Raylynx's POV
The Hogwarts Express let out a loud, shrill whistle, and a plume of smoke blossomed above it. Students were hopping aboard the train, including Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I was feeling excited myself. Sure, I was a cat now, and I'd been stuffed into a wickerwork basket, but still, it had been a long while since I'd come to Hogwarts via the Hogwarts Express and for a moment, I, too, felt like a student again. I really didn't like having my senses muffled like this, though. I felt something jostle the heap of trunks I was standing on, and I spit and hissed loudly in the basket.
"It's all right, Crookshanks," Hermione cooed to me. "I'll let you out on the train. "
I heard Ron snap at her, "You won't. What about poor Scabbers, eh?"
Hermione and Ron got onto the train, with Hermione carrying my basket. I hesitated, shifting uneasily in the basket as I couldn't hear Harry's voice mingling with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny's. A moment later, however, someone jumped in, the train door shut, and I heard Harry say to Ron and Hermione, "I need to talk to you in private."
"Go away, Ginny," Ron said bluntly.
Ginny huffed. "Oh, that's nice," she said sarcastically. But she obliged and walked in the opposite direction of Hermione, Ron, and Harry.
The three of them set off down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment.
Finally, I heard Hermione say, "Come on. In here. Everywhere else is full."
As soon as Hermione opened the door, despite not being able to see from the wickerbasket, I could smell tea, books, chocolate. It all registered a little differently in my cat mind, but there was no doubt in my mind that we had stumbled upon none other than Remus Lupin. I heard a snoring sound, which must be quite light to human ears, but was substantial with my feline hearing. My tail flicked in my basket.
"Who d'you reckon he is?" Ron whispered, sliding the door shut behind him.
Hermione responded promptly, "Professor R.J. Lupin."
"How d'you know that?"
"It's on his case."
So Remus was coming to Hogwarts by train. I hadn't known that. The full moon had been yesterday, so Dumbledore had given Remus leave to arrive on the day of, rather than a week before, as staff usually do. Dumbledore had also excused me from attending the prior to term staff meetings so that I could keep an eye on Harry, and Dumbledore had promised to meet with us separately for any staff updates once we arrived.
"Wonder what he teaches?" said Ron.
"That's obvious," whispered Hermione. "There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Well, I hope he's up to it," said Ron doubtfully. "He looks like one, good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? Anyway, Harry, what were you going to tell us?"
To my great surprise, Harry recounted Arthur and Molly's argument from last night. I hadn't realized that he'd overheard them as well. Harry also went on and said, "And Ron, your dad told me not to go looking for Sirius Black. He said that whatever I might hear, I'm not to go looking for Sirius."
"But I don't get it," Harry said. "Why would I want to go after Sirius at all if he's after me?"
My ears twitched sharply. Arthur must have been afraid that Harry would hear about how Sirius had gone to Azkaban for betraying his parents – allegedly betraying his parents, I amended in my head – and want to go after Sirius himself out of revenge. This would complicate things. I wondered in my little cat head whether I should head Harry off first, just to make sure that Harry did not hurt Sirius, or the other way around, but before I could think it through, Hermione said worriedly, "Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry... you'll have to be really, really careful. don't go looking for trouble, Harry -"
"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me."
"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" said Ron shakily.
"Why are the two of you so scared?" Harry asked curiously.
"Why are you not?" Hermione said wondrously. "This is Sirius Black. If he's after you… I mean, he was the first to escape Azkaban."
"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," Ron explained uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."
"But they'll catch him, won't they?" said Hermione earnestly, and I could tell she was trying to make Harry feel better. "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too..."
Suddenly, an annoying whistling sound jolted me. I yowled unhappily, though I tried to keep quiet for Remus' sake. Reaching up, I attempted to paw my ears shut against the horrible noise.
"What's that noise?" said Ron.
"Crookshanks?" Hermione suggested.
"No… it's coming from your trunk, Harry," said Ron. I felt the seat cushion beneath my basket tilt slightly as Ron stood up and reached into the luggage rack. As he did, Hermione lifted up the cloth covering my basket and looked at me. Behind her, I could see Ron holding something out on his palm. It was spinning quite fast and glowing brightly.
