what he believed in. There was nothing you could do to sway him once he convinced himself to step foot out of the house."
Remus looked up to see her swipe a tear away quickly and looked at the scuffed floor for a minute or two then nodded.
"Tell Harry that and I'm sure it'll bring some peace to the both of you. Then you can invite him to stay with us if he feels safe enough and if Dumbledore gives the okay for it." She smiled a little and removed her hand from his to take a sip of her drink quietly. The thought of being able to stay with her and Harry brought a happy smile to his face through the memory of losing Sirius. He straightened his robes and watched her for a while then offered his hand to her,
"Lets go to the candy store..."
"I haven't been there in ages," she laughed and took his hand, following him out of the Three Broomsticks after paying for the drinks. He waved to Harry who seemed to be on an outing with Cho. Ron was with the exchange student, Emily, trying to impress her with stories of his Quidditch matches.
"Honeydukes. The best candy store in town." Aislynn smiled brightly.
"The only candy store in town..." Remus grinned and opened the door for her. When they entered, the smell of honey and chocolate filled the air. Some Hogwarts students were still there but not many were milling around any longer. He spotted Rhiane eyeing the Chocolate Frogs but Aislynn had beaten him to greeting her.
"I knew we'd find you here! I thought you would have been in the Three Broomsticks by now... have you been here the whole time?"
"Nope. I had to stay behind and grade some parchments. But I made it and now I'm going to stock up." Rhiane never took her eyes off of the chocolates and hesitated in grabbing them. It looked as if she had been to the local book store, Book-Wyrm, all of those books crammed into her favorite bag. Aislynn frowned lightly and glanced to Remus who knew what she was thinking.
"Rhiane... are you all right?" He asked her softly.
"Peachy. Just a bit of light reading, you know... Why do you ask?"
"Well, you tend to dive into books and never come out until you're hungry enough to come and eat. You do this whenever you're depressed," Aislynn exlaimed quietly and glanced into her violet eyes.
"Nonsense. I'm fine. Exuse me, Remus. Thank you... Yes, it's me again. I'd like this, please.. How much? All right. Here you are. And thank you too." She smiled happily and opened a Chocolate Frog box to munch on it as she headed out of the door. Aislynn dragged Remus out the door after her.
"You have to talk about it sometime, Rhiane." Remus broke in after catching his breath.
"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about except perhaps Malfoy and how much of a git he is. His father as well."
Aislynn stepped infront of her and put her hands up to stop her. She stared into Rhiane's eyes and grew even more serious, "Rhiane.. you are my friend. You need to tell friends things that bother you or bring you joy. It's a part of what people are supposed to give and recieve from relationships... Sirius was close to you. You need to talk about it sometime."
"I don't need to talk about it to anyone if I choose not to! And I choose not to, dammit!" Her eyes filled with tears and she walked past Aislynn, sniffling.
Remus made a small movement toward her but Aislynn stopped him from going much further and shook her head. He sighed lightly and watched her go. They spoke quietly for a few more minutes and made their way to Hogwarts. Soon it would be time for the parent-teacher confrences which was a new idea brought in by Cornelius Fudge, mostly to keep an eye on the school as to recent events had reared their ugly head. Aislynn wasn't looking forward to this one bit... however, many of the teachers and parents alike were excited and waiting for the day that they could talk about the students together.
What steamed Aislynn was the fact that full muggle borns would not be allowed to have their parents brought to Hogwarts, half and half were allowed their one gifted parent to come along. Naturally, she fought on the grounds it wasn't fair to those who had muggle parents. Remus tried to calm her down about it but with several women against him, it seemed futile.
"You are single-handedly discriminating against heiratige... Again! This is against the law and unfair, Fudge! Can you imagine how lonesome some of those students are feeling right now? I've spoken to a few and they say they feel about two inches tall.. because of your poor choices!" Aislynn slammed her hands on the desk and tried to keep a civil tongue but with difficulty. Remus watched as Cornelius grew red in the face, needless to say, he wasn't the type of man to grow accostumed to having his ideas challanged.
"I made these choices for the safety of this school," he glanced at Dumbledore wearily.
"Bullspit! You are very aware that there are several Death-Eaters involved with their children who happen to attend Hogwarts. All you're doing is allowing them to case the place! It's even more dangerous then letting them stay at home, Fudge!" Rhiane crossed her arms over her chest and glared.
"Mr. Fudge.." Remus began calmly, "we realize your wish to try and make this school 'safer' as you so put it. However, the consideration of the muggle-borns has not been taken into affect. Also... The point remains that certain clicks would be willingly let into this school to create as much havoc as they like... do you have a plan, perhaps, to settle these matters?"
