Unlikely Beginnings

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Chapter Twenty Nine

When the bell signaling the end of their last class for the day rang, Ron
and Hermione grabbed their bags and made their way to Lupin\'s office. They
decided to tell him, wanting the teacher to know what they\'d found out, even
if it was a bit of a breech of Harry\'s privacy. Hoping the werewolf was in
his office, Hermione and Ron climbed the small staircase and knocked on his
door. Hermione had fretted about waiting until after classes, worrying that
Harry was being led into a trap, but they hadn\'t had time when they\'d made
it back to the Great Hall, and they were both hungry.

It seemed more of a thing for Ron to think, that Harry would have gone
against his will, but she couldn\'t be sure, either. Lupin heard the knock
and set his quill down, and picked up his wand to open the door.
\"Alohomora,\" he said, and the door opened itself. Ron came through the door
first, after Lupin gestured to him. \"Come in, you two,\" he smiled at them,
setting his wand down and putting the lid back on his jar of ink.

They came inside, Hermione shutting the door behind herself, and they sat
down in front of their professor\'s desk. \"I thought you two would be at the
Quidditch match; is something wrong? Did you find out anything about Harry?\"
Ron made a face, completely having forgot about the game, he had wanted to
see. It was between Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff and everyone wanted to find out
if Hufflepuff would win, just like their surprising victory over Slytherin,
of all teams.

\"Yes, Professor,\" Hermione started. \"We know where Harry went, and Draco\'s
with him, too.\" Lupin listened carefully to what Hermione was saying,
knowing by Ron\'s nervous fidgeting, that was speaking for both of them, that
it was going to be difficult to explain. It was almost ten minutes later by
the time Remus had asked a few questions to complete the story. He pursed
his lips for a moment, debating what they should do, and with a passively
determined air, he decided they would have to tell Professor Dumbledore; he
should be told now, rather than later, like Lupin had previously suggested.

Hermione agreed, though clearly tentatively, and they got up from their
seats and made their way to the Headmaster\'s chambers. Lupin spoke the
password to the golden griffin and the stairway began to turn, spiraling up
to the next level. The three of them stepped on and rode to the top before
stepping into the hallway in front of Dumbledore\'s office. Lupin knocked on e doe door, and they waited quietly until they heard the old wizard beckon
them inside.

Lupin pushed down the handle to open the door, and gestured for Ron and
Hermione to proceed him into the room. Dumbledore was seated behind his
desk, a tea cup in front of himself as he read down a page in a very large
book. Looking up when he heard more than one set of footsteps, he adjusted
his glasses slightly as he watched his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher
and two of his most amusing students walk into his office. \"Oh! What a nice
surprise; good afternoon! What can I do for you three?\" he asked, smiling
brightly at them as he shuffled his book and some scattered papers off to
the side.

Lupin ushered Ron and Hermione into the room and let them take seats in the
two chairs in front of the large desk. He came to stand behind them and the
Headmaster shifted his gaze from the students to the teacher. \"Sir,\" Remus
began, \"it has come to my attention that Harry and.. Draco Malfoy,\" he
cleared his throat, \"have left Hogwarts on their way to the Castle of
Durmstrang.\" He knew he had confusion and worry written across his face, but
he tried not to let it seep into his voice. The two teens sitting before him
didn\'t need to become any more worried than they already were.

\"Yes, Remus,\" Dumbledore said, smile having faded and nodded seriously.
\"That is quite true.\"

Lupin was about to splutter something, albeit quietly, but he frowned,
wondering what the older man was thinking about the two missing students.
Dumbledore nodded again, looking at Remus in a pointed way before looking
back to Hermione and Ron, who had exclaimed at him having known already.
\"How did you know?\"

\"Yes, I know where they are,\" Dumbledore said, smiling again, giving the two
a reassuring look, yet still ignoring their question. \"Miss Granger, Mr.
Weasley; could you step outside for a moment please? I have something I need
to discuss with Professor Lupin.\" Ron and Hermione looked a bit nervous,
like Dumbledore was going to break the news to Lupin that Harry and Draco
had gone off and eloped or something instead of having went off to a school
that specialized in the Dark Arts. They nodded and stood, leaving the room.

