"I don't understand." said Draco in a low and sarcastic voice.

"What don't you understand, Mr. Malfoy?" asked Arwen's deep voice from behind her small fishnet veil from which she had been flawlessly translating the dark words of "Macbeth," as Draco stumbled along them with a foreign tongue.

"Why Lady Macbeth is acting so. . . so . . .abnormal. . ."

"She's murdered three people."

Draco remained blankly silent.

Arwen smiled.

"Some people have these eccentric quirks they like to call 'guilty consciences'"

"Don't patronize me. I understand what that is, I don't understand why she's letting it bother her so much-"

"-The blood of others is such a fickle thing." Arwen cut in sarcastically.

Draco went on, oblivious,

"I mean, if she's looking to rat herself out, then she's certainly off to a fine start!"

Draco was frustrated and angry at the fictional yet tragic dame's demeanor, and Arwen decided to take advantage of this young man's weakness.

"Keep in mind she's asleep, Mr. Malfoy."

"So!?"

"These thoughts are all in her subconscious, and all she has left is her subconscious. Her life is literally a living hell. She cannot escape the darkness, and though she demands light by her constantly, it is of no avail. She is past redemption, past salvation. She will never have rest, and she will never have peace. Her life will be a constant between the waking world of hell. . . and the supernatural."

Draco was clinging to her every word, and though Arwen knew Draco thought she couldn't see it, there was fear and anxiety behind his eyes and he looked and beseeched Arwen's thick and expressionless blue orbs for any sign, good or ill, that would help him destroy her.

He could find none.

"All because she was ambitious." he said blankly, giving her a flat look.

Arwen said nothing, but leaned back.

The thirteen year old leaned forward and glared at Arwen.

"Are you ambitious?" he asked, defiantly mocking the past three hours she had spent with him.

As Arwen reclined comfortably, she began to fiddle with the draping and elegant sleeve of her cloak. Soon her hand began moving in circular motions with crooking and bending motions with her fingers.

"Apparently you've not been paying attention. Surprise, surprise." she ended cynically. "You've managed to evade the entire theme of "Macbeth," Mr. Malfoy."

"You've managed to evade my question for the past three hours, madam!" Draco said, his temper boiling over as his fists slammed down on the table, sending vibrations off the very heart of the room. Draco was certainly becoming like his father, in every aspect of the matter.

"What's this?" began Arwen lightly, looking at a long and artfully curved dagger that had appeared in her hand as Draco was venting his pointless rage.

"'Is this a dagger before thine eyes?'"

Draco sneered at the woman and slammed back in his chair with disgust.

"Do you think that just because you quote some dead muggle moron that you're so bright? You think you can just slink by life by throwing out a dramatic and nonsensical quote here and there that you'll be respected, even feared? You're not only daft lady, but you're also an extreme clown-"

"You're right," Arwen said, looking contemplatively at the dagger before her.

"Maybe you should have it," Arwen's slim, gloved hand carefully placed the dagger on the center of the table, not taking her eyes away from Draco for even a second. "You do have an awful lot to learn about people. . . and such little time to learn it in."

Draco gave a snort and opened his mouth to snap something at her when suddenly, a high-pitched scream filled the air, reaching Arwen's delicate ears with a sharp ring.

"I was wondering when I'd hear that."

Arwen looked up and around her slowly, trying to calculate by the pitch of the shrill just how many of them there were.

"Beg pardon, master Malfoy, but it seems as though one of of my old acquaintances has stopped into town."

Arwen gave Draco a wink before briskly standing up and and billowing out of the room, and as she seemed to practically snap down the stairs, Draco rushed to the nearest window and peered out with intense curiosity.

