Call On Me
Chapter Seven-Not Okay
Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Professor Aris came rushing forward.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Aris rushed to Sirius while Dumbledore crouched down beside James.
"Let's get him to the hospital wing," Dumbledore whispered quietly.
Dumbledore magicked Peter's body onto an invisible stretcher and told the rest of the students that the dance was over. They all scattered to their common rooms.
Professors McGonagall and Aris had brought along Sirius as well.
Madam Elkin looked over Peter but we knew the awful truth…he was dead.
"What happened?" Lily screamed at Sirius. "What did you do this time?"
Sirius was looking pale.
"We got into an argument and I picked up the letter opener," he said slowly as tears formed in his eyes. "I stabbed him 12 times."
Caitlin was staying close to me. She had tears in her honey brown eyes and they streaked down her cheeks.
Dumbledore exhaled loudly.
"I'm afraid that you've become dangerous, Sirius," he said quietly. "It pains me to do this, but you're going to have to be locked up even though I'm thinking this isn't your fault."
"Not his fault?" James said now turning on Sirius. "He just told us he picked up the letter opener flat out!"
"He might not be aware of his actions," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Still betting on that trance theory?" Lily sobbed.
"No," Dumbledore said shaking his head. "I don't think he is in a trance…I think it has to do with Sam."
"Sam?" Caitlin asked suddenly. "What about Sam?"
"Not Sam in particular, but what we found,"
"The parasite?" James asked.
Dumbledore nodded.
"Sirius? Did you drink anything unusual?"
Sirius paused, deep in thought.
"Just the Manehiem drink in Hogsmeade," he said at last.
"There was something at the bottom," James said. "But how could that…whatever it is, be controlling Sirius actions? He just admitted to murdering Peter."
Dumbledore sighed.
"I don't know what this parasite is exactly. I'm going to have the same ME that autopsied Sam give me more details on this 'parasite'. For now, Sirius is going to have to be locked up. For his own safety and everyone else's. You will be allowed to see him of course,"
"Like I'd want to see a murderer," Lily said her voice shaking.
She turned and left the hospital wing. James eyed Sirius before following her.
"You guys hate me too," Sirius said quietly.
"Well," Caitlin said. "You did just admit to stabbing Peter. I'm not saying you wanted to or anything, but something is going on with you and we need to find out what."
I nodded.
Professor McGonagall and Aris led Sirius out of the hospital wing.
Caitlin turned to me.
"Suppose this 'parasite' is responsible?" Caitlin asked. "How will we know who has it and who doesn't?"
"I think by looking for the symptoms," I said. "Stomach problems and then aggressive behavior."
She nodded and hugged herself.
"It's scary," she said. "Not knowing if you ate this thing."
"I have a feeling it has to do with that new 'drink' in the Three Broomsticks" I said. "I don't think it's here at Hogwarts."
We headed out of the hospital wing and to the common room.
Caitlin had changed out of her dress but she wasn't sure what to do with it because of Peter's blood on it.
I told her to have the elves discard it.
Lily was so upset and shaken that she didn't leave James' side at all. We all sat in the common room just before dinner.
Caitlin had changed into a pair of red flannel plaid lounge pants and a white tank top with spaghetti shoulder straps. Her hair had been pulled into a high ponytail. Lily had changed into a pair of gray sweat pants and a navy tee-shirt.
James and I were still in our robes and uniforms and I think Caitlin and Lily didn't care if they showed up for dinner dressed that way. I didn't blame them one bit.
"I wish we had never gone to Hogsmeade," Lily said quietly pressing her face into James' shoulder.
"I know," Caitlin said drawing her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "But we can't go back and fix it."
She pressed her face into her thighs. I was sitting across from Caitlin on a chair. She was on the couch. Beside her were Lily and James.
"I'm getting hungry," Lily said as she got up and left the common room.
"We'll see you downstairs," James said softly as he followed Lily out of the common room.
I moved my eyes onto Caitlin. She was sobbing quietly and her shoulders trembled with each sob.
I got up and stood in front of her. I hefted the legs of my slacks up and crouched down in front of her.
"Hey," I said softly. "Things'll be okay. Don't worry. Sirius will be fine."
She continued to sob.
I slowly reached out and put my hands on her shoulders.
"Please don't cry," I said quietly and softly. "It's making me upset."
I hated seeing her upset.
Caitlin slowly raised her head off her thighs and looked at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. I gave her a smile. She smiled at me back weakly.
"I just don't understand why this is all happening," she said keeping her eyes locked on mine.
"I'm not sure either," I said quietly. "But if I know Dumbledore, he'll get to the bottom of this and Sirius will be as good as new."
She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.
"Are you okay now?" I asked concerned.
"Yeah," she said softly. "Thanks."
She leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before getting up. I stood up also.
"Let's go eat," she said.
CAITLIN.
Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen Remus blush when I had given him a kiss on the cheek.
We headed down to the Great Hall. I was starving and couldn't wait to dig into the food.
We entered the Hall and took our seats at the table. I sat down next to James. Lily and Remus were sitting across from each other. I was in between Lily and James.
I looked up at the Head table. Professor Dumbledore caught my eye and nodded. Then, his eyes moved onto Lily. He nodded again. I guess he was letting us get away with not being dressed appropriately for dinner since we have been through a lot.
I began ladling some chicken pot pie onto my plate. Just then, Professor Paris walked up the aisle. She taught Divination, a subject that we had all dropped last year.
Her eyes landed on Lily and I and she stopped by the table.
"Why are you two dressed in pajamas?" she asked sternly.
