Better than grading papers

[tt_remus]

Date: 07 February 2002
Characters: Remus Lupin
Setting: Headquarters
Content: G
Status: Public: Open

'It's not easy to fail a test in which one was given the answers prior to the exam' Remus thought as he graded his year 5's exams. He gave them a handout a week before the test with pages so they could fill it out. He then went over the answers days before. 'What am I doing wrong?' He sighed, and dropped his quill on the desk. He leaned forward, elbows on the desk and hands over his eyes and then... he's fell. Is that an accurate description?

Remus awoke and looked around. There were trees all around him and the clearing. He rubbed his head and and then drew his wand, and looked all around him once more. He was upright, so maybe he didn't fall. 'Am I dreaming?' he wondered. He took a step and it didn't feel like he was dreaming. Remus saw some men in the distance and cocked his head to the side; he saw they were talking amongst themselves. They didn't seem to be a threat.

He took a hesitant step towards them, 'don't be paranoid, Lupin... you're a fully trained wizard' crossed his mind. As he walked towards them he took in things around him. It certainly was warmer here than the castle was. There was some sort of ... bird in the sky overhead. 'Must be a huge bird.'

Remus approached the men, "excuse me..."

He had clearly caught them off guard, although they didn't seem too surprised to see him. "Hello. Welcome to Zealandia," the taller one began. "I'm Mark and this is Michael, we're security guards here. May we have your name?" Mark asked, taking out a strange looking device, ready to get his information.

Remus stood with his mouth agape some, he shut it and then opened it again to speak. "Remus Lupin. I'm where?"

"Zealandia. In your world it's New Zealand but as we're in the past, it's Zealandia," Michael said as if it's common knowledge.

"Mr. Lupin, if you'll get in our vehicle we can take you to headquarters and meet with one of our leaders, you may know him - Kingsley Shacklebolt." It was Mark's turn to speak.

Remus stared at the pair of them as if they have lost their mind. "What? I don't think I'll go anywhere with either of you right now." As he finished, Mark's datapad rang.

"Please Sir, I know this seems crazy. If you come with us everything will be explained. It's a long story. And Kingsley seems to know everyone who randomly appears here."

"Indeed I do," a voice came from behind the two men as Kingsley walked up to them. "Remus. Good to see you."

Remus blinked a couple times, "Kingsley. Why aren't you with the muggle Prime Minister?"

Kingsley chuckled; that was a lifetime ago, "It's a long story, as Mark here has said. You're safe here. Come, friend. You've a lot to learn," he says and directs Remus to the nearby vehicle.

Remus looked from Kingsley to the vehicle and back. He shrugged as if to say 'Why not'. It wasn't like they tried to disarm him and it didn't look like they were going to either. That was definitely a relief.

