Being the avid fans of Remus and Sirius that we are, An and I would like to play them in the upcoming RP(Morwen: there's a role-play being set up in connection with this site. It's linked in a message below, with the title "Is it? Yes, it's FINALLY HERE!"). Thus, since we can't exactly judge our own worth, we're posting our little audition-y-type thing for you gals to judge. Well, I am. We team-wrote it, by the way. An wrote Remus, and I wrote Sirius. (I doubt anyone needed to hear that. >_<)
To avoid any confusion, let me point out that this little snippet has nothing whatsoever to do with the upcoming arpy. It was part of a little private RPG of our own.
So here it is...
The house where Remus Lupin lived alone was set in the very midst of a Muggle neighbourhood. A neighbourhood filled with grey stucco houses and peeling paint, each as different from the last as one drop of water from another. The sagging window-frames had thrown their panes out of true, and each slowly-mouldering building seemed to watch Sirius with its dirty windows as he trotted past, tail wagging and tongue lolling. A friendly stray he might be, but in this neighbourhood, a friendly stray looked likely to be caught and eaten.
Finally, his twitching nostrils caught a wiff of one friendly scent. Yes, there it was... He cocked his head to one side and studied the sooty plastic numbers arranged on the door, making sure he had it right. He had.
He climbed the rotting wooden steps and scratched at the door, whining loudly. Come on, Remus. Let me in..
There was the clackety sound of a latch being fumbled with, and then the door swung open with an agonizing creak. Remus Lupin stood in the doorway in his patched, threadbare Muggle clothing, looking bemusedly down at the giant black dog on his doorstep. Then he stood aside to let the dog in. "Ah, good to see you back, Padfoot."
Sirius took two steps inside, made sure that the door was closed, and transformed instantly back into a man. He shook his long, matted black hair from his gaunt face and said in his hoarse, unused voice, "Urgent news from Dumbledore, Remus. He's sent me out to alert all the old crowd..." He took a deep gulp of air. "Voldemort has returned.
Remus paled slightly, his eyes widening a little. To his credit, he didn't collapse into a chair and soon regained his mental footing. "How? When? Where?".
Sirius stared at him out of his hollow, haunted eyes. "You heard about the Triwizard Tournament?"
Remus nodded. Of course he had; it had been big news.
"Then you know that Harry was chosen as a fourth champion. It was all part of a plot to restore Voldemort to his body." Sirius glowered and appeared to be gritting his teeth at the thought. "He was taken by a Portkey, right into Voldemort's waiting arms. Or should I say, Wormtail's." His expression darkened further. "He escaped, though. Again. Risked his life to bring the body of another boy back to Hogwarts." Sirius stopped to take a breath again, looking at Remus.
Remus' expression changed from surprise to one of composed anger. "Wormtail," he muttered. "I should have let you kill him first, then explain later." A pause. "It was very brave of Harry to do that. Who was the boy?"
"Cedric Diggory. His father's head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, I think. And speaking of the Ministry: they called Cornelius Fudge to Hogwarts. Just after Harry escaped. The fool didn't believe a word Dumbledore said. He set a Dementor on the one captive they had who might have given them information," for just a moment, Sirius's gaunt face flickered with some strange, closed emotion. "You know what it did."
Remus didn't voice it aloud, only nodded. "So, what does Dumbledore want?"
By now, Sirius was pacing back and forth, three steps to either side of Remus's mildew-spotted hallway. "He wants those of us who know the truth to stand together. He's got Arthur Weasley sounding out the Ministry, too. Fudge believed everything that damned Skeeter woman's been writing about Harry all year. He's blinded himself, and the magical community. We must work quietly, and quickly; I think the first thing to do is meet at Hogwarts."
Remus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. How could anyone believe the tripe Rita Skeeter rolled out? "A wise decision. Would you stop that pacing, Sirius? You're making me nervous."
"What would you have me do, sit down calmly and discuss it over tea?" Sirius snarled, though he did stop pacing. "While Voldemort has seized his second chance? There's no time to lose! We must leave tonight!"
"Of course, but pacing until you wear a hole in my floor won't help matters," Remus said firmly. "Let me throw a few things together and I'll be at Hogwarts as soon as possible. Who else will you be calling on?"
"Well, I've already been to see everyone else... Except..." Sirius frowned suddenly. "What do you know about Cassandra Ravenwood? Had she changed at all?"
Lupin's face showed faint surprise. "I'm afraid we've fallen out of contact as of late. Why?"
Sirius's eyebrows arched. "She tried to get me out of Azkaban, remember? Even spent a few weeks there herself for it. And I've heard recently that she collected information for Dumbledore, back then... She could be helpful.
"If she hasn't betrayed us for Voldemort," he added as an afterthought.
Remus blinked a few times. "No, I didn't know about this, though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. She always did have a thing for you." Here he flashed Sirius a grin, the Remus of two decades ago flickering through for a moment. "I'm afraid I don't know where she is, but knowing her, she'll probably find us.
"And I'm fairly sure she hasn't," he added, not bothering to add his reason for thinking so. They both knew that Cassandra was a decent person. "For a Slytherin," some might say.
"I know," Sirius let a grin twitch briefly at the corners of his mouth. But then a sobering thought hit him, and he became serious once more. "But why hasn't she come to you before now? She must have known that I'd eventually turn up here. That would mean that either she doesn't believe in me anymore, or she's gone over." He stood up a little straighter, as though shaking the weight of the past from his shoulders. "Either way, I think I'd rather speak to Dumbledore about this, before I risk all our lives talking to her. I'll come when you leave tonight."