Defence Against the Dark Creature

Chapter Nine

"Ah, it's Mr Mysterious!"

It was Larry Levine's shrill tenor that snapped Remus out of his morning reverie. He wished Levine would stop calling him that. He also wished that he could manage to leave once without the music teacher catching him on his way downstairs. But however early he got ready on Sundays, Levine already seemed to be there waiting for him at the foot of the stairs. The only reason Remus was startled by him this time was that he had been lost in last night's dream, which had been very unsettling.

"You look pale, Mr Mysterious," said Levine, now level with him at the picture gallery on the second floor, facing the door to the common room. Levine was a tall, thin man with brown, shoulder-length hair which was always unkempt, wearing robes which were always untidy, and always had a red shawl draped around his shoulders.

"Bad night's sleep?" he asked, throwing his shawl back over his right shoulder, a typical gesture. "Off to your usual mysterious Sunday meeting?"

Remus nodded. He knew from experience that if he gave Levine any sort of encouragement, if he showed any interest in pursuing the conversation, then there would be no stopping the man. He had made the mistake once. As a consequence, he had been late for the Order meeting, having been too polite to interrupt Levine's monologue about the dreadful consequences of enchanting a violin. (The very first mistake Remus had made had been to mention that he liked classical music and knew a bit about musical theory.)

He had talked about Levine to Constance and Angela once, and in the end had come up with the theory (to the ladies' delight) that the man was so musical that he never grew tired of hearing his own melodious voice.

Unfortunately, his superior hearing (he claimed to have perfect pitch) never picked up on any nuance that indicated boredom in the other person's tone of voice.

"One day you will have to enlighten us about these meetings," Levine was babbling, while Remus was only half-listening, smiling politely and edging ever so slightly closer to the staircase. However, the other man's insistence on the subject worried him. It reminded him that he would have to explain about Sundays at some point; Charlotte might not remain as discreet about this as she had been so far.

The door to the common room opened just as Levine was lost in a monologue about Handel (How did he come to this in such a short time? The man's mind jumps between subjects faster than an Abraxan. I should never have mentioned that I like the Messiah), and Anne-Laure appeared, looking happier than Remus had seen her in a long time.

"Oh! Professor Lupin, Professor Levine," she said, breathlessly. She was holding a letter in her hand and seemed to be yearning to tell them whom it was from. But she had always been shy.

"Anne-Laure! Bonjour!" trilled Levine, visibly happy to see someone who was more interested in him than Remus; because, even though Levine might still live under the illusion that he fascinated the other man, nothing could have outweighed Anne-Laure's deep affection for her piano teacher. "What have you got there?"

For once, Remus was glad that Levine was so talkative. Anne-Laure's eyes lit up at the question.

"It's a letter from my mother!" she exclaimed. "She hasn't written to me in years. And guess what? I have a little brother!"

"That's wonderful, Anne-Laure," said Remus, his heart suddenly full of affection for the shy girl. So we did change something...

***

The Order meeting was a subdued one. Five days before, Yasmina Carter - one of their newest members, an extremely bright witch who worked at the Ministry - had vanished without a trace. She had left work in the afternoon, but never arrived at home. Her husband had possessed the presence of mind to send an Owl to Dumbledore - apparently, she had told him whom to contact in case something went wrong, and that was just as well, since until this day the Ministry hadn't publicly announced the disappearance.

"Just makes you wonder how many others have disappeared whom we know nothing about," said Arabella Figg grimly.

They were grouped around the table in the office, quietly sipping their tea. Fletcher was missing; apparently, he was trying to get information about Yasmina out of some of his friends at the Daily Prophet.

"We might have been able to act more swiftly had we been informed of it earlier," Dumbledore said quietly. "We cannot blame Mr. Wood, of course. But we need to make sure now that all of us find a relative, or friend, whom we trust to inform the Order immediately in case of danger."

They all nodded. Remus wondered to himself whom he could possibly trust enough apart from Sirius; and since he didn't see Sirius very often, it seemed sort of pointless to choose him. Well, you'll just have to start a daily correspondence with Sirius then, he thought, and wasn't at all displeased by the prospect.