When Arwen arrived in the plaza of Knockturn Alley, there was a great mass of people against the thinned out fog. They formed a mighty oval shape, obviously fearful of what was in the center, though Arwen could not spy just what or who it was. She pushed and shoved wizards and witches whom most people would have cowered down to, and managed to worm her way to the front lines. Arwen's face fell as she saw three orcs in the center, hissing and spitting vehemently at the crowd. She had never been face to face with an orc before, but now, she had three to deal with, for there was none else there to help her.

As Arwen went to pull out her sword, a hoarse voice yelled across the crowd,

"Professor Averill, I mean Cassandra- Oh damn!"

It was McGonnagall, and she looked perfectly helpless with her wand outstretched in front of her.

Wand.

Oh no.

Arwen began to panic.

"Minerva, you. . you haven't used magic on them, have you?"

"I was just about to put them in a body bind, but I-"

"DON'T! I mean, don't do ANYTHING!" Arwen demanded, loudly enough for the entire crowd to hear and look at her with perplexing looks.

"Well good heavens child, what do you intend to do with these creatures? We can't just sit back and-"

Minerva couldn't finish her sentence, because Arwen had jumped in the middle, armed with a sword and an angry yell. The orcs were on her at once, with long and rusty swords aimed straight at the young woman's heart. Arwen forced herself to keep her head cool and take her attackers as any warrior would, that is, one at a time. First, she had to distract the other two in order to single out one.

Arwen flashed her sword through the arm of one of the orcs which gave it a nasty cut. While it shrieked and shuddered, Arwen snapped her fingers and murmured a small incantation in her native Elvish tongue.

The crowd was taken aback, and went dead silent, and Minvera McGonnagall, who had merely found Professor Averill curious before, was now very suspicious.

The two orcs became possessed with some sort of hatred for each other, and immediately, with alarming ease, they both pulled out their swords and began to fight with deafening clangs and roars.

While Arwen was busy concentrating on pitting the two orcs in front of her against each other, the orc behind her had recovered, and had pulled out a short, black dagger. Before Arwen could turn around, the orc strode forward and stabbed her directly in the back. Arwen gave out a strangled yell as she fell to her knees and the crowd around them became more panicked and several ran away and hid.

Minerva McGonnagall could see no reason not to use her wand on the horrible beast that had just stabbed her new co-worker, and just as fast as the orc had stabbed Arwen in the back, Minerva had her wand out and a curse on her lips.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"NO!!" Arwen screamed, but it was too late, the curse had hit the orc.

At first, nothing happened. The spell appeared to have almost worked on the orc, but just as soon as it had hit the orc, it screamed back, and a great invisible wave could be seen bouncing off of the orc and right back at the woman who had cast it. McGonnagall, through some sort of great mixture between luck and instinct, managed to duck as the curse sailed over her head.
At once, Arwen was up, with Gwemegil in hand and a placid look on her face which frightened the crowd and McGonnagall more than twenty orcs could have possibly done. With what seemed like one fluid motion, Arwen diced off the orc's hands and slit his poorly armored throat. She whipped around to the remaining two, who were slowly killing each other, and brought her sword to one's chest and plunged it in deeply. The orc fell to the ground with a gasp, and Arwen turned exhausted to the last orc, and with one deadly look, she softly murmured the most dreaded of all wizarding incantations.

"Avada Kedavra."

The orc rolled it's eyes up and crashed to the ground.

Arwen dropped her sword with a clang and fell to the ground in a gasping heap.

She was really out of shape.

After the final thud was heard, time seemed to stop, and the only sound that could be heard was Arwen's shallow panting. The crowd around Arwen and the three slain orcs seemed to concentrate all of their hate and fear on Arwen through their blank and dark stares. As she raised herself up from the ground, Arwen merely looked back at them in return, with her famous Elven stare that had earned both her and and her grandmother both fear and respect from those of a weak mind. Instantly, those who looked at her and received looks in return cast their eyes elsewhere, cowering before the woman who could kill any creature with merely a glance.

Apparently, Minerva McGonnagall eventually caught onto the seriousness of the moment, and quietly moved in the center of the circle and carefully took Arwen's arm.

