The Wolf in the Dark Part 3
Indus
Disclaimer: I own no part of the Harry Potter books or have anything to do with the publishers, Warner Bros. Or even J.K. Rowling. This is strictly for noncommercial purposes and any original characters or situations I create are mine. If you want to use one, ask me and I'll usually be happy to share.
This is the third chapter in my Wolf in the Dark Series. This is Sirius/Remus and a slight hint in earlier chapters of Percy/Oliver slash. In earlier chapters Sirius told Harry about his relationship with Remus. When Harry, Sirius, Hermione and Ron go to Remus' house after Voldemort's visit, they find him in wolf form despite the fact that it is broad daylight outside. They take him back to Hogwarts where they look into the pensieve for a cure.
Rating: R for violence. Slash warning but nothing sexually explicit.
naurmohd@aol.com
Ok, thanks to everyone for the feedback, especially for mentioning pensieve so many times. I couldn't remember what it was called and my copy of POA was at home. But last weekend I brought it with me, so I should be Ok. As for how Sirius came to see Harry in chapter one… well, he was roaming around almost freely as Snuffles by the end of GOF, so I am going to assume that Dumbledore gives him the codes when necessary. And he only carried Remus in the village near Lupin's cottage, since the presence of a wolf itself would distract people from the face of its carrier. There they used Floo powder to get to Hogsmeade. Now, this part is in my head, and I couldn't find a way to incorporate it into the story, so here it is. I figure Harry would have his invisibility cloak, and he'd drape it over the wolf. Padfoot would trot behind Ron who would levitate the invisible wolf. No one would notice Ron holding his wand out since no one notices Ron anyway. So, I apologize for leaving the holes in my story, but the holes were quite filled in my mind. (Answer all your questions, Meredith? Thanks for pointing them out; it's easy to miss the small but important details).
And now for Chapter 3.
They stood there for a while, just drinking in the man sitting at his desk, scribbling furiously on a parchment. There was nothing remarkable in the sight, but they knew that if they weren't successful they would never see this man again. Although his hand movements were quick, it was obvious that desperation was driving him well beyond his physical capabilities. It must have been close to the full moon, either before or after, and Remus looked, as Ron had once put it, as if a hex would finish him off. He mumbled a few words as he wrote the letter, and then signed it with a flourish. He then got up and walked to the kitchen, where the following group of children, the Headmaster and Sirius could see an owl pecking at some seeds. Halfway there, however, Lupin's meager strength failed him and he collapsed to his knees.
"Moony!" Sirius called, rushing to his friend. But he couldn't help him since Sirius was simply a trespasser in Remus' memory.
They watched as Remus painfully stood up and stumbled to the open kitchen door, where he leaned against the doorjamb for a few minutes. Suddenly he gasped and turned even paler. Then he raised his head, and he began to push himself forward and run to his wand, which was lying on the desk. Instincts pulled at him to hurry despite the weakness caused by his lycanthropy, but he did not make it.
Dumbledore had turned to the door at about the same time Lupin gasped, but the others were trying to figure out what was wrong. Harry cried out as his scar began to burn, and little hairs rose on the back of Ron, Hermione and Sirius' necks. True evil was here.
When Remus was about two feet away from the wand, the door was flung open and three masked Death Eaters entered with a cloak figure and a small man they all recognized. Peter, for it was he, summoned Lupin's wand and left the werewolf unarmed, facing the most dangerous wizard in the world. It was Lord Voldemort.
"What do you want?" Remus asked casually, as if the visitors were door-to-door salesmen. Harry couldn't help remembering the last time he had seen Peter, and heard his Professor of the Dark Arts speak in exactly the same unperturbed tone. His ill health and exhaustion made it easy to forget that he was quietly as strong as Sirius, and far wiser.
"Where is the girl?" The cloaked figure demanded in a fierce voice. Ron took a step back despite the fact that he was only an observer who could not be hurt. He was the only one present who had been brought up hearing horrible tales of the Dark Wizard's reign, and it was difficult for him to see Voldemort without the fear and awe of a child for a monster.
But Hermione noticed something else. When Voldemort had asked the question, Remus had lost all indifference. For a second, his mouth hung open with shock before he closed it with a snap. It took him a minute or so to recover and try to deflect the question.
