A/N It happened! I was going to use the three hour car ride to my cousins' on boxing day to type away at this story and then out new Vinyl Cafe discs got put in, and how can I say no to 'Dave and the Vacuum'. I can't. Then I got roped into coaching a race at the last minute this weekend, but it's here! Chapter 25 is here!
Disclaimer: nope, nada, not mine if you've heard of them before.
19 January 1973
Light once again filtered in through Remus's eyelids when he woke from the nap that he had been forced to take, and as annoyed as he was about being told to take a nap as though he were four, he really did feel better. The bustle from earlier had subsided, so Remus could only assume that the professors had left the infirmary.
Come to think of it, that was probably why Biddle made me take a nap. The pair of them don't seem to think that I can control myself when it comes to Rom. He took one more deep breath- all the way in then all the way out. Breathing was easier now since he had been propped up, this kept his airway more open. I wonder if they're not wrong? Then he opened his eyes.
Then he nearly jumped off his bed. His eyes were still blurry so he couldn't see clearly, but there was a figure in black robes sitting beside him It was too small to be McGonagall, Styne, or Dumbledore- plus, Dumbledore never wore plain robes, and the absence of colour in the cloth The black also ruled out Nurse Biddle and her trainee who would be holding his brother in similar captivity. That left a student. His eyes cleared more. A student with robes trimmed in red. A Gryffindor.
His heart rate went haywire and his breathing was approaching hyperventilation.No, Oh no. No no no no no! How did I let this happen! I knew it might, but not so soon. I don't want to go. A silent tear began to roll down his cheek. I like it here. I finally had friends that aren't just nice to me because the teacher told them to be. They'll hate me...Another silent tear rolled leaked out.
"REMUS!"
His attention snapped back to the present, to the hands that gripped his shoulders-which he now remembered were bare , and to the voice that sounded so familiar.
He took another breath and allowed his mind to clear as much as it could in his present situation.
Evans is here. Evans is sitting in front of me, in the hospital wing. Lily Evans has her hands on my shoulders! In a rush he realized the implication of that particular fact. He was less concerned that a girl was touching him- and that he had nothing on under the sheets because the bandages chaffed too much when there were additional layers, and was more concerned about exactly where her hands were on his shoulders. It started tingling, pins and needles were spreading through the scar that had marked his body for the past eight years.
His hands snapped to his sheets and he winced as he slid himself down under the covers. "Evans?" His face was red and his eyes were wide with fear that she had seen the mark that stood out so much among the others. Now he was hyperventilating, and he felt like his heartbeat could be heard across the room.
Lily Evans released his shoulders when he flushed, her own face warming up. "Sorry"
Remus said nothing. He merely tried to sink further under his covers. His mind was going frantic with worry and panic as he thought about what would happen next.
Did she come here to tell me off? To yell at me? What, does she want to dissect me or something?
His classmate was now staring at him with curiosity, concern, and an air of rebellion. Remus tried to avert his eyes, but Lily wouldn't have it. She kept chewing her lip, trying to work up the nerve to say what she had come to say. So far she had been unable to do say anything except 'Remus' and 'sorry'.
"Remus?" She found his eyes again, and found his hand. She squeezed it gently. He gave in. There was nothing he could do if his secret had gotten out. He would have to Evans had come to confront him, and there was no way he could get out of the hospital wing to avoid what she was going to say. He took another breath and met her eyes. This was the first time Remus had looked anyone in the eyes since December. But it wasn't as if he had the strength to do anything but glare and growl. But it didn't come to that.
She'd seen his winces every time he moved, and the bandages on his arms and the bruises that covered his body. When her suspicion had begun, Lily had begun to read. Werewolves weren't covered until third year, but there were still lots of books in the library, and a short chapter in their defense textbook. Mostly, the books focused on how to identify a transformed werewolf and all the gruesome ways to kill one.
Of the dozens of texts that she had perused in the library, she had been able to amass little knowledge of what actually happened to a werewolf. From the many texts, she was able to assume that it was very painful and that there were several side effects, but otherwise the only non-killing information was how to treat wounds.
"Are you okay?" Lily asked timidly.
Remus tensed once more. Oh merlin, she does know…
He was jolted from his panicked thoughts by more firmly spoken words.
"Remus! I'm still here aren't I?" her arms were crossed across her chest.
He frowned. She did know. Now he was sure. He would be packing in a few hours. Or someone else would do it for him and he'd be evicted from the hospital wing.
"Is it true then?"
Remus's breath caught in his throat.
"Am I right?" She asked, even though both knew that she was.
He was cornered. There was no way out. She knew and there was nothing he could do to dissuade her. Maybe if it was someone else, almost anyone else, he could talk his way out of the awkward situation that had presented itself. But this was Lily Evans, and the only person he knew that could get more attached to an idea or project, the only person he knew that was more stubborn, was Sirius Black. Ever so slowly, almost imperceptibly, he nodded; his eyes widened like a deer in the headlights in his fear, and his breathing resumed at a rapid pace. He'd never told anyone, not that he really met anyone before Hogwarts, but that act of admittance strained against his will and his drive to conceal the monster within.
