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. Also, the lyrics to \'Hurt\' belong to NIN and their lable and stuff...

A/N: I know I promised a bit of quasi-magic in this chapter, but it seems the fates are working against me. *sigh* My computer ate about the last 10 pages that I had written last night, and I didn\'t want to delay an update while I rewrote them. *sighs again* So, without further blathering from me, here\'s the next chapter! OH, and as always, feed the review whore. I\'d hate to have to get down on my knees and beg. ;)

And, for my beautiful reviewers...

Papaya: I haven\'t decided what our Snape is going to do yet, but it\'ll be good, I promise. *grins*

Alauralen: You are very, very welcome. I promise there will be more soon, and it\'ll be just as hot with a HUGE surprise. *grins evilly*

destiny black: Leah may yet be with both men, but then, she may lose them both. Leah will be meeting the kids, but I can\'t say when, that might ruin the surprise. *grins evilly*

Jenn: *bows* Many thanks! I\'m glad you are enjoying my story!! BTW, I just love your screen name. In my area, you just don\'t see many gals spell Jenn with 2 n\'s.

john the heavy: *blinks then huggles john* That wasn\'t hot headed and you have nothing to apologize for. Did you really think I\'d do something like that to our dear Snape and him not eventually get the upper hand? That wouldn\'t be very Slytherin of me. *winks*

catpower: I just want you to know that every time I think of this review by you I giggle for like 2 hours. LMAO!! You are too funny!! Seriously, though, I left it up to my readers as to what naughty things Remus was saying because whenever I try to write it out, it sounds stupid to me. I\'d hate to write a really hot sex scene and then the dirty talk sound stupid. I think it would kind of ruin it. *shrugs* I\'ll try harder next time, promise. Oh! And, no, Leah didn\'t get turned, she\'s just marked as his mate...right now....

JJ: Yes, he did bite Leah, but no, he did not change her, he only marked her as his mate. I have three different endings going through my head at this time, and I will say this, two she gets home, and one she does not. I haven\'t decided which one I\"m going to use yet, though. I totally agree that Remus isn\'t used nearly enough and has lots of room to be explored as a character. You\'ll just have to keep reading if you want to know if there\'ll be a threesome...I can\'t say one way or the other just yet. It\'ll ruin the surprise. LOL!!

A/N2: I was really surprised that no one commented on Remus\' last mate! I have two theories as to why not, and I\'d love for my reviewers to let me know if I\'m right or not. My first theory is that the bite at the end shocked or surprised you guys, and over shadowed the fact that he\'d had a mate before. My second theory is that you all figured it out before you got to the end of the sentence. Anyway, Remus last mate is revealed in this chapter, so if anyone was wondering, then you\'ll know, and just for fun, I\'ve decided to make Remus bi-sexual (though he really is more into girls at the moment. LOL!). I somehow forgot to do this, so I\'m adding it. The information on spirit wolf that will be in this chapter and next was graciously given to me by my beautiful friend Ravenari. If you are interesting in totems and spirit guides, please, visit her site at www.ravenari.com She has lots of great info. =D

Ok, ON WITH THE STORY!!



Leah fell ungracefully forward almost comatose from her last orgasm. Her body felt as though it were full of lead and even blinking took every bit of her will to accomplish. She rolled onto her back panting and Remus stretched out beside her to regain his own bearings. Not only had he just had the most amazing sex since his last mate, but he’d inadvertently claimed her in their first coupling.

Leah’s breath evened out and she rolled over on her right side with her back to Remus. He rolled over and ran his fingers across the beautiful portrait on her back. “When did you get her?” He asked sleepily.

She scooted her body against his and he put his arm around her. “She came to me in a dream when I was eighteen. Kilyla is my totem spirit. Apparently, she’s been with me since I was born.” Leah yawned and twined her fingers with his on her stomach. “I’ll tell you about her tomorrow. Right now, I’m exhausted,” she added with a grin.

Sometime during the night, both crawled under the quilt on the bed. At dawn, Leah stretched and rolled over, snuggling into Remus’ broad chest. She sighed, making a sleepily contented noise. Her movement woke the werewolf, and he looked down and smoothed the young woman’s hair down before kissing her on the top of the head. “Leah,” he whispered his gravelly voice even rougher due to just waking. “Dear, it’s almost time for breakfast and it might look very bad if we were both missing.”

She threw her leg over his and cuddled closer. “I don’t feel like moving, Remy,” she answered almost dreamily. “I’m content to lay here all day with you.”

Leah heard his chuckle rumble deep in his chest. “There would be nothing I would enjoy more, but we must get up and at least make an appearance.”

