AUTHORS NOTE: Thank you to my reviewers so far!!!! Also my posts will slow
down from here, I'll try to have a post up every Monday (Australian Time)
~*~
Rogue slumped beside Harry near the back of the classroom, she wasn't out of shape and she knew that, but still she was breathing a little heavier then usual after the climb back up from the grounds and into the castle. Though it did make her feel better to see that she wasn't the only one.
Quite a few of the people in seats around her were breathing harder then they had been earlier, she also noticed that most of the class was in disorder, some students were speaking in whispers, others loud enough to be heard across the room.
"Too bad we took so long to get here," Harry said to her
"Yeah," Ron pitched in "Its generally good to get seats up front in the first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, oh and err, sorry about last night, um if I was a bit rude"
Rogue quickly told him that was all right and got to asking about the DADA lesson.
"Well you see" Harry started "Um, everyone sort of thinks the position of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is cursed, because we've kind of had a different teacher every year"
"Why?" This from Jubilee who'd turned around to include herself in the conversation
"Well the first guy Quirrell was sort of evil" Harry said
"And the second guy, Lockheart was a stupid git that hexed away his own brain" Ron stated with a brimming smile as he shot a look at Hermione "'Mione there, had a big old crush on 'em, even decorated her time table with love hearts for him"
Hermione was looking down by the time Ron finished but Rogue could still see the tinge of pink in her cheeks.
"Lupin was good though" Ron continued, "We had him in our third year, he was probable the best"
"No probable about it" Harry said "He was the best, but um, it kind of got out at the end of the year that he was a werewolf, not that he was dangerous or anything" he finished quickly.
"Mmm, not most of the time anyway" Hermione added "A potion called Wolfsbane let him keep his mind on full moons so mostly he just stayed in his office, but Wizards are deeply prejudiced" the last was in a darker voice, Rogue was just nodding like she understood most of what they were saying
"Especially when it comes to Hou-" but Hermione didn't get any further than that as anyone within hearing was telling her to shut up, one or two even raising their wands in a half menacing gesture.
Seeing the confusion on the mutants faces, Harry explained "'Mione's obsessed with the liberation of House Elves"
"Yeah, she even started a club or something called Spew" Lavender put in, also having turned around to include herself in the conversation.
By now Hermione was starting to fume "It's not Spew, its S.P.E.W, the Society for Promotion of Elfish Welfare". Rogue didn't know her very well, but even she could see that she was starting to get wound up and would probable start ranting soon if someone didn't head her off.
Fortunately that was when someone decided to make their entrance, banging the door to the room open with quite a degree of force, though when she saw who it was she was changing her thoughts to unfortunately.
While she was glad that he was feeling better, Rogue would have preferred Hermione's rant, his gaze sent shivers over her spine and he obviously wasn't too pleased to see that she'd tagged along to another lesson.
With a sneer he took a seat beside the pug-faced girl up front, his motions seeming to be a signal for the last few Slytherins trailing in to be seated themselves.
Personally she thought he'd over done it a bit with the flourish of his robes as he settled down, but apparently the other Slytherins hadn't, a few of them even had puppy dog eyes while looking at him, infatuated by his mere presence
She had to prod Harry to get him to snap out of his glaring at the back of Draco's head, "Oh, what? Erm, sorry"
"Anyway" he gave Hermione a look to see if she was going to continue to rant, but Draco's entrance seemed to have quieted her "After Lupin left, we had Mad Eye Moody, and while he was a great teacher all up, he turned out to be an impostor working for Voldemort"
The wizards surrounding him flinched at the sound of his name, but Harry just continued, Rogue only having a vague idea of why they feared him so much, and even then it still didn't seem to make much sense to her. He was just someone fighting for a new world order, a world where the Pure Bloods could rain free from the.her trail of thoughts cut off abruptly when she realized that she was now staring at the back of the blondes head.
Those were his thoughts, not hers!
She hadn't even realized what it was that had flowed from him to her in the on rush of his pain and rage, with some effort she managed to focus in on what it was Harry was saying, but she could faintly feel a sort of loathing for him welling up inside of her.
Suppressing it with gritted teeth, she tuned back in.
".Umbridge was the worst by far though"
"She was, without a doubt, the foulest woman on this earth" Hermione shrilled, she seemed to be working herself back up again, but didn't have the time, for the door to the room opened once more, though more like a gentle breeze had pushed it this time.
