The Performance of a Lifetime

After walking for five painfully long minutes to the dungeons near the Slytherin common room, George and Gemma arrived outside Snape's office. Having stayed in Gemma's company long enough, George took the initiative to knock on the door even though they were still five minutes early. There was a sound of two adult voices inside followed by a brief pause. After a few seconds, a melodious voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

George and Gemma entered the room only to be greeted by a small dark space glistening with the reflection of thousands of vials and jars. The room wasn't particularly large, perhaps a little smaller than the Slytherins dormitory rooms. The walls were made of black stone making up a dome ceiling. Every wall was lined with shelving which was chocked full of specimens and potion ingredients stored away in neatly label jars of varying sizes.

The room was very poorly lit, there was a candle stand housing ten lit candles near the door he'd entered through and there was a small black lantern glowing on Snape's desk. Snape was reclined in his chair with one hand supporting his chin, he was looking at George with a high degree of suspicion. Remus didn't appear to be in the best state of mind at the moment, he was currently hunched over in the guest chair whilst cupping his face with his hands.

After hearing George and Gemma enter, Remus quickly jolted his head up and looked at George with a face that screamed anxiety and stress. Remus's eyes scanned George top-to-bottom before his expression changed to relief as if a heavy burden had been taken off his shoulders.

Then he stood up from his chair and nervously asked George, "how are you feeling? Hopefully not out of sorts."

George responded confidently, "never better, Mr lupin. I had just gotten a little worked up during the sorting hat ceremony but now I'm fine. Madam Pomfrey had kindly prescribed me a week's worth of calming drought to keep the demons at bay."

He assumed a warm smile whilst pulling out the pouch full of Calming Draughts. Remus needed a moment to realise what George had implied before he nodded his head with a fake smile. Then Snape stood up from his chair, his expression looked particularly irritated when looking in Remus's direction.

He spoke to Remus in a monotone voice, "as you can see, Mr Linwood has made a full recovery. I see no reason for you to stay at Hogwarts any longer. That's unless you have another reason for being here?"

Remus looked towards Snape and tried to act casual, "of course, George seems to be in perfectly good health. As you said, I see no reason for me to stay at Hogwarts any longer. I will just have to say my goodbyes to Professor Dumbledore and then I will be out of your hair."

Snape's face relaxed a little after hearing Remus confirm that he had no plans of lingering at Hogwarts.

Remus looked back at George before saying his suggestive goodbyes, "it's nice to see you again in good health, George. You have to remember that the worst thing you can do when you're worried is to keep it to yourself. Professor Dumbledore used to always tell me that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it. Just bear that in mind in the future."

Remus politely nodded in both George's and Snape's direction before picking up his briefcase and making his way out of the room. George nodded back at Remus with a smile, but internally he was not happy. He didn't like the way Remus just said goodbye at all, the insinuation he was making was quite obvious.

George had maintained the same carefree and happy expression since he'd entered the room, but all of a sudden, he changed it to one of worry and panic. He turned abruptly to look for Remus only to find that he had already left the room. Seeing Remus's absence, George immediately turned back around to face Snape.

"Professor Snape, I'm sorry to be rude but can I be excused? There is something of the utmost urgency that I must say to Mr Lupin", George pleaded.

Snape appeared to be unfazed by George's frantic request, "an owl should be perfectly serviceable for delivering your message, I see no reason for you to be excused. Since you are here, there are some questions I would like you to answer for me?"

George was quick to counter Snape's suggestion, "that's exactly the problem sir. An owl would not be fast enough. You must understand, I am yet to contact home after my hospitalisation. Judging by what Mr Lupin said, my parents may have already been informed of my accident at the Sorting Hat Ceremony.

With my parents being muggles, they were already very apprehensive about sending me to Hogwarts. I fear that this incident may reflect poorly on their image of this school. I would like to reassure them before their negative opinions have a chance to fester, or… I may be at risk of not returning next year."

Snape paused and kept on looking George up and down as if he could scan for lies. After weighing up George's rational excuse, the professor inevitably relented.

"I understand, Mr Linwood. You are free to leave. But, I expect you to return to my office at three o'clock."

Gemma, who had remained quiet this entire time, spoke up at that moment, "Professor Snape, should I escort George to the headmaster's office so that he can catch up with Mr Lupin."

Gemma looked a lot more desperate than George during her plea to escape.

Snape seemed to see right through Gemma as he rebutted, "I'm sure Mr Linwood will be fine on his own, Miss Farley. I believe you have your potion class in ten minutes and it would be a shame if you were late again. As a prefect, shouldn't you be setting a good example for the likes of Mr Linwood and his fellow first-years?"

Gemma's shoulders slumped and her expression seemed to lose all hope.