"What girl?"
"Do not play dumb with me, I mean the Evans girl."
"If you mean Lily, you killed her many years ago, don't you remember?"
"Yes, but there was another…"
"If you mean Petunia, I don't know why you would target her. She's your kind of Muggle."
But Remus had forgotten about Peter. "No, there was a brother, a Muggle boy… Richard Evans. And he married a Slytherin. She did not join the Dark cause since she wasn't a very good Slytherin. Instead, she became Lily's best friend. Her name was Ally, Ally Ester Evans. I think my Master is referring to his daughter, the cousin of Harry Potter." Hermione and Ron stared at their best friend. He was in shock at the thought that he might have more family, and this girl in question was the daughter of a witch, and his mother's best friend. Wait, mum was best friends with a Slytherin? Sirius looked at Dumbledore, who appeared a little worried by the events occurring, but not surprised in any way.
Remus lost a little of his cool. "While that is true, Peter, you don't know everything. Richard died in a car accident about two years after Lily's death without becoming a father. You know, Peter, he never got over losing his little sister." This was said with a combination of bitterness and grief that managed to make Peter wince with guilt. But it was not enough to make Wormtail change sides.
"Enough of this!" Voldemort roared. "I know you to be lying. The Death Eater who is my Seer had a vision of a young girl transforming from a wolf at dawn. She was treated and then assisted to a bed by you. And then my Seer saw the child's eyes. They were of a most unusual green. The child asked, 'Are you all right Dad?' That was where the vision ended. The child herself has some blood in common with Harry Potter, and thus she must be found. If you join us, Lupin, and hand her over, we can gather support from the Dark Creatures immediately. I will in return swear that the girl will not be killed, and when I regain all my power no witch or wizard will ever prey upon a werewolf again. If you leave me, I will still be given the support of the Dark Creatures, it will only take more time, and I will find and kill the girl!"
"I will never join you!"
"Then you are a fool. I know of what was done to Dark Creatures after my brief fall…"
"You mean after you were brought down by a child," Lupin stated so calmly that his voice was more of an insult than his words. A small smile played at Sirius' mouth as he saw the child he had known so long before. People had overlooked Remus' ability to insult others because he was always with James and Sirius, but old friends like Snape knew that Lupin was a master at subtle ridiculing.
The cloak he wore covered Voldemort's face, but those present could imagine that his expression would not be very friendly. He gestured towards Lupin with his hand, and Peter walked to stand in front of his old friend. None of them could have imagined what he would do.
Peter raised his silver arm, and suddenly thrust it at Remus' chest, over his heart. The werewolf screamed until the sound broke off as his body convulsed, and the observers could smell burning flesh. No one, not Sirius nor Ron, cried out or even made a sudden movement. Instead they all stood there and watched as their friend and teacher was tortured.
The silence was broken by Hermione's voice. She often went into full lecture mode when her emotions ran too high. "The silver will leave a permanent mark, won't it Professor Dumbledore?"
Ron turned to her with a shocked expression. "Do you want to repeat that? I don't think Harry heard it and from the look on his face I'd say he isn't nearly traumatized enough."
She continued as if she hadn't heard him. "We should make sure someone tells Madame Pomfrey when we return to the infirmary. And someone is going to have to talk to Professor Lupin…"
"Is that your way of tactfully saying he needs a shrink?" Ron asked, his voice rising.
"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, please. And I would not worry about Professor Lupin; he has been through far worse than this. It may take some time, but I believe he will eventually deal with his real problem. Not torture, but one more mark of the wolf."
In front of them, Remus gathered his strength and looked Peter straight in the eye. The traitor held his gaze for a couple of seconds and then looked away. At that moment, Voldemort ordered him to step back.
No one existed at that moment but Remus and Peter. "Is this how it will be? You betrayed James and allowed Voldemort to kill him and his wife, leaving his son an orphan. Then you condemned Sirius to twelve years in Azkaban and so far more than two years in hiding. But those just make you a particularly pathetic specimen of humanity and rodent; you became a killer when you took the lives of the twelve people on the street that day. But until today Peter, you hadn't directly used your magic against a friend, and you certainly had not killed one. Can you, do you think? Or is that why Voldemort wants me? He wants a Marauder with balls…"
"What the hell…?" Ron was confused by Lupin's behavior. He had not known the Professor long, but this seemed most unlike him.
