CHAPTER FOUR: An Outing to Hogsmead

Erin stepped through the SOUP ward for what she felt was like the

one millionth time that day. She smiled when she saw Lupin up and walking

around. He smiled back and sat down on the edge of his bed. Erin pulled up

a chair and began to flip through the massive amounts of papers on her

clipboard. Lupin watched thoughtfully.

'You should be thankful, Lupin,' Erin told him, pulling a thin

packet of papers off the board. 'I had to visit Healer Avatt so many times

today he practically warded his office off to me.' She uncapped her pen and

handed it to him. 'Sign here,' she directed, pointing to a line on the

paper. Lupin signed in perfect, graceful letters. 'Alright, now I have to

sign a load of other places,' said Erin, taking the pen back and sloppily

scribbling her name down on the page.

'You really could work on your penmanship, you know,' Lupin

remarked as the pen was handed back to him. He wrote his name extra

carefully this time, as if to prove his point. Erin sighed and snatched the

pen back from him when he was done.

'Ah, one more thing to worry about on a beautiful day,' laughed

she, scribbling her name down again, extra messily. She examined the packet

again, and then clipped it back onto the board. 'That's it for signatures.

Actually,' she added, 'that's it. Done.' She stood up and pushed her chair

back against the wall. Lupin followed, grabbing a cane that had been hidden

next to him and heaving himself up with it.

'So I'm out of here?' asked he, uncertainly. Erin laughed.

'Yeah, after a month and a half? You'll have to reintroduce

yourself into the real world, you know, since you've been so out of touch

for such a long time.' Lupin smiled. 'See you later, then,' said Erin.

'Yes, I guess I'm through with this place, for the time being,'

added Lupin. 'I'll be back, I'm sure.'

'Well, try to stay away for a little bit,' Erin cautioned. 'I'm

not so sure that Avatt is pleased about reading a report about you every

week. He must know you just as well as your own mother does.'

'Did,' Lupin corrected without the slightest sign of remorse.

'Anyway, it's not my fault that he didn't like to read them. You're the one

who filled them with sarcastic and utterly boring phrases like: Œtoday he

slept for four hours and woke wanting more chocolate.' Well.' Erin held up

her hand for peace.

'You didn't offer any help, now did you?' Lupin was about to

respond, but Erin continued. 'Anyway, you've got to get back to your life.

I'll see you when I do.'

'Good bye, then, Miss Langhart.' Lupin walked clumsily out of

the ward. With a sigh, Erin waited before following him. I can tell he's

going to be one of those patients I'm going to miss.

Erin walked through the main hall that led from the permanent

ward to her office on the ground floor. She had a lunch break in twenty

minutes, giving her just enough time to write up a report on one of her

newer patients in the memory loss ward. This new patient was interesting.

Imagine being hit with a memory charm so many times you think you're an

eggplant. Erin sighed and wound her way through the patients seeking help

on the Creature Induced Injuries floor, also known as the first. Motley

lot, these, giggled Erin, knowing she should restrain herself. After all,

it had only been two weeks since she had left this floor. A teen, possibly

sixteen or seventeen, looked at her with frightened, bloodshot eyes. His

left shoulder had been bandaged and his face had several premature scratches

across it. Erin winced as she passed him. I know a new werewolf when I see

one, she shuddered. I'll be seeing him soon.

As she hopped off the last step of the stairs that led her

almost directly from her office to the first floor, she noticed Head Healer

Gregory talking to Jensen in front of the hall that was the direct passage

to her office. Well talking puts it lightly, she thought as seriously as

she heard Gregory's voice raise to a roar. I'll just mosey along this way,

she decided and took the less direct route through the packed lobby. Serves

old Jensen right, she thought viciously. I'd sooner trust a tribe of my old

Queen grindylows with my life than see that man trusted with my wardrobe.

The lobby was packed with wizards and witches, mostly with foul

dispositions, seeking help from the harassed welcome witch. Linda's having

one hell of a day already, Erin laughed and gave her friend a wave. Linda

answered it quickly, and then hurried to help a wizard that was in the

process of turning into a tree. Smiling, Erin dodged through the patients

and moved closer to the far less crowed hallway to her office.