For a long while nothing was said. Remus stared at his hands, and Lily, the window. Remus surprised himself by being the one to break the silence. "Doesn't it bother you?" he asked quietly, afraid of the answer. Afraid that she would tell the entire school. Afraid that he'd become known before he had to register at seventeen. Afraid that she'd run.
Lily thought for a moment before answering the question. Her eyes roved from the window to the bandages on Remus's arms, to his eyes that were so full of fear and anxiety. She not to lie to him. "A bit." She replied nervously, and before Remus could try to shrink further down or to open his mouth, she continued. "But it's more because I don't understand it than anything. I can't find anything in the library that actually talks about more than killing off werewolves." There was a sharp intake of breath as she realized what she had said. SHe could feel warmth rising once more in her cheeks and she began trying to ramble her way through a flustered explanation.
"I didn't mean that I want to kill you...I mean, that's all the books talked about and… there are so many ways that were described...I didn't want to read about them but…" Lily decided it was probably best to shut up before she dug herself deeper.
Her face and ears were red and her eyes wide with embarrassment over the words that had spouted from her mouth, and Remus, well Remus was laughing softly.
The embarrassment faded quickly and was replaced with confusion. "Remus are you sure you're okay? You never did actually answer the question."
Still smiling, Remus nodded. "I'm fine." Lily was not convinced. "I will be fine." He snorted once more.
"What is so funny Lupin?"
"You are probably the only person on the planet who would say anything like that."
"You being a werewolf doesn't change that you're a pretty good person, even if your friends might be gits most of the time."
Remus smiled a bit, then his expression turned serious once more. Lily frowned at the change. "It really doesn't bother you that you live in the same tower as a monster?" His hands were twisting the sheets.
"No, because you aren't a monster." she said evenly
"I-" He wondered why he was trying to explain that he was a monster, surely that would just get him out of Hogwarts faster. Yes, but she deserves to know that it can be dangerous to be around me.
He was prevented from continuing when her warm hand clapped over his mouth, "No Remus. I won't pretend to know everything about what happens to you, but even Muggles know that it only happens one night in twenty nine." She removed his hand from her mouth and crossed her arms. "That's three percent Remus. And even less if you'd like me to calculate the hours."
Remus resigned. "So you aren't going to tell everybody? You didn't come here to mock me?"
Lily was horrified at the thought. "Lord no!" Her wide green eyes met Remus's still-nervous ones. "I came because I thought you could use someone to talk to and because I thought you might want to keep up on schoolwork."
She smiled when he did. "It's not like you'll be allowed to get up to do anything, so at least this way you won't be bored."
Remus found the stack of his books under the table, complete with this copy of The Fellowship of the Ring that he had been reading. He had started as soon as he had finished The Hobbit.
"We have a lunar map due in astronomy and Professor Leeder assigned us a reading on the Disarming Charm."
Remus groaned at the thought of another star chart. He could do it with his eyes closed, but every assignment in astronomy involving the moon reminded him that he'd never actually see a full one again.
Just like Evans, straight to school.
Remus listened intently to his classmate's recitation of all he had missed and the details of the assignments he had to complete. She rambled about what had happened, and raved about how his friends had lost Gryffindor more points for some prank that they had pulled.
Two floors up and across the castle, Professor Holden Leeder was trying to explain the events of the lunch hour to a jumpy and ambitious auror trainee. "For the last time, I wasn't the one who cast the curse!"
The young man with strawberry blond hair and dark brown eyes was scrutinizing him. With a huff he crossed his arms and stared at the professor. "Right, and you expect me to believe that a letter did it?"
Leeder would have sighed or groaned in frustration, but this man's demeanour had him on edge. "That is the conclusion I have reached based on the information provided to me, yes."
"And what made you qualified to attempt to deal with this issue on your own instead of arranging for a curse breaker to do it? You could have done the boy serious harm." The trainee was twirling his wand in his fingers and was seriously trying the patience of a professor who was supposed to be teaching his sixth years defensive strategies.
Leeder's fingernails were digging into his palms as he clenched his fists tighter and tighter, trying desperately not to strike the twenty-something year old man who was leaning casually against his desk. "I happen to be qualified because I happen to be a curse breaker." His words were terse and his patience was thinning.
The younger man frowned slightly at his blundered assumption, but he did not apologize. "Why did you not conduct the procedure in the presence of a trained healing professional?" He stood abruptly as the door swung silently open, his wand slightly hidden, but at the ready. "Something could have, and seems to have gone rather awry."
The defense professor ignored the fiddling and locked his glare with the young trainee. "She was rather busy with a critical patient and told me to continue without her." He flexed his fingers in a cascading motion, relieving the tension and cramping that had been building, all the while wishing that he could simply use a fist and be done with the torturous interview. "If that will be all, I have a class to teach."
A throat cleared behind him. "Actually professor, I have a few more questions to ask, and I'll need to interview the student in question as well."
