Chapter 4 "Break a Leg"
Not one word was spoken about the encounter with the three Slytherins and they too seemed to realize their own danger if they turned in Remus. However, Remus was beginning to become very leery of Snape. His hatred of Remus was probably at an all time high between another close call and all the attention Remus was receiving because of the play and it showed. There was a gleam in Snape's eyes that Remus did not like in the least.
The weeks passed and as December began play practices began to run much longer as well as more smoothly.
When Remus received his practice schedule however at breakfast he cursed quietly to himself. Surprised the others looked up at him, knowing that for him anyway cursing was only used in an extreme situation.
"What's wrong, Rem?" Sirius asked his mouth full of what Remus assumed used to be a doughnut.
Remus simply handed Sirius the schedule and deadpanned, "Dress rehearsal is on the full moon."
"Try and get it rescheduled," James suggested.
"You can't just reschedule a dress rehearsal!" Remus nearly yelled.
The others exchanged a glance; it was rare for Remus to be this close to losing his temper.
Remus sighed, "Sorry. I…" He paused looking at what must have been an interesting spot on the floor. "I'll just have to tell Diana that I can't make it. She can give the understudy the role if she wants."
"Rem, I doubt she'll do that," Sirius reassured his friend, "You've got half the cast twisted around your little finger."
There was a long pause. Remus gave a small laugh, "Funny how often my mother gets ill isn't it?"
Remus sat on the bed in the Shrieking Shack, looking around and wondering just how much damage he was likely to do tonight. Diana had accepted Remus's story without question and reassured him that he still had the part, but things were still looking bleak from where Remus sat. Tomorrow was opening night and he was always drained after a full moon.
Much less, a full moon without the Marauders.
They had tried their best but there was just no way around it. Peter and Sirius had to stay at rehearsal, and James couldn't afford to cancel another practice.
He shivered and looked through a crack in the boarded window. A pale light began at the horizon, and trembling turned to violent shaking. Remus bit his lip until it bleed, trying to hold in the screaming howl welling up inside as bones cracked and morphed. Suddenly Moony had torn himself out.
Whirling on the room, he stood there a moment taking in the area with golden eyes. He howled calling, waiting for an answer from the dog or stag, even the rat.
But none came.
Mournful howls soon gave way to growling and cries of pain. He ran through the house tearing any furniture he could find to shreds. The smell of humans lingered there still, but he could not find them. Finally the bloodlust took over, and Moony turned on himself.
Remus woke the next morning, cold and shivering on the floor. Madam Pomfry was next to him forcing something down his raw throat. He drank, not caring where he was or what had happened. Whatever it was that Pomfry was saying was not quite registering, something about her wondering if the stress of the play made the transformation worse. That he hadn't had one this bad in quite a while.
He blinked trying to pull on robes over his aching body, even as cuts healed. He gasped himself when he finally caught sight of his reflection in the shattered mirror nearby. Bites nearly covered his arms and the claw marks across his face were only just healing. He could barely put his feet on the ground and his hands still bleed slightly. Bloody paw prints covered the ground around the shards that had fallen out of the mirror. His hair was matted with blood and dirt, the shadows clearer than ever under his cool-gray eyes.
"Perhaps the play tonight is not such a good idea…" Madam Pomfry was saying.
"What?!" Remus whirled. "No! I… Madam Pomfry, I have to be in that play!"
Madam Pomfry looked at Remus and shook her head. Remus knew that his cuts were already healing, the bad ones leaving their new scars of course, but he knew that he could heal faster than any of the nurse's other patients. She could not keep him from doing the play if he really wanted to.
And apparently she knew this too. Heaving a sigh she looked at Remus again. "Let's just see how you're feeling tonight."
That night Remus was pacing back stage reading over the script one last time, occasionally taking a sip of the potion Pomfry had forced him to take with him to keep his strength up. Others ran about getting their make up on, sets being rearranged, Snape was doing something with the chemicals for Dr. Jekyll's laboratory set.
Remus had barely noticed any of these things however and his pacing actually caused him to walk right by Snape, who turned away from the chemicals to face him.
"You know why they gave that part to you, Lupin," Snape spat.
Lupin tried to pretend he had not heard him, and began to mouth the words of the script to himself.
Severus however knew better, and walked continued to speak.
"They gave it to you because you're a damned creature of the night. They pity you, the soulless creature who's better off dead." Snape laughed mirthlessly, "The true Edward Hyde." Snape mock bowed in Remus's direction.
"No wolf can hide forever, Lupin. Perform tonight, and people might start to catch on."
Remus was trying to ignore it, forcing his temper back, no matter how badly he wanted to lash out. If he ever did, it would only prove Severus's point.
Diana called, "Five minutes!"
Getting up to go to his area on stage Remus acted as if Snape hadn't said anything out of the ordinary. Smiling, he met Snape's gaze and said sincerely, "Break a leg, Severus."
And Remus walked on stage, leaving Snape with a muscle going in his face, unable to think of a comeback.
