Lesson Sixteen: Confessional

Kara bolted up in her bed. Her face was cold and wet with sweat and her breathing was heavy as she glanced around her room. The other members of her dorm were still fast asleep and she let out a slow breath, knowing that at least she could rest easy on that front. She would have hated explaining away this occurrence to the people she happened to share a room with.

She closed her eyes softly and let out a breath as the images of her nightmare flitted back to the surface of her mind. Flashes of her illusions of the past mixed in with new "memories" that her mind had opted to add to the on going stash of unpleasant thoughts that, on occasion, plagued her in her sleep.

Kara opened her eyes once more and quietly got out of her bed, too afraid to go back to sleep. She sighed deeply as she opened the door to the hallway and slowly made her way out of the Ravenclaw common room.

Once outside she wandered down the hallway and a flight of stairs until she was in the hospital wing. She then snuck into Madam Pomfrey's room as quietly as she could. Kara walked over to the wall and tapped the bricks in their order until they opened to the separate room.

When she was inside, she saw Remus lying, asleep as if he were dead, battered and bruised. Even though she had seen him in worse conditions at home she knew all too well that he hated having anyone see him in this state, relation or friend, it didn't matter. But, at that moment, despite his silent wishes and his obvious situation, Kara could have cared less about his desires.

She then walked over to his bedside and sat down next to him in the chair that Madam Pomfrey most likely had used only a few hours before. Kara sighed deeply, as tears began to fall while her nightmare came back to her mind. Why am I here? She wondered to herself as she looked at Remus' tattered form.

"I'm sorry I've intruded on your space."

The words that came out shocked her for she hadn't actually expected to say anything at all. She looked at his face as the words settled awkwardly within the abyss of the room before she went on, "I'm having those nightmares again. I know you probably don't care, but I'm scared. I haven't had them in ages, I was glad they were gone. I mean, who would want to see any of that," she sighed deeply, "I'm scared. S o if I'm bothering you by being here, tough, because I need to be here right now, you help me sort things out."

She bent her head down in shame at her confession. The room fell into silence and in the midst of this state Kara was shocked when she felt her hand get squeezed ever so slightly. She looked up from her lap and met Remus' eyes where were bloodshot from his battle with himself the night before. He had a soft smile set upon his face and despite the dreadful tears on Kara's face she felt herself return the gesture.

He squeezed her hand again only this time more tightly, "I know you're scared, hell, I am too."

"Then tell your friends to stop snooping."

Remus chortled a bit at the comment, "They won't," his voice was raspy and it strained him just to speak but he went on anyway, "maybe it's good that they are. Perhaps, we'll get a heads up if things get worse."

Kara rolled her eyes, hating that Remus would side with James and Sirius on this and not with her, even if she knew he would side with them even before she had said anything. Besides, she could hardly understand how getting a heads up on a freak that kills people for fun would help. In the long run, a bunch of twelve year olds and one eleven year old could hardly stop someone like that.

Remus watched his cousin's face contort in thought, knowing full well what she was thinking, "We won't be able to stop him but isn't it somewhat comforting to know what this guy is doing? At least then we can figure out if he does in fact have some insane master plan."

"I think killing people and leaving the bodies with marks on them is enough information."

"That was only one-"

"But there's been others!" Kara cried out at once killing whatever argument could come out of Remus mouth before he even had the chance to get it out, "Others that I-" she felt a fresh batch of tears come and fall full force from her green eyes.

Remus didn't know what to say to her tears. "It's going to be okay," seemed to be an empty promise that he knew he couldn't keep, so rather than saying anything at all he merely squeezed her hand as the tears welled up in his own eyes at the sight of this broken girl before him, "I know."

Kara stared at his gray eyes knowing that he meant his comforting squeeze. She felt the tug of even more tears on her eyes as the words she had wanted to say cracked in her throat before they could fully escape. She could feel Remus' intense stare on her face and found his attentiveness oddly comforting.

Remus didn't know what to say to help his cousin with her thoughts so he simply watched for an opening in which he could give her the only thing he had, comfort. As he continued to stare at her, trying his best to come up with something of substance to say to her he felt his neck tighten with the added pressure from craning his neck on the pillow sending the first signals for the beginning of pain.

He felt a tear finally escape from his own eyes as he squeezed her hand once more; hoping against all hopes that that would be enough to fill the void his lack of words had left in their wake. He smiled weakly at her. As he did so he took his hand away for a slight moment. The instant that he broke contact with Kara she burst into uncontrollable sobs.

Remus continued to say nothing as she cried. Knowing that it was good for her to get it all out of her system. Knowing full well that this was really the only reason she had sought him out in the first place.

He rubbed her hand with his thumb, ignoring the pain it left in his wrist and shoulders, as the potions he had taken earlier proved finally that they had officially worn out. Kara then wiped her eyes and chuckled slightly to herself, "I'm being stupid."

Remus smirked slightly at the comment disagreeing silently with her words. He sighed deeply as his mind continued to reel over the bad news James had brought them earlier that week on the train. He shook his head slightly at the thought and turned his attention back to his cousin, only to be greeted with a clearly blank expression. He knew what she was thinking and was mildly surprised to find that it hurt him to realize this.

He continued to watch her for a long while until the pain in his craned neck became too much to bear and he felt his consciousness fade. He managed to give his cousin's hand one last tug before the black dots that were flickering in front of his eyes took over and all went black. Ultimately, leaving Kara alone to her thoughts.

The room went eerily quiet as Kara looked upon Remus' now limp form. She stared at him and felt her earlier thoughts resurface in her mind like crashing waves. She then, overtook by the force of the unwanted images, began to cry silently to herself in the darkness still holding onto Remus' hand until she too closed her eyes and rested her head against Remus' chest, and slowly slipped mercifully into a dreamless sleep.