Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling,
various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and
Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark
infringement is intended.
A/N: As before, this chapter has not been beta-read, so if you see any mistake, just ignore them :-)
Chapter Four
Watching Sirius zoom around the Quidditch pitch, performing perilous maneuvers and powerfully whacking the Buldgers in all directions made Darwin very nervous. It was the first game of the season, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, and originally, Darwin had not planned to attend. It was shaping up to be a beautiful weekend and there were several other things she would've preferred to spend her time doing. There was no doubt about it, Quidditch was a very dangerous game and watching Sirius, and James and Remus for that matter, voluntarily put themselves in harm's way all for the sake of sport was incredibly nerve wracking. Every time one of them dived or ducked a Bludger, she could feel her stomach automatically lurch and her throat constrict. She would always refuse to go to the games for fear of acting like an overprotective mother, but every time, her resolve would fail and she would go. Mostly because she had the completely unfounded notion that if she were in attendance, for reasons unbeknownst to her, she would be able to prevent them from getting hurt.
While watching from one of the stands surrounding the pitch, Darwin, accompanied by Lily, was forcing herself to feign impassivity. Lily was practically spellbound, watching every move James made. Darwin had the dubious suspicion that Lily had a crush on James, but Lily refused to confirm or deny this. As such, Lily was quite oblivious to her friend's ceaseless wringing of her hands in her lap.
James was the team's seeker and their darling. It was because of James that nearly every student, including those in Slytherin, turned up for the games in which Gryffindor was playing. He was able to translate his irresistible personality into extremely entertaining Quidditch. He would constantly perform death-defying stunts and be an all around crowd pleaser while still keeping an eye for the snitch. Sirius was one of the team's Beaters and being able to bash fast moving Bludgers at other people suited him just fine. All the girls in the crowd swooned every time he did pretty much anything. Darwin personally thought that at times, Sirius just had it too easy. Then there was Remus. He was one of the team's three Chasers and very modest about it. He didn't perform any unnecessary stunts and played to win. He was good at what he did, and many times, was largely responsible for the team's wins. He would always accept praise from other students with a shy smile and a slight blush and was quite willing to let the other team members have the spotlight. The team was testosterone incarnate and made practically all the girls in the school wish they could be a fly on the wall in their dressing room.
On this particular occasion, Darwin was forced to abandon all pretense of indifference and nonchalance as a Bludger flew dangerously close to James. So close in fact, that it made his Quiditch robes ruffle as it flew past them and caused him to momentarily lose balance on his broom. Once he regained his balance, he gave the thumbs-up to the crowd and was off in search of the snitch.
Darwin glanced over at Lily and it appeared as though she were on the verge of having a heart attack.
"Oh, I wish he'd be more careful!" She exclaimed, clutching her hands together in front of her chest.
"Why Lily? Do you have a particular reason for being so interested in the welfare of our dear Mr. Potter?" Darwin asked with a sly grin, momentarily forgetting her own worry.
"No, I just don't want him to get hurt. That's all. Honest." She stressed this last word with a warning glance. Lily hated to be asked about her feelings towards James. She was very shy and reserved in all things concerning members of the opposite sex and Darwin knew it.
"Oh, yeah right. You probably want to marry him tomorrow and have about a million of his babies!" Darwin joked, momentarily lapsing into immaturity.
Lily's face turned a deep shade of red at the prospect of having sex with James, causing Darwin to laugh uproariously.
"Oh, leave me alone." She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.
This only made Darwin howl louder. She promptly began making kissing noises, which soon lapsed into a rather good impression of Lily adamantly professing her love for James.
The red colour of Lily's face only deepened, which sent Darwin into another loud spout of laughter. She had completely forgotten about the game, and her loud laughter was drawing rather annoyed looks from all of the students sitting around her and Lily. It also drew the attention of one who wasn't sitting near them, he was, in fact, riding a broom.
Remus Lupin had come to a stop in mid-air, about ten feet away from the stand in which Lily and Darwin were sitting.
Immediately, one of the Gryffindor Quidditch fanatics sitting in the stand jumped up and yelled:
"You git! There's a game going on, if you hadn't noticed!"
Remus just ignored him. He was looking at Darwin with a shy countenance and a bashful, silly smile. Darwin found herself returning the same goofy grin, and she mouthed the word "Hi" and gave a little wave.