Slowly, she lifted her head to look at him with one opened eye. “Shower with me?”

He smiled brilliantly at her one opened eye and kissed her forehead. “I think I can manage that.”

She rolled over with a moan, unbelievably sore in places she didn’t know she could be. He gracefully slid out of the bed as she stumbled to the bathroom in her half sleepy state. Leah turned on the sink and grabbed her toothbrush and the toothpaste to begin to brush her teeth. Remus looked at her and blushed. “Er…”

She looked at him completely starkers, blushing because he didn’t have his toothbrush. “I’ll have Dobby get it, if you’d like.”

Leah called Dobby to retrieve Remus some clean clothes and his toothbrush. The little elf came back with his eyes to the floor and a faint pink tinge to the tips of his ears as he presented her with the toothbrush. She quickly thanked him and closed the door to the bathroom.

After they were finished brushing their teeth, the duo stepped into the steaming hot shower. Leah wet her hair with a sigh and let the hot water cascade down her body and soothe her aching muscles. Before she knew what happened, Remus had her turned around and was washing her hair. His calloused hands were gentle as they messaged her head. Leah’s body wanted to go limp under his ministrations. A groan escaped her lips as his hands worked their way down from her scalp to her shoulders and back.

He almost reverently washed her back, stroking the wolf tattoo. He pulled her flush with his body and kissed her neck, where he’d marked her the night before. “Tell me more about your tattoo,” he whispered. “Why does she have one green eye and one blue?”

Leah turned in his loose embrace and faced him. “Isn’t it obvious?” She asked.

He looked deep into her eyes as she maneuvered him under the spray. She wet his hair thoroughly and began washing it for him. As she rinsed it, he answered, “Not as obvious as it should be, I guess.”

She smiled and replied, “Look at my eyes, Remus. I’ve got one green and one blue.”

Remus tilted her head toward one of the nearest candles and chuckled. “There’s only a subtle difference between them.”

Leah smiled warmly. “Most people don’t notice the difference it’s so subtle. She took on the trait so I would know that it was her when we run with the moon.”

“Run with the moon?” He asked as Leah began to wash his chest.

“Occasionally, Kilyla appears in my dreams and I morph into a wolf. She and I run with the moon. She comes to me when I am most stressed. I don’t really know how to explain it other than that. Sometimes, all I want is to be able to rely on instinct and not have to think. Then, we run. We chase each other and play, or she takes me on a journey to meet another guide or maybe a forest Wight.”

While Leah was explaining, she’d turned Remus around and begun washing his back. “Wait, you don’t know, do you? Ok, maybe I should start at the beginning. You see, in my reality, magic is completely different than it is here. You don’t wave a wand and this or that gets done. Magic and spellwork is based on intent, focus, and visualization. Sometimes, it’s even part of a religious path. Well, growing up, I always had trouble sleeping, so I used visualization and meditation to relax not only my body, but also my mind and sleep. That’s where I met Kilyla, or I will in another year or so. My experiences with her led me to lessons about magic and intent. At the time, I thought what I was having were dreams. It was almost beyond my comprehension that she might be a real creature on another plane of existence.”

Leah turned off the showerhead after rinsing his body and stepped out of the shower. She grabbed a towel and handed it to him before she took a second one and dried herself off. Remus asked a few questions as they dressed and on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Everyone was already there and eating when they arrived.

Snape narrowed his eyes at the duo, immediately noticing the bite mark on Leah’s neck that she was not successfully hiding with her shirt. Dumbledore greeted them cheerily as they arrived. “Remus! Leah! I trust you slept well?”

Both blushed and nodded, not meeting the old man’s twinkling eyes. Breakfast was a fairly subdued affair, though. It was obvious to all (except Leah, that is) sitting at the table what had happened the night before. Finally, near the end of the meal, Severus spoke up. “I suppose some congratulations are in order, Lupin?” He sneered.

Leah raised an eyebrow at the dark wizard and then looked at Remus, seeing a clearly embarrassed werewolf next to her. “I…no, Severus, there are not,” he stammered, growing an impossible shade of red.

“If the bite mark on Miss Leah’s neck is any indication, I would say there is, Lupin. It’s been what, a year since you last had a mate?”

Remus looked up and anger flashed through his brown eyes. “Don’t you dare, Snape! Not here, not now!”

Severus’ narrowed his eyes and smirked maliciously. “Shall we take it outside, then?”

The sound of a chair scraping the floor and a quietly whispered ‘Remus’ were the only answers given. Once he got to the doors of the Great Hall, Remus turned back to his childhood rival. “Coming?” He spat out in disgust.

