Just Around the Riverbend

Okay, I am tired, but this chapter actually got out, so I hope you are all very happy with it. I do believe I am. I get to let Hermione vent in this one. ^_^

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All right, lovelies, I hope to hear from you. Enjoy the chapter, and I want you to all review. Maybe twice. I dunno.

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Hermione glared at the shopkeeper, her temper finally starting to leak through her carefully guarded defenses.

“How dare you?” she asked through clenched teeth. He looked over at her, the only sign he recognized her was his eyebrows going up slightly. “That boy didn’t do not one damn thing to you, and you tried to beat him with a broom.” She continued.

“I don’t serve his kind. Filthy, stinking, slobbering beasts.” The man said with disgust. Daisy interrupted this time.

“You’re nothing but a bully! Phelan is as clean and well-mannered as any patron you have here!” she snapped, tears streaming down his face.

“Ah, and his bitch intervenes on his behalf.” The man returned snidely. He found two wands pointed at his face, and twin glares of fury in glacial blue and gold boring into him.

“Hate me as you wish, but you will not speak ill of my cousin.” Lucius growled.

A few of the other patrons had stopped eating, and looked over to watch the scene unfolding with trepidation.

“People like you are the reason Voldemort was even able to gather followers.” Hermione hissed. A few people, including the owner, flinched at her casual use of the Dark Lord’s name. Lucius stiffened slightly, but said nothing to her. “He used their hate to build his armies. It’s people like you that made people like Fenrir Greyback. Your prejudice fed his fury at humans, gave him fuel he needed to attack and kill. Do you deny that Remus Lupin was a hero of the Second War?” she asked. The man just glared at her.

“He was. And he was a werewolf. And he was one of the most wonderful people I knew. But he happened to transform into a creature he was usually under control of due to Wolfsbane Potion. He loved and lost just like everyone else in the war. Phelan Greyback is not his father. Most of those men and women cannot help what happened to them. Tragic accidents and attacks made them hated and feared by society. I know exactly what it’s like to be hated for something I didn’t have control of. I know what it’s like to be targeted for something that I didn’t ask for.

So now you listen to me, you brainless, inept, reckless, peon! I will never step foot in this establishment again. I’m sure Mr. Malfoy will not, either. And let me guarantee you that both he and I have friends in very high places. Harry Potter is my best friend, and he trusts my judgment. The Minister of Magic is also a dear friend to me. You’ve made your last stand, sir, and you are going to be taken down!” she finished, and with an angry clap like thunder, she Disapparated.

Lucius glared at the shopkeeper for a few seconds more, before turning and gathering Daisy to his side. Then he disappeared as well, leaving the man to glare at the empty spots. He heard a grumble off to his left, and saw one of the patrons stand from his seat, leaving his unfinished meal on the table. He walked past the owner without so much as a tilt of his head. Several others followed suit, until there was only a handful of people left in the building. He looked around in dismay.

“I’m ruined.”

~~

When Lucius appeared in the library, Daisy immediately pulled away from him.

“I gotta find Phelan.” She sniffled, and wiped her eyes. Lucius said nothing as she walked quickly from the room. Hermione was standing near the chair, still shaking with righteous anger. The bags she had clutched in her left hand she had put down on the floor next to her. Lucius approached her and added his own bags to her collection, and carefully put his hand on her shoulder. She turned to him, her eyes swimming in tears.

“It’s not fair. Their lives aren’t fair. Doomed to be hated and damned as outcasts of society. Remus was so smart. He could have done brilliant things. That man at the Ball was a brilliant Spells Master, but he couldn’t continue his work due to an attack that he didn’t plan. And Phelan…dear Phelan, not only is he damned because of his Lycanthropy, but he’s damned because his father was a crazed violent lunatic.

We shouldn’t judge the werewolves based on people like Fenrir Greyback. If the magic world was completely discovered by Muggles tomorrow, and we could only choose one wizard to represent our culture to them, would we choose Voldemort? No! So why do we condemn those people for the actions of a few unstable arse-holes?” she asked. She closed her eyes as his hand found the back of her neck, and he turned her around carefully and pulled her close.

“Hermione, we cannot change the past, and to attempt to do so is madness. But we can live in the present, and try to change the future. Mr. Greyback is not who I would have chosen for Daisy to spend her life with. But I can see that if given the chance, he would make her life as good as he could. He can never support a wife as things stand now. So, with the memory of Remus Lupin and the promise of a brighter future for people like Mr. Greyback, let us change what we can.” He said softly.

Hermione sniffled, but then looked up at Lucius.

“I think Daisy has made you soft.” She teased. The corners of Lucius’ mouth turned up in amusement.

“I think it might also have something to do with a curly-headed Gryffindor lion who has firmly dug her claws into my heart and soul.” He confessed. Hermione swiped at her eyes, and looked back up at him, her mouth curling up.

“Make love to me, Lucius.” She said, her eyes beginning to glow with anticipation. Lucius’ grin spread further, revealing his even white teeth and making him look quite like the Cheshire cat.

