Disclaimer – I own anything you don't recognize. My friend owns Cambri.
J.K. Rowling owns EVERYTHING else, and more power to 'er.
Author's note – Italics and boldface still not working. Reviews are delightful, as I am not at all convinced that anyone reads these, except my friend and her friends that she's bullied into reading. And as for you, Me Who Else – sure, I suppose Dominic Cole (Dominic Phineas Cole, as he would remind you) would be considered cute if you were into eleven-year- olds. But he's going to be very cute when he's ... oh, say, sixteen.
Chapter Five Late-Night Wanderings
"Silence Not a sound from the pavement Has the moon lost her memory She is smiling alone."
—Andrew Lloyd Webber
That Saturday night, Remus was plagued once again with insomnia. Having nothing to wake up for in the morning, Remus went prowling. So did Ginny Weasley. So did Dominic Cole. And so did a few others.
It was Ginny that Remus ran into first. He saw her standing in a shaft of sickle moonlight, looking rather lost and waifish, the latticework in the window casting shadows over her bright hair. There was no glass in the window, and the cold air was bracing. Far away, he could smell the lake.
"Is that you, Miss Weasley?" he asked kindly, and she leapt about a foot into the air.
"P-professor Lupin," she faltered. "I – I couldn't sleep and –
"I understand perfectly," Remus said mildly. It may have been the moonlight, but Ginny looked washed out, her eyes haunted and mournful. "I get those feelings too. I had them tonight." He paused, then offered her a shy, conspiratorial grin. "I won't tell if you won't."
Ginny smiled tentatively back. "It's Saturday, after all," she murmured. "Thanks for not giving me detention."
"Oh, I've had practice," said Remus, hoping to cheer her up. He came to stand next to her at the window. "Dumbledore made me a prefect in my fifth year, in hope I'd exercise some control over my friends, but – let's say they had very few detentions that year. What's one your mind?"
Ginny smiled at him wanly, still looking troubled. "Professor," she said unsurely, "have they told you what happened last year? With – me, and – the Chamber of Secrets?"
Remus was being confided in again. He could smell it. "No," he said quietly. "I was told very little about the details, and I wasn't aware you were ever involved. Were you Petrified? I thought it was Miss Granger, but –
"It was," Ginny said miserably. "I can't believe no one told you. You- Know-Who was possessing me. I found a journal, and if I wrote to it, he could write back. You-Know – Tom could write back to me, and for a long time I wrote to him every day."
"And you've been remembering that?" Remus asked softly. Yes – this he understood. "You feel like you were tainted by him." Ginny nodded vehemently, looking relieved. All right, thought Remus. My turn to confide a little. "Something similar happened to me once – and Ginny, I'm trusting your discretion on this – keep it a secret, if you would. I would rather not talk about the details, but I'll repeat something a dear friend once told me: Something that happens to you sometimes doesn't affect who you are. Especially if you don't want it."
Ginny looked, if anything, even more miserable and frightened. "But I practically invited him!" she wailed. "I told him everything about me, and about Harry and Ron – what if something happened to Ron? And I felt sorry for him, I thought he must be lonely, and it felt – it felt special, that he talked to me. I always felt sorry for him. I liked him a lot."
Remus felt a stir of compassion. He had no such guilt as this. "Anyone would have done the same, Ginny," he said gently. "You needed a friend. Everyone needs friends. And it's good when someone listens to you." Tell me about it. "You couldn't have known. You were a lot younger – don't look at me like that, you're much wiser after the fact than before – and there was no way for you to know who you were talking to."
"Thanks," said Ginny miserably. She rested her forehead on the bars of the window, just as a heavy cloud drifted across the moon, leaving them in relative darkness. Finally, she spoke again, in a tired, amused voice. "What must you think of me, spilling everything to you after I've barely known you a week."
"I think you're a very brave young woman who's coping with a very big problem," Remus said gently. It was true. As everything had lately, the thought led to Cambri. We talked just like this, the night she took my dream – Cambri had been a brave woman, like Ginny. Unlike Ginny, though, she hadn't even confided her problems in the man she loved – just Remus. Ginny was much more innocent. The redheaded young lady had trusted another near-stranger the previous year, with disastrous results. One of these days her tattered innocence would be torn completely to shreds, and Remus cynically doubted that it would be painless.
As Ginny drew breath to speak again, Remus heard light footsteps in the shadowed dark behind him. He reacted with a reflex protective instinct, pulling Ginny behind a stone column. Squinting in the darkness, Remus could make out nothing – except, maybe, a slight figure, a child's figure. Or were his eyes fooling him?
Suddenly a second figure seemed to leap out of the darkness. Details were invisible, but the voice said it was a woman. "Nicky."
"Just for once, as a special favor, couldn't you say 'hello'?" responded the irritated voice of Dominic. Ginny gasped softly.
"Is someone here?" the woman asked sharply.
A pause. "I don't think so," said Nicky, sounding less sure of himself. "Let's go in the classroom. Then we can be sure."
