Interlude

Chapter Two: In the Castle

As they entered the castle together, Remus shivered slightly at the abrupt change from warm sunshine to much cooler shadow. They paused momentarily to readjust their eyes to the dimness, and Minerva dropped her arm away from his as if that touch, so comforting in the expanse of the outdoors, was perhaps too intimate within the closer confines of the rough gray stone.

Without a word they moved off down the long cool corridor heading deeper into the castle proper. This wasn't a part of the building that Remus was overly familiar with so he simply matched his steps to Minerva's and they moved along in time to the staccato beat of her heels. The stately witch made one or two turns in the confusing warren of back passageways and ended up at the foot of a narrow winding staircase.

She turned to her companion with a smile. "This would be the most direct route to my rooms. Would it be all right if we ate there? I always find the Great Hall to be far too intimidating a place to be comfortable eating there unless there are a lot more people to fill it up with."

Remus returned her smile and spoke in a slightly lowered tone. Something about the hushed feeling of this place made him reluctant to raise his voice too loudly. "That's fine with me. I think I'd have to agree with you. The Great Hall is designed for banquets and masses of people, hardly the best venue for an intimate dinner for two."

Roses caressed her cheeks again in the dimness, and she turned away and began to climb up the stairs with a murmured, "Yes, I'm glad you agree."

With a rather pregnant silence as their companion, they climbed up and up for some time, passing from brightness to shadow through the pools of colored light that spilled from the diamond paned windows that lit their ascent. Finally, Minerva paused and stepped off the staircase to head down a corridor filled with the usual muttered rustlings of paintings and the creaking of ancient armour.

At the next junction, she paused and turned to Remus with a hesitant smile. "It's still a bit early for dinner, Remus, and I'd really like to freshen up some after spending all that time under the bushes with the kittens. Although I think I removed most of the dirt, I imagine that I have enough extra fur on me to build myself another cat."

He chuckled warmly at that. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if the same wasn't true for me."

"Exactly." With a nod of satisfaction, she lifted a hand and pointed down the cross corridor to a stout looking wooden door at its end. "That's one of the visitor's bathrooms. The password is "Be Our Guest"." A faint smile flittered across her features as she glanced back at him. "I thought while I was trying to remove the cat hair from my person, you might like to do the same. The house elves would be more than willing to clean and press your garments while you bathed, I'm sure. Just use the usual summoning charm and one will appear. When you've finished, my rooms are right down the next corridor near the base of Gryffindor Tower."

With a warm smile, he nodded appreciatively. "That sounds great, I guess I'll see you in a half an hour or so then."

"I'll look forward to it," she said softly. Then with a brief smile of her own, she turned and walked off down the corridor heading for her own rooms.

Remus stood there and watched her go with a thoughtful look on his face. He'd known Minerva McGonagall practically his whole life, but he realized that he'd seldom if ever really looked at her. As he watched the sweep of her skirts move elegantly off down the hall, it occurred to him that he'd certainly never taken the time to notice how beautifully she moved, so graceful and smooth, very much like the animal she could become in the blink of an eye. He'd never noticed the sweetness of her smile or the warm sparkle of her eyes or the lovely highlights that appeared in her hair in the sunlight either.

With a slightly bemused smile and a shrug of his shoulders, he moved off down his own corridor thinking that this could end up being a very interesting evening.

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Minerva smoothed the last errant strand of dark hair into place and regarded her reflection in the antique pier glass with a solemn expression. Her deep blue gown with the square neckline looked odd to her. It fit perfectly well, but she was so used to seeing herself in nothing but robes and sensible nightgowns that the image that looked back at her seemed somehow alien. A very long time had passed since she'd dressed up, even to this very small extent.

She frowned slightly and ran a hand along the neckline of the dress, fingering the small silver brooch on her bosom and wondering suddenly if she shouldn't simply turn right around and change back into one of the more concealing robes that she normally wore. Then she straightened up and lifted her chin a notch, dismissing the notion with finality.

This was the first evening that she'd spent with anyone, male or female, for strictly personal pleasure in more months than she could even remember. Why shouldn't she wear something a little different? This particular gown hadn't seen the light of day in over two years. It was high time that she got some wear out of it.