"Come on, then."

Arwen would not budge, her eyes went from the crowd to the three orcs at her feet. McGonnagall followed her gaze, but looked up quickly, sickened and frightened at the alien creatures.

"Please, my dear, the longer we stay, the more danger we are in, please, come."

As McGonnagall stole a frightened yet still unwavering and blank Arwen, a young boy watched above from a dusty window of Grimm and Drear's bookstore. He watched the old Professor briskly pace away while the younger woman that had so intrigued and annoyed him seemed to float. Before his very eyes that little woman had butchered three monsters that he had never even seen before. . . she had killed them with a simple spell and an unblinking eye.

Draco looked down at the beautifully curved dagger with foreign lettering on the blade. It was of a most exquisite calligraphy that he had never seen before, and as he looked out at the disappearing forms of Arwen and McGonnagall, he carefully slipped the dagger in his breast pocket, and quietly left the bookstore.

To Professor Snape's continuing dismay, he discovered that the Averill twins were nothing like their younger sister.

They wouldn't shut up.

Even after they had exited the Ministry and apparated to Hogsmeade, the twins simply would not shut their traps. They rambled on about everything. It seemed like they had been around practically since the dawn of time, they way they went on about growing up and their lives now. Professor Harrsion was not helping either, what, with his chiming in every time there was three seconds of open air.

". . . And of course, after father died, we had to go out into the world and make a place for ourselves-"

"Goodness, yes! And our dear, little sister to take care of!"

Snape snorted.

"-Not to mention the fact that we had only just barely finished our schooling. . ."

"And we had no financial support whatsoever-"

Snape was beginning to wish some ungodly distraction would hurry up and shut these two dunderheads up. Unfortunately, he got his wish rather punctually.

A ripping screech was heard to echo throughout the trees along the path from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts, and flocks of birds and small animals fearfully scampered away at the unnatural sound.

Edwin and Edgar both turned to each other and swallowed.

"I wasn't expecting to hear that sound ever again."

Snape whipped his head over to the twins, trying his hardest not to let on to the fear in his heart.

"You know what that is?"

The screech came again, only this time, it was followed by another but in a higher pitch.

"To our grave misfortune, Professor, we know very well what that is. . . I should say, what those are." whispered Edgar, his eyes wide with realization as he watched the birds flock away into the horizon.

"Cousins," murmured Professor Harrison, "I think perhaps we should continue on as fast as possible to the school."

Edwin turned to his cousin with a look of disbelief.

"You mean. . . run? Surely you don't mean that." he murmured, unconvinced himself.

"I do, and I mean now." Professor Harrison hissed to his cousins.

Snape looked at them with growing spite, for they were either dangerously smart or tactically stupid. Either one triggered his distrust further.

"Edwin," murmured Edgar, "he's right. Listen. . . they grow restless."

The four men leaned into the pathway, dead in their tracks, as they opened their ears for some sort of further indication for the four men to venture forward to the school, but it did not come.

Snape felt ridiculous.

"Ahem," he said loudly, with intentions of startling all three men, but it did not happen. The Professor and his two cousins' facial expressions started to nerve Snape further, because while he heard nothing, they seemed to be hearing everything. Edwin looked as if he was going to start shaking any minute.

"Merciful heaven. . ." he murmured, running his hand through his midnight hair.

". . .I can hear four!" hissed Edwin.

"There are nine." Professor Harrison said darkly, adopting a serious posture.

Edwin and Edgar looked at him incredulously.

"No. . .-"

"They prefer to hide. They think they can fool us if we only hear three. Come. . . we must go, and quickly. If we're not careful, they may track us."

What they did not know, was that they were being tracked by something more threatening than the Black Riders.

A large, black and shaggy dog had been following the group of men for quite some time, paying particular attention to the identical twins.

