Ana's tell Chapter 9: The duel, a harry potter fanfic

CHAPTER NINE: THE DUEL.

Ana made the point to annoy me all week while she was in detention. She was insufferable. If it wasn't for Harry I would have been tempted to throw her out of my class room. Harry started to come regularly in my office before dinner or after dinner depending on his schedule. He met Ana. They got along so well it was scary. I swore she was bringing out Harry's marauders side. It was good to see Harry be more himself than ever before. But god the two of them were terrible. Ana was mischievous and impossible to detect when she was going to pull a prank but Harry had a knack to attract trouble. And some of their prank turns out to be… weird. I got a good laugh when the prank they had plan to pull on me turns out to be pull on Ana herself.

It was good to see Ana let her guard down. She still had it when she was alone with me but less than before. And around Harry I could tell she was herself. Oh she didn't let anything slip out about her but she didn't cover up behind a fake personality. I think she didn't because the two of us had felt that Harry had a second sense to that kind of think. He could detect if she was being fake. It was amazing how well he could read her in such a short amount of time.

The first time he came while she was in detention she got the nerve to say to Harry and I quote, that I was being a moody nosy teacher when I gave my punishment to her. She took a good care to make me appear like a terrible teacher who was being very mean. I scowled at her so much at her fake accusation that Harry couldn't stop laughing at me. I think it was that episode that started their friendship. I now understood why she was hanging around with the Weasley twins. She never got a detention because of their prank but I was pretty sure she was the brain behind many of them, the Weasley were bringing in their creativity. And I am pretty sure I spotted Harry with them on Friday before lunch.

I was wondering if I had created a new terror for the teacher but then I realized I was all LuLu and I decided I shouldn't feel guilty about it. I was being a hypocrite naturally. It was me who gave them the idea of transforming the corridor into an ice rink. I had told them some stories of James and "our other friend". So maybe it was my fault. I think Minerva was getting suspicious, she remembered all too well the prank we had pull at school. Albus was just chuckling happily like the old coot he was, having no idea of what was happening. For the great wizard he was he had a really short memory.

With Friday night came the full moon. And surprisingly I felt quite well. I could have assured my class for the day but Snape was insisting so I let him. I think he didn't like me to close to the children so close to the full moon. Maybe he was right. I had cancelled the last detention with Ana; I lied and told her she had done enough. I hoped she thought that I couldn't stand her being annoying anymore. But in any case, I was better far away from her so close to the full moon. Moony was all too happy to have her close all week and it was getting disturbing.

Moony was happy. He was closer with his cub than he had been before. He craved some physical contact with him. It was part of the werewolf thing. Wolf likes to reassure themselves of their pack with touch. But I couldn't. I was still Harry's teacher and I didn't know him that well. As for Ana, well I was better away from her, I couldn't understand Moony's attraction to her yet. But he was happy when she was there anyway.

It was maybe the fact that my wolf was happy that made the full moon a lot more bearable, or the wolfbane potion, I didn't really know. But I couldn't remember the last time a full moon had been… so easy. So when I woke up on Saturday I felt surprisingly well. I was tired and a little under the weather but nothing I couldn't handle. I was ready to meet Ana in the Room of Requirement. I didn't know what she would pull on me, I was curious. And I hoped I would be fit enough to take what she would throw at me, I had this feeling that maybe, and I am telling maybe she could beat my ass in a duel.

She wasn't here yet when I entered the room. It didn't take the form of my office this time. It was a big room with some weapons on the wall on my right, healing potions on my left and some others thing useful when you are training. There were some books that looked interesting.

The door opened.

"Hi Ana." I said calmly facing her. She was wearing her muggle closes. They were a little bit different than the one I already saw. She wasn't wearing any sweater even if the weather was cold. She was wearing a top that was fitting her quite well and I suspected some kind of protection under it but I couldn't really ask her. She had some kind of protection on her arm. I realized she may be hiding some kind of weapon there. The duel wouldn't be about firing spells at each other. It would be more than that. It thrilled the werewolf in me.

Wizards have a tendency to think that they can win only by using magic. But when a fight turns physical they are useless. My physical strength had been a great advantage for me in the past.

She looked threatening like that. I gulped and tried to refrain my dirty thought. Or Moony's dirty thought. I didn't know.

"Hi professor." She said. "Just a few questions before we start."

"Alright." I answered.

"Is Sirius a dog animagus?"

"How did you guess?" I asked startled.

