All Alone
Chapter 18
A/N: I know, I know, the story's kind of effed up, but I swear, it WILL GET BETTER! I guess the story's kind of like poor Violet's life, screwed up, but everything will be alright in the end, at least you better hope so!
Violet: Oh that's comforting.
Cierra: Get back in the story and be dramatically malnourished and injured. By the way, you're grounded for running away.
Violet: What the hell? You MADE me run away!
Cierra: Go anyway. You're making me look bad.
Violet: I hate you. (disappears into story)
Well, that's better. There's just no controlling these characters... Oh well, back to the mushy-gushy fiction world.
Chapter 18
Remus sat sadly on the worn chair at the side of the hospital bed. Violet was no longer unconcious, just sleeping. She looked a bit better than she had when they'd found her the previous night, thanks to some potions, but she was still very thin and sick looking. Remus took her skinny, pale hand in his and stroked it gently. Her hand was so cold... he rubbed it hard between his hands, bringing back a little warmth. After another half hour of gazing at Violet, he leaned foreward with his forearm on the bed and rested his head on his arm, still holding Violet's hand. Finally he drifted off to sleep.
***
Violet could feel herself waking up. Her eyelids felt like someone had tied three hundred pound weights to the lashes and she was weak with hunger, but she forced her eyes open anyway, dreading the thought of staring around that dark cave again.
Instead she found herself in a huge room surrounded by white beds. It took her a moment to realize she was in the hospital. How the hell did she get there?
She was vaguely aware of someone holding her hand, and her eyes fell on the sleeping man with the messy brown hair beside her bed.
Then it all fell into place. Remus had found her and taken her to the hospital. She expected to feel scared, but all she felt now was relieved, and very stupid. Reality came to her, and she knew that Remus had never meant to hurt her and that he was in no way like her uncle. She had something very precious here and she'd pretty much thrown it in his face. She didn't even want to begin to think how badly she'd hurt him.
Violet's thoughts were interrupted when Remus stirred. He looked up sleepily and saw her staring at him. After a minute of just staring at each other, they spoke at the same time. "I'm sorry." they blurted out, then Violet continued before Remus could say anything."
"I feel like such an idiot, Rem. I know you didn't mean to hurt me, and I screwed up EVERYTHING! I've been ignoring you in favor of Sirius when you've been here for me and I didn't even care about how you felt! I treated you like dirt, Moony! I love you so much and I screwed both of us over! I--"
Remus pressed his fingers to her lips. "Shhh..." he said soothingly. "I'm not mad at you, Vi. I was very wrong as well. True, I was aiming for Sirius and you jumped in the way, but then again, I shouldn't have been hitting Sirius anyway."
Violet grew pensive. "Truuuuue..." she said thoughtfully, her lips pursed. "But I did overreact, big time."
In imitation of Violet, Remus replied, "Truuuuue..."
Violet smacked him lightly, lighter than usual of course, and said, "Not funny, Moon." she turned serious again. "Do you forgive me?"
"Only if you forgive me." he said tentatively.
"Of course I do!" Violet said.
"Then, I do too." Remus said with a bit of a grin on his face.
Violet could feel a grin spreading across her face, and she sat up and hugged him tightly. Remus returned the hug eagerly, muttering, "God, you've gotten so thin... You'll need fattening up, of course."
"Great..." Violet muttered, dreading the idea of stuffing herself until she felt sick every day.
Remus must have understood, because he mussed Violet's hair and soothingly muttered, "We might be able to get some Potions for you so you don't make yourself sick."
God knows how long they held each other, but they didn't care. After over a week of hell they'd been through, it felt overwhelming to find themselves in each other's arms. All too sooner, Violet found that her eyes started burning with unshed tears, and Remus started shaking, in spite of the fact that he was doing all he could not to.
"I thought I'd lost you like I lost Lily and James, and there for a while, Sirius!" He bawled, clutching her for dear life, sobs racking his thin body.
