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.

A/n: For my reviewers:

Jenn: Glad you liked the chapter. Yeh, I figured it would be more of a surprise if Albus commented on the music than if Snape did. He\'d be expected to like \'dark\' music. I also agree with you, classic country makes me naseus. Don\'t rule out just yet that she won\'t have them both. And, if you think about it, she\'s gotten to experience the 3 sexiest men in the Potterverse, even if Malfoy was a bit of a disappointment. LOL!!!

Alauralen: *bows* Thank you!! I\'m glad you like the wolf tattoo. I wasn\'t sure if it would work, but decided to life dangerously. ph34r!

catpower: Have you been told how much you kick ass today? Well, you do kick ass, and it\'s alot! I just love your reviews!!! =D Hen-pecked were-husband...ROTFLMAO!! That\'s great!! Bite in haste...OMFG!! Your reviews always make my day! You have the best sense of humor!! We\'ll learn more about Cynric in this chapter, and you\'ll have to keep wondering if there will be cubs. *wink*

Papaya: A new pack! Squeeee! We\'ll have to see if she stays, wouldn\'t want to ruin the ending. *grins* And thanks so much for commenting on Kilyla. I actually got that name from a girl in my city at Arkansas Girls State almost a decade ago. She was one of those people that without saying a word could change a person\'s life. I thought it would be appropriate. You\'ll get to see more of her in this chapter too!! What kind of author would I be if things didn\'t work out and there wasn\'t lots of pretty sex coming up? *winks*

A/N2: Once again, I have to thank the beautiful Ravenari for her wisdom regarding totems. *huggles her Raven Sister*

ON WITH THE STORY!!!





Leah rolled off of her couch and landed with a thump, rousing her from her dreams. She’d only slept for about four hours. It was not even lunch yet. With a groan, she pulled herself up and untangled the blanket from her feet. “Bath,” she groaned as she stumbled out of the cover.

After a luxurious soak in the sunk in marble tub, she felt a bit better. The memory of her dream washed over her exhausted body, and she pondered what it meant for several minutes. Finally, Leah decided that she needed something to occupy her conscious mind while she worked through what she’d learned. She turned the channel on the wizarding wireless, searching for something. She knew that she would know when she found it.

After searching lazily for almost an hour, Leah gave up and picked up the guitar that Dumbledore was so kind to loan her. She picked at the strings, trying to think of a song that fit her mood. Her fingers instinctively searched out the chords to her favorite song. A sardonic smile graced her lips as she poured her heart into this song. Her voice quavered a bit as she sang, but she was not used to singing quite so low. Leah didn’t think it would matter because no one would hear her anyway. “I\'m not like them but I can pretend. The sun is gone but I have a light. The day is done but I\'m having fun. I think I\'m dumb or maybe just happy…”

She played through all of the depressing song that she knew as she sang. The young woman was still at a loss as to what to do and she wanted to go home. Her mind kept going in circles concerning her plight, and suddenly, she got an idea. She turned up the wizarding wireless (which was playing Green Day’s ‘Good Riddance’), and sat on the hearth rug. She took out a couple of sheaves of parchment, and began doing her calligraphy with the colored inks. She sang along as she lost herself in the strokes. Soon, though, her back ached from being bent at the odd angle.

Leah stood and stretched, feeling much better and gazed out of her window at the waning moon. “Have I really spent all day in here, wallowing?” She asked the empty room. With a shrug, she changed the wireless until she found a song that took her back, well, it wouldn’t actually happen for another few months in this time, but it was still in her past.

Remus wandered about the castle for most of the day, purposely avoiding the corridor he lived down. Still very down trodden as to the situation he’d gotten himself in, he also avoided everyone. Finally, after dinner, he decided to go to his rooms and face the music, quite literally. Severus was right in step with him as he made his way to his sanctuary. “Come to gloat again?” Remus asked warily.

Snape sneered and answered, “No, actually, I walked this way to hear for myself the racket that kept you up last night. Poppy said she came by after lunch and could hear Leah singing. Then Pomona said she came by and heard some band called ‘Green Day.’”

