OMINIX
CHAPTER EIGHT-LESIONS
We still could not answer Remus. He had a very hard situation to deal with and we would try our best to stand by him whatever he chooses.
Remus sighed.
"I really don't know what to do," he said quietly.
"You must do what I said," Brittany replied. "Or else the entire wizarding community and possibly even the Muggle world, will be destroyed."
Remus let his head drop into his hands.
"Remus?" a little voice said.
We all looked up. Laura was awake and looking from Remus, to Lily, to me, to Brittany, to Hillary lying on the cot next to her.
Remus' face lit up when he saw her. He got up and went over to her.
REMUS.
Laura was awake. I began cheering up slightly. I sat down beside her on the cot. Laura threw her arms around me and pressed her face into my chest.
She was squeezing me so hard I was having trouble breathing.
"Laura, hon," Sirius said as he came over with a huge grin. "You're squeezing the air out of Remus."
He gently loosened Laura's grip around me.
I let out the air in a 'whoosh' sound.
"Sorry," Laura apologized looking embarrassed.
"It's okay," I said gently.
"What happened?" I asked.
Laura frowned.
"I remember walking down the corridor then someone coming up behind me. I woke up in the chimney and a fire had been started. I inhaled a lot of smoke and I passed out. How long have I been here?"
"Since yesterday," Lily said softly.
Realization formed on Laura's face as she looked at me.
She scooted back.
"Stay away from me," she said angrily. "You lied to me."
The pain returned.
"Could I talk to her alone?" I asked quietly.
"Sure," Sirius said as Laura glared at him too.
"Don't leave me alone," Laura pleaded to Lily and Brittany.
That only made me feel worse.
They all left.
I put a hand on Laura's. I felt her body coil backward.
"Listen, please let me explain," I said quietly. "I am a werewolf yes and so is Hillary. Last semester we were attacked by a Mogador. It made me attack Hillary and that's why she is one now. But that won't ever happen again. I can promise that. It would kill me if I hurt you the same way it killed me when I realized what I had done to Hillary. I care about you okay? I would never hurt you."
"But you LIED!" Laura said.
"I had to! I didn't know how you would be if I came right out and told you 'I'm a werewolf'," I said earnestly. "I didn't want you to find out until I was ready to tell you myself. I never wanted you to find out the way you did."
Laura was biting her bottom lip now.
"But you attacked Hillary no?" she asked turning her eyes onto Hillary lying next to her.
"That wasn't really me. The Mogador made me do it. I couldn't control my actions," I said softly. "Now I can and I have never hurt anyone on free will and don't plan to."
Laura looked more relaxed now.
"Okay," she said finally. "I'm sorry."
I grinned and threw my arms around her and hugged her.
I felt so close to her...like we were connected. I guess that's because of her background. We were both orphans really.
I released her.
"So, that gray wolf was you?" she asked. "And Sirius?"
"Sirius isn't a werewolf. He's an Animagus," I replied. "Do you know what that is?"
Laura nodded.
"A witch or wizard who can turn themselves into animals,"
I nodded.
"He's pretty silly," Laura grinned.
I grinned too.
"Yeah, he is,"
Lily and Sirius returned but not Brittany.
"What happened to Hillary?" Laura asked looking upset.
We told her what happened.
"Madam Elkin said she'll be just fine," Sirius said as he sat down on Laura's other side and put an arm around her.
Just as he said that, Madam Elkin entered the hospital wing.
"Ah, Miss Mason is awake. She just needs to spend the night here while I keep an eye on her, then she can go. I'm here to check on Hillary," Madam Elkin said softly as she took Hillary's vital signs.
"Everything is good," Madam Elkin said. "We just need to wait."
She winked at Laura before leaving.
We stayed with Laura until the evening and we headed to bed.
LAURA.
I felt so taken with Remus. I couldn't explain it. I felt myself smiling to myself.
I think I also had a little crush on him but I knew he loved Hillary very much.
About midnight, I sensed someone coming into the hospital wing.
I sat upright. It looked like a dog.
"Remus? Sirius? Is that you?" I asked brightly.