"He's distracting them," Sirius realized. "Did Richard really have a daughter who is a werewolf, Professor Dumbledore?"
The wise old wizard sighed. "He did indeed, Mr. Black. Sadly he never saw her; she was born just seven months after his death. And after she was bitten at the age of four, Professor Lupin has been caring for her. She thinks of him as a father. She is twelve now, and Lupin is educating her himself. She seems somewhat afraid to attend Hogwarts."
"Afraid? But Harry is Ok there. I thought Hogwarts was protected from Dark Wizards." Ron was confused, but Hermione had already guessed at the truth.
"Ron, I don't think she's afraid of the Dark Lord. I think it's more a matter of what normal wizards think of werewolves."
Harry hushed them as Voldemort began to speak again. "If you join them, you will lose. And even if you are sure that you will ultimately be successful, what do think will happen when the war is over? If you thought what was done by after the first fall was bad, think what will happen after they know that I can return and regain my power. I believe the term used is 'concentration camps.'"
"Yes Remus, you must join us. I was with the Weasleys; I heard what was going on. They locked up the Dark Creatures and apparently tried to do experiments to cure them and see what weapons might be effective…"
"I know what they are called Peter," Remus said, his voice suddenly shaky as he faced a nightmare worse than anything Sirius had known in prison. The worse Sirius had faced was a gradual loss of the emotions that make up what is called humanity, but Remus had had his humanity stripped away and then displayed in front of him just out of his reach. "I know about it Peter. And I know that if you had not done what you did fourteen years ago, my friends would have used their power to make sure something like that never happened, or at least kept me safe. And if they couldn't, I would have had the comfort of knowing someone was trying to help me. So don't ask me again to join you, I would rather die."
"You will not die, Mr. Lupin," Voldemort replied with a sinister grimace. "I promise you that you will be begging me to kill you by the time the night is over. Avery, bring the Veritaserum."
"Yes, my Lord."
The truth serum was brought to the Dark Lord, who forced the werewolf to take it.
"Who is the child in my Seer's vision?"
Remus struggled, but the power of the potion was too strong for him to fight.
"Jasmine Lily Lupin."
"Who are her parents?"
"I am her father."
Peter used his silver hand to slap Lupin, but when the question was repeated he gave the same answer.
Voldemort sighed. "Who are her biological parents?"
"Richard and Ally Evans."
"Why are they not caring for her?"
"Richard is dead and Ally could not care for her after Jamie was bitten by a werewolf."
"When was that?"
"Nine years ago, she was just three."
"What are her strengths?"
And here, the Veritaserum would not work. Before Peter could hit Remus again, Voldemort told him that it would be useless. "This information has been protected by Dumbledore. It's a fidelity charm. Not the same as was set by the Potters, but similar. We cannot break it unless he chooses freely to tell us. He cannot be tortured into it."
As more questions were asked, it became obvious that the charm also protected other information such as the location of the girl. Something else became known that only Dumbledore had known before; Remus Lupin was responsible for many of the wards protecting Harry.
Finally the questioning was over. His friends were as relieved as Lupin was by this time, but Hermione had to, in her opinion, remind them that it was not over yet.
"We need to pay attention to what You-Know-Who does to him now so that we can undo the damage."
Sirius gritted his teeth as he prepared for what was likely going to be the most difficult thing he ever had to witness.
"You have one more chance to join me. Tell me what I want to know and I will spare your life. For an alliance with my forces and your life will be better than ever before." This was said with a contemptuous look at Lupin's surroundings, to which Sirius replied (but of course Voldemort could not hear), "This is way better than you've had for a while." Then he was shushed as Voldemort continued. "If you don't, I will give you a most handsome gift. I shall make your worst nightmare reality. What is your worst nightmare, Mr. Lupin?"
Still under the Veritaserum, Remus responded. "To be a wolf twenty-nine days of the month and human one."
