Altercations

By Neurotica

Seven

The first of September seemed to arrive quicker than ever for Harry and his friends. A lot had happened over the summer which pushed time to go even faster, and Harry was having mixed feelings about returning to Hogwarts for the new term. For the last two years, he'd boarded the school train worrying about the fate of one of his guardians. Last year, he'd wondered if he'd ever see Remus again. No one had heard from him in weeks, and hopes of finding him alive had been wearing quite thin. But eventually, that had passed, and Remus had returned home beaten, battered, and tortured, but otherwise just fine. This year, Harry was concerned for his godfather and whether the wizard would ever regain his magical powers. Remus had assured him countless times that Sirius would be fine, and that he and Emmeline wouldn't let anything happen to him. Remus would never lie to Harry, and Harry knew Remus would do anything and everything he could to be sure no harm came to Sirius.

But Harry still worried.

The morning was unusually cold for a September day, so Harry and his family arrived at King's Cross station wearing heavy jackets. Security between the barriers of the magical and Muggle world was particularly heavy this year, with Aurors in Muggle clothing standing guard, searching trunks and bodies as they arrived. This year, Minister Bones wasn't permitting anybody but students to cross to Platform 9 ¾ due to Lucius Malfoy's appearance at the station at the end of the last term. Wizarding families were encouraged to wear their own Muggle clothing to avoid arousal of suspicion by London's daily commuters, which made for a rather humorous sight—almost as funny as the Quidditch World Cup a few years back.

Molly Weasley spent half an hour saying goodbye to each of her children, as well as Harry and Hermione, leaving only minutes for Sirius and Remus to say goodbye to their ward. Sirius tried to convince the Auror standing outside the platform to at least let him through—he was the Head Auror, after all. Auror Johnson denied him entry, apologizing profusely, but having to follow his orders. Sirius muttered angrily about Dawlish's orders, promising to have a word with his temporary replacement soon, but didn't protest. He and Remus pulled Harry aside just before he had to board the Hogwarts Express.

"Be good," Remus said, hugging Harry tightly. "I don't think we need to go through the usual speech, do we?"

Harry laughed. "No, I promise I'll be good."

Remus smiled, kissed the top of his head and ruffled his hair, then stepped aside for Sirius.

"Take care of yourself, kid," Sirius said a bit hoarsely, noticing Harry was nearly as tall as he was now. "Write often. And good luck with Quidditch this year, Captain."

Harry smiled widely. He'd received his Hogwarts letter two weeks before, finding it to be a bit heavier than usual. It turned out he'd named the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, replacing Angelina Johnson, who'd graduated. Harry had been surprised, to say the least; considering what had happened over the summer, he had hardly expected to be named captain. He hadn't even thought about it during the summer.

Emmeline said goodbye last, kissing and hugging Harry as a mother would her son. Remus didn't miss the look on Molly's face as his girlfriend attempted to flatten the hair he'd just messed up.

"Alright, you lot!" Molly called ten minutes to eleven. "Time to go. Have a good term and we'll see you at Christmas."

Harry gave his family one last smile and wave before he pushed his trolley through the barrier.

Sirius sighed heavily as his godson disappeared, unsure of what to do next. Normally after Harry left for school, he'd go to work and keep busy so as to keep from thinking about what could, and probably would, happen that year. But now he was temporarily suspended from the Ministry, without any magic whatsoever.

"C'mon, Padfoot," Remus said quietly, placing a hand on the wizard's shoulder. "Time to go home, mate."

Sirius nodded pensively and followed his friends out of the train station. He said goodbye to his Aurors as he went, and the group piled into a Ministry car to take them back to the cottage. Molly and Arthur Apparated back to the Burrow, saying they'd have to meet up for dinner later in the week.

The car ride back was rather silent as Sirius stared out the window at the grey skies, expecting rain very soon. He liked the rain. It was calming, and though many felt depressed when it rained, he was his happiest during heavy storms. He and Julia used to sit on the covered patio at his old flat when it rained, not needing to say anything. They'd just cuddle in a chair until the storms passed.

