Chapter 41: Memory Lane
"Come in…" Remus said promptly, not looking up from his work as he heard a knock on his door. "Ah, Severus…please, come in…" he said more politely than friendly.
Severus Snape stood at the doorway of Remus's office, holding a smoking goblet, glancing around the room with a look of disdain.
"If you need anymore, I have another cauldron full in my office." Snape replied indifferently as he placed the goblet on Lupin's desk.
"Right, thank you Severus. I should probably stop by your office tomorrow for some more then." Remus said as he took a whiff of the potion and made a small face—"Er, just wait one second, Severus"—he said as Snape headed towards the door.
"Make it quick, Lupin"—
"I will." Remus said shortly, getting up from his desk, walking around it to see Snape eye to eye. "Just wanted a quick word with you about the lessons you were doing with my class while I was away. My third years were complaining that you jumped all the way to werewolves, and then assigned them to write two rolls of parchments"—
"What can I say? They were extremely behind"—
"NEWT exams don't even require two rolls of parchments for their essays, Severus." Remus cut in. "And I'm sure you know as well as I do that my students are not due to cover werewolves until end of next term."
Snape took a step closer to Lupin, so they stood only a foot apart. "Tell me, Lupin. Why are you so afraid of teaching your class about werewolves? It's your expertise, after all. You're not afraid of them finding out, are you?"
"It's not a matter of them finding out, or of expertise. It's a matter of staying with curriculum. Look, all I'm saying is that if you want to go about with your personal vendetta against me, that's fine, but you've no right to go off my lesson plan for the sake of vengeance."
Snape's eyes narrowed to slits as he made a fist in his robe pocket. "Why you insufferable"—
"Ah, Severus!"
Lupin and Snape turned towards the door, only to find Dumbledore standing there, looking at the two professors quite cheerfully.
"I thought I'd find you here. I saw the cauldron of wolfbane bubbling in your office…" the headmaster said to Snape. He looked from one professor to the other, seeming to detect a flicker of tension in the room. "I beg your pardon, I didn't mean to interrupt"—
"Not at all, headmaster," Snape replied coolly. "I was just leaving. You wanted to speak to me?"
"Yes, it's about those upcoming OWLs, one of the proctors sent me a list of the ingredients needed for the potions examination…" Dumbledore said, his voice trailing off as he left the office, followed by Snape. The latter however, looked over his shoulder and gave his colleague a final glare before shutting the office door….
Remus sighed as the door slammed shut. He wondered if confronting Snape was a bad idea…after all, he was the man who was brewing his wolfbane potion. No…Snape wouldn't try poisoning him, not under Dumbledore's nose…though he found it to be a quite unsettling thought in knowing that Snape wouldn't hesitate to poison him, given the chance. But what was he supposed to do? Pretend he didn't mind that Snape taught his class about werewolves? Remus wondered if any of the students had caught on; after all, they were given a couple of hints. Aside from the fact that he was always ill around the full moon, he remembered his boggart turning into the moon in front of the entire class during their first lesson. But then he heard one of the students commenting to a classmate, "Wonder why Professor Lupin's afraid of crystal balls…"
Remus smiled slightly. Crystal balls. He wasn't exactly terrified of them, but they did look reminiscently like full moons, with its perfect spherical shape, mists of fog floating mystically around it…
Remus took a sip of wolfbane potion and shuttered. Absolutely disgusting… 'Well, it could be worse', he told himself as he took another sip. 'You could be without the potion, and have to transform into a real werewolf…'
As he finished off his potion and headed out of his office and through the corridors, Remus thought of his last class, and the conversation he had with Harry Potter afterwards. He had only wanted to see Potter after class to ask him how he was, after hearing about how horrible his Quidditch match had gone against Hufflepuff. He was astounded to hear from McGonagall that Harry had fallen over fifty feet from his broom, which in turn had been crushed by the Whomping Willow. However, Lupin was taken quite by surprise when his student offhandedly mentioned Sirius Black in their conversation…