The werewolf shrugged and kept walking to his room. When he and Severus turned down the corridor, they could hear it. The slow mysterious tune was unmistakable. Remus rolled his eyes, “Great, show tunes,” he muttered sarcastically.

Severus raised his eyebrow at the shorter man. “That’s not just any show tune, Lupin.”

The dark wizard stopped the werewolf in front of her door as she began to sing, “In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came. That voice which calls to me and speaks my name. And do I dream again for now I find, the phantom of the opera is there inside my mind…”

With a smirk, Severus said, “Well, we know the little chit can hit Christine’s high note, and that she has excellent taste in shows. It could have been something as vile as ‘Rent’ as opposed to ‘The Phantom’.”

Remus blanched at the statement and then shook his head in amusement. “Who’d have ever thought that you, Severus Snape pure-blood wizard, would ever know anything about muggle musicals?”

Snape just sneered and began humming the rest of the song as he walked back to his dungeons. Remus didn’t bother casting a silencing spell because he discovered that with the change of music, he quite enjoyed Leah’s singing. She spent several hours singing show tunes, and then got her guitar out again. “Dobby,” she called out.

The diminutive elf appeared with a smile. “Yes Mistress, how can Dobby help?”

“Dobby, I’d like you to bring me the ingredients to make margaritas with and some crushed ice. You do know how to make margaritas, don’t you?”

The elf grinned and shook his head quickly, “Yes Mistress. Mistress Malfoy enjoyed margaritas most every night when I was bound to her family. I can be making them up and bringing them if you’d like!”

“That would be wonderful,” Leah gushed at the elf.

It wasn’t long until Dobby was feeding the young woman the mixed beverage. Every time she’d finish her glass, another, fresh one, would appear. Leah strummed her guitar and laughed as one of her favorite drinking songs came to mind. “Livin’ on sponge-cake, watchin’ the sun bake…”

By midnight, she’d gotten completely drunk and could no longer play her instrument. She turned up the wizarding wireless again and found a contemporary rock station, content on just grooving with the music.

She fell asleep around one and woke at just after five AM, still a bit drunk, but not nearly like she was. She called to Dobby and he brought her a potion to sober her up after she bathed. It was the beginning of the third day of her isolation and she was still at a total loss. She decided to summon Kilyla. Her guide would almost always come at a moments notice. She again summoned Dobby and requested a few supplies before she moved the furniture out of her way and stripped down naked. After a quick prayer and a small purification ritual, Leah began casting her circle. As she called to the guardians of the north, Kilyla appeared. The young woman offered a bowl of salt, representing the element of earth. When she called to the east, a large spider unexpectedly appeared. She rang a small bell three times and reverently placed at the arachnid’s feet. Calling to the south, Leah was greeted by a large black snake. She placed a lit red candle near its head in offering. Calling upon the east, she was greeted by a beautiful otter that immediately dipped its paw in the chalice of water offered to it, gingerly tasting it before bowing its head.

When Leah stepped up to her guide, she was no long skyclad, but wearing a long white silk gown with an empire waistline and bell sleeves. “Sister, thank you for coming,” she said as she stepped back and invited her totem into the circle.

Leah moved back to the center of the circle and Kilyla sat back on her haunches in front of her. “Thank you for taking me to Cynric. I’m confused, though, Sister. How am I to find a new pack? Should I abandon my old one? What should I do about this?” She asked pointing to the bite mark on her neck.

If the wolf could have smiled, it would have been a motherly one. “Sister, you must never abandon your pack, even if you have been instructed to find a new one. Regarding your new pack, you’ll know when you have found it. And, as far as your mark, that is for you to decide. It is the mark of a mate, correct? He has marked you, but have you left your mark on him, acknowledging your acceptance?”

“He’s a werewolf, Sister. He’s special and not like most.”

Kilyla made a sound like a growl that Leah had come to know as a chuckle. “He is no different than any of the others. Only you can decide your mate, werewolf or not.”

“What of Cynric, is he your mate?” The young woman asked changing the subject.

“He is not, Sister,” the wolf answered. “He is the head of the pack and my brother. His wisdom reaches beyond the stars.”

