I still own nothing but my OCs and my thank yous for the wonderful people who read, favorited, followed and reviewed! Thank you so much and I hope you all got to enjoy the Cursed Child this weekend! 3
"How are you feeling?" James asked from a chair beside Remus's bed.
"Been worse." He shrugged, leaning against his pillows.
James seemed anxious, but Remus suspected it probably had something to do with how upset he'd been when he woke up. He glanced over at Callie, who was still asleep, having only gotten an hour or so before waking up and waiting to make sure he would be okay, only turning back when James spoke again.
"So. Something sort of happened. A few things, actually." James leaned forward so his elbows were on his knees.
Remus frowned, he could tell something was up as James tried to think of what to say. He knew Remus had already been upset enough and wanted to be as reassuring as possible.
"So – you know Lily." He started.
"Lily who? The one you never shut up about?"
James cleared his throat loudly before continuing, his cheeks turning slightly pink.
"And you know – she's so smart. Very smart. Nothing really gets past her, you know?" He chuckled nervously.
"James…" Remus pressed slowly.
"So, funny story about her, she was in the common room when we got back this morning. Worried, you know, because none of us came back last night."
Remus leaned toward him, beginning to feel uneasy. James glanced around the hospital wing, looking anywhere but at his friend as he fidgeted with his hands.
"And?"
James took a deep breath, finally looking at his friend.
"She may or may not have figured everything out." He said finally, still with the same nervous smile.
Remus's eyes went wide and he struggled to find something to say when James held up his hands.
"It's okay though, really! You can trust her!" He assured him.
"Great! Is anyone else going to figure out that I'm a monster today? Should we make a banner to hang in the common room?" He groaned.
"Remus Lupin, you idiot!" Lily stepped out from where she was hiding behind the curtain around his bed and threw her arms around her surprised friend. "You're wonderful, don't you dare say anything else!"
She stood back and frowned when she noticed all the bruises he had from the night before.
"It's not as bad as it looks." He shrugged, wincing slightly from the pain in his torso. "Last night was…unusual."
Lily sighed sadly. She didn't doubt that he'd been worse but just the thought seemed horrible.
"I'm glad you're alright. I've sort of suspected this for a while, but…well I've been worried about you, Remus. James said you didn't want anyone to know, and I kind of assumed that anyway so I never said anything before but I was so worried when no one came back last night. I didn't mean to say anything about it, really, but I promise you can trust me. I won't say a word, I swear." She assured him.
"I know." Remus nodded. "I just…didn't want anyone to think differently of me."
Lily shook her head and hugged her friend, muttering about how ridiculous the idea was. When she let go she glanced over at Callie, who had fallen asleep on her side facing him.
"I can't believe Dryer actually attacked Callie like that. He had to have known she would have died out there. In the middle of the night in the woods." She shook her head, angry with herself for not taking his threats more seriously.
"With me." Remus sighed.
Huh?" Lily's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion for a second before her eyes widened when she realized what he meant.
"Remus, that's not what I was trying to say!" She insisted.
"Didn't have to be. I could have-" he stopped himself, still not ready to finish that sentence.
Instead he clenched his mouth shut and looked down. Lily tilted her head to the side, looking sadly at her friend. She knew it was true, a werewolf would attack anyone they came across. If his friends hadn't been there Callie would be dead and Merlin knew where Remus would be.
"Stop talking like that, Remus." Callie sighed, surprising them all.
She sat up, still half asleep and looked over at them, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She knew the only thing he'd been able to think of all morning was what could have happened to her. She couldn't blame him for feeling terrible, but she still wanted to convince him that he didn't have too. Even if something had happened to her she never would have blamed him. He wasn't himself when he changed and she knew that.
"How's your head feeling?" Lily asked.
"It's fine. Dryer had a weak kick anyway." She waved her hand dismissively.
James and Lily talked quietly on their way out of the hospital wing when voices from around the corner caught their attention.
It was McGonagall and Dumbledore, talking in a hushed, panicked tone. James quickly held his finger over his mouth, quietly telling Lily to stay silent as the two of them strained to listen.
"-the dark mark? Are you sure?" McGonagall asked.
"Positive." Dumbledore sighed.
"Do you think there are others in the school?"
"It's very likely. We'll have to keep a close eye on some of our more... At risk students."
