An Old Friend

The timelord didn’t even bother to change out of her witch’s robes. She had gotten quite used to them and besides, she felt it would further her case better if she were to be seen as having blended in with the ‘natives’. Mika entered the TARDIS and hit the automatic ‘Home’ button on the console. It had been preprogrammed with the coordinates for Gallifrey. The central rotor began to rise and fall as the familiar wheezing, grinding sound signified the dematerialisation of the time capsule.

It rematerialised in the Panopticon, right outside of the Council chambers. By hitting the automatic recall button, security in the citadel had been alerted to Mika’s arrival. The signal sent informed them of when, where and who would be materialising only moments later. Thus it was that Mika had a welcoming party when she arrived: the usual compliment of armed security and the unexpected, but old familiar face of Cardinal Runcible.

Upon seeing him, Mika rushed forward and embraced him heartily, yet carefully for he was a very old man. Runcible had been the timelord who had ‘rescued’ Mika from her home planet and brought her to Gallifrey to be trained as a timelord. She owed this man her life and he was the closest thing she had ever had to a father, or even family.

“My dearest Mika,” he said, his voice rough and gravelly with age. “What an unexpected pleasure!” he hugged her back and placed a fatherly kiss upon her fair forehead.

“Oh, Runcie, how wonderful it is to see you! You get younger every time I see you,” she teased. He was in fact getting towards the end of his 12th regeneration and his life. She moved to his side and took his arm to support him as they walked slowly down the long corridor towards the Council chamber doors.

“Oh, stop it,” he laughed which soon turned into a coughing fit. Mika held onto him until it passed, then they resumed their stroll. “I am sorry. Comes with being an ancient fossil. Now, to what do we owe this distinct pleasure? You’re not in trouble again are you?” He knew his charge so very well.

“Well,” she began. Then she noticed that Runcible was breathing heavily. She looked around for a nearby bench and helped him to sit down.

“I am sorry my dear, I am not as young as I used to be,” he wheezed, grateful for the rest.

“It is quite all right, you just take it easy.” Mika smiled and took the old man’s hand in hers.

Runcible noticed the ring right away. He may be very old but he was still in full charge of all his faculties.

“My dear, is this why you have come to see us? Are you married again?” he grinned, his wrinkled face shining with a boyish glee.

Mika blushed. “You never miss a thing do you, Runcie?” she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. “Actually, we’re not married yet. But soon. Within the week if all goes well.”

The old man’s eyes glimmered as he looked upon his adopted daughter’s joyous face. It was plain to see that she was very much in love and very very happy. “So who is this lucky fellow?” he asked. “A human, no doubt.”

“Ah, how well you know me,” Mika laughed. “Yes, he is a human, but no ordinary human. He is a wizard, yes, and a werewolf.”

Runcible shook his head. “You do find some strange fellows, my dear,” he chuckled. “But of course I wish you all the best. So, you are here to ask the Council’s blessing?” he guessed.

“Well, sort of. Actually, I want to settle down, at least for a little while. I want to know what it’s like to be ‘normal’ for a change.” Mika sighed. Runcible could hear the weariness in her voice. He knew exactly how she felt. Of course she could have ‘retired’ like he had and live on Gallifrey, but she wasn’t from there so she really wouldn’t feel at home.

“Normal being a relative term, then, considering you are marrying a magical werewolf,” he winked.

Mika laughed. “Oh, Runcie, I feel at home there. For the first time in my life I feel like I belong. Is it so wrong to want a little bit of a life for myself… and some happiness for Remus?”

“No, of course not, my dear.” The old man put his arm around her and hugged her tightly. “It is your life after all. If it was up to me I’d let you go for as long as you liked.”

Just then the Council doors opened and in the usual grand formal timelord way, a guard announced that they were ready to receive Time Lady Mikanostinocolai.

Mika rose and gave her old friend’s hand a squeeze. “Wish me luck.”

A Solo Journey

It was nearing the end of the school year which also meant that it was nearly time for the Big Day. There were still so many things to do! But there was one thing that only Mika could do.

“Remus,” she said one late evening when they were both seated in the living room by the fire going over the last round of essays on Vampires and Zombies.