Lily dubiously observed the scene.
"Who wants to have million babies now?" She asked sarcastically. However, she received no reply.
Of all the people she considered to be her good friends, Darwin knew the least about Remus. Apparently, he had been a very pale, sickly child and he was now a very pale, although not very sickly, adolescent. He was a shy boy, who kept to himself, and seemingly enjoyed to read. He came from a very old Wizarding family and both his parents were pure-bloods. He only really spoke to people he knew well, and when he did, he always had something interesting to say. He did incredibly well in his school work and it appeared to all those who knew him that he didn't even need to put forth a considerable effort to achieve success. He was also strikingly handsome. He looked the way one supposed Louis XIV might have looked.
Of course, this made every girl in the school notice him. A countless number of girls had pursued him, from every House and every clique, and he had rebuffed them all. He always said that it wasn't anything personal, he just wasn't interested. This made him the resident enigma as far the majority of the female populace were concerned. While dating Sirius was a definite symbol of a girl's social status, dating Remus would be the pinnacle of success and social stature. Although, Remus seemed quite unconcerned with what the females at the school thought of him and was content to while his hours away in the library or with his friends on the Quidditch pitch. Remus was the voice of reason within the Marauders, calming James and Sirius when they got too out of hand and easing Peter in his sometimes over-zealous beliefs. Darwin had the suspicion that he was the embodiment of the saying, "Still waters run deep."
However, presently, Remus was still giving Darwin a shy smile when suddenly, a Bludger came from behind and connected directly with his right arm. He had no time to react and was immediately thrown from his broomstick. He began to plummet toward the ground at an alarming pace, and was only scooped onto Sirius' broom in the nick of time.
A hush fell over the crowd and the members of both Quidditch teams immediately stopped playing to see what had happened. Sirius had landed and Remus was seated on the ground, clutching his arm to his chest. James was at his friend's side in a flash, and it was one of those rare occasions where he appeared to be serious.
From her vantage point, Darwin could see Madam Pomfrey, who was always in attendance at the Quidditch games for just such an occasion, rush out onto the pitch. She knelt down next to Remus and appeared to inspect his injured limb. She then helped him to his feet and escorted him off the pitch, presumably to take him up to the Hospital Wing in the school.
About five minutes later, the game resumed, with a reserve player playing Remus' position. Prior to Remus' accident, the Gryffindor team had been easily winning. They could fly faster, maneuver quicker, hit harder and worked as one cohesive unit. But with Remus gone, the team's spirit was deflated and Ravenclaw very quickly caught up. In the end, Gryffindor was flattened by Ravenclaw, losing 130 points to 260 points.
Later that evening in the Gryffindor Common Room, there still existed a rather subdued atmosphere. Lily and Darwin had been working on some Charms homework when they had been joined by James, Sirius and Peter. Apparently, the boys had tried to get into the Hospital Wing to see Remus but Madam Pomfrey had refused, saying he needed his rest. She had assured them that Remus was fine and that his arm had been properly mended, though.
Having known Sirius for such a long time, Darwin could easily tell that he was in a rather dejected mood and so she elected to let him be. He could be a real pain in the arse when he was in a foul mood, and she had discovered that trying to get him to talk about what was bothering him was futile. That, and she herself didn't feel much like talking either. She found that she felt rather guilty about what had happened to Remus, as though it were partially her fault.
Darwin saw James glance around at their circle of friends and she could practically see the wheels turning in his head. James hated to see people downcast and usually took it upon himself to bring some happiness into the world.
"Hey, everybody. Don't look so putout." He began, drawing everyone's attention to him. "So our friend got his arm smashed, he's fine now. So we lost the game, we'll win the next one." He stopped to think for a moment. "Who's up for a game of Exploding Snap?"
Everyone thankfully agreed to this, and soon, everything was back to normal. James was laughing almost non-stop, Sirius was ceaselessly, but innocently, flirting with Lily and Darwin, and Peter was doing some homework.
After the game of Exploding Snap was finished, Sirius challenged Lily to a game of Wizard's Chess which she readily accepted. The two had an odd battle of the sexes going on that never seemed to end. Peter sat next to Sirius, providing him with the occasional piece of advice. Although this didn't seem to intimidate Lily one bit and it appeared as though she would be able to win the game easily, like always.
