— CHAPTER SEVENTEEN —

The Homonculous Charm

To the Marauders' surprise, Peter returned to their dorm come the last day of the school term. However, unlike Ruby, he hadn't been cured at all. He was just as sickly as he'd been when Remus had last seen him, with a sweaty sheen on the pallor of his face and his nose eternally red from rubbing.

"I don't know," said Peter when they'd asked him what the situation was. "They just told us to go back to our dorms and stay there. I reckon it's because the Hospital Wing was getting super full and they're running out of beds, 'cause people have been taking ill even more recently. Imagine if I had to share a bed with Snivellus or something!"

"Odd," said James, tossing and catching a ball of paper in the air.

"I heard they were thinking of keeping us in for the Easter holidays," added Peter. (Remus suspected that Peter was enjoying all the attention.)

"Again? I haven't seen my parents in so long."

"Me neither," groaned Peter.

Remus caught sight of Sirius, who couldn't look happier at the news. Sirius made eye contact, and Remus pointedly looked away.

This had been happening a lot recently.

No words were exchanged between Remus and Sirius. Instead, they danced around each other like fairies in the starlight, never once touching, never once opening their lips lest the truth spill like moonbeams from the night sky. Their star-lit stalemate. Both knew something about the other that was meant to be a secret, and so there, they both merely existed, unsure of what to do next. Remus would excuse himself if there was ever a chance he'd have to be alone with Sirius. Sirius would scowl to himself but make no move to follow him.

Remus wondered if James or Peter noticed the tension between them, thick as a Wandering Willow's trunk. Remus wondered whether he would ever muster the courage that he, as a Gryffindor, was meant to have, to confront him. If he were a braver boy, he'd tell Sirius off for shadowing him, to places he shouldn't; he'd force him to not divulge to anybody whatever Sirius had seen or heard that night of the full moon; and he'd make Sirius promise to not think of it any longer, to let the thoughts leave his head forever.

But Remus was not courageous, and he was not confrontational. So each day he sat with the Marauders, his muscles as taut as they were during a transformation, willing the world to stay the same. Because, really, if Sirius suspected anything damning about Remus, then his life truly was over. Vivid scenarios played out in his head each day. Remus would have to bid farewell to the Marauders, first of all, to the friends he'd managed to make beyond all odds. Then, goodbye to his place at Hogwarts, since surely his disgusted ex-friends would alert the Ministry. His future was fading, fast.

It was at times like these Remus wished he knew a werewolf that wasn't a complete nutter like Jewel. Someone who could be a mentor to him, who would know what to do in a situation like this. Instead, even as he was surrounded by his fellow Marauders, Remus felt all alone.

True to Peter's words, later that evening McGonagall called the Gryffindors into the common room and announced wearily that, as per Ministry decree, they had to stay inside the castle during the entire holidays.

"This means no visiting home, no Hogsmeade, no leaving the castle grounds, no Quidditch, no Club meetings." Her voice rose over the protests and complaints. "I understand that this is not an ideal situation, but our hands are tired. This disease has spread for long enough, and until we know how to cure it, we are all stuck here."

The Marauders despondently made their way back to the common room. The first thing Remus did was pen a letter to his father. He wrote about the lamentable situation, about Ruby's wellness, but omitted any mention of Sirius's suspicions. He couldn't bear to imagine what his father might say after he'd given Remus the trust he'd begged for all year.

James was bored enough to play a game of Wizard's Chess with Peter, much to his delight. Sirius jumped into his bed, grabbing a book. Ever so often he'd eye Remus, who defiantly ignored him.

And so the holidays passed much in the same vein. What Peter had said about the infection rates rising had been correct—more and more people every day seemed to be reported catching the virus going around, and each morning Remus woke, checked, and confirmed that he'd been thankfully unaffected. James and Sirius mucked around at mealtimes or had pillow fights in their dorm, not touching the piles of homework they'd received, with Peter joining in as often as he was able. When Remus wasn't helping Peter catch up with all the coursework he had missed the previous term, he was combing through textbooks.

He told them he was studying hard for their upcoming exams—after all, their teachers had set them a ton of homework—but, really, Remus was researching. He remembered the paper Flitwick had made them write about the Tracking Charm, which led one to whatever they were looking for. He needed something like it, but even stronger, and semi-permanent.

