A Mate

A Mate

Chapter 6: Dubious Solutions

Remus entered the common room, feeling vaguely sick. There was only Sirius and James in there and it was pretty late as Remus had spent nearly all day talking with Dumbledore and making arrangements. He walked in and sat down next to Sirius on one of the red sofas, hardly noticing the other boy's concerned look. James sat close by on an armchair and Remus wondered if they had been talking about him and the... incident.

Yet now he had a bigger problem to deal with: Dumbledore's proposition.

Remus sat there staring forward, showing no outward sign of his considerable distress.

"What happened, Remus?" the voice spoke so suddenly that Remus started.

"I'm not in trouble. Dumbledore was very... understanding," Remus murmured, his eyes that were still locked to the floor narrowed slightly at the irony of that statement.

James and Sirius seemed to relax at his answer.

"You are okay though, Moony?" Sirius asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"I'm fine," Remus said quietly and then looked up into Sirius' eyes, seeming to awaken from his bemused state. "Are you okay? Did the nurse fix you?"

Sirius grinned that Boy-Hero grin, which always caused a reaction in Remus and he gave a small smile at the presence of such a thing. No matter how he was feeling, Sirius never failed to inspire that brief moment of aching happiness within Remus. Despite Sirius being so unattainable, Remus' heart still jumped at the sight of his friend. He inwardly shook his head at himself and his silly heart. To feel this strongly for someone who knew nothing of his emotions was probably the worst torment he could wish upon anyone.

"Of course she fixed me. I wouldn't be out of the Hospital Wing if I wasn't - you know how Pomfrey is." Sirius smiled.

Remus nodded, his smile growing fractionally as he looked into Sirius' playful eyes, unable not to respond to the other's light-hearted attitude.

"So, if you're not in trouble then why were you with Dumbledore so long?" James asked Remus thoughtfully.

Remus flushed and looked down, mumbling something the other two didn't quite hear.

"What?" Sirius and James asked, with matching puzzlement.

"I have to meet someone tomorrow," Remus said with a sigh.

"Why would you have to meet someone? Because of what happened?" Sirius asked, frowning.

"They're not sending you to a counselor, or something are they?" James asked, looking a little shocked.

"No." Remus shook his head quickly, and gave a short laugh.

"So who do you have to meet?" Sirius asked, curiously.

Remus sighed again, pulling his legs up on the sofa and encircling them with his arms. He just couldn't believe what Dumbledore had suggested, and how completely wrong he had been to believe that it was what Remus wanted. He didn't want to tell his friends who he was meeting, but the situation had been on his mind for the past couple of hours, so Remus started talking about it before he could think of the consequences. Not that they'd matter if this went ahead....

"Her name is Rachel Nokomis. I have to meet her tomorrow morning. She's a student from The Hutchinson School for Magically Gifted Children. It's in New York, apparently," Remus answered gloomily.

"Why would you need to meet her?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

Remus looked at his friend's wondering gazes and cursed himself for having such caring friends.

"She's a, um, werewolf," Remus said hesitatingly.

James and Sirius shared a look that made Remus slightly apprehensive that they knew more than they were letting on.

"I thought no other school would allow werewolves in?" James asked.

"It seems that that is not the case when the Headmaster of the school owes your werewolf family a favour." Remus smiled cynically.

"Well, that's not very fai-"

"You still haven't said why you need to see her," Sirius interrupted James.

"Oh, well, erm," Remus began haltingly, worriedly trying to think up an excuse. "Dumbledore thought it would be good for both of us."

There, true enough.

"Has this got anything to do with-"

"I'm a little tired. I'm going to go to bed okay?" Remus asked, already retreating to the dorms.

"Good night Remus," James called as he walked up the stairs.

Remus repeated the pleasantry and quickly retreated to his bed.

*

Had Remus stayed, he might have been surprised at the completely wounded voice that sounded out in the empty common room.

"He's hiding something from us."

"Mmm, and if you keep acting suspicious he'll know and so we'll never find out what it is," remarked James.

"So you believe me now then?" Sirius asked, his mood a little lighter at this.

James nodded thoughtfully.

"If anyone could see something wrong with Remus, it'd be you Padfoot."

Sirius gave James a faint grin, and the messy-haired boy silently sniggered when he noticed Sirius' cheeks redden.

"Besides," James continued, "Dumbledore's involved now, and you know he has to poke his nose into everything of importance."

Sirius gave a short bark of laughter, before frowning at a thought.

"But why this girl? It must have to do with something about werewolves. But what?"

James shook his head, unable to answer. Instead he asked what had happened that morning with Rosier.

As soon as James mentioned it, Sirius became unusually silent, an almost wondering look in his eyes.

