26
The Ridiculous Irony
It seemed as if their classes were becoming more boring lately. All of their lessons were slowly becoming more lectures and less practical. This morning they had spent the whole day writing essays in both charms and Herbology.
By the time they got to Defense Against the Dark Arts, they were all very ready to do something that was interesting.
They knew instantly that they were having another practical lesson, when they entered the room because there wasn't a desk in sight. Only one large wardrobe with an old mirror on the front.
" Excellent" James said walking into the room, a large smile on his face.
" What is he having us do, hang up his robes?" Peter asked.
Doe stared at the wardrobe intently trying to figure out what was inside of it, or what Professor Weasley was going to have them do with it.
Lily was also staring at it, mirroring her puzzled expression.
Professor Weasley strode down the stairs leading from his office. He stood in front of the large wardrobe, the mirror reflecting his back.
" Today we will be learning about something that almost all adult wizards have to deal with at some point in their life, so it is better to learn it early and master it"
Professor Weasley crossed his arms, " How many of you can tell me what a boggart is?"
Rita Skeeter raised her hand tall, as did Xeno.
" Yes, Ms. Skeeter?" Mr. Weasley asked.
Rita smiled proudly, " A boggart is a shapeshifting creature that transforms into whatever someone fears the most"
Professor Weasley nodded, " Yes, that's right. Take ten points to Ravenclaw"
He turned and stared at the rest of the class, " Does anyone know how to stop a boggart?"
No one answered.
Professor Weasley let out a small smile, " the incantation is 'riddikulus' and when you do it, you must think of your worst fear and force it to assume a shape you find funny"
Mixed whispers were amongst them. Doe had no idea what she feared most. How was she supposed to think of a way to find it amusing?
Professor Weasley scanned the crowd.
" You, Lupin. Come here you first" he said waving Remus towards the wardrobe.
Remus was whitefaced. He looked terrified. It was strange to see him like this, Doe didn't think she had ever seen him quite so nervous.
He stood in front of the wardrobe and took a deep breath.
Professor Weasley grasped the handle of the wardrobe open and something swished up in front of Remus.
It was a white orb surrounded by fog. It took Doe a second to realize it was the moon.
Remus looked like he was petrified with fear. Doe couldn't understand why he feared the moon. Maybe it meant he feared the dark.
He raised his wand, " RIDDIKULUS" he shouted at it.
The boggart wobbled feebly and turned itself into a balloon which blew helium across the room as it faded.
Everyone in the room clapped.
" Good Job Mr. Lupin!" Professor Weasley shouted clapping his hands happily, " Everyone line up now!"
Everyone lined up, Doe watched as it transformed into something different for each person.
For Peter, it was a dark hooded figure, that Doe easily recognized as the guards of azkaban prison, dementors. Peter trembled in front of it and couldn't face it so it moved onto James, for whom it turned into a body on the floor. It was face down and all that was visible was a head of dark red hair.
James moved quickly, shouting the incantation and watching it turn into a humorous large rag doll.
Doe turned to Lily who was blushing slightly, obviously noticing the same resemblance it bore to her, that Doe did.
Sirius' boggart appeared in front of him and it confused everyone. It looked at first glance as if it was a mirror in front of him. It was Sirius but he was adorned in emerald robes.
Sirius waved his wand quickly shouting the incantation and watching as the boggart turned into Slughorn in the Slytherin robes, an obviously drunk babbling Slughorn. The scene of the potions master so obviously inebriated caused many people to laugh.
Doe watched as the boggart moved on through the crowd turning into various things, a giant spider, a mummy, a vicious more terrifying than the rest. Many people had difficulty facing there's, some like Peter couldn't do it at all. Mary couldn't face it when the troll came charging towards her, so the boggart turned to Lily. It was McGonagall. She was telling Lily she was being expelled.
Doe felt bad but it was eliciting some laughs from everyone in the crowd. Lily managed the incantation and Professor changed the name on the expulsion slip to James Potter, causing an angry growl from him in the corner.