Voldemort laughed. "So predictable, then. Your dear friend Mr. Pettigrew anticipated this. Otherwise I could not have prepared the potion and the spell in time. It is not easy. It requires the blood of one not cursed who has sworn a blood oath to protect you, and there are not many werewolves who achieve the honor of blood oaths with humans. Moreover, it cannot be done more than once, which is ironic considering the cure. Do you know what the cure is, Mr. Lupin?"
"To redo the curse."
"Yes, to be bitten again. Your wealth of knowledge is most impressive, Mr. Lupin. There are not many Dark Arts experts left in this world that know of this magic, let alone the cure. That is because it has not been cast for many generations. And of course, because there are not many who are strong enough to cast it and only I am capable of doing what is called such a heinous dead. Since in the last war, I had the support of the werewolves, it would have been most foolish of me to alienate them by casting it. This time I have no such inhibitions. I have ensured that the only other wizard capable of helping you is quite busy elsewhere. So there is only you who would take the care of studying ancient and obscure traditions in Defense in the Dark Arts in Romania. And of course, you will be unable to cure yourself since a wolf cannot curse itself."
"Useless? I think not!" Sirius exclaimed in triumph.
"I shall go and find how we can get a werewolf willing to bite a wolf," Dumbledore said before disappearing.
"We should probably go too," Hermione said.
But Voldemort, who put Remus in a body bind before casting a spell that was so dark even the observers felt cold, distracted them before they could leave. Winds rose and whipped around the people. Peter brought a potion and with his silver hand compelled Lupin to open his mouth so that the vile liquid could be forced down his throat.
And Sirius, Ron and Hermione were pulled forward into a whirling world of images and words.
"We're seeing what he saw at this point. Losing his humanity must have forced him to relive his life," Hermione analyzed.
But Harry was too preoccupied to listen. For the images had slowed down, and he could clearly see a young couple cooing over their baby son. It was his parents; and the baby was he.
(A/N the stars represent different memories. BTW I composed this listening to Turn, Turn, Turn by the Byrds, so if anyone has that song they might want to listen to it while they read- it definitely makes a differences. Made me cry).
*
It's Lupercalia, and I claim you as my mate," Remus said, as he lightly bit Sirius on the side of his neck. Sirius shivered at the bite and began to cry as he kissed his lover and pressed him back into the pillows.
*
"What do you think, Sirius?" A proud father held up his baby boy. His laughing friend pretended to consider the question for a minute. "I see he has Lily's eyes, and I am very, very afraid that he has your hair Prongs."
"Shut up Padfoot!"
*
Sirius came to sit on Remus' bed in their dorm room. He looked as if he were in his first year at Hogwarts. "I know your secret."
From behind, a young voice said, "We all do."
And then a third child said, somewhat shakily, "And we don't care."
And Remus turned to see James and Peter come up to him. All four boys reached out to touch or hold him in some way. Sirius in particular leaned forward to touch his forehead to his friend's.
*
A beautiful red-haired girl with Harry's eyes laughed and ran towards Remus, shrieking, "Daddy! Daddy!"
*
A 16, 17 year-old Sirius used his wand to light a circle of candles that surrounded Remus and he, both of whom were sitting on a carpet of rose petals, before leaning forward and kissing his lover. And then Sirius said, in a smoky voice, "My God, I'm love in with you."
"I know, and I think it's glaringly obvious that you own me heart and soul, Sirius. Heart and Soul."
*
James stood with Lily, Sirius on the other side of him as Remus stood beside his bride. Harry's father leaned forward and captured his wife's lips. Flowers were thrown in the air, and Remus had to wipe the moisture from his eyes. Across the married couple, Sirius was obviously planning something to reduce the overwhelming sentimentality of the moment before they all broke down.
*
Sirius cuddled with Remus on a couch that sat in front of a fireplace, his chin pressed down on his lover's hair. They were talking in the half-sentences that people use with friends and significant others they truly know inside and out. Then James' face appeared in the fire. "She's gone into labor. Come over here, now! And bring Peter!"
*
James handed the baby back to Lily after showing Harry to his new Uncles. Lily accepted the precious bundle, crying openly.
"My God, I'm a father!"
"No one better, Prongs. No one better," Remus said in a quivering voice.