"Is that a Sneakoscope?" said Hermione interestedly, dropping the cloth back over the basket as she knew I was all right.
"Yeah, mind you, it's a very cheap one," Ron said. "It went haywire just as I was tying it to Errol's leg to send it to Harry."
"Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" said Hermione shrewdly.
"No! Well, I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. You know he's not really up to long journeys... but how else was I supposed to get Harry's present to him?"
"Stick it back in the trunk," Harry whispered, "or it'll wake him up."
A moment later, the sound was muffled by cloth and the trunk, though I could still hear it.
"We could get it checked in Hogsmeade," said Ron, sitting back down. "They sell that sort of thing in Dervish and Banges, magical instruments and stuff. Fred and George told me."
"Do you know much about Hogsmeade?" asked Hermione keenly. "I've read it's the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain -"
"Yeah, I think it is," said Ron in an offhand sort of way. "But that's not why I want to go. I just want to get inside Honeydukes."
"What's that?" asked Hermione.
"It's this sweetshop," said Ron excitedly, "where they've got everything: Pepper Imps - they make you smoke at the mouth - and great fat Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, and really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next -"
"But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it?" Hermione pressed on eagerly. "In Sites of Historical Sorcery it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, and the Shrieking Shades supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain -"
"- and massive sherbert balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while you're sucking them…"
Hermione finally addressed Harry, who had been curiously silent that whole time. "Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?"
Harry's voice was heavy as he replied, "'Spect it will. You'll have to tell me when you've found out."
"What d'you mean?" said Ron.
"I can't go. The Dursleys didn't sign my permission form, and Fudge wouldn't either."
"You're not allowed to come?" Ron said, horrified. "But - no way - McGonagall or someone will give you permission, or we can ask Fred and George, they know every secret passage out of the castle-"
I paused inside the basket. Of course the Dursleys didn't sign it, I growled bitterly to myself. Even after all these years, it still irked me that Harry was living with the Dursleys instead of with me. Damn it. But I already knew what Dumbledore was going to say: that this had all worked out in favor of Harry's safety.
As though reading my mind, Hermione said just then, "Ron! I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of the school with Black on the loose -"
"Yeah, I expect that's what McGonagall will say when I ask for permission," said Harry bitterly.
"But if we're with him," said Ron to Hermione, "Black wouldn't dare —"
"Oh, Ron, don't talk rubbish," snapped Hermione. "Black's already murdered a whole bunch of people in the middle of a crowded street, do you really think he's going to worry about attacking Harry just because we're there?"
I started to paw at the basket, fur bristling, as Hermione's words gnawed at my conscience. Hermione, misunderstanding this as physical stress of being cooped up for too long, started fumbling with the straps of my basket. This wasn't what I had been going for, but I wasn't going to deny this freedom if given. My haunches were stiff from sitting in one position for too long.
"Don't let that thing out!" Ron said, but I'd already leapt out of the basket. I sprang onto Ron's lap to try to show him that he didn't have to dislike me so much, but his pocket suddenly moved. I stiffened. Ron noticed and he suddenly shoved me off of his lap. "Get off!"
"Ron, don't!" said Hermione angrily.
Just then, Remus stirred slightly, and the Ron and Hermione fell silent.
I settled myself in the empty seat between Harry and Remus. I noticed Ron's pocket shivering again and I kept my eyes fixed on it. I knew that Scabbers was in there. Despite knowing that I had to behave myself around Ron's pet, I couldn't help but feel a strange pull towards the rat. I didn't even really know what it looked like, let alone why my instincts were screaming at me to pounce at it, but I tried my best to keep myself on my rump. Remus' soothing presence besides me helped, though it worried me how deeply he slept. He must be exhausted. Indeed, even when the witch with the food cart stopped by or when Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle made an unwanted appearance, Remus didn't wake. I ever so slyly and softly reached out with my bottlebrush tail and laid it near his leg. I could feel his gentle vibrating, coming from his heartbeat and breathing, run through his body, and I felt relieved.
Rain was coming down in thick curtains now, splashing against the train windows, and the afternoon darkened into evening.