'Hello, Miss Langhart,' said a familiar voice from behind her.

Erin spun around to see Lupin looking tired, but pleased with himself.

'Hey,' Erin greeted, moving out of the way of a witch who was

shooting flames out of her mouth. 'Whatcha doing here?' Lupin shrugged.

'I've got to pick up another dose of your wolfsbane potion,

actually.' He looked slightly uncomfortable at the question, but managed to

smile politely back.

'I see. It's working for you then?' Great, small talk, my

favorite. Lupin seemed to enjoy her response almost as much as he had

enjoyed her first question.

'Yes, much more so than any other that I've taken.' He viewed

the other patients, clearly bored. Erin giggled as she spotted a woman with

an inflated blowfish jammed up her nose appear in the lobby. 'What?'

'N...nothing,' Erin stuttered, positive Lupin wouldn't approve

of her amusement. 'Say, I've got to finish writing this report, but I've

lunch in twenty minutes. Want to join me?' Lupin was surprised as the

offer. 'I mean,' Erin continued, quickly, 'the lines up on the third floor

office are unbelievably long. You'll be up there a good fifteen minutes, if

you're lucky.' Lupin raised his eyebrows incredulously. 'Serious,' said

Erin at the look on his face. 'So what'd you say?'

'Sure,' Lupin submitted. 'Sounds fun. I'll just mosey on up to

the third floor and meet you at your office when I'm done?' Erin nodded.

'Great. I'll be off then.' With a sharp inclination of his head, Lupin

strode to the huge staircase that Erin had just descended, his cane clicking

with every other step he took. Erin watched him for a few seconds longer and

then made her way to her office.

Alright, Erin thought, pulling a pen out of one of her desk's

drawers and sitting down to write. Let's see. She uncapped the pen and

began to write. Report # 57›Concerning the Mental Capacities of Mr. Vincent

Riggley. Erin giggled. Probably shouldn't add he insists he's from the

genus and species of eggplant. She considered this for a few moments. Well,

maybe I should. After all, that's key in his whole situation. Erin brushed

a strand of hair out of her face and continued. Vincent Riggley, admitted

into St. Mungo's at three forty in the afternoon on February the eighth of

this year, was impaired both mentally and physically by the ŒOblivion'

memory charm. After several studies, and two weeks of constant

surveillance, it is still unclear if we may be able to lift the memory charm

itself or, indeed, ever restore Mr. Riggley to his prior mental state.

Let it also be known that Mr. Riggley now considers himself part

of the...Erin stopped and flipped through a thick Herbology book that lay on

her stacked on her desk. Eggplant, where's eggplant? Eventually, she found

the Latin name, which everyone at the hospital preferred, and continued.

Solanum melongena species and prefers to be addressed as ŒFruit'. He

believes that he requires massive amounts of water to Œgrow', and also

complains of the insufficient amounts of sunlight that he needs to complete

his photosynthesis process. He neither needs to Œgrow' nor does he use

photosynthesis to produce his energy. This he gets by consuming about three

to four bars of chocolate a day. He also misses his home where, until

recently, was located near Devonshire. Apparently, it has been relocated to

a floodplain off the Yellow River in China.

I am not positive why he has gained this extraordinary knowledge

about the eggplant. Each of my hypothesizes are based on pure guesswork and

I can fairly safely assume that there will be no hard evidence about the

causes. The most likely reason, and the one that I am most comfortable in

supporting, would be the Reverse Oblivion Spiral Effect, otherwise known as

ROSE. I believe whomever cursed Mr. Riggley knew a great deal about

eggplants. My guess is that instead of clearing Mr. Riggley's memory, his

attacker transferred some of his own memory into Mr. Riggley's mind. When

Mr. Riggley was aroused, all he could remember, or even think of, were

eggplants, so he assumed that's what he was. There was a quiet tapping on

Erin's door. 'Come in,' she called, and focused back on her paper. To read

other reports on patients suffering from the ROSE syndrome, see...Erin

searched the stack of books on her desk once more and glanced up at Lupin,

who was shutting the door. Curses And Their Profound, Exciting Effects, by

Walter Grimy. Lupin sat in a chair opposite her as she capped her pen. He

stared at the teetering pile of books.

