The Wolf and the Witch

The next morning, Saima awoke to someone humming in the bath across the hall. The walls were actually quite thin and sound carried quite easily through them. After a few minutes she heard the door open and footsteps pad down the hall. With a quick stretch of her arms and back, she was ready to get out of the comfortable bed. She rummaged through her trunk and found clean clothing and a comb. As she got to the door, she quickly peeked out and dashed across to the bath when she saw no one. Remus should be the only other one in the house right now with her, she remembered, and must have already gone downstairs. Molly had left around midnight the night before after repeatedly reassuring Saima that she would be fine there.

Saima looked at her face in the mirror hanging over the sink. Her cheeks were still hollow, but they were starting to fill back in. Clear blue-gray eyes met those of her reflection then glanced upwards to catch the image of her tangled hair. She washed quickly and changed into a comfortable light pullover and long loose skirt. After tugging a comb through her long reddish hair and pinning it loosely on top of her head, she felt more normal than she had in weeks. She tested herself and found that she rather looked forward to facing the day for the first time since her mother had been killed, a little over a week ago.

As she came down the steps and into the hallway, Remus heard her and came out of the kitchen. \"Good morning. Breakfast\'s ready if you\'d like some,\" he said. \"I\'m not sure what you like to eat, so I did a bit of everything.\"

\"Coffee would be wonderful,\" she replied wistfully. As she entered the kitchen behind him, she could see that a \"bit of everything\" covered exactly that. There were heaping platters of sausages, bacon, fried potatoes, and a large basket of rolls. Eggs of every style and shape were piled on plates on one counter, and beverages like juice, tea and (thank heaven) coffee were on one half of the table. Saima looked wide eyed at the buffet before her and whistled.

Remus chuckled ruefully and ran a hand through his hair. \"A little too much?\" he asked. \"Take what you\'d like and I\'ll clear the rest away,\" he said.

She went over to the stove and took some toast and then a poached egg from the counter. At the table she got a whole carafe of coffee and sat in the chair opposite from where Remus had his cup and plate. With a quick flick of his wrist, the excess food disappeared. Since he had already prepared a plate for himself, he too sat down to eat.

A few awkward moments of silence passed and they both cleared their throats at the same time. \"I hope I\'m not imposing on you too much. I can try to find somewhere else...\" she began, and Remus instantly shook his head in denial.

\"Not at all. You will be safe here, so stay as long as you need. Besides, it gets rather lonely out here and I\'d be glad for the company.\" With a smile tugging his lips he said, \"I\'m sure we can tolerate each other for a little while at least.\" Saima smiled at that and took a drink of her coffee.

They chatted easily through breakfast about every kind of light subject. Saima told Remus she had been Seeker for the Ravenclaw team while at Hogwarts. That led to a half hour of friendly Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor ribbing while they finished up their breakfast and tidied up the kitchen.

After breakfast, they walked down the hall together to the living area. Saima spent some time curiously examining the various items and books that filled the shelves. One shelf held bottles and vases of all shapes and sizes, some filled with colored liquids. Books, some with indecipherable titles, were everywhere, along with a broken wand and odds and ends of other things. Oddly enough, she saw a Muggle \"magic-8\" ball behind a figurine of a dragon. Her Muggle father had bought one for her years ago as a joke when he was still alive, she remembered with a grin.

When she finally turned her attention back to Remus, she found he had quietly built a fire, as it was a dark, rainy day outside. He had settled himself on the sofa closest to the fire and curled his stocking feet underneath him.

\"Make yourself at home,\" he said. \"There are more books in the upstairs office if you don\'t find any that you\'d like to read here,\" he added with a glance at the shelves.

\"So I did take your bedroom over. Where are you sleeping?\" she asked guiltily.

\"There\'s a sofa up there that does just as well for me,\" he replied. \"Keep the bed and don\'t worry about it,\" he said with a quirk of his mouth.

She nodded and took one of the oversized cushions that were piled in one corner of the room. Saima placed it on the floor far enough from the fireplace to be comfortable, and gracefully sank down on it. They both sat idly watching the fire licking lazily over the logs for an hour or two. A comfortable silence had fallen over them and they both seemed to be letting their minds drift.

Saima realized that her leg had fallen asleep and was unobtrusively trying to shake the sensation out. One of his slow smiled drifted across his lips as he watched her biting her lip from the pins and needles sensation. He stood up and extended his hands down to her

\"Come on, stand up. It will go away faster if you walk it off.\"

Saima took his hands and he easily pulled her up, muscles flexing under the thin fabric of his shirt. The painful feeling in her leg made her stumble just a bit as she got to her feet, so Remus placed his hand at her hip to steady her.

\"I\'m usually not this clumsy,\" she laughed, suddenly very aware of the warmth of his hand. Hissing to herself as she hobbled a circle around the sofa, she said, \"I think I\'ll go take a bath,\" and limped out the door and down the hall. A low chuckle from him followed her out of the room.