Minerva McGonagall was still looking doubtful, however, and when Dumbledore asked what she was thinking, she slowly shook her head. "It's not enough. We need more people at the Ministry."

"We just need more people in general," replied Molly Weasley exasperatedly.

And Remus suddenly realized. He knew who else could help them. He worked with several very good witches and one wizard who were quite wary of the government and would be far more likely to believe him than Fudge or the Daily Prophet. Why hadn't he thought of this before? The question was, would they help the Order?

He looked up to see that Dumbledore was fixing him with an earnest, searching look. The others were still looking at the floor, probably lost in thoughts of Yasmina.

"Yes, Remus," said Dumbledore. "That's what I've been thinking."

The others looked up and raised inquiring eyebrows. Snape, however, made an impatient sound. "Dumbledore, you can't mean -"

"Yes, Severus, I can," said Dumbledore quietly, meeting Snape's glare with a friendly, but determined look. "Do I have to remind you that we are in desperate need of any help, whatever our feelings about the person?"

Snape, frowning, looked from Dumbledore to Remus, but under the displeased stare of all present, he finally shook his head. "No, Headmaster."

"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Remus, I believe your colleagues will not be inclined to believe the Ministry over you?"

"I don't think so," replied Remus. He still couldn't shake off his uneasy feeling about the matter... it was as though he felt unwilling to share any information about Charlotte and the others. But Dumbledore was right - they needed all the help they could get. "In fact," he continued, "I found out recently that the Headmistress knows about Voldemort's return. "

"Indeed," said Dumbledore, looking quite pleased.

"But are you sure we can trust them?" asked Minerva. "I don't mean to offend your colleagues, Remus," she hastened to add. Remus smiled, although he saw Snape, sitting next to Minerva, still looking at him in disgust.

"Yes, we can trust them," he said. "I'm not sure, however, whether all of them will be interested in helping us." He sometimes got the feeling that Gómez and Teri, for instance, had become so frustrated with the wizarding world that they almost didn't care what happened to it anymore.

"Well, I will leave it to you to discuss the subject with them," said Dumbledore. "And then, I would quite like to meet Miss Merlot." His tone indicated clearly that the matter was closed.

***

That afternoon, the Centre staff met for tea and general discussion of school matters. Angela warned everyone that it was cold outside now - she could be so motherly - and Constance entertained them all with a vivid description of the cooking lesson on Friday afternon. Apparently, what had been planned as an Irish stew had, in the end, looked like porridge and tasted of leather.

When they were all done laughing heartily at her imitation of Leonid Dimitroff's expression when he tasted the 'meal', Teri cleared her throat. "I wanted to ask you all a question," she said, in her usual brusque manner. "Has anyone heard rumours about You-Know-Who lately?"

An uneasy silence settled in the room. Teri looked around, and it seemed to Remus as though she was giving him a longer glance than the others. "It's just that Fridolina - the Charmer I work with - has heard from a few people that... well, he's supposed to be back."

Charlotte cleared her throat as well, and looked at Remus.

He nodded slowly. "Yes. He is back."

The reactions differed; Connie looked only mildly worried (she was a Muggle, after all, so she hadn't known what the first war had been like), Teri and Charlotte looked grim, but unsurprised; but Angela and Gómez were looking positively alarmed.

"Are you sure?" asked Gómez in a low voice.

"Yes. That is, if you trust Harry Potter to tell the truth."

"Are you - in contact with Harry Potter?" asked Angela, sounding amazed.

"Indirectly," said Remus. "I taught him at Hogwarts. He saw Voldemort at the end of the last school year."

The others had gasped simultaneously when Remus had said the name, but he ignored it. "He is back, and it looks like he's currently assembling old and recruiting new followers," he continued. "The Minister of Magic, however, refused to believe Harry's story, and we - I mean, I'm quite sure that he's forcing the Daily Prophet to keep quiet about all unusual happenings."

Gómez snorted. "Yes, that would be just like the Ministry."

They all nodded, frowning. Remus briefly considered telling them about the Order now - he had just almost done so - but somehow, he wanted to talk to Charlotte alone at first.

