CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The exams flew by faster than Harry expected. Before he knew it, it was the night before the last exam, which was Potions, to be held the following morning.

That night, most of the students were ready to unwind a bit. Only Neville was still sitting in a corner, anxiously trying to study. He was obviously afraid that the disaster that had occurred the previous year would repeat itself.

"You'll do fine, Neville," said Harry, trying to encourage him. "Last year you'd have done well, only Malfoy sabotaged you."

Neville still didn't look comforted.

"Something always happens," he said, his eyes still glued to his Potions textbook. "Jeanne and I worked on almost nothing but Potions this year. I don't want to let her down. This is the last chance I have to do well, for her."

"Last chance?" said Harry. "What do you mean?"

Neville looked up, surprised.

"Don't you know? Well, Professor Flynn probably won't be here next year - he'll have finished his research here. I guess if he leaves, Jeanne will probably follow him."

Something clicked in Harry's mind.

"So that's what she meant," he said to himself. "She said, 'Time is running out'; she was wondering whether to go after Flynn, and she knew she only had a few months to do it, because he was going to leave."

Harry had his chance to be angry with Jeanne earlier than he expected. Around ten that evening, a tiny owl flew in through the common room window and over to Harry, depositing a letter in his lap.

Ron looked shocked.

"That's my owl!" he said.

Pigwidgeon hopped onto Ron's shoulder, and gave him a peck on the ear.

Harry opened the letter. He looked angry after reading it, and crumpled it up and tossed it aside.

"What is it, Harry?" asked Hermione, anxiously.

"Jeanne," said Harry shortly. "Says she wants to see me."

"Why is she using Pig?" asked Ron indignantly. "He's never around nowadays. I've hardly seen him during the last few months, since the Easter holidays."

Harry was still looking angry. Hermione, seeing this, asked timidly, "Aren't you going to see her?"

"No," said Harry shortly. He looked at Pigwidgeon, who was still nibbling Ron's ear.

"You can tell her, the answer is no," he said to the tiny owl. "Tell her I don't want to see her!"

Pigwidgeon cocked his head to one side, looking at Harry. Then, he fluttered out of the window in a blur of feathers.

Ten minutes later, there was another flutter of wings, and a scops owl flew in the window, landing in front of Harry. It blurred, and Jeanne was standing there. There was a sudden hush in the common room, as everyone turned to look at her.

"Harry, I need to talk to you," she said, looking directly at him. "Outside."

Harry felt the anger rising in him. Now was his chance to tell her off.

Once they were outside, she turned to face him. There was a flicker of anguish in her eyes when she saw how angry he looked, but her voice was steady when she spoke.

"I need to ask you for a favour, Harry," she said.

Harry felt even angrier. After the way she had been treating all of them, how could she have the cheek to ask for a favour?

"What is it?" he said, controlling himself.

She had a resolute look on her face.

"I need to borrow your Invisibility Cloak."

"What?" said Harry, astonished. "What do you want it for?"

She shook her head. "I can't tell you."

"Then you can forget it!" he said angrily.

"Harry!" she said, looking at him, with pleading eyes. Her voice was shaking a bit. She took a breath to compose herself, then continued.

"I know you're angry with me," she said. "I don't blame you. But you don't understand what I'm doing. It's really important. Please, please lend me the Cloak."

Harry had been wanting for so long to tell Jeanne off that he wasn't really listening.

"The answer is no!" he said angrily. "Do you think, after the way you've been treating all of us lately, I'm going to do you any favours? Hagrid's a bundle of nerves during classes now, and it's all back to flobberworms again. And Neville…he's in such a state about the Potions tomorrow - and you've stopped helping him as well!"

He stopped to catch his breath. She had gone pale, and opened her mouth to reply, but Harry was already continuing.

"Hagrid…Neville…you've been ignoring all of us! You've dumped us for such a shallow reason - just because you wanted to spend time with Marcus Flynn! And you don't even care for him! If you did, it would be more forgivable, but you don't! You're just after his money!!"

She tried to speak, but Harry went on.

"But worst of all is how you've treated Professor Lupin! You deprived him of his tonic! -"

"You don't understand, Harry - he can't take the tonic - one month before - "

"And he still cares for you!" Harry said angrily, not listening to her. "You don't know how much you've hurt him! Did you hear about the Boggart? Did you?"

"I heard - I heard it turned into a wolf!" she whispered.

"Not just a wolf!" he shouted. "It was you! It turned into you first, and then it turned into a werewolf! That's what Lupin's most afraid of! He still cares for you! You should have seen his face that day, the look in his eyes…"

Jeanne had turned away. She was shaking, but controlled herself with what seemed a superhuman effort. When she turned around, she looked quiet and resolute again. She came over to Harry and looked directly at him.