Severus stood quietly and strode toward the door, not once looking anywhere but at the door. Leah watched him go and pushed her plate away. She crossed her arms on the table and put her head in them. She didn’t know exactly what was going on, but she could bet that it had to do with her night spent with Remus. “Shit, shit, shit!” She chanted over and over.

After a few minutes, everyone went back to eating, but Leah was more interested in what was going on outside. Albus elbowed her gently saying, “You’ve every right, dear. Go to them.”

She smiled weakly at the old man and rose to hear Albus whisper a ‘Finite Incantatum’. Suddenly, the voices of the two men could be heard rising in pitch as they screamed at each other. With a sigh, she trotted to the door and flung them open. The sight that met her eyes was one she could hardly believe. The two men stood there, toe to toe, with their wands drawn and pointed at each other’s throats, screaming to the point they were both red in the face, with veins bulging out of their necks. “Oh, hell no,” she muttered as she stalked up to the men.

Both men were so engrossed in their screaming match that they fell silent and stepped back from each other when a pair of hands reached in between them and snatched their wands from their hands. “No!” she shouted as she took the wands in her left hand and pointed them at the men. “This is twice in three days you’ve been at each other’s throats and I won’t have it! I meant what I said about Hagrid!”

Severus stepped toward the young woman and plucked his wand from her hand, slipping it up his sleeve. “You’ve no idea what is going on here, do you?”

She tossed Remus his wand and crossed her arms over her chest. “Since you obviously do, enlighten me.”

Severus gently pushed her hair from her shoulder and ran his finger over the bite mark. “This,” he paused, “claims you has his mate for life. There are only two magical creatures that mark their mates in this manner, and we have no Veela here at the moment.”

Leah looked at Remus who was again staring at the floor, ashamed of himself. “Remus?”

The werewolf would not look her in the eye. “Remy look at me.”

He looked up and gave her a questioning look. “Is what he saying the truth?”

Again, his eyes went immediately to the floor and he began to shuffle uncomfortably. “I…well that’s to say…”

“Say it ain’t so Remus. Tell me you didn’t take away my choice in the matter,” she pleaded.

When he looked up again, there were unshed tears in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to,” he whispered. “It’s been so long and Sirius when he…I thought I’d…”

Leah’s anger quickly dissipated and turned into pity for the wolf. “It’s been a year since you had a mate then? Remy, look at me.”

She put her hand under the wolf’s chin and lifted his head. “You know that’s not an excuse, don’t you?”

He shook his head feeling like a chastised child. “I’m so sorry,” he croaked.

Severus stood behind the young woman with a smug look on his face listening to her talk to the werewolf. That smug look quickly turned into a scowl as he realized just how gentle she was being with him. Remus was crying like some hormonal teenaged girl and she was letting him get away with what he did!

“Is there any way to fix this Remus?” She asked just as gently as before.

“Fix?” Snape interjected. “Fix?? What in the bloody hell is there to fix? He claimed you as his mate and now you will be compelled to only want to be around him!”

“Severus, please. I’d like to find a way out of this without any more screaming,” Leah stated with a quavering voice.

Severus began to rant about Leah’s being bound to a ‘blood-thirsty monster’ and about ‘filthy dark creatures’. Remus stood there with his head bowed and let the dark man rave, but Leah had had enough of it and shook her head sadly before dashing to her quarters to get some peace and quiet to think about this development.

Both men stared after her as she run off. They started to go after her but the hands of the Headmaster grabbed their shoulders. “Leave her be, boys. I think if you go after her, you’ll be making it worse.”

Severus nodded curtly and stalked to the dungeons to brew a couple of potions while Remus walked out of the castle. Albus shook his head at the men and walked leisurely toward Leah’s rooms. He knew she would need a totally unbiased (not that he actually was, but he could pretend to be, right?) shoulder to lean on and ear to pour her heart out to, and he wanted to be it.

When Dumbledore got to the portrait of the Victorian woman, he greeted her as he spoke the password. He could hear the young woman’s sobs as he entered her quarters. “Leah,” he called out in his most grandfatherly voice.

“Go away,” she mumbled into her pillow.

“You need to know the whole story dear one. Will you listen long enough for me to explain?”

She moved her pillow from the couch and pulled the quilt tighter around her shoulders as she sat up. “There’s more?” She sniffled.

Albus sat on the other end of the couch and stared into the fire blazing in the hearth. “There is a bit more, yes my child. You see, Remus and Severus are bitter rivals, and have been for many years.”