"What about the muggle born students? Do you think they're in any danger? The way he attacked poor Ms. Moore last night. He told Severus Snape that he did this because she was dishonoring her blood status. And now he... "
The two professors stepped closer to where James and Lily were listening in and Lily quickly grabbed James by the hand and pulled him into an empty classroom, hiding behind the door rather than closing it.
"Now he what?" Lily whispered in frustration, trying to hear as they walked away.
James was more concerned about McGonagall's question about the muggleborns. He cast a worried glance at Lily, who was biting her lip and staring off, lost in thought.
"You don't think it was Dryer, do you? Who had the dark mark, I mean." She asked, snapping James out of his worry.
"It must have been." He said. "Unless another student has been expelled and we haven't heard yet." Lily nodded and turned to leave but James grabbed her hand, pulling her back and locking his hazel eyes on her green ones with a look he'd never given her before.
"Be careful. Please. If there are death eaters in the school...I don't want anything to happen to you." He said, squeezing her hand tightly.
Lily nodded, something inside of her melting at the intense, worried expression on his face.
"Come on, Potter. You've been on the receiving end of enough of my hexes to know I can handle myself." She said lightly, smiling though it didn't reach her eyes and James could tell she truly felt the weight of the situation.
"What should we do? Should we spread this around, make sure people watch their backs?" James asked.
"That would just start a panic. There's enough rivalry in this school without everyone wondering if they sat beside a death eater in Charms. We should tell Callie though. And Sirius, since as far as anyone knows he's the only one who rescued her."
Every day outside more and more people were dying, being cursed or tortured. There was no denying the war that they'd thought was waiting for them after school but if their classmates could be death eaters too then clearly the war wasn't waiting for them to leave Hogwarts, it was coming for them, and they had to be ready for it.
What had happened to Callie could be just the beginning.
Madam Pomfrey let Remus and Callie go later that afternoon, just in time for dinner.
Remus walked silently beside her, looking straight ahead rather than at her and deflecting any attempt she made at starting a conversation.
"Remus, did I do something?" She asked after a while.
"What do you mean?"
"You haven't even looked at me since we left the hospital wing. And-"
"You don't have to be friends with me." He said quickly.
He'd been trying not to say it all day but he felt like he had to. He didn't want her staying friends with him out of sympathy and she was such a kind person he couldn't imagine it would be easy for her to find a reason to ditch him herself. He'd decided hours ago that the only thing he wanted less than losing her was to end up hurting her and it seemed like the only way to avoid that was to lose her anyway, so it really was better if she didn't want to be his friend.
Callie stopped to look at him but Remus kept walking. She stepped in front of him blocking his way and stared him in the eye, standing close enough to make his heart race.
"Remus, why the hell wouldn't I want to be friends with you?"
"Because - I'm... I'm a monster. I tried to kill you, Callie." He said sadly, stepping back away from her.
"As a werewolf, Remus, that wasn't you."
"It was part of me."
"But not the part that matters. Remus, this is what matters."
She stepped closer again and put her hand over his heart.
"This is who you are." She insisted, moving her hand up to his cheek. "This is the Remus that I care about. This Remus would never hurt anyone."
"But-"
"And this Remus is my friend and I'm not going to abandon you over something that isn't your fault." She said more firmly.
Remus closed his eyes and sighed, reaching up and putting his hand over the one that was still on his face. As much as he knew he should be pushing her a way as far as he could it just felt so good to know that she cared about him. Callie was one of the most stubborn people he had ever met and he knew she'd pull him back just as hard as he pushed her away and he wanted so badly to stay close to her that he doubted he'd have the willpower to keep trying, so instead he swore to himself he'd do whatever he could to keep her safe.
"I just don't want you to get hurt." He said after a while, opening his eyes to look at her.
"And I won't."
She smiled reassuringly and took a step closer to him.
"I know you wouldn't hurt me." She added quietly.
Remus stared sadly down at her eyes, then her lips. It would be so easy to just lean forward and kiss her and he wanted to more than anything but he couldn't. He had no way of knowing that Callie was thinking about the same thing, telling herself that after the night he'd had she shouldn't push anything like that for a while.
He pulled her hand away from his face, still holding it in his and smiled faintly at her. He didn't know what to say to express how grateful he was for everything she'd done today.
"Lets get to dinner before there's nothing left." She said, nodding her head towards the end of the hall.
The two of them walked into the Great Hall to find James, Lily, Sirius, and Peter sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, huddled closely together.
"Finally!" Sirius exclaimed when the two of them sat down. "These two won't tell us anything." He pointed to James and Lily.
