The first meeting of the dueling club took place that Wednesday. Eunice and Gwen made their way to the large classroom that had been designated for the purpose. It had been set up with padding on the walls, which Gwen thought looked distinctly ominous.
"There," Eunice whispered, pointing. "Sirius! Let's go on over." Gwen rolled her eyes good-naturedly and followed her eager friend over to the handsome Gryffindor. Remus stood next to him, but Peter and James were nowhere to be seen.
"Where's James?" Eunice asked by way of an opening. Sirius seemed oblivious to Eunice's (and for that matter, all the other girls') attention, for which Gwen could only be thankful. Otherwise, she would've been embarrassed.
"Extra quidditch practice," Sirius said.
"That's right; he got in as seeker, didn't he?" Eunice asked.
"Yep. Pretty impressive for a first-year."
"What about Peter?" Gwen asked.
"Wasn't interested. Thank God," Sirius added with a bark-like laugh. "He'd probably blow someone up by accident!"
Eunice laughed, but she was the only one who did. Remus looked away. Gwen felt a little annoyed. Peter couldn't help being a bit of a screw-up, any more than Sirius could help being smart and talented. And Peter was his friend!
Madame Hooch entered. A young teacher with short brown hair and vaguely disturbing yellow eyes, she had recently been hired to teach basic flying and head the dueling club. She clapped her hands for attention, and the room fell silent.
"Alright, let's get into pairs," she said. Gwen and Eunice picked out a place as Professor McGonagall came in a took a place opposite Madame Hooch.
"Alright, first we'll demonstrate blocking," she said. "Professor McGonagall will attempt to disarm me, and I will block it."
They bowed to each other, then held out their wands like swords. "One… two… three!"
Professor McGonagall cried, "Expelliarmus!" and Madame Hooch wiggled her wand in a particular way. The flash of scarlet light deflected off and dispersed.
"Now this time, I won't block it, and you'll see proper disarming technique."
This time, when Professor McGonagall said, "Expelliarmus!" Madame Hooch didn't move. She was blasted backwards and hit the padded wall, her wand flying out of her hand. Professor McGonagall reached out and caught it deftly."
Madame Hooch stood and brushed off her robes. "Now you've sent the technique, let's see you try it."
Gwen managed to block Eunice's first shot, but Eunice wasn't fast enough, and Gwen's shot sent her flying into the padded wall. She barely caught her friend's wan.
"Wheeee!!!" Eunice said. "That was fun! Who knew getting beaten would be such a thrill?"
Gwen laughed. "Wouldn't be so much fun if the walls weren't padded. Want to do it again?"
Eunice picked herself up. "Much as I'd like to, Gwen, it's your turn to fly."
Gwen tossed her wand back. "We'll see," she said with a wicked half-grin.
Try as she might, Eunice couldn't catch Gwen off-guard. Gwen finally dropped her wand to her side and let her friend disarm her. When the blast of red light hit her, she felt as if someone had smacked her in the chest with a pillow and then picked her feet out from under her. She soared backward and hit the padded wall with a soft "foomf".
"Wow, that is fun!" she exclaimed.
Madame Hooch was walking around, observing the students. "Miss Wheeler, you seem to be having some trouble blocking," she said. "Why don't you switch partners with Mr. Black?"
As Eunice passed Gwen, she whispered, "Lucky!"
Gwen just smiled and shook her head as Sirius took his place opposite her. She knew why Madame Hooch had paired them off; Remus was also having trouble blocking Sirius, and she wanted to even the playing ground.
"Don't worry," Sirius said teasingly. "I'll be gentle."
"Ha," Gwen said aloud, and bowed. "One… two… three!"
Gwen blocked Sirius' first shot, and quicker than Sirius could respond, she cried, "Expelliarmus!" In three seconds, she was holding his wand as he looked up at her from the floor. She couldn't help smiling, just a little.
Sirius laughed. "Well, that'll teach me to underestimate my opponent!" he said cheerfully as he picked himself up. Gwen glanced over at Eunice. She and Remus seemed to be doing fine now that they were evenly matched. Gwen tossed Sirius' wand back to him and took a fencer's stance. "Shall we do that again?" she asked sweetly.
000
Remus received an owl the next morning at breakfast. While everyone else was opening their Daily Prophets and scarfing down their bacon and eggs, he slit open his letter with a butter knife and read the contents.
"Who's it from?" Sirius asked around a mouthful of toad-in-a-hole.
"My dad," Remus answered. He read for a few seconds. "My mum is sick."
"Oh, dear," Lily said, her brow wrinkling in concern.
"I'll have to go talk to McGonagall," Remus said, standing abruptly. "Maybe she'll give me permission to visit my mum and see how she is."
McGonagall did give permission; Remus entered the common room that evening with his jacket on.
"Are you going on the Knight Bus?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah; I've got to go down to Hogsmeade to meet it," Remus answered as he headed for the door.
"I hope your mum's alright," Lily called after him.
He turned and gave her a tight smile. "Thanks," he said, and was gone.
