Call On Me

Chapter 18-Different Opinions

I hugged Caitlin tightly.

"Don't worry okay? We'll fight this," I said soothingly.

"She's just a little girl," Caitlin said pressing her face deep into my chest. "She doesn't deserve what happened to Sirius to happen to her. None of them do."

"I know," I said softly. "But if you remember, Danielle was the only one that drank the butterbeer. The others didn't touch it. So maybe it's isolated."

Caitlin wrapped her arms around me even more tightly. I held her for a while.

I released her and we headed down the corridor.

"I want to talk to Dumbledore," she announced.

"Sure," I said. "Come on."

We headed off to Dumbledore's office.

Professor Dumbledore looked up from behind his desk as we entered his office. His office door had been opened.

"What can I do for you two?" he asked pleasantly his blue eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles.

Caitlin immediately launched into the story.

Dumbledore listened intently as Caitlin spoke. When she was done, Dumbledore scratched his beard.

"So you think the same parasite that got into Sirius got in to Danielle?" he mused.

"I'm not sure, Professor," Caitlin sighed. "But she's certainly sick. So was Sirius when he had the parasite."

"And it's in the butterbeer?"

"That's the only thing she drank that would make sense," I said.

"Hmm," Dumbledore mused. "We'll keep an eye on her then. If anything, we'll administer the Vocis potion."

"That didn't work," Caitlin said gravely. "Sirius…it didn't work for him."

"I think that was because the parasite was already attached to his spine," Dumbledore said. "If we can get it before hand we might have a chance."

"So," Caitlin said slowly. "Had we given Sirius the potion before, he would be alright?"

"Not necessarily," Dumbledore said. "It still might have not worked."

"So the only thing we can do right now is keep an eye on her?" I asked tilting my head.

Dumbledore nodded.

"The minute she starts acting strangely, we'll hit her with the Vocis potion."

We nodded and left his office.

Caitlin wanted to check up on Danielle. Mario had been coming to see her almost every hour to check on her.

"You really care about her huh?" Caitlin asked softly.

Mario blushed.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Very much."

"Does she know?" Caitlin asked.

Mario shook his head.

"I've been too shy to tell her," he said sheepishly.

Caitlin smiled.

"Don't worry," she said earnestly. "I'm sure you will tell her when the timing is right."

Mario beamed.

We left the hospital wing and headed back to the common room.

Danielle was still the same…there had been no change in her condition.

Caitlin and I sat down on the couch. Lily came into the common room next from the girl's dorm.

"How's Danielle doing?" she asked concerned.

"No change," Caitlin said miserably. "None at all."

Lily looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm sure she'll be just fine," she said. "It might be nothing more than some kind of virus."

"We're sort of thinking outside 'virus'," I said slowly.

Lily looked at Caitlin and I.

"What? You mean the parasite?" she asked.

We nodded.

"But I thought everything was destroyed?" Lily continued. "How on earth could it be that again?"

"Because Danielle has the same symptoms as Sirius," Caitlin continued. "The exact same symptoms."

"Caitlin," Lily said gently. "I know how upset you are about Sirius and James. I lost James…whom I loved very much…but I highly doubt the same thing that 'killed' them is here now when it was in the Daily Prophet that the drink that was shipped from Romania had been destroyed…all of it."

Caitlin's honey brown eyes flashed.

"Are you saying that Remus and I are lying?"

"No, hun," Lily said gently. "I'm just saying before we go jumping to conclusions I think we should just wait and see what happens."

"By then it could be too late," Caitlin snapped. "Danielle is in serious trouble!"

I hated to admit it, but Lily did have a point. We really don't know if that parasite was in the butterbeer. It could very well be nothing more than a really bad strand of Muggle flu or some kind of virus.

I was silent and didn't voice my opinion.

Lily came over and gave Caitlin a hug.

"Listen," she said. "How about I go and talk to Madam Elkin for you okay? I'll see what's going on."

"Whatever," Caitlin growled angrily.

Lily left the common room and the portrait swung closed behind her.

Caitlin turned to me.

Her eyes were still filled with anger as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Let me guess," she said slowly. "You're siding with Lily? You think I'm jumping the gun here as well?"

Dang…how'd she do that? Scary…I thought.

"I'm not saying anything," I said wisely. "I'm not about to have you or Lily pissed at me."

"Gee," Caitlin said snottily. "That makes me feel a whole lot better."

She stood up and I stood up as well.

"Listen," I said patiently as I took her shoulders. "I'm sure there's something going on with Danielle…but what I'm not sure. I think it's best if we do wait and see what happens. The minute Danielle expresses the same tendencies we're going to give her the Vocis Potion okay?"

Caitlin avoided looking at me. She kept her head turned to the left and glared at the chair.

"Whatever," she snapped. "You go be with Lily since you two think so much alike."

With that, she stalked off out of the common room.

I sighed and sat down on the couch.

I headed to class to teach. Caitlin avoided me again. I hated fighting with her or arguing with her.

Kelly was doing well in my class. None of the Slytherins bothered her or anything and she was really doing well.

Once class was over, Kelly gave me a huge grin before gathering her things up and heading out of the class.

I'd decided to apologize to Caitlin and just left the classroom, when someone bumped into me.

Severus Snape.

"So," he smirked. "You and Miss Andrews are teaching here?"

"Yes," I said raising an eyebrow. "Where have you been for the past several days?"

Severus continued to smirk.

"I never knew Dumbledore to let an inhuman teach here, nevertheless Defense Against the Dark Arts," he said in an oily tone.

"Yeah, well," I said irritably. "I am teaching here and I'm gathering you wanted this job?"

