"Test Subject"
Remus woke to the familiar ache of a post-transformation, but not the curled up position on the floor he normally found himself in. He was lying on his back, slightly elevated. Bright lights pierced his eyelids and made it painful to open them. He tried to move, only for his wrists to bump against metallic restraints.
He squinted in confusion as he tried to sit up. He was strapped to a mechanical chair in a white room, wearing a pair of scrub pants but nothing else. He shivered, both from cold and fear; he had no idea where he was or how he'd gotten here. Last night had been the full moon and he'd secured himself in his basement. Had he gotten out? No, that was impossible; he made sure the werewolf couldn't escape. But then how else to explain how he'd ended up somewhere else?
He struggled against the metal cuffs around his wrists, but they were snapped down tight.
The door opened and a man in gray medical robes entered.
"Who are you?" Remus asked, voice quavering slightly. "What do you want?"
The wizard ignored him. With a wave of his wand, a recorder on the table started to turn.
"Werewolf subject number three, nineteen years of age, adequate health given the length of lycanthropy, which is estimated to be fourteen years."
Remus's heart lurched at the language being used to describe him. "What are you doing? Let me go!" He strained against the metal cuffs, to no avail.
The wizard completely ignored him and went about inserting two intravenous lines in Remus's arms.
"Please," he begged as the needle pinched the crook of his elbow.
The wizard waved his wand at the machine the lines were attached to, and the grinding noises it made grated on Remus's ears. His heart skipped another beat as he watched a silvery gray, viscous fluid sluggishly move its way down the tubing toward him.
"First dosage: fifty cc silver paired with thirty cc mercury as a binding agent and ten cc dittany to prevent the subject from expiring."
Remus choked on terror as the fluid flushed into his veins. Silver didn't hurt werewolves; everyone knew that, but that didn't mean it should be injected into the human body.
Remus's limbs began to shake and his arms felt as though they were being pumped with lead.
"Please don't do this," he pleaded but was once again ignored.
The wizard watched him with the cold detachment of watching a lab specimen, making notes to himself as Remus descended into violent agony.
Sirius hurried over to Remus's place to check on him after last night's full moon. He was supposed to have been there with him, but Dumbledore had sent him on a mission a few days prior and he'd been delayed getting back. James had also been away on important Order business, and Peter was visiting relatives, which had left Remus alone for the transformation. Remus had, of course, assured Sirius he'd be fine by himself, but fine meant chaining himself in his basement and Sirius hated when he had to do that.
He arrived at Remus's flat, only to pull up short in dismay to find the door busted open. His heart leaped into his throat; had the wolf escaped? But then Sirius noticed that the door was broken inward, not outward. He tensed, hand inching toward the inside of his coat to grab his wand.
A rustle of leaves drew his attention to the neighbor's yard and he spotted an old woman skulking about behind some rose bushes, eyeing him shrewdly.
"What happened here?" he asked curiously, cocking his head toward the busted door.
She regarded him with open suspicion as she said, "There was a murderous werewolf living there." Her eyes narrowed harshly. "Did you know? I've seen you around."
Sirius bristled and wanted to say yes he did know and the man's name was Remus and he wasn't a monster, but he'd get more information if he played along. So he feigned shock as he moved closer and lowered his voice.
"You serious?"
She nodded, adding with a gleeful look, "Cecil Lee from the Werewolf Capture Unit came and took it away. Good riddance."
Sirius stiffened in horror. The Werewolf Capture Unit was supposed to hunt werewolves running wild, not those securely locked in their own homes. And how had anyone found out? Remus had silencing charms on the basement so no one would hear the wolf's howls. He wanted to ask if this busybody snitched on him, but there wasn't time for that. He needed to find Remus.
Sirius left and made haste to the Potter house where he let himself in. "James!" he roared. "James!"
"Sirius you twat, keep it down," James griped groggily, stumbling out into the parlor and rubbing sleep from his eyes. Lily was right behind him, looking equally sleep mussed. "We just got back. What the hell is so urgent?"
"Remus was taken by the Werewolf Capture Unit."
James froze. "What?"
"I went by his place this morning and it was broken into. The neighbor said he'd been taken."
"They broke in?" James repeated, still looking stupefied.
"Yes. We have to find him."
"He would have been taken to the Ministry," Lily said, rushing to grab hers and James's coats. They shrugged them on quickly and then went to the fireplace where James grabbed a fistful of Floo powder.
They arrived at the Ministry of Magic in an instant and immediately made their way down to the Beasts division. But when they asked for information on their friend, they were told that no werewolves were caught last night.
"Not caught, or caught but escaped?" Lily checked.
"Neither," the secretary replied.
"One was," Sirius insisted. "Check again."
The witch bristled. "I'm sorry, young man, but there are no records of any werewolves coming in last night."
Lily put a hand on his and James's arms, prompting them to leave.
"I don't like this," James said. "Why would the Ministry lie?"
"One of my friends works here," Lily said. "Maybe she knows something."
They followed Lily to another department where she greeted a young woman sitting behind one of the many desks.
