Chapter Thirteen
Of Funerals and Deliveries
As they were rounding a corner into the village they started seeing people pointing and whispering at Remus. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore them. Sirius and James gave them nasty looks and the pointers went back to their own business. They walked past Remus's uncle's clothes shop and saw Bertha and Aunt Judith in there. Bertha came running out, nearly knocking Remus off his crutches and Aunt Judith followed.
"Hullo boy," Judith snapped.
"Nice to see you too," Remus murmured.
"Who are you two?" Aunt Judith snapped at James and Sirius, who snarled at her.
"James Potter," said James, trying to sound polite though no one knew how difficult that was, "and this," he gestured to Sirius, "is Sirius Black, we're friends of Remus. Didn't you ever bother to ask?"
"He is not my child, why would I ask?"
"Lucky for him," Sirius growled. Aunt Judith stomped her foot in frustration and she and Bertha walked back inside the shop. James and Sirius turned to Remus,
"Lovely lady isn't she?" Sirius said sarcastically.
"Yeah real lovely," Remus muttered. The rest of the day they walked about the village and stopped at Remus's old house. They pried the door open and a mammoth cloud of dust shot at them. They waved their hands in front of their faces to clear out the dust that was engulfing them. They saw that the house was in really bad shape. There was white dust thrown all over the floor, the furniture had rips in it and there were tiny little flies swarming about the house. They went into the kitchen and saw old dishes piled up in the sink and there was grime building up on them. They walked up the rickety staircase (their shoes leaving footprints in the sea of dust on the floor) and went to Remus's parents' room. They looked around and Remus sat on his parent's bed.
"So this was your house?" Sirius said, trying to make conversation.
"Yes," Remus answered, "it was a lot nicer when people were living here. I can only imagine what my room looks like now."
"Lets go see," James suggested. Remus nodded. He pushed his hands behind him to lift himself up and felt a large lump behind him. Sirius gave Remus a hand to help him up and Remus turned around and lifted the bed sheets up. Right there under them, lying straight on the mattress were his dead parents. Their skin was rotted and made an awful stink. Remus just gaped, open mouthed at them while Sirius and James each grabbed under Remus's arms and pulled him out of the room and locked the door.
"That was disgusting!" Sirius exclaimed, pinching his nose in an attempt to block out the smell, "does anyone still want to see Remus's room?"
"No," Remus muttered, his eyes were opened wide with shock, "I want to go back to my uncle's house, come on." They turned; James and Sirius ran down the stairs while Remus hopped on his crutches. They got out into the sunlit day and continued walking around the village. Sirius and James were eager to see the forest where Remus had been bitten so he reluctantly decided to show them.
He brought them to the edge of the woods and they looked into the fog and mist.
"I'm not going in there," Remus said, "you can if you want, but I'd advise you not to."
"Lets go in!" Sirius said.
"Its not safe in there!"
"Who cares?" James said. "Where there's danger, you'll find James Potter!" James and Sirius ran into the depths of the forest while Remus trailed slowly behind them, all while shouting for them to get out. Remus was the only one safe from the monsters that resided in there because they all knew Remus was a werewolf. James and Sirius said they would be fine because they had their wands with them but Remus knew that they didn't know any spell powerful enough to drive off a werewolf or a troll. James and Sirius were now rounding around a tree trunk when they heard loud, distant rumbling. Remus felt a chill run up and down his spine. The terrors of nearly four years ago were coming back to him. He started screaming for James and Sirius to get out of the forest now. Still they would not listen.
"I'm serious you guys get out now!" Remus cried, he was really scared.
"Come on Reme, where's your sense of adventure?" James said, disappointed at Remus being scared.
"James listen to me! You're not safe in here! Get out now!" James and Sirius just stood looking disbelievingly at their friend. Remus's face contorted from terrified to angry and he said in a low but forceful voice, "get out now!" James threw up his arms in the air looking thoroughly annoyed and Sirius just shook his head. They followed Remus out of the forest and back to his uncle's house. When they got in Remus looked at the wall clock that had all the members of the household faces on it. Remus's head just turned from outside to home. Remus looked around for his aunt or uncle and then just when he was about to call their names his uncle came walking down the stairs wearing a nice suit.
"Good, boys you're home!" he said briskly, while doing up his tie, "go get ready for the funeral we're leaving in a half an hour." James and Sirius nodded and went to get their good clothes from Remus's room but Remus stuck around to ask his uncle a question.
"I have a question," Remus said quietly. His uncle did not look at him, he just merely said "hmm?" "Why aren't my parents buried yet?" Uncle Albert turned his attention from his tie to his nephew. He raised an eyebrow and looking at him incredulously.
"What are you talking about Remus," he said in a half laugh, "of course they are, we haven't had their funeral yet though. Why are you asking me this?"
"No they're not! James, Sirius and I were at my old house and we went to their room and they were still there!"
