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Chapter Three: Veritaserum
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A/N: I'm so sorry this took so bloody long to get up. I guess I kind of lost interest in it for a while. And I'm not so sure if I like this chapter or not. It's probably stupid, but if I'm going to continue this (and I'm not sure of that either) there needs to be some background information. If you like this at all, PLEASE tell me. That way, I'll know whether or not to continue it.
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The girl and Harry merely stared at each other for several seconds. Then Lupin and Sirius burst in behind him, their wands out and aimed at the girl.
The girl backed up several paces and held her hands up in a gesture of peace. "Whoa," she said, her voice pleasantly deep. "I'm not here to hurt anyone." Her eyes held a mixture of fear and surprise.
"Then what are you here for?" Sirius growled, his wand pointing directly at her heart. "I want your name, and your purpose for being here, and I want it now."
"My name is Reed," she said softly. "I - this is a long story, but I'll try to explain things. I'm an orphan. I've been one since I was a little girl. My parents died, and I was a witch like my mother, but I didn't have the money to go to Hogwarts. I managed to study what I could and am fairly skilled in magic now. I know some things about Voldemort - sorry, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named - and I wanted to come here to the school to tell the headmaster. But once I got here, I realized they might not listen to me because I was an orphan and I was never a student here. So I found this room and stayed here, and studied all these old books I found. This way, if anything ever happened with the Dark Lord, I would be nearby to offer my assistance."
Her big brown eyes, wide with fright, locked onto Lupin's. "Please, I never came here to hurt anyone. I -"
"We're going to take you to the headmaster," Sirius said. "For all we know, you could be a Death Eater in disguise."
He pointed his wand at her, muttered something, and ropes shot out to bind her.
Reed bit her lip, but didn't protest.
Harry stared at her with eyes almost as wide as hers. Of all the things he had thought he might find on the little trip with Sirius and Lupin, this was definitely the last thing he had expected.
He wondered if she was actually a Death Eater in disguise come to attack Hogwarts. Something in his gut told him she wasn't. The look of wide-eyed terror she'd had . . . Somehow, he didn't think that had been faked.
Reed followed quietly along behind Lupin. Sirius walked behind her, his wand still out and aimed on the girl. Harry walked a good distance behind the three of them, having a feeling that he did not want to get in the way.
He wondered who she was, and why she was here.
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They finally reached Dumbledore's office. Lupin knocked loudly on the door, Sirius still pointing his wand at the girl.
About a minute later, a tired-looking Dumbledore answered the door. "Lupin, Sirius, what are you doing here? Is something - who is this?"
Shock registered in the old headmaster's blue eyes.
"We found her in a deserted room. Apparently, she's been hiding out here for quite some time."
Dumbledore's eyes became hard and locked onto the girls. "And what is your name, young lady?"
"Reed, sir." She flinched at his voice, as though afraid that he would hurt her.
"Lupin, would you please fetch Minerva and Severus? Ask him to bring the strongest truth potion he has."
Reed paled, but said nothing.
Lupin, with one last look at her, left the office at a brisk trot.
Several minutes later he had arrived, with a surprised-looking Professor McGonagall and an apparently very disgusted Professor Snape, who was carrying a vile of something or other.
Snape eyed Reed with utmost loathing. "And this piece of vermin was found in a deserted room?"
"And how would you know that this young woman is indeed a 'piece of vermin'?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
"Like seeks like?" Lupin suggested sarcastically.
Dumbledore frowned, then gestured for them all to sit down. "Administer the potion, Severus, but do not say anything to the girl. I will do the questioning," he said, his voice slightly hard.
Snape, glowering, held the vile to the girl's lips. She drank, despite the fact that she was almost trembling with fright.
She looked to Harry like a deer caught in headlights.
When she had drank the entire bottle, Dumbledore waved Snape off away from her, leaned forward on his desk, and began speaking to the girl.
"What is your name?"
"Reed, sir."
"Last name?"
Reed swallowed hard. "Just Reed."
Dumbledore frowned slightly. "No last name? Why?"
"I - I'm an orphan."
"What happened to your parents?"
"They died."
"How did they die?"
Her eyes filled with tears. "Please, don't make me tell you this."
Dumbledore stared hard into her eyes. "I have to know. How did your parents die?"
It was obvious she was on the verge of sobs, but she choked them back. The Veritaserum forced her to tell them all the story, despite her more than obvious distress.