'Your desk has become increasingly more disorganized since I was

last here,' noticed he. Erin shrugged and stuffed her report in an official

looking envelope. 'Which unlucky person are you treating now?' asked Lupin

with a grin.

'Mr. Vincent Riggley,' answered Erin, reading the envelope as

she sealed it. 'He has the most interesting case of memory loss that I've

ever encountered.'

'Steve?' asked Lupin, amazed. Erin looked up at him dubiously.

'You know him?' Lupin shrugged. 'Well, his middle name does

start with an Œs'.' Erin tossed the sealed envelope down on her desk and

picked her cloak off her chair. 'He is now referred to as Fruit,' said she,

impersonally.

'Fruit? Why?' Erin struggled into her cloak before she

answered. Lupin stood up with the aid of his cane as she grappled with the

coat, apparently undecided about whether or not he should help her.

'Because,' said Erin, at last, 'he was hit with the Oblivion

charm. It's a long story. He was hit with the Oblivion charm, it backfired

and created a kind of bond I guess you could say between him and his

attacker. Rather like what happened with What's-His-Face and Harry Potter.'

'That's not funny.'

'Sure it is.' She led Lupin out her office door and locked it, grinning at

the displeased look on his face. Head Healer Gregory Avatt appeared from out

his office door and greeted her.

'Hello, Miss Langhart,' said he, shaking her hand warmly and

peering up at the much taller Lupin. 'Who is he?' The Head Healer looked

over Lupin's cane with inquisitive eyes.

'Oh, Lupin?' asked Erin, motioning him to come forwards. He did

so, rather reluctantly and stood quietly by her side. 'He's a friend of

mine; we were just about to pop out for lunch.'

'I see,' bowing his head in recognition. 'Well, do enjoy

yourselves. I'm off to lunch myself.' With a courteous smile, he walked

briskly away.

'You didn't mention that I was a patient here for over a month,'

Lupin noted when the Head Healer was gone.

'Yeah, I know. Why should I have?' Erin stared up into his

curious face. He shrugged. He seems to do a lot of shrugging. 'No, you

could have told him if you'd deemed it necessary.' Lupin nodded and looked

around. Body language seems key with this one. 'So, where should we go?'

'Umm...have you been to the Leaky Cauldron?' asked Lupin.

'Once,' said Erin, scratching her chin, 'but it was for some

meeting with the Minister of Magic, and I wasn't too keen on the whole

situation. Tom was adequately creepy.' Lupin laughed at the description.

'You want to go there?'

'Or,' Lupin continued with a bright smile, 'we could go to the

Hogshead, down in Hogsmead.'

'Hogsmead?' asked Erin, uncertainly. 'Linda was telling me

about that place. It's the only non-Muggle community in Britain, right?'

Lupin nodded.

'Well, it's not strictly wizard, either,' he added, suppressing

a smile.

'Alright, let's go there!' said Erin enthusiastically, pulling

her wand out of her pocket. Lupin eyed it skeptically.

'Would it be a better idea if we just took a portal?' asked he,

staring down the wand darkly. 'I mean, wasn't it just the last time I was

here you were complaining about it was so unreliable you couldn't even

summon your quill without setting something on fire?' Erin smirked

wickedly.

'Relax,' ordered she. 'I stopped using quills a long time ago.

They're more work than what I want. No, I've got to hand it to the Muggles;

they've got these awesome pen things that are just great. You only have to

buy ink for them every so often, but I get it in these...' Lupin's eyes

wandered off across the hall. 'Anyway, I've arrived successfully at work six

days in a row now without anything happening, or having to take that nasty

form of Muggle transportation. What do you call it? Taxis? I think the

stars are finally fixing themselves.' Lupin pursed his lips, as though he

thought that her wand could use large amounts of correctional therapy, and

took out his own wand. With a wave, he disapparated and in a second, Erin

followed. She landed next to him with a grin on her face. 'Told you it

would work.'

'Welcome, Miss Langhart,' said Lupin, not paying any attention

to her last comment, 'to Hogsmead.' Erin inspected the grounds around her

and grinned in pure delight as light snowflakes brushed past her face.