The conversation went on for many hours in this manner, as it always did when Leah summoned Kilyla. Throughout the castle, life went on as usual. Remus was awakened by rhythmic drumming, rather confused as to what Leah might be doing. He dragged himself out of bed and bathed, quickly exiting his rooms and the castle to watch the sun rise from out by the lake. He walked back in and was the last to arrive at breakfast. “Sleep well, Remus?” Albus asked entirely too cheery.

The werewolf shrugged and answered, “I did once I got to sleep, Leah stayed up playing her guitar until after midnight. She kept singing something about a ‘margarita-ville’ and something about an ‘American pie’. Then, I was awakened at five this morning by drumming.”
With a grin the headmaster answered, “I believe that you mean Margarita-ville, and American Pie. That would be Jimmy Buffet and Don McLean, if I remember correctly. Now, the drumming could be one of several different genres of music, but I couldn’t tell you without hearing it first.”

That comment made twice in two days that everyone around the table just looked at the headmaster in disbelief. He looked around and asked, “What? I’m one hundred and fifty-seven years old. Am I not allowed to enjoy music?”

No one dared answer and all decided it was best to just finish their breakfasts. Remus and Severus finished their meal at the same time and the dark wizard stopped Remus just as they cleared the doors to the Great Hall. “Lupin, I do believe that it is time we lay this to rest. Leah has effectively isolated herself from everyone, and she can not be allowed to do that. I have it on good authority that the only thing she has put in her body since she went into her rooms has been about ten margaritas, and that was last night. If we do not intervene together, she may not have a chance at going back home. We are both responsible for this mess, as is she, and it is obvious that she prefers to hide from her problems as opposed to working them out.”

With an uncertain look Remus asked, “What makes you think that she’s not dealing with this?”

“I have my ways of knowing, Lupin. Do you have anything pressing to do?”

Throwing the dark man a skeptical look, he answered, “No, why?”

“We are going right now, then. It is obvious that she is awake.”

The wizards marched down to the corridor that Leah and Remus lived down and they could immediately hear the drums. Severus summoned Dobby and instructed him to open the portrait because it would not open for anyone but Albus.

The elf popped into Leah’s rooms and opened the door for the two men. What met Severus’ gaze stunned him. Over the back of the couch, a pick ball of light flew straight up in the air only to be snapped at by a beautiful wolf and then burst into a thousand sparkles that floated down. The men heard a giggled and a bark.

They walked around the furniture and Kilyla’s ears pricked up. “Our kindred and the serpent have arrived, Sister,” she announced, growling at the men who’d interrupted her bonding time with her human.

Leah turned and smiled at the two men towering above her, both with looks of shock on their faces. “Hi guys,” she said.

Snape raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said you were muggle.”

She gave him a quizzical look. “I am.”

He snorted and replied, “Obviously not. You have cast a perfect circle and are using a child’s charm to play with your pet.”

Leah stepped to the edge of her circle and stuck out her tongue. “I always cast a perfect circle, and I have no idea what you are talking about when you say ‘child’s charm’. And she’s my guide, not my pet.”

The tall wizard looked down his nose at her. “The pink ball of energy you threw up for your guide,” he stressed the word, “is a charm that every parent in the wizarding world knows to occupy their children.”

The woman giggled and cupped her hands together, pulling them apart revealing a ball of pink energy about the size of a tennis ball. “You mean this? This is a psi-ball.”

While she and Severus argued back and forth about the logistics of magic and what the young woman was doing, Remus sunk to his knees at the edge of the circle. He was face to face with the portrait on Leah’s back. “Kilyla,” he whispered, “you are even more beautiful face to face.”

The wolf growled at the man and caught Leah’s attention. “What’s wrong, Sister?”

“Why do you argue with our kindred? Did nothing Cynric said stay with you?”

Leah looked between the wolf and the men. “Severus is our kindred? What about Remus?”

“He is the serpent and not our kindred. The dark one knows our kind. Well, Sister, are you going to invite him inside the circle? I would like to speak with him.”

She just stood there for a moment and blinked between the men and her guide. “Okay, step back Severus, so I can open the circle.”

