Chapter 2

Meetings

Sarah and Remus had found an empty compartment, and apparently Remus had been very tired because as soon as he sat down he put his head on the window and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

Sarah smiled at him. Up close, she saw that he did look under the weather. His face was pale and there were dark circles beneath his eyes. He looked, although he had been smiling enthusiastically earlier, like he had been very lonely for a very long time.

Sarah liked him the moment she saw him. He was kind, calm. Sarah was kind and calm to the right people, but when someone got on her bad side, she wasn't as gentle.

For instance, her older brother had gotten on her bad side. His mere name (Jake) made her angry. He currently lived in California, America. He had hated his family from the start. He didn't like the house, his parents, his siblings, his money, his life. He had a problem with everything and was even pickier than Sarah, which was saying something.

He always yelled at Sarah's mother, calling her things so foul Sarah didn't dare repeat them. He yelled at Sarah as well, he had once gotten so angry that he slammed her into a wall. That was the beginning. Sarah didn't see any violence from him. But she saw the outcome. When she came home from Penn Forest each day, her mother had a new injury. Whether it was just a scratch or a broken limb, it was always there. Her father could hardly do anything about it. He left their family for months at a time for a business in Florida.

It really wasn't as bad as it seems, though. It didn't bother Sarah much. That seems awful, but Jake only started to become violent when he was a senior in high school. Sarah didn't like him at all. After his graduation he had gone out with his friends, gotten drunk, come home the next morning with a hangover, ordering Sarah around. Her mother told her to care for him when she went out to the grocery store. He told her to get him a warm cloth for his head. Sarah obliged grudgingly. When she gave it to him, he got angry that it was wet. That was the last straw for Sarah. She went on a rampage, screaming at him to get out. She had pushed him out, and she hadn't talked to him since.

Jake had called her years later. She picked up the phone while she was cooking. When she first heard his voice, she was angry. He apologized, telling her how much he regretted treating her and her family. She was near forgiving him. The pleading in his voice was indeed forgivable. But just as she had opened her mouth she recalled every morning she had gone to school late because her mother and brother were rowing. She recalled every weekend that she refused to let her friends come to her house because she was scared they would find out about her home life.

This isn't some tragic story about a beautiful woman with a tragic past. Sarah suffered no scars. She cried no tears. She dwelled on no pain.

Sarah gave a long sigh. She was about to take her sketch book from her bag when the compartment door opened. Sarah looked up. Four people were standing before her. She had seen them walked through the barrier. She smiled at them.

The red haired girl spoke up, "Sorry, but all the other compartments are full; do you care if we sit with you and Professor Lupin?"

"Of course not, you must have been taught by Professor Lupin before, if you know him," Sarah said.

"Oh yes, He taught us in our third year, well, Ginny in her second year," said the girl with brown hair. "I'm Hermione Granger by the way. That's Ron Weasley," she pointed the tall red headed boy, "That's Harry Potter," she pointed to the boy with messy black hair and very familiar green eyes, "And of course, Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister," she pointed to the pretty red head.

"You look a bit old you know," Ron said. Sarah was slightly amused at his straight forwardness. Hermione gave him a surprised and disapproving glare. "Uh, I mean, you know, for a student," he said hastily, as realization hit him.

Sarah laughed. "That would probably be because I'm not a student. I'm a teacher." Ron looked frightened.

"What do you teach? I mean, Professor Lupin said he was the DADA teacher. That's the only opening isn't it?" Ginny asked as she situated herself next to Lupin and Harry and beside Harry sat beside Ron. Hermione sat next to Sarah.

"I'm teaching DADA when Remus takes days off. He's been feeling a bit off color lately. But I'm teaching an elective for the 6th and 7th years when I'm not teaching DADA."

Hermione looked ecstatic. "Ooh, what elective are you teaching?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Planning to ask McGonagall for another time turner are you?" he asked.

Hermione scowled, "I never asked McGonagall for a time turner! She offered it to me!"

"Well whatever elective is, you'll take it," Ron said.

"So what's it to you if I do?" Hermione asked coldly. When she turned her head back to Sarah, Ron stuck his tongue out at her. Sarah laughed.

"I'm teaching an Occlumency course. Are you interested?"

