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You knew the Gryffindor Trio, as you dubbed them, very well. Ever since you’d started school, you had been friends with them. They didn’t mind that you were a Slytherin, probably for the same reasons that the other Slytherins wouldn’t associate with you. They deemed you very un-Slytherin, so they wouldn’t talk to you. They harassed you so much – and you were such a good pupil – that Professor Snape found you a room for yourself. You tried to help keep the Trio out of the path of Snape’s fury when you could, if only because you didn’t understand why the Professor seemed to hate them so much.
One night, during third year, you were stopped by Professor Lupin in the halls. “Shouldn’t you be in your dormitory?”
“I’m heading to my room, now, Professor.” He gave you a quizzical look. “I don’t stay in the dormitory, Professor. The other students harass me.” You sighed, giving a sad smile. “They say I’m thoroughly un-Slytherin.”
“So you have your own room?” He still looked confused.
You nodded. “Professor Snape arranged it with the Headmaster. My room is just over there,” you pointed to a door, “in that hallway, on the way to the dungeons.” Your smile was happier. “At least I have my own lavatory, though I do have to walk down the hall to get to it.” You were in your pajamas, having just finished getting cleaned up.
“I see.” He smiled kindly at you. “Well, then, shall I at least escort you back to your room?”
Sirius Black had been spotted in the castle and had already attacked the portrait of the Fat Lady, so you could understand the professor’s concern. This knowledge did not stop you from blushing slightly. Last year, while all the other girls were swooning over Professor Lockhart, you were unimpressed. Professor Lupin, however, made your heart skip a beat when he smiled at you. “Of course, Professor.” You smiled nervously.
The two of you walked toward your room in silence, you glancing nervously at him once in a while, while he stayed alert for intruders. You knew your crush was silly, and could get both of you in trouble if anything came of it, but for some reason, your heart did not understand the worries your brain had. You stopped by your door. “Thank you, Professor.”
“Not a problem. I can’t have one of my best students getting hurt.” He smiled, and you nearly melted. You weren’t sure if he realized what sort of effect he had on you, but you merely plastered a grin to your face and scurried into your room.
Remus could tell, with his heightened senses, why you scurried away, and he would not stop you. You were a very sweet girl, and he knew you seemed to have crush on him, but he also knew that could be a very bad idea, and not just in a legal sense, even if you did seem very mature for your age. He walked away quickly to go take a cold shower.
You took time to help Hagrid with his defense of Buckbeak, and was even given permission to go with him to the trial. With your eye witness testimony, as well as the historical precedence that Hermione and you had found in the Library, you managed to have the charges dismissed. Lucius Malfoy glared at you, but you figured part of that was because you were a Slytherin that didn’t help back his son’s story. You didn’t worry, though, since you were an orphan, with no family for him to threaten.
One day, you joined the Trio in visiting Hagrid at his home, and he returned Ron’s rat to him. You left before them, wanting to go back and talk with Peeves, whom you have actually become a good friend with. Peeves had been talking to you more since Professor Snape’s substitution of Professor Lupin’s class. Hermione had asked about your new research, but you had kept it secret, even from her.
You noticed, as you had been talking with Peeves, that the sun had gone down and the Trio were still missing. “Peeves…Have you seen the Trio?”
“They went under the willow.” He snickered, though he tried to look serious again. “And loopy Lupin forgot his potion…”
You gasped, then looked at him suspiciously. “Why are you telling me this?” You had a moment of realization. “PEEVES! You’re basically making me do this ritual!”
“No…” He pretended to look innocent. “I’m not making you do anything…”
“You hid his potion, didn’t you?” He was silently giggling while you yelled at him. “You knew it was a full moon tonight! And you KNOW that my friends are out there! Damn you, Peeves…” You fumed. He knew about your crush, and seemed to approve. You weren’t sure if this were because he wanted you to perform this ritual or because he wanted to see what would happen if you actually got together… “Why do you want me to do this ritual? Why did you tell me about it?”
“You wanted to help him…” Peeves sighed. “Loopy Lupin and his friends always made it fun…He’s usually so sad, now…”
“Aww, Peeves.” You giggled. “You like him.” He glared half-heartedly, but you winked. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. I should go if I’m going to do this, though…” You sighed. “And no music to dance to…”
“I can help with that.” Peeves giggled. “I can play music for you!”
“Fine…then let’s go…”
The ritual you had been researching after Peeves had told you about it had to do with werewolves, of course. It was a way to keep a werewolf from changing during the full moon by siphoning some power from a partner. It was known as the Lifebonding Ritual. Unfortunately, there were consequences with this. If the human partner ever died before the werewolf, it could cause the other to go mad. If the wolf died, usually the partner fell into depression until committing suicide. Peeves wanted to help Lupin not be so lonely, and so did you. The two of you knew, however, that Lupin would never agree to this unless it was absolutely necessary.
It seemed that Peeves decided to create that absolutely necessary scenario himself.
