Searching for a Savior

Beautiful Country

"Oh, I'm sorry, Julianne. I was just going to knock to find out how long you would be. Are you hungry?"

It took everything I possessed not to look down at the rest of his body, but I managed it. I maintained eye contact.

Speaking, however, was another matter completely.

"Um. I...I-"

Say something, you idiot!

"Okay."

Remus grinned.

"Okay you're hungry?"

I nodded. Sounded good to me.

Remus chuckled as he picked up the phone to order some breakfast. With his back to me, it gave me a chance to get control of myself.

"It'll be about ten minutes. I'm going to shower and all that, so could you answer the door when it's here?"

He turned those gorgeous eyes on me and I found myself turned to mush brain once again.

"Yep."

He gave me an appraising look and swept past me into the bathroom. I flopped down on the bed, berating myself for that wonderful display of my conversational skills.

Remus was out of the bathroom before the food arrived, so he answered the door. I sat up quickly. It smelled incredible.

As we ate, Remus said that he planned to drive north for a while today.

"Where, exactly, are you going?" I asked, struggling to keep as much dignity as I could when I had a mouthful of egg and toast.

He grinned. "Harry's friend Ron would like you." He frowned. "I really don't know where I'm going. I go on instinct. When my instincts tell me to stop, I stop. Yesterday they told me to get a car and go east. So I did."

"So you have no actual destination. And no time limit."

He shook his head.

"Sounds good to me."

We left not long after. I sat up front with Remus and we chatted like we were old friends. He was very easy to talk to. He had a wide range of interests. There were no lulls in the conversation for hours.

We pulled into a roadside diner around four in the afternoon for dinner. I excused myself to the washroom while Remus chose a table.

I checked in the mirror as soon as I walked in. My eye was black and swollen, but at least the swelling in my lip and the rest of my face had gone down. I still looked horrible, but I didn't ache anymore.

As soon as I joined Remus, he excused himself to use the washroom. The waitress came by for my drink order. She stared at my bruises for a moment before clearing her throat uncomfortably.

"Okay. Diet Coke for you and your husband ordered tea."

My eyes widened. "Oh, no, he's not my husband," I corrected her quickly. She raised an eyebrow at me. I smiled at her. "He's my white knight, not my husband."

She shrugged and walked away, returning a moment later with my drink. I smiled down at the menu while I waited for Remus to rejoin me.

"What's funny?"

I grinned up at him. "The waitress thinks you're my husband."

He smiled. "You told her that I'm not half that lucky, right?"

I choked on my diet Coke.

"Not hardly!" I gasped. "More like I'm not that lucky. I told her that you're my white knight."

He chuckled. "Remus Lupin, white knight. If only Severus Snape could hear that!"

I giggled. He'd explained Severus Snape to me last night. He was a professor at the school where Remus taught. He and Remus had known, and disliked, each other since they were students at the same school.

"So your last name is Lupin?" I asked. He nodded and took a sip of his tea.

"Wow, that's not bad at all. I'm surprised, really."

"About what?"

"The tea being drinkable." He laughed. "I suppose I assumed that the tea here would be as bad as the tea down in the United States. It's much too weak."

I chuckled.

"You've travelled to North America before then?"

He grinned at me. "Sure have, but only a couple times. This is my first time in Western Canada. I've been to Ottawa, but that's it. It's lovely here."

"I like it," I answered truthfully. "But I'm biased, I suppose."
"Probably the same way I am about England."

The waitress returned to take our order. I noticed that her attitude toward Remus was much different than it was toward me. Now that she knew I wasn't his wife, she made no attempt to hide the fact she found him attractive.

As she walked away, I snorted into my drink. Remus turned twinkling eyes on me.

"Women here are a bit more aggressive than they are back home."

"Not all," I answered, laughing slightly. I couldn't really figure out the annoyed feeling I had.

"Well, no. Not all. You're not like that, I've noticed."

I laughed again. "How would you know? I might be like that when my eye isn't swollen shut and my face sticking out from here to Montreal."

He frowned suddenly. I wished automatically that I could retract my last sentence.

"I was kidding," I said quickly.

"I know," he answered quietly. He took my hand in his. "You shouldn't have to, is all."

"Well, that's me. I joke about things."

I quickly slipped my hand out of his. The waitress noticed our joined hands and shot me a filthy look.