Leah stepped up to the edge of the circle and with her finger traced a doorway in it. Both wizards raised their eyebrows at this gesture and Severus stepped in. She repeated the gesture backward to again close the protective circle. Kilyla immediately sniffed the tall man. “You are Cynric’s brethren, are you not?”

He knelt down onto the carpet and looked into the wolf’s different colored eyes. “Indeed I am.”

“I now understand why he changed his markings so many moons ago. His coat is now of the purest virgin snow so you would know him. I understand now why his wisdom is bigger than the sky,” she said to him.

“You are also very wise. You listen to him well. Has he informed you of your new fate?”

“He has Sister. I am to find another pack, different from the dark ones I now associate with. Your brother has asked that I leave them even before the Dark Lord is vanquished, though we both know that will lead to my demise.”

The wolf tilted her head. “It could if you do not separate yourself from them, also.”

Severus bowed his head in understanding. He knew that staying with the Death Eaters was just as dangerous as leaving them before the war was over, but he felt that he had no choice.

Leah watched fascinated at yet another face of Severus Snape. It was obvious that he was well experienced with his guide and the etiquette that went along with them. He reached into his pocket and drew out a small platinum anklet and placed it around her paw. “Thank you for your wisdom Sister. I will heed what of it I can.”

He stood and backed away from the wolf, giving Leah room again to kneel. The men watched as Leah cupped her hands again to her chest and closed her eyes. When she opened her palms, there were four jewels in her grasp, two emeralds, and two sapphires. She laid them at Kilyla’s feet and the wolf swallowed one of each gem. She bared her teeth in a smile as her eye color renewed itself. The other two, she had Leah attach to the anklet on her foot. “I believe that I am done for now, Sister,” the wolf said, adding a mournful howl. “Always, I am in your heart to remind you of your place.”

Leah bowed her head and repeated, “Always I’ll keep you in my heart as a reminder of my pack.” She hugged her totem and stood, escorting her back to the north part of the circle.

Then, the young woman turned to Severus, who stood there silently watching the exchange. “I’ll let you out before I close the circle.”

She repeated making the door with her finger and let the tall man out. He stood on the other side of the circle for a moment before sitting on the couch, opposite of Remus. Leah proceeded to close the circle, thanking each guardian and giving a slight bow. She turned back to the north and raised her hand in a sweeping motion, “As it is above, so it is below. I close this circle with the blessings of the gods.”

When she put her hands down, the magic dissipated and the circle broke. Her long gown disappeared with the magic and she was left standing there, nude, with two bewildered wizards on her couch. She smiled at the men and said, “I’ll be right back. We’ve got to talk, and I’d like to put something on before we do.”

She came back a few minutes later with a long blue silk dressing gown on, and sat in the floor between the men when her back against the couch. Leah drew her knees up and rested her chin on them. “I screwed up, guys. I thought I could come here, from my time, with my knowledge, and pull some of the things that I would at home. It backfired spectacularly, don’t you think?”

She never once looked at either of the men, but chose to stare straight ahead of her. “I still can’t begin to apologize, Severus, for what I did to you. You saved my life, and your own, knowing full well that I could have completely blown it at any second. You trusted that I would understand that it had to be done, that countless lives could be lost if I didn’t. I knew, and I still know, but I let my temper get away with me. I should have trusted that you wouldn’t let him hurt me, but I didn’t. I let him hurt me in my mind, calling me what he did. And, I punished you for it. You can’t even begin to know how it disturbs me, what I did.”

Leah rambled on for a few more minutes, lamenting about how she’d wronged the dark haired wizard. Finally, he put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her, mid sentence. “You’re rambling,” he said softly as he smiled at her.

She returned his smile and sat there in the floor gazing across the room. “Remus, I…” she began.

The tawny haired wizard stopped her as he ran his finger through her long hair. “You have nothing to apologize about Leah. I should be glad that you don’t hate me for what I did. At least Severus gave you a choice, albeit an impossible one, but I didn’t.”

She put her hand on his, and looked into his brown eyes. “Tell me this, Remus. Kilyla said that although you’d marked me, I had to mark you back, accepting you. Does it work that way with werewolves?”

