Demorior Mori Mortuus Amaris
To die for love
By Silver Sparklze
CHAPTER 3
For disclaimer see prologue
Adeline stared at the canopy of the bed. She'd been staring at it for three hours. She sighed in frustration, and rolled over, tangling the already knotted sheets.
"Damn!" She muttered, thumping the pillow, "Damn, damn, damn!" She got up, and walked over to the window, gazing sightlessly out at the full moon. Slowly, as if in a trance, she closed her eyes, and slumped to the ground.
Adeline floated through the air, and around all of Hogwarts. Here and there she caught faint strands of coloured magic, some bright, some dark, some impossibly contrasting. There was a rather repulsive colour drifting towards her from a tower to the north, so she changed direction, and followed an amber–gold magic back to its source.
A huge grey wolf lay on the floor of a rather messy office, limbs sprawled. Adeline froze for a moment, hardly daring to draw a breath, somehow certain that this wolf could see her, even in this strange ethereal form, before moving again when the wolf left out a shuddering sigh, its paws twitching like a dog's did when it was asleep and dreaming of chasing rabbits or something similar.
Adeline avoided the wolf entirely, hovering towards the desk slowly. She looked at the papers on there, and frowned at the one that didn't belong, a ratty old thing, quite unlike the new cream of the others. She picked it up and…
Adeline's eyes opened suddenly, and she felt quite light – headed. She also felt as though she could sleep now, and stood up, not noticing the piece of parchment that fluttered to the ground…
"Miss Chandler, Miss Chandler, oh why is Miss Chandler not waking?" It was this question, said in a despairing, squeaky voice that woke Adeline the next morning.
She yawned, and sat up, pushing heavy, knotty red-brown curls out of her face as she did so. Her hair must have fallen out of its braid during the night. "Whassa ma'er?" She drawled thickly, her voice refusing to work properly at such an awful time of the morning.
"Mr–Dumbledore–Professor–Sir wants to speak with you, Miss Chandler." Said the small…thing. It was wringing its neat baby-blue skirt in its hands, and tugging on its long ears, which poked out from underneath a blue hat, at regular intervals. The fact that it was wearing a skirt made Adeline suspect that the thing was a girl, but she couldn't be sure.
"Uh…ok…what's your name, first of all? I'd really like to know what I can call you." Adeline decided to reserve judgement on whether or not the strange creature could be trusted. "And second, what are you? Because, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to be rude, but I've never seen anything like you before." To her astonishment, the thing burst into tears. "Oh! Please don't cry!" Adeline said desperately, "Please! Whatever I said that upset you, I'm sorry, just don't cry!"
"Oh you is such a good muggle, Miss! Why did I ever believe Mr. Crouch when he claimed muggles were bad, Miss? You is so kind, so polite, so nice! Winky is quite overcome, Miss!" The thing wailed.
"Winky? Is that your name?"
"Yes, Miss." Winky nodded, huge tears still leaving her eyes.
"Well, Winky, please stop crying, I hate to think that I've upset you."
"Oh, you has not upset Winky, Miss. Winky is just amazed at your niceness, Miss."
"Oh…ok. Well, that's question one answered, 'who are you?'. Now for question two, 'what are you?'"
"I is a house-elf, Miss. I is one of the…servants at Hogwarts. Mr–Dumbledore–Professor–Sir took me in when I is disgracing my family by being thrown out of Mr, Crouch's home. I is not very grateful for his doing so, Miss," Winky looked at her from under long eyelashes, "And I is being so rude as to cry for my other life, even though Mr–Dumbledore–Professor–Sir is being so much more good to me than Mr. Crouch. And I has been sent to take you to Mr–Dumbledore–Professor–Sir so that he can be talking with you."
"Ok…so you're a servant. Right." Adeline yawned.
"I has gotten you up too early!" Winky wailed. "Bad Winky, bad Winky!" She hit herself over the head with a water jug that was in the corner of the room.
