Author's Note - Yeesh! It's been around two and a half months since I've updated! So so sorry guys. RL's been crazy. The excuses are wide and varied and include being out of the country, school, death, and birth (taxes soon to be added to that). But, no one wants those details. I'm not sure this is a better stopping point that last time, but my intention is for the Apprentice thread to weave in and out of the main story much like Marauder flashbacks will. So, if you happen to get engaged in that storyline, it will return, but I don't know about you guys, I've been wanting to get to those patronus lessons for forever! Yet more proof that the writer really has no control over her own story. As for when those patronus lessons will come, well, all next week is exam week, so MAYBE that weekend (not this next, but the one after). I do have a two week break from Feb 6 to 22, so hopefully I can progress some then, but as I already have some obligations for that two weeks, I make no promises except to do my very best. This is for SiriusHarryPotter because she asked so nicely…twice.

Chapter 6 – The Apprentice (Part 2)

Dumbledore smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling, "The day after tomorrow. You'll stay the night here, then take a port key to Paris, then Rome, then Ankara, Baghdad, and finally New Delhi. Gyan will meet you in New Delhi and the two of you will apparate to his home from there. I've taken the liberty of reserving a room here for you. Do you need time to collect your belongings?"

Remus grinned and spread his arms open, looking down at himself.

"It is a wise man that does not allow himself to be defined by possessions."

"That same wise man must have frozen his ass off."

Dumbledore chuckled, "You always were one to look at things practically. I am glad that you have accepted this opportunity. I had hoped that your efforts at Hogwarts would not go unrewarded."

"Being allowed to attend was reward enough, Professor. If I never accomplish anything with my life, those seven years were enough. I don't know if I ever properly thanked you for them."

"You have thanked me many times, Remus, and you have never needed to," Dumbledore said, "You had the same right as every other wizarding child to attend."

"Still, no one else would have let me. Thank you."

"You are most welcome."

The next day, Remus found himself slightly nauseous as he dropped a bottlecap at the desk of a tiny man with large black eyes covered by coke-bottle glasses sitting behind a desk in the Indian Magical Parliament.

The man spoke in a bored voice in Hindi, not bothering to look up. Remus only caught his own name.

"Erm," Remus shifted.

The man looked up, his eyes magnified and blinking owlishly, "Ten fifty port from Baghdad, original point of departure Hogsmeade, Scotland, Remus Lupin?"

"Yes," Remus swallowed, still mildly sick. He'd never ported so many times in such quick succession.

"Welcome to India," the little man continued in a bored monotone, "Please fill out these forms," he handed Remus a tall stack of purple papers, "File them with the Division of Guests, Tourists, and Pests on the fifth floor. You will be directed from there."

"Thank you, but could you tell me…"

"Please clear the platform. A party of eight is due any minute. Proceed to the fifth floor and you will be directed from there."

Remus sighed, adjusting the stack of forms and juggling a brown leather bag with "RJ Lupin" stamped in gold leaf across one corner. He had found it when he woke that morning in his room. It contained bottles of ink in various colors (Remus was particularly amused by the pink), four falcon feather quills, several yards of parchment, a set of books entitled Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts, a comb, a toothbrush that produced its own paste, and a razor that produced its own foam. The bag had been charmed to fit all this and quite a bit more should he need it. On top had been a note that read:

Dear Remus,

Just a few things to start you off on the next phase of your journey. Please accept this small gift to a former student who, as all the best students do, taught me as much as I hope I have taught him.

Dumbledore

Beside the bag, a set of robes, a few pairs of pants, some shirts and sweaters, and several pairs of socks were neatly folded with a note from Rosmerta saying that Mr. Angling had long expanded past being able to wear them and it would be a kindness if Remus would take them so they wouldn't clutter up Mrs. Angling's closet. Remus had sighed, knowing that it would look ungrateful to refuse the gifts, especially seeing as he could hardly claim he didn't need them. They'd fit easily into the leather bag from Dumbledore and it had all traveled lightly.

