Out of Nowhere

Disclaimer: The characters held within (save Leah) are not mine. They belong to the lovely JK Rowling (who isn\'t the devil, she\'s brilliant!!) and I am not making a profit, nor is any kind of copyright infringement intended. I also don\'t own the words to I Will Remember You Sarah McLachlin does.

A/N: If anyone wants an email as to when I update, just leave your email, and I\'ll send you one with each new chapter!! To my reviewers:

Alauralen: *grins* I thought the wicked witch reference was hilarious, but, I\'ve got a weird sense of humor. LOL!! I\'ve never read a fic where someone shot something through their nose, and I could see that happening to everyone\'s favorite werewolf. =) Remus is quickly starting to top my list of favorite story book characters...all time. (And, he\'s sooooooo fun to write!!!)

JJ: Strangely, I do know exactly where this is going...if I can get the physics of it right. I\'m not sure how much it\'s going to meander between now and the end, but I do know it\'s going to include Harry almost having a heart attack, a Dark Mark, and Ron saying \'Eep!\'. *grins* It\'s gonna be a wild ride I\'m afraid. Thanks for your compliments on my writing. I\'ve worked many years trying to perfect my writing voice. =)

Papaya: *glomps* Thanks!! You know I always love your reviews!

catpower: At the time, he was surprised by her outburst and didn\'t catch what she said, but it might come up later. (You\'re right, she does have some nerve, doesn\'t she??) And, yes, you know she\'s going to get what\'s coming to her...just not right now.

Branwen: Leah\'s just a heifer. LOL!! Hope you enjoy this chapter!!

She grinned at the werewolf. He looked around as he got up and offered her his hand. She took it and when she got up he placed it in the crook of his arm. They walked around the lake in silence. She stopped and looked out over the water at her tree where her quilt still laid. Remus finally broke the silence. “So, tell me more about your old life. I know you are a student, but do you have a job?”

Once again she got a far away look in her eyes. “I work five days a week and go to school at night. My kids still can’t believe that their stuffy and conservative English teacher is that cool grad student sitting on the lawn entertaining the masses. I teach English and literature to juniors and seniors in high school. That would be the equivalent of your sixth and seventh years, I believe. Now I am one again.”

She shook her head in disbelief and looked up into the warm brown eyes of the werewolf. He chuckled at her statement. “Is that what you wanted to do when you were seventeen?”

“Honestly, no I didn’t want to teach. I wanted to play basketball and get my degree in zoology and chemistry. That’s really what I wanted to do you know, work for some big zoo or chemical or pharmaceutical company. Science is really where my passion is, but I also understand the need for those who excel in English and the literary sciences. It doesn’t matter how brilliant you are if you can’t read and write worth a damn, then you aren’t taken seriously. That’s how I got into teaching English. My buddy Mike wrote a paper detailing something in Cold War history, and I edited it. His second draft was so much better than his first, that his professor was sure that he’d had an English major rewrite it for him. I had to go talk to the man and explain to him that no one had rewritten the paper but Mike. He introduced me to the head of the English department and she convinced me to take some advanced writing classes, and before I knew what had happened, I was graduating with a Bachelors degree in English with a minor in Biology and Chemistry. I was approached by an old teacher right after graduation, and the next fall I was teaching. It’s been my greatest joy and I think my greatest failure. I’m not sure how the kids I teach managed to even get to their last years in school, some of them. They speak the language, yet they can’t articulate a thought on to paper. Some days it’s infuriating.”

Some time in her speaking, they started walking again. As they approached the castle, she asked, “So, tell me about what you teach. Defense Against the Dark Arts sounds like you must have a fairly vast knowledge of dark magic’s and creatures.”

He began explaining what is class entailed as they approached the great hall. With her hand still in the crook of his arm, they entered to find everyone already seated and waiting for them. Unseen by the two, Severus’ eyes narrowed in hate as Dumbledore merrily said, “There you two are! We were beginning to wonder if maybe you’d gotten lost on your way to lunch.”

Leah blushed and then laughed. As Remus seated her she put her hand on Dumbledore’s arm. “No, Albus, I suppose I just lost track of time because I was in such good company.”

Dumbledore chuckled and his eyes twinkled at the two and Snape snorted in what could be thought of as disgust. She gave the dark wizard a knowing smirk and a wink before tucking into her lunch.