"We must be nearly there," said Ron, looking out the window into the deep black of a rainy evening. The words had hardly left him when the train started to slow down.
"Great," said Ron. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast."
"We can't be there yet," said Hermione, checking her watch.
"So why're we stopping?"
In fact, the train was getting slower and slower. Harry, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. Suddenly, the train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and we were all plunged into total darkness. I hissed. My nocturnal vision kicked in and I could see quite well, but the unexpected situation had me on edge. I knew I couldn't transform back into my form no matter what happened – well, short of someone dying – but my fur was on edge, with my tail and ears sticking straight up, aggressive.
"What's going on?" Ron asked from behind Harry.
"Ouch! Ron, that was my foot," Hermione complained.
Harry tried to find his way back to his seat. His hand met my furry head and he sat back down beside me. "Do you think we've broken down?" he asked.
"Dunno," Ron replied. There was a squeaking sound as Ron wiped a patch clean on the window to peer out. "There's something moving out there," Ron reported. "I think people are coming aboard."
Suddenly, the compartment door opened, and someone tripped right over Harry's legs.
"Sorry, d'you know what's going on? Ouch! Sorry."
I could see that it was Neville.
"Hullo, Neville," Harry greeted. I saw Harry feel around in the dark and pull Neville up.
"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"
"No idea. Sit down," Harry said.
Neville sort-of stumbled sideways- right on top of me.
I hissed loudly and jumped sideways, right into Remus' lap. He moved slightly as he felt my paws pad angrily around on his lap.
Hermione spoke just then. "I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," came Hermione's voice. She went towards the door, opened it, and started to walk out. I saw a figure approaching from the other side. I started to give a light yowl to warn Hermione, but it was too late. There was a thud, followed by two loud squeals of pain.
Remus was definitely up now. He shifted slightly and looked down at me tiredly. He blinked in surprise, trying to blink away his tiredness to make sense of this rather large ginger cat perched in his lap.
"Who's that?"
"Who's that?"
"Ginny?"
"Hermione?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was looking for Ron -"
"Come in and sit down -"
"Not here!" said Harry hurriedly. "I'm here!"
"Ouch!" said Neville.
"Quiet!" Remus finally spoke aloud. His voice was terribly hoarse, but it was effective in silencing the others. There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Remus was holding a handful of flames. I leapt away lithely. As a cat, I did not take well to fire at all.
"Stay where you are," Remus ordered in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him. He began to head towards the compartment door, but the door slid slowly open before Remus could reach it.
For a moment, in the deep darkness, even I, with my cat senses, could not recognize what it was. Then, my eyes made sense of the cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Where there should be a face, there was only darkness. A gray, corpse-like hand protruded from underneath its cloak towards Remus. I hissed loudly, and Remus lifted the fire before him, and the dementor slid its hand back.
Then, the dementor breathed in deeply – its signature slow, rattling breath – and an intense cold permeated the compartment. I darted forward to protect Remus, but Remus, as always, was stronger than I assumed. He seemed to regain his strength as he commanded the dementor. "None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go."
The dementor remained where it was, and just then, Harry suddenly went rigid, and fell to the floor.
Remus swiftly pulled his wand from inside his cloak and murmured, "Expecto Patronum." A large silver wolf burst from the tip of his wand, driving the dementor away. I had jumped down by Harry and put both my paws on his face and mewed worriedly. He started to twitch and moan, murmuring, "Help her… Help her…"
"Out of the way," Ron said, pushing me aside to gently slap at Harry's face to wake him up.
I had to weave myself between a few pairs of feet to keep from getting trampled on.
Finally, Remus, who spotted me darting out of the way as Neville and Ginny both made to stand behind Ron, bent down and picked me up. Remus returned to his corner, but he remained standing.
Then, as Hermione said loudly, "Harry! Harry! Are you all right?", Remus' grip on me suddenly became vicelike and I realized that he recognized Harry.
"W-What?" Harry opened his eyes, to everyone's relief. When Remus saw his eyes, his mind immediately jumped to Lily, and I felt his chest constrict against my back as he took a sharp intake of breath.
Ron and Hermione heaved Harry back onto his seat.
"Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously.
