~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Chapter 12: A Newcomer
New chapter, just in time for the new year (yeah it is exactly 1:00 here)
Just so you know, I AM quite crazy. *grins like a maniac*
Well here we go!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sirius awoke to find himself being healed by a women dressed in a long habit.
"It's alright, dear, just hold still and don't fight the healing," she said, kindly.
"I'll try not to," grumbled Sirius. He lay back down again and noticed vaguely that a
smooth, cold sensation was spreading throughout his whole body rapidly. After a few minutes
of healing, Sirius felt better. The healer left, to be replaced by a young lad carrying a
bowl of soup. Sirius finished it gratefully. Before the lad left, Sirius asked whether
Harry was anywhere nearby.
"I'll find him, sir," the young man said.
A few minutes later, eight children entered Sirius' room. Most of them started talking at once and until he raised his voice and demanded silence, they continued talking.
"Please pay attention," Sirius said
Everyone grew quiet.
"I need everyone to pay close attention," Sirius said, "We need to find a way to fix this little- er- problem."
After a few hours, the large group had still come no closer to a way to fix their dilemma, but Sirius' mood had been improved greatly.
He thought randomly that it was good to be around kids again, although a few of them seemed to be slightly hesitant to be friendly toward him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As Sirius thought about a spell that could possibly help their situation, he reached for
his wand and felt a piece of parchment in his pocket. Drawing it out, he remembered that
Remus had given it to him a few weeks ago- it was a list of potion ingredients needed to
brew the Wolfsbane potion that would keep him from turning into a fully-fledged monster.
Sirius read through the ingredients and smiled as he remembered how Remus had insisted
that he couldn't remember where he had misplaced a few, and then asked Sirius if he could
search Grimmauld Place for them... Sirius suspected that Remus had been just looking for
an excuse to keep Sirius occupied.
Remus.
He had always been the bookworm. . . it was true that Sirius and James were the smart ones,
they had not needed to study. Remus had always wanted to live up to his best friends (not
including Peter, Sirius thought bitterly) and had studied so many books. He would probably
be the most useful person to have around right now.
Looking quickly across the room, Sirius saw Niko settled into a chair deeply absorbed in a
book of magic.
"Niko?" Sirius inquired, "Do you, by any chance, know a spell that would bring a person. . .
uh. . . here?"
Looking up, Niko replied quietly, "I don't personally know any spells of that sort, but I
will direct you to someone who could help."
Niko stood up and walked over to a stack of slates and took a bit of chalk, and briskly
wrote something across it. He handed it to Sirius and said, "Take this to Dedicate Windwear,
she will tell you exactly what to do," Niko made to turn around and then remembered
something, "You might want to have Briar help you- he knows his way around Winding Circle a
little better than you."
"He's the one in Harry's body, right?" Said Sirius.
"Yes," Niko said settling back into his chair.
Sirius walked to the door and glanced outside. Ron's body was the first he spotted.
"Sandry?" He asked, "Have you seen Briar?"
Just then, Harry's body walked around the corner carrying a tiny little tree.
"Briar- what is that?" wondered Sirius.
"This is a Shakkan- a miniature tree. It is very old," Briar answered.
"Isn't it around One Hundred and Fifty?" Said Sandry.
Briar didn't answer Sandry, but turned to Sirius. Nervously he asked, "What is it you want
with me?"
Sirius could tell the boy didn't trust him. "Niko said you could help me. Will you take me
to Dedicate Windwear?"
Blinking, Briar turned to Sandry and handed his precious Shakkan to her. He nodded once to
Sirius and turned to begin the walk.
Alright, thought Sirius, gripping the slate tightly, I can do this.
Briar quickened his pace.
Sirius followed suite.
They walked in silence.
Finally, Sirius could tell the place they were headed for. Briar stopped. "You can go the
rest of the way," he said, "It's that building," Briar pointed at the building Sirius had
suspected.
"I'd much rather you came with me, Briar," said Sirius looking down on the young teenager.
Nodding, Briar began to walk toward the building again. He was in no mood to argue with
anyone, especially this strange man.
When they entered the building the first thing Sirius noticed was how perfectly crafted
everything was- not that anything was particularly elegant or fancy- just extremely well
done. Every piece of wood was polished carefully, the metal gleaming, and there was not a
speck of dust in the place.
The next thing Sirius took note of, was the fact that the Dedicates (he assumed this
because they were wearing robes-er habits- of style to match Rosethorn's and Lark's) were
all as clean and undefiled as the room.
