Ch. 10 - A Monster

Remus and Sirius slumped in the waiting area as the healers were attending to Emmeline. They told the staff that they had encountered an aggressive troll, choosing to lie about Remus. Revealing the truth of the attack would have put him in violation with the ministry and landed him with a one way ticket to Azkaban. They were less than lenient when it came to lycanthropes.

Remus found it hard to just sit still and wait. He could have killed her. They could have been delivering her lifeless body to the hospital instead. His negligence yesterday was completely unacceptable. These thoughts tortured his conscience as he loudly drummed his fingers against his knees.

"You're going to wake the dead," Sirius jested, trying to distract him.

Remus was not amused. He shot Sirius a contemptuous look and stood up. "I'm going to the lavatory," he grumbled, stalking away.

He leaned over the sink and splashed cold water in his face, the water droplets lingering in his stubble. The person in the mirror glared back at him with loathing. Noticing that he had not gotten all the crusted blood out from his cuticles, he scrubbed them furiously. He doubled checked the mirror to make sure he had done a successful job of getting the rest of it off of his face earlier.

When he rounded the corner back into the waiting room, Sirius was standing.

"They said we can go see her."

They were led into a wing of the hospital housing other cuts and burns patients. Emmeline smiled as they approached.

"How are you?" Remus asked, pulling a chair up beside her and taking her hand.

"Just fine, they closed up the wounds and the pain is much duller now. They'll send me home soon." She turned slightly to show off her dressings, but Remus hung his head in shame. "Hey," she coaxed, lifting his chin so his eyes came back to meet hers. "I'm fine. I'm here."

"But you might not have been…"

"I wouldn't have been if it wasn't for Sirius," she said, looking up at him with admiration. "Thank you."

Remus looked up at him as well. He had not yet properly thanked Sirius. Not only for last night, but for his companionship the night before as well. He stood up and walked around to the other side of the bed, embracing his friend tightly. "Thank you," he said. "For everything."

"You'd do the same for me," Sirius said, grinning as they let go of each other.

Remus looked at him somberly. "I'd never have to."

Suddenly Sirius' facial expression became very hostile. "We have company."

Remus and Emmeline turned and saw Tiberius strutting toward them.

"You," he growled, disregarding Emmeline and addressing Remus.

"Tiberius stop it," she demanded.

"What did you do to her?"

"He didn't do anything, leave him alone!" Emmeline pushed the blanket off of herself and tried to get out of the hospital bed.

"Emmeline don't," Remus said, reaching out to get her back into bed.

"Don't you bloody touch her," Tiberius scolded. "You've done enough."

He started towards Remus, but Sirius stepped between them. "If you're smart, you'll keep your voice down." People in the surrounding beds were beginning to stare.

"You think I don't know what he is?" Tiberius said, getting close to Sirius' face and taunting him. "You think I didn't see the lot of you sneaking him around at school?"

"Cool off, Tiberius."

"He's a monster. I want the both of you gone."

"You're right," Remus interjected, before Sirius could come back with a rebuttal. The other three fell silent and looked at Remus. "...He's right. I should go."

"No...Remus please, you don't have to do that," Emmeline pleaded.

He looked at her with resignation in his eyes. He was, in fact, the reason she was in there in the first place. "It's okay," he assured her, before slowly backing away from the bed. Sirius felt like a helpless bystander, while Tiberius stared Remus down. Looking back at Emmeline, he apologized one last time. "I'm sorry. This won't happen again." He lingered for a brief moment before turning and walking towards the exit.

"Remus," Emmeline called to him. He disregarded it. Every bone in his body was screaming for him to turn around, but he disregarded them too. Sirius looked apologetically at Emmeline before following Remus out.

A tear fell from the corner of Emmeline's eye as she watched Remus exit the ward. Tiberius sat down in his place.

"It's okay, I'm here now. He can't hurt you anymore."

He reached out to touch her face, but she turned away.