Darwin sat on an over-stuffed sofa adjacent to her friends and she watched them absentmindedly. Ever since the accident on the Quidditch pitch had happened earlier that day, it was all she could think about. She kept seeing the bashful smile on Remus' face change in an instant to a painful grimace. Her mind kept replying the moment when the Bludger hit his right arm and his elbow bend in an odd way. Perhaps if she had yelled to him to pay attention to the game he wouldn't have to spend the night in the hospital wing. But then she remembered that cute smile on his face and the way he had looked so utterly charming and adorable. She couldn't have yelled to him to get back in the game even if she had wanted, and as she remembered, she hadn't wanted him to.
She had never really considered Remus as anything more than a friend. Even now, she still didn't. Besides the fact that he had never shown even the slightest interest in her as more than a friend, Remus didn't really seem like the dating type. Darwin could never recall Remus ever having a girlfriend, or even mentioning that he fancied a girl. He always just seemed completely uninterested in the entire business and was resigned to dole out advice to his friends when they ran into romantic troubles. This had always seemed to Darwin very odd, as it was likely Remus could have dated any girl in the school. At times, it seemed like every girl in the school had a thing for him. Many of the first year girls would develop crushes on him and giggle and blush every time they saw him. He was always inclined to smile at these admirers cordially whenever he saw them, causing more blushing and giggling. On the other end of the spectrum, many of the seventh years appeared to think that it wasn't at all below their standards to date him, even if he was sixth year. However, he would treat the seventh year girls in the same manner as the first years, always polite but never interested.
Now, of course, this gave some girls the idea that Remus might be gay, and Darwin was no exception. However, after first entertaining this idea, Darwin quickly came to the conclusion that it just wasn't possible. Just as he had never shown any interest in females, he had never shown any interest in males either. Besides, Remus was always willing to admit when a girl was pretty.
While in the midst of considering the possible reasons for Remus' attitude towards girls, Darwin suddenly found herself face to face with James.
"Darwin, Darwin, Darwin," he began, saying it as though he found her incredibly disappointing. "What did you think you were doing? Distracting our Chaser with your radiance, and such."
"I did nothing of the sort!" She replied, aghast.
"And I suppose he just stopped to wave because he thought his wrist needed some exercise?" James joked.
"Honestly, I don't know why he stopped." She told him, hoping James might be able to supply the reason for Remus' actions.
A mischievous look passed over James' face.
"Well, here's an idea. Why don't you go talk to him and find out?"
Darwin sputtered for a moment, trying to verbalize all the reasons why that would be impossible at the same time.
"I can't. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let you two into and I doubt she'd let me in." Good, she thought to herself. That's better than telling him you'll feel awkward going to see him.
"The only reason she wouldn't let us in is because she knows us too well. She probably knew that we were planning to bust him out of there, but she would never suspect you of something like that. Come in," He said, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her out of her seat.
"Off you go." He began to push her toward the portrait hole.
"But....but....I-" She sputtered.
"No more excuses. Go apologize for what you did."
Darwin snapped her head around to face James.
"Apologize? For what?" She demanded.
James gave her a cheeky grin.
"Only joking."
Just before Darwin turned to face forward again, she caught a glimpse of Sirius over James' shoulder. It seemed as though his foul mood had returned. He was sitting on the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at James' back. This was quickly pushed out of Darwin's mind as she snapped her head back around and found herself at the portrait hole.
James pushed the portrait open for her and she climbed out. James was just about to pull the portrait closed again when Darwin stopped him.
"Wait, James, why I am doing this again?" She asked, slightly confused.
"Because you want to make sure he's okay."
"But Madam Pomfrey already said he was okay."
"Well, you're double checking then."
"James, that doesn't-"
But the portrait was already closed. The Fat Lady who resided in the portrait had apparently gone off somewhere, so Darwin resigned herself to visiting the Hospital Wing. While on her way there, she couldn't help but feel a little awkward about going to visit Remus. Sure, she considered him a friend, but they had never really been very close. She thought that it might seem a little odd that she was going to visit him, while his best friends weren't. Although admittedly, it wasn't for a lack of trying.