"So who wants lunch?" Remus asked when they reached the cottage. Sirius rolled his eyes but smiled as he exited the car. Remus knew food was the best way to get Sirius out of one of his moods.

The Great Hall was in a state of absolute shock following Dumbledore's yearly welcoming speech that night. There'd been absolutely no warning to prepare any of the students for the news the Headmaster had just announced. Harry was actually a little afraid to write home to tell his guardians. He didn't think Sirius or Remus knew anything about this or they would have told him. And if they had known, Sirius would have tried to keep him home from school that year.

"Has Dumbledore lost his bloody mind?" Ron whispered hoarsely, almost drown out by the din of the mutterings of other students. "I mean, I know the man's a genius and all, but... what the hell?"

Harry shook his head in disbelief as he stared at the staff table. "I know he was having trouble finding a new teacher, but this is insane."

"Dumbledore has his reasons, I'm sure," Hermione said doubtfully.

"There's a reason he never got the job, 'Mione," Ron argued. "He's been passed up for it for how long? Why's he suddenly getting it now?"

"Maybe Snape's done something to convince Dumbledore he deserves it," Ginny said quietly, looking just as shocked as the rest of the students.

"Or maybe he cursed Dumbledore over the summer. Confunded him into giving him the job," Ron said darkly.

"Come off it," Harry said. "Snape wouldn't have the nerve to curse Dumbledore."

"Well, what's done is done," Hermione said, scooping treacle tart onto her plate. "Does anyone know anything about this Slughorn guy?"

Harry moved his eyes away from Snape's triumphant smirk to the great walrus of a wizard sitting beside McGonagall. "I know he taught here when Sirius, Remus, and my folks were here. But I don't know much about him."

Ron sighed. "It's going to be a long year," he groaned miserably, picking at his cake. He seemed to have lost his appetite.

The news of Severus Snape finally getting his dream job as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor reached the ears of the cottage residents three days after the Hogwarts term began. For a while, the small house was filled with colorful curses and what Remus thought to be a few made up words from Sirius mouth. Only after a rather ugly lamp that had once sat on an end table in the living room had been thrown against a wall and shattered into a fine dust under Sirius' weight was the wizard calm enough to talk to. Emmeline had wisely left the room during the outburst for Remus to deal with, and when she returned thirty minutes later with tea and a few shots of firewhiskey, she seemed to have trouble keeping her lips from twitching.

"Impressive," she muttered into Remus' ear as she examined what was left of the lamp. "I knew he had a temper, but you never told me his vocabulary was so..."

"Extensive? Creative? Dirty?" Remus suggested with a grin.

"Dirty works." She chuckled.

Once Sirius had caught his breath and the redness in his face had faded somewhat, he gratefully accepted Emmeline's spiked tea and sat in his armchair. "Has Dumbledore gone mad?" was the first lucid thing out of his mouth.

"He has his reasons," Remus said calmly. "Just because he doesn't let you in on everything he does, doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's doing."

Emmeline got the vague impression the two friends had had this conversation numerous times before.

"It's bad enough he's got Snape teaching, period, but to put him in a position like this..." Sirius shook his head. "I just don't get it."

"Severus knows the subject, Sirius," Emmeline interjected. "He's been studying every aspect of it since he was eleven. Maybe even longer."

"I have no doubt that he knows the subject, Emmeline, but he also knows Potions. Why can't he just stick with that?" Sirius muttered angrily.

Remus massaged his temples as though he was getting a migraine. Emmeline noticed he'd been getting frequent headaches over the last few days, but he would always just take a headache potion and insist he was fine.

"Obviously Dumbledore wants Slughorn at the school, for whatever reason. And since Slughorn doesn't know much about Defense, Potions was the only logical choice," Remus said quietly as though he hoped that by lowering his own voice, Sirius would lower his as well.

"He could have found someone better than Slughorn for that, too," Sirius muttered.

Remus shook his head hopelessly. "You can ask Dumbledore yourself at the next Order meeting. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to shower before dinner." He kissed Emmeline quickly and left the two of them to finish their tea.

"Are you worried about Severus teaching Harry Defense?" Emmeline asked finally as Sirius stared angrily at the empty fireplace.