"Er. . ." started Sirius to the nearest Dedicate (One with a black stripe on the hem of
his habit), "I need to talk to Dedicate Windwear." Sirius held out the slate. The Dedicate
nodded and set off down a hall.
Wondering whether to follow or not, Sirius took a step forward. Briar grabbed his arm and
shook his head.
Oh. Alright, I guess we don't follow, then.
A few minutes later the first Dedicate came back, shortly followed by another. The lady
behind him introduced herself as Dedicate Windwear and asked politely what she could help
them with. The other Dedicate left.
Sirius handed Windwear the slate Niko had given him. Dedicate Windwear looked at Briar
then at Sirius, and then beckoned them to follow her. She went back down the hallway she
had come from.
"Here I have all the necessary equipment. It will be easiest if you brew the potion.
Unfortunately I won't be able to work the magic until I have finished my morning
meditation, so if you'll excuse me? Here is the procedure you shall follow, call
Dedicate Brice if you have any problems finding the ingredients." Dedicate Windwear
made to head for the door when Sirius thought of something.
"Dedicate Windwear? Are there any- er- werewolves here in this place?"
"Yes, but don't worry, the full moon isn't for another two weeks and by then they will all
be enclosed where they won't hurt anyone."
"Oh," said Sirius aloud- in his mind he added; 'We'll just have to make sure we're out of
here by then.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Two hours later, when Sirius and Briar had almost finished the potion, Dedicate Windwear
returned and offered to finish the potion for them. Briar sat down gratefully, but Sirius
remained standing to help her.
"You two have done an excellent job," she said, "I've never known anyone to do this potion
quite right on their first try. Once I had a grown man come in here and try it (trying to
get his wife, I think) and he ended up blowing a hole in my roof and sending himself so far
South that he ended up in the middle of a frozen pond. We had quite a job finding him and
magically melting him out."
The Dedicate continued to tell horror stories of the results of various potions made wrong,
and for once Sirius was thankful that he had paid attention in Potions class.
When the potion was complete, Dedicate Windwear asked for the full name, physical
description of, and some background information on the person they were planning on
transporting.
"Full name: Remus Jonathan Lupin,"
"Let's see, physical description? Okay- moderately shabby appearance, some gray hair,
but mostly brown 'cause he's still young, er- moderate height, uh is that good?" said Sirius.
"That's fine," said Windwear- she appeared to Sirius to be trying to meditate (her eyes
were closed and she was breathing slowly.)
"Right, Background information, er- he is my age, went to Hogwarts school of witchcraft
and wizardry for seven years, he's a werewolf,"
When Sirius said the last bit, Windwear's eyes snapped open briefly, looked disbelievingly
at Sirius for a moment, and then closed slowly and Briar stood up in protest and started
to say something before he looked at Sirius and the Dedicate and then bolted for the door.
Sirius let him go.
"And lastly," said the Dedicate, "Where do you want him transported?"
"Er- Winding Circle, I guess," replied Sirius.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Twelve days.
TWELVE DAYS!
It had been twelve days since Harry, Ron, Hermione and the boy Snape favored had been
missing- or actually, according to Dumbledore, it had been longer.
Remus Lupin was getting frantic. What if they didn't ever make it back?
Dumbledore had told the Order not to worry because he was sure Harry could handle it, but
Remus hated not being able to do anything.
6:59 PM
He would wait until seven.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
7:00 PM
Jumping up, Lupin seized a handful of floo powder. Throwing it jerkily into the flames he
stepped into the fire and yelled "Dumbledore's office."
Pulling himself out of the fire, Remus saw Albus Dumbledore sitting in a chair by his desk.
Looking up, Dumbledore smiled at Remus. "What is the matter?" he asked.
"They've been gone for twelve days at least!" Remus snapped, "We should go find them- help
them- how did you say the other four left?"
"Mr. Lupin, please take a seat." Dumbledore said. Remus obeyed, "the four delightful young
children who came to my office for help, said they knew exactly the name of the place they
needed to go and they had a perfect mental image- simply because we do not have those, we
will not be able to follow."
The werewolf put his head in his hands and closed his eyes.
*~
There was a woman in a strange robe standing next to a freshly brewed potion. Her eyes
were closed, but just barely. In her mind a picture was growing- of him.