Wizards dressed in classic robes wound their way in and out of

the rush of traffic, stopping here and there to peer through the windows at

different items. Occasionally they would warm their hands in their mufflers

while peering into brightly-lit windows, each as ornate and strange as the

next. Hordes of rosy-cheeked, blacked robed students, spattered with snow,

crowded in and around certain stores, and left others completely untouched.

Erin smiled to see a group of students leave, what appeared to be a candy

store, loaded down with all sorts of colorfully wrapped sweets.

'That's exactly what I'd be doing, were I that age,' she told

Lupin, pointing the group out and rubbing her hands together.

'You're not all that far off from that time,' said he,

sniggering and looking down upon her height as he leaned on his walking

stick. His hair was dusted with white powder; the melted water ran down his

forehead and nose. Erin drew herself up to her very tallest, at least a

good nine or ten centimeters smaller than he, before she answered.

'Very funny. In fact, I'm quite a bit older than them; a good

decade, probably.' Erin gave him a hard stare, but his smile didn't

disappear. She shivered in the cold. 'Why are there so many students?'

asked she, abandoning her attempts to sober him.

'The legendary English school, Hogwarts, lies just around that

bend,' remarked Lupin, pointing to a rolling hill covered with thick firs

donning plump marshmallow caps. Erin glanced that way, then back at another

small group of students that seemed to have spotted them.

'Weird,' said Erin. 'This whole place seems obsessed with

boars. Makes no sense at all to me.' The students were now pointing at

them and walking faster. 'Um, do you recognize any of them?' asked she,

nodding in the direction of the approaching students. Lupin gazed to where

Erin had indicated and smiled.

'Yes,' he laughed. 'I never dreamed we would seem them, though.

They're quite good friends of mine, actually,' he remarked when Erin snorted

in skepticism. The three students approached them.

'Hello, professor,' said a tall boy with would be bright red

hair, darkened with the melted snow. Erin looked up at Lupin with an

inquiring glance. What's the boy doing calling him a professor? She

wondered. 'What are you doing here?' He seemed to have overlooked Erin,

which was quite a feat, as she was taller than both his comrades were and

nearing his height. His friends, a thin dark haired boy and a friendly

looking girl, seemed to have noticed Erin, however. They stared at her

suspiciously.

'Not much,' said Lupin, smiling down at all of them. Good thing

he didn't miss Lupin, or I'd be worried, giggled Erin, watching her tall

friend in admiration. I always wished I was over six foot, but five ten

isn't far off. 'Erin and I were just stopping out for lunch.' The red

haired boy caught sight of Erin and nodded in greeting. Then the girl began

to speak.

'What do you do?' asked she, politely, drawing her cloak around

her. Erin considered this for a second, debating if it was a good idea to

mention her newest patient, Fruit. She thought better of it.

'I'm a healer at St. Mungo's,' answered she, laughing inwardly

to see their reactions to her Australian accent.

'Oh.' The girl appeared interested.

'What part of Australia do you come from?' the red haired boy blurted out.

The girl gave him an appraising look, along with a sharp nudge in the ribs.

'Ron, don't be rude,' she whispered. Ron's ears turned pink.

'I come from around the Bay area,' answered Erin. Hermione opened her mouth

to speak, but Lupin cut her off from any more questions.

'Hermione, we'd be glad to stay and chat, but Erin's got a

schedule she must attend to. Not to mention it's fiercely cold out here.'

The girl nodded and waved as she and her friends turned to leave. 'Oh,

Harry, Ron?' called Lupin after them. The two boys turned back around,

almost hidden in the strengthening snow. 'Good luck on making the Quidditch

House Cup,' said Lupin. They smiled in thanks, or so Erin thought they did,

and walked away.

'Quidditch?' asked Erin, interested. 'Do they play here?'

'Oh, yes,' answered Lupin, ushering her slowly down the streets

clogged with snow and shoppers. 'Harry is the Gryffindor Seeker and Ron is

the Keeper. Harry's been playing since his first year.' Lupin opened the

door to the Hogshead for her and proceeded to follow. He found an empty

booth in the back of the bar and helped Erin out of her sodden cloak then

took off his own. A waiter hurried over with two menus as Erin spelled both

their cloaks dry. Lupin smiled in gratitude and thanked the waiter as they

sat down. Quickly, Erin and Lupin scanned them briefly and then both

settled for a dish of fish and chips each. Erin watched their waiter

deliver their orders to a heavily colored witch serving a troll.