We ate quickly and were back on the road within an hour. Again, we made small talk. Remus was telling me stories of some of his students and had me in fits of giggles.

"He's a good kid though," he was saying. "A little scatterbrained. He's grown up with his grandmother. I'm not sure what happened to his parents. His grandmother scares me, I couldn't imagine living with her."
I laughed again, picturing Remus quivering in fear in front of my Nannie. She'd never been taller than five feet two inches and Remus had to be at least six feet. It was an amusing image.

"So where are your instincts telling you to go?" I asked in a teasing matter.

He glanced at me, and then quickly turned back to the road.

"Nowhere, actually. They've basically been dormant since we left the motel."

I grinned at him. "Maybe I'm what you're searching for."

He chuckled. "No offence, but I sure hope not."

*

I went into the hotel lobby with Remus this time. The man behind the counter stared at me before turning his attention back to Remus.

I sighed irritably. I was tired of people gaping at me like I was an alien. Just another reason to be angry with Noah.

"I'm afraid we only have single occupancy rooms left," the desk clerk was explaining patiently. "One bed."

Remus glanced at me. I stared up at him.

"We can go elsewhere," he said softly.

I bit my sore lip. "No, it's alright. I can sleep on the floor or something. Do you have a sofa in the room? Or can we get a cot?"

The man chuckled. "No, only chairs. And I'm afraid we haven't got any cots available either."

"There's no way in hell you're sleeping on the floor," Remus declared, glaring down at me. "We can go elsewhere."

I shook my head. "There's nothing else for an hour. You're exhausted, Remus. I can't drive because I've only got one eye and no ID on me anyway." I swallowed. "We can share the bed."

Remus paid the man who was smiling sheepishly. He apologized over and over to Remus, who told him not to worry about it.

"I'll sleep on the floor," I offered again. "Or in one of the chairs."

Remus growled. "No. If anyone's sleeping on the floor, it will be me."

We got to the room. Remus couldn't get the card key to work, so I took it from him and unlocked the door.

I gaped as we entered. The bed wasn't very big at all.

"Shit." I turned. Remus flushed slightly. "My apologies. I just realised that I forgot my razor at the last place we stayed at."
"The man at the desk said that he had extra toiletries and things...maybe he'll have something?"

Remus nodded. "Do you want me to get you anything?"
"Toothpaste and a toothbrush," I answered immediately. "Maybe some deodorant if they have some. I don't care what it is, but I smell bad."

Remus laughed. "I think you smell wonderful."
I blushed. He did as well.

"I'm going to have a shower if you don't mind," I said quickly. He pretended to leer at me. I laughed and gave him a little shove.

"I'll take my time then. Give you your privacy."

I nodded as he left.

I showered quickly. I rinsed my under things in the sink and found myself wondering what on earth I could do with them. I couldn't just hang them somewhere for Remus to find.

I decided to hang them in the closet with the sweater I'd been wearing.

I grabbed a towel that was just barely big enough to cover me. I opened the door and peeked out.

"Remus?" I called softly. No answer. I slipped out the door and ran toward the closet. I had just hanged the hanger back up when the door opened.

I didn't have the sense to jump into the closet. I just stood there, dripping.

At least I'd had the sense to cover myself with the towel before leaving the bathroom. Not that it covered much.

Remus didn't see me at first. He glanced around the room before doing a double take. He turned his eyes back on me and stared.

"I'm sorry!" he stammered. But he didn't exit.

"It's my fault!" I squeaked embarrassedly. "I wanted to hang up your sweater and things and..." I glanced into the closet. A robe hung there. "And grab this robe! You weren't back yet, so I thought I'd be quick."

He nodded, still gaping at me. I swallowed nervously, trying to get the robe off of the hanger.

"Damn thing won't come off," I said quickly. Remus realised suddenly that he was staring and closed his mouth with a snap. He came toward me slowly. I squeaked again and backed away.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said irritably. "I'm just getting the robe for you."

He held it out for me. I stared at the floor, too embarrassed to look at him.

"Thank you."

I was still stuck, however. Remus was blocking my way to the bathroom, probably without realising it. I couldn't put the robe on without letting go of the towel. However, my hands were the only thing holding the towel together. I couldn't manage the robe and hold the towel together at the same time.

Damn it.

I was going to have to look at him after all.

