Sorry I haven't updated in a long ass while! I know it's been forever...I tried to update for this four-day Thanksgiving weekend, but I had to babysit my niece and nephew (Chole's 5 and Aidan's 3...they're adorable). So, amidst the constant beatings I got from them and since I didn't have the privacy of my own room (my Grandma took it) and my laptop (I'm very self-conscious about my stories)....well, you do the math. I'm watching Ruroni Kenshin right now, and I forgot how good this show sort of was...ah, I miss the old Toonami days...now you have to wait for Saturday night, and the first half is just riddled with really stupid cartoons (Duel Masters, Rave Master)! Then you get to Yu Yu Hakusho, but this new saga is terrible. I loved the Dark Tournament saga (sorry if you have no idea what I'm talking about). Then, you've got Dragonball GT...a major disappointment to a true Dragonball purist. I mean, you don't even get a classic DBZ fight until SSJ4 Goku fights the four-star dragon, Nova Shenron! And it barely lasts half the stinkin' episode...I guess my Dragonball days are finally over. Besides, I get made fun of for it a lot, so I guess I'll have to be a conformists...I am SO not feminine...I hate shopping, clothes, and make-up...
Sorry, I'm babbling. On with this chapter! And, you heard it before, I don't own Harry Potter! It belongs to Ms. Rowling! Oh, and before I forget, someone asked me if I could "make this story last forever"? Um...well, I can try, but I doubt even a wizard and a witch are immortal (even though Dumbledore seems to have extra years to give to others). I'm gonna try with this story, cuz I know it's gonna last a loooooooooooooooooooooong time. I want to keep this story as close to the Harry Potter storyline as possible; plus I want to follow what Remus did after his graduation to Harry's third year and then after that through fifth year. Since we already know what Remus did in that third year, most of that period will be spent in Aya's perspective. Also, I'm trying to put in a lot of my political views in this story...like last chapter had a major point to it...YOUR DAMNABLE BLIND PREJUDICE TO ANYONE DIFFERENT! Er...sorry...I didn't mean you guys personally. I'm a bit flustered...
-A/R-
Ch. 27: Time-Excluded Love
-A/R-
Remus' eyes snapped open. His vision came with mind-numbing clarity as he stared up at the ceiling. I'm alive, he pondered. But...how...?
He started.
Aya!
His throat, too sore to make any true sound, only pronounced a soft gurgle. Rubbing his throat, he looked around at his surroundings.
I'm back at home...in the living room...where is everybody?
He could then hear the voices coming from the kitchen.
That's Mum's voice, and Dad's...but...Dumbledore?! And Pomfrey?! What the devil's going on? Where's Aya?
Remus sat up, shifting the blanket off him.
Where is she?
"No...stop it...leave...them alone..." a voice moaned.
Startled, Remus turned to the source and sighed with relief.
"Aya..." he managed to croak out.
She flinched and muttered something inaudible, gripping her blanket with such ferocity that her very knuckles had turned white. Clenching her teeth, she moaned.
Concerned out of his mind, Remus threw off whatever blanket had the misfortune of still clinging to his pajamas (goodness knows how they got there) and was kneeling on the ground beside her faster than one could say "hogbubble,"or something close to it.
"Aya," he croaked again.
She flinched once more and moved a bit.
"No...no," she whispered as she twisted the blanket around in her hand. "Run...someone...Mum, Dad...oh...God..."
"Aya...wake up," he croaked. Softly, he shifted a stray strand of her black hair from her face, drawing it back in bewilderment as he found her brow feverishly hot. Aya shuddered and moaned.
Oh, God! Should...should I get someone? Damn it all, I can barely talk, my damn throat's so sore! Bloody nitwit, Remus, do something! ANYTHING!
Narrowing his eyes, he stroked her cheek, whispering, "Aya...Aya, it's okay...it's okay, Aya, I'm right here..."
She sighed suddenly and relaxed at his touch. Thanking every religious idol that ever came to fruition (and a few random others), he kissed her cheek. She sighed again and, for a brief instant, a smile crept across her lips, then was gone.
Remus sat back and gazed at her. There were tear stains on her flushed cheeks, but the afternoon sunlight that came in through the window by the front door played rather nicely in her hair, creating a crown around her head.