In no time at all, lunch was finished and the light conversation was ending. Leah followed Professor Sprout out of the hall and into the foyer. They were chatting quietly about the work they would be doing that afternoon. The young woman was excited at the prospect of getting to dig in the soil. They were interrupted by the velvet baritone of Hogwarts Potions Master. “Pomona, will you be working in my potion ingredient garden today, or will I need to acquire the proper implements and begin tending it myself?”

Professor Sprout looked at Leah and they both rolled their eyes. “Leah and I should be to your ingredient patch by no later than three this afternoon. Would you care to join us?”

His only answer was a noncommittal “Hmmm…”

He turned and briskly made his way back to the dungeons while the two women walked to the greenhouses. Leah donned the pair of gloves that Professor Sprout gave her and they began to pull weeds in one of the smaller gardens. In a short two hours they’d worked though some of the more exotic plants and flowers. They went out back behind the largest greenhouse and Leah was almost sure she was in plant heaven.

There were several long rows of different herbs and flowers. Leah walked through several of the rows touching leaves and smelling her fingers. Finally, at the end of the last row, she picked a piece of what appeared to be ornamental grass and popped the end of it in her mouth with the rest sticking out.

“Are these all just common variety herbs Professor?”

The plump witch smiled. “I do believe they are, my dear, why do you ask?”

“They are of very high quality. I don’t believe I’ve ever had lemon grass with a taste as strong as this. Everything I’ve touched has been high in the volatile oils needed for essential oil making. These are of better quality than any I’ve ever found.”

Leah took off her gloves, easily identifying the herbs and flowers around her before she took her spade and began to uproot the weeds. Before long, she was lost in the sea of green and was quietly talking to each plant as she came upon it. She was frightened from her quiet conversation by the clearing of a throat.

She looked up into a pair of black eyes smirking down at her. “Tell me, is Pomona not stimulating enough to converse with or do you just prefer to speak with those that can’t speak back?”

She grimaced at him and wiped her forehead. “Actually, there have been experiments done that show plants react to verbal stimuli. I talk to my plants at home and the only thing I’ve ever killed was a cactus. So, have you come just to insult me, or are you going to do some work?”

During the verbal sparring, Leah never noticed what he was wearing, or maybe what he wasn’t as the case was. She went back to digging and aerating the soil as she spoke softly to the plants. She began reciting some of her favorite poetry to the leaves as she worked. Eventually, she sat back on her knees and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the tail of her shirt. It was in the following moment that she discovered the sight she’d been missing. There was Severus Snape in a pair of ratty blue jeans that clung to his body nicely and (by the grace of the gods!!) a wife-beater, with a green bandanna tied around his head like a du-rag keeping his hair out of his eyes.

She admired his sinuous form as he used his garden hoe on a particularly nasty weed. His muscular arms and shoulders flexed nicely under the thin shirt causing the heat to rise in Leah’s body. She watched entranced at the rhythmic contractions of his back muscles. He was nothing but hard flat planes and masculine angles under the robes he wore. She allowed a shudder of delight to pass through her body as her lust heightened ten fold.

Her eyes closed as she allowed herself only a moment to envision the god before her. With a smile gracing her features she opened her eyes to find the object of her lust leaned against his implement with a raised eyebrow. “You look like you have just tasted something sinfully delicious,” he drawled.

“Not yet,” she answered cryptically as she went back to work.

After another hour, she was getting to the end of her row and Severus tapped her on the shoulder. “It’s time for dinner. We don’t even have time to clean up and change, now.”

She shrugged as she got up. “That’s ok as long as I can wash my hands and face.”

She dumped her gloves and spade in a bucket near the door of the greenhouse and followed Severus to the large sink near the front door. He turned the water on and washed his hands and arms before splashing the cool water on his face. Leah almost had an orgasm as she watched him cup his hands together and take a drink of water from them, allowing a bit to dribble down the front of his shirt.

He took a towel from under the sink and dried himself off as she stood there with her eyes glazed over lost somewhere in the fantasy of Severus Snape, gardener. He watched her curiously for a moment before he spoke. “I’m finished. If you don’t hurry, we’ll be late for dinner.”
At the sound of his voice, she came back to Earth. Her eyes raked up his body appraisingly. “What I want at the moment isn’t in the great hall.”

He tilted his head to the side and raised both eyebrows in surprise. “Excuse me?”