Of course he'd have known who Sirius was by now…but how much did he know? According to Dumbledore, Harry wasn't yet aware of the fact that Sirius was still his godfather, nor was he aware of how tied in Sirius was to the death of the Potters…
A part of Remus wanted Harry to know the truth about Sirius; Harry deserved the truth…but another part of him wanted Harry in the dark…the truth would torment him, and Harry had suffered enough, in Lupin's mind…
Well, there was no point in worrying about it, he was in no position to tell Harry anything…If the ministry wanted Harry to know, if Dumbledore wanted Harry to know…they'd tell him. Right now, Lupin's only job was to come up with a lesson plan for Harry next term. He assured the boy after their talk that after the holidays, he, Lupin, would teach Harry the defenses against dementors. There was only one defense, the patronus charm. But it was very advanced. How would Harry master it in such short time? Better yet, how would Remus even go about in teaching Harry this defense? They needed a dementor to practice on…but they couldn't use a real one; aside from the fact that it was too dangerous, Dumbledore would never allow it. He'd think about it during the break, Remus thought as he smiled and nodded as he passed by one of first year students in the halls. Right now though, he needed a break. Perhaps a quick trip to Honeydukes before dinner to restock his chocolate supply….Just then, a soft, misty sort of voice behind him made him jump.
"How wonderful to see you in the physical world…"
Remus turned around and sighed. "Oh, hello Sibyll," he said, smiling weakly at her, "Good to see you in the physical world as well…"
Sibyll Trelawney smiled and stared at Remus through her giant glasses, which magnified her eyes several times their actual size. She reminded Remus greatly of an insect…
"Yes…I do try to make an appearance once in a while…though not too often…I find that all the hustle and bustle in the corridor clouds my sight…the inner eye"—
"…relies heavily on clarity, I know…" Remus said with a smile. "Very good of you to take such care of your inner eye. Goodness knows how difficult it'd be to teach with that clouded up…"
Trelawney nodded and smiled sadly, still staring avidly at Lupin. "Dear boy, few people outside yourself truly appreciate the delicate art of divination…if they only knew how difficult it is to keep one's inner eye cleansed…and open…to keep one's aura"—
"Beg your pardon, Sibyll…I need to be going"—Remus said, trying not to sound annoyed at being called a boy—"Not feeling particularly well"—
"Of course"—Trelawney said, raising her voice slightly for dramatics as she put a hand to Remus's cheek—"my dear professor, you look very ill! I am afraid to say that I foresaw this many a night ago…"
"Right…well, I'll recover soon enough…" Remus replied, backing away slightly from Trelawney.
"I wouldn't be too sure of that…" she replied quietly. "I am afraid your time runs short"—
"Yes, I am a bit short on time, now that you mention it," Remus said quickly, taking a few steps further away from the professor before she could touch him again, "I should go"—
"Oh, but let me crystal gaze for you, professor," she said in a higher voice, "let us look into your future…let us look beyond"—
"No that's quite alright!" Remus said over his shoulder as he hurried away...
He shuddered at the thought of crystal gazing with Trelawney…she was one of the few staff members who didn't know of his condition, as she was usually in her own world during staff meetings, and frankly, Remus preferred to keep it that way. He hated to imagine her gazing into her moonlike orb, staring fixedly on a werewolf howling into the night…He wasn't being silly in feeling uneasy around her, was he? While she seemed like an old fraud most of the time, Remus knew not to underestimate the woman. She was the one, after all, who had predicted Harry and Voldemort's future many years ago…who knew how many prophecies were left in her that were yet to be made…
Nora Nakofsky galloped excitedly down the stairs as she heard the doorbell ring.
"I'll get it!!" she shouted as she landed hard at the foot of the stairs.
"Straighten the rug!" her mother shouted from the kitchen. Nora looked down, and just as her mum had predicted, Nora had disturbed the rug that rested underneath her with her landing. She stamped her foot down to straighten the creases in the rug, and hurried down the hall. The bell rang again, this time to the tune of "Joy to the World"….Nora grinned. She only knew one person who charmed their bell to ring song tunes when she came over…
Nora opened the door and squealed in the same high pitched tone as the woman standing in front of her did as they embraced.