There was something so familiar about them, so that when they apparated in that dim alley way of Hogsmeade where the black dog had met the raven haired woman in his dreams so many nights ago, he nearly died of fright when he saw these two men that looked just as fragile as she did.

Sirius could not help but follow them, and though he knew full well the consequences that lay ahead of him if he were caught, he would rather find out what Snape and his little friends were up to. Because if Sirius knew one thing, it was not to trust anyone aiding a snake.

"There were two of them . . ." Remus trailed off, trying as hard as he possibly could to remember all the fine details of these men.

"One was older. Purely white, everything," he chuckled, disturbed but seeing the irony of the situation in a new light, "white hair, white robes. . . a white staff. . ."

Remus looked up in wonder at this small factoid which tugged on some fabric of his memory.

"So peculiar. . . he used a staff. . . not a wand, I-I mean, he may have had a wand, but that's not really the question since I never saw him pull it out. . . it was the most powerful thing I'd ever seen. "

He took a long pause.

"It was the most frightening thing I'd ever seen." he murmured absently.

Remus paused for a moment, trying to contemplate the seriousness of the matter of what he'd seen and trying to figure out just how they did it. He could find no explanation, not one, that fit the circumstances surrounding the world's he knew. Muggles couldn't possible devise something like that, much less conjure up that sort of power and wield it. Even though it was distasteful to admit, wizards were limited in their abilities to do such an enormous amount of magic at one time, as the white wizard had done. It had to have come from a third world, one alien to himself.

"Incredible." he muttered, still lost in thought.

Albus Dumbledore leaned forward, remembering the intellectual talents of his former pupil and knowing he could not keep the truth from him for long.

"It is incredible."

"And yet you seem to be bored out of your mind." Remus cocked his head. "Why?"

Dumbledore paused.

"What reason would you like to hear, Remus?"

He sounded so tired, and Remus furrowed his brow, unaccustomed to this side of Albus Dumbledore, but he let him continue, nonetheless.

"'I've lived through it' . . . 'I'm dealing with very similar situations, and so are other brave people, without ever really understanding why'. . . or. . . 'I can do just what you have described to me, and more.'"

Remus looked on at the wizened old man in a great peculiarity, and opened his mouth to speak but was rudely interrupted as the door to Dumbledore's office slammed, open, revealing a frayed and furious McGonnagall.

"JUST WHAT IN THE BLAZES DID YOU THINK YOU WERE UP TO!?-"

Dumbledore sighed as McGonngall sucked in more air and pushed more momentum into her tirade.

"DID THE FACT THAT THIS WOMAN CAN KILL WITHOUT A WAND, WITHOUT EVEN THE BLINK OF AN EYE STRIKE YOU AS GREAT TEACHING MATERIAL?-"

Fawkes began to squeak loudly so he could match pitch with McGonagall, while Remus found himself stumbling out of Minerva McGonnagall's way as she nearly knocked over the large chair in which Remus was sitting in order to spit her argument in Dumbledore's face.

"Minerva-"

"DID SHE IMPRESS YOU WITH THE WAY SHE CAN SIMPLY LOOK AT SOMETHING AND KILL IT INSTANTANEOUSLY? WHAT A WONDERFUL TEACHER YOU'VE FOUND, THE CHILDREN ARE SURE TO ADORE HER. . . . IF THEY CAN STAY ALIVE!"

"Quite so, and understandably-"

"WHAT IF THEY IRK HER, AND SHE'S HAVING A BAD DAY? HMM!?!! "BOOM" SO WHAT DO WE SAY TO LITTLE SUSIE HANDERWHIFF'S MOTHER AND FATHER WHEN SHE COMES HOME FOR CHRISTMAS IN A NICE LITTLE VASE-"

"Minerva, you're becoming erratic-"

"AM I? AND JUST WHAT SORT OF ERRATIC QUIRKS DOES HARRISON HAVE? CAN HE BLOW UP LITTLE SCHOOLCHILDREN WITH THE SNAP OF HIS FINGERS?"