Violet bit her lip and let the sobs overtake her, promising to herself that after this, she would never cry again. "I'm so sorry!" she sobbed. "I was so scared... so scared... and it was so cold... and lonely."
After a minute she took a deep breath, and willed herself to stop crying like a sissy girl. "God, I don't even want to begin to imagine how bad it was for Sirius... he stayed there for months..."
Remus pulled her closer to him and leaned back slightly in the armchair, allowing her to lay halfway on the bed, halfway on his chest. At first it felt awkward, but after a minute, it felt comfortable. Even though Remus was a skinny little bastard, she still felt safe in his arms, her head under his chin, even if she did feel about three years old.
"It'll be all right. It's over." he whispered, kissing the top of her head every so often.
"Not for me..." she murmered. Remus pulled back enough to stare at her incredulously.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus said, almost angrily.
Violet began to wish she'd said nothing. "I didn't mean it that way!" she assured him, taking another shallow breath. "I just... I revisit that damn cave in my nightmares."
Remus took a deep breath. "Oh..." was all he managed to say. "They're just nightmares, love... It's all over when you wake. And they'll stop. Believe me, I know." He shivered, recollecting the nightmares he'd had when he was a young boy, about the full moon. He would wake up almost every night screaming, drenched in a cold sweat and tangled in the sheets. He couldn't take a sleeping potion because of all the other potions he'd been taking.
Violet had no idea about the nightmares, of course, as Remus had no intention of telling her, but his words brought comfort to her anyway. After the last couple of weeks, Remus in general was a comfort to her. She just buried her face in his shoulder and breathed in his scent. It smelled as though he'd (finally) taken a shower. She turned over slightly so her face was out in the open and asked, "When can I go home?"
"In a few days." When Violet sighed and pouted, he sighed in return. "Now you know that Madam Pomfrey just wants to make sure you're doing okay... and that you eat enough."
"Yeah..." she said, annoyed. "Now I'll have to gain all that weight back. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to gain all that weight in the first place?"
Remus laughed lightly, and kissed the side of her head again. "Yeah... it'll be okay, I promise. Ah, there's Dobby!" Remus picked up Violet effortlessly and laid her gently on the bed, despite her grumbling that she could do it herself. "You need to save your energy, dear." he said sweetly.
Violet muttered something like, "Bite me." to which Remus replied sternly, "Language!" Violet tried to look irritated, but couldn't help the smile creeping up her face.
Dobby had an enormous trays of food balancing on each hand, but he didn't seem to be having any trouble. He laid them on the table beside the bed and bowed low. "When Dobby heard Violet Potter had run away, he was so worried, miss! Why would Miss run away?" He clapped his hands to his mouth. "Oh, Violet Potter, Dobby is sorry! Dobby is meddling in affairs that are none of his business, miss. Please forgive Dobby!" He seized a fork and proceded to jab himself in the leg with it. Violet, whose reflexes were as excellent as ever, shot her hand out and snatched the fork away.
"I forgive you, Dobby." she assured him. He returned her one more hasty bow before backing out of the room. "What?!" she snapped at Remus, dissolving in laughter.
Remus took a deep breath and choked, "Eat up, Vi."
She sighed, glaring at him, and took the lid off of one of the trays. She moaned. "How am I supposed to eat all of THIS?" she made a wild gesture toward the tray. There was half of a turkey, three baked potatoes, a huge pile of mashed potatoes, green beans, a salad, a large bowl of beef noodle soup, and an ice cream sundae that had been charmed to stay frozen.
Remus's eyes widened. "Wow. What's on that other tray?" He reached for it, but Violet blocked his hand.
"I don't even want to see what's under there right now." she shuddered, before ripping off a turkey leg and taking a bite. She studied it. "Not bad."
"Gross." Remus looked disgusted. "I don't want to see your disgusting chewed up food."