'Odd sort of place, this,' she told Lupin, who was also watching

the variety of customers. 'Jolly interesting, but just a touch off.'

'Yes,' agreed he. 'Frankly, I find some of the customers a

tad...disconcerting, but normally they keep a fairly tame house.' Erin

glanced back at him, worried. He was smiling and he watched a small pack of

goblins enter. 'Once in a while a goblin comes in to find someone that owes

him a score of money, but that's rare.' Erin watched the goblins carefully.

They seemed docile enough. 'That Madame Rosmerta,' he continued with a sigh

that Erin thought was almost wistful, 'she's something else. In my year at

Hogwarts...' He trailed off and Erin grinned wolfishly.

'Does the great werewolf have a crush on the bartender?' asked

she, trying desperately to keep a straight face. Lupin shot her a murderous

glare and then shook his head with an appreciative grin.

'No,' laughed he crookedly. 'No, I don't, but I know quite a

few men who do...and did.' His face loosened for a moment and then resumed

its playful smile. Erin looked away from his jovial face; embarrassed she

had even asked the question. He noticed. 'What?' asked he, smile never

leaving his eyes. 'Are you wondering who I like?' Erin rolled her eyes

snorted.

'Why did that boy back there call you a professor?' asked she,

changing the topic to a much safer one and refocusing her attention to

Lupin. He chuckled.

'Ron? I taught at Hogwarts, remember? I must have told you

that before.' Erin crinkled her brow in confusion. 'I was the Defense

Against the Dark Arts teacher,' explained he. 'Remember the grindylows and

hinkypunks?'

'Ahh, that's right,' remembered Erin. 'So what about the

Quidditch? They play a lot here, I'm guessing?'

'Yes, a fair amount. Why are you so keen on it?' Erin looked

away from Lupin's searching eyes.

'I used to play,' whispered she, not wanting to draw attention

to the fact, nor relive the moment when she was banned from playing

Quidditch in the Southern Hemisphere ever again.

'Did you now? As a hobby or professionally?' Lupin glowed with

enthusiasm. Erin sighed and continued.

'Well, I played for my House team, éthing, until the end of my

third year, and then got a place on my school team when I was fourteen,' she

explained, leaning forward onto the table, decreasing the distance between

them so she could lower her voice even further. 'Then, when I was eighteen

and a half, I was offered a position as the Australian Beater, playing

sidelong Alan Knars and my old school mate Gene Davids. Not to mention Ode

Harrow.' Lupin smiled. 'Yeah, so I played for a good six years on the team

before I gave it up and became an experimental wolfsbane specialist.' She

hoped that was the end of the conversation but, quite obviously, it wasn't.

'I never knew that about you,' remarked Lupin quietly. 'Six

years is an awfully long time to play for one team alone.' Damn right it

is, and I'm proud of it. Just look at Ode Harrow, he's played for Australia

for ten years!

'Yeah, well it was too short in whole,' answered Erin, keeping

her thoughts to herself. 'Much too short. Gene and I got to know Ode

fairly well, so he kept us around; the owner wasn't about to trade Ode, and

he knew it.'

'I've never seen him play,' admitted Lupin, watching Erin

carefully. 'Is he as good as everyone claims he is?' Erin laughed, not at

his ignorance but at those-who-told-him-about-Ode's ability. Clearly his

talents had never been accurately described to Lupin.

'He's unbeatable,' whispered she, remembering the late night

practices she spent marveling at Ode's agility and speed. 'I would give a

whole lot to be as good as he.' She smiled in reminiscence and looked back

up at Lupin. 'He's unbelievable to watch. I'm actually glad that I was a

member of the team and didn't have to watch. He pulls some of the most

nerve-racking moves,' specified Erin, at Lupin's confused look. 'Sometimes

he pretends he's a Chaser, and other times he decides he's the Seeker. He's

never been a Beater, but he has caught the Snitch once.' Lupin was

impressed. 'His dives are perfectly accurate, and vertical, and every

movement he makes looks like he's dancing.' Erin giggled then at a sudden

image that popped into her head. 'Just looks like he's dancing.'