The process of finding what he needed was fast and easy. He had recalled a particularly interesting Tracking Charm while he'd been trying to find a solution to the Bottomless Pit. He took out several Charms books from the library and tapped them with his wand, casting, "Detego Homonculous Charm!" Each time yielded no results until the very last book: Enticing Enchantments and their Encantations by Elspeth Entilege.

It flipped to a page titled: The Homonculous Charm, the Parent's Aide, or the Stalker's Spell. Remus bristled at the names but kept reading.

The Homonculous Charm (incantation: Hominis Clarorum) is a particularly powerful and complex spell that allows one to track the movements of a particular person or thing within a given area. It can only be cast on a map or otherwise similar object, as it enchants it to follow the desired person for a small period of time. Most often, parents of infants will use this so as to keep their children safe. Its complexity requires a few things from the caster: adept skill with spellcasting; a map of some sorts charting the desired area; strong personal familiarity with the given area, such as the rooms in a house; and, importantly, focused intent and knowledge of the person needing to be tracked—having these factors will improve the success and accuracy of the Homonculous Charm.

There was a small diagram below the paragraph of the wand movement needed, a circular motion then a jab.

All right. It sounded easy enough.

Having a purpose, it transpired, was a good way to kill time. Remus spent the rest of the holiday break walking around the Hogwarts castle wherever he was allowed. He took mental notes of the place and familiarised himself with the huge space, with the purpose of meeting the requirements for the Homonculous Charm. Sometimes, he went on these walks with Peter, if the Pettigrew boy ever got bored or sick of James and Sirius (which was not often.) More commonly, Remus took these walks with James.

Today they were walking along the seventh-floor corridor. James segued—quite unskillfully, Remus rather thought—from his conversation about all the Quidditch he'd play after they were let out the castle again.

"So, er, are you and Sirius all right?"

Remus had been dreading any conversation remotely related to Sirius. Their starry standstill had sustained for the last fortnight. If James was speaking about them now, then Remus dreaded whatever Sirius had told the other two Marauders.

"What do you mean?" he said, focusing on the flagstone floor. "I'm fine. Dunno about Sirius."

"Come on, mate, I may not be as clever as you but I'm not an idiot," said James, cracking a good-natured grin at him. "You two haven't spoken a word to each other all Easter! Did you get into another row or what?"

"Something like that."

"Over what? You two are such girls, always quarrelling about something or other. It's not like I argue with you or Sirius that much."

Thanks for rubbing it in, Remus wanted to say. Instead, he asked, "Well, has he said anything about it?"

"About as much as you," said James. "I think he'd say more to you, though. If you were to talk."

"Yeah, well. He's always saying something or other to me, isn't he?"

"Come on, you know what I mean, Lupey."

"Don't call me Lupey."

James grinned. "Okay. Lupey. In any case, I reckon you should give it a go. Talk to the tosser yourself."

Remus sighed. "I appreciate it, but I'm not going to do that."

Sirius and Remus weren't in a regular little tiff that could be resolved with time or with apologies. They were in a stand-off under the stars, wands at each other's necks. Remus's spot at the only place he'd ever belonged, at Hogwarts, with the Marauders, was slipping between his fingers like free-flowing water. James didn't understand. Not even Sirius properly understood. No one really could. It was just a fact of being Remus, like the fact that he liked to read, or that he had an affliction that caused him to transform into a monster every month; nobody could ever understand what Remus's life was like.

"Remus, I just think—"

"Can we go back to the Gryffindor common room?" Remus felt ashamed interrupting James, he really did. But he didn't want to talk about it anymore. "I'm feeling tired."

James sighed and nodded.

As the holidays ended, worse news followed. McGonagall announced to them that classes were cancelled, at least for the time being. The Ministry of Magic's quarantine restrictions had supposedly intensified—with McGonagall muttering that they should've done so long ago—and, from that night onwards, students were disallowed from leaving Gryffindor Tower at all.

"What?" James snapped. "What are we supposed to do?"

Similar sentiments erupted from the crowd of Gryffindors in the common room.

