"Mia, what's this?" Remus soft voice broke the momentary silence as his large
fingers gently ran across the new disfigurement on her arm.
"What?"
"This scar, it's new," he said, touching it carefully.
"I-I.. ." I got it when you saved my life from Death Eaters. Right here, right outside this room
where Dumbledore was killed. "I don't know."
"Don't lie to me." He frowned, waiting for her to tell him the truth. When she only
averted her gaze, he exhaled and shook his head, stepping away from her grasp. "Nothing?
You're not even going to say a word to me? Fine. I'll... I'll see you." He turned toward
the door. "I'll just see you later. My rounds are over, and I'm going to bed."
"Remus!" Mia called after him, tears beginning to sting her eyes.
"Goodnight, Mia," he said sharply, vanishing down the staircase without looking
back.
"Hermione?"
Hermione jumped at the sound of Professor Lupin's voice, and she turned to watch as he walked
through the broken pieces of rubble that had yet to be cleared away from the entrance of the Astronomy
Tower. Prior to his arrival, she had been leaning against the railing, her tear-filled eyes staring downward
at the ground several hundred feet below.
"Remus!" Hermione took in a breath, cringing a bit. She still was not used to calling him by his
first name, but he had insisted on it repeatedly. "You startled me."
"Forgive me," he said with a frown, hands shoved into the pockets of his shabby, second-hand robes
as he slowly approached her. "I didn't think anyone would be up here. I didn't think anyone would want
to be up here, not for a while at least."
"I couldn't sleep."
"Nightmares?" he asked, his brow furrowed; it was a look that made Hermione think he might
actually be worried about her.
"What? No." She shook her head, wiping away a stray tear as it fell against her cheek. "I've just
been thinking about Professor Dumbledore, and well, everything I suppose. I just can't believe that Professor
Snape... I mean, I know he did it. Harry wouldn't lie about that. It's just hard to imagine."