"Yeah," said Harry, looking quickly toward the door. The hooded creature had vanished. "What happened? Where's that - that thing? Who screamed?"
There was a pause. Then, Ron said nervously, "No one screamed."
Remus tucked me under one arm and with his other, he drew out a large bar of chocolate that he'd been carrying around. He struggled to open it, and finally, seeing fit to set me down, he put me down on an empty seat behind Neville and Ginny, and opened the chocolate bar.
"But I heard screaming-" Harry was saying, but a loud snap interrupted him as Remus broke the large bar of chocolate into pieces.
"Here," Remus said to Harry, handing him a large chunk. "Eat it. It'll help."
Harry took the chocolate, but instead of eating it, he asked, "What was that thing?"
"A dementor," answered Remus, as he passed around the chocolate. "One of the dementors of Azkaban." Finally, Remus crumpled up the empty chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket. It did not escape my notice that he had had none for himself.
"Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me..." He strolled past Harry, out of the compartment, and disappeared into the corridor.
"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" Hermione said, peering into his face.
"I don't get it…" Harry said. "What happened?" He reached up to wipe sweat off of his face.
"Well," Ron said, "that thing – the dementor – stood there and looked around, and you – you… I thought you were having a fit or something. You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching."
"And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "and he said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away…"
The others discussed the chilling effects of the dementor's presence, though I could tell that it had affected Harry and Ginny the most deeply, which, tragically, made sense. Ginny had been manipulated by Voldemort and taken down to the Chamber of Secrets last year. As for Harry, I wondered what he had seen that had made him faint.
Remus returned at that moment. He paused and then said, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know."
Harry finally took a bite of the chocolate.
"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," Remus informed us. He came over and had to scoot me over to have enough room to sit. I sat there, squashed between Remus and Harry again.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Remus asked, and it was only because I was so well acquainted with his normally understated demeanor that I recognized the concern and tenderness overflowing in his voice.
"Fine," Harry muttered, embarrassed.
Ten minutes later, the train finally stopped at Hogwarts station. Hermione coaxed me back into the wicker basket. From there, I was supposed to be shipped off with the rest of the pets. But I stayed inside the basket only until we'd entered the Hogwarts gates, and then I slipped out and took off through the Forbidden Forest towards the castle.
I bounded through the forest, dodging trees and bushes by a hair's breadth, but with utmost confidence. I scampered past the centaurs and even a unicorn, though I didn't notice the black dog hiding deep within the thickets behind some rocks, wrapped up snugly in its own tail as it slept tiredly, having just completed its long run all the way to Hogwarts.
At the outskirts of the Forest, I transformed back into my human form and then made my way quickly to the castle, beating everyone else who was arriving by carriage (or, in the case of the first years, by boat). I paused as I saw two more dementors at the school's front entrance. I frowned deeply. I slid my hand in my robes and gripped my wand as I moved past them, but they did not try to stop me.
Once inside, as luck would have it, I bumped straight into Professor McGonagall.
"Professor!" I called.
"Raylynx!" she said, a bit alarmed by the flush in my cheeks and the twig in my hair.
"Where can I find Poppy?" I asked.
"Why? Are you hurt?"
"No, it's just that there was a dementor on the train and I know – I heard that Harry was badly affected by the dementor. I think he's all right, but I'd feel better if Poppy had a look at him…" I explained, trying not to sound too conspicuous as the discrepancy between how I would know about what happened on the train and how I arrived here faster than anyone else was a big discrepancy.
But McGonagall simply nodded and said, "Yes, Professor Lupin has also just sent us an owl to inform us of such. Come with me, Raylynx. I think we'll find Poppy in her office."
True to her word, McGonagall intercepted Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the front steps just before the Great Hall. She called over Harry and Hermione and led them in the direction of the hospital wing. Why she called over Hermione, I had no idea, but it didn't matter to me as long as Harry got looked over by Poppy.
I saw Remus climbing the steps to the Great Hall along with everybody else. I'd promised McGonagall that in exchange for her shepherding Harry to Poppy, I would lead Remus through the back hallway to the Great Hall so that Remus could reach the Professors' table without having to walk up in front of all of the students.