Violet snickered, taking a huge bite of a baked potato. Pretty soon, she was gorging. Aside from a stale piece of bread she'd stolen, she hadn't eaten in over a week. Although she was starving, it didn't take long for her to get full, as her stomach had shrunk badly. Remus was trying to coax another spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth, but she refused.
"Rem. I can't eat anymore. I'm going to be sick." she whimpered, until he finally backed off.
"All right, Vi. Hold on." He said kindly. He moved the trays aside and covered Violet up.
"What are you doing?" She sighed.
"I'm not doing anything. *You* are going to sleep." he said, handing her a sleep potion.
"But I'm not tired!" she protested.
"I don't care. If you want to get well and get out of here, you'd better eat everything you can and sleep all the time."
"But what about training? I bet even those blonde witches from Diagon Alley could beat me up now."
"Yes, dear. I know." he said patiently, as though he were a mother talking to a screaming two year old in a department store. "But, you'd better focus on building your strength *before* showing it off, love." He tucked her under the thin blankets, blew out the lamp beside her bed, and flicked his wand at the curtains on the windows, causing them to close. "Drink your potion, Vi."
Violet could feel annoyance creeping through her, but it melted when Remus pulled her into a warm hug. Violet sighed again, but the warmth of the embrace gave her comfort. "All right." she murmered, pulling back with regret and gulping the disgusting concoction down. She gave Remus one more hug before the waves of sleep overtook her and she knew no more.
Remus hugged Violet tightly after she took her Dreamless Sleep potion, and after a few seconds felt her go limp in his arms. He laid her back down and kissed her forehead before pulling the nearest bed beside Violet's bed and lying down. He took one of her small hands in his and let himself sleep.**
Meanwhile, back at Moony's Pad, Sirius was begging Dumbledore to sneak him into the castle so he could see Violet. "Please?!" he begged. "I have to see her, Albus!"
"I told you, Sirius." Dumbledore looked exasperated for the first time ever. "You can't leave the house or yard until the Ministry grants you a trial, which I feel certain they will at any given moment now."
"Are we going to start this again, then?!" Sirius suddenly burst out. "Remember? Locking me up like I actually committed the crime I was imprisoned for!"
Sirius saw a flicker of sympathy on Dumbledore's face before he spoke. "Sirius, I made a mistake in that and I truly regret it. But if you want to be able to be there for Violet without sneaking around, you'll have to cooperate with me this time."
Sirius felt completely helpless. "I need to see her, Dumbledore." he cringed at how wimpy he sounded.
"I know, Sirius." Dumbledore said understandingly. "I will try to find a way for you to see her. Give it a little more time." After a short nod, he entered the green flames in the fireplace and said, "Pomfrey's Palace!" (her choice of name, not Dumbledore's)***
"Do you know any way that Sirius would be able to see Violet, then?" Remus asked, ten minutes later.
"I have no clue as to how to pull it off without putting Sirius in plain sight of anyone." Dumbledore said with a sigh.
Remus thought hard, then a bright idea came to him. "Hermione Granger gave Violet and me two diaries for her birthday. Mine's at the house and Violets is in her bag." he rummaged through her bag and pulled it out." See, if both of us have our diaries on us we can communicate. I could get Violet's diary and bring it to her, and I could go to the house, unlock it, and let Sirius and her talk. I know it's not as good as the real thing, but Sirius will have to make do." He realized this sounded kind of harsh, but it was the most they could do until Violet got well again.
Rem sighed and headed for the fireplace. "I'll go get the journal. Be back in a few..."
When he stumbled out of the fireplace, he was bombarded by a slew of anxious questions from none other than Sirius. "Is something wrong with Violet?! Is she feeling okay? Did she--"
"Shut up already and let me breathe!" Remus shouted over Sirius, very annoyed. Sirius looked very taken aback and he sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just... why do you always have to assume the worst?!"