Mika had been fascinated by the subject of vampires and even added some of her own experiences to the classroom lectures. Well, they weren’t exactly ‘her’ experiences, but rather the ancient lore of the universe and the Gallifreyans and early timelords. She had told them about the Ancient Ones, giant vampires that once roamed the universe depleting planet after planet of its life forms just to sustain themselves. The early timelords took it upon themselves to rid the universe of these parasites and managed to destroy all but three. These three had escaped into E-Space, another universe outside our own. The Doctor, a timelord friend of Mika’s who roamed time and space doing much the same thing as she did, only not officially, accidentally passed through a CVE (charged vacuum emboitment) where he encountered these three. He and Romana and Adric eventually destroyed them thus ridding the universe of these terrible giants once and for all.

The children were fascinated, of course, but since it wouldn’t be on the final exam, Mika didn’t want to spend too much time on it. “Ask me about it in my last Saturday meeting,” she smiled at them then handed out their homework, which she and Lupin were grading now.

Lupin looked up after he had finished reading over the parchment he was on. “Yes, peppermint?” he said. They had taken to calling each other after the sweets they had eaten before their first kiss. ‘How nauseating,’ Ron said once.

“There’s something I must do before the wedding,” she hesitated.

He looked at her expectantly as if he didn’t see what she was going on about.

“Alone.”

He put down the parchment and gave her his full attention. “What is it?” he asked, concerned.

Mika tried to put on a brave face, but it was clear that she was loath to tell him or even do what she must.

“I need to go back to Gallifrey and petition the timelords for some time off. I don’t think they’ll be happy about it.”

Lupin got up and came over to sit beside his future wife. He still couldn’t believe his luck that this beautiful, wonderful creature wanted to marry him, the pariah in even the magical world. “What’s wrong, Mika. I am sure they’ll let you off. It wouldn’t be fair if they didn’t.”

Mika leaned against him and he put his arms around her, holding her close. He loved to feel her warmth, her sweet flowery scent enveloping him making him think of fields of poppies and jasmine in a light summer shower. She was so strong and yet the softest thing he’d ever felt. To him she was magic.

“Oh, Remus, I’m sure you’re right, but still, I’ve had to face the Council before. They might not take kindly to my actions this time. Of course they didn’t exactly agree with my actions before either, but I had a very eloquent speaker defending on my behalf.” She smiled at the memory of so long ago.

“Do you have to go on your own? Surely if they saw how happy we were they would not hesitate to grant your request?”

Mika shook her head. “You don’t know the timelords. They are a cold, stuffy, bureaucratic lot. And they don’t take kindly to aliens. Which you are. Of course I am too, but that’s different.” She smiled.

Lupin shook his head. He had never thought of himself as an alien, but he supposed to another race of beings he would be so considered. It was all new and very strange to him. Suddenly it occurred to him that his was a truly unique situation. “I suppose if you must do this then you must. But you will be back before the wedding won’t you?”

The timelord laughed. “Of course, silly. I am a timelord after all. With any luck I won’t seem to be away more than an hour or two at most.” She got up to leave.

“What? You’re going right now?” he frowned.

“No time like the present,” she sighed. “It has to be done, Remus, if we want any chance of a life together – uninterrupted.”

Lupin moved aside the stacks of parchments and stood to join her. “I suppose you’re right, as usual,” he smiled sadly. “Still, it’s worth it to be together and happy at last.”

Mika kissed him and held him tightly. She only hoped that the Council would grant their request.

From the Past

So it was that Mika continued to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts by proxy while trying to plan a wedding that no one could really know about but everyone did. The main thing that had to remain secret was the time and the location and so far those secrets were safe. At any rate, Sirius wouldn’t show up as himself, he would send ‘Snuffles’ instead. This was the name given to the renegade wizard when he was in his animagus black dog form. It always made those who knew about it chuckle, especially Mika. She had never met Sirius, but had heard more than her share of stories about the ‘good old days’ from Remus. Apparently, James and Sirius were quite a troublesome pair. It seemed to Mika that their antics and exploits would put even the Weasley twins to shame!

For the following few weeks anyway, things were relatively quiet. The children all buckled down to their studies and Mika was kept busy with ferrying and translating lessons and plans and correcting papers etc. Lupin of course did his share when he wasn’t indisposed. The new formula that Mika had managed to develop not only kept Lupin in his own mind but retarded the transformation process as long as he remained quiet and indoors.

