The Farther Shore - Part VI: Omnia Vincit Amor
You should know this quote. It's extremely famous. 'Love conquers all things.' (Vergil. Eclogues, 10, 29). No prizes for guessing what it's about! It's going to be another long one, so I hope you have some time.
By the way, I made some changes to 'Flower of Venus.' Everything will still make sense, I hope, but it will make more sense if you go and look at them first. Most of the changes are in the last scene, so you don't have to read through it all again if you don't want to.
~
Remus stood frozen for a moment longer. Then he pelted down the stairs after Andrea, horrified. What had he done? As he reached the garden, he saw Altair flying into the sky. He bowed his head. Well, there was no way he could change her heart. If she did not care for him, then she did not. He thought of the look of terror and fear in her eyes when he had spoken. Leave me alone! Her words echoed through his head like drums, echoed the fall of his feet as he climbed back to the office.
It was foolish of him ever to have hoped. He knew no woman would come near him, once she found out. But Andrea had, she had spoken to him and been kind to him even though she knew what he was. And now he had ruined it all, ruined it with his rashness, with his haste.
Why had she fled so abruptly? Was he really that terrible a prospect? He put his face in his hands for a moment. Yes, you are, he told himself. A werewolf. What woman in her senses wouldn't run from a werewolf?
He shuddered as the night began to darken. Before the full moon rose, he slowly sipped the improved version of the Wolfsbane Potion. Oh, Andrea, Andrea…
~
Andrea stared from the window with eyes that scarcely saw. Only the moon filled her gaze, made fuzzy-edged by her tears. The fear she had felt from Remus' approach was fading a little, as she sought to calm herself. He's not Fenris, he didn't mean to frighten you, the rational part of her mind was saying over and over. But what good was her rational mind when she could feel Fenris' hands upon her?
She got up and paced around the room, as if she could walk away from her memories. Ever since I first met you, I've loved you. First Fenris, then Remus spoke the words. A new thought struck her. Remus had not been telling her for the reason Fenris had, he did not wish to seduce her with his words. So he must have been in earnest. And what did you do to him? she demanded of herself. The answer was dreadfully clear. She collapsed onto the chair again, guilt adding itself to her array of emotions.
At last she fell asleep, still sitting by the window as the sky was turning from black to midnight blue. But her sleep was as painful as her waking, for she was visited again by the werewolf. Half-transformed, he lay on the ground and looked at her with the wolf's eyes, and his face was Remus' face. And Fenris pursued her thought the forest, first as a wolf, and then as a man. She screamed and screamed, but there was nobody to hear.
~
There was a pounding noise, a knocking on her door. Andrea sat upright, blinking. Her bell was clanging as well. Something was wrong. She sprang to her feet, stiff from sleeping in the hard chair. It was late afternoon, to judge by the light. Had she slept all day? She began to remember how she had spent the night, and shivered. The knocking was repeated.
'Dr Wood! Are you there?' shouted a man's voice.
Andrea straightened her creased robes and pulled the door open. Sirius Black was standing in the doorway, looking worried and impatient.
'Oh, good. You've got to come at once,' he said, looking at her with evident relief.
'What is it?' she asked quickly. 'What's happened?' She had sudden visions of terrible disasters occurring while she slept.
'It's Remus.' An icy hand gripped Andrea's stomach, and she swallowed hard. 'He's really ill.'
'What happened to him?' she asked tersely.
'He collapsed in the League office – last night, I guess. We only just found him – we realised when Dumbledore tried to contact him. He's downstairs, but the lady said to get you. She thinks it's something to do with your – what's it called – your Wolfsbane Potion.'
Andrea let out her breath in a long hiss. How had it gone wrong?
'Where is he now?' she asked, putting her shoes on. 'I'll come straight down.'
'In one of the wards, in the East Wing. There are some Healers with him already, but the lady said to get you.'
'Right.' Andrea closed the door and began to stride through the halls. Sirius kept pace with her easily. She knew she had to keep moving, keep her mind running on its professional tracks, or she might start to cry again.