"It was unbelievable Prongs. It was as though Remus was someone else - you know how he's so reserved, sometimes so bloody much that you just wanna shake him?" James nodded, and they shared a brief smile. "Well, this time he wasn't - he didn't hold back.

"Rosier and the other Slytherins have done some pretty horrible things to Remus and he's never - not once - reacted, and this time Rosier didn't even touch him. He was another person, and I think I can guess who," Sirius finished, giving James a meaningful look.

James's eyebrows rose in surprise. "The wolf? I suppose it would make sense, and perhaps that's why this werewolf girl's coming - to help him?"

"We should be the ones to help him, James," Sirius said fiercely. "Not some bloody stranger. We've stood by him for years, supported him, looked out for him. That's what we're here for. He has to know how much shutting us out is-"

Sirius stopped abruptly, raking his hand through his hair with agitation.

James smiled sadly, it did seem that Remus really didn't see how much he was hurting his friends - Sirius in particular.

*

Remus glanced at his watch for what must have been the thousandth time that morning. He sighed when he saw he still had ten minutes before he had to go and meet this girl. He had no idea what he was going to do. He didn't want to disappoint Dumbledore, but he knew it would be impossible to form a bond with a person of the sex he wasn't attracted to.

Remus had an uncomfortable suspicion that when he met Miss Nokomis he'd be at a loss for words, as he couldn't think of something to say to stop her believing that he wanted to bond, except the truth that is. Remus sighed and looked at his watch - again.

Five minutes.

"Merlin, Remus. Calm down."

Remus looked up from his bed to see Sirius flop next to him, watching him with amusement. The boys were all still in their dorms, enjoying the Saturday morning. Well, Sirius was. Remus was too nervous to enjoy anything at the moment and James and Peter were still asleep.

"You look so nervous, I could almost mistake this meeting for a date." Sirius laughed.

Remus flushed and laughed a little guiltily. Sirius must have noticed something, for he frowned.

"It's not... is it Moony?" Sirius asked, his hand suddenly under Remus' chin, lifting his head up to meet fierce grey eyes.

"I -I'm going to be late," Remus stammered, quickly getting up and near running out the room.

He didn't stop until he got to Dumbledore's office, where he leaned back against the door and closed his eyes wearily.

Wonderful.

Now Sirius has found out about this little 'date'. Remus bit his lip in agitation at his friend's curiosity. Not that it mattered. Sirius wouldn't care if he was going out with some-

The door was pulled open quite suddenly and Remus staggered backwards a little and collided with someone who let out a quiet laugh. Remus' face burned as he turned around, and muttered an apology to the person he'd fallen into.

"It's fine." The girl smiled slightly.

Remus looked at her and immediately recognised her as a fellow werewolf. Her scent confirmed what his instincts seemed to already know, as it always did when he met another of his kind.

"Remus, I'd like you to meet Rachel Nokomis. Rachel, this is Remus Lupin," Dumbledore said, beaming from behind the slight girl.

Ah.

She wasn't what he'd expected - some small perfect-looking blonde with lots of lip-gloss and a vapid expression. Instead he found himself being subjected to a calculating gaze of a slender girl, who was perhaps a little older than himself. Her black hair looked ruffled and her cheeks were flushed as though she'd been running. Remus was surprised when she held out her hand with warm exuberance, and as Remus shook it, she smiled. It seemed her initial wariness had already disappeared.

"I take it you'll be my guide for today then, Remus?" Rachel asked.

"Yes." Remus couldn't help but return her pleasant behaviour. "Just tell me where you'd like to go."

"Somewhere we can talk - perhaps outside?" she suggested, biting her lip, bringing Remus' attention to the small white scar that ran down from her bottom lip to just under her chin.

"Sure." Remus smiled.

He glanced at her again, as she turned to leave Dumbledore's office and noted that she was dressed in Muggle clothes strangely enough - a long sleeved blue dress that subtly outlined the girl's figure.

Remus sighed at his reaction to what he'd just seen.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

If the two young werewolves had looked back, they would have seen Dumbledore watching them go, smiling with his eyes twinkling....

*

"Get up, Prongs! Get up!" Sirius yelled, shaking his friend slightly.

"Arghh..." James mumbled as his right eye struggled to open. "Whayouwa?"

"I want you to get up. It's an emergency," Sirius stated, pulling at James' arm.

"Okay, okay... Merlin," James moaned blearily, yawning as he got up. "So what's the emergency?" he asked as he started dressing.

"Remus."

James tried not to roll his eyes, but failed magnificently due to his morning mood.

"Why? What's happened to induce your paranoia this time?"

