Chapter Eleven

"Guess this little bitty living room ain't gonna look like much

When the lights go down and we move the couch

It's gonna be more than enough

For my two left feet and our two hearts beatin'

Nobody's gonna see us go crazy

So baby, why don't we just dance?"

- Josh Turner

Austin frowned as she stared down at her books. She was so tired, but there was no way she would be able to sleep yet. St. Mungo's had finally sent their consent for her to work in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. The only problem was that with her work, that left less time for homework and studying for N.E.W.T's. The blond American witch rubbed her eyes after she threw her pen down on the table. Austin thought she would die a few times this past year and now it seemed that she would die from work overload.

"You look like you may need this more than me." A man's voice chuckled from somewhere above her.

Austin tilted her head back and saw Remus Lupin standing behind her chair with a cup of what looked like hot chocolate in his hands. "Ya know I'd like some, Rem, but you always snarl at people who try to take your chocolate." Austin smirked up at him.

"That's why I brought two mugs." Remus winked before sitting down beside her in another chair and sat down a mug.

"And this is why you are always my favorite." Austin smiled tiredly before leaning over to give the young werewolf a small kiss.

Remus hummed as he leaned back in his chair and looked over the table in front of her. She knew that it looked like a mess. With her internship with Madam Pomfrey, she was given an assignment every time that she needed to go over and have turned in by the next weekend. Those files were spread around the table and all of her class notes and books were opened and rifled through. Austin was pretty sure that she wouldn't know which notes went with which books by the end of the week.

"I think you need to take a break." Remus stated simply before standing up from his chair after another drink from his hot chocolate.

"If I take a break, I won't wanna continue to work and I have to get all of this done." Austin responded quickly as he grabbed her hands.

"I promise not to take you away from your work for that long, Austin." Remus chuckled and proceeded to pull her out of her chair and into his arms.

She thought about fighting him but decided against it since his arms were very comfortable after being enveloped in a hard wooden chair. He led her backwards towards the couch and fell backwards on it.

Austin let out a loud laugh as she fell on top of him. "Remus! What the hell?" Austin laughed as she leaned up from his chest and looked at his grinning face.

She could hardly be angry with him. He had placed them right in front of the fire and was now proceeding to pull a story book from off the floor, "I decided it would be nice if we just cuddled in front of the fire while I read to you." Remus grinned and looked into her brown eyes, "Unless you want to do something else?"

Austin laughed before glancing up and out a window. The full moon was in three days. Wait…three days? Austin glanced back down at him and noticed that her little werewolf wasn't even acting as if he were in pain or felt the transformation coming. She remembered something about this type of reaction, but Remus was waiting for her to settle back down so he could start reading to her.

"A'right, let's get this over with so I can finish my work and go to bed." Austin smiled before settling her head beneath Remus' chin so he could hold the book above them both and read.

"There was once a far off land and in that land lived a young woman who tried to challenge the king—"

Remus had finished the story long after Austin had fallen asleep in his arms. He smiled softly at the woman that clung to the front of his shirt in her sleep. He rolled so she was at the back of the couch and he was at the edge. With a flick of his wrist, the fire was extinguished and a blanket covered their forms. He wondered for a moment if he shouldn't wake her to send her to her own bed or at least carry her to his. However, his eyes began to droop as soon as she moved her body closer to his and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

He awoke far before the sun even rose to someone poking him in the arm. Remus cracked an eye open and glanced at Austin. She was still sleeping soundly in his arms and so he knew the threat came from elsewhere. Remus bared his teeth and snarled as he turned his head to look into bright blue eyes.

"Don't you dare growl at me, wolf. I'm here to make sure that Austin's okay." Ashlee Stanton crossed her arms before wrinkling her nose, "I just didn't want to wake her because she usually gets violent."

Remus lowered his upper lip and blinked towards the window. He could never understand how Austin was able to tell the time just by the way the sky looked, but decided that it didn't matter at the moment. "Austin is fine. I had to pull her away from her work so she was able to actually relax and sleep for a while." Remus explained before pulling slightly away from the limp form of the woman in question.

"I'd like to talk to you in private, Mr. Lupin, if you wouldn't mind." Ashlee nodded towards the entrance to the common room.

Remus cocked his head as he slowly slipped off the couch and placed a pillow in Austin's now empty arms. She clutched it to her chest and grumbled slightly in her sleep. Remus smiled before moving a lock of hair from her face and moving to follow the impatient Ashlee Stanton out of the common room.