Catherine Lewis came to meet her. 'Where were you? The bell's been ringing for ages.'
'Sorry – I was asleep.'
Cathy raised her eyebrows but did not comment. 'Mr Lupin's in the side ward.' She led Andrea to a door off the entrance to the main ward. James and Lily Potter were also there, and along with Sirius they followed the two Healers into the room.
Andrea forced herself to breathe steadily and not to hesitate. She could feel four pairs of eyes watching her as she crossed to the bed. As her gaze fell upon him, she stopped dead for a second. His face was the face she had seen in her dreams. Cathy came to join her, and Andrea pushed herself towards the bed.
Automatically, her hands not quite steady, she felt for a pulse and breathing. She reached out to his chest and twitched her fingers until she could sense the aura around him. The familiar rhythmic movements of her hands soothed her a little as she concentrated on the problem at hand. Once or twice he started as she felt the aura, and when her hands reached his scarred shoulder, he gave a low moan. Andrea examined him for about ten minutes, while the others watched with interest and concern.
Finally, she stepped back. 'It is the Wolfsbane Potion.'
'Yes, that's what I thought,' said Cathy, sounding quite pleased.
'What happened?' Sirius asked, his voice too loud in the small room. 'I thought it was supposed to help him.'
'I think the improvements I made didn't work out. The Potion still created the same effect of letting him keep his mind, but instead of being lessened, the side effects have been increased greatly.' Andrea spoke in her most professional tone.
'What are you going to do for him?' asked James, coming closer to gaze at his friend in concern.
Andrea took a deep breath. 'There isn't anything specific I can do. The Potion's effects will wear off of their own accord, and he'll recover.'
James and Sirius both nodded.
'So long as he'll be all right,' said James.
'He will.'
'Good.'
They stood looking at Remus for a long time, while Andrea waited. 'I'll be staying here, if you have anything else you have to do.'
James turned to Lily. 'We'd better get back home.' She nodded. 'What will you do, Sirius.'
'Dumbledore told me to take over in the League office.' He groaned. 'It'll be deadly dull. If there's any change, I'll come straight away.'
'That's fine.'
With a final look at Remus, they went out again, leaving Andrea on her own.
Andrea lowered herself into the chair by the bed. She forced herself to look at Remus. He was so still, a stillness she only saw in the most ill of her patients, when movement was actually impossible.
You did this. You didn't take enough care over that bloody potion. It's your fault. She let out her breath in a shudder that was almost a sob. It didn't matter that all she had intended was to help him. The only thing that mattered, the only real thing, was his limp body on the bed before her.
The half-light in the room made his face seem even more ashen. His dark hair traced strange symbols on the pillow. Andrea leaned forwards suddenly and brushed away a tendril that had fallen across his face. It was unexpectedly fine and soft. With slow touches she smoothed it back, framing the outline of his face, his thin cheeks and the sharp outline of his jaw. She looked full into his face for the first time. His sea-grey eyes were hidden, but she could see them all too clearly in her mind, the pain in them only half masked.
Outside, the sky began to darken. Above the high thin cloud, the first stars appeared. The moon came up. When its light fell upon Remus, he cried out a little. Andrea rose and drew the curtains. She sat beside him in the dark. She could hear the slow hiss of his breath, and she imagined she could feel it on her cheek. Oh, Remus, she thought. What have I done? How could I have hurt you so?
Her own voice answered her, running over and over in her mind. Leave me alone! She would have given anything to go back there, to give him a different answer. All he did was care for you, help you, listen to you, and how did you answer him? The question reverberated through her head, and she tore at her soul all night.
~
She was still at his side, awake, when the sky began to turn from black to grey, and behind the clouds the sun rose. He had stirred a few times in the deep sleep, and Andrea realised that soon he would wake up.
His eyelids fluttered. She sat tense and still, waiting. Then, remembering herself, she felt for the aura, and felt him slipping back into consciousness. She heard him give a faint moan, just above the threshold of hearing, and for a second his eyes flickered open and then shut. He looked so much like the face she saw in her nightmares that she rose. She went to the window and looked out, forcing herself to be calm.