"Kierra!!" Nora shouted as she felt herself being lifted off the floor by her aunt. "AAH Put me down!!"
Kierra laughed as she dropped her niece. "How's my favorite niece?"
Nora grinned wryly. "Your only niece…I'm fine…here, let me take your stuff"—
"Aah, we thought it was you…'Joy to the World', eh?" came a male's voice from behind them. They turned around to see Nora's parents coming out of the kitchen.
Kierra grinned as she hugged her brother. "Better than last time, you have to admit…"
"Yes, what was it last time?" Kierra's sister-in-law asked with a smile, "Something by Michael Jackson, right?"
Kierra laughed as she hugged her sister-in-law. "Yes, it was…I promise, no more Michael…"
"…and no more M.C. Hammer, please…" her brother interjected.
"Aw, Harvey, you stink! You have no appreciation for muggle music…" Kierra said.
"And you have no appreciation for wizard music…" Harvey replied.
"Ok, enough on music…you two always get nutty when we talk about music…" Janine interrupted. "Let's go to the living room, I bet you're tired Kierra…Nora, honey, I was just making some tea on the stove. Go get a cup for your aunt"—
"Oh, water will be fine," Kierra said quickly as she followed her brother and sister-in-law into the living room, "I'm not really tired…I was asleep most of the trip…"
Harvey rolled his eyes. "Only you would fall asleep on the Knight bus…They still have that mad driver, don't they?"
"Yea," Kierra replied, "but I was beat when I got on the bus…I was up the entire night before, I was trying to get all my work done before coming here…"
"So are you teaching yet?" Nora asked as she came in with a glass of water for her aunt.
Kierra shook her head. "Not just yet…apparently all that teaching in the States didn't count for much…I think I'll be starting next school year…right now I'm busy doing a lot of research…in fact, I might be going to Egypt in another month or so, to help out with an excavation…I'll probably be going with one of my colleagues, Pierre..."
"Egypt? Oh cool! One of my friends went to Egypt over the summer…" Nora said excitedly. "Said she saw the pyramids…"
"What exactly are you going to be doing there?" Harvey inquired.
"Well, apparently some interesting artifacts have been found inside the Great Pyramid…they weren't discovered until recently because of some incredibly complex charms that were placed on some of the chambers…Anyway, it might help us better fill in some of the gaps we find in magical history…"
"Sounds fascinating…" Janine chimed in. "I heard the Egyptian wizards were incredibly advanced for their time…"
Kierra nodded as she took a sip of water. "They were. That's why I've spent half this year researching their work in charms and transfiguration…it's just so complex…"
There was a small pause in the conversation as Kierra put her empty glass on the coffee table. She turned to Nora, who sat next to her, and smiled. "So, how's school going for you? Second year, huh?"
Nora nodded. "It's going alright so far…"
"Doing well in all your classes I'm sure…"
"More or less…" Nora said with a small smile.
"Speaking of which," her mother cut in as she got up, "you haven't even touched your schoolbag since you came home…"
"Aw mum…come on"—
"yea, come on, mum!" Kierra chimed in. "Give her a break, Janine, it's the holidays!"
Janine shook her head. "I don't want you saving your homework until the last minute. At least do a little every day…"
"Ah, mum I don't have that much…I'll do it, don't worry…"
Janine sighed as she headed back to the kitchen. "Fine, whatever."
"Need some help getting dinner ready?" Nora called after her mum.
"That'd be great!"
"Oh, I'll help too"—Kierra started to get up but was pulled back down by her brother.
"It's alright—you two sit and chat, I'll help her."
"Why do I sense you have ulterior motives?" Kierra asked, looking at her brother suspiciously.
"Because I do," her brother replied with a grin. "See, we're trying to keep our house from burning down again…"
"Hey, that was just the kitchen curtain last time!" Kierra called after him as he got up and left.