"It's not just that," Sirius responded. Emmeline was slightly surprised at how calm his tone was. "I went to school with him, I know what he's capable of teaching those kids, and I only hope Dumbledore will keep a close watch on his lesson plans."

"He knows what he's doing. He's more learned in Defense than half of the professors Hogwarts has had in years. Except Remus, of course," she added.

"You're probably right. But he's too concerned with the dark aspect of the subject rather than the actual defensive parts," Sirius said stubbornly. "Look, I know you've got a history with him, but so do I. I don't trust him and I never will, no matter what he's done to help the Order and Harry."

Emmeline sighed, knowing it was a lost cause, but that she'd done her best. She and Severus Snape had had their two-year relationship, and in that time, Emmeline had found him not to be as bad as everyone thought. But convincing the rest of the world was nearly impossible, so she rarely tried anymore. "I'm going to check on dinner," she said quietly as Sirius gulped the last of his tea. "See you in a few."

Remus felt terrible as he stared into the bathroom mirror. His headaches had gotten to the point that not even Madam Pomfrey's extra-strength headache potions helped. If this kept up, he'd have to see one of the Healers at the Ministry. A new level had been added into the building to house sick witches and wizards. Apparition was permitted into the temporary hospital, but the patients weren't allowed to wander the Ministry itself.

But Remus hated hospitals; he had since he was a small boy. Ever since he'd been bitten, he associated hospitals with tests and pain and people examining every inch of his body. Therefore, he avoided visits to see Healers as often as possible.

His head felt heavy as a bludger and the pounding made him think there was a Beater who was very much on aim that day. It was nothing like any other headache he'd ever experienced. At first, he thought he was just having really bad migraines, but he'd tried all the charms he could think of that could rid him of a migraine, and they only seemed to make it worse. His vision had become a little cloudy and his sinuses felt swollen. Maybe he was just getting a cold? No, he didn't have any other symptoms of a cold—he hadn't been sneezing or coughing, and the only time he felt weak was when he had one of these headaches.

Perhaps a nice steamy shower will help, he thought desperately, wincing as he turned his head too fast towards the shower. He turned on the water and undressed, waiting for the room to fill with the hot steam. Once in the shower, he laid his head against the cool tiles, letting the hot water stream across his body, hoping the steam would clear his head a bit. He tried not to think of anything that could stress him any further as he felt the sharp, throbbing pain in his head subside just a touch.

Of course, the news of Dumbledore's decision regarding Defense Against the Dark Arts was at the forefront of his mind, and it was hard to forget. Remus repeatedly told himself that Dumbledore knew what he was doing, but deep down, he agreed with Sirius—Snape teaching Defense lessons wasn't one of the best decisions the headmaster had ever made.

But he does know what he's doing, Remus thought again. He trusted me when no one else in the wizarding world would—both as a child and an adult. He'd never do anything to put his students in jeopardy. To him, the students are his children, and he's highly protective of them. He probably sat awake for days thinking this over—

Remus gasped sharply as the pain in his head returned full force in the company of the worst stomach cramps imaginable. All of a sudden, his legs felt like limp noodles, and before he could catch himself, he fell, hitting his head on the edge of the bathtub.

Sirius nearly dropped the dinner bowls he'd taken form the cabinet when he heard a dull thud come from the bathroom. He frowned as he got a better hold of the bowls and turned to look at Emmeline, who'd been stirring the stew she'd prepared for dinner. She glanced from him to the hallway for a few seconds before abandoning the food and rushing towards the bathroom.

"Remus, are you all right?" she called, opening the door. "Oh god! Sirius!"

This time the bowls did fall to the floor, but didn't shatter—Remus had put unbreakable charms on them in case Sirius ever had the urge to throw something.

"What happened?" he asked when he reached the bathroom. He could barely see a thing through the thick steam, but he could make out Emmeline kneeling beside the tub.

"Looks like he passed out and hit his head," she said quietly, reaching over to turn off the hot water. "Here, hand me a towel and help me get him out of here."

