Carry You Over To A New Morning
A year passed by in a flurry of faces and patients. Remus loved being a Healer; he loved how varied it was, how much it challenged him intellectually, making him think about how to fix people from the inside out. It was also hard, and heart-breaking, sometimes.
After a forty-eight hour shift, he'd fallen asleep at his desk, his half-finished toast unpleasantly soaking his fingers. He awoke to the feeling of his wand, which vibrated on his desk, and announced, in a clear voice, 'Presence of first assistant-Healer Lupin required on Fourth Floor, Spell Damage.'
'Noted,' he told the wand groggily, which glowed to indicate his confirmation, and stopped vibrating. He blinked blearily, getting up out of his chair and straightening his research half-heartedly, the wand pattern of the new Healing Charm he had been working on for weeks now no closer to being finished than it had been when he started. He quickly splashed his face with cold water and was out the door not a second later, shaking his face to rid it of the excess water. He could've dried his face magically, but sometimes, he couldn't really be fussed.
He calmly made his way down the corridor of the research room and took the set of stairs to the right, which led to the fourth floor. His wand easily lit up when he passed the correct room and he entered it, fully awake, if a bit tired.
'Poppy!' he exclaimed, in shock, spotting her standing in the room.
The Hogwarts matron offered him a small smile. 'Remus,' she said, 'good to see you.'
He returned her smile and focused his attention on the magical parchment that appeared out of thin-air. First year Hogwarts student, it said in the receptionist's neat handwriting. Spell damage. Remus kept his face blank, but his mind was racing. It was quite unusual for Madam Pomfrey to send students to him, especially since she was such a gifted Healer herself. The only reason she would, Remus concluded, was if she didn't know what kind of spell had been used or could find no cure for it. Which meant it was likely Dark magic – something she, for all her Muggleborn-brilliance, knew very little about.
Remus looked up from the parchment and Poppy stepped aside, revealing the two boys sitting on the hospital bed. They'd taken no notice of him, being involved in rapid conversation. Remus vaguely recognised the bespectacled boy as James Potter, having seen him at some party before. The other boy grinned slowly and then looked up at Remus.
Sirius. It was Sirius. And he was wearing a standard, grey woollen Hogwarts jumper, a bright gold-and-red Gryffindor tie tucked neatly in the collar. He seemed, at first glance, to be completely uninjured. Remus realised, however, that the conversation had been mostly one-sided, stemming from Potter.
'Hello, Mr Black,' he said, because the boy was eleven-years-old now, which meant the politeness rules for out-care patients officially kicked in. 'What appears to be the problem?'
Sirius seemed surprised to see him, too, and looked at James Potter, who glanced up at him, earlier happiness replaced by a stern seriousness Remus recognised from his father, who worked as a potioneer.
'He was hexed,' Potter said, annoyed, his fist clenched, all eleven-year-old Gryffindor rage. 'Couldn't see what it was, and Sirius had his back turned too.'
Remus glanced at Poppy, who subtly inclined her head towards the corridor. Remus smiled at the two boys and stepped out.
'There was a duel. He was hit with something and I don't know how to stop it,' she whispered urgently, once the door shut behind them. 'It's some sort of horrible Curse that affects his heartbeat. It speeds up, slows down –' her voice rose on the last note, a slight panic to it. '– it almost stopped completely, once. Nothing I do counters it.'
Remus nodded at her and the two of them re-entered the room. Sirius was lying back on the bed, his breathing shallow. Potter was sat on his left side, looking down at him imploringly, as if he could fix him by merely staring at him.
'Mr Potter,' said Remus. 'If I may?'
Potter slid off the bed with practised ease and Remus sat by Sirius. He ordered his wand to start with the diagnostic spells, which it did calmly, hovering over Sirius.
'Mr Potter,' said Poppy, 'let's get Mr Black something to eat.'
'I want to stay,' Potter said loyally, and Remus smiled at him. Sirius had closed his eyes, his breathing starting to even out, as if he was simply going to sleep. Remus realised that he better do something, fast.