"I imagine so, but really, wouldn't that be too messy for such a refined gentleman such as Professor Harrison?"

"ALBUS-"

"Sit down, Minerva."

Minerva slumped down into a chair, exhausted, while Remus decided to stay in his safe little corner.

"Now, where is Professor Averill?"

Minerva sighed.

"I took her to the hospital wing-"

Albus was up in a flash, and just as soon, out the door, demanding Remus and McGonnagall follow him.

"What happened, tell me on the way, just. . .hurry, please."

The four gentlemen were almost to the Hogwarts castle, a dark silence falling over even the talkative twins, as they journeyed onward. Little did Legolas and the twins realize, was that Snape was growing weary of giving unconditional trust to a group of people who he did not judge fit to even exist in the magical world.

His hand was gripping his wand tenaciously, ready for any sort of slip-up.

As the four gravely yet swiftly came out of the clearing leading to Hogwarts, Elrohir stopped suddenly, and looked over his shoulder with a curious squint.

"Oh, brother!" he muttered in a dark tone. Elladan turned around and set his gaze on the winding path behind them, shrouded in darkness and deep foliage. "We have someone following us."

"I thought you said we weren't being tracked." Snape said icily, his wand in the folds of his robes now.

Edwin turned to Snape.

"Someone, Professor. Not something."

Elrohir raised an eyebrow as he motioned for Elladan to follow him back onto the path from which they had just emerged. Elladan likewise followed him, and turned as he was walking away and looked at Snape with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smirk.

"Really, Professor Snape, you shouldn't hide your feelings. Or anything else for that matter. . ." he said, and briskly followed his twin.

There was an awkward silence on behalf of Snape, who, though deeply surprised by the young man's far-reaching instinct and knowledge, remained grim and impassive. Legolas' eyes flickered to Snape for half a moment, realizing that he had been in such a frenzy over the riders that he hadn't even noticed Snape was completely en garde for a backstabbing move from any one of the elves.

"You distrust me."

Legolas stated, as he watched Elladan and Elrohir exit the clearing.

Snape had his wand out now, not seeing the point in keeping it hidden any longer.

"Is there any reason I shouldn't?"

Legolas shrugged.

"Considering the situation, I find you quite justified."

"Then I would be justified in taking your life." he said softly, raising his wand in a venomous motion.

Legolas paused, looking Snape up and down blankly, but he said nothing, so Snape moved in.

"You seem well acquainted with these new enemies that have happened to spring up overnight, your little 'cousins', all three of them, are dangerously perceptive-"

"Dangerously?" Legolas interrupted bravely.

Legolas smiled and chuckled, all without taking his eyes off of Snape.

"My good Severus, take a good look around you. Do you see the darkness? Do you see the light? Is there anything in between? If so, how can you tell? Do you know what is right, what is wrong, etc.? Does your perception of the world around you match that of Cassandra's? or Edgar and Edwin's? Mine? Who is more accurate in their observations? Us. . . or you? Keeping that in mind, who is more dangerous? If your definition of 'dangerous' is honest, then you are a sure conundrum, my dear Professor."

"You are trying to trick me, Professor." curled Snape, his voice so calm and steady that it was almost unnerving.

"It won't work, I warn you. I have been under greater forces than you could ever imagine-"

"Don't be so sure, Professor." Legolas spat.

For the first time since their meeting, Snape saw the young man's eyes flash dangerously, seeing behind the young man's sweet and seemingly kind facade.

"Quite arrogant, predictably so." Snape said as he smirked.

"Quite ignorant, flagrantly so." Legolas shot right back.

Snape was on Legolas in flash, now so livid with rage that he could not control anything he did, and before he could stop himself, his wand was aimed at the heart of the young man with a curse on his tongue.