"Buckle up and hold on, Remus. It will be rough," Kingsley said, getting in the vehicle he had somehow quietly driven up in.

~~~

Upon arrival at the facility, Remus got out and was very glad to be on non-moving surfaces. "Rough was an understatement, Kingsley." He looked up to the building they were parked at. It looked like a house. 'What a strange place...'

Comments

[tt_ginny]

Since passing her Healer exam, Ginny was back to 3/4 days at the medical center, which suited her fine. It gave her time to work in her garden and go swimming, which she planned to do today, after she went to the market to pick up some milk. Changing into jeans and a t-shirt, she drew her hair into a ponytail before leaving her home.

Apparating to the settlement center ring, Ginny paused to check her datapad when she heard a familiar voice and glanced up in surprise. Not ten feet away was Professor Lupin with Kingsley! She blinked and swallowed hard. He looked so young. Could he have been pulled through the portal like Lily Evans and James Potter had? She couldn't judge his age but the clothing he was wearing reminded her instantly of his attire at Hogwarts.

"Professor Lupin? Sweet Merlin, is it really you?" she asked, startled by Kingsley closing the jeep door. Ginny took a step closer, holding a hand out, a look of wonder in her expression.

[tt_remus]

Once again, Remus was caught off guard. He cocked his head to the side slightly, "Hello..." the face was failiar, but he couldn't place it. It then clicked, "Miss Weasley! I recognize you now." His face broke into a smile, "You've certainly changed since this morning," he said grinning. He didn't know what else to say.

He took her hand and politely shook it, "Very nice to see you. How long have you been here?" Remus inquired and took in her full appearance. If it was 2002 that put her somewhere in the age range of... early 20's?

[tt_ginny]

This place couldn't - just couldn't - get any stranger now, Ginny thought as he regarded her with a confused expression that melted into a smile she remembered quite well. Merlin's beard, she cursed internally, feeling a light blush rise on her cheeks. "This morning? Oh dear, what year was this morning for you?" she asked.

"And you as well, really nice," Ginny replied, mentally kicking herself for sounding so lame, even to her own ears. Why, oh why, did she have to remember her schoolgirl crush on her Professor just now! She glanced over to Kingsley who was leaning against the Jeep reading his datapad. No help there. Traitor, she thought mutinously. "Me? Oh, I arrived five months ago. You've just come through?"

[tt_remus]

"1993. And yes, I've just arrived. I was grading papers and then next thing I know...I'm here. It seems like a nice place though." He felt a light blush on his cheeks as well. He sounded so silly, and looking over to Kingsley, he wanted to shake his head. How did Kingsley always manage to just blend in with the surroundings.

"Erm... what do you do here?"

[tt_ginny]

"1993? Oh, dear," Ginny realized very quickly now what he meant about seeing her earlier in the day. She'd been in his morning class. Probably daydreaming about him or getting notes passed to her from Parvati who had shared her attraction to their DADA professor.

"It is. A nice place, that is, Professor Lupin," she replied with a chuckle, seeing Kingsley gesturing for them to follow him as he began walking toward the door. Ginny guided Professor Lupin with her into the building and set her datapad down on the table next to the sofa, indicating he should sit as well.

"I'm a Healer, sir," Ginny answered, feeling a flash of guilt when she thought about Tonks and how different things had been in 1993. Another part of her brain was already thinking about sending the Med Center an alert to have Wolfsbane ready. That was the Healer in her. "I just finished my training, in fact. The newest Healer on the settlement."

[tt_remus]

Remus nodded, although he looked a bit grim. "It is nice to be around people who aren't so... jumpy. Black is on the loose. Supposedly he was at Hogwarts," he said this with a look on his face as if he ate something sour.

He followed behind her, looking at the buildings and things around him. What a fascinating place. "A Healer? Congratulations. And please don't 'sir' me. I'm not that much older than you here."

[tt_ginny]

"Black? Oh, um," she hedged, arching an eyebrow. "we're not in 1993 anymore, sir. A lot changed since then and, er, things weren't quite what we thought. Sirius is here, actually. We discovered he was framed by Peter Pettigrew. You can ask Kingsley," she gestured to Kingsley who cleared his throat.

Tucking his datapad under his arm, Kingsley nodded firmly. "Sirius Black was cleared of all charges, Remus. He's one of our key personnel here. Ginny is right. Peter Pettigrew was interrogated with Verisatum and admitted everything - working for Voldemort, giving up James and Lily, killing those poor Muggles and staging his own death to frame Sirius."

"Thank you," Ginny replied, after Kingsley stopped talking, pushing back the urge to sigh. Yes, he wasn't much older than she but that didn't help matters. "Perhaps not, not now at least. Kingsley explained about the time different, I see." She waved a hand at Kingsley indicating she would help out. "Has he told you much else?"

[tt_remus]

He narrowed his eyes, he didn't believe them. There was no way Peter could have pulled off anything like that. "Right. He explained some things. The time difference was the major one. Apparently others are here... he hasn't explained why yet."

