Chapter 2: Secrets
Remus realized early on that refugee life made November intensely restless. She was not someone who was designed to stay contained and quiet. Her first project was to attack the house, which held it's own against her.
The noise above his head first drew Remus's attention. He and Sirius tended to keep to themselves so though he itched with curiosity, he determined to stay out of her business. He had to admit, though, something about her was magnetic. It was never long before he caught himself making up some excuse to go speak to her. Recently she had been bringing her notebooks and papers down to the library and sifting through them there.
After hearing a scream and a loud thump two floors above the library, Remus decided the gentlemanly thing to do would be to go make sure she didn't kill herself. Whatever it was that she was doing.
Walking into the spare room next to November's, Remus watched as November perched dangerously on a ladder and trying to summon things from high shelves to be boxed and stored. Where she had gotten the boxes from was a mystery to him but she always seemed to be pulling things almost out of thin air.
"Accio book!" November cried, unaware he was behind her.
Remus grimaced realizing it was a bit of a stupid mistake. He ran over to her as every book on the shelves flung themselves at her. Hitting her in a confetti-like burst, the ladder wobbled and went out from under her. With a small shriek, November toppled from the ladder and into Remus's arms. Had it been some sort of romantic movie it would have gone successfully; instead, Remus really was not as strong as he had hoped, she was heavier than she looked, and he toppled over. She landed on his chest and rolled over his head, crushing it into the floor.
"Oh Merlin! I'm so sorry!" November scrambled over to him, not even phased by his sudden appearance. His nose was spouting blood and she held the sleeve of her shirt up to his streaming face. Remus jumped a bit but she did not notice, or kept it to herself if she did. He was not used to people caring for him in this way; most witches and wizards avoided his blood as if it were acid, fearing contamination. But most people didn't soak up other people's blood with their own shirts either.
Her fingers rested on his scruffy face and her hand was warm and gentle. Had Remus not been preoccupied with trying not to breathe blood, he would have noticed her other hand resting on his knee.
At last the bleeding slowed. Pulling both hands away November cleaned the blood out of her shirt with a wave of her wand.
"This time I'll ask," she smiled at him. "Mind if I take care of that for you?"
"This time I'll say yes," Remus joked back.
Another wand wave and the pain and swelling were gone. She was a good healer.
"What on earth were you thinking?" he teased, beginning to pick up the books that covered the floor.
"I wasn't," she grinned cavalierly. "I was just so damn bored. Thought I'd clean the place up. Your friend was busy with a bottle of Scotch so I thought I'd leave them alone together."
Remus nodded exasperatedly. There were certainly more constructive ways of handling stress.
"How do you deal with it?" Her eyes had snapped on his face.
"What exactly?"
"Being trapped like this? I mean, technically I'm dead so I could go out and you could too but there's still risk."
"Oh. Well, mostly moping and avoidance of reality." He had meant it to sound funny but it was too close to the truth. November gave him a sad smile.
"Well we can't have that now can we?"
"So what shall we do?"
"Make a home of this prison." She handed him a sponge and grinned broadly.
They attacked the room eagerly, both working off frustrated energy and happy for an outlet. In the heat of the summer the windows had been thrown open and November finally declared robes "worthless contrivances" and tossed hers aside, revealing a tanktop and Muggle jeans. Remus quickly followed suit in a short sleeve white shirt and khakis.
He did catch November smirking at him. "What?"
"Nothing."
Her playful tone encouraged him to pursue it and so he pressed her about it.
"You just… you always look do formal and proper."
"Normally I get poor and clean."
Another sad smile from November told him he had again shown more of his hand than he had intended. She had that effect on him and he did not understand why. Once he had nearly told her about his…condition, without any solicitation from her. And what was stranger was that she had seemed to be expecting it. But of course he had caught himself and she still did not recoil from him as a result, or so Remus believed.
"It's…" she blushed red and looked away abruptly, instantly catching his attention.
"Yes?" Remus grinned and stopped scrubbing at the wallpaper in an attempt to gain her facial expression.