"I'm worried about her, Moony..." Sirius said, sounding like a child. "You know she's all I've got."
"Oh yeah? And I suppose that doesn't apply to me as well? Or haven't you noticed? She's all you've got, even though your supposed best friend is standing right here in front of you!" Remus snarled.
Sirius looked even more shocked and hurt. "What's your problem? Is it that time of the month?"
Remus's head shot up, but his friend wasn't being sarcastic. He looked dead serious. Remus sighed. "No... that was last week. I feel dead on my feet right now and I just can't take a bunch of questions. I just have to get something. You can't see Violet firsthand but you can talk to her. Wait here." He disappeared into his room and emerged in less than a minute, beaming triumphantly. "I can't believe I didn't remember this before! Hermione gave Violet and me these journals. All you have to do is open it up and state Violet's name and if she has it on her and accepts, her face appears and you can talk back and forth to each other. However, I have to be the one to unlock it. It's voice activated."
Sirius looked impatient. "Well, open it!"
"She's asleep right now. And in the condition she's in, I'm not about to wake her."
"You make it sound like she's dying, Rem." Sirius said nervously.
"She's not now, but she was pretty damn close to it last night." Remus said seriously. "She's a lot better now and I want it to stay that way."
"All right..." Sirius sighed sadly, though he wanted Violet to get better just as much as Remus did.
Remus couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Sirius. "Look, she can come home in a few days, Sir. And besides, Dumbledore says that the Ministry is thisclose to granting you a trial." He said reassuringly. Sirius still looked very glum. "Hey. I just know you'll be proven innocent." He said, gently slapping Sirius's shoulder.
"Right..." he said even more sadly. He stood up and sighed. "I'll be in the gym trying to get my strength back to half of what it once was." He disappeared around the corner. Rem sighed. He felt terrible for Sirius but there was really nothing he could do for him. He got up and opened the door to the gym quietly and stuck his head in. He could see Sirius throwing wild, angry punches that rarely hit their mark and often winding up sprawled on the ground. He picked himself up angrily only to be pushed back down roughly by Remus.
Sirius looked up dejectedly and glared at Remus. "What do you want?"
Remus sighed once again and sat on the floor next to Sirius. "I'm doing all I can, Sirius." he said, determined not to blow up at Sirius. "I know you want to see her, Padfoot, but you've got to be patient."
"Easy for you to say!" Sirius burst out. "She gets to the hospital and you're the first one she sees! She wakes up and you two get to have some little bonding moment and hug and cry and forget all about Sirius Black, convicted murderer!" Sirius was choking through sobs now. "I never loved her any less than you do, Remus! Why do I have to be the one to deal with this?! What did I do to deserve it?! I'm just a big screw-up! I'm-I'm-I'm..." Poor Sirius was now gasping through the tears and couldn't form an comprehendable sentence.
Remus automatically put an arm around Sirius's shoulders. He hated seeing his friend cry, but ever since the previous summer, he had grown quite used to being a shoulder to cry on. Sirius seemed very grateful for Remus's comforting gesture. As a matter of fact, he reacted by burying his face in Remus's shoulder much like Violet did. Remus felt very awkward, patting Sirius on the back clumsily. "It's all right, mate. It's all right."
Slowly, Sirius's sobs were reduced to shallow breathing and he pulled back in embarrassment.
"You gonna be all right, Padfoot?" Remus said, concerned.
Sirius returned with a wobbly smile. "Thanks, Moony. I'll be fine, eventually. Where's the liquor cabinet, Moony? I think I'll get totally hammered tonight."
"Above the refrigerator." Remus sighed. "Stay the hell out of my tequila, Sirius!" he shouted to Sirius's retreating back. *Like he'd listen to me*, Remus thought, standing up and going after Sirius. "I don't want to have to scrape your ass off the floor tonight!"