McGonagall pursed her lips. "I'm just as vexed about this as you are, Mr Potter. But it's for our own good. There are new infections every day. It has gotten astronomically worse in recent weeks. Until this disease can be cured, then we cannot risk spreading to the rest of the Wizarding community. Imagine if a Muggle were to be infected by one of us. What would happen to them then?"

"Then they should just cop it," Sirius murmured but said no more once Lily silenced him with a stormy glare.

"At least we have no more classes," said Peter when they'd gone up to their dorm to brood.

"No more anything, more like," said James. "Lads, who's keen for some Exploding Snap in the common room? I heard Farley's got a set."

"You guys go ahead," said Remus, scooping up Ruby into his lap and sitting down on his bed. This was the perfect opportunity for some privacy.

It was time, he thought, to attempt the Homonculous Charm. After all, they weren't going to be able to explore any more of the castle any time soon, and Remus was plenty familiar with Hogwarts now.

"If you insist," James said, and the other three Marauders left.

As soon as they were gone, Remus excitedly took out the map he'd taken from Lily. It was a simple map—frankly inaccurate since everything in Hogwarts always moved around, and abridged since it failed to include things like the wastebasket room—but it would have to do for the purposes of Remus's first attempt.

Of course, the point of him mastering this spell was so that he could keep an eye on Sirius. This, he had decided, would have to be good enough to avoid the boy. To make sure he wasn't anywhere he shouldn't be, like on nights with full moons. But there was little point in casting the charm with Sirius in mind, at least for the time being, since they'd be cooped up in the common room all day, every day.

So, Remus racked his brain for a different, more interesting target. A-ha! Of course. Professor Jewel, who wasn't bound by the same restrictions as students were. Professor Jewel, who Remus had always been a little obsessed with. A morbid jolt of curiosity made him want to use the charm to find out where Jewel transformed each full moon.

"All right." He moved Ruby aside, then unfolded the parchment map on his lap. He closed his eyes, thinking intensely of Jewel, of his skinny but tall frame, of his burnt orange quiff, of his perfectly groomed moustache, of his eyes that were sometimes kind and sometimes cruel. He imagined Jewel walking around Hogwarts, the shape of his biceps as his arms swung by his side, the way his suit pants hugged his legs tight, the tendons in his neck, the bobbing of his Adam's apple as he talked in that warm, deep voice of his, the thickness of his fingers curled around his wand. Remus clasped his own wand, and, without looking, drew a ring in the air then jabbed at the map. "Hominum Clarorum!"

His eyes shot open. Gleefully, he watched as inky magic spread over the map of Hogwarts, a wave of blackness washing over the page. Then it disappeared, leaving only a singular dot on the map, labelled Jiminy Jewel. Remus laughed in disbelief. It had worked! He watched the dot slowly move around the sixth floor of Hogwarts, then descend a staircase.

"I'm a genius," he admitted to Ruby.

The next evening, Remus chose to hang out in the common room with Lily, partly to avoid having to walk on dragon's eggshells around Sirius's presence. James's imploring stares. Peter's quizzical expressions. But mainly it was so he could marvel at the map he'd magicked. Lily, bless her heart, said nothing as she sat on a sofa opposite him, glancing up ever so often to see Remus transfixed on what seemed to be merely a map. Thank Godric that Lily didn't pry when it was obvious Remus wasn't keen on answering her questions.

"Wittle Wuby," Remus was saying, scratching her long floppy ears. His eyes followed Jewel who was climbing staircases once again, this time going up the castle. Why was he moving around the castle so much during a quarantine period? Perhaps it was to patrol.

"Why do you speak to her like that?" asked Lily, one eyebrow cocked. (She had still not given up on the cool punk attitude and look.)

Jewel was on the fourth floor now.

"It's a joke," he tried to explain without sounding stupid. "It's because she talks like that, or at least my Whispering," he lowered his voice at that part, since nobody else knew that about him, "translates her speech that way, sort of. Like her r's and l's all sound like w's."

Fifth floor.

Reach out, the voice in his head hissed suddenly. Reach out. Reach out. Reach out. Reach out. Reach out. Reach out. Reach out. Reach out.

"Do you hear that?" said Lily, alarmed. "It's that clicking again! It's faint but I hear it."