“Gladly.” He said, and Apparated them both to his bedroom

~~

Daisy opened the door to the garden house, and walked in cautiously. She saw the splintered remains of the chair off to the side, and frowned.

“Phelan?” she called out. Silence was her reply. She walked through the small house, and to the back where the bedroom was. She opened the door, and breathed a sigh when she saw Phelan on the bed, his back to the door.

“What?” he snapped. Daisy shuffled her foot against the floor.

“Hermione didn’t let that guy get away with what he tried to do. You should have seen her.” Daisy said softly. “It doesn’t matter to me, Phelan. I love you for you. I love every part of you, the good and the bad.” She said. Phelan rolled over and off of the bed in one fluid movement, his yellow eyes baleful.

“Love all of me?” he asked, his voice hard. Daisy swallowed, but then forced a smile on her face.

“Of course. You’re my friend. You’re my husband.” She said. He suddenly advanced on her, taking her by the arms and pressing her into the door jamb. Her brows furrowed slightly.

“The good and the bad?” he asked. She nodded. One of his hands found her throat, and he put light pressure on her windpipe. “I could kill you right now, did you know that?” he asked, bringing his face very close to hers.

“I know.” Daisy said in return. Her hand rose to touch his face. “You could kill me every time I had stayed out with you when you transformed, as well, but you didn’t then, and you won’t now. You wanna know how I know?” she asked. He merely leveled her with a yellow stare. “Because I trust you.” His hand fell from her throat, and he turned away from her.

“Hogwarts will be a disaster.” He said softly.

“Do you really think that? I don’t. I think Hogwarts is going to be fun. You’ll have an entire forest to yourself when you transform. I’ve heard from Hermione that the food at Hogwarts has no rival to touch it, and you’ll be able to study and learn even more than you thought possible. And I think that Hermione and cousin Lucius are going to wage war on the Lycan Laws, and perhaps by the time I graduate you’ll be a rightful member of society, and we can have a good life together. I for one want our kids to be able to go places with their dad.” She said.

Phelan turned back to her, a strange look on his face.

“Kids?” he asked. She grinned.

“I hope you werewolves like children, because I was such a lonely child, and I want at least three.” She said. Phelan stared at her for a few moments, before he shot forward. He grabbed her face in his hands, and pulled her close for a searing kiss. She was surprised for several moments as he began to kiss her earnestly, before she returned his fervent attentions. His hands fell to her waist, and he pulled her lower body close to him, and she gasped slightly. His tongue swiped into her mouth, and she pulled back, eyes wide.

“Did you just put your tongue in my mouth?” she asked, her dust-colored cheeks turning pleasantly red. He gave her a grin that could only be described as ‘wolfish.’

“Yeah.” He said cheekily. She averted her gaze demurely.

“Do it again…”

~~

Phelan held Daisy’s hand as they walked up the walkway towards the great castle Hogwarts. Daisy had been so nervous the night before that Hermione had resorted to reading to her from Hogwarts, A History until she’d fallen asleep.

Her night was bothered with visions of her dead parents jeering at her because she did so horribly on her screening test. She dreamt that she’d done so badly that they decided to make her a first year and create a House especially for her: Stupiflunk.

The great doors to the school opened dramatically, revealing the dark-haired Headmaster waiting for them in deep red robes.

“Ah! Early arrivers, then.” Headmaster Denebola said genially.

“Arriving on time means you’re five minutes late.” Daisy piped up. Denebola gave her a crinkle-eyed smile.

“Well, everything’s been set up for the test, and afterwards, you will be shown to your rooms. You may have the next week to decorate them how you will. Come now, child, and we’ll get this test over with.” He said, whirling in a flicker of crimson robes. Daisy turned quickly, and gave Phelan a quick hug. She looked up at Lucius, who had been following behind them, and he gave her a reassuring smile.

“Show them what you’re made of, Daisy.” He said. She grinned, and turned around, walking quickly to catch up with the vampiric Headmaster.

~~

She emerged nearly two hours later, extremely exhausted. There had been two parts to the test. A written part, that she didn’t feel that she did so well on, and a Practical, which she felt she blew out of the water. She was led to the Great Hall, where her family had been waiting while she was tested. Aladfar called Lucius to him after sending Daisy up to the Head Table to sit with Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, who had been catching up with Hermione.

“How did she do, Aladfar?” Lucius asked. Denebola smiled.

“It’s a close call, Lucius. She did well on the Practical, but her knowledge on the Written was good, but limited. She could go either way, friend, but if you’ll listen to my opinion, I suggest letting her go to Third Year. She’ll be with students her own age, and she won’t feel so pressured with her studies.” Denebola said. “There’s no shame in being with her age-group.” He added.

“Very well.” Lucius said, nodding. It wasn’t a huge disappointment. He was still relieved that she was going to be able to go to Hogwarts at all. Besides, she’d probably feel so much better around the kids her age.

He glanced over as the other teachers began to filter into the Great Hall, some of them having come early to prepare for the coming semester. The only one he didn’t recognize was the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He was a tall, willowy man that could rival himself and Severus for height. He had wavy, dark-blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes.