She looked in her very direct way at him and opened and shut her mouth several times before speaking. "You just…look very … attractive. You always look collected and … professorial."
It was halting and she immediately went back to blushing and scrubbing at the shelves in front of her. "Not to be a creep or anything, but if you hadn't heard it before I thought someone should tell you."
Remus returned to scrubbing, mulling her words over in his mind. He did believe her; she was so sincere and blunt that she would tell anyone something like that if she thought they needed to hear it as quickly as she would tell someone their outfit made her blind. But should he reciprocate?
"As do you. Look attractive, I mean." He coughed and avoided her eyes. He could feel her looking at him. "Any man would surely agree."
Remus felt these last words restored some platonic feeling to the sentiment. It wasn't that he wanted to jump on her or anything. But she was well built and while her face was angular and jutting he found it pretty in its high cheekbones and heart shaped face.
When he heard her scrubbing resume he snuck a glance at her and saw her grinning to herself.
A long fingered hand pulled the book away from Lupin's face and he instantly glowered up at the villain who would do such a thing. At this moment it happened to be November.
"An agreement must be made Sir Lupin." She had taken to knighting him in her addresses to him.
He pulled his legs closer to himself on the chaise and she perched on the end, bright eyes on him.
"Oh I do not know, Lady Cadougan. My own territories are closely guarded."
"Exactly!" November giggled to herself at his baffled expression. He was fun to banter with and he always held his own. "We have been thrown together in life and I shall go out of my mind if I am isolated, as you well know. I need a friend, someone I can talk with. I feel," here her speech slowed as she lost some of the confidince that had gotten her here, "you may have similar inclinations and that you could be…a friend."
Remus sat up and smiled easily at her. "You are not mistaken."
November stared at her hands but was grinning broadly. "I'm glad. Very glad."
With her abrupt decision to solidify what already existed between them, November bound them to the painful events that would soon follow.
The packing and cleaning extravaganza became a group project. Once they convinced Sirius that the merits were greater than that of drinking he had joined them.
Some interesting discoveries were made. One was that Regulus's room contained a museum's worth of poison. Remus would not let either of them even touch half of it, recognizing them on sight.
Another was that, with tons and tons and tons and TONS of polish, the Black House could actually shine and brighten up. The dark wood gleamed with warm tones beneath the dust and grime and gave some positive light to the place.
A constant thorn in their collective side was the painting of Mrs. Black. Since it was a painting there was no way to magically silence her and curses placed on the painting made it an even bigger threat to try to destroy. It seemed as if there was really no solution other than to live with it. But they had not accounted for November.
One day, after a full afternoon of Mrs. Black's screaming, November had hit her limit. Throwing a book across the library, November stuck her arm into the pocket of her robes. Expecting the usual antics, Remus was shocked to look up and see her arm in her pocket up to the shoulder. He was even more surprised to see her pull out a painting.
As he looked at the painting he felt he had seen some part of it before, somewhere.
Sirius, waking from his catnap with her throwing the book, looked over at the painting and lept out of his chair. "Where did you get that?"
"Old family heirloom," November answered.
A small knight in the painting waved back at the trio. His fat grey pony continued to graze, ignoring them.
"Hello, Sir Cadogan," Sirius greeted. "How do you know our dear lady November?"
"Why she's my great great great great great great –"
"granddaughter," November interrupted. "Could you do me a very crucial favor, Sir?"
"Why of course my lady! What shall I do? Fight a villan? Slay a dragon?"
"Oh far worse indeed."
"My lady! I will do my best!"
"I require of you the silencing of a great and unholy siren."
The knight in the painting stopped, listening. "Aye! I hear! For you, my daughter, I do my very best!"
The little knight dashed out of the painting. The screaming in the hall increased along with valiant shouts from Sir Cadogan.
"That little guy was one of the funniest paintings I have ever met," Sirius grinned at her.
"I know. He is the sweetest and most ridiculous man I've ever met."
"Clearly a relation then." Lupin's quip earned him a pillow in the head.
The sounds in the hall died. The brave knight returned, sporting a black eye.
"I have done it, noble lady. Though she be a formidable opponent!"
