(Untitled)

[sleep_to_die]

Date: January 8, 2002
Time: Midday
Characters Involved: Isadora, ANY
Location: Diagon Alley

Comments

[sleep_to_die]

Still staring quite dazedly at the broomstick display (and actually considering buying one, if only to kill time by hemming and hawing with the sales clerk) Isadora did at first not notice the man who was studying her. It wasn't until he actually spoke to her that she averted her attention away from the window.

If she had realized that he had called her "Whisp" immediately, perhaps her reaction would have been different. Recognizing his voice before seeing his face might have been easier on her. But no, she had been too engrossed in the broomstick display, and thought his greeting to have been a stranger's "Is that you, Miss?" as oppossed to "Whisp".

No one called her "Whisp" besides him.

Her breath caught in her throat the second she recognized Remus Lupin standing there in broad daylight. Teeth immediately crushing down on her lower lip in her habitual gesture of nervousness, she gawked at him with bugging eyes, at a complete loss for words.

Well, at least until Nyxie started up again.

"Master Llewellyn was right about Mistress Roquelaure...she does talk to the mudblood filth! Ungrateful little brat she is, defying generations and generations of-"

"Nyxie, be quiet!" she said sharply. Her words, this time, were just as effective as a silencing charm. The house elf immediately cut off its words.

Turning her gaze back to Remus, she attempted to speak over the suddenly thunderous sound of her heart beating.

"Remus?" she squeaked. The two syllables were barely over a whisper, and recognizing that, she cleared her throat and tried again.

"I haven't seen-where have you-I mean-um...I'm sorry about uh, the house elf."

Her second attempt to speak thus failed so miserably, she swallowed hard and resisted the urge to bolt, her cheeks flaring scarlet.

Nyxie sniggered under her breath, not daring to comment openly upon the situation.

[m4moony]

"It's all right. Believe me, I've heard worse." House elves all too often mimicked the ideals of the families they served, starting as a way, perhaps, to ingratiate themselves further with their masters. But, after years, even decades of such nonsense, it became so much a part of their thinking, they began to believe it themselves, Remus thought. Slef preservation by encouraging the same thought processes that kept them a downtrodden and mistreated race. The only exceptions he knew were the Hogwarts elves who had been exposed to Albus' kindness for so long.

Rather than anger him, the words of the small creature by Isadora's side only saddened him on her behalf.

"It's been a long time, Isadora." Too long, when he thought about it. Not since war's end or earlier. He knew she hadn't been amoung the casualties -- thank the gods! -- because she hadn't been listed amoung the lost. But, he hadn't known what had become of her.

And, admittedly, he had been so often caught up in his own dramas and battles since, most chronicalled for all the world to read in the wizarding press, that he hadn't taken the time he should have to find out.

Watching her now, seeing so much of the shy little girl he had first befriended when they were both students, he berated himself mentally for not making more of an effort to find her and make sure she faired well.

"I'm sorry. I should have checked on you sooner."

[sleep_to_die]

"No," she said mildly in response, her voice slightly detached. "You didn't have to do that. I'm um...I'm all right."

She attempted to smile and failed quite miserably. The corners of her mouth turned up a little bit, but realizing how ghastly she must have looked in doing so, she immediately stopped.

The actuality of speaking to someone-to someone she both knew well and cared for a great deal after such a lengthy period of isolation-had yet to fully sink in. It didn't quite feel real to her just yet.

"How have you been?" she asked, and immediately recognized the inanity of the question. At the moment, though, she didn't care. It was good enough to just...talk.

"I really missed you," she added as an afterthought. It wasn't until she actually said it that she realized how true it was.

[m4moony]

"I know I didn't have to," he said quietly. "But, I should have...I want to know how you are. In case you've forgotten, I like watching out for my friends."

The last was said with a teasing smile. He'd tried to watch out for her quite a few times in their Hogwarts' days. As much as he could while still keeping his secret. It had been a very uncomfortable scene when they met again after his outing by Severus and he had to face the lies he'd told her about his condition as a boy.

"I've missed you too, Isadora. It's good to see you out and about."

And it was. Even if he was mentally flagellating himself for having been so caught up in his own world and worries to check up on one of the few friends he still had from those days, he was glad to see her now and have a chance to make that up to her.

Apparently guilt wasn't something he was going to move past quickly, despite the strides he'd made with Severus' help.

"Most of my exploits lately seem to make the front page of the Prophet one way or another," he continued more lightly, grinning and offering her his arm. "But there are one or two things I've managed to keep to myself and would be happy to share if you would allow me to escort you on your errands and accompany me on one of mine."