Easy Mistake ; Harry Potter

F I F T Y T W O | Moony

Eleanor sat frozen for a moment. Even though she had a warning and knew that it was someone Harry knew, she still felt fearful to answer the door.

The person knocked again three times and Eleanor jumped again. She stood up from her bed and slowly walked down the stairs, her stomach doing terrible back flips. She could see the silhouette of the person standing by the door through the frosted glass, whoever it was they looked tall.

Eleanor caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror that was hung by the coat rack and saw how rough she looked. Whoever this person was, she was about to make a terrible first impression. Eleanor shrugged and reached to open the door, making sure the lock was on the catch, she felt safer that way.

When she saw who was at the door, some of her fear vanished for some reason. She didn't know who it was but she immediately took note of their warm but tired eyes. It was a fairly tall man, who looked much too young to have as many grey hairs twisted in his brown hair as he did. Eleanor couldn't help but notice that he had many deep scars running along his nose and face. His clothes looked well worn too.

He smiled when Eleanor opened up. "Eleanor Summers?"

Eleanor swallowed. Although the man looked kind, she didn't know if it was wise to let him in to her house, especially because she was alone.

Noticing the hesitation on Eleanor's face, Remus' smile turned warm. "I'm a friend of Harry's. I used to teach him in his third year. He has black, messy hair like his father and green eyes like his mother. If you still do not believe me I can come back a different day, after you've had chance to talk it over with Harry."

Eleanor looked again at the man's face and saw his sincere eyes. There was no trace of hesitation, or him being shifty, so slowly Eleanor opened the door wide enough for him to enter. "Yeah, I'm Eleanor." She muttered.

The man gave a slight bow as he entered. "Thank you."

Eleanor stood there for a moment, silent as the man glanced around the hall. She wasn't used to having guests and if she did, one of her fathers would deal with them. "Er, would you like to hang your coat up? It's quite warm in here."

"Yes, thank you." The man said again, as he hung up his coat. "Harry didn't happen to mention why I was coming, did he?"

At Eleanor's startled expression, the man elebaorated. "Harry's with us now, when he overheard me talking to Dumbledore about someone coming out to chat to you, he said he should probably write a warning letter."

"Er, no he didn't. Mention why you're here, I mean. Come on through to the living room." As Eleanor led him through into the living room, she carried on; "He mentioned that he, wizards I mean, aren't allowed to tell people like me, Muggles was it? That they exist, so he said that someone was coming out to see me. I don't know why though. Am I in trouble?"

The man smiled. "No, you're not in any trouble. Though Harry was right to say that you're not meant to know we exist." The man gave Eleanor a pointed look.

Eleanor couldn't help herself. "You're a wizard too?"

The man nodded. "I'm Remus Lupin, by the way. Excuse my ignorance for not introducing myself sooner."

"Is Harry in trouble then?" Eleanor continued to fire questions at the man, not at all feeling sorry for it.

"I assume Harry told you about the Ministry hearing?" He saw Eleanor nod. "Well, we just have to find out after the hearing. Dumbledore's done as much as he can, at least Harry's not expelled for the time being."

Eleanor took note on how tired and weary Remus looked. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"What?-" Remus had been spacing off. "Oh, yes please. Two sugars and milk if you will."

"So," Eleanor continued as she walked into the kitchen, beginning to prepare the drinks. The living room and kitchen were one open space so her voice didn't have to travel far. "I have a feeling something more is going on, am I right? I mean, Harry and that Mrs Figg were confused and scared about the Dementors being in Little Whinging. I take it they are not meant to be there and then something must have happened at the end of Harry's school year too."

Eleanor brought Remus' drink through to the living room once they were made and placed it in front of him on the coffee table.

He muttered a small thanks, looking at Eleanor quizzically. "What gave you that idea?"

Eleanor sat down opposite Remus, holding her own cup of tea. She felt very dirty. She was still in the clothes she had been wearing yesterday, she hadn't even gotten around to brushing her teeth yet. "Well Harry seemed off near the end of the school year."

Remus frowned. "Off, how?"

Eleanor gave the man a wry smile. "Well he ignored me for two months and it definitely wasn't my fault. It has something to do with that school he goes too. I know it, he said something about a tournament too."

Remus looked concerned. "Yes, he's had a rough couple of months that's for sure. So, care to tell me what Harry's told you so far?"

"He hasn't said much. He's told me vague things but Harry always said he would elaborate when we met in the summer but obviously that didn't go quite to plan. If it weren't for the Dementors, I don't think I would've believed him when he said he was a wizard." Eleanor admitted, sheepishly.

"Well, if you tell me what he's said, I might be able to fill in some gaps." Remus prompted encouragingly.

So, Eleanor did just that. She retrieved the letters from her room and showed them all to Remus, explaining that Harry never went into great detail about anything involving the wizarding world. The only things she knew now was that wizards exist, as well as Dementors and that Hogwarts is a wizarding school. She still didn't know what this tournament was or what happened during last year for Harry to become quiet.

Once Eleanor had finished her explanation, Remus looked quite serious. "Dumbledore - you know who Dumbledore is, don't you?"

Eleanor nodded. "He's the Headmaster at Hogwarts."

"Okay good. Well Dumbledore had a right struggle to convince the Ministry that you were trust worthy enough and not to Obliviate you."

"You mean they were going to wipe my memory?"

Remus nodded grimly. "It's been the law for years. It's in place to keep both muggles and wizards alike safe."

Eleanor was quick to defend herself. "I wouldn't- I won't ever tell anyone. It's not like they would believe me anyway. I'd probably get locked away if I even mentioned the words of magic being real."

Remus gave a weak smile. "Well Harry certainly thinks you're trust worthy enough. But just know, if you ever tell anyone the truth, it won't be your life you'll be ruining. The Ministry will put full blame on Harry and the consequences will be severe."

The look in Remus' eyes made Eleanor gulp. The kind expression was gone and Eleanor could see his eyes were alight with some sort of fire. The man obviously cared a lot about Harry. But so did Eleanor, and she would never betray him like that, not when he trusted her enough with something as big as this. "I won't tell a soul."

Remus seemed to see the truth behind Eleanor's words for he brightened up again. "Good. Well it seems about time to fill in some of those gaps about Harry's past. I don't know it all, so do forgive me if there are some holes here and there."

"I'll have to go right back to the beginning where it all began when Harry was born. Right Eleanor, this is going to take a while, may I have another cup of tea?"

(Eleanor's finally going to understand everything. How do you think she'll take it?)