The Queen of Vipers || Fred Weasley

I.XIII

"Where have you heard that name before?"

"Your map." She gestured to the Marauder's Map laid out on Lupin's desk.

Lupin's face went white as parchment. He lowered his wand with a slight tremor to it. "I don't know how you—"

She flicked her wand towards the gramophone and the music teetered off. "It wasn't difficult to figure out," she proclaimed with a casual flourish of her hands. "Not once I saw that you knew how to use the map... and I found out how old the Whomping Willow was. Planted before or while —I'm not the best at math— you, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs started your first year at Hogwarts. That's why it's on the map." She tilted her head and gave her professor a wicked smile. "Moony," she mused. "A fitting name for a werewolf."

Lupin flinched and her smile faltered. She almost felt bad, but he had lied and that still stung.

Silence hung heavy in the air for a long time before Lupin spoke again. "So you've come to gloat?"

Electra huffed out a laugh. "No. Well, maybe a little," she added with a small shrug of a shoulder, "but I came for answers."

He looked downcast, and it showed in his voice as well. "You seem like you have all the answers you need."

She shook her head. "Oh no. Not nearly enough." Electra rose from her professor's chair and rounded his desk. "You've lied to me."

Lupin's eyebrow rose. "Lied?"

"Well, you withheld information. That's as good as lying to me." Electra turned on him and she wasn't able to hide the hurt from her face. "I thought we were on the same side."

Professor Lupin sighed deeply, hanging his head and looking at the floor. Electra bit her lip. She didn't like to see him distraught, and it bothered her more that it was her that put him under such duress. But he deserved it.

He cleared his throat. "Please understand, with the Wolfsbane Potion I can keep my mind. I've never harmed anyone—"

"What?" barked Electra. She shook her head. "Oh Circe, I don't care that you're a werewolf!"

His head shot up, eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Then—"

"I care that you didn't tell me you were helping my father into the castle!" Electra was so angry she could feel her heart thrumming against her chest.

Lupin's eyes went wide. "Electra! You know I'd never do such a thing."

Electra glowered. "No. Not directly. But you know how he's getting in." Electra felt the words ring in the air and held off her next words. Perhaps she really was here to gloat a bit. "Through the Whomping Willow passageway, in the form of a dog. He's an animagus. Padfoot, is he not?"

Lupin loosened a breath. Electra watched as he approached his desk and dumped himself into his office chair. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair. "You are one clever girl."

This pleased Electra greatly, calming the storm in her. "I think 'cunning' is what you lot like to call us Slytherins," she said as she inclined her chin proudly.

Lupin laughed despite himself. "I suppose that's fair."

Electra's face twitched and she sat in the chair opposite him. She crossed her legs and studied her professor curiously. "I've seen him on the grounds, you know. He follows me."

The professor's eyes widened wildly. "Excuse me?"

"In dog form," Electra amended. "I didn't know it was him until today." She could feel Lupin's eyes scan her, searching for any sign of injury. She waved a carefree hand in the air. "He never gets close to me, only watches from afar and then disappears. But today, I followed him, right to the Whomping Willow. And by the by, whoever you confincated the Map from was not the first person to lay eyes on it." She tapped her temple. "So, that's when I got to thinking. And now I'm here."