"I can only imagine," November grinned at him. She blew him a kiss and he bowed nobly. She replaced the painting in her magically deep pocket.
"One never knows when relatives will come in handy," November smirked. And indeed, Mrs. Black remained silent for their time in the house, gagged by the valiant knight with the fat grey pony.
The cleaning finally wound down toward the end of two weeks with only one other altercation.
Remus had discovered a boggart in the root cellar cupboard. Since it had taken him unaware he had left and decided to deal with it after gaining the help of November. She was a skilled witch and he was sure she could help if not take care of it all together.
"You remember the spell?" He asked her, kneeling down by the cupboard.
"But of course."
Remus flung the cupboard doors open. November readied herself, wand pointed. And she froze.
It had been a long time since she had actually encountered a boggart and her fears were very different now.
Remus was even caught off guard. He stared at the figure hovering in front of him.
A man hung in the air. He was very clearly dead, though he was young and whole. His arm reached for November and she recoiled. His mouth worked and his eyes flashed at her. The man's voice was faint but even Remus could tell what he was saying was important.
Tears began to roll down November's cheeks. "I don't understand. I don't understand!" she cried at the figure, pushing away from it.
The boggart was closing in on her, bringing Remus to his senses. "November!"
His shout brought her to her senses. While there was hardly humor in her mind now, the figure before her was wrapped up in some of her happiest moments.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A silver owl bloomed from the end of her wand, beating it's wings against the boggart. It was enough to drive the boggart back toward Remus. The shape shifted from the man to a hovering and glowing ball. Through her streaming tears, November saw a cloud float across the face of the ball, and she knew with out a doubt what Remus really was.
After forcing it back into the cupboard, Lupin flew to her side. November was on the floor and sobbing. It had been so long since she had seen him…and she was no further now than she was then.
Strong arms lifted her gently, shifting her off the floor and onto a bench seat in the root cellar. Remus hugged her to him, stroking her long hair as she sobbed. What that had been about was beyond him, but had totally unstrung her and he would do all he could to comfort her.
Sirius found them this way half an hour later. November's head had slumped against Remus's skinny chest, fast asleep, and Remus held her in his arms.
"What happened here?" Sirius smirked.
"Nothing good," Remus murmured. "The boggart completely undid her. She cried, Sirius."
The light in his friend's eyes changed from amused to alarmed.
"What was it?"
"A dead man. Talking to her. She repeated she didn't understand him and then…"
"What in Merlin's beard could that be about?"
"Beyond me."
"Did she see yours?"
Remus's face paled. This had not occurred to him. He tried to think back and could not remember where she had been in the room or even where she had been facing.
"I…I'm not sure."
"Well, can't have been too bad if she did," Sirius nodded at her curled against him, the old smile back.
"Oh, boil your head." But there was a pleased tone in Lupin's voice.
November stirred and woke, silencing both of them. She rubbed her puffy eyes and blinked sleepily. The owl patronus seemed to fit her as she blinked at them in the light.
"What happened?"
"The boggart?" Remus offered, gently.
"Ah. Yes. That." She rubbed her eyes again and sighed. "I wasn't much help, was I?"
"Boggarts aren't malevolent. It can wait."
November nodded idly and left the root cellar. Turning at the door she looked back at Lupin. "Thank you, Remus."
Lupin nodded, smiling at her, and she left.
Lupin watched November absently over the edge of his book. She had a book open in her lap and was working on twisting her hair into an elaborate and lovely design with pins as she read.
It never sat well with his memory that she had red hair. Something just seemed as if it didn't fit her. Not that he really remembered her either so he could very well be wrong.
The next morning, November was not at breakfast. Wondering if some breakthrough or news had been received Remus decided to check in on her.
As he knocked the door swung slightly open and he saw a witch with brown hair, back to him, standing over the side of the bed, looking down on something he could not see and pointing a wand.
But where was November?
Remus made a quick decision about what to do; after all, strangers did not get here on accident. "Stupify!"