"I'm sure you can pair the muggle-borns with some wizarding families! And as for the 'havoc' idea.. just put a few spells around the school and everything will be fine. We need this conference for the communities to see for themselves how much progress is being made." He glanced around at the six wizards and witches. "End of story and conversation. The Parent-Teacher Conference will be rolling on. Now that we are done with this freak show, I have to be on my way. Good day." He sneered and put on a hat then stormed out of the office.
Aislynn stared after him and glared then looked to Dumbledore. Remus straightened out his robes and blinked slowly.
He looked at her gravely and sat down carefully, "it seems... that our hands are tied. We will proceed with the conference for the sake of the wishes from the parents."
"You can't be seriously considering this! We're very unprepared if anything should happen, sir.. It's hard to pull up some spells and jinxes in just under a week." Rhiane sputtered and unknitted her eyebrows to glance at Severus who was in a futher corner, listening. Minerva heaved out a great sigh and leaned on her cane lightly. It seemed as though they had given up on the idea of fighting it.
"This is so bogus. I hate this..." Aislynn growled and leaned against the wall.
"Quit sulking, Stellar. All you have to do is talk to a few parents and keep alert." Severus didn't even look up from his patch of floor that he was burning a hole through with his eyes.
"Come, now, Severus... we're all a little upset, we all will just have to suck it up and make the best of it with the little time we have to prepare." Minerva thought deeply for a moment and nodded, taking her leave probably to go curse in private. Rhiane left shortly after her, followed by Severus without a word.
Remus glanced from Dumbledore to Aislynn and sighed. He sat down in a chair behind Dumbledore's desk quietly.
"Why do you have to bend to his whim, Albus...? I don't understand it." An angry Aislynn gave him a hurt look.
"You are an Auror, Aislynn, of all people you should understand the thought behind cooperation. It is in this, I shall be sure to gain trust and keep it, defend it, and use it when needed most." He stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"I may be an Auror but you need to be a little more cautious in a time such as this. What we are about to do is go into the deep end of the salt sea, sharks and gashing wounds. That's a lot of pain, if you know what I mean. There isn't much I can do if you invite the enemy on your territory because of the ancient spells and enchantments you have on Hogwarts."
"All I am asking of you is to do your very best if a problem does occur. Bogus or not..." He gave a half smile and looked to Remus, "if you please, Aislynn... I would like to speak with Remus in private."
"Certainly," she smiled a little and winked at Remus then left to wait for him outside with the gargoyle. She may spit at the idea, but it looked as if they were actually going to go ahead and do it... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few weeks had gone by very quickly with no trouble at all and it was time for the Hogsmeade trip. Remus had gotten up early that day with a slight smile pasted to his face. He loved going back into Hogsmeade every now and then to refresh his memory about what the older days were like. It helped him keep his mind pre-occupied with better memories rather than recent events that made him want to crumble to a heap. He combed through his hair, neatly parting it and got into his robes then spritzed some cologne on.
"You sexy beast, you." He grinned dashingly into the mirror and winked. Down in the Great Hall there was a new excitement in the air. A lot of the students had saved up every last Galleon to go and buy treats until they could come back with new pouches full of money after the holidays. He took a seat next to the empty chair where Rhiane would normally sit and loaded his plate with all of his favorite breakfast foods. After he was finished he glanced over to see if Aislynn was up and perhaps ready to head down to Hogsmeade. She waved and smiled cheerfully. Then went back to her food and harassing Severus loudly.
"I did not." She spoke with a certain indignace in her voice.
"I don't believe you for one second, Stellar," he spoke quietly to her and growled.
"It's because I'm so sexy, isn't it? You're just angry at me because I wouldn't give you a snowballs chance in hell for you to get a peice of this for one night... all night." She smiled at him and puckered her lips seductively. He cleared his throat and flushed lightly. As if by magic, the conversation had been won over by Aislynn. The Great Hall was cleared out quickly and Remus got to his feet. He offered her a genuine smile as she hugged him.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm well. As well to be expected in any case. You know I leave in a week again, right?"
She nodded and took his arm, "going to Hogsmeade?"
"I guess now I am."
"You smell good... delightful in fact. Does your cologne have any pheramones in it because it's..... enchanting to put it lighter than I should." She sniffed the air lightly and felt a small smile cross her glossy lips.