"They're not pajamas," James offered. "They're lounge wear. Different."
"I'm not speaking to you, Mr. Potter. I'm speaking to Miss Andrews and Miss Evans," she said stiffly.
I felt Dumbledore's eyes on us.
"Because, our dresses had blood on them," I replied in a cold tone. "Or did you forget Peter Pettigrew was stabbed and landed on Lily and I's dresses."
I felt Remus' eyes on us as well.
"Why didn't you change into your robe and uniform?" Professor Paris replied raising an eyebrow.
"Because we were so upset we didn't think," I replied narrowing my eyes.
"You two are dressed inappropriately,"
"It's fine, Alex," Dumbledore's voice boomed suddenly across the Hall, making Professor Paris jump from being startled. "Leave them be."
She eyed us before continuing up the aisle. I glared at her retreating back.
"Thank God we dropped her subject," James whispered shaking his head. "She's a nightmare!"
I dug into my pot pie.
We all headed back to the common room after that.
We just sat around, staring into the crackling fire. It omitted a warm, orange glow over us. Lily was curled up against James, fast asleep on the loveseat section across from the couch. I was lying on my back on the couch with my feet dangling over the arm. Remus was sitting on the chair.
"I think we should head off to bed," James suggested as he gently moved. Lily immediately opened her eyes. "Bed time."
"'Night," Lily yawned as she headed off to the girls' dorm.
"'Night," we chorused in unison.
James headed off next, and then I did.
REMUS.
I climbed into bed and pulled the covers up over me. I dozed off shortly into a restless sleep.
Around 2 AM, I awoke to the sensation of being watched. I sat up in bed, and scanned the darkness.
I saw a pair of eyes reflecting the crescent moonlight that poured in from the window. The eyes stepped into the light.
"Sirius," I said relieved. "What on earth are you doing?"
The black dog stepped closer to my bed. There was something odd about the dogs' behavior. It seemed almost sinister and it had a cool lust in its brown eyes.
"You're supposed to be locked up," I said as panic began settling into my voice now. "How'd you get out?"
The dog kept coming at me and finally jumped onto my bed.
The dog snarled and tried to bite at my neck.
"SIRIUS!" I yelled struggling to keep the dog away from my neck.
The dog was snarling and violently jerking around. The lights switched on and James woke up.
"Oh man!" James cried.
He tossed the covers off of him.
"Hang in there, mate! I'm going for help," James yelled as he tore from the dorm.
"Easy for you to say! You don't have a 100 pound dog trying to tear into your neck," I muttered wincing as the dog's jaws clamped down on my arm, in the middle of my forearm.
A few minutes later, Dumbledore entered the dorm along with Professor McGonagall.
Dumbledore stunned Sirius.
"How on earth did he get out?" Dumbledore mused as he magicked Sirius onto an invisible stretcher.
"Don't know," I said cradling my arm against my body.
Dumbledore pulled out his wand and tapped the wound. Immediately it had begun healing.
"We're going to have to take drastic actions now," Dumbledore said seriously. "He managed to escape once. I have some good news though. The ME that autopsied Sam says he found out what that 'parasite' was. It's called Trangerus. It's found in Romania and it attacks the central nervous system."
"So," I said. "It induces aggressive behavior?"
"Sort of," Dumbledore said. "It completely takes over the host and controls him or her. The only way to rid the host of the parasite is to have him or her drink a Vocis Potion."
"Can you make it?" James demanded looking at Sirius' stunned body sadly.
"Yes, but it will take several weeks to brew," Dumbledore said. "Until then, Sirius will be in lockdown in the dungeon."
He left the dorm.
In the morning, we told Lily and Caitlin what had happened.
"Wow," Lily said wide-eyed. "He's not okay."
"No," James said. "But we might have a cure for it."
Caitlin's head popped up.
"Really?" she asked eagerly. "What is it?"
I began telling her what Dumbledore said about the parasite and the Vocis Potion.
"The only thing it takes several weeks to brew," I finished.
"Sirius is in lockdown in the dungeon now," James continued. "We still don't know how on earth he managed to get out the first time."
After breakfast, we decided to take a look at where Sirius had been held the night before. The wooden door had a huge hole in the bottom of it.
"My God," Lily said raising a hand to her mouth. "Sirius chewed right through it!"
"The doors in the dungeon are much stronger than these," I said. "He won't be able to get out at all."
We headed back to our classes.
During the lunch break, Dumbledore allowed us to see Sirius, but he had stayed with us.
He did the same thing with the door as he did with Sam. We could see Sirius, but he couldn't see us.
"Professor Cantor has started the potion," Dumbledore said. "It should be ready in 3 weeks."
"I hope Sirius will behave until then," James said deadpan.
"I think so," Dumbledore said. "He's much calmer now."
Sirius was just sitting in the room, toward the back with his legs drawn up to his chest. He then fell sideways and curled into a fetal position.
CAITLIN.
It was bothering me to see Sirius in such a state. I felt tears forming in my eyes.
"Don't worry," Dumbledore said putting a hand on my shoulders. "He'll be fine. Good as new."
He gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before waving his wand over the door again and it returned back to normal.
He steered us upstairs.
"Potions classes will be held on the second floor from now on until he's better," Dumbledore said.
We nodded and headed to the Great Hall for lunch.
"He'll be fine," Remus said reassuringly. "Don't worry."
I smiled. Remus looked at me sympathetically.
"I know," I said quietly. "I just hate seeing him not okay."
I sighed and crossed my arms on top of the table and rested my chin on top of them. Remus fell silent.