*~
Remus opened his eyes and looked at the headmaster of Hogwarts. "Albus, I don't want to
lose Harry too," he said, "I've lost James, Lily, Sirius," Remus' voice caught in his
throat, but he cleared it quickly, "I can't- we just can't lose Harry too."
"We won't," the headmaster assured Remus, "They will find a way home."
Remus looked into the elder man's eyes- they didn't hold their usual twinkle. He was worried
too.
"We have to do something!" Remus said determinately, he began pacing the office. A knock
sounded at the door.
"Albus Dumbledore, let me in right now!"
Remus walked to the door and opened it. It was Tonks.
"Hello Nymphadora," Said Dumbledore.
"Tonks," she corrected. "Listen, do you realize those kids have been missing for eleven
days?"
"Twelve," muttered Remus.
"Twelve days." Said Nymphadora Tonks, correcting herself this time.
"Yes, I've just told him again that we should go after them!" Said Remus stubbornly.
"Let me guess, we STILL cannot go after them?!" said Tonks with an exasperated look about her.
"Yeah, that's about right," said Remus.
"Well, would you two like to come have dinner in the Great Hall? The food hasn't been put
away yet, because not all the staff have eaten," Dumbledore's eyes gave a glimmer, "and
you two are welcome to it."
They both accepted, mostly because they wanted to talk more with Dumbledore, but partially
because they had both been more worried about Harry, Ron and Hermione than making their
own dinners.
On the way out of Dumbledore's office, they ran into Professors Flitwick, Snape and
McGonagall. All three started talking at once when they saw Dumbledore. The headmaster
held up his hand and gestured for everyone to leave the stairs. Once everyone was out,
Dumbledore calmly stated that he had not eaten yet and was going to have dinner with
Nymphadora ("Tonks!" Tonks had snapped) and Remus.
The Great Hall was empty when they got there, except for a few students who were planning
what to do the next day- it was a Hogsmede weekend.
Remus was hardly eating: he was pondering various ways to get to- what had Dumbledore
said? Winding Circle?- when he felt a strange sensation. He felt as if someone was looking
for him- from the inside out.
Very strange.
"Albus. . ." he started but then he started to lose his voice.
Not being able to talk, he tapped Dumbledore on the shoulder. The headmaster turned and
looked inquiringly at Remus Lupin, who pointed at his throat, and then his stomach.
Quite suddenly, the Great Hall began to fade out of view.
*~*~*~*~*~
"Ouch!" Remus felt like he had been pulled backwards very fast. He had landed on the
ground, in the grass, most of him had been cushioned, but his head had happened upon a
pointy little rock.
Remus put his hand to the back of his head where he felt a large bump already forming and
a large sticky spot of what he could only imagine to be blood. Taking out his wand, he
conjured up some bandages and deftly bandaged his head. Looking around him he saw a huge
sign, sparkling with magic, that said simply "Direction office to your left, Dedicate
quarters to your right." Directly behind it was a wall that stretched a very long distance
in both directions and except for one gate directly in front of him, there seemed to be no
other entrance.
Remus walked through and turned left.
*~*~*~*~*~
"I honestly didn't come here!" Remus said, annoyed.
"Obviously you're here!"
"But I didn't MEAN to!" insisted Remus
"Well, what do you want ME to do about it?"
"It said DIRECTION OFFICE and I really need directing right about now!" snapped Remus.
"Well, I'm sorry, all I can tell you is that if you go that way you will reach Emelan, and
if you don't it's your fault! Now please LEAVE I have WORK TO DO!
Fuming, Remus wheeled around and stormed out of the direction office and stomped past the
entry guards.
"She's got a temper, eh?" One called after him.
"Temper," muttered Remus, glowering, "direction office!"
Stomp.
Stomp.
Stomp.
Stomp.
Remus Lupin continued on for a few minutes, intending to follow the path around the
perimeter of the circular place he had somehow ended up in, but he began down a smaller,
narrower path instead.
Walking past the rear of an unnaturally clean building, Remus heard a boy talking loudly.
Remus inched closer to the sound until he could hear the words.
The boy had finished, and now a raspy adult voice was saying, "I'm sorry, Briar, I didn't
mean to scare you off or anything!"
"You didn't scare me, exactly," said the boy, "I just wish you had said something about
bringing one of those," he paused, "things here. We don't need more of those!"
"But he may be able to help us- get you guys back to your original bodies and you can do
plant magic again. And he could help us get back to our world."