"My mum was a witch. Dad didn't know. She never told him. He was out in the woods hunting one day, and all of a sudden a wolf attacked him. That was really strange, because there weren't exactly wolves in our area. It was even stranger because it only bit him once, on the arm, then ran away. My father wasn't badly hurt. He just went to the hospital and got some stitches and rabies shots, and then he was okay . . . until the next full moon.
"It wasn't really a wolf that had bit him. It was a werewolf.
"The next full moon, he transformed. Before my mum could do anything, he bit her. So then both of my parents were werewolves. My mum ran and got away from him. My dad was left with no one to bite and he bit himself instead."
She sighed. "He bit himself so much he died. I saw his body. There was a giant wolf lying sprawled in our living room, surrounded by a pool of blood and tufts of fur. I threw up. A lot.
"My mum was devastated when Dad died, but we were all too young to really understand what had gone on. We didn't realize that Mum was a werewolf too. When the full moon came, she locked herself up in the garage and had our aunt come and watch us. She made up various excuses of where she was going, but we still heard all this awful howling coming from our garage. Since we were just little, we thought it was a monster or some such.
"Finally, one day I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to know what was in there. My aunt always said it was just our imaginations, but we knew it wasn't. When she was out shopping for groceries, I decided to open the garage door and find out what it was. The garage had a door that led into our living room, so I told my little sister to stay in the living room by the phone in case anything would happen to me and she would need to call for help. I can't believe I was stupid enough to do something like that, but I honestly didn't think there was anything in there that would hurt us. I had never liked my aunt very much, and I thought she had some sort of poor animal in captivity that she didn't want us to know about. I wanted to set it free. I've always been like that - having a soft spot for animals."
Reed stared off into space, as if willing herself to disappear, to ignore the words being forced out of her mouth by the potion, to not hear what she had no choice to say.
"When I opened the door, out came a huge werewolf. For some reason, it ran right past me as if it didn't even realize I was there and into the living room. It bit my sister. She started transforming right then, and it was the most awful thing I've ever seen. She turned into a little tiny wolf cub, only she had horribly long fangs and claws. Her fangs almost reached the floor because she was so small.
"Then, before she was fully transformed - she still had human eyes and curly blonde hair on her head - my mum bit her neck, picked her up, and shook her until she was dead. Blood was everywhere. It was on the walls, the furniture, and me and my mum.
"I screamed. And screamed. I screamed without stopping or pause for breath. I literally screamed so much I couldn't get any air and I passed out.
"When I woke up, a huge werewolf was standing over me. Its - her - mouth was open and she was about to bite me. But I screamed again, so shrilly that I startled it and it backed away long enough for me to get up. I grabbed a vase and threw it at her head, and I knocked her out.
"I realized she was out cold, so I froze for a few minutes because I wasn't sure what I should do. But then I saw my little sister's body and lost it.
"I started acting without reason. All I could think of was that this giant wolf-creature sprawled unconscious in our normally spotless living room was my mother. She had killed her baby daughter. If she had had any decency, she would have left home so there would be no chance that we would be subjected to her in her wolf form.
"I went insane. I had loved my sister dearly, and there she was, lying in a heap on the carpet, half in wolf form, and dead.
"While my mother was still unconscious, I started beating her with anything I could find. I got out my father's old walking stick and hit her with it. I threw vases at her. Paper weights. Shoes. Books. Whatever I could find. I even managed to pick up a tiny end table and throw it at her. I finally realized she was dead. That I had killed her.
"But what I didn't realize was that while I was unconscious, she had bitten me. I didn't find that out till the next full moon, when I started to transform. I'm a freak, just like my mother was. Just like her. Made into a cold-blooded killer."
Reed's voice broke then. She buried her face in her hands and began to weep. "Please, don't make me say any more. I can't. It hurts too much," she begged.
Dumbledore frowned. "I'm sorry. I don't want to subject you to this, but Voldemort is rising in power and I have been expecting him to attack the school for quite some time now. We found you hiding in a deserted room, and you will have to give us an explanation for that. I'm sorry, but I can't risk the entire school being attacked. You must continue."
"Dumbledore, please," Lupin interjected. Harry was startled to notice that there were tears in his gray eyes. "Look at her. You'll kill her if you make her go any further. Let me take her to a guest room. Please."
Dumbledore sighed. "Young lady, are you, in any way, working for Voldemort or wish to see him once again rise to power?'
"N-no," Reed choked out between sobs. "That's the last thing I want."
"Good enough," Dumbledore announced. "Lupin, you may take her to a guest room now, if you wish. Please make sure she is comfortable."
Lupin nodded silently, and without saying anything, he carefully picked the young woman up and carried her out of the room.