After dinner, he looked for her everywhere and finally found her in the garden, strolling along the path under the palms, her face set in a frown. Remus sighed to himself; things were starting out just like they had all those years ago: Even the most cheerful people were starting to become pensive.

When Charlotte saw him, she smiled, but it was a weary smile. "What dark times are we facing, Remus?"

He fell into a pace beside her. "I don't know. I keep wondering whether it will be as bad as last time. Then I tell myself that it might even get worse, and that scares me... I can't imagine anything worse."

"I know." She threw him a quick glance; it looked as though she wanted to ask him something, but then she seemed to think better of it.

"And this is where my question comes in," Remus said. "Well, it's more of a suggestion. I'm sure you've wondered where I went every Sunday morning?"

She laughed. "Oh, don't tell me you are finally going to solve that mystery!"

Yes, he had been right; she had never voiced it as Levine had, but had wondered just as much. "I'm sorry I haven't told you so far, but you'll understand why -" He broke off.

While walking, they had left the path and turned around a hedge near the cherry trees - and almost walked into Olivier and Nora.

Olivier and Nora, who broke apart and stared at Charlotte and Remus.

"P-professors..." stammered Olivier, looking extremely embarrassed. Nora only stared at them with wide eyes. She looked flushed and much healthier than usual.

"Nora, Olivier," Charlotte said, grinning widely. "Sorry for interrupting you."

"Don't... worry about it," Nora said, looking extremely awkward.

"We certainly didn't want to disturb," Remus said, fighting to keep a straight face. "Just make sure you're inside by nine."

They nodded, and gaped at their teachers, who strode away towards the strawberry field at a quick pace. They only stopped when a hedge of thick wild rose bushes was separating them from the two students.

"Oh my God!" Charlotte said, in a low voice that was tense with excitement. "I can't believe he finally did it!"

"Yes, it seemed like they would never get there," Remus agreed, and they grinned. "Thank God. Maybe now we will be able to get a sensible word out of Olivier in class."

"You've got to be joking - this will be worse!" Charlotte laughed out loud, then put her hand to her mouth and continued in a low voice again. "Ha! Just wait until all the others find out. Anyway, you wanted to tell me something? Oh yes, the Sunday mystery!"

Remus shook his head, smiling. "Not to be easily distracted, I see. Well..." He paused. "I go to Hogwarts every Sunday for a secret meeting with Professor Dumbledore and others who want to work against Voldemort."

Charlotte flinched, then raised her eyebrows at him in amazement. "Well, I can see why you haven't told me so far. Did our conversation this afternoon inspire you to do so, then?"

"Well, incidentally, we just talked about it this morning as well," replied Remus. "About me proposing to you and the others to join, that is."

Charlotte nodded at once. "Absolutely. I'm in."

He laughed. "I'm not surprised." He quickly grew serious again. "For the moment, I'd like to keep this between the two of us; you can come with me next weekend, and we can inform the others later."

He had considered not taking her to the meeting at all, but working instead as a contact person between his colleagues and the Order; that way, he would have avoided explaining Sirius and Snape. But Charlotte, he knew, needed to see the Order with her own eyes, and Dumbledore had expressly wished to meet her. Who was he to argue with Dumbledore?

She nodded again. "Agreed."

"How I wish all of the people we cooperate with were as uncomplicated as you," he sighed.

***

The Thursday of the next week, after his Care of Magical Creatures Class - they had studied Mokes and their mating habits, which had greatly amused and embarrassed the students at the same time - Olivier hung back in the garden with Remus while everyone was going inside for their afternoon study group.

Remus cleaned the Moke cage and listened to Olivier shuffling his feet and clearing his throat several times before he looked up and smiled.

"You wanted a word, Olivier?"

He had never seen the boy look more awkward; he was still shuffling his feet and biting his lower lip. The expression on his face was anxious, but at the same time determined - he seemed to have made up his mind to talk to Remus, however embarrassing it was for him.

"I... uhh... wanted to ask you something, but - er - it's probably a very personal question..."