I gently made my way through the students until I reached him. Remus looked up from the steps to find me standing in front of him. "Professor Lupin," I said formally, "Professor McGonagall has asked me to guide you to the Professors' table."
"Oh," Remus said, a bit awkwardly, "all right then. Please lead the way."
I turned and led him to the back corridor. As soon as we were out of sight, I turned around and hugged him (gently, though, as I realized he was still recovering from yesterday's full moon).
"Are you all right?" I asked him. "I heard about the dementor on the train!"
"Yes, I'm all right," Remus said, his voice a bit muffled by my hug. "'S not my first dementor, after all."
"And you are the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," I reminded him, smiling a little. "C'mon, then, and I'll show you to your seat, Professor Lupin," I teased. Crossing my arms across my back, I turned and walked ahead. Remus followed me.
Remus' POV
I was more than a little surprised to find Raylynx in such high spirits, and I wondered for a moment if she had, in fact, come in contact with Sirius. But then as she walked in front of me, I noticed her fingernails, bitten to the quick, and the slight tremors in her hand from lack of sleep, and the general weakness in her body, and the dimness in her eyes. I wondered if I should ask her how she was doing. However, I realized what an awful state I was in myself, and I kept quiet. That was the issue between Raylynx and me. We were too similar. We struggled in the same way. So, I simply put my hands in my cloak pockets and followed "Professor Kingsley" to the back entrance of the Great Hall.
I had to admit that being back at Hogwarts was wonderful. As I sat at the table, I quietly admired the warm glow of thousands of candles lighting up the Great Hall, looked out at the sea of pointed black hats, watched the House ghosts interact with the students, and waited eagerly for the sumptuous feast – these were all wonderful luxuries that I had not experienced since I left Hogwarts. I was also smiling slightly to myself because I had successfully snatched the seat between McGonagall and Raylynx, leaving Raylynx to seat beside Snape. She was disgruntled, as her plan all along had been to place me as a buffer between her and Snape. I, however, was prepared to deprive her of that privilege.
Just then, I saw Harry and his friend Hermione enter the Great Hall and hurry to the Gryffindor table, where they sat on either side of Ron. Harry Potter. I repeated his name in my mind. Seeing Harry on the train had given me quite a shock. Exhausted through and through from last night's transformation, I'd slept so deeply. When I finally woke to see the dementor looming over us all, I thought I was having a nightmare. Then, when I saw Harry before me, I thought I had slipped into another dream. Raylynx had told me years before, when we were visiting Lily and James' grave, that Harry looked just like James, but even having been warned in advance, it was striking how much Harry resembled James. And then, I had not been prepared to see Lily's eyes so perfectly in Harry's face. It had stunned me on the train, to see Harry open his green eyes when waking up from the dementor's effect on him. I wondered what memory had troubled him so. And as Harry had looked at me and regarded me as a total stranger, wondering who I was, I mused, a bit vaguely, whether Harry remembered any of the stuffed wolves I used to send along with Sirius to tempt Harry into playing with toy wolves. But I doubted very much whether Harry remembered any of that, as he would have been far too young. My thoughts fell to a pleasant whisper as Professor Flitwick brought in a three-legged stool and ancient hat. I watched contently as the Sorting began, and for a moment, I was able to forget about how exhausted I was from my transformation and how incredibly anxious I had been for these past few weeks, waiting for Sirius to be caught or dreading to somehow discover that Raylynx had been hurt.
With the Sorting finished, Dumbledore rose from his seat. "Welcome!" he said grandly to everyone in the Great Hall. Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast."
"As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."
I frowned, disheartened. Having missed the announcements at the staff meetings, I had not realized that the dementors would be guarding Hogwarts and that the search of the Hogwarts Express wasn't a random and isolated incident. Besides me, Raylynx also let out a small noise of disbelief and discomfort. Clearly, she hadn't heard either.
"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises - or even Invisibility Cloaks. It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors," he said.
Dumbledore paused his speech for a moment to let the information sink in. Then, he resumed. "On a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Me, I thought. That's my name. I'm a Hogwarts Professor.