She felt no sense of triumph that Remus was recovering, for she had caused his illness and had done nothing for his cure. She watched him.
He turned over and then opened his eyes completely. For a moment he seemed to see nothing, and then his eyes found Andrea's face. Still only half-awake, he smiled at her. Her heart unexpectedly missed a beat.
'How do you feel?' she asked.
Remus rubbed his eyes as he became fully alert, and looked at her again. His face turned to stone.
'I'm all right,' he said frozenly, though this was patently untrue. He looked away.
Andrea took a long breath, and her own smile changed to a look of professional detachment. She struggled to maintain it as she bent to feel for his pulse. A strand of hair that had escaped her bun fell across his face. With a weak hand, he brushed it away.
She straightened up, wishing she could say something to cut across the dreadful silence, but no words came to her lips. He looked across the room, away from her. Remus, Remus, she cried in her mind. Don't do this to me. But then she thought bitterly, Is it any worse than what you did to him? She realised that he would not speak until she did.
'I want to say – I mean …' she began, stopped, and then tried again. 'I was so afraid – oh, God, this is no good.' She reached out to him and put her hand on his arm. He flinched and turned away as if she had burnt him.
'Oh, Remus.' She found no words for her feelings, and she put her head against his shoulder. 'I'm sorry.'
For a second so long she thought it would never end, he did nothing. She could feel him shaking a little. Then his hand came up and he stroked her hair softly.
Finally he looked at her.
'You don't want to have anything to do with a – a werewolf,' he stated baldly, his hand falling away.
Andrea tensed a little. She took another deep breath.
'That wasn't the reason – that's not why I was afraid,' she began, stumbling a little over her words. 'I … on Friday, you reminded me of … of someone I'd rather forget….'
She made herself more comfortable at his side, and he propped himself up on his elbows, watching her.
'It was a man I know – I met him about a year ago now. He – well, I suppose you could say he swept me off my feet.' Remus' face tensed a little. 'I was – even more naïve than I am now, and he – he took advantage of me. For a long time … I worshipped the ground he walked on, but … but I was a little afraid of him.' Remus' expression changed to the beginnings of anger. 'He was acting as a subject for a trial run of an experimental potion,' she continued, less nervously, 'and he came to me and told me that it had – changed his transformation. He told me he was a werewolf. And then he … he said exactly the same thing to me … the same words you used.' She closed her eyes for a moment, back in her office alone with Fenris. It had not been frightening until the very last moment, when his eyes wore the same expression of devouring hunger as the wolf who had chased her. She had only been lucky that Cathy had come in and saved her. 'And then … you didn't mean to, but you did the same thing … the same words he'd used. That's why I – I was afraid.'
Remus nodded slowly. 'I understand,' he said, and she realised with a flash of amazement that he truly did. For a while they sat in silence, and just as Remus was about to say something else, the door opened.
'Dr Wood, can you – oh!' Sirius stared at his friend sitting up in bed. 'Moony, you're better!' He bounded across the room and embraced Remus. 'How do you feel? We've all been worried sick about you.'
'I'm – I'm fine.' Remus spoke in gasps; Sirius' impulsive hug had knocked the breath out of him.
Sirius looked into his face, and saw a soft glow there. He glanced at Andrea, and then back at Remus, and he gave a shrewd smile.
'James and Lily are outside. Shall I ask them to come in?' Without waiting for an answer, Sirius went to the window. 'Dark in here, isn't it?' He flung open the curtains. It was late morning, and the sun had broken through the clouds. Remus and Andrea both blinked in the sudden light.
'I'll just get Lily and James, shall I? They got here about half an hour ago.'
He ducked out the door again, and a few minutes later all three of them came in. Andrea made herself scarce as they talked, or rather as Sirius talked, and James and Remus added words when they could. She went out into the main ward, feeling a little disorientated. Cathy came over.
'How is he?' she asked. 'You've been in there all night, haven't you?'
'He's woken up, and he's talking to his friends,' Andrea said by way of explanation. 'I'm going to have a cup of tea or something, and I'll send them away when I come back.'