Remus, wary but intrigued, waited as the boy ummmed and ahhhed for a while, and then decided to relieve him of the awkwardness of introducing the subject.

"Congratulations," said Remus.

Olivier stared, then quickly regained composure. "Um, thanks." He grinned. "That's what I wanted to talk about, actually."

Of course you do. I doubt that you talk or think of much else at the moment.

"It's, umm, a bit early, but I wanted to ask, well..." And there he was again, unable to construct a full sentence. Well, it wasn't as though he hadn't been like that ever since Remus had met him; but then, as far as he knew, Olivier had been madly in love with Nora for a long, long time.

While Olivier was still stammering, Remus quickly thought over what he had just heard. A bit early? Did that mean Olivier wanted to ask about ... but surely Charlotte would have talked to them about this before? He knew the woman, after all; she was almost never embarrassed. However, he would have to ask Olivier what exactly he wanted to know. Now that was new territory...

"Did you mean to ask - how things worked?" He allowed himself only the smallest of pauses, which Olivier wouldn't have picked up.

"Oh, no! No, no," said Olivier, sounding quite relieved that Remus had broached the subject, and that indeed, he would not need to hear the whole story again. "No, Professor Merlot told us some stuff, and I, uhh, read books. But..."

But it was something to do with that. Then why had Olivier come to him and not to Charlotte, who was obviously more at ease with a subject like this?

Unless...

"I actually wanted to ask whether it was any different for werewolves," Olivier finally blurted out, and Remus drew in a short breath.

Oh.

"I see." He cleared his throat. "Well, I wouldn't exactly know the difference, since I was far too young when I received the bite..." He trailed off. How to put this? "I have... heard, however, that there is a slight... difference... but not, well, in the way things work." He had to smile at himself. Bloody useful grown-up you are...

Olivier raised his eyebrows. "I'm not sure I understand."

Of course not. It would help if you were a bit clearer about this, Remus. But he realized that he couldn't possibly go into more detail without greatly embarrassing the poor boy - and himself.

"Nothing to worry about. You'll find out yourself, I believe."

Olivier took a sharp breath - doubtless he was thinking of the moment he would find out. "Err, all right. Thanks a lot, Professor!"

And as though he had been sitting on a handful of porcupine quills, he hurried out of the classroom.

Remus let out a deep breath.

***

They barely exchanged three words while walking through the gates towards Hogwarts. Charlotte seemed too impressed for words, and Remus was filled with that solemn nostalgia that always overcame him when he saw the castle. He came here regularly now, but he never managed to walk through these gates without being overwhelmed by memories, as many happy as sad ones.

He felt Charlotte's curious gaze on him, and forced himself to turn away from the past to look at her.

"Will I be seeing your friends from school?" she asked, and Remus remembered how much all of Middleton Manor knew about his past, after the children had coerced it out of him on his very first day at the school, and had then told it to everyone else.

There was one moment's hesitation in which he wondered whether he wanted even to mention Lily and James. Sometimes it was hard to bear other people's pity. But this was Charlotte.

"No, only one of them is left, and he's not in the country." That wasn't even a lie, as Sirius was currently hiding somewhere in Wales.

Charlotte nodded, giving him neither a pitiful gaze nor a pat on the arm, and Remus smiled to himself; he had been right.

It was a Hogsmeade weekend, so they held the Order meeting later than usual, most of the students being safely out of the castle. Finally having an official reason to visit the castle, Remus gave Charlotte a quick tour, meeting several students on the way. (Their enthusiasm at seeing him embarrassed Remus and amused Charlotte, who told him that she had expected nothing less.)

Finally, at her request, he saw her down to the dungeons to have a look at the Potions classroom. He desperately hoped that they could avoid meeting Snape, since the latter was not coming to the meeting because of Charlotte. Not that Remus couldn't deal with the man, but somehow... yes, he supposed it was the fact that he didn't want Charlotte to take any bad image of Hogwarts with her.

Unfortunately, Snape seemed to be possessive about his classroom. When Charlotte was just inspecting some of the most disgusting-looking jars in the glass shelves, the door gave a creak, and Remus sighed to himself.