"Impedi-"

Legolas' Elven instincts flew into action, and in combination with his new world body and his old world spirit and magic, rolled onto the ground and sprang up on one knee with an outstretched hand.

"Expelliarmus!"

Snape blinked and his wand had snapped out of his hand and into the waiting palm of Legolas. The force was so strong, so intense, that it blew Snape back a good twenty feet and into a tree.

He sat there, blinking away the darkness that threatened over his eyes, and struggling to compose himself as Legolas watched him like a lazy cat. Slowly, he began to walk over to where Snape was slouched against with serious and composed expression that Snape had only previously seen Albus Dumbledore wear.

"I understand the fine line you walk everyday, Severus. Just as well, I know how dangerous you are." He leaned down and offered Snape his wand back.

"Do you respect how dangerous I am?"

Snape looked at him a minute, trying to understand just what sort of creature this man really was.

"I think it's time you told me who you are."

Legolas smiled.

"No, Professor. I think it's about time you stop asking."

Sirius padded along, quite sure that he was being as inconspicuous as a large dog could be.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Two of the men that he had been following had turned around and were returning down the path. Sirius' immediate reaction was to cower into the bushes and hide until they left again.

Bear in mind, Sirius Black, in his Animagus form, deemed himself swift and cunning, able to escape any human predator because of their comparable lethargy to him.

However, even as Sirius was running into the bushes, he saw one of the identical twins come into his view, and stopped dead in his tracks, frozen with fear.

"Leaving so soon?" the man asked with a dark tone. His twin soon stepped out of dark path of the forest and beside his brother.

Sirius growled threateningly, hoping that would intimidate them away.

"Oh, please." said the twin who had just arrived, with a twinge of impatience and sarcasm.

Sirius did not stop growling and spitting. With his hackles raised and his teeth bared, he began snapping barks at the two men and hunching down on his forepaws in a springing position, secretly wishing that they would keep prodding him on so he could snap them down. Yet the twins remained stoic at every threatening gesture the large black dog made, making Sirius even more furius than before, but he kept snarling and snapping his jaws at the two men.

Finally, Elrohir could take no more, and began laughing from pure embarrassment for the dog.

"How are you still alive?!" he quipped sarcastically.

This comment stopped Sirius from his fuming and caused him to the cock his dog head in bewilderment.

"Honestly?! Is this how you defend yourself?"

"Edwin, he doesn't need to defend himself against humans, just other dogs." said Elladan dourly, looking at Sirius with a raised eyebrow.

Elrohir rolled his eyes.

"Look," Elladan continued, squatting down on the ground so that he was eye level with the large dog.

"We're not the kind of people who like to humor and patronize other people. I.E. talking to a fully grown man in Animagus form. We're also not the type of people who are impatient, but when it comes decievers and foul-magicians,"

His eyes flickered at the irony of the statement for a moment, before continuing.

"We just don't see the point in wasting time. So we can do this the hard way-"

"We can change you into your human form-" cut in Elrohir

"Or the easy way-"

"Or you can do it for us. What do you say?"

Sirius paused a good moment examining the two men. They seemed honest and kind, but he knew he could not afford to put his life in the hands of appearences. Sirius bent down and was in the pouncing position, and then the most curious thing happened; he actually made the pounce, but about midair, a slight and familiar tingling sensation came over Sirius, and he landed on two feet instead of four.

When he looked up, he could only imagine the surprised look that he was sending to the two twins, because they were both smiling.

"Well, now that we're all comfortable," said Elladan, now up from the ground.

"I think we should all have a nice, pleasant, little chat."

Remus, McGonnagall and Albus came bustling into the Hospital Wing just as Nurse Pomfrey was about to administer a Sleeping Potion to Professor Averill.

"That will be enough for today Poppy, thank-you!" Albus said briskly, swiftly advancing on Madame Pomfrey and snatching the vile out of her hands.

"But Headmaster, I must insist-"

"Professor Averill will get the rest she needs, after a few questions, of course. On my honor."

