Hey everyone! I just have to take a moment and express my appreciation for all of you who have taken the time to read my story thus far. I especially love those of you who have reviewed. (Just kidding!)
Well, here the usual Disclaimer: None of this, save the plot, is mine. It's all J.K.R's. I wish I was making money from this, but sadly, I'm not.
Here's chapter five, a classic Remus transformation. (It contains a little graphic-ness, but nothing worth writing home about. Trust me, I've read much worse.)
On to Chapter Five:
Chapter Five: The Moon's Calling
The day of the full moon, back at the Order Headquarters, no one was particularly worried that Remus Lupin had not returned. In fact, so many of the members of the Order were so wrapped up with the disappearance of Harry Potter that few even noticed that Remus was missing.
If they had known where he was, they would have been worried: very worried, indeed.
When Remus Lupin woke up, his head was pounding and his throat felt raw. He tried to reach up to touch his neck, only to find that his arms were chained to a wall, with silver chains, no less. Where am I? he though to himself.
Looking around, he took in his surroundings. He was in a small cell, like those in a prison. Am I in jail? he asked himself as he tried to remember what had happened. Remus, being the law-abiding man that he was, ruled out the possibility of being in prison.
Suddenly, Remus' memories of the previous day rushed back to him. Pettigrew, the Dark Lord's private lackey, had taken locked him in a cell somewhere. Great, Remus thought. Then Remus was struck with a terrible thought. Tonight's the full moon and they took my Wolfsbane!
He groaned aloud. If his hands had not been chained to that wall, he would have smacked himself on the forehead. You shouldn't have gone off by yourself, he reprimanded himself. Now you'll probably tear yourself to shreds.
How long had he been out? Remus struggled to look around him. If he could just find a window, he would be able to figure out the general time.
Just my luck. No windows.
Remus sighed, judging be the general feeling of soreness in his limbs, and a slight tingling sensation, he had been unconscious for almost twenty-four hours. The moon would rise shortly.
Remus made himself as comfortable as one could when one was chained to a wall, waiting for the moon to rise.
It's time, Remus thought to himself, gritting his teeth against the sudden surge of pain he felt in his limbs.
He began to shake, the pain becoming almost unbearable. He felt his bones break and then regrow, more powerful and robust than those of any mere man. He winced as his spine became more elongated, a particularly painful process. As his hands became paws and his arms became more muscular and lupine, he (or rather, the wolf) ripped the silver chains from the wall, snarling at the burning coming from the allergen. As Remus Lupin completed the transformation from man to wolf, he threw back his head, letting out an eerie howl. The creature in the cell was no longer Remus Lupin. It was a huge, silver wolf.
The wolf was angry at being trapped in such a small enclosing. It snarled as it whipped its head around, looking for something to prey on. Finding nothing, it turned on itself, tearing and slashing itself with razor sharp teeth and claws.
It was going to be a very long night...
Remus Lupin bit back a groan as he lay on the floor of the cell, unwilling to open his eyes right away. Returning to the world also meant returning to the inevitable: pain.
Finally, summoning his strength, he opened his eyes, assessing the damage he had done the previous night. He knew it would be bad, but he was not prepared for what he saw.
He was covered in bruises and scratches, and his skin was still blistered from the contact with the silver. Half his toenails and most of his fingernails were bloody, almost torn off as the wolf had tried to free itself from its prison. Three very large gashes stretched across his chest, still bleeding.
As he tried to push himself into a sitting position, he felt a sharp pain in his arm. Looking down, he sighed, noticing that it had been broken at the elbow. Just my luck, he thought to himself. Now, how do I get out of here?
Since he was still weak, he decided to think from his position on the floor. He closed his eyes, waiting for an idea to come to him. Trying to devise an escape plan while lying on the floor proved to be a difficult thing indeed. Exhausted from the terrible transformation, Remus Lupin fell asleep.
Tonks was worried. Remus still had not returned. Where could he be? she wondered. She had taken to pacing the halls in his absence, unable to sit still.
At that particular moment, she paced around the kitchen, chewing on her fingernails, much to the displeasure of its one occupant.
Watching Tonks pace, Mad-Eye Moody rolled his good eye. "Do you have to do that in here?" he growled, pretending to be extremely upset.
Tonks glared at him a stuck out her tongue. "I'm worried about Remus," she said, suddenly serious. "He still hasn't come back."
Moody looked surprised. "You're right," he said thoughtfully. "That boy's usually so quiet when he's around, I never even noticed he was gone."
Tonks looked even more worried at that. "Where do you think he is?" she asked, sounding very concerned.
Moody looked thoughtful. "How should I know? A simple tracking spell will help us find his location in no time, though."
Tonks nodded, looking impressed. "I'll get the parchment," she said, running off to do just that.
Tracking spells were a favorite of Moody's. Simple, yet extremely precise, tracking spells created a very detailed map of the subject's location and surrounding area.
Tonks was back almost immediately with a very large piece of blank parchment.
Moody took it from her, grunting his thanks. He pointed his wand at it, saying "Reperio Locus Remus Lupin."
Almost immediately, ink flowed from his wand tip, snaking across the parchment.
"Look," Tonks said, pointing at a large building on the map. "There's St. Mungo's. And there's Hogsmeade, but what's that big building right there?" she asked, curiously.
"That's just an old warehouse," Moody replied. "We don't care about that."
"Wait!" Tonks said, grabbing Moody's wrist. "What's it doing?"
Moody looked more closely at the parchment. The warehouse was... well, glowing. "Good eyes, Tonks," he said proudly. "Looks like we found Remus."
Remus was dreaming again, only this dream was much more pleasant than the last:
As Remus lay on the floor of the cell, completely exhausted and unable to get up, eyes closed, he heard a noise, almost as if someone had tripped.
"Be careful," hissed a male voice, although not unkindly.
"Sorry," another voice, this one female, said. "It's these darn robes. They're too big, but household-y spells just aren't my forte."
"Stop making excuses for your clumsiness," the first voice growled as the pair thundered down the stairs. "The whole Order knows that you're a klutz."
Order? the dream Remus thought. As in THE Order?
Hearing the footsteps draw closer, Remus hoped that his hearing hadn't failed him. Had some members from The Order come to save him? "Look!" the female cried excitedly. "There's Remus." But her cry of excitement soon turned to one of dismay. "Merlin, Remus? What happened to you?""Did you get the keys?" the man asked.
"Yeah," said the female, still sounding concerned. "Took 'em from the last guard we stunned."
"Well, hurry up and unlock the door," the man said. "We've gotta get him out of here."
Remus heard the metal bars of the cell grind open and the two people walk inside. He felt someone tap him lightly on the face.
"Come on, Remus," the female said, now sounding extremely worried. "Moody, what happened to him?"
"Last night was the full moon, Tonks," Moody growled. "Without any wolfsbane on him, this was bound to happen. Looks like they got him with some silver, too."
Tonks hissed in sympathy. Remus felt himself being grabbed under his arms and gently hauled to his feet.
"You'll be all right, Remus," he heard. "We just gotta get you out of here."
"Moody, why isn't he waking up?"
"Just a minute. Let me get my wand out again." Some fumbling and then, "Ennervate!"
Remus opened his eyes, gasping. He looked around wildly, only to find that he was being supported by both Nymphadora Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody. He smiled at them weakly before collapsing entirely.
Moody and Tonks caught him before he hit the floor, leaning him up against the wall.
"Thanks," he whispered hoarsely.
"Well, what are friends for?"