~*
Briar scowled at Sirius and backed away. This gaunt man that Harry called Sirius was more
scary than a werewolf, for sure. He could tell when to be suspicious of someone from all
those years on the streets- even if most of it was past him- this man was to be feared,
not trusted.
Turning slowly away from him, Briar ran. He ran as fast as he could away from Sirius (who
was in a side yard of the building they had just been in). He ran to the back of the
building.
~*
'"Back to our world," the one had said... maybe they are lost, like I am,' Remus thought.
The boy streaked past him.
It looked a little like Harry, Lupin thought, but he had thought so much about Harry that
he didn't think on it at all.
"Wait!" cried the raspy voice, alarmed, "Briar, don't go! I can't find the way back to
Discipline alone!"
Remus saw Sirius go racing after the boy, and pin him down. Remus did a double take, SIRIUS???
"Let- go- of- me!" yelled the boy, struggling violently.
"Sorry," said Sirius, and he recoiled slightly as the boy swung a kick at him.
"I'm just disappointed that the potion didn't work. I probably sent Remus to the middle of
some lake in China or something."
Remus' jaw dropped.
He ran over to Sirius and pulled him roughly to his feet. "PADFOOT!" he yelled happily,
"But you were-"
Remus looked over to the boy and almost dropped Sirius (who hadn't quite gotten his balance
yet) "Harry?"
"No!" snapped the boy, standing up and inching away slowly, "Briar! In Harry's body!
You're the werewolf aren't you?"
Remus' face stiffened. "Yes," he said, "But not for another three days. . ."
"No, Remmy, not for two weeks! Time is different here!"
"Sirius, I thought you were dead!" Said Remus.
"So did I," said Sirius, "It was Death Eaters. They got me, not quite sure how, but they did."
Remus tried not to imagine anything too horrible as his friend told him the brief version
of what he had told Harry days before.
Turning back to Briar, Sirius kindly asked, "Will you please take me and Moony back to
Discipline? I don't know the way, as I said before."
"Alright," grunted the boy, "But I'm doin' no more errands for Niko!"
Sirius smiled and followed Briar, every so often glancing at Remus to make sure he wouldn't
faint.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL!!!
Hope you liked ur new year's gift!
Lovely, eh?
New chapter, just in time for the new year (yeah it is exactly 1:00 here)
Just so you know, I AM quite crazy. *grins like a maniac*
Well here we go!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sirius awoke to find himself being healed by a women dressed in a long habit.
"It's alright, dear, just hold still and don't fight the healing," she said, kindly.
"I'll try not to," grumbled Sirius. He lay back down again and noticed vaguely that a
smooth, cold sensation was spreading throughout his whole body rapidly. After a few minutes
of healing, Sirius felt better. The healer left, to be replaced by a young lad carrying a
bowl of soup. Sirius finished it gratefully. Before the lad left, Sirius asked whether
Harry was anywhere nearby.
"I'll find him, sir," the young man said.
A few minutes later, eight children entered Sirius' room. Most of them started talking at once and until he raised his voice and demanded silence, they continued talking.
"Please pay attention," Sirius said
Everyone grew quiet.
"I need everyone to pay close attention," Sirius said, "We need to find a way to fix this little- er- problem."
After a few hours, the large group had still come no closer to a way to fix their dilemma, but Sirius' mood had been improved greatly.
He thought randomly that it was good to be around kids again, although a few of them seemed to be slightly hesitant to be friendly toward him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As Sirius thought about a spell that could possibly help their situation, he reached for
his wand and felt a piece of parchment in his pocket. Drawing it out, he remembered that
Remus had given it to him a few weeks ago- it was a list of potion ingredients needed to
brew the Wolfsbane potion that would keep him from turning into a fully-fledged monster.
Sirius read through the ingredients and smiled as he remembered how Remus had insisted
that he couldn't remember where he had misplaced a few, and then asked Sirius if he could
search Grimmauld Place for them... Sirius suspected that Remus had been just looking for
an excuse to keep Sirius occupied.
Remus.
He had always been the bookworm. . . it was true that Sirius and James were the smart ones,
they had not needed to study. Remus had always wanted to live up to his best friends (not
including Peter, Sirius thought bitterly) and had studied so many books. He would probably
be the most useful person to have around right now.
Looking quickly across the room, Sirius saw Niko settled into a chair deeply absorbed in a
book of magic.