The boggart turned to Doe and she froze. McGonagall was gone.
Coming towards her was a shape so realistic, she was paralyzed with fear.
It was a cloaked man. His face covered by a metallic mask.
A death eater.
He raised his wand at him and started to shout " AVADA KEDAV-"
Professor Weasley stepped in front of her and shouted 'Riddikulus'. The death eater disappeared and as did the boggart.
Doe was still frozen with fear.
" I think that's enough for today, why don't you all leave early?" Professor Weasley said.
Lily and Mary were both in front of Doe instantly, " Doe are you okay?"
She nodded, and said " I'm fine" quickly.
" Ms. Meadowes, Please stay after a moment" Professor Weasley said.
Lily gave her a fleeting glance and left with everyone else.
" Come, Doe" Professor Weasley said, " Let's go have some tea in my office".
She followed Professor Weasley up to his office and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.
He handed her a teacup full of tea and sat down behind his desk.
She took a sip, letting it calm her down.
" I would like to apologize for what happened during the lesson today" Professor Weasley said,
" I didn't consider that it would take that form, and I could see how that would be very traumatic for you in light of what happened to your father".
Doe shook my head, " I'm okay, Professor, honestly. It was good for me. I'll need to get it over my aversion to seeing them"
Professor Weasley nodded, " Well, then I don't feel quite as bad about the boggart anymore then".
Doe shook her head and put the tea down, " Don't, I'm fine".
She got up to leave.
" Doe, if you need anything or ever need anyone to talk too, I'm here" Professor Weasley said.
" Thank you," she told him and left the office. She walked out of the classroom, and almost ran into a group of Slytherins. It was Severus, Yaxley, and Lucius.
Yaxley and Lucius eyed her with a strange look.
" Hi, Severus" she said to him.
Severus looked very nervous, " Hi, Doe".
Lucius looked at both of them with a strange expression.
Not wanting to have to deal with Severus' moronic Slytherin friends, Doe walked past them and went back to the common room.
A notice had gone up in the common room that stated all sixth years would be having apparition lessons in the Great Hall. It was the topic of much discussion. Most students had done side-along apparition and the idea of learning how to do it themselves was very exciting.
So after transfiguration on Friday, all 40 of the sixth years lined up outside of the Great Hall.
" This is going to be so exciting! I've never even side apparated" Lily said to Doe.
" It's not fun exactly, it makes me quite uncomfortable" Doe told her.
" You and Sirius are lucky" Mary said, " You're both of age, so you if you get it they can register you today"
" Is that true?" Doe asked Sirius.
He nodded, " As far as I know".
They opened the great hall doors and the tables were gone. There were 40 circles marked off by magic. Some employees from the Ministry were directing them away from the circles standing them a few feet behind them. When everyone was safely inside, they closed the doors again.
The two wizards from the ministry stood in the front of the hall.
" Hello, we are from the Department of Magical Transportation, and we're here to teach you all how to apparate in a safe environment. Apparition is very dangerous so please listen to what we say and you should all be fine" one of them said.
" You must be an adult to obtain an apparition license so if any of you are seventeen and master it, we can perform the evaluation test here today" the second one said.
They stood in the front and explained how to do it. The students were to try and apparate into one of the circles in front of them.
They explained how they needed to be very careful because splinching, the abandonment of part of your body, was quite common when first learning how.
At first they all just stared blank-faced at the circles, willing themselves to do it. Nothing happened. It was an hour before James managed to apparate himself into one of the circles, landing half in and half out.
" Be careful to aim correctly" the wizard ordered, " what if that had been a cliff?"
" Why would I apparate to a cliff?" James asked.
Elizabeth Merlin also tried it and ended up splinching herself. A large gaping wound opened on her arm, where a piece of muscle disappeared and she had to be brought to the Hospital Wing.
Sirius was the first one to correctly master it. He landed perfectly in the circle. He was asked to repeat it three times before the wizards issued him a license. He grinned widely.