"I thought you said you believed me?"

"I do. However, Remus is a big boy, and, as he's recently showed us, he can take care of himself if any-"

"He shouldn't have to! That's why I'm here!" Sirius burst out angrily before realising what he'd just said, and looked at the floor, ignoring James' amused face. "I mean, just.... It's not good James, it's really bad."

James was actually starting to worry now and felt quite guilty for having dismissed Sirius' earlier claims.

"Why? What is it?"

"I think Remus is on a date," Sirius said gravely.

Understanding flicked on in James' brain, and he hit Sirius on the head.

"You woke me up for that?" he asked irritably.

James then proceeded to flop back on his bed, and closed his eyes.

"Prongs you don't get it. I asked him if it was a date with that werewolf girl and he didn't answer!" When Sirius didn't get a comment back he continued, "And you know what poor Rem's like, she'll eat him alive! And why are they on a 'date' anyway? I mean, even if they're not, don't you think we ought to find out what it's about? I mean Dumbledore doesn't usually Floo people out from America just for the pleasure of match-making does he?" Sirius pointed out.

James opened his eyes to look at Sirius incredulously.

"You want us to stalk them?" he asked.

"Not stalk them Prongs - just follow. We could use your Invisibility Cloak - it would be okay, they'd never see us," Sirius pleaded.

"They are werewolves Sirius - they don't need to see us," James said pointedly.

Sirius sighed irritably. "Then we'll keep our distance and cast a Listening Charm or something. Please James? Pleeeeaaase?"

James softened slightly when he saw the desperation in his friend's eyes and remembered how it had been for him with Lily, and what lengths he'd been willing to go to get her.

"All right, from a distance," James agreed and then sighed. "But really Sirius, you should tell him you like him for Merlin's sake - if only to save my sanity."

Sirius grinned and dragged James up happily, running out of the room.

James noted amusedly that Sirius hadn't disputed what he'd said about his affection for Remus.

*

Remus sat down next to Rachel near the lake, and as the girl surveyed the grounds of Hogwarts, he wondered what on earth he was going to do. It would have been easier had she not been so nice but she was - so much so that she could have been sorted into Huffelpuff fairly easily (if she'd had a more naive nature that is). There was something about her that made her seem older, a knowing air that made Remus vaguely uncomfortable, as it only served to remind him how the wolf could change a person, as it had himself.

"It's really beautiful here. Hutchinson doesn't have many open grounds. There are gardens but nothing as free as this. You probably are very grateful," the girl said as she gazed around appreciatively.

Remus smiled faintly, reveling in the feeling of having another like himself near, someone who could understand the nature of the wolf.

"Yes, I'm indebted to Dumbledore," Remus said.

Rachel smiled and looked at Remus, who was suddenly apprehensive.

"Look, Remus, I need to say that-"

Remus interrupted her, his cheeks as rosy as hers had been earlier.

"I'm sorry Rachel, but before you say anything you need to know that I can't do this. I'm already in love." Remus' eyes widened at his own bitter admittance, wondering how he kept finding these kinds of things out only when he told other people. He carried on, stammering slightly as he avoided the girl's eyes. "And I'm not - I've found that... well, I don't like girls so much as boys so I wouldn't be able to...."

Rachel gave a slow smile.

"I know how you feel completely," she said softly, amusement dancing in her eyes. "My father hasn't caught on yet. You see, there's this girl...."

Remus looked up, startled, and then both of them started to laugh. Their giggling grew loud as both found genuine humour in their ridiculous situation.

"I guess that solves this, doesn't it?" Remus grinned, feeling quite relieved.

"Yes, I am very glad of that. Although I do wonder why it was that your Headmaster wrote to my father suggesting this, didn't he know about you?"

A thought struck Remus. "Perhaps he did."

Remus had felt, well, uncomfortable to say the least when he'd found out about his personal little mess. The fact that he liked the same gender worried him constantly, and made him believe that there was something wrong with him, that a werewolf shouldn't like the same gender due to the difficulty in finding a mate. But now that Rachel had told him she had the same problem, it seemed to take off most of the worry and Remus found that he no longer cared as much as before. Remus had a sneaking suspicion that the Headmaster really did know what he was doing in bringing Rachel to Hogwarts for the day. Another thing that had reassured Remus that his affection for Sirius was not a problem was his revelation of just how strong his feelings for Sirius actually were.

Love - such a thing should never be taken lightly. This was why he'd been reacting so strongly to Sirius....

"Well, at least we know that this is possible for werewolves right? That we're not freaks of freaks of nature?" Rachel echoed his thoughts perfectly.

"Thank you for that, Rachel." Remus smiled.