"So…" Kierra said with a mischievous grin as she was left alone with her niece. "What's up?"
Nora laughed. "Not much, if you're referring to my love life, as I'm sure you are…"
Kierra's mouth fell open in mock-surprise. "Why, whatever do you mean?" she asked.
"I'm only twelve, you know…"
"So? I had my first crush at seven!"
"Yes, well, you're Kierra…you like to move faster than everyone else…" Nora said with a grin.
"So there's no one?" Kierra asked with a note of disappointment in her voice.
"Not really…I'm sorry…try again next year, maybe…" Nora laughed.
"I am thoroughly disappointed in you, Nora…I was hoping by now…"
"Hey I'm not the only one! I don't know any girls in my year who fancy any of the guys…well, except one of my friends—Ginny Weasley, she's the one who went to Egypt—she's had a crush on Harry Potter since forever…I think her older brother is best friends with him, and he came over to their house in the summer…told me she spent most of her time hiding in her room because she didn't know what to say to him…Oh, that reminds me, she brought me back a really cool souvenir, let me show you…" and Nora ran over to her trunk, which she had left in the living room, and began digging through it…
"Harry Potter?" Kierra asked with a note of amusement in her voice.
"Yea…I know…I think a lot of girls like him, being famous and all…I mean, he's not too bad looking either, I guess…but I don't know what he's like in person, I've never talked to him…although I guess he's really brave, because last year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and Harry fought a basilisk or something…"
"A basilisk?"
"Yea, I'm not sure about the details…it was all hushed up, I heard you-know-who had something to do with it…or Salazar Slytherin…and something about someone getting possessed and petrifying people…I dunno, but after that whole incident, Ginny was completely infatuated with him…"
"Sounds like a regular hero…" Kierra said.
"He is…and he's really good at quidditch. I heard he got on the team in his first year, and he didn't even try out…apparently McGonagall saw him once during flying lessons, and she was impressed…"
"Really? What position does he play?"
"Seeker…"
"He's not an egotistical, trouble making, loudmouth, is he?"
"Not really…surprisingly, through all that fame…he seems modest…but then again, I've never talked to him, so I don't know…why?"
"That's how his father was…" Kierra said with a distant smile.
Nora looked up from her digging and stared at Kierra. "You knew his dad?" she asked.
"Yea…he was a very good man, but a bit of a prat growing up…I knew his mum too…we were friends at Hogwarts…"
"Really? I didn't know"—
"Found that souvenir yet?" Kierra asked quickly.
"Oh…no not yet…" Nora said, returning to her digging. "Hmm, maybe I left it at Hogwarts…"
Kierra wondered now about Harry Potter. She hadn't thought about in ages, except once a couple of years ago when Hagrid wrote to her, asking for photos of Harry's parents…What did he look like? Was he anything like his parents? He was good at quidditch, and seemed to be the heroic sort…sounded a lot like James…
"Ah, here it is!" Nora announced as she pulled out a rather long, colorful quill. "I forget the name of the bird it comes from…but it's a native of Egypt"—
"It's very pretty…" Kierra said, taking the quill in her hand. "Can't say I recognize the feather though…"
After taking a moment to study the quill, Kierra leaned forward to replace the quill in Nora's trunk. "Wow, lots of books you've got here…" she commented.
"Yea, I needed them all. You'd think the teachers would cut us some slack with the holidays and all…I got homework in almost all my classes!" Nora said with a frown.
"Oh, that's just cruel…" Kierra said. "I'm imagining that McGonagall's amongst the group of evil professors who gave you homework? And Snape too, I'll bet…Sometimes I wonder if Dumbledore's gone senile…what on earth possessed him to hire that man?"
Nora nodded. "They showed us no mercy…actually no one really did…the only professors that didn't give us homework over the holidays was Flitwick and Lupin!"
"Sorry, who?" Kierra asked suddenly.