"Padfoot, you'll be Godfather, right?"
"I'd be honored."
"And Moony, you'll be sure Padfoot doesn't spoil him. If anything happens to Lily and me, we'll need you to be the strict one."
"Nothing will happen to you, either of you," Sirius said with a growl in his voice.
"We'll die before anything happens to this family, I promise you that," Peter said, and reached out to pass a loving hand over Harry's head. James hugged him in gratitude. Sirius bent down to take the baby as Lily grasped her husband's hand and leaned her head against Remus. They stood there, bound by the incredible miracle of life.
*
A girl who looked like Lily at the age of eleven walked with a woman, arguing softly with an American accent. "Honestly Mother, Dad is coming back from Hogwarts before the term is over, so I think we can both safely say that his adventure as Professor of DADA didn't go well. That means I won't be going to Hogwarts myself, which is Ok since Professor Dumbledore sent an owl saying I could be taught at home with Dad. I think that works out well. I don't want to imagine transforming without him there to help me through it."
And it was obvious that this wasn't Lily.
Then Remus said one word. "Jasmine."
The girl turned around. Her hair, which was less red than brown with a reddish tint in the sun, was brushed out of her eyes as she broke into a wide smile. She began to run to the man she considered her father without even thinking of the mother she left behind.
"Oh, Daddy, it's been so long. A whole year!"
As she was swung up into Remus' arms, the girl hugged him tight.
"Way too long, Jamie!"
*
And then the memories turned sour.
*
Remus arrived at a pub, tired but looking satisfied with his work. People who had been talking and laughing hushed at his arrival.
He caught whispers; "Sirius Black's lover… broke up badly… best friends with the Potters… Pettigrew's mother… Thirteen people and one curse… mad, of course, totally mad… friends since Hogwarts… Harry Potter…"
"What's going on?" He asked the bartender.
"What do you mean, what's going on? Oh my, you don't know?"
And then two or three issues of the Daily Planet was thrown to Lupin, who caught it and was greeted by the pictures of the four people he loved most in the world. The only four remaining who would do anything for him, knowing what he was.
JAMES AND LILY POTTER DEAD! BABY HARRY DEFEATS VOLDEMORT! SIRIUS BLACK SECRET-KEEPER! BETRAYS BEST FRIENDS AND LEADS VOLDEMORT TO THEM! KILLS MUGGLES, WIZARDS AND PETER PETTIGREW WITH ONE CURSE! SIRIUS BLACK FOUND AT SCENE OF MASSACRE, LAUGHING LIKE A MADMAN! SIRIUS BLACK TAKEN TO AZKABAN!
"No!" Remus cried out, falling to his knees while he sobbed. "It can't be true! It can't be true!"
*
Remus walked into a pub, smiling and saying something to Peter, who walked next to him. They looked around the smoky tables for a familiar face, and saw Sirius kissing another man. Remus stood there, as Peter tried to pull him away, but before Remus turned and walked out, Sirius' expression turned from suspicious and searching to horrified and guilty.
*
"I'm sorry, Remus, but I don't think Harry should stay with you."
"I know that I am a werewolf, but if I can find someone to keep him for a few days of the month, he should be all right. I know, he can stay with Richard and Ally."
"No, they are still too close to the Wizarding community, as are you. And they are in America now."
"I can go there too. They live in Cali- Califor- California, I think."
Yes, but it would be a great deal more difficult for us to protect him there. And there are wards that will need to be placed, which will not allow a Dark Creature or person with Death Eater blood to enter."
"That means me. And I suppose Ally, since her father was closely allied with the rise of Voldemort before his death."
"Yes. I'm sorry, but Harry has to stay with his aunt's family. And I believe he will be the better for growing up without the legacy of his parents and Voldemort."
*
"Oh God, Remus, we've lost them!" A sobbing woman they all recognized as Jamie's mother hugged him as a brown-haired man with Lily's eyes cried silently.
Remus walked over to him, still holding onto the woman. "Richard, I am so sorry about your sister. Ally, I know we've both lost our closest friends, but we have to go on."
*
An owl deposited a letter on Remus' eggs. He opened the envelope and read.
Remus,
Come quickly. There's been a car accident, and Richard is dead.
