Hellfire in New York

Hellfire in New York

Chapter 3: Remus Lupin Saves a Soul

Remus found himself in something that looked like, and indeed was, a dungeon. Two mercenaries, who had clearly been interrupted in the middle of a card game, were staring at him. He petrified both of them before either could utter a sound; Remus was not in the best of moods. He had dragged two of his newest and best friends along on what, he had to admit, was a personal mission of revenge, and now they were probably in danger. Part of him acknowledged that the two highly-trained X-Men were better equipped than he was to deal with most trouble, but there were wizards in here, and that made a difference.

He cast around him, and almost at once heard a voice crying, "Crucio!" The sound that followed was a moan - the noise of an animal in pain but too exhausted to cry out any more. It came from an open cell nearby. Remus crept to the door and looked in.

There were eight figures in the room, but only two were human. The other six were sinewy creatures covered in a black, oily skin. They seemed to go on all fours or upright as the mood took them, and their heads were an abominable blend of cat and ape, with slavering, fanged mouths. They tittered among themselves and moved restlessly as they watched the two humans. Remus recognised them from an old text; Msira they were called, a type of minor demon.

One of the humans, a dumpy figure in over-elaborate witches' robes, was speaking in a twanging accent. "Why Emma, sweetie, don' you got a scream left in ya? I jest love it when you scream for me. C'mon, gimme one of those nice, spunky cheerleader yells, huh?

"'Cuz you was a cheerleader, wasn't you? And I'll jest bet they made ya Homecoming Queen, too. Mebbe it was Prom Queen. But ya musta had a date for the Prom, didn't ya, honey? Prob'ly the star quarterback..."

The woman she was taunting moaned softly again. Chained by her wrists, hanging from the wall so her feet barely touched the floor, the hapless victim looked barely alive. She was naked; her slender white body was filthy and marked with raw scratches and bites. Her chin was sunk onto her chest and long, dirty, blonde hair veiled her face.

The dumpy woman moved closer so Remus could finally see her clearly . Her face was round, marked with pimples and spots, and had a snub nose, protuberant brown eyes, and prominent teeth in a wide but thin-lipped mouth. Surprisingly, she was young, no older than twenty.

Shoving uselessly at her frizzy, black hair, she reached out to pull the blonde's head up. The face revealed was fine-boned and regular, with a pleasantly full mouth and a pair of sapphire-blue eyes that were currently glazed with pain and exhaustion. The whole face had the pinched look of dehydration.

The dumpy witch leaned toward her and spoke again, almost pleading, "Emma girl, I don' care what Selene says. She says 'Kneel to me or die!' I say ta hell with with her! I'll let ya down, git ya cleaned up some, mebbe feed ya. Alls I wan' is fer ya ta teach me! Teach me howta be like you, all pretty and popular like!

"Or," the voice tried to become threatening, but sounded petulant instead, "I could let ma friends here play with ya some more. They like that. They say ya taste real good!"

Remus could stand no more. He stepped into the cell. "Enough, girl! Leave her be!"

The young woman turned, glared, and hissed, "O'course. Ev'ry damsel in distress hasta have a knight in shinin' armor. Well, screw you, dork!"

Clapping her hands, she sent the Msira at him. But Remus, former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, knew his demonology. Demons are not invulnerable, and relatively few of them commanded powerful magic. These Msira were like dangerous animals, and he dealt with them as such, brutally and efficiently. Even so, they drove him out of the cell before he finished them. Afterward, he made his way back in, wincing at the sound of more moaning.

The young witch stood in front of her victim, about to apply the red-hot tip of her wand to a cheek. "NO!" Remus bellowed, and the girl spun to face him with a snarl.

It was a short but fierce duel. The girl was savage yet had little skill, and was quickly pushed back against the damp stone wall. With a scream of frustration, she Disapparated. Remus swore, then went over to the chained woman.