Stepping toward him she said, “There is no excuse for you. Never in my life have I wanted to rip off a man’s clothes like I do right now. You are the picture of every fantasy I think I have ever had.” At this point she was toe to toe with him, looking up into his shocked face. She put her finger in the middle of his chest and trailed it down his stomach, tracing the lines of his abs and then back up to his left arm and down it, as she followed her finger with her eyes.

She grabbed his belt buckle and the front of his jeans and pulled his body flush with hers. “You are the perfect example of a man. You could have been chiseled from the finest marble.”

She stood up on her tip toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. Her desire filled eyes were his undoing. He wrapped his arms around her waist and captured her lips in a breath stealing kiss. “And you are an infuriating chit,” he spoke softly against her lips.

She laughed and kissed him again. He walked her backward toward the wall where he pressed his body against hers. One hand moved town the front of her tank and tweaked a nipple while the other was near her head bracing him against her. She closed her eyes and let out a soft moan. The sound went straight to his cock stiffening it to the point it ached in his jeans. His hand began to travel further down where it tugged at the tie to her pants and they opened and fell to the floor.

She was wearing a small lacy blue thong under her pants, and he moved the offending garment to the side to find her perfectly shaved pussy. He delved a solitary finger into her dripping cunt and relished in the tight warmth he found there. He began ravishing her neck causing her to whimper and moan.

Her hands finally began working again as she ripped his shirt off over his neck and threw it down. Her hands roamed his perfectly formed, rock hard chest and stomach. The feel of his body served to turn her on more. She made quick work of his belt and groaned in delight as she pulled open his button-fly jeans.

She reached down into his boxers and began stroking his impressive length eliciting a moan from deep in this throat. At this point, he pushed down his pants, grabbed her by her firm round ass cheeks, and lifted her off of the ground, sliding her onto his rigid member. Automatically, she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Simultaneously, they moaned as he sheathed himself. She was tighter than anything he’d had in remembrance. He captured her lips in another searing kiss and began pumping furiously in and out of her tightness. Severus moved one hand from under her and began stroking her clit with his thumb. He could feel her orgasm building as he rubbed her in time with his strokes. It was not long before she came screaming and panting. The convulsing of her body around his cock, coupled with her tightness had him speeding up his strokes as he came with a grunt.

He stood there holding her up as they leaned their foreheads together. Finally, she unhooked her legs and he eased her to the ground. She fixed her panties as he buttoned his pants and began looking for his shirt. Neither said a word through this. They made their way back to the castle only to be met that the doors by Remus.

“You missed dinner,” he announced as they walked up, reeking of sex.

He looked at Leah and raised an eyebrow. She smiled sweetly and said as she looked at Snape, “I suppose we just lost track of time out in the garden. We did get quite a bit done though.”

It was obvious to Remus, with his wolfish sense of smell, what happened, and taking in his old rival’s appearance, he honestly couldn’t blame Leah for wanting him. It angered him, though. He wanted this young woman and now it looked as though he would never get her. He was pulled out of his ruminations by Leah’s sweet voice.

“I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me to the astronomy tower later, Remus. It’s the new moon tonight; I bet we’ll be able to see many more stars that I normally can at home. Have you got a telescope?”

Snape growled, but didn’t say a word as Remus answered with a self satisfied smile, “I’d love to accompany you tonight. I’m sure we could get Albus to loan you his large telescope if you have any particular bodies you’d like to look at.”

With a look of innocence, Leah smiled. “I’ll have to ask Albus. I think I want to look at Venus, and probably the Seven Sisters. Right now, though, I think I want a bath.”

She and Severus parted ways with Remus and they went back to the dungeons. “What was that?” He asked.

She gave him a funny look. “What was what?”

“That, out front, you asking him to go star gazing with you!”

She shrugged. “You’re the one who said I shouldn’t be wandering about the castle alone. I just figured that he might like to go with me. That way, I’m not alone, and you don’t have to worry.”


Severus scrubbed his hands over his face in frustration. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

She tilted her head to the side and smirked. “Then why don’t you enlighten me.”

“Don’t you dare play coy with me,” he growled, pointing an accusing finger. “We come back from the greenhouses after doing that and you ask the god damned werewolf to accompany you to the astronomy tower!”

It was obvious by his heaving chest that Severus was livid. He managed to keep his voice even, but his hands were flailing about over his head as he spoke. Leah smiled.