Nodding to herself, and dismissing the idea of changing, she walked out into her sitting room and crossed to the French doors that led out onto her balcony. Opening them with a twist of her wrist and a firm push, she walked outside and leaned casually against the railing to admire the lovely view of the countryside spread out below her like a velvet carpet in shades of green and brown. It had been a remarkably beautiful day. Picture perfect. Idly she wondered if the evening would end up being as remarkable.

When a knock sounded on the door behind her, she smiled to herself, smoothed her gown once in a slightly self-conscious gesture and walked briskly across the room to open the door for her guest.

Remus stood there smiling at her looking extremely fresh scrubbed with his tousled hair still a bit damp from the bath. Something turned over deep within the pit of her stomach as she looked at him. An almost irresistible urge to reach out and run her fingers through the strands of his hair was squelched firmly by the sudden dawning realization that at the moment...in this light...he looked almost exactly as she'd first seen him...an excited and rather timid boy of eleven years of age.

Suddenly feeling extremely foolish and awkward, she smiled a wavering smile and invited him in.

Remus looked around the room with interest. He'd been in here once or twice before, during his fondly remembered tenure as a professor at the school, and the room didn't seem to have changed much. A comfortable couch sat in front of the lovely white marble fireplace draped with a tartan throw, which was probably quite comforting on cold winter nights. The wall to his right was filled with floor to ceiling bookcases flanked by a few comfortable easy chairs and a couple of small occasional tables. The shelves themselves were filled with well worn books and knickknacks as well as an assortment of pictures filled with the happy faces of people whom he didn't know.

A roll top desk with an accompanying chair graced the far wall next to open French doors that allowed access to a beautiful balcony with a stunning view of the valley below. To the left against the wall was a table elegantly set for two and next to it was an open door that gave a tempting glimpse of a bedroom beyond.

With a pleased smile, he turned to his hostess, who he noticed, looked quite stunning herself in a deep blue gown that clearly revealed that Minerva had been hiding a rather amazing figure behind those all-enveloping robes that they all wore as a matter of course when they taught here at Hogwarts.

His smile deepened as his eyes swept appreciatively down over her figure. "Thank you for having me to dinner, Minerva. I really wasn't looking forward to spending another evening alone at all."

She nodded in agreement, determinedly trying to dismiss her sudden feeling of awkwardness in his presence. "You're welcome, Remus. It's a pleasure to have you here for me as well. As I said, the castle can be very lonely in the summertime."

"That's a lovely gown you're wearing. I wish I could've changed for dinner as well, but alas I'm afraid I had to make do with my rather shabby robes. I feel as if the lovely Queen is having to settle for having the stable boy to dinner when she was probably hoping for a handsome courtier." He grinned a little sheepishly and ran an embarrassed hand through his hair.

Minerva's face flushed rather severely at the thought that she might've inadvertently embarrassed him by changing her gown. The thought had never occurred to her that he might feel awkward that he couldn't do the same. "Oh, Remus, I'm sorry. I never meant to embarrass you. I just thought that this gown would be more comfortable to wear. I can change..." She began to turn away from him and move towards the bedroom, but he reached out and grasped her gently by the arm and turned her back to face him.

"No. Please, don't change. You look lovely." His frankly admiring eyes sparkled into hers sincerely. "I only meant that I wish I could do you the honor of dressing up for you as you did for me."

"Oh," she colored sharply again. How foolish. She couldn't remember the last time she'd blushed this frequently. Certainly not since she was a girl. That was probably the last time that a man had reduced her to this awkward uncertain feeling, too. Trying to take better control of the situation once more, Minerva straightened up and moved away from her guest. "Would you like a glass of wine while we wait for dinner to be served?" she asked politely.

"Certainly. That sounds great." He answered with a smile and followed her over to her desk, which currently held a couple of bottles of wine in ceramic containers to keep in the chill.