While in the bath, she couldn\'t stop thinking about him. If she weren\'t careful she could easily become attracted to him... Ruthlessly she pushed the image of her mother’s body into her mind as she got out of the bath and toweled off. She was here because someone had almost done the same to her. She was not here to get involved with someone she hardly knew.

After she dried her hair, she went downstairs and entered the living area again. She saw that Remus had brought in a tray with coffee and tea on it, and had his back turned to her as he fiddled with a cup of tea. Saima looked curiously at some well-thumbed books on a table and picked one up with a snarling wolf on the cover. She opened the book and it fell easily open to a chapter about werewolf legislation, according to the words at the top of the page. When he turned and saw which book she held, he let out a small sigh.

\"Please, come sit down. There are some things we should discuss,\" he said as he sank down onto the sofa. His head had bowed down and his shoulders tensed as he waited for her to take a seat. Saima heard the seriousness in his voice and replaced the book. She moved quickly around the other furniture and sat next to him.

He seemed hesitant to begin, so she took a mug from the tray sitting on the ottoman in front of them and fixed a cup of coffee for herself. Saima picked up his cup of tea and handed it to him then took a small sip from her own mug.

Remus took a swallow from his tea then set it back down. With a deep breath he said, \"There are some things you should know if you\'re going to stay here for any length of time.\" He stood up and started pacing in front of the fire.

\"There was no other place for you to stay. Sirius is gone, the Order scattered, and we don\'t know if our former quarters are safe. Dumbledore brought you here, the only other choice,\" he murmured, almost to himself.

Saima said nothing, trying to digest this information and fit it in with the other pieces of conversation that had taken place with her mother and information she had read, eons ago, it seemed. She had read about Sirius Black’s death in the Prophet. She knew Olivia had been passing information to Albus Dumbledore. This had quietly been disclosed to Saima a couple of weeks before she died. She had also told Saima that she was to trust Dumbledore without hesitation if something should happen to her. What she didn\'t realize was that she would be gone so soon, with so much left unsaid.

Saima returned her thoughts to what Remus had just said. He had been standing in front of her watching her intently while the lightning quick thoughts connected in her brain. If Sirius Black had been an acquaintance of Remus Lupin\'s, and if Remus was the person that Dumbledore trusted to keep her safe, then maybe everything wasn\'t just as the Ministry and the Daily Prophet reported...

Her eyes were troubled when she looked up at Remus and said, \"I want to know what\'s going on. I want to know everything about Sirius Black. I want to know about your Order. If Dumbledore is with you, then...\" she paused. \"I want to know what I can do to help.\"

He sat heavily back down next to her and ran a hand through his hair. \"Dumbledore told me I could tell you what you want to know. He said you have the right to know why you were attacked and what your mother died for,\" he began slowly. They sat for hours as Remus told her of the span of events that took him from the time he left Hogwarts to the present. He explained about the Order of the Phoenix and the deaths of James and Lily Potter. He finally ended with the death of Sirius Black almost a month earlier.

After he finished telling her all he knew, Saima sat in stunned silence taking in what she had just heard. She knew about Harry Potter, everyone did. But she didn’t know the other parts of the story. It didn\'t surprise her to find out her mother was a member of their Order. But why hadn\'t her mother told her more? And how had Saima not realized what had been going on in the Ministry? She HAD been busy starting right after the Quidditch world cup and the work piled up quickly. The Obliviators had to work overtime but it still didn\'t make a difference on the amount of work that had accumulated. Despite all that, Saima would have joined in and done whatever she was asked to do for their group.

Dizzy with everything she had learned and angry with herself for not realizing what had been going on, she fell back against the cushions, eyes unblinking and unseeing. Fudge had battled to discredit Harry’s story and Dumbledore, and like a dutiful employee, she had believed what she had been told and read, right up until her mother’s death. Remus felt his stomach twist at the pained expression on her face and gave her shoulder a worried squeeze, but kept his silence. He reached for her coffee and handed it to her. \"Thank you,\" she muttered automatically.

Hot tears had filled up her eyes and spilled unchecked down her cheeks for several long minutes, but she stared so fiercely at him when he started to say something that he subsided. She tossed back the rest of her coffee, then gave a quick sniff and pulled her wand out of a pocket. Saima snapped out a word and gestured her wand toward her cup. She took a long swallow and with a shudder handed the cup to Remus. He sniffed at the cup and took a slow sip of the Firewhisky, then set it down.

\"There\'s one more thing you ought to know,\" he said quietly. An uncertain look had spread across his face. \"You just saw the book about werewolves. I\'m sure you saw when Severus brought me the potion flask, and I\'m positive Molly had made a remark about the moon...\" he trailed off.

