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: I hope everyone likes this chapter, and as always, I have yet to find a beta, so just ignore any mistakes.
Ataraxia: Chapter Six
Now, for Darwin, getting assigned a detention was unusual and unpleasant enough on it's own, but, having that detention fall on the night of the Halloween feast made it an even more displeasing occurrence. Although, Darwin had to admit to herself, having the opportunity to spend more time with Remus, alone, was very enticing. She found herself compelled to talk to him on a personal level and learn more about him. He exuded an air of reserved mystery, was very sociable and outgoing when prompted, but at the same time, revealed little about himself and hardly ever spoke of his personal experiences. He displayed a genuine intelligence, and exhibited the rare ability to actually apply the knowledge he had acquired. To Darwin, he wasn't a complete mystery, as she felt she knew him to a certain extent, but she only knew him through his life at school and nothing more. She still lacked knowledge of Remus on a more personal level, which made spending more time with him all the more enticing, even if it was time spent in detention
She and Remus' detention was to begin promptly at half past six, which gave them only a few moments to quickly stop at the Great Hall and grab what food they could.
As they made their way to the Great Hall, their company was somewhat diminished as James and Lily had been off doing Prefect-things and said they would meet them there, Sirius had been broody all afternoon and had elected to socialize with the other members of the Quidditch team that afternoon, and so the group consisted merely of Remus, Darwin and Peter.
Remus and Darwin walked briskly toward the Hall, wanting to allow themselves as much time as possible for supper, while Peter lagged behind slightly. He, even more so than Darwin, was not one for strenuous physical activity.
"Can't you two slow down?" He asked, slightly out of breath.
"Nope."
"Not a chance." Remus turned to face Peter, very easily keeping up his pace and balance while walking backward. "Maybe if you weren't so lazy--" He began, but was promptly cut-off.
"I'm not lazy, I'm just very efficient." Peter told him with surprisingly conviction.
Darwin gave a laugh.
"That's a pretty good excuse." She said.
"It's not an excuse!"
They arrived at the Great Hall a few minutes later, although they would've arrived sooner, had the staircases not been in a playful mood. The Hall looked magnificent, as usual, with the swarms of live bats fluttering everywhere, and the usual floating candles replace by
Jack-o-lanterns. They quickly spotted James, Lily and Sirius, sitting near the middle of the Gryffindor table and as usual, James was causing a ruckus over something. They briskly walked over and Darwin took a seat between James and Sirius, which of course was very easy as they were Big Strong Tough Guys and liked to keep ample distance between each other. Remus and Peter took seats on the other side of the table, on either side of Lily.
"So, what's for dinner?" Darwin asked immediately.
"Spam." James said, without a moment of hesitation.
"But I don't like Spam!" Darwin replied, right on time.
"Not that again." Sirius commented dryly. His foul mood seemed to have increased.
Darwin turned to face him.
"Sirius, what's wrong?" She was utterly sincere, but Sirius refused to look her in the eye.
"Nothing."
James, indispensable as ever, had everyone's attention focused on him in a second, telling a story about how he had once been approached by an insane man in Diagon Alley who had begged him to dance a jig, in an attempt to give Darwin and Sirius some privacy.
" Sirius, what's wrong?" She asked again.
"I told you, nothing." He replied, and he seemed on the verge of getting annoyed.
"I can tell when something's wrong. What is it?"
He looked her straight in the eye now, seeming to consider her. Something strange flickered across his face for a moment, then it was gone.
"I'll talk to you later, after you get back from your detention." He said finally.
"Okay, that's fine. But nothing's wrong, is it? I mean, you're okay, right?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine." He told her, his good-humour returning.
After this, Darwin turned all her attention to supper. She was only able to scarf down half a baked potato, a piece of bread, and a swig of pumpkin juice before it was time to go.
She stood to leave and Remus did the same on the other side of the table, but before she began walking, Sirius, who had sat in a dejected daze all through supper, reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her down for a quick peck on the cheek.
He met her eyes.
"I'll talk to you later." He said quietly, and before turning his gaze back to supper, for the shortest moment, he threw a gaze of utter contempt over Darwin's shoulder. The look vanished just as soon as it had appeared, but Darwin saw it, all the same.