"The scent I have followed last week smelled like wet dog. And he was really good at covering his tracks."

"Well," I sigh, "It was probably him."

"You could have told me that before." She said scowling at me. "Is he a grim?" she asked curiously.

"Yes." I answered annoyed. "And it didn't come up in our last discussion and I didn't see the point in telling you until now."

"Amazing." She murmured to herself. I stared at her curiously. "It is probably because no one knew he was an animagus that he survived twelve years in Azkaban, and it is probably how he escaped."

She was letting something out in her explanation, I could tell.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She looked at me with a curiosity in her eyes that I didn't understand.

"As an animagus, when you are in your animal form you don't feel the dementors as much as when you're human. The feelings of an animal are less… powerful if I can say it like that. And dementors can't detect animals. They can't see. They just feel."

"I didn't know that." I said a little bit perturbed. She said that like I was supposed to know. Well I was a DADA professor but I wasn't an animagus.

"I think your old friend may be saner than you think. If he was innocent he could have attached himself to that thought, because it is not a happy thought. That and the fact he could protect himself in his animagus form."

"I think it is the best news I heard in a long time."

She smiled.

"Great," she said, "Now you can tell me for whom he was covering his scent."

There was a big innuendo in that sentence. It was directed at me. I whined internally. She was on to something I didn't want her to be.

"I don't know." I lied to her. In fact he was probably masking his scent because he was afraid I would follow him. My friend. I had to find a way to contact him and tell him I believed him to be innocent.

"Right. Whatever." She muttered.

She clearly didn't believe me.

ANA:

Lupin had been a pain in the ass all week. If it wasn't for Harry I would have strangle him a long time ago. The week had still been nice. My plan to corrupt Harry into annoying Lupin had worked like a charm. The kid was happy and I really enjoyed passing time with him even if he had a knack for troubles. It was like having a little brother.

Lupin gave me the worse core he could find around his class room. I did get that feeling he wasn't ready to forgive me about my little escapade in the castle. For my defense I didn't know he would worry about me. No one before had worry about me like he did that night. I did have time to think about it, and now I understood that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. But it was one of my Gryffindor moments.

But I had to admit that the man could be scary. I was pretty sure he destroyed his office without using magic. His strength was surprising. There was something about him. Since the start of the year I had determined that the guy had super hearing. He had heard thing he wasn't supposed to. Since Halloween I had doubt about his smelling abilities. Maybe he was an animagus. But there was this power I could sense in him sometimes it was there other time it was not. It was frustrating.

When I came into the Room of requirement on Saturday I could tell he was really excited. But I did have questions.

"Hi Ana." He said calmly. He had stopped calling me Miss Parker. I made me strangely happy; it was strange to be called Miss Parker, because it wasn't me. Miss Parker wasn't real.

"Hi professor." I said. "Just a few questions before we start."

"Alright." He answered.

"Is Sirius a dog animagus?"

"How did you guess?" he asked startled.

"The scent I have followed last week smelled like wet dog. And he was really good at covering his tracks."

"Well," he sighed, "It was probably him."

"You could have told me that before." I said scowling at him. "Is he a grim?" I asked curiously.

"Yes." He answered clearly annoyed. "And it didn't come up in our last discussion and I didn't see the point in telling you until now."

"Amazing." I murmured to myself.

If what I read in the book about the Black family line, Sirius was the first since the start of the line to have a grim animagus. If it wasn't a sign of Fate and Destiny, what was it? The guy must be powerful.

Lupin stared at me curiously. The fool didn't read the book. Too bad for him he would have find it interesting.

"It is probably because no one knew he was an animagus that he survived twelve years in Azkaban, and it is probably how he escaped." I explained. I wasn't going to tell him about the other bit of information he could find it by himself.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I looked at him curiously. If he was an animagus he would have understand what I was saying.

"I didn't know that." he said a little bit perturbed.

No the guy clearly wasn't an animagus. But he had the hearing and smelling senses of an animal.

"I think it is the best news I heard in a long time."

I smiled. True it was good news. But I had another question for him. I had found something there. Lupin was something else. But I was pretty sure he wouldn't admit it.

"Great," I said, "Now you can tell me for whom he was covering his scent." I kept myself from smirking as I studied his face. He kept it carefully void of emotions. But his eyes were giving away something.

"I don't know." He lied.

