Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Breaking Silence ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Dear Remus,

I can't thank you enough for the essay, you just saved my G.P.A and none existent social life. Truly, I am grateful. Oh and nice try by the way, trying to figure out who I was by who my friends are, how about we compromise and I'll tell you about my family. I have three sisters Malinda(26) Karen(25) and Tess(10).My parents have been together for going on thirty years now. Like many marriages from my family, theirs was an arranged marriage, and a very loveless marriage at that. I have a pretty estranged relationship from all of my family except my little sister. I probably wouldn't go home if it weren't for little Tessie. No one would really miss me besides her. She is the sweetest little thing, she's small for her age, very different from myself, she takes after the rest of the family with her mousy brown hair and cornflower blue eyes. She is a sweetheart though and I love her more than anyone or anything else in the world. So moving on from me, please tell me about your family? I would love to get off the topic of mine.

Your exhaustedly

A Lady

P.S. I also was wondering about the argument you had with you girlfriend today, I cant recall her name, I don't believe I know it. Yes I was eavesdropping but I didn't catch the end and am interested about it. I wont ask you to tell me everything about your relationship though I would ask if you will keep writing me? Though that would be answered if I get a reply from this.

Sophie was aware on how bold it was for her to mention Gwen, especially when she met Remus that day. She was hoping desperately for her usual talent of being forgettable would help her out. After their meeting though, she was conflicted with her feelings. A part of her, and she didn't know how big, wanted Remus to figure out who she was. She sighed and tried not to analyze herself any further afraid of what she might find. Sealing the letter, she left the library table she had commandeered for while doing all of her homework and then to write Remus's letter.

The trip to the Owlry was a brief trip that she was thankful for, it was close to three and she had yet to sleep. She had gotten the crazy idea into her head to do all of her homework now and leave the rest of her weekend open for herself. That had ended with four hours of homework and another hour spent writing back to Remus. She was surprised it hadn't taken her long with how worried about what she should say, it had slowed her down considerably. She was done though and with the new books she had found paired with the crisp autumn weather, she had every intention of enjoying her weekend to the fullest.

Opening the wooden owlry door Sophie stepped in the now familiar tower room. The large octagonal room was filled with feathers and owl droppings and the smell of them. Ignoring those characteristics, and the massive numbers of owls, the room was rather amazing. Its high ceiling broken up only by rafters converted into owl perches, the tall glassless windows letting in a constant breeze that was very refreshing, if a bit cold from the crisp night air.

Walking to the center of the room she beckoned to her new friend, a fantastic barn owl of almost regal stature. Sophie didn't own an owl personally; her father wouldn't allow her to have anything as opulent as that. The most expensive thing that she owned would be her wand. A gorgeous willow wand sixteen inches with unicorn hair core. It wasn't an expensive wand, she actually found it while she was in the library in her home tucked hidden behind some very old books. She wouldn't even be going to Hogwarts if it weren't for the fact that Hogwarts was so persistent about her attending.

"Hello there darling! I have a letter for you to deliver tomorrow." Duchess as Sophie had taken to calling her looked at her with contempt in her eyes, hooted and flew down to meet her. "Did I wake you up Duchess? I'm sorry, but I had to finish my homework before I wrote the letter and well I brought you a treat?" Sophie said with a sheepish shrug. Some people would look at her weird if they saw her talking to an owl as such. She would challenge them to have Duchess turned her powerful stare on you and see if you don't bow or curtsy to her and ask forgiveness for what ever you may have done. Being reminded of the groveling that she should be doing at the moment, she held out her hand filled with Duchess's favorite owl treats while making sure her arm was covered enough so that Duchess's talons wouldn't dig into her skin. Duchess was normally very careful not to grip any harder than what she needed to stay perched on Sophie's arm. "Here you go you needy thing." Duchess picked at her treats. "There now are you happy with me Your Grace?" she cooed softly and continued to eat from Sophie's palm. Skillfully Sophie slipped her letter into onto Duchess's leg with one hand having done this before. After finishing the treats, Duchess turned and looked at Sophie expectantly. "What? Now you like me again Your Grace?" Sophie smiled and rubbed Duchess's head affectionately. "Why do I…" Sophie never finished that sentence do to the door being thrown open causing Duchess to screech and dig her claws into Sophie's barely protected arm causing her to cry out in pain herself. Duchess took off flying high into rafters. Sophie fell to her knees, trying to breathe through the pain that was assaulting her in white hot bursts.

"Jesus you scared me what are you doing here so late?" if Sophie wasn't in so much pain she would have recognized the instantly. "Are you hurt?" that pulled Sophie out of her pain a bit. Well enough to yell at the masculine voice that was being so insensitive.