***
***
***
Haha pretty funny ending, eh? Love the pity party. Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter done. I been busy. Later
Chapter 18
A/N: I know, I know, the story's kind of effed up, but I swear, it WILL GET BETTER! I guess the story's kind of like poor Violet's life, screwed up, but everything will be alright in the end, at least you better hope so!
Violet: Oh that's comforting.
Cierra: Get back in the story and be dramatically malnourished and injured. By the way, you're grounded for running away.
Violet: What the hell? You MADE me run away!
Cierra: Go anyway. You're making me look bad.
Violet: I hate you. (disappears into story)
Well, that's better. There's just no controlling these characters... Oh well, back to the mushy-gushy fiction world.
Chapter 18
Remus sat sadly on the worn chair at the side of the hospital bed. Violet was no longer unconcious, just sleeping. She looked a bit better than she had when they'd found her the previous night, thanks to some potions, but she was still very thin and sick looking. Remus took her skinny, pale hand in his and stroked it gently. Her hand was so cold... he rubbed it hard between his hands, bringing back a little warmth. After another half hour of gazing at Violet, he leaned foreward with his forearm on the bed and rested his head on his arm, still holding Violet's hand. Finally he drifted off to sleep.
***
Violet could feel herself waking up. Her eyelids felt like someone had tied three hundred pound weights to the lashes and she was weak with hunger, but she forced her eyes open anyway, dreading the thought of staring around that dark cave again.
Instead she found herself in a huge room surrounded by white beds. It took her a moment to realize she was in the hospital. How the hell did she get there?
She was vaguely aware of someone holding her hand, and her eyes fell on the sleeping man with the messy brown hair beside her bed.
Then it all fell into place. Remus had found her and taken her to the hospital. She expected to feel scared, but all she felt now was relieved, and very stupid. Reality came to her, and she knew that Remus had never meant to hurt her and that he was in no way like her uncle. She had something very precious here and she'd pretty much thrown it in his face. She didn't even want to begin to think how badly she'd hurt him.
Violet's thoughts were interrupted when Remus stirred. He looked up sleepily and saw her staring at him. After a minute of just staring at each other, they spoke at the same time. "I'm sorry." they blurted out, then Violet continued before Remus could say anything."
"I feel like such an idiot, Rem. I know you didn't mean to hurt me, and I screwed up EVERYTHING! I've been ignoring you in favor of Sirius when you've been here for me and I didn't even care about how you felt! I treated you like dirt, Moony! I love you so much and I screwed both of us over! I--"
Remus pressed his fingers to her lips. "Shhh..." he said soothingly. "I'm not mad at you, Vi. I was very wrong as well. True, I was aiming for Sirius and you jumped in the way, but then again, I shouldn't have been hitting Sirius anyway."
Violet grew pensive. "Truuuuue..." she said thoughtfully, her lips pursed. "But I did overreact, big time."
In imitation of Violet, Remus replied, "Truuuuue..."
Violet smacked him lightly, lighter than usual of course, and said, "Not funny, Moon." she turned serious again. "Do you forgive me?"
"Only if you forgive me." he said tentatively.
"Of course I do!" Violet said.
"Then, I do too." Remus said with a bit of a grin on his face.
Violet could feel a grin spreading across her face, and she sat up and hugged him tightly. Remus returned the hug eagerly, muttering, "God, you've gotten so thin... You'll need fattening up, of course."
"Great..." Violet muttered, dreading the idea of stuffing herself until she felt sick every day.
Remus must have understood, because he mussed Violet's hair and soothingly muttered, "We might be able to get some Potions for you so you don't make yourself sick."
God knows how long they held each other, but they didn't care. After over a week of hell they'd been through, it felt overwhelming to find themselves in each other's arms. All too sooner, Violet found that her eyes started burning with unshed tears, and Remus started shaking, in spite of the fact that he was doing all he could not to.
"I thought I'd lost you like I lost Lily and James, and there for a while, Sirius!" He bawled, clutching her for dear life, sobs racking his thin body.
