Thirteen: Capricious
Teddy Lupin crept along a narrow corridor, wand aloft with Ashtad Djalili close on his heels. The two men were barely breathing, moving as silently as they possibly could so that they would not be discovered. Teddy had a strange feeling, a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, as though someone was watching him. The corridor was so narrow that he was sure that he would have brushed against anyone who was there but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was there, watching them. The aurors were making a tactical retreat; they were out numbered at least four to one. When they finally reached the end of the corridor they crept through the door and out of the boundary of the anti-apparition spells. The pair turned on their heels and vanished.
A cold, sardonic chuckle could be heard from the doorway. A tall, dark haired man lifted a disillusionment charm and strode along the hallway, still chuckling as he went.
*****
Amelia Lupin was annoyed. With everything and everyone. Carrying twins was taking its tole on her, wearing down her ordinarily infinite patience and good nature.
Remus was playing with his exploding snap cards, building a tower and cackling madly when it exploded and fell down. He watched as the flaming cards flutter down onto the kitchen table, scorching the surface before they reformed into slightly charred playing cards.
“Remus Alexander LUPIN!!”
Remus scooted out of the kitchen, knowing that he was in trouble for bothering his mother. He ran through the garden and out down the lane, into the woods. He knew that he shouldn’t be there. He scurried into the ancient den, long ago abandoned by other boys; long gone boys.
He stayed there for hours, securing and tidying the den, making it the best den that a boy could wish for. He had found it months before and had secretly been rebuilding it ever since. He knew that his daddy would be angry with him for having a den in the woods but he didn’t understand why. Every little boy had a den, Hugo had told him that.
Why couldn’t he have a den in the woods?
No-one would tell him and he wanted to know.
As the sunlight faded, he sat and curled around his knees. He did not want to go home; his daddy would be so cross with him. There were all sort of funny noises in the woods, scary noises that must come from monsters.
“Reeeeeeeemuss!”
He lifted his head, recognising the voice. It wasn’t his daddy or his mummy: it was his Hermia. She had been ‘his’ Hermia from the moment that he had laid eyes on her; he was completely entranced by the damaged, haughty teenager. In turn, she had softened towards him, allowing the five year old to lay with his head in her lap as she read to him; to hug and kiss her when she would not tolerate anyone else touching her at all. He was devoted to her, he was totally besotted by her.
He shuffled out of the den and saw her; her face all twisted up with worry.
“Have you been in here all afternoon?” She was still frowning at him.
He nodded dumbly, a mixture of capitulation and shame evident in his eyes. He sniffed.
“Your Mummy is very worried about you.”
“Is she alright?” He asked in a quiet voice.
Hermia was surprised by this question, Remus was not usually that considerate of anyone else. She held out her arms to him and he ran toward her, almost knocking her off her feet with the force of his hug. She lifted him up and he rested his head on her shoulder, sniffling. She supported his weight, whispering “Shall we go home?” He nodded, still sniffling into her shoulder.
As she walked slowly through the woods, she whispered to him.
“Everybody has secret places Remus, places where they go to even if it’s only in their imagination.”
Slowly and steadily she made her way through the darkening woods towards the cottage. She wished that could send a message to Teddy that she had found Remus but she hadn’t mastered the talking patronus. As she reached the garden gate, the kitchen door was flung open and Genevieve appeared, shouting “Mummy! Daddy! She found him!”
She and Miranda stood in the doorway, beaming at Hermia, who stepped over the threshold and settled in a chair with Remus still clinging to her tightly. Amelia appeared in the doorway, letting out an audible sigh of relief. She sat in the chair next to Hermia, stroking Remus’ hair as he started to cry properly.
“Don’t do that to me again young man!”
“I’m sorry mummy!”
*****
Hermia stepped into one of the lifts in the ministry. She had been sent with a message personally. Hermione didn’t seem to trust that one of the airplane memos would not be intercepted before it reached the Minister for Magic. Hermia had volunteered to take the message on her way out to lunch. Deciding to go out for lunch, perhaps into muggle London since she was dressed in muggle clothing, she pushed the button for the atrium and waited for the lift to respond. It stopped at the second floor and Ashtad stepped in, reading a letter of some kind. He didn’t notice her at first. They had not seen each other since the rather uncomfortable scene in the Magical Law Enforcement staffroom almost a month before. She knew that he had been out in the field for three of those weeks. Looking at him now, she realised that she had missed him, she had really missed him.
“Hello Ashtad.” She said politely. Ashtad jumped at the sound of her voice.
“I-I-I didn’t see you.”
“Clearly. You probably would have changed direction like you did in Diagon Alley last week.” Her tone was still polite but it was clear that she was a little insulted.
He bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck. “I shouldn’t have done that, it was childish. I’m sorry.”
The lift doors opened and they stepped into the atrium.
“That’s quite alright. I’d been hoping that I would get the chance to talk to you. Would you like to go out on friday? I think we have a lot to discuss.”
Ashtad stopped, grabbing her hand so that she would stop too. Her skin was almost scorched by the contact with his. Their eyes locked and in a low voice he said “Don’t toy with me Hermia, I cou-”
Before he was able to say anything else, a female voice rang out through the atrium:
“ASHTAD! ASHTAD!”
He released Hermia instantly and scanned the crowd. Running towards them in a red dress, holding on her black hat, was a pretty young woman who was around Hermia’s age.
“Lal? My Lalita?” He grinned widely and pulled her into a hug. Hermia was struck by the change in him. It was almost like she was looking at someone else. With her he had been so serious and uncomfortable and with this woman he was... joyful. She watched as he kissed the young woman on the cheek and spoke rapidly in a language she did not know.
When she could no longer bare the happiness brought about by this stranger, she slipped away into the crowd.
“Hermia, I’d like you to meet...” Ashtad looked around, puzzled. “Where did she go?”
Lalita shook her head. “I’ve no idea. Who is she?”
Thanks to Maxie and Erin for helping me find a model and a name for Lalita. I knew who she was, but finding a model and a name was a challenge.
Here she is.
I realised that Jack didn't have a photo in the Tempestuous Gallery so he gave me
this one. Any resemblance to a certain olympic gold medal winning skater is purely co-incidental I'm told