Sarah noticed Hermione's excitement and apparently, so did Harry, whom she had never heard speak. "No," he said in a very hoarse voice. He sounded like he hadn't spoken in a year. Everyone looked at him. By their reactions, Harry hadn't spoken in a year.

"Harry it would be a good skill to learn…" Ginny began.

"No," Harry said again in a louder voice.

"But Harry, that's what got us into trouble last year! If you had learned-"

"Drop it Hermione," Ron said quietly, giving her a look of warning. No one said anything after that.

10 minutes later, Ginny spoke again, "We didn't catch your name."

"Sarah," she said. She turned her head to the window. When she looked back, Ginny was sleeping on Harry's shoulder and his head was rested on hers, and he eventually slept too. Ron's feet were resting in Hermione's lap and they were both sleeping as well.

Sarah took her sketch book from her bag, looking at Harry and Ginny, and she drew them. She completely forgot the world as she lost herself in the depths of her drawing. Her life vanished when she found herself looming among the gentle strokes of her pencil. She was jerked backed to reality when the train stopped. She shoved her sketch book back into her bag, knocked out of her calm daze.

Everyone was still asleep. She was about wake up Hermione because she was the closest, but Harry's familiar green eyes sprang into her mind. She turned away from Hermione and put a hand on Harry's shoulder, and shook him gently.

She learned, a bit too late, that Harry was very jumpy. He seized her wrist and opened his eyes as if ready to fight.

Sarah wrestled her arm from Harry's firm grip. "What is wrong with you?" she asked him angrily. He could have just been surprised, as that was what you would usually assume, but she knew that that was not the case. She knew from what she had seen of him so far, that he was just cold nature.

Harry didn't answer and Sarah opened her mouth to speak but a hand closed on her shoulder. Lupin had woken and Hermione seemed to be stirring as well.

They all got off the train, Ginny and Hermione talking quietly. Sarah and Remus were behind the group of four and Sarah was merely following them, having never been here before. She was about to get in the carriage, but Lupin grabbed her arm.

"This way," he said and he led her to a smaller carriage that seated 4 people. "Before, I rode this by myself. The other carriages are strictly for the students."

"Oh. What does Hogwarts look like? It must be big if the teachers live there."

Remus laughed, "It's huge. I went to school there. It's a castle. There's a lake and a forest, 7 floors…"

"Where do the students stay?" Sarah asked.

"In there house dormitory," Remus explained.

"What do you mean 'house'?"

"Well you see, Hogwarts was founded by 4 people, Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw. They all had different ideas as to who to admit to Hogwarts. Salazar wanted pure blood, Godric wanted bravery, Rowena wanted intelligence, and Helga didn't honestly care. So they each had a house, and while everyone with magic in Europe was admitted, they are put into different houses. Each house had a common room, which is a kind of lounge, and a girl's dormitory, and a boy's dormitory."

"What house were you in?" Sarah asked.

"Gryffindor," Remus said proudly. "Oh look! We're here!" He smiled and got out and then helped Sarah out of the carriage, and he took her duffle for her. 'A perfect gentleman' she thought.

Sarah gasped. She saw the school in amazement. "I thought you were exaggerating when you said it was a castle!" The school took her breath away. She had never seen anything so beautiful. "I don't believe I'll be living there!"

Remus laughed and draped his free arm around her shoulders. A completely casual thing for him to do, but somehow it startled Sarah and made her feel uneasy. His touch reminded her of her brother's before he had become so hateful. "Wait till you see the inside," he said, smiling happily. He didn't look tired anymore for some reason.

"I was just wondering, will you be starting out classes, or will I?" Sarah asked.

"Oh I'll be healthy by tomorrow. It's only 2 weeks a month that you have to teach my classes."

"Considering," Sarah said sharply, "that we are both teaching the class during for the same amount of time this year, I think it fair you refer to them as 'our' classes."

"Terribly sorry Professor Bern, but since you never wanted the job in the first place, I didn't expect you to become possessive of the title."

"I'm possessive of everything that is mine Professor Lupin."

They walked into the great hall, Sarah had gone speechless, and they sat at the staff table. Dumbledore made his usual announcements, the sorting started and ended, they ate and left. Sarah went to sleep with ease that night. Her first Occlumency class was the next day. She would wake up early that next day and prepare her classroom.