Rogue noted with interest the way the class snapped to attention, conversations dying mid sentence as the figure entered the room. He himself seemed to be a little shocked by the rapt attention, more surprising was the silence, the sound of a pin striking the ground could have broken it but yet it held firm for moments more.
.Before the sudden explosions that shook the room, she thought they were being attacked until she realized that every Gryffindor in the room had shot up and where cheering for their teacher, she managed to filter out a single word from the chaos.
Lupin.
The Return of the Teacher seemed to have pleased a few of the Slytherins as well, though they were trying to hide it as the majority of their classmates where looking sullen, she was wondering whether that was because they personally disliked him or where simply mimicking Draco.
The haggardly dressed man broke into a smile at the warm welcome he had received and motioned for everyone to take their seats.
Dropping a brief case of sorts beside his desk, he looked at Draco as he spoke. "It seems that in these Coming times the Wizarding World has decided to try and show more acceptance and less prejudice for those that are different" With his last words his eyes crept over to Rogue and Jubilee, Rogue was guessing that was his way of explaining why he was teaching again.
There was a slight twinkle in his eyes as he continued, "Now, I apologise for my tardiness, I was delayed in my arrival by a certain Poltergeist" he was all smiles now.
"Its good to see you all again, and I'm sure it will be a pleasure to get to know the few of you that I haven't met before" Turning his full attention to the mutants now, "Professor Dumbledore said that a few of you might be.observing. the first few days of lessons" he phrased
Rogue was getting an inkling of what was to come from the way that he had said, observing.
Turning his attention back to the class at large he addressed them all "Now I believe we should get started, now while this is not really a matter of Dark Arts, I thought you might all enjoy getting to know a little more about Mutants as a number of them are here at Hogwarts with us, and many of them would make formidable opponents, not to mention that understanding can lead to desensitising yourself to hearsay and propaganda"
"So who can tell me a little something about the history of mutants.maybe how they came to mutate?" he asked
Hermione's hand was the first to shoot up, Rogue kept silent, as she was interested in seeing things from the wizarding view, what they thought. She assumed that was why Jubilee kept quiet as well.though laziness could have been a factor as well.
"Yes Ms Granger?"
"Um, Professor, not a lot is really known about how Muggles began to mutate, and -" shooting the two mutants a nervous look "-from what I understand, mutants themselves don't really know all that much, but um one theory is that they are, er, a sort of genetic evolution from a combination of muggle and wizards genes, sir"
That was one theory Rogue thought, and one that she had only recently heard herself.
"Five points to Gryffindor, Ms Granger is entirely right in the fact that it is still being debated how Mutations began, even Professor Charles Xavier, a leading scientist on Mutation can not say with absolutely certainty how it began"
"Though that point is more out of interest, as it is mute for the time being considering that Mutants are already here, and here to stay" he stated, before continuing.
"Moving on, somebody tell me a little something about mutants, whatever you know. Neville"
Rogue watched in amusement as Neville was broken out of his semi-trance, "Er um, me er Professor? Um, I guess that m-mutants are like u-us, like wizards I mean"
"What do you mean Neville?" The Professor quizzed
"Well, sir, they um, are different from muggles and ah, um they have to hide from the muggle world, b-but they aren't as lucky as we are, being in the, the spot light Sir. As everyone knows they are there" he hesitantly finished, though Professor Lupin just beamed at him.
And was about to say something when Draco jerked up right, a very noticeable movement, especially as he sneered "And as usual Longbottom forgot the biggest thing about Mutantations" he put a lot of emphasize on that word "Their Powers, which is the main reason Muggles fear them, the pathetic fools fear anything that shows itself to be superior"
Lupin looked at him for a moment, "Five points from Slytherin and another ten to Gryffindor for Neville's answer"
"However Mr Malfoy is also quite right, through their mutations mutants possess superior abilities, and often powers that seem like pure fantasy to the Muggle World, and this is what makes them feared and persecuted, but Mr Malfoy" And for the first time since he had entered the room his look darkened a little. "They are not Superior to Muggles."
".Nor are we"
"Now, as much good as I can do explaining things that I myself have no first hand knowledge of, I would like to request one or both of our guests tell a little about their mutations and their experiences as mutants, maybe even if they are feeling generous, a demonstration of their abilities?" he quirked an eyebrow in a way that almost made Rogue laugh, as a hopeful expression came onto his face.