You rushed outside to see the Trio, along with Professor Lupin, a small balding man, an unconscious Professor Snape, and Sirius Black, coming out of the hole under the Whomping Willow. Hermione was the first to notice you. “[Name]…”
“Get inside!” You were not in your uniform, or your school robes. Though you had no family, they had left you quite an inheritance. After Peeves had told you about the ritual, you sent for a special robe order. You were wearing dancing robes, an old style that was rarely used anymore. Hermione looked confused, and you confused her more by immobilizing the balding man that looked to be about to escape. “Quickly!”
“Dementors?” Ron looked around nervously while trying to drag the now stiff prisoner with a broken leg.
You shook your head while running towards them. “Just hurry inside!” The clouds were moving, and you weren’t sure you could keep a werewolf’s attention with all the people about. “The clouds…” Hermione had heard that, carried on the wind, and she started to help pull the balding man along. You saw her say something to Harry, which was passed to Black. You could see his eyes widen, and he stared at Lupin, who started to understand why you were calling the others inside.
Lupin stared at you, slowly realizing what you were about to do. His head and heart were actually at war. His head knew that this was a bad idea, as it would bind the two of you together, and you had so much to live for. His heart pointed out that he wouldn’t be alone anymore, and you cared for him already…
While Lupin had his mental debate, Sirius and the Trio moved Snape and their prisoner closer to the door, behind you, when the moon was finally out from behind the clouds. “Peeves!”
As Lupin changed, Peeves began to play a set of pan pipes. You began to dance, channeling your magic as you had researched. You channeled enough to pull some of the magic that the full moon had – as the ritual said – to bathe yourself in its glow. The werewolf watched you, not noticing the people stopped on the stairs, watching it all.
You knew the basic idea of the dance, but past that, you were just improvising. Your main job was to get the creature to start dancing with you, more or less, where you could take the front paws and basically dance together. You decided to add to it, as a diary from a woman who had succeeded in performing this ritual had described.
You took to channeling your magic a little more, making yourself smell more like the forest. This was a trickier method, as it can cause exhaustion after the ritual was completed, but the diary also pointed out that the ritual completed faster. It took a little more effort on your part, but you did so. It seemed to be working.
The werewolf approached you slowly. It sniffed at you, standing on its hind legs to sniff your face. You took that chance to gently caress its muzzle, slowly backing away when necessary, and never leaving your tip toes.
Meanwhile, the Trio watched the scene before them in confusion. “What is she doing?” Hermione was curious, mostly in an academic sense.
“The Lifebonding Ritual…” Snape mused. He was no longer unconscious, but couldn’t muster the energy to be angry watching you dance. “I didn’t realize anyone still knew about it…”
“Peeves obviously does…” Sirius realized that Peeves had talked to Remus many times during the school years whenever a girl had shown interest in him. “Peeves must have been planning this…”
This, at least, gave Snape a new person to be upset at. Pettigrew could not move, and could not understand how a 13 year old girl could put that strong of a charm on him, until he noticed what everyone was watching. There was another danger with this ritual that you had found, but did not care about. It can kill the witch or wizard performing it, as it does drain some magic. Watching as you started dancing with the werewolf, as if it were a waltz or other slow dance.
You slowly smiled as you held Lupin’s paws, slowly moving them, being careful not to scratch yourself on him. When you let go and took a step back, he collapsed, and Peeves stopped playing the music. You had also brought another cloak, which you draped over Lupin, just to save yourself from collapsing in embarrassment. “Professor..?”
You heard a gasp, then saw Lupin’s head appear out from under the cloak. He looked up at you, and then looked behind you to Peeves, glaring. “What did you do, Peeves?”
“Only what I asked him to…granted, there really wasn’t a choice here…” You looked sheepish, but also defiant. “Peeves only told me about the ritual. I researched it on my own.”
“Do you understand what this means?”
“We are Lifebonded now. This will help keep you calmer while in wolf-form, while also eliminating the need to change during the moon. Now you can change at will. There are some risks, I know, but…” your expression changed to concern, “you always look so lonely. It broke my heart to see that, partly because it reminded me of how I feel during the summer…”
Remus gaped, and shut his mouth as soon as he realized it was open. He wasn’t sure how to answer that explanation. “I’m not sure what to say…”
You smiled. “We should go inside. It’s getting chilly, and you still have a prisoner to deal with…”
Lupin realized that Pettigrew was still on the stairs with everyone else, and it made him chuckle. “You have quite a bit of power within you…”
You barely heard him. After hearing him start to chuckle, you swayed and collapsed.
You woke a couple of hours later in the hospital wing, Professor Lupin sitting beside you. “Are you feeling better now?”
You smiled weakly. “I’m tired, but fine besides that…” You suddenly noticed that the Trio, Black, and Professor Snape were all there. “What happened while I was out?”
“Sirius has been cleared of all charges.” You hadn’t noticed Professor Dumbledore in the room. “And you could be in a bit of trouble…”
Your eyes widened. “Professor?”