He looked up at the table again to see Aladfar leaning down to speak with Daisy, and a disappointed look cross her face, before she looked slightly relieved. Phelan patted the hand that was resting on the table, and they shared a look, before Denebola stood and waved him up to the table. The teachers were meeting Daisy and Phelan, none of them having been introduced to each other before, and there was a nice spread of snacks starting to appear on the table. The half-giant, Hagrid, appeared to be taking a special interest in Phelan, who looked very uncomfortable as the large man talked to him.

The lanky DADA teacher approached Daisy, and held out a long-fingered hand.

“Welcome to Hogwarts Miss Melfy. I’m Gregory Blackburn. I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.” He said. Daisy shook his hand, giving him a shy smile.

“I look forward to all of these classes.” She said softly. McGonagall stepped up behind Phelan, looking over the grey-haired youth with interest.

“Rumor has it, Mr. Greyback, that you can command your wolf form out from under the full moon.” She said. The other teachers looked over, and Hagrid put down his large mug of butterbeer

“It’s true.” Phelan said, feeling even more uncomfortable.

“Sounds almost like an Animagus form.” McGonagall commented. Phelan shrugged with one shoulder.

“I guess you could look at it like that…” he said. The Transfiguration Professor looked down her nose at the young Lycan.

“I believe I speak for the majority of the staff when I say I would be interested in seeing this. It is not often one runs across something like this.” She said. The other Professors had various looks on their faces. Hagrid looked a bit like someone had told him Christmas would be coming three times this year, but the Professor Blackburn looked a bit nervous. The tiny Professor Flitwick also looked nervous and anticipatory at the same time.

“Very well.” Phelan said, before his body morphed into wolf form. He sat on his haunches, and licked his broad muzzle. Professor Blackburn jumped so hard he spilt pumpkin juice down his front. Trelawny, who had actually been standing in the corner with a large glass of wine and several finger sandwiches floating on a plate beside her, looked up with surprise.

“Aw, but ain’ ‘e just adorabl’.” Hagrid gushed. Phelan snorted, scaring Professor Blackburn again, before strategically yawning, and showing off his long white wolf teeth. He licked his muzzle again, and changed back to his human form.

“Insightful.” McGonagall said, but she looked very intrigued. Denebola stepped forward.

“Now that we’ve had such excitement, I believe that Mr. Greyback and Miss Melfy will want to be shown their rooms so that they’ll know where their lodging will be.” He said. The two, along with Lucius and Hermione, followed the Headmaster.

The rooms were bigger than either of them expected. There was a lounging area with a large fireplace, and a large window along the wall. There was also a kitchenette off to the left, and the bedroom off to the right. Lucius moved fluidly into the room, looking around with approval. He stepped up to the doorway of the bedroom, and immediately frowned.

“No, no, no.” he said.

“Is something the matter, Lucius?” Denebola asked.

“There is only one bed. That will definitely not do.” He said. Denebola smiled.

“This is why I had them come now. It will be easy to replace that with two smaller beds.” He placated. Lucius did look mollified at that, but Hermione saw a brief flash of what looked like…disappointment on Daisy’s face.

“Well, my dears, you have a week to arrange the room as you wish, and then I shall look forward to seeing you all in two weeks, when Term starts.” He finished.

“This place will be lovely with some furniture and personal touches.” Hermione said, looking around. Phelan reached out to touch a dusty candle holder fixed into the wall, and pulled his hand back with a yelp when the metal burned him soundly.

“That’s going to have to be replaced.” He said with a strained voice, tucking his hand close against him. Daisy moved to him without thought, and pulled his hand to her. He didn’t resist, and she gasped when she saw his blistered fingers. “Silver.” He added. Daisy drew her wand, and sprinkled the reddened flesh with mercifully cold water, and he sighed in relief.

“Better?” Daisy asked. Phelan nodded wordlessly, and then Daisy kissed his hand gently.

“Well, enough stalling, children. Let’s go. We’ll rest for the rest of today, and we can deal with decorating tomorrow.” Lucius said. He looked at Denebola. “Is there a particular time we need to come to do this?” he asked. Denebola shook his head.

“They are welcome any time.” He replied.

They all parted ways in the Entrance Hall, the only other one besides the Headmaster seeing them off being McGonagall, who hugged Hermione soundly.

“Whatever it is you’ve been doing since the war you need to keep up, because you’re practically glowing.” The older witch said warmly, and Hermione blushed. “Now that you have an excuse to, I hope I see you here more often.” She said, separating from Hermione. Hermione looked up at her old Head of House.

“I look forward to it.”

And with that, the quartet left the school, walking back down to the Apparition point. Phelan held Daisy’s hand in his good hand, relieved that their visit to the castle had gone much better than he had thought. There was a bit of trepidation at his presence, but it wasn’t full-blown fear.

That he could deal with.

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One bed? They didn't think they could get away with that did they? *Giggle* Anyway, Hermione got to tell off the shopkeeper, and they all got to go to Hogwarts and meet a few of the teachers. Special.

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