Dumbledore watched until the door was shut firmly behind the students, and
he then turned his attention back to Lupin. \"What I am about to say, Remus,
needs to remain between the two of us, and those children,\" he gestured to
the door, where Hermione and Ron were directly standing, no doubt trying to
listen to what he was saying.

\"I understand, Headmaster.\"

\"Harry and Draco have, indeed, left the school on their way to an
unplottable location in the far north of Europe. I am,\" he paused, sitting
back in his chair, though he looked like he was thinking, \"not sure why, but
Harry was rather adamant that he needed to speak with Professor Snape.\"
Remus had moved to sit down in the chair Ron had been occupying, and was now
glad he did so. Why on earth would Harry want to speak to Snape? Had they
resumed his Occlumency training without telling him?

\"Remus, I need you to try and get in touch with Severus. Let him know that
the boys are on their way,\" he said, \"so he can bring them back safely.\"
Lupin didn\'t want to guess at whatever reasoning Dumbledore had for not
worrying, especially in these circumstances. \"I\'m sure you already know why
Severus was ordered there?\" Lupin nodded; he\'d already had an idea, but with
Dumbledore saying it like that, there was no doubt left in his mind.

Hermione and Ron were still waiting outside of the office as Dumbledore
continued speaking with Lupin. They had nothing better to do than simply
stand there, since they didn\'t want to watch the game anymore, though
Hermione thought Ron was lying about that. \"Do you think Malfoy tricked
Harry into gowithwith him?\"

In another time, or maybe if she wasn\'t so worried, she would have
reprimanded him for that. Instead, she frowned thoughtfully at him, and
replied, \"I don\'t think so.\" She turned from where she was leaning against
the wall. \"Blaise told us that Harry went to talk to Draco and wanted to go
after Snape; I don\'t see why Malfoy would have persuaded him to go there by
himself.\"

\"It could be a trap,\" Ron said, turning towards her. \"How do you know Zabini
was telling the truth? We don\'t know him, Hermione, and you know Malfoy\'s
father is a Death Eater.\" Hermione nodded, knowing full well all of the
reasons they shouldn\'t trust Blaise, or Draco. \"For all we know they both
planned it this way.\" She knew Ron was holding back, just dying to go on,
tell her how evil the Malfoys were, and that they had it in for Harry, and
were delivering him straight to...

She shook her head, clearing that thought out of her mind. Hermione honestly
wanted to believe that Draco wasn\'t going to hurt Harry like that; she
wanted to believe they had something all right going. \"Ron,\" she started, \"I
doubt Malfoy\'s father wanted them to be, er, intimate with one another, no
matter how much You-Know-Who would want that.\" Ron looked at her for a
moment before averting his eyes and nodding. \"I don\'t know what happened,\"
she said, but before either of them could say anything else, the door behind
them opened.

Lupin smiled shakily at them, and then came through the door, leaving it
open for Dumbledore to move forward as well. They hoped they hadn\'t heard
what they said in the hall, though neither of them looked like it. Lupin
looked worried, more so than he was when they first told him Harry was gone.
\"Professor,\" Ron said, and Hermione looked at him, unsure of what he was
going to say. \"It might be sort of our fault that Harry left.\"

Dumbledore looked at him curiously, and Lupin seemed strangely calm now,
though interested in what he was saying. Hermione looked at Ron, and seeing
as he was having a hard time continuing, she stepped in. \"We weren\'t very...
accommodating for him when he told us something that no one was supposed to
know.\" There was no other way to say it, and that wasn\'t even the truth; he
hadn\'t told them, they had to find it out themselves.

Lupin shook his head. \"You shouldn\'t jump to conclusions, Ron,\" he said,
patting Ron\'s shoulder. \"Since the Headmaster doesn\'t seem too worried, we
shouldn\'t be either,\" Remus tried to put a smile on, looking to Dumbledore
for support. Dumbledore nodded, smiling. Albus trusted Remus not to fail in
his request of him, and therefore, there was hope still.