"No, just plain 'ole man purfume. You like it that much, hmm? I got it a while ago and just barely began to use it. Can't remember where I got it, however." Remus tried to make small talk while walking her out of Hogwarts. They spoke of the colder weather idly and somewhat awkwardly. A few students passed them by, talking and laughing happily. Aislynn glanced at him then the children.
"Do you think that Hogwarts will be all right... I've been on guard the whole time and nothing really suspicious has been happening... but do you think it could?" She spoke softly and squeezed his arm lightly.
"I'm sure it will be all right. No one, even the Dark Lord himself, would dare to enter Dumbledore's domain uninvited. No need to worry, Ais... Let's just go and get some drinks and wander around a bit without thinking about anything serious, all right?" Remus smiled down at her and patted her hand with his free one.
She smiled and nodded in full agreement. Soon they reached the homely Three Broomsticks and sat down at an empty table to get a few of their favorite drinks with the rest of the interesting characters. Remus was very careful not to get tipsy from the alcohol... it was a special occasion to a point so he let himself indulge a little. Time passed cheerfully with laughter and fun conversation.
"So, have you spoken with Harry?" Aislynn leaned against the table and propped her elbow up to rest her cheek on her hand comfortably.
Remus turned his glass in his hand and stared at the liquid.
"You haven't, hmm?"
"No, not... in depth anyway." He glanced up a little sheepishly.
"Right now he really needs someone to talk to, ya know... He doesn't seem as happy as he should be. Perhaps if you set a day for yourself and Harry to talk?"
"The truth is, I don't want to dig up a bad memory. For either of us. It's hard for me to even mention it. I could have done something, I'm sure. Maybe a jinx on Belletrix or... or.." He lowered his head to hide his face with his hair as best he could.
Aislynn frowned lightly and reached over to place her hand on his. She shook her head for a moment, trying to gather some words to comfort him with. She bit her lip and took in a breath, "Remus... You had to take care of Harry at the time. Sirius wanted to fight. He wouldn't put his hands up and surrender... it was his battle by the time you saw him fall. He.... he fought in what he believed in. There was nothing you could do to sway him once he convinced himself to step foot out of the house."
Remus looked up to see her swipe a tear away quickly and looked at the scuffed floor for a minute or two then nodded.
"Tell Harry that and I'm sure it'll bring some peace to the both of you. Then you can invite him to stay with us if he feels safe enough and if Dumbledore gives the okay for it." She smiled a little and removed her hand from his to take a sip of her drink quietly. The thought of being able to stay with her and Harry brought a happy smile to his face through the memory of losing Sirius. He straightened his robes and watched her for a while then offered his hand to her,
"Lets go to the candy store..."
"I haven't been there in ages," she laughed and took his hand, following him out of the Three Broomsticks after paying for the drinks. He waved to Harry who seemed to be on an outing with Cho. Ron was with the exchange student, Emily, trying to impress her with stories of his Quidditch matches.
"Honeydukes. The best candy store in town." Aislynn smiled brightly.
"The only candy store in town..." Remus grinned and opened the door for her. When they entered, the smell of honey and chocolate filled the air. Some Hogwarts students were still there but not many were milling around any longer. He spotted Rhiane eyeing the Chocolate Frogs but Aislynn had beaten him to greeting her.
"I knew we'd find you here! I thought you would have been in the Three Broomsticks by now... have you been here the whole time?"
"Nope. I had to stay behind and grade some parchments. But I made it and now I'm going to stock up." Rhiane never took her eyes off of the chocolates and hesitated in grabbing them. It looked as if she had been to the local book store, Book-Wyrm, all of those books crammed into her favorite bag. Aislynn frowned lightly and glanced to Remus who knew what she was thinking.
"Rhiane... are you all right?" He asked her softly.
"Peachy. Just a bit of light reading, you know... Why do you ask?"
"Well, you tend to dive into books and never come out until you're hungry enough to come and eat. You do this whenever you're depressed," Aislynn exlaimed quietly and glanced into her violet eyes.
"Nonsense. I'm fine. Exuse me, Remus. Thank you... Yes, it's me again. I'd like this, please.. How much? All right. Here you are. And thank you too." She smiled happily and opened a Chocolate Frog box to munch on it as she headed out of the door. Aislynn dragged Remus out the door after her.
"You have to talk about it sometime, Rhiane." Remus broke in after catching his breath.
"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about except perhaps Malfoy and how much of a git he is. His father as well."
Aislynn stepped infront of her and put her hands up to stop her. She stared into Rhiane's eyes and grew even more serious, "Rhiane.. you are my friend. You need to tell friends things that bother you or bring you joy. It's a part of what people are supposed to give and recieve from relationships... Sirius was close to you. You need to talk about it sometime."