Two sets of footsteps receded. "It's all right," said Remus to the frightened girl. "It's nothing. I just panicked. Can you find your way back to your dormitory? It all looks different in the dark. I'd hate it if you tripped on the stairs and broke your neck.
"I'll find my way," said Ginny, just as the moon nudged the cloud aside, to shine out again in sickle splendor.
"What were you about to say?" Remus asked.
"Silly of me," said Ginny, not meeting his eyes. "Dominic – you know Dominic Cole – he looks a lot like Tom, but ... it's stupid. Vapors."
"Same as me panicking when some other late-night wanderers came up behind us," Remus said wryly. "Does he really? How odd."
"Very odd," said Ginny, "and he won't stay in a room with me – or any of my brothers."
"Probably coincidence," he told the girl comfortingly. "Surely coincidence. Thank you for the conversation, Miss Weasley. And –"he added, feeling foolish – "thank you for trusting me. You've a good, innocent heart."
She gave him a little smile and walked away up the corridor. The moment she rounded the corner, Remus set off toward the door which had opened and shut a moment before. Drawing near, he stopped and listened, silent and still as a predator learns to be.
"Well," the woman was saying heavily, "I suppose that can't be helped. Still liking your classes, Nicky?"
"Yes," he said. "I like it a great deal. It's too easy, though."
Remus strained for the nuances of the woman's voice, trying to figure out where he'd heard it before, as she said quietly, "It was easy for me, too. But you might make a little effort at making friends."
"Friends come and go," said Nicky.
"Enemies accumulate," his companion pointed out.
Remus could picture the humorless smile on the boy's face. "Very true. An enemy in the right place can be valuable. I'm going to bed. 'Night."
"Good night," said the woman. Remus withdrew behind another convenient stone column as Dominic left the room, walking purposefully in the same direction Ginny had gone. As soon as the boy had turned the corner, Remus entered the classroom he had just vacated.
"Cambri?" Remus said softly into the shadows. "Cambri? Was it you?"
He caught movement from the corner of his eye, and turned – but it was only a low shadow. Doubtless he'd startled a mouse. There were sure to be a few, in a castle this size. He could leave out bait, some full moon, Remus thought with dark and horribly unfunny humor, and simply eat them. Do the house-elves a favor. His human mind wouldn't appreciate the idea, but the wolf side would be pleased. Well pleased.
"Cambri?" he said one last time, then uneasily dismissed it all as a fancy built from washed-out colors, shadowy stone, a girl's confession and the ever-present moon.
Author's note – Italics and boldface still not working. Reviews are delightful, as I am not at all convinced that anyone reads these, except my friend and her friends that she's bullied into reading. And as for you, Me Who Else – sure, I suppose Dominic Cole (Dominic Phineas Cole, as he would remind you) would be considered cute if you were into eleven-year- olds. But he's going to be very cute when he's ... oh, say, sixteen.
Chapter Five Late-Night Wanderings
"Silence Not a sound from the pavement Has the moon lost her memory She is smiling alone."
—Andrew Lloyd Webber
That Saturday night, Remus was plagued once again with insomnia. Having nothing to wake up for in the morning, Remus went prowling. So did Ginny Weasley. So did Dominic Cole. And so did a few others.
It was Ginny that Remus ran into first. He saw her standing in a shaft of sickle moonlight, looking rather lost and waifish, the latticework in the window casting shadows over her bright hair. There was no glass in the window, and the cold air was bracing. Far away, he could smell the lake.
"Is that you, Miss Weasley?" he asked kindly, and she leapt about a foot into the air.
"P-professor Lupin," she faltered. "I – I couldn't sleep and –
"I understand perfectly," Remus said mildly. It may have been the moonlight, but Ginny looked washed out, her eyes haunted and mournful. "I get those feelings too. I had them tonight." He paused, then offered her a shy, conspiratorial grin. "I won't tell if you won't."
Ginny smiled tentatively back. "It's Saturday, after all," she murmured. "Thanks for not giving me detention."
"Oh, I've had practice," said Remus, hoping to cheer her up. He came to stand next to her at the window. "Dumbledore made me a prefect in my fifth year, in hope I'd exercise some control over my friends, but – let's say they had very few detentions that year. What's one your mind?"
Ginny smiled at him wanly, still looking troubled. "Professor," she said unsurely, "have they told you what happened last year? With – me, and – the Chamber of Secrets?"
Remus was being confided in again. He could smell it. "No," he said quietly. "I was told very little about the details, and I wasn't aware you were ever involved. Were you Petrified? I thought it was Miss Granger, but –
"It was," Ginny said miserably. "I can't believe no one told you. You- Know-Who was possessing me. I found a journal, and if I wrote to it, he could write back. You-Know – Tom could write back to me, and for a long time I wrote to him every day."