It took Doe an hour, but she managed to get a hang of it, and after 20 more minutes she was also presented with a license.
" Nice work, Meadowes" Sirius said.
She smiled, pocketing the license, " You too, Black"
Severus and Xeno were the only other two student's who got their licenses. Some of the sixth years, like Lily, had managed to do it but were not old enough.
Severus was standing next to Doe, " So, I see you're feeling better" he said.
Doe nodded, " Much,".
" I'm glad" Severus said, " moody and depressed didn't fit you"
She laughed, " That's too much of a Slytherin trait for me".
Severus rolled his eyes at her and walked away.
Remus took his place, coming over " That is really hard" he said panting. He had just managed to apparate a few feet in front of him.
" It's tricky" she agreed.
He took a deep breath, " I'm not really feeling good" he said.
Doe blinked at him, " Oh I'm sorry, do you want me to go with you to the Hospital Wing?" she asked him.
He shook his head, " I can go", he kissed the top of her head and left the hall.
They spent the next hour finishing up the apparition lessons. They informed them that they would be coming again next year.
Sirius and Doe were walking down the corridor towards the common room. Outside it was dark, and the moon was out, it was a full moon.
It reminded her of Remus and his boggart. She was still so worried about Remus, he got sick so often.
And then it hit her. She couldn't believe it had taken her so long.
Remus was sick often, every month. And his boggart was a full moon, it was what he feared the most. And tonight was a full moon, and he was sick tonight. And his nickname was Moony.
Remus was a werewolf.
Doe stopped dead in the middle of the hallway.
" Doe , what's wrong?" Sirius asked.
She grabbed his arm and pulled him into a secluded corner, facing him with a vicious look.
" Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.
" Tell you what?" Sirius asked.
" Remus is a werewolf, isn't he?" Doe asked, crossing her arms.
Sirius didn't say anything. He just stared at her with a strange expression on his face.
" Sirius" Doe pressed.
Sirius' face widened, " Who told you? Was it Wormtail, I'll kill him"
" No one told me" she said, " I just figured it out".
Sirius sighed, " Moony's going to kill me"
" Why didn't he tell me?" she asked.
Sirius frowned, " He didn't think you'd still like him".
" But that's ridiculous!" she said.
" I know that" Sirius said, " but Remus doesn't".
Doe started walking away.
" Where are you going?" Sirius asked.
" To the hospital wing, I've got to talk to him" Doe said, ignoring him.
Sirius grabbed her arm and stopped her.
" Doe it's night, he's already begun phasing. He's in the shrieking shack"
" The shrieking shack?" Doe asked.
Sirius sighed again, " It's where he goes, there's a tunnel under the whomping willow"
" So it's not really haunted?" she asked.
Sirius shook his head.
Doe ran her hands through her hair nervously.
" Look, Doe. Tomorrow morning you can talk to him. Just wait, and don't tell anyone" Sirius said.
" Why would I tell anyone?" she asked in disbelief.
" You wouldn't" Sirius said.
They walked back to the common room, and Doe spent the rest of the night on edge. All she wanted to do was talk to Remus. Up until she finally went to bed, Sirius kept throwing her worried glances. It was starting to annoy her so much, she went up to the dormitory early.
She had trouble sleeping that night. She kept waking up. She was still exhausted when she woke up the next morning.
Lily, Marlene, Mary, and Alice were all asleep in their beds when she got dressed and sneaked out the next morning.
She walked quietly, trying to make sure that her shoes didn't make any noise on the ground while she walked out.
The common room was empty still, since it was saturday and before nine.
She left and headed towards the direction of the Hospital Wing. She knew it didn't open until nine, so she had a good fifteen minutes before Remus would be coming out.
She sat down against the wall, and waited. She watched a house elf go in at one point pushing a cart of breakfast and then leave.
She just kept waiting. Eventually, the door opened and Remus came out.
He blinked quickly when he saw her, " Doe, what are you doing here?"
She stood up and looked at him, " When were you going to tell me?" she asked, crossing her arms.