Gemma replied to Snape whilst sounding extremely depressed, "yes Professor."

George ran as fast as he could to catch up to Remus, he didn't want to lose the werewolf on the moving stairs. Luckily, Remus had barely made it to the end of the corridor and was just about to take his first step onto the moving staircase when George caught up to him. After hearing the echoing footsteps and turning around, Remus seemed surprised to see George running toward him.

Remus paused mid-step, "George, what are you doing here?"

George didn't answer the question, "you're going to tell Professor Dumbledore about me, aren't you?"

Remus let out an exhale of air and pinched his brow between his fingers, "I don't have much of a choice."

George acted surprised by Remus's conclusion, he asked in bewilderment, "why don't you have any choice? You always have a choice. I thought that we agreed that as long as I wasn't a danger to myself or others, then you wouldn't tell anyone."

Remus placed his hand on George's shoulder as a reassuring gesture.

He spoke calmingly, "that's exactly it George. You're a danger to yourself, you just don't realise it."

"Is this about the stroke?", George asked.

Remus looked at George like he had just stated the obvious, "of course it's about the stroke. What else could this have been about? Your life was in danger, George."

George held a confused expression as he explained, "but Madam Pomfrey clarified that it was stress. It could have happened to anyone, it probably had nothing to do with my condition."

Remus let go of George's shoulder, his arms fell limply by his sides and his head hung low.

He spoke to George hesitantly, "Madam Pomfrey lied to you, she didn't want to worry you and make your condition worse than it already is. You have to understand that people don't normally have strokes when they're feeling stressed, especially when they're only eleven years old. Also, your temperature and heart rate was higher than any human should ever be, anyone else would have died under those conditions. You have already become a danger to yourself, but that isn't the only issue.

Professor Dumbledore told me that you had been looking at him with fear in your eyes. He already knows there's something different about you and this is why he sent a letter to me in the first place. He was asking me if I knew anything about you that may explain what happened. Even if I didn't say anything, it was only a matter of time before he found out. He is a very smart man and will eventually put two and two together. There's no avoiding this, George. It has to happen eventually."

George took a more defensive approach, "why can't I be allowed to decide who knows about me? It's my life after all, am I not allowed to make my own choices? And what does it matter if Professor Dumbledore finds out by himself, what's the worst that can happen?"

Remus appeared a little surprised by George's stubbornness. He didn't seem to know exactly what to say in response.

He took a few moments to think before he said, "if you decide to keep this a secret and Professor Dumbledore or any of the other teachers such as Professor Snape, who will be permanently keeping an eye on you from this point onwards, finds out by themselves then that's going to make you look like you've got something to hide. It will affect the way they decide to deal with you, telling them now will make them more inclined to treat you better. Trust me, I've been there before."

George stared at Remus as if he'd just said something incredibly stupid, "well I HAVE got something to hide. Since when did it become a crime to keep secrets about yourself? Am I a bad person for wanting a little privacy? Maybe I belong in Azkaban along with all the other wizards there for keeping a couple of secrets."

Remus ended up walking right into George's trap, "what about your sister? What am I meant to tell her if something bad happens to you whilst you're at Hogwarts because you chose to keep your secrets instead of letting the people around you help? Surely you don't think that your family would treat you differently if they found out about this part of you."

George had anticipated Remus using his family, it's a weakness most people couldn't refute. But he wasn't most people. George's eyes started to tear up as he heard what Remus said about his family. Teardrops started to drip and fall to the stone floor creating a pitter-patter sound.

His wet face looked Remus right in the eyes as he said with determination, "that's the main reason why I don't want anyone to know and the reason I was forced to tell you. I had to tell you because I had no other choice, I had no more places I could hide from them. I've had so many nightmares about the day my family would see me as that thing. I could see their horrified faces looking back at me, they would see the monster and nothing else.

You must already know what it feels like to see people look at you in terror, I know there's a reason you spend so much time alone. I'm guessing that you are scared to grow attached to people knowing they would fear you if they knew the truth. I know that because I live with that very same fear every day. I've only known Amanda Dominic and Ellie for just under a year and they're the best thing to ever happen to me, I don't want to risk losing them.

Please, I'm begging you, don't take them from me. I'll do anything. Anything, just don't tell them. I... I don't..."

George tried to ham up the emotions as he began snivelling and shaking during his breakdown in front of Remus. Seeing George's emotional outburst, Remus didn't hesitate to drop his briefcase and embrace George in a hug.

Remus spoke with his gentlest voice whilst holding George close, "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise how much you were suffering inside. I do know what it's like to lose your family because of what you are, it's something that haunts me every day. I won't lie to you, George. People who know will always treat you differently, even your closest family and friends. I am so sorry this has happened to you, you deserve so much better. If you don't want anyone to know then I won't say anything."