Chapter Three: Veritaserum
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A/N: I'm so sorry this took so bloody long to get up. I guess I kind of lost interest in it for a while. And I'm not so sure if I like this chapter or not. It's probably stupid, but if I'm going to continue this (and I'm not sure of that either) there needs to be some background information. If you like this at all, PLEASE tell me. That way, I'll know whether or not to continue it.
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The girl and Harry merely stared at each other for several seconds. Then Lupin and Sirius burst in behind him, their wands out and aimed at the girl.
The girl backed up several paces and held her hands up in a gesture of peace. "Whoa," she said, her voice pleasantly deep. "I'm not here to hurt anyone." Her eyes held a mixture of fear and surprise.
"Then what are you here for?" Sirius growled, his wand pointing directly at her heart. "I want your name, and your purpose for being here, and I want it now."
"My name is Reed," she said softly. "I - this is a long story, but I'll try to explain things. I'm an orphan. I've been one since I was a little girl. My parents died, and I was a witch like my mother, but I didn't have the money to go to Hogwarts. I managed to study what I could and am fairly skilled in magic now. I know some things about Voldemort - sorry, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named - and I wanted to come here to the school to tell the headmaster. But once I got here, I realized they might not listen to me because I was an orphan and I was never a student here. So I found this room and stayed here, and studied all these old books I found. This way, if anything ever happened with the Dark Lord, I would be nearby to offer my assistance."
Her big brown eyes, wide with fright, locked onto Lupin's. "Please, I never came here to hurt anyone. I -"
"We're going to take you to the headmaster," Sirius said. "For all we know, you could be a Death Eater in disguise."
He pointed his wand at her, muttered something, and ropes shot out to bind her.
Reed bit her lip, but didn't protest.
Harry stared at her with eyes almost as wide as hers. Of all the things he had thought he might find on the little trip with Sirius and Lupin, this was definitely the last thing he had expected.
He wondered if she was actually a Death Eater in disguise come to attack Hogwarts. Something in his gut told him she wasn't. The look of wide-eyed terror she'd had . . . Somehow, he didn't think that had been faked.
Reed followed quietly along behind Lupin. Sirius walked behind her, his wand still out and aimed on the girl. Harry walked a good distance behind the three of them, having a feeling that he did not want to get in the way.
He wondered who she was, and why she was here.
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They finally reached Dumbledore's office. Lupin knocked loudly on the door, Sirius still pointing his wand at the girl.
About a minute later, a tired-looking Dumbledore answered the door. "Lupin, Sirius, what are you doing here? Is something - who is this?"
Shock registered in the old headmaster's blue eyes.
"We found her in a deserted room. Apparently, she's been hiding out here for quite some time."
Dumbledore's eyes became hard and locked onto the girls. "And what is your name, young lady?"
"Reed, sir." She flinched at his voice, as though afraid that he would hurt her.
"Lupin, would you please fetch Minerva and Severus? Ask him to bring the strongest truth potion he has."
Reed paled, but said nothing.
Lupin, with one last look at her, left the office at a brisk trot.
Several minutes later he had arrived, with a surprised-looking Professor McGonagall and an apparently very disgusted Professor Snape, who was carrying a vile of something or other.
Snape eyed Reed with utmost loathing. "And this piece of vermin was found in a deserted room?"
"And how would you know that this young woman is indeed a 'piece of vermin'?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
"Like seeks like?" Lupin suggested sarcastically.
Dumbledore frowned, then gestured for them all to sit down. "Administer the potion, Severus, but do not say anything to the girl. I will do the questioning," he said, his voice slightly hard.
Snape, glowering, held the vile to the girl's lips. She drank, despite the fact that she was almost trembling with fright.
She looked to Harry like a deer caught in headlights.
When she had drank the entire bottle, Dumbledore waved Snape off away from her, leaned forward on his desk, and began speaking to the girl.
"What is your name?"
"Reed, sir."
"Last name?"
Reed swallowed hard. "Just Reed."
Dumbledore frowned slightly. "No last name? Why?"
"I - I'm an orphan."
"What happened to your parents?"
"They died."
"How did they die?"
Her eyes filled with tears. "Please, don't make me tell you this."
Dumbledore stared hard into her eyes. "I have to know. How did your parents die?"
It was obvious she was on the verge of sobs, but she choked them back. The Veritaserum forced her to tell them all the story, despite her more than obvious distress.