"Right. Whatever." I muttered. I let it be for the moment. But I didn't forget. I was going to find out what it was about him that was so special. He knew I was curious. I just did have to wait until he let his guard down.

"So," I said, "When do I get to finally beat your ass in a duel."

"Language Ana." He muttered rolling his eyes.

"You should know by now that I am a lost cause professor."

"Right." He said exasperated. "Let's start."

I smirked. He was in for a big surprise. I was in my muggles closes. It's much more comfortable than wizarding one. It's easier to move around in it, so it's better for a fight. I had some protections under my top, better be prepared than sorry. I didn't know the extent of his strength after all.

We were facing each other when he started firing stunning spell to test me. God the guy had power. But I had too. I defended myself for a while, studying him as much as I could. He had this way of fighting you see in people who had fight in the last war. He didn't play around. He was spelling to strike hard and quick. He was lethal and he was an adversary to take really seriously.

I tested his defense by firing some disarmament spell, I tried to pull on him what I had on the ravenclaw girl he chuckled a little and send me a flaming spell. Too bad for him it was one of my specialties. It goes right back at him, ten times worse. He was surprised by the level I was showing him. We exchanged spell for some times testing each other. It got much more serious when he sends me a bones reductor spell. He wanted to play serious? He was going to get what he wanted. I blocked his next spell with quite a powerful shield and summoned water. I enclosed him in a sphere of water starting to freeze him in it but it didn't last, he vanished it with a surge of raw magic that send ice flying everywhere.

I was impressed. It was something Dumbledore could have pulled himself. It was one of my best attacks in magic.

I had unnerved him a little because not a second later he was firing flying blades at me. I didn't know this spell, but god I wanted to learn it. I was running to escape the menace. He was approaching slowly smirking at me. The little shit wanted to test my physical abilities. It was something unusual in wizards. They counted too much on magic. Without wands they were defenseless.

Alright. He wanted to see what I was capable of. I smirked back at him. I escaped the next set of flying blades by rolling on the floor. In a matter of second I was right before him. I punched him in the solar plexus, trying to cut his breathing. But what I didn't know was that he would be so resistant. It slowed him a little but I didn't have the time to stun him before he sent me flying away.

Luckily I was still a cat. And a cat always falls on his feet. I had startled him a little. I took my advantage and tried to tie him in ropes to retard him. By the time I got to him they were gone but I was close enough. I had silver blade in my right hand my wand in my left. I saw a flash of fear in Lupin's eyes when he saw the blade. It gave me a chance to make him fall on his back. In a blink of an eye I had my knee on his chest, my blade on his neck. He didn't even defend himself. The blade made a light contact with his skin.

His skin burned where it had touched it.

I felt stupid. I should have known.

Remus Lupin was a werewolf.

It all made sense now. The hearing, Sirius covering his track, I understood now. The power I had felt in him sometimes, but it was so faint.

"Shit! I should have known." I muttered dropping my silver knife. The man was terrified. I could understand why but it didn't mean I did know what to say, so I said the first thing that pass in my mind at the moment.

"Fate and Destiny must have laughed themselves silly when they named you Remus Lupin." I muttered. I cracked a smile. God I was so stupid.

It was clearly not the reaction he was expecting. I rolled my eyes.

I saw disbelief in his eyes. Yeah I know, I really wasn't supposed to react this way. I should have start running outside screaming about werewolf.

I studied him for a while. The full moon was last night and it was clear he was more tired than he was supposed to be. I knew a werewolf was powerful close to the full moon, that's when they are the more dangerous even in their human form. Dumbledore had done something to him in his office; he had done something to his wolf. Now that I knew there was a wolf inside of my professor I could felt him, but barely. I could recognize a werewolf a mile away that was part of the family power. There was something wrong about Remus' wolf because I should have known right away what he was when I met him in the train the first day. The old coot must be afraid of Lupin for other reasons than his closeness to Harry because it was now clear to me that he had restrained the wolf inside. And with the show of power Lupin had showed to me it was now clear that the headmaster was afraid of Remus Lupin.

If Lupin was that powerful in the state he was I couldn't even start to imagine how much power he could have. Dumbledore was afraid Lupin could beat his ass. The greatest wizard of his generation, the only wizard who Voldemort was afraid off was scared shitless by a werewolf. How funny.

But it was one more thing on my long list to hate the headmaster. I didn't know the extent of his manipulation on the werewolf but I was quickly becoming furious. I was protective of werewolf, it was in my blood. And he had done something to one I liked. Yes, Lupin was someone you could like quite easily. I didn't like to admit it but the man was someone you could trust, he was funny when he wanted, he could listened to you, and he had good advice.