“Severus, we had sex. What on Earth are you getting jealous about? We fucked. That’s it. There is no reason for you to have a stroke because I asked Remus to go with me. It just so happens that I like his company. He’s nice to talk to. Are you pissed off because I didn’t ask you?”

He narrowed his eyes at the young woman. She had managed to take her unbecoming behavior and turn it around on him. After a silent moment, he realized what she had done and calmed down a bit. “How very Slytherin of you,” he mumbled to himself before looking her straight in the eye.

“Fine, you do as you please and I’ll do as I please. Right now, I’m going to shower and get out of these filthy clothes.”

“What ever flies up your dress,” she said with a shrug.

Leah sat on the couch as her lover showered and cleaned up. She smiled warmly at him as he stalked out of the bathroom fully dressed with his hair still wet. She showered and changed into a pair of shorts and a tee shirt before donning her flip flops and making her way back to the couch. She sat down with her brush and began braiding her wet hair. “Is that what you are wearing?”

Leah sighed and stopped mid-braid. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“It’s rather…revealing.”

“For fuck’s sake, this is not revealing! My ass isn’t hanging out of my shorts, and I’ve got on a god damned tee shirt!” She calmed down a bit and began to braid her hair again. “Look, you’ve got to get over this…what ever it is. I’m not your property, and we aren’t married. You are the one who said I shouldn’t wander the castle by myself, so I’m not. Get. Over. It.”

She calmly got up and went to the portrait. Before leaving she turned and asked, “What’s your password so I can get back in later? I’d hate to bother you when I get in.”

He glared at her for a moment, and then replied, “I’ll set the wards to open for you if I must.”

Leah made her way to the stone gargoyle that guarded Albus’ office and said the password. At the top of the revolving stairs, she went to knock on the door and it opened to reveal a smiling headmaster. “Good evening Leah! Come in! What brings you out of the dungeons?”

She sat in the comfortable chintz armchair in front of his desk. “I came to ask a favor of you, Albus. Remus and I are going to the astronomy tower later and he said you had a telescope. I was just wondering if I could borrow it.”

Albus conjured a pot of tea and said, “Only if you’ll have a spot of tea with me tonight.”

She smiled and took the offered tea. “Sherbert Lemon, my dear?”

Plucking one out of the candy dish she replied, “Don’t mind if I do,” and popped it in her mouth.

They chatted for a half an hour about how she spent her day and her theory as to how she was to get home. In no time, it was time for her to meet Remus. “Well, Sir, I must go now. It’s been a pleasure chatting with you this evening. I’ve got to meet Remus at the stairs to the tower in about ten minutes.”

He followed her to the door and smiled, “You and Remus enjoy yourselves. I’ll send a house elf up to the tower with the telescope.”

He was waiting for her when she arrived. “I apologize for being late, Remus. I was shanghaied into tea with the Headmaster.”

Remus chuckled. “He has the ability to do that with just about anyone, I think.”

He held out his arm and Leah took it as they descended the stairs. In the dimly lit staircase, she didn’t notice the basket Remus was carrying. When they stepped out into the cool summer air, they were met by an exuberant Dobby. “Master Professor Dumbledore asked Dobby to be bringing you his telescope. Is there anything else I could be getting you?”

They both laughed at the house elf. “Actually,” Remus said, “you can bring us a thick quilt to sit on Dobby.” He then turned to Leah, “I hope I’m not being presumptuous. I brought a picnic of sorts, because I knew that you didn’t get to eat anything earlier.”

“Not at all,” she said warmly, “but to be honest with you, I haven’t even thought about food. Dobby, can you also bring a couple of nice fluffy pillows?”

With a furrowed brow, he asked, “What are the pillows for?”

Leah giggled. “I enjoy just gazing at the sky sometimes, and if I’m going to have a quilt to sit on, I’m going to have a pillow to lay my head on.”

Looking straight up, she closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath of the night air. Dobby appeared directly with the quilt and spread it out, placing the pillows on one corner. Leah kicked off her sandals and sat down, still looking up. Remus opened the basket and pulled out a bottle of champagne and two glasses and poured them. She took hers and had a sip before saying, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the night sky quite as beautiful as it is here. It’s nice.”