"My mum was a witch. Dad didn't know. She never told him. He was out in the woods hunting one day, and all of a sudden a wolf attacked him. That was really strange, because there weren't exactly wolves in our area. It was even stranger because it only bit him once, on the arm, then ran away. My father wasn't badly hurt. He just went to the hospital and got some stitches and rabies shots, and then he was okay . . . until the next full moon.
"It wasn't really a wolf that had bit him. It was a werewolf.
"The next full moon, he transformed. Before my mum could do anything, he bit her. So then both of my parents were werewolves. My mum ran and got away from him. My dad was left with no one to bite and he bit himself instead."
She sighed. "He bit himself so much he died. I saw his body. There was a giant wolf lying sprawled in our living room, surrounded by a pool of blood and tufts of fur. I threw up. A lot.
"My mum was devastated when Dad died, but we were all too young to really understand what had gone on. We didn't realize that Mum was a werewolf too. When the full moon came, she locked herself up in the garage and had our aunt come and watch us. She made up various excuses of where she was going, but we still heard all this awful howling coming from our garage. Since we were just little, we thought it was a monster or some such.
"Finally, one day I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to know what was in there. My aunt always said it was just our imaginations, but we knew it wasn't. When she was out shopping for groceries, I decided to open the garage door and find out what it was. The garage had a door that led into our living room, so I told my little sister to stay in the living room by the phone in case anything would happen to me and she would need to call for help. I can't believe I was stupid enough to do something like that, but I honestly didn't think there was anything in there that would hurt us. I had never liked my aunt very much, and I thought she had some sort of poor animal in captivity that she didn't want us to know about. I wanted to set it free. I've always been like that - having a soft spot for animals."
Reed stared off into space, as if willing herself to disappear, to ignore the words being forced out of her mouth by the potion, to not hear what she had no choice to say.
"When I opened the door, out came a huge werewolf. For some reason, it ran right past me as if it didn't even realize I was there and into the living room. It bit my sister. She started transforming right then, and it was the most awful thing I've ever seen. She turned into a little tiny wolf cub, only she had horribly long fangs and claws. Her fangs almost reached the floor because she was so small.
"Then, before she was fully transformed - she still had human eyes and curly blonde hair on her head - my mum bit her neck, picked her up, and shook her until she was dead. Blood was everywhere. It was on the walls, the furniture, and me and my mum.
"I screamed. And screamed. I screamed without stopping or pause for breath. I literally screamed so much I couldn't get any air and I passed out.
"When I woke up, a huge werewolf was standing over me. Its - her - mouth was open and she was about to bite me. But I screamed again, so shrilly that I startled it and it backed away long enough for me to get up. I grabbed a vase and threw it at her head, and I knocked her out.
"I realized she was out cold, so I froze for a few minutes because I wasn't sure what I should do. But then I saw my little sister's body and lost it.
"I started acting without reason. All I could think of was that this giant wolf-creature sprawled unconscious in our normally spotless living room was my mother. She had killed her baby daughter. If she had had any decency, she would have left home so there would be no chance that we would be subjected to her in her wolf form.
"I went insane. I had loved my sister dearly, and there she was, lying in a heap on the carpet, half in wolf form, and dead.
"While my mother was still unconscious, I started beating her with anything I could find. I got out my father's old walking stick and hit her with it. I threw vases at her. Paper weights. Shoes. Books. Whatever I could find. I even managed to pick up a tiny end table and throw it at her. I finally realized she was dead. That I had killed her.
"But what I didn't realize was that while I was unconscious, she had bitten me. I didn't find that out till the next full moon, when I started to transform. I'm a freak, just like my mother was. Just like her. Made into a cold-blooded killer."
Reed's voice broke then. She buried her face in her hands and began to weep. "Please, don't make me say any more. I can't. It hurts too much," she begged.
Dumbledore frowned. "I'm sorry. I don't want to subject you to this, but Voldemort is rising in power and I have been expecting him to attack the school for quite some time now. We found you hiding in a deserted room, and you will have to give us an explanation for that. I'm sorry, but I can't risk the entire school being attacked. You must continue."
"Dumbledore, please," Lupin interjected. Harry was startled to notice that there were tears in his gray eyes. "Look at her. You'll kill her if you make her go any further. Let me take her to a guest room. Please."
Dumbledore sighed. "Young lady, are you, in any way, working for Voldemort or wish to see him once again rise to power?'
"N-no," Reed choked out between sobs. "That's the last thing I want."
"Good enough," Dumbledore announced. "Lupin, you may take her to a guest room now, if you wish. Please make sure she is comfortable."
Lupin nodded silently, and without saying anything, he carefully picked the young woman up and carried her out of the room.