Listen To Your Heart

Chapter Sixteen-The Gathering

4 Months Later.

The Lupin's were so sweet. I really enjoyed staying with them.

Remus constantly sent owls to everyone letting them know how I was doing and stuff.

"That was really kind of you to take me in," I said softly as I sat outside on the Lupin's stoop. The evening sky was nearly midnight with stars that twinkled merrily. A full moon hung in the sky as clouds skirted over it.

"No big," Remus said shrugging.

"One question," I said turning to him. He was sitting beside me.

"What's that?"

"When you change here, where do you go?"

"The basement," Remus replied. "I'm usually chained up there so I don't escape."

"When I went to touch you, you growled at me," I said. "Why?"

"Because I'm dangerous, Rose," Remus said.

"Dangerous my ass," I said. "You saved me from Eric before Severus came."

Remus blushed.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "But a majority of the time I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm afraid that I might hurt someone…especially you."

He blushed even more.

I smiled.

"Listen," I said softly putting a hand on his arm. "I know damn well you won't hurt me. And I'm not going to stop hanging around with you because of your 'furry' little problem once a month."

Remus smiled back.

"Thanks, Rose,"

I then lightly punched him on the shoulder.

"No problem," I grinned.

That night, Remus headed down to the basement. He had a cage set up toward the back. He entered the cage and closed it behind him, locking himself inside.

"It's strictly for protection," Remus reminded me seeing the shocked and upset expression on my face. "That's why we went to the Shrieking Shack. James, Sam, Sirius and Peter aren't here right now. There's no one to keep an eye on me."

"I'll stay," I offered.

Remus shook his head.

"Absolutely not," he said. "I can't have you stay."

"And what if I decide to stay?" I asked indignantly. "What are you going to do? Poke me to death from inside your cage?"

Remus' lip twitched.

"Fine," he said exhaling. "Just don't come close to the cage when I change alright?"

I nodded.

Around midnight, Remus changed. His back lengthened and narrowed; his legs bent into haunches; dark gray and white fur grew all over his body; his nose and mouth pulled forward into a snout with white canines and incisors that slid down under violet lips; his ears grew and tapered into points; his hands and feet changed into paws. A tail grew at the base of his spine and was bushy and covered with the same gray/white fur. His eyes changed into a jaundice/amber color; His sides expanded a bit and soon Remus was gone and all that remained was the wolf. The wolf yawned and stretched out its forelegs, flexing its black nails.

It sat on its haunches and stared out at me through the bars with its amber/jaundice eyes.

I leaned against the wall and folded my arms over my chest.

The wolf just continued to watch me and pant.

"Right Remus," I said scornfully. "You're dangerous."

I bent down next to the cage. The wolf came forward, and stuck his snout through the bars…then snapped his jaws, trying to bite me. I fell backward onto my rear in surprise.

"Fine then," I said angrily. "You be like that."

The wolf continued to snarl until I completely backed away from the cage. Then it just curled up on the floor and rested its head in-between its front forelegs.

"See if I help you next time," I muttered crossing my arms over my chest.

I ended up dozing off shortly there on the floor.

I woke up feeling the warm sunshine filtering across my face. I yawned and opened my eyes. I got to my feet and peered into the cage. Remus was his human form dressed in sweat pants and a white tee shirt.

"Morning Vicious," I said.

Remus looked at me startled at that comment.

"Why did you say that?" he asked curiously.

"Oh I dunno," I said pretending to think. "Cause you tried to take my hand off last night?"

Remus' lip twitched.

"I told you I'm dangerous," he said.

"Then why didn't you hurt me when Eric was trying to assault me?" I asked reasonably.

"I'm not sure," Remus said. "Just forget it alright? Drop the subject."

"Fine," I said stiffly.

I unlocked the cage and he stepped out.

"Breakfast," I replied and jogged up the stairs from the basement and entered the kitchen shortly.

"Morning, Roselyn dear," Mrs. Lupin said kindly. "Would you like some porridge?"

