Wolfsbane. It was wolfsbane. There was no doubt about that. My heart was beating frantically as I felt my forehead break out in a sweat. My eyes were fixed on the moon outside.
He has a goblet of wolfsbane in his office. On his desk. With a note to drink it. And the moon is almost full. That could only mean one thing.
Professor Lupin is a werewolf.
I panicked. A werewolf. I'm alone, at night, with a werewolf. There was only one functional thought that dominated my mind at the moment – I need to get away from here. Run now, think later. It was survivors instinct.
I reached for my wand and at the same moment, the door opened behind me. I spun around on my spot as Professor Lupin's voice echoed through out the room.
"Faylinn?" he called from outside.
Without thinking, I raised my wand, slammed the door shut, pushing Professor Lupin back away from the door. I locked it magically. But I knew it would not hold for long, he could unlock it as easily as I had locked it.
"Faylinn? What are you doing?" he called out, banging hard on the door. He sounded confused and worried.
"Oh no, oh no…" I muttered anxiously.
I frantically looked around the room. There was a large wooden filing cabinet against one wall.
"Locomotor cabinet!" I cried, and moved the cabinet so that it blocked the door. It landed at the same time that the lock clicked open. I could hear him rattling the handle but it was a fruitless attempt – the door was as good as blocked.
That should buy me some time, I thought, my chest heaving with every deep breathe I took. I have to get out of here. I ran to the window and looked out, but it was hopeless, I was at least 3 levels high and without a broom.
"Faylinn, what is going on?" Professor Lupin demanded breathlessly. He was pushing against the door and the cabinet had moved an inch.
I looked around the office again, and this I noticed the empty fire place.
"The Floo network!" I exclaimed, running forward towards the fire. There must be floo powder here somewhere. I searched around the fireplace and quickly found a small bowl, but there was hardly enough powder left to pinch between two fingers. It was not enough.
At that moment Professor Lupin elbowed the door with strength I did not know he had, and the cabinet smashed on to the floor with a mighty thud.
He stepped into the room quickly, breathing hard, "What's wrong? Is everything –"
He stopped mid-sentence and froze in his spot when I raised my wand defensively, aiming directly at his chest.
"Don't move," I instead, my voice panicked, shaking. My eyes were locked on his wand, which was pointing uselessly at the ground.
What if he realises? I thought frantically, what if he realises I found out? What will he do? I have to get out of here.
He looked incredulously at my wand, which I held in a trembling hand, then at my panicked expression. He was beyond confused. He then let his eyes move beyond me, and I knew his eyes were fixed on the goblet. His expressing changed suddenly. He understood. He looked at me differently now. There was realisation, worry and what I suspected might be fear in his expression.
He knew. My hand was trembling so much now that I could hardly hold my wand straight. I breathed deeply.
"Faylinn," he said calmly, thought cautiously, as thought any sudden movements might be disastrous, "Please lower your wand."
I shook my head. Act now, I thought, act now, before he does.
But he's a teacher, I remembered.
He's a werewolf.
But it was too late. He raised his wand before I even had a chance to react.
"Expelliarmus!" he shouted, and I gasped as my wand flew from my hand as thought being pulled by a fishing line.
He disarmed me! As I watched him reach out to catch my wand, only one word came to my mind.
Run.
I grabbed my bag in both hands and moved forward, while he was still distracted, swung it forward and hit him across the side. He gasped as he fell over on to the cold stone floor. I dropped my bag, skirted around the fallen cabinet and ran out of the office, ignoring Professor Lupin's yells for me to stop.
I sprinted down the corridor as fast I could, the loudness of my beating heart second only to the sound of my school shoes as they slammed against the stone floor.
"Faylinn! Stop!" shouted Professor Lupin, but I only ran faster and as I turned the corner I saw a flash of light just miss my shoulder.
I ran and ran and did not stop until I was two stories away from his office. I opened the door of an empty charms classroom and closed it silently behind me. I leaned against it and allowed myself to slide down onto the floor.
Professor Lupin is a werewolf. A werewolf, I thought bitterly, as I fought to catch my breath.
I thought back to everything I knew about werewolves. They turn into monsters on a full moon. They bite people. Transfer their disease. Even kill people.
But Professor Lupin is not a monster, I reminded myself. He is caring, considerate, smart, and even funny sometimes. I've had a crush on him for months. How could he be a werewolf?
It did not make sense. Everything I had learned about werewolves told me they were viscous creatures. Dark creatures, Professor Quirell had called them. But Professor Lupin was not dark.
The library. I need a book, a book about werewolves. When in doubt, consult a book. As frightened as I had been in the office, and still am, there was no way I was going to believe that Professor Lupin would have really hurt me.
I stood up again. My legs felt like jelly, they could hardly support me. But I was determined. The library was only two minutes away, and so I set off quietly, extremely aware that I was with out a wand, after curfew.
To my relief, the library was empty, with no librarian in sight. It was dark, but for the dim light provided by a few torches. I quickly found the relevant section and pulled three werewolf related books off the shelf and sat in a secluded corner on a sofa at the back of the library, under a torch.
The first book was called The Werewolf: a Summary. It was short, and seeing as how I was short on time, I started with it. Five minutes later however, after the author started to explain why all werewolves should be hunted down and killed, I stopped reading. Ignorant as I was about werewolves, I knew bias rubbish when I saw it.
I moved on to the second book. It seemed to be aimed at a younger audience, which meant that there was little complex language, many pictures and it got straight to the point.
The more I read, the more I realised I was wrong about werewolves and the more ashamed I became of my reaction in Professor Lupin's office. At one point I started crying so much that I had to stop reading for a few minutes. That was when I read about how painful it was to transform into a werewolf.
An hour later, I put the books down. Professor Lupin is not a monster. He is a human. A human with a problem. That was all.
Everything came together now, it all made sense. He was poor because no one would employ a werewolf, they didn't trust them. They all thought them to be vicious monsters that were determined to attack them or their children, but they were wrong. That only happens once a month and it is beyond their control anyway. No wonder he did not want to talk about his previous jobs. He was probably fired as soon as they found out.
And no wonder he was still single. The book mentioned how most people could not even look at a person any more once they found out they were a werewolf. They were too disgusted to even touch them, let alone date them. I had shed a few more tears when I read that one too.
And then there is the bite itself. The bite that made him a werewolf. It must have been horrific. Sometimes when I was younger, I would imagine how scary it would be to be cornered by a lion, or a tiger. I knew this must have been a hundred times worse.
I reached into my pocket for a tissue and wiped my face clean of tears. Poor Professor Lupin. Who knew how much I had just offended him? And to think I actually attacked him.
I stood up to return the books to their shelves, but I had hardly taken a few steps before I froze.
Footsteps.
They were shockingly loud in the deadly silent library. I knew immediately who ever it was knew exactly where he or she was heading; the steps were loud, quick and continuos.
I moved back as quietly as I could into the corner near the sofa. My throat felt suddenly dry. Being in the library after curfew an hour and a half after having hit a teacher is not the ideal place a person would like to be in, by a long shot.
The foot steps grew louder and louder; the person was heading my way. I saw a beam of light illuminate the floor in front of me, and as a tall, familiar figure emerge from the darkness, I could not help but gasp with surprise.
For all the Remus lovers out there - please don't hate Faylinn! If this chapter doesn't convince you that she's 'innocent', well, I hope the next chapter will! Please review!!!