Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Fifty - A Sticky Situation

In Herbology on Monday all students involved in the mini-battle the day before didn't even acknowledge that had happened except for after class when one of the Hufflepuffs told Remus his spell that made her sneeze rose petals was incredible, and Sirius informed one of the Hufflepuff boys that his tongue-swelling curse was brilliant. Handshakes were given, and that was that. Remus was a little surprised that James and Sirius seemed to let the whole thing slide though he certainly felt glad they didn't have more enemies.

Remus still spent as much as his spare time hiding away from the rest of the student body (just in case) and on Tuesday evening as he made his way to the fourth floor he couldn't help but notice how many piles of... stuff... there was laying about the corridors. No wonder Filch was getting mad about it.

Ten minutes later he was on the purple couch, trying his best to empty himself. Fawley reached out to touch his head. He concentrated as hard as he could and then memories were yanked forward. Peter's lip quivering at the insulting snowmen on his birthday, the duel with the Hufflepuffs, that very morning in History when Sirius decided to attempt the engorging charm and blew up his inkpot sending ink splattering onto almost every student in the class...

When Remus came out of the memories his head was hurting worse than usual. While it was normally a dull ache all over, this time he also had a sharp stabby sort of pain behind his eyes. He bent over, pressing his hands against his eyes, moaning a little.

"Remus..." He peeked through his fingers, flinching a little at the light, and waited for Fawley to say whatever she had to say. To his absolute shock she said, "You've made progress."

"I what? But--you still s-saw everything."

She had a huge smile on her face, leaning in towards him. "Yes. But when I tried to access your memories I felt a little bit of pressure... your brain did not yield to the command so easily. It was only a little bit. But it was there."

"I d-don't understand? Pressure?"

"It's like... you put your finger in water it just goes in, yes? You--press your finger against gelatin and it will still go in it's just you have to put a little bit of extra pressure. Normally, when I access your thoughts, it's like water. This time I actually had to push a little."

"Oh... so you still accessed it p--pretty easily?"

Fawley shook her head. "Stop putting yourself down. It is very impressive."

Remus rubbed between his eyes as the sharp pain came and went. "It--has been... loads of lessons already."

"This is your fourteenth," she answered.

He made a surprised sort of noise. Fourteen? Already? He squinted, counting on his fingers. His first lesson had been the last Tuesday of September... taking away the two full moons, and the two Tuesdays he had been at home for Christmas... "Fourteen," he mumbled. "How l-long does it normally--"

"No," she said sharply, and he shrank back. Her face then softened. "I will not sit back and let you insult yourself once again. I've told you how many times it will take you a long time to be able to do anything? I wasn't expecting anything like this until the end of this school year, perhaps not until the beginning of next." She tucked some of her hair behind one ear, sitting back. "You don't expect to be able to do fifth year spells now do you? Then don't expect to be able to get Occlumency like that." She snapped her fingers. "Most Occlumens or Legilimens aren't even trained until after school; it's not a subject taught here. So don't cause yourself stress, and feel proud for being able to do what you did tonight. Understand?"