When the animal came into sight, it was a large, black wolf. I knew it wasn't Remus or Sirius.
I pulled the blanket and sheet up to my chin and watched as the animal came closer.
The eyes were locked on me with a cool lust in them. It loped toward me steadily.
The eyes were a haunting blue color that seemed almost painted. I sat terrified and shaking violently.
It licked its lips and jumped onto the edge of my bed. Then, it went to lunge for me. I screamed and threw up my left arm in front of me to ward it off. I felt the teeth clamp down on my arm and blood began flowing. The wolf shook my arm roughly.
I kept screaming.
The next thing I knew, a gray wolf and black dog came charging in.
"Remus help!" I screamed as tears began streaming down my cheek. My arm felt like it was going to be ripped off.
Remus flattened his ears sideways and clamped his jaws on the black wolfs neck yanking it off of me.
The black dog jumped onto my bed and frantically began licking my face. The sheets and blanket were blood stained. I cradled my arm against me and rocked back and forth. I slumped against the dog.
The two wolves began fighting and finally, the gray wolf managed to fling the black wolf out the window.
The gray wolf trotted over to my cot and jumped up beside me. It also began licking my face.
The black dog jumped off the bed and changed into Sirius.
"I'll go get Madam Elkin. Stay with her," he said as he tore from the hospital wing.
The gray wolf stayed by my side and did not move an inch. It kept watching for any signs of movement that wasn't supposed to be there. I slumped against the wolf and pressed my cheek against its soft fur around its neck.. The wolf arched his head around and licked at my nose.
Madam Elkin arrived with Dumbledore and Sirius.
Immediately, the gray wolf's ears flattened sideways and his top lip pulled back exposing white canines and incisors. He began snarling at Madam Elkin.
"She will help me," I whispered to the wolf.
But the wolf wasn't letting up one bit.
As Madam Elkin approached, the gray wolf stood over my legs protectively and continued to snarl.
"Sirius, see what you can do," Professor Dumbledore said.
Sirius took several steps toward the gray wolf. As he reached out to touch the wolf on the head, the wolf snapped his jaws at him. Sirius yanked his hand back in time.
"He's not even letting me near her," Sirius said. "Something's bothering him or he senses something."
"She needs to be tended to! What happened anyway?" Madam Elkin said.
"I was attacked by a black wolf!" I told her.
Professor Dumbledore glanced at Sirius.
I saw Sirius shake his head.
Professor Dumbledore now began taking several steps toward the gray wolf. The wolf watched him and growled warningly, but made no attempt to bite him.
"Remus, she needs to be tended to. I promise she won't be hurt," Professor Dumbledore whispered to the gray wolf. "Sirius told me you know everything."
He looked at me.
I nodded.
Professor Dumbledore gently put a hand on my shoulder. As Madam Elkin stepped closer, the wolf began getting aggravated again; snarling and his ears were pinned outward.
"Looks like I'll have to tend to her," Professor Dumbledore said. "Tell me what to do."
So Madam Elkin began relaying to Dumbledore on what to put on my arm.
Shortly, it was bandaged.
Madam Elkin left the hospital wing. As soon as that happened, the gray wolfs ears perked forward and he totally relaxed.
"Odd," Sirius said looking in the direction that Madam Elkin had gone to. "Remus didn't want her anywhere near Laura."
"Most odd," Professor Dumbledore mused rubbing his chin. "I think either Remus sensed something or there's something else at work here."
I gently reached up to scratch the wolfs ear. The wolf began panting and licking at my un-injured arm.
When the sun came up again, the wolf vanished and Remus appeared in human form. His expression was less than happy.
"What happened mate? You wouldn't let Madam Elkin near Laura...only Professor Dumbledore was able to get near her. You tried to bite me too," Sirius said amazed.
"I'm sorry," Remus muttered. "I sensed someone else was in the room...someone that shouldn't have been there."
"There was no one else in the room," I said softly. "It was just me, Hillary, Professor Dumbledore, Sirius and Madam Elkin."
Remus shook his head.
"No," he said firmly. "I sensed someone else in the room."