The play was going flawlessly; no one was missing cues or forgetting lines. The only thing Diana found to criticize was that the set changes needed to occur faster, but no doubt this would become easier as the play preformed more.
Finally, Remus came to the scene that Remus was the most nervous about. Once he did this he had no doubt everything else would go smoothly but it still caused the butterflies to begin flitting around his stomach. The transformation.
Remus began, pretending to write in the stage journal before him.
"September thirteenth, eleven fifty-six P.M.," he began.
"I have started this alone, and I must finish it, alone. There is no longer a choice. I know that I must use myself as the subject of the experiment," taking a shaky breath, Remus put down the pen and began mixing the chemicals, trying to remember the proper combination to get the color change needed while singing.
"No, there is no choice. I must put aside the fears I feel inside
There's no place to hide
So it comes to this one last final chance that only I can take.
Now everything I've fought for is at stake
Like a warning light, glimmering in red,
Like crimson bloodshed, shimmering in red,
Beautiful and strange, see the colors change before my eyes.
See how they dance and they sparkle, like diamonds at night.
Leading me out of the darkness and into the light."
Remus watched, the colors shifted from the ruby red, to a near blinding white, to a dark indigo purple. For half a second Remus thought that he must have added too much of one of the chemicals considering it looked darker than usual, but considering it did not matter that much, he drained the glass.
Something was wrong, he knew it the moment the liquid touched his lips. It was horribly bitter and nearly scalding hot, certainly not the bubbly strawberry flavored glass he drank nearly every practice, but it was already down his throat, and there was nothing left to do but let the show go on.
Returning to the supposed journal, he began again.
"11:58 P.M.
Consumed 10 centiliters of formula H.J. seven. Salty, bitter taste, stings the tongue, warm in the gullet, heat spreading strongly through my veins."
Remus had to pause. He was beginning to feel sick, he felt like something was tugging at his mind and bones, for a split second he thought of the moon, but shoved the thought out of his mind, trying to concentrate on his lines again, before anyone noticed that the pause was not supposed to be there. "Slight feeling of euphoria, light-headedness, no noticeable behavioral differences."
He blinked, trying to clear his vision as it blurred for a second. Swallowing with difficulty he continued.
Backstage though Lily looked at Sirius, concerned.
"Is he alright? He's as pale as death."
Sirius's eyes were riveted on Remus. "I don't know, but he hasn't signaled me. He's supposed to tug his hair if he's forgot a line or fells sick 'cause of last night."
"I must be wise
I must try to analyze each change in me.
Everything I see, how will it be?
Will I see the world through different eyes?
Now the die is cast, nothing left to do,
Time alone can prove my theory's true,
Show the world…"
Remus trailed off allowing himself to begin act out the transformation.
"My God… What's this? Something is happening, I can't explain,
Something inside me, a breathtaking pain, devours and consumes me, and drives me insane!"
Oh, God, God, Remus thought, and reached up pulling at his hair with both hands. He could feel the wolf, inside struggling to come roaring out, with a shove of self will he forced him back inside.
"AARRRRGGGGGGGAAAAA!"
Sirius didn't look at Lily, his eyes wide on Remus, knowing something horrible was going on. "Get Madam Pomfry."
Somehow Remus was able to keep the beast down enough to keep on.
"Suddenly, uncontrolled,
Something is taking hold,
Suddenly, agony! Filling me! Killing me?
Suddenly, out of breath, what is this? Is this death?"
Remus fell behind the table, on purpose of course, mussing up his hair and forcing himself into character before rising again to face the audience as Edward Hyde.
"Suddenly…
Look at me…
Can it be?!
Who is this…
Creature, that I see?
Free!"
The scene went dark as Hyde's laughter still filled the stage.
As people rushed around changing the set, Remus and Sirius somehow found each other.
"Are you all right?" Sirius asked, speaking in hushed tones.
Remus shook his head. "There was something in the drink. It was a potion!"
"What?"
"I don't know what it was, but God, I think Moony's trying to get out, Sirius."
Sirius was confused but sensing the urgency in his friends voice tried to help. "What do you need me to do?"
"Get Pomfry and Dumbldore. I think I can make it through the rest of the act. If I can't I'll pull my hair again."
"Consider it done."
"Get off stage, Sirius. John's not in this scene."
"Be careful, Remus."
The lights came back on. Remus never knew how he did it but he somehow survived through act one. The second it was over he collapsed into a chair back stage, trying to explain what had happened to his knowledge, Sirius and Lily beside him.
"I think I can get through the play," Remus said. He met Sirius's concerned gaze. Sirius cursed horribly and his eyes went wide.
"Remus! Look at your eyes!"
"What is it?" Remus asked for the first time taking the effort to look the others fully in the face. "What's wrong?"
Pomfry gasped, and even Dumbledore's eyes widened. Lily conjured a pocket mirror and handing it to Remus he looked.
Remus was rendered speechless. He had never seen these eyes before and when he had… it was like a long ago nightmare. Still though, staring right back at him were not his own cool granite eyes, but the shining yellow one's of a wolf.