"Professor Lupin," said Snape's soft, silky voice, dripping with the contempt he normally reserved for Sirius. Remus turned around, his face composed.

"Hello, Severus," he greeted. "May I present Charlotte Merlot, the Headmistress at my new school? Charlotte, your Potions colleague, Severus Snape."

Charlotte, whatever doubts she had, seemed determined to be friendly - as she always was, really. She stepped forward, her hand outstretched. "It's nice to meet you, Professor Snape. You're quite a celebrity in the milieu, as I'm sure you know."

Snape gave her a sour look, indicating that he didn't care for such a shallow thing as fame (although Remus knew better), but he shook Charlotte's hand nonetheless. "Professor Merlot," he said. That, however, was all the conversation he seemed to feel inclined to make.

Charlotte didn't give up so easily. "I've read all your articles on Oriental Potions," she continued, and Remus couldn't suppress a smile. Somehow, he had never been able to imagine Snape as an author.

Snape was now looking as pleased as was possible on a constantly frowning, bitter-looking face. "The one on the Fakiria Potion is rather outdated, I'm afraid," he said, ignoring Remus' obvious amusement.

"Not at all," assured Charlotte. "I've read a few more recent studies on the matter, but they haven't resulted in anything new. I still use your article on the Dholija Draught as a reference in class."

Snape nodded his acknowledgement, and Remus silently congratulated Charlotte. Maybe he should have tried to overcome his aversion to the subject long ago in order to bond with Snape a bit better, he thought, and smiled again.

"I also believe," Charlotte was saying, "that you're one of the only people who have continually managed to make the Wolfsbane Potion without encountering any of its unfortunate side effects."

Remus' heart sank as quickly as Snape's face.

"Indeed," said Snape, now quite coldly. "However, I gave up on this particular ... hobby ... when I realized that the actual effects of lycanthropy -" he glanced at Remus - "cannot be dissimulated by any kind of potion."

Remus, his eyes never leaving Snape's, felt Charlotte stiffen beside him. "And what would those be?" he asked, faking a student's naive curiosity.

"The inner darkness and irresponsibility, of course," Snape sneered, and turning back to Charlotte, he said, "You might soon find your new teacher to be somewhat careless as to his students' health when it comes to personal matters."

Well, ouch.

Because the worst thing was that Snape was right. Remus had been careless that night, and things could have gone horribly wrong.

"I sincerely doubt that," he heard Charlotte say. "In fact, I find Remus to be the most responsible, caring person I have ever met."

Snape snorted. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Her tone now quite matched his in coldness.

"Who knows, he might treat his kind differently," Snape continued, as though talking to himself. "And perhaps their passing would not be such a great loss to the world."

Remus could now almost hear her teeth grit together, but Charlotte didn't explode. Instead, she turned to him and said lightly, "Let's go, Remus. I'm bored with this man."

"I can't blame you," he answered, smiling.

"Also, I've learned a valuable lesson today," she said, as they were on their way out, feeling Snape's glare in the back of their heads. "Academic intellect and fame alone don't make a good person."

"How right you are," Remus said just as Snape slammed the door behind them.

They had made it as far as the third floor before Charlotte collapsed against a wall, growling furiously.

"I don't believe him!"

Remus leaned against the wall next to her, surprised to find that he was quite amused. After all, he had expected nothing else from Snape. Charlotte, however...

"I don't believe you," he said, smiling. "I had fully expected you to jump at his throat - isn't that your usual method of dealing with people?"

Charlotte looked at him for a second, stunned, then burst out laughing. "Really, Remus! Aren't I at least a bit more restrained than that?" Seeing his doubtful expression, she laughed again. "Ah well, I suppose you've been rubbing off on me. Damn you."

"Glad to hear it." Remus grinned and checked his watch. "We still have a bit of time, would you like to see Gryffindor House?"

"That was your House, right?" He nodded, and she looked at him thoughtfully. "I can see why."

She left him to ponder this comment as they strode along the corridors to the Gryffindor common room.

"Well, look who it is!" shrieked the Fat Lady. "Remus Lupin, the silent prankster!"