The staircases were in an accommodating mood that evening, so she was able to reach the Hospital Wing by the most direct way. When she arrived, she very politely asked Madam Pomfrey for permission to see Remus. Madam Pomfrey looked her over, and seemed to consider her.
"Alright, but only for a short while and mind you, he needs to get some rest." She told Darwin sternly.
Darwin obediently nodded her head and Madam Pomfrey disappeared to her office. Darwin didn't have to go far. Remus was lying on the second bed on the right hand side of the room, with his back facing toward her. At first she worried that he might already be asleep and that she had made the entire trip in vain. But as she got closer, she discovered that he was very much awake and that he was absentmindedly staring off at the other end of the room.
"Hey." She said quietly, as she sat down on the end of the bed.
"Oh, hi. "He seemed pleased, but surprised, to see her. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, um, well..." She began, as if she hadn't actually expected him to ask that question. "Well, to tell you the truth, James kind of forced me to come."
"Did he?" He asked with a knowing grin. "Well, I'm very grateful for the company. I was bored five minutes after I got here."
Darwin gave a slight laugh. For reasons unbeknownst to her, she was slightly nervous.
"How's your arm?" She asked tentatively.
"Oh, it's fine. Madam Pomfrey mended it in a snap, but she still insisted that I stay here overnight."
"Aww, poor Remus." Darwin cooed with sarcastic pity.
It was Remus' turn to laugh, but he didn't seem nervous in the slightest.
"So, why was it that James forced you to come see me?" He asked.
"Well, he said I should double check to make sure you were fine and then apologize to you."
Remus laughed again.
"Apologize? Whatever for?" He curiously asked.
"He claimed I was distracting you and that it was my fault you got hit by that Bludger." She told him, but she couldn't keep the smile out of her voice. It was impossible to talk about James without smiling.
Remus looked her straight in the eye, his bright eyes shining.
"You were distracting me, but it's not your fault."He said this very quietly, and there was a slight smile playing on his lips.
In voluntarily, Darwin began to blush under his gaze.
"Can I ask you something?" His voice remained low and he didn't break eye contact.
"Yes."
"Would you like to-" He was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a strangled moan emanating from the other end of the Hospital Wing.
"Oh no." Remus said quickly. "I've got to go fetch Madam Pomfrey. Wait here."
He rushed out of the room and Darwin was left alone with the sounds of someone in definite pain. She looked down the long row of beds and saw that two of them had the curtains drawn around them.
Being naturally curious, she began to quietly walk toward the bed which she thought the sounds were emanating from. They were agonized moans, which were nearly painful to listen to, and were occasionally interrupted by spouts of heaving breathing. She soon found herself standing right next to the drawn curtains and she suddenly found herself filled with an unquenchable curiosity. She just had to see who was behind those curtains and what was causing them so much pain.
She gingerly pulled the curtain back and peeked in. Almost immediately she wished she hadn't. It was very obvious that it was no one she knew. The person appeared to be a Wizard, evident by his robes, in his late thirties. However, what made the sight so appalling was that the Wizard appeared to be the victim of an Incendio charm gone horribly wrong. His robes were scorched and black and in several places, the fabric had been burned completely away and the man's skin was visible. This skin was red and blistered and looked distorted. Darwin could see where Madam Pomfrey had applied the thick orange paste that was used to mend burns.
The man writhed in pain, compulsively clutching some of his robes in a tight fist. His face was covered in a sheen of sweat and was also covered in burns. Some of the man's hair even appeared to have been singed off.
Darwin quickly realized that there was absolutely nothing she could do for the man and silently backed away from the bed, closing the curtain as she did so. She considered options, of which doing nothing was not, and came to the conclusion that the only thing she could do was to join Remus in finding Madam Pomfrey.
She was about to do just that when she heard another sound, this time coming from the other bed with the curtains closed about it. It was a high-pitched whimper, followed by a quick hitch of breath. Darwin peered behind the curtains surrounding that bed and saw someone she did know. Well, sort of. It was a Hogwarts student. A seventh-year Hufflepuff, to the best of Darwin's knowledge. She remembered having a class with her last year and thought that perhaps, her name might have been Sarah.
