Nothing feels better than waving Henry the final goodbye. Of course he tries convincing me to stay, which only shows me how right my decision was. Saying farewell to the other girls is much harder. "Good luck with him." Rita whispers "He looks really nice, very sad, but kind." "I know. He is."
It seems to be a long, silent way around a hundred corners and hidden ways until we finally reach an old house and then, in the third floor, Remus knocks on an old oaken door, with many wormholes. So this is going to be my future home.
"Who is there?" Severus sneers behind the door. "The lovely man you share this appartement with and a pretty young maiden" Remus seems more cheerful for a moment. The door is openend and Severus frowns at us. "I will have to let you in then, though I would prefer not to."
There are only three rooms – a bathroom, a bedroom – where hastily a third bunk bed has been put up and a sort of mix of kitchen and living room. But to me it seems like the world. "It is wonderful" I smilingly tell Remus. "Then your expectations must be really low." Snape criticizes.
It knocks on the door. Snape snorts and Remus gives him a disapproving glance while opening the door.
An old woman with frizzy grey hair and a deformed linnen dress stands there, looking quite convincingly like a female dragon. "Mr Loredon" she rasps in an unfeminine deep voice "I wondered if you would enjoy coming for tea this supper." She twitches with her right eye. "Jenny will be there."
When she takes notice of me, her eyebrows come together. "Oh, is this, lady" she spits the word out "your girlfriend? I really expected more of you." Remus blushes slightly and tells me sorry with his eyes. "Oh, no." he declines "She is Samuels girlfriend." Snape gives him an icy glare.
The old dragon seems to deem it fitting. "Well, is she not a bit young, for you? I guess in her profession" again the spitting out of a bad taste in her mouth, she even rubs the wooden cross around her neck "you have to take what you get." "Ah, tea at five…I am looking forward to meeting Jenny." Remus hastily assures the dragon and closes the door.
"Jenny? But I thought…" Snape looks almost amused at my wonderment. "Wait" Remus crams in a drawer next to his bed. "Here" He pulls out a picture of Jenny, who turns out to be a forty-year old version of the dragon, only with more weigth put on.
"A proof for only the inner beauty that counts" Snape mocks.
Remus shakes his head. "He knows I do it, because we would be homeless otherwise. I do not enjoy fooling anyone like that. I do not understand why Mrs Wrinkles wants me as a son-in-law anyway."
"What better than a shy, limping, poor, badly-dressed man that looks twenty years older his age?" Snape sneers. "Any offence unintended, Mr Sunshine?" Remus returns.
"Just do not mention my two small handicaps to her." Remus tells me.
Snape frowns. "The dragon believes that the cage is for some plays that I enjoy. She even asked John if I forced myself onto him." Snape looks definitely disgusted.
"I keep telling her that Samuel is my friend, but she does not believe me" Remus says exasperately. If I were not seeing it with my very own eyes, I would not have believed it either.
"What a luck she has not discovered your shrine yet."Snape warns. Remus drops his head. "Your shrine?" I ask him. "Oh, only Samuel calls it that way." He shows me a photograph of a younger Remus holding hands with an alive Sirius Black. Snape snorts and the picture Black kisses the picture Remus on the mouth as if to show him.
"Our dear Jenny is rather smitten with John – no idea why."
" I , on the other hand, can understand perfectly why she is deadly scared of Samuel."
And I find myself envying the three years the had spent together, while I had been alone.
Five oclock comes and Remus leaves for his tea with Jenny.
"Since John is occupied for at least an hour, you get to enjoy my company for that time. Keen on trying out some of the things the old dragon hinted I enjoy doing?" But Snapes voice is less mocking now.
He is much better at hiding his weariness, than Remus is, who does not even try to. But I can tell that five years leave noone unscathed, not even the grumpy, cynical former Potionsmaster.
He has lost his power of intimidating me. He is simply a tired man and I wonder how Neville could ever be that scared of him.
"Satisfied with my appearance, Miss Dark?" he snorts. "Minnie" I reply. I expect him to ignore my offer of first name basis, but instead he retorts "Then Samuel, Mr Sunshine is just asked too much." I wonder how the small girlish giggle escapes my mouth.
"Well Miss…Minnie, I had no idea my company is that entertaining." "Oh, but it is!"
"So how is your living-together arrangement?" I feel getting more relaxed, talking to Samuel is not as hard as answering to Snape always was. "I suppose you can get used to almost everything."
But in my ears he does not seem too unhappy. After all, what had I expected, getting him to admit that he has established a friendship with Remus Lupin. Not in this world. And I am even glad for it. It shows that at least some things never change. And that thought is comforting.
"Did you know he is…?" Severus sneers. "It was all too easy to notice the way he was always drooling all over Black at school. Not that the moron ever noticed until the order met at his estate. And then he foolishly gets himself killed to leave John alone again." And there was real sympathy for Remus in his words, although almost drowned by the still remaining hatred towards Black.
Remus returns with his scarred face quite neutrally, after an hour. "Enjoyed yourself?" Severus asks in a bored voice. "It is not as terrible as you make it sound, Samuel" Remus scolds him. "You know we should be grateful for this appartement. And Jenny is much more pleasant than her mother. Spending some time with her is better than living on the street, believe me."
My conscience pangs guiltily inside my mind. "I am sorry, that I caused you so much problems." The "moneterial" remains unspoken.
"No" Remus rather strongly states "We are very glad to have you here." And because he is honest Gryffindor Remus, I believe him.
"I will try to find an employment tomorrow" I tell them. I know my duties. "A decent one?" Severus raises his eyebrow. "Yes!" I tell him off.