Cathy nodded. 'Still weak, is he?'
'Yes. I think it would be wise for him to remain here another day or two, just to be sure everything's okay.'
'Right you are, then.'
Andrea walked off through the wards, pausing to speak to her colleagues and to some of the patients. She felt lighter, somehow, as she put the kettle on in her office and looked through her post. The sunlight glinted on her mirror, and she found herself combing her hair back neatly and straightening her robes before it. She smiled at her reflection, and it smiled back.
~
'Andrea, I really want to get back home,' Remus greeted her in the morning, sitting up in bed.
She laughed.
'I don't mean that it's unpleasant here,' he said hastily. 'Everybody's been very kind. It's just that …'
'I know. It's no fun being in hospital as a patient. Three days should be enough for anyone. Believe me, I understand.' She nodded, and looked at him critically. 'Well, I suppose you could go home if you wanted. But you have to promise you won't do anything stressful for a while.'
'That's fine.'
Twenty minutes later, he was dressed and standing in the entrance to his room, one hand resting lightly on the frame of the door. Andrea gave him a keen look.
'Perhaps I'll walk back with you.'
'I'm fine,' he protested.
Andrea only smiled. 'I'll enjoy the walk.' She reached into thin air and produced a light cloak. Remus raised an eyebrow. As they went down the stairs together, she saw that he was carefully masking his weariness, but said nothing.
The spring morning was beautiful, and as they went down through the wizarding district, they were silent, absorbing the loveliness of it. They came into the park, and Remus began to stumble a bit. Giving him a sideways glance, Andrea said, 'You'd better sit down for a minute.' He did not protest, but followed Andrea to a bench.
'I think I've figured out what went wrong with the Potion,' said Andrea after a minute, when he seemed to have recovered his breath. 'It was one of the ingredients – the moonwort – it had gone a little musty. The next version of it will be fine.'
Remus smiled a little. 'I trust you. Are you going to make it for general use?'
She nodded. 'How much d'you think I'll need to make?'
'I don't really know.' Remus thought for a moment. 'You know, I haven't got a clue how many werewolves there are in England. And – people keep getting bitten.' A look of pain crossed his face, and for a few moments they were both silent.
Then Andrea asked something she had been afraid to ask before, even in their long conversations in the halls of healing.
'How did you get bitten?' She looked up at him nervously as she spoke. 'You don't mind me asking?' she added.
'No … of course I don't.' He gathered his breath. 'It was when I was nine years old. I was coming home later than I had thought, from a friend's house, and I saw no need to hurry. It was a clear, lovely evening. I was sure it would be safe, after all, the moon was full and it was as light as day. My parents were probably worrying, but I wasn't old enough to be concerned about that. While I was walking back along the road that wound through the woods, I heard a howl.'
His words were forcing Andrea back into her memories, and she too heard the howl in her mind. She wanted to interrupt him, to tell him to stop, but she could not speak. He carried on.
'It wasn't a sound I had ever heard before, and I thought it was an owl or something. But when it was repeated close behind me, I began to get frightened.' Andrea shut her eyes in a futile attempt to block out the image of the dark shadow leaping out at her. She groped out and found Remus' hand.
'Then I began to run. I didn't dare look back to see what it was, but I knew it was chasing me. But just when I was on the edge of the town, the wolf … snatched me.' His hand shook a little in hers, and she opened her eyes. He was very pale, and unconsciously, his free hand had reached up to the scar on his shoulder. 'I don't really remember … what happened next.' His hand tightened on hers. 'My father found me … I don't know when … lying in the road. I had no idea what had happened, and nobody realised … until the Healer told us. I don't think I really understood then … what it would mean. I didn't begin to understand until … until the first time I transformed.' He stared very hard at the grass. Andrea felt him tremble a little. 'I thought … I was dying then … and then I was a wolf.' He was definitely shaking now. 'You can't imagine it – all I want … when I'm a wolf … is to – to bite people … to hurt them. That's what I am, Andrea, that's … who I am.'