She held her hand up, “I know this Albus. Sirius sent Severus to the Shrieking Shack and James saved him from Remus killing him or changing him. That’s rather old news, don’t you think?”

He smiled benignly. “So it is. Well, I’m sure you didn’t know that Sirius was Remus’ last mate. He claimed him almost two years ago only to lose him in the Department of Mysteries last June. Until you came, he was rather despondent. And Severus, well, I’ve never known him to want to be with anyone, much less let someone pursue him. He’s never made friends, and it was ingrained in him from the time he was born that he would never be good enough for anything. Maybe he doesn’t feel worthy; maybe he doesn’t want to be with anyone with his line of work. I really don’t know what his motivation, or lack there of is, really.

“Leah, just go easy on them both. You don’t know how long you’ll be here, and I don’t want to see either of them heartbroken because you suddenly disappear. You take this time and think about your next move and what you will say and do. I won’t let them bother you until it’s time.”

With that, he got up and made his way to her portrait hole. “Albus?” She asked.

“Yes, my child?”

“If I’m going to be here thinking about what to do next and when, can you do something for me? Remus conjured the wizarding wireless network and I don’t particularly care for complete silence. Can you bring it up for me? How do I change the stations?”

Again, he smiled and his eyes twinkled. “I’d be more than happy to do that Leah.”

With a wave of his hand, the wizarding wireless immediately came on, playing softly in the background. Albus then took a piece of parchment from the table and transfigured it into a simple remote of sorts. He handed the contraption to Leah and said, “The up and down buttons will change the stations. The left and right ones will make it louder or softer, and the round one in the middle will turn it off and on as you see fit.”

She smiled back at him, “Thank you Albus. Music always helps me to get my emotions in order.”

He left her to her own devices with a smile and a wink. At lunch, there were three familiar faces absent from the table. Dumbledore knew where two of them were, and he figured that Remus was probably in Hogsmeade just getting away for a bit. Leah sat in her rooms brooding over her situation and wishing fervently to go home. It was no longer fun to be at Hogwarts and she missed her Spazz terribly.

Finally, Leah took the funny looking remote and turned up the music. It was on an all swing channel, which she found incredibly humorous. She decided that she really was angry at herself and the whole situation and found a channel that reflected that. Soon, she had Metallica’s ‘Ain’t my Bitch’ blaring on the wireless. “That’s all too appropriate,” she muttered as she washed her face.

She spent the day moping around her chambers and writing or doodling on parchment. She finally decided to do a little calligraphy to keep her mind away from what she should be thinking about. After several screwed up parchments, she figured out the strokes using the quill and began her task. She sat there singing the songs she knew and loved so well. After a while, she put her project down because her mind began to wander and she moved onto something else. Before she knew it, the sun was setting, coloring the sky a brilliant orange in her windows. Just as twilight began creeping up, there was a knock at her portrait. “Go away!” She yelled over the music.

It was Albus who opened her door anyway and stepped in. Leah smiled brightly and turned the music down. “Come in Albus! What brings you here?”

“I just wanted to make sure everything was well with you this evening. You were missed at dinner. Is there anything you need this evening?”

Leah sat down across from the old man. “Sure, since you asked. I could use a well of green, red, silver, and gold ink each, and a guitar.”

The wizened wizard laughed at her odd request and waved his wand. She giggled with glee as the items appeared on her table. “I think I could get used to this magic stuff!”

She picked up the guitar and strummed it with her fingers, and then she made a face. Looking down at the strings, she realized that they were exactly backward from what they should be. She chuckled and turned the instrument over, grasping the neck with her left hand. “Oh, I haven’t played right handed in years!”

Her fingers fumbled on the strings and she made a face. Looking up at Dumbledore she said, “I don’t remember it being this hard.”

The old wizard just chuckled and waved his wand, reversing the strings. Leah flopped it over again and strummed the instrument. “Much better,” she sighed with a smile.

She sat talking with Albus for several minutes as her fingers gently picked across the strings she so loved. Finally, he left and her smile and cheery disposition immediately were dropped. “Stupid old meddler,” she grumbled as her quiet strumming took on a darker tune.

Finally, Leah gave up trying to concentrate. She found a wireless channel that played the gamut of rock and roll from classic heavy metal to punk, to the ‘new’ sound of the ‘90’s. She was content for a while just to turn it up and listen to her favorite artists.