Violet bit her lip and let the sobs overtake her, promising to herself that after this, she would never cry again. "I'm so sorry!" she sobbed. "I was so scared... so scared... and it was so cold... and lonely."
After a minute she took a deep breath, and willed herself to stop crying like a sissy girl. "God, I don't even want to begin to imagine how bad it was for Sirius... he stayed there for months..."
Remus pulled her closer to him and leaned back slightly in the armchair, allowing her to lay halfway on the bed, halfway on his chest. At first it felt awkward, but after a minute, it felt comfortable. Even though Remus was a skinny little bastard, she still felt safe in his arms, her head under his chin, even if she did feel about three years old.
"It'll be all right. It's over." he whispered, kissing the top of her head every so often.
"Not for me..." she murmered. Remus pulled back enough to stare at her incredulously.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus said, almost angrily.
Violet began to wish she'd said nothing. "I didn't mean it that way!" she assured him, taking another shallow breath. "I just... I revisit that damn cave in my nightmares."
Remus took a deep breath. "Oh..." was all he managed to say. "They're just nightmares, love... It's all over when you wake. And they'll stop. Believe me, I know." He shivered, recollecting the nightmares he'd had when he was a young boy, about the full moon. He would wake up almost every night screaming, drenched in a cold sweat and tangled in the sheets. He couldn't take a sleeping potion because of all the other potions he'd been taking.
Violet had no idea about the nightmares, of course, as Remus had no intention of telling her, but his words brought comfort to her anyway. After the last couple of weeks, Remus in general was a comfort to her. She just buried her face in his shoulder and breathed in his scent. It smelled as though he'd (finally) taken a shower. She turned over slightly so her face was out in the open and asked, "When can I go home?"
"In a few days." When Violet sighed and pouted, he sighed in return. "Now you know that Madam Pomfrey just wants to make sure you're doing okay... and that you eat enough."
"Yeah..." she said, annoyed. "Now I'll have to gain all that weight back. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to gain all that weight in the first place?"
Remus laughed lightly, and kissed the side of her head again. "Yeah... it'll be okay, I promise. Ah, there's Dobby!" Remus picked up Violet effortlessly and laid her gently on the bed, despite her grumbling that she could do it herself. "You need to save your energy, dear." he said sweetly.
Violet muttered something like, "Bite me." to which Remus replied sternly, "Language!" Violet tried to look irritated, but couldn't help the smile creeping up her face.
Dobby had an enormous trays of food balancing on each hand, but he didn't seem to be having any trouble. He laid them on the table beside the bed and bowed low. "When Dobby heard Violet Potter had run away, he was so worried, miss! Why would Miss run away?" He clapped his hands to his mouth. "Oh, Violet Potter, Dobby is sorry! Dobby is meddling in affairs that are none of his business, miss. Please forgive Dobby!" He seized a fork and proceded to jab himself in the leg with it. Violet, whose reflexes were as excellent as ever, shot her hand out and snatched the fork away.
"I forgive you, Dobby." she assured him. He returned her one more hasty bow before backing out of the room. "What?!" she snapped at Remus, dissolving in laughter.
Remus took a deep breath and choked, "Eat up, Vi."
She sighed, glaring at him, and took the lid off of one of the trays. She moaned. "How am I supposed to eat all of THIS?" she made a wild gesture toward the tray. There was half of a turkey, three baked potatoes, a huge pile of mashed potatoes, green beans, a salad, a large bowl of beef noodle soup, and an ice cream sundae that had been charmed to stay frozen.
Remus's eyes widened. "Wow. What's on that other tray?" He reached for it, but Violet blocked his hand.
"I don't even want to see what's under there right now." she shuddered, before ripping off a turkey leg and taking a bite. She studied it. "Not bad."
"Gross." Remus looked disgusted. "I don't want to see your disgusting chewed up food."