I looked up at Remus, meaning to ask him to move aside. He was looking down at me. My eyes locked with his. His eyes darkened. I drew in a shaky breath.

"Remus, I - "

He shook his head, placing a finger on my lips. Very slowly, he leaned down.

His lips brushed lightly against mine. I gasped as a jolt of electricity shot down my spine. I clung to my towel, trying to keep my wits about me.

Remus kissed me gently, aware of my cuts and bruises. His lips were soft on mine. My lips parted slightly, seemingly of their own accord. Remus took advantage of the invitation.

My whole body responded to his kiss. It made me ache inside; made my body desperate to be closer to him.

I forgot about my towel as I slid my hands up his chest and up into his hair. Only when it started to fall did I get my senses back.

"No," I said, tearing my mouth from his and backing away. I held the robe up in front of me so he couldn't see my naked body. "I can't, Remus. It's too soon."

His hair was standing on end from having my fingers dragged through it. He took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said raggedly. "I didn't mean..."

"No, I know. It's alright."

He nodded again.

"Did I hurt you?"

I stared at him, not understanding. I'd never had a reaction like that when Noah had kissed me. Hurt me? No, he hadn't hurt me. He'd nearly sent me soaring.

Then I realised what he meant. My lip was still healing.

I ran my tongue over it lightly, checking for blood. Remus' eyes darkened again. I backed away, holding my hand up without really meaning to.

"No. You didn't hurt me."

He continued to study me. Then he nodded and turned away, allowing me to scurry back into the washroom.

Once inside, I collapsed against the wall.

"What the hell were you thinking, Jules?" I whispered aloud to myself.

Oh damn. I still had to share the bed with him.

I dressed quickly, cursing myself as an idiot the whole while. I drew a deep, steadying breath before moving back out into the main room.

Remus was still there, but he had taken the top blanket off the bed. He was just setting it on the floor when he heard the door open.

"What are you doing?" I asked before I could muzzle myself.

He smiled crookedly. "Well, I thought it might be...safer...to sleep on the floor."
I stared at him, a smile playing at my lips.

"Don't trust yourself around me?"

He coughed, maybe to hide a laugh.

"Not entirely."

*

For the first time since I'd met Remus, I felt awkward around him. I slipped into the bathroom very early to dress. By the time Remus was awake, I was dressed and had made a pot of coffee. I'd also brushed my teeth for the first time in two days, which had been heavenly.

"Morning," Remus said softly as he passed me.

"Morning," I replied cheerfully. There was no way that I was going to let him notice how awkward I felt!

While I waited for him, I flipped the television on. Nothing interested me, so I amused myself by flipping channels. I paused on a music station.

"Oh, country music," Remus said with a smirk as he came out of the washroom. "That stuff is...I don't know what it is."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Music is music, Mr Lupin," I said acidly.

He continued to smirk, so I hit him with my pillow. He laughed and grabbed it from me. He hit me back, but I noticed that he was careful not to hit me anywhere where I was bruised.

A short, furious pillow fight ensued. I grabbed the pillow from him and threw it down on the bed and then I sat on it. I laughed up at him.

"Now what are you going to do?" I taunted, a victorious grin on my face.

He responded by leaping on the bed. He grinned down at me and then picked me clear up off the mattress.

"That's not fair!" I shrieked, giggling like a crazy woman. "Using strength against me." I pushed his chest lightly and stuck out my bottom lip.

He laughed. "You asked what I was going to do. I answered." I noticed him glance hungrily at my mouth. I quickly pulled my bottom lip back in. "My question now is, what are you going to do?"

I glared at him. "You sort of have me at a disadvantage."

He laughed again. He was killing me with that wonderful laugh.

"I could do this though," I said, pulling his head forward suddenly so that his lips were against mine. He gasped and nearly dropped me, but I slipped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

I couldn't imagine why just kissing Remus had such an effect on me. All I could think about when Noah kissed me was how much he was slobbering all over me.

Remus didn't have a slobbering problem. He was a wonderful kisser.

I didn't notice him step off the bed. When he started to lower me to the mattress, I opened my eyes, looking up at him. He put me down and stepped back. He was breathing heavily, but looked to be in complete control of himself. I wished I could say the same about myself!

He cleared his throat.

"As much as I would love to continue that," he said shakily, his cheeks flushed, "we have to get on the road again. Check out is in less than an hour and we haven't eaten."

