On Death Row
by Stan Brianson
Rating: M for language and slight violence
Author's Note: This is an old fic which I found written in longhand amongst a pile of bank statements destined for the shredder after I moved flats over the weekend. It's old. It's not the best, but it's something to post whilst I'm trying to rid myself from the evils of writer's block and having to actually earn a living and get on with writing more. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with the Harry Potter series; if I did, Remus and Tonks, and their subsequent... breeding shudder!... would never have happened, I can assure you. All characters belong to JKR, apart from Officer Winters, who belongs to me. Lovely. Anyways, on with the show...
Chapter One - Arrest
"Enter!" Remus crossed the threshold and stepped into the magnificently decorated office, finding himself face-to-face with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"Y-you wanted to see me, Headmaster?" he stammered. He had heard about what had happened on the night of the previous full moon from James and Peter that morning.
"Yes, I did. I trust that you are now, erm... in better health?" Dumbledore asked. His voice was uncharacteristically grave, and the almost mischievous twinkle in his eye had vanished. However it was Professor McGonagall who unnerved Remus most of all; she stood weakly, silent and shaking, her lips pursed so tightly that it was almost impossible to determine where her mouth actually was.
"Mister Lupin," Dumbledore said, indicating an unfamiliar wizard wearing robes of scarlet. "This is Officer Winters, from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad." On cue, Winters produced a gold badge bearing the crest of the Ministry of Magic from within his robes.
"Of course. How can I help you, Officer?" he replied, his voice now laced with a note of panic.
"Are you Remus John Lupin, of Four, Leveret Row, Ballyconragh, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland?" Winters had a soft, gentle voice which seemed as if it had been designed specifically to put people at ease. It reminded him of the Healers who had taken care of him after he had been bitten.
"Yes, Officer, I am," he replied.
"Good. Now, Remus. I am here regarding a very serious incident which happened on the evening of October the Fifteenth." Remus started trembling before the Officer had finished speaking. He found himself subconsciously searching the Headmaster's study for an escape route, but could only see the door through which he had entered.
The door which Winters was, seemingly without moving from his original position, now standing immediately in front of.
"Now, Remus," Winters continued. "I do not like this any more than I am sure that the good Professors here do," he said, gesturing towards Dumbledore and McGonagall with a flick of his hand. "Nevertheless, I have some things which I must say to you. A sort of script, if you will." He chuckled, humourlessly whilst Remus smiled politely. Winters's grin slowly sank once more into an expression of gravity. "Registered Werewolf number three-six-nine-four-one-three-one-one-nine. I am arresting you for the breach of the Werewolf Code of Conduct, Sixteen Thirty-Seven, for the attempted murder of Severus Snape, a human; and for the attempted lycanthropic infection of Severus Snape, a human. You do not have to say anything, unless you wish to do so, but it may harm your defence if you do not state now, or later under interrogation, anything which you may later rely on at an official Wizengamot Trial. Anything which you do say may be used as evidence against you. Do you understand, three-six-nine-four-one-three-one-one-nine?"
All the colour from Remus's face had drained away. Surely... surely after all that had happened, they weren't actually arresting him, were they?
"Do you understand, Remus?" came Winters's curiously disarming voice.
"Mister Lupin?" This time, Dumbledore's voice shook him back to the consciousness of the real world.
"S-sorry," he stuttered, "y-yes, O-officer, I-I u-u-understand."
"Good lad," Winters replied. And with a flick of his wand he conjured a pair of shining silver manacles. Remus looked wildly around the room in a panic. Dumbledore's head hung low in silent, almost protesting, contemplation; McGonagall suddenly sobbed loudly and made a great show of reaching into her handbag to retrieve a large tartan handkerchief. Officer Winters advanced upon the terrified boy who had never broken the Law in his life...