Madame Pomfrey gave him a stout glare, but nodding and stalking off irritably.

Arwen sighed and smiled faintly.

"For a moment I thought I'd actually have to drink that horrid looking substance, thank you." she said, reclining back onto her pillow.

It was here that Remus got his first good look at Professor Averill. She was in short, one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

He felt a rush of sympathy for the male students in her class this coming semester, and the poor marks they would be receiving due to her distractingly flawless figure.

As she tried to push back her mane of raven black hair, Remus felt a rush of red flow to his face. He was staring at her, something quite rude and unfitting for any woman.

Feeling awkward, he focused his gaze on his shoes, however, keeping his keen hearing.

"Oh, don't be so naive. Just answer a few questions, and you'll be off in Dreamland in no time. You're unhurt?" Albus asked with undisguised concern.

She smiled.

"For the most part. I must admit, I've never dealt with something quite like that before."

"I'm sure you haven't," he chuckled, "Come now, let's see that wound on your back."

Arwen leaned forward with a slight hiss as Professor Dumbledore peeled off the bandage off of her upper back.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"Ever the fast healer, aren't you, Cassandra?"

Arwen swallowed.

Nurse Pomfrey hadn't noticed anything irregular, execept the dark liquid around her wound, but thankfully there hadn't been any poison in the orc's dagger, and Poppy removed the queer liquid with a simple draining spell, and Arwen could breathe easily, at least she thought so.

So Mandos had decided to bring her back in her Elven form, and not her human form. Arwen admitted she was curious whether or not she was still prone to illness and age, since her foresight and extreme perceptiveness had never left her, even as she grew gray with age.

Arwen shuddered.

"You're quite lucky you weren't poisoned, my dear. I advise you to use more caution next time."

"Always."

Arwen's eyes flickered to Lupin, who had brought his gaze to peer over at the strange wound on Arwen's back. When he felt her gaze on her, he caught his breath in his chest and forced himself to look at her. Blue eyes penetrated his, and a surging feeling of discomfort fell over him. However, he did not look away. There was something so enigmatic about this young woman and yet so dangerous that Remus could not contain his curiousity.

"Hello." said Arwen slyly, causing Albus and Remus to smile.

"May I introduce Remus Lupin. A former student and trusted friend of Hogwarts. Remus, this is Cassandra Averill. She and Alexander Harrison are to be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors." said Albus.

Arwen extended her hand and Remus took it carefully and gave it a good shake.

Albus looked back and forth between the two and smiled faintly.

"Remus, I must admit, Professor Averill most likely has more answers than I could ever give you about your unique encounter. Would it be too much, Cassandra, if Remus asked you a few questions?"

"Of course not." Arwen said pleasantly.

"Then, Remus, you will of course, administer this young lady's Sleeping Potion to her afterwards, won't you?"

"Certainly, but Albus-"

"Come, Minerva, I have a few questions and even fewer answers for you."

As Albus quietly but swiftly guided Minerva McGonnagall out of the Hospital Wing, Remus sighed belatedly as he looked at the door, longing for some other company to share his feeling of extreme awkwardness.

Even Arwen felt a little embarrassed at Dumbledore's actions and wanted to give Remus Lupin a sense of comfort. Leaning forward in her bed, Arwen smiled at Lupin.

"For an old man, he's losing his touch of subtletly."

Remus chuckled, and nervously scratched the back of his head. Arwen's smile fell slowly and she slipped her lower lip under her teeth.

"Is there something you'd like to ask me, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus looked at her again, this time much more calculating. He could not yet determine if she could be trusted, not this early. What, with Sirius. . . No. None of that. He vowed he would never think of him again, until he was able to destroy him, once and for all. Dumbledore was the only man he could trust at the moment. Yet, as he looked again into the depths of this young woman's eyes, he felt that even if he did not ask her, she would know. She would know all of his secrets and all his deepest fears. . . only at a glance.