"I'm not hungry for food," I pouted.

A slow smile spread across Remus' face, accompanied by a deep scarlet shade across his cheekbones. I found that I enjoyed making him blush like that.

"Nevertheless," he said, his voice hoarse. "You have to eat."

I nodded and stood. He took my hand in his, picked up his bags in his other hand, and we walked down for breakfast.

*

I stood with Remus as he checked us out of the hotel. The swelling in my eye had started to go down somewhat, but it was still as black as ever. I was still getting stared at like I was an alien.

"Oh, Mr Lupin," the lady at the desk said as she swiped his credit card. "That reminds me. There was a young lady here, asking about you earlier. You had that you weren't to be disturbed here, so I didn't call up. She said she would see you later."

Remus stared at her, his eyes confused. He realised he was staring and thanked her. He took hold of my arm and steered me away from the desk.

"A young lady? Who on earth could that be? Nobody knows we're here."

I chuckled.

"Nobody dangerous, I'm sure, Remus."

His serious grey eyes locked on to mine. I felt my smile falter a little.

"It could be someone dangerous?" I felt fear start to well up inside me once more.

"I told you that I'm here for the Minister. Of course it could be someone dangerous."

I swallowed nervously, swiping my hand over my face.

"Why don't you go ask her what the woman looked like?"

"There's no need to do that, Remus," a voice said from behind us. It sounded highly amused. "I assure you, I'm not going to harm you."

I could read relief in Remus' eyes. Then they turned hard and stormy.

"Hermione Granger, what on earth are you doing here?" he demanded, turning to the woman who had spoken.

I turned too and found a very pretty woman standing behind us. No, not woman. A girl. She couldn't be more than seventeen. She stared at me, a smile on her face.

"Remus didn't introduce us," she said to me, ignoring Remus completely. "I'm Hermione Granger, as Remus has already said. I'm a friend of Harry's and one of Remus' students."

I stared at her a moment before realizing I was being rude. I blinked and took the hand she offered.

"Julianne Wallace," I said to her. "Remus rescued me two nights ago."

Concern flickered in this young woman's eyes. She glanced at my black eye.

"Rescued?"

"From her boyfriend," Remus answered, turning the attention back to himself. "Now that that's clear, what are you doing here, Hermione?"

"I brought her," a second voice said. All three of us turned quickly. Both Remus and Hermione had their hands in their pockets for some reason.

Before us stood a handsome young man. He was about the same age as Hermione, and not much taller. He had jet black hair that stuck in every direction, round glasses and gorgeous green eyes that shone out of their sockets like beacons. On his forehead was a very thin scar shaped like a bolt of lightning.

Remus stared at him, his mouth open.

"How?" he demanded.

The younger man glanced at me. He turned his eyes back to Remus, a question in his eyes. Remus shook his head slightly.

Now what was that about?

"Piggyback?" Remus said. The younger man inclined his head slightly. Remus' eyes became stormy once more. "Already? It's been two weeks, Harry!"

So this was Harry!

Harry smiled sheepishly.

"I had to tell you in person," he said, his voice subdued. "I needed Hermione's help, because she knew how to find you."

Hermione smiled up at Remus. He gave her a grudging smile back, but I could see pride in his eyes.

"Tell him, Harry!" Hermione said, her voice just as subdued.

"Tell me what?" Remus asked quickly. "Have we-?"

"No, nothing like that," Harry said, just as quickly. "It's Sirius."

Remus let go of my arm suddenly. His arms went slack at his sides.

"Don't tell me he's worsened."

Hermione suddenly gripped Remus' arm. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement and tears.

"No!" she said, the excitement evident in her voice.

"He's getting better," Harry said, his eyes practically glowing. "The healers figure he'll be out by Hallowe'en!"

I gasped and turned to Remus.

"That's your friend, right?"

"Yes," Remus answered me, his face pale and happy at the same time.

"Oh Remus, that's fantastic!" I cried, hugging him quickly.

"Yes it is," he said quietly. He slipped his fingers through mine as he beamed at Harry and Hermione. "Oh, I'm sorry. Harry, this is Julianne. Julianne, this is Harry."

Harry smiled at me and shook my hand.

"All this good news," Remus said, his eyes shining. "Would you two care for some breakfast?"

"We sure would!" Harry answered. "I'm absolutely starving."