A little uncomfortably, I rose from my seat and bowed my head a little before quickly sitting back down. I noticed Harry and his friends clapping loudly for me despite the general apathy among the students who had never seen me before. Besides me, Raylynx was clapping so enthusiastically, she accidentally knocked over her goblet of pumpkin juice. As I sat back down and Dumbledore announced that Hagrid would be taking over for Care of Magical Creatures, I did not notice as Snape shot me a look of deep loathing.
Severus' POV
Has Dumbledore lost his mind? I wondered, irritated, as he announced that the new Defense against the Dark Arts professor would be Remus Lupin.
Remus Lupin. How could Dumbledore hire Lupin, of all people, when Sirius Black has just escaped? Furthermore, Dumbledore had rejected my request to move me from Potions Master to Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for the eleventh year in a row. And in favor of Remus Lupin? I could not bring myself to understand Dumbledore's antics.
Besides me, Raylynx Kingsley was clapping like a madwoman, accidentally spilling over her goblet. Immediately, the pumpkin juice spread a bright orange stain on the tablecloth. My lip curled as I glanced at her derisively. Wasn't it bad enough that we had this silly girl teaching at Hogwarts, this lunatic who still believed that Sirius Black could be innocent?
As she reached over and placed the goblet upright, however, I inadvertently noticed a slight tremor in her hand.
I paused, but as she let go of the goblet and rested her arms on top of the table, I saw that her hands were still trembling. The movement was slight, but quick and consistent. I also realized that her fingernails seemed unusually short and blistered. Suddenly sensing my gaze, Raylynx stiffened ever so slightly. She quickly removed her hands and hid them under the table, clasping them together and locking them firmly between her knees.
Pathetic. She would never be able to hold her wand steady or to hold a potion vial steady.
I paused. A memory intruded my thoughts- an old memory, one was worn around the edges. But at its center, I remembered it most sharply, every little detail.
I was very young, perhaps five or six. My mother was lying in bed with me. She had pulled the covers up over us and pulled me close to her. She held my hand in hers and began to trace spell motions in the air as she playfully whispered the different incantations. "Wingardium Leviosa. You'll learn that one first, Sev. Just like that – swish and flick. Wingardium Leviosa." Despite her playful tone, she was whispering. We were afraid that my father, Tobias, would hear us, or come in and find us. If he did, he was sure to explode at my mother. They would get into another one of their ferocious arguments until my mother either fell silent and endured his verbal abuse, or if my father became enraged before my mother had finished speaking, he would hit her across the face. Even now, my mother sported a bruise just under her eye.
"And now Potions," my mother would whisper, and still holding my hand in hers, she would continue our make believe. "All right, here's the cauldron now. Steadily, slowly, pour a dash of an infusion of wormwood before the powdered asphodel." The motion of her fingers brushed up against the back of my fingers, tickling me slightly. I squirmed ever so slightly.
"Oh, you mustn't move like that," my mother whispered in my ear. "Your hands have to be steady. That's the first rule to being a good potioneer."
"Eileen! Eileen, where are you?" My father's voice rang throughout the house.
We both stiffened immediately under the blanket. Footsteps sounded towards the bedroom door. I started to move away, but we didn't have a chance to react. The door to my bedroom burst open and the blanket covering us was ripped off of the bed. A sudden gust of cold air left me shivering, but that wasn't the only thing that made him tremble so, as I knew what was about to come. But as my parents began to argue again, I clenched my hands tightly. Your hands have to be steady. That's the first rule to being a good potioneer.
Raylynx's POV
I walked Remus to his classroom and office. He insisted that I didn't have to, and when I was adamant, he sighed. "You've always made such a fuss to accompany me. But it truly isn't necessary," he said.
I just smiled tiredly. Finally, when we came to his office, we turned towards each other. "It's good to have you back, Remus," I said warmly.
He gave a nod and murmured, "It's good to be back." He stepped inside and as he shut the door, he said, "Sleep well."
But I didn't sleep well. Despite the exhaustion I felt, exhaustion so intense that I could cry, exhaustion so terrible my hands shook, I couldn't sleep. During the day, when I could focus on other things or spend my time as a cat, which simplified my emotions, I was able to distract myself. But when night fell, I could no longer avoid the question that so plagued me. Where is Sirius?
