Here I Stand~(OPEN)

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The soft sound of a crackling fire was the only sound that filled the room. That was until a sudden noise broke the silent air, causing the only occupant of the room to jump out of his skin. Remus glanced up from his book at the sudden sound, his eyes flicking around the room curiously. His ears alert and his expression also alert as his tired mind attempted to work out the source of the noise. Once again, another bang filled the room and the werewolf let out a soft sigh. Remus shook his head lightly, before ignoring the sound and returning to his book. The werewolf had decided to distract his mind away from his emotions for now, due to his emotions were playing constantly on his mind. Remus had decided a while ago, that it was perhaps a good idea to finally move away from Grimmauld Place and on to the next chapter of his life. What that next chapter would be however, Remus had yet to work out. He had decided that renting out a small room in The Leaky Cauldron was the most sensible idea. Why? Remus felt that, this way he could have peace and quiet to himself, but also be close by if the Order should need him. If Remus was honest with himself, he was actually avoiding Headquarters as much as possible right now.

The issue in turn had been the source of Remus’s emotional problems that he was currently attempting and failing to deal with. When it came to Remus and emotions the two simply didn’t mix, because a lot of the time Remus tried to push away his emotions. A certain young witch had caught Remus’s eye one day, who had in turn instantly caught Remus’s attention. Naturally, he attempted to push her away from his mind and in to the back of his head instead. That had failed quite miserably. No, instead Remus found himself falling more and more for her everyday. However, he wouldn’t admit that aloud or even to himself for that matter.

Turning the page of his book, he heard the noise again but once more brushed it off as a normal noise. When you had been living in a small room such as his for a long while, you grew used to the various sounds that filled the pub. The sounds of people moving up and down the stairs, people calling across the hallway, the sound of the drunks late at night. You name it, Remus had more than likely heard it by now. Closing his book slowly, Remus placed it on the nightstand before him before slowly standing from the bed.

The werewolf cringed as he felt a sharp pain go up his spine, the pain being an after affect of last night’s events. Remus held a hand up to his mouth as he stifled a large yawn, then moved to reach for his shirt which was hung up on the back of a near by chair. Remus slowly dressed, ignoring the pain before moving over and glancing at his reflection in the large mirror in the corner of the room. His expression changed to a slightly confused one as he caught sight of a fresh scar across his right cheek. Reaching up, he gently brushed his hand over the new scar before frowning, brushing it off and moving away from the mirror. Remus knew that he should sleep more, however his mind was buzzing away far too much to even attempt it. He felt like a pack of bees were stuck inside of his brain, wanting to break out and give him a good sting.

Lycanthrophy wasn’t an easy condition to live with but Remus simply dealt with it as it came. After all, he had been living with the condition since he was a young child. Once dressed, Remus decided he needed to eat and so made his way out of his room. Shutting the door behind him, Remus slowly made his way downstairs in to the rather quiet pub. Glancing around briefly, Remus soon went over to find a near by table before taking a seat. Perhaps he didn’t look his best, if anything he probably looked awful. Remus though right now was trying to simply ignore it; instead he felt he had other more important things to concentrate on instead.

[nameface]

It had been some time since the young trainee healer had received time off. Being the bottom of the barrel in terms of experience and positions essentially meant usually he found himself on call 24/7. Although this resulted in Mike being in a state of sleep deprivation he had to admit his life could be far worse. For example Meical could be ‘out there’, in the world that was becoming even more dangerous. You would be surprised what you hear whilst working in a hospital, the stories that patients and other staff members have to tell. Hell, Mike personally knew some people who had suddenly disappeared. He was lucky in that way, because regardless of how the next few years panned out Mike knew that St Mungos would continue to exist. Otherwise, how else would the sick receive treatment? What really concerned him was that he couldn’t say the same about his family. He was particularly worried about his youngest sister, who was currently studying at Hogwarts, he knew that at some point if the dark lord had truly returned that Hogwarts would be his goal.

But he couldn’t worry about that tonight. No, tonight was his night. The first day of his two week long holidays – the first and only time in the past two years that he had received ANY time off. Finally, his leave had been approved and it was time for the Meical to take some time out, relax and get drunk. It had taken a while for him to decide where he was going to spend his evening, whether he would go to some muggle nightclubs and have a good time with complete strangers. Eventually he decided it would be appropriate to begin his evening at The Leaky Cauldron, considering he had spent much of the day catching up on his shopping (a task he had been meaning to do for nearly 9 months). Of course he may have to trail some food whilst he was there… just to ensure the quality was within St Mungos expectations of course.

With a small smile, Mike straightened the royal blue patterned tie and absentmindedly brushed minuet particles of dust from his black pinstriped suit. He pushed gently on the large wooden door and stepped silently through the threshold. Much to Mike’s surprise, the Leaky Cauldron appeared rather quiet tonight. He had to confess that he somewhat hoped that there would be a large number of strangers that he could strike up a conversation with. In silence he surveyed the room for a moment until they fell on a stranger who was seated alone, some distance from where Mike had entered. Grinning, he made his way in silence to the bar and ordered two flagons of fire whiskey before turning towards the stranger and wandering over.