He felt suddenly foolish, "I'm sorry if I'm taking up your time."

[tt_ginny]

She exchanged another silent look with Kingsley, feeling more than a bit helpless just then. Sirius was a friend of hers and it was clear in Remus' tone that he was firm in his beliefs. "Well, more than 'others'. I'm sorry, Kingsley usually does these introductions."

"No, no, I'm off shift, actually. I was really in the area to go to market and I was going to stop in to see Kings anyway," Ginny assured him. "Professor... James Potter and Lily Evans... they are here. Lily arrived first, then James." She glanced to Kingsley who pointed to his datapad. "They are here. Alive and well."

[tt_remus]

Remus seemed confused once again, "How can they be here? Did they arrive like I did. Merlin alive! ... Is Merlin here?" He shook his head, getting lost in his thoughts. His friends were here. Alive and well. He wondered how they reacted to arriving here.

Oh, how he would like to see them. "Kingsley, when can I see them?" he asked, looking over to his old friend. What a glorious thing this portal could be.

[tt_ginny]

"They did but, um, from what I understand they came from different times, like you did," Ginny stammered, hesitating before continuing. "They'll be in the settlement directory. Everyone has a home of their own, like you will, like we all have. I share a duplex with my brother, Charlie."

Kingsley crossed the room and put a hand on Ginny's shoulder, smiling. "Would you be a love and see if there's any tea? I'm sure Remus would appreciate one." She blushed and nodded, getting up and circling him to leave the room. The kitchen was off the main room and she set a kettle on before opening cupboards to find the tea.

"Ginny isn't the same little girl you taught, Remus. She's been through a great deal. We all have. I know this is all strange to you and I don't expect you to believe me but, for the time being, it would be better if you took a day or two to get adjusted before we contact James or Lily - a day at least so you can catch up on what happened between 1993 and now," Kingsley stated, keeping his voice down.

[tt_remus]

Remus nodded. That made some sense. "So what happened between 1993 and now?" He figured a few different things in his head, but wasn't entirely sure of that. He did wonder how James and Lily would react to him being there. How he had missed them all these years.

"When's the next full moon?"

[tt_ginny]

Kingsley glanced over his shoulder. Good, Ginny was still in the kitchen. He could tell she was fond of Remus, but she'd done enough to help him while he had coordinated things via datapad. He couldn't ask her to put herself out there for this man.

"I'll cover the 'big things' but you can read the full accounts in the datapad I'll be assigning you. Remus, I know we weren't the closest of mates, but I have more than this settlement to look after. There's three settlements here with just over 200,000 witches, wizards, and Muggles, so I will be brief."

"The war ended, Remus. Voldemort was killed, killed for good, by Harry. Before that? You were the one who discovered Sirius was innocent. Then we lost him. You... married and had a son, Teddy. You and Nymphadora... were killed in the battle - the last battle with the death eaters. We lost a lot of good people," Kingsley paused, letting that sink in before he handed Remus a datapad.

[tt_remus]

Remus' eyes widened and he remained silent as he took the datapad. Sounded like him to go out with a bang. He had married? That didn't sound like him. Who'd want a werewolf? And a baby? Wow.

Sirius was innocent? Why would he be the one to find out. He'd written Sirius off.

"Interesting." What could he say?

[tt_kingsley]

"Jack here, is going to escort you to the house that's been assigned you, and one of our tutors will be over in about 30 minutes to help you get up to date," Kingsley stated, standing and waving a hand to the door where a security guard dressed in black waited patiently.

"I'm glad to see you, Remus. Despite the circumstances, we've missed you," he added with a ghost of a smile. "Oh, and the next Full Moon is on February 27th. The medical center will have a potion for you."

[tt_remus]

"Thank you Kingsley. It's good to see everyone." sRemu said and stood up, heading for the door. "I'm not sure where Miss Weasley went, but I'd like to say thank you to her too. It was nice to see someone from my time."

[tt_kingsley]

He looked at Remus for a long moment, then nodded, calling for Ginny. Kingsley thought of Remus as a friend but he'd said his goodbyes at the funerals, and he had not forgotten how Remus had treated Tonks after Teddy was born.

Ginny came out of the kitchen with a questioning expression and Kingsley said. "Remus is leaving now, Gin. He wanted to say goodbye."

[tt_remus]

"It was nice to see you, and I'm sure we'll run into each other again. Thank you for welcoming me here." Remus said, sticking his hand out, both for her and Kingsley.

Of course Remus had no idea how foolish he had been then. The him of now would probably have kicked the tail of the Remus then for such behavior.

[tt_ginny]

"Oh, yes, I'm sure we will, sir. I mean, Professor," Ginny replied quickly, a little too quickly, shaking his hand. "If you ever need anything, feel free to message me."

Kingsley shook Remus' hand after Ginny, keeping one hand at the small of her back as he did. He didn't want her to think she wasn't welcome to stay and have tea with him because he was looking forward to it.