"What is this about?" Remus question carefully as they stopped right outside of the Fat Lady's portrait which hid the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I wanted to show you something," Ashlee stated simply as she pulled a file out of the bag on her arm.

Remus opened the file and looked at the papers that lined it. He could tell that it was some sort of medical test and knew that it was a DNA test. He also knew that the results were positive since it was stamped at the top. The very last page was hand written and explained that there was no way the results could be true and there not be a change. Remus didn't understand a word that he read and turned to look at the first page again. The name was marked out so no one would know who the test had been run on.

"Is this some sort of joke? What is this?" Remus responded as he thrust the file back at Ashlee.

"I don't expect you to understand everything that I've done in my life and I really don't care if you approve of it or not. This file contains the DNA records of Austin. She is positive for the werewolf gene but it has yet to actually activate. What this data tells me is that there is something going on in her blood and the rest of her DNA." Ashlee shrugged her shoulders lightly and placed the file back into her bag, "I am guessing that if I were to look at your DNA and compare it to hers' there would be something different that could lead me to an answer."

"All of this, this entire conversation, is just to get me to give you some DNA?" Remus growled lowly before turning towards the portrait hole. "If you would excuse me, Miss Stanton, I need to go and wake Austin up so she can go up to her room."

"You don't get it, do you?" Ashlee questioned as she reached forward to take hold of Remus' arm. "I don't care about your DNA or being polite to you. I only care that Austin is kept safe. I made a promise to her grandfather that I would watch out for her and I will not break that promise. If that means that I need your DNA, then so be it. If that means I have to kill everyone in the school, so be it. Don't you see, Mr. Lupin? I don't give a shit about any of you. Only Austin Cross matters and you will never understand how important she is to the future of your race."

Remus snorted as he turned around with a glare on his face, "I understand completely. I have been with her more often since the last full moon and I do not feel the effects of the approaching one. She is the cure for my infliction and she doesn't even know it. She doesn't realize the effect she has on me, on everyone here. Does she even know that you are protecting her out of some strange promise you made with her grandfather? Does she know that you are running these tests on her?"

Ashlee glared now and turned on her heel, "Feel lucky, Mr. Lupin, that I only kill the dangerous werewolves. You are impeding the process of protecting Austin and if you get in my way in wolf form, I may have no choice but to kill you."

Remus watched as the black haired American hunter left him standing outside in the dark corridor. A small chill had run up his spine at her threat, but he knew she would never act on it. She would never hurt Austin that way unless there was no Austin present at the time. Remus shook his head and re-entered the common room, trying to put his mind at ease even though the words and images on the pages of the file he recently looked at would not leave his mind.

Austin stirred as she heard someone call her name. Her eyes squeezed shut before she opened them slightly. The common room came into blurry focus and Remus' face came into focus shortly thereafter. "What's wrong?" Austin mumbled out before rolling onto her back on the couch.

"Well, I thought you may want to go up to your own bed. However, seeing as you wish to stay on the couch for the rest of the night, I will leave you alone." Remus chuckled at her.

Austin smiled tiredly before opening her eyes completely and shaking her head. "I'll get up and go to bed. It's your fault I even fell asleep down here anyway."

The American witch sat up off the couch with help from Remus and moved to stand, but a sharp pain in her stomach caused her to fall back onto the cushions. "What the hell? I thought that had stopped." Austin groaned as she leaned backwards.

"Let me see it." Remus demanded as he kneeled in front of her.

"Nope, not happenin. It's just the pain from the full moon comin up. I'll be fine." Austin brushed the hands of the young werewolf away from her.

"You're being stubborn, you know?" Remus sighed but left her stomach alone for the time being. "Whatever it is, it can't be as bad as the scars I have all over me."

Austin did not comment, she just stood from her seat and decided that it was time to gather her things and go to her room. "I don't wanna talk about it, Rem. Meet me down here in the morning to go to breakfast?"

Remus nodded as he stood up as well and placed a simple kiss on her forehead. "Of course, Austin. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Rem." Austin smiled before gathering her healers' files and heading up her stair case.

Once Austin was in her own bed without Remus next to her, she found that it was difficult to sleep. She woke up many times from nightmares and knew that she was hardly going to get any sleep. Finally, at four in the morning, Austin decided to get up and see about the homework that she had to finish.