He freed her with a flick of his wand, catching her as she collapsed. Remus grimaced; the poor woman stank, but he lifted and carried her to a flimsy bed that stood nearby. Gently as he set her down, she still cried out softly. Remus swore again. How could anyone so misuse another person? He applied a Soothing Charm to ease her pain, then a Cleansing Charm. Something told him that this was a fastidious woman whose filthy state would cause her distress. Finally, he Transfigured the thin blanket on the bed into a soft, warm one, which he carefully wrapped around her.

As he leaned over her, her eyes opened. They were the most radiant blue colour Remus had ever seen, and as they locked on his, he fell into them. Remus never really found the words afterwards to describe what he felt then. He knew that his entire life replayed itself at lightning speed. Images swam up from the past: James, Sirius, Lily, Pettigrew, Fenrir, Voldemort, Harry - accompanied by the feelings that went with them. Then he was standing in a white space, face-to-face with a tall, blonde woman dressed in white and silver. He knew at once that this was the woman he had just rescued. He couldn't speak - she was so breathtakingly lovely - and she didn't. She simply smiled and reached out to touch his cheek.

Abruptly, he was back in the damp, dank dungeon, and the woman on the bed was still gazing up at him. She spoke, moving her dry, cracked lips to shape his name, "Remus."

"Emma," he replied, knowing that that was her name. Then the compelling eyes closed with sleep.

"Merlin!" gasped Remus. Something profound had just happened, he knew, but what?

Later, he told himself. Right now, he could hear voices and running feet, reinforcements fetched by that young witch, no doubt. Remus went to the door of the cell and looked around. At one end of the space was a wide archway; at the other, a stone wall with a single door. The sounds were coming from both directions. Remus didn't want to get caught in the middle, so he pointed his wand at the keystone of the arch and invoked "Reductio!" The keystone shattered and the tunnel collapsed with a satisfying rumble. He considered sealing the door, but that would trap him in here; he'd just have to hope he could deal with whatever came through before making his escape.

The door didn't open; it crashed off its hinges. First through were four or five Msira demons led by two of the larger Homromsira and one grey-skinned, flame-wreathed Grumsira. Remus imprisoned the fiery demon in a globe of water where the thing hung helpless. The other demons hesitated long enough for Remus to do some serious damage with a fireball. The survivors fled.

From beyond the door, Remus heard the sounds of debate. It seemed that there were two groups outside, wizards and mercenaries, and they didn't much like each other. Well, it gave him a breather! Still, he was never so pleased to hear anything as he was to hear Beast's voice in his ear!

****

Interesting! thought Kurt as the three villains left the throne room. Professor Xavier would need to know about this. But first, Kurt would need to get out of here! He looked around again. Some way from him was an incongruous-looking metal grille. A ventilation shaft? If there was one thing Nightcrawler hated, it was a cliché, but needs must! He had a screwdriver in his utility belt, and soon enough he was crawling through the shaft. He stopped when he heard voices.

"There's two of them, down in the dungeon. Yeah, one X-Man - the furry dude - and some frickin' wizard. The girl says he's British. We're heading to Junction Six to cut 'em off. You stay put in case they double back. They won't be going fast; they're carrying the prisoner."

Remus and Hank were causing trouble, then, and Kurt wasn't getting in on the action, which was unfair! He glanced through the vent and saw what looked to be an empty room. Taking a chance, he teleported in. The room was empty, except for chairs and a table - some kind of ready room, perhaps. Kurt darted out into the corridor, and heard a group of people moving away from him. He jumped up to the ceiling, and scuttled along it after them.

****

The debate outside the dungeon degenerated rather quickly into a full-blown fight. Remus watched, sardonically amused, as hexes and high-energy stun-bolts crisscrossed the corridor. The wizards, huddled behind shields, were having the best of it until one mercenary lobbed in a tear-gas grenade. The wizards were not equipped with the filtered facemasks the mercenaries wore, and those who couldn't summon Bubble-Head Charms quick enough were soon staggering around choking.