"He looks awfully drawn," Grace commented. "Dark circles under his eyes."
"He must be really worried about her," Gwen said, and then the conversation moved on to other things.
000
Gwen opened her eyes into watery half-light. It was well before time to get up; the sun had only just risen, and it was a damp, dreary day. Gwen rolled over, pulled the blanket over her head and tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. She got up and dressed, silently slipping out of the room past her sleeping roommates.
000
Remus opened his eyes into watery half-light. He hurt all over, just like he always did after a transformation. He sat up gingerly, feeling every bruise in his battered body. Moving to stand, he suddenly gasped involuntarily; his leg felt like it was on fire. He blinked back the little pricks of pained tears from his eyes, trying to see his leg. There was a great open gash in it where he had bitten himself. Remus groaned. Where was Madame Rue, the school nurse? She was supposed to be in the shack by now.
000
Gwen read by the fire in the common room for a few minutes until she grew bored. Setting the book aside with a sigh, she paced over to the window and looked out over the wet grounds.Some movement caught her eye not far from the whomping willow. Gwen squinted, then stared. It looked like Remus—but that was impossible! He had left the night before to visit his ill mother; she had seen him leave the common room herself. But it was definitely Remus. He seemed to be limping badly, and as she watched, he stumbled and nearly fell. Without thinking, Gwen ran from the common room and headed toward an outside door.
000
Remus gritted his teeth and dragged his leg forward, forcing it to support his weight. He knew that he needed to get in the castle and to the infirmary before anyone stirred, or he would be discovered. He had no idea what was keeping Madame Rue. Remus swore comprehensively under his breath between pained pants.
"Remus!"
His head shot up and cold fear blasted through him as he saw Gwen running across the wet grass toward him. He felt the blood drain from his already pale face.
"What happened?! Are you alright?" She laid a hand on his shoulder.
Remus didn't know whether he was more afraid that she would discover his secret or embarrassed that she had found him this way. He shook off her hand and snapped, "Nothing. I'm fine." But at that moment he slipped and nearly fell as his leg gave out under him.
"Sure you are," Gwen said a little sarcastically, but she took his arm and helped him across the grounds to the door. Remus didn't look at her, and if he hadn't been so pale he might have been blushing furiously. But despite his reaction to her, he was glad of her help and leaned on her arm.
Inside the door, Gwen paused. "If you wait here, I could go get Madame Rue…"
"No," Remus said. "I'll have to get up to the infirmary sooner or later. If you'll help me up the stairs?"
Gwen nodded and they began to make their laborious way up the stairs.
Remus paused to catch his breath at the first landing, and Madame Rue suddenly appeared, bearing down on them at a high speed. She stopped short for an instant as she looked over the situation.
"Did we have an accident, Mr. Lupin?" she asked.
Remus' mind worked quickly. "Yes," he lied. "The grass was slippery last night when I was heading to the gate, and I fell. Just my luck, I must've hit my head. I came to a little while ago."
"And ripped open your leg too, I see," Madame Rue tsked. "Well, we'll soon have you patched up." She bustled Remus up the stairs, leaving Gwen on the landing. Remus glanced back at her once with a strange expression on his face. Gwen didn't know what to make of it all.
As soon as Gwen was out of earshot, Madame Rue said, "I'm terribly sorry, Remus. Someone was pulling pranks, and Professor Gumboil kept growing extra fingers. As soon as I had one off, another would grow in its place… I couldn't get away until just now. You really should have waited for me!"
"I was worried something had happened," Remus replied through gritted teeth. "And I didn't think anyone else would be awake yet."
000
For reasons she wasn't sure of, Gwen didn't tell anyone about Remus. No one seemed to know anything about it. After a few hours, he appeared in the common room.
"Remus!" James hailed him. "I thought you were visiting your family?"
"I never got that far," Remus said with a self-deprecating smile. Gwen scrutinized him from across the room. He looked exhausted; he was pale and there were dark bruise-like marks under his eyes. Remus glanced over at her and away again very quickly. "I slipped on the way to the gate and knocked myself on the head. I must've been out a long time."
Everyone seemed to believe him. He fended off their questions by saying he was still a little groggy and was going to bed. Gwen's eyes never left him as he disappeared up the stairs to the dormitory.
Remus had mentioned nothing about the (now healed) gash he had had in his leg, or her little part in the story. And unless there were much sharper rocks out there than Gwen knew about, something in the tale was missing.
AN: Dun dun duuuunnnn!!! The plot thickens… Heh. I really liked that chapter. And it was longer than they usually end up. But don't expect that every time! I'm really bad about short chapters.
SilverRaiine: Thank you for the cookies! bites into one Mmm! Chocolate chip!
Tanny: Nope, I'm not British. I'm flattered that you think I am, though. I do try to make the writing sound as British as I can, but I can't always manage it. I do read a lot of British books, mostly Georgette Heyer's regency romances! So that doesn't help me with modern English… :) Eunice is my mom's name, and Grace is named after my great-aunt.
Please review! Thanks all!