"And you've been remembering that?" Remus asked softly. Yes – this he understood. "You feel like you were tainted by him." Ginny nodded vehemently, looking relieved. All right, thought Remus. My turn to confide a little. "Something similar happened to me once – and Ginny, I'm trusting your discretion on this – keep it a secret, if you would. I would rather not talk about the details, but I'll repeat something a dear friend once told me: Something that happens to you sometimes doesn't affect who you are. Especially if you don't want it."
Ginny looked, if anything, even more miserable and frightened. "But I practically invited him!" she wailed. "I told him everything about me, and about Harry and Ron – what if something happened to Ron? And I felt sorry for him, I thought he must be lonely, and it felt – it felt special, that he talked to me. I always felt sorry for him. I liked him a lot."
Remus felt a stir of compassion. He had no such guilt as this. "Anyone would have done the same, Ginny," he said gently. "You needed a friend. Everyone needs friends. And it's good when someone listens to you." Tell me about it. "You couldn't have known. You were a lot younger – don't look at me like that, you're much wiser after the fact than before – and there was no way for you to know who you were talking to."
"Thanks," said Ginny miserably. She rested her forehead on the bars of the window, just as a heavy cloud drifted across the moon, leaving them in relative darkness. Finally, she spoke again, in a tired, amused voice. "What must you think of me, spilling everything to you after I've barely known you a week."
"I think you're a very brave young woman who's coping with a very big problem," Remus said gently. It was true. As everything had lately, the thought led to Cambri. We talked just like this, the night she took my dream – Cambri had been a brave woman, like Ginny. Unlike Ginny, though, she hadn't even confided her problems in the man she loved – just Remus. Ginny was much more innocent. The redheaded young lady had trusted another near-stranger the previous year, with disastrous results. One of these days her tattered innocence would be torn completely to shreds, and Remus cynically doubted that it would be painless.
As Ginny drew breath to speak again, Remus heard light footsteps in the shadowed dark behind him. He reacted with a reflex protective instinct, pulling Ginny behind a stone column. Squinting in the darkness, Remus could make out nothing – except, maybe, a slight figure, a child's figure. Or were his eyes fooling him?
Suddenly a second figure seemed to leap out of the darkness. Details were invisible, but the voice said it was a woman. "Nicky."
"Just for once, as a special favor, couldn't you say 'hello'?" responded the irritated voice of Dominic. Ginny gasped softly.
"Is someone here?" the woman asked sharply.
A pause. "I don't think so," said Nicky, sounding less sure of himself. "Let's go in the classroom. Then we can be sure."
Two sets of footsteps receded. "It's all right," said Remus to the frightened girl. "It's nothing. I just panicked. Can you find your way back to your dormitory? It all looks different in the dark. I'd hate it if you tripped on the stairs and broke your neck.
"I'll find my way," said Ginny, just as the moon nudged the cloud aside, to shine out again in sickle splendor.
"What were you about to say?" Remus asked.
"Silly of me," said Ginny, not meeting his eyes. "Dominic – you know Dominic Cole – he looks a lot like Tom, but ... it's stupid. Vapors."
"Same as me panicking when some other late-night wanderers came up behind us," Remus said wryly. "Does he really? How odd."
"Very odd," said Ginny, "and he won't stay in a room with me – or any of my brothers."
"Probably coincidence," he told the girl comfortingly. "Surely coincidence. Thank you for the conversation, Miss Weasley. And –"he added, feeling foolish – "thank you for trusting me. You've a good, innocent heart."
She gave him a little smile and walked away up the corridor. The moment she rounded the corner, Remus set off toward the door which had opened and shut a moment before. Drawing near, he stopped and listened, silent and still as a predator learns to be.
"Well," the woman was saying heavily, "I suppose that can't be helped. Still liking your classes, Nicky?"
"Yes," he said. "I like it a great deal. It's too easy, though."
Remus strained for the nuances of the woman's voice, trying to figure out where he'd heard it before, as she said quietly, "It was easy for me, too. But you might make a little effort at making friends."
"Friends come and go," said Nicky.
"Enemies accumulate," his companion pointed out.
Remus could picture the humorless smile on the boy's face. "Very true. An enemy in the right place can be valuable. I'm going to bed. 'Night."
"Good night," said the woman. Remus withdrew behind another convenient stone column as Dominic left the room, walking purposefully in the same direction Ginny had gone. As soon as the boy had turned the corner, Remus entered the classroom he had just vacated.
"Cambri?" Remus said softly into the shadows. "Cambri? Was it you?"
He caught movement from the corner of his eye, and turned – but it was only a low shadow. Doubtless he'd startled a mouse. There were sure to be a few, in a castle this size. He could leave out bait, some full moon, Remus thought with dark and horribly unfunny humor, and simply eat them. Do the house-elves a favor. His human mind wouldn't appreciate the idea, but the wolf side would be pleased. Well pleased.
"Cambri?" he said one last time, then uneasily dismissed it all as a fancy built from washed-out colors, shadowy stone, a girl's confession and the ever-present moon.