Call On Me

Chapter Four-The ME's Report

We led Caitlin back to the Gryffindor common room.

She sat down on the couch and continued to hug herself. Lily sat down beside her and stroked her hair.

James and Sirius said they were going to 'give Sam a talking to', but knowing them, they weren't finished with him yet, even though we had learned that he was going to be expelled for good and that Caitlin's parents were going to press charges against him through the Ministry of Magic. He was in real, deep trouble.

The Ministry has a jail section for crimes like this…like the Muggles do.

"We're here if you need us," Sirius said peering at Caitlin with real concern.

Caitlin smiled.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Sirius slowly sat down beside her. She cautiously watched her and I saw her body tense up when his shoulders lightly touched hers.

"I know you guys won't hurt me," she continued softly looking at Sirius, James, Peter and I. "But I can't help it."

"You don't have to explain, Lin," James said kindly and softly. "We totally understand. You let us know when you're ready for a hug okay?"

He gave her a wink.

She smiled and nodded.

"She let Moony take her hand," Peter chimed in.

"Probably because he was the first to help her," James suggested. "Little by little she'll come around. We can't go picking at her because she let one of us near her more than the others."

Peter began blushing and apologized. He avoided Caitlin's gaze.

"Okay," Sirius said exhaling loudly. "What the hell was up Sam's ass? Why on earth did he act like that?"

"I don't know," Caitlin said shaking her head. "He just seemed nasty. I don't know what had gotten into him. He never acted like that and it was like he wasn't himself."

"He felt sick earlier," Lily said. "Remus and you helped him to the hospital wing. Did Madam Elkin find anything wrong with him?"

Caitlin shook her head. "No, just that he had a slight virus and that he was going to be okay,"

We fell silent.

"It's really strange," I said slowly. "No one could just arbitrarily act like that."

"Did he ever show signs of aggression or anything?" James asked.

Again, Caitlin shook her head.

"We've been alone many of times and he never…"

Her voice trailed off.

"That's enough questions for now," I said shortly. "We need to go to class. I'm sure Dumbledore told the rest of the Professors what had happened."

Sirius gently extended his hand for her to shake.

"We'll see you later okay?"

Caitlin slowly shook it.

"I don't really feel like being alone right now," Caitlin admitted.

"One of us can stay with you then," Lily said brightly.

All eyes immediately landed on me.

"Sure," I said. "I'll stay with her."

Lily got up and as she passed me, she gave my shoulder a squeeze. I was sitting in the chair. James winked at Caitlin before he, Sirius and Peter left the common room.

I stayed seated in the chair.

"Would you like something to munch on or to drink?" I asked.

Caitlin laid down on the couch on her back, and stared up at the ceiling. She tucked her hands behind her head and her feet dangled over the arm.

"No thanks," she said.

Her vest and robe still hung a bit off her shoulder. I saw four scratch marks on her skin. I got up and stood over her and then leaned down slightly.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice becoming tight with panic.

"Easy," I said in a soothing tone. "I just noticed some scratches on your shoulder. Did Madam Elkin see them?"

I gently pulled back the torn robe and vest so I could see the scratches better. She involuntarily lashed out and ended up kicking me in the groin.

I was doubled over in agony and leaned against the fireplace. I tried to catch my breath.

"Oh Remus," Caitlin said as her voice filled with guilt and remorse. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," I wheezed.

She still looked completely guilty and upset.

Just then, Sirius came back into the common room.

"Heh. Forgot my Potions textbook," he said sheepishly, then paused when he saw me and Caitlin.

"What. Just. Happened?" he asked slowly looking from me to Caitlin.

"I've noticed she had four scratches on her shoulder and I went to pull back the vest and robe and she lashed out at me," I said finally able to shake it off.

Sirius cringed.

"Ouch. Not a good spot to get hit,"

He scanned the common room.

"Ah, there's the book," he said as he rushed over to the table and picked it up. He then left the common room.