Soon both of them clutched crystal goblets filled with liquid, and they moved together out onto the balcony to gaze with appreciative eyes on the landscape below. The true joy of a northern summer day was in the expanded hours of daylight. Though it was now almost seven o'clock in the evening, the sun still graced the sky well above the distant hills, and it would be several more hours before darkness would spread itself across the landscape quieting the bright and cheerful sounds of daytime and bringing with it the deeper and richer sounds of night.

Remus sighed with contentment as he sipped from his glass and gazed out at the lovely view. Then he set his glass carefully on the railing, planted his elbows on the stone and lacing his fingers together, he dropped his chin onto them as he let his hungry eyes roam where they wished over the beauty laid out before him. "It's so absolutely breathtaking here. I forget how much I miss it when I'm away. The city is hot and crowded and so full of hard edges and enclosed places. I always feel so stifled and hemmed in when I'm there. I think there's a part of me that's only happy when I have lots of greenery at my fingertips and open spaces where I can roam at will."

She nodded in understanding and leaned against the railing next to him with a sigh of contentment. "I know. I feel the same way. There are very few places that I've ever been that can compare with this for sheer loveliness."

They stood in companionable silence for a few moments and simply enjoyed the view. After a time Remus realized that the view that he was admiring the most had changed. Minerva's gown had become a rather striking blue in the glow of the late day sun, much brighter and more dazzling than it appeared indoors, and the slanting light threw her figure into tantalizing relief far more pleasurable to look at than the green hills that she was currently admiring. His gaze moved upwards along the slender curve of her throat and noted that the highlights in her glossy hair, that had gleamed blue and silver earlier, were now tinged with gold as well, begging him to reach out and slide his fingers along the shimmering strands and capture them for closer examination.

Realizing that his hand had begun to reach out all on its own accord, he abruptly cleared his throat and forced it back to smooth down his own locks once again. Then he asked politely, "Do you have any particular plans for the rest of the summer? You said you were between engagements when we were in the garden."

She nodded and turned towards him, the sparkling sunlight glinting brightly off of her spectacles brought a twinkling to her face, hiding her eyes behind its brilliance.

"Yes, I'm presenting a paper at an academic conference in Edinburgh next week. I was hoping they'd hold the conference somewhere more exotic, but apparently the budget wouldn't stretch to foreign lands at the moment." Disappointment tinged her voice slightly, and she took another sip from her glass.

"I've never been to a meeting of that sort. What's it like? Teaching classes was sometimes intimidating enough. How do you manage to stand up in front of all your colleagues, who already know so much about the field, and find something new to talk about?" Remus asked.

Another smile crossed her face, and she turned around to lean casually back against the stone railing while she spoke. "Well, I certainly wish that all the talks were about something new, but most of them seem to be covering ground that we've all been over many times...though if I'm lucky it will get dressed up a bit differently. The meeting can actually be quite interesting if anyone does have something new to say, but most years it ends up being the same people presenting much the same information to the same audience as they always do."

"Why go then?"

She sighed. "It's expected, and I guess I always hope for the odd meeting where something new and exciting does actually get discussed. That can make up for quite a lot of boredom at other times."

Remus too turned his back on the view and leaned against the railing as well, his shoulder brushing gently against hers. "So it's all lectures and shop talk then. Doesn't sound overly exciting, I must admit."

"Well, there's usually a banquet with excellent food, and sometimes there's a big party at the end with a lot of people standing around and watching a few uninhibited souls dance around a large room. I usually skip that part of things," she said with a small shrug.

He nodded in agreement. "Ah, dancing. I don't blame you; I'd either skip out on that myself, or be one of those toe-tapping wallflowers who watched from afar. I'm afraid I never learned to dance."

Minerva laughed softly once again, and he smiled to hear it. "Oh, dancing isn't one of my favorite things to do, but it's not difficult. I'm surprised you never learned, Remus."

"Perhaps you could teach me?" he asked with an eager note in his tone.

Before she was forced to come up with an answer to that, a house elf appeared in the doorway and bowed low as he informed them that their dinner was now ready any time they wished to come in and eat it. Thinking that for once the house elves had perfect timing, Minerva thanked the elf and turned to Remus with a smile. "Shall we?"

He nodded in agreement, and the two of them went in to dinner.