Remus pulled away which left his shoulder wet with George's tears. Since he'd gotten the result he had wanted, George allowed his condition to improve slightly.

His face was bright red as he wiped his tears with still shaking hands, "th thank you, Remus. I... I don't know what I would have done if..."

Remus knelt so that his eye level was lower than George's, "but there's one thing you must always know, you are not alone. I am sure there will be a day when you are ready to show your family and I'll be right there beside you. And who knows, you might even find someone you trust enough to show. Even I had a few friends I showed what I was whilst at Hogwarts."

Remus was smiling whilst he tried to raise George's hopes. However, he'll come to regret bringing up the past.

"Remus, if you don't mind me asking, where are your friends now?", George asked while wiping the tears from his eyes.

Remus's smile wavered as he presumably reminisced about the friends he had lost, "they're not here anymore, but that won't be the same for you. I'll make sure of that, this time it will be different. Now cheer up, nothing's going to happen and no one is going to know. Since I am here, which classroom are you in next?"

George acted surprised by Remus's question, but answered nonetheless, "7A on the Seventh Floor, why?"

Remus stood up, picked up his briefcase off the ground, and looked towards the continuously moving staircases.

"That should be Astronomy class if my memory hasn't failed me. I'll walk you there. It should be a good chance for me to have another look around this old Castle, I'll be able to see if anything has changed."

George tugged on Remus's sleeve as he innocently asked, "didn't you tell Professor Snape that you were going to go to the headmaster's office?"

Remus looked back down at George with a cheeky expression, "I'm still going to go to the headmaster's office, but, I am just going to take the long way around. It can be our little secret. By the way, sorry about you being placed in Slytherin. I couldn't possibly imagine having Severus as my Head of House, now that's a living nightmare. It's not all bad though, that girl seemed nice, the one that came with you to the office. What's her name?"

George formed his first smile since his emotional outburst, "her name is Gemma. She's a prefect and is nice to me. Although, she keeps on treating me like her little brother. It's a little weird."

Remus patted George on the back, "look at you, already making friends with a prefect on day one, in Slytherin no less. Does she know that your adopted parents are muggles?"

George nodded, "she does. I don't think she cares."

Remus's smile widened, "that's great. Anyway, I've gotten distracted. It's nearly one o'clock and we haven't even set off. We better get a move on or you'll be late."

Then Remus began to hop up the moving stairs with a sense of familiarity. George followed after Remus and ascended the many flights of staircases until they reached the Astronomy classroom with only a minute to spare. Remus looked at his wrist to check the time and relaxed after confirming George was not late.

"Oh, George. Just one last thing."

The werewolf fumbled around in his jacket before pulling out a copper alarm clock.

Remus handed it over, "I almost forgot, take this."

George took the dinted alarm clock and inspected it, the clock seemed normal at a glance.

Fortunately, Remus was here to explain, "this used to be my father's alarm clock. He gave it to me during my first year at Hogwarts, and it seems only right that you have it now. Your mother did tell me you're a heavy sleeper so it should prove useful."

George looked back up at Remus with a slight smirk, "this isn't any old alarm clock, is it?"

Remus returned the smile, "always the perceptive one, aren't you George? Well yes, you're right. Let's just say you'll know about it when the alarm goes off."

"It's going to electrocute me, isn't it?", George confirmed.

Remus shook his head, "no, nothing so dramatic. Don't knock it till you try it, it'll just give you a little zap. That life-saver was the only reason I didn't miss every single morning lesson."

"Consider me convinced, I'll certainly make good use of it", George said while pocketing the clock.

George then promptly expressed his gratitude, "thank you again, Remus. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Don't mention it", Remus brushed off the compliment before looking at the classroom door, "and this is where I'll be leaving you. Astronomy was always one of my favourite subjects at Hogwarts, it should help clear your mind."

Then he brushed off his jacket and adjusted his tie, "right then, I'll tell your parents that you're all well and good, so there is no need to worry about them finding out. Don't forget to send me a letter every time you turn. I'll guess I'll see you again in just over three months."

Remus held out his hand towards George, he was obviously intending for a handshake.

George ignored the hand as he embraced Remus in a tight hug, "goodbye Remus, I'll really miss you."

Remus gave him a few pats on his back, "it will be alright George, I'm only an owl's letter away if you need anything. You'd better get going now or you're going to be late, I would hate to be responsible for ruining your first impression with your Astronomy Professor."

George hesitated to let go before slowly releasing his grip on Remus, he made sure to look happy with a slight reluctance. Remus smiled and pointed towards the door to the classroom before turning around and heading back towards the staircase they'd come from.