“That was quite a dangerous spell you worked.” His eyes sparkled with kindness, but his tone was still on the serious side. “Where did you learn about it?”
“I researched it in the Library. It wasn’t hard to find information about it if you know where to look. Peeves told me which ones I could look through that weren’t in the Restricted Section, so I didn’t have to try and find a professor to sign a permission slip and ask questions.”
“Peeves helped you?” The Headmaster cocked an eyebrow at you.
You nodded. “Peeves was the one that told me about it. He said he wanted to make sure Professor Lupin wasn’t so lonely…”
Peeves appeared at that time, turning loops in the air. “Loopy Lupin is too lonely…” Peeves giggled. “Not now!”
“Why did you find it a good idea to involve a student, Peeves?”
“Peeves didn’t lie to her. Nor did I force her.”
“I wouldn’t call taking all other choices away not forcing things…” you muttered.
“What was that?” The Headmaster stared at you, and you felt he could see your soul.
“Peeves knew that Professor Lupin hadn’t had his potion. I think he hid it from him and assured him that he had taken it…and everyone else was in danger at that time, because they were all outside. Even if the Professor wasn’t with them in the group, he would have noticed them after he turned and attacked…I couldn’t allow that…”
“You couldn’t allow your friends to be in danger…”
You shook your head. “I…I couldn’t let him do something he’d regret…especially since he wouldn’t know it happened until after the fact…” You were whispering, but you knew the Headmaster could hear you. He had come closer to you, while everyone else kept their distance. Everyone except Remus, who had not moved from his spot beside you.
“Professor Lupin, may I have a moment with your Lifemate.” Lupin agreed, partly because Dumbledore had used the term Lifemate. He moved from his seat and walked toward the rest of the group waiting there. “Young Lady, is there something else?”
“Professor, you know everything that goes on here. I’m pretty sure you already know about my crush on Professor Lupin…”
“Many thought you had a crush on Professor Snape…”
“Sort of, but it’s not quite the same. He’s always been very kind to me, yes, but it’s more a feeling of gratitude for understanding my issues with others in the house and finding a way to help me…”
“I see.” You had never heard Dumbledore sigh before. “You’re sure this was what you wanted? You can’t reverse this, you know.”
You gave a shy smile. “I know, but I don’t mind. Peeves said something to me once that I agree with, namely that Professor Lupin and I were both alike in that we were very lonely people. And I believe that if something had started to go wrong out there, Peeves would have found some way to protect me. He was my first friend here, after all…”
“If you’re sure…” You nodded again. “Very well. I will have to report this to the Ministry, but I’m sure everything will work out. You should get some rest.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Remus returned to your side as Dumbledore left. “So what did the Headmaster have to say?”
“In a nutshell,” you started, a mischievous glint in your eye, “you’re stuck with me…”
Remus had not realized until that moment that you had meant everything you had said before. Your demeanor, along with the perceptions the Lifebond gave, showed that you knew how deeply you cared for him long before you had performed that ritual. It proved that you would have done so even if there had not been a necessity to. This presented a bit of a problem, as there would probably be an inquiry from the Ministry, but it also showed that there would be nothing they could do about it. That knowledge seemed to make you even happier, as if you knew they could no longer separate the two of you. “You realize I may not get to stay on as a Professor?”
You pondered that a moment. “But the first year of the Lifebond is the most important. They can’t separate us too much, as that could cause instability in your shifting. You may shift without realizing it, full moon or no.”
“You researched more than I thought…”
“Peeves snuck the books from the Restricted Section out for me. I read them without a permission slip.” You grinned. “You’re not the only one with connections…” He laughed, but you grew serious. “I’ll have to make sure I reference all those books when they have our inquiry…there’s a lot of information there…” You trailed off, a new thought pooping into your head. “So what’s to become of your prisoner?”
“He’s going to Azkaban in Sirius’ place, since he actually committed the crimes.” You nodded. “And Sirius will be returning to his home.”
“So if I want to visit Harry, I’ll have to go there?” He nodded. “At least I won’t have to visit him to keep those relatives of his honest…” You shivered. “Those people are so weird…”
He chuckled again. “I don’t think you have to worry about that now. Severus doesn’t seem too happy though…”
You moved to look at said Professor. “He does seem more dour than usual…” You sighed. “I don’t know how the Trio will handle this either…” He cocked a brow at the name. “The Trio: Harry, Hermione, and Ron.”
“I’m not sure, though Hermione seemed awfully curious about the ritual…”
“She will have to stay curious. I used too much energy by adding in every trick I could find. It’s hard to channel moonlight, forest scents, and feelings all at once…” You sniffed, then started to nestle back into the pillows. “I’m tired…”
“You need to rest. I’ll be here in the morning.”
“Promise?”
“I will always be here for you, Lifemate.” You fell asleep secure in the knowledge that he meant every word…