"Quickers," Ruby said suddenly, lifting her head up so fast it knocked away Remus's map.

"Ruby—!" said Remus, scandalised, picking up his map. "Wait, what did you just say?"

"I said—" Lily started, but Remus shook his head.

"It's the Quickers again," said Ruby, repeating that word that Remus didn't understand.

Shite. Of course! How could Remus be so stupid?

"Clickers! That's what you're talking about, right?"

"Yes!" said Ruby, eyes intense, redder than usual. "The Quickers!"

"And you keep saying that you're hearing clicking again, right, Lily?" demanded Remus. Lily nodded, brow furrowed. "I think James said something like that last year as well, around Christmastime. So, there's a clicking going around, but I can't seem to hear it … because it's coming from magical creatures." He felt his eyes widen as round as full moons. "I'm a Whisperer. I'm just translating what I'm hearing. Holy Helga. Ruby, tell me quickly about the Clickers again. What are they?"

Ruby explained that the Clickers were vicious beasts that had driven her rabbit colony from their ancient home. They were an invasive species, an infestation bringing disease and death everywhere they went. Ruby recalled that initially they had beaten down her colony with pestilence, then attacked them while they were weak. It was a miracle any of them had made it out at all; the giveaway clicking of the beasts had let the rabbits know whenever they were near, which let them escape.

Remus relayed each word to Lily.

"Whatever the Clickers are, they sound an awful lot like bugs," said Lily, shuddering.

"They've come to Hogwarts," said Remus. "These Clickers. The disease, the clicking. They're going to kill us all."

"R-Remus!" She sounded terrified, her cool façade cracking. "Don't say that."

"Should we tell the teachers?" Remus asked. He was reminded of The Song and the Sea, and what Dumbledore had said about the Wizarding world. The word of a wizard over any other magical creature. Imagine if he tried to explain that he'd gotten the knowledge from a rabbit. And how was he going to explain how he understood Ruby? What if the school or the Ministry found out he was a werewolf—unless they already had, if Sirius had figured out and exposed him?

"I don't know, Remus."

"I'll tell Dumbledore," Remus decided, against all other inhibitions. He had to; it was the right—and smart—thing to do. "Tonight. I'll go out and find him. I'm going now."

They weren't allowed to leave the Tower, so he knew he had to borrow James's Invisibility Cloak. He grabbed his map in one hand and tucked Lily under his other arm.

"Remus—"

He ignored her and made a beeline towards the stairs, up towards the boys' dormitories. He wrenched his door open, and, to his surprise, there sat Sirius, James, and Peter. Well, of course, he had been expecting them to be inside since there was nowhere else to go. But he hadn't expected them to be sitting in a circle on the floor, with solemn expressions written all over their faces, huddling their bodies together in as if they'd been discussing a secret.

He couldn't help but feel a little excluded, but said nothing except: "James, could I please borrow your Invisibility Cloak?"

Peter made a phlegmy noise. There was no other sound except the skitter of an insect on the carpeted floor.

James coughed. "Actually, Lupin, we were planning to have a chat with you."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time."

"When do you ever have time for us?" barked Sirius, standing up.

Remus wanted to gag. Not this again! "Look, I really can't be wasting time. James, could I please—"

"What do you possibly have to do at this time of night? During our quarantine?"

"You wouldn't get it," Remus snapped despite himself. "You would never get it."

"Well, mate, I don't know what I'm supposed to get!"

"Good! Keep it that way. James, I really need your Cloak, right now, so could you please hand it over—"

"Friends tell each other things!"

"Well, you already made it clear that we aren't friends! You said it yourself! James, the Cloak!"

James, who was spectating this shouting match with Peter, mouths agape, finally scurried to get his Invisibility Cloak, perhaps because Remus so rarely raised his voice.

Sirius's frown deepened. "What are you talking about? When did I—"

Sirius had interrupted Remus so many times that he felt like he had the right to cut him off. "Of course you've forgotten, you child. At breakfast? A few months ago? We stopped talking after that."

"Oh, you pansy," Sirius roared, not backing down. "Obviously, you remember that. Sensitive, selfish bastard. Have you ever thought about how other people feel for once?!"

