Author's Notes: Sorry for the cliffhanger! I just didn't want to make the previous chapter TOO long.

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything Harry Potter, I own Cassius Malfoy and the "Auror Rules" which I made up. I have already used them in previous chapters but didn't include that they are of my making, I thought Moody would have rules, since he seemed like the type.

Enjoy!  Please read and review and let me know what you think!

Chapter 7

The Cure

"Maybe we should make some tea, they'll need it once they're done." Hermione suggested.

"Good idea." Ron agreed, he filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove. Hermione opened some cupboards to look for something to eat.  The tabby cat rubbed up against a cupboard door further down, meowing.  Hermione took the hint and opened it.  Inside there was a tin of cookies.

"I'll clear the table." Harry said.  He started stacking the books, carefully marking with a parchment the pages the books had been open to before closing them. The tabby cat wandered over and batted at the papers that Harry had stacked.  He scratched it behind the ears.

The table had been cleared, Hermione had found a plate for the cookies and tea was ready. They sat down in a row on one of the benches at the table.  

"What if…" Ron started

"Don't even think it." Harry replied, trying to sound positive.

"I know I thought he was scary at first, but I like him now. He's just got to get better." Hermione said. Hermione had warmed up to Cassius and loved to talk with him when he visited Grimmauld Place. "He's the only other person I know who's read 'Hogwarts: A History'!" Hermione had shared excitedly with Ron and Harry. They had just rolled their eyes.

About 20 minutes later, Sirius and Moody re-entered the kitchen. Sirius was pale and Moody seemed to have aged a bit.

"How is he?" Harry asked anxiously.

"All the venom is out, now we just have to see if his body can recover from the trauma." Moody answered as he accepted a cup of tea from Hermione, his hand trembling a bit. Harry remembered Lupin had said Cassius and Moody loved each other like father and son.

"Where do raknoks live?  Because I never want to run into one." Sirius tried speak lightly as Hermione handed him a cup.

"In the Forbidden Forest." Hermione answered quickly.

"What was Cassius doing in the Forbidden Forest?" Ron asked curiously

"I don't know." Moody answered gruffly, "But as soon as he wakes up, I'll be asking him."

Lupin entered the kitchen slowly. "How long do you think he'll sleep?" He asked Moody.

"Hard to tell, the venom had spread much more than I would have liked." Moody looked grim.

"You didn't say that before!" Lupin exclaimed.

"I thought if you believed he'd survive the cure, it would help him to."

"So how bad was the bite?" Sirius asked.

"Worst I've ever seen, and I read about the other accounts while the potion was brewing – his is the most severe since they've been keeping records. It's a lucky thing Snape came by otherwise…Raknok venom spreads quick."

Lupin sat down at the table and put his head in his hands.

"Now don't worry – he survived the cure, that's the toughest part." Moody said, clearly regretting his earlier words.

A moment later, the tabby cat jumped up into Lupin's lap and bumped her head against his hands. He raised his head and Harry could see tears shining in his eyes and trailing down his cheeks.  Lupin began to absently stroke the cat's head then poured a little tea into the saucer and set it on the table.  The cat turned and licked the tea, still sitting on Lupin's lap.

They ate and drank in silence, except for the lapping of the cat.  Harry didn't know how much time had passed.

Moody's magic eye swiveled to look towards the door.  "Don't lurk outside the door, my boy!" Moody called, sounding pleased. Lupin turned swiftly, knocking the cat off his lap. Cassius came into the kitchen clad only in plaid pajama pants. "I heard voices, but I couldn't find my wand." As if that made perfect sense as to why he hadn't come in.

"Ah, rule 17."* Moody nodded approvingly. He got up and took Cassius' wrist. "How are you feeling?" Harry thought he was checking his pulse but wasn't sure. Cassius didn't respond. Moody seemed satisfied because he gave a "humph" and nodded. Lupin threw his arms around Cassius, burying his face in Cassius' neck. Cassius didn't return the hug, he raised his hand and rubbed it on his forehead. "Have you seen it?" He seemed confused and disoriented, his eyes were clouded.  "I couldn't find it." He sounded plaintive.

Cassius pulled away from Lupin and looked around the room. There was a glint from the area of his chest. Harry looked to find the source. Cassius' left nipple had a gold ring piercing it. His eyes traveled up and he spotted the scar of a bite mark between Cassius' left shoulder and neck.  Harry wondered if that was the mark that made him Lupin's mate. Harry looked across Cassius' broad, muscular chest, there were silver blond curls across the chest, with a line of curls snaking down past his navel, disappearing under the waistband of his pants. The red lines from the venom were gone.  There was no sign they had ever been there. The tattoo Harry had seen before on Cassius' right shoulder continued across his right collarbone. Harry really wished that he wasn't as scrawny. Maybe when he was older, he could look like Cassius. Women would be lining up for him then, and not just because he was The Boy Who Lived.