She had the feeling that he himself would most like to see a demonstration.
Smiling she clambered to her feet, followed by Jubilee, and made her way to the front of the classroom, as she passed the Slytherins, she made a little note in her mind to get someone to explain about the whole bigotry, Pure blood thing.
"Sure Professor" Jubilee said with a smile to match his "We'd be happy to." and with an ever widening smile ".talk. a little"
If Rogue was the only one that could hear Jubilee intended to do more then talk, her opinion of the Hogwarts Students was going to drop severely. Looking back over the class she wasn't disappointed, students in the first few rows were looking decidedly nervous. Even Draco looked a little uncomfortable.
"Hi, My names Jubilee and I'm a Mutant" She said proudly like she was at a Mutants Anonymous meeting, a couple of the other students smiled at that, obviously getting the joke. "But how 'bout I skip the whole sad sob story stuff and get to what most of you want to know?" she asked with a broad smile, and a tilt to her head.
"My mutation let's me blow stuff up," she stated simply "there's some kind of technical name, but I can never remember it, and now that I don't have to worry 'bout anti-mutant crowds being a mutant is just plain fun!"
And to demonstrate Rogue watched as Jubilee let a stream of energy fly from her pointed fists, one guess as to the desk and books that were demolished under her demonstration.
Jubilee was still smiling, as she looked back at Professor Lupin, than looking back at the class and the shocked expression of Draco "I can control the amount of energy I use as well so I can destroy something or just knock someone over" A second stream of power was unleashed, striking Draco in the chest and sending him careening from his chair to roll down the row a little.
"Most mutants have to learn some kind of control over time, And so now I give the floor to Rogue"
One last overly large smile and she headed past the still dazed Draco to sit back down next to Lavender, once again the two henchmen had simply picked him up and settled him in a new seat.
Rogue was left standing in front of everyone, and suddenly feeling very nervous. "Well" Lupin began "That was.enlightening to say the least, Mr Malfoy appears to be quite alright, would you like to say something now Rogue?"
She didn't pause to give it much thought, Jubilee made it out to be all fun and games, and maybe for her it was, once she'd learnt to control her abilities anyway. But for Rogue and a lot of others, there was no control, just pain and danger.
"Umm, my mutation is a little more serious than Jubilee's, as Draco found out earlier" she watched as a number of eyes shifted to him and then back to her "My.powers." It felt like a lump was caught in her throat then, and she had to swallow hard to clear it.
"My powers allow me to absorb a persons life force when I touch them, in the case of mutants, and I suppose wizards as well, I absorb their abilities for a short time and, am -"
She would have said more, but at that point the bells went off signalling the end of the lesson and the start of lunch. Having her bag already shouldered she just turned on her heel and walked out, she didn't know why, but it hurt her more than it normally did.
Emotions seemed to be overwhelming her today; the knowledge that she could never touch anyone.was just more frustrating, more painful. It made her want to cry, something she thought she was long past.
Rogue was far enough away from the classroom as soon as the bell went that she merged into a crowd of older students coming out of one of their lessons. She saw the casual brush of fingers, people bumping against each other, skin-to-skin contact.she thought
It stirred pain and a wistfulness in her that caused her to shake her head violently as she slipped through the now very crowded corridors.
~*~
It was half way through lunch when the Golden Trio located Rogue; she was down by the Lake with one of the other mutants, Bobby, Hermione thought. And the two seemed to be deeply involved in a conversation, what with neither of them talking and Rogue playing with some pieces of grass, a full plate of mashed potatoes and gravy sitting beside her.
Rogue's coat lay draped on the ground beside her, Bobby's hand carefully resting on her shoulder, very carefully on the cloth of her top. But as muggle clothing went it was a loose fitting light coloured tank top, no sleeves, and a low neckline, an almost laced up back, leaving a lot of skin bared to the world.
Hermione hadn't really noticed before, but with out the coat and hood on she could see a streak of white in Rogue's hair.
Slipping down beside her, Ron and Harry dropped down in front of her, Harry in a slight crouch.