"Remus you must be tired. We buried them months ago."
"But they're there! Go and ask James and Sirius, they saw them!" His uncle looked at him worriedly and then turned around and rushed out of the room. Remus shrugged his shoulders and sat down on one of the chairs. His uncle came back two minutes later pushing Bertha in front of him. She was grinning maliciously.
"Explain yourself to your cousin!" his uncle yelled at Bertha. She rolled her eyes and said, half laughing, half talking
"I-this is just too good! I dug up their graves and put them there because I knew eventually that you would go there. I was trying to scare you and it worked didn't it."
"Yeah it worked," Remus, snarled, "if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to be sick!" Remus stood up grabbed his crutches and hobbled as quickly as he could out of the room. Five minutes later Remus opened the bathroom door feeling rather queasy and went to go change. James and Sirius were standing outside of his bedroom door talking quietly and stepped aside because Remus had to get in his room.
Remus's uncle had to go and collect the bodies and then truck them over to the cemetery while Remus, James and Sirius went with Bertha and Aunt Judith to cemetery first. They got there and went to the grave, where they saw that it had clearly been dug up and the dirt had carelessly been thrown back in. A few of Remus's relatives such as his grandma and grandpa were there. Remus chose to stay around them rather than his aunt and uncle. The Priest began to start the ceremony. Remus was only half listening; he looked around and saw nearly everyone had the heads bowed, except for his aunt and cousin. A surge of pure hatred ran through his body as his looked at them. He tried to concentrate but he kept thinking that the last time he was at a funeral there was disaster beyond disaster all because of him. Remus did not even notice when the priest asked for their only son to go to the front. His grandpa, Luther, put his hand on Remus's shoulder and told him go up. There was no particular reason the priest just wanted to show everyone the last Lupin of that family.
After that everyone started to clear out as soon as the bodies were reburied. Everyone was finally gone after saying goodbye to Remus and James and Sirius had to go home as well. They told Remus they would see him either at Diagon Alley or at school. Remus and his aunt, uncle and cousin went home and his uncle shooed Bertha off to bed but he wanted to have a private word with Remus. His uncle brought him to the kitchen where his aunt was waiting. He took a seat across from her and his uncle took the seat next to his wife.
"Remus," his uncle said, "your aunt and I have a bit of an idea. We learned that St. Mungo's might have found a cure for werewolves. You have to go through surgery, mind you. We were wondering if you wanted to try it." Remus knew they were going to ask him this sooner or later so he just decided to give him a straight out answer.
"I'll try," he said, trying desperately to sound brave even though he was a bit scared. His aunt and uncle bid him goodnight and he stood up and went to his room. He lay down on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. He knew what he was going to have to endure would be painful and he was dreading the idea so badly that now he regretted saying he would try. He could always go back on his word and say he'd rather be a werewolf. Though the idea of being a normal kid crept up on him and then he realised how much he missed it. He missed having friends in the village and not having people point and whisper about him behind his back. His aunt and cousin never liked him, but they seemed to hate him much more since that fateful day when he wandered foolishly into the forest.
The next morning Remus woke to the house almost completely empty. He got up, dressed in a blue jumper and black pants and headed downstairs. His aunt was sitting at the kitchen table reading the Daily Prophet. He saw a bowl of cereal left out for him so he sat down and began to eat.
"Where's Bertha and Uncle Albert?" Remus finally asked.
"They went to Diagon Alley to buy yours and Bertha's supplies," his aunt answered briskly. Remus shrugged and continued to spoon his cereal around in his bowl. It was the full moon that night and he wasn't hungry. His face went deadly pale and his hand was shaking as he thought about that. As he was about to get up and go outside his aunt moaned in pain.
"Anything wrong?" Remus asked. He then suddenly remembered that she was due to have her baby any day now.
"Its time," his aunt gasped. Remus's eyes went wide and he started to panic. He didn't know what to do he was only a kid! He tried his best to calm his aunt down.
"Okay-um..." Remus stuttered, looking every which way as if the answer might pop out of the wall. "I can handle this... Don't just sit there tell me what to do!" His aunt didn't say anything she just howled in pain more. Why did his uncle have to go to Diagon Alley today? His aunt started to slip to the floor but he grabbed her under he arms and lifted her with all his might back onto the chair. Telling her to breathe he ran to the front door and looked outside hoping that his uncle would come walking up the path towards the house. Why did they not have a telephone? Remus then saw a payphone outside and sighed with relief. He ran over and saw a shiny silver nickel on the ground and picked it up. He shoved it into the coin slot and dialed 911.
"Hullo this is the emergency dispatcher unit how may I help you?" came a dispatcher's voice from the other line.
"Yes please dial the number for the local hospital!" Remus ordered.
