Demorior Mori Mortuus Amaris

To die for love

By Silver Sparklze

CHAPTER 6

For disclaimer see chapter 1

Adeline looked up from the papers she was grading (she'd had the seventh years all write an essay about what they knew about muggles to be handed in at the end of the lesson) when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," She called.

Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry all poked their heads around the door, and grinned.

She smiled back. "Hi, guys," She said as they walked in.

All four sat on the two desks in front of her.

(The classroom had been set up sort of like a Lecture Room in university with desks lining the three back walls, with raised seating as it went on, so that there was room in the middle for spell work, demonstrations, etc. Adeline had changed it with the help of Ginny, who'd done the spells, so that it was set up more like a normal classroom, with desks in rows. There were all these ledges which looked sort of odd, but Albus had said all she had to do was place a hand on a Castle Wall, and ask it to change the room to how she wanted it to look, making sure to imagine it properly.)

Harry was fiddling with a gold ball that had silver wings twisting his wrist so that it hovered for a moment, before catching it again. Adeline got the idea that he didn't really want to be here, and that he was feeling guilty about that, so he was taking his frustration out on the little orb. Ron was sitting with one hand entwined with Hermione's, something that Adeline took note of quite obviously. She was amused when Hermione and Ron both reddened.

Ginny was grinning at her idiotically for some reason. She turned to the two boys. "Ok," She said, "You guys can go now if you want."

Both boys got up, so fast that they would have knocked over the desks they were sitting on, had Ginny and Hermione not been sitting on them too, and ran out.

"Well, that was entertaining." Adeline remarked. "What did you girls want to talk to me about?"

"Do you like Remus Lupin?" Hermione asked bluntly.

"That's getting straight to the heart of the matter." Adeline remarked, an amused smile gracing her lips.

"Do you?" Ginny persisted.

"He's nice…but what do you mean 'like'?"

"We mean…like, as in, 'Gee he's hot, wonder what he wears under those robes' like, or 'I'd like to spend the rest of eternity with him' like." Ginny said.

"Ok…no, I don't." Adeline said firmly, flushing at the very thought.

"You're blushing!" Hermione squealed.

Adeline eyed her strangely, wondering what had gotten into the girl. Hermione had always struck her as a very serious person. "Ok, what's this all about?" She asked sternly. "Are you trying to set me up with Professor Lupin?"

Both girls looked distinctly uncomfortable. "No…" They said, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

"Girls," Adeline sighed. She really felt older than just twenty at times like this. "I don't want to go out with Professor Lupin, and even if I did, I wouldn't want you two setting me up with him." As usual, whenever Remus was mentioned, she went red. At least this time it was less noticeable. She could hardly feel it. Obviously, though, Hermione and Ginny noticed it, because they exchanged looks.

"Uh huh." Ginny said doubtfully,

"Of course not," Hermione agreed, her eyes twinkling. "Well, we've got to go, see you later."

"Girls!" Adeline called, hurrying after them as they ran through the door, "Remus is cute but I don't fancy him…hi, Remus." She blushed bright red as Remus walked towards her.

"It's nice to know what you think of me." Remus teased. "Are you ready?"

"Huh?" Adeline asked, a little flustered.

"You were going to show me your pictures. Are you ready, or do you still have marking to do?"

"Nothing that can't wait." Adeline said breezily. "How were your classes?"

"Oh, I didn't have any today, thank Merlin." Remus replied, "I never do the day after the full moon. How were yours, Ada?"

"Fine. The students were so eager. I suppose that'll change in a week or so. Why don't you have any after the full moon?"

"Well…" Remus looked troubled.

"What? Did I say something wrong? Oh damn, I did, didn't I? I always did have a big mouth. Mum told me that it would get me into trouble one–" Adeline stopped when Remus put his hand over her mouth. Her cheeks were burning; she could feel it.

"No, you didn't." Remus said quietly. "The reason I never have classes after the full moon is…well…I'm a werewolf."

Adeline drew away in horror, her eyes widening. "Y-you're a wh-what?" She stammered. Her heart was beating very fast, and she saw again the flash of snapping teeth.

"A werewolf." Remus said miserably. "Look, I understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore…Ada? Ada?"

For Ada was whimpering slightly, her eyes wide and glazed over. She seemed to be in some kind of trance. The voice which sprang from Ada's lips was not hers, but that of a very small child. "Mummy!"

Remus knelt beside her, since she'd sunk to the ground, and gathered her up into his arms.

"Mummy, don't leave. Please. Oh no, bad doggy, don't hurt me." Ada whimpered, entirely caught up in what she was seeing. Suddenly, Ada stopped moving.

Remus decided not to take any chances. He scooped Ada up into his arms, and raced for the Infirmary.

"Hmm. Yes, I think I know what's happening here," Madame Pomfrey said, frowning slightly.

Remus transferred his weight from one foot to the other anxiously. "What? What?" He asked.

"It seems that something traumatic must have happened in her childhood, and something has triggered a reaction to it. She's gone into shock. But don't worry," Madame Pomfrey paused to mutter a spell, "she'll be fine in about half an hour or so." She looked at her watch. "Oh, nuts. I've got an appointment with Albus, and I really can't be late."