She obviously hadn't noticed them, and gave a slight jump of surprise. "Are you alright?" Hermione asked
"You were looking a little upset before, and you left the lesson really quickly," Harry said
Rogue looked up at him then, her eyes flicking between the three, blinking away the remnants of tears, finally settling on Harry, "I was just being silly" she said quietly "I should have gotten over this by now"
Hermione noticed Bobby give Rogue an odd look at that, "You might as well just tell them, and your not being silly, you have every right to get upset about it"
"What are you upset about" Hermione questioned, and now Rogues eyes flitted to her, and with a sigh she told them.
"My mutation"
"You suck peoples energy? What's so bad about that, I mean it could be a lot worse couldn't it?" Ron as blunt as usual
Rogue just looked at him and suddenly she was tired of, like she'd reached some critical point where she would either die or get over it. She turned into Bobby, and quick as a snake, pressed her lips against his, it was only the second time they'd kissed, and even knowing what was going to happen he reciprocated, tasting her as it began.
The rush, the sapping, the leeching, veins thrust out from his skin as she revelled in the feel of him; it felt so good to her. And then came the pain, striking her like a wave, but now it was more than demonstration, she could feel something else coming from him, other emotions, other sensations.
Thoughts that made her blush as he broke the contact, gasping as he slipped to the ground like he'd just run a marathon.
"What just happened?" Hermione, questioning till the end.
"My mutation" Rogue said, breathing mist despite the intruding warmth of the day, it was interesting. She'd never realized just how cold Bobby was all of the time, his skin cooler than a normal persons. And the ice inside of him, that was somehow tempered, creating a warm, comfortable person.
Bobby was already, pulling himself back into a seated position.
"I can't touch people," she explained, "When I do, that" indicating Bobby "happens"
Ron was looking sceptical "Bloody hell, you can never touch anyone? I mean can't you like turn it off or something?"
"No. No turning it off, no stopping it, I can never touch anyone, ever" And with that she slipped back into her coat, the chill that she had absorbed insulating her against the days heat.
Standing up, she looked back down at him, "Still think being a mutant would be, how did you say, Bloody brilliant?" as she turned to walk away, she let one hand casually brush his cheek, not long enough to steal any of his precious energy, but long enough for him to get a taste of what touching her would mean.
~*~
AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry to people that wanted Wolverine as the DADA, but he isn't exactly magical and wouldn't be too good for a lot of lessons. And did anyone think this chapter was too much poor Rogue? Please Review
~*~
Rogue slumped beside Harry near the back of the classroom, she wasn't out of shape and she knew that, but still she was breathing a little heavier then usual after the climb back up from the grounds and into the castle. Though it did make her feel better to see that she wasn't the only one.
Quite a few of the people in seats around her were breathing harder then they had been earlier, she also noticed that most of the class was in disorder, some students were speaking in whispers, others loud enough to be heard across the room.
"Too bad we took so long to get here," Harry said to her
"Yeah," Ron pitched in "Its generally good to get seats up front in the first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, oh and err, sorry about last night, um if I was a bit rude"
Rogue quickly told him that was all right and got to asking about the DADA lesson.
"Well you see" Harry started "Um, everyone sort of thinks the position of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is cursed, because we've kind of had a different teacher every year"
"Why?" This from Jubilee who'd turned around to include herself in the conversation
"Well the first guy Quirrell was sort of evil" Harry said
"And the second guy, Lockheart was a stupid git that hexed away his own brain" Ron stated with a brimming smile as he shot a look at Hermione "'Mione there, had a big old crush on 'em, even decorated her time table with love hearts for him"
Hermione was looking down by the time Ron finished but Rogue could still see the tinge of pink in her cheeks.
"Lupin was good though" Ron continued, "We had him in our third year, he was probable the best"
"No probable about it" Harry said "He was the best, but um, it kind of got out at the end of the year that he was a werewolf, not that he was dangerous or anything" he finished quickly.
"Mmm, not most of the time anyway" Hermione added "A potion called Wolfsbane let him keep his mind on full moons so mostly he just stayed in his office, but Wizards are deeply prejudiced" the last was in a darker voice, Rogue was just nodding like she understood most of what they were saying
"Especially when it comes to Hou-" but Hermione didn't get any further than that as anyone within hearing was telling her to shut up, one or two even raising their wands in a half menacing gesture.
Seeing the confusion on the mutants faces, Harry explained "'Mione's obsessed with the liberation of House Elves"
"Yeah, she even started a club or something called Spew" Lavender put in, also having turned around to include herself in the conversation.