"Niko?" Sirius inquired, "Do you, by any chance, know a spell that would bring a person. . .
uh. . . here?"
Looking up, Niko replied quietly, "I don't personally know any spells of that sort, but I
will direct you to someone who could help."
Niko stood up and walked over to a stack of slates and took a bit of chalk, and briskly
wrote something across it. He handed it to Sirius and said, "Take this to Dedicate Windwear,
she will tell you exactly what to do," Niko made to turn around and then remembered
something, "You might want to have Briar help you- he knows his way around Winding Circle a
little better than you."
"He's the one in Harry's body, right?" Said Sirius.
"Yes," Niko said settling back into his chair.
Sirius walked to the door and glanced outside. Ron's body was the first he spotted.
"Sandry?" He asked, "Have you seen Briar?"
Just then, Harry's body walked around the corner carrying a tiny little tree.
"Briar- what is that?" wondered Sirius.
"This is a Shakkan- a miniature tree. It is very old," Briar answered.
"Isn't it around One Hundred and Fifty?" Said Sandry.
Briar didn't answer Sandry, but turned to Sirius. Nervously he asked, "What is it you want
with me?"
Sirius could tell the boy didn't trust him. "Niko said you could help me. Will you take me
to Dedicate Windwear?"
Blinking, Briar turned to Sandry and handed his precious Shakkan to her. He nodded once to
Sirius and turned to begin the walk.
Alright, thought Sirius, gripping the slate tightly, I can do this.
Briar quickened his pace.
Sirius followed suite.
They walked in silence.
Finally, Sirius could tell the place they were headed for. Briar stopped. "You can go the
rest of the way," he said, "It's that building," Briar pointed at the building Sirius had
suspected.
"I'd much rather you came with me, Briar," said Sirius looking down on the young teenager.
Nodding, Briar began to walk toward the building again. He was in no mood to argue with
anyone, especially this strange man.
When they entered the building the first thing Sirius noticed was how perfectly crafted
everything was- not that anything was particularly elegant or fancy- just extremely well
done. Every piece of wood was polished carefully, the metal gleaming, and there was not a
speck of dust in the place.
The next thing Sirius took note of, was the fact that the Dedicates (he assumed this
because they were wearing robes-er habits- of style to match Rosethorn's and Lark's) were
all as clean and undefiled as the room.
"Er. . ." started Sirius to the nearest Dedicate (One with a black stripe on the hem of
his habit), "I need to talk to Dedicate Windwear." Sirius held out the slate. The Dedicate
nodded and set off down a hall.
Wondering whether to follow or not, Sirius took a step forward. Briar grabbed his arm and
shook his head.
Oh. Alright, I guess we don't follow, then.
A few minutes later the first Dedicate came back, shortly followed by another. The lady
behind him introduced herself as Dedicate Windwear and asked politely what she could help
them with. The other Dedicate left.
Sirius handed Windwear the slate Niko had given him. Dedicate Windwear looked at Briar
then at Sirius, and then beckoned them to follow her. She went back down the hallway she
had come from.
"Here I have all the necessary equipment. It will be easiest if you brew the potion.
Unfortunately I won't be able to work the magic until I have finished my morning
meditation, so if you'll excuse me? Here is the procedure you shall follow, call
Dedicate Brice if you have any problems finding the ingredients." Dedicate Windwear
made to head for the door when Sirius thought of something.
"Dedicate Windwear? Are there any- er- werewolves here in this place?"
"Yes, but don't worry, the full moon isn't for another two weeks and by then they will all
be enclosed where they won't hurt anyone."
"Oh," said Sirius aloud- in his mind he added; 'We'll just have to make sure we're out of
here by then.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Two hours later, when Sirius and Briar had almost finished the potion, Dedicate Windwear
returned and offered to finish the potion for them. Briar sat down gratefully, but Sirius
remained standing to help her.
"You two have done an excellent job," she said, "I've never known anyone to do this potion
quite right on their first try. Once I had a grown man come in here and try it (trying to
get his wife, I think) and he ended up blowing a hole in my roof and sending himself so far
South that he ended up in the middle of a frozen pond. We had quite a job finding him and
magically melting him out."
The Dedicate continued to tell horror stories of the results of various potions made wrong,
and for once Sirius was thankful that he had paid attention in Potions class.
When the potion was complete, Dedicate Windwear asked for the full name, physical
description of, and some background information on the person they were planning on
transporting.