He shook his head. “Sadly, it does not. I do know this, though. The wolf does prefer to be marked by his mate, and if he is not, then he may find another interest. Now, this is a very rare occurrence, and it requires that you completely stop pursuing me.”

Curiosity was etched on her face. “What happens if I don’t want to? I mean, what happens if I would prefer to keep seeing both you and Severus?”

“Jealousy and rage,” was his answer.

“In other words, if I keep up what I have with both of you, the wolf will get jealous and try to rip out Severus’ throat in a fit of rage.”

“Sort of, but not exactly. The wolf’s jealousy will come out if he sees the two of you interacting in a way unbecoming of a mate.”

“So, the wolf will get jealous if he catches us making out and then try to rip out Severus’ throat.”

“Basically, yes,” Remus said miserably.

Through this whole exchange, Severus merely sat there and listened. He was impressed by the young woman’s resiliency and determination to have both men. “That’s providing I still want something to do with you. Am I correct, Leah?” Severus sneered.

She rolled her eyes at the tall wizard. “I’d still like to hang out, even if you don’t like getting laid,” Leah retorted.

Remus chuckled at her reply and Severus just scowled. “Are we okay then, guys?”

Severus shook his head, still scheming to get her back, but in a very Slytherin way and Remus gave her a sheepish look. “Just like that you forgive me?”

“Well, no, not ‘just like that’, but I realize that I’m still in a strange place and I have to have a guide or two. I’m still pretty upset about your claiming me, and I’d like for both of us to work together in deterring the wolf, but if you think you can stand my presence, then I can stand yours,” she finished with a sly smile.

Remus blushed at her comments, but was cut off by Severus before he could reply. “So, when did you plan on telling us that you could do wandless magic?”

She turned to the dark haired man and raised an eyebrow. “I can’t. I’m not sure what you saw, but that was not magic, Severus. At least, it was not magic in the same sense of the word that you use.”

“Like hell it wasn’t,” he replied, thinking that she was holding something from them. “I’ve never known just one witch to be able to cast a circle in the manner that you did. It usually takes a coven for protection that strong.”

Leah pinched the bridge of her nose in a very Snape-like manner. With a deep breath she began, “Ok, so you remember my outburst the first night I spent in your quarters? You know the one about the fates and your narrow minded view of magic? Well, that was the magic that I do back in my world. The biggest difference is that it manifests itself in a less physical way back home. Everything you saw was what I would normally do via visualization as opposed to physically. It’s not quite as strong back home, but I think the strength could be attributed to the fact that I am ensconced in a magical castle full of witches and wizards in a universe where magic is used in every day life for mundane things.

“I mean, yes, I’m a witch, but it’s more of a philosophy and a way of life than life itself, as it is here. I couldn’t swish and flick and make something levitate or anything like that.”

“Lupin, give her your wand. I want to see if she can ‘swish and flick’ as she put it,” Snape drawled as he looked at the werewolf.
Being a defense teacher, Remus was reluctant to give up his wand, but he handed it to the young woman. She rolled it over in her hands for a moment before grinning. “Remus, I can almost feel you in the wood of the wand.” Her voice was filled with awe.

“Now,” Severus commanded, “Cast a simple spell.”

Leah sighed, knowing that what he was asking of her was impossible, but she did as she was told. “Lumos.”

Both wizards sat there looking at her and Remus’ wand. She rolled her eyes. “See, I told you nothing would happen. Shall I cast another? Wingardium Levosia.”

She pointed the wand at her coffee table as she muttered the spell and nothing happened. She turned around and pointed the wand at Remus, “Accio werewolf,” she smirked.

Leah handed the wand back to Remus and sat back down. “Now do you believe me, Severus? I am but a mere muggle.”

He shrugged, not telling her he had other thoughts, and rose from the couch. “It is as you say, I suppose. Will you be joining us for lunch today?”

Leah scratched her head and grinned sheepishly. “I suppose that I should, shouldn’t I? As a matter of fact, I’m ravenous! When is lunch?”

Taking a glance at his watch, Remus answered, “In about an hour.”