Then of course there were the wedding preparations. The boys could really have cared less but the girls were absolutely thrilled. They knew that the actual ceremony would not be held in the castle but there was to be a hum dinger of a party afterwards in the great hall. Only Hermione, Ron and Harry knew anything about the actual ceremony for they were among the few invited to it. Hermione of course was to be Mika’s maid of honour with Sirius being best man.

“So do I walk Snuffles down the aisle on a lead or what?” she giggled one day when she and Mika were taking a much needed hiatus from the ‘real world’ up in the branches of Clarence. The days were growing longer and warmer and it was a very pleasant evening. In confidential meetings with Dumbledore, it had been decided that the ceremony would take place the afternoon of the last day of classes and the celebration part that night so that all the students could partake of their favourite teachers’ happiness.

“So, Hermione,” said Mika after she had managed to quieten their laughter. “You’re part of both the magical and ‘normal’ worlds, just what does a wizard wedding entail? I mean, is it much different from a normal ‘muggle’ wedding?”

Hermione thought on this for a moment. “Well, it depends. I guess they’re the same in that there are many different versions. Basically, the only real requirements are the witnesses, the signing of the registry, and the exchange of vows and rings. Pretty much the same I suppose, though traditional wizard weddings can last up to two days.”

“So I’ve heard,” she muttered.

“I am sure yours will be very beautiful. I love weddings.” Hermione smiled. Mika had a feeling she knew something she wasn’t telling. But she knew her friend well enough to know that wild hippogriffs couldn’t drag a secret out of her. “Can I see it again?”

Mika held out her hand for Hermione to see her engagement ring that Remus had finally got around to giving her. Apparently he had intended to give her this particular ring for a long time, but had to go to great lengths to retrieve it.

“He says it belonged to his great-great-grandmother,” she said proudly.

“It is very old and very beautiful,” Hermione smiled. The ring was made of ancient goblin gold and inscribed with lovely scrollwork and what seemed to be ancient runes. The traditional engagement ring for wizards had either a diamond or an emerald, but this one had an enchanted fire opal which glowed with all the colours of the rainbow. It was stunningl. Funnily enough, it fit Mika’s finger as if it were made especially for her.

“Can you tell what it says?” Mika said.

Hermione took a closer look. “It looks a bit like ancient runes, but I think they’re incomplete.” Realisation then hit her. “Oh my, I know what that is…” the girl suddenly became excited. “It’s one of those union rings. They used to be very popular back in the days when couples got married and stayed married for life. There should be another part of the band that is traditionally given on the day of the actual wedding. When reunited the two parts fuse together to complete the runes. The halves will not separate until one of the couple passes on.”

Mika brought her hand closer to her face, re-examining the ring in the growing twilight. Her thoughts went immediately to Remus. What must his great-great-grandmother have been like? She imagined the woman who last wore this to be noble and strong, loving and totally dedicated to her husband. She wondered who had died first. In her mind she could see a lovely woman with deep blue eyes… eyes she clearly recognised. The woman smiled at her through the mists of the ages as if to say that she was pleased that her great-great-grandson would be in good and loving hands.

“Mika, are you ok?” Hermione noticed that her friend, still staring at the ring, seemed miles away.

It took a moment before Mika realised that she was being spoken to. “Oh, I’m sorry, Hermione. I… I think I saw his great-great-grandmother.”

“Whoooooa! Really? How?”

“Being time sensitive I often have glimpses into time, but they’re usually of the future, not the past.” Mika was still a little foggy, the feeling of warmth and comfort she had experienced overwhelming her.

“What was she like?”

“Beautiful. She must have been young when she got married. And her eyes… they were Remus’.”

“As Ron would say, wicked! So what do you think it means?”

Mika looked at the ring again. She couldn’t help but smile. “I think she’s happy that we’re together. It’s like she was giving us her blessing.”

A New Chapter Begins

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore called Mika into his office to discuss a few things.

With the resignation of Professor Lupin, Dumbledore was left with a slight dilemma: who would teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class? Snape had been filling in when Lupin had been ‘indisposed’, but he had his own classes to teach and couldn’t do it indefinitely. He supposed that all the teachers could take turns, after all there were only a few weeks left of term. But they were the most important weeks leading up to final exams and end of term papers. He decided to do something totally unprecedented but probably the best under the circumstances. He asked Mika to take over.

