Chapter 12

She Never Grew Up

Sarah gave a moan as the sunlight flooded her room. She squinted her eyes until they adjusted to the light and then she got out of bed. Remus was coming back in just two days. Sarah found herself looking forward to his arrival even if she hardly knew him.

In times of great boredom he gave Sarah something to do, which was what she wanted more than anything. Running had lost the satisfaction that it had once given Sarah. She wanted badly to go back to Hogsmeade, but she would save it for another time, when she was really bored.

So today, Sarah decided she would just wander and explore the magnificent castle. She had already covered the first floor, but she was ready for a bigger adventure. An adventure that only the Forbidden Forest could provide.

Sarah opened the doors to her closet and put on jeans and a black t-shirt. Once she had reached the grounds, she realized how hard it would actually be to enter the forest unnoticed. Sarah sighed. Her adventure was ruined. Students flooded the ground from every angle. Her only alternative was to get used to the grounds, and save her marvelous adventure for another day.

After several hours, Sarah came to the conclusion that she would have to get up very early to enter the forest. So early that teachers would still be patrolling every square foot of the area. She felt very defeated, so she merely gave up and returned to her usual spot beneath the big oak tree.

"Professor Burn! Professor Burn!" a small and high pitched voice called from the lake. Sarah frowned when she saw the very small boy next to the water. How could a little kid like that get into Hogwarts? And on top of that, how did he know her name?

Sarah approached him carefully and smiled. "Hello," she said calmly. "My name's Sarah."

"My mom said to call you Professor Burn!" He said, as if this settled the matter.

"How about we compromise and you can call me Professor Sarah?"

The boy nodded. He had curly black hair and big brown eyes. His skin was a very dark cinnamon tone. "Professor Sarah," he said, as if try it out.

Sarah smiled and nodded. She sat cross legged in front of him and he followed the suit. "What's your name?"

"Alexander Shacklebolt," he told her proudly. The name rang a bell. Wasn't Shacklebolt the guy that Remus was supposed to be staying with?

"How old are you, Alexander?" Sarah asked.

"I'm seven and you can just call me Alex."

"Alex, what are you doing here?"

"My mum told me to come out here and play. She said you would watch me if I asked. That's why I called you."

"Your mom was right," Sarah said. She glanced at the castle but saw nothing. Why was Shacklebolt's son and his wife at Hogwarts and how did they know Sarah? Had something happened to Remus.

"My dad's an Auror. Did you know that?" Alex said.

Sarah gasped. "An Auror? That's quite impressive!"

Alex nodded. "I'm an Auror too, you know."

Sarah smiled. "Really? That's amazing. You must just be off guard right now, then."

Alex nodded and he put on a tough face. "Yup! I've been battling the…the…errrr…The Eaters of Death for quite some time now."

Sarah giggled. "You must be a fantastic dueler, if you're an Auror at age seven."

"Actually, I am an exceptional dueler."

"Hey Alex, is that your mom?" Sarah asked, pointing at the very pretty woman with deep skin that was walking towards them.

"Yes. She's having my baby sister in two months."

"Is that so?"

Alex nodded. Sarah stood up and held out her hand to the woman. She was young, maybe 27 or 28. "Hi, I'm Sarah Burn."

"I'm Sally. Can I talk with you?" she asked. Sarah nodded.

"Do you want me to get one of my seventh year's to watch Alex?" Sarah asked. Sally nodded. "Hannah! Hannah come over here. This is Alex. Can you watch him for me? Thank you."

Sally and Sarah walked back to the tree where Sally happy demeanor changed. "You're wondering why I'm here? Remus's protest didn't go so well. He wasn't really the one who protested, you see. He and three other blokes were just organizing it."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Sarah asked.

"Apparently a group of ministry employees' didn't really like the protesters sitting in the Ministry of Magic lobby every day, so she decided to end it. Instead of attacking the actual protesters, it would be easier to just kill the 4 organizers…wouldn't it?"

Sarah's eyes' widened. "So you're trying to say they killed…"

"No, no. Only one of the four was actually injured, but she should be fine. She's in St Mungo's hospital right now. Remus is in the hospital wing right now for a couple of cuts that he got on his way out."

"Wouldn't it have just been easier to just tell me this in a staff meeting?" Sarah asked.

Sally smiled. "My husband is telling the staff now, but Dumbledore wanted me to tell you separately. Kingley is talking about some more confidential things with the staff. They're all in the order and you aren't. Sorry.

"It's fine. I have no wish to join the order anyway. Can I see Remus?"

"Be my guest," Sally said and let Sarah pass. Sarah's heart was racing as to how she would find Remus. Sally hadn't given he any clues as to how scraped up Remus actually was. Thankfully he wasn't any worse then anything Sarah had seen before.

He was sitting on the edge of a bed wearing nothing but khaki trousers while Madam Pomfrey was mending a long cut on his torso. Sarah waited until she was finished before she stepped over the threshold of the door.

"Poppy! Stop. I'm fine, Poppy. Stop!" Remus said agitated.

Sarah walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Don't be a baby Remus. Stop whining," she said softly. Remus looked up at her and glared. Sarah kissed his forehead and then held her finger up to her lips.

Sarah walked around the bed to the side where Remus was sitting and she got on top of the bed. She tucked her foot underneath her and then straightened her other leg out behind Remus. With one hand on his closest shoulder and her chin resting on top of it, she ran her other hand threw his hair skillfully.

Remus immediately quieted down and closed his eyes. Madam Pomfrey looked relieved and also suspicious as she finished off with Remus.

"Well Remus, you're done for today, but I want you to stay over night in case you were hit with any curses that I missed."

Remus nodded but didn't open his eyes. Madam Pomfrey looked skeptical for a moment, but she left with her usual expression. Once she had closed the curtains Sarah removed herself from Remus. He cracked one eye open at her as she sat in the seat next to the bed.

"And here I thought you were just trying to make me feel better," Remus said in a mock said voice.

Sarah grinned. "Don't be ridiculous Remus! I was just trying to shut you up."

Remus let out a warm laugh and brought his legs up on the bed. He winced as he leaned against the headboard.

"I see that they managed to hurt your back," Sarah said more seriously.

"Obviously. I wouldn't have gotten so messed up if I had fought them, but I had an agreement with Dumbledore that I wasn't allowed to do anything violent at this convention."

Sarah grinned. "If Dumbledore had to advise you not to be violent, then I wonder what you have done before to make him think it necessary to give you such a warning."

Remus grinned also. "I'm not a liberty to say."

Sarah laughed again. "Then perhaps I should join the order to find out."

"Personally, I think there are better reasons to join the order."

"None of which would be beneficial to me. Except of course, finding out what you're not at liberty to tell me."

"Were you on some kind of a debate club in school or something?"

Sarah's eyes lit up. "Of course. I was on the Debate team. I didn't really like it except that I got to argue with a bunch of people."

"How predictable," Remus said as he rolled his eyes.

A/N: there is more to this chapter, but I wasn't really in the mood to write when I wrote it, and I don't know when I will be posting again.