Gesturing for them to go ahead, before they stepped down onto the stairs,
Dumbledore called out. \"Ah, and Miss Granger,\" he began, and Hermione turned
around. \"I\'ve always neglected to do so, but I have wanted to commend you on
your SPEWing endeavors over the years.\" Hermione blushed, smiling, and said
a quick \'thank you,\' before turning and starting down the stairs, Ron
snickering behind her.

Once the three of them emerged from the stair well, they stopped, Hermione
and Ron turning to face Lupin. \"Yes?\" he asked, wondering what else they
would have to say. He hadn\'t wanted to pry, but he could tell they were
holding something back; nothing too terribly important, but holdholding it
nonetheless.

\"Professor,\" Hermione started, and she didn\'t look up to meet Lupin\'s eyes.
Instead, she kept them somewhere near the vicinity of his shoes, trying to
think of a way to say this tactfully. \"There\'s something we should tell you
about Harry and Draco. They\'ve, uhm,\" she looked up, and Lupin clearly saw
she was having a hard time spitting it out. It was fairly obvious where this
was going. \"Well, they...\" she tried again, really not finding a way to say
this delicately.

Hermione looked to Ron for a moment, who looked just about as squeamish as
she felt right about now, and everyone seemed to move at a slower pace when
Ron opened his mouth to take a breath. Hermione looked to Lupin, who had an
equally uncomfortable expression, before they both turned to Ron, and Lupin
held up his hand and winced slightly. Ron paused, and then shut his mouth,
feeling a bit defeated. He didn\'t want to say it, either, but they might as
well just get it out.

Lupin lowered his hand slowly, nodding at them.realreally didn\'t need to
hear Ron say something, like, \'bumping uglies,\' or some other euphemism that
they liked to use these days. It was one thing to know, it was another to
hear it, and Remus was quite content with trying to understand without
having to picture Ron\'s face as he said it. \"Yes, well,\" he said, clearing
his throat softly, nodding atm. \m. \"Let\'s get back to our evening, shall
we? I have a few things to finish before supper.\"

Hermione grabbed Ron\'s arm and started to pull him down the hall. Lupin
shook his head at the two of their retreating backs, and slowly followed
behind them. He knew it wasn\'t any of his business who Harry decided to be
with, but this certainly was never close to what he expected. Whatever Harry
chose, Remus would support him, and give him any advice he could; after all,
the boy was his responsibility now.

When Lupin reached his office, he sat down heavily in the chair behind his
desk. There weren\'t very many ways that he could actually get hold of Snape
without someone else discovering what was going on. He sighed, very much
wishing that Sirius were still around. Lupin had been the one to take Harry
under his wing, upholding a pact, as the last remaining Marauder, to do his
best and honor his best friends, so tragically murdered, leaving their son
alone in the world save for a few remnants of his parents\' life. Lupin sat
forward in his chair, resting his arms on his desk, trying to dismiss
painful ghtsghts and focus on the task at hand.

It was going to be very difficult to contact Severus without it being
suspicious. He couldn\'t send an owl, and he couldn\'t use the Floo Network;
he had no idea how to even open a connection with a floo at Durmstrang. He
was sure he could look it up, but that wasn\'t a good idea to be looking for
a fireplace that was subsequently going to be located where no one that
wasn\'t authorized should be trying to fire talk. There was also the fact
that Snape might not be alone in a room, thus blowing his cover.

There was no other way he could think of that wouldn\'t take so much effort,
so much that he might not be able to conjure it in the first place. He
continued to wrack his brain for other options, dismissing ideas quickly
when he found a flaw. The last and final option he came to was one of the
hardest, most painful courses of action; telepathy.

For someone who hadn\'t mastered the pain of that particular practice, it
could be harmful to the sender, though doing no damage to the receiver at
all. Lupin sighed again as he reached an unsteady hand to draw a stack of
assignments towards him, preparing to mark them before the evening meal. He
had no idea if he could even be successful, but he knew now why Dumbledore
had said \'try\'. Dumbledore\'s presence in Snape\'s mind would stand out too
much, whereas Lupin\'s would not, leaving only the barest trace. He\'d risk
the pain to be able to save Harry.

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