'Of course,' Lupin agreed, also smiling.

'His favorite hobby is amusing the crowds,' noted Erin. 'He

tries to see how many flips and dives he can work into one period. If he

doesn't get more than six he considers his time wasted. You should see his

pre-game book.'

'A period?' Lupin asked, bewildered. Erin grinned, realizing she

had unconsciously slipped back into her old Quidditch lingo.

'Around fifty five minutes or so. They vary depending on the

ref, the country, and the hemisphere. The southern periods are a bit

shorter than these up here. No one really pays much attention to periods,

except the players and the coaches. The longest game I ever played in,'

said she, changing the focus of the conversation, 'was versus Iceland at the

World Cup games in Quebec. That game lasted us thirty-two periods in total,

before Gene caught the Snitch. We had to bring on the reserve players to

play the night shift.' Erin laughed. 'Bloody vicious, and bloody cold,

game that turned out to be. It was December in Australia, so we were all set

to play in the summer. Nasty shock when it turned out to be snowing. On

the twenty-ninth period I was fouled three times and given a red tag.

Couldn't tell if Alan was more mad at the refs or at me. Ah, well.' Lupin

laughed.

'You sound like you were quite the player,' said he. 'I would

have like to see you play.' Erin leaned off the table to let their waiter

serve them two huge plates of deep fried fish.

'I'm still a good player,' said Erin defensively, unwrapping her

silverware. Lupin shrugged and began to eat his own food.

'Why'd you give up Quidditch if you had a World Cup under your

belt?' asked he, remembering reading about Australia's victory over Iceland

in the Daily Prophet.

'Not only did I have one World Cup, but three,' said Erin

smugly, poking her fish slabs with her fork. 'Iceland was the end of our

winning streak. We won over Iceland, Puerto Rico, and Germany in World

Cups, but we won the Southern Hemisphere Conference five times out of the

six years I was on the team. Poor Congo, we had to beat them twice.' Erin

drifted off, remembering all the games. 'I'm quite depressed that Bulgaria

ousted us from the World Cup two years back; we'd have beaten the Irish in a

heartbeat.'

'Why'd you give it up?' asked Lupin, again.

'I...well, I...' Erin stopped and started three times, unsure if

she wanted to disclose information about a subject she was rather touchy

about. She didn't feel quite alright with lying to her friend either. For

a few minutes she picked at her food soundlessly, debating, but was

interrupted when a deep, rich voice called out in surprise. 'Remus! What

ever are yeh doin' here?' Erin watched with a mixture of fascination and

pure terror as a man the size of a humpback yearling, but seeming in

appearance to be more of a bear, pushed his way through the thick crowds and

over to their table. His hair was almost white with snow, his coat covered,

and what Erin could see of his face was red with cold. Erin glanced outside

and was amazed to find that she couldn't see past the home blown glass

windows.

'Hagrid,' smiled Lupin, and slipped his napkin out of his lap.

'He's a professor and ground warden at Hogwarts,' explained he to Erin and

then stood up to greet the much larger man. I bloody hell wouldn't want to

be as tall as this Hagrid, thought Erin. Couldn't ride a broom farther than

a league without falling of. 'How's everything at the school?' Hagrid shook

Lupin's offered hand enthusiastically; snow fell off his massive shoulders

and onto the floor.

'Oh, greah, jus' fine.' Erin followed their conversation

carefully, uneasy about this huge man. 'I jus' introduced hinkypunks ta me

secon' years. They're righ' an' terrified o' the little buggers. Strange

thing, tha'. I know if I were a hinkypunk I'd ah be more afraid o' the

secon' years.' You're anything but a hinkypunk. 'Anyway, got tipped off by

Ron, Hermione, and Harry that ye were down here. How's stuff going...'

Hagrid caught a glimpse of Erin out of his thick, black hair and stopped

himself. 'At...at You-Know-Where?' Lupin looked as though he could have

quite happily jinxed Hagrid, and turned to give a severe look to Erin. She

got the message plain and loud: Don't dare ask him, or me, where that is.

