Title: Victims
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, no profit is being made and no copywright infringement is intended.
A.N.: For those of you reading Making Believe, Simple Crush, and They Wouldn't Be Yours new chapters will be up soon. I promise. I appoligize for the lengthy writer's block - I was working on a book and wanted to get it done (but still haven't!). This was an idea that wouldn't leave me alone.
A.N. 2: For every one! This story takes place right after the Marauder's seventh year. I based it on the idea that when a werewolf came of age in the wizarding world, the Ministry of Magic took custody of them. It's brutal and it's tough. Check my profile for a layout of Remus' cell.
You walked into the room, shooting the guard an angry glare before he shut the door, locking you in. Suddenly, a sickening smell of excrement and urine hit you, you put your hands on your knees and tried not to breathe through your nose – tried not to vomit. A whimper from the corner caught your attention, and you turned to see your friend, on his hands and knees. His clothes, his dignity gone. He crawled over to you and wrapped thin arms around your legs. You looked down at him and felt your eyes widen. A muzzle was strapped to his face, slats in it. You hoped they were there so he could drink water without begging first.
You knelt down and wrapped your arms around him, felt him crying silently. "Remy." You whispered the word quietly, before grasping his face and pushing him away to look in his eyes. Tears worked their way down his face, you could see them glistening in what little light filtered in through the mesh window. "Can we have them turn on the lights?"
"No." He whispered quietly and shook his head. He backed away from you so quickly he tumbled, falling over himself onto his back.
"Why not? You don't think I'll laugh, do you?" You could hear the hurt in your own voice. "I can barely see you Remy. It's been too long. I'm getting them to turn the lights on." You stood and walked to the door, tapped two times on the glass. Suddenly a buzzing, fluorescent light came on, hanging low from the cracked ceiling. Your friend cringed on the floor as you took in the room around you.
Being the tidy person he was, Remus had chosen one corner to use as his toilet, but had thrown up somewhere else in the room. There was a puddle of blood in one corner, a steel chair welded to the ground and a blanket, folded neatly in the center of the room. Next the door by which you had entered, there was a bucket of stale water and a plate which had previously had food on it. What kind of food? You weren't sure.
Finally you turned back to your friend, noticed he was still curled in a ball. "Remy? Remy? It's me...Sirius."
"I know who you are." He spoke quietly, almost like a child who is beaten often – frightened of saying the wrong thing.
"Oh, Merlin. Moony, what have they done to you?" You traveled over to him, dropped your body next to him, and pulled his head into your lap. He blushed slightly, and you pulled your robe off, covering him with it.
"You're finally here," he croaked the words out, nuzzling you stomach, delighting in the feeling of comforting, human contact.
"Ever since they brought you in," you pulled your fingers through his greasy hair, staring at a blood stained wall, "I've been coming every day. Today was the day they let me in, Moony."
He smiled sadly at you.
"Do they...do they feed you?"
He nodded sadly, before starting to sob. "They don't even treat me like a human, Padfoot!" He grabbed your waist and buried himself in your sweater, squeezing your body as though you might fly away. "They won't give me clothes, or a toilet. They bathe me like I'm a dog and they feed me...they feed me something. I don't know what it is. It makes me sick. I feel so sick."
You shushed him, running fingers over his scarred back and arms. "Did they take your wand?" You hopped this might be a word of comfort. Maybe he still had his wand.
"Yes!" He yelped, immediately looking up at, "They snapped it right in front of me."
"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry, Moony."
As you ran your fingers over his neck, you felt the buckle on the muzzle. Surely they had magicked it shut? Still, you hopefully fumbled with it, unlatching the steel clasp. It appeared they hadn't.
"What are you doing?" He sounded fearful, anxious.
"I'm taking this sodding muzzle off of you." You grunted as you pulled it off of him, running a finger over the red marks it left behind. From your back pocket, you pulled a silver flask. "Listen, we don't have much time. Drink this."
"What is it?" He opened it suspiciously, sniffed it, and glared at you. "It's polyjuice potion."
"I know that," you sighed, "I made it. You'll look like me." You stood, and ran over to the door, tapped it, and the lights went out. You started stripping off you clothes, laying down your wand on the chair. Once you were naked, your friend had finished turning into you. "Now put these on," you motioned to the pile of your clothes, which you had unceremoniously thrown down, "Then put the muzzle on me."
Your friend had finally gotten the idea. "No – Sirius, no."
"Once they come in and find out I'm not you, they'll send me away."
"To Azkaban!"
"That's fine. I can turn into Pads. I'll come back to you." You momentarily ran a hand over his cheek, before pulling back. "Put the muzzle on me, come on. Then take my wand and go."
"They might not come back for a week. I was just fed. We'll do something else. Sirius..."
Your eyes widened, "It's fine. Do it before we run out of time." He finally conceded, strapping your muzzle on and slipping his feet in your shoes. You smiled, thinking of his feet swimming in them. He kissed you on the forehead, running a hand over your shoulder.
"I'll come back for you, I will." It was surprisingly odd being kissed by yourself. You nodded and went to blanket, pulling it around yourself and facing the back wall.
"Go, now." You were being harsh, you knew, but you didn't have a choice.
"I could stay." His hand reached for the doorknob, he gave you one last chance.
You steeled your resolve, hugging the blanket tight around yourself. "You're human, too. Go, now."
You heard the door click open, then shut. You rolled onto your side and shut your eyes.