Cassius started to chew on the nails of his left hand.  "Remus, have you seen my wand?" Harry heard an edge of panic in his voice. "Father will be mad if I can't find it." Lupin looked swiftly at Moody who nodded and said "It's to be expected, it'll get better with more rest." Harry remembered that Cassius' father was dead, Cassius must still be delirious, at least he was recognizing Lupin now.

"Your father won't be mad. He'd understand. Sit down, and I'll look." Lupin stood up and tried to steer Cassius towards the table, but Cassius yanked away. He turned and went into the entryway. As he turned, his back was to Harry and he could see thin, white horizontal and diagonal lines crossing his back. Harry wondered what the scars were from. Cassius had another tattoo, a Celtic design, between his shoulder blades. After a moment, Cassius came back into the kitchen. He was chewing harder on the tips of his fingers.

"Cassius, when did you last see it?" Lupin asked gently, wiping more tears from his face.

"I don't know… When did you get here?" Cassius answered, switching to the fingers of his right hand. 

"Less than 2 hours ago."

"I know I had it when I came in. I need to find it!" Cassius looked around the room again, Harry could tell he was getting more upset. Lupin had been looking around the kitchen too. "Was it on the table?" He looked at Ron, Hermione and Harry.

"No" Harry answered.

"Snape said he found you collapsed on the floor of the kitchen so you didn't get far." Lupin said to Cassius.

"Snape?" Cassius answered. "Why was he here?"

"He was here, he left this scroll. He said you'd know what it was." Lupin pointed to a scroll of parchment on top of the sideboard.

"Oh." Cassius looked back towards the entry way.  He seemed to be trying to remember what had happened when he came in.  He walked towards the table and suddenly dropped to his hands and knees on the floor.  Lupin rushed over to him. Moody started to walk over to him as well.

"A-ha!" Cassius' voice was muffled under the table. "It must have rolled."

Lupin looked very relieved as he helped Cassius back to his feet, Cassius was now clutching his wand in his right hand. His panic seemed to be subsiding. "Now he won't be mad, will he, Remus."

"No, Cassius, he won't." Remus answered soothingly, smoothing Cassius' hair which was in disarray, his other hand stroked down Cassius' chest.

"Now that you have your wand, go back to bed, you need more rest." Moody said gruffly to Cassius.

"All right." Cassius walked towards the door which took him past Moody. Moody reached out and engulfed Cassius a fierce bear hug.  "Oh, my boy." Moody murmured.

"To bed now." Lupin said firmly. Moody released Cassius. As Lupin and Cassius left the kitchen, Harry saw Moody brush a hand past his eye.

"Are those scars on his back from another creature's attack?" Hermione asked Moody.

"You could say that, girl.  They're from a wizard - Julius Malfoy, Cassius' father. He believed in using force to keep his sons in line. Beat them if they weren't well-mannered, beat them if they didn't get good marks at school, beat them if they lost their wands, any number of things. Cass wasn't like Lucius, he didn't like the dark ways, so Julius beat him for that too."

"I never knew." Sirius said softly. "I wish I had known, it would have been nice to have a friend in the family.  He seemed so cold and distant."

"Easier to be distant than to be punished for being impudent." Moody replied.

~~

"We're celebrating Ron and Hermione being chosen Prefects!" Mrs. Weasley happily informed Cassius as he entered the kitchen the night before the children returned to Hogwarts.

"Mum!" Ron's ears turned bright red.

Cassius smiled "Congratulations!"

"Cassius was a prefect and Head Boy, too." Remus said with pride. Sirius caught Harry's eye and made a face.

"I remember it being a Ravenclaw Bill's 6th year. It was rare that it was a Ravenclaw. That was you, then?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I don't…I guess…Remus is usually right." Cassius rubbed his forehead. It had been 2 days since the raknok bite and Cassius was still forgetful and easily confused, but Moody and Lupin were thrilled with his recovery so far considering the severity of the bite. Cassius was on leave from the Ministry and Lupin was staying with him at their home while he recuperated.

"Prolonged, severe pain can cause memory loss, forgetfulness – after a while too much pain, it starts to have a lasting effect on wizards and witches." Moody had said when Harry had asked how long until Cassius would be back to his old self. Harry had been strongly reminded of the Longbottoms in St Mungo's. "Cassius will be back to himself when he is fully rested. Don't you worry, Harry." 

Harry had nodded, but it had occurred to him later that Cassius already had had a tendency to be forgetful – he wondered how much pain someone would have to endure to start having memory problems.

Author Notes: *Auror Rule 17: Never come into a room with unknown people in it without your wand. (Constant Vigilance!)

I figured from a timeline on line that Cassius is three years older than Charlie – I think Bill is two years older so I just mentioned Bill because Bill is in London and Charlie is still in Romania.