"You know Flitwick, you said he was teaching when you were there," Nora replied, "and Professor Lupin, he's new this year…teaching defense against the dark arts…he's loads better than that Lockhart…"
"Lupin?" Kierra asked. Was it… "What's his first name?"
"Er…oh, I think it's Remus…why? Do you know him?" Nora asked.
Kierra's mouth fell open in surprise as she stared at her niece. Then she laughed.
"He's teaching you guys??" Kierra asked in an amused voice.
"Clearly you do know him then…" Nora replied, looking at her aunt curiously. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing…" Kierra said, regaining he composure, though she still had an amused look about her. "I just haven't seen him in ages…not since I broke up with him…"
"You dated professor Lupin??" Nora asked incredulously. "No way…"
"It was a long time ago…when we were at Hogwarts, actually"—she said, and after a moment of consideration, she smiled—"Professor Lupin…has a nice ring to it…"
"I can't believe you went out with him…" Nora said. "For how long?"
"Oh…less than a year, I think it was…started going out sometime during out seventh year, and I remember breaking up with him when I got my job in the States…"
"Aww…you left him?" Nora asked.
"Well, I didn't have much of a choice, did I?" I was moving! We were bound to beak up anyway, we fought quite a bit…had a few mini breakups while we were dating…"
"Gee, I wonder who started the fights…" Nora said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, it takes two people to start a fight, missy!" Kierra retorted.
Nora laughed. "I'm just teasing you…though I can't imagine Professor Lupin fighting with anyone, or even getting angry…he's so nice!"
Kierra snorted. "I see that he still keeps up with his good boy image…so…how is he as a professor?"
"He's really good," Nora replied, "he explains everything really well, and makes class interesting…"
"Sounds like him…"
"…only, I feel bad for him…he looks so tired and weak sometimes, and he gets sick often," Nora continued, "he's missed class a few times too…and he's always wearing shabby looking robes…I mean, I'm not shallow, I don't care about his clothes…but once in a while I hear snide remarks from kids…they're usually Slytherins…" she said with a look of disgust on her face. "Was he like that when you knew him?"
Kierra sighed and frowned slightly. "Well, he was always on the skinny side…I'm starting to feel bad now that I teased him about it all the time…"
"…he wasn't always sick, was he?"
"Er…no…" Kierra said quickly. "Not that I recall…"
"So…what was he like?" Nora asked suddenly.
Kierra raised an eyebrow at her. "I think you'd know better than me…I haven't seen him in like"—Kierra paused to count the years since she moved to the States—"fourteen years…he's kind of fuzzy in my memory…you see him all the time now"—
"But I don't know him…I don't talk to him much outside class…"
Kierra smiled. "Well, he was really nice…good student…he was a prefect"—
"I mean what was he like as a boyfriend?" Nora interjected.
"Oh"—Kierra considered the question for a moment and smiled—"Well…he was a good kisser…man, did he know how to use his tongue"—
"Ew, Kierra!"
"What?" Kierra asked, looking at her niece innocently.
"Not that…"
"I know, I was messing around," Kierra said with a laugh, "I was just trying to gross you out…"
"Well, you've succeeded…" Nora replied, making a face.
Kierra laughed. "Sorry…although…now that I think about it…he probably could've put France to shame, the way he used to French"—
"Kierra! Stop!" Nora whined. "Don't make me lose my respect for him! Geez, I just wanted to know what kind of boyfriend he was…and you're telling me this dirty stuff…if mum knew"—
"She knows me pretty well…" Kierra said. "I guess she doesn't mind me corrupting your sweet little head…"
"Kierra…"
"Right…well, Remus was a nice boyfriend…I don't know what else to say of him…" Kierra said with a laugh.
"Was he romantic?"
Kierra thought back… "Yea…" she said slowly, "not sweep you off your feet romantic…wasn't exactly a Don Juan…but yes, he was romantic…definitely, very"— Kierra stopped in mid-sentence and looked at Nora with mingled curiosity and amusement. "Why did you want to know?" she asked.
"I don't know…just curious, I guess…" Nora replied—"What??"