"Thank you, Remus," she said just as sincerely, before giving a little laugh. "So tell me, who's the lucky boy? I was so happy when we met earlier, though I could hardly believe you have the same problem that I do."

Remus flushed, unable to believe his 'date' had been the first he'd told about Sirius. Then he frowned at something Rachel had said.

"You knew before?"

"I can smell his scent on you, you let him touch you," she said simply. "That was the only reason why I greeted you so happily earlier. Believe me, I was not pleased to come here."

"Why can't I smell-"

Rachel shook her head sadly, a weary expression flickering over her face.

"She is beyond me," Rachel said, looking down at her lap. "I have no chance. She despises werewolves, and because my family is such a well-known werewolf family, it is impossible for her not to know about me. She will not show anything towards me but hatred."

Remus' heart went out to the sad, young girl beside him and he reproached himself for having been so miserable; at least Sirius didn't hate him. At least he could stay in his mate's company. Rachel didn't even have that.

He gently took her hand, and she looked up at him in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Remus murmured, and offered her the only thing he could. "I understand."

Rachel nodded, biting her lip again before suddenly burying her head in Remus' chest, muffling her sobs in the other werewolf's empathic embrace. Remus held Rachel and had to control his own grief, feeling the wolf react to one of its kin's pain and wish to keen its own story of loneliness. A couple of tears trickled down into Rachel's dark hair as Remus stroked it comfortingly, wishing he could take her pain away - pain so much like his own.

*

"Sirius! I said a distance, not bloody two feet away!" James hissed, restraining Sirius as he tried to pull further forward.

"But I want to know what they're saying," Sirius said between gritted teeth as he tugged at James in return.

"Padfoot!" James yanked Sirius back and they fell with thankfully less noise than expected. "You said something about a Listening Charm? Well...?"

"You mean you didn't bring your wand?" Sirius exclaimed.

"And just when was I supposed to do that? Before or after you dragged me out of bed to come spy on your-"

"Alright, alright," Sirius huffed. "I guess we're just going to have to listen normally."

"I take it you haven't got your wand either then. Great going. Well, let's just hope those puppy ears of yours help out, shall we?" James sniggered.

Sirius glared at James under the Invisibility Cloak, but said nothing and both boys' eyes returned to the two werewolves who sat near the lake, quite a distance in front of them.

They strained to listen but they were too far away, so they only picked up a little of the conversation.

"I am very glad... Headmaster wrote to my father suggesting this...."

".... he is."

"... we know that this is ...... right..."

"Right? What's right? She'd better not be trying to come on to-"

"Shhh!" James hushed his furious friend with an irritated nudge in the side.

"... Rachel,"

"Thank you, Remus,"

"What did he say?" Sirius frowned. "Just look at the little vixen, with her fake laughing and-"

"Sirius, would you be quiet? I'm trying to listen - unlike you," James hissed as he frowned slightly. Something wasn't right. He was sure he just caught another piece of the conversation that certainly hadn't matched with the other, and he wondered what this so called 'date' was truly about.

".... greeted you so happily earlier......... was ... happy to come here."

"Why can't I...."

"....... Me........ chance. ....... werewolves ......... family ..... well-known...."

".....understand."

The two spies watched with growing surprise as the dark haired girl suddenly buried her head in Remus' chest, his arms encircling her with a tenderness that the two friends were well-acquainted with from all the times Remus had ever comforted them.

"I told you, James," Sirius growled after a moment of seething silence. "That bitch really is after him."

James squinted to try and see the pair better.

"Sirius, I think they're both crying," James whispered back.

Sirius relaxed slightly.

"Really?" he asked hopefully, inching forward as he tried to get a better look.

James dragged him back again, but nodded in answer to his question.

"Yes, so now we've seen they're not making out or anything, but are actually having some kind of werewolf heart to heart, can we go?"

"I don't want her to have a heart to anything," Sirius snapped back, sulkily.

James sighed irritably. He knew something was going on here and he didn't think they had any right to intrude, especially Sirius with his bloody-minded possessiveness.

Hazel eyes widened as James suddenly saw that the girl and Remus were headed their way.

"Sirius," James whispered harshly. Sirius looked up and, seeing the danger of the near collision, jumped back with James just before the two werewolves walked into them.

Sirius grinned. "That was close. Come on Prongs."

"What? Where are we going?" James asked as Sirius ran, dragging the other boy with him.

"To the common room. Remus just invited her up there. We need to get there before he does, otherwise he'll find out we've been on a walkabout and figure out where to and we're screwed."

"How do you always manage to drag me into these situations?" James groaned as they raced into Hogwarts.

"I guess it's just my natural charm." Sirius grinned.

*