"As if you've given any thought to my feelings!" said Remus shrilly. "You think I like being interrogated about my every move? You think I like—"

But Remus never got to finish his sentence, for someone cleared his throat behind him. He swivelled around, and there was Professor Jewel, standing in their doorway. Remus was in such proximity that the man towered over him.

"Er, Professor!" Remus said, instinctively stepping backwards.

"Remus," said Jewel. He looked bothered tonight, his mouth set in an unhappy line.

The situation was very unusual. The mood had suddenly shifted. Remus's anger dissipated, replaced by an uneasy, unsettled feeling. This had never happened before, a teacher in Gryffindor Tower, in their dorm, and certainly not anyone that wasn't Professor McGonagall. Was it even allowed?

Remus turned around to the Marauders. They were all standing now as well, looking just as perplexed as Remus felt. James had thrown his Cloak on the ground. He passed Ruby to Peter behind him, putting distance between her and the man who had tried to burn her alive. James looked at him pointedly, as if to ask, What the Helga is going on? Remus shrugged as imperceptibly as he could.

He looked down at his map, about to pass it on as well—so that Jewel couldn't snatch it and get him in trouble for it—and saw something that almost made him gasp aloud. He turned around, the map still in his hand.

"Did you want to talk about something, sir?" asked Remus. With every fibre of his being, he fought to keep any emotion off his expression, even as he screamed internally.

Jewel stroked his chin. "I have to talk to you—about your marks in Defence and where to go from here. It's very important that we have a conversation. Away from your little friends."

Remus couldn't breathe. "Okay. When?"

"Now," said Jewel.

Sirius, stupid dauntless Sirius, walked up so that he was standing a little in front of Remus. "Why do you have to talk to Remus about his Defence marks? He's the best in the class."

"And why now?" demanded James. "It's after dinnertime. Can't this conversation wait, Professor?"

"Are you even allowed to be here?" asked Peter, wiping his nose. "Isn't that against the Ministry's quarantine rules?"

It was honestly heart-warming how quickly they'd come to Remus's defence. But they were certainly dealing with Jewel's unpleasant side; he glowered at their questions, and looked unsure of what to do. "Look—" he started angrily.

Reach out. Reach out. Reach out. Remus was all too aware by now that this was not a voice in his head.

Sirius, James, and Peter all whipped their heads around. "What in Merlin's name is that sound?" Sirius said, scowling.

But Remus's eyes were fixed on Jewel's. They went glassy, the green colour seemingly fading to grey. His face went slack. His limbs locked into place. He looked exactly as Pester, or the Grindylow, or Ruby had when they'd been Whispered to.

Reach out. Reach out. Reach out.

With horror, Remus watched as Jewel reached out with his arm, about to grab Remus by his robes.

Sirius pulled him back before that could happen. Just as Remus had put distance between Ruby and her aggressor, Sirius made sure to stand between Remus and Jewel.

"Oi! What's your deal?" he said, raising his wand at the teacher, something they'd been told to never do.

"Sirius!"

But James and Peter had raised their wands too.

Jewel seemed to snap back to reality, stumbling back a little. The colour returned to his face, and so did his scowl. He glowered at them one last time, then bolted away, down the staircase. James followed, despite Remus's protests, and came back moments later to report that Jewel had left through the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Good riddance," said Peter.

Remus was thoroughly shaken and had to sit down on his bed to breathe again. Jewel had entered their dorm without permission, demanding Remus leave with him. Jewel had been Whispered to, seemingly by the clicking, and tried to attack. They'd threatened to attack him, a teacher, in return!

But the oddest thing, the most haunting occurrence, lay in his lap. The map, the map!

Remus scrambled to unfold it as quickly as he could. His eyes zeroed in on where the Homonculous Charm claimed Jewel to be—and the dot was the exact same spot as it had been minutes ago when Remus had checked. On the sixth floor, nowhere near Gryffindor Tower.

A chill of horror ran through Remus. Remus was a competent enough wizard, right? He wanted to believe that he'd cast the charm on the map successfully. But that couldn't be so. The map had to be faulty.

Because, if Jewel had been on the sixth floor the whole time, then who the hell had Remus just spoken to?