Of course she had protested at first, correctly pointing out that she was not, in fact, a teacher and also that she knew nothing about magic let alone defense against the Dark Arts. But Dumbledore had a plan: Mika could, in fact, be the physical representation of Professor Lupin in Hogwart’s. True the parents had sent owls in response to finding out about his being a werewolf and a possible danger to their children. But he had resigned of his own accord; no one had forced him. Thus the Headmaster saw no reason why he couldn’t continue to teach his class by proxy. He would just put it down to ‘ill health’ and leave it at that.

Reluctantly, Mika agreed. She had already given up her rooms in the castle itself and she and Lupin had purchased a house on the outskirts of the nearby village of Hogsmead. Here is where they planned to live after the wedding.

Ah, the wedding. Here was something else he wished to discuss with the lovely timelord.

“What sort of ceremony were you thinking about having?” he asked, looking at her from over his half moon spectacles.

“I’m not sure really. I’ve … well I’ve been married once before. It was a quiet, civil affair basically within the military.” She looked down at her hands in reflection. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about Wizard weddings.”

“Well,” Dumbledore rose and began pacing around his office. “just as with muggle weddings, there are various different types. There are the old traditional ceremonies, some of which can last for days…”

“Oh, no, I don’t think that would do at all…” Mika shook her head worriedly.

“Then there are quick, simple registry type ceremonies, pretty much ‘Do you?’ ‘Do you?’ ‘Good, you’re married!’”

They both laughed. “Then of course there are all manners in between.”

“Well,” Mika pondered over this. “I suppose we should really ask Remus first. I mean, technically, I don’t even have an engagement ring yet, not that it matters,” she added quickly.

Albus Dumbledore stopped in mid pace. “What? No engagement ring? Why that will never do! Oh no. I must have a word with that boy at once!”

“Oh, Albus, really, it’s not that impor…”

“Of course it’s important, my dear! After all, it’s tradition. Why get married in the first place if you don’t follow tradition hmm?”

Mika shrugged. She supposed he had a point. Then she thought of something that was important.

“I do know one thing, that Remus has asked Sirius Black to be his best man.”

Albus began to pace again. “That complicates matters somewhat,” he said, stroking his long, grey beard. “It will need to be low-key and secret. We wouldn’t want Sirius to be captured again now would we?”

“The usual Ministry wedding ceremony will be right out then too for there isn’t anyone who is certified to perform weddings that I would trust with the knowledge of Sirius’ whereabouts. But,” he held up his finger. “There is one alternative. There is a book in the Department of Marriage and Commitments that would do just as well. If we could only manage to ‘borrow’ it…” he continued to pace around the room, submerged in thought.

The timelord sat and watched as her old friend paced around the room, the only sound besides his soft footfalls were the ticking of the numerous clocks in his office and the soft snoring sounds of the many portraits of former headmasters that lined the walls.

“Albus,” she said after some time had passed. She was afraid he had forgotten that she was there.

“Ah, yes, it’s risky but perhaps it might work.” He then looked up, seeming almost surprised to see Mika sitting there in his office. “Oh, my dear, don’t you worry,” he came over and patted her on the shoulder. “We’ll take care of everything. Don’t you worry at all.”

Goodbyes...

Days passed before Lupin regained some of his old strength and was healthy enough to return to his normal life. Madame Pomfrey had done a wonderful job but his wounds were numerous and serious in spite of the caring attention and healing that Mika had given him. It had been with great sadness that Dumbledore had to inform him that Snape had ‘let it slip’ (probably on purpose) that Lupin was in fact a werewolf and that parents would soon be clamouring for his immediate dismissal. No one wanted their children exposed to such an obvious danger. Lupin had merely sighed. He knew this would happen sooner or later. It always did when he was happiest somewhere. Besides, he was used to it by now. He even felt numb and resigned to his fate when he didn’t see Mika for days after she had rescued him. He just quietly went to his office and began packing his things.

Harry entered his office, a sad, questioning look on his youthful yet harrowed looking face.

“You’ve been sacked!” he exclaimed.