Sirius nodded and did as told, going to the linen closet for a fresh towel and stopping in the kitchen for Emmeline's wand. When he returned, she was using a washcloth to clean up some of the blood flowing freely from the gash on Remus' forehead.

"Here you go," Sirius said. "What do you reckon happened?"

Emmeline shrugged. "Mobilicorpus," she muttered, raising Remus from the tub and gesturing for Sirius to cover him with a towel. "I have no idea," she said, answering Sirius' question as she guided Remus out of the bedroom and into his and Emmeline's bedroom. "Maybe it was his headaches...?"

"Should we try and wake him or should we call someone?"

Emmeline gently placed Remus in the middle of their bed and found a throw blanket to cover him. She muttered a quick drying charm over him and sat on the bed's edge. "Didn't you say Ted Tonks is a Healer? We could probably get him... I don't think we should call Madam Pomfrey; you know how fast news travels through Hogwarts. By the time it reaches Harry's ears, Remus will have had his soul sucked out by a dementor, been attacked by rabid nifflers, and the fact that he's actually Voldemort in disguise will have finally been revealed."

"Sounds like something Rita Skeeter would come up with," Sirius said, relieved to see Remus' chest moving up and down. Emmeline didn't reply; she was moving the hair out of Remus' eyes to feel his forehead. "I'll go call Ted, then."

He moved swiftly through the cottage, grabbed the jar of Floo powder, and fell to his knees in front of the fireplace. After throwing in a handful of the greenish-blue dust— knowing he didn't need that much—he called out his cousins' address and stuck his head into the bright green flames. The front room of the Tonkses' home was empty, save for a pizza box and Muggle beer bottles. Sirius recalled that Ted enjoyed watching Muggle sports and today was some sort of football championship.

"Andy! Ted! Are you home?" he called. After a few seconds, he heard hurried footsteps and spotted Andromeda enter the room out of the corner of his eye.

"Sirius?" his favorite cousin said, kneeling to his eye level. "What are you doing here?"

"Is Ted home?" the wizard asked in a rush. "There's something wrong with Remus, and we need him to come over."

Andromeda's eyebrows shot up a little. "Yes, of course, he's just upstairs. I'll get him and send him over..."

Remus' forehead was burning up, and Emmeline did her best to lower the temperature by using a mix of cooling charms and wet washcloths. His breathing was shaky and raspy, and his chest was moving erratically. Emmeline pulled the blankets covering Remus down to his waist and gasped, spotting a large rash covering his stomach, and spots that looked like white burn marks in various areas—they seemed to grow as the seconds went on. They looked as though they'd only recently appeared—Emmeline hadn't noticed them before, and she was sure if Remus had, he would have said something.

"Hold on, Remus," Emmeline whispered, holding his hand tightly. "Just hold on, you'll be fine soon..."

Emmeline was nowhere near being a trained Healer, but she could fix her fair share of minor injuries. Whatever was wrong with Remus may have been caused by a poison—how could that be, though? Remus had the weekend off from the Ministry and he'd spent the majority of the time at the cottage with Sirius. He'd gone to Diagon Alley for an hour or two the day before, but if his headaches were any indication, he'd been ill for days.

"Why do you have to be so bloody stubborn?" Emmeline asked him quietly. "We could have helped you earlier if you hadn't played it off as nothing..."

Sirius and Ted returned to the bedroom minutes later, and Emmeline relinquished her spot on the bed to give the Healer room to work. She stood next to Sirius, and he placed an arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm in comfort. She laid her head against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. He whispered that everything would be all right, that Remus was a fighter, and she wanted to believe him.

Ted worked silently, his face betraying nothing as he waved his wand across Remus' body, muttering charms and spells rapidly. Colorful smoke emitted from the tip of the Healer's wand, but since neither of the other two knew a damn thing about Healing, they didn't know if the results were good or bad. Half an hour later, Emmeline looked up as she heard Sirius sniff a bit. He wasn't crying, but frowning.

'What?' she mouthed.

"Shit," he said aloud, releasing Emmeline. "Forgot about dinner..."

