Everything Beautiful [ Remus Lupin ]

chapter eight; the quandary

Sitting down at her desk, Minerva handed me a cup filled to the brim with breakfast tea. The witch's spectacles sat still on the bridge of her nose and behind them, her eyes scanned me as I took my first sip.

"Thank you for joining me this morning, Elaine. I hope you're feeling better today," she said, briefly smiling. I smiled back and nodded before a sombre look overtook her again, "As you may or may not be aware, Miss Fairfax escaped from permanent care at St. Mungo's,"

I set down my cup nodding, before interjecting, "Yes, I am well aware. She came to visit me at my parents' home just weeks ago. Right when she escaped,"

Minerva seemed stunned at the news, "Was this sighting reported?"

"Yes. The very next day, I reported it to the Ministry,"

"I must say... that is extremely odd, I was not made aware of any sightings. Do you know what Miss Fairfax's purpose was in visiting you?"

"No, I have no idea. She asked me a few questions, and she seemed interested once I told her I would be coming back to Hogwarts,"

"Hmm—well, this might be useful. In any case, Elaine," Minerva briefly paused, pushing her spectacles up on her nose, "Miss Fairfax is, possibly, meddled in a very dangerous situation. We believe her escape may be linked to Black's somehow as they happened only a few days apart,"

"The curse that backfired," I started, and McGonagall cocked a brow questioningly, "Do you think she was trying to defend herself from him?"

The professor sighed and, pursing her lips in thought, she replied, "There is no way to be sure, Elaine. However, we must do what's best. Miss Fairfax is in dire need of medical attention,"

"I understand. How exactly can I help?"

"For now, I'd like you to stay as alert as possible. If Miss Amaranth communicates with you in any way, I expect to be informed immediately so that we may take the necessary steps henceforth," Minerva explained, briefly sipping on her tea, "You have Miss Granger in your third year class, if I am not mistaken?"

I nodded, a small smile appearing on my face before I said, "Yes, she is very bright and has a keen interest in runes,"

"The best in her year," the head of Gryffindor said proudly, "In any case, it would be wise to keep an eye on her and her little friend group. She is very close to Potter, and with Sirius Black on the loose... the more people we have watching over him, the better..."

She trailed off and I nodded, understanding the implications.

☾

A couple of weeks into term, I sat at my desk reading over fifth year assignments, eyes scanning parchments and my quill casually hovering over runes and correcting mistranslations. A soft knock came from the door and I called out for the person to come in, my mind still focused on the work before me.

The door opened and Lance shuffled into my office, Hermione, Ron and Harry trailing behind him. I set my quill down, rather puzzled as only Hermione was in my class and I didn't see why Lance would willingly come to my office. He had, after all, done his best at avoiding me around other students, barely even greeting me in the mornings.

"What a pleasant surprise," I stated, stacking the assignments and shoving them to the side,

"El—Professor," Lance started hesitantly, his hands buried in the pockets of his robes and shifting his eyes between me and his feet, face flushing,

"It's fine, Lance, you can call me by my name. Is there anything I can help you with?" I gave a warm smile, and Hermione stepped closer as the three boys stood behind,

"Actually, Hagrid does. It's about Buckbeak,"

The name echoed in my mind, and I remembered Lance's attempt at telling me about it. I'd heard all about the incident days after, as the professors had lengthily discussed it around dinner more than once, and Madam Pomfrey had complained about Draco Malfoy's whines in the hospital wing.

"Ah, I've heard wind of a hearing. Mr. Malfoy doesn't seem to take the incident lightly," I said with pursed lips,

"But Buckbeak did nothing wrong!" Hermione almost cried out, my brother butting in to comment after her,

"That's true, Ellie, Malfoy was being an arse. He got what he deserved,"

I shook my head tutting, "I don't doubt that there is a great misunderstanding but Lance, you can't go around saying things like that. The boy was still hurt," I paused as I shifted in my seat, "Now, don't get me wrong I wouldn't want anything to happen to Hagrid. I do think this is being blown out of proportion, but there isn't anything I can do,"

"What about the hearings?" Harry stepped forward, determination painted in the emerald specks of his eyes,

"We've been reading all about past cases in the library," Hermione interjected, "And we need help... building his defence,"

I sighed, half giving in. The children were both stubborn and intent on helping their friend and professor, and there wasn't any point in trying to discourage them from trying to do good,

"Fine. I'll tell you what, I'll have a look through any archives I can find on the topic, and I'll have a chat with Hagrid myself,"

Relieved, the four children smiled.

"I knew we could count on you, the moment Hermione said to come to you—" Ron stopped himself as a flustered Hermione threw him a look, "Anyway, thank you professor,"

"Dinner's in a few minutes, you should head to the Great Hall soon," I announced, showing them the door, "I'll see you around. Stay out of trouble," I pointedly looked at the three boys, and they all nodded before hurrying out.

I sat back at my desk sighing, I knew exactly who to contact, but I also knew a response wasn't guaranteed. In any case, I pulled out some blank parchment and my quill, hesitatingly scribbling the beginning of my letter.

She would know what to do about Amaranth. And her husband worked at the Ministry, I knew this for certain, they could help Hagrid. I just had to hope something would come out of this letter.