By now Hermione was starting to fume "It's not Spew, its S.P.E.W, the Society for Promotion of Elfish Welfare". Rogue didn't know her very well, but even she could see that she was starting to get wound up and would probable start ranting soon if someone didn't head her off.
Fortunately that was when someone decided to make their entrance, banging the door to the room open with quite a degree of force, though when she saw who it was she was changing her thoughts to unfortunately.
While she was glad that he was feeling better, Rogue would have preferred Hermione's rant, his gaze sent shivers over her spine and he obviously wasn't too pleased to see that she'd tagged along to another lesson.
With a sneer he took a seat beside the pug-faced girl up front, his motions seeming to be a signal for the last few Slytherins trailing in to be seated themselves.
Personally she thought he'd over done it a bit with the flourish of his robes as he settled down, but apparently the other Slytherins hadn't, a few of them even had puppy dog eyes while looking at him, infatuated by his mere presence
She had to prod Harry to get him to snap out of his glaring at the back of Draco's head, "Oh, what? Erm, sorry"
"Anyway" he gave Hermione a look to see if she was going to continue to rant, but Draco's entrance seemed to have quieted her "After Lupin left, we had Mad Eye Moody, and while he was a great teacher all up, he turned out to be an impostor working for Voldemort"
The wizards surrounding him flinched at the sound of his name, but Harry just continued, Rogue only having a vague idea of why they feared him so much, and even then it still didn't seem to make much sense to her. He was just someone fighting for a new world order, a world where the Pure Bloods could rain free from the.her trail of thoughts cut off abruptly when she realized that she was now staring at the back of the blondes head.
Those were his thoughts, not hers!
She hadn't even realized what it was that had flowed from him to her in the on rush of his pain and rage, with some effort she managed to focus in on what it was Harry was saying, but she could faintly feel a sort of loathing for him welling up inside of her.
Suppressing it with gritted teeth, she tuned back in.
".Umbridge was the worst by far though"
"She was, without a doubt, the foulest woman on this earth" Hermione shrilled, she seemed to be working herself back up again, but didn't have the time, for the door to the room opened once more, though more like a gentle breeze had pushed it this time.
Rogue noted with interest the way the class snapped to attention, conversations dying mid sentence as the figure entered the room. He himself seemed to be a little shocked by the rapt attention, more surprising was the silence, the sound of a pin striking the ground could have broken it but yet it held firm for moments more.
.Before the sudden explosions that shook the room, she thought they were being attacked until she realized that every Gryffindor in the room had shot up and where cheering for their teacher, she managed to filter out a single word from the chaos.
Lupin.
The Return of the Teacher seemed to have pleased a few of the Slytherins as well, though they were trying to hide it as the majority of their classmates where looking sullen, she was wondering whether that was because they personally disliked him or where simply mimicking Draco.
The haggardly dressed man broke into a smile at the warm welcome he had received and motioned for everyone to take their seats.
Dropping a brief case of sorts beside his desk, he looked at Draco as he spoke. "It seems that in these Coming times the Wizarding World has decided to try and show more acceptance and less prejudice for those that are different" With his last words his eyes crept over to Rogue and Jubilee, Rogue was guessing that was his way of explaining why he was teaching again.
There was a slight twinkle in his eyes as he continued, "Now, I apologise for my tardiness, I was delayed in my arrival by a certain Poltergeist" he was all smiles now.
"Its good to see you all again, and I'm sure it will be a pleasure to get to know the few of you that I haven't met before" Turning his full attention to the mutants now, "Professor Dumbledore said that a few of you might be.observing. the first few days of lessons" he phrased
Rogue was getting an inkling of what was to come from the way that he had said, observing.
Turning his attention back to the class at large he addressed them all "Now I believe we should get started, now while this is not really a matter of Dark Arts, I thought you might all enjoy getting to know a little more about Mutants as a number of them are here at Hogwarts with us, and many of them would make formidable opponents, not to mention that understanding can lead to desensitising yourself to hearsay and propaganda"
"So who can tell me a little something about the history of mutants.maybe how they came to mutate?" he asked
Hermione's hand was the first to shoot up, Rogue kept silent, as she was interested in seeing things from the wizarding view, what they thought. She assumed that was why Jubilee kept quiet as well.though laziness could have been a factor as well.
"Yes Ms Granger?"