“No, not yet. Though I am sure once the owls start arriving Dumbledore would have no other choice. I’m just saving him the trouble,” Lupin replied, his voice rough and weary. He seemed to have lost all hope of anything better in his life.

“We’ll miss you,” Harry said quietly. “I know I will. It’s all just so unfair.”

Lupin smiled weakly. “I know, Harry. I know. But that’s life. I’m used to it by now.” There was a long pause. “I never meant to harm anyone, Harry. You know that don’t you?”

“I know that, Professor. We all do.”

Another long silence as Lupin waved his wand about, his shabby, old suitcases and trunks packing and closing themselves.

“Where will you go?”

The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps I can find a school out of the way that hasn’t heard of me and my condition.”

“What about Mika?” he asked. At the sound of her name, Lupin visibly winced.

“What about her?” he murmured.

“But you guys were going to get married weren’t you? You still are? Aren’t you?”

“I haven’t seen her since she brought me back here, Harry. I honestly don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has left for good. I wouldn’t blame her either.” The sadness and defeat were clear in his eyes.

Harry felt sorry for this man who had been his father’s best friend and who he now considered his. He moved closer, wanting to give him a hug, some comfort, anything, but not daring to. “I haven’t seen Mika either,” he said softly. “But I do remember Hermione saying something about her needing to recuperate after your ordeal.”

Lupin looked at Harry. Could he be right? Could it be that Mika was only trying to heal herself? Then another thought occurred to him. Did he harm her in his werewolf state?

“Harry, she wasn’t hurt badly was she?” he gripped the boy by the shoulders and looked into his grey eyes.

“No, sir. I think Hermione said something about her being drained of energy. Then something about her ship. Can’t you remember what happened?” he asked.

Lupin shook his head. “No. I can’t remember much of anything. Only briefly waking up in Mika’s arms and her helping me into a big box of some kind. Then I woke up with Madame Pomfrey fussing over me like I was the King of England or something.”

Harry chuckled as Lupin smiled at the memory. But he was really smiling at the thought that perhaps Mika hadn’t left after all. “Since I am no longer your teacher, I feel no qualms about giving this back to you, Harry.” He turned and pointed his wand at the Marauders’ map lying open on his desk. “Mischief managed,” he said. The map folded itself up and he handed it to Harry. He grinned and tousled the boy’s hair.

Harry watched as Professor Lupin took up his walking stick and made his way slowly down the steps and towards the door. Lupin paused and turned to look at the classroom where, for a few moments at any rate, he felt ‘normal’ for the first time in his life. Sighing, he shook himself from his reverie. Suddenly he felt a presence behind him. His heart pounded in his breast as he could sense who it was.

“Going somewhere, handsome?” a beautifully familiar voice behind him said.

He spun around to see Mika standing in the doorway. She looked more radiant and beautiful than ever. “Mika,” he whispered beneath his breath, afraid that she was just a vision that a breath might dispel forever.

She glided closer to him and threw herself into his arms. He held her close as if afraid to ever let her go again. “You weren’t running out on me were you?” she whispered into his ear. He could feel her breath on his skin, smell her flowery perfume. He thought he’d never experience this magical creature again.

“Of course not. Only I thought…”

“I’m sorry love. I guess I overdid it a bit and had to recuperate myself. The TARDIS is the best place for me. I was afraid I would have to regenerate again. But no matter. I’m here now. You didn’t think I would leave without you did you? We have a wedding to plan!”

Lupin beamed and smothered her with kisses. He had never felt so happy in his life.

Harry couldn’t help but smile. Lupin had suffered tremendously all his life and especially through the last few weeks. It was good to see some happiness come his way.

“Oh, Harry,” Lupin turned from Mika for a moment. “If you hear from Sirius, and knowing him you will, would you please tell him to get in touch with me? I want him to be best man at our wedding.”

Harry grinned and said that he would. He watched as he turned back to Mika and , arms around each other, left the room. He was sure he would see those two many times in the future. Harry just knew it.

Wandering through the Night...

As Harry and Hermione ran to help save the earlier Harry and Sirius from the Dementors, Mika made her way through the forest in search of Lupin. She knew that Hermione was right; as long as the moon was out and full, the werewolf was still a danger, even to her. But the moon was setting and would soon be down completely. She could only hope that she would find Lupin after it had done so.