The pair regretfully left the Hall, amid the chatter of swarms of content students, enjoying the Halloween feast.
They made their way down to the dungeons, where Professor Eakins said he would be waiting for them. On the way there, their paces were brisk and they spoke little. Darwin's mind was still occupied with what she had overheard Malfoy and Snape discussing that morning, but she had gotten the impression that Remus wasn't interested in discussing the matter. It didn't seem that he necessarily doubted Malfoy or Snape's ability to correspond with the Death Eaters, and subsequently pass them valuable information, he just seemed to feel that theorizing about something which they knew very little was pointless. The day had been hectic and she still hadn't been able to mention anything to any of the others, and thought that she might ask Sirius about it later that evening.
They arrived at their Potions classroom, Darwin slightly out of breath, thanks to all the short, but many, staircases one had to use to get to the Dungeons. Professor Eakins was waiting.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." He began, his high-pitched voice resonating through the empty classroom."Three minutes late. You two are off to a bad start."
Neither Darwin, nor Remus, said anything. Professor Eakins was known for his irritability and short temper.
"For your dentention," He began formally, after waiting a moment after finishing his first remark. He almost seemed to want one of them to say something, just so he could pounce on them. "You will be ordering and shelving old textbooks. I will escort you to the room where they are stored, though I will not supervise you. It is tedious and rather boring work. Mind, though, I will be checking to ensure that you have completed your task tomorrow morning. Follow me."
He began to walk out of the Potions classroom, but turned to them suddenly.
"Do you have your wands with you?"He asked.
"No." Darwin and Remus said in unison.
"Excellent. No magic allowed, remember." He gave them a cruel smile and began walking again.
Darwin had no idea where he was taking them and didn't think it prudent to ask. She and Remus walked a few paces behind Professor Eakins, noticing that each time he walked past a painting on the wall, the figure inside gave him a sour look. Apparently, the portraits didn't like him either.
As always, Professor Eakins revealed himself as a jackass at heart, as it became apparent to Darwin that he was taking them to one of Hogwart's highest floors. They walked past the Great Hall, where a few students still lingered, past the library, up several staircases, past countless classrooms, up more staircases, past the entrance to the Gryffindor common room when finally, Professor Eakins halted abruptly, pulled aside a tapestry, opened the door hiding behind it, only to reveal another staircase.
Darwin sighed inwardly. She had never before realized just how big Hogwarts was. The staircase the door led to was winding and creaky and lit only by a few torches. They plodded on until Professor Eakins came to a stop in front of a door at the head of the stairs and opened it. Inside were stacks upon stacks of old, tattered, dusty textbooks. There were so many textbooks, the floor couldn't be seen. As a cruel joke, four large bookshelves stood in the middle of the room, completely empty.
"Your detention is as such, put all of these books neatly, and in proper alphabetical order, into the bookshelves and you may leave. Any questions?"
Silence. It was pretty self-explanatory.
"Then I'll leave you to it."
He left and closed the door loudly behind him.
"What a bastard." Darwin commented dryly. "This is going to take us hours."
The room was fairly small, but stuffed to the gills with books. The books were piled in some instances, but mostly, they were just scattered haphazardly. The room was dusty and the air was stuffy, and of course, there was no window.
"Well, let's get to work." Remus said, sounding more good-natured than he had any right to.
Within minutes, Remus had devised a plan to organize all the books, which consisted mostly of putting all the books that began with A in one pile, then sorting those into alphabetical order, then placing them on a shelf and then doing the same with B and so on. By the time they got to G, they had cleared a decent amount of space on the floor, where they could sit comfortably while working.
The books seemed to contain mostly supplemental information, the kind of books which might be used while researching an obscure topic for an essay, or finding a rare fact. They were also incredibly old, one dating as far back as 1877. Most likely, the school had procured newer, more accurate versions which now resided in the school library. However, their tatty appearance and questionable accuracy didn't seem to deter Remus. He seemed surprisingly interested in each volume he picked up, often stopping to read a passage before sorting it into the correct pile.