The mercs took the chance to move into close combat, something few wizards excelled at. Seeing the tables turn this way reminded Remus to have a word with Logan about some lessons. If the man could turn frail Hermione Granger into a lethal fighting machine, he could certainly give Remus a few pointers!

In the end, there were three wizards and two mercs left standing. All five were panting with exertion and eyeing each other coldly. They should have been paying more attention, because it was then that Beast shot out of the shadows and crashed into them like a battering ram! Remus promptly jumped into the melee, wand flicking, and within moments the two friends were the only ones on their feet.

"We have to stop meeting like this!" Beast greeted him.

"I know. People will start to talk," Remus replied. "C'mon, we'd better get Emma and get moving smartish!"

"Emma?" Beast inquired while following Remus back to the cell, where the prisoner still lay sleeping. Beast gave a start of surprise. "Remus, do you know who this is?"

Remus shook his head. "She was chained to the wall, being tortured. I didn't stop to ask for an introduction."

"Of course not," Beast agreed but added, "Remus, this is Emma Frost, the White Queen."

"Jupiter! Then why was she here?"

"Beats me. Dissension in the ranks, perhaps? Word is that she's been off her game ever since that run-in with Hawk a while back. Maybe this is the result. Here," Beast offered, "I'll carry her. You try to raise Nightcrawler."

"No, you'll need your hands free. Mobilicorpus!"

Emma's body, still wrapped in the blanket, rose lightly off the bed and began to float before the two men. They hurried on, quickly finding their way to a set of newer, more modern corridors. The layout of the place was puzzling Remus; some of it looked modern Muggle; other parts reminded him of Hogwarts. There seemed little rhyme or reason to it.

Suddenly, Beast held up a hand. "There's a junction ahead," he whispered, "and I'll just bet there's an ambush waiting."

Remus positioned Emma to the side. The men crept forward slowly, only to hear a yell of surprise followed by the meaty thuds and grunts of combat interspersed with a familiar bamf or two!

"Well, Groucho," remarked Beast, "seems like Harpo finally caught up with us."

"That's good," Remus said equally glibly. "Now we can share a taxi. Or, if we can't get a taxi, we can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, we can leave in a minute and a huff. Hi, Kurt, what took you so long?"

Nightcrawler grinned as he emerged from the junction. "I had to catch the latest episode of 'The Fiendish Plot of the Black Queen'. I'll clue you in later. Where's the exit?"

It turned out that the nearest exit was up a ladder to a trapdoor that opened into a basement parking lot about three blocks from the Hellfire Club building. Remus and Hank held onto the White Queen while Kurt reactivated his Holographic Image Inducer and went to fetch the car he and Hank had come in.

"We'll have to get Ms Frost here back to the mansion," Beast told Remus. "You called us up on such short notice that we flew in - Charles let us use the Osprey. Fortunately, between graduating from Xavier's and going back there to teach, I worked for Stark International. Tony Stark is a friend, and I still contract for them sometimes, so he gives me executive privileges. That includes use of the heliport at their Long Island facility.

"Tony is also a trustee of the School for Gifted Youngsters, so he knows about the X-Men. If the Club guys follow us, they won't try to hit us out in the city, but they might at the airfield. Stark's security people will come in handy."

Soon enough, Nightcrawler returned, at the wheel of an unremarkable but commodious Nissan - a Stark International courtesy car. Beast got into the front, while Remus gently lifted Emma into the back before climbing in himself. For a while, the drive was peaceful, then Kurt said, "We've got company!"

Remus looked out of the back window. Even he could spot the ominous, black SUVs trailing them. Then Hank said, "Air cover too. That's not a police or TV chopper above." He took out his cell-phone. "Tony? Hank. Yeah, bit of excitement. Look, we're being tailed by some unpleasant people. They might try to stop us getting to the plane. Two SUVs and a chopper. Thanks, you're a pal!"

He put the phone away. "Kurt, just drive easy. Tony's people will have our backs."