Remus steadily followed the direction the little wizard had pointed him. The corridors spiraled through the building and Remus felt sure he would have become lost except for the fact that he could scent the myriad of smells that could only come from travelers from many different countries. Finally he arrived at a lobby that extended magnificently both up and down, the center of which contained a network of walkways surrounding four escalators that spiraled in and out of each other. Signs at the end of the walkways informed him he was on the eleventh floor, so he moved towards the escalators taking him down to the fifth where he found a long line extending out of the Division of Guests, Tourists, and Pests.

"Wonder which category I get put in," he muttered, joining the line behind a witch and wizard speaking in Russian and began to fill out his forms.

Four hours later, Remus finally stepped off the escalator onto the first floor. He looked around for the main entrance where he was to meet Gyan Varen. The defense master wasn't hard to spot. No other wizard in the area had his arms crossed about a walking stick, tapping his foot, and a scowl of much impatience. Varen was hunched over with great age as he had been getting on in years even when Dumbledore was in his youth. Even had he stood straight, he would have only come to Remus's shoulders.

"Mr. Varen," Remus nodded, "It is a great honor to meet you, sir." He extended a hand.

Varen did not take it, his black eyes scrutinizing Remus from head to toe before nodding and turning on heel out of the Parliament, speaking only a heavily accented "Keep up" over his shoulder.

For a man pushing over a hundred and fifty, Varen moved swiftly in and out of the crowd, easily ducking around people with his small size, leaving Remus to dodge and swerve, more often than not jostling those around him leaving glares in his wake as he tried to keep pace. Remus was pleased to note that while it wasn't exactly warm, it was far less chilly than the wind-whipped streets of Scotland had been. They walked for twenty minutes through muggle streets, Remus starting to work up a sweat, before coming to a small park. Varen proceeded to a grove of trees before finally stopping. "Take my arm."

Remus did and instantly he felt the squeezing sensation of apparition as he turned with the elder wizard.

Blasting sharp wind was the next sensation Remus noted and he gasped, blinking to observe snow capped mountains and large drifts. Already, Varen was moving again, steadily climbing a snow-covered hill. Remus quickly performed a warming charm that took the bite out of air and hurried to follow. The younger wizard had no idea how long they walked, but the sun had noticeably moved in the sky before he caught sight of a few small buildings on an outcropping of mountain ahead.

"Is that where we're going, sir?" Remus asked Varen, who did not answer, but continued his trek head down and walking stick propelling him effortlessly through the snow.

Finally, they did arrive at the cluster of building Remus had spotted. Varen lead him towards one of the smaller wood-framed buildings and held open the door. Remus stepped inside, shaking from the cold, and brushed snow from his shoulders and hair.

"I did not realize we would be quite so far into the mountains or I would have made a better effort to prepare," Remus stuttered a bit, smiling.

"This is your place." Varen said, ignoring Remus's words, "There is your bed," he pointed to a pile of hay in a corner, "You will both be supplied with food for the day each morning."

"Both?" Remus glanced around, only now noticing that someone else was in the one room shack. The girl looked to be about his age with long black hair that would have come down to her waist were it not a nest of tangles and knots. Her face was turned away from them.

"Sir, I don't think that it's appropriate for me to be sharing one room with a strange woman."

"She is your kind," Varen shrugged, "I do not see how it will matter," he said turning back towards the door.

"But sir, what about the wash room. She might not want to share it with a man."

"What do you need a wash room for?" Varen turned, looking genuinely confused.

Remus was at a loss, "For the toilet, for a shower, to clean my teeth…for what everyone uses a wash room for."

"But Dumbledore told me that you are a werewolf."

Remus's eyes narrowed, "I am, but that doesn't mean that I don't do everything else normal humans do."

"Really? How very strange," Varen looked thoughtful, "Well, there are no facilities except at my home. I shall bring you a bowl and cloths for washing. If you say that werewolves do indeed wash, I shall bring another for it is certain that Asha could use it. The rest you shall have to figure out yourself."

Varen turned to leave.

"How long has Asha been here?" Remus asked staring at the huddled body nestled in hay.

"Since she was bitten four months ago. It is curious. She has never asked for anything and yet she was human four months ago. You have been a werewolf most of your life, if what Dumbledore told me is correct, and yet you ask for these things. Most curious. This could be productive already," he muttered, exiting the shack, leaving Remus to stare at the woman hunched in the corner, her arms wrapped around her legs, her body shaking beneath oversized clothes.