Violet snickered, taking a huge bite of a baked potato. Pretty soon, she was gorging. Aside from a stale piece of bread she'd stolen, she hadn't eaten in over a week. Although she was starving, it didn't take long for her to get full, as her stomach had shrunk badly. Remus was trying to coax another spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth, but she refused.
"Rem. I can't eat anymore. I'm going to be sick." she whimpered, until he finally backed off.
"All right, Vi. Hold on." He said kindly. He moved the trays aside and covered Violet up.
"What are you doing?" She sighed.
"I'm not doing anything. *You* are going to sleep." he said, handing her a sleep potion.
"But I'm not tired!" she protested.
"I don't care. If you want to get well and get out of here, you'd better eat everything you can and sleep all the time."
"But what about training? I bet even those blonde witches from Diagon Alley could beat me up now."
"Yes, dear. I know." he said patiently, as though he were a mother talking to a screaming two year old in a department store. "But, you'd better focus on building your strength *before* showing it off, love." He tucked her under the thin blankets, blew out the lamp beside her bed, and flicked his wand at the curtains on the windows, causing them to close. "Drink your potion, Vi."
Violet could feel annoyance creeping through her, but it melted when Remus pulled her into a warm hug. Violet sighed again, but the warmth of the embrace gave her comfort. "All right." she murmered, pulling back with regret and gulping the disgusting concoction down. She gave Remus one more hug before the waves of sleep overtook her and she knew no more.
Remus hugged Violet tightly after she took her Dreamless Sleep potion, and after a few seconds felt her go limp in his arms. He laid her back down and kissed her forehead before pulling the nearest bed beside Violet's bed and lying down. He took one of her small hands in his and let himself sleep.**
Meanwhile, back at Moony's Pad, Sirius was begging Dumbledore to sneak him into the castle so he could see Violet. "Please?!" he begged. "I have to see her, Albus!"
"I told you, Sirius." Dumbledore looked exasperated for the first time ever. "You can't leave the house or yard until the Ministry grants you a trial, which I feel certain they will at any given moment now."
"Are we going to start this again, then?!" Sirius suddenly burst out. "Remember? Locking me up like I actually committed the crime I was imprisoned for!"
Sirius saw a flicker of sympathy on Dumbledore's face before he spoke. "Sirius, I made a mistake in that and I truly regret it. But if you want to be able to be there for Violet without sneaking around, you'll have to cooperate with me this time."
Sirius felt completely helpless. "I need to see her, Dumbledore." he cringed at how wimpy he sounded.
"I know, Sirius." Dumbledore said understandingly. "I will try to find a way for you to see her. Give it a little more time." After a short nod, he entered the green flames in the fireplace and said, "Pomfrey's Palace!" (her choice of name, not Dumbledore's)***
"Do you know any way that Sirius would be able to see Violet, then?" Remus asked, ten minutes later.
"I have no clue as to how to pull it off without putting Sirius in plain sight of anyone." Dumbledore said with a sigh.
Remus thought hard, then a bright idea came to him. "Hermione Granger gave Violet and me two diaries for her birthday. Mine's at the house and Violets is in her bag." he rummaged through her bag and pulled it out." See, if both of us have our diaries on us we can communicate. I could get Violet's diary and bring it to her, and I could go to the house, unlock it, and let Sirius and her talk. I know it's not as good as the real thing, but Sirius will have to make do." He realized this sounded kind of harsh, but it was the most they could do until Violet got well again.
Rem sighed and headed for the fireplace. "I'll go get the journal. Be back in a few..."
When he stumbled out of the fireplace, he was bombarded by a slew of anxious questions from none other than Sirius. "Is something wrong with Violet?! Is she feeling okay? Did she--"
"Shut up already and let me breathe!" Remus shouted over Sirius, very annoyed. Sirius looked very taken aback and he sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just... why do you always have to assume the worst?!"