And you almost screwed this up, he thought with a pang of guilt.
"My dear Mr. Lupin! I'm so glad to see you looking better! And tending to Miss Centaria as well."
Startled out of his mind, Remus nearly fell back, but instead managed to look up at the smiling face of Dumbledore, his half-moon glasses slipping forward on his crooked nose as he gazed at the boy, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"I do hope you are feeling better," Dumbledore said with a smile. "We've been quite worried about the both of you, but Madame Pomfrey has quite the Healer's touch."
All Remus could do was nod rather stupidly.
The old man shifted his eyes to Aya. "Hmm...she seems to have a slight fever...I'll go and alert Madame Pomfrey. If you would be so kind as to resume to your previous position under yonder blanket, I believe it will save you quite the bit of trouble from our dear Healer."
Nodding to Remus, Dumbledore turned back to the kitchen.
-A/R-
"Honestly," Madame Pomfrey grumbled for the thousandth time, "I still can't believe it...a Hospital, of all places! A Healer and a nurse should know damn well better! Prejudice, that's what it is! Pathetic prejudice! And over what, I might ask?"
"Although one should always speak one's mind, I believe, my dear Pomfrey, that you should lower the volume of such thoughts so Miss Centaria here may sleep in peace," Dumbledore said calmly as he folded his arms.
"Tch," Pomfrey hissed. "I can't just leave here without speaking my mind first...besides, she seems fine. What a pity Mr. Lupin didn't bloody well sock that nurse when he had the chance!"
"If he had done that," Liz pointed out as she finished placing an extra blanket over her sleeping son, "we probably would be spending a night in Azkaban at the moment, or worse...public humiliation..."
Pomfrey stood and adjusted her dress with a sigh, the buttoned her winter coat and fixed her scarf. "Well, Mrs. Lupin," she said as she put her gloves on, "when they wake up, give them that tonic I gave you and a bit of chocolate...and a nice spot of tea, I might add."
"Mm, lovely raspberry tea, my dear," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "And now, my dear Madame, I believe your work here is done?"
"Of course it is! I wouldn't be standing up now if I wasn't, now would I?" Pomfrey snapped.
Dumbledore smiled. "Elizabeth, Isaac...thank you for your hospitality. If you need our assistance, please don't hesitate to send us an owl posthaste!"
Liz nodded as Isaac shook the old man's hand. "Always an honor, my dear Dumbledore," Isaac said. "Madame Pomfrey, thank you."
"That's my duty," Pomfrey said with a shrug. "Come along, good sir...best keep that fire going in your office before it goes out completely again. Adieu."
And they were gone.
"Well?" Isaac said after a moment, turning to his wife. "Shall we leave them here on the couch, or take them to their rooms?"
"Mm...their rooms," Liz said after a time.
-A/R-
"Dancing dark,
always a pleasure to disembark,
Dancing dark,
in the light of the morn I see you dancing.
In the light,
there you stand amidst the snow,
Dancing dark,
always there, always seen and always smiling..."
The room spun so horribly, the surrounding silence was so deafening, that for a moment, Aya thought that perhaps she had gone utterly insane. After all, didn't crazy people hear voices singing?
Aya listened again.
Silence.
Groaning, she sat up in the darkness, wiping the sweat from her forehead. It felt sticky to the touch. Shaking her head in an effort to keep the song out of her mind, she shakily moved the blankets off of her, then looked up at the familiar window.
So I'm really not in the Hospital at all...and here I thought this whole thing had been a dream...
"Stupid memories," she managed to say, shocked at how tight her throat felt. Massaging it, she gazed around the room.
If that stupid door would just stop moving for a moment, I wouldn't feel as completely sick at the moment...
"Dancing dark,
always a pleasure to disembark..."
"Shut up," she hissed as she brought her knees to her chest.
"Dancing dark,
in the light of the morn I see you dancing..."
Aya pressed her hands to her pounding head.
I'm not going insane...I'm NOT going insane...!
"In the light,
there you stand amidst the snow..."
I'm going insane...
"Dancing dark,
always there, always seen and always smiling..."