"Um, Professor, not a lot is really known about how Muggles began to mutate, and -" shooting the two mutants a nervous look "-from what I understand, mutants themselves don't really know all that much, but um one theory is that they are, er, a sort of genetic evolution from a combination of muggle and wizards genes, sir"
That was one theory Rogue thought, and one that she had only recently heard herself.
"Five points to Gryffindor, Ms Granger is entirely right in the fact that it is still being debated how Mutations began, even Professor Charles Xavier, a leading scientist on Mutation can not say with absolutely certainty how it began"
"Though that point is more out of interest, as it is mute for the time being considering that Mutants are already here, and here to stay" he stated, before continuing.
"Moving on, somebody tell me a little something about mutants, whatever you know. Neville"
Rogue watched in amusement as Neville was broken out of his semi-trance, "Er um, me er Professor? Um, I guess that m-mutants are like u-us, like wizards I mean"
"What do you mean Neville?" The Professor quizzed
"Well, sir, they um, are different from muggles and ah, um they have to hide from the muggle world, b-but they aren't as lucky as we are, being in the, the spot light Sir. As everyone knows they are there" he hesitantly finished, though Professor Lupin just beamed at him.
And was about to say something when Draco jerked up right, a very noticeable movement, especially as he sneered "And as usual Longbottom forgot the biggest thing about Mutantations" he put a lot of emphasize on that word "Their Powers, which is the main reason Muggles fear them, the pathetic fools fear anything that shows itself to be superior"
Lupin looked at him for a moment, "Five points from Slytherin and another ten to Gryffindor for Neville's answer"
"However Mr Malfoy is also quite right, through their mutations mutants possess superior abilities, and often powers that seem like pure fantasy to the Muggle World, and this is what makes them feared and persecuted, but Mr Malfoy" And for the first time since he had entered the room his look darkened a little. "They are not Superior to Muggles."
".Nor are we"
"Now, as much good as I can do explaining things that I myself have no first hand knowledge of, I would like to request one or both of our guests tell a little about their mutations and their experiences as mutants, maybe even if they are feeling generous, a demonstration of their abilities?" he quirked an eyebrow in a way that almost made Rogue laugh, as a hopeful expression came onto his face.
She had the feeling that he himself would most like to see a demonstration.
Smiling she clambered to her feet, followed by Jubilee, and made her way to the front of the classroom, as she passed the Slytherins, she made a little note in her mind to get someone to explain about the whole bigotry, Pure blood thing.
"Sure Professor" Jubilee said with a smile to match his "We'd be happy to." and with an ever widening smile ".talk. a little"
If Rogue was the only one that could hear Jubilee intended to do more then talk, her opinion of the Hogwarts Students was going to drop severely. Looking back over the class she wasn't disappointed, students in the first few rows were looking decidedly nervous. Even Draco looked a little uncomfortable.
"Hi, My names Jubilee and I'm a Mutant" She said proudly like she was at a Mutants Anonymous meeting, a couple of the other students smiled at that, obviously getting the joke. "But how 'bout I skip the whole sad sob story stuff and get to what most of you want to know?" she asked with a broad smile, and a tilt to her head.
"My mutation let's me blow stuff up," she stated simply "there's some kind of technical name, but I can never remember it, and now that I don't have to worry 'bout anti-mutant crowds being a mutant is just plain fun!"
And to demonstrate Rogue watched as Jubilee let a stream of energy fly from her pointed fists, one guess as to the desk and books that were demolished under her demonstration.
Jubilee was still smiling, as she looked back at Professor Lupin, than looking back at the class and the shocked expression of Draco "I can control the amount of energy I use as well so I can destroy something or just knock someone over" A second stream of power was unleashed, striking Draco in the chest and sending him careening from his chair to roll down the row a little.
"Most mutants have to learn some kind of control over time, And so now I give the floor to Rogue"
One last overly large smile and she headed past the still dazed Draco to sit back down next to Lavender, once again the two henchmen had simply picked him up and settled him in a new seat.
Rogue was left standing in front of everyone, and suddenly feeling very nervous. "Well" Lupin began "That was.enlightening to say the least, Mr Malfoy appears to be quite alright, would you like to say something now Rogue?"
She didn't pause to give it much thought, Jubilee made it out to be all fun and games, and maybe for her it was, once she'd learnt to control her abilities anyway. But for Rogue and a lot of others, there was no control, just pain and danger.