He seemed particularly interested in a volume pertaining to the environmental preferences of werewolves.
"This is all wrong." He said with a roll of his eyes.
"And how would you know?" Darwin asked.
"I wrote an essay about werewolves in third year. I got really interested in the topic and I guess I went a little overboard in my research. You might even say I'm somewhat of an expert on werewolves." He said with a joking air of all-knowing, intellectual superiority.
Darwin gave a laugh and reached over and snapped the book he was holding closed, causing a puff dust to fly into his face.
"Don't do that." He warned with a smile. "You don't want to go starting a war with me."
"And what if I do?"
"All hell will break loose."
"At any other time, I would probably be throwing something at you and then running away, but right now, I'm just too tired. Plus, we're barely half done in here." She said, resigned.
"That's a very wise choice."
For a few moments, neither said anything, and both just silently, continuing to sort and stack books. Darwin stopped abruptly.
"Remus?"
"Hmmm?"
"Have you noticed that Sirius has been acting a little strange lately?"
Remus, unexpectedly, sighed.
"Yes, I have."He said, very deflated.
Darwin was a little confused by his response and thought for a moment.
"Do you know something that I don't?
"I suppose I do." He told her, looking very thoughtful, but avoiding any eye contact.
"Would you like to enlighten me?"
He turned and looked at her and made direct eye contact. She had never before realized how bright his eyes were.
"I think it would be best if you talked to Sirius first." He said, with the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.
".....okay...." Darwin replied, confused. She felt it would be best, though, if she didn't push the issue. For some reason, she had a strange inkling that Remus was involved, and that he was somehow the party at fault, although she couldn't understand why, hence his unwillingness to discuss the issue.
Overall, Darwin was very puzzled by Sirius' behavior as of late. He was naturally flirtatious, even with her, but lately, he had been overly so. The thing that puzzled Darwin most was that he had all but ceased his flirting with other girls and seemed to focus solely on her. The problem was, he always did it in a half-hearted, over-the-top, joking way, which made it very hard to decipher. However, she refused to admit that him kissing her was anymore then him having some fun.
In truth, Darwin had never actually had a real boyfriend, and she was ecstatic that someone, Remus Lupin no less, was beginning to show an interest in her. The reason for her dismal love-life was simple- Sirius was not only flirtatious, he was very over-protective of those he loved. Darwin had always assumed that his being over-protective of her was his way of psychologically compensating for the way he treated other girls and it had been a constant presence throughout most of her life that she never thought to get infuriated. At Hogwarts, Sirius Black was a force to be reckoned with and in their first year, after a boy in Ravenclaw named Dennis LaRoque had asked Darwin out, and had been promptly punched in the nose by Sirius, it was final. Darwin Moore was off limits. Oddly enough, this never really bothered Darwin. She actually kind of reveled in the fact that Sirius cared enough for her that he wanted to prevent her from getting hurt.
This isn't to say that she never dated anyone, because she did. But she always found that she wasn't really interested anyway, much preferring to just hang around with her friends and concentrate on school work. From what she had seen, having a significant other took up a lot of one's time, and in her opinion, it was all for naught. She didn't plan on getting married any time soon, and wasn't looking for a serious relationship. So, the way she saw it, there was no point in going through the motions, only to have the relationship end in a big scene, and then completely forget the entire episode had ever happened a few days later. To her, it just seemed like a big waste of time, energy and effort. That, and it didn't really help that Sirius was always breathing down the neck of any potential beau, death threats in the instance that Darwin was caused any pain whatsoever included.
"So,"Remus said after a few moments of silent book-sorting, in an obvious attempt to brighten the mood. "Excited about Saturday?"
Darwin gave him a dubious look.
"That all depends on what you have planned."She waited for him to respond, but he only gave her a cheeky look and quirked an eyebrow. "What do you have planned?"
"You'll just have to wait and see."
"Oh, no! That means I'm going to hate it, doesn't it?"
"Not necessarily."
"Right, okay, well next time we do something, I'm choosing it." She told him.
Remus threw his hands up in the air in mock exasperation, and the book he had been holding clattered to the ground.
"You don't even know that you're going to hate what I've got planned."A pause. "You say we're going on another date?"