"Ivanka," Lily greeted.
"Lily, what brings you here?"
"We heard Cecil Lee brought in a werewolf last night."
Ivanka shrugged. "Cecil often brings in werewolves. That's his job."
Lily lowered her voice. "This one was a friend."
Ivanka wrinkled her nose in disgust at that. "Check with the Beasts department."
"We did. They said there's no record, even though someone saw Cecil capture him."
Ivanka frowned.
James straightened in response. "What?"
She hesitated.
"Ivanka, please," Lily pleaded. "This is important."
Ivanka pursed her mouth, then looked around before leaning forward and lowering her voice. "I'm not saying this is true, and I'm only mentioning it because you're a good friend, Lily."
"Get on with it," Sirius hissed impatiently.
Ivanka shot him a dark look, as did Lily.
"I've heard things," Ivanka went on. "There's a wizard in another department, Henry, who's very vocal about werewolves and wanting to find a cure. He has numerous insane theories and has complained about not having a way to test them."
Sirius exchanged a worried look with James; he did not like where this was going.
"I heard him talking to Cecil about it once, and Cecil promised to find him some good 'specimens.' His words, not mine."
"That can't possibly be sanctioned," Lily said in hushed horror.
Ivanka shrugged. "Hence why there would be no official record of a werewolf coming in last night. Not if Cecil was bringing him to Henry instead."
"Where can we find this Henry?" James asked.
She crossed her arms. "Even if he is doing this without permission, no one's going to make a fuss over a werewolf. Sorry, Lily."
"We will," Sirius practically snarled.
James put a restraining hand on his chest. "No," he said. "If we want to rescue Remus, we need to do it quietly so no one can come after us without first admitting to kidnapping."
"Will you help us?" Lily asked Ivanka.
Her friend shook her head. "I am not getting involved in this. But…" Ivanka sighed. "I will get you a map to Henry's office and laboratory."
Remus writhed in the medical chair, his nerve endings all firing with searing pain. The foreign substances being pumped into his body burned, and he choked on a metallic taste in the back of his throat.
The wizard drew some of his blood and put it on a slide, then cast a spell. Remus's vision was blurry, but he could see the sample beginning to glisten with the magical markers of lycanthropy.
The wizard tutted in disappointment and puttered around his many vials, making verbal notes on the lack of efficacy of the tested dosages so far and reciting the next amount he was going to try.
Remus whimpered as the wizard waved his wand and adjusted the dials on the machine to get it pumping again. He'd begged himself hoarse, but it was clear this man didn't view him as a human being.
Remus screamed as the influx of heavy metals burned like acid.
As much as Sirius wanted to tear the Ministry apart looking for Remus, James and Lily's voices of reason managed to restrain him. They were going to have to plan carefully if they were going to get Remus out of there, so they headed back to the Potter house.
"I wish for the days when we could fit three under here," James said as he handed the invisibility cloak to Sirius.
Sirius nodded in agreement. He'd rather have James at his side for this, but three or four children under a magic cloak was one thing; full grown adults was another.
James's expression hardened as he regarded Sirius. "Can you do this without killing this Henry fellow?"
Sirius's jaw tightened. He couldn't deny that if he ran into the bastard during this rescue mission, he'd be tempted to do a lot of things to him.
"If you can't," James went on. "I'll go."
"No," Sirius immediately said. "I'll refrain from murdering the bastard."
"Get in, find Remus, and get out," James repeated sternly.
Sirius nodded.
"Found it!" Lily exclaimed, rushing out of a back room with an old portkey keyed to the house. Since the Ministry was warded from being apparated in and out of, they needed another quick exit. Ivanka had given them a map of the interior, and the plan was for one of them to slip in through the front door under the invisibility cloak, find Remus, and then use the portkey to get out.
"Be careful," Lily said, handing Sirius the portkey.
"We'll be waiting here," James added.
Sirius nodded soberly and apparated away, arriving in an alley a block away from the Ministry building. He donned the cloak, slipping away from visibility, and trailed some people walking in the front door on foot. It was tricky avoiding colliding with so many people going this way and that, but Sirius managed to gradually make his way down to some lower levels that were quite empty compared to the upper floors. The perfect place to conduct secret experiments, Sirius thought murderously.
He took a peek under his collar at the map and made the necessary turns to find the lab. The door was locked, but a wave of his wand fixed that. He opened it a crack, not wanting to alert anyone inside. There were only two people, and Sirius's blood turned to ice at the sight of Remus strapped to a chair, seizing against metal restraints as a wizard stood over him, casually making notes about it.
And in that moment, Sirius wanted to forget his promise to James and kill the wizard where he stood. But at least one other person knew Remus was here, and Sirius couldn't bring that kind of heat down on his friend. So he settled for hitting Henry in the back with a spell to knock him out.
Sirius yanked the invisibility cloak off as he rushed to Remus's side. His eyes were open but completely dilated and unseeing as he convulsed, his veins standing out gray under his skin. Sirius spotted the two IV lines and yanked them out, heedless of the little bit of blood that came with them. It was tinged with silver and pewter that made Sirius's stomach churn with fear for his friend.