"Remus I'm really, really sorry," Caitlin apologized again.

"Forget it okay?" I said earnestly.

I sat back down on the couch.

"Yeah Madam Elkin did see the scratches," Caitlin continued. "She put a Hadron salve on it."

I nodded.

We talked for a bit about her parents. They worked in the Ministry of Magic in the Magical Law Enforcement section. We continued to talk until dinner time rolled around. We headed out of the common room and began walking down the corridor.

Just then, Professor Dumbledore approached us.

"Hello Miss Andrews," he said pleasantly. "How are you doing?"

"Been better," Caitlin said.

"I understand," Dumbledore said. "I must ask you two to come with me for a moment. I need you to take a look at Mr. Wilson."

Caitlin and I looked at each other before we followed Professor Dumbledore.

He led us to a room that was guarded by Professor Anicks.

Dumbledore nodded to Professor Anicks and she stepped away from the door, heading down the corridor. Dumbledore waved his wand against the door and immediately, the door vanished.

Sam was pacing the room. I felt Caitlin's hand close around my arm and her fingers dig into my robe.

"Don't worry. This is a Spy Charm. We can see him but he can't see us or get to us," Dumbledore explained.

Caitlin's grip on my arm didn't release and she hugged my arm as if afraid to take one step toward the invisible door.

We turned our attention back to Sam. He had a cut on his forehead and blood trickled down the side of his face. He threw himself against the door.

Caitlin screamed and grabbed a handful of my robe and pressed her face into it.

"Has he ever acted this way before?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"No," I said. "Caitlin was telling us before that he never expressed any behavior like this before."

"Hmm," Dumbledore said thoughtfully stroking his beard. "Most unusual. Did he have anything different in his diet or if he took any particular potion?"

"No," Caitlin said, slowly peeling her face away from my robe. "Nothing that I know of."

Sam threw himself against the door again, and Caitlin returned her face to my robe.

His face was becoming even more mangled and cut from the wood on the door.

"Although," I said suddenly. "He was sick earlier for the second time. He said the other day he skipped Hogsmeade because he was sick to his stomach and that it might've been something he ate or drink, but he didn't give more information."

"So he stayed here at the castle?" Dumbledore asked becoming alarmed.

"I think so," I said.

"I'm going to have a word with the elves and see if they know something out of the ordinary," he said.

Sam once again threw himself against the door, this time he swayed on his feet and then fell to his side. He wasn't moving.

"Oh dear," Dumbledore said. "Stay here. Do not open the door or move."

I nodded as he hurried off down the corridor.

"It's okay, Caitlin," I said looking down at her. "Sam can't hurt you anymore."

She looked up at me, our faces several inches apart. She offered me a weak smile.

A few moments later, Dumbledore came back with Professor Anicks and Professor Erwin. They opened the door and Caitlin scooted behind me, peering around me. Professor Anicks crouched down beside Sam's body and felt for a pulse.

"He's dead," Professor Anicks said shocked looking up at us.

"Impossible," Professor Dumbledore said shocked.

"I'm afraid she's right," Professor Erwin said looking from Dumbledore to Professor Anicks. "He is dead."

Professor Dumbledore turned to Caitlin and me.

"Miss Andrews," Dumbledore said suddenly. "With your permission, I'd like to send Sam's body to the Ministry of Magic's ME Division."

"ME division?" I asked tilting my head.

"It's sort of like the Muggle morgue but they do autopsies. We will know for sure what was going on with him. It's up to Miss Andrews and Mr. Wilson's parents naturally,"

"Sure," Caitlin said in a small voice.

"I'll go contact the Wilson's as well," Dumbledore said.

Professor Anicks and Professor Erwin stepped out of the room and Dumbledore waved the wand at the door again so that it re-appeared.

"Why don't you two head down to the Great Hall?" Professor Erwin said kindly, his green eyes were filled with concern.