"Maybe."
"Oh not this again."
"Maybe."
"Okay, that response didn't even make sense."
To finish sorting all the books probably took them longer than it should have, even considering the fact that it was a massive task, but Darwin, for one, didn't care. They finally finished, all the books neatly placed on the bookshelves, and the room looked much bigger than it had when they had first come in. The two left the room and walked slowly back to the common room, laughing all the way. They even stopped to talk to Napoleon and Darwin introduced Remus to the Emperor, who was being visited by Josephine.
Remus seemed to be fascinated by Darwin's fascination with the portraits at Hogwarts. Remus spoke unabashedly with Napoleon for a few moments, while Josephine silently regarded him. When Napoleon and Remus had finished speaking, she turned to Darwin and said:
"This friend of yours, he is very handsome, no?"
Darwin felt her face begin to burn.
"I think so." She said this as she gave Remus a sheepish grin.
It was Remus' turn to blush now. Napoleon bade them goodnight, as he seemingly wanted to spend some quality time with Josephine. They made their way to the common room and Remus gave the password to the Fat Lady.
The common room was empty, save for James, Sirius, Peter and a couple of seventh years who were playing a very involved game of Wizard's chess in one corner. Neither James, Sirius nor Peter had noticed them come in, which afforded them the opportunity to catch a snatch of their conversation.
"You are being absolutely ridiculous!" James nearly shouted. He was irritated, which was a rare sight indeed. If James was angry, there was bound to be very good reason for it.
"No, I'm not." Sirius replied, an icy tone in his voice.
"Sirius, listen to reason." Peter pleaded.
"You know how hard it is for him, now finally--"
"Hm hmm." Darwin cleared her throat. She didn't want to eavesdrop or overhear anything she shouldn't. She wasn't sure, but she assumed they were talking about her and Remus.
"Good evening, you two." James purred, all his joviality reappearing in a flash. "And how was detention?"
"We had to sort and shelve books. How do you think it was?" Darwin asked, incredulous.
"Boring beyond all belief and reason?"
Darwin flashed Remus a small smile.
"Something like that."
James surveyed the situation.
"Remus, my good man, what say you to turning in now? I need my beauty sleep, and you look like you could do with a good forty winks."At this, Peter stood, gave a yawn, mumbled "Goodnight" and then scuffled off to bed.
"Aye, aye, captain." Remus replied. He gave Darwin a peck on the cheek and then walked after James up the stairs leading to the boys' dormitory. Darwin could feel her face turning red and in a sort of daze, turned to look at Sirius. She snapped back to reality in an instant.
Sirius sat on one of the overstuffed couches, near the fire, his arms crossed over his chest, looking utterly pissed off. Darwin slowly walked over and took a seat next to him. Neither said anything for a moment.
"So, how was detention?" Sirius spat.
"I told you. Boring." In truth, Darwin was a little surprised by his demeanor. He had never really spoken to her like this before, and as can be expected, she didn't really appreciate it."Sirius, what's wrong? And don't say 'nothing', because I know something's bothering you.
"
"What's it to you?"
"Oh, I don't know. You're my best friend, I've known you since childhood, I kind of, oh, I don't know, care about you. Take your pick." She said in a very controlled voice.
Sirius said nothing, just glared into the dying fire.
"Sirius, does this have something to do with Remus?" She inquired quietly
Sirius heaved a big sigh.
"Look," He began, his voice had softened and he seemed apologetic. " I know I've been an ass recently, but it's just because I'm worried about you. Yes, this has something to do with Remus."
Darwin couldn't speak for a moment. Worried about what? What could he possibly have against Remus?
"What could you possibly have to be worried about? What does Remus have to do with anything?" She asked, her throat feeling oddly tight.
Sirius gave another sigh.
"I've noticed you've gotten kind of chummy with Remus lately, but it's just, I don't know, I can't really explain." He seemed to think for a moment. "There are things you don't know about him."
"Like what?"
"It's not important."
"Obviously it is."
"Look, Darwin, you have to trust me on this." Sirius sighed, massaging his temples. "Don't date him. I will only cause--problems. I'm not saying this to be a jerk, I'm just looking out for your best interest."