'Oh, everything is perfectly normal,' said he, closing the topic

to conversation. 'What are you doing here?'

'Ah.' For a second, Hagrid looked confused. 'Well, I was goin'

ta mail,' he waved an especially large envelope around, 'this ta...ta

You-Know-Where.' Lupin looked incensed that Hagrid had been able to weasel

You-Know-Where back into the conversation.

'I see,' said he, coolly and sank back into the booth's seat.

'Well, I won't keep you then.'

'Nah, ye won't,' Hagrid agreed. 'Good day ta ye all then.' He

nodded to Erin and wandered towards the door. Lupin was shooting dark looks

at everyone who bothered to look his way. Erin seemed to collect the

majority. Surprised by this sudden change in attitude, Erin quietly

finished her fish, not even daring to do as much as speak to Lupin.

'I'm really sorry about all this,' apologized Lupin when she had

taken her last bite. Erin guessed he had finished several minutes before by

the look on his face. 'I did not mean to let Hagrid's comments get to me

like that.' He smiled awkwardly. 'What were you saying before he arrived?'

'Umm....' Erin tried her best to give a convincing appearance of

confusion. 'Dunno.' Lupin squinted, also concentrating.

'I think,' he began, 'you were telling me why you left the

Australian International Team.' Darn. He's good. 'I can't be too sure.'

I thought I had him there. Ah, what's the big deal, said another voice in

her head. It's not like he'll laugh at you or something like that. You'll

be fine, just tell him. He wants to know. You can trust him! Cannot!

Argued the first voice. He won't tell you where you-know-were is; how can

you trust him if he doesn't trust you? Erin thought this voice had a point,

but the second voice chose not to respond. You'll trust him in time, it

said instead. Don't you want to?

'Miss Langhart?' asked Lupin quizzically. Lupin was gazing at

her in a worried fashion that bothered her. 'Are you alright?'

'Yeah,' said Erin, obstinately not looking his direction.

'Yeah, fine. I just need a bit of fresh air.' Lupin raised his eyebrows

slightly, glanced out the windows at the blizzard, and shrugged.

'Of course,' agreed Lupin, helping her out of her chair. I'm

fine, thought Erin defiantly. I'm not any business of yours to take care

of! She glanced up into Lupin's eyes, angry and irked, but was surprised to

find the worried look on his face absent. The look that was now present on

his face made her forget all the suspicions she had towards him. For a

moment, they both seemed captured by one another's gaze. Then, in a

fleeting second, it was all gone. Lupin held her coat out for her. Timidly,

she eased into it, his hands lingered on her shoulders and then dropped to

his side. Erin itched her nose, curiosity welling inside of her. Lupin dug

in his pockets for the correct change.

'Allow me,' said Erin, stopping his hand with her own. 'My

treat.' Lupin looked as though he was going to refuse. Erin held up her

hand for silence and produced eight Galleons on the spot. They chinked onto

the table. 'It's settled; you're not paying.' With a grin that Lupin did

not answer, she walked away from their booth with Lupin in tow.

'You didn't need to do that!' he hissed when they were both

outside taking refuge from the storm under the Hogshead awning. 'I'm

perfectly conscious about my money, otherwise I wouldn't have accepted your

offer to join you! I'm fine!' Erin turned around to face him, perplexed.

His own cloak's collar was pulled up around his neck and one hand was

stuffed violently into the borderline threadbare pockets, the other gripped

his cane tightly.

'I had no idea that money was an issue for you, Remus,' said

she, truthfully and somewhat surprised. He stopped short, midway through

his next sentence and grumbled through the rest. 'Honest truth be told, I

thought I would pay for the meals since I offered. If it's really that much

of a problem, then you can pay in the future!' She wasn't mad, but she

could see that she had surprised Lupin as well. A slight wind was picking

up, throwing bushels of cold snow at them.

'No, it's no problem,' whispered he, staring straight into the snow and

briefly taking a hand out of his pocket to fix his damp hair. 'What was it

you were going to tell me?' Erin sighed at his persistence.

'Let's walk,' she offered, looking up a barely visible lane that

led into the densely wooded mountains. 'What do you say?' Lupin stared

incredulously at her with worried eyes. Erin rolled her eyes and snorted in

impatience. Without looking back to see if Lupin was indeed following her,

Erin took off down the path.