" Tell you what?" Remus asked.
She looked at him, " When were you going to tell me that you're a werewolf?"
Remus gulped. He looked at the floor, avoiding her gaze.
" Did Sirius tell you?" He asked.
She shook her head, " I figured it out on my own".
Remus looked back at her, sorrow mirrored in his eyes. " I'm sorry, I understand. You can go"
" Why would I go?" she asked.
" I mean you're breaking up with me, aren't you? That's why you're here" Remus said.
Doe stared at him dumbfounded, " Of course not, why would I do that?"
He looked back at her, just as confused, " But you know what I am, and I'm dangerous"
" Remus, I'm hardly in the position to be judging anyone" she told him.
" And you are not dangerous" she told him.
He stared at me with a look of pure shock, " You're not disgusted?" he asked.
" No, why would I be?" Doe asked him.
He just stared back at her, with the same puzzled expression.
" It doesn't change anything for you?" he asked.
She shook her head, " Of course not, Remus. I…" she trailed off.
" Wait what?" Remus asked.
Doe shook her head quickly, " No nevermind"
Remus looked at her and eyed her with a strange expression.
" Doe, what?" he asked her.
Doe bit her lip nervously," I love you, okay? So it doesn't matter to me what you are"
Remus stared back at her in disbelief, followed by a moment of silence.
Doe blushed deeply, " I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that, I-".
Remus cut her off, " You love me, even though you know what I am?"
Doe nodded, " Why would it change how I feel about you?".
His face softened and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply, His hands were on her waist, holding her to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and felt him knot his hands in her hair.
They stood there like that for a while, wrapped around each other.
When they pulled apart he looked at her, " Doe, I love you too. I always have".
Doe smiled and let out a sigh of relief, " Good, because I was going to be humiliated if you didn't feel that way"
" Impossible" he said stroking the side of her face with his thumb.
" Wait, so tell me everything" she told him, grabbing his hand.
They walked down the hall and towards the doors to the grounds.
" How long have you been one?" she asked curiously.
She and Remus walked along the edge of the black lake.
" I was bitten by a werewolf who had a problem with my father, when I was four" he said.
" For that long?" Doe asked quietly.
He nodded, " And it was fine at first, before Hogwarts. When I phased I did it in my bedroom, since it's in the basement. But when I got my letter to Hogwarts I didn't think it was possible to go. Dumbledore came to our house and told us they were constructing the shrieking shack so that I could phase there and that they would put the Whomping Willow over the entrance, so no one would find it. And that solved the obvious problem, but I had to lie to everyone, every month, and eventually it became too much, so in third year, I told Sirius, James, and Peter"
Remus looked at the ground, " I thought they wouldn't be my friends anymore, but they reacted a lot like you, they were fine with it. And they wanted to be there for me, but they obviously couldn't human so they started trying to become animagi, and in fifth year they figured it out. So they come with me on the full moons"
" They're unregistered animagi?" Doe asked in disbelief.
Remus nodded.
" So that's why you all found Professor McGonagall's lesson on them, so humorous" she said shaking her head.
They sat down at the base of one of the large oak trees. Remus laughed as he watched Doe's face.
" What kind of animals do they turn into?" she asked very curious.
" James is a stag, Sirius is a dog, and Peter is a rat" Remus said.
" Prongs, Padfoot, and Wormtail" Doe said, suddenly understanding.
" And Moony, Really? Thats pretty obvious" she told Remus.
He shrugged, " You're the only one to have pieced it together so far".
" And it really doesn't bother you?" Remus asked, he was looking at her face with the strangest emotion she had ever seen.
She shook her head, " It doesn't, if anything, I'm sort of impressed of how you've dealt with it"
Remus leaned back against the tree, " I never would have guessed I'd be this lucky, I was sure you would be terrified if you found out".
" Well, I'm not" she said leaning against him.
" You're truly one fascinating creature, Doe Meadowes" he said.
She laughed, " Oh I'm the creature?"
Remus rolled his eyes and kissed her again.