Saima indeed did remember Snape bringing him a potion on the first night she arrived. Molly had been talking with Saima about her son Bill, who was a friend of hers in school, when she gestured outside to Remus and said to him, \"The moon?\" He had then taken the potion from Snape and drank it down without comment. Shortly after that he had bid everyone a good night and gone upstairs. The moon had been full that night...

Remus gave her a small, tight smile and a single nod as he saw the look of comprehension in her eyes. He bleakly watched them for any sign of fear or disgust, and to his surprise found neither. Before he could say anything more, Saima\'s expression softened. She wiped the tears from her eyes and face and gently took his limp hand in hers. She could be a very empathic person, and the look on his face was more than she could bear. He looked so alone, so melancholy...

\"This potion Snape brought, how does it help you?\" she asked quietly.

With a startled, hopeful expression on his face, he explained the effects of the potion. Saima squeezed his hand when he was finished. It seemed Remus was so afraid of hurting others on the one day a month he was capable of that kind of violence that he withdrew into himself for all the other days. She felt she had to say or do something to ease his mind.

\"If Dumbledore trusts you, that\'s enough for me. You could turn into a monkey at five o\'clock every day and I would still trust you.\" Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled. \"And I would still like you as a person, too,\" she emphasized softly.

\"Thank you,\" he said quietly. “Thank you for saying that.” A slow smile spread across his face and he stood up. Remus reached down for her other hand and tugged her to her feet.

When he released her hands, Saima threw her arms around his neck in an impetuous hug. \"Thank you for telling me everything. I know it was hard for you,\" she whispered in his ear. She had seen his hands trembling even though his voice was steady as he spoke of the past, but when he told her of Sirius Black\'s death, his voice had cracked and he was unable to continue for a minute or two. They had been such good friends, the only ones left from their group, except for the traitor Pettigrew…

With a final sympathetic squeeze, she released him from the hug and gave him a slightly embarrassed look. With her head cocked to one side she said, \"Now, how about some dinner. A couple glasses of wine would be nice right now.\"

Saima broke into tears at one point during their meal and had to go outside by herself for a while. She wasn’t surprised when he joined her and gently drew her back inside. He of all people knew what kind of hurt she was going through.

Later that evening while lying in bed, she thought about him and of all he had told her. She absolutely knew without a doubt now that she was safe with him, werewolf or not. She wouldn’t have been brought here if she would be in danger with him. Dumbledore had even thought highly enough of him to make him a teacher. As she heard him climb into his sofa bed through the thin walls separating their rooms, she smiled and drifted off to sleep.

That night she had her first dream about him. His wonderful soft mouth was on hers, his hot tongue slowly stroking hers. Long fingers were smoothing the silky fabric of her brief nightgown down over her spine, then guiding it back up past her hips. Gentle hands lightly fingered her rib cage. She gasped when his knuckles brushed the underside of her breasts. He worked her nightgown up over her head, stopping to drop a light kiss on her neck while her arms were still caught above her head in the fabric. A mischievous chuckle rolled from him mouth as he tossed it to the floor. Pressing her breasts against his chest, she threaded her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe to reach his neck. It was her turn for a low laugh when a moan came from this throat as she nibbled and licked the sensitive skin under his ear. She worked her way down his neck, either biting softly or placing open-mouth kisses against him. She could feel his hardness flex against her belly and she gasped softly. He gently pushed her on the bed and slipped a knee between her legs...

His name involuntarily shouted from her mouth as her eyes flew open. It was so real! Saima pushed herself up on one elbow and pushed her hair back out of her eyes with the other shaky hand. She was taking in deep gulps of air when she heard a soft knock on the door.

Remus entered the room with his wand lit and covered the few paces to her side quickly. As he sat on the bed, his concerned eyes met hers and he asked, \"What happened?\"

His hair was rumpled with sleep and his chest bare. Saima saw many thin white scars criss-crossing his torso and belly, but he still looked perfect to her. She scooted herself up to the head of the bed, still gasping for breath, clutching the sheet in front of her thin slip of a nightgown.

\"A dream,\" was all she could manage to say. Still concerned, he shifted closer to her and looked like he was about to take her in his arms. She was already half-extending her arms to him when she snatched them back tightly to her body. He looked confused for a second, but then his heightened sense of smell kicked in. Remus could almost taste the waves of passion coming off her skin and his eyes flared golden in response.

They stared into each other\'s eyes for a few tense moments. \"You should go,\" she finally whispered.

He nodded and slowly stood, unable and unwilling to take his eyes from her. It suddenly hit him just how lovely she was. It had been a long time since he had seen a woman like her. Remus abruptly turned and headed for the door. \"G\'night,\" he tossed off over his shoulder as he left the room, shutting the door gently but firmly behind him.

It was little consolation to her that she heard him tossing and turning just as much as she did for the rest of the night. It took her a long time to fall back asleep and when she did, she slept very fitfully until morning.