Lupin was clearly uneasy under my stare. He was afraid. Afraid of my reaction. I was surprised his instinct hadn't kicked in already. And I was afraid of the extent of the magical bond there was on his wolf. I released him, offering a hand to help him. He stared at me like I had grown two head. I sighed.

"I have nothing against werewolf professor. For goodness sake, my patronus is a werewolf. And I think we can discuss about your little furry problem somewhere else, the floor is not exactly what I would call a comfortable place."

He hesitated a little and took my hand, still afraid of my reaction, like I was going to reject him or be repulsed by him. I guess he was used to it.

The contact with his hand startled me. I heard a voice in my head.

"About bloody time."

I dropped his hand surprised. Lupin was staring at his hand. And so was I.

"What was that?" I asked. "Did you hear that?"

"I think it was the wolf in me." He said.

He was as surprised as I was. He was still staring at his hand.

"I didn't know it was possible." He muttered.

"I didn't either." I said blankly.

And I knew a lot about his kind. I thought about the time I had touch his hand. I had heard a scream in my head. I knew now that it was his wolf who screamed for help that time. His wolf could talk to me when he touches me. It was the first time I hear of that and he clearly wasn't the first werewolf I met. Amazing.

We were facing each other. Lupin was still tense.

And I had questions. Lots of questions.

"Guess we need to talk." I said.

He sighed heavily. I guess I was getting used to my insane curiosity. But it was justified, I just learned he was a werewolf.

"I thought I would have more time before you find out I am a werewolf. I knew you would find out, you are far too intelligent, I just thought I would have more time than that." He said. He was tired and he was wary of me.

"Sorry to disappoint you professor," I said sarcastically, "but your secret is safe with me, I am not going to tell anyone."

Like hell. So the headmaster knew. But I wasn't going to tell anyone else, he needed to stay at Hogwarts.

"Thank you, Ana. I guess you have questions, I know you love asking questions." He said.

He was really starting to know me better.

"Oh yes professor I have a lot of question, because now that I know you are a werewolf, I need to find out what Dumbledore did to your wolf. Because Mister Lupin, there's something really wrong with your wolf, I can tell."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"First you need to understand that I can't tell you everything, but you can consider my ability to recognize and feel the wolf inside of someone as one of the family power I have. And I can barely feel yours. I should have known you were a werewolf and I didn't."

"Family power? I thought you were a muggleborn. Parker isn't a wizarding name."

"You didn't really think it was my real name do you?" I asked smirking.

He rolled his eyes. Of course Parker wasn't my real name. My real name and my affiliations to the clan needed to stay secret.

"I should have known." He muttered. "I guess your real name is part of the reason you put so much effort in being invisible."

"Yep. I don't want anyone to know. And that's all I will tell you about my family. Now about your wolf…"

"When you told me that Dumbledore had done something to me in his office, I had a feeling it had to do with the wolf in me. My wolf doesn't like the headmaster; in fact I think he hates him. And I could barely feel him during the week after the meeting. It's weird."

…

REMUS:

And there I was. It had happened; Ana had discovered what I was. She knew I was a werewolf. And it was like she didn't have a care in the world she wasn't afraid of me. I could tell that in her eyes I was still the same. It was the first time in twelve years that someone discovered what I was. And I think it was the first time I met someone who really didn't care.

I had seen the blade she had in her hand to late. She had been hiding it in her sleeve. I couldn't do anything. She was aiming for my throat and a wound here could have been mortal to me. The silver had burned my skin. She recognized the sign right away. She knew. And after muttering something that looked like "should have known" the first thing she found to say was that Fate and Destiny must have laughed themselves silly when they named me. Seriously she had just discovered what I was and the first things she thought of was a joke.

In the mess I was in I had finally learned that her real name wasn't Parker. Now that I thought about it, it was obvious.

But the most disturbing thing was that she could feel the wolf in me. It was the first time I heard of that. And she could tell there was something wrong with my wolf. I knew there was something wrong about Moony, I had time to think about it. There had been something wrong for the last twelve years. But it was a confirmation.

For those who are waiting for Luna to reappear in the story, I can promise you she will come back later (chapter 11 for sure) I plan on giving her a little more place in the story.

The next chapter will be about Moony ;-)