"Firelight Fairies," he said, reciting the password Dumbledore had given him, and tried to ignore Charlotte's giggling.

"That also fits you," she commented, as they stepped in. "Ah, everyone seems to have gone to -" she broke off when she spotted something that Remus had seen the very moment they had entered. He would have recognized that hair anywhere.

"Hello, Harry," he said, as the boy turned his chair around and stood up. "Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"

"Didn't feel like going," Harry said, and Remus suddenly realized how tired his former student looked. "Hi, Professor Lupin. What are you doing at Hogwarts?"

Remus smiled, seeing Harry's curious, but half-knowing look. Even though Sirius always emphasized how young his godson still was, he couldn't help filling the boy in on a lot of information that was classified as secret.

"Showing my new boss around," replied Remus. "Charlotte, this is Harry Potter; Harry, this is Charlotte Merlot, Headmistress of the Centre -"

"- for Lycanthropic Children," Harry finished and shook Charlotte's hand. "Nice to meet you, Professor Merlot."

"Don't tell me you've heard of us?" asked Charlotte, sounding quite delighted.

"Oh, my friend Hermione told me," Harry said. And Sirius, Remus added quietly. "And she has a subscription to the Daily Prophet, so we also read that, er ... unfortunate article a while ago." He frowned. "I hope you don't listen to them, they always write rubbish about me."

Charlotte smiled. "I didn't know you were friends with Hermione. I've known her since she was a little baby."

Harry nodded - Hermione must have told him all about it - and fell silent again. Remus noticed the dark rings under his eyes; it didn't look like he had been sleeping too well. He sighed inwardly.

"Well, we need to get going," he said, badly wanting to talk to Harry a bit longer, but seeing that he was making him uncomfortable. He made a mental note to ask Sirius how Harry had been dealing with Cedric's death and Voldemort's rise; or perhaps he should write Harry a letter himself.

"Yes, they'll be waiting back at the school," Charlotte said, and Remus smiled as Harry raised his eyebrows in half-amusement.

"Is Snuffles coming to the meeting?" he asked Remus. "I haven't heard from him in a few weeks."

"No, he's out of the country," Remus replied. "And perhaps that's even better, seeing how shy he's always been around new people." He nodded towards Charlotte.

Harry snorted. "Right."

"'Snuffles'?" asked Charlotte when they were climbing the stairs to Dumbledore's office. "That would be your mysterious friend?"

He was spared from having to answer when the door to the office was flung wide open, and Mundungus Fletcher almost bumped into them.

"Lupin!" exclaimed the short, round man. "I was hoping not to see you today; I've had a bad day's start, and it's just getting worse."

"I know the concept of reliability is unfamiliar to you, Fletcher," replied Remus, "but I come here whenever I can. Unlike some people, who only seem to be able to come to meetings when that doesn't involve getting up at eight."

"Charming, the man," commented Fletcher, in Charlotte's direction, who was looking as though she wasn't sure whether to be amused or not. "Mundungus Fletcher, and you'll have to excuse me for a moment, I have to have a word with Snape."

Remus gritted his teeth. Typical for Fletcher; completely careless. He knew why Snape wasn't at the meeting; he knew it was because of Charlotte. And yet, he could never keep his mouth shut.

"What business does he have with Snape?" Charlotte asked as they were entering the office.

"Oh, they're old school friends," Remus replied. At least he could have a private go at Fletcher...

"Really? How odd. Mr. Fletcher seems nice enough."

Remus grinned.

"Ah, Professor Merlot," Dumbledore greeted her.

He spoke French, of course; Remus reminded himself that Dumbledore was said to be very talented at languages. He was one of the few people Remus knew who pronounced the name correctly. Charlotte told him so, of course, and the creases around Dumbledore's eyes deepened as he smiled.

While Charlotte and Dumbledore were exchanging polite words of greeting, Remus saw the other members of the Order studying Charlotte with some interest - and to his horror, he thought he saw a satisfied smile on Molly's face after she had looked from Charlotte to Remus and back.

He sighed inwardly. It looked like Molly was at it again. It would be a change for her to be right about her matchmaking suspicions for once.

"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix," said Dumbledore.

***