"Full name: Remus Jonathan Lupin,"
"Let's see, physical description? Okay- moderately shabby appearance, some gray hair,
but mostly brown 'cause he's still young, er- moderate height, uh is that good?" said Sirius.
"That's fine," said Windwear- she appeared to Sirius to be trying to meditate (her eyes
were closed and she was breathing slowly.)
"Right, Background information, er- he is my age, went to Hogwarts school of witchcraft
and wizardry for seven years, he's a werewolf,"
When Sirius said the last bit, Windwear's eyes snapped open briefly, looked disbelievingly
at Sirius for a moment, and then closed slowly and Briar stood up in protest and started
to say something before he looked at Sirius and the Dedicate and then bolted for the door.
Sirius let him go.
"And lastly," said the Dedicate, "Where do you want him transported?"
"Er- Winding Circle, I guess," replied Sirius.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Twelve days.
TWELVE DAYS!
It had been twelve days since Harry, Ron, Hermione and the boy Snape favored had been
missing- or actually, according to Dumbledore, it had been longer.
Remus Lupin was getting frantic. What if they didn't ever make it back?
Dumbledore had told the Order not to worry because he was sure Harry could handle it, but
Remus hated not being able to do anything.
6:59 PM
He would wait until seven.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
7:00 PM
Jumping up, Lupin seized a handful of floo powder. Throwing it jerkily into the flames he
stepped into the fire and yelled "Dumbledore's office."
Pulling himself out of the fire, Remus saw Albus Dumbledore sitting in a chair by his desk.
Looking up, Dumbledore smiled at Remus. "What is the matter?" he asked.
"They've been gone for twelve days at least!" Remus snapped, "We should go find them- help
them- how did you say the other four left?"
"Mr. Lupin, please take a seat." Dumbledore said. Remus obeyed, "the four delightful young
children who came to my office for help, said they knew exactly the name of the place they
needed to go and they had a perfect mental image- simply because we do not have those, we
will not be able to follow."
The werewolf put his head in his hands and closed his eyes.
*~
There was a woman in a strange robe standing next to a freshly brewed potion. Her eyes
were closed, but just barely. In her mind a picture was growing- of him.
*~
Remus opened his eyes and looked at the headmaster of Hogwarts. "Albus, I don't want to
lose Harry too," he said, "I've lost James, Lily, Sirius," Remus' voice caught in his
throat, but he cleared it quickly, "I can't- we just can't lose Harry too."
"We won't," the headmaster assured Remus, "They will find a way home."
Remus looked into the elder man's eyes- they didn't hold their usual twinkle. He was worried
too.
"We have to do something!" Remus said determinately, he began pacing the office. A knock
sounded at the door.
"Albus Dumbledore, let me in right now!"
Remus walked to the door and opened it. It was Tonks.
"Hello Nymphadora," Said Dumbledore.
"Tonks," she corrected. "Listen, do you realize those kids have been missing for eleven
days?"
"Twelve," muttered Remus.
"Twelve days." Said Nymphadora Tonks, correcting herself this time.
"Yes, I've just told him again that we should go after them!" Said Remus stubbornly.
"Let me guess, we STILL cannot go after them?!" said Tonks with an exasperated look about her.
"Yeah, that's about right," said Remus.
"Well, would you two like to come have dinner in the Great Hall? The food hasn't been put
away yet, because not all the staff have eaten," Dumbledore's eyes gave a glimmer, "and
you two are welcome to it."
They both accepted, mostly because they wanted to talk more with Dumbledore, but partially
because they had both been more worried about Harry, Ron and Hermione than making their
own dinners.
On the way out of Dumbledore's office, they ran into Professors Flitwick, Snape and
McGonagall. All three started talking at once when they saw Dumbledore. The headmaster
held up his hand and gestured for everyone to leave the stairs. Once everyone was out,
Dumbledore calmly stated that he had not eaten yet and was going to have dinner with
Nymphadora ("Tonks!" Tonks had snapped) and Remus.
The Great Hall was empty when they got there, except for a few students who were planning
what to do the next day- it was a Hogsmede weekend.
Remus was hardly eating: he was pondering various ways to get to- what had Dumbledore
said? Winding Circle?- when he felt a strange sensation. He felt as if someone was looking
for him- from the inside out.
Very strange.
"Albus. . ." he started but then he started to lose his voice.
Not being able to talk, he tapped Dumbledore on the shoulder. The headmaster turned and
looked inquiringly at Remus Lupin, who pointed at his throat, and then his stomach.