"Yes please," I said kindly as I took a seat at the table.

"So how'd Remus' transformation go last night?" Mr. Lupin asked curiously peering at me over the newspaper.

"Just fine," I answered sweetly.

Mr. Lupin nodded and turned his attention back to the paper. Remus joined the table shortly and Mrs. Lupin placed a bowl of porridge down in front of him.

"Morning honey," Mrs. Lupin said beaming at Remus.

"Morning," Remus said.

I felt his eyes on me, but I ignored him.

"Mrs. Lupin? Would it be alright if I sent Iris to Lily? Maybe we can have a gathering just to see how everyone is doing?" I asked.

"Absolutely!" Mrs. Lupin said happily clapping her hand. "We can have them all come here. You can have a little party!"

Iris was my eagle owl.

"That sounds wonderful! Thank you!" I beamed.

Mrs. Lupin nodded.

"You can send Iris out right after breakfast," she said.

So I eagerly ate my breakfast. Iris landed gently on the back of the chair as I tied the parchment to her leg.

I had written to Lily telling her to send out a mass message to James, Sirius, Peter, Sam, Gillian and even Severus to come here tomorrow night.

Iris came back 2 hours later with a reply from Lily saying that she would be delighted and she couldn't wait to see us.

I went to bed that night, eager to see everyone.

The next night, everyone arrived at the Lupin's. Mrs. Lupin went out and got all kinds of snacks and sodas for us. She set them up in the living room. I decided to dress up a bit so I was wearing a cute one piece navy dress with silver sparkles around the edges. I had applied light pink eye shadow and clear lip gloss on my lips. My auburn hair hung around my shoulders in gentle waves and around my neck was a butterfly pendant. In my ears were matching diamond stud earrings. On my feet were dark blue semi high heeled shoes with a strap around the ankles.

I felt Remus' eyes on me. About six PM, the doorbell rang. I eagerly answered it. There standing on the stoop were Sirius, Sam, James, Peter, Gillian, Severus and Lily.

"Oh my gosh!" Lily gushed as she threw her arms around me and hugged me. "You look wonderful!"

After she released me, I got hugs from Sirius, Sam, James, Peter, Gillian and shyly Severus.

Remus was wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the first two buttons unbuttoned. He had tan construction boots on his feet. He broke into a grin when he spied the 'troop'.

Severus was wearing a pair of tan slacks and a burgundy shirt that buttoned up the front. He had cut his hair short…but it was still black and he had those dark penetrating eyes. Lily was dressed in a pink skirt and a white blouse; Sirius was dressed in jeans and a black shirt; Peter was dressed in dark denim jeans and a yellow tee shirt; Gillian was wearing a red plaid skirt and white poplin. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail. Sam was wearing black jeans and a teal colored shirt.

"Okay guys," Mr. Lupin beamed. "Have fun alright? Just don't burn the house down."

"Aw shucks," Sirius joked. "That was going to be the highlight of the evening!"

Mr. Lupin chuckled and winked at Remus and I before he and his wife headed upstairs.

"So what have you guys been up to?" I asked eagerly sitting down beside Severus.

"Not much really," Lily said shrugging. "James and I finally agreed to go out."

"That's amazing!" I gushed excitedly.

"Meh," Lily said teasingly looking at James. "He can be totally aby-normal sometimes, but hey."

Sirius looked at Lily.

"Sometimes?" he asked scandalized. "Try 100 percent of the time!"

We all laughed at that.

"What about you, Rose?" Sam asked his eyes twinkling. "Going out with old Remy there?"

I felt the heat creeping into my cheeks.

"No," I said shaking my head and keeping my eyes on Sam. "We're best friends."

"Suuuure," Sam said drawing out the word. "I gotcha."

Remus let out a cough, a signal that he wanted to change the subject. Severus leaned close and whispered, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure," I said brightly.

"In private?"

I nodded.

Severus and I got up and headed into the kitchen.

"What's up?" I asked turning to him.