The figure hit the wall and dropped. He dove onto the bed, standing on it and looking down on…
"November!" He restored her as quickly as he could. "What are you…who was…"
Her hair was a medium dark brown, golden tinted in the right light. It gave her an entirely different appearance. She looked softer. She looked more real and more as he remembered her.
Her first words were rather salty as she felt the bruise on her cheek.
"Are you possessed?"
"I thought…I didn't see you and…"
Her head took its usual birdlike tilt. "You didn't know it was me?"
"I thought I was helping."
November could not help but smile. She picked up some of the papers she had been charming and shoved them in her drawer.
"If I may, which is it?" Remus asked, trying to remember if this was an issue like a woman's weight or not.
"Oh the hair?" She smiled at him. "This. The red is disguise. I tried to think of a color as far from the natural as possible."
"This is much nicer," Remus spoke before he realized he was speaking.
But November was not taken aback at all. "You think so?"
"Indeed."
"I may have to leave it then. It is easier."
The rest of her time with them, November's hair was it's natural dark brown within the walls of Grimmauld Place and red outside of them. Whenever he saw it, the brown hair made Lupin smile. Some corner of his mind told him easier or not her hair would stay brown when he was around.
At the next Order meeting several big announcements were made.
The first was that Harry, the Weaslys, and Hermione would be staying in Grimmauld Place until school started, effective next week. Sirius was out of his mind with pleasure at this, though Remus and November were a bit less thrilled. More people meant less quiet and less privacy. They exchanged glances, understanding the common feeling without words.
The second announcement was pure gossip but significant gossip. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had split up. Who was to blame or who did the leaving was unclear but both parties agreed it was final and would soon be official. Severus was only able to offer guesses that Lucius's renewed activity with Dark Wizards had pushed Narcissa to the edge and that Lucius had deliberately pushed her for divorce.
The third announcement was that there was activity in the Ministry involving the Dept of Mysteries. Lucius Malfoy was connected to the whole affair though exactly how was not clear. Because of this, night shifts would be postponed and all would serve day shifts who were able. This included Remus and November.
"In all respect, Professor," Remus interjected. "November is supposed to be dead and I am on a watch list. We can hardly go strolling through Diagon Alley."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he looked over at November. She glowed with pride, knowing exactly what he was asking of her.
Sirius had been dozing when Tonks' laughter woke him and he found November's wand pointed at his nose. He spoke and was stunned when it came out higher than usual.
"What have you done to me?" He shrilled and rushed to a large mirror on the wall. The Weasleys were rolling with laughter as were Tonks and Kingsly and it was not hard to see why. His nose was now petite and feminine, changing the entire look of his face as well as the pitch of his voice.
"I am sure, Remus, that she will be able to sufficiently hide the two of you." With a wave of his wand Dumbledore restored Sirius' nose to its proper size.
The end of dinner and the departure of the Order found Molly and November putting fresh sheets on the beds. After Sirius and Remus finished the dishes, the ladies were off to begin the chopping for the meals that would be coming.
It was midnight before Remus and November were together in the silence of the house. There was almost a silent agreement about where they would go as the house filled up in the coming week. In their cleaning they had discovered a loft, just above the third floor and just below the attic.
Once they reached it November turned to Lupin.
"How are you at transfiguration?"
"Good enough. Why?"
November dropped a galleon and two sickles on the floor. "That's about what I'm willing to pay for a couch and two end tables." She smiled at him and it clicked.
With a wave of his wand, a couch grew out of the galleon, brown and gold colored and very plush. Two silver end tables stood on either side, slightly tarnished but sturdy.
"A secret alcove," November admired. "We could take turns here or-"
"Nonsense," Remus waved her suggestions aside. "I am perfectly capable of sharing if you are."
"Oh I believe I can manage. You do take up an awful lot of space though," she teased, poking him in his very skinny ribs.
"Oh!" November began to rummage in her pocket, again up to her shoulder. "If you don't mind, my poor great-great-many-great-grandfather would like out of my pockets."
"By all means."
Sir Codougan was quickly fixed in place on the wall over the couch. The picture was currently empty but November knew he would be wandering around Hogwarts.
Stepping back the place looked almost cozy.
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