"I'll look after her." Remus offered.

"Thank you, dear. I wouldn't ask, but you know, Albus mustn't be kept waiting, what with You-Know-Who on the loose and everything." Madame Pomfrey shuddered delicately.

"Yeah. Well, you mustn't be late for that meeting." Remus urged her, and, giving him a suspicious look, she left. He turned to the empty air behind him. "Ok, guys, you can come out now."

There was a slight displacing of the air, then Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Ron appeared. Harry placed his invisibility cloak neatly over the end of Ada's bed.

"How is she?" Hermione asked anxiously.

Ginny nodded.

"She's better," Remus sighed, "Madame Pomfrey gave her a potion, which seems to have calmed her down."

"What happened?" Ron asked.

"Well…I told her I was a werewolf." Remus said, his face the picture of misery.

Ginny came over and hugged one arm. "Oh, Remus." She sighed.

"Yes, well, as you hear Madame Pomfrey say, she's gone into post-traumatic stress. Something must have happened when she was young, which had to do with wolves. That means she's bottled it away all these years, and I've accidentally made her re-experience it. Poor child."

"Hey," Said a groggy voice from the bed, "I heard that."

Remus' face lit up, as he turned around, and saw Ada sitting up, pushing her glorious dark hair away from her face. "You're awake!" He exclaimed.

"Thanks for pointing that out." Ada said dryly. She placed a hand to her head. "Gee, I've got an awful headache."

"Well you would, you just fainted." Ron said bluntly.

"Thank you for reminding me, Ron." Ada turned to look at Remus, and her cheeks went red.

Remus knew she was once again thinking of that morning, when he'd walked in on her in the bath, and he could feel his own cheeks flush.

"How'd I get here?"

Remus went even redder, and shifted from one foot to the other, this time in embarrassment.

"Remus carried you." Harry answered, and at that point in time, Remus could have quite happily strangled his best friend's son, with absolutely no qualms at all.

Ada went, if it was possible, an even darker red, almost bordering on magenta. "Oh." Ada said, and her voice was unnaturally high, "How…nice." She sat up more fully. "Thank you, Remus."

"Anyone would have done the same." Remus said uncomfortably.

"Why didn't you just levitate her to the Hospital Wing?" Ron wanted to know, and, for the second time in fifteen minutes, Remus had homicidal tendencies towards one of his previously favourite students.

"Because, Ron," He said through gritted teeth.

"Was it because she might have broken a bone when she fell, and you didn't want to make it worse?" Ginny asked innocently, although the twinkle in her eye made Remus rather nervous.

"Yes, that was exactly why." He said quickly, grateful for Ginny's excuse. Ada smiled at him in a way that made his stomach feel slightly odd.

"Thank you." She said softly, "That was really nice of you. And you're wrong about anyone doing the same. Many would have just left me there and gotten Poppy. It was a smart move bringing me along; I should have hated to wake up all alone on the cold stone floor. Uh…" She paused, "Do you have any idea as to why I fainted? I don't remember."

"Er…no…" Remus lied, not really wanting to rehash over the whole 'I'm a werewolf' thing. From that comment, he guessed she'd only heard the 'poor child' part of his explanation to Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and Harry.

"Ah well." Ada shrugged, "Sorry about that. I haven't had a fainting fit for…well…I've never had one, not that I remember." She got up, swinging her legs out from beneath the covers, and standing.

"What are you doing?!" Hermione yelped as Ada grabbed her shoes from beneath the bed and buckled them onto her feet.

"I'm putting on my shoes, Hermione," Ada said patiently, a ghost of a smile on her face, "People tend to do that before walking on cold floor, prevents chilblains."

Hermione's cheeks flooded with colour.

Remus wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment, or anger. Then he caught the way her eyes narrowed. Definitely anger.

"You should stay in bed," Ginny said, a worried expression on her freckled face, "Madame Pomfrey-"

"Screw Poppy. I'm fine. Nothing wrong with me. Fit as a fiddle. And I am not going to lie here in this bloody bed one moment longer. What I need is a nice long bath…" Ada trailed off as her face coloured once more.

Remus could feel himself blushing as well.

Ada bent her head over the bed, making it quickly, her hair forming a curtain that hid her face from view. "Would you like to have a look at those paintings now, Remus?" She asked, her voice once again unnaturally high.

"Yes, I would. We should probably go now, before Madame Pomfrey comes back." Remus said quickly, ignoring the looks that the Gryffindor Quartet was sharing.

Reviewer Response:

JamieBell: Yeah, it's called astral projection. It's a very big plot - shutting up now. Basically, your spirit disconnects from your body. Adeline takes it one step further, she can make herself solid. As for the pairing, I've seen worse than Harry/Tonks. How about Crookshanks/Cat!McGonagall. Or Dobby/Harry? Or, and I'm not lying, James/Harry? That was so gross. Necrophilia, pedophilia and incest.

drop-depp-gorgeous: I'm going to make a wild guess, and say you like Johnny Depp? How good would it have been if he'd played Sirius in the third movie? As for Remus, he is so a Brendan Fraser, I reckon. Ginny hated Adeline at first because she thought Adeline was after Harry.