"Umm, my mutation is a little more serious than Jubilee's, as Draco found out earlier" she watched as a number of eyes shifted to him and then back to her "My.powers." It felt like a lump was caught in her throat then, and she had to swallow hard to clear it.
"My powers allow me to absorb a persons life force when I touch them, in the case of mutants, and I suppose wizards as well, I absorb their abilities for a short time and, am -"
She would have said more, but at that point the bells went off signalling the end of the lesson and the start of lunch. Having her bag already shouldered she just turned on her heel and walked out, she didn't know why, but it hurt her more than it normally did.
Emotions seemed to be overwhelming her today; the knowledge that she could never touch anyone.was just more frustrating, more painful. It made her want to cry, something she thought she was long past.
Rogue was far enough away from the classroom as soon as the bell went that she merged into a crowd of older students coming out of one of their lessons. She saw the casual brush of fingers, people bumping against each other, skin-to-skin contact.she thought
It stirred pain and a wistfulness in her that caused her to shake her head violently as she slipped through the now very crowded corridors.
~*~
It was half way through lunch when the Golden Trio located Rogue; she was down by the Lake with one of the other mutants, Bobby, Hermione thought. And the two seemed to be deeply involved in a conversation, what with neither of them talking and Rogue playing with some pieces of grass, a full plate of mashed potatoes and gravy sitting beside her.
Rogue's coat lay draped on the ground beside her, Bobby's hand carefully resting on her shoulder, very carefully on the cloth of her top. But as muggle clothing went it was a loose fitting light coloured tank top, no sleeves, and a low neckline, an almost laced up back, leaving a lot of skin bared to the world.
Hermione hadn't really noticed before, but with out the coat and hood on she could see a streak of white in Rogue's hair.
Slipping down beside her, Ron and Harry dropped down in front of her, Harry in a slight crouch.
She obviously hadn't noticed them, and gave a slight jump of surprise. "Are you alright?" Hermione asked
"You were looking a little upset before, and you left the lesson really quickly," Harry said
Rogue looked up at him then, her eyes flicking between the three, blinking away the remnants of tears, finally settling on Harry, "I was just being silly" she said quietly "I should have gotten over this by now"
Hermione noticed Bobby give Rogue an odd look at that, "You might as well just tell them, and your not being silly, you have every right to get upset about it"
"What are you upset about" Hermione questioned, and now Rogues eyes flitted to her, and with a sigh she told them.
"My mutation"
"You suck peoples energy? What's so bad about that, I mean it could be a lot worse couldn't it?" Ron as blunt as usual
Rogue just looked at him and suddenly she was tired of, like she'd reached some critical point where she would either die or get over it. She turned into Bobby, and quick as a snake, pressed her lips against his, it was only the second time they'd kissed, and even knowing what was going to happen he reciprocated, tasting her as it began.
The rush, the sapping, the leeching, veins thrust out from his skin as she revelled in the feel of him; it felt so good to her. And then came the pain, striking her like a wave, but now it was more than demonstration, she could feel something else coming from him, other emotions, other sensations.
Thoughts that made her blush as he broke the contact, gasping as he slipped to the ground like he'd just run a marathon.
"What just happened?" Hermione, questioning till the end.
"My mutation" Rogue said, breathing mist despite the intruding warmth of the day, it was interesting. She'd never realized just how cold Bobby was all of the time, his skin cooler than a normal persons. And the ice inside of him, that was somehow tempered, creating a warm, comfortable person.
Bobby was already, pulling himself back into a seated position.
"I can't touch people," she explained, "When I do, that" indicating Bobby "happens"
Ron was looking sceptical "Bloody hell, you can never touch anyone? I mean can't you like turn it off or something?"
"No. No turning it off, no stopping it, I can never touch anyone, ever" And with that she slipped back into her coat, the chill that she had absorbed insulating her against the days heat.
Standing up, she looked back down at him, "Still think being a mutant would be, how did you say, Bloody brilliant?" as she turned to walk away, she let one hand casually brush his cheek, not long enough to steal any of his precious energy, but long enough for him to get a taste of what touching her would mean.
~*~
AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry to people that wanted Wolverine as the DADA, but he isn't exactly magical and wouldn't be too good for a lot of lessons. And did anyone think this chapter was too much poor Rogue? Please Review