"Winky! Stop! Please! Oh, don't hurt yourself!" Adeline cried, bolting across the room quicker than she would have thought possible, and taking the jug away from Winky. "It's ok, I don't mind. But tell me, is there anywhere that I can get some clothes to wear? The ones I was wearing yesterday seem to have vanished, and I can hardly go to talk to Albus in a borrowed nightdress."
"Mr–Dumbledore–Professor–Sir says that there are clothes enough in that closet, and that the nightdress is yours to keep. He is saying that there are also shoes, and underthings in the bureau." Winky blushed.
"Oh…great…thanks. Is there somewhere that I might have a shower, or a bath, before I go to see him?"
"Yes, Miss, there is. You can be going to the teacher's bathroom on this floor. Only one other person uses it, and he is most probably asleep."
"Ok, great. Can you show me where this bathroom is? I really, really want to have a wash before I see Albus."
"Of course, Miss. Follow me."
Adeline rubbed the lavender scented shampoo into her hair, sighing as the knots were loosened and the paint came out. "I've gotta get some of this to take back with me." She murmured, grabbing the bucket that sat conveniently by the side of the bath, and proceeding to wash the soapy substance out of her dark red locks, which were getting darker by the minute.
The water was still magically soap free, and she decided to enjoy that. She ducked under the water, and then slowly drifted back up. Suddenly, she got the feeling that she was being stared at, and opened her eyes, to see a rather astonished man looking down at her from the doorway. His gaze flicked over her once, then he flushed red, and gazed at the ceiling pointedly. "W-who are you?" She squeaked, scrambling to find a towel…a washcloth…something!
"My name's Remus Lupin," The shaggy haired man replied, "Who are you? And what are you doing in my bathroom?"
"I'm Adeline Chandler. And Winky said it was ok for me to use this bathroom." Adeline replied, having finally found two towels, which she was putting to good use, twining one in her water darkened hair and wrapping the other securely about her.
"Oh…I'm so sorry for intruding." Remus' cheeks were such a dark red now that Adeline idly wondered if he was going to explode.
"That's ok. But can you…go? Please? I don't want to be rude…"
"No, no, no problem. I'm the one who's being rude, and who is out of line. Please excuse me." He left then, closing the door behind him, and Adeline breathed a sigh of relief.
She really didn't want to leave now, to have to face him, someone she didn't even know, who'd just seen more of her than anyone had seen since her 10th birthday. "Now look here, Adeline." She said to herself sternly, "You've never been one to run away from something scary or embarrassing, and you're not going to now. So finish bathing, get dressed, and go visit Albus. If you see Remus Lupin again, apologise for being in his bathroom, and then ignore him. He's probably traumatised for having seen you naked anyway. There are many more attractive people, most likely in this very castle." That decided, she nodded firmly, took off the towels, and stepped back into the water.
"Winky?" Adeline looked uncertainly around the room she was staying in, and really saw it for the first time. It was a small room, but it was light and airy, with cream coloured walls and sepia trimming. The whole room was done in this style, all beiges and light browns, and Adeline liked the effect. Very quiet and elegant. She picked up her painting of the boy and girl, and could see them dancing, almost revolving on the spot, talking quietly. The girl was looking at him with such love in those dark brown eyes, and his own answered her as heartfeltedly as if he'd actually said the words. Adeline shook her head, refusing to be drawn into the painting. Look what had happened last time.
"Winky?" She repeated. She hissed in annoyance when there was no reply, and stomped out of the room, rather liking the way her soft charcoal grey robe swirled out behind her. She could like the robe for the colour alone, since it was almost the same colour as her eyes, but the cut was comfortable, and modest, and her white schoolgirl blouse and pleated grey knee-length skirt set it off perfectly. And with her crazy hair in a ponytail tied with a grey ribbon she almost looked like a carefree teenager, until you saw the eyes. Kind of hard to ever look carefree once you'd witnessed someone's death.
Sighing, she left the room, and looked around. The bloody school was way too big, and there was no way she was going to find Albus' office, let alone wherever it was that they had meals. "Dammit," She cursed.
"Miss Chandler?"
Adeline turned around, and felt her cheeks flame at the sight of Remus Lupin. "H-hi." She stammered. "Please, call me Adeline. Everyone else does."