"Nope I normally bleed from my arm profusely." Sophie blamed the pain for unusual sharpness. She felt a warm body crouch down on her left side.

"Here let me help you. Sorry for before I didn't know you were hurt and I was a little to startled to know that you were hurt. Here let me take a look." A large warm gripped her arm gently pulling her arm closer to him. Sophie finally looked up at the face of who she previously considered a jerk. She gasped, realizing it was Remus who had startled Duchess into taking a chunk out of her arm. "I'm sorry did I hurt you?" concern flashed into his eyes and his forehead scrunched a little in worry.

"A little, but you can't help it." Sophie covered as skillfully as possible, trying to hide her recognition of him. Remus just nodded and proceeded to pull back the tattered remains of the front sleeve of her robe. She only had three gashes that were of any relevance. "These will have to get cleaned maybe we should go to the infirmary." Though it was phrased as a question Sophie had a feeling it wasn't. Sophie balked at the idea of making the trip down to the infirmary with Remus. She really liked talking with him, she really did but she didn't want him to let him know who she was yet. She didn't care really what Gwen thought or tried to do to her but since no one had been her friend all these years and now finally finally she had someone and she didn't want to chance it.

"No, its fine. I can make my own way down to the infirmary." Sophie tried to smile taking her arm away from him grimacing when the pain hit from jarring it.

"I am responsible for scaring the owl into hurting you. I'm taking you to the infirmary. Come on, I'll help you up." He grabbed her under the arms lifting her up to her feet and waiting, letting her get them under her.

"You really don't have to you know?" even though she knew it wouldn't make a difference, she tried anyways.

"After the way that I snapped at you during lunch at the library today? You should probably avoid me, all I have ever done to you is yell at you and get you injured." He smiled down at her crookedly.

"In my defense, you just keep running into me, no real choice there." He flinched slightly, pricked by something she had said.

"Yes I guess this like everything else is my fault." He sighed. Sophie jumped in to reassure him.

"Its not really either of our faults, its…" she trailed off looking for the proper word.

"Fate?" He offered up with a smile for her. She smiled back at him flinching on the inside from the intimacy of the word, and the irony of at the same time.

"I guess fate would be as good a word as any." She tried to keep her tone light.

"Alright let's get you to the infirmary." He swung her good arm around his shoulder and put his arm around her waist.

"I'm not limping or anything you don't need to hold me." Sophie remarked a little forcefully, knowing full well what this looked like.

"But this way if you faint from blood loss or what not, than I can catch you sooner." His argument seemed sound especially when after the first few steps she took the room started to spin go black around the edges.

"I don't faint." She said strongly. Remus just laughed at her noticing how much more weight she was placing on him.

"So what are you doing up in the Owlry this late at night?" She remarked farther along in their journey. Now that they had been moving it was very nice to have him there to lean on.

"The same question can be asked about you?" Sophie was too busy looking at the painting they were passing to see the look he flashed her.

"That's an easy answer actually. I was finishing my weekend homework in one night." the mixture of exhaustion and blood loss was having an interesting effect on her, making her more talkative than she normally was with almost perfect strangers, despite her written friendship with him. She noticed how comfortable she was around him as well, much more than she should have been, something her non-foggy brain would have noticed.

"You do your homework in Owlry?" she opened her mouth to answer to say she was sending a letter to a pen pall only to close it again.

"I was sending a letter to my parents actually." She lied. She tried to think quickly to make the lie a little more believable. "I finished it after my homework. My father gets worried if I don't send letters often enough. Now enough about me, why were you in the Owlry this late at night?"

"The short answer is that I couldn't sleep and I like that room." Sophie acknowledge the fact they both loved that room not that he was covering for his real reason for being out and about.

They walked in silence for a while, which was perfectly fine with Sophie. The less she and Remus talked in person the less likely he was to make any connection between A Lady and herself, her real self. She let her mind drift looking at the old paintings glaring at the pair for waking them up. I thought wandered into Sophie's head and she blurted it out before she thought of what she was doing.

"What do you like about it?" Remus looked confused down at Sophie.

"Like about what?"

"I guess that was a little vague… sorry bout that. The Owlry, I was wondering what you liked about the Owlry?" Sophie blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"Oh, well I don't know. The view is nice, and no one is there at the times I come." He shot her a pointed look. "Well normally at least. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just making conversation really."

"Do you like it?"

"Like what? The Owlry?" She assumed yes. "I really like it actually. The tall windows, the feeling of window rushing around you, there's no place else I know of that has that." A smile played lazily across her face. Remus couldn't stop himself from smiling as well. Realizing what he was doing he dropped the smile and thanked the poor lighting, hoping it would hide his blunder.