Beast was proved right. The enemy vehicles hung back until the car turned into the gates of Stark Long Island. Then the two SUVs accelerated, and the helicopter swooped down at them. But even as they did so, an amplified voice boomed out: "YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON STARK INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY. LEAVE AT ONCE OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!"

A mercenary leaned out of the window of one vehicle and began to fire a sub-machine gun at the Nissan, but a red-and-gold figure dropped out of the sky in front of him, the bullets bouncing uselessly off the newcomer's chest. As he strode purposefully toward the vehicle, the mercs inside promptly jumped out and began to run. It seemed to Remus that they recognised the colourful figure, and feared him.

Only one of the Hellfire Club cars had come through the gate. The other was still outside, and was emptying as rapidly as the first. Remus watched, dumbstruck, as the stranger picked up one heavy SUV as if it were a toy, then casually tossed it at the other. Both crumpled into scrap metal and glass. The helicopter turned tail and made off toward the city.

Kurt had driven over to where a large tilt-turboprop aircraft was parked on the apron. As they got out of the car, a man in overalls came up. "She's all ready to go, Professor McCoy. I'll take the car. Mr. Stark said you were in a hurry."

Hank nodded his thanks, then turned to greet their rescuer, a man of medium height. Not much else could be seen, because he was clad from head to foot in his suit of bright armour. He shook hands with Beast, who said, "Thanks, Iron Man. I didn't think Tony would send you personally."

The armoured figure shrugged, and replied in a deep voice, "I was in the area, so it seemed logical. You X-Men don't get into the usual kind of trouble, Hank, any more than we Avengers do! Hi, 'Crawler!"

"Hi, Shellhead!" Kurt returned. "Remus, this is Iron Man, Mr. Stark's head of security. Iron Man, meet Professor Remus Lupin."

The two shook hands briefly, then Iron Man turned to Beast, warning, "You'd better get going. You've been cleared for immediate takeoff and your flightplan's been logged."

"We'll do that. Say hi to Tony for me."

"I will--when I see him."

There seemed to be a private joke going on here, but Remus wasn't really interested. He spent the flight to Xavier's monitoring his 'patient', who drifted in and out of consciousness. "I'm worried about her," Remus confided to Kurt.

Kurt explained, "Since we lost Jean, and Sirius swiped Ororo off us, we've been short a medic. Charles has managed to persuade Moira McTaggart to join the staff, which pleased Sean no end! I've called ahead, but Moira and Sean are out. We'll be back before they are. Thankfully, Dani and Marie have stepped into the breach for emergency and nursing care, so Emma Frost will be well looked after."

Remus couldn't see happy-go-lucky, flirtatious Dani Moonstar as a nurse, but he said nothing, a choice he was glad of when he saw the two young women waiting with a gurney in the underground hangar. Both of them displayed cool competence as they ferried Emma to the Sickbay and examined her thoroughly.

"Mr. Lupin, have you given her anything?" asked Rogue.

Remus nodded. "A Soothing Charm for the pain - it should wear off soon - a Cleansing one to make her more comfortable, and a little water on the plane. Just a mouthful or two. Oh, and I Transfigured that blanket to keep her warm."

Marie appraised him appreciatively. "Seems you did everything right, then. Are you getting anything, Dani?"

The Native American girl shook her head. "I'm only an empath, and not too good a one at that. She's exhausted, scared, and starting to hurt again.

"She's also dehydrated and underfed. I've started an IV with saline and glucose. These wounds are slight, and they don't look infected, but I've given her some antibiotics just in case. We just have to keep her stable until Dr. McTaggart gets here.

"Mr. Lupin, thanks. Now, scat! There's nothing you can do here, and you need to debrief with the other guys. We'll keep you informed."

There was no arguing with her or Marie, so Remus left after a long look at Emma Frost, the woman with those astonishing eyes, now shut in peaceful sleep. He made his way up into the mansion proper, coming into the main entrance hall, where he encountered two people on their way down.