He spelled the cuffs off, and then at least had the presence of mind to look at the labels of what was being infused. And he had the urge to kill Henry all over again. But Sirius grabbed Remus instead and pulled out the portkey to activate it, instantly transporting them both back to the Potter manor where they landed in a heap on the living room floor.
"Oh God, Remus," Lily exclaimed, dropping down beside them and pulling out her wand to cast some healing spells. They didn't work.
The Floo flared to life, and for a horrified moment, Sirius thought the Ministry had found them already, and he was just about to transform into a dog to rip them to shreds. But to his shock, it was Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey who came through.
"We sent word to Dumbledore about what was happening," James explained.
"And I thought Madam Pomfrey's skills might be needed," the Headmaster said. "I can see I was right."
Poppy came forward and pushed Sirius and Lily out of the way as she knelt next to a still convulsing Remus. Her breath audibly caught in her throat at the sight of the eerie veins standing out under his skin. "What did they do to him?"
"He was injected with silver and mercury," Sirius said shakily.
Poppy's eyes widened in horror at that and she went to work, casting spell after spell until finally the seizure stopped.
"He's stable enough to move him to a bed," she said.
Sirius and James lifted Remus up and carried him into the nearest guest room. Poppy unpacked her medicinal satchel and resumed her work. It was hours of spells and potions before she finally stepped back, looking exhausted.
"I managed to purge the silver and mercury from his body," she said. "But it's going to take him a while to recover from the trauma." Her mouth pursed. "And I'm afraid I don't have any magical remedies for that."
"He will be okay, though, right?" James pressed.
"He'll live," Poppy said tersely. "As for complications…I can't say yet. Try to keep him comfortable and send for me if he gets worse again."
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore said. "I will see you back at school."
She nodded and picked up her bag and left.
"How could anyone get away with doing this?" Lily said, distraught.
"I will make sure this doesn't happen again," Dumbledore replied. "To anyone. And that no repercussions fall on you, in case anyone puts together that you were involved in liberating Remus."
Sirius almost wanted to say let them come, but that would only put Remus at continued risk. Hopefully the Ministry would listen to Dumbledore. He was an influential figure in the wizarding world, but not the only one.
The Headmaster left, and the three friends settled in to tend to Remus, who was now in the throes of a fever. Lily sat on the bed next to him and wiped his brow with a damp cloth, singing softly. Her voice was soothing, and Sirius hoped it was reaching Remus through the horror of what he'd been through.
Remus once again woke to pain similar to that of a post-transformation, but not quite. It was sharp and raw. He remembered fear and torture, and his chest hitched as he expected it to continue. But then a familiar voice was calling his name, and a warm hand settled on his arm. He prized his eyes open and found Sirius sitting in a chair beside his bed. A bed, not a hard chair with restraints and tubing full of poison.
Remus swallowed around a parched throat. "How?" he rasped.
Sirius's eyes darkened. "I came by the morning after the full moon to check on you. Heard that you'd been taken by the Werewolf Capture Unit."
Remus frowned. "I don't remember that," he said, throat grating like sand paper. "I remember waking up in a room…" He shuddered as the memory reasserted itself as though happening in that moment.
"I know," Sirius said, squeezing his arm. "I saw. That's where I found you. I got you out and back to James's house. Madam Pomfrey came to treat you. You're going to be okay." Sirius's expression pinched with distress. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for the full moon."
"You had good reason," Remus murmured.
"I never expected something like that to happen."
Remus closed his eyes. He should be surprised too, but he wasn't, really. Not when it came to the treatment of werewolves.
He looked at Sirius again. "The cure didn't work, did it?"
Sirius's brows furrowed. "You didn't expect it to, did you?"
Remus glanced away. "No. I just…it would have given the whole thing a reason."
"There's no reason for what that wizard did to you. Not even the noble pursuit of curing lycanthropy justifies torture."
Remus knew that. A vague memory filtered up, and his mouth turned down. "I wasn't the first test subject."
A muscle in Sirius's jaw ticked. "Dumbledore is getting into it," he said in a hard tone. "He'll make sure no one does that kind of thing ever again."
Remus didn't know if he had faith that things would change, but at least there were some people who cared about him. He frowned and looked at Sirius again. "I'll have to move out of the flat James bought for me," he said mournfully.
Sirius shrugged. "James has enough money to buy you another flat. A nicer one with better neighbors."
Remus's heart clenched at that; he hated needing to rely on others when he was perfectly capable of being self sufficient if only he was given the chance by the rest of the wizarding world.
Sirius's expression softened. "Get some rest. You're safe here."
Remus closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but he kept flashing back to that room. He clenched his fists around the bed sheets, trying to ground himself in the here and now, but his heart was racing and he was sweating.
Then there was a jostle on the bed, and a large bundle of fur plopped down alongside him. Remus exhaled heavily and inhaled again, syncing his breathing with the steady rhythm of the dog. Carding his fingers through the soft fur, he finally drifted off in peace.