Remus found a seat near the front of the History of Magic classroom. Professor Binns, a ghost, never came early to class, so there was no point in Remus's arriving early. Today, however, Remus was nervous and hadn't known what to do with himself. He had trudged across the lawn from Herbology and wandered aimlessly through the library, looking up pieces of information for Slughorn's Potions homework. Unable to focus, he finally gave up and wandered to History of Magic. He now opened his book and stared at the pages that most troubled him – in particular, the chapter titled Remedies: None Known. The text was dated over thirty years ago, in 1944, which was before werewolves were even required to register themselves. Remus, however, in all his years of searching, couldn't seem to locate much information about research into a cure; in fact, he hadn't located much notable research at all. What if no one cares? The thought had long ago fermented and soured in his mind.
Remus was lost in thought, rubbing the scar on his upper lip between his thumb and forefinger when, behind him, he heard the door creak. He turned around to see Lily entering the classroom, her heavy book bag pinching some of her hair between the strap and her shoulder.
"Brock," she smiled as she headed toward him.
"Oh, erm, b-brock to you, too," Remus stammered. His heart had started to pound. It was very seldom that he found himself alone with Lily, and he usually tried to make certain it didn't happen. He quickly made room on the table for Lily's books and accidentally knocked over his own quill and inkbottle in the process. Thankfully, the cork was still on. He stooped over to pick them up, and when he met her eyes again, she was looking at him curiously. His heart did a somersault. Surely she could hear the pounding in his chest? Or at least see the blood pulsating in his temples? He wanted to Disapparate.
"Remus, are you all right?" Lily asked. She reached out and placed one small, pale hand on his forehead.
All of a sudden, Remus felt that he may indeed have a fever, her hand felt so cold and his skin so hot. It was all he could do not to flinch or pull away. "Yeah, fine. Erm, wh-why do you ask?"
"I thought you looked rather tired last night."
She had looked at him last night? When? Where? He assumed her gaze, as always, would be only on the two who seemed to require the most attention: James and Sirius. Remus noticed that he was holding his breath again, and he forced himself to breathe. "No, no, I'm quite well, thank you."
Lily continued to look deeply into his eyes. Remus tried valiantly to hold her gaze, but quickly found that he had to look elsewhere. He glanced at the blackboard, half hoping that Binns would materialize, half hoping that class would be cancelled. Fool, there's no chance of that, he scolded himself.
"But you're pale, Remus. And your skin feels clammy," she said, reaching for his cheek this time.
This time Remus dodged her hand as if it were a hornet, and Lily jumped.
"Oh, er, sorry," Remus said quickly, running a hand through his hair. No! James does that, stop it! he screamed at himself. "Sorry, it's just, if I do have a cold, I wouldn't want you to catch it." Lame, lame, lame, he thought. "Sorry," he apologized once more.
Lily's brow knitted quizzically. "What are you sorry for?"
"Nothing. Sorry." Lily's eyes widened and a smile played across her mouth. "I m-mean to say …" Remus began. He took a deep breath and sighed. "What I mean to say is, Lily, you make a lovely chicken."
It was a bad joke, but Lily's laughter rang through the silent classroom like church bells on a clear spring afternoon. Remus couldn't help but smile with her, even as his heart pounded harder. Before he knew what he was doing, he had brushed her hair off her shoulder so that he could see her face more easily. Ever so slightly, Lily's smile faded, but her eyes still danced. Remus felt himself blushing and turned away.
SLAM! The door behind them burst open and hit the wall as two Slytherin boys entered the classroom, followed by Severus Snape, who eyed Remus with loathing. Remus nodded a greeting to them, which was unreturned, and went back to his book. From the corner of his eye he saw Severus take his usual spot in the far corner of the classroom. In every class he shared with Severus, Remus found himself worrying that the Slytherin would let it slip that Remus was a werewolf. But, as far as he knew, to Severus's credit, he had kept his lips sealed. Perhaps Severus was afraid of James and Sirius, who shared most of Remus's classes. Or perhaps he's planning some better revenge, he couldn't help thinking.
The other two Slytherins sat immediately behind Remus and Lily. Lily opened her book bag and retrieved her parchment and quill; she often attempted to take notes for the first half of class, but Remus knew that she usually fell to daydreaming within forty minutes.
"Oy, Loony," sneered one of the Slytherins, a pasty, thick-necked boy named Angus Adderton. "Keeping Potter's woman warm til he gets here?" Angus snickered obscenely.
Lily and Remus pretended to ignore Angus, which was ludicrous considering how loudly he had spoken. Remus could hear Lily's breath quicken next to him.
The other pale, dark-haired Slytherin, Ciaran Cromwell, snickered. "Yes, Potter's got to have one of his mates keep an eye on her. This little Mudblood's pretty easy to get to know, if you know what I –" But he never finished his sentence, as Remus had leapt to his feet and drawn his wand at the level of Ciaran's chest.
"Care to pay more respect to the lady?" suggested Remus. He felt a sudden, angry flush rising in his cheeks.
