LIIIVE! BE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC! Actually, to be more accurate, be alive with the sound of Bob and Tom and Rodney Carrington, perhaps even some Stephen Lynch. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, everyone. That's what happens when you're lazy.

Anyways, getting on with it, you remember last chapter, Aria passed out drunk off Butter beer onto her new buddy, Remus Lupin.

Everybody loves Lupin. Especially the fangirls.

/bricked

OKAY! OKAY! I'll write more! Sheesh…


"Hermione, could you grab her suitcase please?"

Remus wasn't exactly surprised at his stupidity; he hadn't studied her mother's species very well when he was still in school. Luckily, Hermione was more knowledgeable on the subject and reminded him a bit too late that although alcohol has little to no effect on Merpeople; giving them butter beer gets them drunker than a gnome in half a minute.

He shifted her so that he could carry her without making her less dignified. She was lighter than he'd first guessed, and her hair smelled a little like sea salt. Cradling her carefully, Hermione and Ginny walked a few paces off, whispering excitedly about the classes this year. Suddenly, a few paces off from the front steps, Ginny spoke up.

"Um… professor?"

"Yes?"

He stopped and turned to speak to her. She walked over and leaned in close, handing him a small yellow envelope. It was slightly bent and had a bit of a coffee stain on one corner, but looked as though it had been cared for very tenderly, almost smoothed out good as new.

"I was wondering if… if you could give this to Harry please?"

She blushed and knitted her eyebrows into a pleading look. Very much so like a kitten caught in a tangle of yarn. He smiled and nodded, receiving a heartwarming smile in return.

"Just stick that in my coat pocket, please. I'll make sure he gets it."

She pushed it down into his pocket and smiled again, thanking him before running off to the great hall with Hermione to set up. Sighing light-heartedly, he picked up his pace and headed towards the teacher's entrance, where he saw, indeed, the smallest bat he had ever seen in his life. It rushed up to him, shimmying on the wooden perch, still upside down and squeaked at him.

Aww… it's so cute!

Then leaning down to the cage, he saw a slightly eaten paper tag attached to it, on which were scribbled the words "RIA M. CANTUS" because the bat had chewed off the letter "A". He smiled to himself, as he had though that she had seemed more like a cat person than anything. Bidding farewell to the small squeaking animal, he pushed open the door with his foot and walked down the staircase to the sleeping quarters where the incredibly intoxicated Potions Professor would be staying.

He walked around a corner and nearly died of fright, as Headmaster McGonagall was standing there, seemingly waiting for him and the dead weight in his arms. She raised an eyebrow at the current status of the new teacher and looked at him with her green eyes over her pointed frames resting on her nose.

"Am I to suspect that you had something to do with this poor girls' present… condition?"

She grinned lightly at him, implying that she was not a bit angry with him, which allowed his lungs to give a sigh of relief. He leaned back against a wall and slumped forward a bit.

"Ah… Sorry. Butter beer."

He blushed and grinned, as though he were caught guilty in some act. Then, nodding towards the door, he asked her to open it. She grinned and whispered something to the door and let him walk her in.

"She'll have to wake up, of course. The banquet is going to start in about half an hour and I expect both of you to be there."

Lupin nodded and turned towards the bed, laying her down. McGonagall placed a hand on his shoulder and furrowed her brow, obviously concerned.

"I trust you, Remus. This year isn't going to be easy; I'm going to need everyone's help."

At that he turned around to face her and held her hands in his own. She was worried about how the year would progress, and although there hadn't been any Deatheater attacks for the past three months, he could understand her concerns and knew they were justified.

"Don't worry. I'll keep a close eye out, alright?"

She smiled lightly and nodded her thanks, then left the room. Lupin looked around in the potions cabinets, searching for an awakening potion and some headache medicine. While he was clinking around in the cabinets, Aria started to roll off of the bed which caused him to dive after her. He caught her just before she hit the floor and the product of his catching her was to be greeted by two startled golden orbs with flecks of mahogany in them. He'd never noticed what a beautiful color her eyes were before; the thought made him blush profusely, however.

"…"

"Um… Glad to see you're feeling better!"

He helped her to her feet and led her to sit down in a worn leather chair. She let out a small laugh and smiled. Then, after shuffling around in her many pockets, she withdrew her wand and sat there holding her newly formed mug of coffee.

"Ah… I'm sorry Mr. Lupin. I usually don't… get drunk."

She blushed and closed her eyes to drink her warm remedy, trying to avoid eye contact. She scuffed her feet on the floor, swinging her legs reminiscently of a small girl on a park bench.

"It was my fault. I should have remembered that Butter beer causes… intoxication. At least in your mothers' people it does, it has no effect on humans though. Sorry."

He ran his hand through his hair out of a nervous habit and stared at the floor. Suddenly, Aria stood to her feet and cleared her throat. She called forth and handed him a mug as well, smiling at him. Then waving her wand, her baggage appeared in her room and began to unpack itself. The small squeaking mammal was on top of the small table in the room.

"Ah, it is your bat then."

"Yes. He's adorable, isn't he? His name's Noc. I actually was going to get a kitten but I saw him there in the store and fell for him."

Her choice of words made his face flush again almost as soon as hers did when it registered what she had said.

Oh come on, this is pathetic man. Just tell her; you're a grown man, not a twelve year old boy. Make a move!

"Ah, yes. He's incredibly cute. I liked him when he first started talking to me outside."

She smiled at him and finished unpacking her things while he rummaged around for some headache medicine. After she'd finished, he was still looking until he finally gave up and pulled a small plastic bottle. Handing her a few pills from it, he smiled.

"Take these… You headache will go away."

"What are they? I've never seen anything like this before…"

"It's muggle medicine they take for headaches. I promise, after a couple minutes it'll go away."

She looked skeptically at the small pills in her hand before nodding and swallowing them quickly, although she made a face while doing so. After a couple minutes of sitting and drinking some hot tea and coffee, playing with Noc, and having a small snack of crackers, Lupin stood up.

"Well, we'd better start heading towards the Headmistress' office. We need to get sorted, then we'll head for the banquet."

She frowned at the mention of a banquet and turned towards her closet.

"A banquet? Oh… shouldn't I change clothes? I brought some dress robes and such…"

He smiled and took her hand, leading her towards the door without making her take a step. She looked at him nervously, but he could see that she was trying not to get too hesitant.

"You'll have time to change after the sorting, promise. All we're doing is assigning who will be leading which house. Most of the teachers won't even get a house, so don't worry."

Smiling back at him, she ventured into the dungeons of her new school. He whistled and grinned at the echoing off of the walls. Knowing she'd be fine in a few minutes, he led her out of the dungeons. When he opened the door into the main hall, the light of hundreds of floating candles washed over everything. To this spectacle, she uttered a single word before heading up the grand stairs with Remus.

"Wow…"


Hooray! Will Lupin make a move on the pretty potion lady? Will he! I dunno. Maybe next chapter or something, I still think it's funny that two adults are flirting like little kids.

Next update in three days.