Growling, Aya snatched her pillow and flung it at the door. "Shut up!" she hissed, her breath ragged.
What's the matter, Halfling? Pissed off again?
"I'm not listening," Aya sang softly. "I'm not listening..."
Not listening! Haha! Halfling made a song! I guess Moonshine thinks she's so clever, huh, girls?
Aya lay back and buried her face in the bed sheets, trying to hide from their inane laughter.
Where's Moonshine going?! Haha! Moonshine's trying to run away! Let our rocks find her!
"I'm not listening," Aya moaned.
Awoo! Look! Is it the full moon tonight for you, Moonshine? Are you going to rut the other wolves? Don't go getting stuffed off the squirrels, now! Haha! Moonshine! Moonshine!
"Shut...up..."
The door creaked open; the laughter quickly dissipated. "Aya...?" said a voice, slightly weak and groggy.
"What?!" Aya yelled, sitting up, ready to pounce...then she stopped. Her cheeks flushed crimson. "Sorry, Remus...you...startled me..."
Remus leaned against the doorway, the moonlight revealing his concerned face. "You okay?" he whispered after a time. He bent down and picked up her pillow, then brought it to his chest.
"I...I'm fine," she replied.
There was a long silence.
"Listen...Aya...I wanted to...um...I wanted to...ah..."
Aya narrowed her eyes, then motioned for him to sit next to her on the bed. After he sat down, she asked, "You wanted to...?"
"It's nothing," he said after a time. "Just to apologize, is all...for everything last night..."
She sighed. "You already did. We went through this...and I'm sorry I...well...."
"It's okay," he said. Remus made as if to reach out for her, then stopped himself and quickly looked away. I can never touch her again...
Haha! He doesn't love you, Moonshine! Monsters aren't loved!
Aya flinched, then leaned forward and kissed him, pulling back in embarrassment.
Smooth as silk, Moonshine! Haha! Idiot!
"Oh, God...I'm going insane," Aya whispered.
"What? Why say that?" Remus replied, startled. His hand found hers.
"I don't know," she whispered.
There was a long silence. Remus squeezed her cold hand.
"I saw them again," Aya whispered in the dark, the moonlight spilling into her black hair. "We were having a picnic in the garden outside our house...Duncan was twirling Becky around in his arms...and Mum and Dad were reading me a story...and then they just..."
She waved her free hand, her fingers dancing in the air.
"They just what?" Remus asked softly.
"They just died, is all...I watched them die again," she said nonchalantly. "It's late...let's go to sleep, okay?"
She looked away from him and tried to get the bed sheets around them.
"Is that why you threw the pillow at the door?"
Aya stiffened and unwillingly turned to him. "No...it wasn't...not...not directly, really. Come on, it's really late..."
Remus narrowed his eyes. "When are you going to tell me?"
"Tell...tell you what?" Aya whispered.
"Tell me what I asked you a really long time ago," Remus replied. "I told you how I got bitten...why won't you?"
"It's not important," she whispered, her voice growing hoarse. "Let's just go to bed..."
"Why won't you tell me?" he asked, his voice full of concern. "Why?"
He felt guilty for backing her into a corner, but he could see in her eyes that whatever it was, whatever had happened to her, was boiling just below the surface.
"It's...it's not...not important," she said again. "It just isn't important at all. There's nothing tell. I got bitten. They died. End of story."
She lay down and grabbed the bed sheets, then the blanket. Remus noted how her hands shook.
"Come on, Aya..." he began, but she waved him off.
"Please...don't piss me off right now," she whispered. "I just want to go to bed, okay? It's no big deal..."
"But it is," he pressed, squeezing her hand.
"Maybe to you," she answered. "But I don't really care about it anymore. I'm tired. Good night, Remus."
Remus sighed, then lay down next to her.
Aya buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms about him as she shivered in the cold.
-A/R-
Yeah, the song is weird...if you want to sing it to yourself, the tune is after "Masquerade" from The Phantom of the Opera....okay, I don't own the tune, but I thought it would be cool...plus I've watched the trailer for phantom six times (DECEMBER 22 PEOPLE! THE GUY WHO PLAYS PHANTOM IS HOT!). Okay, got to go now and sing "The Music of the Night"!