His voice faded into nothing. Andrea was dragged out of her own self-pity by his anguish. Whatever she had gone through, she began to understand, his torment was a thousand times worse. She reached out to him and pulled him to her, sensing that her touch might answer the cry of misery in his voice better than her words could express. His eyes were closed, and he rested his head on her chest. She cradled him close.
'It doesn't matter, Remus,' she said at last, her voice low and vehement. 'It doesn't matter in the slightest. I don't think of you like – like that. You're not just a werewolf, you're Remus. Don't think so poorly of yourself.' As she spoke, she thought how inadequate her words were. But he looked up at her with glistening eyes, and gave a weak smile.
After a bit, Remus stood up. Andrea followed him and they finished the walk to his flat in silence. It was not an uncomfortable silence, simply the quiet of two people who are unembarrassed in each other's company. Andrea took his arm, and by the time they reached the flat he was glad of her support.
'Now, go and rest,' she said with a smile as he unlocked the door. 'There's nothing pressing for the League to do, and if anything crops up I'll sort it out. You lie down.'
He laughed. 'Yes, doctor.'
'Get on with you.'
Remus went in, and closed the door. Andrea stood for a split second on the doorstep, and then went back to the Halls of Healing.
Catherine Lewis met her in Reception, holding a sheaf of papers in her arms.
'You took your time. Is your werewolf all right now?'
Andrea flinched slightly at the phrasing, but said, 'Yes, he'll be fine.'
'Good. Well, there a few things we need you to see to. Come on up.'
Andrea followed Cathy up to the office and flipped through the job application forms with her, but she found it unusually difficult to concentrate. Catherine looked at her in exasperation.
'What is it with you? I don't believe you've heard a word I said.'
'Sorry.' Andrea pulled herself together. She mustn't let this jeopardise her word. 'No, I agree, this person wouldn't do at all.' She pointed at the smiling picture attached to a form. 'We need someone with a bit more experience.' With a sigh, she resigned herself to reading seventeen more application forms.
~
'Would you like to – if you're free Saturday evening – would you like to come out and have dinner with me?' Remus fiddled nervously with a sheaf of papers as he spoke, but his eyes were fixed to Andrea. They had spent the week going to and from each other's homes and the League office on various excuses, and finally on no excuse at all.
'I'd love to.' Andrea's smile was so wide it seemed to split her face in half. Her old-fashioned upbringing had made her wary of asking him, and all this week she had wondered whether she dared. Now he had got there before her.
'It's a dinner dance – only a little thing, I think, down at the Red Griffin.' He named a small hotel at the far end of the High Street.
'Sounds wonderful.'
~
Now, as she sat at the table by the window of the restaurant, Andrea smiled at Remus, thinking of how nervous he had seemed when he had called for her a few hours ago. If it came to that, she had been pretty nervous herself. But the food had been excellent, and she was enjoying herself tremendously.
'This time next week, I should have the Potion sorted out. I've put the advertisements in the Prophet like you said, and I think there'll be a good response,' she said. 'Will you be there to give me a hand?'
'Of course I will. It's the first quarter next Saturday, is it?'
'Yes.' It was necessary to take the Wolfsbane Potion a week in advance of the full moon, for reasons Andrea still did not fully understand. Yet again she was amazed at the series of chances that had led to its invention. And that had led her to meet Remus.
There was a band in the corner of the room. Remus and Andrea had long finished eating when the saxophonist began to play.
'Would you care to dance?' asked Andrea, inclining her head towards him in a stately bow and then grinning. Remus flushed a little, and stood up.
'I think the last time I've danced was at Lily and James' wedding,' he said. 'I'm not very good.'
'Who cares?' Andrea's eyes were alight and her foot was tapping to the music.
It was a fast number, and Andrea's feet flew. She had learned to dance when she was very young; one of her first memories was of dancing on New Year's Day with her father. Remus led her as best he could. She spun around and around in the final crescendo, and then collapsed dizzily against him, laughing. Other couples were joining them on the floor, and during the second dance more than one pair of eyes followed Andrea as she swirled and twisted. Remus felt the eyes upon them and his dancing became even more self-conscious. He ended by stepping on Andrea's foot and losing the beat. She smiled encouragingly at him, but he still looked anxious.