Caitlin finally released me as we headed down to the Great Hall.

James, Sirius, Lily and Peter were already at the Gryffindor table, helping themselves to food. We took a seat and filled them in on what happened.

"Whoa," James said.

"I don't believe it," Sirius said wide-eyed.

"It's probably the only way to tell why he suddenly turned," Caitlin said sighing. "Because all answers don't seem to add right and it doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't," Lily said shaking her head.

We were silent for a bit as we ate our dinner.

After dinner, we headed back to the common room.

We were all deep in thought at this point and very confused.

We headed off to bed.

The next morning, we awoke and James, Peter, Sirius and I headed into the common room. Lily and Caitlin were already up but they had a strange expression on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked sitting on the chair across from them.

James took a seat next to Caitlin and I was glad to see that this time she didn't involuntarily flinch or anything.

"Professor McGonagall was just in to see us," Lily said slowly. "She told us the results of the ME in the Ministry on Sam."

We waited.

It was a while before she spoke again and she took a shaky breath.

"It seems, Sam had a toxin in his blood," she said looking around at each of us. "A toxin called Adrenalis Morimun."

"I've heard of that," I mused. "It is supposed to hype up the adrenalin in the body."

Lily nodded.

"But that isn't the strangest part," she said swallowing. "They also found a parasite attached to Sam's spine."

Startled gasps went around.

"A parasite?" Sirius asked shocked.

Lily nodded.

"What's a parasite?" Peter asked.

"Sort of like you," Sirius said wrapping his arm around Peter's shoulders. "You suck the life out of us by hanging around."

He winked at Peter to show he was joking, but I seriously doubted it.

"It feeds off the host," Caitlin explained swallowing. "Much like a leech."

"How on earth did a parasite get into his body?" James asked scratching his head.

"That's the mystery," Lily said. "They don't know. I mean it could've bitten him, or got into a wound he had…they just don't know."

We all sat around, pondering.

Suddenly, a horrible thought entered my mind.

"Could it have been ingested?" I asked suddenly.

They all looked up at me.

"Yeah!" Sirius said nodding eagerly. "That sounds like a plausible explanation."

"He willingly ate a parasite?" Caitlin asked, tilting her head.

"No," I said shaking my head. "Suppose it was in the food or a drink? He would've ingested it without even knowing."

"I think Moony's right," James said. "We should tell Dumbledore."

"Good idea," Sirius said. "Let's head down to the Great Hall."

He suddenly coughed.

"You okay?" Lily asked concerned.

"Yeah, probably just a cold," Sirius said shrugging. "I'll go to Madam Elkin if I feel any worse."

We headed down to the Great Hall and began eating.

Caitlin said she felt well enough to go to class.

CAITLIN.

I still felt a bit shaken up about what happened, but I found I was coming around little by little. I couldn't believe the ME's report on Sam. It made sense and yet it didn't. First, if it was in the food or drinks, wouldn't the house elves sense something was wrong? Or was this in something completely different that the elves would have no knowledge of how it got there?

I sighed and took a seat next to Sirius in Transfiguration. Today we were learning how to transfigure a rabbit into a hedgehog.

Remus and Lily were sitting in front of us. James and Peter behind us.

Remus turned around in his seat to glance back at me. I gave him a smile and he smiled back before turning around in his seat again.

I felt a jab in my ribs that almost caused me to leap completely out of my seat.

"Whoa," Sirius said looking upset. "Sorry Lin. Forgot."

"It's okay," I said settling down again. "What is it?"

"Are you still going to the Christmas dance next week?" Sirius asked as he copied down the notes Professor Jennings wrote on the blackboard.

I sighed. "I'm not so sure. I wouldn't know who to go with,"

Sirius snorted. "You could come with me,"

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you asking me formally? Or informally?" I grinned.

"Informally I think," Sirius grinned.

"Well, I accept," I said.

Sirius continued to beam.