Ally.
*
"She was bitten by a werewolf. Remus I want you to bring her up. You can take care of her without prejudice. And, well, I can't take care of her at all. I developed a drinking problem since Richard's death. I can't even take care of myself."
*
He stood in a small fenced in area with twenty to thirty men, women and children.
"We can't go out, there's wards up" (Motherly looking woman).
"Welcome to werewolf concentration camp" (Smarmy-looking young man).
"O'Malley died today. The Doctors took him, and I guess his serum was poisonous, because I saw the clean-up crew take the body and dump it into the pyre. Good thing your turn was yesterday and not today, Lupin."
Remus stood beside a 6 or 7 year-old girl. "Let me help you," he said softly, as he tried to remove a silver pin from where it was embedded in her skin.
"I heard you made friends with the Canus girl yesterday. No one tell you it's dangerous to make friends here? She was killed today, you know. Actually early in the morning, before sunrise. The guards wanted to see a couple of wolf cubs fight." (Beaten-up old man)
*
Jamie stood outside Remus' cottage, holding a book in her hands.
Remus yelled at her to get out of the rain. "And why are you reading that book? Didn't I tell you it was trash? I explicitly forbade you from reading it."
"It's called Lycanthropy: Little known Facts. How could I not? And you know what it told me? That my father was a liar!"
"What do you mean?"
"You said I was still a person, a human being for most of the time. You said it was one night in a month… But you were wrong. A wolf for a night, maybe, but a werewolf forever. This book uses monster and werewolf interchangeably. I am a monster, Dad! You always said it was isolated people, but this book makes it pretty clear that it's more than that. And I accepted what you said, despite the contrary evidence. Despite the fact that we have to move every few months when some witch or wizards figures it out, or some Muggle gets suspicious. Despite the children who used to throw stones at me, calling me a beast! Despite the fact that no witch or wizard ever invites us over for dinner once they know who or what we are, and if we pretend to be normal we have to find some way of not touching the silverware.
And you know what else this book tells me that you forgot to mention? That I can never have children. I told you about my dreams of a large family; did you never think I might want to know that I cannot give birth without giving this curse to my baby? A woman's most personal and yet public gift to the world, and I can't be a part of it. Not that that should be a problem. I mean, what man or woman would want to be my mate? Look at me!"
Here she ripped open her shirt. Although the boys tended to be distracted by her bra, they could not help wincing at the sight of the scars disfiguring her body.
As the rain caused her hair to mold itself to her head, she fell to her knees, screaming wildly to the heavens above.
"Why didn't you just kill me? Why? Oh please tell me why!"
*
The memories began to spin again, but they still tried to watch them. Harry especially looked for his parents. It was as if they were in the dining Hall, and the ceiling was showing fifty different movies at the same time. But for all the viewers, it was better to try for a glimpse of Lupin's life than to hear the screams as Voldemort's potion began to work and Remus transformed. They saw Remus at his parents' funerals, surrounded by his friends. Weddings, Harry and Jamie's births, birthdays, dancing with Jamie, helping her through the transformations, feeling his heart break at seeing her pain, other funerals of his friends, loneliness and then fatherhood, pranks at the expense of a much younger but equally greasy Snape, and memories of a lifetime that was filled with moments of great joy and devastating physical and mental pain. Then it was over, and Remus' memories ended as the wolf took over.
And Harry found himself back in the infirmary, unable to look his guardian in the eye. Some of Remus' last flashes had been a little… explicit. Besides, he had a sneaking suspicion that his guardian was this close to breaking down.
Before the silence could become too uncomfortable, Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling as if he knew just what they were thinking about, interrupted it. He probably did.
"I've sent for the girl. She should be here soon."
"What girl?" Sirius asked, his mind still on what he had seen and heard.
"Jasmine Lily, or Jamie, Evans Lupin. I, of course, know where she was hiding. She should be here in time."
"In time for what?"
"Well, to save her father. She may be a child, but she is also a werewolf, after all."
***
THAT'S IT FOR CHAPTER 3. IF YOU ARE WONDERING HOW SHE CAN BITE WITHOUT THE FULL MOON, YOU WILL SEE SOON.