'I'm sorry, but you will need to leave, Mr Potter,' Remus said kindly, but firm.
Potter sulked all the way to the door, hands thrust into his pockets, glancing back to the bed as he followed Poppy out of the room, the door closing softly behind them. Remus immediately turned his attention back to Sirius. His wand, having finished its diagnostics, indicated nothing was out of the ordinary, and fell limply into his waiting hand. He did some hasty spell work, casting a charm to monitor the pressure of Sirius's heartbeat and a protective spell as to keep his heart from stopping. The magic filled the room around him, the walls pulsing softly, very slowly, filling itself with blue light with each beat of Sirius's heart.
Remus, meanwhile, was leaning over Sirius. The symptoms he was experiencing sounded familiar, and when he closed his eyes, Remus could remember seeing them neatly outlined in Moste Darke Magick, one of the books he'd pilfered from his grandfather's collection. It was deep, Dark magic, which had to have come from one of the older students. There was no way a fellow first-year would have the power to cast this Curse.
Sirius's body started panicking as his heartrate sped up, the walls of the room pulsing wildly, erratic beats of blue lighting up the room. Sirius's hand clenched, tightly, in the sheets.
Meanwhile, Remus was focusing on Sirius's face, trying to recall what had been written in the book. The page, he remembered, had started with an illustration of the three phases of the spell, the strings of the heart coated in a kind of black tar, which seeped slowly, ever so slowly, into the heart chambers, artfully smothering a person from within.
Sirius opened his mouth, and started babbling lethargically, his heartrate plummeting, the walls of the room pulsing red, signalling danger. Remus furrowed his brow, clenching his eyes shut. The words on the page appeared in his mind's eye, golden letters flaring. The Curse affects the brain as well as the heart, an often overlooked fact – his eyes flew open.
Remus pressed his wand to Sirius's temple, muttering the counter-charm that pulsed out as brightly in front of his eyes as Sirius's heartbeat. Then he moved his wand over Sirius's heart in the pattern of the standard Heart-Healing Charm St Mungo's used. The walls around him shimmered, reflecting this magic, and then pulsed softly, steadily, all around him. Remus let out a breath of relief and undid the spell on the walls.
All of a sudden, Sirius's eyes flew open and he sat up, nearly knocking Remus off the bed.
'Mr Black,' he said, his hands comforting on Sirius's shoulders. 'Calm down, you've had quite a shock.'
'Fuck,' was all Sirius said, groaning and flopping back on the bed.
Remus blinked. This seemed extremely out of character for the quiet boy he'd come to know over the years.
The door opened unexpectedly and James Potter entered, face wary. Sirius glanced up at the interruption and with a roar of relief, Potter barrelled towards the bed, peering up at Sirius eagerly.
'All right?' Potter asked, in a casual tone that didn't match his enthusiastic bouncing.
'I'm fine, James, you big nancy,' Sirius said, but he was grinning and there was no real malice behind the words.
'If you hadn't almost snuffed it, I'd be really upset at that,' Potter said, socking him on the arm. Sirius snorted with laughter, a sound which was warm and unfamiliar and made Remus's stomach jolt. At least Sirius had someone besides his horrible family, now.
Poppy had come in and was standing next to Remus, who was filling in the magical parchment. She was smiling at the boys, relief evident on her face. She extended the smile to Remus, who grinned at her.
'All right, you two,' she said then, in a stern voice Remus remembered from his Healer training, 'back to Hogwarts. Thanks, Remus,' she said, addressing him. He smiled back, bowing to her, then to the two boys.
'Yeah, cheers,' James said, hopping off the bed, all eleven-year-old nonchalance, and following Poppy out of the doors.
Sirius got up too, and if his movements were slow or slightly sluggish, he ignored it.
'Yeah, thanks Remus,' he said, winking at him and walking out of the door. Potter slung his arm around his shoulder and the two left, chatting animatedly.
Remus stared after him in shock.