The girl was sitting on the bed, hugging her knees excruciatingly tightly to her chest and slightly rocking back and forth. She hadn't seemed to notice Darwin and kept her eyes, which were dark and shining, looking straight ahead. Her bottom lip trembled and her face was deathly pale. The sounds of pain from the other bed had increased and the man was now making a rather disturbing gurgling sound.
Darwin tentatively reached out a hand and placed it on Sarah's shoulder. Sarah jumped, swivelled her face toward Darwin and clutched her wrist with surprising strength. The whites of her eyes were almost nonexistent and her breathing was fast and ragged.
"Calm down," Darwin said soothingly, holding up her other hand.
Sarah slowly lessened her grip on Darwin's wrist and eventually dropped it all together. She kept her eyes fixated on Darwin, not saying anything.
"Are you okay?" Darwin asked. "What happened?"
Sarah's gaze remained trained on her for a few moments longer and then she began to speak so quietly that Darwin had to strain to hear her.
"I was in Hogsmeade......potions supplies.....just about to leave...."Her speech became more and more difficult to understand as she went on. Her breathing became very ragged and she occasionally sobbed and hiccuped. "All of the sudden.....surrounded.....black cloaks.....flames shooting out of their wands, yelling "Die Mudblood!"......" This last part particularly upset her and tears began to spill down her cheeks.
She lifted a shaking hand and pointed in the direction of the other bed.
"He saved me. He pushed me out of the way. When I turned to look at him, he was on fire, screeching in pain." She said in a small, trembling voice.
Just then, Darwin heard the sound of a door being quickly opened, followed by very rushed footsteps.
"I leave for five minutes...." Darwin could hear Madam Pomfrey muttering. She spotted Darwin standing by Sarah's bed and promptly said "You'll have to leave now." Then she disappeared behind the bed curtains to tend to the injured man.
Remus had returned with Madam Pomfrey and was looking at the closed curtains, concerned. Darwin went to stand next to him, glad to be away from Sarah as the current state she was in made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"Do you know what happened?" She asked Remus quietly.
He turned to look at her, still concerned.
"Not really. I was lying here in the Hospital Wing after my accident on the pitch and all of a sudden, I saw Madam Pomfrey and a few of the Professors rush in here with the injured man and that girl in Hufflepuff. She was absolutely hysterical when they brought her in. From what I overheard from the Professors, I gathered that some sort of accident happened in Hogsmeade and they decided to bring the injured man here, as it was the closest place which could supply medical attention."
"Remus," Darwin said very low, making direct eye contact. "I don't think it was an accident. From what Sarah said-"
A confused look passed over Remus' face.
"The girl in Hufflepuff over there." Darwin clarified.
"From what she said, it was a deliberate attack. Apparently, a group of black robed Wizards surrounded her while she was in Hogsmeade and were attempting to attack her, but that man saved her."
Remus seemed to consider this for a moment.
"Why would anyone want to do that?" He asked, truly confused.
Darwin glanced over at the closed curtains surrounding the injured man's bed to see if Madam Pomfrey had noticed that she was still there. She hadn't.
"Apparently," Darwin said, her voice dropping even lower. "They attacked her because she was Muggle born. They were shouting something about Mudbloods when they came after her."
Darwin couldn't help but feel scared as the true implication of this hit her. She was Muggle born and some part of her mind whispered that it could've been her that was attacked instead. She had the sinking feeling that she looked as scared as she felt because immediately, Remus began to dispel her fears.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure it was just some crazy fanatics. The Ministry will take care of them. There's nothing for you to worry about." He said soothingly as he slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Come on, you should get going."
He began to walk her back to the exit of the Hospital Wing. Her fears only momentarily forgotten, Darwin reflected that she had never actually been this close to Remus before. He was tall and lean and his hand felt very warm on her shoulder. In spite of herself, Darwin also noticed that he smelt very nice. However, all these thoughts were quickly washed from her mind as she heard the injured man groan particularly loudly, followed by the sounds of Madam Pomfrey comforting him. Almost immediately, she began to feel sick to her stomach.
They reached they door and Remus bade her goodnight.
"I'll see you tomorrow and Darwin, stop worrying." He flashed her a rather lopsided smile.
She could only manage a weak smile in return and then began on her trek back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
A/N: Finally, there's some semblance of a plot in this story now. I'll hopefully have the next chapter done soon. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.