Quite suddenly, the Great Hall began to fade out of view.
*~*~*~*~*~
"Ouch!" Remus felt like he had been pulled backwards very fast. He had landed on the
ground, in the grass, most of him had been cushioned, but his head had happened upon a
pointy little rock.
Remus put his hand to the back of his head where he felt a large bump already forming and
a large sticky spot of what he could only imagine to be blood. Taking out his wand, he
conjured up some bandages and deftly bandaged his head. Looking around him he saw a huge
sign, sparkling with magic, that said simply "Direction office to your left, Dedicate
quarters to your right." Directly behind it was a wall that stretched a very long distance
in both directions and except for one gate directly in front of him, there seemed to be no
other entrance.
Remus walked through and turned left.
*~*~*~*~*~
"I honestly didn't come here!" Remus said, annoyed.
"Obviously you're here!"
"But I didn't MEAN to!" insisted Remus
"Well, what do you want ME to do about it?"
"It said DIRECTION OFFICE and I really need directing right about now!" snapped Remus.
"Well, I'm sorry, all I can tell you is that if you go that way you will reach Emelan, and
if you don't it's your fault! Now please LEAVE I have WORK TO DO!
Fuming, Remus wheeled around and stormed out of the direction office and stomped past the
entry guards.
"She's got a temper, eh?" One called after him.
"Temper," muttered Remus, glowering, "direction office!"
Stomp.
Stomp.
Stomp.
Stomp.
Remus Lupin continued on for a few minutes, intending to follow the path around the
perimeter of the circular place he had somehow ended up in, but he began down a smaller,
narrower path instead.
Walking past the rear of an unnaturally clean building, Remus heard a boy talking loudly.
Remus inched closer to the sound until he could hear the words.
The boy had finished, and now a raspy adult voice was saying, "I'm sorry, Briar, I didn't
mean to scare you off or anything!"
"You didn't scare me, exactly," said the boy, "I just wish you had said something about
bringing one of those," he paused, "things here. We don't need more of those!"
"But he may be able to help us- get you guys back to your original bodies and you can do
plant magic again. And he could help us get back to our world."
~*
Briar scowled at Sirius and backed away. This gaunt man that Harry called Sirius was more
scary than a werewolf, for sure. He could tell when to be suspicious of someone from all
those years on the streets- even if most of it was past him- this man was to be feared,
not trusted.
Turning slowly away from him, Briar ran. He ran as fast as he could away from Sirius (who
was in a side yard of the building they had just been in). He ran to the back of the
building.
~*
'"Back to our world," the one had said... maybe they are lost, like I am,' Remus thought.
The boy streaked past him.
It looked a little like Harry, Lupin thought, but he had thought so much about Harry that
he didn't think on it at all.
"Wait!" cried the raspy voice, alarmed, "Briar, don't go! I can't find the way back to
Discipline alone!"
Remus saw Sirius go racing after the boy, and pin him down. Remus did a double take, SIRIUS???
"Let- go- of- me!" yelled the boy, struggling violently.
"Sorry," said Sirius, and he recoiled slightly as the boy swung a kick at him.
"I'm just disappointed that the potion didn't work. I probably sent Remus to the middle of
some lake in China or something."
Remus' jaw dropped.
He ran over to Sirius and pulled him roughly to his feet. "PADFOOT!" he yelled happily,
"But you were-"
Remus looked over to the boy and almost dropped Sirius (who hadn't quite gotten his balance
yet) "Harry?"
"No!" snapped the boy, standing up and inching away slowly, "Briar! In Harry's body!
You're the werewolf aren't you?"
Remus' face stiffened. "Yes," he said, "But not for another three days. . ."
"No, Remmy, not for two weeks! Time is different here!"
"Sirius, I thought you were dead!" Said Remus.
"So did I," said Sirius, "It was Death Eaters. They got me, not quite sure how, but they did."
Remus tried not to imagine anything too horrible as his friend told him the brief version
of what he had told Harry days before.
Turning back to Briar, Sirius kindly asked, "Will you please take me and Moony back to
Discipline? I don't know the way, as I said before."
"Alright," grunted the boy, "But I'm doin' no more errands for Niko!"
Sirius smiled and followed Briar, every so often glancing at Remus to make sure he wouldn't
faint.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL!!!
Hope you liked ur new year's gift!
Lovely, eh?