Darwin, inexplicably, began to feel pricks of anger. It took a lot of control not to yell when she spoke next.
"I appreciate that, Sirius, but I'm not a little girl. I can look out for myself." She paused for effect. "I really like him."
Sirius closed his eyes and sighed one more time.
"Why did it have to be you?" He asked, more to himself, quietly.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"Sirius, I really can't understand why you have such a problem with me dating Remus." She maintained. "He's a really great person, you of all people should know that. I've never had a serious relationship before, and I don't care what you say, it's partly because every guy at this school is afraid you'll beat them up if they even talk to me." She choked the last few words out. She was on the verge of tears.
"You know it's only because I want to protect you."
"I know, and I really do appreciate it. But sometimes I worry that I'll end up an old maid, all alone, the way things are going." Darwin couldn't help it, by now, she was in tears.
A look of guilt passed over Sirius' face and he wrapped her in a warm hug, rocking her gently and rubbing her back. She felt very small against him, and hid her face from him. She hated it when he saw her cry. Sirius was a tough guy, but he was also capable of surprising sensitivity.
"You know that's not going to happen." He whispered softly. "You're going to find the man you love, get married, and have lots of babies. All of whom, I might add, will know at least ten curse words before their first birthday, thanks to me.
"Remus is a great guy, and I know it. It's just that I know him better then you do and--ugh." He heaved in frustration.
Darwin turned her red, teary face upward to look at him.
"Why can't you tell me?" She asked meekly.
Sirius gave her a searching look.
"I just can't." He said, resigned. "If he thinks it's right, he'll tell you everything."
Darwin sniffed and whipped her nose with her shirt cuff.
"Okay." She said in a small voice. "Are you going to be okay now? No more being a jackass?"
"I promise." To say this looked like it cost him a lot of effort.
"So you're not going to give Remus the third degree and threaten to punch his lights out?"
"Are you kidding?! I'm going to watch him like a hawk. He better not lay a hand on you before your third date, he better be a complete gentleman at all times, and I better not ever catch him in your room."
"Sirius!"
"And another thing, he's not to gratuitously kiss you in public, and in private, absolutely no tongue, young lady. You may hold hands in public, if you wish."
"Sirius, this is ridiculous!"
"And if I see one hickey on your neck, that's it. He's dead."
"Sirius, don't be-"
"Oh, and one more thing, absolutely no sex. I wonder if we can find you a chastity belt somewhere, just to be on the safe side."
Darwin slapped him in the arm.
"This, coming from the most notorious womanizer Hogwarts has to offer. Honestly, it's really none of your business." She chided, but couldn't keep from laughing. Sirius could really be adorable sometimes.
"Oh it isn't, is it?" He asked in disbelief.
"Sirius, you promised!"
"I promised to stop being a jackass. I didn't promise to stop being invasive and bothersome."
"I'm going to bed." Darwin told him as she stood and began shuffling off to bed.
"Hey, don't I get to kiss you goodnight? It's tradition." Sirius called.
"If you want me to be all pure and chaste then you can't kiss me. God knows where your mouth has been."
With that, Darwin climbed the stairs to the sounds of Sirius' laughter.
A/N: *sheepish grin* I never even realized that I had anonymous reviews disabled, but Invader Iggle just graciously informed me that they were, and the problem is fixed now. Don't I feel like a dolt, complaining about not getting reviews.....yes, I'm an idiot. ANYWAY, what did you guys think of the last chapter? I'm getting the impression that people aren't really jiving with my portrayal of Remus, and that's cool. I appreciate the constructive criticism. But on the other hand, I didn't want to make him quiet, shy and bookish like he is in every other Marauder- era fic ever written. The way I see it, to roll with the Marauders, he'd have to have a rambunctious streak :-). I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but this is going to be a loooooong fic, wherein the characters will play romantic musical chairs ;-) Oh! One more thing, is everyone liking/getting the Monty Python thing? I didn't want to over do it, for those who haven't seen Python (and really, there must be what? Two, three of you? j/k ;-), but I just couldn't resist. Well, until next time, toodles! :-)