The later the night got, the more Leah turned up the music. Finally, near daylight, one of her all time favorite songs came on. She cranked the music up even louder and began to scream the lyrics at the top of her lungs. “…You could have it all, My empire of dirt, I will let you down, I will make you hurt, I wear my crown of shit On my liar\'s chair, Full of broken thoughts, I cannot repair…”

Her bad mood had only darkened during the night and she was not at home so she couldn’t just grab something breakable and start throwing it. She could only express her anger through her screams and her tears. She went through the viscous cycle of screaming and crying throughout the night. It ripped at Leah’s heart to know that she’d probably never be able to look at either of the men again.

Somewhere around dawn, she collapsed onto her couch. Her hours of raving and crying finally gave way to blissful exhaustion and she fell into a dreamless sleep. Another resident of the castle had also not slept a wink, and he was trudging into his shower at the same moment the young woman collapsed.

Remus did not sleep one bit because of the loud music coming from Leah’s rooms. He rubbed his eyes and grumbled as she stepped into the cold shower. He was instantly awakened by the cascade of not nearly warm enough water. As he washed his hair, a new song began and he groaned. He immediately knew the heavy guitar riffs and the drum beats. Suddenly, Ozzy Osbourne’s voice came booming out over the bass guitar. The werewolf growled. He’d been kept up all night by this kind of music.

He dragged himself down to the Great Hall half an hour before breakfast and sat at the table relishing in the sweet, sweet silence and sipping a cup of tea. Dumbledore came in and sat in his customary seat and smiled at his Defense teacher. Remus scrubbed his hands over his face and did his best to smile back, but it really looked more like a scowl. Poppy, Pomona, and Severus all arrived within just a few minutes of each other and breakfast.

“Long night, Lupin?” Snape sneered.

The werewolf growled and attempted to ignore the dark wizard, instead, focusing on his tea and getting enough caffeine in his system to somehow function throughout the day. “You look ill, Remus, maybe you should come to the infirmary and let me check you out?” Poppy offered gently.

Remus waved her off replying, “No, everything’s fine, or it will be when I can get a solid night’s rest. Leah had the wizarding wireless up as loud as it would go all night last night, and I didn’t get a bit of sleep. There’s only so much Black Sabbath and Nine Inch Nails that a man can take.”

“Well,” Dumbledore cheerily chimed in, “at least she has good taste in music. She very well could have kept you up with show tunes or that awful classic country stuff they try to pass off as music.”

Everyone at the table looked at the eccentric old wizard in disbelief. He just smiled and took a bite of his eggs. “You know Lupin,” Severus drawled sarcastically, “you are a fully trained wizard and could have used a silencing charm.”

Remus groaned in regret at not thinking of that sooner. Breakfast finished in the same manner that it began with the exception that everyone knew they were going to have to make their way down the Remus and Leah’s corridor to see what kind of music was playing…nosy, gossipy teachers that they were.

Leah lay on her couch for hours sleeping fitfully. She dreamed of Severus tying her to a tree in the forbidden forest and laughing as he walked off, leaving her to be devoured by some unknown creature. They quickly changed to Remus nibbling on her neck and telling her that she was forever bound to him whether she wanted it or not. When she’d try to back up, he’d change into the werewolf and back her into a corner growling, “Mine,” over and over again.

Finally, Kilyla had mercy on her. The totem pranced up with a mischievous light in her eyes. Leah sighed and fell to her knees, hugging the ethereal being. “I need you,” she whispered in the wolf’s ear.

Kilyla tilted her head to the side as Leah pulled back. “I know, Sister. Shall we run?”

The two ran, Kilyla leading and Leah following. They ran until they came to a clearing. Kilyla stopped and sat on her haunches as Leah tilted her head as if to ask, ‘What now?’

In no time, a snow white wolf walked from the shadows and greeted Kilyla with a nuzzle under the ear. Leah changed back into her human form and settled down next to her guide, knowing there was a lesson to learn. “I am Cynric,” he stated. “Kindred, it is time for you to leave behind the life of the solitary wolf and find a pack.”

Leah raised an eyebrow at this statement. “Brother, I already have a pack, though I do prefer to remain solitary. Do my friends and family not count as my pack?”

“Nay, they do not Kindred. They have walked with you as long as Kilyla. You must find a new pack to run with,” he answered with a slow bass growl.

“Will Kilyla stay?” The young woman asked uncertainty in her eyes.

“Aye, she will, for she shall be the one to teach you these lessons. Now Kindred, I must go find my brethren. Time is short and I’ve tarried to long.”

With a flash of his deep chocolate brown eyes, Cynric turned and ran back into the shadows, his white fur almost shining in the moonlight. Kilyla turned to Leah and sent up a mournful howl at the lesson to be taught. The young woman hugged her guide as the wolf said, “Sister, it is time for you to go back. They shall be waiting on you.”