Your eyes told a tale of an act of betrayal -- Fall 1990 (DONE)

It was the start of my first term of teaching at Hogwarts and I was extremely nervous.  It was goign well, but I noticed one first year who reminded me of myself when I was younger -- hiding a burden and hoping no one would notice.  I looked up from putting papers into my briefcase when I heard a noise.  It was Lincoln Matthews to turn in his essay on why it was important to learn about defensive spells.  He always came up at the end of class after everyone else was gone already.  He was barely ever in the Great Hall to eat at normal times, either.  And I noticed, all of a sudden, that he was favoring his one leg.  "Can you wait a moment?" I asked him when he started to walk away from the desk.

I sighed slightly and turned back around.  I looked at Professor Lupin with a puzzled look on my face.  He looked really concerned about something.  "What is it, Professor?" I inquired politely.  Lupin was by far my favorite professor at Hogwarts.  I was not sure what to believe about him.  My parents hated him and called him a half-breed, but they did not say of what.

"Is everything alright?" I questioned, putting his essay with the others.  I stopped moving and looked into the boy's eyes.  I could see something flicker in them, but it was hard to read what it was.

Could he tell?  I chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of my neck slightly.  "Of course it is," I said quickly and automatically.  "Why do you ask?" Maybe hewas speaking of schoolwork and not of my personal life... because, really, how could he even know?

I walked around my desk and noted how Lincoln seemed to subconsciously move away from me.  I leaned agianst my desk and sighed slightly.  "Well, I noticed that you seem a little... well, do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?" I asked slightly awkwardly.  How could I get to the point of my concerns without scaring him away?  I was good at handling my kids... not the other students quite yet.

Blinking in surprise, I looked away from Professor Lupin.  "What do you mean?" I asked, trying to be nonchalant about everything.  I was not entirely used to being questioned on a one-on-one basis by an adult.  There were only a few instances while I was at St. Mungo's hwen the healers asked me about my injuries.  But Mother or FAther always were around.  I remembered one specific healer...

I went to pu ta hand on his shoulder but stopped for two reasons:  he looked frightened and he was not one of my kids.  No teachers did that while I was in school.  "Let's talk up in my office, ifyou'd like to join me for a cup of tea and a sandwich?" I offered.  I knew that it was lunch next and also knew that he never ate when other students did.

I hesitated slighty, but ended up nodding in agreement.  "Oh, okay," I said.  What could it hurt?  I really did nto relish the idea of eating with the other students.  I tried to hide the slight limp I had... my leg still did not feel normal yet.

Once we were both within the confines of my office, I motioned for Lincoln to sit down.  "Any preferences on tea?" I questioned as I started to make us the sandwiches and tea.  I looked up at him and saw him shake his head.  He stayed quiet while I worked.  I put the tea and sandwiches onto my desk and sat down.  "is there anything yuo'd like to tell me?" I asked.

I automatically knew what he was getting at. especially since he asked if I needed the hospital wing.  I took a sip of the tea to buy me some time.  Shaking my head, I said, "Not that I can think of..." I knew better than to say anything against my parents.  I did not want to have to deal with any consequences I would have to be put through at home.

I raised my eyebrows at him.  I knew it was only the start of term and hard to build trust.  I ate a little bit of the sandwish in my hand.  Of course Lincoln stayed quiet.  "You can talk to me, Mr. Matthews," I told him.  "I mean... you shouldn't be going around injured like you are."

I really did not want to continue talking about this.  I looked around his office, searching for anything to change the topic.  My sight went to the pictures he had on a shelf.  The blonde on his arm smiling and gazing lovingly at him -- that was Healer Chloe!  My eyes widened.  She had her suspicions about everything... perhaps that was where Professor Lupin was coming from.  "Professor... is that your wife?" I questioned, pointing at the picture.  "She's a good healer... I've had her help me before.  Actually with my leg..." I trailed off, not wanting to really get into any of it.

I followed Lincoln's gaze to the family picture.  Chloe mentioned this case but kept from naming anyone due to Healer/patient confidentiality.  I nodded to his question.  "Yes... that's Chloe... I'm assuming she had you call her Healer Chloe rather than Healer Lupin?" I asked.  With his surprise and his age, I was sure she probably thought it best to be less professional.

I was slightly startled by his quesiton.  "Erm, Healer Chloe," I answered.  "I never knew she was a Lupin."  I had no idea what was going on.  What all did Healer Chloe tell Professor Lupin?  She had been asking all sorts of questions when I was there... ws that why he was asking me about everything?

I smiled slgihtly at him.  "That doesn't surprise me," I responded.  I took another sip from my tea.  "She always tries to make you feel a little more welcome when you go to St. Mungo's."  There was something to be said about CHloe's bedside manner.