'Are you sure you're alright?' asked Lupin when he caught up

with her sometime later beneath the dark green firs. Snow drizzled down

from the sky where the thick branches failed to meet. She laughed but

didn't turn to face him.

'I'm fine.' Lupin walked up behind her.

'Why, then, are you like this?' Erin jumped round at the

closeness of his voice and was caught by his piercing eyes. Again, like at

the restaurant, they held her gaze tightly. 'Are you avoiding that

question?'

'No...' replied Erin, voice dripping with sarcasm, and wrenched

her eyes from his grasp. Lupin continued to watch her, confused and cold.

Erin was ashamed to have answered so. After all, his intentions were merely

polite, correct? Damnit, if he was being half polite he would have given up

this question back in the bar, a suspicious thought nagged in the back of

her mind. No one can help being curious, said a far more reasonable one.

It's not every day that a Beater almost kills someone. Erin sighed inwardly

at that remark. I didn't almost kill Narthing! She thought shamelessly. I

know, said the first voice. But you can't trust him. He's bad news; all

werewolves are! Erin looked around, embarrassed and horrified that that

thought had dare enter her mind. You dare talk about werewolves that way

again! She thought, beating the repulsive thought into a fine pulp. You

just try! You wait I will, said the voice with an added sneer. We'll see

that I won't wait! Erin cried in her mind. She glanced over at Lupin, who

was patiently waiting her response atop a thickly snowed upon boulder. He

seemed to have spelled it so the snow wouldn't soak into his clothes.

'I don't like to repeat why...' she began, ducking under a tall

tree.

'Well, then don't,' said he, reasonably. Just like that voice

in my head.

'No,' Erin continued, 'you're obviously curious and I've still

another forty minutes before I'm on call again at Mungo's. A story to pass

the time, right?' Lupin looked unsure.

'I don't know if that's such a great idea,' he told her. 'After

all, it's just a Quidditch match, right? Leave it, if you want to.' Erin

knew this was his polite way of asking her to not tell. But I don't want to

leave it. 'And...it sure is cold out!' He rubbed his arms. Erin rolled her

eyes and took out her wand. Quickly, before Lupin could utter so much as a

sound, she placed a warming charm around them. The look of relief on his

face was comical. 'Never use your wand on me again,' requested he with a

shiver.

'Why'd you leave your job at Hogwarts?' asked Erin, joining him

against the boulder. He grunted. Nice answer, mate. That took real talent

to come up with one as good as that. For a few moments they sat in utter

silence, listening to the wind howl through the trees, encompassing every

bough in cold snow. A sharp, haunting scream pierced the air. Erin's

instinctive reaction was to curse the first thing that moved. Thankfully,

Lupin stopped her hand from even reaching her pocket.

'A Golden Eagle!' whispered he, pushing himself off the boulder

and watching the gray skies above. A lone raptor circled above, wings never

moving. Lupin stared at it in awe. Erin followed him

'What's the big deal?' asked she. 'I've seen plenty of falcons

back home bigger than he.'

'That bird,' answered Lupin, turning around to face her, 'that

bird is hunted; almost none exist in this area of the world. The live up in

northern Scotland, near the Isle of Sky, but I've never seen one as far

South as this. The people that hunt them are afraid of them, for whatever

reason. Muggles do mostly. I think they're afraid that they'll eat too

many fish up near the Scottish fishing grounds.' He stared at the bird

skeptically. 'They have enough fish up there to feed everyone in the States

for a week.' Erin snorted.

'How many are left?'

'A handful, possibly,' said Lupin. 'Some Muggle scientists are

trying to reintroduce them, but the project isn't going so smoothly. It

seems that if the fishermen don't kill them off then they die anyway from

the climate conditions.' He shook his head. 'They're so beautiful and

graceful. I can't see why anyone would think that they're killers. Hunted

because people don't understand.'

'Like the people who are hostile towards you?' asked Erin.

Lupin contemplated this for a second, eyes boring into Erin's head. She

tried to hold his gaze, tried so hard, but blinked. Lupin smiled.

'Exactly.'