Remus agreed as he pointed out a couple of constellations. They sat in silence for a while sipping their champagne before Leah’s stomach growled loudly. The duo laughed about this and he pulled out a small plate of fresh fruit. She nibbled on a strawberry with a smile. Clearing his throat, the werewolf asked, “So, did you enjoy your afternoon I the greenhouses?”

“Yes, very much so. There’s nothing like spending the day with your hands in the dirt. I’ve had a garden of some sort for many years, and come the spring thaw, it’s almost like a Siren’s call for me. I don’t really know how to explain it, but it’s almost like my way of connect with the spirit on the earth, a way to bond with something so ageless and timeless. I suppose it’s a throw back from my childhood need to be outside and feeling free.”

She got up and set the telescope up to look at a couple of planets. Leah spent quite a few minutes staring at the Pleiades, the seven sisters before going back to the blanket and lying down. She put the platter to her right, so it would not be between her and Remus and absently plucked random fruits from it and popped them into her mouth.

She grabbed a grape and leaned over her companion. “Grape?” She asked as she held it up to his lips.

He took the fruit from her fingers with a smile. When he swallowed, she leaned down and kissed him. When she broke the kiss, he sat up. “I don’t think we should.”

She leaned back on her elbow. “Mmm…I suppose chivalry isn’t dead.”

With a shake of his head and a chuckle, she answered, “No, I suppose it’s not. But the truth is, I know why you weren’t at supper, and I don’t think that pissing off Severus Snape is the best way for me to begin my summer.”

“What do you think you could do that might piss him off?”

“You kissed me. I think that would probably get him pretty riled up. He’s not a man to toy with.”

She laughed. “No Remus, I guess he’s really not, but what does that have to do with the fact that I kissed you, and wouldn’t be opposed to it again?”

He looked at her blankly. “Leah, you both reeked of sex when you came in from the greenhouses. I don’t think he’d take very kindly to you trying to seduce me. I mean, I depend on him more than either of us want to admit.”

“Your wolfsbane potion, is that what you are worried about? Remy, he and I aren’t exclusive, and we aren’t dating. Did you know that under those awful robes is the body of a god? I saw him this afternoon dressed like he was and I had to have him. It’s simple really. He turned me on today, and I had him remedy the situation.

“You turn me on, too, but in a completely different way. I want this. I want you. Severus Snape is not one to bring a picnic and champagne to go stargazing. You are. This right here is what most girls’ dreams are made of.”

Leah lay back down. “Now, get over here and kiss me.”

With trepidations clearly written all over his face, Remus went against his better judgment and leaned down and kissed her. With her eager response, the wolf inside him took over. It was not long before he was stroking her face with his hands. She began unbuttoning his shirt as his hand snaked up hers. They were both focusing on each other and neither saw the dark figure in the shadows.

“What in the bloody hell is this?” Screamed Snape.

Leah and Remus were both startled from their explorations. They looked into the face of an angry potions master towering above them. Leah sighed and got up as Remus stood and began buttoning his shirt. “I can explain Severus.”

“No, Remus, there’s nothing to explain to him. He’s not my father and we aren’t exclusive. He shouldn’t even be up here!”

At her comments, Severus exploded. Leah stood there with her chin held up defiantly as the dark wizard did his best to intimidate the werewolf. Uncharacteristically, Remus did not back down. He began to scream back at his childhood rival. Leah watched passively as the two men stood nose to nose with their hands pointing at each other and flying about. “Guys,” she said as she stepped up.

“Guys,” she repeated louder.

Finally, she could see that nothing was going to take the two from this fight that had been brewing for decades. She grabbed her half empty champagne flute and walked to look over the edge of the tower.

Even with the angry screaming in the background, the sight was magnificent. She could see the twinkling lights of Hogsmeade in the distance and the lantern that was on in Hagrid’s cabin. She sat down her glass and began to sing.

I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don’t let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

I’m so tired that I can\'t sleep
Standing on the edge of something much too deep
It’s funny how I feel so much yet cannot say a word
We are screaming inside oh we can\'t be heard

I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don’t let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories

So afraid to love you more afraid to lose
Clinging to a past that doesn\'t let me choose
Where once there was a darkness, a deep and endless night
You gave me everything you had oh you gave me life

Somewhere in the midst of her singing, the fighting stopped. Both men forgot about what they were arguing over and stood behind the young woman. Neither said a word. When she finished, she looked up at the Milky Way and asked, “Are you gentlemen finished now? I’d like to say something.”