The going through the forest was dark and treacherous. The fading moonlight shining through the trees cast strange shadows and ‘ghosts’ that often tricked the timelord into putting her feet where it was perhaps not very safe to do so. It was almost as if the forest did not want her to succeed in finding the creature that now took refuge within it.

The air grew warmer as she moved further and further away from where the Dementors were attacking the earlier versions of Harry and Sirius. Suddenly the sky behind her flared with a brilliant light and she could see the black, wraithlike figures dispersing into the night. ‘Atta boy, Harry,’ she said softly to the night air, knowing that Harry had succeeded in dispelling the foul guardians of Azkaban.

Now all the forest was silent. Mika stood still and listened hoping for some sign of where Lupin could have gone. There was a noise off to her right so she decided to try that direction first. Suddenly a large shape burst from out of the undergrowth. It was Buckbeak. She sighed and approached him to calm him down and send him back to Harry and Hermione. They would need him if they were to rescue Sirius from imprisonment and send him on his way. She whispered into the hippogriff’s ear and off he went, back in the direction from which Mika had come.

Silence again and Mika listened once more. Nothing. The sky had grown pitch black now that the moon had sunk beneath the horizon. Carefully, she picked her way through the forest looking for any traces of recent passage. Several times she stumbled, or only found large areas of broken branches which could only have been Buckbeak’s doing as he lumbered through the woods. She stopped again to listen, but nothing but the sound of the wind whispering through the tree branches above her greeted her sensitive ears. She suddenly felt hopelessly lost.

She wandered forwards, feeling her way, tree branches seeming to reach down and hold her back, scratching her face and arms – anything to impede her progress and prevent her from finding her beloved. Suddenly, a root tripped her and she fell onto her face into the leafy debris of the forest floor. As she began to hoist herself off the ground, something nearby caught her eyes. She reached out to touch the dark shape and came away with some substance on her fingers. She sniffed it. Blood.

Mika’s hearts raced. It could only be Remus’ blood. He must have been wounded by both Sirius and Buckbeak. Even a werewolf couldn’t stand up to the force of a fully grown hippogriff and come out unscathed. She could only hope that he wasn’t hurt badly. Nearing panic now, the timelord hauled herself up and attempted to follow the trail in the darkness. It was slow going and several times she was afraid she had lost the trail. She stumbled again, something poking her in the side. Thinking it was a twig or something she reached down to remove it and discovered that it was the wand they had borrowed from Mrs. McGonagall’s classroom. She had forgotten all about it.

Holding the wand before her she spoke the spell that Hermione had taught her. “Lumos!” she said. The tip of the wand glowed brightly allowing Mika to finally see the way. It only took her a few moments to locate the trail and follow it through the forest.

The steady trail of werewolf blood led her eventually to a small clearing deep in the woods. By now there was a faint glow on the horizon signalling the approaching dawn.

“Nox,” Mika said, ‘turning off’ the wand’s light. She stood, listening. She knew Lupin had to be around here somewhere; she could sense him. Then she heard it – a slow, laboured breathing coming from somewhere behind her. She turned just as a gust of wind blew aside a branch revealing a pale shape beneath it.

Almost frightened at what she may find, Mika approached slowly. Before her lay the pale, naked body of Remus Lupin, huddled unconscious and bleeding from numerous wounds. She dropped to her knees beside him and gently brushed the hair from his face.

“Oh, Remus,” she breathed to the unconscious form. “What have they done to you?”

Blinded by her tears, Mika began to examine his wounds, which were numerous, and some of which were quite serious. With tender care she placed her hands on the worst of these and used her healing powers to stop the bleeding and heal them as much as she dared. Her power to heal was formidable, but at a great cost to her own strength. It was possible for her to overdo it to the point of her own demise.

When the worst of his wounds were seen to Mika, now considerably weakened but steadfastly determined, took off her ripped and tattered robe and wrapped it around Lupin’s ashen, naked form. Cradling him in her arms she held him tightly allowing her now free flowing tears to fall upon his scratched and bleeding face. Even these had a regenerative effect closing up the many scratches and wounds that they touched.

After some time Lupin began to stir. Still holding him, Mika wiped her eyes and looked down into his face.