"About what?" Remus asked.
"We wanted to wait for them, since it concerns Callie just as much as you." Lily said, rolling her eyes.
"Well here she is so what the bloody hell is it?" Sirius pressed, leaning forward.
Lily took a breath, glancing apprehensively at him and Callie, then at James as he began speaking.
"We overheard Dumbledore and McGonagall talking after we visited you this morning. Apparently Dryer told Snape that he attacked you because you were dishonoring your blood status." He made a disgusted sound as he finished the sentence, glancing up at the now mostly healed injury on Callie's head.
"Well, I guess that makes sense. He wouldn't be the first person to call me or my family blood traitors." Callie shrugged, though she constantly worried for her family when she was away from them. "But what does it matter? What he did last night was so half-assed, I really don't think he thought it through at all."
"A bad plan, yes, but I don't think it was an impulsive one. People are dying every day because someone thinks they're a blood traitor or a muggleborn. I think he was trying to prove something." Lily said.
"What makes you say that?" Remus asked.
James and Lily exchanged a tense look, before looking each of their friends in the eye.
"He had the mark. The dark mark." James said quietly. "He was a death eater. That's why he attacked you."
Peter went pale and Sirius's mouth fell open. Remus tensed while Callie stared wide eyed at them.
"Are you sure?" Callie breathed.
James and Lily both nodded.
"We heard Dumbledore confirm it himself." Lily said.
"Keep an eye out." James said urgently. "There could be others. And if one idiot like him is willing to go after a pureblood like that then who knows what the rest could be up to?"
"So what do we do?" Peter asked, looking panicked.
"Nothing. Dryer is gone and we have no way of knowing who else might have the mark. We just have to be careful." Lily frowned.
"I think I have a few ideas who we should look out for." James turned and scowled across the room at Snape, sitting with his back to them at the Slytherin table.
Lily followed his gaze and shook her head.
"Severus is the one who tried to stop it, remember?"
"But why?" Peter asked. "If anyone finds out he said anything he's as good as dead."
"I used to be his friend too, remember?" Callie shrugged. "Until he called Lily a...and I told him that I couldn't hang out with him if he was so interested in the dark arts. He's not the best person but he still wouldn't let me die in the woods."
The boys nodded. Remus watched Callie as she thought, biting her lip anxiously. He wanted to reach out to her and tell her that he'd keep her safe but he'd gotten too close already. If he let himself get carried away he might do something he'd regret so he watched, pretending it didn't bother him as Sirius reached out and put his hand on hers.
"Dryer is gone though. That's good. Just stay alert. You'll be fine." He assured her, squeezing the fingers that were on Remus's face just a few minutes ago. "And you know we won't let anything else happen to you."
Callie smiled at him, looking slightly less worried and squeezed his hand back quickly before reaching to get a drink.
McGonagall found Callie on her way down to breakfast the next morning and pulled her aside.
"Ms. Moore, how are you feeling?" She asked.
"I'm alright." She nodded.
"That's good to hear. I wanted to speak to you about Mr. Dryer." She said with a nod.
"What about him?" Callie tilted her head and followed the professor down the hall to her office. She had a feeling she was about to tell her the same thing she'd learned from James and Lily last night but didn't say anything. They weren't supposed to know and maybe she could learn something useful.
McGonagall gestured for Callie to sit down as she closed the door and turned to frown at the girl before her. Callie couldn't help notice the deep concern etched in the stern womans face.
"Jonathan Dryer was sentenced to be sent to Azkaban for a year for what he did to you." She started.
"What? But-" Callie was shocked.
"He confessed to wanting you dead. He was under the impression that leaving you in the woods would take the suspicion away from him, had Mr. Black not found you." She frowned, leaning towards her student. "He's missing."
"Missing?" Callie repeated in confusion.
McGonagall nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yes. His parents came to visit him and now all three of them are gone. And that's not all. It seems he - he took the dark mark. I shouldn't be telling you this, but I want you to be cautious. They're searching for him, and he couldn't get near the school but just in case, keep your wand on you at all times and keep your eyes open. And please, come to me or another professor if anything happens."
"Do you think my family could be in any danger?" She asked numbly.
"I wish I knew, dear. But they've been warned and I'm sure they'll stay safe." She assured her.
Callie nodded wordlessly, getting to her feet.
"Thank you, professor."
As soon as she left her office she sprinted down the hall to find her friends, her mind racing.