“You look like you could use a drink my good man.”
He stated casually, placing both flagons on the table and collapsing into a chair opposite him.
“Have a fire beer on me.”
Mike bared his brilliant white teeth in a brief smile before sliding one flagon casually to the stranger who sat in front of him. In silence Mike took a small sip of his butterbeer and took a few moments to observe the stranger who was before him. It wouldn’t have taken a doctor to notice that he appeared unwell. He couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong with this stranger, he had half a mind to ask what his symptoms were so he could diagnose him… but decided it would probably come across as quite impolite should he consider doing so. Instead, he took to breaking eye contact and letting his eyes wander around the poorly lit pub.

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Remus glanced around the pub curiously, his eyes flicking over various witches and wizards silently. You see, Remus was the type of man who was quite happy to sit in silence and observe a situation rather than actually walk over and interrupt. Upon realising he was rudely staring over at two wizards in deep conversation near by, Remus flicked his eyes away and suddenly something else caught his attention. Reaching for the object, Remus picked it up and smiled softly as he realised it was a copy of The Daily Prophet.

“Excuse me, would you mind if I had this newspaper please?” Remus asked the wizard beside him politely, who in reply nodded and Remus took it with a small thanks. Opening the paper, Remus placed it down upon the wooden table and began to scan the headlines. A soft sigh passed his lips as a particular one caught his attention, dark times were definitely upon them and Remus could clearly see that. His attention moved away from the article briefly to instead look upon the various photos that were visible at the bottom of the article. The special things about magical photos were they moved, shaking his head he turned the page and continued reading silently. The articles only seemed to get darker the longer Remus read.

A voice broke his attention away from an article on Dumbledore, one of which Remus privately disagreed with. Glancing away, Remus caught sight of a young looking wizard now sitting opposite him and instantly a confused expression crossed the older man’s face. Remus watched silently as the drink was slid over towards him, his expression still very confused. The werewolf frowned before looking to the other, then back down to the drink. “Thank you for the drink, however I’m not that thirsty.” Remus replied politely as he declined the drink and cleared his throat, he suddenly felt rather awkward. He really didn’t like this situation, because for all he knew the man before him could be tricking him with the drink.

“Have we met?” Remus asked a little off as he looked down to the paper, then back up to the other again. The werewolf could feel the wizard looking over him, which only caused Remus to feel even more self-conscience about his appearance right now. Perhaps the young man was simply being friendly but Remus wasn’t about to risk it. Remus’s mind began to tick away as he tried to think if he had met this man before. After a few moments, Remus looked away and politely placed his hands upon the wooden table. “Who sent you?” Remus asked after a few moments of silence, his hand sliding off the table and down to his coat instead.

Maybe he was being a little to forward but Remus knew that Death Eaters were clever. Remus closed the newspaper with his free hand, before placing his hand slowly in to the inside of jacket and gripped the end of his wand. He wasn’t trying to be rude as such to the other young man; if it came across like that then well that wasn’t Remus’s intention. “What is your name?” Remus added with a slightly sharper tone, his tiredness was probably effecting his judgement but for now he would just go with it. A few people had turned to glance at the two but Remus brushed it off.

The Order was a target right now and Remus like everyone else had his responsibilities with being inside of it. Moody had always told him to be on his guard and so here Remus was being on his guard. A Death Eater could be at any corner for all Remus knew plus Polyjuice Potion was also something to watch out for. Remus wasn’t normally the type to be aggressive or rude to others, he was normally quite the opposite in fact. In this particular case it was simply timing.

[nameface]

The more Mike stared at this stranger the more he got the unusual feeling like he should recognise him. Like somewhere in the back of his mind he had seen him in passing, or saw his picture in the daily prophet. Yet, no matter how long he stared at him he honestly could not pick from where. At first, he considered that perhaps he had once been a patient, but his obvious and sudden defensive approach made Meical realise that the two had in fact never met. As a result he couldn’t help but frown slightly, as the man declined the alcoholic beverage that he bought him. With a light sigh he shrugged lightly. Surely it wasn’t that unusual for a stranger to purchase another a drink… after all, it was a pub and what better way to get to know someone sitting opposite you if not alcohol?
“Suit yourself, I guess that’s just more for me
He stated in the same casual voice, although his calm smile waivered slightly.

As the man spoke again Meical lost all pretence of smiling. The man’s voice was harsh and accusing as he enquired about whether the two had met and then again demanding who had sent him. In silence Meical wondered whether or not he had managed to pick the only table with some kind of paranoid auror or something. He decided it would be much less threatening if he placed both his hands in constant view. As oppose to the stranger whos hand clearly slipped from the benchtop to his pocket. Meical, in term did the opposite, placing both hands ever so casually around his flagon his eyes making eye contact with the stranger and refusing to break.
“Let me guess..”
Mike began, lowing his voice to nearly a whisper whilst leaning forward to ensure no one was ears dropping on their conversation.
“By your hyper-accusative nature I am going to assume you are either an Auror or a member of the…”
He paused, his eyes flicking around to see if anyone was indeed listening.