'Let's sit this one out, shall we?' he suggested as the band struck up another song. They went to stand by the side, and watched the other people dance.
'You're so good. I wish I had paid more attention to Sirius when he tried to explain how to do all this.' Remus smiled. 'Sirius is a brilliant dancer.'
'Dancing with you is great,' said Andrea, her eye following a couple across the floor. The man was excellent, but the girl he was with didn't seem to understand where he was leading her. 'I'll teach you more if you want.'
'Perhaps later. I need a rest.'
She nodded, still watching the dancers.
'Shall I get you another drink?' he asked after a while. 'What would you like?'
'A Gillywater, please.'
He nodded and made his way over to the bar. The band paused, and a man came up to Andrea.
'Hey, I saw you earlier; you're a great dancer. Can I have the next?'
He was the person she'd been watching, the man who had danced so well. It had been so long since she'd danced with someone really good.
'Why not?' she said. 'I'm sure Remus – my escort – won't mind.' She glanced up. There was a long queue at the bar, and the band had started up another number.
He began with a bow, and caught her hands. She felt the difference at once as the man steered her around and spun her across him and back. After a while, people began to get out of their way to watch. From the bar, Remus turned around and his jaw dropped. They were flying across the floor, and Andrea's head was flung back with an expression of sheer joy. In the final spin her long velvet skirt flared out around her like the petal of a flower, and when the band stopped there was a round of applause. Andrea curtseyed, suddenly self-conscious again, and the man bowed.
'Wow,' he said. 'That was superb.'
Still breathless, she nodded. She caught Remus' eye across the room and smiled hopefully at him. He returned it with a rather strained expression.
'Come on,' said the man enthusiastically. 'Let's keep going.'
Before she could make any reply, the band began to play a very fast piece, and she felt herself caught up in the pull of the music. This time they had the floor to themselves. Andrea forgot everything else as she danced except the rhythm and patterns of the music, and the man's next move.
There was more applause at the end. The band began to play a slow ballad, and other couples joined them on the floor. Remus' eyes on her were wistful.
'I'd better go join to my escort,' she said. 'Thank you very much.'
'It was my pleasure.' The man gave her a long bow. 'Perhaps later?'
She only smiled, and made her way across the floor to Remus.
When Andrea joined him, he passed her the drink and said nothing.
'I hope you didn't mind,' she said worriedly, sipping it. 'It was so much fun, dancing like that.'
'You're far too good a dancer to spend all evening putting up with me treading on your toes,' he replied. She wondered whether he was in earnest. There was a look on his face that she couldn't quite interpret.
'So long as you don't mind. Would you like to dance?'
'I'll watch you.'
She smiled at him and slipped her arm into his, and they both watched swirling couples. After a few moments, another man came up to Andrea.
'Care to dance?' he asked, one eye on Remus.
Remus released her arm. 'Go on.'
With a backwards glance, Andrea allowed the man to lead her out again. For almost an hour, she danced with different men, all the best dancers of the evening. And for that hour, Remus watched.
'Last dance, ladies and gentlemen, last dance.' The man Andrea was dancing with looked at her hopefully as the band introduced a slow, romantic song.
'Sorry,' she said. 'I've arranged to dance with someone else.' She glanced across the room to where Remus stood alone.
The man smiled politely. 'Never mind. Thank you very much.'
Andrea went over to Remus. He looked a little surprised.
'Come and dance with me,' she said.
'Are you sure?'
In answer she leaned into his arms as the piece began.
The music seemed to carry them across the floor. Remus' arms were around her, and she put her head on his shoulder. Somehow, he was exactly the right height. She looked up. He was smiling at her, and his eyes were very bright. His arms tightened around her, and she could feel his heart beating. They swayed, moving slowly together as the music continued.
I love you, she thought. It was so loud in her head that she thought he must be able to understand. And perhaps he did, for his face came closer to hers, closer still, until she darted across the tiny gap and kissed him.