"Hold please." Remus held the earpiece of the phone tight to his ear. The dispatcher started playing some cheerful music while he waited and then a man's voice picked up on the other end.
"London General Hospital. Please state your name, age address and problem in that order," the man said.
"Remus Lupin, eleven years old, 325 WillowWood Street, Little Hangelton village its right outside of London. My problem is my aunt is about to have a baby and I'm the only one in the house and I have no clue what I'm supposed to be doing!" Remus added, slightly hysterical.
"Calm down son, we will send an ambulance over immediately, what was your address again?"
"325 WillowWood Street Little Hangelton village!"
"Okay just sit tight and we'll send someone over." Remus hung up the phone and ran back inside. His aunt was now positioned on the floor and whaling with pain. Remus dropped to the floor and screamed "ouch!" because he landed on his broken leg and tried to lift her back onto the chair. Remus eventually gave in and let her lay there because he was too weak to lift her, especially when she weighed over one hundred pounds. Remus sat on the chair above his aunt and drummed in fingers on the table while he looked lifelessly at the wall across from him. He then heard a sharp knock on his front door and hopped as quickly as he could to the door and ripped it open.
"Is this the Lupin's residence?" asked a man in a white uniform with a red cross over his heart. Thank goodness, Remus thought frantically.
"Yes it is!" The man walked passed Remus and Remus showed him where his aunt was. A second man wearing the same uniform as the first man came in holding a stretcher and the lifted his aunt up and placed her gently on the stretcher. They told Remus to go with them so he ran to the counter and took out a piece of parchment, found a quill and dipped it in the ink bottle and wrote that Aunt Judith was having the baby and they better high tail it to the hospital. Remus then leaned on his crutches and went out to the ambulance. One of the men sat in the back and told Remus to sit in the front with the other. They zoomed through the streets and in a matter of five minutes were screeching into the parking lot. They rushed his aunt into the labour area and Remus was told to stay in the waiting room.
He sat down next to a kindly looking old lady. She was watching a muggle device called the television and they were featuring a show where you had to spin a giant wheel and then guess a whole bunch of letters and you'd win money. Curious about what it was Remus asked the old lady.
"What's this show called?" the lady looked at him and smiled.
"It's called the Wheel of Fortune," she answered sweetly. "My don't children your age know about this kind of stuff?"
"I suppose," Remus answered. "I'm-um- not allowed to watch television. My aunt forbids it." Remus knew he had lied but he had no doubt in his mind that if they had a television the answer would be the same.
"That's horrible. Why are you here anyway?"
"My aunt is having a baby and the ambulance took us here."
"I thought you were here to have that cast removed," the lady said looking down at Remus's broken leg.
"No I only got it two days ago." The old lady smiled and said that she had to go and visit her son who was in the hospital with cancer. She stood up and left the room. Remus slumped back in his seat and thought about what the woman said, her son being in the hospital. His thoughts trailed to his parents and he thought if they died because of some terrible disease. He did not even notice the burning tears in his eyes until he felt them sliding down his face. He sat there for a long time in deep thought until he heard, as if from far away, a voice saying, "Remus?" Remus jerked out of his trance and turned his head sharply to see his uncle and cousin walking towards him. Not wanting his cousin to see he had been crying he wiped his face on his sleeves.
"There you are!" his uncle said exasperatedly, "We got your note when we got home. How long were you with your aunt by yourself?"
"Long enough," Remus muttered. "She's in delivery room three if you want to know. The doctor said it should be any minute now." His uncle dashed off to wait by the door for the doctor to come out leaving Bertha with Remus. She flopped down next to her cousin and heaved a sigh.
"You look sick," Bertha murmured.
"I am," Remus said, "full moon tonight." He threw his head back on looked up at the white ceiling. He felt really ill and hoped his transformation wouldn't be a repeat of Halloween last year. He winced just thinking about how painful it was. He hated the thought of his bones growing to unnatural length. Two hours later, Remus had fallen asleep after one hour; he was being gently shaken awake. He slowly opened his eyes and saw his uncle (wearing a green jumpsuit, hair net and a mask) was peering at him.
"Come on Remus," he said gently, "your aunt had the baby an hour ago come and see." He gave Remus a hand and he stood up and (balancing on his uncle) grabbed his crutches and went to the nursery. Turns out his aunt had a girl (great, Remus thought, Bertha junior) and named her Anna. His uncle told him it was in honour of his mother and if it had been a boy it would have been named Luke. Remus peered over into the cradle at his new cousin (he had her all to himself because Bertha and his uncle were with his aunt). She had curly light brown hair that reminded him strangely of his own and bright green eyes. She was looking around at all the other cradles and then her eyes met Remus's. She held out a hand and Remus (wearing special gloves so he could touch the baby) grabbed it and wiggled it around. His little cousin attempted to smile but to no avail. Remus didn't know his aunt was capable of bringing something as nice as this into the world.