"I can't believe you flew all the way over here," I said absently. Harry glanced at Remus.

"Well, it was good news," Harry said. "Plus, I wanted to see Remus. And ask him in person to come back in time for school to start."

I smiled at Remus as we sat at a booth in the hotel restaurant.

"You must be an excellent teacher," I told him.

He blushed and opened his mouth to reply.

"He is," Hermione said enthusiastically. "He's the best we've ever had."

"Well, it's easy to be a good teacher when I've got good students," Remus retorted. "Julianne, did I tell you that we have the Head Boy and Head Girl of my school sitting here with us?"

"Well, cool!" I said. Damn, I was going to have to show my ignorance. "What's that?"

"Ah, sorry. I assumed you'd have that here as well." He smiled kindly at me. "Harry and Hermione are the best students in the school for their year."

"Oh, that is incredible!" I said, turning to the younger two. Both looked exceptionally pleased with themselves. "Congratulations!"

They thanked me warmly. We sat and chatted a bit longer, waiting for our breakfast. I found my eyes drawn to the thin scar on Harry's forehead, but chose not to say anything about it. What if he was sensitive about it? But...there was something...familiar...

It was nice, sitting here, just listening to the three of them talk. If I closed my eyes, I could pretend I was on some adventure over in Great Britain.

"Don't go to sleep now," Hermione teased me. "Breakfast is finally coming."

I chuckled.

I really liked the two of them. It was obvious after a minute or two that the two of them weren't dating. They were incredible friends and had obviously known each other for a while. Both had easygoing demeanours, but I could tell that Harry had a quick temper. Hermione was probably the voice of reason in that duo.

"I'm surprised that Ron and Ginny didn't come with you," Remus was saying. Harry and Hermione glanced at each other. Hermione grinned mischievously.

"Mrs Weasley said under no uncertain terms were they coming with us to find you. She didn't want us to come either, but Arthur pointed out that we aren't her children. Ron told her that she couldn't stop him coming, as he's of age now, but she told him that he could go live with Percy if he did. So he decided to stay behind."

Harry turned to me, his green eyes sparkling. "Ron is our best friend," he explained, indicating Hermione and himself as he said it. "Mrs Weasley is his mum and Arthur is his dad. Percy's his brother and he's a git."

"Harry!" Hermione admonished.

"Well, he is."

"What's a git?"

Remus chuckled. "It means idiot, basically."

"When...hmm, how to explain." Harry shared a look with Remus that I didn't understand. Hermione put her hand on Harry's arm and leaned toward me.

"Percy didn't agree with his parents' approach to some things. They finally had a big row about it and Percy moved out. Percy is very ambitious, he's actually the first in their family to have real political aspirations, and he didn't like the way Arthur did things and he didn't like some of the things that Arthur believed in. So he left."

"Arthur used to work for our Minister." Remus took up the explanation. "When the Minister went missing last year, Arthur took over, and he's been in that position ever since."

"Your Prime Minister went missing?"

Remus glanced at Harry. Harry nodded.

"Yes," he said.

"Was he found?"

"Yes."

"Do I want to know?"

"No."

I knew nothing about politics, didn't watch the news or read the papers very often. I hadn't in years. It was much too depressing. I barely knew the name of the Prime Minister in Canada, much less England. I took their word for it.

Harry insisted on paying for breakfast, so Hermione, Remus and I went to wait in the lobby for him.

"How did you two get to this hotel?" he asked Hermione.

"Um," she said, glancing at me. "Taxi."

Remus' eyebrows shot up into his hair.

Have you ever felt like you've walked into the middle of a conversation, even though you've been there the whole time? That was how I felt around Remus, Harry and Hermione. None of them seemed to want to say too much in front of me. They'd glance at me before answering certain questions, as though they didn't want me to hear the answer. It made me wonder.

"You need a ride then?"

Hermione shrugged. "Harry would be the one to ask that."

"When do you go back?"

Again, she shrugged. "We can go now, if you like."

I stared up at Remus. "But that's an awful long flight, just for breakfast," I said to Hermione.

"Jules is right. You can ride with us for a bit. You have nothing else planned while you're here, do you?"

Hermione looked like she longed to say something, but again I got the feeling that she couldn't in front of me. So I excused myself to use the ladies room before we left, to give them a moment of privacy.