Dr Moira MacTaggart greeted him with a nod. "Mr Lupin, is it not?" she asked in a precise Edinburgh accent. "So it's you Sean and I have to thank for cutting our evening short?" A shapely woman of medium height, in her early forties, she regarded him with quizzical blue-green eyes set in a pale-skinned, pointed Celtic face.

"Now Moira, me girl," put in the burly, ginger-haired man at her side, "you'll not be blamin' Remus here for yer own choices, will ye? 'Twas yerself decided to become a doctor, knowin' full well that this sort of thing would be happenin'."

Moira laughed and shook her head, causing the thick bob of chestnut hair to swing in a way that clearly entranced her companion. "You're no' wrong Sean Cassidy, but I'll thank you not to remind me of it when I've missed out on dessert!

"I'd best go and see to my patient. Make sure those wee lassies have done her no lasting harm. I'll be up later, Sean." She kissed him lightly. "Good evenin' to you, Mr Lupin."

"Evening," replied Remus. Now where do I go? he wondered, but before he could ask, Banshee put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Come along wi' me, Remus," he said. "Charles and the others are waitin' on ye for the debriefin'. Now, how are young Harry and Ron and darlin' Hermione?"

Chatting amiably, Sean guided Remus to the wood-panelled door of Xavier's study, where he said, "I've things to be doin', so I'll leave ye here. They're expectin' ye. Join me later for a drop of the good stuff?"

"I'll look forward to it," Remus promised. He raised a hand to tap at the door, but before he could, a quietly authoritative voice called, "Come."

Remus entered the room with some trepidation. He had met Charles Xavier, of course, but only in passing. Now he was venturing into the sanctum sanctorum of a man rumoured to be an even more powerful Legilimens than the late and unlamented Lord Voldemort.

The room was larger than he had imagined it, and lacked the heterogeneous clutter of most wizard studies. There were bookshelves, of course, but these were interspersed with plain walls on which hung carefully selected prints. In front of the large picture window covered with red velvet curtains was a polished oak desk. Facing this were a number of comfortable chairs. One chair was currently occupied by Beast, while another held the rangy form of Scott Summers. Kurt was, as always, perched on the antique sideboard that stood by one wall.

"Come in, Professor Lupin," invited Xavier from behind the desk. "Have a seat. There's coffee, or I can have some tea brought in if you'd prefer."

"Coffee will be fine," said Remus. "I know what you Americans can do to tea!"

As Remus sat down, Xavier chuckled, his strong, kindly features and penetrating, dark eyes radiated a confidence that Remus had seen in no-one except Albus Dumbledore; however, it was Scott Summers who spoke first.

"I suppose I ought to be mad at you, Remus, for leading Hank and Kurt into danger," Cyclops began, "but I know these guys too well. They can get into the damnedest fixes all by themselves. So, I'm not blaming you, but I am interested in knowing why you called them. You've visited here often enough since last summer, so why the meeting today in New York?"

Remus shrugged. "To tell you the truth, Scott, it was what they call a 'hunch'.

"Look, I'd tracked Lestrange and her crew to New York, to that club. I knew it couldn't be a wizard place because it was in plain sight, and there were Muggles going in and out. Bella hates Muggles! She hates them even more than You-Know-Who ever did, so why was she in there?

"Now, as you may know, even the Ministry of Magic has very little contact with American wizards, so there was no-one from my world I could turn to for help or information. That left me with you X-Men as my only local contacts.

"And, to tell you the truth, I didn't really want to be in the US without at least meeting up with Hank and Kurt. After the fun and games we had last summer, I'd have felt wrong just passing through without saying hello.

"I'd meant to locate my quarry, then Apparate back to London for reinforcements. But with them being holed up in that club, I felt I needed to know more. I thought maybe Hank and Kurt could help with that, so I called them. All I intended was dinner and a chat, but then I found out about the Hellfire Club."