"Two minutes!" Remus heard called.
Pomfry forced the rest of the strengthening potion on Remus, who took it and was relieved to find it made it easier to keep himself under control; also, the gold partially receded from his eyes. Dumbledore sent for Professor Arrow, the potions master, to inspect what was left of the liquid and see what could be done.
Remus was making it through the performance without a single sign that anything was wrong when Arrow looked up from the chemicals.
"Are you sure this is what he drank?"
Pomfry and Dumbledore nodded.
Arrow shook her head. "This… he should be dead if he drank this. I've never seen this combination in my life. Silver nitrate, aconite, God only knows what else… Aconite is a deadly poison to anyone who eats it, much less Remus."
"Wolfsbane," Dumbledore breathed.
Arrow nodded. "This would kill a normal person. I have no idea what it will do to Remus, much less how to make an antidote."
"How did this happen?" Pomfry asked worried.
Dumbledore looked into the shadows where a figure stood, watching, only his eyes reflected in the light. "Severus, can you please explain what happened?"
Snape strode out and approached the table. He examined the various bottles and powders. After a moment he turned and appearing surprised exclaimed, "The bottles must have shifted when the set was being moved. See? Here are the ones he was supposed to use." Snape gestured towards the bottles in the back, almost out of sight, but there, nonetheless. "The rest were just for decoration."
Dumbledore searched Snape's eyes but then sighed and turned back to the table. "Jenna, what else can we do?"
Professor Arrow shook her head. "Nothing. If I give him a bezoar it won't react well with the other chemicals, probably do more harm than good. We just have to wait it out. Maybe Remus can fight it off."
"How likely is that?" Dumbledore asked.
Arrow shook her head. "It'll take a miracle."
Snape at this point had walked off, ready for his cue.
"Is your costume all right, Severus?" Diana asked.
"Yes."
"It's not itchy or anything? You were rubbing your arm like it was."
"No, no. It's fine."
"Good, now hurry up! It's nearly you're cue."
The scene went dark and Snape walked out onto the stage, as did Sirius and many of the other characters. It was the final scene, Jekyll and Lisa's wedding day.
Jekyll and Lisa danced happily spinning around the floor, when Jekyll broke away approaching John.
"Henry, what is it?" John-Sirius asked.
Jekyll-Remus looked back up at Sirius, his eyes pleading. Sirius wondered suddenly if this was acting or not, as yellow began to creep in around Remus's pupils.
"Don't make a fuss. Terrible pain, get me out of here. Need to breathe… ooohhhh…" Remus grabbed his hair again, with both hands.
Sirius didn't know what else to do except pray that Remus could make it through the next five minutes of the play.
"Oh, My God…"
"Oh, God, what now? Oh, God, not now.
Help me somehow, please take the pain away!
Please, God, will me somehow to fight and pray.
Don't let her see! Not on our wedding day!"
Remus nearly howled the last line falling to the floor, breathing heavily and grinding his teeth, Jekyll transforming into Hyde.
On cue, Lisa approached who she believed to be her husband, Jekyll. "Henry?"
"There is no Henry. Only Hyde!" And Hyde-Remus jumped up, grinning horribly at Lisa.
"Look at this monster, Lisa!" Stride-Snape called.
"And what would you have done with her, Stride? Put her up in one of your Camden town whorehouses and rented her out to selling a time?"
"Damn you, Jekyll, enough!"
"Enough indeed. End. Of. Game!"
Lisa ran a few steps before Hyde caught up to her, gabbing her violently.
"We seem to be married, my love. Ready for our bridal bed are you?"
John-Sirius raised the prop gun, pointed at Hyde. "Henry, stay back! Don't touch her! I beg you. Stop. Stop now."
Remus's yellow eyes simply stared back at Sirius's blue ones. John fired two shots and Hyde hit the ground. Lisa screamed and dropped down to face the person who once was her true love.
"Henry! Oh, God, Henry!"
"Lisa, no! Stay back!" John called.
"Henry, it's me. If this is you, show me." Lisa begged.
Seizing Lisa by the neck Hyde rose again. "ARGA! Stay! Or she dies!"
"Henry! I know you can hear me. Henry, let me go, Henry. Please, let me go, for us. Please." Lisa whispered.
Remus turned to Lisa, Hyde's expression softening, and when he turned to John the voice was that of Jekyll's, and the eyes a bizarre mix of gold and silver.
"Do it, John. I beg you. Set me free!" Jekyll pleaded.
"I can't, Henry." John answered. Sirius fought back tears.
"We promised, remember?"
John paused. "Forgive me."
And he shot, four times.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Hyde fell to the ground, and as he lay there whispered, his voice gradually changing to Jekyll's and fading.
"Lisa, Lisa…Lisa…a…"
"Sh. Go to sleep, my tormented love," Lisa soothed.
Remus shut his eyes and the curtain fell as Jekyll breathed his last.
A/N: Horrible cliffhanger, I know. But I will update a.s.a.p., only one more chapter to go!