Emmeline couldn't help but laugh a little as Sirius sprinted to the kitchen to turn the stove off. He returned quickly, shaking his head, and leaning against the wall. "Ruined?" Emmeline asked quietly.

"Of course."

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Ted sighed and stood up straight, turning to face the other two. "You said he's been having headaches?" he asked.

Emmeline nodded. "For a few days. He's been taking headache potions and then telling us he's fine afterwards, but..." she trailed off, shrugging. "I just don't know."

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Sirius asked.

"Has he come into contact with silver in the last month or so?" Ted asked, sitting at a desk chair.

Both Emmeline and Sirius raised their eyebrows. "Not that I know of," Sirius said slowly. "He might have, but he's usually careful about that sort of thing."

Ted nodded, frowning in thought. "Well, here's the thing: Werewolves, when they come in contact with a minimal amount of silver, say an earring, will have no reaction. It differs case by case, as many things do. However, when a great amount of silver is present, and put in contact with a werewolf, it can cause sufficient damage. If Remus had merely touched the silver, this rash on his stomach and the white spots would be on his hands and fingers instead."

"Not really following you, Teddy," Sirius said.

Ted smiled a little. "Right. Okay. I'll get to the point. I found large traces of silver in Remus' bloodstream and stomach. This would, naturally, suggest he somehow ingested silver. It's not regular, every day silver, either; it's pure silver."

Emmeline began to shake and Sirius grabbed her shoulders before her knees gave out. "How is that possible?" she breathed. "Why would he ingest silver?"

"And can you help him?" Sirius asked.

"I can help him, yes," Ted said. "I'm guessing he takes the Wolfsbane Potion before the full moon, and that's helped him a lot—it kept the silver from traveling through his body too quickly. I've already Vanished all the silver I was able to find, and I'm going to give him a blood replenishment potion. I'm also going to apply a cream to help get rid of his rash. He'll be fine," he assured the two. "He's very lucky to have lived through this—normally, a werewolf would have died the moment the silver touched his lips. He'll need bed rest, of course. I wouldn't let him go into work for a few days until you're sure he's better. But don't take his word for it. Do you have any idea as to how this could have happened? Has he gone to any strange restaurants recently?"

Emmeline shook her head. "The last time he and I ate out was before Harry went back to school. He might have had something then..."

Naomi rolled her eyes as Lucius rolled off her, breathing and sweating heavily, and obviously highly satisfied. Well, that's one of us, at least, she thought irritably. As always, she felt dirty and used, but she had to wait for him to finally pass out before going for a long shower, during which she would scrub her body until it was red and raw. She tried not to touch anything in the bed while she waited—there was an unidentified and rather disgusting spot between her and Lucius that she'd rather not explore.

The bastard beside her was still breathing heavily fifteen minutes later. This was odd; normally, he fell asleep almost immediately after having his evening fun.

This hadn't been her plan for the evening—of course, it never was. She'd been preparing a group of Death Eaters for an attack in a few days, and Lucius had wandered into the training room with a look in his eyes she was all too familiar with. Apparently, Narcissa wasn't able to satisfy him this week, and he was very eager. She had the bruises on her shoulder to prove it. She'd been using glamour charms to hide the injuries he gave her during their encounters—Sirius had caught onto her little game, but the rest of the Order hadn't, and she didn't intend them to. She could handle herself—she had been for months now—and all that would come from the rest of the Order would be looks of disgust. She already got enough of those from Emmeline Vance.

At long last, Lucius' snores filled her ears and she felt it safe enough to sneak out of the bed, shower, and get dressed. She moved quickly, anxious to get back to her own flat—she was opening and running the Leaky Cauldron for Tom that week while he visited his family in Ireland.

The green mist that had begun to fill the Dark Lord's castle hideout weeks ago was thickening, and the stone corridors were near freezing. The Dark Lord was perfectly content with the atmosphere, though—anything that kept him content was a good thing for his Death Eaters and a bad thing for his enemies.

The Apparition chamber in the Dark Lord's quarters were near Malfoy's own quarters, so Naomi didn't have to remain much longer. With a heavy sigh, she Apparated back to her flat, desperate for a tall glass of firewhiskey before bed.