"I'm worried about her, Moony..." Sirius said, sounding like a child. "You know she's all I've got."
"Oh yeah? And I suppose that doesn't apply to me as well? Or haven't you noticed? She's all you've got, even though your supposed best friend is standing right here in front of you!" Remus snarled.
Sirius looked even more shocked and hurt. "What's your problem? Is it that time of the month?"
Remus's head shot up, but his friend wasn't being sarcastic. He looked dead serious. Remus sighed. "No... that was last week. I feel dead on my feet right now and I just can't take a bunch of questions. I just have to get something. You can't see Violet firsthand but you can talk to her. Wait here." He disappeared into his room and emerged in less than a minute, beaming triumphantly. "I can't believe I didn't remember this before! Hermione gave Violet and me these journals. All you have to do is open it up and state Violet's name and if she has it on her and accepts, her face appears and you can talk back and forth to each other. However, I have to be the one to unlock it. It's voice activated."
Sirius looked impatient. "Well, open it!"
"She's asleep right now. And in the condition she's in, I'm not about to wake her."
"You make it sound like she's dying, Rem." Sirius said nervously.
"She's not now, but she was pretty damn close to it last night." Remus said seriously. "She's a lot better now and I want it to stay that way."
"All right..." Sirius sighed sadly, though he wanted Violet to get better just as much as Remus did.
Remus couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Sirius. "Look, she can come home in a few days, Sir. And besides, Dumbledore says that the Ministry is thisclose to granting you a trial." He said reassuringly. Sirius still looked very glum. "Hey. I just know you'll be proven innocent." He said, gently slapping Sirius's shoulder.
"Right..." he said even more sadly. He stood up and sighed. "I'll be in the gym trying to get my strength back to half of what it once was." He disappeared around the corner. Rem sighed. He felt terrible for Sirius but there was really nothing he could do for him. He got up and opened the door to the gym quietly and stuck his head in. He could see Sirius throwing wild, angry punches that rarely hit their mark and often winding up sprawled on the ground. He picked himself up angrily only to be pushed back down roughly by Remus.
Sirius looked up dejectedly and glared at Remus. "What do you want?"
Remus sighed once again and sat on the floor next to Sirius. "I'm doing all I can, Sirius." he said, determined not to blow up at Sirius. "I know you want to see her, Padfoot, but you've got to be patient."
"Easy for you to say!" Sirius burst out. "She gets to the hospital and you're the first one she sees! She wakes up and you two get to have some little bonding moment and hug and cry and forget all about Sirius Black, convicted murderer!" Sirius was choking through sobs now. "I never loved her any less than you do, Remus! Why do I have to be the one to deal with this?! What did I do to deserve it?! I'm just a big screw-up! I'm-I'm-I'm..." Poor Sirius was now gasping through the tears and couldn't form an comprehendable sentence.
Remus automatically put an arm around Sirius's shoulders. He hated seeing his friend cry, but ever since the previous summer, he had grown quite used to being a shoulder to cry on. Sirius seemed very grateful for Remus's comforting gesture. As a matter of fact, he reacted by burying his face in Remus's shoulder much like Violet did. Remus felt very awkward, patting Sirius on the back clumsily. "It's all right, mate. It's all right."
Slowly, Sirius's sobs were reduced to shallow breathing and he pulled back in embarrassment.
"You gonna be all right, Padfoot?" Remus said, concerned.
Sirius returned with a wobbly smile. "Thanks, Moony. I'll be fine, eventually. Where's the liquor cabinet, Moony? I think I'll get totally hammered tonight."
"Above the refrigerator." Remus sighed. "Stay the hell out of my tequila, Sirius!" he shouted to Sirius's retreating back. *Like he'd listen to me*, Remus thought, standing up and going after Sirius. "I don't want to have to scrape your ass off the floor tonight!"
***
***
***
Haha pretty funny ending, eh? Love the pity party. Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter done. I been busy. Later