The Wizarding Wireless was crooning Christmas songs, filling the Staff's Tea Room with cheer. Remus was sat next to Marlene McKinnon, who was reciting a set of spells under her breath, eyes closed. Her knee pressed comfortingly against Remus's under the table. On the other side of him, Alice Longbottom was telling him, in her thick Irish lilt, about a patient who had somehow managed to swallow part of a poisonous plant while travelling to Australia. Her hands were gesturing expressively.
They were his best friends first, and his colleagues next.
Marlene had been in Ravenclaw with him, and Alice had been in Gryffindor. She'd sat next to them during their first Charms lesson, and they'd fallen into a comfortable friendship. Remus had always been interested in the way spells worked, in the way magic curled itself into patterns and riddles, which only made sense if you approached them in the right way. Marlene had wanted to become an Auror, at first, until her favourite uncle was killed by a Manticore. She'd changed course radically, taking up Care of Magical Creatures. Alice, on the other hand, had always wanted to do "something with plants". After their NEWTs, all three of them had registered for Healer training at St Mungo's without informing the others. They shared identical grins when they'd met each other on their first day.
He loved his work in Spell Damage; Marlene was part of the Creature-Induced Injuries department; and Alice worked in Potions and Plant Poisoning. They always met up for lunch, exchanging stories. Remus had been the best man at Alice's wedding just two months ago. She was smiling at him now, evidently waiting for his reaction to the story she'd been telling. Remus realised with a jolt he'd missed most of it.
'Sorry,' he said, grinning apologetically.
'Don't worry,' she told him softly, patting his arm. 'Any plans for New Year's?'
'Not really,' Remus confessed.
'He means 'not ever',' Marlene said teasingly, swiping a crisp from his plate. Remus swatted at her hand.
'You two should come to the party Frank and I are hosting, then,' Alice said, looking fondly between them. 'It'll be quite the affair. We're inviting loads of people.'
'All right,' Remus said. 'Thanks.'
'Ooh, ta! I'll be there,' Marlene said.
Alice opened her mouth to respond but it was at that moment Remus's wand vibrated, announcing, 'Presence of first assistant-Healer Lupin required on Fourth Floor, Spell Damage.'
'Noted,' Remus replied. Marlene and Alice waved cheerfully at him, falling into easy conversation about the party as he clambered out of his seat. He grabbed his half-finished sandwich and chewed on it thoughtfully as he made his way up the stairs, reaching the fourth floor in record time. It was busy. Spell Damage was always busiest at Christmas, family tensions rising high. Remus was never short of amusing anecdotes at parties.
His wand glowed when he reached the right room and he stepped in. The magical parchment appeared, bearing only one word: Emergency. He glanced up sharply, his stomach dropping at the sight.
Regulus Black was standing in the room, all nine-year-old panic, which was betrayed in his wide, terrified eyes. Sirius was leaning against him, looking unable to stand, blood staining his clothes. Regulus appeared grateful when Remus walked over and took Sirius from him, guiding him towards the bed.
'I'm not supposed to be here,' Regulus said quickly, and for the first time, Remus noticed a battered house-elf in the corner. It was watching the proceedings silently.
'Kreacher, I forbid you to ever tell anyone about this,' Regulus said, and the house-elf's eyes widened, but he nodded, unable to resist such a direct order.
'Fix him please,' Regulus breathed to Remus, now, grabbing the house-elf's hand. The elf was looking at Remus, his eyes narrowed.
'Take us home, Kreacher,' Regulus told it. With a sharp crack of house-elf magic, they were gone.
Remus looked over to Sirius, who was bleeding profusely from the mouth, waves of it soaking through the fabric of his brick-red Gryffindor jumper. There were burn marks surrounding his lips, his throat raw and red. He was looking at Remus without really seeing him; his grey eyes a cloudy grey.
'Don't –' Sirius said, and Remus had to lean very close in order to hear him. '– tell – James,' he finished, with a pleading note to his voice.
Remus opened his mouth to respond, but Sirius's eyes rolled back in his head, his movements stilling.
Shit, thought Remus.