A most peculiar talent.

"I had a very pertrubing experience a few days ago." Remus found himself speaking before he even realized it.

"Go on." said Arwen softly.

Remus told her his account of the day at the Hogs Head. He told her every last gory detail of everything that had happened, fromt the wizard in white to the shattering of Lucius Malfoy's wand into a million pieces. All the while, she remained stoic and expressionless. Remus wondered briefly if she was listening at all. It was only at the mention of the wizard's young accomplice, did Arwen's eyes narrow. As Remus described the snakelike man to her, her face became more stern.

"What would you like to know?" Arwen asked finally when he finished.

Remus' face contorted. What sort of question was that? He'd like to know just what the blazes had happened back there and just who those men were and why they had scared him to the brink of a breakdown.

"Excuse me?" he asked feebly.

"It's quite obvious you are aware of how dangerous this wizard is, and I'm certain you know that these two wizards are certainly not of this world, so I really don't know what I could tell you that you don't all ready know."

Remus looked at her disbelievingly for a moment.

"I'd like to know who these men were."

"Why?"

" . . .I beg your pardon?"

"Why would you like to know who they were? They're obviously not that tactful when it comes to using their power, so it should be easy to identify them if you're walking down the street." Arwen said casually.

"Professor Averill, if I don't find out who these men are, then-"

"It won't matter. You agree that they are not from this world, yes?"

"That seems to be the only explanation-"

"Then even if you knew their names, origin, titles, etc., there would be nothing there to give face to that knowledge."

Remus paused.

"You're very shrewd." he said finally, leaning back.

Arwen laughed.

"Call it whatever you like, but understand that you must acquaint yourself with this evil, any evil for that matter, before you can begin to understand it."

"Fair enough. Answer me something else, though-"

"Mr. Lupin, I thought we had all ready agreed that it is redundant to devulge anything further. Therefore, I cannot answer anything else."

"Of course you can, Professor Averill. You simply won't; but you can to me."

Arwen raised an eyebrow and smiled at this remark ever so faintly.

"What makes you so certain my secrets are worthy of you?"

"Because you and I have the same secrets."

Arwen was taken back. She put a stoic expression on her face, but she knew Lupin had all ready bested her, and Arwen knew that from now on, Lupin would either be a great ally or a dangerous foe.

Remus continued, ever so softly.

"Let's not play games, Professor. You know something about me and you haven't even met me."

"I should say the same about you." Arwen murmured.

"Then how can this be? How do I know for certain that you and those other wizards are not in an alliance, since you are both clearly not from this world?"

"Is it really that clear?" Arwen asked sarcastically.

Remus smiled faintly.

"I have a keen sense for those that are not completely human."

"What a coincidence."

Remus and Arwen looked at each other, niether one ready to back down from the other's gaze. For the first time since she had arrived in this strange and changed world that used to be her home, Arwen felt like she could trust this man with anything. For a brief moment, she thought of telling him her deepest, most dark secret, but the thought of Legolas stopped her. He would never betray her, and she owed him to at least do the same.

"Who are you?" Remus murmured.

Arwen shrugged.

"No one of great importance. And yourself?"

Remus sighed and sat up from his chair. As he crossed to the sidetable to where Arwen's sleeping potion stood, he never took his eyes off of her. Remus carefully picked up the vile and gave it to Arwen.

"Drink up, Professor."

Arwen sighed as she took the vile in her hands and brought it to her lips. However, before she drank, her eyes rested on Remus.

"If Lucius Malfoy's wand didn't work on the white wizard, what makes you think this will work on me?"

Remus' face fell into a grave expression. He said nothing, but motioned for her to drink. Arwen complied hesitantly, and choked down the nasty substance, but Remus did not wait to see if it had the desired effects. For the moment her lips were on the vile, Remus had turned on his heel and had exited the Hospital Wing.