"I don't need to talk about it to anyone if I choose not to! And I choose not to, dammit!" Her eyes filled with tears and she walked past Aislynn, sniffling.
Remus made a small movement toward her but Aislynn stopped him from going much further and shook her head. He sighed lightly and watched her go. They spoke quietly for a few more minutes and made their way to Hogwarts. Soon it would be time for the parent-teacher confrences which was a new idea brought in by Cornelius Fudge, mostly to keep an eye on the school as to recent events had reared their ugly head. Aislynn wasn't looking forward to this one bit... however, many of the teachers and parents alike were excited and waiting for the day that they could talk about the students together.
What steamed Aislynn was the fact that full muggle borns would not be allowed to have their parents brought to Hogwarts, half and half were allowed their one gifted parent to come along. Naturally, she fought on the grounds it wasn't fair to those who had muggle parents. Remus tried to calm her down about it but with several women against him, it seemed futile.
"You are single-handedly discriminating against heiratige... Again! This is against the law and unfair, Fudge! Can you imagine how lonesome some of those students are feeling right now? I've spoken to a few and they say they feel about two inches tall.. because of your poor choices!" Aislynn slammed her hands on the desk and tried to keep a civil tongue but with difficulty. Remus watched as Cornelius grew red in the face, needless to say, he wasn't the type of man to grow accostumed to having his ideas challanged.
"I made these choices for the safety of this school," he glanced at Dumbledore wearily.
"Bullspit! You are very aware that there are several Death-Eaters involved with their children who happen to attend Hogwarts. All you're doing is allowing them to case the place! It's even more dangerous then letting them stay at home, Fudge!" Rhiane crossed her arms over her chest and glared.
"Mr. Fudge.." Remus began calmly, "we realize your wish to try and make this school 'safer' as you so put it. However, the consideration of the muggle-borns has not been taken into affect. Also... The point remains that certain clicks would be willingly let into this school to create as much havoc as they like... do you have a plan, perhaps, to settle these matters?"
"I'm sure you can pair the muggle-borns with some wizarding families! And as for the 'havoc' idea.. just put a few spells around the school and everything will be fine. We need this conference for the communities to see for themselves how much progress is being made." He glanced around at the six wizards and witches. "End of story and conversation. The Parent-Teacher Conference will be rolling on. Now that we are done with this freak show, I have to be on my way. Good day." He sneered and put on a hat then stormed out of the office.
Aislynn stared after him and glared then looked to Dumbledore. Remus straightened out his robes and blinked slowly.
He looked at her gravely and sat down carefully, "it seems... that our hands are tied. We will proceed with the conference for the sake of the wishes from the parents."
"You can't be seriously considering this! We're very unprepared if anything should happen, sir.. It's hard to pull up some spells and jinxes in just under a week." Rhiane sputtered and unknitted her eyebrows to glance at Severus who was in a futher corner, listening. Minerva heaved out a great sigh and leaned on her cane lightly. It seemed as though they had given up on the idea of fighting it.
"This is so bogus. I hate this..." Aislynn growled and leaned against the wall.
"Quit sulking, Stellar. All you have to do is talk to a few parents and keep alert." Severus didn't even look up from his patch of floor that he was burning a hole through with his eyes.
"Come, now, Severus... we're all a little upset, we all will just have to suck it up and make the best of it with the little time we have to prepare." Minerva thought deeply for a moment and nodded, taking her leave probably to go curse in private. Rhiane left shortly after her, followed by Severus without a word.
Remus glanced from Dumbledore to Aislynn and sighed. He sat down in a chair behind Dumbledore's desk quietly.
"Why do you have to bend to his whim, Albus...? I don't understand it." An angry Aislynn gave him a hurt look.
"You are an Auror, Aislynn, of all people you should understand the thought behind cooperation. It is in this, I shall be sure to gain trust and keep it, defend it, and use it when needed most." He stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"I may be an Auror but you need to be a little more cautious in a time such as this. What we are about to do is go into the deep end of the salt sea, sharks and gashing wounds. That's a lot of pain, if you know what I mean. There isn't much I can do if you invite the enemy on your territory because of the ancient spells and enchantments you have on Hogwarts."
"All I am asking of you is to do your very best if a problem does occur. Bogus or not..." He gave a half smile and looked to Remus, "if you please, Aislynn... I would like to speak with Remus in private."
"Certainly," she smiled a little and winked at Remus then left to wait for him outside with the gargoyle. She may spit at the idea, but it looked as if they were actually going to go ahead and do it... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~