"Of course," Beast put in, "as soon as Kurt and I knew what was up, we knew we had to lend a hand. If something was - is - going down at the Hellfire Club, it's going to have repercussions for the X-Men. We meant it to be a quick scouting mission, but things got out of control."

"Complicated, indeed!" agreed Xavier. "So complicated that a member of the Inner Circle is now a patient in our Sickbay. Emma Frost, prisoner or guest, is a matter I must look into later. For now, however, you have something to tell us, Kurt?"

Nightcrawler recounted what he had overheard in the throne-room. When he had finished, Scott shook his head. "This isn't good. We all know how effective wizards and Mutants can be when we work together. If Selene can bring together the Mutants of the Inner Circle and enough American wizards, there's going to be trouble.

"We just don't know enough about the Black Queen. Who is she? What is she up to with these...artifacts?"

"Maybe Remus can help out there," suggested Kurt. "Selene's accent was definitely English. You think there might be records or something, Remus?"

"Probably, in the Ministry Archives," Remus allowed. "There might even be something about whatever ritual or spell she's working on. I can certainly try to find out."

"But not now," Xavier advised. "Now, you three should take a breather. I gather that Sean has a bottle or two of something rather special he would like to share. Remus, I've had a room made ready for you. You should at least stay the night and return home fresh."

After the three left the room, Cyclops turned to his mentor, asking, "Charles, what are we getting into here?"

"The same as ever, Scott - trouble!" Xavier smiled benignly, but Scott was less sanguine.

"If we have to face both Mutants and magic...!"

"We will. Remember, the X-Men include wizards among our ranks."

"You can't mean you'd call up those kids?"

"Young men and women, no longer kids. Harry is the same age as you were when you first led the X-Men, son."

Cyclops sighed. "You're right. And they did defeat Voldemort. But let's hope it doesn't come to war."

*****

The following morning, Remus was preparing to leave for London when he heard his name being called. He turned to see the tall, striking figure of Marie D'Ancanto crossing the room toward him.

Remus didn't know the younger X-Men as well as he might have; his dealings had been mostly with the adults. He did know, however, that Sirius thought highly of this young woman, whom he described as "warm-hearted and courageous". Remus also knew that Rogue was, in some ways, as close to Harry as Hermione and Ron. With this in mind, he greeted her with genuine warmth, which she reciprocated before coming to her point.

"It's the White Queen, Mr Lupin. She's a lot better, but she needs to sleep. Thing is, she won't until she's seen you. So, do us all a favor and go talk to her, will you?"

"Of course, Marie. But for Merlin's sake, call me Remus! You're a grown woman now, and even Hermione doesn't call me Mr Lupin anymore!"

Marie laughed at that, then led Remus not to the sickbay, but to one of the guest rooms. She gestured him to wait outside, tapped softly on the door and slipped inside. Remus heard quiet voices for a moment, then Marie came out again.

"You can go in now, Remus, but not for too long. Don't go overexciting her or tiring her out, OK?"

"I promise, Marie." Remus wondered how he could possibly over-excite a woman like Emma Frost?

"Good. Now when you get back, say hi to Harry and the others for me. Tell them to get their butts over here soon, or Logan and I are gonna come fetch them!"

"I'll do that!" With a parting smile, Remus ventured into the light, airy bedroom. Emma Frost was sitting up in bed, wearing a simple, white gown. Her hair had been washed, and was tied back away from her face, emphasising its classic bone structure. Her face was still too thin, Remus thought, but it had lost that pinched look, and the remarkable eyes were bright, clear and fixed on his face.

"Remus," she said softly. Her voice was a pleasant alto, the accent definitely American, but very cultured.

"Good morning, Dr Frost," Remus replied formally.

A shadow passed across Emma's face, her eyes softened, looking a little hurt. She beckoned to him. "Call me Emma, please. After last night, it's just silly to use titles. Come sit by me."

Remus took the chair beside the bed. Emma reached out a hand to him. He tried to take it in a brief handshake, but she caught his hand in both of hers and held on. Her grip was weak, yet Remus couldn't shake it off without appearing brutal. Besides, he found he didn't really want to.