Holden restrained himself from jumping out of his skin. He hadn't heard the auror enter the room, but he definitely didn't want to show weakness to the jumpy young man in front of him.
The professor spun to face the newcomer. The fully-qualified auror was an older gentleman. His dark hair was slicked back and greying, and his hazel eyes were warm but daring. Leeder felt as though he were being dared to step out of line, to challenge the duelist in front of him. The man looked somewhat familiar, though he couldn't place him.
"Alastor, why don't you entertain the sixth years?" he suggested, nodding at his apprentice. The younger of the three men left grumbling about babysitting adolescents but was ignored by his mentor. "I apologize for that. Moody can be rather intense." He smiled warmly and offered his hand. "Fleamont Potter, but that never got me anything but hexed in school, so Charlus is fine."
Leeder accepted the offered handshake wondering how one got Charlus from Fleamont. "Holden Leeder"
"Middle name" added the auror. He must have noticed the question in the professor's eyes. "I'd like to hear the story from you if that's alright."
Leeder relaxed, grateful that the official report would not be based solely on the opinions of an inexperienced auror in training. He offered a seat, took his own, and recounted the afternoon once more. Auror Potter listened intently, interjecting here and there with quick questions.
"It was extremely eerie extremely uncomfortable." concluded professor Leeder. "I said 'Lupin, stand up' and the boy obeyed without batting an eye. Amalia and I believe it to be some form of the imperius curse."
The auror nodded and frowned, his brow furrowed in thought. "I'd like to speak with the bot if that's alright."
"It shouldn't be an issue, I think he's himself again." said the professor as he led the way out of the office. "I told him to go about his day as usual and he became more coherent after that."
Auror Potter nodded his acknowledgement of this information and followed his interviewee out the door.
"LUPIN!" Madam Pomfrey was back from collecting potions from Slughorn. "What makes you think you should be out of bed?"
Romulus started slightly, he was standing between the curtains and his bunk in the hospital wing, and he had no idea how he had gotten there. He'd stood up obviously, but he didn't actually remember doing so.
He was back under the covers before he took another breath, his heart was pounding. He heard another creak of a bed elsewhere in the hospital wing, and he braced himself when the door creaked open.
In all honesty, he didn't know why he was even in the hospital wing. He had been in Professor Leeder's office while the former curse breaker poked around at the web of magic in his body, then he had been lying in bed with curtains drawn to block the light, and he was told he was to take a nap.
The Ravenclaw burrowed into his pillows as the footsteps approached in an attempt to feign sleep. The young apprentice wasn't fooled.
"Lupin, Auror Potter would like to ask you a few questions regarding this afternoon."
Romulus looked from the kind expression of the auror to the stern glare that said 'cooperate or else' from the matron to the nervous professor Leeder who was biting his lip. Pomfrey left with a nod from both the professor and the auror and headed to the storeroom after checking on Remus.
"You had an interesting afternoon." said the auror kindly, taking the chair beside the bed. "Could you tell me about it?"
Romulus shook his head; the last thing he remembered was feeling like his innards were being pulled out.
The gentlemen nodded. "I'm going to have to perform another examination." The patient nodded. "It will feel a little uncomfortable."
Lupin nodded slowly and laid back down. The auror stood. Leeder began to back away, seeing as he wanted nothing to do with a repeat of that afternoon. "Holden, you were the one to do this initially correct?"
Leeder stopped shifting and nodded.
"I would like to keep the magical signatures keyed into Mr. Lupin to a minimum. Would you mind my using your wand?"
Still, the Defense against the dark arts professor said nothing, though he did hand over his oak wand.
Auror Potter began murmuring incoherent incantations as he bagen his examination, and Romulus was tempted to allow himself to drift off to sleep. If he did that, however, he would not discover what had happened as soon as it had been learned.
There was less tugging and pulling this time as the auror murmured and tutted over him, supposedly because there was a smaller magical web spun inside his body.
At long last, after Romulus was about to fall asleep, Auror Potter took a step back and removed his wand. He paused momentarily to decide how to explain the occurrence to a thirteen year old boy, and decided that he should speak with the headmaster first.
"I must speak with Professor Dumbledore and you will be informed of the results of our findings promptly." With a nod to the nurse and her apprentice, and then to professor Leeder, Auror Fleamont Charlus Harold Potter walked out of the hospital wing.
He had been gone for a full minute before Holden Leeder made a move. "He still has my wand!" he exclaimed before running out after the elder man. His exit was followed by two spurts of laughter
Romulus waited a few minutes for the hospital wing hawks to return to other business before he slipped out of bed to converse with his brother, who did a horribly job of feigning sleep when he was approached.
"Can't fool me little brother"
Remus sat up in indignance, bringing his blankets with him. "I am definitely taller than you!"
A/N As per usual, I would love to hear any comments, questions, or concerns that you may have. Now I'm tired, so I hope you enjoy and I hope I get enough down for next week and maybe more.
One-Eyed Wolf, OUT for the last time in 2018