"I don't know," Remus said, smiling slightly, "Adeline's rather long. Any objection to being called Ada? I think it suits you perfectly."
"What do you mean?" Adeline asked.
"Look it up sometime." Was all Remus would say in reply. "What's wrong?" He asked next.
"Well, Winky the house-elf was supposed to show me to Albus' office, supposedly he needed to talk to me, but I can't find her anywhere." Adeline explained.
"I can help you out if you like," Remus offered, "I know where Albus' office is."
"That would be great, thanks." Adeline replied, trying to gather up the courage to look him straight in the eye. Finally she gave up. There was just no way she could look into those amber eyes after what Remus had seen. She felt her whole face heat up when he touched her arm and led her towards Albus' office, and she kept her eyes staring straight ahead the whole time. There was no way she could look around and see him looking at her in amusement, probably thinking that she was a silly little girl.
"Here we are." Remus' soft voice drew her out of her reverie, and she found that she was indeed standing in front of Albus' office. She recognised the gargoyle from her trip to her room last night.
Suddenly, the gargoyle moved, and Harry came out. He looked surprised to see Adeline there, even more so to see Remus. "Moony!" He exclaimed, "What are you doing here?!"
"I was escorting Ada to Albus' office, then I was going to go to breakfast. Care to join me, M.I.T?"
"Er…M.I.T?" Adeline asked.
"Marauder In Training." Harry and Remus said together, grinning. Adeline was glad to see that Harry could smile, he looked much happier when he was smiling.
"Ok…" I will not ask. She thought firmly. "Well, I really must get going, see you both later." She turned to the gargoyle, and gave it a fierce glare. Upon seeing her look, it opened immediately, something that Adeline did not realise was out of the ordinary.
"Albus?" Adeline called, looking around the room cautiously. She ignored the whispers from the paintings, and was thankful that they hadn't tried to draw her into their world.
"Ah, Adeline, you're here. Wonderful." Albus smiled. "Please, sit down."
Uncertainly, Adeline sat where Albus had indicated, in a low chair covered in maroon velvet.
"Tea?" Albus offered.
"No thank you."
"Very well." Albus sat opposite her, and steepled his hands together, looking at her over his moon-shaped spectacles. "What I have to ask you may shock you…would you like to be a teacher here?"
"Wh-what?" Adeline gasped. "How can I be a teacher?! What could I teach?! How to get your hair covered in paint?!"
"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of Muggle Studies, since that teacher has left, but I suppose we could add another class to the curriculum." Albus said smiling.
Adeline's cheeks flushed. "Er…I suppose I could try…I mean, who could know more about the muggle world than a muggle, right?"
"Precisely. Now, we'd better inform the students that we have found a replacement. I'm sure that they will be very thankful that they will no longer be taught by Professor Trelawny, who is, at best, a little odd."
"Ok…" Adeline nodded, "Right. But aren't I a bit…well…young?"
"You're twenty-one, are you not? And as you said, you know more about the muggle world than any other teacher at this school."
"Well, Albus, I can accept that. But do the kids have to call me Professor?"
"No, Adeline, if that's not what you want."
"I'd prefer it if they called me Miss Chandler. I was planning to teach art eventually anyway, and that's what the kids would have called me."
"Very well, Adeline, welcome to teaching."
Adeline grinned. "Thank you, Albus." She replied.
"Now that's over with, let's go down to breakfast, shall we?"
"Yes, let's."
"Silence." Albus called, making every single student who was eating breakfast stop talking at once. "Thank you. Now, I am sure you will all be pleased to know that I have managed to find you a new Muggle Studies teacher," He paused, as the whole Hall cheered. It was the still in the first week of school, so most students were still managing to drag themselves out of bed early, instead of lingering until the last moment. "Yes, yes, settle down," The students did so. "May I introduce, Miss Chandler."
Adeline, who had been waiting outside the Great Doors walked in, and walked up to the stage, ignoring the strange stares she got from the students. What could they be staring at? It wasn't like she was any great beauty. She wasn't pretty at all. She was skinny and her hair was too dark to be red, and too light to be brown. Her eyes were plain, boring old grey, and she was really pale.