Ciaran's eyes narrowed. "If there were one present, I suppose I could consider it. But, Lupin, don't you think it rather unseemly for a Prefect to be drawing his wand on another student? Oh, I forgot – Mudblood is thicker than water. You must defend your own kind – "
The room around him seemed to disappear as rage welled up inside him. Remus inhaled sharply and was on the verge of casting a Horn Tongue hex to shut the Slytherin up when he felt Lily touch his arm.
"Remus, don't," she ordered as she stood next to him. She appraised Ciaran, who was still seated, reclining in his chair in an affected pose of disinterest. "Since you clearly have no idea what you're talking about, I'll spell it out for you: James Potter is merely a friend, nothing more. If, by questioning my chastity, you are in some strange way inquiring about my availability, here is my answer: I would not date you if you were the last man on earth."
James will be pleased to know he's not last on Lily's list anymore, Remus thought. Impressed by her composure, as well as her eloquence under pressure, he lowered his wand and watched Ciaran's face. For a split second, the boy seemed at a loss for words.
"Clever little brat," sneered Ciaran, at last.
"Oh, and if you want to flatter me, you'll have to do better than making snide remarks about my parentage. That's yesterday's news." At that, Lily tossed her fiery hair, turned her back on Ciaran, and sat down. The only indication that she was at all affected by this exchange was her shallow breathing and a deep red flush in her cheeks.
Ciaran chuckled derisively, glancing at Angus, but said nothing more. Remus noticed that Severus was watching the scene intently, but he buried his face in his book once more when he realized he had been discovered. Remus pocketed his wand and took his seat again, hardly believing that he had almost hexed someone out of anger. What was wrong with him? He opened his book again.
"Well done," Remus whispered, his eyes on his book.
"Thank you," replied Lily.
Presently, other students began filing into the classroom. Peter, Sirius, and James made their way to the seats on either side of Remus and Lily. Remus was glad that Sirius and James hadn't been there during his encounter with Ciaran. Undoubtedly, the two would have begun shooting hexes at the Slytherin without restraint and earned all three of them a harsh detention.
Professor Binns appeared right on time, drifting into the classroom through the blackboard, and immediately began droning on where he left off from their last class period. Lily, as always, began by sitting bolt upright, quill in hand, poised to take notes. James and Sirius, as was often their preference, rested their heads on their hands in feigned interest and waited for sleep to overtake them. Peter usually managed to scribble a few notes, but he often finished out the class by sketching cartoon drawings of his classmates and the professor. He had filled several sheaves of parchment with these caricatures. Remus, like Lily, usually attempted to take copious notes, but he, too, often succumbed to drowsiness and daydreaming about three-quarters of the way through the lecture. Today he would not, however.
"And so, according to all the extant records, the natural wolf population, which also fell victim to overzealous werewolf hunters, dwindled dangerously low worldwide. It wasn't until relief efforts were begun in 1844 by a forward-thinking wizard named Thelonius St. John …" Binns intoned.
Finally, toward the end of class, many of the students were either in a stupor or fully asleep. Lily was staring off into space, James and Sirius were battling to keep their eyes open, and Peter was sketching his right hand. At last the class was over and students started filing out. Remus told James, Sirius, and Peter that he would meet them in Transfiguration. Slowly, his heart pounding, Remus approached Binns's desk. The professor was about to make his exit through the blackboard when Remus cleared his throat.
"Er, Professor Binns?" Remus said quietly, watching as his classmates left the room.
Binns turned to face him and blinked twice. "Yes, Mister, er …?"
"Lupin," said Remus. "I was wondering if you could answer a question."
Remus heard a derisive snort from the back corner of the room. Severus, he thought, as his palms began to sweat. He darted his eyes in that direction and saw Severus's hunched back as he exited the classroom. Remus waited until all the students were gone before he continued. "I wanted to ask you about records of werewolf attacks, where they happened, when they happened, who were the perpetrators and the victims, and so on. Is there somewhere I can locate information like that?"
Remus had already asked the Ministry of Magic last year, but officials would only release information on a need-to-know basis. They told him if a person lived near a registered werewolf, then the Ministry would alert all who lived within a fifteen-kilometer radius of that werewolf. Outside the fifteen kilometers, the privacy of the werewolf was respected. Actually, it had less to do with privacy than with keeping order. This "privacy" law had been enacted many years ago in an attempt to keep angry, fearful mobs from roaming town to town in search of werewolves to kill. Remus was the only werewolf in his family's radius, and he could obtain no information about any other werewolves. His friends and grandparents, eager to help in the search, spoke with the Ministry and reported that no werewolf was registered near their homes, either. But there had to be other, informal records, perhaps started long ago by individual towns and villages.
"Mister –" Binns began.
"Lupin," Remus prompted again.
"I can assure you that the exam will not require such detail, Mister Lupin."
Remus blinked; he hadn't expected this response. "Sir, it's just –" Remus cleared his throat. "I found your lectures on the issues facing werewolves and the general population quite interesting, and I wanted to learn more. Sir."
Professor Binns appeared, of all things, flustered at having the quality of his lectures complimented by a student. The ghost wiped his glasses on his insubstantial handkerchief. "I will look into the matter and get back to you." And he floated through the blackboard with no further ado.