Austin glanced over her finished transfiguration essay with a small smile on her face before she glanced over at the clock at her bed side. She had another hour before Lily began to stir. It was now five thirty in the morning. Austin gathered herself and moved to head towards the bathrooms. She would need to shower and dress before she could meet with Remus this morning.

As Austin passed by the shower stall she had almost died in. She stopped to stare at the white walls once more. She could not help but remember the color of her blood on that white. It was such a strong contrast, bright red against stark white. Austin closed her eyes and turned away to head to the stall in the back.

Her shower wasn't as calming as she would have liked. She had to wash each scar and make sure that she rinsed them perfectly. Austin frowned as she moved two fingers across the pink puckered scar on her left wrist. These were the only scars besides the ones on her stomach that would not heal. Each scar that marred her skin was either self-made or made by silver. Austin frowned deeper as she stepped from her shower and began to dry her body.

She pulled a brush through her sunshine hair before pulling it back into a chignon. It was hardly a day to worry too much about her looks. Austin smirked to herself as she stepped into her robes and had just finished brushing her teeth when Lily came into the bathroom.

"Why are you up so early, Austin?" Lily yawned before coming to the mirror to brush her own teeth.

Austin placed her toothbrush back in her bag and smirked, "Why do ya think I'm up early and you're not up late?"

Lily rolled her eyes before spitting out her mouthful of toothpaste. "You need to be less happy in the morning." The red head yawned before rinsing her mouth out.

Austin only laughed before she moved back into the bed room to put her shoes on for the day. When she glanced out the window, she smiled slightly. The sun was up and the birds were chirping already. Maybe it would be a good day after all. Austin chuckled at her bipolar attitude before grabbing her book bag and heading down to the common room to meet up with Remus.

She saw the brown haired boy sitting on the couch going through a book and jotting down a few notes. She didn't bother to sneak up him, she just paused at the bottom of the stairs and looked at him. He was so handsome and he never even noticed it about himself. Remus Lupin was the best man she had met outside of her family and she felt her heart flutter as she thought what it would be like to be with Remus forever. Austin smiled to herself before shaking her head.

That was when she realized that Remus was not paying attention to anything around him. Austin smiled before she tiptoed across the common room and placed her hands over Remus' eyes. The young werewolf jumped slightly but as Austin moved her head over his shoulder, she could see the smile that was growing bigger on his face.

"Who would try something like this while I was studying? Hmm…is it James?" Remus suggested. Austin tried to stifle a laugh as he continued, "No? Then it has to be Sirius because sweet little Austin would never do something like this."

Austin squealed as Remus flipped her over the couch and into his lap. Her hands had moved so they were behind his head now instead of covering his face, "Good morning to you too." Austin smiled up at him.

"Hmmm, yes, this probably is a good morning." Remus confirmed before reaching down to kiss Austin lightly on the lips. "Now, it's time to get some food in you or else you'll try to kill all of us."

Austin swatted his shoulder before slowly getting off his lap, "I think Sirius and James may kill someone before I do when it comes to food, Rem."

Remus laughed and the two students left the common room with both bags slung over one of Remus' shoulders. As they walked, Austin felt Remus play with the fingers of her hand that he held. She smiled and couldn't believe that he was taking her even after everything she had done and everything that he now knew about her.

"What are we, Remus?" Austin whispered as they walked through the still quiet halls.

"What do you mean?" Remus hummed lightly.

Austin smiled at the little quirk. She had noticed that he always hummed his words when he thought someone may be talking about his lycanthropy. She pushed him slightly with her side before laughing, "I'm talkin about us, Rem. We hold hands, we kiss, we cuddle, and we even slept on the couch together last night for most of it. What are we?"

Remus was silent for a moment as they continued to walk. Austin could tell that he was deep in thought, but that idea worried her more than anything else. She didn't want him to talk himself out of anything and she most certainly didn't want to be told that he wasn't interested in her and she was only a little fling. Austin held her breath as Remus began to speak once more.

"Perhaps we should discuss this when the full moon isn't approaching, Austin. I know that you would like an answer today, possibly immediately, but with the full moon coming in a couple of nights, my mind isn't thinking rationally." Remus stated quietly before squeezing her hand, "I promise we will talk about where we want our relationship to go."

Austin only nodded, fearful that Remus really was trying to talk himself out of this. She didn't allow him to see her emotions in her eyes, so she put on a smile and nodded her head, "A'right, if you promise then."

Remus smiled and she couldn't see anything in his eyes that would indicate he actually thought she was feeling rejected, "Promise."