“Order…”
He finished giving him a close stare. That charming smile returning as he said this. He leaned back in his chair placing both hands behind his head and chuckling lightly.
“My name is Meical Hughes, and no I have no intension of harming you.”
He looked at the man in front of him closely, that strange nagging in the back of his mind was beginning to drive him completely mad. Surely he should know this man?! But how?
“I am a trainee healer at St Mungos in the spell damage ward. So while I certain you could probably destroy me in a duel, I highly doubt you would be very popular if you did. Now how about you take your hand off your wand and join me for a drink. Hell, I’ll trade you if you want me to prove it’s not poisoned.”

This wasn’t exactly the conversation he was expecting to have. Sure, he knew that the world had become messed up. But, death eaters didn’t lurk in the middle of well respectable pubs. After all, you would have to be pretty desperate to attack someone in such a public location. However, by the serious and suspicious look he had been given by this man, Meical wasn’t exactly convinced that he really understood the outside world at all anymore. Unfortunately, life inside the hospital had left him surprisingly cut off from the outside world, and while there were rumours and stories about what was going on he was generally far too busy to really think about it. He never assumed that by offering a stranger a drink he was being so threatening that this man was considering drawing his wand in defence.

[Deleted]

Remus listened to the young wizard speak, his hand not moving from his wand as he spoke. His blue eyes flicked over the stranger lightly, what he felt was a rude comment Remus ignored. Watching his hands simply wrap around his drink, Remus slowly began to move his hand away from his wand. A light frown came over Remus’s face as he slowly placed his hands back down on the table. He wasn’t going to let his guard down just yet. “Hello Meical” Remus replied as he slowly relaxed but kept his attention on the other as he continued to speak. Well, the other had caught him there but Remus decided not to reply to that comment. “ My apologises, you never know might be around these days.” The werewolf apologised as a light blush came over his cheeks, by nature Remus was in fact quite a shy person.

However, the comments about the Order made Remus only bite his tongue harder. How did this bloke know about the Order? If being around this long had taught Remus something, that something was that you couldn’t trust anyone these days. “I don’t wish to duel you. I don’t feel the reason too.” Remus stated simply as he cleared his throat and glanced around the pub, the few heads who had been staring at them glanced away. “Also, I would suggest you be a little more careful. I trust you know what Polyjuice Potion is? Well, you would be surprised by the number of people who use it as a cover up these days.” The werewolf explained not wanting to sound rude but simply explaining why he had been so cautious. Remus decided for now that his judgement had perhaps had been a little forward but didn’t mean he wasn’t going to keep an eye on him.

“Spell Damage Ward? I’m sure you have all been dealing with the awful attack that have been happening as of lately then?” Remus asked his tone calmer now as he moved in his chair uncomfortably. “ Trainee healer? That is an interesting career choice.” Remus added softly as he pushed the newspaper away, he pulled the drink that had been offered to him closer again.

The werewolf sniffed it slightly as he attempted and failed to pick up anything wrong with the drink. Glancing up to Meical briefly, then away again Remus took a small sip of the drink. “Thank you.” He said politely as he sighed softly. Perhaps letting his guard down was being foolish? After all Remus had always been taught to keep it up but it wasn’t like he was spilling Order information left, right and center was it?

Holding a hand out slowly across the table, Remus held it out politely. “Remus Lupin.” Remus said simply with a small smile, his eyes looking over the other as he did so. St. Mungos had indeed been a familiar place for Remus; he had gone there many times as child. That was also where he had spent his first night after his werewolf attack. “Please excuse if I seem a little off, I’m a little tired today.” He apologised softly as he ran a hand over his young face lightly, then leaned further back in to his chair.

“So, what brings you to The Leaky Cauldron?” Remus asked in polite conversation as he took another sip of his drink, well he wasn’t feeling anything just yet. Remus wasn’t stupid and he certainly wasn’t going to speak about himself too much right now. “I have been to St. Mungos a few times myself, for a few visits here and there.” Remus had been there to help calm down recent werewolf attack victims, he had wanted them to understand how the condition would affect them and in turn help hopefully calm them down a little.

Remus felt too himself that he should know the young man opposite him from somewhere. “If you don’t mind me asking. How long have you been training?” Remus asked curiously as he took another small sip of his drink, it was refreshing right now. Maybe Remus had passed him whilst going for a check up? Maybe passed him in the street before? Remus honestly wasn’t sure but felt that he had definitely seen this young man before. If Remus was really honest with himself, he actually was enjoying a little company. Looking up and around the pub briefly, he looked around in search of Dora. Yes, he doubted that she would pop up any minute but that didn’t stop that nagging feeling in the back of his mind.