"You've said your share, Harry," she said quietly. "I know you hate me. But I'm desperate; I need that Cloak. You don't know how important it is! What do I have to say, to make you agree? Do you want me to get down on my knees and beg you? I swear I will, if I have to!" There was a note of desperation in her voice.

Harry's anger flared up again. After all he had said, how could she have the cheek to still ask for the Cloak?

"No!" he said. "You can beg me a thousand times, and I wouldn't lend it to you!"

He turned and marched away without a second glance, leaving Jeanne staring after him. He spat out the password and entered the common room, slamming the portrait behind him.

The Gryffindors who had been crowding around the portrait hole to listen suddenly drew back when he appeared. He took no notice of them, but marched up to the bedroom. He was in no mood to do any more studying that night.

He lay in bed, ignoring the others when they came upstairs.

Harry looked at the time; it was one in the morning, and he still hadn't been able to fall asleep.

He turned and lay on his back, staring into space. The anger that had gripped him earlier had faded, and now he felt oddly ashamed.

"What does she want the Cloak for?" he kept asking himself. He was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable now. Perhaps he shouldn't have gotten so angry; he regretted some of the things he'd said, now. Hermione was right - Lupin had, after all, rejected Jeanne; and it was her own life - surely she could choose who she wanted to be with?

Harry sat up in bed. He was wide awake. He kept seeing the desperate look in Jeanne's eyes, kept hearing her say, 'Do you want me to get down on my knees and beg you? I swear I will, if I have to!'"

He stared out into the darkness, thinking.

"Jeanne never begged anyone for anything," he thought. "Even in Kamchatka, Deorg said she'd never begged him for mercy. What could make her so desperate -?"

He thought of how he'd first met her in the cave, of the horrible life she must have led during her three years there, with only the mirror for company. Staying with the Dursleys was nothing compared to that.

He shifted his position on the bed slightly, and something that sparkled caught his eye.

It was the framed photograph of himself and his parents that Jeanne had given him, which he kept by his bed. He stared at it a while, looking at the shimmering lights in the frame, and thinking of the time and effort she must have spent to capture all that starlight, to make a present, for him. Oddly, the sight of it suddenly made up his mind for him.

”I never gave her anything in return," he said to himself.

He got out of bed, and took the Invisibility Cloak out of his trunk. Wrapping himself in it, he went down the stairs and out of the common room, making his way toward Jeanne's room. He was just about to knock on her door when he heard footsteps approaching.

He looked up. It was Professor Lupin.

Harry quietly tiptoed to one side of the door. Lupin came right up next to him. He hesitated, then knocked.

Jeanne took a while to open the door. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Remus?" she whispered.

Lupin looked at her.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Of course," she murmured, letting him in. Harry didn't even think about whether he should be eavesdropping or not. For some reason, he simply felt that he had to get inside that room. He managed to slip in, just before the door closed.

Lupin looked around the room. "You've changed it back," he said.

Harry stared. Jeanne's room had reverted to what it must have been when she'd first moved in. It was a Hogwarts room, with stone walls. The cheerful floor to ceiling windows, the wooden panelling, were all gone.

Jeanne nodded. "I won't be here much longer," she said quietly, her eyes on the floor.

Harry was surprised, then remembered: she was leaving with Flynn. He looked around the room. It looked bare, as if Jeanne was already packed and waiting to leave.

Lupin had a rather set expression on his face. He turned, and faced Jeanne squarely.

"I'll make this short," he said, meeting her gaze directly. "You know that Snape and Marcus Flynn claim they have found a cure for me."

She looked at him, then nodded.

"They have been spending the last few weeks trying to persuade me to test it, even though it may be fatal if it doesn't work."

He paused, then said, "I've decided to give it a try."

She looked at him. There was a strange expression on her face.

"I believe it will work," she said quietly.

Lupin forced a laugh. "Your faith in Flynn is touching."

She flushed slightly, but said nothing. Lupin smiled grimly.

"Well, I'm not so sure it will work." He stopped, then continued, looking at her, "I've come to say goodbye."

Jeanne went very pale, her eyes wide, looking at him. She seemed to be struggling with some kind of suppressed emotion. Finally, she lowered her eyes, and said in a low voice, "You hate me, don't you?"

Lupin looked at her a while, then said, "No, Jeanne, I don't hate you." He took a breath, "-I wish you and Marcus well. You'll have a good life with him - "

"Stop!" she said, covering her ears. "Please stop!"

She lowered her hands, and came closer to him.

"Please listen to what I have to say." She paused. "I believe the potion will work. Not because of Marcus," - she held up a hand, "- I believe it will work!

"When you are cured," - her eyes lit up as she said this - "I want you to promise me one thing."

Lupin's expression was wary. "What is it?"