Slowly, Lupin’s eyes opened. “M… Mika?” he croaked, his voice more hoarse than ever. “Where am I? What… happened?”

“Shhhh, I’m here, Remus. You should rest. Everything’s all right,” she forced a smile and tried to comfort him.

He frowned, his memory of what had happened before his transformation coming back to him slowly. “Pettigrew…”

“Remus, please,” she urged, “don’t…”

“He… escaped,” he relived the events in his mind. “I… the moon…” His eyes closed tightly shut and Mika felt him go limp in her arms.

She was frightened and began to panic. “Remus!” she shook him gently.

A tear escaped from the corner of his eye. “I never wanted you to see me like this,” he whispered, barely audible.

“Hush now. It’s part of you and I would have seen it sooner or later. I’m glad for now I know what to expect.”

“But… but I know I’ve disappointed you…”

“No, Remus, no, it is I who have disappointed you by not finding a cure.” Her tears were beginning to flow anew.

He opened his eyes which were now more grey than their usual deep blue. “Oh Mika, I know there is no cure. I am resigned to that fact. You could never disappoint me.” Mika helped him to sit up for he was far too weak to manage on his own. He leaned against her as he spoke. “I didn’t want you to see me like this though. I… I was afraid you would leave me if you did.”

Mika looked at him, her eyes shining brightly in the growing dawn. “Don’t be silly. I would never leave you. I love you for who you are. Werewolf and all.” She gently kissed his forehead, holding him close.

He began to shiver and cough. Mika wrapped her robe more snugly around him and held him tighter. “Perhaps you would be better off without me…” he wheezed.

“Don’t you dare say such things, Remus Lupin. I would not be better off without you. In fact, I would be miserable without you. How could you even think that?” Angry tears began to flow now. She had run the entire gamut of emotions this night and was feeling totally drained emotionally as well as physically.

“I… I’m sorry, Mika…”

“It’s all right my love. You’re just tired and not thinking clearly. Once you’ve rested you will feel much better. I don’t care if you order me to leave I won’t. You’re stuck with me so get used to it.”

Lupin managed a slight smile as another tear escaped. “How did I ever get so lucky?” he gasped then passed out again.

Weak, tired, emotionally drained and very concerned for Lupin’s health, Mika wondered what she should do. She really needed to get him back to Hogwarts where he could be looked after properly. But she had no idea where the castle was or how she would transport the unconscious Lupin there if she did. She did have one option but she didn’t like to use it unless it was a life or death emergency. As she looked down at the unconscious form in her arms, it started to tremble. He was going into shock. She had to do something quickly.

Cradling Lupin in one arm, she reached beneath her top and pulled out a small disc that was attached to a sturdy chain about her neck. It was solid black save for one small depression in the centre which glowed with a golden light. She pressed this depression and it immediately turned green and started to blink steadily.

Within moments a familiar, reassuring whining, wheezing, grinding sound invaded the relative tranquillity of the breaking dawn. It was the TARDIS. She had fitted it with an emergency remote recall device ever since she nearly lost it at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean the night the Titanic sank. It used up a lot of power and there was always the risk of it getting lost forever, but it was worth the risk.

Gently Mika tried to rouse Lupin from unconsciousness. She was strong enough to lift him but not from the position she was currently in. Besides, her legs had gone to sleep! After a few moments, he began to stir.

“Remus,” she said gently. “Can you maybe sit up for a minute? I need to get you into the TARDIS.”

Groggily Lupin managed to slump forward enough for her to get up and get leverage. She went to lift him up but he waved her off and tried to stand by himself. He nearly managed it but fell forward. Mika caught him before he hit the ground and let him lean against her for support. He may be weak and wounded but he still had his pride. Her eyes swelled once more with tears to see so wonderful a man so weak.

Together they stumbled slowly towards the TARDIS which had taken the shape of a large red and white striped box. It wasn’t exactly camouflage but something that could be easily spotted by a lost and possibly wounded timelord in desperate need of help. It was another idea of Mika’s… just in case.

Supporting Lupin with one arm, Mika pulled the TARDIS key from around her neck and opened the door. Carefully she helped Lupin in where he promptly passed out again. The timelord gently lay him down on the floor and made him as comfortable as possible while she reset the coordinates to take him back to Hogwarts and the caring medical expertise of Madame Pomfrey.