I saw him flinch.

"This is even better," he said coldly. "We can watch the class fall apart."

"The class is just fine," I said in the same stiff tone.

At that moment, Kelly came toward us hugging her DATDA textbook. She froze when she saw Severus.

"P-Professor Lupin? I have a question about tonight's homework," she said uncertainly looking from Severus to me.

"What is it?" I snapped as I turned to her.

Her face drained of all color and she began backing away slowly.

"N-Nothing," she stammered. "Never mind."

With that, she turned and hurried off down the hall.

I moaned. I had been so annoyed with Severus that I'd snapped at her when she needed help.

"Obviously you aren't teaching the class very well if a student has a question," Snape said his dark eyes glittering maliciously.

"Flake off," I snapped at him and brushed past him, hurrying off down the corridor after Kelly.

I picked up her scent in the library. She was pouring over her DATDA book and another one, writing down notes from the second book.

I walked up to the table where she was.

"Kelly?" I said in a soft, gentle tone. "I'm sorry about snapping at you like that."

"It's fine," she said quickly without raising her head to look at me. "Excuse me, Professor…I've got to make sure your essay is done before tomorrow."

She gathered her things up and went to leave again, but I gently grabbed her elbows.

"What's wrong?" I demanded concerned.

She kept her eyes on the floor. I saw tears forming in her eyes.

"I just got an owl from my parents," she said quietly, her voice breaking. "My Dad is in the hospital. He had a heart attack. They don't know if he's going to be okay."

With that, she broke down and began sobbing hysterically.

"I'm so sorry," I said quietly.

I slowly wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. She pressed her face into my chest and sobbed harder.

"We don't know what we're going to do," she sobbed but her voice was muffled by my robe. "Dad took care of our home…if something happens to him, we might be out on the street."

Fresh sobs ransacked her shoulders.

"Listen," I said quietly. "Forget my essay alright? I want you to go and talk to Professor Andrews as well. Tell her what happened."

Kelly pulled back from my embrace and shyly wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Okay," she said and gave me a weak smile before leaving the library.

I felt so awful for her. I left the library and headed back to the common room before I taught the next class.

Caitlin came in next and headed right over to me.

"Kelly told me what happened," she said quietly. "Poor girl."

"I know," I said just as quietly. "I told her not to worry about my homework right now…but I want to do something to help her."

"Like what Remus? Tell her that if her Dad's dying there might be something else wrong with him?" Caitlin asked shrewdly and coldly. "That it might not be what they think?"

I looked up at her.

"Where'd that come from?" I asked stiffly.

"Oh, I don't know," Caitlin said angrily. "The fact that you're my boyfriend and you are supposed to side with me? I would really have appreciated the heads up that you are against me."

"I'm not against you," I continued, my temper getting the better of me. "I just think we should see if there's any proof to the parasite theory…and who says I'm supposed to side with you?"

Oops.

Caitlin's honey brown eyes flashed again dangerously.

"Fine," she said in a dangerously calm tone. "Don't bother siding with anyone because YOU'RE ALONE NOW."

She jumped to her feet and went to leave the common room at the same time Lily was coming in.

"Everything okay?" Lily asked uncertainly looking from me to Caitlin.

"Ask him," Caitlin snapped.

With that, she brushed past Lily and stepped into the hallway.

Immediately, immense guilt flooded over me. I jumped to my feet and tore after Caitlin, leaving a confused Lily in the common room.

CAITLIN.

I was so pissed at Remus. I thought he'd cared about me and believed in me. I guess I was wrong.

"Caitlin, wait!" Remus called behind me.

He jogged after me and grabbed my elbow, turning me around to face him. I just glared at him and waited for him to continue.

"What?" I asked stiffly.

"I'm really sorry," he apologized looking upset. "I didn't mean to upset you. I admit it is strange that Danielle has the same symptoms."

"You're just saying that so I can forgive you," I said shrewdly.

Remus looked even worse.

"No," he said quietly. "It's true. The more I thought about it the more I realized you're right. I thought you knew me better than that."

Now, I felt bad.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "Okay I forgive you…forgive me? Let's try not to fight anymore okay?"

Remus' expression brightened.

"Sure and you got a deal,"

I threw my arms around his neck and rested my chin on top of his shoulder. I felt his arms encircling me, drawing me closer and tighter against him.

I suddenly felt a tingle running down my spine. I pressed my face into his neck and nuzzled him.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," he whispered back pressing his face into my hair.

I slipped my hands into his pockets and looked up at him, grinning. I felt him tensing up.

REMUS.

Caitlin had slipped her hands into my pockets and I tensed up.

"Let's say we go back to the common room," she said grinning mischievously.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She nodded.

She took her hands out and we headed back to the common room. Lily had left and the room was silent and quiet except for the crackling fire.

She and I settled down on the soft hearth rug in front of the fire place.

I hovered above her and she began unbuckling my belt. I took off her robe so she now was lying in a bra and underwear. I kicked off my slacks and was now in shorts.

We continued to strip down until we were both naked.

I gently pressed my hips against hers and we began moving in rhythm.

CAITLIN.

Remus was moving so gently. He kept his eyes on mine the whole time.

I felt him becoming tight and tense with excitement which he released. My body responded.

Just then, a flash went off before my eyes:

I saw Sam and what he was doing to me…I saw myself struggling to push him off of me.

The flash vanished and I involuntarily pushed Remus off of me.

"Caitlin?" he asked alarmed. "What's wrong? What happened?"

He grabbed the Gryffindor blanket which had the house crest embroided on it and he wrapped it around us. I just slumped against him and pressed my face into his bare chest.