Emma smiled at him, then looked down. "I do owe you an apology, though, Remus. Last night, I was...I wasn't really myself. I'd just spent a couple of hours with Ardelia."

Remus interrupted with a short, humourless laugh, adding, "If that was the young lady with the face only a mother could love, I don't blame you! She seemed to have a complex about various things: cheerleaders, Prom Queens and quarterbacks, whatever those are."

Emma looked up with a wan smile. "Cheerleaders are usually popular girls in high school. A prom is a formal dance for students ending their junior and senior years. A girl who's well liked may be elected prom queen and a boy, prom king. I suppose the nearest thing to a quarterback you'd understand is a Seeker in your Quidditch games."

It was on the tip of Remus' tongue to ask how she knew about Quidditch, but he could see Emma had more to say.

"The funny thing is," she went on in a low voice, "I wasn't popular in high school. I was never a cheerleader, and I didn't go to proms because nobody asked me. I was a hopeless nerd until I got my doctorate--a real late bloomer, Sebastian used to say."

Emma shook her head. "The bad old days. But anyway, what I meant to say is, I'm what you'd call a Legilimens, which means--"

"A telepath," Remus supplied. "The X-Men told me that."

Emma nodded. "I see. Well, I was scared, in pain, exhausted. I thought I was going to die. Then you were there, and I didn't know who you were. I thought Selene had sent you to finish me off. I don't know where I got the energy from, but I just scanned you, really deeply. I think I was hoping to find some way to save myself.

"You can imagine how I felt when, instead of an executioner, I found a decent, kind, honourable man, hell-bent on rescuing me and prepared to die doing it! But even so, I shouldn't have violated your mind that way. I'm so sorry."

Remus waved his free hand in a dismissive gesture. "It doesn't matter, Emma. I'm just glad I found you in time." He smiled apologetically. "But now, you have to rest or Rogue will have my hide!"

Remus both wanted and didn't want to go. He wanted to stay close to this fascinating woman, to come to know her, he realised. Sadly, for Remus that spelt danger - he had long ago decided that his particular affliction condemned him to a solitary life, at least in that respect. Friends could be kept at a distance, could accept that at times he was not himself, but a more intimate relationship would only place the precious other in needless peril.

Emma seemed to be aware of his conflict, and released his hand after a final gentle squeeze, admitting, "You're right, Remus. I need to sleep."

He nodded and rose, not trusting himself to speak. But as he did so, Emma showed that she was not really letting go of him by asking, "I'll see you again, soon?"

"If you want to," he managed. "But Emma, you don't really know me. Maybe I'm not what you think I am. You just concentrate on getting well for now. When you're stronger, and you've had time to think and sort things out, it'll be different, I'm sure."

He turned to leave. Just as he laid hold of the door handle, Emma said quietly, "I already know everything about you, Remus Lupin. Everything. You're exactly what I said you are; no more, no less. Always remember that!"

Remus found no reply, and almost fled from the room. He was so preoccupied that he almost ran over the petite, auburn-haired young woman who had been apparently lying in wait for him. He was brought back to himself by the bizarre sensation of the girl actually passing through him, like a ghost. He spun around to see her standing, grinning, at his shocked expression.

"Jupiter!" he gasped. "Please don't do that again without warning me, Kitty!"

"OK," agreed Kitty Pryde, "as long as you agree to look where you're going, Mr. Lupin."

"I was woolgathering. Sorry. Call me Remus, by the way. Did you want me for anything, Kitty?"

Kitty nodded. "You're heading back to England? I just wanted you to give my love to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Oh, and tell that Ginny Weasley that if she's not taking care of Harry, I'll take care of her! Can you do that for me?"

Remus grinned. "That I can, Kitty!"

But as Remus prepared to Apparate back to Grimmauld Place, his thoughts were not on Kitty's message. Emma Frost's face, the sound of her voice, and her wonderful eyes filled his mind.