Lumos: Year Three

October soon came, along with colder weather and more colorful leaves. Lanee had not stayed after class or talked to Lupin outside of class since the confrontation on the first day of lessons. She didn’t know what else she could say to him.

After the first day, she had written her mother an angry letter. Her mother had known all along that Lupin would be a professor this year, yet neglected to inform Lanee. Both of her parents kept secrets from her, something Lanee never did to them, and it hurt her greatly. Lanee didn’t trust many people, and now, she regretted ever trusting her parents.

My dearest Lanee,
I’m so sorry I never told you that he was going to be a professor. I just didn’t want to stress you out. If I told you before the school year started, you never would have gotten on that train. I know this is hard, Lanee, I really do. I know that you love him and I know how badly it hurt you when he left, but maybe this will be good. You’re actually getting to see him, isn’t that what you wanted?

I miss you a lot. I’ve been working a lot ever since Black escaped, they have me guarding some Ministry officials. I’d much rather be guarding Hogwarts, it’d be a lot safer to have Aurors guarding the school rather than dementors, don’t you think?

I hope you still want to come home from Christmas, even though you’re mad at me. It kills me to be away from you so long. I love you.

Mom

Lanee was perched in a tree that towered over the Hogwarts ground, this note clutched her hands. She had re-read a hundred times since she received it about a month ago. She wanted to wait until she calmed down to reply to her mother, but the calmness never came. Anger still controlled her, and when it wasn’t, she was stuck in extreme sadness.

From her perch, she could see the active Qudditch field. She knew at this moment, Helena was trying out for the Slytherin keeper. Someday, Lanee defiantly wanted to be on her house Qudditch team, but she knew that day wouldn’t come until Fred and George had left Hogwarts and the beater position was open.

She had attended try outs for the Gryffindor team and showed Fred and George her skills after try outs were over, resulting in the same exact team as the previous year. The twins had concluded that she’d be on the team once their time was done. They said she had a mean swing, but Lanee had already known that much about herself.

“Lanee!” A familiar voice called. Peering down, she saw Seamus and Dean standing at the base of the tree.

“We’ve been looking for you all day!” Dean called out. “Come down!”

But she didn’t come down. She wasn’t in much of a mood to deal with people today. What Lanee didn’t expect was for Seamus and Dean to climb up to her when she didn’t come to them. She quickly tried to hide her face, she knew her eyes were red and puffy, and she didn’t want to admit that they were.

“What are you doing up here?” Seamus asked. “Lanee, are you okay?” He saw her eyes. Instead of speaking, she simply handed him the crumpled letter. Dean and Seamus read the letter together a few times before looking up at her confused.

“I don’t understand what she’s talking about.” Dean said.

Lanee sighed, turning to them. “I have to tell you something guys.”

She knew her mom would kill her for telling them, but although Lanee was unsure of who she trusted right now, these two boys were defiantly trustworthy. Besides, she didn’t have to tell them everything, just the important parts.

“You guys know how my mom was pregnant with me in her final year here, right?” Lanee began. “Well, at the time, she was already working in the Aurors office, little missions. She met a guy there, my dad.”

“Wait.” Seamus interrupted. “You told us you had no idea who your dad was.”

“I lied. Now, don’t interrupt.” The boys shut their mouths and leaned in closer. “Well, he was a little too old for my mom, and they worked together so they had to keep their relationship a secret. Then I came along. For the first eleven or so years, everything was fine. They still kept their relationship a secret, but we all lived together and were a real family.

“In short, shit happened.” Lanee laughed a little. “And he left, and he said he wasn’t coming back. He told me and my mom that we were much better off without him. But we didn’t want him to go. We loved him, in different ways, but we both did. I thought I would never see my dad again.”

Realization dawned on Dean’s face. “Oh, ‘Nee…”

“Professor Lupin is my dad.” She mumbled.

Halloween soon came around, and so did the first Hogsmeade trip. Dean landed himself in detention that day, so Helena, Seamus, and Lanee would be going together. Although it would be chilly, Lanee was excited to get out of the school and maybe even feel like herself again.

“It’s a shame Dean couldn’t come.” Lanee said as they walked, her hand in Seamus’s. She wasn’t exactly sure how they started holding hands, at one point she just looked down and realized they were.

“Yeah, he really wanted to come.” The bruise on Seamus’s neck had finally completely faded. He seemed a lot more confident now that the mark was gone.

The trio decided to head to the Three Broomsticks, and the atmosphere of the building lifted Lanee’s mood. Today in fact wasn’t a bad day, she was in Hogsmeade, she didn’t see Lupin, and Seamus was paying a lot of attention to her. Although she missed Dean and was sort of not paying a lot of attention to Helena, her mood was the best it had been all year.

“Fake drinking! Yes!” Lanee exclaimed once they were severed their drinks. She ended up with a bunch of foam on her chin and giggled when Seamus wiped it off her chin. At that point, Helena left them alone, saying she’d be right back.

“It’s good to see you smile, Lanee.” Seamus said.

“Well now I’m little sad, you just took my beard away.”

Seamus smiled. “That’s what I mean. I haven’t heard you say something like that this year. It really hurts me and Dean to see you sad all the time.”

She could feel the heart to heart coming, and wanted to avoid it. She didn’t want to talk about being sad, that’s what she was trying to escape. Lanee looked over to Helena, only to find her in conversation with Jayden.

“Look, Helena found that guy she likes.” Lanee smiled.

“How do you know she likes him?”

She chuckled. “Please Seamus, Helena’s my best friend. I know she likes him. And I think he likes her too, look at the way he looks at her when she turns away.”

Little did she know, Seamus was giving her the exact look she was describing as her gaze was fixed on the other side of the room.

“Do you think anyone looks at you like that?” He asked when she turned back.

“I don’t know, I’m weird.” Lanee said, taking a sip of her butterbeer. Unlike most teenage girls, she wasn’t fishing for compliments by insulting herself. Calling herself weird simply fell out of her mouth.

Seamus smiled. “We’re all a little weird. Dean’s like six feet talk and he’s only thirteen, I blow up everything, and you can change your appearance in a second. What’s wrong with being a little weird? Why couldn’t someone like a girl who’s different?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t know we were allowed to like people until we were older.” Lanee laughed. She’d be fourteen soon, her birthday was little earlier than everyone else’s, in November. Maybe she started school a little late.

“Liking someone has nothing to do with age, it’s maturity.”

“Do you look at a girl like that?” Lanee asked.

He smiled. “Yeah I do.”

Before Lanee could ask who, Neville approached. “Guys, I’m a little freaked out. My lollipop floated away. It floated away!”

They laughed. “It was probably enchanted or something. Want to sit down and have a drink?”

They ended up staying in Hogsmeade for most of the day, only returning to the school once a professor found them and told them it was time to head back. Upon their return, they found Dean in the common room and told him about the small town and gave him some candy they had gotten him.

If I could just have more days like this, Lanee thought. Maybe this year won’t be so bad. Maybe.