Kierra was now looking at her with pure amusement
"I guess there's someone after all…" Kierra said with a mischievous smile.
"Sorry?"
"Your first little school girl crush! It's Professor Luuuupin!" Kierra giggled.
"What? What are you talking about??" Nora demanded, her ears turning slightly pink.
"Oh, it's no big deal! Everyone fancies a professor at some point in their academic careers!"
"But I don't"—
"Then why are you blushing?"
"Because you're accusing me! Kierra…look, that's gross…I mean, he's nice and everything, I like him a lot as a professor…but I don't fancy him like that…never have, never will…"
"Mmm hmmm…" Kierra mumbled smugly as she got up and headed towards the kitchen.
Nora followed after her.
"Kierra!" she whined. "I—do—not—fancy—Professor—Lupin—Oh, mum, dad!"
Kierra bit her lip to keep from laughing as Nora blushed even more.
"You fancy professor Lupin? The new guy?" Nora's mum asked, looking curiously at her daughter, and then turning to Kierra, who only shrugged.
"No! I don't! Kierra's just making fun of me…" Nora said quickly. "it's just not right…he's too old"—
"Hey, who are you calling old? He's the same age as me!" Kierra said.
"Do you know Lupin, Kierra?" Harvey asked.
"Well"—
"Yea, she used to date him…" Nora answered.
"Him, and every other wizard in England—ow!" Harvey yelped in pain as Kierra kicked him in the shin. "I was just kidding, sis!"
"Did Harvey and I ever meet him?" Janine asked. "The name Lupin does sound kind of familiar…"
Kierra shook her head. "No, you guys never met him…but you would've heard about him….I had a huge crush on him for over a year before we even started dating…I remember talking about him nonstop to you…" she added with a grin.
Janine stared at Kierra, and realization seemed to dawn on her as her mouth fell open. "Wait a minute," Janine started, looking warily at Kierra, "was he the one…that boy you went to visit over the holidays that one year?"
Kierra laughed. "I completely forgot about that! Yes, that was the boy"—
"Was he the same one…you…you know, at his house…" Janine said, "…and his parents caught you guys…"
Kierra gasped. "Oh, I completely forgot about that one too! Yes…that was him…"
"What'd you do?" Nora asked suddenly.
"Nothing…" Janine and Kierra said at once.
"Come on, what'd you do? What'd his parents catch you guys"—
"They didn't catch us…God, that'd be horrible…" Kierra said with a shutter. "They just found out…"
"Found out what?" Nora pressed her.
"Never mind…" Kierra said quickly. She felt herself go a little pink.
"Fine…I'll just ask Professor Lupin when I get back to school…" Nora said as she joined her father at the kitchen table for dinner. "I'll ask him what he and my aunt did at his house over the holidays that his parents found out about…"
"You'll do no such thing," Nora's mother cut in as she and Kierra joined them, "you'll only embarrass yourself in front of him, and you'll feel awkward around him the rest of the school year…"
"Why? Why would I feel awkward?" Nora asked. "What'd you guys do??"
"You know, there's a reason I left you guys and started on dinner without you all…" Nora's dad said. "I had a feeling I knew where this conversation was heading…I really don't to hear about it…Kierra's my little sister"—
"Wait a sec!" Janine cut in. "I remember that holiday! Harvey and I came to your house for Christmas," she said, turning to Kierra. "And you were going to his house…and your mum even gave you that whole talk…oh that was rich…you coming back from his house doing the exact opposite"—
"Aaah guys, come on, I'm losing my appetite!" Harvey interjected.
"I wanna know!" Nora whined. "What'd grandma talk to you about?"
"Harvey's right, let's drop this subject of Lupin…" Kierra said suddenly. "Nora, pass the potatoes…"
Nora frowned as she handed her aunt the dish. Kierra in return only smiled. "If you drop the subject and not ask me any questions, I'll give you a few pre-Christmas presents after dessert…I've got some lovely little French things for you!"
With that said, a small smile peaked from the side of Nora's mouth. "Deal." She said.