~
When the music ended, they were both startled. Around them people were moving towards the door, congratulating the band and talking loudly. Remus and Andrea slowly went out, arm in arm. There was a chill wind, and Andrea found herself shivering despite his closeness. He unfastened his black cloak and draped it over her, leaving his arm across his shoulders. He pulled her towards him.
'My darling Andrea,' he murmured. He looked at the sky, but the moon was new. She traced the edge of his jaw with her finger and he leaned into her embrace.
Words seemed too clumsy to describe what she felt, and when he met her eye she saw that he knew it anyway. They were so close together that they looked like one person. For a while, Andrea did not realise that they had reached the Halls.
'Thank you,' she said softly. 'I've never had such a wonderful evening.'
Remus smiled then, and hugged her. 'Good night.'
'Good night.'
She went up the stairs to her flat at the top of the building and unlocked the door. Crossing to the window, she could see him half in shadow, gazing up. His eye found her and she blew him a kiss. He was so unutterably beautiful, she thought, her mind's eye filling in the details of his face that she could not see. After a moment he turned to go. Only when he was out of sight did she realise she still had his cloak around her.
~
'I wasn't expecting there to be so many,' said Andrea, sinking into a chair after the last person had left with their bottle of the Wolfsbane Potion.
They had spent the week in and out of each other's flats, working and talking together at every conceivable opportunity. Catherine Lewis had been forced to correct some of her more foolish mistakes she had made when thinking of Remus, and some of the younger nurses and doctors had teased her gently about her 'young man.' She had laughed at them all. Minerva, who had come down to see her about something, had been surprised by how much happier and brighter she was. It was as if she had been unlit before; now there was a flame burning in her.
'Oh, every werewolf who possibly could be was there,' replied Remus, sitting opposite. 'Who wouldn't be?'
'Yes, of course, but still – I had thought there'd be about ten, and almost forty people showed up.'
'The Wolfsbane Potion is one of the most incredible inventions any of us could have imagined. You'll change a lot of lives, Dr Andrea Wood.'
She smiled, and then her expression turned thoughtful and sad. 'It wasn't easy this afternoon. There was a lady with her little son – he couldn't have been more than six, he'd just been bitten – and she was in floods of tears. She'd been hoping the Wolfsbane Potion would be a cure, that I'd magically be able to fix everything. But I couldn't, and I can't see any kind of cure being developed soon.'
Remus hesitated, and then said, 'Well, as a matter of fact, there are two ways of curing a werewolf bite.'
'What?'
'Neither of them are any use. The first is that if you bite thirteen people in a single night, you'll be cured. Only one person in history has ever done it, and his name is one of the most hated. The other is equally impossible.'
Andrea looked at his face. 'What is it?'
'If someone … willingly lets themselves be bitten, they say, the werewolf will be cured. Of course, the other person will then become a werewolf.' Remus looked at the ground.
Andrea gazed across at him. He was so dear, so precious. She cast away the dark thought of the werewolf's teeth, and saw instead an image of Remus, racked with the pain of transformation. To spare him that …
'I would be willing,' she said, very quietly, her eyes fixed on his.
He took a long breath. 'No! Andrea, do you really think I'd let you bear my pain for me?' His voice was very intense. 'Do you think I'd make you suffer just to relieve myself? Never, Andrea, I'd never ask that of you, or of anyone.' He swallowed, and she saw he was close to tears.
'Oh, Remus….' She reached across and put her arms around him. For a few moments he struggled with his tears, and Andrea held him close. She cupped his chin in her hands and dried his eyes with two kisses. He smiled up at her then, his stormy face at peace.
TO BE CONTINUED
Facing your fears is one of the hardest things to do. Again, all my thanks to CLS for showing me that this was the direction I needed to take in this story.
The last part will be done quickly. It was the first thing I wrote of this story (starting back to front, I know), so it just needs some re-touching. Title: et in Arcadia ego. All explanations/translations come later.
Thank you for all the nice reviews, everyone.
Blaise.
19th March 2000