He seemed totally shy and nervous and kept shifting his weight onto the other foot.

"If-if you aren't g-going out with anyone," he stammered. "W-would you consider going out with me?"

He said this so quickly, I was momentarily dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry?" I asked confused.

"W-would you consider g-going outwithme?" he rambled.

I looked at him.

He was asking me out! I thought. He really seems sweet. Why not give it a try?

"Sure," I said brightly.

He seemed happier and blushed even more.

"Come on," I said offering him my arm. "They're probably wondering if we got sucked down the toilet."

He linked arms with me and we headed back into the living room.

"So what were you and Snivellus talking about?" James asked curiously.

I frowned.

"Please call him Severus okay? And he asked me out,"

Lily squealed and jumped up. She rushed forward and hugged Severus. He turned another shade of crimson. Sirius high-fived him, Sam whistled and Gillian gave him a wink. Peter was grinning too.

Only Remus didn't seem to join in. He seemed quiet and sullen as we all began excitedly talking about the upcoming year.

"I had a feeling Severus liked you," Gillian said grinning broadly. "I could tell by the way he looked at you."

Severus looked like he wanted to sink into the couch.

"Anyway," Remus said abruptly cutting in. "We've got N.E.W.T.S next year. Any ideas as to what subjects you all are going to major in?"

I looked at him startled.

"Probably Potions," Severus said thoughtfully. "I'd like to teach here."

"That's wonderful," Sam said nodding.

"What about you?" Gillian asked Remus beaming at him.

"I'm not sure," Remus muttered avoiding her gaze. "Probably something with Defense Against the Dark Arts or something."

Something was bothering him greatly. I could see it.

"Remus? Can I please talk to you?" I asked suddenly standing up.

"Whatever," Remus muttered.

"Excuse me," I said to Severus and the rest politely as Remus and I headed into the hallway.

Once we were out of ear shot from the rest, I laced into him.

"What's your problem?" I demanded.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked with mock innocence.

"I mean why are you having an attitude?" I clarified crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'm fine," Remus insisted.

"No, you're not," I said. "What's bugging you?"

"Look, Roselyn, just leave me alone alright? I'm fine and that's it," Remus snapped at me as he brushed past me and headed up stairs.

I slowly headed back to the living room.

"Everything alright?" Lily asked curiously and with concern.

"I don't know," I muttered. "Remus is angry with me for some reason."

"He's probably cranky because he's not sleeping with his blankie," Sirius joked.

Realization dawned on Lily's face.

"Oh," she said softly. "I know why."

"Why?" Sam asked.

Lily shook her head.

"It's not my place to say," she said. "Remus has to be the one who tells."

"Bugger," Sirius pouted.

Gillian giggled at his response.

"I think I have an idea too," she said earnestly. "But Lily's right. It's up to Remus to say something."

"Where's Haylie Lynn?" Severus asked.

"Home," Gillian replied. "Mum and Dad are watching her. I'm really relieved and happy that they accepted her. I really thought for sure they would hate me."

"They're your parents," Sam said reasonably. "I really doubt they'd treat you differently because of…a moment of passion?"

Gillian eyed Sam.

"You'd be surprised," she said. "A lot of my friends did something a normal teenager would do and their parents hit the roof. My friend Kate tried the Muggle drug Pot and her parents threw her out of the house!"

Everyone shook their heads.

"That's awful," James said sadly. "Just because you make a mistake or something the parents stop loving their child? I would never do that."

"Me neither," Gillian said firmly.

"You're a great Mum too," Sam said grinning.

Gillian grinned too and leaned in to give Sam a kiss.

I couldn't help but grin.

"I think it's getting late," James said checking his watch. "We'd best get going."

"Yep," Sirius said yawning. "School is starting next week. Can you believe it?"

"Nope," Severus said shaking his head.

Everyone gave me hugs and kisses before leaving and Severus shyly kissed me on the cheek.

Once everyone left, I folded my arms over my chest and glared up stairs in the direction Remus had gone.