The Queen of Vipers || Fred Weasley

I.XVII

She left the Weasley twins shortly after letting George perform Legilimency on her.

The hot water had done a decent job of soothing her aching muscles, and by the time she was heading down the halls, she was feeling like herself again... but also very not like herself.

Fundamentally nothing had really changed; she was still Electra Black, daughter of the last living Noble and most Ancient Black and outlaw, House disgrace, Cedric Diggory's shadow, borderline swot and recluse. But she seemed to be standing up a bit straighter. You'd think the less one knew, the more unburdened and carefree one would be, but it's just the opposite in her case.

Lighter. Truth had lifted an invisible weight off of her. One that she didn't even know was there. Thoughts of skipping down the halls danced in her head as she snaked through the corridors, the heat of the sun was beginning to broil the castle. She hadn't noticed in the steamy bathroom, she was itching to gather her hair off the back of her neck now, but voices distracted her. Electra rushed down the last bit of stairs and peered through the landing's arch.

Lupin's office door was open. She could see her professor standing behind his desk chair, hands gripping the wooden arched back, and he wasn't alone. Electra couldn't see the other person, but she knew immediately who stood in Lupin's office when he spoke.

"Is there nothing I can do to convince you, Remus?" Dumbledore asked, his voice carrying a tender note to it. It reminded Electra of how the nuns would speak to visiting couples looking to adopt; there was some sincerity to it, but they laid the sweetness on so thick it could have given Electra a cavity.

Lupin shook his shaggy head and smiled kindly in the direction of the Headmaster. "I appreciate your help, sir, I really do, but don't worry about me. I'll find something else, as I always do."

Dumbledore moved in front of the doorway now. He wore daffodil color robes and a hat to match, all embroidered ornately with silver thread. He sighed loudly. "I'm sure you will." Dumbledore gave him a deep bow of his head. Electra tucked herself behind the arch. "Look out for my owls."

Electra could hear his footsteps as Dumbledore exited Lupin's office. "You know I will," replied Lupin.

She straightened up and rounded the edge of the arch just as Dumbledore reached it himself. Feigning a face of surprise, Electra bowed her head. "Headmaster. I didn't expect to see you here."

Dumbledore smiled in a way that showed he knew she was acting. "As I didn't expect to see you either." He lifted his chin and looked at her through his half moon spectacles. His eyes grazed her forehead. Electra untucked her hair to better cover it up. He didn't ask and Electra didn't give an explanation. "Have a nice night, Miss Black?"

Electra fought to keep her features neutral. "Pretty uneventful, really."

There was an unmistakable sparkle in Dumbledore's eyes. "Ah, as expected after one's O.W.L.s."

Electra gave nothing away. She merely shrugged a shoulder and said, "All that studying will do that to a person."

Dumbledore seemed delighted in her unwavering. "Yes it will." He grinned almost impishly and nodded. Electra took this as a dismissal and dipped her head while skimming around the edge of the wall to get away and hurried along until she reached Lupin's office.

It looked different from the last time she'd seen it (last night that is). Books and some of his other oddends were missing from the top of one of his shelves, his usually cluttered desk was clear, and there was a large suitcase laid open on the floor in front of the now empty tank that had held the grindylow. His teacher's robes hung on a hook by the candle wax covered window —which she knew why he never opened the shutters now— and instead he wore a rather worn, brown tweed suit.