"Promise me you'll forget me," she said. "Forget I ever existed. That we ever met."

He looked at her a while, and then asked uncertainly, "Are you all right?"

He might well ask; she was as white as a sheet, and shaking slightly.

"I'm fine," she said. "Promise me, Remus. Promise you'll forget about me."

Lupin looked slightly baffled.

"I can't promise I'll forget you," he said. "But I certainly can promise that I'll try."

Jeanne lost her composure.

"You have to promise!" she cried, almost plucking at his robes. "You must promise! - "

"Jeanne!" said Lupin, catching hold of her shoulders and giving her a shake. "Get a grip on yourself! What's the matter?"

She shrugged her shoulders, and he let her go. She stood a while, as if fighting with something within herself, then calmed down.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking at the floor. "I don't know what's come over me."

She raised her eyes to meet his, and the resolute expression was suddenly back on her face.

"You came to say goodbye, Remus," she said, "so let us do so."

She extended a hand to him. He looked at her a moment, then took it.

"I believe the potion will work," she said softly, shaking his hand, "and I wish you a happy life, all the happiness that you deserve."

Lupin said only, "Goodbye, Jeanne."

He released her hand, and went slowly to the door. He opened it, then turned and looked back.

"Tomorrow night, you know…" he said, "Don't come."

There was a peculiar expression on her face.

"Don't worry," she said, rather coldly, "you won't see me there."

He looked at her, then left without a word.

The minute the door shut, Jeanne ran over to it and leaned against it, listening as his footsteps died away. Then she crumpled up on the floor, and wept bitterly.

Harry watched in dismay. Was she losing her mind?

She cried a while, then recovered. Slowly, she got to her feet, then went over to the sofa and took something out from under it. She must have hidden it when Lupin came, thought Harry.

Jeanne placed the object on a table, and sat looking at it. Harry crept curiously over to have a look. It was a small green bottle.

There was suddenly a fluttering of feathers, and Pigwidgeon came flying onto the table. Harry blinked in surprise. The tiny owl had been sitting on top of the cupboard all the while, unnoticed.

Jeanne sighed, and looked at the owl.

"I've committed so many murders before, you'd think it would be easy for me to commit one more," she said to the owl.

Harry's blood ran cold.

Pigwidgeon hooted at her.

"Yes, of course I'm sure I want to do it," she said quietly, picking up the green bottle and looking at it. "It will be the last time I ever kill anyone, anyway. It will all be over, tomorrow night."

There were tears in her eyes. Pigwidgeon looked at her sympathetically. She put the bottle down, and stretching out her hand, she gently stroked him.

"It was easy, last time; but now it's so hard, because I've met him," she said softly, half to herself.

She sighed, and stopped stroking the owl. She stared at the bottle on the table.

"It's all your fault, Remus," she said sadly, "Why couldn't you have accepted me? Then I wouldn't have to do this." Her hands were stained red, with blood.

Harry was listening in horror. He wondered if this was some kind of nightmare.

"I don't believe it," he thought. "She's going to kill Lupin. She's going to poison him because he's rejected her."

At this moment, someone knocked on the door.

"Jeanne?" It was Flynn's voice. "I saw your light on. I know you're awake." Harry, seeing this was his chance to leave, quietly moved over to the door.

Jeanne snatched the bottle from the table and hid it in the cupboard. Then she went to the door and opened it. Harry just managed to squeeze himself out, past Flynn. He stood outside the door, listening.

"About tomorrow night," Flynn was saying, "are you sure you don't want to come?"

"I'm sure, Marcus."

Flynn looked disappointed.

"Well, in case you change your mind," he said, "Don't forget it's nine o' clock sharp, at the small room in the Astronomy Tower. Remus has to be exposed to the full moon when he takes the potion."

Jeanne must have nodded, because Harry didn't hear her reply to this. She then said good night to Flynn, and shut the door.

Harry waited till Flynn had gone, then walked slowly back to the Gryffindor common room, his mind in a whirl. He couldn't believe it - Jeanne was going to kill Lupin! It wasn't possible. And Snape and Flynn - they had found a way to cure Lupin of being a werewolf! So that was what their research had been all about.

"But it doesn't make sense," thought Harry. "Snape hates Lupin. Why should he try to find a cure for him? Unless…"

He stopped in mid-stride, and stood there thinking.

"Lupin said if the potion didn't work, it might be fatal," he said to himself. "Maybe Snape's doctored the potion. So Snape's going to try to kill Lupin too. Or is he in league with Jeanne?"

Harry was beginning to feel very confused. He continued walking back to the dormitory, and got into bed and lay there, feeling dazed.

"I ought to warn Lupin," he thought. "But how do I prove it? He won't believe me."

He was tired now, after all that had happened, and while worrying about it, he fell asleep.