"Perhaps the person was under an invisibility cloak?" Professor Dumbledore suggested.
"That might've been it," Remus said nodding.
"Could you tell if it was a guy or girl?" Sirius asked curiously.
"A girl still...the same scent I got when the hooded figure attacked Hillary," Remus said.
"So that means it was the same person?" I asked.
Remus looked at me and nodded.
Then he spied my arm.
"Are you okay?" he demanded immediately.
I nodded.
But then I became scared. "I'm going to be a werewolf now right? With you and Hillary?"
To my surprise, Remus began smiling.
"Why are you laughing man?" Sirius demanded angrily. "This is serious!"
"No," Remus said shaking his head. "You aren't going to be a werewolf."
"Huh?" Sirius blurted out.
I was looking at Remus questioningly.
"That wasn't a werewolf...it was an actual wolf...a real one," Remus said.
"Bloody hell," Sirius whistled.
"How can you tell the difference?" I asked feeling a bit relieved and disappointed at the same time. I guess I was just tired of being me. If I was a werewolf, I would be feared.
"If you remember when I change, my snout is longer and narrower. That wolfs snout was shorter and box like," Remus said softly.
We all nodded.
"I want to know is how that wolf got in here," Professor Dumbledore said.
"I'm not sure," Sirius said.
"We're going to keep an eye on things anyway. Let me know immediately if there are any more strange happenings," Professor Dumbledore said.
We nodded.
He left the hospital wing.
"This is the third day," Remus said quietly. "Two more days. I still have no idea what I'm going to do. I can't kill Brittany."
Sirius sighed and put his arm around Remus' shoulders.
"I know," Sirius said softly. "But we will be here no matter what you decide."
Then, I realized something.
"Have you noticed as the days get closer to the fifth, the 'happenings' get more violent and stranger?" I asked.
Sirius and Remus nodded.
"But we still have no idea who that figure was dressed in the cloak or where the wolf came from," Remus said.
"I have a feeling we're going to find out soon," I said shivering.
Both Remus and Sirius had grim expressions on their faces.
Lily stopped by to see me and Hillary.
To our relief, Hillary woke up shortly after Lily had gone back to the common room.
HILLARY.
Remus was sitting next to me on the cot with his arm around me.
He explained everything that happened.
At first, it was a bit hard to swallow, then I remembered that it was true.
I just buried my face into his shoulder and cried.
I really loved him and didn't want anything to happen to him. I knew he felt the same way about me.
Remus and I stayed close to each other after that...even more than usual.
Sirius jokingly suggested that he should put a Bonding Charm on us so we'd stick together...literally.
I just smacked him up the back of the head.
Laura was as good as new too. Her wounds were healing slowly but surely.
Thankfully, it wasn't a werewolf that had attacked her. Remus told me that he had sensed someone else in the room but couldn't see them and it was a girl again...the same girl that wore the hooded cloak that attacked us in the first place.
Things certainly were getting interesting and frightening at the same time. Two more days until Brittany said what would happen.
Remus was still unsure on what to do. He couldn't kill her. This was our daughter. How do you kill your own child?
Brittany's actions began getting more urgent and panicked as the day started drawing to an end.
Sirius half jokingly suggested taking some Prozac. Laura giggled but she too, noticed how uppity Brittany was becoming.
Finally, Brittany headed off to bed along with Lily, Sirius and Laura.
Remus and I stayed in the common room.
"I'm scared in one way," I admitted to Remus. "When the fifth day comes, what will happen?"
We were sitting in front of the fireplace on the hearth rug. A gentle fire crackled and gave off the soft, orange glow on us.
"Don't worry," Remus said gently. "I won't let anything happen to you."
He gently pushed me onto my back and climbed on top of me. His hips were pressing against mine.
He leaned down and kissed me. I kissed him back.
Suddenly, we heard a sound coming from the girls' dorm entrance. Remus looked up. He was still on top of me. All the color drained from his face.
"Remus? What's wrong?" I asked.
He just nodded in the direction of the girl's dorm. I maneuvered beneath him so I was able to look.
Laura was standing there, covered in blood.