"I guess your right. In the winter time it's colder than the Arctic Circle. I don't know how the owls stand it, feathers or no feathers."

"I'm guessing you don't like the cold?" you could hear the smile in her voice.

"No. I really don't. There is no good reason to be cold, so I try to refrain from it." Sophie openly laughed at that.

"I especially love it in the winter. When it's snowing, the sun shining through the white layers of clouds. I see it as a personal attack on the clouds by the sun. The sun getting back at some sort of weather cloud, it can't contend with rain storms so it feels it necessary to shine through the snow clouds when ever it can." She laughed merrily, remembering fond memories. "My favorite part is standing in the middle of the Owlry while the winds are particularly high, the snow swirls in though the tall windows and glints like shards of glass or of crystal, winding around you in a way that could only happen in a magnificent dream, or something a kin to it."

"Glass or crystal? It couldn't be made of diamond?" he sounded amused at her child like enthusiasm.

"No it couldn't possibly be. Something that wonderful wouldn't need to be expensive. No something that exquisite could only be something that every person could enjoy. It has to be crystal, colorful, graceful, and beautiful in its simplicity. Crystal." Remus had a feeling Sophie had revealed more than she wished to in that little story. He didn't get a chance to ask anything further, for they had arrived at the infirmary.

Walking in the door Remus led Sophie to the nearest bed and left to fetch the nurse, rapping on her door bringing Professor Hull quickly. A portly matronly looking woman answered, alarm shown in her face.

"Remus what is it? It's not your time of the month, yet you still have a week." Remus stopped her by holding up her hand.

"It's nothing like that." He quickly reassured her. "Its Sophia Naldeg, she was injured by an owl that I startled. Her arms hurt pretty bad." Concern weaved in and out of his voice.

Relief shows in the matronly women's face. The prospect of a simple owl injury was much preferable to the thought of a werewolf bite. Remus grimaced to himself mentally knowing what Professor Hull what thinking. He would have to agree of course, but it was slightly sad, in his eyes, that that should be her major concern anytime he came to see her. Being what he was always made him feel like a leper, despite how much his friends tried to change his mind. It was still something he had to keep from most of the people in his life, a rather major fact about his existence that he couldn't reveal. Granted it was much better than the alternative, he hated lying to everyone all the same.

"Is she still coconscious?" Professor Hull's question broke Remus out of his revere.

"Ah yes, actually she yelled at me at first, when I asked if she was alright." Professor Hull gave him a weird look.

"Are you sure it's Sophia?" he nodded. "Well do you know her well than?" he shook his head. "That's interesting, she comes in once or twice a year in the winter, prone to lung infections, and she's always the quietest, most polite girl I have ever seen. I have never heard of her even raising her voice. It's a mystery among the professors about her, one of the most talented potion brewers we have seen in decades, as well as an excellent transfigurest. None of the staff ever sees her with anyone though, she normally completely alone, which boggles our minds because she is such a nice girl." Remus decided that that Professor Hull didn't know she was rambling, and revealing things she shouldn't have been. Probably because she's happy about not having to treat a werewolf bite, he thought blackly.

"Sophie what seems to be the matter?" Professor Hull called out in warm greeting. Sophie was still lying in the bed that Remus had left her in. when she failed to answer, Remus rushed to her side fearing the worst. Professor Hull just went and gathered the supplies she needed leaving Remus to worry about Sophie. She was relaxed and at peace, errant curls falling across her sleeping face. Remus couldn't help but smile at the serenity in her face. She really is quite pretty, he thought while brushing the curls away. He wasn't sure what it was about this girl, but he felt like he knew her somehow, felt like she was keeping something from him.

"You can go on to bed now Remus, I can handle it from here." Briskly Professor Hull set to her task, first by exposing the slashes left by the owl's talons. Remus flinched seeing the three long angry red marks that were causing her skin to swell in what must be agonizing pain. He was suddenly even happier that she was asleep and not awake to notice the pain. "Mr. Lupin, I believe I dismissed you." The nurse chided him sharply.

"Sorry Professor, just one last question. Will she be alright? No scars or anything?" Professor Hull looked at him suspiciously.

"No, she will just fine, just a day in the hospital wing to make sure no infections set in or something nasty like that, but no scars or anything, by the time she wakes up she wont even be in pain. Though you young man better watch how you enter the Owlry for now on. I like you Remus, despite your condition, but I will stick up for this poor girl." Remus smiled, nodded, and left. Sophie might not have any friends but she did have a protector in Nurse Hull. Remus was left wondering what he wanted to be to her if anything.