So, she kept her eyes to the front, only pausing to grin and wave at Harry, Ron and Hermione. She groaned when she saw the only empty seat at the High Table was between Severus and some stern looking lady. The lady she could handle but Severus she couldn't.
"So, a teacher, hmm, Adeline." Severus sneered.
"Leave me alone you overgrown weed." Adeline snapped. She turned to the lady, pretending not to notice that the woman was trying not to smile. "Hi, my name's Adeline Chandler." She said politely, her voice changing from nasty to sweet and innocent so fast that the woman looked a bit shocked.
"Minerva McGonagall, professor of Transfiguration." Minerva replied.
"Oh, how interesting. Uh…what's Transfiguration?" Adeline asked. She spent the rest of breakfast finding that out.
Adeline bit her lip, and looked at the map that Minerva had given her. The damned halls seemed to be changing on her. Her eyes lit up when she saw Harry, walking with Ron, Hermione, and a red-haired girl who looked rather like the one she'd been painting. "Harry!" She called, running up to him.
He turned around, and grinned. "Hey, Adeline," He greeted her, "How are you?"
Adeline hugged him, glad to find someone she knew. "I'm fine, you? Sorry that I had to leave so quickly this morning. According to Winky, that meeting with Albus was important."
"No problem. Moony and I had a lot to catch up on."
"Ok. Well, anyway, can you show me to the Muggle Studies room? I'm supposed to be teaching the sixth year class, and I have no idea where it is! This place just doesn't like me!"
"Ginny's in that class, she can show you." Ron offered.
The redhead stomped on his foot.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"Are you Ginny?" Adeline asked.
The redhead nodded, rather reluctantly.
"Cool. I'm Adeline Chandler, your new teacher. You can call me Adeline outside of class, if you like."
"I'd rather call you Dragon's Dinner." Ginny muttered.
Adeline frowned, wondering what that was about. "Uh…ok…my hearing's pretty good, if you wanted to know, and I heard that. But I won't hold it against you; my friend Nick isn't much of a morning person either."
Ginny brightened considerably at that. "Your boyfriend?" She asked eagerly.
"Nah, I don't have a boyfriend. Don't really want one at the moment either. Where would I find one that would listen to me when I told them that I worked at a school for mini witches and wizards? I'd be committed!"
"Ok…" It was obvious that Ginny had no idea what Adeline meant, but she seemed to accept it, and then she frowned. "What if you could find someone who'd accept it?" She asked.
"Well that would mean they'd have to be a wizard, in which case why would they choose to marry a muggle, even one of the Karickin? Aside from that, why would anyone want to be with me anyway?"
"How can you say that?!" Hermione exclaimed. "You're gorgeous." Adeline smiled wryly.
"Hardly. I mean, take you; you have fantastic brown hair, beautiful warm eyes, tan skin, and a great figure. Plus, if what I've gathered is right, you're smart.
"And take Ginny. She's got magnificent red hair, to die for eyes, and those freckles are positively adorable. Then you look at me. Tall, skinny, uncontrollable hair that's too dark to be red, too light to be brown, boring grey eyes, and pale skin that refuses to tan, or even burn! How could I measure up to anyone, muggle or magical?" She smiled sadly, "The only way I can make things beautiful is to paint them. Now, Ginny, you'd better show me the way to class." Adeline led Ginny off, allowing no room for protest.
Remus Lupin frowned slightly, looking at his desk. He was sure he'd left it there…Harry was going to kill him. He'd lost the Marauder's Map!!!!
AN: Ooh, bad Remus! grins
Reviewer Response:
JamieBell: First, romance with Harry??? Nuh uh! No way in heaven or hell. For one thing, Adeline's three years older than him...so it's kinda squicky, y'know? For another, after this chapter, you'll know it's illegal (at least in Oz) because she's an authority figure. So don't worry. In fact...you kinda might get an idea in this chapter...we'll see, I guess. Koodles if you do.
LoudMouthStar: What isn't up with Malfoy? Anyway, here's the next chapter.